"Who's the legal representative of their company?"
"Liu Huangshan. He graduated from the Beijing Academy of Fine Arts. The company isn't large, but *Big Dog and Two Dog* became a minor hit. The second season, released recently, also performed well."
Liang Yin asked, "Why are they targeting you? Do you know this person?"
Lin Chudong shook his head. "No, I've never met him or had any contact with them. The only connection we have is the broadcast schedule of *Bright Sword*."
"Earlier, *Big Dog and Two Dog* was in the prime-time slot. They must know Director Chen at Channel Eight. But when *Bright Sword*'s ratings soared, they moved us to prime time to break records and shifted *Big Dog and Two Dog* to a different time slot."
"Let's check the current performance of that cartoon."
Wang Zhi searched online for the data and then reported:
"The cartoon aired halfway through on Channel Eight before being moved back to the Children's Channel."
"Brother Fei, this must be a huge blow to them, right?"
Lin Chudong nodded. "The impact will definitely be significant, but they brought it on themselves. If they hadn't been so stubborn about airing the cartoon on the Children's Channel and instead went to Channel Eight to join the chaos, this wouldn't have happened."
Liang Yin was speechless. "These are the TV station's rules, nothing to do with us. Why are they attacking us? I'm going to contact them on Weibo."
She picked up her phone, found their official account on Weibo, and sent them a private message from Liangyin Media's account:
"We saw *Big Fei and Little Fei* airing on the Children's Channel. We believe this is having a severely negative impact on our artist, Big Fei. We request that your company remove the show and issue a public apology."
After sending the message, she waited for half a day with no response. Frowning, she sent a question mark, only to discover she had been blocked.
Liang Yin was furious.
"What kind of people are these?!"
She immediately started searching for information about their company. A few minutes later, she suddenly noticed Huangshan Art Company had posted something on Weibo.
The post included screenshots of her chat conversation with them.
"Liangyin Media is ridiculous! They think they can bully others just because they're famous? Did you patent the name 'Big Fei'? My dog at home is called Big Fei, so what?"
When this Weibo post went live, Liang Yin was furious.
"Big Fei, I'm so angry! Go bite him!"
Lin Chudong was speechless. "You really think I'm a dog?"
Jia Lu was also furious. "This company is going too far! They're so petty. Are they still holding a grudge because we snagged their prime-time slot?"
Lin Chudong said, "Let's not rush. I'll ask Sister Huang."
He then called Huang Wei and they discussed the situation.
Huang Wei was also unaware of the matter, but Huangshan Art Company had already terminated their contract with Channel Eight. They had been moved back to the Children's Channel.
This situation had a significant impact on Huangshan Art Company.
First, contract terminations were rare on CCTV. When a contract was terminated, a refund was naturally required.
With the show halfway through its run on Channel Eight, the refund left Huangshan Art Company extremely displeased.
While re-airing the show wouldn't be a problem for the children, Huangshan Art Company couldn't swallow this bitter pill.
Having their money refunded, losing their prime-time slot, and being demoted from Channel Eight back to the Children's Channel was a series of blows that felt like a profound humiliation.
Unable to vent his anger at the CCTV leadership, Liu Huangshan took all his resentment out on Big Fei.
Using the *Big Dog and Two Dog* template, they created several episodes of a parody animation called *Big Fei and Little Fei*, releasing them before the *Big Dog and Two Dog* reruns.
They had consulted their legal team, who confirmed that as long as they altered some of the settings, the animation wouldn't constitute defamation or insult. Before proceeding, they had thoroughly researched Liangyin Media.
The company's legal department was formidable, and Big Fei himself was a legal exam instructor with a deep understanding of the law. They couldn't afford to leave any legal loose ends.
After consulting with top legal experts, they finally released the animation.
The goal was twofold: to vent their anger by parodying Big Fei and to anticipate his inevitable online tirade, which would generate buzz for their work.
Being cursed at by Big Fei wasn't a bad thing at all. It would skyrocket their popularity, potentially bringing unexpected publicity to their animated series.
This could also help offset their losses from the canceled contract with Channel Eight.
So, upon receiving the private message from Liangyin Media, they immediately took a screenshot and posted it on Weibo, mocking them, all to provoke a public argument.
Seeing their Weibo post, Lin Chudong immediately guessed their intentions.
"It's fine. No need to respond. Let them ride our coattails."
"But our popularity isn't so easy to piggyback on."
Zhou Shifang, who tried to ride Big Fei's coattails last time, is still lying in the hospital.
Liang Yin asked, "Big Fei, do you have any plans?"
Lin Chudong replied, "The Art Team is idle lately, aren't they? We could use this time to produce an animated series."
*A Bite of China* had finished filming, but the editing would take some time. Only the editing department was busy; the rest of the staff were idle.
Preparing the next TV series, *The Hidden Corner*, also required time. So, aside from casting, the company had few pressing matters.
Liang Yin was taken aback. "Animation? You can make animations too?"
