Rebirth of the Industrial Tycoon

"Puppy Entertainment?" Chai Pingzhi frowned. She had been in the entertainment industry for many years. She basically knew about the well-known entertainment companies on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and three places, but this was the first time she heard this name.

"I've never heard of this Puppy Entertainment, it's probably a leather company!" Chai Pingzhi thought to himself.

But even if it is a leather bag company, as long as it is willing to give money, it is the God of Wealth!

The subordinate continued: "The person in charge of the entertainment company wants to interview you, so he called to make an appointment. Do you want to see him?"

"See you, of course I'll see you! You can help me make an appointment immediately, and the sooner the better!" Chai Pingzhi said immediately.

Chai Pingzhi really needs investment now. She will not miss any opportunity. Even if the other party is a strange company she has never heard of, Chai Pingzhi will try her best to obtain funds.

The two parties agreed to meet the next day, and at the agreed time the next day, Chai Pingzhi came to the door in person to welcome the God of Wealth.

A middle-aged man appeared in front of Chai Pingzhi. He seemed to be about the same age as Chai Pingzhi, both around forty years old.

"Zhou Sheng, Thunder Monkey!" Chai Pingzhi immediately greeted him, speaking in Cantonese. .

Puppy Entertainment was registered on Hong Kong Island, and Chai Pingzhi regarded it as a Hong Kong Island company, so he started talking in Cantonese.

The other party was slightly stunned, and then said in an authentic Taiwanese accent: "Ms. Chai, we can speak Mandarin. I am from Kaohsiung."

"Mr. Zhou is also from Kaohsiung! What a coincidence! I am also from Kaohsiung!" Chai Pingzhi immediately got close.

This Mr. Zhou’s name is Zhou Rugui, and he is Li Weidong’s cousin.

Li Weidong's uncle, Zhou Yunsheng, left the mainland on the eve of liberation, and then got married and started a business on the other side. This week, Zhou Rugui is Zhou Yunsheng's son.

Although Zhou Yunsheng is the younger brother of Li Weidong's mother, Zhou Yunxiu, his three children are all several years older than Li Weidong.

The main reason is that Li Weidong was born relatively late. Li Weidong also has four sisters. Li Weidong's eldest sister was born after the 1950s and is more than ten years older than Li Weidong. So Zhou Yunxiu was already forty when he gave birth to Li Weidong.

After all, there are barriers to communication between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. Li Weidong wanted to do business on the other side of the Taiwan Strait, but he was unfamiliar with the place. After much thought, he decided to ask his relatives for help, so he contacted his uncle Zhou Yunsheng. Zhou Yunsheng recommended his eldest son Zhou Rugui to become Li Weidong. The person in charge of puppy entertainment on the other side.

As a relative, Zhou Rugui may not have the ability to manage a business, but at any rate he was born and raised in the local area. He is familiar with the local situation and can handle things more conveniently.

The risks of doing business in places where there are barriers to communication are relatively high. Even internationally accepted laws and regulations are sometimes beyond our reach. Once there is trouble, it is difficult to deal with it, and you can only leave it to fate. Therefore, it is more important to find someone you trust than someone who is capable.

Chai Pingzhi invited Zhou Rugui into the reception room. After the two exchanged a few words, Chai Pingzhi said, "I heard that Mr. Zhou's company is very interested in our new drama?"

Zhou Rugui nodded: "I heard that this TV series is adapted from a Japanese comic?"

"It is adapted from "Boys Over Flowers" by the famous Japanese cartoonist Kamio Yoko. This comic was serialized in Shueisha's comic magazine "Margaret" in Japan. In 1996, 51 episodes of the cartoon and a theatrical version were released. , Japan’s TV Asahi and our China Television have both broadcast this cartoon,” Chai Pingzhi quickly introduced.

Chai Pingzhi has learned this set of introductions by heart. Every time she wants to invest, she must introduce them again.

"I also know about these situations. The comic "Boys Over Flowers" is also published in Hong Kong Island, so my boss is interested in investing in your TV series." Zhou Rugui said.

Most people only know that "Meteor Garden" is popular throughout Asia, but they don't know that the original comic "Boys Over Flowers" is also an excellent work.

Being picked up by Shueisha itself means that the work is of high quality. "Margaret" is Shueisha's shoujo manga publication, and "Boys Over Flowers" has always been the mainstay.

Later, "Boys Over Flowers" was made into a cartoon and broadcast, which further proves that "Boys Over Flowers" is the best among Shueisha's comics.

A total of 37 single volumes of "Boys Over Flowers" comics have been published, with cumulative sales exceeding 60 million copies, ranking first among Japanese girls' comics.

This sales volume is already very high among Japanese manga single volumes.

For example, "Slam Dunk", which represents the youth of the 1980s and 1990s, "Bleach", one of the three major migrant workers' comics, and "Demon Slayer", the most popular comic in Japan in recent years, with a total sales volume of 120 million copies . As a girls' comic, "Boys Over Flowers" can sell half of these top comics, which is already a top level.

Therefore, the success of "Meteor Garden" is not an accident. It is a top-notch IP in itself.

