On Blue Star, almost all video websites have an "animation" section, but the overall popularity of the anime section varies depending on the popularity of the website itself.
"What I want to do is to try to make a choice between Yunsu and Yueqi and go with the profit-sharing model."
Both video sites have their own advantages and disadvantages.
Since each video website has competed to purchase the broadcasting rights of different web series, TV series and movies, Yunsu Video is not the only one among the multiple video websites, but it is one of the largest comprehensive Internet service providers in China. Its services include social communication software, social network platforms, portals, news clients and game platforms, etc. It is the leading Internet company in Bluestar.
Compared to a behemoth like Yunsu, Yueqi can only be regarded as a small follower, but it is the largest video barrage website in China, famous for its best ACG atmosphere and the most comprehensive and diverse new anime.
The former has a greater influence, while the latter is more popular among young people.
"Need I ask?" Fang Lian said without hesitation: "Adults can choose to take it!"
Cui Hongyi nodded in agreement: "To be realistic, our company is not well-known in the industry at present. It is a problem whether we can pass the review of the video website. I suggest that the company should send a copy to each of the two video websites. Whichever one passes the review will be selected. If both pass, we can discuss the specific details at that time."
"What about the broadcasting copyright?" Wen Feihang asked, "Given our company's current reputation, I'm afraid the video website won't give us a share of the profits, right?"
“That’s not necessarily true,” Dai Yuyan said. “If our work is the kind that has great potential, the video website will definitely try to buy the exclusive broadcasting rights and directly adopt the form of buyout,” she commented impartially: “But if it is ‘is’, I think no one can make an accurate evaluation.”
Otherwise, their production team would not have caused so much controversy both inside and outside the school during this period of time.
This was a bit blunt, but Muxuxing didn't mind.
He is still very confident in the money-making ability of "IS", not to mention that it is indeed an excellent commercial animation. It's just that for the people in this world, some can accept it, while others cannot.
The meaningless and cute harem anime is not a popular genre in animation, because its audience and upper limit are always there, but it cannot be said to be unpopular, because there is never a shortage of audiences - in short, it is basically impossible to become as popular as mainstream animation, but it is no problem to gain a basic base of well-off fans.
With this basic base in place, even if the reviewers of the video website have a mediocre impression of "IS", they will more or less consider buying the broadcasting rights of "IS". After all, as long as the production is acceptable, this type of animation rarely loses money.
In fact, this is true.
Xiao Zhengwen received the animation work called "Infinite Stratos" when he just started working.
As the chief person in charge of the animation review team, Xiao Zhengwen does not need to watch countless animation works during the auditions. His team members will be responsible for the preliminary selection process. The team members will conduct a preliminary review of all animation works sent to Yueqi Video. Only those that pass the preliminary review within the team will be submitted to Xiao Zhengwen for the final judgment and decision.
In other words, this animation work named "infinite stratos" was submitted to him only after it was reviewed by his team members and determined to have certain potential and commercial value.
Xiao Zhengwen glanced absentmindedly at the 26 episodes of animation neatly arranged in the computer folder.
He did not rush to click on the animation review, but first turned his attention to the staff and cast.
Animation...
I seem to have seen it somewhere, but I don’t have a deep impression of it. I guess it’s just a small workshop company.
As Xiao Zhengwen thought about this, he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. It's not that he looked down on small workshops, but animation is an industry that requires experience accumulation after all. Animation companies in the industry with decades of production experience cannot guarantee the quality of their animation works. The level of a small workshop like this will only be more unstable.
When his eyes fell on the dubbing list below, Xiao Zhengwen's eyes lit up.
Wow, the main roles are all played by well-known CVs in the industry, and the CV for one of the heroines is his goddess Liu Wan. Just based on this CV lineup, even if the plot is just average, at least there are fans of the big-name CVs to follow and buy into it.
After reading this, Xiao Zhengwen dragged the mouse down to look at the plot summary at the end.
Infinite Stratos, a super weapon that only women can use, the male protagonist who is the only one who can use Infinite Stratos and is forced into the IS Academy composed of women...
