China Entertainment 1997

Chapter 115 The Divine Drama



The drama "Journey to the West" can be called a divine drama.

Its own reputation has also changed from a "divine drama" to a divine drama. The reputation of this drama can be roughly divided into three stages.

In the first stage, the TV series just started airing, with great ratings and mediocre reputation.

Note that this reputation mainly belongs to the media, and the audience has no say.

The media is roughly divided into two groups. One group thinks it is a thunderous drama, and the other group thinks it is novel and interesting.

It is similar to dramas such as "Magic Phone" and "Splendid Spring", and is a more controversial one.

The second stage is when the Internet began to rise and grassroots self-media began to rise, so they began to export and compete with the media for the right to speak in film and television reviews.

At that time, the more classic one was "The Murderous Case of a Steamed Bun" which was derived from "The Promise".

In one fell swoop, Director Chen's aura of being a famous director was removed, allowing Director Chen to successfully break through the defense and make famous remarks.

"People can't be so shameless!"

"Journey to the West" has also been involved in this wave. The most famous one is Lao Shi, one of the originators of video self-media, who published "Lao Shi's Review of Journey to the West", which ridiculed the show.

At that time, this video went viral on the Internet, and "Journey to the West" was also hit the bottom. When it was listed on Douban, its rating was as low as 3.9.

But many years later, netizens began to look at past film and television works relatively rationally and objectively.

Or to put it bluntly, the children who watched the drama when they were young have grown up and taken over the mainstream discourse on the Internet.

"Journey to the West" successfully overturned the verdict, and its Douban score soared from 3.9 to 7.9, completing a magnificent transformation in word-of-mouth counterattack.

………

After learning that it was this magical drama, Cao Xuan's mood changed again and his interest greatly increased.

Not because he wanted to act, but he was suitable for three more important roles in the entire "Journey to the West": Tang Seng, Wu Tian, ​​and Qiao Ling'er.

However, these three are supporting roles. No matter what you say, Cao Xuan is now a popular figure in the mainland, and his popularity is at its peak.

Leaving aside movies, if he is asked to act as a supporting actor in TV series, it would be a curse.

It would only be a top-notch big-budget drama, like "Journey to the West", unless the crew uses cash abilities.

Cao Xuan might be able to avoid being shabby once with a sky-high salary of 10 to 20 million, but "Journey to the West" cannot afford it.

Cao Xuan can't play Sun Wukong, let's not say whether he is suitable or not.

"Journey to the West: The Continued" will be broadcast next year. Although Teacher Six's character needs to be verified, his performance as Sun Wukong will definitely be outstanding.

When Cao Xuan is full and full, he fights in the ring with Teacher Six. Aren't you looking for abuse?

But not acting does not mean that you cannot invest.

The drama "Journey to the West" is controversial, but it is indeed a hit. More importantly, the cost is not high. It is an excellent project with low investment and high returns.

Cao Xuan did not hesitate and directly contacted the person in charge of the crew and found that the situation of this drama was much more complicated than he thought.

In fact, when the drama "Journey to the West" was born, it was just to ride on the popularity of "Journey to the West: The Continued".

The producer is the Television Exchange Center of Qin Provincial TV Station, which is roughly equivalent to the Beijing TV Production Center of Beijing TV Station and Shanying of Lu Province.

Although Qin Province Taiwan is not as wealthy as Beijing Taiwan and Shandong Province, a few million is not a problem. The key is that Qin Province Taiwan is not very optimistic about this project.

Let’s not talk about the script. The most important thing is that the number of episodes is too small. These days, TV stations can subsidize their own dramas based on the number of episodes. The same is true for advertising. Second-round rebroadcast rights are mostly sold based on the number of episodes.

Anyway, in a word, the fewer the episodes, the less profitable it is. But if there are too many episodes, the cost cannot be controlled, and if it cannot be sold, it will be abandoned.

Therefore, the best solution for investors is to have as many sets as possible within a controllable cost range.

In the beginning, there were only 15 episodes in "Journey to the West". Later, it was too few, so it was increased to 20 episodes. More episodes are not impossible, but the cost will increase.

The relevant leaders of Qin Provincial Station were unwilling. They discussed it and found someone to share the investment, but the result was not ideal.

