That night, Huaying Animation held an internal celebration party.
"Director Mu, I salute you!"
As the chief director of animation, Mu Suxing was undoubtedly the one who received the most toasts. Considering that he had to go back to school to meet Professor Li tomorrow, he did not dare to drink too much. He only drank two glasses of wine at the beginning, then switched to orange juice, got up and went to the sofa at the side of the box, chatting with Dai Yuyan.
If Mu Xuxing was just a director, it would be out of place for him to be at a celebration party, which would obviously be inappropriate. But he was the actual owner of Huaying after all, and his refusal was very obvious at this moment, so naturally no one would be so stupid as to disturb him.
Fortunately, Fang Lian and Wen Feihang were both playful people, and they would make jokes from time to time to liven up the atmosphere. For a while, the party was lively and bustling.
"How does it feel to be the chief director?" Mu Suxing asked casually.
For a harem comic like "IS" which has no content at all, it is impossible for the second season to continue the huge success of the first season. Judging from the 250,000 subscriptions of the second season, although the second season directed by Dai Yuyan is far inferior to the first season, it is still a leader in the category of harem comics.
Dai Yuyan nodded first, then shook her head. "To be honest, it's not easy. It took me a lot of effort to adapt at the beginning. I used to read in textbooks that the director has the final say over all animation decisions, and I thought I only needed to make choices. But when I did it myself, I realized that it's not easy to make the best solution based on the overall situation among so many decisions."
She thought for a moment and added, "Although it's troublesome, I enjoy it."
Mu Xiuxing nodded secretly.
For a newcomer who has just embarked on the path of animation director, he is quite satisfied with Dai Yuyan's performance. Although the smooth completion of the second season of "IS" is also due to the contributions of several old employees of the production team, as the chief director, Dai Yuyan's performance is also remarkable.
"What's next?" Mu Suxing asked. He was quite concerned about the seedlings he valued: "Do you have any specific ideas? Will you continue to be a director, or do something else?"
Dai Yuyan shook her head. On the surface, she did a good job this time, but there were also many problems revealed: "Forget about the chief director. It's still too much for me now. I plan to take this time to improve myself and make plans later."
Muxuxing nodded slightly: "Okay."
According to the unwritten convention after "IS", Mu Suxing does not plan to direct the second season of "My Hero Academia" himself. He plans to leave the subsequent plot adaptation and specific production to other people. However, considering that My Hero Academia is different from IS, in order to ensure the quality of the second season, the chief director can only be selected from experienced veterans.
In other words, at this point, the few people that Huaying can trust at this stage are unable to share this burden with him, nor can they bear it.
Thinking of this, Mu Xuxing sighed.
In the final analysis, today's art studios are still too young. There is a lack of veterans and talents who can immediately engage in production.
He was still deep in thought when the glass of orange juice in his hand suddenly made a crisp clinking sound. Mu Suxing raised his eyes and saw Mu Xingxue sitting down beside him with a glass of white wine in his hand. He still had a smile on his face that hadn't stopped since the celebration banquet began.
"Honestly, I still feel like I'm dreaming," Mu Xingxue said with emotion, "Whether I started an animation company or a film and television company, I never got back the money I invested. I was lucky enough not to lose money. Now..." He shook the wine glass in his hand, "Since this animation became a big hit, I have received no less than 50 invitations for cooperation, big and small, and many companies have asked me if I will consider advertising placement in the next animation."
For Mu Xingxue, who came from a genuine wealthy family, the revenue and influence brought by this popular animation were actually limited. After all, on Blue Star, animation could never be compared with television and movies, and compared with the wealthy Mu family, it was just a drop in the ocean.
What Mu Xingxue saw was Huaying's potential.
Of course, Mu Xingxue would not be completely unaware of the news that Mu Suxing knew. Many people have seen Blue Star's support for the animation industry and its attitude towards the entire entertainment industry. The huge sales of "IS" originally attracted a lot of capital to the animation industry. Now that "My Hero Academia" is a big hit, I'm afraid that the capital that originally planned to develop slowly may no longer be able to sit still.
