☆, Chapter 11: Looking for a Needle in a Haystack
[Actually, if it were truly a black-and-white thing, it could have earned some traffic, but unfortunately, after a few episodes of criticism, no one criticized it anymore, and the rest of the story didn't make any waves at all.]
[How dare you have fifty episodes of such a crappy show!]
[Tan Ling was originally a top-tier actress due to her popularity in the previous modern drama, and was given the lead role. However, after this drama, she was directly demoted to a third-tier actress and played a supporting role. She was also being tormented by fans of the second and third female leads.]
[Alas, what a shame! I should have given up on this. The company invested so much money in this movie, and in the end, they gave the producer and director's mistress a promotion. I'm so angry just thinking about it!]
[I have to find a way to remind Third Brother that the Gu family can't waste their wealth like this!]
[It can be said that Sammo Hung has good taste, but unfortunately his luck is really bad. If these two dramas had been filmed well, they would have been great big productions. However, due to various reasons, they both flopped.]
[This is the disadvantage of not having the protagonist's halo!]
Gu Ran had a sad face and picked up the milk to drink to hide his emotions.
How should I tell my third brother? This doesn't make any sense. I, who stays at home all day, shouldn't understand this stuff.
[Besides, who can predict which celebrity will flop in the future? I can't bring up my future downfall now, or people will think I'm a charlatan!]
[My hair is falling out in clumps, otherwise…]
"Ahem, Xiao Ran." Gu Ximing coughed lightly, interrupting Gu Ran's brainstorming, and automatically handed over the steps.
"These projects are still in the drafting stage and no final cast has been confirmed. Whether it's the male or female lead, director or producer, they may all be replaced later."
"I'm letting you take a look just to give you an understanding of the company's business. If you have any ideas, feel free to bring them up."
"Like this..." Gu Ximing reached out and pointed at the first book, Trouble in the East Palace. "Yesterday, when I was doing background checks, I found that Nan Xian might have some tax issues. I'm considering replacing her, but I can't think of anyone who's particularly suitable. Do you have any celebrities you like? Could you recommend one?"
Gu Ran's eyes were full of stars.
Gu Ran: [Yes!]
Gu Ran: [Jiang Mengbai is not bad. She is one of the heroines in the original novel and has great luck. Although she is unknown now, as long as the time comes, she will become famous in any role!]
Gu Ran: [By the way, Jiang Mengbai should be famous next year, right? It'll be airing just in time, so I can take advantage of the momentum.]
Gu Ran: [Jiang Mengbai isn't famous yet, he's just a small-time actor, and his pay is low. The price-performance ratio is incredible!]
Gu Ran: [If we remove the high salaries of the male and female leads, the investment can be reduced by half.]
"I quite like Jiang Mengbai." Gu Ran thought so and actually said the name of the heroine in the original book.
Anyway, Third Brother was just asking for her opinion and would not follow her opinion completely, so she just took it as a word and Third Brother just took it as a word.
"Jiang Mengbai..." Gu Ximing nodded slightly and memorized the name in his mind.
Seeing that Gu Ran didn't look doubtful, he simply solved his two biggest worries at once and pointed at the name of the other male lead and said to Gu Ran.
"My friend saw this male lead yesterday entering a hotel with a woman. I don't know if they were talking about work or something else. The better a man's character is, the more serious the fan backlash will be if something goes wrong. I feel it's still not safe, so I'm planning to replace him."
[Great! Third brother is wise!] Gu Ran shouted in his heart.
[This Liu Liyuan is a hypocritical hypocrite. Even if the prostitution incident wasn't exposed, the fact that he was a temporary couple with someone on the set would have been exposed sooner or later. His acting is just so-so. It would be better to find a more stable veteran actor to play the male lead.]
[To cause chaos in the East Palace, a great male protagonist is needed to lead the charge.]
The ancient costume harem drama that Gu Ran watched in his previous life was so amazing that the male lead was so good that it directly elevated the original palace fighting drama into a serious drama.
[I think Zhao Daocun is pretty good. He's a late bloomer. He was the mentor who introduced Jiang Mengbai to the industry. He's always played supporting roles in serious dramas, but when he finally found the right role, he became a big star.]
[Although he became famous a little late, his acting skills are there. If he had gotten a good script and a good role earlier, it is not impossible for him to become famous earlier.]
[Also, none of Jiang Mengbai's friends in the industry have had any scandals. They usually keep a low profile and don't try to establish a persona. This type of star is the least likely to fall from grace.]
very good!
Gu Ximing snapped his fingers in his mind and wrote down the name.
As for the cheating second male lead, he must be replaced as well, but we can’t ask Gu Ran about everything all at once, as that would be bad if she became suspicious.
Gu Ximing plans to use people directly from the company.
He originally wanted to make this drama a hit, using all well-known stars, and the second male lead also had a top-tier traffic.
Now that I know that such a carefully crafted big production has been plagued by frequent incidents due to these big-name stars, I might as well focus on the plot and production.
The young actors signed by the company are easy to manipulate. Even if something really happens, the second male lead doesn’t have that many plots, so it’s easy to change his face and reshoot.
…
Gu Ran stayed in Gu Ximing's office for two full hours.
After Gu Ximing showed her this project, he discussed the next project with her and went over all eight key projects of the company for the coming year. Only then was he satisfied.
The next step should be arranged as soon as possible. Gu Ximing left the office temporarily on the pretext of a meeting.
Before leaving, he turned on the computer on Gu Ran's desk and pulled up the investment reports for movies and TV series in the industry in recent months.
These are all projects that Lai Haosheng Entertainment has invested in, of which TV dramas account for two-thirds, which shows the general trend of the entertainment industry.
Some of the projects have already attracted enough investment, some are still in preparation, and some projects are even facing the risk of being cut in half.
Although it is not a trade secret, it is something that outsiders cannot obtain at all.
Gu Ran was extremely surprised, especially when he saw a few familiar drama titles. He was even more overjoyed.
Originally, she was racking her brains to think about how to be an investor. Is her startup capital of several million enough to invest?
Now that she saw it this way, she felt relieved.
Although the entertainment industry is considered an investment industry with room for growth compared to the declining real estate industry, only the top-tier projects are making money.
A careless investment can easily result in a total loss, so many small projects find it difficult to attract investors.
Only those big-name stars and especially popular leading actors can easily attract investment, which is why Gu Ximing chose a bunch of big names to create the king of dramas.
There are TV series that have become popular purely through word of mouth without relying on big names, but they are too few, with only about one or two released every year.
Trying to select a potential script from hundreds of projects is undoubtedly like looking for a needle in a haystack.
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