Chapter 505: Two Indispensable Things

Chapter 505: Two Indispensable Things

On the way to team up with his friends, Meng Fan sent the audio clips dubbed by Teacher He and Wang Han over to the studio.

The first season of "Spirits Beneath the Earth" had finished airing with stellar viewership, ranking first among contemporary animations, a truly magnificent triumph.

Production for the second season was already underway, moving at an accelerated pace thanks to the recent influx of new talent at the Shanhai Animation Studio, meaning fans could expect a release by March or April of the following year.

Buoyed by the immense success of the premiere season, the second installment had attracted numerous investors before production even began; after consulting with the core studio members, Meng Fan chose not to turn everyone away and accepted three separate investments. First, the infusion of capital would elevate production value; second, all three entities possessed substantial distribution and promotional capabilities; third, whether at home or abroad, greedily keeping the whole pie to oneself never tasted as sweet as sharing a piece, and the key lay in making the right choices—with the right partners, one could feast even grander than by dining alone.

It returned to his original philosophy: Meng Fan wanted to make the cake larger, and inviting investment was the perfect way to expand it.

Alongside "Spirits Beneath the Earth," Shanhai Animation Studio currently had three other manhua titles undergoing animation, two of which were part of a supplementary agreement from their previous collaboration talks with Penguin Animation, while the third was a piece from a large batch of copyright acquisitions the studio had recently made.

The first two were funded directly by Penguin Animation, with Shanhai merely earning a production fee, whereas the latter was a property entirely in their own hands, allowing them to oversee its subsequent operation and promotion after completion. Of course, one wouldn't be wrong to say they were using the fees from the first two projects to nurture the third; after all, even with Meng Fan and Lord Kuan as the bosses, they couldn't invest infinitely, and production capital was bound to be finite.

Meng Fan and Lord Kuan had injected initial capital, poured in their popularity and influence, and aligned various resources, platforms, and personnel; if the Shanhai animation team still couldn't manage to sustain themselves through continuous production under such prerequisites, it wouldn't be a flaw in the team's ability, but rather a failure of vision on the part of the two founders.

Nowadays, Meng Fan rarely visited the studio, having completely handed operations over to the team from the very start, as for Lord Kuan, he had been exceptionally driven at first, moving directly from Shanghai to Hangzhou and even purchasing a house, yet after a few months, his enthusiasm quickly dwindled, and though he still resided in Shanghai now, he only visited every few days.

Slowly, Meng Fan came to realize that Lord Kuan wasn't enthusiastic about everything outside of writing, but rather about everything outside of routine; once a task dragged on, his fervor naturally waned.

Fortunately, during the recent recruitment drive, they had hired a batch of administrative staff alongside the technical talent; otherwise, a group of technical geeks could never manage a studio properly.

Additionally, the Chocolate Factory—Director Cha's voice acting studio—had been acquired by Meng Fan. It had to be said that Director Cha was a true talent, and an extraordinarily adaptable managerial one at that; following the acquisition, the injection of capital was secondary to the influx of resources, which instantly propelled the Chocolate Factory into one of the largest voice acting studios in the country, and Director Cha displayed matching executive prowess after a brief period of adjustment. If the Chocolate Factory weren't currently so reliant on him during its integration with new resources and platforms, Meng Fan would have genuinely loved to hand the management of Shanhai Animation over to him as a trial.

Originally, Meng Fan had considered cherry-picking some managerial talent from Damei Studio, but his ideas proved somewhat naive; professional tasks required professional hands, and while there were certainly fine arts graduates with a gift for management, he simply hadn't encountered one yet, or perhaps hadn't unearthed them, though those with a glimmer of potential, like Senior Sister Yan Xixi over at Damei, still required a period of nurturing.

