In September 2009, after a series of efforts, the first wave of income from "My Love from the Star" finally arrived.
The rest of the budget of the crew was kept unchanged and was reserved for publicity and distribution. The profits were recorded in another account and divided among each company. Blue Whale finally saw the first money after Wei Yang took over.
The number is pretty good, about 15 million. If the follow-up goes smoothly, there will be more than 12 million left, which should be all available before the end of the year.
The premise is that nothing unexpected happens!
The film and television industry has always had the problem of difficulty in getting money back. The film industry is okay. After all, the theater market is unified, and the money earned is the audience’s real money. Basically, after the film is released, it will be received at the box office 3 to 6 months ago.
Separate accounts.
As for other TV copyrights, overseas copyrights, commercial advertising, Internet copyrights, peripheral derivatives and other income, dividends will be distributed regularly according to a set cycle.
The TV drama industry, including later online dramas, is relatively more complicated because the platforms are not unified.
When you get the money and how much you can get depends on when the TV station and website give it.
Let’s not talk about online dramas and platforms for the moment. In the current TV drama market, distribution is still very particular.
The TV station will not pay you all the money at once. It will probably be divided into three stages: contract signing, delivery, and broadcast. Under normal circumstances, the balance will be settled 20 to 30 days after the TV series is broadcast.
Of course, this is only under normal circumstances. There are currently no more than 10 TV stations in China that can do this.
For most TV stations, it’s good if they can get 50% of the money back in a short period of time. The final payment may even be delayed until two to three years later.
There are even cases where some accounts are delayed until the end and cannot be understood.
Even if many film and television companies can sell their dramas, they still go bankrupt because they are tortured to death by arrears.
So why producers like to cooperate with big TV stations like Shanghai, Hunan, and Jiangsu Provinces? It’s because they give us money.
Many film and television companies would rather sell cheaper to major TV stations than choose second- and third-tier satellite TVs that pay higher prices. The reason is that the latter offer high prices, but they don’t know when the money will be given.
Weighing the pros and cons, regardless of whether you earn more or less, you must get the money first.
But having said that, this is a normal TV drama market, and some popular dramas can still avoid this situation.
After all, no matter how poor a provincial TV station is, it still has a budget of tens of millions to buy dramas. Plus advertising revenue, if it really goes out of its way to buy blockbusters, it is still willing to spend money.
"You Who Came from the Stars" is the most popular drama to be aired in the industry, and it is cooperating with two major TV stations in Hunan Province and Jiangsu Province, so there is no need to worry too much about the final payment.
On the contrary, the second and third wheels at the back have to murmur a bit.
Blue Whale still has unpaid debts for "The Best of Us" and "Orange in Huainan".
However, if the premiere data of "My Love from the Star" is really strong, it will be snatched up by various TV stations, the price will be raised, and the payment method will naturally be negotiated.
But this is all a matter of the future. Once the funds are received, Wei Yang finally doesn’t have to worry about Blue Whale being unable to survive and going bankrupt.
He can also withdraw his own money, plug some holes, and become debt-free (except for mortgage loans) and feel lighter...
At the same time, Wei Yang, who finally had money, could no longer hold back his ambition.
I want to start a career!
…
Blue Whale Conference Room
Wei Yang met with several company executives and talked about the company's next development.
The short-term focus is definitely "My Love from the Star", but we can't waste time working on one project.
In the past, Blue Whale had no money, so no matter how many ideas it had, it could only be held in its heart. Now that it finally has the confidence, it can start to make more efforts.
Currently, Blue Whale also has "This Is the First Time" in its hands. It is cooperating with Tang Dynasty. One party will provide funds for the script and participate in the production, and the other party will provide funds and lead the production, with a 50-50 split.
The investment for this drama is not high, and the full investment will not exceed 10 million. It is estimated that 7 to 8 million will be enough.
Each would pay half. Blue Whale could definitely afford the money, but Wei Yang didn't take it all directly.
"Boss Sun, wasn't he very interested in continuing to invest before? You can talk to him and ask him to contribute 3 million yuan, and we will give him 15% to 20% of the share."
This Boss Sun is one of the investors in "My Love from the Star" and is also a coal boss, but his scale is far less than that of Old Zheng and that Han Shao.
But Wei Yang likes him quite a lot. He gives money happily, doesn't like to mix things up, and doesn't know how to do it. It's your business how you operate it. In the end, all you have to do is make money for him.
Blue Whale's capital is small, and the risks in the film and television industry are high. Even if Wei Yang cheats, there is no guarantee that every project will be profitable.
Naturally, we need to recruit more people to share the risk!
For example, in the project "This is the First Time in My Life", Blue Whale provided a small share to directly meet most of the investment funds.
It's equivalent to spending the least money and making the most money. It's like going whoring for free.
Wei Yang is quite particular. He did some calculations and found out that he is the screenwriter of "This is the First Time in My Life", and the cast and plot are reasonable.
