Chương 37: Clean up

"It's almost afternoon. Bob, are you interested in finding a place to play at night?"

"Nick, are you really in the mood to play?"

At the same time as the screening started, Levi and Bob were chatting in the Enigma Company. In this room, not only Levi, Bob, and others but almost the entire CSI production team, from the screenwriter to the leading actors to the filmmakers, are all here.

There is no impenetrable wall in the world. These days, they have also vaguely heard that ABC may have rejected this TV series. This news made everyone here very worried. Every year, every TV station has 20 TV dramas that will be canceled directly before they are released, and among the remaining 10 TV dramas, six or seven TV dramas will also be cut. Anyone who shoots a TV series can't guarantee 100% that it will become a hit. After two or three months of busy work, shooting one or two TV series episodes is not uncommon. Before the CSI filming was over, such news came out, and the entire crew was anxious.

Fortunately, they heard that the producer still has some relationship with ABC. Although the TV series was rejected, it can still be exhibited at the ABC screening. This made the crew members at least have some hope in their hearts. They are also waiting for news at Enigma Company these days.

Of course, some people have other ideas: if the TV series is really over, they have to get compensation for the long-term contract they signed with Enigma Company.

"Don't try to escape; we must get the compensation we deserve." As one of the screenwriters of the TV series, Hansen immediately had a change of heart after hearing that the TV series was rejected.

"It's our miscalculation. It's hard to escape if we hire people with professional knowledge in a criminal investigation as screenwriters."

Hansen sneered at Levi's ability to make jokes at this time: He has been in Hollywood for several years and participated in producing more than one or two crime dramas. He knows how brutal the competition of TV dramas is. 'Do you want to show a TV series that has been canceled? Is "Law and Order" so easy to make? Why do you think so long-term? Compensation is a serious matter!'

Today, the screening has already started. If things go well over there, he will continue to be a screenwriter for the TV series, and he must be credited for the TV series being good and can continue to get money. And if the screening doesn't go well, it's not his fault as a screenwriter, and the compensation he deserves must not be less than a penny.

Some people like to pursue their own responsibilities after the failure of a TV series and may forego compensation due to friendship. They may even come to work with that team next time due to friendship with lower wages.

For the money, Hansen was already prepared. When the screening began today, Hansen brought the crew to the company. They kept several people from Enigma in the company and only let Alexander go to the screening to see the results. What if they all went to the screening and saw that the result was not good and just slipped away?

"This is treating us as liars." Regarding this, Clark gritted his teeth. "When we formed the crew a few days ago, we paid a lot of money. No matter how you say it, the salary for one episode of the script is 3,000 US dollars. Unquestionably high salaries, but now, we have become liars. When this is over, I have to fire them all."

"Don't be too angry; it's all for money," Levi was equally dissatisfied with this, but he thought about it longer. If he fired all these people, how can he start working and continue filming in the future? "Don't worry. As long as the TV series passes, they will apologize to us immediately."

'The TV series passed? You are dreaming.' Hansen snorted beside them. 'It takes a very high-level production company to re-release a canceled drama. You, a small company, really dare to think about it.'

The waiting process was quite torturous. Except for the producer, who seemed ignorant, everyone else had almost exhausted their patience while waiting. The screening started early in the morning, but it wasn't until the afternoon that Alex, the company's other boss, came back to the company.

'Fortunately, it will be hard to find if this guy runs away. But, looking at his joyful face, could it be that the development of the matter was really unexpected?'

"After the screening, the TV series received a lot of praise. Many people from the advertiser groups have asked about the possibility of advertising investment in our TV series, and some even asked for overseas copyrights, mainly in Canada. They all inquired about the price and wanted to buy the broadcasting rights of the TV series—Nick, we have proved that this TV series has exceeded ABC's expectations." Although everyone was here waiting for news from the beginning of the screening, all the thoughts were on the screening. Hearing that the situation at the screening is good makes everyone happy.

Next to Bob, the screenwriters heard the news and started to high-five. When the actors listened to the information, they all hugged and congratulated. The person in charge of the sound effects danced.

"I knew that our TV series would undoubtedly have this result!" Clark was the first to shout: After being watched as a liar for so long, he couldn't bear it too long.

