Chapter 412 More Channels, More Choices (First Update!)
Tom White talked about HP's development strategy and his appreciation for Lu Yanhe, which made Lu Yanhe realize that he was a very talkative person.
After talking with Tom White for another half hour, Lu Yanhe slowly figured out his purpose.
It turns out that he had his eye on "Friends" and wanted to adapt it into an American TV series.
Lu Yanhe was taken aback.
“Mr. White, although I am the screenwriter of Friends, I don’t own the copyright to it. If you want to buy Friends, it’s no use coming to me. The copyright is held by Beijing TV—the TV station that broadcasts it,” Lu Yanhe explained.
Tom White said, "I know, in fact, I also know that Maxine has bought the adaptation rights to Friends."
Lu Yanhe looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Then what do you mean by talking to me about the copyright of 'Friends'?"
HP can't adapt Friends anymore.
Tom White said, "We want to work with you and ask you to write another script like Friends."
"Um?"
Lu Yanhe never expected that Tom White had contacted him for this purpose.
Lu Yanhe really didn't dare to easily accept such a cooperation invitation.
“Mr. White, I have several scripts in the works and don’t have time to take on any new ones right now. Besides, I’m not good at writing scripts in English,” Lu Yanhe said.
Tom White said, "I know you're a very popular star in China and a highly anticipated new screenwriter. However, as you've seen, 'Friends' is such a well-written and well-made show, but because Chinese TV dramas don't have many distribution channels, it's only a huge hit domestically. Now that it's on Maxine, it hasn't achieved the same level of influence as it has in China. You probably already know the reason for this: you don't have a global platform that can reach a global audience, nor do you have channels for global promotion."
Lu Yanhe frowned when he heard Tom White say these things.
Because he knew Tom White was right. Indeed, the current video platforms in China haven't even achieved a significant user base in other Asian countries or regions, let alone globally.
Without global channels, no matter how popular a work may be, it will never be seen.
Lu Yanhe said, "Mr. White, you are right about that, I admit it, but that's not enough to impress me."
Tom Wright said, "Can't you even be moved by the goal of making a show that audiences all over the world love?"
“No, this goal appeals to me, but I’ve already written a script on the same subject as Friends. If you ask me to write another script on the same subject as Friends, I definitely can’t write it any better than Friends,” Lu Yanhe said. “That’s why I say this doesn’t move me.”
Tom White sighed with some regret and said, "There's definitely room for this story to be expanded upon."
"But the characters are gone. The six main characters have already covered the types of characters I most wanted to write about in this genre. If I write more, I can only write characters that are very similar to them. It's not just that I think they are similar, but the audience may also think they are similar."
Upon hearing this, Tom White said, "So you're not planning to write any more urban sitcoms?"
"Not in the short term," Lu Yanhe said bluntly.
Tom White sighed regretfully.
"All right."
Although they were unable to reach a preliminary agreement on cooperation, Tom White did not turn his attitude towards Lu Yanhe, nor did he get up and leave. Instead, he continued to talk with him.
“In recent years, I have been paying close attention to the film and television market in mainland China. The magnitude and speed of its changes are extremely rare on a global scale,” Tom White said. “Compared to Hollywood movies, our streaming media has always been unable to gain a foothold.”
Lu Yanhe: "Every country must have its own areas to defend, especially in this era, where unexpected contradictions and conflicts are occurring in almost every area. Just like some of our domestic platforms, after they became popular in your United States, they were banned by your government and judicial system for some high-sounding reasons."
Tom White nodded. "I don't mean to blame or criticize, I'm very clear about that. It's just that facing such a huge market as mainland China, it's like seeing a gold mine but not being able to mine it. You can definitely understand that feeling."
Lu Yanhe laughed.
Tom White's directness and honesty made Lu Yanhe feel more favorably toward him at that moment.
“Of course I understand, just like us, we hope to let the whole world see Chinese-language films and television dramas,” Lu Yanhe said. “Actually, Mr. White—”
“Just call me Tom,” Tom White said.
Although the other person looked more than ten years older than him, that's just how foreigners are, and Lu Yanhe knew that from watching so many movies and TV shows.
“Okay, Tom.” Lu Yanhe laughed. “Although we can’t work together on a show like Friends, we might be able to find other projects we can collaborate on.”
Tom White looked at Lu Yanhe with some surprise. "Hmm? Do you have any other good stories to tell?"
“I have indeed written several stories that are currently being filmed or have already been filmed, including the film ‘Rouge’ directed by Wang Zhong, and the road comedy ‘Lost in Thailand’ starring Jia Long. In addition, two TV series are about to start filming: one is ‘Squid Game’, which is very similar to ‘The Seventeen Floors’, and the other is our period sitcom ‘My Own Swordsman’. These stories may not be suitable for adaptation into English TV series, but they should be popular in Asian countries and regions,” Lu Yanhe said. “Currently, we haven’t discussed distribution outside of mainland China for these projects. If HP values the Asian market and wants to acquire good works, perhaps you can take a look at these.”
Tom White looked on with a hint of disbelief.
"You've written so many scripts? If I remember correctly, you only started screenwriting about two years ago."
Lu Yanhe offered his all-purpose answer.
"I only started trying screenwriting two years ago because of Friends, but actually I had been trying to write screenplays for a long time. The story of Lost on Journey was written when I was in my senior year of high school."
Tom White's shock lessened slightly, but he was still quite surprised.
“I’ve heard of Jia Long; he’s a very famous comedy movie star in China,” Tom White said. “Looks like I really need to look into these projects you’ve mentioned.”
Lu Yanhe maintained his smile.
“Of course you won’t be disappointed, Tom. I think we really have the potential to have a great collaboration,” he said.
Chinese-language films and television dramas have always been influential in Asia, unlike in Europe and America where they have almost no voice except for big-name directors.
Just then, HP found Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe didn't mince words and directly introduced his projects to Tom White. If it could really lead to cooperation between HP and these projects, that would be a good thing. More channels, more choices.
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There will be more later today, but I'll just post a short update for now.
(End of this chapter)
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