Chapter 898: SUCCESSOR (2)
Phil knew very well that the chances of failure were too high if he followed the path of ordinary people.
He had a lot of funds to use but it might not be an advantage for him to take the ordinary people’s path. In fact, it might have the opposite effect instead.
Previously, there had been a rich man who partic.i.p.ated in a talent show for superheroes. He had added more scenes for himself by giving money to the production team, let his mentor give a higher evaluation, and let some contestants cooperate with his performance.
However, such behavior caused the audience to be repulsed and they boycotted. He managed to gain some popularity by burning money during the broadcast of the talent show, but did not make it to the second stage.
He had to admit that becoming a superhero not only required money, popularity, but also strength. At the very least, he had to make the people like him—no matter what type of liking.
After some consideration, Phil felt that if he partic.i.p.ated in the Superhero Selection like the others, he would be walking down the same old path. Would the audience like him? There was a high probability that they would not.
That was because rich people would naturally lose points if they partic.i.p.ated in the Superhero selection.
The audience preferred superheroes with tragic backgrounds and a strong sense of social responsibility.
Phil might have fans but in the eyes of the majority of the public, he was a playboy who did not do his job properly. He naturally gave people the feeling that he was ‘unreliable’.
What’s more, the motive of a rich man partic.i.p.ating in a superhero talent show was obvious.
Thus, Phil decided to take another path: personally sponsor a superhero talent show.
At the moment, the exclusive t.i.tle sponsors.h.i.+p fees for several popular Superhero talent shows had almost exceeded 100 million US dollars.
Of course, the production costs of these talent shows were also extremely high.
That was because Superheroes’ talent shows were different from ordinary talent shows. Apart from regular venues, these superheroes had to run a large number of outdoor scenes and arrange some special events.
In addition, they would also need to hire a superhero with enough fame and influence as a mentor if the talent show program wanted influence. These mentors’ appearance fees would be astronomical.
Thus, Phil had to spend at least two hundred million US dollars for the possibility of his plan succeeding.
The risk of doing this was extremely huge. This price could get the exclusive t.i.tle sponsors.h.i.+p fee for many Superhero talent shows, and the exclusive t.i.tle sponsors.h.i.+p fee could give the Simmons family’s real estate business a very good advertising effect.
In other words, he would not lose too much if he used this sum of money to buy the exclusive t.i.tle sponsors.h.i.+p of other talent shows.
However, Phil could not take the t.i.tle sponsors.h.i.+p, at the very least, he could not be the main sponsor. On one hand, this att.i.tude was still very obvious. It would easily arouse the suspicion of the audience and affect the overall plan. On the other hand, it was because other large financial groups would definitely not partic.i.p.ate without sufficient benefits.
Thus, Phil’s plan was to unite with the financial groups behind the two most popular superhero talent show variety shows at the moment and organize the ‘Successor’ talent show in the name of these two financial groups.
On the surface, the Simmons family would be completely cut off from the variety show ‘Successor’. People would not think that it was too much even if they felt that they had interest in it as long as they did not take the t.i.tle sponsors.h.i.+p.
On the other hand, the two large financial groups had already fought so hard in the field of superheroes. The program would obtain extremely high popularity and attention before it was even broadcasted if they were to jointly be the t.i.tle sponsors of the variety program ‘Successor’.
These two large financial groups could get the t.i.tle sponsors.h.i.+p of a superhero talent show without having to fork out any money. It was worth at least tens of millions of US dollars. Why would they reject such a good offer?
The only thing Phil Simmons wanted was for the production team of this variety show to use their own people to ensure that the program would develop according to the script that they had designed.
Phil would be a mentor in the variety show ‘Successor’.
There were a total of four mentors in the program. Apart from Phil, there was a superhero, a star manager of superheroes and a marketing director of a company behind a superhero.
The other three mentors were all big shots in the field of superheroes. The whole point of their existence was to cooperate with Phil, to create the illusion that Phil was of the same level as these people.
In fact, it was absolutely impossible for Phil to perform at the same level as the other three mentors on such a stage with his ability and knowledge reserves.
However, it did not matter. He had a script.
Phil would be successful as long as he acted according to the script.
Phil did not have the experience of creating a superhero variety show, but there would always be brave people when there were good enough rewards. All of these problems could be easily solved as long as he was willing to spend enough money and hire the right person.
Not every top superhero would be interested in coming to such a variety talent show as a mentor because it was a little like child’s play. However, they would be able to find suitable candidates as long as they gave enough money.
‘Successor’ was commissioned to be produced by a very capable television station in Hope City after Phil spent a lot of money. The auditions and filming work were quickly put on the agenda.
The production of ‘Successor’ was similar to other Superhero talent shows. The pre-selection was carried out normally, and the potential rookies who wanted to become Superheroes were poached from all over the country. The final winner would be decided through a series of practice and compet.i.tions.
It was just that there were some innovations in the rules of the show: They adopted the rules of coaches s.n.a.t.c.hing contestants and team compet.i.tions.
The four mentors formed teams and s.n.a.t.c.hed contestants. The four teams would form a group compet.i.tion to determine the final winner.
Phil had obtained the script for ‘second place’ on the basis of this rule.
The reason why he took the second place script was because first place was simply too eye-catching. According to the script’s arrangement, the team that Phil would form would be a team that “did not look strong but was actually very strong”.
In other words, this group of people would deliberately not perform so well during the pre-selection. At that time, Phil would see their potential and recruit them under his team. Their potential would be unleashed in the official group compet.i.tion. However, there was still a certain gap in strength, so they would lose with regret and ultimately obtain second place.
This way, the audience would feel that this group of people with average qualifications, performed well under Phil’s guidance.
It was not Phil’s fault that they obtained second place in the end. It was just that the team members were too rookie and could not be brought along.
That way, most viewers would think that Phil was a playboy on the surface, but was actually a very capable person, on the same level as the other three big bosses.
This would lay a solid foundation for Phil’s next step.
‘Successor’ soon became popular even before it was released!
Among these names was a superhero who had been famous for a long time, a star manager of superheroes and marketing director of a company. All of them were famous industry leaders in the field of superheroes. However, apart from these three people, there was also the famous Phil Simmons, a playboy and rich second-generation heir who had many fans on Twitter?
There was immediately a wave of doubts online: Phil Simmons might have a good education background and was a CEO of a company, but was he really qualified to be a mentor for such a program?
However, these doubts were quickly overshadowed. That was because the producers of ‘Successor’ immediately announced the compet.i.tion format of the show: four coaches would s.n.a.t.c.h the contestants and start a team compet.i.tion.
Thus, those who had doubted Phil Simmons earlier began to gloat. They wanted to see Phil Simmons embarra.s.s himself on the show.
Even though all four mentors had the same “recruitment quota”, the best and most promising group would definitely be s.n.a.t.c.hed away by the other three mentors. Phil could only pick up some trolls that were one level lower.
At that time, the team battle would probably be one-sided. Phil’s team would undoubtedly become a point-sending baby. It would probably be difficult to win even a small game.
The first episode of ‘Successor’ was therefore officially broadcasted under this huge popularity.