Reaching the age of thirty, my income randomly doubled

However, she quickly discussed the current entertainment industry situation with Chen Pingsheng.

Let’s not talk about movies; the situation in the television industry is mainly related to the current internet.

At present, the three internet giants are all trying to grab mobile traffic, and mobile video has thus become a fiercely contested battleground for these three titans.

Penguin has invested in Penguin Video, Alibaba has acquired Youku, and Baidu is supporting iQIYI.

The video websites supported by these titans have also become the main forces in television investment.

Television dramas used to make money by being sold to TV stations, which in turn made money from advertising.

It’s worth mentioning that TV stations can’t afford to do too many loss-making deals.

That is to say, they won’t spend too much on acquiring television dramas.

However, the three video websites supported by BTA are different; internet platforms are accustomed to using money as their weapon.

For them, if they can just kill off the other two, losing tens or even hundreds of billions a year is a trivial matter.

It won’t hurt their core at all.

After all, BTA really is rich.

This has led to TV dramas getting longer and longer since 2010.

And the salaries of those traffic stars are getting higher and higher.

There’s even talentless actresses who can brazenly claim they’re worth ninety million.

The main reason behind this is still the competition among BTA.

That is, they inflate the salaries of traffic stars while also boosting their fame.

As for the so-called traffic stars, most of them are involved in data falsification.

Like having over a hundred million fans, and posts being shared over a hundred million times.

To those with discerning eyes, it’s evidently just a way to create a false phenomenon of explosive popularity.

The underlying purpose is nothing more than inflating their value for endorsements and salaries.

From 2000 to 2010, that period’s television dramas mainly hovered around twenty episodes.

Thirty episodes was considered long.

But now, TV dramas typically start at forty episodes, and fifty is considered few.

Sixty is the base, and seventy is the standard.

Compared to those earlier TV dramas, today’s are undoubtedly much more watered-down.

Tens of episodes in the middle are often just for show, devoid of any substance.

These people produce them just to make more money.

This was absolutely unthinkable before, given that TV stations wouldn’t be foolish enough to pay for these filler-heavy dramas.

It’s worth mentioning that TV dramas are priced by the number of episodes, and so are the actors’ salaries.

Zhao Liying explained, “Chen, these past two years, this kind of malpractice has been prevalent in the TV circle. In fact, most of the audience have been complaining, but they’re powerless to change anything, because they can’t change the capital or the competition from BTA.”

If it weren’t for BTA’s competition in the mobile video sector, the TV circle wouldn’t have fallen into such chaos of traffic ruling over many years.

The ones suffering behind all this are actually those who like to watch TV dramas.

Chen Pingsheng nodded, “You mean to say, if we can change this phenomenon, then our company could explode in popularity?”

“Definitely. Focusing on quality is the way to a long-lasting business.”

Zhao Liying then gave him an example to illustrate this point, talking about the recent popularity of Korean trends.

The film and television industry in Kimchi Country is also famously known worldwide.

While there are reasons like censorship and theme restrictions, the key is that, in Kimchi Country, scriptwriters come first.

To ensure the core quality of TV dramas, scriptwriters there can not only pick actors at will.

They can also switch directors; such power is unimaginable in China.

In China, investors wield the greatest power when shooting a drama.

Even if they are completely clueless, they can still arbitrarily decide the lead actress.

What’s more exaggerated is that these actresses can even arbitrarily direct the scriptwriters to change the script on the set.

This leads to scriptwriters being utterly unable to guarantee the completeness and quality of the script.

After all, on the set, they have the least power.

A good script can often be completely changed midway due to an actor supported by capital.

Chen Pingsheng has also invested in two TV dramas, though both were low-budget.

The best part is that he never gets involved in script writing, which is really rare.

Zhao Liying was also reminding him that to produce a truly good TV drama, the role of the editor is crucial.

It even decides the fate of the drama going forward.

That’s the reason why editors in Kimchi Country have so much power, and why their dramas are actually good.

If you compare domestic dramas with those from Kimchi Country, you’ll see just how big the gap is.

Theirs typically have just a dozen or twenty episodes.

Each episode has its exciting moments, unlike the domestic ones.

At home, they tend to be interesting only in the first few episodes; the middle is just filler.

Towards the end, various unimportant side characters start to steal the show.

It’s like they’re force-feeding the audience crap.

Chen Pingsheng talked with her all morning and had a rough idea of the current situation in the drama circle.

He also had a direction in mind.

“After Lu Zhen finishes, do you have any plans for the next step?”

“Of course, I do.”

Zhao Liying said, “Ancient romance and fantasy dramas are the hottest right now. I found a novel online. It’s mainly about a forbidden love between a master and an apprentice. The story is very touching. I feel if we can faithfully adapt it, it will definitely be very attractive.”

“Do you have the name of the novel? Let me take a look.”

“Yes, it’s called Hua Qiangu.”

Chen Pingsheng nodded, took the book from her, and planned to test it with his Golden Finger.

It’s worth mentioning that there are certain limitations to his investment analysis function for the entertainment industry.

It can be used only once a day, and there’s an old saying about investing in TV dramas: nine out of ten investments fail.

Really good TV dramas are definitely scarce resources.

Every time he used it, it was quite precious.

“Target analysis: Hua Qiangu.”

“Analyzing target: please wait.”

After one second, two seconds, three seconds passed.

A golden panel appeared in front of him again.

“Target analysis complete.”

“Drama title: Hua Qiangu.”

“Filming period: one year.”

“Total investment: one hundred million.”

“Investment return: 1000%, no cap, super hit.”

???

This is the luck of a super fortune soldier.

What kind of divine drama selection is this?

One thousand percent, that’s a tenfold return on investment.

And even more crucial is the ‘no cap, super hit’ part.

Those two phrases are really something, right?

Could it catapult her to the status of a first-tier actress?

Like Yang Dami?

Could it bring Tengying right to the top tier of entertainment companies?

Chen Pingsheng didn’t doubt for a second that Hua Qiangu could achieve all of the above.

What’s considered a super hit?

Journey to the West from ’86, My Fair Princess from ’98, followed by Kangxi Dynasty, Drawing Sword, Chinese Paladin, and so on.

Those that can’t be surpassed in their field, that’s what you call a super hit.

He had just established Tengying Entertainment and now he might have the chance to invest in a super hit drama.

What kind of luck is that?

No, I need to take a moment.

I can’t just rush this.