Feature Shows Extravaganza - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The Key Selling Point Is…

Translator: Henyee Translations

Editor: Henyee Translations

“Any more questions?”

No one in the conference made a sound. Even Wang Kui, the most senior TV professional of them all, had no objections. Why would anyone else have a different opinion?

“That’s it, then! Du Fang and Wang Kui, please stay. The rest of you can leave now.”

With Du Fang on board, Pengda Pictures was finally not a shell company any more. It had begun to look like a proper business. With the fund from the factory and hiring people from the job market as well as straight out of college, Pengda Pictures had quickly turned from a shell company to a proper film and TV production company with over 100 employees.

It was a petite, yet self-sufficient company.

Five new departments now reported to the president office of Pengda Pictures. They were the legal department, marketing department, art production department, administration department, and finance department.

The legal department was in name only. It had been outsourced to a local law firm.

The marketing department was run by a COO and the position was yet to be filled. There were 13 employees in the department, who were in charge of handling the development and operation of the company business, as well as handling the clients, including getting in touch with all major TV stations.

The art production department was actually the “production department”, which was led by an artistic director and a production director, a.k.a. the director. Wang Kui was the artistic director and Meng Lang held a concurrent post as the production director. There were five units in this department, which were the production unit, lighting unit, editing unit, props and costume unit, and special effects unit.

This department had the most employees; there were 76 of them!

After that was the administration department. Du Fang was the chief administrative officer, taking care of the management of company equipment and human resources.

The finance department was an empty shell at the moment as well. Although the department had been set up with accountants and cashiers, they had been sent here by the parent company and didn’t answer to Meng Lang.

Mr. Old Meng watched his money very closely, for he feared that his dumb son might lose his mind again and try to spend hundreds of million on some big production movie…

With the empty legal department and finance department and the temporary headless marketing department, Du Fang and Wang Kui, who had left behind in the conference room, were pretty much the senior management team of Pengda Pictures at the moment.

“We need to pick up the speed of hiring the COO! The production department still needs more people. Director Du, please work harder on that! We can consider raising the wage a little…”

As soon as Meng Lang finished, Du Fang aired her grievance. “I’m not a magician and I can’t just make people appear. Director Meng, pressing me like this won’t make any difference! Job-hunters don’t want to send their resumes to a start-up. I can’t abduct them here, can I?”

“She’s right. It’s hard for start-ups to find employees…” Wang Kui nodded repeatedly.

It might not be the case in other industries, but in the movie and TV business, talented people hardly ever applied for jobs in start-up companies, unless the salary was extremely attractive.

Meng Lang admitted that, too. After some thought, he said, “In that case, we’ll reduce the input on the job mark and focus on campus recruitment instead. What they major in doesn’t matter. As long as they have talent, we can always teach them on the job.”

“I’ve had someone working on campus recruitment already. It’s been working well so far. After all, our off is quite attractive and most fresh graduates find it hard to resist.

“That’s it, then.”

After the recruitment was sorted out, Meng Lang turned to Wang Kui. “What do you think of Balala the Fairies?”

Wang Kui frowned, gave it some thought, then asked, “Director Meng, how much are you going to invest in this show?”

Don’t call me Director Meng!

Meng Lang wailed silently over the way the two of them addressed him, then went back to the subject. Balala the Fairies was the first work of Pengda Pictures after it took shape as a proper company. With what he had earned from the yo-yos, Meng Lang didn’t mind spending a little more this time.

“20 million!”

“Does that include PR?” Wang Kui couldn’t help but ask.

That was a very important question!

If the 20 million was only the production budget, more investment would be needed at a later stage and the show could cost at least 30 or 40 million.

That could almost qualify the show as “big production”.

If PR was included, then of that 20 million, at most 10 million would be left for the actual production and maybe lower.

The difference between the two options would determine the final quality of the show.

Meng Lang nodded. Of course that included the budget of PR. How stupid would he have to be to spend 20 million in making Balala the Fairies?

Wang Kui tapped the desk lightly with his fingertips while quickly calculating in his head all of the costs that would be incurred during production. He then came to a rough conclusion.

“If we have equipment that is ready to use, it’s doable. We’ll cut the budget on salaries and spend it on special effects and costume design. I guess we’ll be able to make a decent show.”

“You and I think alike!”

Snapping his fingers, Meng Lang smiled. “We’ll have finer special effects and hire some famous professionals for costume design. 10 million is definitely enough!”

It wasn’t just enough, but more than enough!

The original version of Balala the Fairies had its merits, in spite of the fact that one couldn’t spot venting sarcasms about this show.

For instance, the special effects were actually quite decent. By the standard of the time it was made, Balala the Fairies had better special effects than most of its fellow feature shows.

The special effects were rather crappy by the standard now, but when Aofei made the show, they had invested a lot of money in the special effects.

Of course, Aofei’s “a lot of money” was nothing compared to what the concurrent Hollywood movies used, but it had already done a great job, compared to other domestically made sci-fi feature shows.

For one, it had very flashy special effects for the magic in it!

For another, the styles of the characters were very well designed.

The production team had put in a lot of effort in the styling, costume, and makeup of Meiqi, Meixue, Blue Fairy, Moon Fairy, Prince Fun, the fairy queen.

And what was the biggest selling point of Balala the Fairies?

It was the transformation!

The transformation was the key to this show!

Why did Meiqi and Meixue look a little unattractive before the transformation, but then afterwards made one’s eyes light up?

It was all thanks to the design of the characters!

Of course, Yan Lili was an exception…

Because the dark fairy needed to be “uglified” in the show, Yan Lili looked a lot less pleasing to the eye after her transformation. She actually looked her best in her normal state.

This huge difference before and after the transformation had been designed to intrigue little girls.

“Ahhhh!”

“Meiqi and Meixue looked so pretty after they became fairies! I want that transformation, too!”

What did one need to achieve that?

The show was suddenly interrupted by an advertisement with a BGM that sang “Balala power! Salo! Salo! Fairy transformation!” Then, there came the line, saying “The authentic fairy flute and fairy harp are open for sale now. Come and join the fairies!”

Now…

Who would be able to resist that?

Transformation was the key to this show the way yo-yos were to Blazing Teens. As long as the key element was well developed, they would cut budgets in other aspects without hesitation.

The budget was set at 10 million because the salaries of actors and actresses had risen like bubbles. If this show was to be made a decade ago, it would probably only cost 4 or 5 million.