If everything goes well, Boss Sun will still make a profit if he gets 15-20% of the 3 million yuan.
Wei Yang's business principle is that investors can be "scammed", but they must make money.
If you make people make money, even if you make more, normal businessmen will think that you are capable, and even because you helped them make money, they can continue to cooperate next time.
Boss Sun may not know much about film and television, but he may not know that Blue Whale "prostituted" him for free.
But so what?
The project channel belongs to Wei Yang. He has the final say on how to divide the meat. If he can make money, it's over!
This was the case with "My Love from the Star". His investment ratio and the share he got were unfair, but Boss Sun saw the money back.
This is the first time he has made money after investing in three or four film crews, and according to Blue Whale's rough estimate, his final return on investment will be at least over 35%.
Such a high return on investment, with a cycle of less than one year, is definitely not comparable to loan sharking, but it is definitely worth more than depositing money in a bank, and the money earned is relatively clean.
For some coal bosses, the latter is more attractive than high rates of return...
If you want to make it big in the film and television industry, you can't do it without financial support. Relying on your own will be too slow and the risks are high.
For example, in the Tang Dynasty, Cai Yinong had a conservative personality and was particularly wary of capital. He was always used to solely producing his own products and operating them in a workshop style.
The advantage of doing this is that it is a dominant company, with a high degree of freedom and right to speak. The disadvantage is that all the funds are tied up in one movie, and the turnover cannot be expanded, and the business cannot be expanded. It is also extremely risky. Once one movie fails, the company will be hurt.
Move bones.
Wei Yang did not intend to imitate the Tang people, but he also did not intend to raise large amounts of money to attract foreign capital.
This money is easy to get, but the consequences are endless!
Although Cai Yinong of the Tang Dynasty is conservative, he does not understand the benefits of attracting external funds. The most important thing is that he is afraid of being kicked out, so he would rather not grow bigger than guard his hard work.
In the same way, if Wei Yang is allowed to engage in content creation and management of his own company, but he really doesn’t have much confidence in following the business methods of capitalists who eat people but don’t spit out their bones.
Wei Yang is also somewhat conservative at heart, but he doesn't want to follow in the footsteps of the Tang people, so he has been thinking about how to use external funds safely.
This not only allows the company to have money to grow and develop, but also prevents usurping power and maintaining its independence and right to speak.
Then the key is to select the sources of external funds and do as much as possible to only distribute money without decentralizing power.
It's hard to say for the future, but judging from the current market environment, Wei Yang feels that Coal Boss is a good partner.
Have money and don’t grab power!
If possible, Wei Yang will focus on the following targets to contact and win over, mainly the coal bosses and the local capital of Magic City. They have money, power, and connections, plus cooperation and mutual communication with some film and television companies around Magic City.
It's hard to say how to dominate the entertainment industry, but there is still hope of building a small mountain...
"This Is the First Time in My Life" is a collaboration with Tang Dynasty, and some of it has to be given to other investors. The profit is not much, and it is mainly about flattering people.
Another project that Wei Yang values more is the revenue focus.
That is "Hello, Old Time", one of Zhenhua's trilogy mentioned before.
The novel of this drama has been published. The creative background is somewhat different from the original time and space, but there are still many similarities.
Wei Yang once thought about writing it himself, but later found it too troublesome, so he simply bought the copyright, revised it, and made it the final song of the trilogy.
With the previous two works as a foundation, "Hello, Old Times" will definitely not worry about selling, and it will never be sold cheaply.
Coupled with the limited cost, the rate of return is very impressive. Wei Yang did not hesitate to let the blue whale eat alone.
The estimated cost is 10 million to 15 million. The female lead is Liu Shishi and the male lead is
Just like when Hu Ge was hired for "Orange in Huainan", the purpose of the project was to expose the film and raise the price. At least one of the male and female protagonists must be responsible for the publicity.
Now that "Hello, Old Time" has Liu Shishi, and coupled with the fame of the original work, the attention will definitely be enough, so there is no need to hire a very popular male protagonist, as the cost-effectiveness is not high, so it is better to use it to promote newcomers.
But whether Blue Whale will support it himself or offer it in exchange for benefits, Wei Yang hasn't figured it out yet.
The project "Hello, Old Time" was successfully launched without any obstacles.
When Wei Yang took over, many people thought he would make the Zhenhua trilogy first, but he risked his life and made My Love from the Star.
Now that Wei Yang has won the bet, Blue Whale's strength has soared, and it can handle this project with ease, adding strength to the company.
After "My Love from the Star", Blue Whale's team has grown a lot in all aspects.
Not to mention, having already had experience in the first two films, filming "Hello, Old Times" was a breeze.
Wei Yang also gave up the power for a rare moment. Director Liu Junjie and the producer will be responsible for assembling the crew. If the progress goes well, filming will start at the end of the year or early next year.
After talking about the two small-budget dramas, Wei Yang finally talked about today’s highlight, which is also the real core project of Blue Whale’s next step——
"East Palace"
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