I really don't want to be the top streamer anymore

Chapter 281 Xu Kong's New Script
"I think maybe Xu Kong really has some better ideas."

"After all, he is also a director, and he wrote the script himself. He should not be like some other senior executives who know nothing."

Although there were only four people sitting in a high-level meeting room of Fengge Film and Television Department, each of them could be said to be a distinguished figure.

After all, for Fengge, or the previous Fengge, to be able to get such a high-budget project, it requires personal ability and experience, as well as past business achievements as endorsement.

These few people are considered to be the directors with relatively high fame and status who did not choose to leave Fengge during this sudden change.

For example, the person who spoke just now is called Guo Jiayu. He has won two Best Director trophies in the three major television awards. Although it is not a Grand Slam, he has been nominated many times.

Even in the industry, they are all quite successful film and television directors.

I still have a certain say in Fengge.

The others are not so-called newcomers anymore.

So when he heard Xu Kong suddenly stop his new drama, he naturally couldn't be happy.

Feng Ge’s current situation is indeed something that no one wants to see.

But when it comes to your own new drama or movie, it’s another matter.

……

"I think he did it on purpose!"

"You think you are so great just because you made a movie. The box office is only 3 billion. If it was higher, wouldn't you be so proud?"

"When I was filming, this kid was playing in the mud..."

Compared with Guo Jiayu who maintained a relatively rational attitude, the other person in the meeting room had his dissatisfaction completely written on his face.

Duan Xuan is well-known in the circle for his bad temper and eccentric personality.

Even Fengge’s former senior executives didn’t want to provoke or offend the other party unless necessary.

The main thing is that although this guy has been a well-known film director for a long time, he still doesn't care about so-called decency at all.

As long as he is upset, no matter who it is, he will just curse at them.

The opponent's most famous record was that Duan Xuan scolded a movie emperor from Hong Kong City on the set.

In the end, the other party got angry and went on strike.

It was Feng Ge who cleaned up the mess and replaced the male lead, which allowed the film to be completed smoothly.

……

"Old Duan, stop talking!"

Su Meng, the only female director among the four, quickly spoke up to stop them.

After all, although Xu Kong became the vice president very suddenly, he is not just an empty title.

Holding power is one thing. Xu Kong is now the second largest shareholder of Fengge, which means he is one of the de facto bosses.

No one even mentions whether Xu Kong is a director himself, or whether the quality and achievements of his previous works can convince the audience.

For this reason alone, Xu Kong cannot be allowed to hear these words.

It's fine to complain behind someone's back, but it's definitely irrational to question them face to face.

……

As for the only person who didn't speak in the conference room at this time, it was Yao Guanyu, the youngest among them.

However, Yao Guanyu was a man of few words, and the other three were not very familiar with him, so they had already gotten used to it by now.

"But Xu Kong's suspension may only be temporary. After all, such a big thing happened in the company."

"I think our project will be able to start filming smoothly later, but..."

“Try to be prepared for budget cuts.”

Su Meng spoke lightly at this time.

In fact, the four people present knew very well that the budget of their new dramas was almost never less than 200 million.

They all require considerable investment.

If we change to the previous Fengge, it still requires several levels of review before the project can be successfully approved and filmed.

Not to mention the current situation, Feng Ge has experienced such a big change, it is normal to try to cut expenses.

……

Not long after she finished speaking, the door of the conference room was opened.

The first person to come in was Yan Rui, the current head of the Film and Television Department.

The one following behind was naturally Xu Kong.

No one's attention was on Yan Rui.

Although Yan Rui has always been the manager of the Film and Television Department, he is now the person with the highest position and power in the entire department.

But everyone has gotten used to it. In the previous film and television department, the decision-making power for any slightly more important matters was actually in Lu Hanwen's hands.

Now the other party followed Zhu Changyun.

Several people have not yet adapted to the fact that Yan Rui, who was originally a department manager doing odd jobs, has suddenly become the one in charge.

But in today's occasion, it is obvious that Yan Rui is not the protagonist.

If possible, he actually didn't want to come over.

Because Yan Rui himself knew that stopping the new dramas and movies of these directors would inevitably lead to a lot of conflicts on the scene.

