Chapter 264 Another Way to Play (7,000 words update)
"Children of Time" is undoubtedly a highly anticipated IP, a major project that many A-list actors hope to participate in.
But Huang Kairen is also the kind of actor that any project would be eager to hire.
The sheer size of the IP of "Children of Time" means it cannot be a non-commercial project. And in the current Chinese film and television market, who can confidently say they are more popular than Huang Kairen?
Huang Kairen has reached his peak, and his acting skills have always been highly recognized.
If an actor actively expresses a desire to act, even if the other party cannot make a decision immediately, they will not simply disappear without responding.
Lu Yanhe was very surprised.
However, Huang Kairen's inquiry seemed to be just the beginning.
The next day, a lot of news suddenly appeared online about Lu Yanhe starring in "Child of Time".
Lu Yanhe was completely bewildered and took a screenshot to ask Chen Ziyan.
Chen Ziyan said she didn't know what was going on and was contacting the production team of "Children of Time".
At noon, the official account of the web series "Children of Time" responded, stating that casting has not yet begun and thanking everyone for their attention.
The response was simple, essentially denying the news that Lu Yanhe would be starring in the film.
As a result, this news was met with ridicule – many people believed that Lu Yanhe was trying to create hype and associate himself with "Child of Time" to increase his own value.
Chen Ziyan had no choice but to post screenshots of her chat history with Lu Yanhe to clarify: We both love the story of "Children of Time and Space," so we will not deliberately "piggyback" or "hype" it.
It's a kind of attitude.
Fortunately, at this time, the official account of the web series "Children of Time" left a message under Chen Ziyan's post, saying: Ms. Chen contacted us this morning to inquire about our cooperation intentions, so as not to disappoint everyone if it is false news. At present, it is true that we have not started casting yet, so no actors have been decided. Please keep your good intentions.
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"I never expected that inviting Teacher Jiang to design a cover for us would cause such a huge uproar," Chen Siqi said, still shaken.
Lu Yanhe said, "I don't know how this rumor started."
Chen Siqi said, "It's possible that some marketing accounts deliberately created this to generate buzz."
In today's internet age, many people live off popularity and traffic—regardless of whether it's true or false, traffic can be monetized. Therefore, all sorts of rumors fly around: suspected, supposedly, according to insiders, and so on.
Lu Yanhe said, "In the past, only people with high status had a voice. Now, whoever controls the channels for making their voices heard has the power to speak."
Chen Siqi seemed to be deep in thought when she heard Lu Yanhe say those words.
Chen Siqi said, "I heard that some brokerage companies have cultivated hundreds of marketing accounts."
"That's terrifying. Are they specifically targeting their artists to control online comments and manipulate data?"
"Maybe, your Star Entertainment definitely has that too."
“I’ve never seen it before,” Lu Yanhe said. “Maybe Sister Ziyan knows.”
Chen Siqi said, "I forgot to tell you something. I sent you a box of 'Jump Up' postcards, specially designed by Yilong. After you receive them, write one to Teacher Jia Long to express your gratitude. I will give you the address later, and you can send it to Teacher Jia Long along with the second issue of 'Jump Up'."
Lu Yanhe knew that Chen Siqi had made this specifically for him.
"good."
What can a magazine achieve? In this era, nobody knows. Precisely because we don't know, it's full of all sorts of imaginations.
After the era of newsstands ended, people now buy books and magazines almost entirely online.
After the initial success of the first issue, some people told Chen Siqi that its popularity was short-lived, due to people's curiosity about something new, the influence of several celebrities that boosted sales, and the fact that Yu Jiang had given it a boost. Under these circumstances, the book has only sold 90,000 physical copies and 50,000 e-books so far, which shows that it cannot continue to sell well in the long term.
Any book with this level of promotion would sell at least 300,000 copies, making it a super bestseller.
But Chen Siqi remained unmoved by these claims. "Jump Up" was the most suitable thing for her to do during her university years, and it was also the first thing she had ever created. She would not give up because of these voices.
Chen Siqi discussed with Lin Yu, Xu Zijun, and Xu Mingyue almost every day what topics and plans could be made for the book, the key being to keep readers engaged and to get more readers to read the book.
The second season features a famous comedian like Jia Long, as well as two popular idol stars, Li Zhibai and Lu Yanhe, which is enough.
Chen Siqi said in the editorial team group: Let's not wait for Huang Kairen's article anymore, let's reserve this space for "Assassinate Me".
Lin Yu: Should we submit "Assassinate Me"? This is also a submission we received from our submission email address. Although the novel is very good, the author is unknown. We've published a lot of new authors' submissions this time.
