Chapter 673

The second season of "The Seventeenth Floor" has begun its pre-release promotional video.

It was already a very popular drama, and now that the sequel is out with the original cast all returning, it is naturally attracting a lot of attention.

Lu Yanhe, as the male lead, did not participate in the main group's promotional activities. In fact, not only him, but Jiang Jun did not participate either.

Fortunately, the show has enough stars that even if those two don't participate, the others can still promote it.

At this moment, Jiang Lan did something.

She paid the marketing team of "Jump Up" 20 million to have them promote the second season of "The Seventeen Floors".

Chen Ziyan said, "She is indeed very clever. Even though your relationship with Beijing and Taiwan has soured, she still tries to make amends and maintain her personal relationship with you in this way."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

The second season of "The Seventeen Floors" definitely has a large budget for promotion.

However, no matter how ample the funds are, it's up to Jiang Lan to decide how they are used.

Jiang Lan spent 20 million yuan to promote the show for the Jump Team, which is definitely a high price.

On the one hand, under normal circumstances, whether it's promoting a TV series or a movie, it's a "wide net" approach, and they won't invest too much money in a single promotional team.

Even the largest advertising team can only cover a small area of ​​the market.

The Jump Up team's marketing and promotion strategy has always focused on quality over quantity.

On the other hand, Beijing TV itself is a large traditional television station with its own media matrix and many companies and studios that do this business.

Strictly speaking, they all belong to the same group. Conventionally, these resources are usually prioritized for contracting to their own companies rather than being sourced from outside. Especially for a sequel to a hugely popular series like "The Seventeenth Floor" Season 2, all it needs is for people to know that the show is about to air, and that viewers who like the show should remember to watch—that's enough. Quantity is more important than quality.

The focus of the publicity is different.

In this situation, Jiang Lan found the Jump Team.

-

In fact, the biggest profit-generating project for the Jump Team right now is the advertising business.

Because at its core, Jump is still a content platform, encompassing magazines, digital editions, various media accounts and content platforms under its umbrella, as well as signed author accounts...

Jump Up has now established a massive media matrix.

This media matrix is ​​so large that it has attracted the attention of many capital forces, and people come to discuss acquisition every week.

In this context, why did Chen Siqi's team still insist on pursuing other business segments?

Because any company with a single source of profit is easily constrained and may fall into crisis due to low risk resistance.

Marketing and advertising are areas that Chen Siqi values ​​highly. According to the Jump Up team's requirements for marketing and advertising, this area's net profit growth is actually limited. They focus on a "boutique approach," providing personalized marketing and advertising solutions rather than pursuing volume.

Any business model that cannot achieve high sales volume is destined to struggle to achieve substantial profit growth.

However, Chen Ziyan believes that this plays a crucial role for brands that are taking off.

At the same time, this business segment can also help establish connections between Jumpstart and the film and television industry. It's important to know that Jumpstart also has another crucial business: IP operation and development.

Therefore, when the second season of "The Seventeenth Floor" approached them, offering 20 million yuan for publicity, without even specifying any concrete requirements for the desired publicity effect, Chen Siqi's first reaction was—

Who are Beijing and Taiwan trying to screw over this time?

“We can take this on,” Chen Ziyan said to Chen Siqi. “The Seventeen Floors is a project that Jiang Lan is in charge of. Jiang Lan is the only person in Beijing TV who has a really good relationship with Lu Yanhe. She wants to thank Lu Yanhe for still cooperating with the broadcast of the second season of The Seventeen Floors and for continuing to complete the third season.”

Chen Siqi suddenly realized.

She asked, "So, their relationship is actually quite good?"

“Yes,” Chen Ziyan said. “Originally, Lu Yanhe had stopped having any contact with people from Beijing and Taiwan. Now, the only person from Beijing and Taiwan that he is still willing to talk to is Jiang Lan.”

Chen Siqi: "I was worried that Yan He was unwilling to talk to Jingtai now, so Jingtai suddenly came to me and asked me to do the promotion of the second season of 'The Seventeenth Floor'. To be honest, we don't need to do the promotion of the second season of 'The Seventeenth Floor' at all."

Chen Ziyan: "I'm quite curious to know, from your perspective, if there's anything about 'The Seventeen Floors' Season 2 that's worth promoting, what would it be?"

Chen Siqi said, "I haven't watched the show or looked at any materials yet. Just from the subject matter and cast, there's not much to say. After 'The Seventeenth Floor' aired, basically only 'The Squid Game' became popular in this type of drama. There haven't been any other popular dramas of the same type since. I've tried to analyze it before. You see, several platforms have used big stars to develop similar dramas, but they often make a lot of noise but deliver little. They're quite similar, all about a group of people being gathered in one place, actively or passively accepting some life-or-death game-like challenges. They're all pretty much the same."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ziyan said, "But isn't this the kind of setup for this type of drama? That's also the biggest selling point of this type of drama."

