Chapter 790: Designing a documentary!

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

Almost all the staff of Department 14 were playing games!

At this moment, someone noticed Zhang Ye.

"Ah! Quick, look!"

"Director Zhang!"

"It's Teacher Zhang Ye!"

"It's him in person!"

"Wah! Director Zhang is here!"

"I want to take a picture and post it on Weibo! Would the people in front please move aside!"

When the staff of Department 14 saw Zhang Ye standing at the door, they got extremely excited.

They were unlike those employees at Central TV Department 1. Even the lowest grade staff like those miscellaneous staffers working in Department 1 would frequently come in contact with some of the more famous hosts or celebrity guests whenever they came to attend galas, or record of a show or an interview program. Which big shot had they not seen before? They had probably even talked with them before, so they were generally much calmer when faced with such situations.

But Department 14 was a newly established department that was just a few years old. Almost everyone in the department were still considered rookies and their department was too neglected, with a viewership rating that was ranked last among all the channels of Central TV. Even the overseas and agricultural channels had viewership ratings that were several times higher than the overall viewership ratings of their channel. The status of their channel in the Central TV network was extremely low. At most, they could get to know some sports stars when they shot for a soccer or basketball team's championship winning documentary. That was why, even though they worked in the same building, they had not really come across any real big shot celebrities before, let alone a person like Zhang Ye who had created such a big commotion in Central TV Department 1. Together with the upheaval being repeatedly hyped up, all of a sudden, everyone piled forward to him with warm expressions on their faces!

A female staff member said, "Director Zhang, I really like you!"

Zhang Ye replied, "Thank you."

Tong Fu quickly said, "I heard that you smashed a marble table with just a smack of your palms last Friday, is that true?"

Zhang Ye: "…"

Huang Dandan claimed, "Nonsense, it was obviously an aluminum alloy table!"

Zhang Ye: "…"

F**k, how did it turn into an aluminum alloy table?

I even smashed something like that?

Do you fucking think that I am Iron Man?!

Ha Qiqi who was beside him gave a wry smile and said, "It was a 2 cm-thick glass table. The rumors are too exaggerated."

Huang Dandan exclaimed, "That's still super amazing! Eh, Director Zhang, do you want to play some games?"

A middle-aged woman smiled and said, "I haven't been able to stand Central TV Department 1 since long ago. They snatched our people and appropriated our production budget. Hmph, that smack on the table was really excellent!"

Huang Dandan nodded and agreed, "Yeah, that smack of yours really helped us vent our anger. In the past two years, Central TV Department 1 pushed us aside just because they're the station's favored department. Hai, Director Zhang, do you want to play some games?"

Zhang Ye said embarrassed, "Not now."

Tong Fu said, "Director Yan is not here yet, so feel free to take a seat anywhere you like. I also don't know which office will be assigned to you."

"Hur hur, I can just sit out here." Zhang Ye was not picky. As he was new here, it was best to keep a low profile since he didn't intend to just get by for this period of time. He had a goal to achieve.

When Zhang Ye sat down, Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, and the others also found their seats and sat down as well.

When the staff of Department 14 saw this, they also did not disturb Zhang Ye anymore. They focused their attention on Zhang Ye's team members and started to chat with them.

After around ten minutes, Wu Yi, Little Wang, Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, and the others could no longer refuse their invitation and joined with the gaming forces as well. Actually, during the past month or so, the original team of The Voice had been either playing games or watching movies while under Central TV Department 1. Since they were already doing so at Department 1, there wasn't much difference now that they came to Department 14. Everyone "defected" and integrated into the new team very quickly.

"Director Ha, put points in your strength stat. Right, HP is very important to your class!"

"Ah, I was killed by someone!"

"Where? We will take revenge for you!"

"Fuck, who dares to kill our people? How dare they!"

"Who wants to attempt an instance dungeon? We're still missing one party member!"

"Does anyone here play Plants vs. Zombies? How do you clear this stage?"

Upon seeing everyone so focused, Zhang Ye felt a sense of despair and speechlessness. It would be impossible to make the documentary channel flourish! With this group of people, it would be a wonder if they could even fucking accomplish anything at all.

Suddenly, footsteps from outside could be heard!

The director of Central TV Department 14, Yan Tianfei, was here. He did not go back to his own office at the other office area but walked directly over to this side instead.

Then, a scene that made Zhang Ye drop his jaw played out in front of him!

The staff of Department 14 who were crying out in excitement earlier suddenly put on different expressions. With a flash on their computer screens, which Zhang Ye did not see clearly, the game interfaces on them just a moment earlier had all completely disappeared. Plants vs. Zombies was now replaced by Word while the MMOs changed to show PowerPoint slides. Everyone's faces appeared very natural and they looked to be very calm as though they had been through this many times before!

Tong Fu picked up a document as he stood up. "Director Yan, I completed yesterday's work that you assigned to me. I just made some final changes to it a moment ago. Can you take a look and see if this is usable?"

Yan Tianfei nodded. "We'll talk about it later."

Huang Dandan also immediately said, "Director Yan, I've already finished that report and sent it to you by email. I've also printed out a copy and put it on your desk!"

Yan Tianfei acknowledged, "Alright."

"Director Yan, we have already agreed on the contract for the copyright. I'm preparing it right now and will submit it to you later."

"Director Yan…"

Yan Tianfei sounded pretty satisfied when he said, "Good, good, everyone has worked hard!"

Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, and the others were all dumbfounded!

Zhang Ye was also stunned at what he was seeing! Fuck, you guys changed way too quickly! Only then did he realized that he had underestimated this group of people!

