Chapter 578 Hype

Lu Yanhe's "Chinese Paladin" has officially started production, while Liu Bige, after some communication, has also decided to film "Dragon Inn" first.

This means that the start of filming for "Dingfeng No. 1," which he is collaborating on with Lu Yanhe, will be postponed again.

“Teacher Wen Shengming’s wife is having surgery next month, and he wants to be with her, so he doesn’t want to film this year.” Liu Bige sighed. “I want to wait for him.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Yanhe expressed his understanding and said, "Okay, then you can film 'Dragon Inn' first, and I'll arrange other work for myself."

An actor of Wen Shengming's caliber can maintain his position even if he doesn't act for three to five years, so unlike many young actors, he doesn't dare to stop working.

Lu Yanhe was quite envious of Wen Shengming.

Actually, everyone says that Lu Yanhe has already reached the top tier, but even Chen Ziyan wouldn't dare say that Lu Yanhe could disappear for three to five years without affecting his status.

Such national recognition and status require time. Why is Wen Shengming so confident? Because in his generation, everyone else has already been outlasted by him, and no one else who emerges can compare to him.

Lu Yanhe is different; his lead is only temporary. In the future, there are still people in his thirties, forties, and fifties. At each stage, many people can overtake him by taking shortcuts. His position is never stable; only by constantly striving and making changes can he survive.

This year, three film projects with Lu Yanhe as screenwriter started filming: Wang Zhong's "Raise the Red Lantern", Jia Long and Wang Dashan's "Lost in Thailand", and Liu Bige's "Dragon Inn".

Lu Yanhe himself is going to film "Chinese Paladin" and Huang Tianlin's "Tropical Rainy Season", as well as the second season of "Friends" at the end of the year.

It was still a busy and productive year.

In terms of timing, he will be attending the Jose Film Festival in May with "Love Letter", and then he will go to Malaysia to film "Tropical Rainy Season" - the good thing is that the filming time for this movie is not very long, and he can finish filming his scenes in one to two weeks.

Then came "The Legend of Sword and Fairy".

The filming of "You Are the Apple of My Eye" was originally scheduled to be filmed, but because they had their eye on Wu Chi, they decided to have him finish filming "The Sea, My Pui" first to gain some experience before filming "You Are the Apple of My Eye". So the filming will be moved to next year.

Therefore, "Chinese Paladin" must be filmed in the third quarter so that he can be more relaxed in filming the second season of "Friends" in the fourth quarter, and the time will not be so tight.

“The show ‘The Birth of an Actor’ has discovered quite a few actors and directors.” Chen Ziyan told Lu Yanhe, “Yuehu TV and Aurora Video have both signed contracts with several short film directors, but we haven’t been able to snag any. So far, we’ve only managed to get Wu Chi.”

“Good directors are even rarer than actors,” Lu Yanhe said bluntly. “The cost of training them is also higher. Using them to make short films to test their directing abilities is actually the most economical way.”

Chen Ziyan: "Yes, one of the unexpected joys of doing the show 'The Birth of an Actor' was discovering many new directors."

If it weren't for this show, under normal circumstances, even making a web movie would generally cost at least seven figures – in other words, to test whether someone has the talent and ability to be a director, you would need a project of at least seven figures.

There aren't that many projects for you to test your skills—a project can have many actors, but only one director. This means that good directors are harder to discover than good actors.

Now, "Jump Up Theater" has also become another stage for discovering directors. It's conceivable that many directors in China who previously lacked opportunities now have the chance to make themselves known in the industry.

Lu Yanhe asked Chen Ziyan, "Is 'The Adventures of a Young Girl' about to air?"

"Yuehu TV wants to shoot a couple more films as backup. If we don't have a few films in reserve, it's easy for productions to run out," Chen Ziyan said.

Chen Ziyan added, "Yesterday, another media outlet published an article saying that this kind of 'jumping into the theater' approach could easily lower the quality of the TV series again, and a week of filming time would inevitably result in a shoddy production."

