Chapter 461: Bilibili Has a Soul

Chapter 461: Bilibili Has Spirit

Given the current output of Shanhai Animation Studio, it was indeed unnecessary to set up their own distribution company. Although many studios now had shell distribution companies, they ultimately still had to cooperate with other distributors. They might earn a portion of the distribution commission in between, but that would be like "cutting flesh" from the producer. So Meng Fan and the others accepted Hu Yijing's second suggestion.

"Then we'll have to trouble Sister Jing again."

Meng Fan thought for a moment and added, "Also, I need to ask Sister Jing to help me find a few distribution staff, mainly to handle the liaison between us and the distribution company, as a way to build a team in advance for the future."

Hu Yijing nodded with a smile, "You don't have to say it, I'll help you find them anyway. The industry has high expectations for 'Spirits Underground' and your studio. I've seen the finished film of 'Spirits Underground' before. Although I don't know much about animation, I can tell the quality is very high. I have great confidence in your studio's future."

With the matter settled, Hu Yijing didn't linger and left immediately. Meng Fan saw her to the door, remembered something, and said to Hu Yijing, "Sister Jing, I heard from my sister before that you've also been thinking of starting a distribution company?"

Hu Yijing nodded, "In recent years, my work focus has gradually shifted. Currently, I only have Su Qingcen as an artist under me. I have indeed thought about opening a distribution company. Why, are you planning to cooperate with me?"

Meng Fan said, "You've always helped me a lot, and I don't know what I can do for you. If you're going to set up a distribution company, then we won't form one on our side. We'll hand over all related matters to your company to manage. Sigh, in the end, this is still asking for your help."

Hu Yijing laughed, "You're practically giving me money! Then I'll take your words seriously. From now on, your studio's distribution can't be handed over to anyone else."

If Hu Yijing was going to set up a distribution company, she would inevitably need to build good relationships with major film companies, artist studios, and so on. The more resources in this area, the better. Of course, her main purpose in being close to Meng Fan wasn't really for distribution—that would be underestimating her.

After Hu Yijing left, she contacted several friends in the car. She wasn't particularly familiar with animation distribution, so she specifically asked around, then got in touch with the heads of two major animation studios. Everyone was very accommodating. After a round of conversations, Hu Yijing found her direction.

That evening, back in Shanghai, she called together the core team she originally intended to use for setting up the distribution company to discuss matters. After reaching a rough consensus, she communicated with Meng Fan's side, and then approached the streaming platforms.

Nowadays, animation was basically no longer submitted to TV stations. After all, the satellite TV stations that still aired cartoons had very narrow requirements, mainly focusing on children's animation or even toddler animation. So they had to turn to online streaming platforms.

Because both the novel and the comic of "Spirits Underground" were part of the Tencent system, Tencent Video was naturally the first choice. Additionally, iQiyi and Youku were secondary options, and Bilibili was a backup. In total, there were four targets. In the initial contacts, all four platforms were very willing to cooperate. Next came the more tedious negotiations, involving issues like revenue. Hu Yijing certainly had to sort everything out before handing it over to Meng Fan for the final decision.

Regarding matters related to Meng Fan, Hu Yijing had never regretted any decision, including not pushing harder to sign Meng Fan back then. If there was one thing she truly regretted, it was not encouraging Su Qingcen earlier to pursue Meng Fan. Unfortunately, that girl was decisive in everything else but slow on this matter. By the time she made up her mind, he was already showing off his romance to the heavens. Perhaps it was just not meant to be.

From the 11th to the 15th, Meng Fan spent several days filming the second batch of advertising endorsements he had accepted. In the end, three were confirmed: KFC, Nike, and a certain Chinese airline. Originally, there was also a commercial bank and a new SUV model from a car brand, but those were temporarily shelved due to unresolved details.

Among these three endorsements, two were for the Asia-Pacific region and one was global. All were signed for two years, with endorsement fees ranging from 38 million to 45 million per two years. After receiving all the fees, and deducting previous investments and expenses, Meng Fan had over 130 million yuan in hand.

Just based on the income from these four ads, Meng Fan was certain to make the Chinese Forbes Celebrity List this year.

The endorsement fees for the subsequent three ads also basically set the starting price for Meng Fan's endorsements, elevating him to the top tier of Chinese celebrities. In terms of endorsement fees, only Jackie Chan and Jay Chou were comparable.

After accepting this second batch of three ads, Meng Fan had no immediate plans to take on new advertising endorsements.

Oh, that's not entirely accurate. There was one endorsement he had previously agreed to, so he took it on as a matter of course—the image spokesperson for "Tencent Comics."

As for this spokesperson role, even if he didn't accept it, Meng Fan was already effectively serving as one. He was the biggest and most famous cartoonist under Tencent Comics. When people thought of Tencent Comics, the first cartoonist that came to mind was definitely Meng Fan, and when they thought of Meng Fan and associated him with comics, they would certainly think of Tencent Comics. As long as Meng Fan didn't jump to another site, the two were bound together.

So, the endorsement fee for this was not high. Well, although it wasn't high and was already a friendly price, it still offered 18 million per two years. Most of Tencent Comics' promotional budget this year was spent on Meng Fan. However, behind this endorsement lay a binding of Meng Fan, so Tencent Comics certainly wasn't losing out.

At the same time, there was an additional agreement with this endorsement: Tencent Comics needed to use internal Tencent system recommendations to give maximum support to "Spirits Underground" on Tencent Video, in order to secure higher revenue and resource recommendations. Of course, the final decision still rested with Shanhai Animation; this move was merely to increase options and leverage.

Additionally, Tencent Comics would recommend no fewer than five works to Shanhai Animation for adaptation, essentially giving Shanhai Animation orders.

Through this contract, Shanhai Animation also officially got on track after the studio's establishment, opening for business instead of just handling internal projects.

However, the dramatic twist was that the exclusive streaming rights for "Spirits Underground" ultimately went not to Tencent Video, nor to the second-choice iQiyi or Youku, but to Bilibili.

All four platforms were interested in "Spirits Underground" and offered very good terms across the board, exceeding those for typical hot IP animations. Tencent Video's offer was the best, but not exceptionally so. Interestingly, after deliberation, the seven founders of Shanhai Animation unanimously voted for Bilibili.

The most important reason was that Shanhai Animation wasn't purely out to make money. Choosing Bilibili was about getting the most genuine feedback. After all, "Spirits Underground" wasn't a children's animation, and Bilibili's audience was closer to Shanhai Animation's future target demographic.

Consider it a trial run, taking the pulse.

(End of chapter)