Chapter 734 On the Psychological Trauma of Zhou Ping'an (12,400 words)
How did the story of Lu Yanhe carrying the box office come about?
Looking back, it seems to have started with "Three Mountains".
That movie grossed over 80 million yuan in its first run, and after several re-releases, its total box office has exceeded 100 million yuan.
Although he only made a cameo appearance for fifteen minutes, the entire film was heavily promoted around Lu Yanhe's fifteen-minute performance.
Subsequently, with international awards and the "rooftop confession" marketing campaign, "Late Spring" sold over 600 million yuan at the box office.
The extended preview screenings of "Road to Glory" were actually modeled after the "small-scale screenings" in North America. By limiting the number of theaters showing the film, the film maintained its occupancy rate, thus securing screenings and extending its promotional campaign. It used the exposure during the North American awards season to gradually build up box office revenue. During its more than five-month run, the highest daily box office was only over ten million, while the lowest was only tens of thousands of yuan per day. However, the film ultimately grossed over 200 million yuan.
Then came Love Letter, which also found a marketing point that could resonate with society, coupled with the gimmick of international awards, and sold more than 1 billion at the box office.
In reality, Lu Yanhe's reputation as a "box office draw" stems more from his performance in art films than in commercial films.
The reason he carries this title so solidly is because commercial films are expected to be box office hits, while art films are a miracle. Lu Yanhe, however, has been able to consistently replicate these miracles.
All things considered, "Tropical Rainy Season" is Lu Yanhe's fourth art film.
Linghe has consistently emphasized in its promotional marketing that "Tropical Rainy Season" is an art film, and box office revenue is not the primary goal. They believe that if it can earn tens of millions of yuan at the box office, it will be enough to break even and make a big profit. With such a bombardment of promotion, many people have formed the impression that "Tropical Rainy Season" is only trying to "get a piece of the pie" when it enters the National Day holiday season.
But what if it were another film like "Late Spring" and "Love Letter" that inadvertently hit a social issue and sparked nationwide discussion?
How many viewers would choose to trust Lu Yanhe's taste and go to the cinema to watch a movie just because they see him?
This is something no one could have predicted.
Because the foundation of the Lu Yan River is difficult to measure.
And just one day before the release of "Tropical Rainy Season," the film unleashed its trump card in its promotional campaign—
Director Huang Tianlin and Qin Shulan, the mother in the film, appeared on a CCTV interview program to talk about the "past and present lives" of Malaysian Chinese.
Why did our ancestors go to Malaysia back then?
What is the current perception of the Chinese community in Malaysia regarding their motherland?
Through generations of inheritance, people have made countless efforts to ensure the continuation of Chinese culture.
Finally, let's return to the movie.
"Tropical Rainy Season" tells the story of a very ordinary Chinese family living in Malaysia. Like countless other family stories in mainland China, they share the same origins and unbreakable blood ties. Those who have left are also waiting to return.
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"They actually pulled this trick!"
During this National Day holiday, two films are considered contenders for the box office champion. One is the comedy film "Descendants of the Dragon" produced by Ruyi Pictures, starring Jia Long.
Another is the sci-fi film "Operation God Supplement" produced by Longyan Film Industry. Although it does not have the top-tier box office draw actors in the lead roles, the film has received much attention since its inception because it is an adaptation of a top domestic IP. The trailers released and the visuals and special effects in the film are all stunning.
Following these two films, there was also an action-crime film, "Electricity in the Well," starring Cheng Shiyan.
"Tropical Rainy Season," starring Lu Yanhe, doesn't seem to have much competitiveness compared to these other films.
Lu Yanhe never really thought about competing with these movies at the box office.
In his mind, he would be grateful if "Tropical Rainy Season" could gross 100 million yuan in such a large market.
To their surprise, CCTV suddenly contacted them, wanting to do an interview program.
During the conversation, people said that Wen Shengming had a close relationship with the program's director, and that choosing such a film's cast and crew for this topic during the National Day holiday was timely, appropriate, and socially significant.
Lu Yanhe never expected that Wen Shengming would help him behind the scenes.
At this moment, Lu Yanhe suddenly remembered what Wen Shengming said when he finished filming "Dingfeng No. 1": "I will always be watching you."
So that's what "looking at" means?
A CCTV talk show can have a large or small influence, but no one would say that the show has a small reach.
Among the current media outlets, only CCTV can truly reach a wide audience of middle-aged and elderly people.
Not to mention, CCTV's official accounts on various platforms also have an astonishingly large number of followers.
They wanted to promote something, and the reach was astonishing.
At this moment, the people from Ruyi Pictures and Longyan Pictures couldn't hold back and started swearing.
Because "Tropical Rainy Season" "does not uphold martial ethics".
As it turns out, as soon as this CCTV program aired, all sorts of clips started flying around.