Lin Chudong nodded. "It's similar to TV dramas. I know a little."
Of course, he was being modest. He knew far more than "a little."
The last time he opened a treasure chest, he'd received the Advanced Animation Production skill, which he hadn't had a chance to use yet. Now, he'd finally found the perfect opportunity.
Liang Yin asked, "How much would it cost to make an animated series?"
Big Fei was about to start filming his next TV drama—his big screen debut as a leading actor. This project was the company's top priority, and Liang Yin was taking it very seriously.
Although the Huangshan Art Company was a nuisance, it would be counterproductive to delay the TV drama's production just to deal with them.
Lin Chudong replied, "If I'm going to do it, I'll do it right. The production cost per minute for animation is probably around 40,000 yuan. For a five-minute episode, that's 200,000 yuan."
Liang Yin's eyes widened in shock. "Animation is that expensive?"
Twenty thousand yuan for just five minutes?
That cost was nearly the same as a two-million-yuan-per-episode blockbuster TV series.
Lin Chudong nodded. "Exactly. Animation production costs are inherently high. Look at their *Big Dog and Two Dog*—it actually cost about the same as our *Bright Sword*."
"But *Bright Sword* brought us far greater revenue than their *Big Dog and Two Dog*. They created this parody animation out of envy and resentment, just to spite me."
"The advantage of animation is that we don't have to finish the whole thing before airing. We can film a few episodes first and then release them weekly."
Everyone was stunned, never having considered such an approach.
Some foreign TV series did use this serialized filming model, aiming to adjust the plot based on audience reactions and sales.
If a show received poor reviews or low ratings, they would simply cancel it and halt production.
This approach would maximize cost savings.
However, this TV drama model wasn't suitable for the current domestic production market, as most of the revenue for TV dramas still came from sponsors and advertising.
Even video platforms calculate revenue based on viewership, which is essentially a way to convert advertising revenue. Therefore, serialized production was clearly not viable.
While TV dramas couldn't be made, animation could.
After hearing Big Fei's idea, Liang Yin nodded and looked at Wang Zhi. "What do you think?"
Wang Zhi replied, "I've seen Brother Fei's drawing skills, and he's also a director. Making an animated series should be promising."
Lin Chudong said, "The cost of trial and error is low anyway. Let's give it a try. Have the Art Team come to my office."
A few minutes later, Conner and the others were seated in Lin Chudong's office, watching him draw on his tablet.
A small, pink, pig-like humanoid figure appeared on the screen.
"This is our cartoon's protagonist. All the characters in the cartoon will have the same art style."
Conner frowned slightly, looking puzzled. "Brother Fei, won't this art style be too simple?"
Technology had advanced significantly, and animation production techniques were quite mature. This art style... it was hard to describe.
Children these days loved flashy, cool things, and the little pig Big Fei had drawn leaned more towards simple, stick-figure style.
However, they were just artists, not planners. Their understanding of the market was based on personal opinions, and they didn't dare speak out of turn.
Lin Chudong said, "The target audience for this cartoon is young children, so a slightly naive and simple style is appropriate."
"I'll draw the original concept art for all characters and scenes. The keyframe animation will be up to you."
"Though our character designs are simple, the animation itself must be anything but crude. Your movements must be precise to the frame, and the style must remain consistent with my original designs."
Kanna and the others nodded. The art style was simple, and for professional artists like them, it was child's play—just a matter of workload.
Lin Chudong began drawing in front of them: Peppa, George, Mummy Pig, Daddy Pig, Grandpa Pig, Grandma Pig...
One by one, the characters were rapidly sketched.
Lin Chudong used a Memory Search Card, imprinting every detail of the *Peppa Pig* animated series into his mind.
Seeing Big Fei's masterful drawing skills, Kanna and the others were somewhat astonished.
Although the characters were simple, the sheer number of them tested the artist's ability to maintain consistent proportions between characters and the scene.
For example, what was the height difference between Mummy Pig and Peppa Pig? And between Daddy Pig and Mummy Pig? If their body proportions and limb ratios were inconsistent, the characters would look out of place together.
Once such errors occurred, they were impossible to fix later.
Therefore, this original artwork had to be personally drawn by Lin Chudong. He also wanted the artists to witness firsthand how he started, how he designed the character proportions, how he completed the line art, and finally, how he colored the pieces.
To make sure they could see clearly, Lin Chudong deliberately slowed his pace. Fortunately, the characters' designs were quite simple. After finishing each drawing, he sent it to them via tablet.
After about two hours, dozens of images had been sent to their group chat.
These included all the characters from the first three episodes and basic scene concept art.
Lin Chudong also drew a few key poses for the characters, but he would personally handle the crucial movements himself.
He left the rest of the keyframe animation work to them.
After these two hours of drawing, Kanna and the others' admiration for Lin Chudong deepened. It was actually quite difficult to make such simple characters so vivid and lifelike.