As soon as his voice fell, whistles rang out, and everyone started clapping and whistling in response to him.

Among the crowd, Hansen was the only one who was quite surprised: Did the TV series really pass?

"This is not the best news; there are more pleasing things," Alexander shouted. He jumped on the chair and stood higher than everyone else so that everyone could hear his voice, "Some companies have already contacted us. For our TV series, some people are willing to cooperate with us. Those who contacted us include Hewlett-Packard, willing to provide us with computers as props, and AMG, willing to provide us with Hummer vehicles. More than one company has asked us for cooperation with clothing and mobile phones. As long as our new TV series starts, we can immediately have free computers, cars, and clothing!" Another applause sounded, and Hansen stood in the crowd in the middle; he was stunned for a long time before he muttered, "CSI has never used a Humvee to solve the case," and was immediately suppressed by laughter and curses.

"The Hummer is already pretty good. Those policemen drove Chevrolets to solve crimes. What is a Hummer?"

Amidst the scolding of several people, Alexander spoke again triumphantly.

"The staff of 'TVSHOW,' 'TV Weekly' and other media at the screening have already commented on our TV series. They think that the ratings of our TV series are likely to exceed three percentage points! Three percent, you know what that means!"

"Renew!" This time, the man yelled again.

For TV dramas on TV networks, the ratings are more worthy of attention than the number of viewers. There may be many viewers who are over-age or under-age to make up the number of viewers, and the viewership is wholly focused on people in the golden age group. In the field of TV dramas, if the ratings exceed 1.5, it is possible to become a training target of the TV network; if it exceeds 2, it is possible to get renewed, and if it exceeds 3, it is 100% guaranteed to be renewed!

These media reviewers are not under Disney's media. If NBC or Fox originally owned the TV series, then they might still be able to suppress or praise them. Without these interference factors, these three percentage points are quite objectively estimated.

There was a surprise on everyone's face, and at this time, Bob smiled and said, "What did ABC say? They want us to continue broadcasting the TV series on their side, and they have to apologize to us."

This time, Alexander did not continue to answer, he looked a little embarrassed, and Hansen immediately captured this awkward look, "ABC didn't speak? ABC didn't reply? What you said can't be all fake. After talking for a long time, ABC still hasn't given any answer!"

Hansen immediately thought of something, "The person in charge of ABC must be Eisner, but the 'Disney tyrant' has never been wrong! You've said so much, but the TV series is still being rejected, right? Even with a rating of 100, if the TV series can't be released, then what's the point?"

"Listen to me. There are other networks besides ABC..."

"Where are the other TV networks? When do we have to wait? We are not from your company. We need real money. We don't want to wait for other TV networks that don't know where they are. What we need is money!"

Anyway, Hansen had already decided to renounce Enigma Company and didn't care at all when he quarreled. Moreover, in his opinion, this is just Alexander's bragging. What to say about the high repeated praise and the possibility of continuous subscription can be considered, but in fact, is there any possibility of broadcasting? He has seen a lot of similar tricks. Do they think everyone is a three-year-old child?

"Well, what you need is money..." Alexander looked at Hansen with some annoyance, glanced at Levi, and then said again, "I will pay the compensation immediately and allow you to leave. But as the crew's initial crew, before leaving, there is a friend I hope everyone will meet."

As he spoke, Alexander raised his wrist and looked at his watch, "It's almost five o'clock, and Mr. Leslie Moonves and I have an appointment. Are you sure you don't want to meet him now?"

"Leslie Moonves? The entertainment president of NBC?" Hansen suddenly realized that he seemed to have done something wrong when he heard the name.

"Yeah, I met at the screening today. He asked me to come over later to talk about the acquisition of the TV series. I wanted him to meet all the original crew members, so please stay for a while; you can claim the compensation after a while. By the way, who else is going to leave with him?"

Around Hansen, people all took a step back: the compensation is excellent, but considering the opportunity and income of being able to work in the crew for a long time, who wants the compensation?

"Since no one else is leaving, that's good." Alexander glanced around, "Everyone does it together; clean up the company, don't mess it up! Remember, we are the big business with CBS and ABC. The company, this place, is not a place where you can mess around, sweep out all the useless rubbish for me!"

*****

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