With the explosion of The Rap of America, Leon successfully established a foothold in the TV entertainment industry.
Scooter called, excitement almost overflowing through the signal. "We did it! You created a miracle, do you know that! Oh my God, Mr. Hastings didn't expect this show to achieve such sensational results. You must find time to visit Silicon Valley recently; we will hold a triumphal ceremony for you like welcoming Caesar from his expedition to Gaul!"
"I will definitely go when I have time; thank Mr. Hastings for me first."
"Wait... do you have any other project plans recently? I mean, what about the movie shooting? Netflix will fully support you!"
Leon found an excuse to put him off and hung up the phone hastily.
Although Scooter's private contact with Warner Bros. to buy out the copyright of Ready Player One couldn't be called a backstab, it was inevitably disgusting.
But this should be the last time he plays such a petty trick. Now Leon's momentum at Netflix has reached a new height.
On the night the show aired on Friday, Netflix's stock price rebounded strongly after falling by seven percentage points, miraculously closing up seven points, and rising another five points after hours.
In July, Netflix's stock price reached $304 per share, the highest point since the beginning of 2011.
In August, Hastings announced the split of DVD rental and streaming businesses, shifting the business focus to streaming.
After that, the stock price plummeted like a deflated ball, with no intention of turning back.
Both institutions and retail investors were selling frantically.
The reason why The Rap of America could stop this decline was not just as simple as the commercial benefits brought by the playback rate exceeding expectations.
The success of this online variety show shocked the entire media industry, and the traditional giants who were originally watching from the sidelines cleared the clouds and saw the direction clearly.
The recognized first online variety show in the world was Lonelygirl15 launched in 2006, but this was actually a video vlog disguised as a TV show.
Strictly speaking, If I Can Dream launched by Hulu last year can be considered the first reality show, revolving around the story of several young people pursuing dreams in Los Angeles.
However, this show flopped terribly, and the three major shareholders of Hulu—NBC Universal, News Corporation, and Disney—lost interest in online variety shows one after another.
Looking at it this way, The Rap of America is the first truly phenomenal online variety show.
Whether this show can fulfill Leon's wild words of "subverting traditional values" has no conclusion yet, but it is indeed subverting the ecology of the TV entertainment industry.
"I guess you can hear the sound of gold coins falling even in your dreams now." Phil teased.
"Stop talking about this. Although the premiere was very successful, it doesn't mean the subsequent views won't drop." Leon looked around at the Lion's Den Media staff, including Sean. "Everyone has to work overtime this weekend, but I hope you remember, the harder you work, the luckier you get!"
Although the boss didn't make any promises about bonuses, everyone rushed to their workstations as if injected with chicken blood (adrenaline).
Smart managers don't attribute all credit to themselves but make everyone feel involved.
This can squeeze the employees' bodily functions dry while saving bonus expenses to the greatest extent.
After leaving Lion's Den Media, Leon led his convoy across the Brooklyn Bridge to the NBC headquarters in Manhattan.
30 Rockefeller Plaza, the former GE Building.
"Oh my God... is the whole building NBC's?" Bonnie looked at the 259-meter-high building and exclaimed.
"Of course not. See what I said, your nutrition went to the development of your butt." Phil mocked: "Even if the three major TV stations are tied together, they can't afford such a skyscraper."
NBC is a property of NBCUniversal, belonging to the same parent company as Universal Pictures—the global communications conglomerate giant Comcast.
This is a giant enterprise spanning communications, media, streaming, sports, and advertising technology, and is the largest cable TV and internet provider in the United States.
"So I said, those damn gays have almost completely controlled this country..." Phil was full of anger when speaking of this, thinking of his son.
Behind the woke movements across the United States stands the shadow of media giants; this is a movement manipulated by people.
NBC is a media outlet that couldn't be more leftist. The woke organization "Human Rights Campaign" gave Comcast a Corporate Equality Index score of 100, considering it one of the best workplaces for woke people.
"If you have complaints, finish them in the car. Remember to control your big mouth when you enter this building."
Stared at by Leon, the old geezer shut up obediently.
NBC staff had long been guarding the reception at the first floor. As soon as Leon and his party entered the building, everyone surrounded them.
Holding gifts and flowers prepared in advance.
"Mr. Leon, welcome to NBC." The female receptionist was so excited that she couldn't suppress her tone, so her voice was trembling.