Most importantly, Brother Fei's creative ability was extraordinary. Despite the characters' striking similarities, a single defining feature or color difference was enough to distinguish each one.
For example, Daddy Pig's glasses, Grandpa Pig's beard, and Grandma Pig's hat.
Their faces and body shapes were nearly identical, yet these subtle distinctions vividly conveyed their identities.
They couldn't help but wonder, *Is directing really a universal skill? If you can make TV shows, you can make animated films too?*
But when they were in school, there was a specialized major in animation directing. Animation directors and live-action directors seemed quite different.
*Why does Brother Fei know everything?*
Lin Chudong had already drawn all the original artwork and several key frames for them. The rest of the details would require them to do a massive amount of production work.
After receiving the task, Kanna and the others immediately went back to work.
Lin Chudong contacted Wang Danian. "Old Uncle, do you know any animation production experts?"
"I need about five or six people."
Lin Chudong was extremely confident in the *Peppa Pig* project and was willing to invest heavily in its production.
After all, the company still had plenty of funds. Even after deducting the 30 million from *Digging Field Hero*, they had nearly 100 million remaining.
The filming of *The Hidden Corner* was estimated to cost around 30 million, including his personal salary.
So, the Art Department was expanded into the Art Team. This animation project would be treated as a major undertaking for their company.
"Five or six people is no problem. I'll find a few and let you review them."
***
Half an hour later, six young men around Lin Chudong's age stood before him, their faces lighting up at the sight of Big Fei and the others.
"Brother Fei, hello."
After exchanging greetings, Lin Chudong inquired about their educational backgrounds. All of them had graduated from animation academies and had previously worked as CG artists at game companies.
"Your qualifications are sufficient. I'll conduct a brief interview."
"I have three pieces of original artwork here. Create a running and jumping animation for them."
Lin Chudong didn't provide *Peppa Pig* artwork. Instead, he gave them two characters from *Audition Online*, as the animation couldn't be leaked.
The six young men immediately sat down at their computers and began working, each demonstrating remarkable proficiency with the software.
Since Lin Chudong only required 2D animation, they worked swiftly.
Producing a single episode of animation was a massive undertaking.
Even if Lin Chudong's Art Team hired a dozen or so people, there would still be a substantial amount of work requiring freelance original artists.
Animation is created from scratch, especially 2D animation, where every frame is hand-drawn. With twenty-four frames per second, at least twenty-four drawings are needed for each second, and the more, the better.
However, the visual quality of 2D animation is undeniably superior to that of animations generated through 3D modeling.
After reviewing their production processes, it was clear they were experienced, and the results they produced were quite impressive.
Given the quality of these few images and the speed at which they were created, if provided with sufficient original artwork, they could undoubtedly produce animation of the highest quality.
"Alright, you all can review the salary and benefits. If you're satisfied, you can start right away."
"Before joining the Art Team, remember to sign a confidentiality agreement. Old Uncle, I'm leaving these few in your care."
"Also, Art Team, recruit a few more people for me. No more than twenty."
Wang Danian had heard about Lin Chudong's animation project during their earlier phone call, but he was still surprised to learn he planned to hire twenty people.
The Art Team is almost as large as the Film and Television Department?
This animation project seems to have a massive budget, doesn't it?
Weren't they planning to make just three episodes first?
Why not wait until after the broadcast to see how it performs?
Hiring so many people rashly could lead to layoffs if the show doesn't do well, which would severely damage the company's reputation.
Though he had many questions, Wang Danian kept them to himself. As head of the Film and Television Department, he wasn't part of the management team and had no say in company decisions. His only responsibility was to carry out the CEO's orders.
Back at the office, Kanna and the others had already completed a significant amount of keyframe original artwork in a single day.
Using these images, they had Liang Yin contact the animation studio that had previously done the CG for *Audition Online* to discuss a collaboration.
Normally, a piece of original artwork on the market costs around 800 yuan.
Backgrounds alone typically cost 400 yuan, as do animated characters.
Given their past working relationship, the studio offered their lowest rate.
Since all the characters in *Peppa Pig* are relatively easy to draw, the quote provided was 200 for both the scenes and the characters.
This meant that the entire background for each frame would cost only 200.
As for the characters, whether there was one or multiple characters in a frame, they were all priced at 200.
The price was quite reasonable. If Lin Chudong's art department hired more original artwork artists in the future, the cost could be reduced further.
Based on this calculation, the budget for the first three episodes would likely be around 500,000.
Seeing Lin Chudong working so diligently, from project approval to production starting, in less than two days was impressive.
They had even begun production before Liang Yin had obtained her broadcast license.
Big Fei really moved with lightning speed.
Huangshan Animation Studio's *Big Dog and Little Dog* was performing well in the ratings. Could Big Fei really hope to defeat them with three episodes of animation made in just a few days?
Looking at the protagonist Big Fei had drawn, with a head shaped like a hairdryer, Liang Yin felt a flicker of doubt this time.
-----------------------
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(End of Chapter)