However, his current position requires him to follow Xu Kong.

No matter what the final result is, the Film and Television Department needs to participate and coordinate throughout the process.

……

After experiencing this period of identity change, Xu Kong has gradually adapted to his role as vice president.

After coming in, he sat directly in the main meeting seat in the middle.

Then he began to look at the four directors present.

In the current entertainment industry, regardless of how famous they are, they are definitely successful directors in the secular sense.

There have also been some dramas or movies that Xu Kong thinks are of very high quality and were hits of the year.

But on the other hand, as far as he knew, although it was not clear, how many of the directors who stayed with Fengge rejected the olive branch that Zhu Changyun had extended at that time.

It was the kind that even Zhu Changyun was unwilling to take away.

The kind that has big problems in itself.

……

What is certain is that Duan Xuan, whose dissatisfaction is clearly written on his face at this moment, is most likely the one that Zhu Changyun does not want to take away.

Even Xu Kong had heard a little about the other party's bad temper.

When he gets really crazy, he's the type that doesn't care about anyone's face.

Most company executives will not like this kind of director, unless he is truly the best and irreplaceable in the country.

Obviously, Duan Xuan may have made a few movies with decent box office results, but he is still far from that level.

In addition, female director Su Meng is famous for shooting youth campus dramas. She has produced several hits during this period and was quite popular at the time.

But later on, because the routines became stereotyped and the novelty wore off, although the performance of subsequent dramas was barely acceptable, it can be said that it is difficult to replicate the glory of the past.

To sum up, the room for advancement and the value of training are very limited.

Another person, Guo Jiayu, is in a similar situation, perhaps because she has already achieved all the achievements and results she deserves in the field of TV dramas.

The current situation is that all subsequent dramas have a perfunctory tone.

It seems that as long as the investment is recovered, it will be fine.

It is said that he has always wanted to try to transform into making movies.

In addition to the fact that Fengge’s original senior management was not very supportive and unwilling to invest money, he himself had never been that determined.

In short, if he were Zhu Changyun, these three so-called senior and famous directors probably would not be very interested.

The only exception was Yao Guanyu, who was sitting in the corner and looked very inconspicuous, even making people wonder if he was just an ordinary staff member of Fengge.

Although the other party may not be as famous as the others.

But Xu Kong had actually watched several of the web dramas that the other party had filmed before.

They are all the type that have small investments, but have very distinctive scripts, casting, and other aspects.

Especially a certain low-budget online drama that was a big hit before. Thanks to the bet with Tudou, the return rate was frighteningly high.

It can be said that in Xu Kong's opinion, the other party is the most talented director among the few people and the one worth investing money to train.

Although the other three are only in their thirties or forties, Yao Guanyu is said to be only twenty-nine years old.

I don’t know whether Zhu Changyun looked down on him or he refused himself.

……

"I have taken the time to read the scripts of several new dramas and movies in the past few days."

Xu Kong didn't waste any words and went straight to the point.

Before a project is launched, the first thing to come out is definitely the script.

For the people present, as a director, they all have very high authority.

It's almost like the producer has no authority to interfere.

So even though the script was not written by them, in terms of the script and some details, they have the highest level of understanding of their new play.

"Oh, what do you think, Director Xu?"

Duan Xuan spoke in a sarcastic tone.

It can be seen that he was really dissatisfied with Xu Kong, especially because he stopped the filming of the movie which was about to start auditioning.

At the same time, maybe Xu Kong is really young, even though the popularity of "Sweet Honey" is still very high during this period.

At the same time, it achieved good box office results, but in Duan Xuan's eyes, Xu Kong was still a so-called junior in the industry.

So it is difficult to accept the other party pointing fingers in front of you.

……

However, Xu Kong was not polite to the other party.

He replied indifferently with four words:

“Not bad…”

After Xu Kong's words came out, the expressions of the people present obviously changed.

Su Meng originally thought that they should give each other some face.

Xu Kong's current identity, as well as the other party's colleagues, are indeed the most promising young directors in recent years, and even for a long time in the future.

Who knew Xu Kong would be so strong and direct right from the start.

"hehe!"

Duan Xuan sneered.

