Deceiving Chinese Entertainment Industry for Thirty Years 30

Chapter 30: A 5 Million Deal is Done! Let’s Talk 10 Million Next!

January 21, 2025

Chapter 30: A 5 Million Deal is Done! Let’s Talk 10 Million Next!

“To secure a filming schedule for a movie, I’m under a lot of pressure, and my superiors are under a lot of pressure too. In short, that film is really difficult to manage…”

“Is this all you need Wu Ge (Fifth Brother) to know?”

“Also, we have a strong competitor now, a film called *Qin Song*.”

“Okay.”

“How you convey this is your business.”

“I understand.”

Ma Xun and Ye Quan Zhen had almost finished discussing the matters concerning *The Return of the Pearl*.

But let’s not forget that Ye Quan Zhen is still undercover.

Relaying this information to Long Wu (Dragon Five) is extremely important.

So, what about other things?

Ye Quan Zhen said shyly, “You will definitely become my Sixth Prince, but…”

Before she could finish, Ma Xun interrupted, “The top priority now is *The Return of the Pearl*. You must secure He Xiujing.”

Ye Quan Zhen was grateful and nodded heavily.

“Please rest assured, Your Highness!”

…

Ma Xun wasn’t in a hurry, of course.

He could see that Ye Quan Zhen still had some minor obstacles in her heart.

Anyway, there’s plenty of time.

The current focus is on making money.

This era is truly amazing!

Ma Xun didn’t want to waste a single second.

And the money-making point of this “talent show” lies in four words:

Insert advertisements.

Simply put, these are commercials inserted before or after a television drama, or within it.

And these advertisements are often not from the television station.

They are from the production company itself.

This model is more common in local television stations.

Ma Xun is using this model because it’s Hunan Television Channel 2.

Often, in television dramas with inserted advertisements,

the drama itself is free or very cheap, and the production company earns money from these advertisements.

Of course, all of this needs to be negotiated before filming begins.

These days, there are many restrictions on filming movies and television dramas.

To make a movie, you have to negotiate with state-owned film studios; the industry calls it “buying the studio logo.”

To make a television drama, you have to negotiate with the television station, because only the television station has the right to produce television dramas.

The good news is, since negotiations are possible,

then all kinds of cooperation models can be discussed.

Ma Xun remembered that there was a big shot in the private television drama circle in mainland China at the time.

His name was Deng Jianjian.

This guy became famous later for his big mouth, and his methods of attracting attention were considered despicable.

Okay, extremely despicable.

But, he was indeed a big shot in the circle at the time.

In his most glorious year, he sold over 100 million yuan in inserted advertisements alone.

Hmm?

Wait a minute.

Ma Xun suddenly thought of a problem.

This Deng Jianjian guy should only rise to prominence next year, because of the drama *Kangxi’s Secret Visit*.

Without this drama, he wouldn’t have risen.

And he was able to sell over 100 million yuan worth of inserted advertisements.

The method was simple: he sold them to television stations at low or even ultra-low prices.

And I… I’m giving them away for free!

Unintentionally, I’ve become the pioneer!

No wonder Ye Quan Zhen didn’t understand at first.

Free is the most expensive; this concept didn’t exist at the time!

Even with the example of Hasbro, it hasn’t been done in China yet!

Ma Xun couldn’t help but laugh at this thought.

It turns out it’s because I’m too ahead of my time and misunderstood.

But this also means that I can dominate this era!

Of course, this is just a small-scale talent show.

The cost won’t be too high.

Speaking of this talent show… Ma Xun couldn’t help but think of Bingbing.

Will she still get the Jin Suo role?

Forget it, why am I thinking about this now.

This talent show will most likely launch next year, but that doesn’t stop me from selling it now.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a normal practice in later times.

It’s called soliciting investment.

Ma Xun wanted to call Sun Donghai, but unexpectedly, the guy called first.

“Brother, CCTV has responded! Haha… much faster than expected! You guessed it all right!”

…

CCTV.

Two men walked out of the building.

But one of them was clearly very excited.

“Brother! Wow! Wow! 5 million! I haven’t made this much money in years doing my clothing business!”

Sun Donghai was so happy that he revealed all his secrets.

It’s understandable; in the clothing business, you essentially reinvest any profits into inventory.

Ma Xun rolled his eyes at Sun Donghai. “Look at you, you country bumpkin!”

Then he said, “This is just the beginning; we still have many Hong Kong film copyrights.”

