Zhao Liying was a bit dazed.
But soon, she discussed the current situation of the Entertainment Circle with Chen Pingsheng.
Leaving movies aside, the situation in the television circle is closely related to the current internet landscape.
Currently, the three giants of the internet are all vying for mobile traffic, and mobile video has become a battleground for these three powers.
Tencent invested in Tencent Video, Alibaba acquired Youku, and Baidu is supporting iQiyi.
The video websites supported by these three giants have also become the main force for investment in the television circle.
In the past, TV dramas primarily made money by selling to TV stations, and TV stations made money through advertising.
It's worth mentioning that TV stations cannot afford to do too much losing business.
In other words, they wouldn't spend too much on purchasing TV dramas.
However, the three video websites supported by BTA are different; internet platforms are used to spending heavily.
For them, as long as they can crush the other two, losing tens or even hundreds of billions a year is a minor issue.
It wouldn't hurt them at all.
After all, BTA is truly wealthy.
This led to TV dramas getting longer and longer starting from 2010.
Furthermore, the salaries of those traffic stars also kept increasing.
Some female celebrities with absolutely no acting skills could even shamelessly claim, "I'm worth ninety million."
The main reason behind this is still the competition between BTA.
They raised the salaries of traffic stars and simultaneously propped them up.
As for the so-called traffic stars, most of them fabricate data.
Things like having hundreds of millions of fans at the drop of a hat, or getting hundreds of millions of retweets for a Weibo post.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is done to create a false impression of massive popularity.
The purpose behind it is simply to inflate their value, endorsements, salaries, etc.
From 2000 to 2010, TV dramas during that period were mainly around twenty episodes.
Thirty episodes was considered quite long.
Nowadays, TV dramas often start at forty episodes, and fifty episodes is considered short.
Sixty episodes is basic, and seventy episodes is the standard.
Compared to the TV dramas from before, the current ones are undoubtedly much more padded.
The middle tens of episodes are often just filler, completely lacking substance.
These people shoot them just to sell for more money.
This was completely unthinkable before, as TV stations wouldn't be foolish enough to pay for these padded dramas.
It's worth noting that TV dramas are priced by episode count, and so are actors' salaries.
Zhao Liying explained, "Chen Ge, the TV circle has had this problem for the past two years. Most viewers actually complain about it, but there's nothing they can do. After all, they can't change capital, nor can they change BTA's competition."
To put it bluntly, if it weren't for BTA's competition in mobile video, the TV circle definitely wouldn't have seen the chaos of traffic dominating for so many years.
What's damaged behind this is actually the audience who enjoys watching TV dramas.
Chen Pingsheng nodded, "You mean to say, if we can change this phenomenon, our company will become hugely popular?"
"Definitely. Focusing on quality is the path to long-term survival."
Zhao Liying gave him another example, explaining that Korean style has been very popular in recent years.
South Korea's film and television industry is also famous globally.
While there are reasons related to censorship and subject matter restrictions, the key is how they film TV dramas in South Korea.
The screenwriter is paramount. To ensure the core quality of the TV drama, the screenwriter can not only choose actors freely.
They can even directly replace the director, a power completely unimaginable in China.
In China, when filming, the investor has the greatest power.
Even if they know nothing, they can arbitrarily appoint the female lead.
What's even more exaggerated is that these actresses, once on set, can casually instruct the screenwriter to change the script.
This results in the screenwriter being completely unable to guarantee the script's integrity and quality.
After all, their power on set is the smallest.
A good script is often changed beyond recognition midway because of actors supported by capital.
Chen Pingsheng also invested in two TV dramas, although they were both low-budget.
The best part is that he never participates in scriptwriting, which is very rare.
Zhao Liying was also reminding him that to film a truly good TV drama, the screenwriter's position is crucial.
It even truly determines the fate of the drama.
This is also why screenwriters in South Korea have such great power, and why their TV dramas are genuinely good.
If you compare dramas from China with those from South Korea, you'll see just how big the gap is.
Their dramas are usually ten to twenty episodes long.
Every episode has exciting points. It's different in China.
Often, only the first few episodes are good, and the middle is all filler.
Later on, various unimportant supporting characters start stealing scenes.
They truly manage to force-feed viewers garbage.
Chen Pingsheng chatted with her for a morning and managed to get a rough idea of the current situation in the drama circle.
He also roughly had a direction in mind.
"After Lu Zhen finishes filming, do you have any next plans!"
"Of course I do."
Zhao Liying said, "Current ancient costume fantasy dramas are the most popular. I saw a novel online that mainly tells the story of a forbidden love between a master and disciple. The story is very moving, and I feel that if this could be filmed faithfully to the original, it would definitely be very appealing."
"Is there a novel title? I'll take a look."
"Yes, it's called the journey of flower."
Chen Pingsheng nodded. After taking the book from her, he planned to use his golden finger to test it.
It's worth mentioning that his Entertainment Circle investment analysis function has certain limitations.
He can probably only use it once a day, and there's an old saying about investing in TV dramas: nine out of ten investments lose money.
Truly good TV dramas are definitely scarce resources.
Every time he uses it, it can be said to be quite valuable.
"Target Analysis: the journey of flower."
"Target Analysis in progress: Please wait."
After one second, two seconds, three seconds passed.
A golden panel reappeared before him.
"Target Analysis complete."
"Drama Title: the journey of flower."
"Filming Period: One year."
"Total Investment: One hundred million."
"Return on Investment: 1000%, no upper limit, super hit."
???
This is a damn super lucky general.
What kind of god-like eye for picking dramas is this?
One thousand percent, that's a ten-fold return on investment.
And what's even more crucial are the labels "no upper limit" and "super hit" afterwards.
Aren't these two words very significant?
Can it propel her to the status of a first-tier actress in one go?
Like Yang Dami?
Can it also directly elevate Tengying Group to a first-rate entertainment company?
Chen Pingsheng didn't doubt for a moment that the journey of flower could very likely achieve everything mentioned above.
What is a super hit?
The 1986 Journey to the West, the 1998 My Fair Princess, followed by Kangxi Dynasty, Drawing Sword, Chinese Paladin, etc.
This kind of work that is unsurpassed in a certain field can be called a super hit.
He just founded Tengying Entertainment, and immediately has a chance to invest in a super hit drama.
What kind of luck is this?
No, I need to calm down.
Don't just die in one breath.