Generation Z Artists

Chapter 345 Admit your mistakes and correct them.

When the 10th episode of The Return of the Condor Heroes was broadcast in Japan and South Korea, Fang Xinghe finally received the guests from Guangdong TV and domestic TV stations.

"Mr. Fang, it's so difficult to get a meeting with you..."

The department head responsible for issuing him the phoenix badge probably had been sidelined for too long and had lost his mind; he came up with a rather sarcastic attitude right away.

"It has indeed been a long wait."

Fang Xinghe smiled apologetically, then suddenly turned serious.

"If you turn right when you go out now, it will be even harder for you to see me in the future."

“You…” The man was both angry and anxious, and his expression changed drastically.

Brother Fang showed him no mercy, interrupting with a sneer: "Who are you trying to act tough with? I can choose not to film TV dramas, so what? Do you have jurisdiction over the film bureau's approval documents?"

"Hey, hey, it's not that serious!" The director of the Capital TV station, who had come with them, quickly tried to ease the tension. "Director Chen didn't mean it that way, Director Fang, you're being too sensitive. We're all comrades on the united cultural front, we're practically family..."

Fang Xinghe stood with his hands behind his back, blocking the entrance to the hall and coldly observing the group. He neither invited them in nor asked them to sit down, but instead made them all bow slightly.

Even Director Chen, who had been so arrogant, was now sweating and at a loss for what to do.

Functionally, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SART) oversees dramas and television, while the Film Bureau oversees films; their powers are inherently limited.

In terms of rank, he was just a section chief in charge of the final bidding process. He had authority, but not enough to influence collective decisions.

Therefore, Fang Xinghe gives him face, so he is Director Chen; if Fang Xinghe doesn't give him face, he can't even get in the door.

"The term 'family' shouldn't be used carelessly. I don't have any family. We're just business partners, and it's not even certain whether it will work out."

Since he had already gone completely berserk, Fang Xinghe decided to go all out and continue increasing the intensity.

"I've made enough money in Japan and South Korea. I don't care where the TV broadcasting review for 'The Return of the Condor Heroes' is stuck or how long it will be stuck. In short, if it can't be broadcast before I go abroad, then 'The Return of the Condor Heroes' will not be broadcast in China. Everyone, please go back!"

Everyone was numb.

Damn it, cooperation is negotiated. We Chinese value harmony and making money. How can you do this, flipping the table without saying a word?

They tried to salvage the situation, but Fang Xinghe turned around and went back to his room, only to be suddenly blocked by several burly men...

The first meeting with Guotai ended unhappily.

However, not even the next day, that evening, the leaders of the Film Bureau and the president of the Beijing Film Academy, who had a good relationship with him, came to visit him and introduced a senior executive of the Broadcasting Corporation to Fang Xinghe.

"My subordinates are ignorant and have made a fool of themselves, Mr. Fang."

This is the leadership at the decision-making level, so they can't afford to lose their temper anymore. Thus, General Manager Fang also pulled a stunt.

"There are quite a few ignorant people in your bureau. They even want to control which channel I want to broadcast on. People who don't know better would think that Galaxy Pictures is a state-owned enterprise."

Principal Zhang had a splitting headache and wished he could sew the dead child's mouth shut.

But he couldn't; he could only coax her.

"Xiao Fang, your temper... is really unnecessary most of the time. Director Liu hasn't offended you, has he?"

Fang Xinghe replied unhurriedly, "Principal, why don't you guess why I've spent so much money on student aid, barely enjoying any of it myself?"

Director Wang from the Film Bureau immediately chimed in, "A heart full of sincere devotion!"

Fang Xinghe glanced at him with an inscrutable look, then waved his hand leisurely: "Don't portray me as so noble. I can't stand being wronged. I've spent most of my fortune just so I can offend people without restraint."

what? !

Confused face x3
This is complete nonsense, putting the cart before the horse. Who does charity just for this reason?
However, everyone understood Fang Xinghe's subtext—"My influence has reached this level; if I still can't offend people easily, then all that money has been wasted."
Director Liu is quite an interesting person. He nodded very seriously and agreed with Fang Xinghe's statement.

"Indeed, Xiao Fang, you are neither in the system nor a benefactor to any family, so you have more right to be willful than anyone else."

However, I don't think you're being willful.

"If we haven't done our job well and you make a few sarcastic remarks, that's not considered offending you; it's an internal problem—we haven't worked closely with our colleagues. I need to apologize to you."

This finally made Brother Fang feel comfortable.

He's like a donkey that's easily swayed; if you push him too hard, he'll stick to his own will. But if you go along with him, he'll be able to see the bigger picture.

"No, I can't accept a self-criticism. If you can remain calm, so can I. Let's talk about serious matters."

The four sat down again, chatted for a while, and the atmosphere gradually became more relaxed.

"So, where exactly is the Condor stuck?"

Fang Xinghe's question wasn't exactly what it seemed, and after a moment's hesitation, Director Liu finally gave a straightforward reply.

“Some colleagues in the bureau have concerns about your business model, believing that it will disrupt the overall situation, lead to systemic unfairness, and cause vicious competition among subordinates.”