No film has yet been promoted with this theme.
Overseas Chinese share the same roots and origins.
It was clearly just a very niche film about personal feelings, but suddenly it was labeled as a mainstream film.
While Ruyi Pictures and Longyan Pictures were both anxious—worried that "Tropical Rainy Season" would go against the tide—Lu Yanhe was also a little worried that the publicity would backfire.
"Tropical Rainy Season" is a movie that has absolutely nothing to do with "mainstream ideology".
The current claim that "overseas Chinese share the same roots" was entirely fabricated during this period.
It certainly exists and is real, but that's not the theme that "Tropical Rainy Season" is trying to express.
Won't this kind of promotion make many viewers feel that the content is "not what it seems" or "not what it's advertised" after watching it?
Lu Yanhe shared his concerns in the publicity group.
Colleagues in the publicity group responded: We will increase our promotion of the film's theme.
On the first day of the National Day holiday, the art film "Tropical Rainy Season" secured 12% of the screenings, ranking fourth among the films released during the National Day holiday, thanks to Lu Yanhe's influence and the market potential shown in the film's pre-release publicity and preview screenings.
When Lu Yanhe woke up, the first day's box office of "Tropical Rainy Season" (including the pre-sales of the day) had exceeded 18 million yuan, ranking fourth in the daily box office, which was the same as the screening rate.
Lu Yanhe let out a long sigh of relief.
Upon seeing the figure of 18 million, he knew that his strategy of "making a living" had succeeded.
For this movie, Lu Yanhe did not go on the promotional tour with the crew.
First, it was too much trouble, and Lu Yanhe didn't want to go through all that trouble. Second, the theme of the movie's promotional tour wasn't really related to him, so it was better for him not to show up than to appear.
The roadshow was conducted by Huang Tianlin, along with Huang Feng (who was on National Day holiday) and Qin Shulan.
As overseas Chinese, they shared their lives with everyone at the event and also talked about the movie "Tropical Rainy Season".
On its opening day, "Descendants of the Dragon" grossed 95 million yuan, "Operation God of War" grossed 92 million yuan, "Electricity in the Well" grossed only 42 million yuan, and "Tropical Rainy Season" grossed 23 million yuan.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Tropical Rainy Season" breathed a sigh of relief, because this time the publicity strategy was a bit risky, but being able to earn 23 million on the first day proved that the publicity strategy was successful.
The other films breathed a sigh of relief because "Tropical Rainy Season" did not produce the shocking upset they had feared, crushing all their blockbusters.
Lu Yanhe had no idea that they were so wary of him.
To be honest, an art film, or even a genre film, has its limitations, so their worries are unnecessary.
Just when everyone breathed a sigh of relief, unsurprisingly, some trolls started making a big fuss, saying that Lu Yanhe's box office appeal was nothing special.
With only a little over 20 million yuan in box office revenue on its opening day, it was a complete flop.
Every time Lu Yanhe's movies are released, people will cite some data and say that they are "flops".
In reality, any attempt to discuss box office performance without considering film genre, release date, and competitors is simply irresponsible.
The production cost of "Tropical Rainy Season" was no more than two million RMB, and it has already made its money back.
Linghe acquired the Chinese distribution rights for US$1 million.
It can be said that the box office revenue on the first day alone, combined with the box office revenue of previous films, directly broke even and started to make a profit.
Chen Ziyan arranged for several marketing accounts to do "insider analysis" and "cost analysis" to draw attention to the production cost of "Tropical Rainy Season" and then emphasized the return on investment of the film.
It's worth noting that "Tropical Rainy Season" was shown in five theaters in North America, with each theater exceeding 10,000 viewers on its opening day, a similarly impressive result.
Most importantly, the following day, both films, "Descendants of the Dragon" and "Operation God of War," experienced varying degrees of box office decline. "Electricity in the Well" even saw its box office halved due to mediocre reviews, while "Tropical Rainy Season" bucked the trend, earning 25 million yuan on October 2nd and surpassing 50 million yuan in just two days.
Judging from the trend, "Tropical Rainy Season" may be able to take third place at the box office during the National Day holiday.
The word-of-mouth for "The Well" has collapsed quite badly. If the box office continues to collapse on the third day, then it is very likely that the movie will only be able to get a little over 200 million yuan in the end.
"Tropical Rainy Season" was released after the National Day holiday, with a very long window of opportunity.
There are no more major release dates.
This means that without any major films eroding the screening space, "Tropical Rainy Season" can maintain a certain number of screenings and slowly reap the box office rewards.
During the National Day holiday, in addition to CCTV's interview programs, the popular TV show "The Days of Youth" aired trailers for "Tropical Rainy Season" between two episodes.