The enthusiasm obviously exceeded the scope of business docking; unsurprisingly, she was also Leon's fan.
"Please follow me~" The female receptionist led the way, looking back from time to time to find topics to chat about. "Is Miss Robbie not with you?"
"No, her work is busier than mine."
"You are really an enviable couple. By the way, I watched The Rap of America last night. I heard you are the producer of that show; is this true?"
"Yes."
"Oh my God... I'm a fan of King Von; I simply love him to death. He seems to care about nothing, like a wild creature." The female receptionist was so happy that she was in a trance, almost failing to notice when the elevator reached the thirteenth floor where NBC was located.
"Little Von?" Leon raised his eyebrows, interested in carefully examining the girl in front of him.
White workplace suit, blonde hair in a bun, wearing black stockings and stepping on Valentino high heels, a typical workplace white girl... This surprised him quite a bit; such people do not fit the profile of King Von's audience.
"Please tell him for me, I will vote for him in the finals..." The girl whispered.
"I will."
The entire thirteenth floor of the GE Building is NBC's studio, and the office area is on other floors.
As the flagship program of NBC, the studio used by Saturday Night Live (SNL) is not the largest in area, but it has the best conditions.
Whether it is equipment or decoration, there is nothing to pick on.
Inside the studio, a group of people were surrounding a bald middle-aged man discussing tonight's live broadcast plan, everyone holding a stack of scripts.
Bonnie whispered in Leon's ear: "That bald gentleman is Jared, the chief director of Saturday Night Live."
At this time, Jared also just looked up and saw Leon, changing his serious expression of directing his subordinates just now, and greeted him enthusiastically.
"Mr. Leon! I didn't expect you to be the first to arrive!" Jared looked down at his watch. "It's 1 pm now, still an hour away from our agreed time..."
"I'm not very familiar with the process of live programs, afraid of mistakes, you know..."
"Then have you had lunch? Do you want me to ask someone to get some light meals from the kitchen?"
"No need, we settled lunch at McDonald's." Leon waved his hand. "Let's start work quickly."
A top superstar eating McDonald's for lunch?
After a conversation, Jared's impression of him changed greatly. "I didn't expect you to be a punctual and serious person; this is very different from what the media says..."
"What does the media say about me?"
"Hehe... you definitely know." Jared laughed awkwardly twice. "Now I think those should be unrealistic smears."
Starting to speak pretty words now?
Leon snorted coldly in his heart. When he was framed for "illegal possession of contraband," NBC didn't miss the chance to join in and smear him.
Seeing his expression was wrong, Jared quickly changed the subject and took Leon to the small conference room next to the studio.
Sitting opposite Leon on the sofa, he loudly ordered the assistant to bring coffee and fruit. "How many times have I told you? These must be prepared for guests in advance!"
"Fxxk, if you can't even do this job well, go help pick up trash in the prop team tomorrow!"
The female assistant's eyes were slightly red, daring not to make a sound, forcefully sucking back the tears in her eyes.
Facing Leon, Jared changed his face quickly, smiling so much that wrinkles piled up. "Country girl, can't be trained well no matter what. Silly girls can't survive in New York."
Bonnie rolled her eyes regardless of the other party's director identity.
She is a typical country girl struggling in New York.
Jared blew on the steam rising from the coffee and led the topic to the program. "Mr. Leon, you should be very familiar with the production process of TV programs, right? The Rap of America is simply a textbook-level talent show..."
"I just proposed this idea; most of the work was not done by me." Leon told the truth. Except for providing the program framework and some rating explosion points, other work was completed by Sean's team.
"You are too modest." Jared shook his head helplessly. "The success of this show has put a lot of pressure on us. You should know that Comcast started with communications business. They invested a lot of money in streaming business. The parent company requires us to make an online variety show with the same influence."
The online variety show track is still a blue ocean. With the success of Netflix, traditional TV giants like NBC backed by big sponsors also want a piece of the pie.
It is not difficult to guess that CBS, FOX, and other giants are also brewing the same plan.
"Live programs and recorded programs are two different things. Moreover, Saturday Night Live adopts a special way of guests serving as hosts." Leon said, "I have always had a question about this show."
"What question? Ask away."
"Does your show have a script?"
Stars interviewing stars is the creation of this show. Many viewers who grew up watching it are also curious about whether this show has a script.
If there is no script, the program live broadcast cannot be so smooth and silky.
