Chapter 578: Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace and Boss Wei's New Work
After returning to Shanghai, Boss Wei said that the promotion of "Day and Night" has not started yet, and then he dealt with some work.
One of them was the copyright issue of "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" reported by Orange Shell.
This has been a problem for several months.
When "The Legend of Zhen Huan" was popular, the author Liu Lianzi took advantage of the opportunity to make a "The Legend of Ruyi" in the Harem.
In order to have the copyright, she did not even serialize it on the website, but chose to publish it in physical form, so she was targeted by Boss Wei.
At that time, although "The Legend of Zhen Huan" was popular, it was not yet at the level of being enshrined.
"The Legend of Ruyi" was a new book that had just been published, and Boss Wei was also an expert in online literature adaptation at the time, and the price was the highest market price at the time, so he easily won the copyright.
Then, there was no news about the film and television version of "The Legend of Ruyi".
Although Liu Lianzi felt it was a pity, she was not too upset. After all, online IPs are very popular nowadays, and there are too many online literature and novel copyrights that have been hoarded.
But Boss Wei didn't want to shoot the show, but some people were jealous of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" and kept eyeing the project.
There were quite a few people, including the previous Fan Xiaopang, who had ideas, but the most active one was Xinli.
They directly found Liu Lianzi and asked her to be the screenwriter herself and finish the script of "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace".
But even though the script was finished, the copyright was still in the Orange Shell Culture Company under Wei Yang's name.
Whether it can be filmed or not, Boss Wei must agree and pay a considerable copyright transfer fee.
This money cannot be saved, even if the name is changed, "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" becomes "The Legend of Qingying", or if there is a dog meat under the guise of sheep, the story background is moved to the Ming Dynasty and a new script is rewritten.
This is simply not taking copyright law seriously, and one lawsuit will be successful.
And even if you play smart and succeed in skirting the rules, this trick can at most bully small companies or outsiders, and finally pay some money.
It's blind to provoke a media tycoon like Wei Yang. If you don't kill this show, Boss Wei will have no chance in the future.
So New Classics would not do such a stupid thing. If they wanted to do it, the author would not have to take risks with you.
Unless you spend a lot of money, it would be better to buy the copyright directly.
The most important thing is that Wei Yang did not intend to hold on to "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace". The main reason for the failure was that the conditions could not be agreed.
This is actually a very happy situation for New Classics. What he fears most is that Wei Yang wants to shoot "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace". There is no way to do it, but Wei Yang is willing to sell it, then it's simple, everyone can slowly bargain.
Wei Yang is not clear about the specific situation, and this level of project is not enough for him to ask about the details.
Orange Shell asked him for instructions. Wei Yang thought it could be sold, but this project was promising, and they could find ways to make more money. The rest is up to Orange Shell.
Until today, Orange Shell thought it was good to get this condition, so it came to report to Boss Wei.
Wei Yang agreed and implemented it.
If Wei Yang disagrees, then continue to talk, or just forget it.
Then Boss Wei realized that Orange Shell had pushed New Classics hard enough and made a lot of money.
Not only did they offer the highest copyright transfer fee in the industry, but they also gave Blue Whale a 15-20% investment share.
PPTV can even be considered as one of the broadcasting platforms, which is also the key to the main negotiations between the two parties.
Xinli is not short of money. This project has at least hundreds of millions of capital. It is within the affordability of taking a few tens of millions to buy copyrights. It doesn't matter if some investment shares are transferred to Blue Whale. They can't afford it alone. Blue Whale has always had a good reputation and is a good partner.
But it is more troublesome for PPTV to get involved and even become the broadcasting platform of "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace".
Xinli doesn't care, but there is a penguin in it.
Penguin and Xinli are very close, and it is said that they have invested in it. "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" is a project that Penguin has taken a fancy to, and they have also made a lot of efforts during the period. It is regarded as a meal on the plate, and PPTV will not be allowed to grab it.
And Orange Shell didn't know how to understand the instructions of Boss Wei, thinking that "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" has a good prospect, and PPTV, as its own platform, must benefit from it.
So it is very domineering, and the money must be given, and the investment share must be given. The platform also wants to share a share of the popularity of "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace".
Orange Shell is relaxed. If it can sell, that's the best. If it can't, forget it. There is no shortage of buyers for Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace. At worst, they can just shoot it themselves.
Xinli and Penguin are a little passive. They could have gone there last time, but all the preparations for this project were gone.
