1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Xu Feng held the phone and pondered for a while, then called Zhang Youan again.

Zhang Youan was in the United States, so it should be morning now.

The phone rang for a long time before it was connected, and Zhang Youan's slightly lazy voice came from the other end, "Hello, who is this?"

"Me."

Hearing Xu Feng's voice, Zhang Youan was much more energetic, "Mr. Xu, what do you want to do?"

"Ask about the new song that Zhou Yan wrote for Celine Dion. Now the news has spread in China, which has stimulated the box office to a certain extent. I want to see if there is any potential to be tapped." Xu Feng expressed his thoughts.

Zhang Youan thought about it and said, "Yes."

On the other end of the phone, Xu Feng's eyes lit up, "What do you mean?"

"Although the new song is not as exaggerated as the news said, it has indeed attracted the attention of many American fans. Now there are many fans here shouting, wanting to hear this song quickly."

"Do the fans want Celine Dion to release a single in advance, or for the movie to release the soundtrack in advance?" Xu Feng asked.

"All of them, but there is another voice, which is to hope that a TV station can broadcast the rights of Celine Dion's concert, so that they can hear this song on TV."

"Oh, this is also a way, but will this involve the copyright agreement we signed before?"

"No, Celine Dion has this power, and we have agreed on it before."

"Yeah."

Xu Feng did not want to restrict Celine Dion, she asked this just to know whether it would be troublesome to do this.

It seems that Celine Dion can sell the copyright of the concert to the TV station as long as she is willing, and she does not need the consent of Tomson.

However, there are many things involved in the broadcast rights of the concert, and Celine Dion may not sell it.

The key is that this concert is a series, not just one, and there will be more in Boston, Chicago and other places later.

The content of the same series of concerts is basically the same. If the audience watches it on TV in advance, they may lose interest in watching it live.

In this way, it will affect the ticket sales of the subsequent concerts.

Therefore, most of the time, the broadcast rights of such concerts will not be sold. If they are to be sold, they will have to wait until the end of the series of concerts for a while. By that time, they will not care about the impact on the box office.

And in general, record companies will not sell Bo Restaurant directly to TV stations, because they can make videotapes, CDs, etc. by themselves, which will have a higher profit margin. After making CDs and videotapes, they can still be sold to TV stations.

However, this is not certain. Tickets for popular female singers like Celine Dion are very easy to sell, and her subsequent performances are all indoor venues, so the ticket sales pressure is not great.

As for videotapes, CDs and other products, it also depends on the strategy of the record company.

Xu Feng thought for a moment and said, "This is indeed good news. It depends on whether Celine Dion is willing. However, even if a TV station wants to buy it and Sony is willing to sell it, it will take some time. We will then bring the news to China. Even if the movie has not been released, it will probably be released soon."

In Xu Feng's opinion, it is probably too late to operate this matter now.

Zhang Youan said with a smile, "Mr. Xu, can we take the initiative?"

"Take the initiative?" Xu Feng was puzzled. How could they take the initiative in this matter?

Could they take the initiative to find Sony and ask them to quickly sell the broadcasting rights of the concert to the TV station? Would Sony be willing to do this? Also, would any TV station be willing to buy it?

Zhang Youan explained, "We can't control the TV stations in the United States, and we don't need to control them. We can consider domestic TV stations."

"You mean..."

Zhang Youan said with a smile, "Mr. Xu, you guessed right. What I mean is, find a domestic TV station to buy the broadcasting rights of Celine Dion's concert, and then broadcast it in China."

Xu Feng immediately understood Zhang Youan's plan and the trick. She couldn't help but nodded and said, "Yes, it may not be easy for the TV stations in the United States to buy the broadcasting rights of Celine Dion's concert, but we have a good chance to buy it."

She said this not because she thought they had a good relationship with Sony, but because mainland China had a natural advantage in this regard.

For Sony, mainland China is equivalent to a desert full of trees.

This metaphor is funny, but it is reasonable.

