Chapter 751 Li Zhibai's Project

When Jiang Lan proposed to produce two English OSTs for the overseas streaming version of the third season of "The Seventeen Floors", many people in Beijing and Taiwan could not understand it.

Jiang Lan directly stated that this was Lu Yanhe's suggestion, and she agreed with it because the "Seventeen Floors" series was not going to end with the third season. It was planned to be a series, with a spin-off about to start filming, and it would also be aimed at the global market.

In this situation, the production should be done with more sincerity.

However, turning the Chinese version of the OST into an English version, which is still two songs, can easily cost seven figures, from re-arranging and recording to finding singers to perform them.

Jiang Lan replied, "Seven figures? Are you talking about RMB? I'm talking about a seven-figure production budget in US dollars."

Everyone was shocked.

Jiang Lan said, "I want to invite a popular singer from Europe or America to sing an English version of one of the songs. Otherwise, what's the point of making an English version?"

People from Beijing and Taiwan looked at each other in bewilderment.

Is it necessary to spend this extra money?

"Will hiring a popular Western singer bring in more viewers for the third season?"

Why not take a steady, methodical approach like the previous two seasons?

...

Jiang Lan had actually anticipated the doubts raised by so many people.

People from Beijing and Taiwan are mostly like this.

In any case, when a new idea is proposed, there will always be more opposition than opposition.

If this idea doesn't work out well, okay, they did express their opposition.

If the idea succeeds—

Who the hell would bother to investigate who opposed them when they succeeded?

(Survival Rules within the System)

Jiang Lan remained unmoved.

"The 'Seventeen Floors' series is currently the only pillar of our Beijing-Taiwan cultural exchange. If it can gain more viewers and greater influence overseas, it will be an outstanding contribution to the dissemination of Chinese culture for Beijing-Taiwan."

He put on his hat.

Jiang Lan: "It may not achieve the effect we want, but if we don't try anything, we can only wait for it to be miraculously liked by more people."

Jiang Lan is, after all, the deputy director of the station, and a deputy director with real power.

With the "Seventeen Floors" series in hand and the lessons learned from "Friends" still fresh in everyone's mind, Jiang Lan's idea was ultimately approved. Beijing TV will allocate additional production funds to produce two English OSTs.

"Who should we ask to sing the second song?" someone immediately asked.

“Yoo Ji-eum debuted in a South Korean girl group and has a very impressive reputation, influence, and number of fans in Asia,” Jiang Lan said. “Moreover, and most importantly, she is relatively inexpensive. If you need to find a popular singer from the West to sing another song, and you also need to find a representative and accomplished singer to sing that song, Yoo Ji-eum is the best choice. Of course, if you are willing to allocate more production funds, it is also possible to hire another globally influential singer to sing it.”

Therefore, there was no longer any controversy regarding Liu Zhiyin's choice.

-

“You’ll get less pay for the first few songs on these OSTs,” Lu Yanhe said. “This is to secure the performance opportunities first, and then we’ll discuss the price once your reputation grows overseas.”

Liu Zhiyin nodded and said, "I understand."

She smiled again, "I never imagined that one day I would have the honor of having you become my agent."

Lu Yanhe was taken aback at first, then he realized what was happening.

"That's true."

At that moment, Lu Yanhe suddenly understood where Chen Ziyan's passion and sense of value in being an agent came from.

Seeing someone who has the potential to go further, you use your abilities and resources to truly propel that person to that farthest point.

Lu Yanhe said, "Sister Zhiyin, Superstar!"

-

Throughout April, Lu Yanhe was basically in a state of "not doing his job".

He became Yoo Ji-eun's manager.

I met with Wang Zhong, Liu Bige, and others to discuss movies and scripts.

I went to see Qin Zhibai's performance at a music festival.

I participated in a charity event promoting environmental protection and free cycling.

The only real work I did as an artist was recording a program called "City Travelogue".

Not a single commercial was filmed – all of them were filmed in March.

Lu Yanhe had a great time this April.

This feeling of exhilaration is a feeling of complete freedom and ease, free from any work pressure.

However, Lu Yanhe will have to return to work at the very beginning of May.

First, I went to the Jose Film Festival with the movie "Dragon Inn".

-

The Jose Film Festival is very keen for Lu Yanhe to attend the opening ceremony.

However, since the screening and promotional activities for "Dragon Inn" were all five days after the opening ceremony, Lu Yanhe didn't want to go to the opening ceremony just to walk the red carpet.