If there is, why does the program repeatedly mention privacy topics that celebrities are unwilling to talk about?
When Britney participated in this show, she was asked how many men she had slept with;
Madonna took off her underwear in public to prove she had the habit of wearing a bra...
If there is a script, celebrities should discuss it before going on stage to avoid embarrassing topics.
"Mostly no, relying on everyone's personal performance." Jared explained: "Of course, some guests often can't think of topics to chat about. To avoid awkward silence, staff will give prompts offstage."
"Depending entirely on personal performance? Then how to guarantee the topic degree?"
"We will give guests some hints in advance, but the program effect mainly depends on the guest pairing invited for the current episode..."
Hearing this, Leon suddenly understood why the production team chose Kanye to partner with him for this episode.
Due to being notorious, many celebrities are not even willing to be in the same frame as him, let alone have the courage to ask any spicy questions.
And Kanye has a good relationship with him, and is famous for speaking without thinking.
"Actually, Kanye was not the first choice at the beginning..." Jared smiled a little gloomily.
"Who was it?" Taylor's name immediately popped into Leon's mind.
"JAY-Z."
"Fxxk." Leon couldn't help cursing, and three seconds later laughed and shook his head. "I also think this is a better idea. If I were the producer, I would definitely do this."
"Our staff called JAY-Z's manager... and got scolded severely, saying we are a bunch of son of a bitch fools..."
Leon held his forehead and laughed out loud, making up that picture in his mind.
Jared spread his hands, looking innocent. "If conditions permit, we would invite Diddy as a guest, but that guy is in big trouble now, you know."
It is not unreasonable for Saturday Night Live to last for more than thirty years as a talk show; the program team does have some skills in playing tricks.
During the interval of their conversation, Robbie came to the studio accompanied by Maggie.
She was surprised to see Leon; it was still half an hour before the agreed two o'clock. "You were never this early when we were dating~"
"Am I not early this time?"
"This is work, nothing to do with dating."
Seeing the two bickering as soon as they met, Jared was confused. This didn't look like they had just broken up as widely rumored outside.
He walked forward two steps and hugged Robbie ceremoniously. "Welcome to NBC, Miss Robbie. You look even more charming than in magazines."
Of the three guests, only Kanye, who had the highest status, had not arrived yet. But Jared was not prepared to wait like this and asked the assistant to take Leon and Robbie into the makeup room first.
Few high-status artists know punctuality, especially black stars.
Robbie and Leon sat next to each other on chairs, and makeup artists applied makeup on their faces with various delicate tools.
The atmosphere was slightly awkward.
Robbie broke the awkward situation first and asked, "Sitting together putting on makeup like this, I seem to have returned to the time when I first met you."
"Did we? When?" Leon tilted his head, searching hard in his mind.
"You didn't really forget, did you?" Robbie sighed lightly first, then pouted and said: "Our first cooperation, when you invited me to participate in the Sucker for Pain MV."
Leon suddenly realized, and the image of the other party with mismatched twin ponytails, red and blue baseball uniform, waving a bat appeared in his mind.
"Speaking of which, there is one thing I haven't told you yet; this is good news."
"What good news?" Robbie turned sideways and leaned over.
"Radioactive was nominated for the MTV Video Music Awards this month."
In addition to Radioactive being nominated for Best Rock Video, Demons filmed with Beyoncé was also nominated for the important award of Best Direction.
After the nomination list was announced earlier, everyone was shocked.
Katy Perry actually led with ten nominations, leaving Adele, who swept major charts this year, behind.
Robbie was not interested in this so-called surprise; she already knew the nomination list.
Faded was nominated for two awards: Best Art Direction and Best Pop Video.
"When I first met you, I never thought you were a workaholic..." Robbie complained.
These words were already very implicit. What she really wanted to say was "I didn't expect your head to be full of only money and fame."
Leon shrugged, curved the corners of his mouth, and did not respond. The atmosphere cooled down again.
A minute later, a burst of cursing with rap rhythm broke the awkward situation.
Kanye walked into the makeup room accompanied by his assistant, his thick lips flapping up and down, speaking as fast as a machine gun:
"Why did that btch abandoned by Columbia Records get ten nominations?"
"Fxxk! Her works are all saliva songs (catchy low-quality songs) with no artistic value. I think those fools in the jury must have fallen for this white chick's big boobs!"
"They should go to the ranch and tie the trophy directly under the cow!"