Chapter 172 What kind of idiot, what kind of retard
Liu Shuangcheng’s face looked a little ugly, but it was only a little bit, and only for a moment.

He quickly adjusted his mood, not letting that look stay in his eyes for too long, and smiled, saying:
“It seems that not many people in the circle know about my relationship with him. Where did you hear this gossip?”

Meng Yunda heard his probing and didn’t respond. He just drank a sip of tea.
“In this circle, as long as someone knows something, it can no longer be considered a secret. Lao Liu, how can you still be so naive at your age?”

“How I know is not important. What’s important is why you want to pay such a high price. You should know my work style very well. Exchange of interests is fine, and resource integration and replacement is also fine, but I will not do anything that is risky and I don’t know the details, no matter how high the return is.”

“Your Wushuang Films have filmed many human dramas over the years, but it’s rare to have so many of them. I’ve hardly heard of them. I’m in my prime, so I shouldn’t have Alzheimer’s disease and remember things wrong, right?”

There are many kinds of human relationship drama.

In the past few years, many coal bosses or nouveau riche had their own favorite female celebrities. Some wanted to pursue them, while others simply wanted to promote their own mistresses. In a word, two words: spend money, and that’s it!
You can put together a film crew by spending money, and the main creators are all here for the money, and no one can resist money.

Some people have been paid huge sums of money to become famous, some people have received sufficient funds to shoot the scripts they like, and the client does not care about anything. If everyone says the script is good, he will nod happily. He does not care about the roles, crew preparation, or camera shots. I will give you the money, and if you shoot my wife beautifully, you will be awesome!
Everyone is happy.

This kind of relationship drama invested by investors is very popular, because the actresses they choose, regardless of their acting skills, at least they are often good-looking, right? It doesn’t matter if they are just vases, they just ask that the people who are put in the film look good, and they don’t point fingers at anything else. Hey, in fact, this kind of situation can really produce some good-looking things, and the faces that are promoted are also handsome men and beautiful women.

Looking back, the times have changed. The coal bosses’ crude and crude standard of looking good no longer exists. The huge profits in the film and television market have been seen by the hyena-like capital. The way capital selects people has become simpler – they can support you and you just need to be obedient. This has also led to the emergence of so-called “ugly children of capital” in the entertainment industry, who use their poor acting skills and appearance to pollute the audience’s retina. They may not have been seduced, but they are definitely very obedient.

As for what aspect of the conversation is concerned, there are many different opinions.

After Wushuang Films started, they still had to maintain some dignity. To put it nicely, they were protecting their reputation. To put it bluntly, they were worried that their golden signboard would be stained with black and it would be difficult to get investment in the future. Because of this, even if they were shooting a drama for personal relationships, they had their own requirements. For example, the script modification authority must be in their own hands. In this way, even if an artist brought his own screenwriter to the group to add more scenes, Wushuang still had a certain degree of control.

So in recent years, the worst film produced by Wushuang Film and Television has a score of more than five points on a certain platform. It failed quietly and was not so bad that it attracted national attention. It was just a mediocre failure. This is also thanks to the efforts of the marketing and public relations departments.

How much effort must public relations, internet trolls, and marketing strategies put into coming up with plans and executing them perfectly to make public opinion ignore the bad films produced by Wushuang Films, make all of these films invisible, and force the slogan “Wushuang’s products must be high-quality”?

However, Mr. Liu Shuangcheng, who is so careful about his reputation, now says that he can give any artist he wants and provide all kinds of resources. As long as he doesn’t take all the people away, he can agree to everything.

Isn’t this as outrageous as seeing a ghost in broad daylight?

Although Meng Yunda did not explain everything clearly, Liu Shuangcheng could hear the hidden meaning behind his words.

Liu Shuangcheng turned the jade ring on his hand, which was obviously expensive. He was wearing a black Tang suit with gilded patterns, cloth shoes, and a string of Buddhist beads on his wrist. When combined with the jade ring, he looked like a big boss.

He looked very kind when he smiled, but he gave off a very oppressive vibe. If there was anyone else in front of him, they would have been suppressed by his aura. However, the person sitting in front of him was Meng Yunda, who was just an ordinary TV station director. He didn’t put on airs, but his aura was not weak at all.

“Old Meng, you really misunderstood me.”