"Heh." Lu Yanhe curled his lip directly, "The time is short, but if the filming time is not controlled within a week, the filming cost will increase. Right now, it's still unknown what kind of performance this drama will achieve, and whether the advertisers will renew their contracts with us. To be honest, who wouldn't want to have enough filming time to do a project and produce a high-quality product? It's easy to say when you're not in the situation. Besides, a week is something we've repeatedly verified. A two-hour drama series can definitely be filmed in a week as long as the filming plan is well done."

What is the biggest advantage of Jump Theater? It is to build a brand that cultivates audience viewing habits, maximize the brand effect, reduce reliance on big directors and big stars, reduce production costs, and return to content as the top priority.

Why limit the filming time to one week? Because this way, they can control the filming costs as much as possible, thus avoiding the current vicious cycle of aesthetic fatigue due to excessive risks. They can try all sorts of themes that may not be popular in the market—at worst, the ratings for this episode will be a little lower, but they can afford to lose money, as long as the entire Jump Theater is profitable.

This is a production and branding model that has never appeared before, yet it truly achieves innovation, uses new talent, and emphasizes content.

Like the first work, "The Adventures of a Young Girl," where else in domestic film and television dramas can you find a story about the life and adventures of a high school girl? In film and television dramas, high school girls are basically synonymous with the four words "youth and love."

When Lu Yanhe first read this story, he immediately thought of Studio Ghibli's animated films, such as "The Cat Returns" and "Whisper of the Heart".

He sincerely hopes that this theater can use film and television dramas to tell stories and aspects of life that are rarely seen on the market.

Seventeen- or eighteen-year-olds are not only concerned with dreams, love, and rebellion against their parents.

-

"Did Lu Yanhe mention this play at the Jumping Theater to you?"

Zhou Ping'an held up a script and asked Yan Liang a question.

Yan Liang glanced at the script cover and shook his head. "He didn't tell me what exactly the 'Jump Up Theater' segment was about, and he didn't care. What's wrong?"

Zhou Pingan said, "They want you to direct this script."

Upon hearing this, Yan Liang asked, "How's the script?"

"It's not bad, I'd give it an 80-something. It's also quite original, telling the story of a male intern who just started working and his struggle with a difficult female boss," Zhou Ping'an said. "Usually, these kinds of relationships involve some ambiguity and romance, but this story doesn't. It's purely about the workplace and getting along."

Upon hearing this, Yan Liang said, "Oh, I see. I've read this novel. It's a good novel, but there aren't any major dramatic conflicts. It's just quite funny, and the ending is quite heartwarming, focusing on the two characters gaining a better understanding of each other."

“Yes.” Zhou Ping’an nodded. “It’s actually the size of a movie, but it’s going to be made into a TV series.”

“I’ll take a look at the script. If it’s as good as the novel, I’ll take the job,” Yan Liang said. “This story sounds quite fresh.”

"I thought this story was left to you by Lu Yanhe."

"He only reserved the role of Tang Yu Xiaobao in 'Chinese Paladin' for me. There are no other roles. Just choose scripts normally. If you don't like it, just turn it down," Yan Liang said. "This is something we agreed on a long time ago. More and more projects will come to him in the future. It's not that he's in charge of every project, especially the Jumping Theater, which has dozens of plays this year."

Zhou Ping'an: "But if you act in this movie, they only have a budget of 1.5 million for your salary for a week of filming."

“Okay.” Yan Liang nodded. “There are only two episodes, so each episode would cost more than 700,000 yuan, which is very high, even higher than my usual salary.”

“You usually only need a week to film two episodes,” Zhou Ping’an said. “However, this script is really good, and it’s a type of role you haven’t played before. I think it’s promising, so you can give it a try. A week isn’t a long time, and you don’t need to rearrange your schedule.”

"Um."

Zhou Pingan said, "But I want to fight for this female leader position for Chen Lu, are you okay with that?"

"Chen Lu?" Yan Liang looked at Zhou Ping'an with some confusion.

"Don't you recognize her? She was a pretty famous actress twenty years ago. She retired from acting, got married, and had children. A few years ago, she made a comeback to acting. She didn't have a very pleasant working relationship with her agency, so she contacted me and planned to sign with me when her contract expired."

Upon hearing this, Yan Liang suddenly realized, "Oh, I see. Okay, that works."

Zhou Ping'an: "As long as you don't mind."

