Huayu: This producer has no bottom line.

Chapter 53 Crack

"Brother Pingsheng, we've made contact."

Bai Ke covered the phone receiver, lowered his voice, and said with a hint of regret, "Their boss was quite excited when he heard it was us, but... he didn't have the money."

"No money?"

"Yes, he said he's staked everything on the theaters, and now he doesn't even have enough money to install self-service ticket machines, so he can't afford the GG fee at all."

Ren Pingsheng was not surprised.

The ticketing market at that time was extremely murky.

Upstream are the distributors and theaters, who firmly control the source of films and pricing power. Downstream, through ticket windows, group channels, and scalpers, the final ticket delivery to the audience is made.

The emergence of ticketing platforms will completely change this circulation logic.

At this time, there were three platforms in their infancy: Miying.com was doing B2B group ticket resale, and HaPiao.com was Dadi Cinemas' own online platform.

Only Guevara plunged headlong into the consumer market, and their pioneering online seat selection plus self-service ticket machine model is indeed the future direction.

However, the current financial pressure is very real. In order to make the model work, high deposits need to be paid to major cinemas, and ticket terminals need to be installed. The 200 million yuan given by Chengtianqiao has been poured in but has not even made a splash.

"Give me the phone," Ren Pingsheng said, taking the phone. "Hello, I am Ren Pingsheng, the producer of 'Report to the Boss'."

A slightly tired but sincere voice came from the other end of the phone, "Director Ren, I've heard so much about you. I'm Liu Yong, the person in charge of Gewara. We have high hopes for 'Report to the Boss,' but right now the company really can't squeeze out any marketing expenses."

"Mr. Liu, you're too kind. I don't need you to pay any upfront fees," Ren Pingsheng said bluntly.

The other person paused for a moment, then asked, "So what do you mean?"

"CPS revenue sharing model," Ren Pingsheng uttered a term commonly used in the e-commerce industry, but which was still extremely unfamiliar in the film and television industry at that time.

"I'll insert your brand information into 'Report to the Boss' and put a unique referral code at the end of the film. If viewers buy tickets on Gewara and enter this code, I'll take two yuan. But I need you to give viewers who use the code an exclusive discount."

"Two pieces?"

"Yes, two dollars per ticket. You don't contribute to the budget, I don't make a fixed profit, the audience gets a discount, and all three parties benefit."

Liu Yong quickly did the math.

Gewara's current business model is essentially no different from that of ticket agents: they buy discounted tickets in bulk from cinemas, resell them to users at a higher price, and profit from the middleman's markup.

They buy a 60 yuan ticket for a prime-time event for about 35 to 40 yuan, and sell it to users for a little over 50 yuan, making a gross profit of more than ten yuan.

"Director Ren, this model is fine, but the discount level..."

"Avatar will be released in two weeks." Ren Pingsheng interrupted him, directly pointing out the crux of the matter, "This is your best chance to completely open up the market and cultivate users' online ticketing habits."

Ren Pingsheng's voice was calm and unhurried, "Using the price difference of a discounted ticket to exchange for a high-quality, genuine user—I don't need to teach you how to do that, do I?"

"Let's do it!" The person on the other end of the phone slapped their thigh. "I'll give you the exclusive discount, and I'll have the settlement backend set up today!"

After hanging up the phone, Bai Ke came over.

"Brother Pingsheng, how much can we earn with two yuan per video? With our current viewership, we can easily make tens of thousands of yuan just by taking on a minor role."

Ren Pingsheng smiled and handed the phone back.

Is this about how much money you make?

The Lunar New Year film season, spearheaded by "Avatar," can generate a considerable cash flow.

The deeper reason is that the curtain has been raised on a new era.

If Weibo is a mouthpiece, then controlling it means controlling the pacemaker of public opinion.

Online ticketing will be the most crucial element of the film market in the next decade.

In the hierarchy of the film and television industry, theatrical films are the ultimate arena; he can't spend his whole life making web series.

