The trailer for the first season of Game of Thrones was less than five minutes long, but it shocked many netizens and quickly topped the trending search list on Twitter.

"I swear, this is definitely the most shocking TV show trailer I have ever seen!"

“Can’t wait to see the feature film!”

“I was shocked when I first saw the trailer and I can’t wait to watch the feature film!”

"I must! Right now! Watch the first episode of this TV series!"

“This will definitely be a show I’ll be following!”

"Damn! This trailer cost me an extra $20 a month in subscription!"

"Honestly, I hate HBO, but this show makes me give them money!"

In addition to the audience, this trailer also caused quite a stir in the industry.

In the United States, an average of about 600 new TV series are released each year, and about 5% of them require paid subscriptions on various platforms to watch.

Therefore, competition among various pay TV stations, including HBO, is very fierce. In order to compete for subscribers and advertiser investment, each platform is constantly searching for scripts, launching higher-quality original movies and TV series, etc., which indirectly further raises the status of screenwriters.

At the same time, at Broadway in New York City, the headquarters of Showtime TV.

In the conference room, the trailer for Game of Thrones was playing on the computer screen.

Below the stage, Showtime President David Newant and a group of senior executives looked serious.

After the video was finished, Newvent paused and said to everyone, "This is the new show that HBO will launch on Sunday night. I want to know what you think of this trailer?"

Below the stage, everyone looked at each other, not knowing what the boss meant, and could only speak ambiguously.

"I think... it's just OK."

"It looks like the special effects are good, but the plot doesn't seem very attractive."

"It's not bad. Although it has many shortcomings, I think some viewers will like it."

"Not bad?" Newt's face darkened. He used the remote control in his hand to adjust the video to the scene where the dragon appeared in the film, and pointed at the screen and said, "This picture, is it just good?"

"I think fucking is awesome!"

"So, can anyone tell me where they got this script? Why didn't we get any news from the Writers Guild (WGA) in the early stage?" The screenwriter of this script is not a member of the Writers Guild.

Newt frowned and asked, "Who is it? How dare they be independent from the Screenwriters Guild?"

"The Coen brothers? Robert? Or Francisco? No... that's unlikely..."

In the United States, the vast majority of screenwriters for film and television productions are members of the Writers Guild, which exercises union-like duties and provides rights protection and industry resources for its members.

Not all screenwriters will join, but without the protection of the association, individuals are naturally in a weak position facing capital and are likely to be drained of their blood.

The few people he mentioned just now are all well-known screenwriters in the industry who have not joined the Screenwriters Guild. They are good at telling stories about power struggles and wars like "Game of Thrones".

“No, BOSS.” The executive also looked a little strange, and said, “But the other party is also a very well-known person—Jackson Ye.”

"Jackson Ye?" Hearing this name, Newt was stunned. He thought for a while before reacting, "You mean, the Grammy Award-winning singer?"

"Isn't he a musician? Why is he working as a screenwriter?"

The executive explained: "Not only music, Jackson Ye also seems to have a strong talent in screenwriting."

"Some time ago, he wrote the animated film Kung Fu Panda, which was a big hit at the box office for DreamWorks Animation, and the second part is currently in production."

"In addition, he seems to have created and directed many films in his own country, China, and won many awards."

"HBO must have noticed this and approached him, but somehow they were moved and spent $6000 million to make this work."

"6000 million?" Newt looked incredulous. "Just because of a Chinese script? Is HBO crazy?"

Many senior executives of American film and television companies are extremely arrogant. They simply do not believe that the Chinese can write works that conform to European and American tastes and aesthetics, let alone spend huge amounts of money to produce them. In their view, this is no different from throwing money into the river.

But when creating film and television works for the Asian market, the situation is reversed. They will create from the perspective of "what they think Asians will like" rather than "what Asians themselves will like."

If any audience members raise questions, they will defend themselves by saying "this is high-level aesthetics, and you don't like it because you don't understand it." In the final analysis, it's just two words - double standards.

In any case, when Newt heard that the script of "Game of Thrones" was actually written by a Chinese, he seemed to be relieved.

However, he did not completely lose his vigilance, and reminded: "HBO is our mortal enemy, and we must pay close attention to the follow-up of this drama."

"The popular drama "The Polya Family" that we are currently showing is also a drama about plot and political intrigue. There is a large overlap between their audience groups and ours, which is likely to affect our subscription situation."

After that, many executives agreed. Newt took another look at the screen. In the screen, a ferocious dragon spread its wings and seemed to be attacking somewhere.

......

Sunday evening, April 4nd.

Today is the day when "Game of Thrones" premieres. Before the time came, Max sat in front of the TV and locked the HBO channel.

Next to him was his sister who was in high school and was chatting with her friends on her cell phone.

Max complained, "Hey, Liz, don't you only like Mary Sue idol dramas? Why do you want to watch this kind of war movie?"

Liz, with a healthy tan and long brown hair, didn't take her eyes off the phone screen. She typed as she spoke, "Who said that girls can't watch this type of movie?"

"And the screenwriter of this drama is Jackson Ye, and I'm a fan of his! It's being shared in our class group, and many classmates are planning to watch it."

"What?" Max asked in surprise, "This TV series is rated MA. The law stipulates that viewers must be over 17 to watch it. Some of your classmates may not be old enough, right?"

Liz pouted and said nonchalantly, "It's just a rule. You can just use your family's subscription account to read it."

"It's nothing but sex and violence. Some of our classmates have had more than 10 boyfriends. Are you still afraid of seeing some of his revealing scenes?"

Max was speechless. That's right. Young people nowadays mature early, and it is normal for them to have sex at the age of 17. This classification is indeed meaningless.

The time for their chat was up, and the scene on the screen changed after a commercial.

——"Game of Thrones" officially started airing.