On the blue sea off the coast of San Lucas, a huge yacht, guarded by several surrounding ships, was parked quietly. It was already past four o'clock in the afternoon. The sun was no longer so blazing, and there was still wind, making it a perfect time for sunbathing.
On the top terrace of the yacht, Simon was lazily leaning on a large lounge chair, next to two identical girls on the left and right, real twins. The two girls had a very classic surname, Yuchi, Yuchi Xiyue, Yuchi Morning Star, They all have very gentle oval faces and big eyes that make people like them at a glance.
In this version of "Dragon", two girls play the role of Plum Sword and Bamboo Sword respectively. They are the same as before, mainly the plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum quadruplets in the original work. In reality, it is not easy to find quadruplets. It's not that there are no quadruplets. But if the actor is of the right age and can fit the four roles, the probability is basically zero.
After all, he is a small character, so of course there is no need to be serious.
Occasionally, I was eating fruits brought by the two girls next to me. Not far in front of me, someone was playing the piano and dancing. The piano is a Chinese guqin, and the dance is also the same.
Both performers are actresses in "Dragon" this time.
Speaking of it, which one of Jin Yong's dramas has the most beauties? Many people may think of "The Deer and the Cauldron" for the first time, but actually not. The one with the most is of course "Dragon". Not to mention other things, it is just the lineage of Piao Miao Peak Lingjiu Palace, which is the entire Nine Heavens and Nine Divisions.
All right.
As for Simon personally, whether it is Ren Yingying in "The Swordsman" or Huang Nuxia in "The Condor Heroes", he is actually not too cold. His favorite is the group around Prince Duan in "Dragon".
Um.
Anyway, I made an announcement some time ago, and the result is that everyone who should have come and should not have come was sent here this time. A large group of them, big and small, even Meng Gu, who had few lines in the whole drama, was enough. More than twenty people.
A certain girl is too capable, but she is actually not very good.
When Simon came here, he roughly understood just by looking at the expressions of some women.
The twisted melon... Although, it is actually quite sweet, but in Simon's case, it is not necessary.
In short, it was treated as an invitation to come and visit North America for a few days.
So after flying over on Friday night, I did a little screening. Those who are willing to rest early in the villa area on the top of the mountain can go to rest, and those who are willing to attend a party at the petal pool below can come together. He also specially asked Carmen Keith on his side to announce the news, avoiding the two minions of the Jiangshan Wu sisters sent over by Chen Qing again. After all, if they were asked to say it, they would definitely be 'willing'.
Then about half of the women came over.
Those who are willing take the bait.
Simon would certainly not be polite if he took the bait.
Just as the left and right girls fell asleep while enjoying the piano dance, they heard laughter and laughter. Soon, two women, one big and one small, appeared on the other side of the gangway, two Dajis. Fu Daji and Jin Daji also participated in the filming of "Dragon", playing the roles of mother and daughter Qin Hongmian who hate Duan Zhengchun because of their love. Compared with several other combinations, they are definitely the pair with the most similar appearance.
The two women were wearing exactly the same two-part sexy swimsuits, one red and one green. When they came here, they immediately came together forcefully and squeezed the two little girls away.
Jin Daji snatched the fruit plate and continued to feed the man fruit. She even came over with a smile and shared a piece with Simon before saying, "Simon, diving is so exciting, and the underwater here is so beautiful."
Simon hugged the pair next to him again and continued to play. He smiled and said in Chinese: "If you like, you can come and play often in the future."
Jin Daji's eyes immediately lit up, and she leaned over and rubbed against her: "Is that okay?"
Simon nodded: "Of course."
Fu Daji on the other side was not deceived by the man's sweet words. Her slightly cool body was pressed against Simon's other side, her chin resting on his shoulder. She also took a piece of fruit to eat with the man, and continued: "Simon, then How can we get here? This is Mexico, so far away from China."
Jin Daji also reacted immediately, with a hint of resentment in her eyes, and said, "Simon, can you help us come to the United States to develop?"
