Chapter 805: The unveiling of A Bite of China!

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

That night.

The program team of Rise to the Dance called a press conference.

At the press conference, large publicity posters were put up all over the venue. Promotional catchphrases and posters could be seen everywhere as the organizers and related staff members of the program team were in attendance, including Huo Dongfang, Fan Wenli, Shen Lili, who were the big name guest coaches. They all sat with Executive Director Xu Yipeng and Assistant Director-cum-host, Chen Ye, at a row of tables behind the stage, facing over 40 reporters of the media from the newspapers and the television stations.

The promotional video was played at the beginning of the press conference.

Then, Xu Yipeng, Chen Ye, and the three guest coaches shared some anecdotes of this afternoon's recording.

Finally, it was time for the question and answer session for the reporters.

A male reporter raised his hand and asked, "Director Xu, Rise to the Dance has already moved into the recording phase now and everyone is very concerned about the broadcast date."

Xu Yipeng answered, "The date has already been set for Friday, December 10th at 8 PM. Everyone, please look forward to it then."

A female reporter asked, "Sect Leader Huo, you've been involved in filming for the past two years and have hardly appeared in any variety shows at all. Regarding your participation in Rise to the Dance this time, what are your thoughts about this talent show? How do you feel after today's first recording of the show?"

Huo Dongfang smiled and answered, "If I have to describe it, then it has to be with the word 'surprised.' I won't be revealing the details of today's recording for now, so everyone can find out what I mean on December 10th. I believe you'll also be surprised by it. Oh right, there's also a scene of me battling it out on the dance floor with Teacher Wenli. That's a must-see."

Fan Wenli also grinned at that.

At the beginning, the questions were all the usual ones, but at some point in time, the pulse of the press conference changed.

A random reporter suddenly asked, "According to an anonymous source, the production phase of Rise to the Dance hasn't been smooth at all. There were many issues that happened since the beginning, like problems with the venue, and an incident where the staff made a mistake and caused a mishap while setting up the stage. What I am trying to ask is: Ever since Teacher Zhang Ye left Central TV Department 1, has that greatly affected everyone? If it were Zhang Ye serving as the program's producer and director, the production phase would probably have gone much smoother, right?"

Chen Ye frowned.

Shen Lili also looked quite uncomfortable with the question.

What were they driving at? Did you mean that without Zhang Ye we couldn't make the show?

Actually, that reporter's question wasn't unreasonable as the show was really hampered by a lot of oversight and problems. Xu Yipeng and Chen Ye, as well as most of the entire program team, were handling such a large-scale talent show for the first time. The difference between a 10 million and 100 million production cost show was not just in the amount of money; the nature of the show was totally different as well. Xu Yipeng, Chen Ye, and the rest did not have any experience in this area, so they took many detours and made a lot of mistakes in the course of the production.

Xu Yipeng looked at that reporter and said, "I do not need to talk about Teacher Zhang's experience and results in the field of entertainment shows. His departure is indeed a pity, but that was arranged by the station and the leaders definitely had their considerations before doing so. Since I have agreed to take on this project, I will certainly give my all and do a good job. Moreover, the preparation of a show in its production phase is surely not going to be smooth sailing. Even if there were some problems, that wasn't unexpected and shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Hur hur, even though my experience is in directing galas, I am no stranger to variety shows either. On top of all that, I have a group of elite staff supporting me, so as to how the show turns out, everyone will find out when it begins its broadcast."

Another reporter asked, "What is the targeted viewership rating you have for Rise to the Dance?"

Xu Yipeng answered, "Haha, of course the higher the better."

A middle-aged female reporter asked, "We heard that Teacher Zhang Ye is also launching a documentary over at Department 14. Can you tell us what your views are on that?"

Xu Yipeng gave her a glance. "Is that so? I didn't pay much attention to that I guess."

The female reporter asked, "You mean you did not know what your competitors are up to?"

Hearing that, Chen Ye interjected, "Our competitors are the other variety shows at the same time slot, and even those variety shows that air at different times. But a documentary does not fall under our area of observation."

When Fan Wenli heard this, she gave a look to Chen Ye but did not say anything.

Many of the reporters understood the meaning of those words!

This was issuing a letter of challenge!

Not only was it a challenge to all the variety shows in the country, the scornful attitude towards Zhang Ye was also very obvious. He basically did not have Zhang Ye and his documentary in his sights!

Suddenly, Xu Yipeng dropped another bombshell. "I would like to make use of this opportunity to announce something. The exclusive title sponsorship for Rise to the Dance has already been sold to Chunhe Mineral Water!"