Moreover, in addition to promoting "Jump Up" through sponsored articles across all channels, Yemai.com, managed by Xin Zixing, also created a special feature called "Tropical Rainy Season," inviting overseas Chinese to share their family stories on Yemai.com.
Bai Yu also invited the cast and crew of "Tropical Rainy Season" to participate in the "Malaysian Literature and Film Art" seminar organized by the editorial department of her upcoming literary magazine. Many contemporary literary giants, including Professor Shi Xia, attended the seminar and watched the film together.
With such a multi-party collaborative promotional effort, other films would need to spend tens of millions of dollars to achieve the same level of publicity.
It's not even a matter of money. Take the seminar that Bai Yu organized, for example. Those writers are the kind of people you can't invite, and they're not short of money.
The key lies in the readership they can attract, and the fact that this group is generally good at "talking," which will play a role in promoting the film "Tropical Rainy Season" in the future internet ecosystem.
"Tropical Rainy Season" received all these promotional resources for free.
There is no other reason than Lu Yanhe.
Both Ruyi Pictures and Longyan Pictures were green with envy.
One film producer even publicly posted on Weibo: What can compete with Lu Yanhe? As long as it's his film or television drama, so many people help him promote it for free. It often becomes a cultural phenomenon. The movie "Tropical Rainy Season" can sell more than 20 million yuan at the box office every day. Who else can do that besides him?
His words were sarcastic and sarcastic.
Lu Yanhe thought for a moment, then forwarded the Weibo post and wrote a long article in the form of pictures:
—Thanks to my girlfriend for turning what we started unintentionally into the magazine we have today.
—Thank you to my colleagues, friends, and classmates, each with their own unique talents, who not only shine in their own fields but also help me shine in mine; thank you to the teachers I've met along the way, who have quietly connected me with others and continuously supported me.
Fortunately, this is not an industry where one's gains are offset by another's. When I suggested that perhaps one in ten people would want to watch an art film during such a large holiday period like the National Day holiday, and that if there was a film that could satisfy that one person's needs, it would still be a lot of people in total, my marketing and distribution colleagues supported my idea after conducting market research and calculations.
—Facts have proven that there are so many Chinese people, and their needs are also very diverse.
I like this big movie season with its diverse lineup of films, so that every viewer can find something they want to watch.
—I love this diverse industry. We don't imitate others; we just do our own thing. Sometimes, even if it's just a small flower, because it blooms on a bustling street corner, it can still attract flower lovers to stop and appreciate it.
This is the meaning of creation for each of us creators: as long as we create something with our hearts, there will always be someone who stops to appreciate it.
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"What are you comparing yourself to Lu Yanhe for? What do you have to compare?"
The following day, during an internal video conference at Longyan Film Industry, General Manager Huang directly complained, or rather, berated, "Are you more cultured than him, or more cultured than the group of people around him?"
The reason Mr. Huang complained was because Longyan Film Industry's "Operation God Supplement" used a very blunder in its promotional tactics yesterday.
A publicity staff member for the film "Operation Replenishing Gods" wrote on his WeChat Moments: "Young actresses are beautiful, but what supports the development of this industry can only be big trees. Longyan Film Industry has been doing the work of planting trees, which is more arduous and challenging, but only in this way can Chinese films grow into a forest."
This isn't just someone's indignant statement; it's a publicity stunt devised by the marketing team of "Operation God Supplement" to capitalize on a trending topic.
The aim is to evoke patriotism in the audience and to reinforce the impression of the progress and upgrading of the industry, such as "Operation God Supplement," once again.
As a result, it attracted a lot of ridicule.
Mr. Huang was so angry that he started a video conference early in the morning to berate people: "How many times have I told you, don't try to sell your own stuff and praise yourself. You claim to be the representative of industrialization, but who the hell cares about you! 'Operation God Repair' has received great reviews in all aspects, and the audience is praising the special effects. It is indeed a blockbuster. The situation is very promising. Why do you have to keep adding makeup to your face? Don't you know that the more you add, the heavier it will become?"
Boss Huang cursed again: "Small flowers and big trees, do you even have Lu Yanhe's level of skill in making analogies? What are you graduates from those lousy universities doing comparing yourselves to graduates from Zhenhua University's School of Arts? You're just trying to piggyback on his success! If the box office performance of 'Operation God Supplement' falls short of expectations today, you're all fired!"
The group of people were scolded and looked humiliated, and then quickly tried to salvage the situation according to General Manager Huang's instructions.
Mr. Huang even posted a Weibo message: "The tree planter worked hard to plant the tree, and was happy to see the little flowers blooming so beautifully. But the tree became arrogant first, feeling that the little flowers were distracting the tree planter from it. It seems that planting trees is the same. In addition to fertilizing, we also need to teach values. I'm sorry for making you laugh."
One Weibo post turned the tide.