"The problem is that this type of drama often needs very distinct character traits, especially emotional developments and character fates that can resonate with the audience, in order to truly allow the audience to enter this worldview. Otherwise, it's like watching a group of children playing house; you can't believe these characters."

Chen Siqi shrugged helplessly and continued, "But look at domestic shows. Take, for example, the one developed by Icefield Video called 'Year One.' The main storyline is about a couple who have broken up and their friends being invited to an island for a treasure hunt, only to discover deadly dangers hidden within. The show was initially very popular, starring top stars, but after six or seven episodes, its reputation plummeted. Why? Because the game world design had bugs that viewers discovered. That's one reason. Once a game world design has bugs, that world is immediately disproven, and viewers who like this kind of genre will abandon it without hesitation. Secondly, their main storyline became the male and female leads constantly arguing and reminiscing about their past relationship, unfolding their emotional drama in an environment full of deadly crises. Which viewer wouldn't get annoyed watching that?"

Chen Ziyan nodded thoughtfully.

"Most importantly, if these arguments, reconciliations, and so on in the relationship could become key factors driving the plot forward, then that's fine—although that's a major taboo for this type of subject matter because audiences don't like it. But on this basis, these things have nothing to do with the main plot. It feels like they just found one screenwriter to write the romance storyline and another screenwriter to write the game storyline, and then awkwardly put them together," Chen Siqi said. "Later, I also inquired about it, and to be honest, they really just wanted to finish this project as quickly as possible, so they found a few screenwriters and cobbled together this script. To put it bluntly, the current platforms still don't value scripts, no matter what you say they don't. And those actors aren't exactly innocent either; those with a bit of fame all demand more screen time for their characters. How can you add more screen time? Every character has a predetermined schedule, which level they have to get injured in, which level they have to die in, so the only thing you can do is add romance scenes and flashback scenes."

Chen Ziyan: "It's really pathetic. Everyone knows how important the script is, but the result is that anyone can interfere with the script."

“Yes,” Chen Siqi said. “When we work on Jumping Theater, most of the A-list stars we’ve worked with have offered suggestions for script revisions. Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s normal to have opinions. As long as they are raised during normal contact, we can discuss them. What’s most annoying is when everything is fine during the initial communication, but when it’s time to join the crew or start filming, they start asking for all sorts of script revisions.”

How did you resolve this situation?

“We won’t tolerate it,” Chen Siqi said. “I basically tell them directly that if they’re going to act like big shots, fine, we’ll issue a notice. Even if the show is canceled or reshot, we won’t tolerate it, as long as they can bear the consequences. To put it bluntly, those actors are used to being arrogant on other sets and always think they’re big shots. In order to keep them as the lead actors, we will tolerate them.”

Chen Ziyan: "Are there any guys who would stand up to you to the bitter end?"

“No,” Chen Siqi said. “You have to understand, the main reason these actors dare to be so arrogant is because they have someone backing them up. Even if you’re a producer or a director, it doesn’t matter. They have people backing them up on the platform, so they’re not afraid of being blacklisted. But the problem is, when I jump up, I’m in charge. Neither the platform nor the investors can control me. No one can say anything nice to me. After I slammed my fist on the table a few times, no one dared to jump around anymore.”

Chen Ziyan sighed.

“It’s really sad to think about,” she said. “We are constantly working to get this industry on the right track, but every time we feel we’ve made a little progress, there’s always one or two things that remind us that we haven’t actually made any progress.”

Chen Siqi: "But there have been some changes. At least in our own film and television projects, we truly value the script and respect the creators' ideas."

Chen Ziyan: "Compared to the entire industry, this is just a drop in the ocean."

“If one day, four or five of the top ten highest-grossing films of the year are made by us, and half of the year’s blockbuster TV series are from our projects, then the rules we set will become the rules of the entire industry. I am very confident about that,” Chen Siqi said. “To be honest, look at those big stars who initially acted like emperors of the crew, but in the end, they still obediently finished performing the scenes that required jumping around in the theater.”

“That’s because you’re powerful enough, but many production teams aren’t as powerful as you are,” Chen Ziyan said. “Well, we can only do our own job well and can’t manage so many things. You’re right, at least people who come from these projects know how to make a good show.”

“Yes,” Chen Siqi said. “Next year, the production budget for Jumping Theater can be further increased. The shows that Jumping Theater launched this year have had very stable broadcast results. After a year of running this theater, everything is on track. Now everyone recognizes this theater, and when preparing projects, we no longer have to waste our breath explaining to others what Jumping Theater is.”

Chen Ziyan: "Will the Jumping Theater continue to operate in the same way next year?"

“Yes.” Chen Siqi nodded. “Let’s continue with this short drama format. Since we don’t have the capacity to produce film and television dramas ourselves, we mainly rely on the production companies under Linghe, Yuehutai, Bingyuan Video, and Beijiguang Video to handle the filming of specific projects. Short dramas can shorten the production cycle and avoid stretching the production line too long, which is more suitable for us.”

