Shangjing City, TV station building.

A preparatory meeting for the Spring Festival Gala is being held in a conference room, and the main discussion is about the program of this year's Spring Festival Gala.

Generally speaking, most of the Spring Festival Gala programs are prepared a long time in advance, even half a year in advance. It is not ruled out that new programs will be added based on recent social hot spots and public feedback, but the final program list will generally not be officially announced until after several rounds of rehearsals.

Every year, this kind of conference is like a war, and this year is no exception. In recent years, due to the impact of multimedia and short videos, the audience has become more "knowledgeable", making the selection of programs more difficult.

In the past, conditions were limited and people had few entertainment options. After the New Year’s Eve dinner, they could only watch the Spring Festival Gala, so the ratings were naturally high.

Today's audiences, under the impact of online information, are well aware of all kinds of routines, and some even make their own jokes to imitate the preview of this year's Spring Festival Gala skits...

Just imagine, the show has not even started yet and there are so many guesses about it. The production team must be so embarrassed. So should they change the show or not?

At the conference table, Yan Zhigang sat at the main seat.

He was not tall and was a little overweight. He pursed his lips as he listened to everyone's reports. His old and loose skin made his face look somewhat stern.

As the chief director of this year's Spring Festival Gala, he was under a lot of pressure, especially as it was his first time directing such a large-scale national gala.

The program must be innovative while retaining tradition, reflect social hot spots, and strike a balance between the two, and finally, no mistakes can be made...

Yan Zhigang felt that this was simply not something a human being should do.

But "60 is the age for struggle", and he still wants to pursue progress and make this Spring Festival Gala a success, so he attaches great importance to the program list.

"Overall, although the ratings of the Spring Festival Gala have occasionally shown some bright spots in recent years, they are still showing a clear downward trend."

On the stage, it was Yan Zhigang's turn to speak. He said: "It is undeniable that there are objective reasons, such as the enrichment of people's life and entertainment, the influence of online live broadcast, etc..."

Below the stage, some young employees shifted their butts in their chairs, not quite used to this “reporting” style of meeting.

But the older generation, especially the leadership, mostly have this habit of analyzing, researching, and proving everything...

"But!" At this point, Yan Zhigang changed the subject, tapped his fingers on the table, and said righteously: "Apart from objective factors, we must look for subjective reasons."

"Is the program exciting and relevant to the public? I see people saying online that 'the New Year atmosphere is getting weaker every year', so how can we make the New Year atmosphere stronger? Our Spring Festival Gala program is an important part of this, so we must work hard on the program..."

After Yan Zhigang finished speaking, someone raised his hand and suggested, "Director Yan, I have a suggestion about the New Year atmosphere."

"Nowadays, people are more concerned about the vulgar and the elegant. We can add Ye Zhiqiu's "Gong Xi Fa Cai" to the song performance and let him sing the solo."

"Ye Zhiqiu is well-known enough and has a fan base, so this show will definitely be popular."

When Ye Zhiqiu's name was mentioned, it immediately sparked discussion among the crowd.

"This is good. Audiences all over the country know this song. Although it lacks some novelty, it is definitely down-to-earth and suitable for audiences of all ages and genders."

"But Ye Zhiqiu doesn't have time, right? We had some initial contact before, and he said he was filming a movie that would not be finished until late January, so he couldn't participate in the first few rehearsals."

"He has a lot of stage experience, and he's singing an old song that's not difficult, so it shouldn't matter if he doesn't attend the first two or three rehearsals."

"I have another question. I remember that the first time Ye Zhiqiu appeared on the Spring Festival Gala, it was directed by Zhao Jinglun. If this year is included, it will be the fourth time. Will the audience feel aesthetic fatigue?"

"Their strength and popularity are there. As long as the audience likes it, it doesn't matter how many times they perform."

"That's true. He and Yu Caiwei have the highest popularity among guests online."

Offstage, Yan Zhigang listened to everyone's discussion without saying anything, but he had already made up his mind.

He is not planning to invite Ye Zhiqiu to this year's Spring Festival Gala.

First of all, Ye Zhiqiu was unable to attend the first few rehearsals and went on stage directly afterwards. This kind of situation has happened before, but the risk was too great.

The programs of the Spring Festival Gala are all accurate to the second, and a bad connection will turn into a live broadcast accident.

This Spring Festival Gala is extremely important to him, and everything is based on "stability". He will not allow this to happen.

Secondly, there is a deeper reason.

Yan Zhigang and Zhao Jinglun are from the same group of directors, but in terms of status and popularity in the industry, one has always been inferior to the other, so there may be some intention of comparison this time.

This was Ye Zhiqiu’s first time participating in the Spring Festival Gala, and the director of that year was Zhao Jinglun.

But he didn't want the performers that Zhao Jinglun had used.

Moreover, if Ye Zhiqiu appeared on the show and the show became popular later, there would definitely be people who would say that it was all thanks to the guest and had little to do with the director.

He wanted to prove that even without Ye Zhiqiu, he could still do a better job than Zhao Jinglun in the Spring Festival Gala.

But despite this, Yan Zhigang would not directly reject this proposal.

After all, Ye Zhiqiu is so popular and has high demand from the audience. If the program team does not invite him, it would be going against the national audience, and he will have to take the blame himself.

Therefore, the best way is to invite them normally first, and if the other party agrees, then find a way to exclude them later.

After all, there are so many Spring Festival Gala programs that are cut every year, so no one can say anything about it.

......

On the other side, the crew of "The Wandering Earth".

After more than two months of filming, the shooting progress has been mostly completed. According to predictions, the crew will be able to wrap up filming around the end of January.

However, for science fiction films, in addition to shooting, post-production special effects production is also a difficult and extremely time-consuming task, so it will definitely not be able to catch up with this year's Spring Festival.

According to Ye Zhiqiu's prediction, it would be ideal for "The Wandering Earth" to be released during the May Day period next year.

In comparison, the progress of several other projects he is involved in is much faster.

This is the second collaboration with SG Entertainment, and the two scripts he wrote, "My Sassy Girl" and "International Market", have already started filming.

After Kim Mi-young came back to power, she seemed to be full of energy and various tasks were progressing rapidly.

"My Sassy Girl" starring Han Ji-soo took only two months to shoot and is now almost finished. It is expected to premiere in January.

The International Market, co-produced with Hua Xia and starring Hwang Jung Min, is also progressing very quickly and will be released around March.

In the United States, DreamWorks Animation has already started producing "Kung Fu Panda 2", and HBO TV station spent more than half a month in China. After finally getting the complete script of the first season of "Game of Thrones" from Ye Zhiqiu, it returned to the United States as if it had found a treasure and started the actor selection and preparation work.

At this time, agent Song Mei brought news about the Spring Festival Gala.