As for the exact title sponsorship fee, Xu Yipeng did not mention it. But after the press conference ended, there were still some reporters who managed to get hold of the accurate figures for it!

Chunhe Mineral Water had actually paid 100 million RMB for the title sponsorship!

It was the same amount as The Voice's title sponsorship fee!

...

Online.

Many netizens were in an uproar!

"100 million in title sponsorship fees?"

"Dammit, why so much? I thought it would only get 50 million at most!"

"Didn't they already agree on the title sponsorship with another sponsor earlier? Why did it change? So there are really companies willing to spend 100 million on Rise to the Dance for its exclusive title sponsorship?"

"It's exactly the same amount as The Voice's title sponsorship fee!"

"Do you all think that Rise to the Dance can really surpass The Voice?"

"I don't know, but judging from this momentum, Rise to the Dance is going really aggressively for that!"

"How incredible! Another 100 million RMB title sponsorship fee has appeared in the country. In the future, could a 100 million title sponsorship fee become the criteria that will differentiate a normal variety show from a phenomenal variety show?"

"This is explosive news!"

"Rise to the Dance is really going for it!"

"With this momentum, I doubt anyone can stop them!"

The news and Weibo were once again filled with topics about Rise to the Dance!

...

At Central TV Department 14.

Many of those who were working overtime were shocked when they heard this news.

Zhang Zuo was in disbelief. "A 100 million RMB title sponsorship? How could it be that much?"

Little Wang said jealously, "How can that lousy show be worth 100 million?"

Tong Fu seethed, "By spending so much on advertising, can they even recoup it?"

"If the advertisers are willing to spend that amount of money," Ha Qiqi said while shaking her head, "Who are we to say anything? Just continue with your work. After all, no matter what Central TV Department 1 does is none of our business. Even if Rise to the Dance were to keep up or increase their efforts to stay in the news, it has nothing to do with us."

Zhang Zuo gave a wry smile. "Who says it has nothing to do with us? Did you forget when our broadcast is?"

Ha Qiqi sighed.

At this moment, Zhang Ye came back from the recording studio and told everyone, "The promo video has been edited and the narration has been recorded as well. Get a few people working on it today to get it published online and send it out internally within Department 14. Oh right, add in the broadcast date and time as well. We can get started on the mass publicity already!"

Buying ad spots, employing a shill army, all these were part and parcel of a show's promotional activities.

Ha Qiqi immediately reported to Zhang Ye about the situation regarding Rise to the Dance.

When he heard about their astronomical title sponsorship fee, Zhang Ye remarked without even frowning, "OK, I got it. Let's just hurry up and do our work first, who cares what they do?"

"Uh."

"Understood."

Everyone immediately began working on the promotional video.

Of course, all of them first sat down together to watch the promotional video once. All of the footage and editing was done by Zhang Ye and decided by him alone, so no one actually had any idea of how the promotional video would look since they hadn't see it before. In their minds, this was just going to be a traditional documentary without anything interesting to look forward to. But when the edited promotional video that was only a few minutes long played out in front of their eyes, they were all rather stunned.

The paddy growing in the fields.

The pine mushrooms that were found in the mountains.

The plates of cuisine emanating steaming hot vapor.

All those images left them in a kind of daze.

"Eh?"

"That's not right!"

"Was this footage taken by us?"

"Uh, did we really shoot that? Why do I find it strangely unfamiliar? I know this shot. Wasn't it the one that I took at the foot of the mountain where the big rock was at? Did that place look so beautiful? Why are all the scenes done in closeups? They're all features shots? It can even be edited in this manner?"

"Is this what an HD video camera can do?"

"Damn! Can this footage be any clearer? I can even see the shimmer when the heat rises. I can also see the wings of the little bug that flew past the pine mushroom perfectly!"

"Why does it feel so different from the other documentaries that we've seen before?"

"Yeah, this…"

At this moment, everyone in the program team realized for the first time that the footage that they had spent two months filming were truly very different from the other traditional documentaries!

As for whether it was better or worse than those other documentaries?

They all did not know, since when it came to documentaries, there had never been a special rule for success. Since Director Zhang had edited it this way, they would just follow his instructions and publish or send it out as it is.

Upload it online.

Contact the Advertising Department.

Follow through with Department 14's broadcasting section.

All at once, A Bite of China had its posters and promo clip put out onto the market. This was also the moment that A Bite of China was unveiled in this world for the first time!

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