It was not until later that Cao Rong came to Taila, Qin Province. Although he was a small role in Xiangjiang, he was still considered a star in the mainland, not to mention that he had just participated in "The Continuation of Journey to the West".

Therefore, relying on the reputation of Tsao Rong Xiangjiang as an action star, the crew attracted some investment, and also hired the popular Huang Haibin to finally put the airs on the stage.

But later, because the investors felt that the number of episodes was too few, they started to do tricks, and finally managed to make up 30 episodes, leaving countless flaws.

At this point, Qin Province's Taila investment failed, and they were planning to contact Cao Rong and let him be the leading actor, action leader and on-site director.

After Cao Xuan roughly understood the situation, he expressed it directly to the other party.

Fanxing can invest in "Journey to the West", but Cao Rong is exempt from this. He has little fame, high salary, and low cost performance.

If you have the money, why don't you just let Teacher Six play the role? If you really can't find his stand-in, Ding Jian.

Cao Rong's acting skills include a sullen expression and a tilt of the head. Fortunately, he is acting in a battle to defeat the Buddha after learning Buddhist scriptures. This can be interpreted as a calmness after becoming a Buddha. In addition, the script and character design are strong, otherwise it would be really hard to watch.

As for Cao Rong's role as a director, later generations even had a heated argument with screenwriter Qian Yanqiu because he was trying to grab credit and pass the blame.

In fact, anyone with a discerning eye can tell who is the real hero of this drama between the two.

After "Journey to the West", Cao Rong's works became better and better, while Qian Yanqiu created two popular IPs, "Detective Di Renjie" and "Yan Shuangying".

Moreover, Qian Yanqiu's works have the same style, lines, and plots.

Cao Rong said the lines that forced the king, saying that he wrote, directed and acted himself, but he was really telling lies.

So despite being from the same family, Cao Xuan was not very interested in Cao Rongzhen, but he coveted Qian Yanqiu.

If he can eat the two series "Detective Di Renjie" and "Swallow Eagle", then Fanxing can easily gain a foothold in the film and television industry.

………

Cao Xuan called Zeng Li and told her that he would be back late tonight, and then took Jiang Yue to [Flying on the Grass].

Half an hour later, director and producer Li Yuan and screenwriter Qian Yanqiu of "Journey to the West" arrived.

Li Yuan is a production director of Qin Provincial Television. He has not many works, but he is very experienced and has collaborated with many big names.

Qian Yanqiu is a grade 87 acting student from Nortel. His classmates include future good partner Zhang Zijian, as well as popular and powerful actors Zhang Jiayi and Liu Yijun.

By the way, Qian Ye from "Let the Bullets Fly" is also from this class.

After graduating, Qian Yanqiu first became an actor, and then began to work behind the scenes. She has worked as a director and screenwriter. Currently, she is more famous as a screenwriter.

We had communicated a lot on the phone before, and when we met people, Cao Xuan didn't make any meanderings, he went straight to the point and got to the point.

The total investment in "Journey to the West" is 4 to 6 million yuan, and Qin Shengtai is willing to give up 50% of its share, which means Fanxing needs to invest 2 to 3 million yuan.

However, this does not satisfy Cao Xuan, because he wants to take the lead in this drama, so as to ensure the quality of "Journey to the West" and prevent it from being filmed indiscriminately.

If Fanxing didn't have an independent filming license and had to be affiliated with a unit qualified for film and television production, Cao Xuan would have wanted to continue the series directly.

Qin Provincial TV Station doesn’t want to see this drama anyway, so it’s better to let Fanxing figure it out on his own.

Cao Xuan even revealed this idea semi-bluntly. If Qin Shengtai is willing to sell this project, Cao Xuan can spend some money to take over.

As for the filming permission, although it is difficult, it is not impossible to obtain.

Thanks to Alex for the 1500 reward, Jiang Shuying 1314 for the 600 reward, Longshan Xiaobai for the 600 reward, Taotie Wuliang for the 500 reward, Mr. Su for the 500 reward, Hongwu for the 500 reward, kxdk for the 500 reward, Ruilai for the 200 reward, and those born in the 1990s must practice martial ethics. 100 rewards, 100 rewards in prosperous times, 100 rewards from book friend 20201115015707234


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