The core of Confucianism is interpersonal relationships, but they have never been sorted out, so interpersonal relationships in China have become more and more complex over the past 5,000 years. Taoism talks about the relationship between man and nature, but it is too metaphysical, so Taoism has become something that teaches people to be immortals. I have to admit that it is human instinct to seek good fortune and avoid evil, even in our interactions with each other.

Ye Leiyang knew very well that although Zhao Baogang and others appreciated their talents, their talents did not make them stand on their side at some critical moments.

After all, people are egoists, and if they conflict with others, when it comes to the interests of their group of people, and they need to be weighed, appreciating two words cannot become a tool to control the balance of people's hearts.

To put it bluntly, if one day, there is a conflict between Ye Leiyang and Hua Yi's side, although Wang Shuo and Feng Xiaogang have always admired Ye Leiyang now, they will definitely choose to support Hua Yi, rather than support him, a newcomer in the screenwriting circle, because they appreciate Ye Leiyang's talent.

But on the other hand, if they knew that Ye Leiyang had a great reputation in the United States, even if they would not support Ye Leiyang, at least they would not fall into the ground.

This is the reality, just like in the memory of Ye Leiyang in his previous life, Huayi was almost emptied by Wang Jinhua, and Chen Zhiming still jumped ship and left Huayi despite having a close personal relationship with Feng Xiaogang and others. Although he is in his position, he is no longer too constrained by the brokerage company, but in the final analysis, it is not because he has a deeper friendship with Wang Jinhua, and the other party has opened up enough chips.

What Ye Leiyang has to do now is to let Zhao Baogang understand that he is not just a newcomer, but an existence who pretends to be a pig and eats a tiger.

"Xiao Ye, are you planning to develop in China?" Zhao Baogang said to Ye Leiyang with a smile, and there was a lot of familiarity in his tone.

It's not that he is realistic, but that his identity determines his status, and the rookie screenwriter Ye Leiyang is at best worthy of Zhao Baogang's attention to his potential and recruitment, and the famous screenwriter Ye Leiyang is undoubtedly a golden signboard.

Even if Ye Leiyang doesn't want to be exposed now, there will be a day when he will be exposed.

Ye Leiyang smiled: "It's not about developing in China, the main United States doesn't need to follow the group, I just need to pass the script over." And there's a co-writer over there, and I'm mainly responsible for a big framework, and they'll find someone to fill in the specific content. ”

Zhao Baogang was quite interested in the production of TV dramas in the United States, and asked seriously: "How to distribute the salary?" ”

Ye Leiyang smiled: "Of course, it's mainly me." ”

"And what about the specific broadcast time?" Zhao Baogang then asked.

Ye Leiyang replied: "A very distinctive feature of American TV dramas is that they are broadcast seasonally, and there is a relatively fixed schedule every year. Every year, from mid-September to late May, the screening season is complete. During the season, major television networks broadcast more than 40 sitcoms and more than 20 melodrama series every week. In November, February and May, all episodes will go through three ratings tests. Episodes that don't get good ratings will be eliminated immediately, while episodes that pass the test will gain considerable status.

Not only that, but every September, the Emmy Awards for primetime programming presented by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences are the official start of the season. Within a month after the Emmy Awards, the new drama premiered and the old drama reappeared. Every year, major TV stations launch TV dramas in prime time for audiences with different levels of education, social and cultural backgrounds. Each TV series airs at a fixed time each week for a fixed duration, which makes it easy to maximize prime time and attract as many viewers as possible.

This kind of broadcast mechanism forms a sense of restriction between the TV series and the audience, and the broadcast at a fixed time every week can allow the audience to slowly develop the habit of watching the program at a fixed time. ”

Zhao Baogang nodded: "This is very reasonable, at least it is conducive to cultivating a fixed audience of viewers, and it is good for the long-term development of TV dramas." ”

Ye Leiyang smiled: "Yes, a considerable number of American TV dramas are expensive to produce, and any drama may be cut in half because of the low ratings, so filming and broadcasting has become an inevitable choice from an economic point of view." None of the works will have a large stock of episodes. The screenwriter can add hot spots of current affairs to the plot, adjust the plot settings and the fate of the characters according to the audience's feedback, and add corresponding holiday themes such as Thanksgiving and Christmas as the seasons change. This adjustment can arouse the emotions of the audience and bring them closer to the episode. The production of American TV dramas embodies the characteristics of heavy large-scale industrial production, and adopts the form of assembly line operation. There is a stable triangular relationship between TV stations, production companies, and broker agencies. ”