He's a bit... how should I put it, he's so happy he's forgotten all about home.

I don't want to work.

It's great to keep things as they are now.

Even with Li Zhibai's project "Flying on Grass," Lu Yanhe read the script with him, offered his suggestions, and shared with Li Zhibai what he would do in certain parts, and so on.

These were just sharing as a friend; what Lu Yanhe really suggested was the development of this project.

“I think that since this project is currently in preparation, it would be better to make it a project that targets both domestic and international audiences from the very beginning,” Lu Yanhe said. “Especially since ‘Buried’ is currently showing and you are receiving a lot of attention, it’s uncertain whether streaming services like Maxine and HP will buy into a series produced by you, but they will definitely be very interested. If we can talk to them from the development stage and see what they think, ‘Grass on the Grass’ might be able to reach a larger market.”

Upon hearing this, Li Zhibai nodded.

"Have the domestic broadcasting platforms been decided?" Lu Yanhe asked.

Li Zhibai said, "We are still in contact and communication. Lighthouse Video is willing to continue the cooperation, but it requires exclusive rights to the drama for 20 years. Within 10 years, the rights will not return to Liu Manbo. This makes Liu Manbo a little worried, and I also have some concerns."

The requirement of using a lighthouse video is indeed a bit excessive.

"Although 'The Nineteen Years of Crime Records' received mixed reviews, its viewership numbers must have been quite impressive, right?"

"The viewership data is indeed okay, but not great. After all, the production cost was so high. We didn't lose money, but we didn't make much either," Li Zhibai said. "This time, 'Grass on the Grass' is facing the same problem. The production cost is very high. Lighthouse Video is willing to pay 250 million yuan to buy our show and is willing to pay 50 million yuan in advance as a pre-production fee. After filming starts, they will pay another 60 million yuan. After delivery, the remaining 140 million yuan will be paid within six months. They are really generous and did not try to lower the price because of the previous failure."

Lu Yanhe: "They can't possibly suppress it. The reviews of 'Nineteen Years' were so controversial, but the viewership data still allowed them to avoid losses, which is enough to prove your market appeal. Now you are even more experienced than before, with two of your starring films grossing hundreds of millions. For Lighthouse Video, the 'Grass on the Fly' project is a powerful tool for attracting investment and raising its stock price compared to other projects."

Lu Yanhe then asked, "However, Lighthouse Video offered 250 million yuan for the exclusive rights to 'Flying Grass' for twenty years. Isn't that enough? What is Liu Manbo worried about?"

"Because the production budget for this drama alone, according to the current shooting plan, is at least 200 million yuan," Li Zhibai said. "And in the current shooting plan, Liu Manbo only received one million yuan in remuneration and nothing else. If any problems arise during filming, such as delays or additional budgets, she will not earn anything."

Lu Yanhe understood what Li Zhibai meant.

Exclusive copyright.

This means that whatever revenue the TV series "Grass on the Grass" generates in the next twenty years will be irrelevant to Liu Manbo and her team.

Including overseas sales.

Lu Yanhe thought for a moment and said, "That is indeed a bit... how should I put it? For Liu Manbo, either he should lower the production budget a bit, so that out of the 250 million, he can spend less and Liu Manbo can earn more."

In fact, many domestic films and television dramas, despite having production budgets of 200 million or 300 million yuan, actually involve countless shady dealings, with the money ending up in the pockets of producers and directors.

Li Zhibai: "Why was the production budget for the TV series 'Grasshopper' so high?"

"He wanted to create a high-quality drama series. Because it's a martial arts drama, as you know, these days, if you have any requirements for quality when making period dramas, the cost of costumes, props, sets, green screens, post-production special effects, etc., is not low."

That's true.

For period dramas, 100 million is considered a low budget.

This is determined by cost.

Lu Yanhe asked, "What about other platforms? Or is there any large film and television company willing to take over this project?"

Li Zhibai: "Not yet. Although the script has received high praise on various platforms, they all believe that it is unlikely to become a big hit."

"Is it because it has strong literary qualities?" Lu Yanhe asked.

He had read the script for "Flying on the Grass".

Li Zhi nodded a hundred times.

"Especially after the drama 'Nineteen Years,' people were not optimistic about the style of director Liu Manbo's drama. They felt that even if the drama received good reviews later, it would still face the problem of being too highbrow and not appealing to the general public."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

That's just how domestic TV dramas are.