Liu Shuangcheng spoke with a sincere and earnest look:
“I’ve always been optimistic about your Southern Sichuan TV! Think about it, when we were young, Southern Sichuan TV was among the top three local TV stations in China, and then it climbed to the top of the local TV stations and never came down. The level of its variety shows is even better than that of CCTV. How many young people grew up watching Southern Sichuan TV’s programs, right?”

“We have entered the age of traffic, and your station’s variety show planning has also kept pace with the times. Look, you’ve bought copyrights from foreign shows, and you’ve innovated live shows. You’ve made a lot of money. Your only weakness is your own dramas.”

“If you ask me, Southern Sichuan TV doesn’t need to care about Apple Video’s self-produced dramas. Since variety shows are its strength, why should it focus on variety shows? But I also understand that several online broadcasting platforms next door have received a lot of financing by relying on self-produced dramas and are preparing to go public. The development prospects are very good, and everyone is jealous. It is normal for Apple Video to want to get a piece of the pie.”

“It just so happens that the drama market is hot recently. We, Wushuang Films, also intend to choose one of the platforms to join. Now we are testing the waters. If the cooperation goes smoothly and happily, we are also willing to sign a non-compete agreement with the platform in the future and provide exclusive broadcast rights after the filmed movies are released. Of course, TV series and web series are also negotiable. What do you think?”

Meng Yunda lowered his eyelids and drank tea, and did not answer him immediately.

Liu Shuangcheng’s meaning is already very clear.

He is threatening himself.

Considering Wushuang Film and Television’s status in the industry, as long as they send out a signal that they intend to return to the TV drama circle, not to mention the major online broadcasting platforms and software, even many TV stations will hear the news and strive for priority in cooperation.

Today, the times and the market have changed. It is no longer the time when the main creators of the crew went around the TV stations to find connections and beg others to give them a good price. If the TV stations are unwilling to buy, they still have several competing online broadcasting platforms to choose from. They can compare and choose from each other. The platforms choose dramas in the process of elimination, and the drama producers can also choose the platforms. It is impossible that so many places cannot sell a drama, even if it is to fill the film library.

Naturally, the dramas produced by Wushuang Film and Television have no worries about sales, not to mention that there is a related agreement behind it – if the cooperation goes smoothly, a non-compete agreement will be signed to grant exclusive broadcasting rights.

Even if only one out of ten becomes the annual hit, it will still be a huge profit for the platform!
There was a company whose boss went bankrupt and fled abroad. The employees were desperate and felt that they would soon be unemployed. But suddenly they found out that the company still had the copyright of a costume drama, a TV series about pickled mustard tubers that was suitable for all ages. Since it was broadcast, there has never been a lack of viewers. Even though it has been broadcasted many times on various satellite TV stations, it still has high ratings. The remaining employees of the company relied on the copyright of this drama to support all the remaining employees. Everyone had nothing to do, and even took the lead in the country to start a work-four-day-rest-three-day schedule. They have managed to survive until now even though the boss has fled!

This is the influence of a hit drama!

No one would be so ambitious as to pat their chest and say that they can definitely make a drama like that, but even if the annual hit cannot be so long-lasting, it is still enough to make money.

It just so happens that Wushuang Films has produced many hit dramas, not just one or two, but later they switched to the film industry, and their former glory was gradually forgotten in the TV drama industry.

Those hits were all well-known dramas in the past, and the audiences will not be unfamiliar with them if they are promoted now. Therefore, Wushuang Film and Television does not have to spend too much money on promotion. As long as they post some remixes of their own dramas on various short video platforms to trigger netizens’ nostalgia, wouldn’t it be easy to gain popularity?

Only the platform is begging Wushuang Film and Television to cooperate with it in exclusive broadcasting rights. The honors he received in the past are the basis for Liu Shuangcheng’s confidence.

Even if it is just empty talk, few people can resist such temptation, especially since Southern Sichuan TV even used program guests to exchange benefits with Zhao Mingtao in exchange for cooperating with Wushuang to shoot a web drama.

Meng Yunda looked at Liu Shuangcheng with a half-smile:
“Lao Liu, can you sign a contract and write down what you just said in black and white?”