Lin Yu was a little worried that this would affect the sales of the second phase.
Chen Siqi said: "Most readers who bought the first issue were more or less drawn in by the hype. Sales are likely to decline in the second issue, and we need to be prepared for that. We already have three celebrities. If we add more, a third of the authors in this issue will be celebrities. If we continue like this, we won't be able to cultivate our own readership. What if one day we can no longer get celebrities of this caliber to write for us? Wouldn't sales plummet? So, even though we may encounter a short-term drop in sales, we must cultivate our own readership."
Lin Yu: Why was space reserved for "Assassinate Me"? We also received a manuscript from a well-known writer.
Chen Siqi: Because I want to give people the impression that "Jump Up" is a place where new talents can be discovered and writers can be nurtured. In the future, I also want to control this ratio. In each issue, at least one-third of the articles will be from new talents, unless the quality of the articles is really bad.
Lin Yu: OK, I understand. If that's the case, then the manuscripts we receive in our submission email address are really not enough. This issue has almost completely published them all.
Chen Siqi: I hope that after the second issue is published, it will encourage more authors to submit their work. This is just my hope. If there are really no manuscripts, of course we should not lower the quality of the manuscripts we use just for the sake of this ratio.
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Almost every few days, "Jump Up" releases a message about the second episode.
When Lu Yanhe finished recording the third episode of "City Travelogue", "Jump Up" announced that the second episode would publish Li Zhibai's first novel, "Don't be a coward when it's time to confess!"
Li Zhibai's fans were stunned.
ha?
In the first issue, Li Zhibai wrote an article to support Lu Yanhe's magazine, which was fine, but why did he start writing a novel?
The main problem is that Li Zhibai doesn't usually seem like someone who loves reading or writing, so the fact that he's suddenly produced a novel really left them wondering how to react; it all felt rather strange.
Yu Jiang also popped up again at this time: This is ridiculous. Before, they were just making magazines, but now they're getting celebrities to write novels. Is "Jump Up" magazine just a way to swindle money from fans?
"Jump Up" made no response.
Zhou Ping'an's reaction was quite strong.
He called Li Zhibai, who was filming on set, and asked, "Why did you write something for them again? Do you know that they're all mocking us online?"
Li Zhibai had no idea what Zhou Pingan was talking about. He retorted, "What are you talking about? I'm about to start filming. Don't bother me unless it's something important."
He hung up the phone after saying that.
Zhou Ping'an was furious. However, Li Zhibai was just like that; he was used to it and couldn't do anything about it.
Although he hung up on Zhou Ping'an without saying a word, Li Zhibai still went online to find out what had happened.
Seeing many people questioning him, he was speechless and posted a status update: What's wrong with celebrities? Can't celebrities write novels? How high is the barrier to entry for writing novels anyway?
As soon as he posted the update, he tossed his phone aside and was called away by the director to film a scene.
Li Zhibai wasn't well-prepared for this last-minute replacement scene, but he was too lazy to prepare anyway. He just went with whatever came to mind on set, and the director thought he acted exceptionally well.
Li Zhibai didn't know where the goodwill came from, but since that's what he said, he naturally accepted it. He never let himself suffer internally.
As a result, when he remembered to check his phone, his post had become a trending topic.
Another trending search term: Li Zhi was completely ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth.
Led by Yu Jiang, a group of people said they were insulted by Li Zhibai's words.
Yu Jiang slams Li Zhibai: How low is the threshold for writing novels? Can you just write something casually and call it a novel?
The other people's comments were almost all the same, pointing out that Li Zhibai did not respect creative work and novelists.
Li Zhibai was dumbfounded, and at the same time, the thought popped into his head: Is it really that serious?
Upon closer inspection, Zhou Pingan had three missed calls hanging on his phone.
Li Zhibai was speechless.
Li Zhibai has a history of making mistakes, and he is often criticized for it.
Li Zhibai, on the other hand, had a carefree attitude, like a dead pig that isn't afraid of boiling water, and didn't care about being scolded.
However, he didn't want his statement to affect "Jump Up".
After some hesitation, he unusually apologized, saying: "I misspoke, I'll take my punishment. I apologize to everyone I offended with my inappropriate remarks. To clarify, my previous post was by no means an indication that writing novels is easy or that anyone can do it. I was simply provoked by some people who mocked my writing, which led to my comment. I think everyone has the right to write novels, right? Although I'm an artist, I also have a dream of writing novels, and I believe that's acceptable."