The film company owner personally explained and apologized; as long as the gesture was sincere, it was actually quite easy to accept.
It really isn't a big deal.
Lu Yanhe gave it a thumbs up, saying, "Because of the big trees that help shelter us from the wind and rain, the little flowers can stay safe and sound. That's what a forest is all about."
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The seven-day National Day holiday has passed in the blink of an eye.
"Descendants of the Dragon" grossed 540 million yuan, while "Operation God of War" grossed 640 million yuan. Yes, the latter surpassed the former due to its strong performance.
The third place still belongs to "The Well," which, despite its lackluster performance later on, still earned a total box office of 250 million yuan in the first few days.
Fourth place goes to "Tropical Rainy Season," which, thanks to the efforts of all parties and the film's own strong quality, maintained a daily box office of over 20 million for seven consecutive days. Including the 9 million box office from the preview screenings, it has earned a total of 190 million at the box office and is about to break 200 million.
Art films bravely entered the National Day holiday film season and concluded successfully.
However, this is only a temporary end.
"Tropical Rainy Season" is a long-term project.
Because the North American awards season for "Tropical Rainy Season" has begun.
After recording the final episode of this season of "The Days of Youth," Lu Yanhe flew to the United States.
The North American awards season typically runs from December to February of the following year.
However, there are some promotional events to attend before that.
Lu Yanhe was there to record an interview program.
In the United States, "celebrity talkers" are very popular. The entertainment industry is no exception.
In China, movie stars no longer primarily promote their films through talk shows; instead, they appear on various popular variety programs. However, in the United States, movie stars still mainly promote their films on television through talk shows hosted by prominent figures.
This time, Lu Yanhe will be on three shows with Huang Tianlin and Qin Shulan.
In fact, the so-called public relations expenses are not only the expenses for public relations activities, but also the various expenses of these promotional trips.
Lu Yanhe and Huang Tianlin's food, clothing, lodging and transportation were all paid for by Lü Gu, while Qin Shulan's were paid for by Shi Huo, because Lü Gu refused to pay for them.
Such a trip, including round-trip airfare, hotel accommodation, makeup and styling, and a travel assistant, would generally cost at least $50,000. This is even with Qin Shulan only bringing one assistant and at a relatively low standard.
It's all about economics.
However, despite all this, Lu Yanhe felt it was worth it.
Of course it's worth it. From her promotional tour in China to her current trip to North America, Qin Shulan's fame has increased significantly through various media exposures. Especially considering she is of Chinese descent, speaks fluent Mandarin and English, she's successful in both countries.
Since Qin Shulan signed up for Shi Huo, Chen Ziyan has already helped her get in touch with several scripts, waiting for her to choose.
With her excellent acting skills, even if she can't make big money like popular celebrities, she can certainly make a steady stream of small money, as long as she has a strong agency to manage her career.
A trip like this during the North American awards season might cost Qin Shulan millions of dollars, but as her fame grows, she'll get more acting roles and higher paychecks, and she'll definitely be able to earn it all back.
It's definitely not a losing proposition.
At Qin Shulan's age, she was already preparing to enter the stage of "enjoying her retirement years." Who knew that she would suddenly encounter "Tropical Rainy Season," meet Lu Yanhe, and reach a turning point in her career? She didn't want to miss such an opportunity.
Lu Yanhe even considered whether he could change the role of Qin Shulan in the movie "Flypaper", but after thinking about it, he decided against it, since there were already enough Asian faces in the movie.
This is, after all, an English-language film.
However, for several other film and television projects, such as "Red Eye Flight" and "Source Code," Lu Yanhe plans to change the role of Qin Shulan.
Her role is definitely not large, but she is definitely not just a plot device; there will definitely be room for Qin Shulan to shine.
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"Tropical Rainy Season" has performed very well at the North American box office, and so far it has maintained a small-scale screening of five theaters, with an average of more than $3,000 per theater.
However, despite its good box office performance, Midoriya has no plans to immediately release "Tropical Rainy Season" on a large scale.
While the film garnered significant critical attention, audience engagement and overall viewership were rather lukewarm, making it unsuitable for large-scale release.
Not that many people will come to see it.
This is also in line with normal circumstances.
In fact, even though Lu Yanhe is currently a strong contender for this year's Oscars, in the context of the film market as a whole, the positive impact of awards season films on box office revenue is often long-term, rather than a sudden surge in box office revenue.
"Tropical Rainy Season" took a critical approach in North America, unlike "Barbie" and "The Martian" which took a box office approach in their time.
The Oscars have been able to maintain their influence because they have truly succeeded in combining commercial appeal with artistic merit.
Commercial blockbusters like "Gravity," "The Martian," and "Barbie" can still be favored by the Oscars as long as they are well-made, unconventional, and not just popcorn entertainment.
