Chapter 451: High-Spec Lineup

Chapter 451: A Premium Lineup

In many ways, Master Kun shared a striking resemblance to Meng Fan. Both harbor a deep devotion to the worlds of anime and manga, both hail from affluent backgrounds while possessing an innate talent for earning their own livelihood, and as a consequence, both share a kindred alignment in their fundamental values. It was, of course, precisely this shared foundation that had allowed their acquaintance—sparked initially by a mutual appreciation for illustration—to blossom naturally into its current state.

Like Meng Fan, Master Kun’s primary motive for pouring wealth into the animation industry was by no means to turn a profit. As they had agreed during their last meeting when discussing the establishment of this studio, they had not entered the industry to claim a slice of the existing pie, but rather to bake a larger one.

Of course, once the pie was made larger, if the bakers themselves failed to get a piece, they could only blame their own incompetence.

This time, each of them had initially injected ten million as starting capital—excluding the production costs of "Spirits Beneath the Earth." The studio’s share distribution was remarkably straightforward: Meng Fan held forty percent, Master Kun held thirty-five percent, and the five-person core team received five percent each. In terms of equity distribution, both Meng Fan and Master Kun were exceedingly generous, and furthermore, these five individuals enjoyed the same compensation and performance bonuses as the other members. Naturally, an agreement was in place stipulating that should any of the five-person team leave within five years, their shares would be reclaimed.

The primary reason the two invested money was not for profit; it would not be an exaggeration to say it was for a dream, and ultimately, it was naturally for the sake of happiness. Everyone has their own pursuit of joy; the poor have their pleasures, and the rich have theirs. Much of the happiness available to the wealthy can be bought with money, yet in many other respects, money is merely the prerequisite.

When it came to making animation, both Meng Fan and Master Kun were willing to sacrifice their time and energy, so they were naturally even more unstinting with their wealth.

However, in terms of spending money, Meng Fan was clearly far more ruthless than Master Kun.

The first season of the "Spirits Beneath the Earth" animation was already completed, and its revenues would certainly not belong entirely to the studio. It was only that the post-production for the first season was currently entrusted to the studio; Master Kun did not need to pay extra, but a portion of the revenue would be allocated to the studio.

It was equivalent to the team remaining the original team, but the production was split into two parts: one part was what they had originally finished, and the other part was now contracted to the studio, which in turn outsourced a portion of it to other studios. For instance, the voice acting was handed to Chocolate, while the post-production music was assigned to another studio. Most of the songs Meng Fan had invited others to write would also be completed over there, though a small portion might be finished by the singers themselves.

Having invited these few singers to write songs, they would next likely have to invite singers to perform them, meaning the studio's investment in the post-production music for "Spirits Beneath the Earth" would multiply several times over.

Yet it was indeed a bargain; ordinary people could not move so many well-known singers, and from a promotional standpoint, it was a guaranteed win.

Meng Fan's knowledge of animation production was largely derived from books; beyond that, he had little contact with the field. On this visit, after mentioning the song invitations, he listened to the five-person team’s perspectives on future development. "Spirits Beneath the Earth" was merely a beginning, and the road ahead remained long.

As for "The Extraordinary of Mountains and Seas," the agreement had already been signed to hand it over to Kodansha for production. Meng Fan would dispatch a team to collaborate over there, though the collaboration was primarily for the purpose of learning.

Furthermore, even if the copyright for "The Extraordinary of Mountains and Seas" were retrieved, relying solely on producing this single manga, even if it would surely turn a profit later on, would run contrary to Meng Fan and Master Kun's original intentions. That would be an act of slicing the pie rather than making it.

To make the pie, they had to produce other animations.

Of course, this matter could certainly not be achieved overnight. Meng Fan did not intend to accomplish it within a few short years; it still had to be taken slowly, endured slowly, fought for slowly, moving forward one steady step at a time.

"Iron God."

The five-person team all maintained the title the outside world used for Meng Fan. Among them, Yang Wuzhen, who came from an accounting background, spoke last after outlining the general plan: "Our primary task at present is still to integrate the team. The five of us need to take on a separate small production to hone the newly joined members. We must forge the team properly at least before heading to Japan, otherwise going there would amount to nothing more than bringing back a bit of anecdotal experience, which holds little meaning."

Meng Fan nodded and said, "No problem. Do you have any works in mind yourselves? Or should I contact Penguin and have them recommend a few?"

Yang Wuzhen pushed up his glasses: "Inquire with Penguin about their animation situation. Even if we are honing the team, the money that ought to be made must still be made. Give me the contact details, I will handle the negotiations, and once things are settled, I will look for you to make the decision."

Meng Fan gave him a thumbs-up. He held great admiration for Yang Wuzhen; both he and Master Kun were very casual about money, and the other four were entirely immersed in technical matters, so they absolutely required someone capable of "calculating."

Of course, what made Yang Wuzhen even more formidable was his technical skill.

After a thorough chat, Meng Fan and Master Kun took the five-person team along with the newly joined members out for a late-night snack, while also calling over Director Cha and others from the Chocolate Studio. Aside from coordinating the post-production voice acting, it was also to allow the two sides to interact further; the chocolate still had to be consumed.

Meng Fan clinked his Coke against Director Cha’s glass: "Director Cha, how is the search for voice actors coming along? Have they all been assigned?"

"If you handle the male lead yourself, the main characters are fully accounted for, and the other roles won't be an issue," Director Cha said with a beaming smile, before proceeding to toast everyone one by one, draining his glass in a single gulp regardless of what the other party was drinking.

