Depressive Screenwriter

Shanghai in September is sweltering.

But despite the heat, the audience of the drama "Qing Feng" (Gentle Breeze) felt a chill down their spines after watching the eleventh episode that aired last night, as if it were the dead of winter.

A drama that was a pure and sweet campus romance comedy for the first ten episodes inexplicably gave the female lead an incurable disease in the eleventh episode, the male lead's father's company went bankrupt, his old illness relapsed and he was hospitalized, and his mother became depressed overnight.

So cliché, so very cliché.

We watched ten episodes of sweetness, and in the last two episodes, you strip away the sugar coating and feed us shit?

【Did they change the screenwriter?】

Over the course of the night, "Qing Feng's" rating plummeted, from 8.0 directly to 5.5.

After all, the eleventh episode only gave the audience the expectation of being fed shit, without explicitly doing so yet.

If the female lead really dies in the twelfth episode and the drama ends tragically, it will be a different story.

The reputation will completely collapse.

In the office of Akasaka Yoshitoki, the deputy director of Sakura TV's production department.

The luxuriously decorated office is adorned with photos from the wrap parties of films, dramas, and variety shows that Akasaka Yoshitoki spearheaded as a producer in his younger days, as well as the awards and trophies these works have received.

Among them, one work even won the Summer Country's Annual Best Television Drama award.

Anyone entering this office would understand how he became the deputy director of the production department.

Where there are beneficiaries of nepotism, there are naturally those who rely on their own hard work.

Akasaka Yoshitoki slammed his palm heavily on the power button of his laptop, ending the video call with Tu Heng, the producer of the "Qing Feng" drama, the director, and other key members of the creative team, including his nephew, Kiyota Yamaji.

"Stupid, why is my sister's son so stupid…"

Akasaka Yoshitoki felt his breathing was scorching.

He never imagined that he would make an exception and secure a ten million investment for a web drama, only for "Qing Feng" to not only fail to take the top spot among web dramas but also suffer a plummeting reputation.

Although Kiyota Yamaji blamed the drastic change in the plot style of the eleventh episode of "Qing Feng" on Kanzaki Yūsuke's insistence on imitating and rewriting the script after seeing the success of "Rurouni Kenshin," Akasaka Yoshitoki wasn't a fool. Did Kanzaki Yūsuke have the guts to do that?

In the video call, Kanzaki Yūsuke's expression when looking at Kiyota Yamaji was worse than if his mother had died.

A stable ending for "Qing Feng" would have simply meant that its reputation was not as good as "Rurouni Kenshin" in this season's web dramas.

But it would still have been a good work, and for Kanzaki Yūsuke, the success of "Qing Feng" would have been enough to enhance his reputation.

The only person who would dare to be so reckless and implement such a foolish move to chase success was his good nephew, Kiyota Yamaji; no one else could have done it.

The TV station only cares about profit margins; as for producing a highly acclaimed classic, that's the pursuit of directors and screenwriters, not shareholders.

So even if the reputation of "Qing Feng" drops to zero now, the drama's early paid views have already generated a profit, meaning there's no risk for Akasaka Yoshitoki, who spearheaded the project.

What angered him was Kiyota Yamaji's shortsightedness.

If reaching the best-case scenario wasn't possible, settling for second best wouldn't have been unacceptable; it would have just been a loss of face. But Kiyota Yamaji actually chose the most reckless and foolish option: blindly rewriting the script.

Kiyota Yamaji didn't understand the impact a collapsed reputation would have on his career, especially since "Qing Feng" was his debut work.

Moreover, the big controversy surrounding "Qing Feng" on Sakura Online happened on this crucial day.

Akasaka Yoshitoki only hoped that no one would bring up this matter at the meeting later.

Akasaka Yoshitoki took two minutes to compose himself, his expression becoming calm and confident.

He checked the time, and it was just right.

Akasaka Yoshitoki straightened his clothes and strode out of the office, taking the elevator down two floors to the large conference room where the production department held its meetings.

Upon entering, all twenty-odd high-level executives of the production department who were qualified to attend the meeting were seated.

This was a meeting to decide on the project initiation, production, and investment of dramas that would air on the station in the next quarter.

Currently, there were several factions within the production department competing with each other, and the focus of competition in any company, organization, or faction was the same:

Money!

The production budget allocated by the station each quarter wouldn't fluctuate much.

But there were so many producers, screenwriters, and program planners eyeing this money.

And the decision on how to divide this money, which works to give more to, which works to give less to, and whose voice carries more weight, ultimately depends on the size of the revenue each group has created for the station in the past.

The meeting was about dividing the cake.

The meeting began with a round of arguments.

Before the meeting started, there was a basic consensus on which works were eligible for project approval and funding; now, the disagreement was only on the specific funding amounts.

But there were also some projects that no one had heard much about before the meeting.

For example.

The fantasy romance script "Yozakura" (Night Cherry Blossoms), independently written and created by Kiyota Yamaji.

And the fantasy historical romance script "Gu Xiang Si Qu" (Old Yearnings), independently written and created by Su Yan.

One hour after the meeting started.

Akasaka Yoshitoki's eyelids twitched as he looked at the two scripts that were now on the table.

Su Yan?

Why him again?

He submitted a new script this quarter?

Akasaka Yoshitoki had spent a lot of money through his sister-in-law's family to buy a high-quality original script from a retired gold-medal screenwriter who used to work for him, and put Kiyota Yamaji's name on it.

He was just waiting to present it at this meeting and promote Kiyota Yamaji.

