Chapter 665 Unbelievable
"Lu Yanhe sent Li Zhibai another script?"
During a break from filming "Dragon Inn", Yan Liang received a phone call from Zhou Ping'an.
Yan Liang: "What's wrong?"
"Another movie with him as the lead?" Zhou Ping'an asked. "Why does he always give the lead roles to Li Zhibai?"
Yan Liang: "So far, Yan He has only been offered roles in 'Friends,' 'Chinese Paladin,' 'Dragon Inn,' and the one he's currently working on with Zhi Bai. How come all the lead roles have been given to Li Zhi Bai?"
Zhou Ping'an: "Even though the drama 'Nineteen Years' wasn't a success, wasn't it?"
"The Nineteen Years" is a drama that Li Zhibai produced and built from scratch. The only connection with Yan He is that Yan He helped Liujia Town buy back the TV series rights from Ruyi, and then Yan He authorized Zhibai to do so.
Yan Liang was helpless.
"Zhou Ping'an, can you stop trying to sow discord?"
“I’m not trying to sow discord; I’m your agent, and I’m here to fight for your best interests.”
"Yan He has no obligation to give us any benefits. You need to understand that first!"
“Only a fool would think that,” Zhou Ping’an said. “Do you know that the movie Lu Yanhe went to see Li Zhibai this time was Parameter’s movie, a Hollywood movie? You should know what that means, right?”
“All I know is that the screenwriter and lead actor of this movie are my friends, so I will support them no matter what.” Yan Liang sighed irritably. “You always bother me with things like this.”
Zhou Ping'an: "Because deep down you know that Lu Yanhe is favoring one side over the other."
"Do you know how you favored Li Zhibai and Ma Zhiyuan?"
"Do you know how you've been favoring one of us over the other?"
Do you know how you've been prioritizing my long-term development over my short-term interests?
Yan Liang's three consecutive questions were like three cannonballs fired at Zhou Ping'an in one breath.
Zhou Ping'an remained silent.
Chen Bige and her assistant walked over and saw Yan Liang standing there making a phone call. They gestured to him, indicating that Liu Bige should call everyone over.
Yan Liang nodded and gave an OK sign, indicating that he would be there soon.
After Chen Bige and the others left, Yan Liang continued to say to Zhou Ping'an, "I have to film here, I'll hang up now."
After hanging up the phone, Yan Liang stood there for a few seconds in silence before turning around to find Liu Bige.
-
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Pingan stood there in thought for a moment.
Of course, he wasn't reflecting on himself, nor was he pondering the questions Yan Liang had posed to him.
Zhou Ping'an is not that kind of person at all.
He knew, of course, that he had done many things in the past that wronged certain people or groups of people. But he never felt that he had to be worthy of everyone.
That's not how the world works.
If he were to be fair to everyone, he would be letting himself down.
With this mindset, he climbed from a nobody to his current position, transforming himself into an "elite" admired by many.
Why call Yan Liang?
He knew, of course, that Yan Liang wouldn't develop a rift with Lu Yanhe because of this phone call.
However, the reason he knew this and still did it again and again with such enthusiasm was, to some extent, to "brainwash" people. Some things, if said once or twice, may not have much impact on people, but if said many times, they will more or less plant a seed in other people's hearts, which will sprout at any time.
Zhou Ping'an was determined to create space for this seed to sprout between Yan Liang and Lu Yanhe, in order to prevent Yan Liang from leaving him and going to collect fire.
That's how he left a thorn in Yan Liang's side.
He didn't believe that Yan Liang could be completely magnanimous and indifferent.
In particular, they are true friends.
The truer the friend, the more they care.
Why are you showing favoritism?
However, these are all temporary measures.
His relationship with Yan Liang had already developed many cracks in the early stages, and it was impossible to completely mend it.
Both of them knew perfectly well that once Yan Liang's career stabilized and he had more options, he would definitely leave.
Before that, Zhou Ping'an had to train a top-tier star.
Currently, the two celebrities he manages, Cheng Hai and Meng Li, are both relatively popular but in an awkward position.
In the entertainment industry, a star's status is a very mysterious thing.
Some actors may have only acted in two or three films, but they are highly regarded in the eyes of the public.
Some actors may have acted in more than a dozen films and television series and have remained quite popular, but in the eyes of many people, they are more like "just not out of fashion, but not really having any status."
Meng Li belongs to the latter category. He has acted in many dramas and is quite popular, but he is obviously not comparable to Yan Liang.
Mingming Lihong was launched earlier, and its popularity and buzz are also higher than Yanliang's.
The three dramas, "Friends," "The Gold Rush," and "The Summit," directly established Yan Liang's dominant position among young male actors in Chinese-language dramas. His subsequent role in "The Intern," which he starred in on the Jump Theater, also maintained a position among the top three in viewership ratings on the Jump Theater platform.
Doesn't Mengli have any hit dramas?
Of course she has some influence, but she doesn't have much power or influence.
What she lacks is perhaps the same thing Zhao Liying had before starring in "The Story of Minglan" and "The Wind Blows in the Summer".