December 31st, the final day of 0202, saw the major satellite television networks hosting New Year's Eve galas unleash their final barrage of promotions, all to entice more viewers to lock onto their channels that night. For years now, these galas had boasted all-star lineups, featuring popular singers, actors, trending idols, and powerhouse vocalists to ensure total audience coverage, making it difficult for any single network to truly eclipse another, each possessing its own unique charm.

Mango TV's greatest feature was its all-star hosting lineup, a feat unmatched by any other network; it was virtually an incubator for variety show hosts, where others were lucky to have two or three popular figures, Mango possessed two whole celebrated hosting squads.

Furthermore, guests from several major music variety shows usually had supplementary clauses in their contracts; for instance, the principal performers of "The Singer" were all tasked with duties for the New Year's concert.

Blue Whale TV and Tomato TV were characterized by their master-of-ceremonies or judge syndicates derived from reality variety shows, which had shouldered the brunt of the heavy lifting in recent years. Imperial Capital TV and Lichi TV followed a similar pattern, though their lineups were more eclectic and fell short of being called syndicates.

Then came the battle of the headliners, where eyes were fixed not just domestically, but increasingly abroad; Tomato TV had invited Avril this year, and though her 18-year comeback hadn't made massive waves, her name remained legendary in China, familiar even to locals who rarely listened to foreign music, lending her a level of recognition higher than many currently trending global A-listers.

Mango TV also featured foreign singers this time around, given that each year "The Singer" imported at least one or two international talents, but Mango's true headliner tonight was distinctly not them, but Meng Fan.

Following the Olympics, whether it was the CCTV National Day Gala or the Double Eleven Gala, Meng Fan had proven to possess a ratings midas touch; his international influence was truly unparalleled, and the sheer reach of a five-time Olympic gold medalist was terrifying enough, even before adding buffs like a vocal ability rivaling the national team, a master-class manhua artist status, and dashing looks, leaving very few across the nation who could compete.

Ratings aside, internal sources revealed that the commercial slot right before announcing Meng Fan as the next performer had sold for five times the price of regular airtime, a staggering testament to his draw.

Naturally, the appearance fee Mango TV extended to Meng Fan was the highest of the night.

Meng Fan was to perform three songs, the first being a duet with Shi Shiwu of the secondary title track from the "Dreaming" album, written and composed by Shi Shiwu himself and bearing the common name "Encounter," a love song whose narrative told of a heart fluttering at a fleeting glance, leading to an unforgettably echoing romance; it was innocent enough, but when the two dueted, and the audience factored in the composer and their close bond, it was inevitable that shipping eyes would read into it, drawing wave after wave of screams until cries of "get together" even erupted as the song concluded, a terrifying display.

The remaining two songs were Meng Fan's solos, one being an insert song from "Spirits Beneath the Earth," and the other from his personal album. The anime track was highly rousing, written and composed by Jin Xiaowen, who had rearranged it into a rock version for this performance; heavens, Meng Fan hadn't even known he possessed a rock soul, but paired with his commanding presence and infectious vocal power, the song practically brought down the roof; the other was a tragic love song of the deeply miserable variety, completely at odds with Meng Fan's current male god persona but perfectly suited to his former heavy otaku image, and this contradiction, bound by his unique timbre, held a peculiar charm; though moving an audience to tears at a New Year's gala was somewhat unrealistic, it genuinely provided a profound emotional experience.

Of course, no matter the occasion, nothing could ever stop Meng Fan from doing two things: flaunting his romance, and plugging an advertisement, or at least ensuring one of the two occurred.

Before singing the third song, Meng Fan looked into the camera with deep affection and said, "I know you're listening!"

Those in the dark assumed he was using a narration to flirt with his fans, while those in the know... hmph, the majority of the girls still insisted the line was meant for them rather than Wu Tong!

After finishing his performance and before stepping off the stage, Meng Fan launched into his advertisement, which this time wasn't for a manhua, a studio, or an album, but a movie: "Please go support the movie currently in theaters, 'The Pawn Crossing the River'!"

(End of Chapter)