They genuinely integrate awards with the industry, without pandering to popular tastes or playing the highbrow game. Even if the industry's development direction may not be ideal, at least they are keeping up with the industry's progress.
The current awards in China have two problems: one is that they are numerous and varied, with no dominant top award; the other is that the nominations are unclear and the awards are inconsistent. It is clear that there is an attempt to change, but it is taking three steps forward and two steps back. The results of the awards are only useful to popular celebrities. Otherwise, they are not much different from self-indulgence.
Of course, we can't entirely blame the awards themselves. In recent years, it's clear that these awards have been trying hard to keep up with the industry and make a difference, no longer playing the old game of self-contained entertainment. Unfortunately, the film industry itself hasn't produced many good works in recent years, so awarding them always feels like a helpless attempt to elevate a dwarf, or the sense of "posthumous conferment" is too obvious.
After Lu Yanhe, Huang Tianlin, and Qin Shulan went on several promotional trips, they were invited to watch a film at Parameter.
Watch the movie "Buried".
The initial trimming has been done.
Lu Yanhe and Zebi Doyle sat in the Parameter screening room, watching "Buried" before it had subtitles or background music. It was quite different from the film Lu Yanhe remembered, but it was still very well made.
Li Zhibai's performance and the film's pacing were both excellent.
The same panic, terror, and unease permeated the entire viewing experience, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats and creating a sense of tension that made it hard to breathe.
At this moment, Lu Yanhe even suddenly wondered if there was any hope of getting "Buried Alive" into the main competition of an international film festival. With Li Zhibai's one-man show performance, which was so good, there was a possibility that he could win a Best Actor award.
However, it is indeed a genre film. Without a renowned director to guide it, and not being an art film, it has almost no hope of being submitted to the main competition of an international film festival.
After watching Buried, Lu Yanhe and Zebi Doyle talked about Parameter's plans for the film.
Zebi Doyle was indeed thinking of submitting the film to a film festival for prestige.
However, he wasn't thinking about the Big Four international film companies—that's, after all, the realm of art films.
Zebi Doyle wants to submit "Buried" to the Sundance Film Festival in the United States.
“Buried is a good film, and it should do well at the box office,” Zeby Doyle said. “Showing it at the Sundance Film Festival would definitely generate some attention.”
The biggest drawback of the film "Buried" in the North American market is that the lead actor and the director are both relatively unknown.
Therefore, its inherent shortcomings need to be addressed by the Sundance Film Festival.
If you're not famous, just go to a high-profile, popular film festival. As long as you're talented, you can become an overnight sensation.
Just like Ang Lee's rise to fame, he gained recognition through film festivals.
Lu Yanhe didn't know if films like "Buried" would be popular at the Sundance Film Festival, but he agreed with Zebi Doyle's approach.
Lu Yanhe added, “As we agreed before, the Asian distribution rights for this film will be given to Linghe. In other places, Parameter will be released on a large scale in theaters around the world. The Sundance Film Festival only has a large influence in the United States. Its influence is limited in other places. I want to take this film to other film festivals for screening.”
Zebi Doyle asked, "What film festival?"
"The Jose Film Festival is the first choice," Lu Yanhe said. "What do you think?"
"The Sundance Film Festival is in January next year, and the Jose Film Festival is in May. Perhaps we will hope that Buried will be released in the first quarter of next year."
Lu Yanhe said, "Then you'd better confirm the release date as soon as possible. If it's confirmed to be released in the first quarter of next year, we'll need to start preparing for the publicity and distribution."
Zebi Doyle said, "We want to decide based on the feedback it receives at the Sundance Film Festival."
Lu Yanhe thought for a moment, nodded, and said, "If that's the case, then I'll take 'Buried' to the Picardo Film Festival for a special, closed-door screening. I'll invite distributors and media from all over Asia to watch it. I hope this film can be released simultaneously with the European and American releases."
"This film has a very small budget, so there is no need for a simultaneous release."
Simultaneous releases are generally chosen for two reasons: first, to concentrate promotional resources and avoid duplicate advertising; and second, to prevent piracy. The bigger the film, the greater the fear of piracy.
However, low-budget films are just as risky.
Lu Yanhe knew very well that once the concept of a film like "Buried Alive" had been promoted for a long time, its appeal would diminish.
Lu Yanhe asked, "Zebi, what are your box office expectations for this movie?"
Zeby Doyle said, "It can gross over ten million in North America and over thirty million globally."
The production cost of "Buried" was $1.5 million, and with marketing and distribution costs, it is not expected to exceed $3 million.
Lu Yanhe said, "Zebi, I can tell you that this movie will gross no less than 30 million US dollars in China alone. Now do you understand why I insisted on a simultaneous global release? Piracy will eat up tens of millions of US dollars in box office revenue."