They were a talented group of people!

They were a fucking talented group of people!

Yan Tianfei casually acknowledged a few of the staff who reported to him, while his gaze since he entered the office was on Zhang Ye's team all along. He looked at them with much admiration.

Zhang Ye walked over to him. "Director Yan, I'm here to report to you."

Yan Tianfei grabbed his hand and shook it. He replied, "I've been wishing for the stars and the moon, but finally I've managed to get you, Teacher Little Zhang, here."

"Don't say that. You're much too polite." Zhang Ye smiled.

Yan Tianfei immediately announced to everyone, "Starting from today, Teacher Little Zhang and his team will be joining us at Department 14. Everyone, let's welcome them!"

Bba bba bba. Thunderous applause rang out!

"Welcome, Teacher Zhang!"

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "When we arrived, everyone welcomed us. They're all so friendly and welcoming that it's making us a little embarrassed."

Yan Tianfei laughed heartily. "You guys are the best team in the variety show industry. How could they not be passionate about your arrival?" But as he said this, Yan Tianfei glanced at Zhang Ye and his team, his laughter becoming softer and softer. "But it will be hard on you guys now that you have to come to our Department 14, hai."

Zhang Ye waved it off and said, "No, it isn't. We are not here to sponge off others but planning to make a mark for ourselves. If there's any work at all, just arrange it for us."

However, Yan Tianfei stated, "There's no need to rush regarding work, since there isn't much to do around here anyway. Besides purchasing some documentary copyrights and handing it over to the broadcast department for scheduling, there isn't much more than that to handle. Come, let me bring you to your office first. I'll brief you on the situation of our department as we go." Leading Zhang Ye out of the work area, he explained, "We are not a full establishment like the other departments. I am the director here, and after Old Liu retired, we have not had a deputy director position. As you can see, there are two work areas here, one for the team that handles the shooting of documentaries, the other for the team that does copyright communications. It's different with your variety show department setup since the documentary department does not have separate program teams for the time being. Most of the work we do here is just to broadcast the documentaries that we have copyrights to, so there's no need to set up any independent program teams."

The hallway narrowed, offices on the left and right sides.

Yan Tianfei led him and opened one of the office doors. The area inside was quite big and very well-equipped. It was almost two times larger than Zhang Ye's office at Central TV Department 1. His office at Department 1 was part of the entire office area but partitioned out to become a personal office space. As a result, the environment there was naturally not as good as the standalone office space over here.

"You will work from this office from now on, is that OK?" Yan Tianfei asked.

Zhang Ye couldn't say no. "Of course, I'll follow to your arrangement."

Yan Tianfei chuckled, "In the future, you will still be an executive director at Department 14. Since a few of our directors here are still rather inexperienced and have not done too many documentaries yet, you can pass down some knowledge and experience to them from your program planning at Lecture Room, Zhang Ye's Talk Show and The Voice. Your experience in this aspect is not something those rookies can hope to compare to. Although variety shows and documentaries are two different fields, there should still be some things in common. Under normal circumstances, you can teach or lead them a bit. The team that you brought over will still be under your command. You will only need to report to me when it comes to work-related matters."

Zhang Ye immediately asked, "What about our jobs?"

Yan Tianfei looked at him and replied bluntly, "Actually, as you can see for yourself, our department does not lack manpower and there isn't much work to handle around here either. The reason why I made a fuss at Central TV Department 1 was mainly because I couldn't take it lying down. Based on what could they just steal our new recruits like that? Teacher Little Zhang, I know that you are having a tough time at Department 1 and are on bad terms with them. But don't worry anymore, hur hur. There will definitely be no one coming to find trouble with you or give you an attitude now that you're here at Department 14. Just enjoy your stay here and work seriously."

Find trouble with me?

This bro isn't afraid of people finding trouble with me, what I'm most afraid of is having nothing to do!

However, Zhang Ye definitely appreciated the kindness from Yan Tianfei. He was also very grateful that Yan Tianfei had requested to have him transfer to Department 14, allowing him an opportunity to strike back, an opportunity to deal a fatal blow to Central TV Department 1!

After chatting for another ten minutes.

The two of them more or less had a basic understanding of each other by now.

Zhang Ye blinked and finally spoke, "Director, since there isn't much work here most of the time, and our team doesn't know anything else but to make shows, what would you say if we wanted to make our own in-house documentary? Something fully produced by us?"

Yan Tianfei answered without even thinking, "Of course you can. You guys can make any documentary you like!"

Zhang Ye was taken aback and asked, "Then I will still take the lead as the executive director?"

Yan Tianfei smiled and said, "Yes."

Zhang Ye added, "As for the genre of the show…"

"Is it a documentary?"

"It definitely will be."

"Then just do whatever you like. Our department is a documentary channel anyway!"

"As for the equipment and production budget…"

"Submit the program proposal to me after you've written it up and I will allocate the funds to you."

Fuck!

How did it all go so smoothly?

Zhang Ye coughed and decided to give him a heads-up first. He smiled and declared, "Alright then, I'll write up a program proposal. But for the equipment and production budget, it will probably not be a small amount, I'm afraid…"

Yan Tianfei laughed and said generously, "Usually, we just use our department's budget to buy some copyrights and the remaining funds have no practical use. If you want to try and make a documentary, it doesn't matter if the viewership rating is good or not. Our department still has the ability to fork out this sum of money. After all, how much money could filming a documentary take up? I will allocate 1 million yuan to you when the time comes. You can shoot whatever you like!"

1 million RMB?

Shoot whatever I like??

Zhang Ye was already in tears. I knew it couldn't be this smooth!