It's just that the film and television drama adaptations of that era focused on the heroes of traditional martial arts novels, such as Jin Yong, Gu Long and others, while comics did not receive attention.

In order to obtain sponsorship, Chai Pingzhi not only introduced his works, but also painted a pie.

"I think the plot of "Boys Over Flowers" is very suitable for adapting into a TV series. I believe this work will definitely have very good ratings. It is estimated that we can recover the production cost on the island's TV station.

Then they are sold to Hong Kong Island, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, and of course the mainland. By then we will be able to obtain relatively generous profits, and you, as an investor, will also receive considerable returns. "

The main way to make money from TV series was to sell the broadcast rights. There were no video websites at that time, so the broadcast rights were mainly sold to various TV stations.

The other side is just an island, and the market is limited after all. Only relying on local audiences will have limited profits, so Taiwanese dramas have long explored the path of selling TV dramas outside.

In the years when Taiwanese dramas were most popular, the entire East Asia and Southeast Asia were the markets for Taiwanese dramas, and this was also the main way for Taiwanese dramas to make profits. A popular TV series can be broadcast many times.

For example, classic TV series like "The Legend of White Snake", although it was a TV series in 1992, it was still broadcast on CCTV in 2004.

Chai Pingzhi knows very well that the best way to impress investors is to lure them with profits. Talking to capital about profits is the most straightforward way.

However, Zhou Rugui on the opposite side smiled slightly, and then said, "What our boss values ​​is not the profit from the TV series."

"Isn't it for money? Is it for the unspoken actors? Probably not! This TV series doesn't have enough funds, so it doesn't hire famous actors.

The leading actors I found were all amateurs in the entertainment industry. Not many people knew them, so they wouldn't invest in a TV series just for the sake of unspoken rules.

Could it be because of the unspoken rules for me? I also know that I am a mature woman now, and my charm is still there. No, I should be as beautiful as a flower, but after all, I am no longer a young girl..." Chai Pingzhi began to think in his heart.

Zhou Rugui continued: "The largest shareholder of our Puppy Entertainment is the Puppy Group in mainland China. I wonder if Ms. Chai has heard of the Puppy Group?"

Chai Pingzhi thought for a while and asked: "There is a beauty equipment brand in Japan called Puppy. Could it be from this Puppy Group?"

"Yes, that is a product of Puppy Group. In addition to beauty equipment, Puppy Group also produces small household appliances, kitchen appliances, medical equipment and other home appliances."

Zhou Rugui paused and then continued: "So our boss hopes that we can see the products of the Puppy Group on this TV."

"You mean product placement?" Chai Pingzhi understood instantly.

"Yes, it's product placement. The more, the better." Zhou Rugui nodded.

Product advertising placement was nothing new at that time. Mainland TV dramas rarely used advertising placement, but European and American countries had been using it for decades. "The Truman Show" filmed in 1998 also had a special segment that satirized advertising placement.

The market for Taiwanese dramas is small and it is difficult to attract investment. Therefore, advertising placement has been used to obtain more filming funds for a long time.

"It turns out it's for advertising placement, but luckily it's not the body of a greedy old lady!" Chai Pingzhi was still a little disappointed.

Then Chai Pingzhi immediately said: "We are a modern drama, and product placement is not difficult. If Mr. Zhou can provide 50,000 yuan in sponsorship for each episode of the TV series, I guarantee that it will be in a prominent position in every episode. See Puppy Group’s products.”

Chai Pingzhi is not greedy, and the sponsorship fee for one episode is only NT$50,000. In her opinion, the budget of "Meteor Garden" is only NT$200,000 per episode, and an increase of NT$50,000 is equivalent to an increase of one-fifth.

If the budget can be increased by one-fifth, the filming will be much more generous. At least the lead actor can add a chicken drumstick to his lunch box!

And Chai Pingzhi doesn’t dare to ask for more. After all, this TV series uses only newcomers and there are no stars to participate. If you ask for more, don’t scare away the investors!

Zhou Rugui asked, "How many episodes of this TV series do you plan to shoot?"

"20 episodes." Chai Pingzhi continued; "If each episode is 50,000 yuan, 20 episodes is one million!"

"I'll give you five hundred thousand!" Zhou Rugui held out five fingers.

Chai Pingzhi felt a little unhappy when the price was cut in half, but having money is better than having no money! Getting half a million dollars in sponsorship is much better than not getting a penny at all.

So Chai Pingzhi still had a smile on his face, and then said: "Mr. Zhou, thank you very much for your generous sponsorship. But if you can sponsor more, I can guarantee that there will be better advertising effect." .

I can let the actors directly use Puppy Group's products in the play, or I can directly add some product advertising slogans to the lines to introduce the advantages of the products. This is certainly much better than simply displaying the product. "

In order to collect sponsorship fees, Chai Pingzhi has decided to let f4 directly bring products in the TV series.

Zhou Rugui said, "Miss Chai, I think you misunderstood. What I meant is that I will sponsor you 500,000 yuan per episode! Level 20 is 10 million!"

"Ten million!" Chai Pingzhi's mouth had opened into an O shape, and her mind was completely blank.