It should be a harem anime for sure.
As the head of the review team responsible for animation procurement, Xiao Zhengwen does not evaluate animations based solely on personal preferences, but mainly on market trends. As of now, this animation called "IS" may be too otaku-friendly according to the synopsis, but it wins in terms of beautiful characters and outstanding mechanical design. In addition, the participation of popular CVs is also an important reference.
"IS" has a total of 26 episodes. Excluding the opening and ending credits, each episode is 21 minutes long on average.
Since he had nothing to do, Xiao Zhengwen simply clicked on the animation and watched it attentively.
"Boss, I uploaded the animation for the preliminary review to your computer. Can you give me a lowdown on whether this animation will pass?"
Xiao Zhengwen came back to his senses and subconsciously looked up at the clock on the wall. The slightly thicker hour hand and the slightly longer minute hand were pointing straight upwards at the same time. Only then did he realize that he had been watching it for more than three hours without realizing it.
Seeing that his team members asked about it, Xiao Zhengwen did not hide it. He stood up, stretched his limbs on the spot, and told the other party: "Please help me contact this painting company and tell them that we can discuss the contract."
The team member nodded obediently, thought for a moment, then stopped and asked him tentatively, "Boss, do you think this animation is good?"
Xiao Zhengwen smiled and said, "Why? It was you who advocated the introduction of "is"?"
The team member chuckled, which was considered as his agreement.
"Well done," Xiao Zhengwen recalled his viewing experience just now and said frankly, "To say it's very exciting, it's actually not that exciting. It should be ranked in the upper middle level among harem anime. With this kind of subject matter and setting, it's impossible to make a big hit, but it should be no problem to make a small profit. In short, you did a good job this time, keep it up."
The team members who received the praise nodded repeatedly and left with satisfaction.
It has to be said that whether it is Yueqi Video or Yunsu Video, the speed of these two companies in reviewing animation works is still very fast. In less than three days, Muxuxing received replies from both sides.
As Muxuxing guessed, both companies expressed their intention to purchase the exclusive broadcasting rights of "IS".
Yueqi's condition was exclusive broadcasting rights, with a buyout fee of 2 million. Yunsu also demanded exclusive broadcasting rights, with a buyout fee of 1.2 million.
Muxuxing was not surprised by the price.
The problem of piracy has always been a problem that has affected the development of the animation industry. The production cost of animation itself is slightly higher than that of TV series, but the broadcasting license fee is often far less than that of TV series. Due to the high cost, it is basically impossible to recover the cost simply by selling exclusive broadcasting rights.
If you want to recover the cost, you still have to look at the popularity of the animation after it is broadcast. The higher the popularity of the animation, the better the sales of its peripheral derivatives. Whether it is the exclusive broadcast licensing fee or the non-exclusive broadcast licensing fee, these are secondary. If you want to recover the cost, the peripheral derivatives are the real big part.
Mu Suxing did not participate in the remaining specific negotiations. Huaying Animation set up a special department to solve the details of commercial negotiations. After a lot of tug-of-war, the exclusive broadcasting authorization of "IS" finally fell into Yueqi's hands, and the transaction method was changed from the initial buyout to profit sharing.
Xiao Zhengwen actually didn’t quite understand why this photography company insisted on sharing the profits.
After all, the revenue from animation broadcasting has always been very low. If the number of broadcasts of the animation itself is average, the profit sharing will often be much more of a loss than a buyout - unless the company that produced the animation is confident that it will be a big hit.
But how is this possible
It's just a harem anime. No matter how popular it is, its ceiling is limited. Can "is" break this wall
It was precisely because of this idea that when Huaying Animation proposed to give up the buyout and choose profit sharing, Xiao Zhengwen thought for a few seconds and readily agreed.
In his opinion, "IS" is a good commercial animation, but it is just good. Considering the limitations of the future palace animation itself, the income from the profit sharing should be almost the same as that of the buyout, or even less than that of the buyout. Since Huaying Animation insists, then the profit sharing will be fine.