When these words came out, Fu Daji's eyes suddenly looked hopeful.
Simon's hand slid up to grab Jin Daji's chin and pinched it: "What can you do when you come to the United States?"
Jin Daji coquettishly turned her head and rubbed the man's palm: "I will always be your lover, okay?" As she said this, she felt that she might not have enough chips, so she immediately felt blessed and gestured to the other side: "And Sister Fu, we Together."
Hearing what Jin Daji said, Fu Daji felt a little more ashamed on her face, but her eyes were still full of expectation.
Simon turned Jin Daji's head next to him to face him, leaned forward and kissed her, and said with a smile: "Being my woman is okay in China, but forget it in the United States. It's actually not good at all here."
Jin Daji was about to continue acting coquettishly and begging. After the dance over there, Simon waved to the dancing woman and pushed Jin Daji next to him: "Don't you know how to dance? Go, dance and let me see."
Jin Daji stood up obediently and took the opportunity to find another opportunity: "Simon, I danced beautifully, is there any reward?"
Simon shook his head directly: "No."
Jin Daji pouted, but stood up and walked towards the small stage area next to the railing on the other side.
Another woman also came to Simon.
Different from Dajin Daji's swimsuit, the woman wore a blue and white gradient silk classic skirt, but it was also quite thin and had a pair of bare white feet.
This is great.
It was the person who later had the same name as Xiao Shuangzi who created a new currency unit. She was a great beauty who had played roles such as Hu Sanniang and Wang Huang in history.
Speaking of which, in the 2003 CCTV version of "Dragon", Da Shuangzi also appeared in the role of Po Yu, but no matter how you look at it, the word "po" is not related to it, which is very eye-catching. Da Shuangzi's role this time is not big either. Li Qiushui, the junior sister of Tianshan Child Elder, is still quite marginal, but her character image is much better than that of the former swordsman of Lingjiu Palace.
Simon didn't pay special attention to Da Shuangzi's career trajectory in this time and space. However, just looking at the role he got in "Dragon Movie" this time, one can imagine that it will definitely not be too good.
Simon certainly had no intention of changing anything.
Even if they are big beauties, Simon can’t pay attention to the group of big beauties and little beauties who came here this time. If it weren't for a certain currency unit where "one cool day" equals 160 million and "one cool day" equals 2.08 million, Simon wouldn't even pay any special attention to Da Shuangzi.
Compared with Daji, who had been in contact with Simon, who was inevitably more confident because of his high status in the country, Da Shuangzi was obviously a lot more restrained here with Simon. When the man called him over, he meekly leaned forward with a pair of autumn eyes. These hopes were more obvious than Jin Daji's, but she was smart enough not to speak rashly.
For a while, I watched Jin Daji across from me dance a classical dance in a bikini. Da Shuangzi, who has profound dance skills, couldn't help but curl his lips slightly, but of course he wouldn't show anything. After hesitating for a while, he finally found a topic: "Mr. Westeros, I heard that "Dragon Movie" is doing very well in the United States, right?"
What surprised everyone the most was that this man could speak Chinese.
"Yes," Simon said, becoming curious again, and asked with a smile: "Has it been reported in China? How did it say it?"
Da Shuangzi said: "In China, a few days before I came, it was said that a TV station here set a viewing record during the broadcast period, exceeding 2 million viewers."
According to the past performance of DHO late-night theater, "Dragon" has indeed broken the highest record for a period this time.
However, the number of viewers is only 2 million, which is not a lot.
Thinking of this, Simon also asked directly: "Two million viewers, isn't that much?"
Da Shuangzi blinked his beautiful eyes and said: "Two million is already a lot. Americans, well, are few, not like us. Moreover, the newspaper said that this time it is a paid cable TV station owned by your company. , you can only watch it if you pay money. It has more than 9 million subscribers in total, and more than one-fifth of the viewers watch it, which is amazing."
Simon felt it made sense at first, but when he heard it again he wanted to laugh.
Played a word game.