It is said that this place is full of deserts because it has great potential and has the most fans in the world, but it is also a desert because piracy is rampant and Sony cannot make a lot of money here.

Sony's records can be seen everywhere in China, but it is not easy to find an authentic one.

At this time, a Chinese TV station came to them and said that it was willing to pay for the broadcasting rights of a concert in mainland China. This money was like picking up money for free for Sony.

Anyway, there was no money to be made, so there was no loss in selling the broadcasting rights to them.

The key is that Celine Dion's concert series is not planned to be held in China, that is to say, no matter how many people see this concert in China, it will not affect Celine Dion's ticket sales later.

Moreover, a Chinese TV station broadcast Celine Dion's songs, which also promoted Celine Dion. Although the Chinese mainland market cannot make much money for the time being, it is hard to guarantee that there will be no money in the future.

Finally, it's about friendship.

Although Tomson has not been working with Sony for a long time and has not had much contact, Zhou Yan has written two songs for Celine Dion, and these two songs are not ordinary songs.

With this friendship, they will be more relaxed when they go to Sony to negotiate the acquisition of broadcast rights.

At least in view of Zhou Yan's writing of songs for Celine Dion, Sony will definitely be willing to contact Tomson for a chat. As long as they are willing to talk, there is a great hope that this matter can be negotiated.

"Mr. Xu, if you think it is feasible, I will go to Sony to talk and finalize this matter as soon as possible. You should also contact several familiar TV stations as soon as possible to see if there are any willing to pay for the broadcast rights."

Zhang Youan's meaning is very clear. The money for purchasing the broadcast rights must not be paid by them. If the operation is done properly, Tomson can still make some fees in the middle.

He is actually very confident that he can negotiate this matter. The problem is how long it will take to negotiate it. They don't have much time now, and they must finalize the matter in a short time.

If the time is delayed for a long time, the promotion effect of the movie will be greatly reduced.

Xu Feng nodded and said, "No problem, you go and contact them. I will contact the TV station tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay, I will contact the people from Sony in a while." Zhang Youan said.

...

The next morning, Xu Feng first called Sheng Chongqing, the director of Shanghu TV Station.

In fact, last night Zhang Youan said that he wanted to find a TV station to pay for the broadcast rights of the concert. Xu Feng first thought of Yanjing TV Station because their company cooperated with Yanjing TV Station the most.

But after getting up this morning, she thought about it seriously and decided to call Shanghu TV Station first to ask about the situation of Shanghu TV Station.

Because she met Sheng Chongqing, the director of Shanghu TV Station, at a dinner party before. The other party half-jokingly complained that Mingming Tang Chen was developing in Shanghu, but he had been cooperating with Yanjing TV Station.

He also said that if there was any project next time, Xu Feng must give their TV station a chance.

Sheng Chongqing was also very happy to receive Xu Feng's call and exchanged pleasantries with Xu Feng.

After the two exchanged pleasantries for half a minute, Sheng Chongqing asked Xu Feng why he called him, "I wonder what you want to do today, Mr. Xu?"

Xu Feng did not beat around the bush and directly stated his purpose, "I just want to ask if your station has any ideas to introduce foreign concerts?"

"Foreign concerts? Whose concerts?"

"Celine Dion's."

Hearing that it was Celine Dion's, Sheng Chongqing became interested. It was obvious that he knew Celine Dion.

If the director of another TV station was replaced, he might not know Celine Dion. After all, Celine Dion's fame was not as big as that of Michael Jackson and Elvis. Many TV stations are not in line with the international standards, so it is normal not to know her.

And most TV station directors do not have the energy to pay attention to these.

But Sheng Chongqing is different. He has worked his way up from the grassroots news outlets step by step. Now he is also the director of Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio, and he pays more attention to the situation abroad.

Moreover, Shanghai TV Station was relatively early in connecting with the international community and had more connections. They founded the country's first magazine-style column program introducing international current affairs, the first English news program, and the first established foreign language station.

"Can I ask, when is Celine Dion's concert?"