She's very popular, has good audience reviews, and her previous dramas were also hits. She's one of the most famous actresses born in the 1980s.
However, the two true ascensions occurred during these two dramas.
It gave her the quality of an actress.
Yan Liang's three dramas actually had the same effect.
The entire industry and the commentary community saw "the quality of an actor" in him.
On the contrary, Li Zhibai is still considered a very popular star with great acting talent, but that's about it.
Even though he also starred in Liu Bige's "Fake Death Is Not Allowed," his performance in the film was highly praised.
But it was "a little short".
Reaching a crucial juncture in one's career and taking it to a new level is truly a rare and precious opportunity.
Zhou Ping'an didn't know if Cheng Hai and Meng Li had any hope of transformation. If one of them could win one of the "Three Great Awards," that would be a real rise in status. But as things stood, there was no hope for either of them.
Fortunately, at least they are both currently receiving a lot of attention, are very popular, and are at the peak of their careers.
He remains the top agent who manages multiple popular stars.
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Ping'an decided to send Lu Yanhe another message:
—Yan He, I hope that next time there's a script, you can give priority to Yan Liang and Cheng Hai.
Lu Yanhe replied instantly: When they approached Yan Liang to play the role in "Friends", you initially refused. Have you forgotten?
Zhou Ping'an was suddenly taken aback.
Lu Yanhe: You texted me after you finished talking to Yan Liang. You're quite cunning, trying to please both sides.
At this moment, Zhou Ping'an was truly taken aback and didn't know what to say.
Yan Liang actually turned around and told Lu Yanhe about his phone call?
? ? ?
-
"Zhou Ping'an is a really strange person. Sometimes, I have even let go of his past excessive behavior and think that he is just a profit-driven person and not too bad. But he can always remind you in a new way that he is actually a bastard."
Lu Yanhe put down his phone and complained to Chen Ziyan.
At this moment, they are sitting in a coffee shop, enjoying this peaceful afternoon.
Chen Ziyan laughed, "A person who is essentially driven by profit will inevitably act like a scoundrel even if he doesn't want to be one. There's nothing that can be done about it."
"He wanted to get rid of all the people around Yan Liang who could help him, so that Yan Liang would have no choice but to continue to rely on him."
You're right.
Chen Ziyan nodded and gave Lu Yanhe an approving look.
"This is also his usual trick. Look at the artists he manages, especially those he's managed for a long time. Even when Li Zhibai was under his management, their reputations weren't very good. Nine times out of ten, he was the one pushing things along behind the scenes. The more isolated and helpless his artists are, the more they rely on him as their manager."
Lu Yanhe: "This is outrageous! Yan Liang is in his hands. Who knows what kind of mess he'll make of us later?"
"Then you don't need to worry. Before 'Friends,' Yan Liang wasn't valued by Zhou Ping'an. At that time, Zhou Ping'an had Li Zhibai and Ma Zhiyuan. Even after they became famous, they were still not as famous as those two."
"By the time Zhou Ping'an only had Yan Liang left, Yan Liang had already become a force to be reckoned with and was no longer a minor entertainer that Zhou Ping'an could easily manipulate."
Lu Yanhe: "He can sow discord between us even when it comes to me. Who knows how he'll manipulate the other relationships around Yan Liang?"
“That’s true. You might need to remind Yan Liang that you two are now inseparable and no one can sow discord between you. But other people may not trust Yan Liang as much,” Chen Ziyan said. “After all, Wu Zhouyou, the director of Yan Liang’s film ‘The Gold Rush,’ is Meng Li’s boyfriend, and Meng Li is also working for Zhou Ping’an.”
Lu Yanhe couldn't help but sigh.
“However, I don’t think you need to worry too much. To be honest, Yan Liang has the best temperament among the three of you,” Chen Ziyan said. “So, the reason why Zhou Ping’an feels so threatened is because Yan Liang makes him feel very threatened. He feels that he can’t control Yan Liang anymore.”
"This guy is interesting too. Why does he always try to control Yan Liang? Can't he just straighten out his attitude and do his job as an agent?"
“It’s difficult,” Chen Ziyan said. “First, in China, the agent system itself is something that has grown wildly. It has adopted many things from overseas, but there are also many things that are imperfect because there is no supporting system.”
"For example, you should know that in the United States, there are laws that stipulate that the contract period between agents and artists is strictly limited. Specifically, it cannot exceed three or four years, I forget. No matter how big your agent is, when the contract expires, it must be renegotiated. This prevents many new artists from being taken advantage of too much."
"Secondly, the domestic cultural and entertainment industry, although it seems to be booming now, is actually still essentially a collection of individual businesses. Brokerage firms like William Moss and CAA, which specialize in brokerage and can coordinate resources from various industries to conduct brokerage business, simply cannot survive in China."
"In China, to put it bluntly, if the resources aren't ultimately in your own hands, a booming economy can be extinguished in the next second. The rules of the game are different; whoever controls the resources is the boss. Essentially, our current environment isn't a healthy, well-functioning ecosystem. You already know this, so I won't elaborate."