The real competition may have just begun.
Such a thought only flashed through his mind. Mu Xingxue had no intention of discussing these with Mu Suxing. Just as they had agreed at the beginning, the other party would be responsible for producing the animation, while he would be responsible for the overall operation of the company. That was enough.
"Do you have any plans for the next animation?" Mu Xingxue asked, "Several video website managers have mentioned this to me. What do you think?"
Muxuxing did not answer him immediately, but asked another seemingly unrelated question: "What about you? Which one do you think is right?"
Mu Xingxue laughed immediately.
“… Do I look like a stubborn idiot?” Mu Xingxue smiled and shook his head.
This seemed to be asking Mu Xingxue what choice he should make among the several video websites on Blue Star, but in fact it was just the opposite, because the real answer should be -
"I won't choose any website." Mu Xingxue said without hesitation: "The subscription of My Hero Academia can be said to represent the limit of online animation subscription. If Huaying wants to achieve better results than My Hero Academia, it must break out of its original limitations."
This limitation refers to both the platform and the target market.
Yueqi Video is a barrage video website focusing on ACG culture. As a leading video website in the animation category, Yueqi Video is very weak in other sectors such as TV and movies. Its main audience is mainly ACG culture enthusiasts.
In other words, for those who are not fans of ACG culture, they won't even have the chance to watch the animations produced by Huaying.
For an animation of excellent quality, Yueqi Video is indeed a very good platform, but for Huaying Animation, which has already reached the sales limit of online animation, selling exclusive animation licenses will probably only achieve results like "My Hero Academia" at best. Considering the audience issues of different themes, its online subscriptions may not even be as good as "My Hero Academia".
In simple terms -
"I don't choose any website," Mu Xingxue said, "or to put it another way, I choose all the video websites."
There are two forms of animation broadcasting authorization, one is exclusive authorization, and the other is non-exclusive authorization. The former cooperating video website will give a larger share, and the latter buyout price or share will be lower. However, non-exclusive authorization means that Huaying Animation's animation will be simultaneously available on several Blue Star video websites. In this way, more viewers will have the opportunity to see Huaying's works, and the scope will be wider.
In this way, Huaying Animation's profits from online subscriptions may decrease, but the overall revenue will be greatly increased. In the long run, non-exclusive licensing is the most beneficial.
"You're right, but not entirely." Without hiding his intention, Mu Suxing said bluntly, "If nothing unexpected happens, I will give priority to TV stations for the first round of broadcast authorization for the next animation, and the online broadcast will at least wait until the TV stations have finished broadcasting."
"TV animation?" Mu Xingxue was slightly stunned, but quickly regained his composure. With Huaying Animation's current strength, turning to TV animation is not surprising, and it can even be said to be an inevitable choice.
On Blue Star, the difference between online animation and TV animation, in addition to the difference in the level of production quality, is also related to the review system of relevant departments.
For example, a harem comic like "IS" would never be able to pass the review and be broadcast on TV.
As for boys' comics like "My Hero Academia", even if they will not be generalized like harem comics, they will inevitably make certain deletions and modifications based on the above requirements. In order to ensure the quality of the animation itself and the viewing effect, Mu Suxing was unwilling to edit it, so naturally he did not consider the TV station.
"You should know the rules for TV animation, right?"
"You don't have to worry about that," Mu Suxing groaned, "The next animation I plan to make is about magical girls, and the protagonist will be an elementary school student. It won't involve any sensitive plots, so there shouldn't be any problem with the review."
"Animation for children?"
As the name suggests, children's animation is an animation work whose main audience is young children. Mu Suxing recalled his next planned TV animation: "You can say that."
Mu Xingxue said "Oh".
If the transition from harem comics to boys' comics is a natural and easy-to-understand transition, then Mu Suxing's current transition from boys' comics to children's comics is obviously confusing, because the target markets are completely two different worlds. It is equivalent to giving up the audience fans accumulated by "IS" and "My Hero Academia" and turning to another desert area where the comics have no foundation.