Sun Donghai, now overjoyed, felt even more that his brother had foresight.

“That’s right! No wonder you acquired so many copyrights back then. Brother, you’re amazing!”

Then, it was time to talk about the next matter.

“Brother, I’ve found another channel.”

“What channel?”

“Do you know about Qiong Yao dramas?”

“Of course I do! Who doesn’t know about Qiong Yao dramas these days? Wait… no way, you want to make a Qiong Yao drama? I can’t do that; those things are so slow, I’d have to tell them to turn off the TV when I go to the toilet, otherwise, I won’t even be able to poop.”

“Wow! You are unbelievable!”

Sun Donghai burst into laughter; he was too happy, saying whatever came to mind.

Luckily, Ma Xun had serious business to discuss.

“Of course, we aren’t producing it, and I won’t produce it. I found out they might be holding a small event before filming the drama. A talent show, you know?”

“Oh, I’ve heard of it.”

“It’s a talent show to select actors, but their side is still studying this project; I got the news ahead of time…”

Before he finished, Sun Donghai gave a thumbs-up, “Amazing!”

This guy had no idea that this project was entirely Ma Xun’s creation.

And there wasn’t even a shadow of it yet.

But Ma Xun did say, “They’re still studying it.”

It wasn’t a lie, at most it was a bit of a bluff.

So, next…

“You know, they’re producing television dramas, this kind of program will most likely be outsourced, but they’ll let us handle the inserted advertisements, and the television station that will air it…”

“Brother, I get it!” Sun Donghai answered again, “Is this it? I earn money from the advertisements, and the television station that airs it should be Hunan Channel 2. Now, we need to spread this news!”

Hey, you’re right, this guy is really quick on the uptake!

Ma Xun said with a look of “You’re learning fast,” “Good, who do you think we should release the news to?”

Sun Donghai was extremely happy, “Bai Daqing!”

Ma Xun nodded, correct answer, a thumbs-up as a reward.

But he’s been guiding him all along.

He wants the news to be released to Bai Daqing, this guy dared to handle our previous advertisements.

Now this advertisement is even bigger, let’s see his capabilities.

After releasing the news…

“This is a program similar to a variety show, let’s calculate the production cost based on three to four episodes, inviting some celebrities, the minimum cost would be 10 million yuan. And this is Hunan Channel 2.”

He’s still guiding Sun Donghai.

This guy did understand.

“At least 15 million yuan to be eligible to participate in this project!” This guy has learned how to inflate prices.

Ma Xun was slightly helpless, but still nodded, “12 million is about right, don’t set the bar too high.”

Sun Donghai laughed.

It’s just about inflating the costs.

“Good brother! We’re doing tens of millions of yuan deals now, amazing!”

Seeing this guy getting carried away, Ma Xun had to pull him back.

“You must make it clear that this project is not yet certain, it’s just an intention. If it doesn’t work out in the future, don’t blame me.”

The more he said this, the more Sun Donghai thought this project was reliable.

He immediately agreed with a burst of laughter.

As for this tens of millions of yuan deal, it’s not unreliable.

Many people may not understand the actual situation of Hunan Television at the time.

In short, Channel 2 is really powerful.

In China, there’s a very classic, long-lasting, and endlessly criticized program:

*Happy Camp*!

Few people know that this program was created to compete with Channel 2’s program called *Lucky 3721*.

It’s true.

You can see how high Channel 2’s ratings were at the time.

Many people cursed that station director Ouyang.

He probably had many bad things going on.

But Ma Xun knew that this person received the “highest praise.”

Normal retirement.

Only those who truly understand the system and the entertainment industry can understand the weight of these four words.

Let’s put it this way, how many high-ranking officials dream of this!

Getting back to the point, on such a high-rating local station, if I create a variety show, the inserted advertisements are guaranteed to be at least 10 million yuan.

Where is that expensive?

Cosplaying Li Jiaqi again…

Actually, this variety show is just the beginning.

Ma Xun has his eyes on the big fish, *The Return of the Pearl*.

Although there’s no progress yet, if Ma Xun gets his hands on it,

a 10 million yuan deal is nothing.

In short, let’s just bluff our way through.

Thank you all for your monthly tickets, thank you for your recommendations, collections, comments, and follow-up reading, thank you, thank you!

Please follow-up read, please do everything, sincerely thank you! Please!

(End of Chapter)

Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter