Traffic Star Development Program

Chapter 57 Predicting the Future

It's not about scrutinizing, it's about evaluating.

Zeng Hao pushed the contract over, "Take a look first."

Agent Lin quickly took the contract, flipped through it, and it was clear she had done her homework beforehand. Turning to the page about the payment, she looked up and said, "This figure is quite different from Mr. Zhao's current market rate."

"I know," Zeng Hao said, "that's why there's a resource exchange clause in the contract appendix. Turn to the back."

Manager Lin flipped to the attachment, looked at it for about fifteen seconds, then looked up and said, "Hua Qiangu?"

"right."

Zhao Liying took the contract from Agent Lin, turned to the attachment page, and looked down at it. Zeng Hao didn't urge her and waited for her to finish reading.

"There's no activity in the market for this kind of IP right now," said Agent Lin. "How did your company determine that this project has value?"

Zeng Hao pushed a piece of paper over his hand, which listed several lines of numbers. It was the procurement data of the costume drama market over the past three years, which he had Xu Wen compile. It showed the purchase price trends of costume dramas by the three leading platforms: iQiyi, Youku, and Tencent Video.

"Look at the third column," he said. "In 2014, the average purchase price per episode for top-tier period dramas on platforms was 800,000 yuan. In 2015, it rose to 1.1 million yuan, and last year the figure was 1.4 million yuan." He paused for a moment, "This number will continue to rise, but it won't rise forever."

Agent Lin took the paper and scanned it. "Market price increases are an industry trend. What does that have to do with the specific project 'The Journey of Flower'?"

"Because there is a window of opportunity for platforms to purchase top-tier period dramas," Zeng Hao said. "From now until 2019, these three years are the period with the highest premium in the period drama sector. After 2019, the policies tightened and the purchase price dropped directly. Projects entering the market now are getting the highest premium, while projects entering the market after 2019 can only get the remaining amount."

Agent Lin put down the paper. "How did you determine that policies would tighten in 2019?"

"Industry signals," Zeng Hao said, "The State Administration of Radio and Television has been continuously lengthening the filing period for period dramas since 2014. This is a precursor to policy tightening. It's not just my personal judgment; it's a trend that can be read from the data."

Manager Lin did not immediately say the next sentence.

Zhao Liying flipped the contract back to the appendix page. "What are your plans for the 'The Journey of Flower' IP?"

This was the first thing she said today.

"Ancient costume fantasy," Zeng Hao said, "The main storyline is emotion, but the core selling point is the world view. The audience of this IP has a high degree of overlap with your current fan base. If you do it right, you will be at the top of the ancient costume genre. If you do it wrong, the company will bear the losses. This is clearly stated in Article 4 of the contract appendix."

Zhao Liying found the fourth clause of the appendix, read it through, and it said, "The company will bear the losses, but how will the profits be divided?"

"It's 60/40, you get 60/40, I get 40/40," Zeng Hao said. "But this 60/40 refers to the revenue sharing from IP derivatives in addition to the actor's salary, not a replacement for the actor's salary."

Agent Lin picked up the procurement data sheet and looked at it again. "Other companies offered Teacher Zhao the normal market rate for her acting, without these additional clauses."

"I know," Zeng Hao said. "Dingsheng Media is offering the market price, but Dingsheng Media doesn't have the experience of producing 'The Journey of Flower' or any period drama series. They're offering you the current price, while I'm offering you the price from 2017 to 2019."

The meeting room fell silent for a few seconds.

Agent Lin put the paper down and glanced at Zhao Liying.

Zhao Liying didn't look back at her; she was still staring at the contract on the table, her finger pressed on the fourth line of the appendix, but she didn't move.

"Teacher Zhao," Lin said in a low voice, but Zeng Hao didn't hear what he said.

Zhao Liying removed her finger from the line of text, looked up at Zeng Hao, and said, "Production budget."

"The budget for a single episode of The Journey of Flower will be no less than 1.2 million," Zeng Hao said. "This figure is written up as an attachment, not a verbal promise."

She flipped the contract back to the first page and slowly read through each clause. When she reached the last page, she paused for about ten seconds and picked up her pen.

Before Agent Lin could even speak, she had already signed the contract.

Manager Lin swallowed back the words she was about to say, lowered her head, and signed the manager confirmation form, her movements a beat slower than Zhao Liying's, as if she was still processing what had happened in those ten seconds.

Zhao Liying pushed the contract back, stood up, straightened her trench coat belt, and said, "When are you going to show me the script?"

"After the final draft is completed," Zeng Hao said, "within three months."

She responded, picked up her bag, and walked towards the door. She paused on the threshold, turned back, and said, "You just said that policies would tighten in 2019," she continued, "What if they hadn't?"

"Then you'll earn even more," Zeng Hao said. "There's no upper limit set in Appendix 4."

She glanced at him for a second, then turned and left.

Agent Lin followed behind, walked to the door, turned around with a professional reassessment expression, looked Zeng Hao over from head to toe, didn't say anything, and went out.

Xu Wen closed the door and stood to the side for a while. "President Zeng, how did you know that Dingsheng Media had offered Zhao Liying a price?"

"When her agent came in, there were two contracts in her briefcase," Zeng Hao said. "Our copy was newly printed, and the other one had creases on the edges, indicating that it had been folded more than once and had been brought back and forth to negotiate with more than one company."

Xu Wen considered this for a moment, then glanced at the closed door. "So you knew from the beginning that she would sign it."

"I don't know," Zeng Hao said, "but I know her agent will be the first to waver."

Xu Wen was taken aback. "Why?"

"Because the agent's money comes from the artist, the artist's value determines the agent's value," Zeng Hao said. "She needs this project to succeed more than Zhao Liying does."

Xu Wen took a moment to process this, then slowly nodded. Just as he was about to say something, Zeng Hao's phone vibrated.

Peng Bing's Daily Report: Filming went smoothly today. Two days to go, filming is expected to wrap up as scheduled.

Two days.

Zeng Hao flipped his phone over and pushed the copy of Zhao Liying's contract on the table aside. "Go send the last two announcements for 'Diamond Lover' to Peng Bing and have him confirm the venues."

Xu Wen took out his phone and wrote it down. "Okay, I'll go send it." He walked to the door, turned around, and said, "President Zeng, now that Zhao Liying has signed, do we have a top-tier artist now?"

Zeng Hao took the script for "Three Lives Three Worlds," turned to scene thirty-two, and said, "Go issue a notice."