The difficulty involved cannot be explained in a few words.
Mu Xingxue had similar thoughts in his mind, but he did not question the other party's intentions. Although he did not understand Mu Suxing's operations, Mu Xingxue was still quite confident in the ability of this partner and the profitability of children's animation.
Thinking of this, he readily jumped to another topic: "Since it is a TV animation, should we consider advertising placement? Of course, I mean under the premise that it does not affect the quality of the animation itself."
"Sure," Mu Suxing said cheerfully, "I'll make a list of suitable places for advertising placement for you later, and you can decide for yourself."
The celebration banquet that night ended in lively laughter.
Early the next morning, Mu Suxing set out back to school.
There were not many people on campus in the early morning. Following his memory, Mu Suxing went directly to the comprehensive building where Professor Li's office was located. The sycamore trees on both sides of the road were growing well. He walked casually along the tree-lined path in the middle. Unexpectedly, the breeze carried the voices of several students talking from a corner not far away:
“… Yes, yes, yes, I also like My Hero Academia. This anime is very interesting. I am really looking forward to the second season!”
"I actually appreciate Senior Mu's The Little Prince more. The professor showed it to us in the appreciation class before. He said that if it wasn't for the wrong timing, this series would have been able to compete for the Best Animated Short Film Award last year."
"… "
As the two talked, their voices gradually faded away.
Mu Suxing was distracted for a moment, and suddenly remembered what happened when he was just reborn. Now that more than half a year has passed, he is no longer shackled by the past and the past, and the reluctance and stubbornness that belonged to his true 22-year-old self seem to have gradually faded away.
Passing through the tree-lined path of Xingning Art University, Mu Suxing felt more and more relaxed and continued walking forward. Unexpectedly, when he looked up again, he saw an old acquaintance.
The young man who happened to be walking towards him at this moment, if it wasn’t Lu Yue from before, then who else could it be
Just as Mu Suxing's eyes fell on him, Lu Yue also discovered Mu Suxing.
This made his body stiffen slightly, and a feeling of unwillingness and a hint of embarrassment emerged in his eyes - compared to Mu Suxing's smooth journey of leaving school and starting his own business, his journey as an animation director has been bumpy.
First, Ji Xinrong walked away. Without Ji Xinrong's guidance, it was naturally extremely difficult for him to actually make animation on his own. He finally finished the online animation with great difficulty, but after putting it online on the video website, it was like a stone dropped into a deep pool, and it didn't cause any splash at all.
Let’s take a look at the two subsequent works by Mu Xuxing. They are completely different.
Lu Yue moved his lips, wanting to say something, but seemed unable to say anything.
For some reason, he had been having frequent dreams recently. In the dreams, he was appreciated by Ji Xinrong through the opportunity of school. After graduation, he joined Ji Xinrong's production team and rose to fame. Later, he started out on his own. His first independently produced animated film was a great success, and he became a sought-after animation producer.
When he woke up from his dream, the room was cold again.
If the future in his dreams is the reasonable future, then why has he ended up like this in reality? If Muxuxing hadn't snatched away the opportunity that belonged to him...
if…
He stared at Mu Suxing who was walking towards him not far away.
Three steps, two steps, one step.
Seeing that the two were about to face each other, Lu Yue's body became more and more tense. He clenched his fists and made up his mind that if Mu Suxing dared to mock him, he would teach him a profound lesson without mercy!
However-
Mu Suxing raised her eyelids but didn't look at him, as if she didn't know Lu Yue at all, and passed by him calmly.
For some people who are proud and conceited and think they are outstanding, being ignored is the most unacceptable revenge.
—
When Mu Suxing arrived at Professor Li's office, several students were already gathered around the medium-sized desk.
Professor Li seemed to have not arrived yet, and there was no one else in the office. Several students stood aside, lowering their voices and chatting quietly. One of the young men wearing black-framed glasses saw Mu Suxing come in and was the first to greet him: "Brother Pastor."
When the bespectacled young man said this, the others all looked over and politely called out, "Brother Pastor."