How did another Su Yan pop up?

Akasaka Yoshitoki frowned, feeling a bad premonition.

He looked at the three elegant old women across the table from him.

Kogata Aya, Ume Midori, and Yoda Tokuko.

These three had basically been in a tense relationship with him in the production department for years and were long-time friends with Shinozaki Ikumi's retired mother. The four of them used to play mahjong together and were a well-known clique among the production department's executives.

"In summary. Our TV station's new screenwriter, Su Yan, fully demonstrated extraordinary screenwriting skills in the summer. His debut work, 'Rurouni Kenshin,' with an investment of only 1.2 million, is projected to achieve an excellent average of 5 million paid views per episode by the end of September, breaking the station's record for self-produced web dramas. Moreover, this work currently has a score of 9.6 from tens of thousands of viewers, with both commercial value and reputation exploding. Su Yan's new script, 'Gu Xiang Si Qu,' is also an extremely excellent work after review…"

Kogata Aya gave Su Yan a glowing review, finally saying the most crucial thing.

"I believe that 'Gu Xiang Si Qu' has a very bright market prospect and propose that it be initiated and produced as a 'B-level' drama for Sakura TV's autumn season, with an allocation of 25.5 million in funds as production expenses."

Sakura TV produces more than seven or eight dramas every quarter, and even more if the station has sufficient funds and the market is hot.

But not every drama can have a high investment.

The TV station will grade projects before they are initiated.

For example, a C-level drama airs during the garbage time slots on weekdays, with a production budget between 8 million and 15 million.

A B-level drama airs on weekends, but not during prime time, with a production budget usually between 20 million and 30 million.

As for A-level and S-level dramas, the airtime will definitely be prime time, and the production budget will be 30-40 million for the former, and possibly over 100 million for the latter.

One or two A-level dramas are usually produced each quarter, but S-level dramas depend on whether there are suitable high-quality scripts, popular actors, directors, and production teams that can be assembled. Even the three major TV stations are very cautious about investing in this level of drama.

"Heh, just because a drama of only four episodes has achieved some success, how can we give such preferential treatment to a new screenwriter? Su Yan hasn't even shown us that he has the ability to be the main creative screenwriter for a seasonal drama."

A middle-aged man with a small mustache next to Akasaka Yoshitoki spoke.

"A drama that can be broadcast on Sakura TV is not as simple as controlling the plot in four episodes."

"On the other hand, 'Qing Feng,' the web drama that performed well last quarter, has Kiyota Yamaji, a graduate from a professional background, as its main creative screenwriter, and his debut work, 'Qing Feng,' has already achieved an average of 3.2 million paid views per episode. His new script, 'Yozakura,' is more trustworthy."

"I propose that 'Yozakura' receive the project initiation and production treatment of a B-level drama, and be given a production budget of 27 million. After all, screenwriter Su Yan has only achieved some success in short web dramas, so perhaps his new script should continue to be developed in the web broadcasting market of Sakura Online."

"You can't say that," Ume Midori chuckled, her wrinkled face showing mockery.

"As far as I know, 'Qing Feng's' reputation collapsed last night, with widespread condemnation and the rating plummeting to less than 5.5 overnight."

"What does 5.5 mean? 'Sakurajima Love Song' earlier this year was only 4.7. This shows that Kiyota Yamaji doesn't have the ability to completely produce a film or drama that is highly praised from beginning to end."

"The collapse of 'Qing Feng's' reputation, as far as I know, was the behavior of another co-screenwriter, Kanzaki Yūsuke, and has nothing to do with Kiyota Yamaji. As a co-screenwriter, Kiyota Yamaji was responsible for the script creation of the highly praised early episodes, while Kanzaki Yūsuke was responsible for the last few episodes," Akasaka Yoshitoki said at this time.

"A crooked beam makes for a crooked house. If a drama's reputation collapses, everyone from the screenwriter to the producer to the director, and even some people higher up, must be held responsible. What does the team's mistake have to do with the individual?" Yoda Tokuko spoke, her voice full of energy, louder than many men.

Akasaka Yoshitoki's expression turned dark.

This was practically an open accusation against him.

The other parties in the conference room, such as those under Director Yoshizaki Shigeo, remained silent, watching the two sides bicker.

Both sides knew that after the station's production budget was allocated to a bunch of previous projects, there wasn't much left.

It was only enough to support the initiation of one more B-level drama.

Should it be given to 'Yozakura'?

Or should it be given to 'Gu Xiang Si Qu'?

The two sides engaged in a war of words, poking at each other's sore spots.

Especially Kiyota Yamaji, whose drama with an investment of over 10 million was crushed in terms of success and reputation by 'Rurouni Kenshin' with just over 1 million. The people on Akasaka Yoshitoki's side were unable to speak back, their faces flushed, but they couldn't back down.

If Kiyota Yamaji's performance was enough to have a new script initiated and invested in, then why not Su Yan?

Akasaka Yoshitoki became increasingly annoyed.

How great would it have been if Kiyota Yamaji's 'Qing Feng' had taken the top spot among web dramas?

How great would it have been if Kiyota Yamaji hadn't lost his mind in the last two weeks, messing around with rewriting the script and causing the work's reputation to collapse?

Akasaka Yoshitoki glanced at the seventy-year-old Director Yoshizaki Shigeo next to him, who was now smiling.

"Since two talented new screenwriters have emerged in the TV station at the same time, that's a good thing. Why abandon one and promote the other?" Yoshizaki Shigeo said with a smile.