Feng Yu had gone to look for Deputy Chief Jia to take about this Gala Dinner, and so, Deputy Chief Jia was overall in charge of this event. He had heard that they will be discussing performance order and he wants to come and take a look. If there are any problems, he can make the decision on the spot. This will be CCTV second grandest special program. If this Gala Dinner was a success, Feng Yu said that he would sponsor this program every year!
Eh? What’s happening? Why was Xu Yipeng arguing with Feng Yu?
“Xiao Liu, what is going on over there?” Deputy Chief Jia asked the Chief Video Editor of the Gala Dinner.
“Chief Jia, Little Manager Feng and Director Xu are discussing the Gala Dinner.”
Chief Jia stared at this Chief Video Editor. Their faces were all red, and you are telling me that they are discussing? They are obviously arguing!
Deputy Chief Jia walked over. Chief Video Editor wanted to let Xu Yipeng know, but Deputy Chief Jia signaled to him to keep quiet. He wants to listen to what was the argument about.
Feng Yu might be young, but he was very creative. This can be seen from his commercials at the CCTV. Deputy Chief Jia had heard that Feng Yu was the one that came up with the Songjiang Motorcycle commercial. He was very impressed with Feng Yu’s creativity.
But a Gala Dinner was very different from a commercial. A commercial only needs few people to act and shoot. And also, it was just a few minutes long. A Gala Dinner program was very different. Lots of manpower were required, and it was a few hours long. How come from Xu Yipeng’s expression, he seems to be losing in this argument with Feng Yu?
“Director Xu, this venue should have 500 to 600 seats. I heard that the CCTV staffs will be receiving the tickets for this event.”
“There is nothing wrong with this. Every Spring Festival Gala Night, we will give out tickets to our staffs. You also said that we have 500 to 600 seats. What’s wrong with giving some of the tickets to our staffs?”
“This is a big problem! If it is only the CCTV staffs that will be getting some tickets, it’s fine. But are you going to give the Planning Committee tickets? Are you going to give the Industrial Development Department tickets? What about those people from other ministries? We had invited them, and should we prepare some extra tickets for them? Our association is the organizing party. Do we need to give the judges tickets?”
“Just give them. How many tickets will they need? 100 tickets? The stands will still not be filled. We will be giving the remaining tickets to other units.” Xu Yipeng said this like it was the norm. The tickets for Spring Festival Gala Night were given out this way.
“Cannot fill up the seats? I think that there are not enough seats! What about those winners of the awards? Do they need extra tickets? What about those nominees? I have told you many times that this is an awards presentation ceremony. This is not the Spring Festival Gala Night! We do not want a bustling and exciting show. We are showing our appreciation to the companies and individuals that had made significant contributions to the nation! We must let them have the tickets first. If there are extras, then we can give to other units.”
Huh? Those winners of the awards also need tickets? If they were companies from Beijing, it’s okay. But there are companies from Guangdong province. They will come to Beijing to watch this Gala Dinner?
“Then you tell me, how many tickets do they need?” Xu Yipeng felt that this Feng Yu was talking nonsense. How many tickets can those people need? At most, the winners will want some tickets for their family members. 100 tickets should be more than enough. He still wants to give out the tickets to obtain favors.
“There are 4 participants for an award category. There is a total of 48 participants. Each participant will be given 10 tickets. Those ministries and our association will need tickets too. I think there are not enough tickets!”
“Huh? Each participant will be given 10 tickets? Why do they need so many tickets? They are located so far away. You think they will travel all the way to Beijing to watch a Gala Dinner Program?” Xu Yipeng felt that this was ridiculous. The train ride from Guangdong to Beijing will take more than 24 hours.
Feng Yu was getting frustrated. You are located in Beijing and had often watched these shows. But it is different for those companies’ staffs from other regions. They will be looking forward to watching the recording of a Gala Program live at CCTV.
“Director Xu, do you really think that I am the one who is sponsoring all 5 million RMB? Have you heard of anyone who had spent so much to organize a Gala Dinner? Those nominees have also contributed. Why can’t they get some tickets? Those tickets are their staff’s benefits! Can you don’t give them tickets? Is it reasonable for our association, the organizing party, the judging panel, and the committee members to not get tickets?”
Xu Yipeng could not find anything to retort. Feng Yu was not sponsoring everything. He had still thought that this Feng Yu was stupid to be sponsoring this event by himself. So, this was a collective effort.
Since they were contributing money to this event, then it should be fair for them to get tickets.
But what about those leaders he promised to give them tickets? Many units had called him to request for some tickets.
When CCTV announced the lineups for this New Year’s Eve Gala Dinner, everybody was surprised. All the performers were top celebrities and even the lousiest performer among the lineups, Sun Nan, was also a good singer. The rest were all well-known celebrities, and many people want to come to CCTV to watch their performances.
Watching live was better than watching on TV!
Suddenly, a voice sounded from the side: “There is still some distance between the stage and the audience. We should be able to add another 100 to 300 seats.”
Xu Yipeng wanted to scream at this person who interrupted him. Who was this person that dares to teach him what to do? He was the Chief Program Director. Feng Yu was the association’s representative, and he cannot scold him. But this person was asking for it!
He turned around, and before the words started coming out from his mouth, he paused. His face changed and started smiling: “Chief Jia, how come you are here?”
Deputy Chief Jia looked at Feng Yu and asked: “Manager Feng, this arrangement should not be a problem, right? Those tickets which we promised to give cannot be canceled. But we will still give those participants tickets, and they will be closer to the stage.”
“Chief Jia, since you said this, then I have no more problems. But I still have one more arrangement. Those nominees’ audiences from the same award categories should be seated together. This way, it will be easier for the cameras to capture them.”
“What? The audiences also need airtime?” Xu Yipeng asked with a constipated expression. Usually, he would take a wide-angle shot of the audiences. There was no need to zoom in on a particular group of spectators.
“They are the representatives of their companies. They are the ones that had contributed to the nation. Why can’t we zoom in on them and give them some airtime? The one receiving the award is the leader, the workers cannot be on TV? Director Xu, your way of thinking is not right.” Feng Yu said disappointedly.
Xu Yipeng almost vomits blood. What’s wrong with my thinking? Are you really so noble? I know that you had given your family members the best seats!
Deputy Station Chief Jia patted Xu Yipeng on his back to stop him from arguing. Chief Jia turned to Feng Yu: “Manager Feng, other than these, what other ideas do you have?”
