Chapter 1084: Sky-high Cost

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

When they reached the top floor, Lin Yi brought Yan Ci to Xiao Lidong’s office.

At the same time, a middle-aged man was sitting in Xiao Lidong’s office.

The man’s name was Yu Feng. He was wearing a navy blue suit and brown leather shoes. There was a wisp of white hair around his temples, adding a touch of rare maturity for his age.

Yu Feng was the senior vice president in Zhonghai Century Media. He was an absolute powerhouse.

“Old Yu, a friend of mine is bringing someone over later. He wants to talk to us about the collaboration. You’re in charge of the company’s operations now. You can talk to them then.”

“What friend? Is it worth the two of us personally coming out?” Yu Feng said, “Just leave it to the marketing department to handle.”

“It’s a long story. Do you remember that my daughter had an accident yesterday? He was the one who performed the surgery on my daughter. After that, I asked around. He’s the best doctor in Zhonghai. He’s a real big shot in the industry. If such a person comes to me, I naturally have to helphim.”

…..

“You want to thank him?”

“Sort of. As long as it isn’t costing us anything, we’ll do our best to help.”

“What exactly are they planning to do?”

“I heard that a friend of his has opened a media company and wants to do a variety show. He wants to borrow our company’s experience and resources, but we can talk about it in detail when the time comes.”

“Isn’t this just a case of him wanting to take advantage of us? After meeting a big shot in the industry like you, he wants to take advantage of you.”

“You can’t say that. He has real influence in Zhonghai and has a lot of say in the medical industry.”

“No matter how much authority you have, you can’t liquidate it. It can’t compare to us, right?” Yu Feng said.

“That’s why 1 feel that we can just casually help them. We can give them a little, but not too much. There are so many employees in the company who we have to take care of.”

“That’s true. In short, we’ll help as much as we can.” Xiao Lidong said.

“If he hadn’t operated on my daughter, she might have been disabled for life. 1 have to repay this favor.”

“I understand what you mean,” Yu Feng said. “Let’s take a look at their request first. Otherwise, it’s useless to discuss it now.”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Just as the two of them were talking, there was a knock on the office door.

“Please come in.”

Xiao Lidong responded. Lin Yi and Yan Ci pushed the door open and walked in.

“Director Lin, you’re here.”

Seeing Lin Yi enter, Xiao Lidong immediately stood up and extended his hand.

“Director Lin, I’ve been waiting for a long time.”

Yan Ci was a little surprised. He didn’t expect Xiao Lidong to be so polite.

The artists under Zhonghai Century Media could be said to make up half of the entire entertainment industry. They were true veterans in the industry, but he actually spoke to Lin Yi so politely. Could it be because of the latter’s influence and status in Zhonghai?

Other than that, there was something else that Yan Ci couldn’t figure out.

Why did Xiao Lidong call Lin Yi Director Lin?

Lin Yi also extended his hand and then turned to the side.

“Let me introduce her to you. Her name is Yan Ci, and she used to be the director at Zhonghai TV Station. Now, she has her own company.”

“Hello, Mr. Xiao.” Yan Ci extended his hand generously.

“Hello, hello.” Xiao Lidong stretched out his hand in response and introduced,

“This is our company’s vice president, Yu Feng. He’s in charge of internal logistics and operations, so he’s more skilled than me in terms of business. It’s more convenient for him to handle this chat.”

“Hello, Director Yu.”

“Hello, Director Yan.”

After the introduction, the four of them sat down.

Xiao Lidong brought over the tea that he had brewed in advance and filled up the cups politely.

“Director Yan, President Xiao has already told me about your situation. If you have any specific requests, you can directly state them and we can try to come up with a suitable plan,” Yu Feng said.

“We mainly aim to create a variety show that showcases a slow-paced rural lifestyle, hoping to help the audience rediscover the essence of their inner selves and generate resonance. This will ensure high viewership ratings for the program,” Yan Ci said in a professional manner.

“But both my team and 1 are relatively young, and there are some aspects of this new format of variety show that we find challenging to manage. Therefore, 1 propose a collaborative approach to bring this program to fruition.”

“This program is indeed very novel, but there’s also a certain risk. There’s a possibility of it being explosive, but there’s also a possibility that it will totally fail. You have to be prepared for this.”

“I have already considered these aspects, so 1 hope to collaborate with experienced teams like yours and enlist the participation of celebrities who bring topicality to the show.” “Do you have any specific preferences when it comes to the guests?”

“Based on my initial vision, I would need one to two highly respected actors to serve as regular guests, overseeing the overall rhythm of the variety show. They may not necessarily have high popularity, but it’s important for them to have a favorable reputation among the public.”

“In addition, I would like to have a leading celebrity with a strong fan base as a regular guest to boost the overall viewership of the program. As for the other guest appearances, they can be from the second or third tier of celebrities, which would help save costs.”

Yu Feng frowned and thought carefully about this matter.

“How many guests are invited for each episode?”

“My initial estimate is three to five.”

Yu Feng subconsciously nodded and said,

“Due to your relationship with President Xiao, we don’t have to charge you for the production team. You can just settle the bill once the first episode airs.”

Yan Ci was overjoyed. It was already a huge favor for them to be able to film first and pay later.

“Getting seasoned actors who can control the pace of the show shouldn’t be too difficult since their schedules are usually not too packed. As long as the compensation is reasonable, we can hire them. The main challenge lies in securing a leading celebrity with a significant fan base.”

“Currently, A-list celebrities charge over 3 million for a single episode, while B-list celebrities range from 1 to 2 million. On the other hand, C-list to D-list celebrities are more affordable, with fees ranging from 100,000 to 500,000. Considering we plan to have twelve episodes, taking into account costume, props, makeup, and a conservative estimate, the production cost would be around 100 million. In addition to that, we need an additional 200 million for pre-production promotion, post-production, creating buzz during airing, and attracting sponsorships. Only with a total budget of around 2 billion can we break even.”

Hearing the figure of 200 million, Yan Ci’s expression was a little unnatural. This was nearly double the number she had calculated previously.

This was indeed very difficult.

“Can’t the price be any lower?”

“This is already the lowest price. If it were anyone else, the actors would have offered a higher price than this. It is only because of the relationship between Director Lin and President Xiao that I gave this price.”

Seeing Yan Ci frown, Xiao Lidong said,

“Director Yan, I’m guessing that there’s a funding gap on your side. Just tell us how much you’re lacking. Treat this program as a joint project between our two companies. Count us in..”

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