And seeing that the palace fighting themes such as Zhen Huan and this year's Strategy of the Palace are so popular, they are really envious of Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace, so they finally gave in.
Boss Wei felt a little scalp numb when he saw this contract. The person in charge of the negotiation is a talent.
He is really good at bargaining. It's a pity to let Orange Shell go. He should be promoted to Blue Whale or other major companies to maximize his strengths.
However, his wonderful performance has put Boss Wei on the stage.
From the beginning to the end, he just wanted to sell more money for the copyright of Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace and get some investment shares.
Although the price of Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace may not break the historical record with Wei Yang in his life, the price is definitely very attractive. He can take the opportunity to earn some pocket money and buy a few villas to store milk powder for his son.
But if PPTV spends a lot of money to get Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace, wouldn't he be a big sucker?
Boss Wei clearly remembers that the performance of Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace was not as good as expected now. It had a luxurious lineup, but it flopped silently.
Even the performance and reputation were beaten by the dead girl's "Story of Yanxi Palace" which was filmed to gain popularity.
What's more terrible is that the drama was later ordered to be removed from the shelves for tampering with history. A few years later, it was brought up by netizens for too many complaints, and even Zhou Gongzi, who had been in the limelight for decades, fell from the altar.
This kind of loss-making business, just losing some money is fine.
PPTV is not his company alone, and the money the company lost by buying this drama may not be more than what he earned from investing in "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace", after all, there are still advertisements to consider.
But Boss Wei can't afford to lose this person. He has always been known for his shrewdness. He also took advantage of this negotiation. At the last minute, he turned over. Isn't it a case of being too smart for one's own good?
"Forget about the platform broadcasting rights, strive for some investment ratios, convert the copyright fees into investment, and then add a few actors."
Wei Yang quickly gave instructions. I believe that Xinli and Penguin know that PPTV will not compete for "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" and are willing to further retreat in terms of investment amount.
But this seems a bit abnormal, even the person in charge of Orange Shell doesn't quite understand what Boss Wei means.
Wei Yang didn't want to explain too much, so he found a barely acceptable excuse.
"I took a rough look at the script and I'm not very satisfied, but the project looks like it will sell well."
The person in charge of Orange Shell is also a veteran in the industry, and he understood it immediately.
"Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" looks good on the outside and can be sold at a high price, so it's worth investing in, but it's not good on the inside, and the chance of becoming a hit is low, so it's not worth buying and broadcasting.
To put it bluntly, these are two perspectives, one is the film company, and the other is the platform company. The former makes money, and the latter loses money.
Because Boss Wei has been "producing and selling by himself" in recent years, everyone has gradually begun to use PPTV as the main perspective, and is more inclined to consider the platform side.
In fact, simply investing in film and television and making a quick buck is the old business of several companies under Wei Yang.
"I understand."
The person in charge didn't ask Boss Wei why he didn't think highly of "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace". Most of the people in his film and television companies have blind confidence in Boss Wei.
If Wei Yang says he is not optimistic, then there must be something wrong. Just follow Boss Wei's instructions.
"After the project is negotiated, you can find someone from Jade Shrimp to follow up, and forget about Blue Whale."
"Okay."
The person in charge responded again, and his evaluation of "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" was even lower.
Boss Wei did not let Blue Whale get involved, but let Jade Shrimp, a black glove that is purely for money, and Orange Shell, which is responsible for the copyright, come out. He is not optimistic about this drama.
You know, in recent years, as Blue Whale's name has become more and more famous, its own scale has become larger and larger, and it has participated in more and more projects, and the investment threshold has begun to lower.
No longer blindly pursuing high standards of quality like in the past, projects that are passable can be invested.
But bad movies will never be touched. They are basically Jade Shrimp or other shell companies. Pure film and television investment does not affect Boss Wei and Blue Whale.
"Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" let Jade Shrimp come out, which is a bit equivalent to a bad movie. Is this sequel to "The Legend of Zhen Huan" really that bad?
It really is!
After Cheng Beike left, Wei Yang took out the script that was held in his hands, took a rough look, and couldn't help shaking his head.
Many people say that the reason why "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" is bad is because the author is the screenwriter, which is a bit biased.
Liu Lianzi is still good. Many of the plots and lines of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" were written by her.
But sometimes when an author creates alone, it is easy to be self-indulgent, so another senior screenwriter is needed to check for omissions.
"The Legend of Zhen Huan" found another screenwriter, Wang Xiaoping, the wife of director Zheng Xiaolong, to optimize Liu Lianzi's script.