The budget for each episode of "Meteor Garden" is only NT$200,000. If an episode can generate NT$500,000 in sponsorship fees, that would be 2.5 times more than the previous shooting budget!

Calculated in this way, the budget of 700,000 per episode is already a relatively sufficient production fee. At least in terms of props, there is no need to save. Chai Pingzhi can purchase some props that he is satisfied with.

As for actors' salaries, they won't be increased by a penny.

A group of amateur actors, that is to say, they are good-looking, but are no different from extra actors in other aspects. They let you act in order to flatter you. They want more pay, and they will wait until they become popular!

Historically, when filming "Meteor Garden", because there was no money, the crew tried to reduce expenses as much as possible, and the props were very shabby.

Because there was no budget and no money to buy props, all the clothes f4 wore at that time were bought at street stalls.

Since "Meteor Garden" was being filmed and broadcast at the time, after the day's filming, Chai Pingzhi took f4 to the night market, bought a new set of clothes at a street stall, and put them on during filming the next day.

In order to prevent the audience from seeing that the actors are wearing street stall products, when purchasing clothing, try to choose single-color clothing and reduce some patterns, so that it is not easy to be seen as street stall products.

Those four people are probably the only ones who can make street stall goods look like luxury goods.

As a young man from a wealthy family, f4 naturally had to wear a sports car when he appeared on stage. During the filming, the crew didn't even have the money to rent a sports car, so they had to borrow a Mazda MX5 from a friend. It really didn't have a roof. A sports car!

The price of the 2022 Mazda mx5 in Japan is 2.899 million yen, which is less than 160,000 yuan.

Other wealthy second-generation people drive Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and at worst, Porsche 911s. However, the so-called top rich second generation in "Meteor Garden" drives a Mazda worth 160,000 yuan. You can’t afford a tire for a supercar at this price!

Fortunately, mainlanders had no money and no experience of the world at that time, so they were fooled by this Mazda. If we were to see people driving Mazda today claiming to be rich second generation, I would probably make various animated emoticons to ridicule them.

After a while, Chai Pingzhi's mood calmed down.

Chai Pingzhi thought about it for a moment and realized that the other party was willing to give a sponsorship fee of 500,000 yuan per episode. It could not be as simple as product advertising placement. This puppy entertainment must have other plans!

"Are you still lusting after my body?" Chai Pingzhi thought to himself again.

Then she asked: "Mr. Zhou, your company is willing to provide so much sponsorship fee, there should be other requirements, right?"

"Yes, we have additional conditions!" Zhou Rugui nodded and continued: "We hope that the four male protagonists of this TV series will become the brand spokespersons of Puppy Electric and sign a long-term contract of more than five years. "

"No problem!" Chai Pingzhi agreed directly without thinking, and then she said: "Mr. Zhou, you should have read the original comic, so you thought there were four male protagonists. But in fact, there are only two male protagonists. There aren’t many scenes between the two of them.”

"We want all four of them." Zhou Rugui said firmly.

"Okay, no problem, there are four of us!" Chai Pingzhi quickly agreed, fearing that the big benefactor would be unhappy.

"In addition, we need four male protagonists to cooperate with our brand promotion activities, no less than ten times a year!" Zhou Rugui continued.

"Okay." Chai Pingzhi agreed without hesitation, and then waited for Zhou Rugui to say the third point.

However, Zhou Rugui said nothing. So Chai Pingzhi asked: "Mr. Zhou, are these two requirements the only thing you need?"

"The product placement mentioned before is still necessary. What you mentioned is to let the actors use the product in the play, and there are advertising slogans in the lines. These are all required." Zhou Rugui said.

"That's natural. There will definitely be no shortage of these, and you will definitely be satisfied!" Chai Pingzhi quickly promised.

"Then we have no other requirements." Zhou Rugui replied.

"Is it that simple? Don't mention your health? You can also try to mention it. What if I agree?" Chai Pingzhi thought to himself again.

For Chai Pingzhi, Zhou Rugui's request was simply too easy!

Chai Pingzhi is f4's agent. Chai Pingzhi has the final say on what kind of contract f4 signs.

Moreover, F4 now has four amateur actors. For such unknown amateur actors, if they can get an advertising endorsement contract, they are already smoking from their ancestors' graves. How can they be picky about the length of the contract and the number of endorsement activities!

If Chai Pingzhi could realize how popular f4 would be in the future, he probably wouldn't agree to Zhou Rugui's two requests so easily.

In Chai Pingzhi's opinion, even if those four young men can become popular, to what extent can they become popular?

As TV drama actors, they can at most reach the level of Ma Jingtao and Lin Ruiyang. Both of them were once the most popular niche actors in Taiwan, which can be regarded as the ceiling for Taiwanese TV drama actors.

As a group, they can at most reach the level of the "Little Tigers", which was the top group in Taiwan in the early 1990s and was considered the ceiling of Taiwan's male singing groups at that time.

Ma Jingtao and the Little Tigers are probably the highest goal that Chai Pingzhi has set for f4.

From the perspective of future generations, this ceiling does not seem to be very high!

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