Chapter 761: Mascot
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Tan Jingi and Tan Mo looked at each other when they heard Xu Das.h.i.+’s words. ”
‘s a coincidence,” Tan Jingi answered before saying, “I called you this time because of this singing variety show…”
“Oh?” Such a coincidence surprised Xu Das.h.i.+., It turned out that Tan Jingi and Tan Mo already knew that Kefeng Films would do this variety show.
Wei Zhigian must have told them, or so Xu Das.h.i.+ thought.
It did nothing to sate his curiosity, however. Why had Wei Zhigian not told him?
“Mr Xu, when are you free today? We’ll go over the details with you in person,” Tan Jingi said.
“Tm free at the moment,” Xu Dazhi immediately replied.
“Okay, then we’ll go to Kefeng Films now.” Tan Jingi was already en route to Kefeng Films even as he informed Mr Xu that they were on their way.
Tan Jingi decided to give Xu Das.h.i.+ a heads-up. “We’ll be there in about ten minutes.”
Xu Das.h.i.+:
They must have set off early that morning to meet him.
What if they arrived and leamt he was not free to entertain them? Xu Das.h.i.+ considered the question and sighed.
Even if he were not free to meet them, he would still have had to make time.
Tan Jingi worried that Xu Das.h.i.+ would overthink things, so he explained, “Mo Mo and I are going to Singing Voice’s recording studio to discuss some matters. It happens to be quite close to Kefeng Films, so we thought we would visit you since we were in the area.”
Xu Das.h.i.+ heaved a sigh of relief but immediately became wary. “Singing Voice’s program team has invited Teacher Tan?”
Tan Jingi smiled and said, “You don’t have to be so polite. We are already so familiar with each other. You can call him. It just so happens that he will be going with us to Kefeng Films.”
“Okay, okay.” Xu Das.h.i.+ thought it through. Wouldn’t that make him privy to their conversation?
Tan Jingi believed it was a good time to interject and said, “Singing Voice’s programme team has invited him, so welll accompany him today to see what the program team is planning.”
“I’s a good thing we accompanied him. That executive director, Ge Guangzhen, and the a.s.sistant director, Chen Xinghan, were there. They intended to feature him in a compet.i.tion round and immediately eliminate him.”
“We only learned of this recently. The show is a sham. The programme team planned it out from A to Z, forcing their guests to sign contracts that would force their elimination after a few episodes.”
“The audience’s votes don’t matter, and neither do the guests competing.” Tan Jingi had no intention of sugarcoating the truth on Singing Voice’s behalf.
“They contracted Jinsheng for one episode because he’s been quite popular lately and not for his ability. In their eyes, he’s the best sort of cannon fodder for the second episode of the compet.i.tion.”
“He is not famous, so his appearance fee isn’t high, but it doesn’t mean he has no fan base. He still has some dedicated fans, and they’re hoping his minor popularity will boost the show’s ratings. He’s nothing more than a glorified pack mule to support their artists!”
Tan Jingi sneered, “Why should he partic.i.p.ate in such a show or even be humiliated? I’m glad he rejected it. Our family isn’t some foil to make others look good, and neither Ge Guangzhen nor Chen Xinghan has the right to look down on him!”
Tan Jingi took a deep breath.
“Zhigian said last night that Kefeng Films was also developing a singing variety show, so I wanted to know what kind of variety show it is and whether it would be suitable for Jinsheng to partic.i.p.ate. Please tell me more about it,” Tan Jingi enquired.
“I see,” Xu Das.h.i.+ nodded, “Don’t worry. Our variety show does not follow a predetermined script. For example, our number one variety show, ‘PICK!’, really relied on the audience’s votes. There was no preset winner. We firmly believe that only programs that don’t rely on a fixed script will bring the greatest
entertainment to our audience.”
“Of course, there will be some guidelines, especially during the recording itself, but it isn’t anything too strict. The outline’s purpose is to give our guests an overview of what will happen during the show. No variety show can do without a general framework.”
“The rest is up to our guests and their performances during the show. We don’t give our guest artists fixed roles.”
“Every artist has their routine; we don’t interfere with them. At the very least, we won’t ever force our guest artists into preset moulds,” Xu Das.h.i.+ explained.
“How about this? I’ll have my colleague, who is in charge of this upcoming variety show, speak to you and go over the details of our plan. It’s still in the preliminary stages since we haven’t decided on the television station we will be working with; there’ll likely be several changes before the final draft is
ready.”
“But the general direction shouldn’t change too much. At least in the aspect of fair compet.i.tion, even if the television station has the intention to produce a script, we won’t compromise.”
“Don’t worry. We’d rather not cooperate with a television station and do it ourselves than compromise the integrity of our variety show.”
Although the matter had not been confirmed yet, Xu Das.h.i.+’s guarantee was enough for now.
After about 13 minutes, Tan Jingi drove to Kefeng Films.
Xu Das.h.i.+ told Tan Jingi to head over to the meeting room he had arranged once he arrived at Kefeng Films.
As Tan Jingi and Tan Mo had come a few times, the security guards recognized them and allowed them entry without much ha.s.sle.
The staff at the front desk did not stop or make them register.
Kefeng Films was no stranger to Tan Jingi’s ‘Broken Continent’, which had taken the Internet by storm, gaining a year’s worth of KPI ina flash.
The creators of the peanut and fruit pie videos could only stare on with eyes burning jealously.
Just ‘Broken Continent’ alone was enough to make the other two video sharing platforms so anxious that their eyes did not leave Kefeng Films.
It was very likely that ‘Broken Continent’ would get a second season.
As long as Tan Jingi could maintain the standard of the first season, the second season of ‘Broken Continent’ would be as good as or even better than the first.
After all, the first season had built up quite a reputation, and people were anxiously waiting for a sequel.
The promise of a second season had attracted many sponsors, and the production’s budget was much greater than the first.
Tan Jingi was a step away from becoming Kefeng Film’s mascot!
Thus, Tan Jingi and his group of three smoothly arrived at the conference room that Xu Das.h.i.+ had mentioned.
When ‘Broken Continent’ had not achieved good results, the conference room had been quite empty with only Tan Jingi, Tan Mo, and a few others ever using it.
Hence, they were surprised when they stepped into the conference room and found five individuals waiting inside.
They were all unfamiliar faces.
Tan Mo guessed that they were people from the variety show production department.
“Director Tan, Scriptwriter Tan.” The five of them stood up. The lead artist came up to them and shook hands. “This is Tan Jinsheng, Teacher Tan.”
“Tm the executive director of this singing show, s.h.i.+ Shulei.” s.h.i.+ Shulei looked much younger than Ge Guangzhen, perhaps somewhere in his early thirties.
People who could sing usually looked younger.