So there is no need to bury Liu Lianzi, and to deify Wang Xiaoping and Zheng Xiaolong. The quality of "The Legend of Miyue" edited by the latter two is not much of a classic.
But "The Legend of Zhen Huan", which was jointly written by the three, has become a god and has lasted for a long time.
This shows that many people count, and not every work of the author and screenwriter can maintain a high standard. It is normal to have peaks and troughs.
There is no doubt that "Empresses in the Palace" is Liu Lianzi's peak work. "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" is a little worse, and the lack of a good partner makes it even worse.
The script is inherently flawed. If the director and screenwriter can't control the situation, and encounter some leading actors who want to change the script and create their own works, it is inevitable that the script will fail.
In recent years, Blue Whale has produced many works that are basically above the standard. One of the reasons is that Boss Wei strictly prohibits the script from being changed.
Many of Blue Whale's scripts have either been reviewed by Boss Wei or jointly reviewed by many screenwriters, directors and producers.
This leads to few problems with the script, and it is above the standard, so there is no need to modify it.
Of course, when filming a play, many inspirations and actor creations are inevitable, so it is not that not a single word can be changed.
The premise is that it cannot be changed significantly, and it must be agreed by the screenwriter and even the director.
Therefore, most of the crews of Blue Whale will send screenwriters to the group. As a member of the script creation, the screenwriter is the one who knows the script best and knows very clearly whether this change is necessary, whether it will affect the plot and characters, and whether it will create conflicts.
If the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, then it can be modified. Otherwise, it cannot be modified.
This rule is set in stone. Even Liu Shishi, Zhao Liying, and Fan Xiaopang must abide by it. If there is a problem, Boss Wei will hold the screenwriter and director responsible.
This rule may seem rigid and unartistic, but it is actually necessary.
The quality of the scripts that have passed the review is fine. If the director is not too bad, the behind-the-scenes team is strong, and the actors cooperate and shoot honestly, then the lower limit can be guaranteed.
On the contrary, if the director and actors modify the script according to their own ideas, various problems are likely to occur.
This is somewhat similar to the screenwriter-centered system in South Korea, but not entirely the same. It is more like Boss Wei, who is a screenwriter, uses his unique advantages to control and reform the crew of related projects.
However, the facts have proved that Wei Yang's approach is correct.
It is not ruled out that some excellent actors and directors do have more ideas, and some ideas are better than the script, but most directors and actors do not have this ability.
It just happens that they are addicted to being naive, forcing themselves to create, or making changes out of selfishness to gain benefits for themselves. Boss Wei is guarding against them.
Because of this inhumane rule, directors and actors cannot make trouble, and most of the works produced and participated in by Blue Whale have always been of high quality.
Wei Yang believes that if the script of "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" is not changed later, it may not be a hit, and there will be some complaints, but it will not be damaged so badly.
Speaking of which, Fan Xiaopang should thank him this time, otherwise if she shoots "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace", she will be scolded.
But it doesn't matter, write it down in a small notebook, and if "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" fails again, he will use this to settle accounts with Fan Xiaopang...
...
Although Xinli was a little confused, it still agreed to the request of Orange Shell and officially obtained the copyright.
There are no secrets in the circle. Soon, the preparation of the filming of "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace", the sister film of "The Legend of Zhen Huan", became a hot topic in the industry.
A large number of actresses began to look for ways, and popular actresses hoped to win the role of the heroine, while ordinary actresses and newcomers set their sights on supporting roles.
The supporting roles of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" have become quite popular, especially the few young actresses recruited by Shanhu. They are now in good momentum. "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" is naturally regarded as a new "ladder to heaven", and even some artists of the Blue Whale series are tempted.
For example, Wei Yang knew that Tang Yan wanted to compete for the female lead of "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace", while Lou Yixiao was considering important supporting roles as a concubine, and there was also a male star who had his eyes on the male lead, Emperor Qianlong.
But just when the industry was excited about "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace", another piece of news set off the entire industry.
Boss Wei's new work has begun preparations and has begun casting.
It is said that Wei Yang's new work this time is more realistic and literary, so he does not plan to use too many stars, but prefers powerful actors.
And it is particularly stated that he does not value fame, and young actors and amateurs are even advantages.
This condition is actually understandable. Some crews of realistic themes do not like to use familiar faces of the audience, thinking that there is no surprise, but young actors and amateurs who are not famous are relatively unfamiliar to the audience and more real.
As soon as this news came out, the registration mailbox of Blue Whale was almost overwhelmed by resumes...