If you're making realistic dramas, like family dramas or period epics, the market is still there.

However, if your script has more literary themes, more complex characters, or even a non-linear narrative structure, then criticism from various platforms will immediately arise.

Firstly, this type of drama is rarely successful in China, and many people don't believe that current production teams have the ability to make this type of drama well.

Secondly, they also believe that this kind of drama has a high viewing threshold, in other words, its commercial value will not be very high.

The market has not yet developed to that stage.

Lighthouse Video's willingness to continue collaborating on this series is essentially driven by a desire to continue working with Li Zhibai.

Lu Yanhe suddenly became curious.

"Hasn't Lighthouse Video approached you for other projects?"

Li Zhibai: "Yes, there are some, but I don't really like them. It's not that they're all bad, it's just... they're not very interesting."

Lu Yanhe understood what Li Zhibai meant.

He had known Li Zhibai for so many years, and Lu Yanhe knew perfectly well what kind of scripts Li Zhibai would find interesting and what kind of scripts he would find mediocre.

Well, when Yan Liang is reading the script, he might also think about the production team, the character design, and whether the story is good or not.

However, Li Zhibai often prioritizes his own feelings as the primary standard.

For example, when he didn't get a role in the movie version of "19 Years of Crime", he created his own TV series version because he had never played the role of the main villain before and found it refreshing.

Lu Yanhe felt that if we were to talk about talent, Li Zhibai was the truly talented one.

He has a natural intuition for "good things".

This is truly remarkable.

In particular, this intuition is different from Zhou Ping'an's "vision".

Li Zhibai's intuition was almost innate.

Lu Yanhe said, "If it's not a project that particularly impresses you, it's fine not to take it. However, I think that under these circumstances, it's a bit illogical that Lighthouse Video is willing to spend 250 million yuan to pre-order your drama. I think they will probably make some more demands on you later, such as you having to help Lighthouse Video make another drama, one that is very much in line with the mainstream market."

Li Zhibai: "They haven't told me any of this."

“We’re not saying it now because we’re still in the early stages of communication,” Lu Yanhe said. “Once you’ve talked to them enough, the cost of giving up will be much higher.”

Li Zhibai hissed.

"So that's how it works?"

“Hmm.” Lu Yanhe nodded. “You don’t have your own production company right now. Liu Manbo is relying on you to produce this drama. To be honest, you don’t have the ability to develop such a large-scale drama on your own. If you want to turn this drama into a licensed drama, I think it’s easy to get yourself into trouble. From the perspective of production risk, I would suggest that you find a strong production company, share some of the copyright rights, and ask them to be responsible for production, while you only participate in the creation. Or this company is also under Lighthouse Video. You can transfer some of the copyright rights and let them be responsible for the risk. After all, think about it, this so-called 250 million is to be paid in three installments. If your drama is not successfully filmed in the end, you will still have to pay the penalty for breach of contract, right? They directly asked for such a high price of 250 million.”

Li Zhibai nodded solemnly.

"You're absolutely right, I need to think about it carefully." Li Zhi asked, "Can your Spirit River do that?"

“Linghe can’t handle such a large project right now,” Lu Yanhe said. “We have limited funds, and the several projects we’re running at the same time are all low-cost projects, as you know.”

Li Zhi nodded.

"Too."

“Get to know more different companies. The more you meet with them, the better you’ll understand what cards each company can play. This will benefit you and Liu Manbo more, as you’ll know the market valuation of your project,” Lu Yanhe said. “You should also let Liu Manbo face these issues himself. Since he wrote the script and directed it, if the so-called ‘highbrow art’ is an undeniable fact under the market evaluation system, then he should be aware of this. Whether to change or stick to his original plan is a matter for later. Don’t let him shoulder all the burdens while he thinks it’s good to be under a big tree.”

Li Zhibai: "Understood."

He rested his chin on his hand, as if deep in thought.

"Or should I go ask Director Luo?"

After filming "Chinese Paladin", Li Zhibai is no longer just Lu Yanhe's friend in front of director Luo Yuzhong; he is now the male lead.

Lu Yanhe nodded.

"Your teacher is very knowledgeable and experienced; you could ask him for advice."

"Ah, I was thinking of having Director Luo help me produce this film," Li Zhibai said. "With him in charge, those people who want to screw me over should think twice, right?"

Lu Yanhe: "That makes sense."

(End of this chapter)