"Next? All the major local TV stations, right?"

Fang Xinghe frowned and asked in return, "It's already extremely unbalanced. Economically strong provinces and peripheral provinces have never been fair to each other from the outset."

"really."

Director Liu did not rush to refute, but instead patiently communicated in a casual manner.

"Coastal provinces are economically developed, attracting a concentration of talent, which in turn leads to a high concentration of information."

As a result, provincial TV stations have superior funding, manpower, production capabilities, and reach compared to economically weaker provinces, naturally leading to higher viewership and market share.

The combined viewership ratings of Sichuan, Henan, and Shandong—all populous provinces—are still lower than those of Dragon TV, highlighting the stark imbalance in viewership.

but……"

Director Liu's expression turned serious.

"This is an imbalance allowed by market forces, and we must face it squarely and respect it."

As policymakers and administrators, we are very happy to encourage Inner Mongolia TV to produce programs with strong local cultural characteristics, but we will never allocate resources to support Inner Mongolia TV to compete with Dragon TV.

That's not what they should be doing, much less what we should be doing.

Every year, the state transfers funds to border provinces to provide economic assistance, but the development of cultural undertakings cannot be achieved through simple and crude transfers; culture is a different matter.

You understand the difference, right?

Fang Xinghe thought this deputy director was really something, his thinking was very... advanced.

"Correct."

He nodded readily.

"Station stations like Mongolian TV, Ningxia TV, and Xinjiang-Tibet TV can only rely on differentiated competition and are unlikely to survive in the mainstream news, drama, and variety show battles."

The simplest point is that without enough talent, even if the higher authorities give them a special fund of 10 billion yuan every year, they still cannot produce good dramas and programs.

Buying TV shows is simple, but simply buying shows doesn't guarantee overall engagement.

It's often said that Hunan TV made its fortune from Korean dramas, but outside of Korean dramas, Happy Camp, Day Day Up, Rose Date, Super Girl, Golden Eagle Star, Music Never Stops Concert, Entertainment News, and so on—which of these isn't a trendsetting innovation?
Attributing everything to imported Korean dramas is certainly biased.

Moreover, anyone can buy Korean dramas, so why is Hunan TV always the first to try it?

Fang Xinghe doesn't like many of the hosts on Hunan TV, but as a whole, Hunan TV does have a lot of substance.

"so."

Director Liu patiently led the discussion to the main topic.

"You want to give 'The Return of the Condor Heroes' to Jilin Provincial TV Station and Yunnan Provincial TV Station, but many colleagues in the bureau do not agree."

Because they didn't win through skill, but by sacrificing benefits, making huge concessions, and cheating. From my personal perspective, I don't care if someone occasionally cheats; China is a society based on personal connections, and such compromises can never be completely eliminated.

However, "The Return of the Condor Heroes" is different; its influence is simply too great.

If this precedent is set, and TV stations in economically poor provinces are willing to risk everything to get their hands on "The Return of the Condor Heroes," then the tacit understanding between different regions will surely vanish.

Originally, everyone was bidding to buy the drama series. Those with money would bid more, while those without money would contact two poor friends to bid together, each earning a smaller profit.

Although it's cruel, there are still rules.

But once everyone starts using the advertising revenue-sharing model, will there be any bottom line to this?

Today, Yunnan Province wants to give you 80% of its advertising revenue.

Tomorrow, once Xinjiang hears the news, they'll shout the slogan, "All the profits are yours; I don't want a single penny."

The day after tomorrow, Dragon TV will quietly approach you to discuss: We can only share the advertising revenue as usual, but I can give you other benefits in return.

Further developments—

You are the son of a leader, you have power; I am the foolish son of a businessman, I have money; he is a second-generation gangster, skilled at controlling little girls.

The three of us brothers can easily produce a TV series, bring in a few advertisers who 'voluntarily' sponsor it, film it, and then just throw it at the TV station. Whoever needs it can take a piece of the bill, and everyone's happy.

What kind of murky water will the Chinese TV drama industry become? Will it still be worth the smell?

Director Liu's voice grew deeper and deeper, his words carrying a heavy weight.

"President Fang, our country is not a capitalist society like Japan and South Korea. We cannot open the door for production companies to include their own advertising, at least not for the time being."

We have complete and absolute faith that you won't use this opportunity to engage in underhanded dealings, but we can't give other production companies this opportunity, allowing advertisers to control content production and distribution. That would be terrible, do you understand?

The right to produce and broadcast content—these four words get right to the heart of the matter.

Director Wang from the Film Bureau also chimed in, his words resolute.

"The production rights must be held by qualified professional production companies that are constantly subject to supervision and review, while the broadcasting rights must be controlled by the State Administration of Radio and Television. Ideally, sponsors should not have any influence. This is the only way to create a healthy ecosystem."

Actually, they were quite subtle in their statements, deliberately avoiding mentioning that they especially didn't want foreign advertisers to influence the production and broadcasting rights.