"The latest." Xu Feng answered Sheng Chongqing's question first, and then said with a smile, "Sorry, Director Sheng, I shouldn't have called you for such a small matter, but I don't know many people in your station."

Sheng Chongqing said with a smile, "Mr. Xu, you are joking. Your matter is not a small matter. And you mentioned it very coincidentally. Our station has been discussing the introduction of more foreign programs recently. Concerts are fine, one is one, but I don't quite understand why the broadcast rights of Celine Dion's concert are in your hands, Mr. Xu?"

"Actually, it hasn't come to me yet, but we are discussing this matter these two days." Xu Feng did not hide this point.

Sheng Chongqing nodded, "No problem at all. I am still very interested in this concert. We will discuss it in depth after you have settled the matter."

"For such a small matter, I won't bother you to contact us in person. Otherwise, you can point someone to me and I will..."

"No need. I will contact you in person."

Xu Feng was a little surprised by Sheng Chongqing's enthusiasm. If he was just giving face, he could just send someone to contact him, but he wanted to contact him in person.

You know, Sheng Chongqing is very busy. He is the director and editor-in-chief of the TV station, and he is also the director of Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio. He is busy from top to bottom.

Sheng Chongqing's tone didn't sound like he was being polite, so Xu Feng didn't push it anymore. She smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Director Sheng to take care of it later."

"Mr. Xu, you're too polite. Tomson Group is a local star enterprise, and Tomson Pictures is closely related to our TV station's business. We should have been in the same boat. To be honest, I'm very happy to receive your call today. I'm even happier to know that there is still a possibility of cooperation. Mr. Xu, don't worry about the concert. As long as the price is within a reasonable range, we will definitely buy it."

"Thank you for your support, Director Sheng. I believe there will be more opportunities for cooperation between us in the future."

"That's natural." Sheng Chongqing smiled and suddenly changed the topic and said, "The box office of "Time Traveler" is incredible. I heard it has exceeded 65 million."

After all, Sheng Chongqing is the director of Shanghai TV Station, and his information is accurate.

"That's right, it's just over 65 million, and the news hasn't been announced yet."

"I've also heard people say it. Congratulations. Last time, "Spring of the Cowherd" took in more than 50 million yuan at the box office and successfully topped the mainland movie box office rankings. This year, it achieved another success and surpassed the original record. Yes, I ran a lot more.”

"It's mainly the support of the fans."

"Movie fans support it because the movie is really good. I also went to the theater to watch the movie. Zhou Yan's method of making movies is indeed different from that of ordinary domestic directors. It is even very trendy compared to current Hollywood movies. . Before that, Zhang Yimou’s films impressed me with their attention to detail, but now Zhou Yan’s film not only puts a lot of care into the images, but also has an unexpected auditory performance.”

"Haha, if Zhou Yan knew that Director Sheng recognized him so much, he would definitely be very happy."

"I just told the truth, but if I have the opportunity to meet Zhou Yan, I really hope to have a good chat with him. This year I took over the Shanghai Art Film Studio, and suddenly my burden became much heavier. Although I I love watching movies and studying movies, but I am still a layman after all. I can hear the doubts from the outside world through the wall. If I could talk to Zhou Yan, I would like to learn from him about what this movie should be like. shoot."

Xu Feng suddenly understood why Sheng Chongqing was so enthusiastic. It turned out that he was going for Zhou Yan.

However, Xu Feng is not sure what Sheng Chongqing’s position is at the Shangmei Factory. It stands to reason that Sheng Chongqing’s job is the director of the Shanghai TV station, and his position as the director of the Shangmei Factory is only temporary. Most likely, it is for deputy director Jin Guoping. Make the transition.

It may not be long before Sheng Chongqing is withdrawn from Shangmei Factory, and then Jin Guoping takes over.

But now listening to Sheng Chongqing's intention, it seems that Shangmei Factory has some thoughts.

The current situation of the Shangmei Factory is no longer what it used to be, and there is an urgent need for internal reform. Now it seems that Sheng Chongqing still wants to hold on to the knife of reform. (End of chapter)