What a sharp nose Director Cha possessed; he had long since snuffed out the situation. Chocolate Studio had reached a virtual bottleneck in its development, and he had originally resigned himself to leaving things as they were, but the luck struck by that diamond ring was truly so fierce it could hardly be contained!

Whether Meng Fan swallowed Chocolate whole or merely took a stake, it was a magnificent boon for Director Cha. Setting aside Meng Fan's prowess in voice acting, with his current popularity, he could "sell" stagnant water at the price of crude oil!

Speaking of which, Director Cha was truly grateful for the argument he had with his wife that morning. If not for that fierce-tempered wife who liked to fling diamond rings during their quarrels, how could he have ever crossed paths with Meng Fan!

After the midnight snack, Meng Fan placed a phone call to Yixin, explained the situation, and recommended Yang Wuzhen's WeChat to him, leaving the remaining matters for them to discuss themselves.

"Hmm? Sis, when did you arrive?"

Upon returning home, Meng Fan caught sight of two women sitting in the living room wearing facial masks—black ones at that—and received quite a fright.

"We’ve been here for two whole days!"

Meng Caiwei carefully opened her mouth to pop in a slice of cut apple, rising to defend Wu Tong who sat beside her: "You return from outside and instead of seeing Tongtong first, where did you run off to so late? I even heard from Bai Zhi that you’re inviting people to write songs all over the place, what are you busy with?"

"Setting up an animation studio."

Of course Meng Fan had already seen Wu Tong upon his return. He reached out to grab a slice of apple and tossed it into his mouth, then went over to the side to fetch a whole one, munching on it while asking, "What kind of facial mask is this? Give me one."

"There isn’t one for a face as large as yours."

"Heaven and earth be my witness, your face is by no means smaller than mine!"

"Have you never looked in a mirror before?"

Watching the siblings bicker, Wu Tong wanted to laugh but dared not, fearing the mask would wrinkle if she did.

Since wrapping up "The Crossing Soldier," Meng Caiwei had not taken on any acting roles for over half a year, and she accepted very little other work. Her daily routine consisted of working out, reading, traveling, and shopping. Her primary purpose in coming to Hangzhou this time was to audit classes at Zhejiang University for two months, not to chase some diploma or fabricate a scholarly persona, but purely out of genuine interest.

The major that captured Meng Caiwei’s interest was "Landscape Architecture" within the College of Agriculture and Biotechnology at Zhejiang University. Of course, an interest in this field was not entirely bizarre; after all, there was an architect in the family. Although she had not been tormented by various architectural models from childhood like Meng Fan, she had still learned through osmosis, and from the perspective of "knowledge," she truly possessed a wealth far greater than the average student in that major.

Hearing Meng Caiwei’s plan, Meng Fan could not help but tease: "With that fierce temper of yours, can you truly quiet your mind to fiddle with those flowers, plants, rocks, and ponds?"

"Do you know what it means to practice vegetarianism and chant the Buddha's name for ten years, only to launch a grand slaughter in a single day?"

"So you intend to let these things entirely wear away your patience and cultivate an even more explosive temper? Impressive! Your perspective is truly novel!"

Wu Tong went to slice some watermelon and returned, continuing to eat the melon through her mask while watching the siblings dispute.

Bickering was a constant state for Meng Fan and Meng Caiwei, and they spared no courtesy when it came to pitting each other. The very next day, Meng Fan tricked Meng Caiwei into going over to Chocolate Studio, getting her to voice a character who appeared infrequently in "Spirits Beneath the Earth" but was of immense importance to the plot—Meng Po.

Meng Caiwei’s command of dialogue was universally acknowledged as excellent within the industry, and her voice acting performance was naturally superb. As for Meng Fan arranging such a role for her, with her professional standards in place, she could naturally not refuse; her only resistance lay in the fact that Meng Fan had swindled her into doing the voice work for free, which had nothing to do with the character itself.

Over the next two days, Meng Fan spent his time essentially voice acting at Chocolate Studio, completing all the content for the protagonist of the first season of "Spirits Beneath the Earth." At the same time, he also doubled as a voice acting director; though his own part was finished, he still frequented the place across the distance.

Two of the requested songs had also arrived, with an efficiency far swifter than Meng Fan had anticipated. One was written by Shi Shiwu, and the other by Jin Xiaowen. Simultaneously, Jin Xiaowen also agreed to join the post-production music work for "Spirits Beneath the Earth," and furthermore recommended another musician to assist with the scoring.

In this manner, the necessary arrangements for the post-production work were essentially complete.

As for promotion and the like, it was even less of a challenge; it all came down to what the final resulting effect would look like.

In the blink of an eye, the calendar turned to late September. The voice acting production for "Spirits Beneath the Earth" was completed, the scoring was basically finished, and a total of seven suitable songs had been received: one theme song, one ending song, and five insert songs. All were performed by well-known singers, a configuration considered premium even for a wildly popular television drama, let alone an animation.

Well, this "well-known" singer category included Meng Fan himself, the renowned non-professional singer, who performed the ending theme. The main theme song was written by Shi Shiwu, but instead of being sung by Shi Shiwu, it was performed by Su Qingcen. Additionally, among the two pieces written by Jin Xiaowen, one insert song was performed by Bai Zhi.

Of course, even if Meng Fan wished to give these two their compensation, he would never have been able to pass it into their hands.