As for the specific broadcast date...
"You're planning to schedule it in January?" Xiao Zhengwen looked at the young animation director in front of him in surprise. He frowned and couldn't help but say, "Don't blame me for not reminding you in advance. There will be three or four sequels of popular animations in January of next year. One of them is being broadcast on our Yueqi. Yunsu Video also has two animations adapted from famous novel IPs that will be broadcast. If you choose this time, be careful that you won't be able to recover your costs in the end."
It’s not that Xiao Zhengwen looks down on "IS", but the competition in January next year is really too fierce.
Yueqi was also fully aware of the changes in national policies, otherwise they would not have stepped up their efforts to support animation. Xiao Zhengwen knew that as the first batch of animations after the implementation of the new policy, there would be no pirated resources anywhere except for video websites that purchased the broadcasting authorization.
Not only that, the cheap pirated discs that have been rampant in the past will also be replaced by genuine bds and dvds.
Many animations are rushed to be broadcast at this time. On the one hand, they want to seize this opportunity. On the other hand, it is also the result that the relevant departments want to see - they want to know what the sales of the animation can reach when the piracy space is completely suppressed.
In other words, those who dare to participate in the competition for new January animations at this time, even if they are not sequels to highly popular animation works, are animations adapted from the IPs of famous novels and comics. Even before the animations are aired, they already have fans and popularity.
But what about “is”
Unknown production team, unknown IP. If the plot wasn't pretty good and the CV wasn't luxurious, Xiao Zhengwen might not have bought it.
But now, Muxiuxing told him that "IS" will join the January schedule full of famous works
In Xiao Zhengwen's opinion, "IS" is just an ordinary, cheesy, harem-themed anime. If it were a less chaotic day, it might have received positive reviews from otakus and achieved good results. But if it was released during the winter vacation when several excellent works were released, wouldn't that be a definite death wish
Not knowing his worries, Mu Suxing said naturally, "Yes, I think January is the best time to launch it. In addition, if possible, I hope the specific broadcast time can be set on every Saturday."
Xiao Zhengwen looked speechlessly at the black-haired young man in front of him, not knowing what to say.
Yes, this is indeed a very good time. After all, January is not officially the winter vacation yet. If it is broadcast on Saturday, the number of viewers will be higher. But the problem is, during such a prime time as Saturday, it is easy to imagine that it will be a Shura field full of big guys, right
Does this person really not know, or is he really that stubborn
Xiao Zhengwen couldn't help but ask, "Do you know which animations will be broadcast next January?"
When he said this, he was already prepared to give the other party a scientific explanation. After thinking about it, Xiao Zhengwen finally understood the other party's abnormality as "ignorance is bliss". If Mu Suxing knew which monsters would be online in January next year, he should not be obsessed with January and Saturday, right
Muxuxing on the other side said naturally: "I know."
Xiao Zhengwen looked at him suspiciously.
Seeing the other party's disbelief, Mu Suxing had no choice but to recall the tragic New Year's battle in his memory and said:
"'Red Rose' is a highly popular animation that fans have been looking forward to for half a year. The sales of the first season of DVDs have ranked first in the history of animation sales. The second season has been exclusively licensed by Yunsu Video. With the first season as a foundation and the animation's own plot getting better, the sales of the second season should be able to break the highest sales record in history."
"'Xian Zun' is Sanye's top novel IP. It has topped the novel hot search list for three consecutive years. The copyrights of the animation and game have been acquired by Yunsu Video and Yunsu Entertainment respectively. The live-action TV series of the same name is being prepared for filming. It is expected that the animation, TV series and game will be released together in January next year."
"'The Retired Life of the Demon King', this animation was acquired by your Yueqi, so I don't need to tell you, right?"
Xiao Zhengwen was speechless.
He originally thought that Mu Xiuxing made this decision because he knew nothing about the January time slot, but now it seems that the other party's understanding of the January time slot is almost comparable to that of a professional like him.