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"It's really not easy to see Li Zhibai apologize."
Lu Qingzhen has worked at the company for many years and often sees Li Zhibai make mistakes that trend on social media, but she rarely sees Li Zhibai apologize.
Chen Ziyan: "He saw that things had gotten a bit out of hand and didn't want to affect 'Jump Up'."
Lu Qingzhen glanced at Chen Ziyan with a smile and said, "Wouldn't it have been better if you had chosen him to train under you back then?"
“Not suitable.” Chen Ziyan shook her head. “He is the kind of troublemaker that his manager can’t control. Although he has a good heart and good character, he causes a lot of trouble. If I really take care of him, we will have a small argument every three days and a big argument every five days. Don’t be fooled by the fact that Zhou Ping’an has a lot of conflicts with him and they have a lot of fights. Zhou Ping’an is actually the one who can tolerate his temper.”
Why do you say that?
“Li Zhibai is disobedient. Zhou Pingan seems tough, but he never confronts Li Zhibai directly. He is somewhat wary of Li Zhibai’s family background and his current popularity. Zhou Pingan is good at judging people by their status. I’m not so good at it. I can pretend for a while, but not forever.”
"Haha, I don't know if you're praising Zhou Ping'an or mocking him for saying that."
“In this matter, I praise him,” Chen Ziyan smiled. “He does have his merits.”
“That’s true. Look at Ma Zhiyuan. He used to have such a big fight with him, but now he’s slowly getting under his control,” Lu Qingzhen said. “I really admire him for that. Ma Zhiyuan is no easier to deal with than Li Zhibai, but Zhou Pingan has a way with him.”
"What kind of trouble has Ma Zhiyuan caused this time?"
“When does he not cause trouble?” Lu Qingzhen rolled her eyes. “I originally helped him negotiate a business deal, a spokesperson for a top luxury brand’s Asia-Pacific branch, but he refused. He said he would either be a global spokesperson or a spokesperson for the entire line. I really wanted to throw a cup of coffee in his face. He must have lost his mind and was spouting nonsense. Then Zhou Ping’an took care of him.”
Chen Ziyan shook her head. "That's really true. If he doesn't change his personality, he'll suffer a great loss and make a big mistake sooner or later."
Lu Qingzhen: "That's what we all say. By the way, there have been quite a few business requests coming to Xiao Lu lately, are you still unwilling to accept them?"
Chen Ziyan said, "We don't accept any fast-moving consumer goods except for big brands. There's no need to waste his money."
Lu Qingzhen said, "The big brands have basically already been divided up by various celebrities. They don't do endorsement cooperation, and it's just business cooperation, which is not worthy of Lu Yanhe's status. We can only wait for the expiration of a certain brand's endorsement and then consider Lu Yanhe. We can try to win him over then, but Lu Yanhe's lack of works is a major drawback."
"It's okay, the work will be here soon," Chen Ziyan said.
She glanced down at the time. "No, I have to go. I have an appointment to meet someone."
"Okay, let's talk again next time." Lu Qingzhen nodded and returned to the company.
Chen Ziyan then went to a nearby bookstore.
Because she arrived ten minutes early, she browsed the bookstore first and saw a book called "I Tutor on the Upper East Side". She thought it was quite interesting, so she went to pay for it. Just then, two girls in school uniforms asked, "Boss, do you still have 'Jump Up'?"
The boss said, "Yes, it's right there."
The two girls looked relieved and walked away happily.
Chen Ziyan was somewhat surprised and asked, "Is 'Jump Up' still selling so well?"
"Sales are alright, although not as booming as at the beginning, but people still come to buy it every day." The cashier glanced at the book in Chen Ziyan's hand and asked, "A lot of people are buying this one too."
"Oh, really? I just browsed the bookshelf and found one that looked interesting, so I thought I'd buy it." Chen Ziyan handed her the money to pay. "And order me an Americano too."
"OK."
Chen Ziyan went to the rest area and found a seat by the window.
I tore open the plastic cover and read while waiting for someone.
Liu Bige arrived shortly after.
"Hi," Liu Bige greeted her.
Chen Ziyan stood up, shook hands with him, and asked, "What would you like to drink?"
Liu Bige: "I just had coffee, so I don't need any."
Liu Bige sat down opposite Chen Ziyan.
"I've heard so much about you," Liu Bige said.
Chen Ziyan smiled and waved her hand, "Producer Liu returned to China last year?"
“Yes.” Liu Bige nodded.
Chen Ziyan said, "Shang Yongzhou mentioned to me that he met you when he attended a film festival in France, right?"