Seeing that he was unwilling to jump into the pit, Liu Shuangcheng said happily:
“What you said is ridiculous. Can we write in the contract that if the cooperation is not pleasant, the contract will be invalid immediately? This cannot be written, and there is no need to write it. It is enough for everyone to reach a strategic consensus. If the cooperation goes smoothly, you and I will both be happy. Can I push away a good thing?”

Oh, that’s pure empty talk. They are unwilling to leave even a piece of paper that is destined to be useless, and are also unwilling to offer any benefits to show their sincerity in the early stage.

Meng Yunda laughed in his heart.

This Liu Shuangcheng, does he really think that Wushuang Film and Television is an irrefutable golden signboard, and is using this thing to fool everyone as fools?
“To tell you the truth, Lao Liu, there are already investors who want to invest in us.”

Meng Yunda sighed and pretended to be regretful:
“You also know that we at Sichuan Southern TV cannot accept external financing at will, but as a subsidiary of the group, Apple Video has no problem accepting financing.”

“Some time ago, an investor communicated with us and is in a wait-and-see state. As long as we can produce a drama with good reputation and quality, they plan to invest hundreds of millions to help Apple Video build a web drama matrix. They also have their own publicity channels and film and television resources, so it’s a strong combination. It’s also because of this that I signed a contract with Mr. Zhao of your company at all costs and prepared to cooperate on a web drama.”

“It would be great if Wushuang Films could join Apple Video, but if it conflicts with our strategic direction, I have no choice but to give up.”

Liu Shuangcheng was casually turning the jade ring on his finger, seemingly relaxed and comfortable. However, when he heard what Meng Yunda said, he couldn’t hold it anymore. He clenched the ring tightly, wishing he could crush it.

Fuck!
Meng Yunda’s words sounded like he didn’t say anything, such as who the investor was, what channels there were, and what the subsequent strategic direction would be. However, it also sounded like he said everything.

Why would Wushuang Films definitely conflict with their strategic direction? Liu Shuangcheng came here with a clear purpose, hoping that Southern Sichuan TV could get Zhao Mingtao to leave that damn live show. To this end, he did not hesitate to paint such a big pie, not only willing to release a lot of actors to film the favor play, but also hinted that Wushuang could cooperate exclusively with Southern Sichuan TV in the future.

However, Meng Yunda’s decisive refusal showed that this touched the bottom line of the investors.

Then the identity of the investor is almost obvious.

Who else could it be besides Xu? !

Xu’s Real Estate has never revealed its intention to enter the film and television industry, and the outside world has never heard of this. However, to judge a company’s purpose, we should not look at what they say, but what they do.

The current property market is weak. Even though Xu’s main development direction is not in the first-tier cities, but in the third- and fifth-tier cities with small profits but quick turnover, there is still some impact. In the economic winter, all real estate groups are having a hard time. It is normal for some people to want to find new ways out. Money in the entertainment industry is not only easy to wash, but also easy to make money if you find the right direction. Otherwise, why would capital, a creature that does not get up early without profit, enter the market?
Zhao Mingtao was inexplicably tricked into doing the live broadcast of the program. There were many people who had grudges against him, but not many were capable of doing this. Xu Qingan was one of them, and the grudge was very fresh. It was obvious that it was the Xu family’s doing.

Xu Qing’an is young and hot-tempered, and he would do anything to vent his anger, which is normal, but his parents are not fools. They spent so much money on Sichuan Southern TV just to vent their anger on their son? That was what the real estate group did six or seven years ago. No one would be so crazy now!
This can only mean that Xu Real Estate originally intended to diversify its industries and invest in the film and television industry, and is now just taking advantage of the situation and going with the flow.

The only investors who can cooperate with Sichuan Southern TV are them, no one else, and they are targeting Wushuang. The abacus beads are about to fall on Liu Shuangcheng’s face – I will take advantage of this program to throw dirty water on Wushuang and tear a piece of meat from you, what can you do to me? !

Liu Shuangcheng now had only one thought in his mind, which was to pull Zhao Mingtao out of the show and then throw this idiot off the cruise ship on the high seas so that the water in his brain could be neutralized with the sea water.

Zhao Mingtao jumped into the traps dug by others one by one, without missing a single one, and in the process, he also dug his own company into them.

What kind of idiot is this, what kind of retardation is this!
Fuck! Fuck!
(End of this chapter)