"On the one hand, the production company provides creative and production services to the TV station, and has a commission relationship with the TV station, and once the TV station has determined the script of the production company, it will entrust the production company to shoot and produce. Agents, on the other hand, are responsible for sourcing actors, writers, and directors for production companies and maintaining long-term contracts with them. The classic assembly line of American TV drama production is cumbersome, take a few TV series I wrote as an example, at the beginning I wrote all the detailed content of the script, but from the third and fourth seasons after the ratings stabilized, I stopped doing that, like the phone call you just heard, I acted as the main writer to design the plot, and then the outline writer wrote the outline, the dialogue writer wrote the dialogue, the chief screenwriter compiled the script, the producer and director did the pre-preparation, pre-shooting, post-production, distribution and broadcast. ”

Ye Leiyang faced Zhao Baogang and talked eloquently, without the slightest stage fright and hesitation.

Zhao Baogang was originally worried that Ye Leiyang might be bragging, but seeing that he was so familiar with the process of commercial TV dramas in the United States, the last trace of doubt in his heart had completely disappeared.

"It seems that the screenwriter has a very high status in the United States." After listening to Ye Leiyang's words, Zhao Baogang couldn't help but sigh with emotion, he could tell that in Ye Leiyang's narration, the status of American screenwriters is quite high.

Ye Leiyang nodded: "Since American TV dramas adopt a large-scale industrial production method, screenwriters need to provide scripts regularly to decide the direction and details of the story. TV series rely on stories and dialogues to win, therefore, the status of screenwriters is very high, and after the series matures, he may become the chief conductor of a drama and control the overall situation. Behind every American TV series is a huge team of writers and directors assigned by the production company, but the work of the entire team must be completed by the main writer and screenwriter under a unified structure. To a large extent, the plot and style of the entire series are mastered by the lead writer. ”

As he spoke, he laughed, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Otherwise, why do you think ABC is so kind and gives me face?" Hehe, Americans have always been very realistic, we Huaxia may talk about feelings, but they don't have that kind of thing at all. It is impossible for such a thing as a favor relationship to happen on American television, unless there is an exchange of interests, otherwise the American-style favor is always paid equally. ”

"If you eat a bite of cheese, you have to pay a fruit, right?" Zhao Baogang smiled and said something that surprised Ye Leiyang.

"Director Zhao seems to have seen it." Ye Leiyang laughed.

Zhao Baogang smiled bitterly: "Don't mention it, it's all old things, our thinking is different from others, and we should suffer losses." ”

Ye Leiyang nodded: "This is natural, the vast majority of American TV dramas adopt the form of a series with a flexible and open structure. In each season, a series generally uses one or several main characters to connect through it, and adopts a basically unified narrative style and narrative mode to tell a relatively complete and independent story. The series has an open structure and can be constantly adjusted based on audience opinions, cast changes, or other circumstances, without affecting the continuity of the story as a whole. This open structure helps the story unfold from season to season and can extend the life of the episodes. They are very realistic and advocate the law of ratings first, and the market competition in American dramas is extremely cruel. Major commercial television networks commission production companies to shoot more than a dozen new TV series each year, but only one or two of them are likely to get enough viewers to get a contract to continue production. It is also possible that the old TV series will not be able to get a contract to continue production because of the decline in ratings. has experienced the "big waves and sands" that have experienced the ratings test, and a surviving TV series already has its own brand appeal. The series targets a large number of viewers to watch a particular channel at a specific time of the week, which increases the channel's advertising price during that time. ”

As he spoke, Ye Leiyang blinked his eyes and said to Zhao Baogang: "Actually, I have always felt that your "Story of the Editorial Department" can be carried out in accordance with this production model, anyway, we have no shortage of ratings in Huaxia, Director Zhao, your golden signboard is there, I believe that many people will go to see Zhao Baogang's three words." ”

Zhao Baogang listened to Ye Leiyang's words, showing a thoughtful expression, I have to admit that what Ye Leiyang said still has a certain truth, the entire Chinese TV drama production market, to a large extent, is still stuck in the planned economy era of the kind of non-regular administrative order management mode, and even, when a TV series is filmed, tens of millions of dollars of investment are smashed into it, and it is impossible to predict what the final result will be, whether it is losing money or making money, it is all left to fate.

If we can introduce the advanced production methods of the United States, we should at least be able to ensure the interests of the production company.

Thinking of this, Zhao Baogang looked at Ye Leiyang, with a hint of expectation in his eyes: "Xiao Ye, I don't know if you can do me a favor?" ”

Ye Leiyang was stunned for a moment, and then laughed, he knew that his goal seemed to have been achieved. (To be continued.) )