Liu Bige nodded and smiled, "You know Shang Yongzhou too?"
“I used to be his manager,” Chen Ziyan explained. “Unfortunately, I was supposed to accompany him on those trips to France, but due to various unforeseen circumstances, I couldn’t go. Otherwise, we would have known each other long ago.”
“I was just a filming assistant over there,” Liu Bige said. “It’s not too late to get to know each other now; it’s fate. And now we’ve met again because of Lu Yanhe.”
"Yes, Yan He told me that you sent him a script, which surprised me. I have to admit that Yan He is not very well recognized as an actor yet, since he hasn't had any works released to the public so far."
Liu Bige said, "I met him by chance and felt we were a good match."
"I heard you want to adapt one of his classmate's novels?"
“Yes, we’ve almost finished talking about it these past two days,” Liu Bige said. “Miss Ning is not a project I led; it was done by my friend He Han. However, since we wrote the script together, I’m also helping him with this. I’ve already sent him Lu Yanhe’s materials; he’s currently in France.”
Chen Ziyan nodded and asked, "Do you plan to release this movie in the country?"
"Of course, we are making a Chinese-language film, not an English-language film," Liu Bige said. "I am currently holding a position at Longyan Film Industry, and if nothing unexpected happens, Longyan Film Industry will be responsible for the domestic investment and distribution."
"Oh, really? That's quite a coincidence. I happen to be friends with both Mr. and Mrs. Huang." Chen Ziyan smiled with delight. "But independent films like this aren't usually a type of film that Longyan makes. Are you starting to pay attention to this genre now?"
Liu Bige said, "The main reason is that global streaming media is impacting the traditional film and television industry. Longyan Film Industry is also preparing to produce corresponding content for international streaming media, so they approached me and were willing to help me produce independent films."
Films like *Miss Ning*, unless they win major awards, will struggle to recoup their costs through theatrical release. The same applies abroad; previously, revenue primarily came from international distribution rights. Now, the emergence of streaming media has created a space for many art films to thrive, but the model for streaming is different from theatrical releases.
“But actually, it’s not really an independent film anymore,” Liu Bige said. “The term ‘independent film’ is meant to distinguish it from the producer system of big film companies, or rather, it’s more accurate to say it’s an auteur film. After all, Longyan Film Industry can hardly be called an independent film production company.”
"Yes." Chen Ziyan nodded. "Is 'Miss Ning' going to be released on streaming media overseas?"
Liu Bige nodded and said, "Except for our country and a few specific regions in France, other regions should also be available on streaming platforms. Otherwise, no streaming platform would be willing to provide production funding."
"Didn't we say we'd get it from Longyan?"
“We can’t have them provide everything,” Liu Bige said. “On the one hand, it would be risky for Longyan to provide everything. Although the production cost of this film will not be very high, it will still be at least around ten million. On the other hand, we want to get investment from a powerful overseas streaming media company, which will also help us promote this film overseas.”
Chen Ziyan understood the difference and nodded.
"Has the female lead been cast?" Chen Ziyan asked.
Liu Bige shook his head and said, "Not yet, we're still looking."
Chen Ziyan asked, "Will there be auditions? Or what?"
Liu Bige said, "If we can't find a suitable candidate, we will organize auditions."
Chen Ziyan said, "After listening to Yan He's introduction of the script, I think the other actress I'm working with is suitable. If you are interested, you can take a look at her."
Liu Bige was somewhat surprised.
He never expected that Chen Ziyan would recommend an actor to him today.
“Wen Minglan, you may have seen news about her online,” Chen Ziyan said. “Please believe me, those online rumors about her being unprofessional are absolutely false.”
Liu Bige had indeed heard of this name.
“Okay, I’ll go back and check her information,” he said.
Chen Ziyan, however, directly took out a USB drive and said, "This contains her information, a compilation of her past performance experiences."
Liu Bige was astonished. "She really is an agent."
Chen Ziyan: "There's no other way. For the sake of my actresses, I have to be ready to recommend her to you at any time."
Liu Bige asked curiously, "Does Yanhe also have such information?"
Chen Ziyan nodded: "Yes, although Yan He doesn't have any works officially released yet, he has already filmed a movie called 'The Golden Era'. I also asked the crew for some materials and made some information."
Liu Bige asked, "Could I have a copy? I also need to introduce Lu Yanhe to He Han."
Chen Ziyan: "Of course."
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In response to the accusations against Wen Minglan in "The Crossroads," Chen Ziyan only replied with four words: "utter nonsense."