When he finally brings his films to theaters, he doesn't want to be held back by traditional distribution companies and theater giants.

While Guevara is still young, and before the giants understand this market, let's build relationships and establish partnerships before the right opportunity arises.

Throw it in.

"Never mind how much we can earn, just get to work."

For the next two weeks, Shengping Vision operated at full speed.

With the first three episodes garnering tens of millions of views, business negotiations went exceptionally smoothly, leading to product placement deals for subsequent episodes and generating over a million yuan in revenue.

Filming is progressing steadily, and everything is expanding in an orderly manner.

But some things were not in Ren Pingsheng's plans.

Yanjing, New Pictures Film Industry.

The meeting room door was closed, and everyone else in the company subconsciously slowed their footsteps.

There's an argument going on inside; it's not the first time.

boom!

Zhang Weiping slapped a screenshot on the table.

"See for yourself."

The screenshot is from the second episode of "Report to the Boss". A woman in a cheongsam is seen in profile with a smile on her lips and her legs crossed with her high heels hooked.

To the untrained eye, it's just a spectacle, but for a seasoned film industry veteran who has seen countless people, half a profile is enough to recognize them.

Zhang Yimou glanced at it but didn't say anything.

"This is Zhao Yumo, the one you carefully selected?" Zhang Weiping's voice was laced with anger. "She didn't even sign a contract, and she went off to act in a parody web series? Do you know what this means?"

"What does that mean?"

"This means that the audience's first impression of her has been tainted by a web series, and from now on, when they see her wearing a cheongsam, that's what they'll think of!"

Zhang Yimou held a thermos cup and blew on the floating tea leaves.

"Weiping, she only showed her profile, no one knows who she is, and she told me about it during the audition."

"Nobody knows now, but what about when the movie is released? Do you think the paparazzi and netizens will let this go? I've already come up with headlines for them: 'Zhang Yimou's new film's female lead is actually a web series actress, is it good?'"

Zhang Weiping was so angry that he laughed, suddenly pulled open a drawer, took out a document, and slammed it heavily on the table.

"Yi Mou, have you been floating in the sky for too long? Don't you know how the people below are scheming?"

He pointed at the document, gritting his teeth, "This girl said she'd only sign if there was a supplementary clause, saying the contract would automatically terminate if I left Newview. Tell me, could a twenty-something-year-old girl come up with such a destructive scheme without someone teaching her?"

Zhang Weiping paced back and forth in his office, his chest heaving. "Who is she trying to protect herself from? Me! New scenes! I don't think she understands any rules at all!"

This was the first time Zhang Weiping had lost his temper so much in the more than ten years that the two had worked together.

Three weeks after its release, "A Simple Noodle Story" officially surpassed 200 million yuan at the box office, even three days earlier than in its previous version.

However, its reputation was shockingly bad, and it was subjected to a barrage of insults online.

The two could still put on a harmonious facade in front of the media and vouch for the film, but once the door closed, the rift could no longer be concealed.

Zhang Yimou put down his thermos and looked at his old partner, who was furious.

"Weiping, you said I wasted four years of the company's time and that I should make a commercial film to make up for it. I listened to you and made three films."

He stood up and said, "You wanted to use Xiao Shenyang, you wanted Zhao Bensan, you wanted to do a Lunar New Year comedy, and I did everything you said."

"But regarding 'Jinling'," Zhang Yimou looked directly at Zhang Weiping, "you have to listen to me. Zhao Yumo can only be her."

After saying that, Zhang Yimou walked towards the door without looking back.

The door slammed shut.

Zhang Weiping stood alone in the office, his gaze fixed on the screenshot.

A cheongsam, a profile view, and a faint smile at the corner of her mouth.

He recalled the day of the audition, when the girl stood still, neither crying nor making a fuss nor pushing him, but simply tilted her head and asked a question.

"To sign or not to sign?"