Chapter 617 A Summer of Life
"Oh right, I suddenly remembered, do all three of us have films or TV shows coming out this summer?" Lu Yanhe suddenly remembered and asked.
"It should be." Li Zhibai nodded. "Yan Liang, your 'The Flowing Light' will also be broadcast this summer, right?"
“Yes.” Yan Liang nodded, his face full of worry and despair. “I really can’t imagine what I’ll be like in this drama. I can’t believe I’m playing a character in an ancient costume drama.”
“I’m curious too.” Lu Yanhe laughed. “I don’t usually watch ancient costume dramas, but I’ve watched the ones starring Li Zhibai and a few other friends. To be honest, the script for ‘Liu Guang Yin’ is one of the less formulaic ancient costume drama scripts I’ve read, so I’m quite looking forward to it.”
Yan Liang: "Now Zhou Ping'an is starting to regret letting me take on the role in 'The Flowing Light'."
"Why?" Li Zhibai asked, puzzled.
"Because Zhou Ping'an believes that my recent successful dramas are all set in modern times, and I can also act in serious dramas, which is an advantage for me at this age. He is afraid that my reputation will be ruined in the drama 'Liu Guang Yin'." Yan Liang watched the two of them eating cold dishes and was really tempted. He angrily picked up a peach and started to eat it.
Li Zhibai: "I think you acted quite well in this ancient costume drama. Your previous dramas were not fan-oriented, which limited your popularity. Only dramas like 'The Flowing Light' can truly help you accumulate fans."
Lu Yanhe nodded in agreement.
“Look at all the movies I’ve acted in, a large part of my fans—not counting those who only watch my movies—come from the movie ‘Late Spring’.” Lu Yanhe shook his head with a smile. “Fans still prefer to see an idol who is handsome, dashing, and charming.”
To truly create a "fan effect," it has to be through idols. This is completely different from the most popular actors, and no actor's fans would manage their idol's career like they would manage their own, investing their energy in every aspect.
Lu Yanhe and Li Zhibai were both talking about this aspect.
For a big-name actor to become a star, there must be a market to back them up.
The foundation of the market is the purchasing power of your fans.
Why is the status of idol traffic stars in China not as high as it was when they first emerged? Essentially, it's because when they first appeared, everyone thought they represented a phenomenal purchasing power, with various metrics pointing to a value far exceeding traditional perceptions. However, market testing ultimately revealed that their equivalent purchasing power wasn't as formidable as initially thought.
If their albums can sell millions or tens of millions of copies, if the movies they star in can gross billions, then all the Best Actor and Best Actress awards can step aside, and all the national comedy actors and box office stars can step aside.
Why has the Korean Wave—especially K-POP, which is also based on idol culture, suddenly transformed from a marginal force into a global, mainstream entertainment industry force in recent years? It has even broken into Hollywood and won many awards and resources that were previously unthinkable.
Because they have a large number of fans worldwide, real fans who can contribute purchasing power that other celebrities can only dream of.
Therefore, Lu Yanhe has never denied the power and significance of fans. He simply refuses to be swayed by fans or become an artist led by the nose by their opinions. Even now, at his current level, he still doesn't believe he can truly detach himself from the support of his fans.
Yan Liang needs fans.
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Zhou Pingan knocked on the door and entered Vice President Ma's office, saying, "President Ma, Yan Liang's new drama is about to air."
Ma Zhongquan asked, "The drama 'Liu Guang Yin'? Zhang Lan played the female lead, right?"
“Yes.” Zhou Ping’an nodded. “This is Yan Liang’s first time starring in a period drama. His character in this drama is also very good. There is hope that he can enter the ranks of top stars.”
"He's already a top-tier star, isn't he?"
"Compared to Li Zhibai, he doesn't count," Zhou Pingan said. "Yan Liang's several hit dramas and roles are not fan-oriented. His fan base is mostly drama fans, rather than people who wholeheartedly like him as a person. If Li Zhibai had the same luck in acting as Yan Liang, Li Zhibai might already be the second Lu Yanhe."