"Based on these two points, the core of the relationship between agents and artists in China often lies outside the legal framework of cooperation. Agents usually have to pour all their efforts into one or two artists, make a splash, and turn them into popular stars with negotiating power before they have a chance to enter the real game and truly enter this industry."
"Think about it from the agent's perspective, are they obligated to give you so many resources? Actually, no, but they give you far more than what is agreed in the contract. At this point, you become famous. You may not want to leave yet, but in this environment, famous artists are abnormally given enormous initiative. Which agent can calmly watch the assets they have created with resources go independent?"
"Of course, from an artist's perspective, they naturally feel that since they signed with you, you've invested a lot of resources in them, but they've also brought you a lot of returns, and they don't owe you anything. Objectively speaking, you really don't owe me anything, but honestly, to put it bluntly, all those resources I invested in were the same no matter who I invested them in. I didn't distribute them equally to everyone. And then you became famous because I fed you most of my resources. At that point, what does the share of profits in the contract really matter?"
Chen Ziyan meticulously explained the agent's situation to Lu Yanhe, ensuring he understood the underlying logic.
Lu Yanhe nodded thoughtfully.
"Let's not discuss whether these things are right or wrong; they're just a phenomenon. We just need to figure out the reasons behind this phenomenon so that it will be easier for you to deal with people in the entertainment industry later."
Chen Ziyan gave instructions.
Lu Yanhe nodded again.
"Then it's easy to understand Zhou Ping'an's situation. He made the wrong bet, letting go of a horse that seemed unruly but was actually worth a lot of money. The horse he bought, which he thought he could control, was ruined. He watched as all the chips he had accumulated over the years were about to be lost overnight."
"In this situation, would he care about the horse that has quietly grown stronger? Didn't he raise it himself? Would he have the self-awareness to not restrict the horse's freedom of movement? Would he just stand by and watch his most valuable horse be stolen away by someone else?"
"None of them are capable of that, so he can only do whatever he can to keep the horse by his side, just like those managers who try every means to prevent the artists they've made famous from going independent."
Chen Ziyan picked up her cup, took a sip of coffee, and smiled.
“He just underestimated the trust between you and Yan Liang,” Chen Ziyan said. “Of course, he could only underestimate it, because in his world, it’s impossible for people to trust each other like you and Yan Liang do.”
"His values determine his judgment. Even if he fails to sabotage things this time, he will never think that he misjudged your relationship. He will only think that if once doesn't work, twice, and three times, it's just a matter of perseverance."
"You're insane." Lu Yanhe couldn't help but utter these three words after listening to Chen Ziyan recount Zhou Ping'an's emotional journey.
“Yes, you’re crazy.” Chen Ziyan nodded. “Don’t judge these people by common sense. You actually told me that you’re slowly starting to care about his past behavior and that you think he’s just a shrew who only cares about profit. I’m shocked.”
Lu Yanhe: "I did not forgive him because of this."
“No, I don’t care whether you forgive him or not. What I care about is that you can’t let your guard down against a wolf like him who could turn on you at any time.” Chen Ziyan’s eyes flashed with a sharp and shrewd gaze.
My phone rang.
It's Chen Ziyan's phone.
She picked it up and glanced at it, saying, "It's Darren calling. I'll take this call first."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
He took out his phone and sent a message to Yan Liang, telling him about what had just happened between him and Zhou Ping'an.
Yan Liang: Ignore him from now on.
Lu Yanhe: I'm fine here, but I'm afraid he and others are doing this kind of thing behind your back.
Yan Liang: Basically, most of the people who have worked with me know that my relationship with Zhou Ping'an is not very harmonious. I have always been wary of him, so it's actually not too bad.
Lu Yanhe suddenly remembered what Chen Ziyan had said earlier: Yan Liang's character was actually the best among the three of them.
That seems to be true.
-
After Chen Ziyan finished her phone call and returned, she gave Lu Yanhe a look that said, "Guess what happened."
Lu Yanhe looked at her with some confusion, not understanding why.
Chen Ziyan said, "The movie 'Destruction Day' may really have to be shelved."
"ah?"
Tom Felton has officially withdrawn from the film.
"Why?" Lu Yanhe looked at Chen Ziyan in surprise. "Did he take on another movie role?"
“No, no, the official statement is that he was not satisfied with the final script.” Chen Ziyan sat down again. “This is a very bad phenomenon. It’s one thing for him to withdraw, but he also directly spread the word that the script was bad. Parameter will have to think twice before finding another actor to replace him. No one will be willing to take on a movie where Tom Felton explicitly said the script was bad, unless the movie does well enough to prove Tom Felton wrong. Otherwise, this will have a significant impact on the reputation of any replacement actor.”
"Then the movie 'Destruction Day'—" Lu Yanhe was bewildered and confused, not knowing what would become of the movie.
Chen Ziyan said, "Parameter will now re-evaluate the film. Even if it continues to be made, the internal rating will be downgraded. Without an actor of Tom Felton's caliber in the lead role, this film would not have been able to get the investment it has now."
"We haven't even really made a move yet, and Chen Pinhe's movie has already flopped on its own?"
Lu Yanhe found it unbelievable.
(End of this chapter)
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