Zebi Doyle, however, felt that Lu Yanhe was being too optimistic.
"Buried can sell for 30 million US dollars in China?" He found it hard to believe.
Lu Yanhe said, "Because you don't understand the Chinese market. 'Tropical Rainy Season' has already grossed over 30 million US dollars at the Chinese box office and over 40 million US dollars in the entire Asian market. Is that something you imagined?"
Zebi Doyle paused completely.
What? How much?
Because "Tropical Rainy Season" was not a film distributed by Parameter, Zebi Doyle did not pay attention to the film's box office performance outside of North America.
However, Zebi Doyle did watch the film, after all, it was the film of his most important collaborator, Lu Yanhe's Oscar nomination this year.
The box office performance of over 40 million US dollars in Asia was completely beyond his expectations.
In his opinion, it would be good if the film grossed 20 million US dollars worldwide.
Lu Yanhe said, "The main investor in this film is Parameter, Zebi. This is also the first project I've worked with you on. Just like I told you, 'Speed' would definitely do very well, and so will 'Buried'. I know that using a Chinese actor to star in an English-language film project is a big risk for you, but I will show you with these films that even if it doesn't perform well at the box office in Europe and America—of course, I still believe that's impossible. In any case, the reason I dare to use actors in these projects is because I have the ability to make the films profitable in Asia. In our collaboration, I will not bring you any losses."
Zebi Doyle didn't dare to show a mocking expression at this moment.
Because he knew very well how many box office records this person had set in Asia.
Lu Yanhe's film and television projects are the rare kind that are popular all over Asia.
Zebi Doyle finally nodded.
“Then let’s prepare for a simultaneous global release,” he said. “I’ll go to the Bicarlo Film Festival with you—but are you sure you don’t want to wait for feedback from the Sundance Film Festival before looking for buyers in Asia?”
Lu Yanhe smiled.
“The film I wrote and starred in, even without the help of film festival reviews, has already reached its peak in terms of distribution price in Asia, and it’s hard to go much higher,” he said. “We need to find the right buyers, not just find one.”
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The box office performance of "Tropical Rainy Season" in Europe and America was far inferior to that in Asia.
However, this is not surprising.
After all, "Tropical Rainy Season" tells a story that is more "East Asian".
In Europe and America, it doesn't have a mainstream audience; it relies entirely on its status as an award-winning film at the Seatour Film Festival and its positive reputation in the media to attract some seasoned film buffs to the cinema.
However, for Midoriya, the profit margin for the film "Tropical Rainy Season" is not in the box office.
They distribute films in theaters because theaters have box office potential that can be tapped, and they figure it's a win-win situation.
Secondly, this is also for the sake of performance during the awards season and subsequent copyright operation, which can further increase the selling price.
According to Green Valley's estimate, if the movie "Tropical Rainy Season" can gross more than six million US dollars in North America, it will be a huge success.
Just like last year when "Love Letter" grossed over eight million US dollars in North America, completely exceeding Midoriya's expectations, such box office performance also led to higher-than-predicted revenue from various copyrights for "Love Letter" in the future.
Good box office performance can further enhance the value of a work.
Judging from the current situation, it seems very likely that "Tropical Rainy Season" will break six million at the North American box office.
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After completing the preliminary promotion for "Tropical Rainy Season" in the United States, Lu Yanhe returned to China.
He needs to make time for promotions this year to coincide with awards season, so filming for the third season of Friends needs to start earlier.
Fortunately, everyone usually sets aside three months for filming Friends.
Therefore, coordinating the shooting schedule is not difficult.
However, due to Lu Yanhe's situation, the "2 days of rehearsal + 2 days of filming + 1 day of rest" model cannot be implemented this time. Instead, the "1 day of rehearsal + 2 days of filming" model will be used.
Upon meeting, Yin Xincheng said, "This is enough. We've filmed so many seasons together, we have great chemistry, and we're very familiar with the characters. Even with this kind of filming, we're much more at ease than other production teams."
Lu Yanhe apologized to them: "I'm sorry, thank you for keeping me company. We need to speed things up."
“Our agency is overjoyed,” Zhan Yun said with a smile. “This time we can finish filming this season in just a month and a half, whereas it used to take three months. They have even more time to exploit us.”
Bai Jin laughed and said, "I've always wanted to go skiing in the winter, but I haven't been able to because I've been filming 'Friends.' This year I can finally go."
Everyone seemed very happy.
Lu Yanhe thanked him once again.
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Friends has reached this point, and as long as it doesn't mess things up, even if it's not quite as good, it will definitely still be very popular.
A wildly popular sitcom has that ability. Because the audience is already familiar with these characters.
Lu Yanhe had thought about this situation. It was just like the variety show "Back to Field". Once you are familiar with the people in it, you can enjoy watching them just sitting together and joking around.