Ma Zhongquan frowned when he heard Lu Yanhe's name.
“You told me before that you didn’t think Yan Liang had any hope of reaching the top,” Ma Zhongquan said. “His basic qualities are too weak; he doesn’t have the looks to make girls swoon.”
“I still hold this view. I never intended to turn him into a top idol that girls would frantically chase after,” Zhou Ping’an said. “It’s just that his current fan loyalty is too low. All the data needs to be maintained by our internal data team, otherwise it will expose the fact that he doesn’t have many loyal fans. If the drama ‘Liu Guang Yin’ can help him successfully enter the top ranks, his resume over the past few years will be more conducive to taking the next step.”
Ma Zhongquan nodded and asked, "So what do you want to do?"
Zhou Ping'an: "I would like to apply for a marketing fund to cooperate in the relevant marketing during the promotion of his drama."
Zhou Ping'an didn't think Ma Zhongquan would refuse.
After all, Yan Liang is now one of the most popular artists at Xingyu Entertainment, and he has just renewed his contract with the company.
However, Ma Zhongquan refused.
“The company is about to transform, and our focus will shift to idol artist management,” Ma Zhongquan said. “I will no longer be in charge of the actors’ work. You should also get Yan Liang back to idol artist management as soon as possible. With his current fame and popularity, if he continues to be an actor, it will just benefit others.”
Zhou Ping'an looked shocked.
What shocked Zhou Ping'an more than Ma Zhongquan's refusal to approve the money was what Ma Zhongquan told him today.
I'd heard rumors before that Star Entertainment was planning a transformation.
However, Zhou Ping'an always felt that no matter how things changed, he still had Mengli and Yan Liang in his hands, and he should have autonomy and a certain degree of decision-making authority over his own business.
Are you suggesting he abandon Yan Liang and Meng Li to manage idol artists instead?
Zhou Ping'an remained unusually silent at this moment, not replying to Ma Zhongquan immediately.
Ma Zhongquan looked at him in surprise and asked, "What, do you have other ideas?"
Zhou Pingan said, "Yan Liang and Meng Li are both actors, and they have already done very well in the acting field. I can become an idol artist later, but can't I continue to mentor the two of them? As for asking Yan Liang to return to the idol artist track now, let alone whether he can go back, he himself would not agree to it."
Yan Liang isn't stupid. He's doing a great job as an actor, occasionally performing on shows like "Idol Era," but his main focus is definitely still gradually shifting towards acting. He'd have to be out of his mind to switch his career focus back to being an idol artist at this point.
Ma Zhongquan said, "Yan Liang was trained by you, so why wouldn't he listen to you?"
“I personally mentored Li Zhibai, and he changed agents without hesitation. You were the first to agree.” Zhou Ping’an said to Ma Zhongquan with some resentment, “Mr. Ma, if Yan Liang disagrees with me and also requests a change of agent, will the company side with him or with me, the agent?”
Ma Zhongquan remained silent for a moment.
He didn't speak.
Of course, there's no need to answer that; everyone knows who the company will protect at this time.
“The company splitting up is inevitable,” Ma Zhongquan said. “Work related to non-idol artists will be moved to the newly established branch. If you are reluctant to give up the business of Yan Liang and Meng Li, then you will have to go with them. The choice is yours, but I will definitely stay at Xingyu. Whether you continue to follow me or not is up to you.”
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“There’s a lot of internal turmoil at Star Entertainment right now,” Li Zhibai said. “Lin Suyang is managing both MX and me, but I can probably count the number of times I do stage and performance work as an idol artist on one hand in a year. I’m mainly an actor. He said he’s trying to negotiate with the company so that even if artists are managed by different types of companies, at least big-name agents like them who manage established artists on both sides can manage artists across two companies at the same time.”
