On April 15, 1979, after many months of preparation, the "Transformers" animation was finally broadcast on AMC TV, and this time there were a total of 3 episodes of the animation, according to the American broadcast custom, one episode will be broadcast every week, and three episodes are enough to be shown for 3 weeks.

The Autobots led by Optimus Prime (Bopai) and the Decepticons (Maniacs) led by Megatron appeared in front of the public. Unsurprisingly, after the broadcast of this anime, it was well received by many viewers, and every Saturday at 18:30, the family sat in front of the sofa to watch "Transformers".

Especially the children, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Red Spider, fascinated them so much that they didn't want it.

On this day, Wen Bingxi sent a report to Li Yixuan, since the broadcast of "Transformers", the subscribers of AMC TV have increased by 30%, and AMC has exceeded 5 million subscriptions for the first time since its inception.

For this reason, Wen Bingxi also held a celebration party.

5 million subscribers, if placed in the future, this data can only be regarded as a street hit, but in 79 years, this data is enough to dominate all pay TV stations. Because HBO, which is in second place, has just exceeded 2 million subscribers, which is not a star and a half.

Affected by this, Wen Bingxi's confidence also skyrocketed, and in the office, he assured Li Yixuan that in the next five years, AMC will have more than 10 million user subscriptions.

With 10 million subscriptions in 5 years, Li Yixuan knew that this process was extremely difficult for Wen Bingxi, and it was not until 1990 that he achieved this goal. And it was only by playing a large number of classic movies from the fifties and sixties that it was achieved.

He wanted to make AMC's development a little smoother, and asked, "Is there a plan for 10 million subscriptions for 5 years?"

Wen Bingxi took out the plan for the next 5 years from his briefcase and handed it to Li Yixuan: "This is the development plan I have done in the past few days. ”

Li Yixuan opened it and took a look, it was no different from the development plan discussed by the two at the beginning, it couldn't be just to buy old classic movies from film companies, produce TV series and animation, and there was no problem with the overall planning, but he always felt that something was missing.

"Why isn't there a documentary project?"

Seeing Li Yixuan nodding, Wen Bingxi said: "We can't do it with our current capabilities." The investment is too big, and if a documentary doesn't have $10 million, don't even think about it. ”

Li Yixuan sighed, it seems that he is still too anxious, and he has not considered the actual situation of AMC, even if he wants to do it, many things are not available, first of all, computer special effects are not available. You know, the BBC's science and education documentaries use a lot of computer special effects.

And it is also a long time process for materials to be collected. A lot of the time, the whole camera crew has to wait a year to shoot a natural shot, and they have to be very lucky.

It seems that the science and education documentary can only be put on the back, but some preliminary work must be done, "Manager Wen, I remember that there is a wildlife conservation center in South Africa, it seems to be called Blaney Wildlife Conservation Center......

"Gabrieni Wildlife Conservation Camp, South Africa. Wen Bingxi corrected: "This is a private wildlife conservation camp, founded in 1952 by Dutch Van Willems and later changed to Camp Gabrini. Gabrieni is actually the name of an elephant, a 4-month-old calf 20 years ago, who was abandoned by the herd and orphaned before being taken to the Van Willems camp, the only endangered animal conservation center in Africa at the time.

After careful care by the staff, Gabrieni was restored to health, but when the staff tried to send him back to the wild, he refused. So the animal protection was here, and an animal protection camp was built here to take care of Gabrieni, and that place was named Camp Gabrini. In 1973, two days before his death, Mr. Van Willems made a will to merge the Van Willems Conservation Camp into the Gablaney Conservation Camp, and the merged camp became known as the Gablaney Wildlife Conservation Camp. Not far from the camp, there is also a non-profit organization called the Hodsbovett Endangered Animals Conservation Center. ”

"You know him well. Li Yixuan said a little surprised.

"I was one of the volunteers at the camp. Wen Bingxi explained.

"No wonder. ”

"Why did Xuan Shao mention it?"

"Natural history documentaries, you need a lot of raw material, I want to work with them, I provide sponsorship funds, they provide me with footage. ”

Wen Bingxi replied directly without thinking about it: "It's completely possible, they are short of funds now, and your joining is just to solve the dilemma they are facing." It's a new model of cooperation, you lack materials, they lack funds, and they can also use AMC TV to educate people about the meaning of protecting endangered wildlife, which is a win-win, and they can't ask for it. ”

Li Yixuan said with a smile: "With enough materials, we can produce a science and education documentary of sufficient level." Since you've volunteered somewhere, you must know the contact information, and you're in charge. By the way......" he thought again, "not only these two, but other animal protection centers, you can also contact them, as long as they are willing to provide me with photographic materials, I am willing to fund them, and I am willing to use AMC's resources to promote them." ”

Wen Bingxi took action and flew to South Africa in the evening, and a week later, he brought back three people, two white men and a mixed-race child.

Two white men, one is the head of Camp Gabrini, one is the head of the Hodsboweit Endangered Animals Conservation Center, and the last mulatto is the head of the Lewandowski Conservation Center in South Africa. When they heard from Wen Bingxi that AMC was willing to cooperate with them, they were all overjoyed, and they simply packed their bags and came to the United States with Wen Bingxi.

Li Yixuan greeted everyone in the reception room, and after everyone sat down, he said straight to the point: "Wen Bi told everyone, I am willing to provide you with funds, I only need photographic materials, a large number of photographic materials." These materials will be used to make scientific and educational documentaries, so the quality of the photographic materials should not be too bad, the materials should be complete and comprehensive enough, and you don't have to worry about the film to provide it, no problem. ”

The three of them looked at each other, and one of them asked, "How much money do you pay for us?"

"$300,000 per year for each conservation center, 20-year contract, and I have the right of first refusal to renew it at the end of the year. ”

"Yes. The three of them said in unison.

300,000 US dollars, enough to open the conservation center, they did not have any objections, quickly signed the contract, took the money provided by Li Yixuan, and flew back to South Africa with the cameras and film provided by AMC.

Wildlife photography is difficult for others, but it is easy for them, they have their own photographers in the camp, and they also know the requirements for documentary filming, they can easily complete it, as long as the photographic materials are delivered on time, the task is completed.

After signing the contract with them, Li Yixuan signed a contract with wildlife photography enthusiasts who are active all over the world, which will not be funded, but will pay for their photographic materials, whatever they shoot, as long as AMC finds these things useful, they will buy them.

However, the price is much higher, and these people are all connected with various TV stations, and the slightly better, valuable photographic materials are all tens of thousands of dollars or even 100,000 dollars.

Science and technology documentaries are not really fun for ordinary people, and the investment is huge.