Obviously, he certainly did not agree with Xu Kong's evaluation.

The most important thing is that from the very beginning, he didn't think Xu Kong was qualified to comment on his film script.

Xu Kong seemed not to have heard the sneer at all and continued:
"To be honest with you teachers, based on the current situation, I will temporarily stop these projects."

Are there any particularly big problems with these people's scripts?

Of course not.

After all, they are all relatively mature directors.

In addition, the investment budget is not small, and the script must have been polished.

But in Xu Kong's opinion, these projects have certain shortcomings to a greater or lesser extent.

This also represents a commercial risk.

If it were Feng Ge before, there might not be any problem, and that risk was not unbearable.

But now, even though Song Fuquan said so, he has plenty of time to let Feng Ge start over.

But Xu Kong doesn't have that much patience.

What he likes more is Feng Ge's next few dramas, which at least have to become hits.

As for movies, they also need sufficient box office to stabilize the morale of the troops.

He didn't want to see that annoying guy Zhu Changyun being proud for too long.

If possible, Xu Kong even hopes to compete with the opponent Changyun Film and Television as soon as possible.

……

"Mr. Xu, let's not talk about the time and effort we put into our new drama and movie, but they have already been approved and even confirmed to be launched, and you stopped them with just one sentence..."

Su Meng protested with a serious expression.

From the tone and attitude of his speech, it can be seen that he is quite restrained.

As for the other side, Duan Xuan was not so good-tempered.

He stood up directly.

"Xu Kong, you are the boss of the company now, and Director Song is on your side. I can't beat you."

"Then I can go out and get investment myself, right?"

"It's as if without Feng Ge, no one would be willing to invest in my Duan Xuan's movie!"

Looking at Duan Xuan who left directly, Xu Kong did not stand up to stop him.

Although Manager Yan Rui was already very anxious at this time, he secretly pulled Xu Kong, hoping that he would keep the person.

However, Duan Xuan did not say anything absolute. He just said that he would raise investment instead of directly terminating the contract with Feng Ge.

Xu Kong had already anticipated this. This guy had a bad reputation due to his bad temper and various other reasons.

There is no guarantee that every movie will make a profit, so other companies will not be willing to take it.

In short, it is a business where the benefits and risks are completely disproportionate.

……

After Duan Xuanren had completely left the meeting room, Xu Kong spoke again:
“Anyone else want to attract investment on their own?”

He glanced back and forth at the three remaining directors present.

Seeing that no one spoke, Xu Kong spoke:
"If that's the case, then let's talk business."

Su Meng was indeed a little hesitant.

But she really didn't want to take such a big risk and offend Xu Kong, who was now the deputy general manager of Feng Ge who obviously held the real power.

In addition, she also had a hunch that Xu Kong obviously had other plans besides stopping their current project.

"Director Guo, as far as I know, you have always wanted to make a movie, right?"

Xu Kong first looked at Guo Jiayu. After seeing the other party hesitate for a while and nodded, he did not continue speaking, but turned to look at Su Meng beside him.

"Director Su, you have tried other types of dramas over the years, but the results don't seem to be very good. Are you going back to filming youth campus dramas this time?"

"This so-called budget of over 200 million, is the bulk of it going to be spent on the actors' salaries?"

“This is not cost-effective…”

Su Meng was stunned for a moment, but there was nothing she could refute, so she just nodded.

There is no other way. As Xu Kong said, youth campus dramas are mostly made with the risk of a small investment for a big gain. They simply hire first-tier actors who are already popular and have become a hot topic. Their pay even far exceeds the cost of filming and production.

It would be fine if the drama becomes a hit, but if it fails to meet expectations, losses are certain.

The price-performance ratio is indeed not very high.

But there is no way, youth campus films are already her comfort zone.

The only thing that can be improved is the cast.

After all, it is impossible that a director who has already made several hit films can only get a small budget. It is a bit unreasonable and quite embarrassing in front of her peers.

……

"Please take a close look at these two scripts first."

After saying this, without waiting for their reaction, Xu Kong suddenly took out two scripts.

This made Guo Jiayu and Su Meng both stare blankly.

But then he took it subconsciously.

……

(End of this chapter)