Yan Liang: "Huh? There's such a rule? I haven't heard of it. What about Zhou Ping'an? The artists he manages now, the better ones, me and Meng Li are actors, and Cheng Hai is also starting to transition into acting. But, he'll definitely follow Vice President Ma, right? Vice President Ma will probably stay at Xingyu and take charge of idol management. He's been advocating for several years that we should put more effort into developing idol artists."
Li Zhibai: "Zhou Ping'an didn't even talk to you about this?"
“No.” Yan Liang shook his head. “He never talks to me about the company’s internal management.”
Li Zhibai: "Yeah, what am I thinking? This person has always been so petty. It seems like he's especially afraid that if the artists under his management know too much, it will be inconvenient for him to control them."
“That’s always been his style,” Lu Yanhe laughed. “However, if things really go as Li Zhibai says and Xingyu does it this way, things won’t be peaceful inside. Just think, even if everyone else is silent, Lin Suyang will have to choose between Li Zhibai and MX, and Zhou Ping’an will have to choose between Vice President Ma and you and Meng Li. These aren’t choices that can be made so easily. How will they make those choices?”
Yan Liang: "I'm thinking about something. Don't they consider the feelings of us artists when they do this? They just change the managers we work with like that? If it's because of the manager's personal reasons, then there's nothing we can do. But now the company is forcing our managers to choose between us and someone else. Do they think this is meaningful?"
Yan Liang pinpointed the biggest problem with this approach.
Li Zhibai said, "I feel like we've been tricked. We just renewed our contract with the company, and this kind of thing happens."
"Actually, it might not be their goal," Lu Yanhe said bluntly. "After all, from the company's perspective, think about it: if a big-name agent is tied to several popular artists for too long and too deeply, it means that the company will have difficulty controlling them. There have been several cases before where agents took their artists away from the company and started their own businesses. This kind of separation actually affects big-name agents like Zhou Ping'an and Lin Suyang who have several key artists under their control. Only they need to make choices."
Yan Liang: "Could it be that the company is dissatisfied with these few people?"
"It's not necessarily dissatisfaction. The company's desire to focus on developing idol artists has been discussed for several years, but because there is no suitable environment for idol artists in China, it has not been able to take off. Sister Yuqian, Zhang Lan, and the other two leading ladies inadvertently established Xingyu's reputation in the entertainment industry. Teacher Zhang Zhiwen's sudden rise to fame, coupled with the achievements of the rest of us in the entertainment industry, made Xingyu a case of unintentional success."
After thinking it over for a while, Lu Yanhe said seriously, "From the beginning, the company wanted to create idol artists. This separation is, in a sense, a 'correction' for them. Of course, the fact that the actors have done so well unexpectedly is also a pleasant surprise for them, and they are reluctant to give up."
"Since they've managed to achieve this level of success unintentionally in the acting field, why don't they completely transform themselves and become an actor management company?" Yan Liang asked疑惑地.
“Because Xingyu doesn’t get involved in the production and distribution of film and television dramas, it’s just a talent agency company,” Li Zhibai pointed out. “In the film and television industry, it relies on actors like us to gain some influence and participate in some investment and operations, but they don’t have a share in the actual production and distribution, nor do they have the resources to get involved. Under these circumstances, the profit share for talent agencies is low for well-known actors and high for training unknown actors, so it’s actually far less profitable than everyone thinks.”
“If you can’t truly participate in film and television projects using your top actors, you’ll only make small money.” Yan Liang understood. “Then why is it possible with idol artists? Didn’t you say before that Xingyu’s future transformation would not only involve managing idol artists, but also building the entire idol artist industry chain?”
“Yes, but the idol artist industry chain is actually ready-made and the easiest to do. Do you know what idol artists make the most money from?” Li Zhi asked.
Lu Yanhe thought for a moment and asked, "Business?"