DHO's total of 9.3 million subscribers as of the end of August does not mean that there are only 9.3 million viewers. Just like the Internet, the number of broadband access users and the number of Internet users are not the same number.
But, well, such small details don’t need to be explained.
Seeing the beautiful eyes of the beauty in his arms blinking, this woman's eyes were so beautiful, Simon couldn't help it, he leaned over and kissed her, feeling the eyelashes brushing like small brushes, and kissed the woman's lips with a smile.
A wonderful weekend.
Simon returned to Los Angeles on time on Monday morning, and the woman in San Lucas was rewarded with a few days in the United States as usual.
However, it’s still Simon’s rule.
You get what you pay for.
So the women who attended the party on Friday night each got a generous pocket change. For the rest, we are only responsible for travel and accommodation expenses.
Back in Los Angeles, Simon paid special attention to "Dragon Movie".
This drama will be aired this week, and then DHO will have to consider some follow-up issues.
First of all, even if it is not as good as prime time "The Sopranos" and "House of Cards", the celebrations by the Chinese media are absolutely right. This result is indeed outstanding in DHO's late night time slot. The finale is expected this week , the number of viewers of this drama is likely to exceed 3 million.
Although it adopts a subscription system, DHO also has its own quantitative data on the performance of individual episodes.
Let’s just talk about this time’s “Tian Long Ba Bu”. Because it is relatively unconventional, the series attracted a group of loyal fans who are very interested in Chinese martial arts. The DHO team roughly judged that the upcoming 9 In January, new autumn programs such as "The Sopranos", "House of Cards" and even "Dragon" are expected to bring 700,000 new users, of which 100,000 to 150,000 new users are all I chose to subscribe because of "Dragon Movie".
Considering the time period and nature of the show, this is already a pretty high ratio. Of course, there are also elements such as "The Sopranos" and "House of Cards", which only launched in mid-to-late September and have not fully released their appeal to users, and "Dragon" adopts a daily broadcast mode.
In any case, based on the discounted calculation of 125,000 users, DHO’s subscription fee is US$14.99, which is equivalent to bringing Daenerys nearly US$1.9 million in income. As for the European and American omni-channel copyright of this drama, Daenerys only spent 1 million US dollars. Counting Simon's subsequent additional additions, the total expenditure was only 2 million US dollars.
Not only that, but that’s certainly not how things work out.
After all, since it has attracted so many users, most of them will not just subscribe for a month. As long as DHO retains it properly, they will be permanent users. Therefore, if calculated based on the consumption of this group of users for one year, a certain number will immediately reach a high of 22 million US dollars.
Of course, this calculation is also somewhat biased.
In short, from a commercial perspective, "Dragon" is definitely a project that will bring huge benefits to DHO.
Therefore, DHO has already decided on the rerun that many fans of the series have called for before the series has finished airing.
However, that alone is definitely not enough.
Since these people come here for Chinese martial arts, if there is only one "Dragon Movie", it will definitely not be able to meet the needs of these users.
Of course we must continue to introduce it.
First of all, they include movies such as "Hero" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", because the copyright originally belongs to the company, but the broadcast plan was quickly arranged.
Then, let’s talk about other martial arts TV series.
If you want to continue to introduce it, one thing you have to consider is, why is "Dragon Babu" successful this time
This is probably something that many outsiders are confused about. However, as long as you have watched this drama, you will basically understand the reason.
Because it's so well made.
After all, Simon's original investment of US$15 million was equivalent to US$120 million in China. Coupled with the cooperation between Hong Kong TVB and mainland CCTV, the total cost far exceeded all Chinese TV series at the same time.
Perhaps the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" filmed by CCTV in the past few years was claimed to be 170 million, but in fact, the shooting cost was only about 80 million, and the rest of the funds were used in the construction of two film and television cities around the show, and this time " "Tian Long Ba Part", most of the set costs were borne by Jinshu Film and Television City in Suzhou, so the investment equivalent to more than 120 million was spent on production.
This is a movie-level TV series that has never been done before, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to see anyone else in the next ten or twenty years.