He looks very unfamiliar, not like a classmate. Judging from the name and the childish face, he is probably a new student this year.
Muxuxing nodded, and replied in a tone that was neither overly enthusiastic nor distant: "Hello."
He stood at the edge of the wall near the window, thinking about his graduation project while waiting for Professor Li to arrive. Several freshmen looked at each other, winking and making faces for a long time. Finally, the young man in the black frame was pushed out and asked bravely, "Brother Pastor, will Huaying recruit interns during the summer vacation?"
The question was too direct and too rash, which caused the boy next to him to poke him with his elbow, which made Mu Xuxing smile.
"Yes, as long as you have the ability, you are always welcome to come for internship."
Of course, Mu Suxing was not just saying this casually.
In any case, as a university ranked in the top ten for animation on Blue Star, Xingning University of the Arts has no problems with its teaching quality and student quality. Moreover, the people in front of him seem to be students that Professor Li values very much. No matter what their talents are, at least their character must be acceptable.
Although Huaying is currently in great need of experienced veterans, it is also an extremely important part of the training of young talents. If the young people at present are determined to join Huaying, they can do internships during the holidays to familiarize themselves with Huaying's working environment and the company's unique thinking habits in advance. When they graduate and join Huaying after graduation, they can avoid the troublesome early semesters and adaptation periods, and will be more comfortable using the company.
As soon as he finished speaking, the young men's eyes lit up and they were overjoyed: "Thank you, Senior Brother!"
A few people wanted to say something, but Professor Li happened to arrive at this moment, and everyone hurriedly said, "Professor."
Professor Li said "hmm", and his eyes swept over the people who were chatting happily, and finally fell on Mu Suxing: "The things are all over there, you can go back first after taking them, I have something to discuss with your pastor brother alone."
As soon as a few freshmen left, the office suddenly became empty.
"You have a very good eye. You picked out the best students of this class right away."
Mu Suxing smiled and said, "I don't have much vision. I just thought that the students that the professor valued must have good potential, so I decided on them first."
"Others flatter me, but you flatter yourself as well?" Professor Li joked, and then quickly returned to his usual seriousness and said seriously: "Tell me, what do you think about your graduation project?"
Mu Suxing's heart moved slightly, and he keenly sensed the hidden meaning in the other party's words, but he still said honestly: "The general idea has been determined, but I haven't started writing the script yet. At present, the overall style and character design are still under consideration..."
"You haven't started writing the script yet?" Professor Li frowned. His expression didn't seem to be unhappy, but rather a little regretful. He shook his head helplessly: "I was thinking that if conditions permit, I could try to nominate it for this year's Eleanor Best Animated Short Film Award..."
There are still three months left until the deadline for the graduation project at Xingning University of the Arts, but there is only one month left until the nomination deadline for the Eleanor Best Animated Short Film Award.
He originally thought that if Mu Xiuxing could produce a work of the same standard as "The Little Prince", it would be no problem to at least get a nomination.
But since Mu Suxing hasn't started writing the script yet, and the deadline of one month is there, it is definitely too late.
The author has something to say: I think I need to explain... I don't have any drafts for this article, it's all the work of the author, so if you accidentally read chapter 70 or 80, don't doubt it, Jinjiang is pulling again_(:3)∠)_
Thank you to the little angels who cast their votes for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution~
Thanks to the little angel who cast the [shallow water bomb]: Meng Hui Wen Xue 1;
Thanks to the little angels who cast [bazookas]: A-Chun 5;
Thanks to the little angels who threw [grenades]: Meng Hui Wen Xue 2; Yan Tong 1;
Thanks to the little angels who cast [mines]: Zhao Dui 5; Ye Baichuan 3; Xi Qian, qwq, and Zhou Yu 2; because of the fatal sand sculpture, A Sturgeon, w Feng Yu, Tentacle Girl, Shiliu Ye, Ye Yuan, Xiu, There is a kind of forgetting called remembering, Ying, 28109200 1;
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [nutrient solution]:
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Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!