"How are actors' commercial endorsements any worse than those of idol artists?" Li Zhibai shook his head. "The most profitable thing for idol artists is merchandise, from small things like fan meetings and handshake events, cards and dolls developed based on the artist's image, to big things like their albums and concerts. Idol artists can be a mature IP and create a mature product shelf. As long as there are 100,000 loyal fans who buy them, the annual profit can be in the tens of millions."
Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang were both stunned and speechless upon realizing what was happening.
"Then think about it again. Given Ma Zhiyuan's popularity at the time, how many fans would support him? You know, even when Lao Lu was doing well across the board, the revenue he brought to Xingyu was not as much as Ma Zhiyuan's," Li Zhibai said bluntly. "That's why Ma Zhongquan has always wanted to become an idol artist manager. Management is also an economy, and it's an industry chain. In comparison, actors have to cherish their reputation. Under normal circumstances, they only shoot two works a year, or even just one. As for commercials, we're still signed with the company. Take Zhang Lan and Jiang Yuqian, for example; their commercial contracts have already been signed with other companies, not Xingyu."
“For Xingyu, the returns from supporting actors like us are many times greater than those from supporting an idol like Ma Zhiyuan,” Li Zhibai said frankly. “Strictly speaking, although Yan Liang and I are still performing on stage and releasing singles, we no longer fit Xingyu’s definition of idol artists because we are not involved in their idol brand and industrial operation.”
Lu Yanhe suddenly realized.
“You know a lot,” Lu Yanhe said.
Li Zhibai said, "When I was considering whether to renew my contract with Xingyu, I had an in-depth conversation with Lin Suyang. I also mentioned that if he was willing, I would be willing to go out with him and start my own studio. However, Lin Suyang clearly analyzed the pros and cons for me and told me that at this stage, it would be best for me to stay with a large company for now. If I go out on my own, apart from Yan He's project, for any S-level big production, I will not be facing competition from other actors, but from the competition from the major companies behind those actors. They invest tens of millions, why shouldn't they let their own actors act in it? For example, Liu Zefan, I am popular and have good results, but what is my irreplaceable advantage over Liu Zefan? It's not that he doesn't have works, popularity, or buzz."
Yan Liang: "I originally thought that the three of us had reached the stage where we could survive independently. I wouldn't say we could stand on our own, but at least we could survive on our own. Now it seems that such a thought was just an illusion."
“No, that’s not true. If you go out on your own, you can still play the male lead and get a lot of offers, but unless a big director takes a liking to you and insists on having you, it won’t be a very good project. The resources for top-tier projects are definitely pre-selected by the actors in the investors’ camp,” Li Zhibai said. “So, someone like Yan He, who can create projects on his own and exchange resources with other investors, is the one who can truly stand on his own.”
Yan Liang nodded.
Lu Yanhe smiled and shook his head.
“I feel that you’ve matured a lot since you became the producer of ‘Nineteen Years’ and went through this ordeal,” Lu Yanhe said to Li Zhibai.
“This is something you understand once you've gone through the rules of the game yourself,” Li Zhibai said. “Before, as an artist or a service provider, it was impossible to come into contact with this kind of mindset.”
"Will you continue to be a producer in the future?" Lu Yanhe asked. "The resources you accumulate as a producer are much greater than if you were just an actor."
Li Zhibai said, "I might continue to do it in the future, but now... I understand some of the principles, but I haven't fallen to the point where I need to rush to grab meat to eat. Let me take a break first. Being the producer of 'Nineteen Years' has really hurt me, and there have been too many messy things."
Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang exchanged a smile.
Summer has arrived outside the window.
Under the blazing sun, cicadas chirped incessantly.
The three of them had probably gotten tired of talking and fell into a brief silence.
I just sat there, letting my mind wander.
But no one felt awkward or uneasy about the sudden silence.
Life progresses into the next stage without us even realizing it.
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I recommend the older book "I Became the Scandalous Woman Overnight" and the new book "The Demon-Slaying Sword".
(End of this chapter)
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