Chen Ziyan: "I estimate that in the next few years, besides acting, Yan He will likely focus on overseas projects. He seems to want to build his own influence and power overseas, and I agree. I think it's a good thing. However, as you know, Linghe is still quite reliant on his projects. Although there are a few projects to work on, they are all series like 'Home Alone,' '2 Broke Girls,' and 'Roommates.' What I'm trying to say is, if you're going to continue with the previous approach to Jump Theater, please give Linghe more projects. Otherwise, I'm afraid they really won't be able to manage it."

“Of course, I will,” Chen Siqi said. “I heard that Linghe has signed a lot of production staff.”

“Yes,” Chen Ziyan said, “but not everyone can get into those projects. Many of the people they sign are newcomers who have just graduated from school and need to work with teams to gain experience.”

Chen Siqi nodded.

“I will try my best to provide them with some job opportunities in the Jumping Theater project.”

-

Lu Yanhe hadn't actually considered whether he should shift his future work focus overseas.

Chen Ziyan only noticed this trend from Lu Yanhe's next few projects.

She rarely discusses with Lu Yanhe how he should plan his career in the future.

This is actually quite unlike Chen Ziyan's usual style.

But now Chen Ziyan feels that when it comes to Lu Yanhe's plans, things can never keep up with changes.

The biggest variable surrounding him is his endless stream of scripts. Each new script seems to propel Lu Yanhe into a stage he never dared to imagine before.

For example, after several scripts such as "Source Code," "Red Eye Flight," and "Buried Alive" emerged one after another, no one expected that they would become the breakthrough points for "Doomsday" after it had reached a stalemate. Under these circumstances, Lu Yanhe seized the opportunity by chance and became the producer of "Doomsday".

Linghe became one of the investors in "Doomsday," officially entering the Hollywood film investment circle. Although, to be fair, there was a large element of chance involved.

This initial trial was actually just an attempt to win the battle against Chen Pinhe.

However, just as Chen Ziyan said to Chen Siqi, after successfully pushing Jiang Jun to the position of the male lead in "Doomsday", Lu Yanhe did have a new idea in his heart: on the one hand, he was working hard to promote Chinese-language films and television dramas to go overseas, and on the other hand, he should also make full use of the industry's biggest publicity tool, the role of stars, for example, to help more Chinese actors be recognized by more people in the world, so that they can learn more about Chinese films and television dramas through the actors.

He himself is a typical example.

Currently, the movies starring Lu Yanhe are generally able to reach a million dollars in box office revenue in American theaters.

This is a remarkable achievement. For many foreign films, breaking five million dollars at the box office is extremely difficult.

Many people only see the dark horse works that achieve groundbreaking success. In reality, if a director truly has a loyal fan base like many others, their works can also break down barriers and limitations.

Like Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, his films may not achieve particularly high box office results in any single market, at most a few million dollars. However, such directors have their own fans in various countries, and their films are not even restricted by release dates or other factors—because the target audience is very clear. In the end, looking at the total global box office of their works, it is at least thirty or forty million dollars, and at most nearly a hundred million dollars, or even more than a hundred million dollars.

Lu Yanhe now holds a certain status as an "auteur filmmaker" in film markets around the world. A small group of film fans appreciate him as a person. Therefore, whether he directs, stars in, or writes a film project, as long as he is truly involved, there will be a group of film fans willing to buy tickets.

Lu Yanhe's commercial influence was built on shows like "Misty", "Squid Game" and "Friends".

But the real, core fans, no matter what he makes or does, have a group of people who are willing to support him and pay for his work. Lu Yanhe built up his influence little by little through films like "Three Mountains", "Late Spring", "Rouge", and "Rouge".

Both Jiang Jun and Jiang Yuqian are now standing at a very high starting point.

It can be said that if they have suitable projects to help them become known to a global audience, they can certainly increase their popularity and even their appeal and influence as actors.

However, whether there are Asian roles in Hollywood projects really depends on luck and waiting.

Therefore, Lu Yanhe felt that instead of always waiting for others, he should take the initiative to create some projects himself.

Projects like "Red Eye Flight" are examples.

It's certainly not a classic masterpiece, it won't win any awards, and it probably didn't even break 100 million at the box office.

However, this was a thriller that truly relied on the female lead to carry the box office. It grossed over $50 million in the US. There were no other movie stars (Cillian Murphy actually made his name in Hollywood with this film, and it was even because of this film that Nolan noticed him). Rachel carried the box office alone, and in the end, it was a very successful film that greatly helped Rachel's career.

You should know that if you actually have a film in Hollywood that you single-handedly carry at the box office and it becomes a success, you're basically guaranteed a spot on the A-list. Because after that, you'll receive offers from major film studios, and they'll be nagging you about scheduling conflicts.

(End of this chapter)