Recently, the global capital behind Fang Xinghe has been making a lot of noise, trying to push several major TV stations to broadcast The Return of the Condor Heroes.

This time, they really didn't have any bad intentions; they were just after the market.

But what about next time?

What happens when this pattern becomes the norm?

We can't gamble on the conscience of capital; we can only fight against the system.

Even when internet giants entered the market and completely controlled the production and broadcasting of online dramas, they did not allow sponsors to decide what to film and broadcast; they only gave them the freedom to choose which dramas to sponsor.

As for the review system that everyone is criticizing...

In fact, the most necessary thing is the censorship system. The censorship system in the United States is a hundred times stricter, and the censorship system in India has its own hierarchy.

Nowhere should or can content creators be given absolute freedom.

Spreading rumors like a cat or committing fraud like Sister Yu are already the mildest forms of harm.

Fang Xinghe fully understood Guang Zong's predicament in this matter and realized that his idea of ​​giving "The Condor Heroes" to Jiji and others was ill-considered.

In China, the practice of binding advertisers to pressure TV stations will not improve the industry or foster more high-quality content. On the contrary, it will likely lead to more shady dealings and unspoken rules, resulting in uncontrollable resource exchanges.

The essence of advertising revenue sharing actually touches on the red line of "not allowing local TV stations to freely distribute national interests".

Director Liu deliberately ignored this point, but Fang Xinghe realized it himself.

This is a breach we absolutely cannot make.

The model of broadcasting platforms using their own funds to purchase dramas is not advanced, but it is the most balanced approach.

Fang Xinghe is a frank person who admits his mistakes and won't stubbornly insist on making excuses for his pride.

"I understand. The matter of bundling ads with 'The Return of the Condor Heroes' is off. Please arrange for normal bidding."

"call……"

Director Liu, Director Wang, and Principal Zhang of Beijing Film Academy all breathed a sigh of relief.

Before they came, they were not sure what to expect.

"The Return of the Condor Heroes" is a drama that has to be broadcast. If it is not broadcast, the people will question it, become restless, and become angry. Fang Xinghe has that kind of influence.

"The Return of the Condor Heroes" is another drama that cannot be broadcast haphazardly. If it is bundled with a bunch of advertisements and aired on any channel, it will leave a mess.

Therefore, they were afraid that Fang Xinghe, being young and impetuous, would insist on pushing things forward.

To everyone's surprise, Fang Xinghe, the madman who dared to confront anyone to their face, was far more reasonable than expected.

The best outcome is when problems can be solved through communication.

"Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Fang. I didn't expect you to be so considerate. On behalf of all my colleagues in the bureau, I would like to express our sincerest gratitude to you..."

"No need for formalities, I am very grateful for your reminder, it's a great perspective, I've learned a lot."

Fang Xinghe waved his hand, smiled gently, his demeanor was serene and his smile as radiant as the Milky Way.

"This time I wanted to put some pressure on domestic TV stations, but my approach went a bit too far. Whoever is responsible should take the blame. I admit my mistake, and we'll deal with whatever happens next."

"it is good!"

Director Liu was very excited.

"If you have this kind of understanding and attitude, then the rumors and strange talk in the bureau will no longer be able to run rampant, and many comrades will be willing to be your friends and provide support for your cultural front..."

His explanation was very general and official.

But Principal Zhang later reminded him: "Director Liu meant that his faction was willing to help you withstand the internal pressure. We're all just doing our jobs, so it's hard to say whose method is right or wrong. Anyway, you'll have some insiders in the upper echelons of the company, which will make things much easier..."

So how exactly does this convenient method work?

Fang Xinghe quickly sensed it.

A director from CCTV-1 visited the company in a very polite manner and made a suggestion.

“We already have a drama airing during prime time here called ‘The Emperor Wu of Han’, but it will finish airing around New Year’s Eve. It will be replaced by the heartwarming New Year’s drama ‘Perfect’, which was originally scheduled to premiere on the third day of the Lunar New Year.”

If you don't mind that we can't offer a very high price for just one unit, then we are willing to allocate half of our time slot, starting from the first day of the Lunar New Year, to broadcast "The Return of the Condor Heroes" on our main broadcasting platform at around 8 PM every day..."

"Main platforms?" Fang Xinghe pressed sharply, "You can accept multiple broadcasts simultaneously?"

"Of course, as long as the local stations are willing to cooperate with our schedules and maintain the same broadcast frequency, I have no problem at all."

Brother Fang was slightly taken aback.

Since 2004, the State Administration of Radio and Television has implemented the "4+X" policy: a drama can be broadcast on a maximum of 4 satellite TV stations and multiple local channels during its first run, but these "4" are usually local satellite TV stations, excluding CCTV.

CCTV is currently at its most powerful, having never accepted the joint broadcast format before.

But in theory, it does seem feasible?
The goodwill reciprocated by the Broadcasting Corporation came so suddenly and swiftly, providing Fang Xinghe with the best time to broadcast on satellite, the best broadcast channel, and the best broadcast schedule.

What other drama deserves such favoritism?
The Condor Heroes is likely to create a miracle in the country.

(End of this chapter)