Sitcoms achieve the same effect.
After spending a lot of time with them, they seem to become your good friends. You love to hear their joys and sorrows, whatever the plot or what they say, as long as it comes from that character's mouth.
Lu Yanhe did not relax his requirements for the script because of this.
As Friends progressed, it became increasingly melodramatic and involved more and more random pairings. Lu Yanhe did not expand on this aspect, but instead tried to maintain the stable relationship between the six characters as much as possible. He then expanded their external world by introducing different new characters in different episodes to bring up new stories, conflicts, and dramatic content, but the internal relationship between the six characters remained unchanged.
It wasn't that Lu Yanhe disliked such "melodramatic" romantic relationships, but rather that he felt that if the original "Friends" were copied verbatim, Asian audiences might not be able to accept it.
Therefore, he can only retain what is acceptable to everyone and delete some that may not conform to the Asian cultural background, depending on the specific circumstances.
However, Lu Yanhe did not completely delete it. He created a "dream" setting for almost every piece of information to recreate the plot that appeared in the original version, and then used a dream ending to create a closure.
He plans to wait until the episodes air to see the audience's reaction. If he's unsure about something but the audience's feedback is acceptable, he'll continue writing it into the next season's episodes.
Just then, the American version of "Friends" was produced.
They will be airing this fall.
However, unlike the original, when the original Friends aired, there was no streaming service; it was broadcast on television.
In this timeline, the American version of "Friends" is exclusively broadcast on Maxine and has no connection with television stations.
Maxine approached Lu Yanhe, wanting to invite the six members of the "Friends" cast to do a joint promotional event with the six main creators of the American version of "Friends".
Lu Yanhe said, "I'm sorry, I don't own the copyright to Friends, nor did I authorize you to do this. Doing this kind of joint promotion is meaningless to us."
Maxine was helpless.
Zhong Benshuo was very clear about the entanglement between Lu Yanhe and Jingtai in this drama.
Lu Yanhe wasn't really targeting Maxine.
Zhong Benshuo, however, came prepared.
After Lu Yanhe refused, Zhong Benshuo immediately contacted Lu Yanhe and said, "Lu, we stated in the opening credits of the American version of 'Friends' that our show is adapted from the show of the same name that you wrote."
Lu Yanhe was taken aback.
Chung Ben-shuo said, "We didn't mention Beijing and Taiwan. We are very clear that 'Friends' is your work."
Lu Yanhe: "..."
He felt somewhat frustrated because he knew he was being manipulated by Zhong Benshuo.
Regarding the sitcom "Friends," what he was concerned about was that although he brought the story to this time and space, because he had no voice or experience at the time, the story became the property of the Beijing-Taiwanese community.
Even now, as he continues to produce "Friends," Yuehu TV only owns the rights to the newly produced seasons of "Friends." The copyright to the story itself still belongs to Beijing TV. Moreover, every time a new season of "Friends" airs, Beijing TV earns a copyright fee for the three seasons of "Friends" it owns, and with annual reruns, they rake in copyright fees year after year.
Chung Ben-shuo's actions are undoubtedly a way of telling everyone that although "Friends" legally belongs to Beijing TV, in the film and television industry, it belongs to Lu Yan-he, and this is something that Beijing TV cannot take away.
After much deliberation, Lu Yanhe finally made a decision.
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“We can do a joint promotion with the American version of Friends, but Maxine needs to continue to do public relations for Friends for the Emmys and Golden Globes this year,” Lu Yanhe said. “Last year, the response and broadcast data of the second season of Friends were better than the first season. I hope that Maxine can hold two promotional events for Friends in North America, with all six main creators of Friends participating together.”
The two requests made by Lu Yanhe actually had the same purpose: to increase the popularity and influence of "Friends" in the United States.
The reason for this is quite simple: the American version of *Friends* wanted to collaborate with them to gain initial attention. The American version did the same. *Friends* has been running for many years, and since its release on Maxine, it has accumulated a large fan base worldwide, especially in the United States, where the show has become increasingly popular and has attracted a growing number of viewers.
It would be a real shame if we didn't take advantage of the show's popularity during its run to further boost the international profile of actors like Yin Xincheng and Yan Liang.
Even in Europe and America, why do many actors in hit TV series face the situation of being famous for their shows but not for themselves?
Putting aside other factors, one of the reasons is that the actors themselves failed to make good use of the window of opportunity presented by the show's popularity to simultaneously promote and manage their own careers.
Of course, this involves both the actors' own issues and whether the production team, agency, and publicity team are willing to provide the necessary support.
Lu Yanhe felt that after the accumulation of the previous seasons, the friends of "Friends" should really step out.
He also asked Wang Biao to contact various agents and teams, communicate with them about this matter, and ask them to cooperate.
There were almost no non-cooperative individuals.