"If the production company has someone else in mind, don't use me as an excuse. I don't accept being sold as a package deal."

“Of course.” Zhou Ping’an nodded.

Yan Liang: "There's something else I've been wanting to tell you."

"What is it? Tell me."

"I don't want to work with Meng Li on any projects in the future. Please don't put us in the same project again."

“Okay, I won’t do that either. You two are the most popular actors I’m managing right now, and I won’t put all my eggs in one basket,” Zhou Ping’an said.

Yan Liang: "You can let Meng Li bring Cheng Hai to the play. Cheng Hai is quite popular and discussed in 'The Birth of an Actor' now. I don't mind if you have another popular male actor on your team."

Yan Liang's statement actually implies a lot.

Zhou Ping'an also glanced at him with some surprise.

Yan Liang is far from having an unassailable position. For him to express his willingness to let his agent promote Cheng Hai at this time is actually quite unbelievable. Even the best of friends are a different story when competition is involved; it means the allocation and preferential treatment of resources.

Zhou Pingan received a script. Should he give it to Yan Liang first, or to Cheng Hai first? Yan Liang and Cheng Hai have similar appearances.

Yan Liang's boldness in saying this had a significant impact on Zhou Ping'an.

Zhou Ping'an remained silent for a while, then nodded.

He added, "Zhang Lan seems to want to create a CP (couple pairing) between you and me; she's sent out two rounds of messages already."

Yan Liang immediately frowned.

“The drama ‘The Flowing Light’ is scheduled to air this summer, and it’s already started generating buzz,” Zhou Ping’an said. “I think that your pairing with Zhang Lan is a negative thing for your image, and you’re not really suited to creating pairings with other people.”

Yan Liang nodded, "I think so too, let's stop it quickly."

“She’s been provoked by Jiang Yuqian’s momentum and has lost her composure,” Zhou Pingan said. “If the third season of Friends, in which she starred last year, hadn’t flopped so badly, she wouldn’t be in such a hurry. But after the third season flopped, she hasn’t had any new shows since, her popularity has continued to decline, and her public image has suffered. So naturally, she’s getting anxious.”

Yan Liang: "Will it affect 'The Flowing Light'?"

“It’s not that bad yet,” Zhou Ping’an shook his head. “She still has a solid fan base. For a female star like her who once reached the top of the popularity charts, as long as she stays composed and doesn’t make a rash move, it’s not difficult for her to regain her status. Right now, she doesn’t want to be compared to Jiang Yuqian at all. If I were her manager, why would I avoid mentioning Jiang Yuqian at this time? The more popular and successful Jiang Yuqian becomes, the more she’ll be associated with her. In any era, the top stars have all fought their way up together. The entertainment industry is one where a single tree cannot make a forest.”

If Lu Yanhe heard Zhou Ping'an say that, he would definitely agree.

At least that's how it was in the time and space he came from. The top groups of people—the Four Heavenly Kings, the Four Dan Actresses, and the 85 Generation Traffic Stars—these most influential and well-known groups of competing stars, no matter how they and their fan groups try to distance themselves from others, saying things like "we're not on the same level anymore," in fact, if you look at them from a broader perspective of the times, they represent a phase of the entertainment industry.

They fought tooth and nail against each other, seemingly like kings and queens vying for supremacy. In reality, this very situation created a climate where no matter how famous or talented others were, they could hardly compare to this group. Even if you won a TV drama or film award, if you hadn't squeezed into this fiercely competitive circle, you would still be considered slightly inferior within the realm of celebrities.

Zhou Ping'an understood this principle well.

So, when Jiang Yuqian became a global sensation, Zhang Lan felt inferior and didn't want to be compared to her anymore?

This is a wasted opportunity.

This is the best time for Zhang Lan to market her status.

Not just anyone can be Jiang Yuqian's opponent or competitor.

But the rivalry between Zhang Lan and Jiang Yuqian did indeed last for many years.

The more famous Jiang Yuqian became, the higher her status became, which meant that she also had the same status.

If your last drama flopped and you haven't had any other dramas airing since, does that mean your status has declined?

Zhou Ping'an could only say: Hehe.

If celebrities could only become famous by having good dramas air, then the world would already belong to those with exceptional acting skills.

(End of this chapter)