For example, many of the locations selected in the series are scenic spots in mainland China, which are no less beautiful than those in "Heroes" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." As for the kung fu fighting scenes, both in terms of action design and various props, they are all movie-level, enough to make many martial arts veterans film them.
If it is well-produced, it will be easier to catch the audience's attention.
Secondly, there is the story itself of "Dragon Babu", including the prince who does not want to inherit the family business and wanders around the country, the gang leader who wants to serve the country but finds out that he is the descendant of the enemy country, the young monk who has a low status but has many adventures and finally reaches the top, all of them These are all elements that can be understood by both East and West.
Just like the simplest victory of good over evil, that's all.
Because it is well-made, because the story is easy to understand, and it also contains elements of Chinese kung fu that have become quite popular in recent years. There are also kung fu fights that are more exciting than "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Heroes". After all, martial arts, flying around, Gravity and conservation of energy are all put aside for now.
So, it was a success.
This is undoubtedly a standard for DHO to purchase new content if it wants to maintain the popularity of "Dragon Movie".
Then, Daenerys’ Asian procurement team has seen samples of some other projects, of course, mainly from Hong Kong and Taiwan. After all, mainland martial arts dramas have just started in recent years, and there are not many that can be produced. Hong Kong and Taiwan , but it has been accumulated for decades. In short, after seeing the samples over there, and then hearing about them here, everyone started to doubt their lives.
What's happening
Then, it was inevitable to report to Simon.
Of course Simon could understand what was going on at a glance.
To use the simplest and most simple explanation, after seeing the great rivers and mountains in the mainland, if the audience was shown TVB's plastic waterfall again, would you like it
I'd rather be a ghost.
Therefore, facing the martial arts drama from Hong Kong and Taiwan that can only be described as rough compared to Simon Investment's "Dragon", Daenerys' team even wondered whether they were living in another dimension. , otherwise, why would the gap be so big
In any case, it is obvious that the existing dramas in Hong Kong and Taiwan, including Jin Yong dramas that have been remade in many versions, and even Gu Long dramas, have no purchase value.
Too rough.
If you take it and play it, it would be weird if you don't destroy DHO's sign. Maybe the more than 100,000 new subscribers who came from "Dragon" may choose to unsubscribe in anger, and then the gain will outweigh the loss.
The week after Simon returned to Los Angeles, DHO's "Dragon" finally ended on Thursday, September 30th.
Due to the rising popularity of the Internet and even physical media platforms, it has indeed created a new high with an average of 2.73 million viewers and a peak of 3.24 million. The average number of viewers of the entire drama is also as high as 1.67 million, which is also a record for late-night theaters.
In addition, Qiao Feng's tragic ending has triggered widespread discussion among fans of the drama. A YouTube video blogger even made a program overnight, with eyes that were obviously red and crying, defending the leader of Qiao's gang. The video quickly became a hot topic on the next day.
Simon saw this mentioned in the report on the summary of the broadcast of this drama, and couldn't help but think of the "Chu and Han" trilogy being filmed in China.
Gang Leader Qiao became the Overlord of Chu.
Then, there will still be a tragic ending in the future.
At least Gang Leader Qiao has become a little familiar to Western audiences this time. In "Chu Han", Gang Leader Qiao lacks popularity in the West compared to his opposite character Uncle Ming. Originally, he was still a collaborator with Jinshu. This is something that even China Film and Television is quite worried about. Now, it should not be a big problem.
Furthermore, the president of DHO personally called Simon and hoped that Blockbuster would not release the DVD immediately.
After all, I haven't bought a suitable new drama, so it's best to wait for DHO to at least rebroadcast it again, attract a group of viewers, and then release it on DVD. Only in this way can the benefits be maximized.
Simon also agreed.
Then let DHO and Blockbuster discuss it.
Then there was a quarrel.
Because Blockbuster has released the word, promoted it, and made promises to the fans of the drama. Now, it suddenly won't be released. How to explain it
So Simon came forward.
The result is still according to the original plan, Blockbuster releases the DVD on time, and DHO replays it as it should.