This is a great opportunity to further enhance the status and image of our own artists.
Under normal circumstances, there will be no non-cooperation.
The reason I say "almost" is because Yan Liang and Zhou Ping'an's "breakup" is not yet complete.
Yan Liang wants to change his agent, but Zhou Ping'an disagrees, and the two have been arguing for some time now.
Of course, no matter how much trouble Zhou Ping'an causes, it won't make much difference.
Once Yan Liang reaches this point, and he's determined to "break up" with Zhou Ping'an, there's nothing Zhou Ping'an can do to stop him.
He's only putting up a last-ditch resistance because he's had some influence from working at Star Entertainment (Woodpecker) for many years.
Zhou Ping'an had been trying to persuade Yan Liang to give up the idea.
For this reason, Zhou Ping'an even made many "concessions" to Yan Liang.
Yan Liang only said one sentence to Zhou Ping'an: "Brother Ping'an, I can no longer follow your arrangements and take on the projects you want me to take on. In that case, even if you continue to be my agent, what resources can you exchange with me for the other artists you manage?"
Zhou Ping'an was taken aback.
“Besides, didn’t you want to leave the Woodpeckers and go to Shijin?” Yan Liang said. “I don’t plan to go to Shijin.”
After that, Zhou Ping'an knew that he had nothing to talk about with Yan Liang.
However, he did not intend to let Yan Liang off easily.
The two had been working together for so long, and Zhou Ping'an was meticulous about every penny. He would try to delay as long as possible to earn more commission.
Given Yan Liang's current earning power, his mindset is "to earn as much as possible every day."
Yan Liang didn't want to cause trouble and hoped that he and Zhou Ping'an could part amicably. He wanted to earn more commission for a few more days, so let him earn it, as long as he could cooperate and complete the handover properly.
By now, Yan Liang couldn't wait any longer.
After that, the Friends cast's promotional activities in North America were hampered by a lack of communication between the agent and the company, resulting in the inability to obtain funding and relevant authorizations.
Zhou Ping'an is delaying the handover of power and is not helping with this matter.
Yan Liang sent Zhou Ping'an a message: Brother Ping'an, the handover has been going on for a while. I will post on Weibo later to announce that I have changed my agent, or you can take the initiative to announce it and I will cooperate in explaining it. It depends on which method you choose.
Zhou Ping'an: I've been mentoring you since you were an ordinary person. When it came to choosing three out of seven, I also chose you. I've never given up on you, yet you're so cold and heartless.
Yan Liang: Brother Ping An, I have done everything I could. When everyone else left you, I was the only one who stayed by your side for so many years and helped you through the most difficult times. If you want to settle accounts, it's not just Li Zhibai and Lu Yanhe who have an account book, I have one too. Do you want to settle accounts?
Zhou Pingan did not reply.
Later that evening, Zhou Pingan finally posted a Weibo message:
—Watching you grow from a boy into a man, watching you become a shining superstar, watching you walk into the limelight, it's really hard to say goodbye, but life always has to say goodbye. @Yan Liang, ten years, so many difficulties, we've been through it all together. Even if I'm no longer your manager, please remember to contact me anytime if you need anything.
Yan Liang reposted this Weibo post with three crying emojis and said: Thank you, Brother Ping An, for your care over the past ten years. Standing at the crossroads, I want to say that parting ways is for both of us to start better. You must remember that I will always support you!
At this point, Zhou Ping'an ended his cooperation with Lu Yanhe, Li Zhibai, and Yan Liang.
This legendary talent agent has finally returned to where he was rightfully in the industry.
Yan Liang was actually a little sentimental at this moment.
To be honest, he knew that his acting career was able to continue until Lu Yanhe became famous and provided him with resources, which was really due to Zhou Ping'an.
If Zhou Pingan hadn't chosen him during the selection of three out of seven young talents, he might have retired from the entertainment industry back then.
Yan Liang also knew that, setting aside Zhou Ping'an's worldly and money-grubbing flaws, he had actually gotten Yan Liang several roles that changed his acting career, including "The Gold Rush" and "The Summit," which set him apart from the other actors in "Friends" and allowed him to go beyond the framework of a sitcom actor.
However, as he said, he did not wrong Zhou Ping'an.
Over the years, he has done more than enough for Zhou Ping'an.
Just then, Lu Yanhe suddenly sent a screenshot to the group.
Yan Liang thought it was something else, but when he clicked on it, he found it was a trending topic:
When will Cheng Hai terminate his contract with Zhou Ping'an?
Li Zhi fired more than thirty "ha" sounds.
Yan Liang laughed along with him.
Let's discuss the extent of Zhou Ping'an's current psychological trauma.
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I recommend the classic entertainment novel, "I Became the Leading Lady of a Scandal Overnight."
(End of this chapter)
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