Seeing that he remained silent, Mu Suxing frowned and said, "Is it not possible?"
Xiao Zhengwen hesitated: "... It's not impossible..."
Looking at the young man with a doubtful look on his face, he felt both amused and regretful.
Xiao Zhengwen sincerely thinks that "IS" is pretty good. If it is released in a time period where the competition is not so fierce and with Yueqi's promotion, it might even become a small hit. But now, Mu Suxing insists on putting it into a Shura field full of blockbusters. It would be strange if an animation like "IS" is not crushed into pieces by other animations!
But since the producer Muxuxing was so insistent, he couldn't persuade him any more, so he just said, "Okay, I'll schedule 'IS' for January."
…
The broadcast time and website were settled, and Mu Suxing breathed a sigh of relief and began to consider the subsequent promotion of "is".
For "is", Muxiuxing does not plan to invest too much money in publicity.
The broadcast time of "IS" was set in January because January is indeed the best broadcast time period at the moment, but it is undeniable that compared with those sequels of popular works or adaptations of well-known IPs, "IS" is a thorough grassroots work. Before the work is broadcast, no matter how much "IS" is promoted, it is difficult to take away the popularity from these popular works.
In comparison, it would be better to follow the advantages of "IS" and simply promote the voice actor lineup, become familiar to the harem animation circle, gain a basic base first, and then when the animation starts airing, further spread it based on this audience.
Thinking of this, Mu Suxing took out his mobile phone and logged into Weibo, which he hadn't been online for several months.
As soon as he came online, the words 999+ popped up in the background of Weibo. Mu Suxing took a quick look and found that most of the news came out four months ago, which was when "The Little Prince" was the hottest. As the popularity of "The Little Prince" gradually faded, the news became less and less. The few recent ones were from unknown production teams asking him if he was interested in joining their animation project.
Mu Suxing did not respond to any of these messages.
He organized his words in his mind and quickly posted his first Weibo post in four months:
Huaying Animation v: "Infinite Stratos" produced by Huaying Animation will be launched on Yueqi Video in January next year. See you every Saturday at 8pm^_^[Picture][Picture]
The attached picture is a full character poster of the "IS" animation, as well as a large wallpaper of the male protagonist and his mecha standing back to back.
Mu Suxing didn't expect this Weibo post to have any effect. After all, "The Little Prince" is just a short animation, and its style is completely different from "IS". Moreover, four months have passed since "The Little Prince" was released. Considering the forgetfulness of netizens, Mu Suxing estimated that it would be good if his Weibo post could be forwarded and liked more than a thousand times.
Putting down his phone, Mu Suxing stretched and said happily: "It's finally over. Next, we have to wait for the animation to start airing in January next year."
As the one who watched Muxuxing complete the whole process, Fang Lian was still a little confused: "Didn't they say that they would do some follow-up promotion for the animation?"
Mu Suxing blinked and raised his finger to point at the black screen of the mobile phone on the table.
"Is this... the end?"
"What else?" Mu Suxing asked back. Seeing that the people in front of him looked a little worried and couldn't accept it, he sat up straight and said with a smile: "Besides the CV, what else do you think is there to promote an animation produced by a shabby production team like us?"
Wen Feihang frowned.
He knew in his heart that what Muxuxing said was true, but seeing the overwhelming publicity for other animations, he felt somewhat unwilling: "Don't we still have The Little Prince? Just say it's a new animation from the production team of The Little Prince, it should be able to attract some attention, right?"
“Forget it,” Fang Lian shook his head. “The Little Prince and is can be said to be two completely opposite works. People who like The Little Prince will probably not like is. Let’s not talk about whether the fans from the Little Prince period are still there. Even if they are, using this as a promotional point will only have the opposite effect.”
Cui Hongyi: "So let's just leave it at that?"
"That's enough." Seeing that the others were still worried, Mu Suxing shook his head. "Animation is not like TV series or movies. Apart from the recommendations of the video sites themselves, there is no better way. Given our current situation, if we really spend money on promotion, it might make the audience feel bored and have a counterproductive effect."