Meanwhile, at this time, many online forums have seen reports about the current filming status of the "Crossroads" production team.
For example, the extras' wages were delayed, and the filming set was chaotic, poorly managed, and inefficient.
These messages, whether true or false, have caused considerable trouble for "Crossroads".
For example, the film's investors, Icefield Video and Explorers Pictures.
The recent controversy surrounding this film has significantly impacted the stock prices of two listed companies, Icefield Video and Explorers Pictures.
They all sent investigators into the film crew.
The investigation uncovered some problems—no film crew is without issues.
However, this issue has a "don't wash your dirty linen in public" feel to it. Many of the production crew's expenditures were clearly problematic. For example, the female lead's gloves cost a staggering 24,000 yuan. This is just one example; many aspects suggest that the production crew embezzled a significant amount of funds.
Funding is a major issue, but an even worse problem has been discovered: many people have reported that the director is rarely on set, and many scenes are being filmed by the assistant director. So far, the filming progress is far below expectations. It is estimated that at least another 30 million yuan will be needed to complete the filming.
Icefield Video and Explorers Pictures were shocked upon learning of these issues. Many directors recklessly squander projects and rake in money—this is commonplace in the industry—but it's rare to see a production like "Crossroads" turned out this way. If it weren't for Wen Minglan's scandal, which triggered their investigation of the production team, these problems might not have been discovered until later in the series when funding ran out and they started asking for additional investment. By then, with hundreds of millions already invested, how could they possibly refuse to add another 30 million? Wouldn't that mean the project would rot in their hands? Often, investors find themselves in a difficult position, forced to reluctantly add more funds.
While many people on the internet were still arguing about the dispute between Wen Minglan and the "Crossroads" production team, Icefield Video and Explorer Pictures suddenly issued a joint statement saying that due to mismanagement of the "Crossroads" production team, they would replace the producer and director of the project, causing an uproar across the internet.
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"Is Chen Ziyan's influence really that terrifying?" Even Meng Li was taken aback when she saw the news. "She actually replaced the producer and director."
Meng Li's agent, Li Xia, immediately shook her head and said, "No matter how much power she has, she can't just replace the producer and director of a project with an investment of over 100 million yuan. Wen Minglan has already left the crew, so there must be a problem with the project itself. Otherwise, Icefield Video and Explorer Pictures wouldn't do something like this, cutting off their own arm. They've been filming for over a month, and then suddenly they change the producer and director."
"What could be wrong?" Meng Li asked.
"Who knows? Maybe they embezzled funds." Li Xia was clearly well aware of the intricacies of the film and television industry. "Zhou Lina is going to be a laughing stock now."
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The conversation between Meng Li and Li Xia is just a microcosm of the film and television industry's reaction to this matter.
Almost everyone knows about the story of "Crossroads".
In this industry, secrets rarely stay hidden forever, and news soon broke that the producer and director of "Crossroads" had embezzled production funds.
Chen Ziyan and Lu Yanhe found out at almost the same time.
The reason why Lu Yanhe found out at almost the same time as Chen Ziyan was because of Liu Bige.
Liu Bige came to find Lu Yanhe, and coincidentally, Liu Bige had heard about this matter and told him about it.
Liu Bige said, "That's really amazing. It's said that the two of them swallowed 30 million in one go."
"So much?" Lu Yanhe stared wide-eyed in disbelief. "That's right. Not only is the cost outrageous, but it seems they also signed a dual contract with Zhou Lina's agent. They inflated the salaries with Bingyuan Video and Explorer Films, and the three of them split the 15 million yuan salary. Zhou Lina herself was kept in the dark."
Lu Yanhe was shocked.
"Tsk tsk," Liu Bige remarked, "They really know how to have fun."
Lu Yanhe asked, "What should we do in this situation?"
"We'll force them to pay back the money, or we'll call the police," Liu Bige said. "If we hadn't discovered this, we would have let it go. But now that we have, if they don't obediently return the money, we'll use every method, whether it's legal or illegal, to deal with them."
Lu Yanhe was hearing about this for the first time and was somewhat surprised.
Liu Bige: "I guess they must hate Wen Minglan to death. If it weren't for Wen Minglan's matter, their actions wouldn't have been exposed."
"How could they embezzle so much money without exposing it?"
"It's too easy to manipulate the accounts for such a large production crew. If the accounts look good, the show will be filmed, and who can hold them accountable?" Liu Bige said. "Domestic film and television projects are really not short of money. As long as the project can be made, it is likely to make money. It's not like movies, where the box office is clearly marked. TV series are a completely different business."
(End of this chapter)
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