"There will be a lot of popular works in January next year, which is actually an opportunity for us," Mu Suxing said, curling his lips and patiently explaining, "Everyone knows that January next year is dominated by popular works. As a result, many animations originally scheduled for January will avoid prime time such as Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, even if they do not avoid January. In other words, as long as the audience clicks on the new update list for January, they can see "is" in the Saturday section."
Nowadays, the animation on Blue Star has not yet developed to the point where there are dozens of animation updates every day. Occasionally, only two or three animations are updated in a single day.
Mu Xiuxing believes in the magic of the "IS" script and also believes in the ability of his production team.
Besides…
"Who said we don't have any publicity?" Seeing that they looked confused, Mu Suxing reminded them, "Have you forgotten the convention of Yueqi's videos?"
Yueqi Video charges for animation in two ways: one is for popular works, the first three episodes are free for all viewers, and subsequent episodes can only be watched by purchasing the animation, the total price is generally between 10-20 credit points. The other is for general works, as long as you purchase a membership of Yueqi Video, you can watch it for free.
In order to avoid wasting highly popular works, Yueqi Video often decides the charging method of the animation by testing the first three episodes.
Considering the fierce competition in January, it will be difficult for "is" to get the top recommendation position from Yueqi Video. By then, the results of the first three episodes will not only determine the charging method of "is", but also determine the quality of the recommendation resources that "is" can get in the coming winter vacation.
"As long as 'is' performs well enough in the first three episodes, the recommended resources given by Yueqi Video will definitely change accordingly," said Muxuxing: "This kind of practical publicity is much more effective than expensive marketing."
If "is" was just an ordinary harem anime, he might have avoided the excellent works of the same period and chosen a more "peaceful" time period like other producers.
But this is "is"!
Use sales volume to build a rock-solid wall, and build a wall of masterpieces that crushes countless masterpieces above!
If a work cannot ascend the throne of the Wall of Masterpieces by stepping on the corpses of other masterpieces in terms of sales, how can it be called the Wall of Masterpieces
The author has something to say: Thanks to the little angel in the comment area for pointing out the bug problem of animation major. Because I am not an animation major, a lot of knowledge will be based on the materials at hand. There may be some differences between books and practice. In order to avoid confusion, this article will be based on the animation-related books I have at hand, and no changes will be made here.
Then, the comments do not represent the author's position and decision (serious face). Although I don't have an outline (.), the basic ideas and general direction will not change, and will not be shaken by the comments... So there is no 30,000 a day! Wake up!
Finally, here is the first version of this article. The original idea was that the protagonist was reborn as a Chinese student at an art university in Tokyo. In the early stage, he used the prophet of rebirth to buy the copyright of comics and novels in Japan, got to know the big names related to Japanese animation, established connections and learned Japanese animation production techniques. In the middle and late stages, he returned to China after completing his studies and started his own company, making his own original animations, supporting the development of Chinese comics, etc.
After discussing with the editor, I found that this kind of story involving real people is real-life fan fiction, which is prone to touch on some sensitive things and would be very troublesome to write. In the end, the background of the story was changed to a fictional one.
Copywriting 1.0
As an animation production practitioner, after accidentally reborn as a foreign student at Tokyo University of the Arts, Mu Suxing had only one thought:
Is it too late to buy the animation rights to comics like Dragon Ball, Naruto, and Slam Dunk
Later, when talking about his requirements for cooperating comic authors, Mu Suxing said righteously: For our company, ensuring stable updates is the most basic requirement, and comic authors who are addicted to playing cards will not be considered by us.
Industry insiders and fans all nodded: Yes! That’s it!
"I heard that Shonen Jump and Mr. Yoshihiro Togashi have been having some unpleasant things recently..."
Makusuxing: That's right, Mr. Togashi, I have always believed that true genius cannot be judged and evaluated by common sense. For a professional cartoonist like you, a way of relaxing like playing mahjong is very necessary!
Industry insiders & audience fans: