Chapter 742 A Fateful Encounter with Cakes (5600 words)
Schmidt Lowry looked at Lu Yanhe in surprise.
He didn't know why Lu Yanhe was so confident that he could handle an Oscar-nominated actor who was currently riding high during awards season.
For a near-A-list actor like Uber Clark, there are many factors to consider when accepting a project.
Did Lu Yanhe think that "Red Eye Flight," a commercial thriller that was clearly out of the running for awards, could achieve a very good box office performance?
Schmidt Lowry asked, "Lu, what kind of box office performance do you think 'Red Eye' will achieve?"
Lu Yanhe: "I don't know about North America, but the box office in Asia should be at least 50 million US dollars."
Schmidt Lowry stared at Lu Yanhe with some surprise.
The number Lu Yanhe is not something that was just made up on the spot.
Linghe now has specialized market box office analysis services. They regularly conduct research and forecasts on Lu Yanhe's projects, comparing them with the subsequent results to identify areas where their understanding of the market is lacking.
Lu Yanhe really liked some of the analysis reports submitted by this department, and they often surprised him.
The film market is risky, which is common knowledge and beyond doubt. High-quality films are everything, but that's too broad and has no practical value.
In particular, a lack of understanding of the market can easily lead to problems in marketing direction.
This is similar to some serious dramas that aggressively promote their good reputation—the things they promote are all correct and true, but it's useless.
-
With so many companies making serious dramas, why is it that only Daylight Entertainment has succeeded?
Because they didn't achieve their success by promoting their shows as "universally acclaimed."
The so-called "brand effect" is something that happens after the situation has been established.
In fact, the Noon Sunshine brand gained widespread recognition after several hit dramas of different genres and target audiences, such as "The Disguiser," "Nirvana in Fire," and "Ode to Joy," in that year. If you were to call these three dramas serious dramas, there would probably be a lot of controversy.
But if you call them idol dramas, their quality is so different from what people usually think of idol dramas.
To be precise, this is a group of people who are capable of making serious dramas and have extremely high skill levels. With this level of skill, they made several "mainstream" dramas with top-notch stories, characters, and production quality (not in a derogatory sense, but compared to the serious dramas these directors made before, they lean more towards commercialism than seriousness). Then, in an era when traffic was the norm and shoddy productions were constantly making eyesores, they were refreshing.
I wonder how many people remember what made "The Disguiser" so popular when it aired? In fact, it received just as much criticism during its run. Not to mention the female lead, even the famous scene where Hu Ge and Song Yi drew guns in the corridor was criticized as a "miracle drama." However, due to the high overall quality of the series, coupled with the huge success of "Nirvana in Fire" produced by the same team just two or three months later, and the solid viewership ratings during its "hot" run, its reputation reversed.
While "Nirvana in Fire" did receive good reviews at the time, and some even analyzed its production from a technical perspective (even analyzing the proportions of each frame), its viewership ratings were actually very poor when it first aired.
It was truly a group of drama fans who tirelessly promoted the show online every day. They opened up the female audience market by focusing on the CP of Mei Changsu and Prince Jing, and then opened up the male audience market by finding the precise selling point of "a true political intrigue drama". This is why it did not become a mediocre drama, but instead became a huge hit in the later stages of its first run.
Lu Yanhe believes that Noon has developed a production model that is most worthy of emulation by all companies.
The lead actors must possess both fame and acting skills; neither can be lacking. Looking at their projects, this is true for all of them. There will never be a cast of actors with superb acting skills but little fame, or a cast with a lot of fans but poor acting skills.
The importance attached to screenwriting is never taken lightly, even by a large and established company. During the years when IPs were all the rage, many film and television companies simply bought an IP and then completely altered it. Daylight Entertainment, however, truly adhered to the original work as closely as possible, and brought in the original authors to be screenwriters whenever possible.
From what the author of "The Beginning," Prayer Jun, said, it's clear how much Daylight Entertainment values its screenwriters. They enjoy a favorable creative environment, receive hands-on scriptwriting guidance, and engage in numerous targeted discussions and revisions. Compared to the descriptions of screenwriters working with Daylight Entertainment, the situation for screenwriters in Chinese dramas described by other screenwriters seems to be from completely different countries.
Then, we must not underestimate the market, nor adopt an aloof, esoteric artistic mentality. Some say that Daylight Entertainment can film any subject matter and do it well, but Hou Hongliang directly says, no, idol dramas are our weakness. We've always wanted to do them well, but we haven't yet.
Moreover, they are genuinely exploring idol dramas with dedication. Whether it's "The Story of Minglan" or "The Beginning," these two IPs are inherently of this genre, but they've managed to produce them with high-quality production, so no one has categorized them as idol dramas.
Look at them, and then look at those other big shots. When they talk about idol dramas, their eyebrows droop, their lips twitch, and they're full of disdain: "We are artists."
-
After discussing the film "Red Eye" with Lu Yanhe, Schmidt Lowry inquired about Lu Yanhe's other projects.
Lu Yanhe said, "The rest of my projects, except for a youth romance film, already have companies to work with. However, there are a few films that I didn't write or star in. If you're interested, you can take a look."
Schmidt Lowry was initially uninterested.
However, when he thought of Lu Yanhe's achievements over the years, he hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“Oh, right, that youth romance movie stars Li Zhibai,” Lu Yanhe said. “If Green Valley wants to distribute it in North America, it will be the same; there will be at least a two-week window in 500 theaters.”
Schmidt Lowry: "..."
Lu Yanhe smiled and said, "Schmidt, both 'Road to Glory' and 'Love Letter' have actually made you quite a bit of money. If you can offer better terms, we at Linghe will always give priority to Green Valley when it comes to the distribution of our films in North America, just like with 'Home Alone.' So far, none of the films produced by Linghe have caused you any losses, right?"
Schmidt Lowry had nothing to say.
-
In the evening, Lu Yanhe had dinner with Li Zhibai and Jiang Yuqian, and Wang Jiaqi, the Chinese-American actress who had worked with Lu Yanhe on "Misty 2", was also there.
Last November, Li Zhibai and Jiang Yuqian filmed an independent Hollywood movie, a film about the story of Chinese Americans. Wang Jiaqi was also one of the lead actors, so they got to know each other.
Lu Yanhe asked them curiously who was making the movie, and then he heard from them about Farat, an independent film company he had never heard of before.
Jiang Yuqian said, "It seems that we also plan to submit our film to the Sundance Film Festival early next year."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
For American films, the Sundance Film Festival holds a status no lower than the four major international film festivals, and even higher than the other three, except for the Citrus Film Festival.
Jiang Yuqian made this independent film with a very simple purpose: to enhance her resume and demonstrate to the film industry that she still wants to be a good actress, not just make big commercial films.
This is certainly important as well.
This is based on first impression.
As for Li Zhibai... Lu Yanhe didn't expect that Li Zhibai would suddenly take on such a film.
Of course, this is a good thing for the film. Because less than two months after filming "Buried," Li Zhibai became widely known, and they might gain an actor who gained recognition in North America for free.
In fact, from Lu Yanhe's perspective, this film certainly wouldn't be considered a B-movie in North America. After all, the lead actors, Li Zhibai, Jiang Yuqian, and Wang Jiaqi, all have a certain level of global recognition, especially the former two in Asia.
As long as the production company isn't foolish enough to sell the film at a low price, the Asian market alone will be enough for them to recoup their costs.
“I’m going to Asia next month. We’re filming ‘Death Stranding’ in several locations in Southeast Asia,” Wang Jiaqi said. “If I have time, I’d like to go to China. Can I contact you then?”
“Okay.” Lu Yanhe nodded. “I’ll be there next month.”
Wang Jiaqi has been working in Hollywood for quite some time now.
She's not a very popular actress in the US. She landed the role in *Death Stranding* because of her experience (acting background).
To Lu Yanhe's surprise, she, who had been wondering why he hadn't shifted his focus to Hollywood, had been inquiring about the domestic entertainment industry tonight.
She seems to be somewhat interested in the domestic entertainment industry.
After thinking for a moment, Lu Yanhe decided to tell Chen Ziyan the news.
Having met Wang Jiaqi so many times, aside from some differences in lifestyle and perspectives, Lu Yanhe was able to reach an agreement with her on some fundamental issues, which is why they were sitting here having dinner together tonight.
Since Wang Jiaqi is interested, then of course "we should not let the benefits go to outsiders".
Jiang Yuqian is going back to China to film a movie produced by Ruyi Pictures.
Li Zhibai will stay here. In addition to helping with the promotion of the movie "Buried," he has also taken on a cameo role in a popular American sitcom, arranged by his agent, which will begin filming in March.
Everyone's career is thriving and moving forward.
very nice.
-
Aside from meeting and having meals with them, Lu Yanhe spent most of the day replying to messages and answering phone calls.
So many people sent congratulatory messages.
They are all people I've worked with, know, or have a relationship with.
Lu Yanhe doesn't add people he's only met once as friends. In his contacts, those who can reach him are generally people he's had a real relationship with.
The next day, Lu Yanhe talked with the people from D19 about the follow-up cooperation.
The people of D19 still have high hopes and want to develop a third installment.
Especially Lu Yanhe, the lead actor, is now even more sought after.
Lu Yanhe said, "Actually, I was already not very satisfied with the script for the second movie. It's not that I didn't want to make a third movie, but I didn't want to see a repeat of the situation in the second movie where we signed a contract, set a release date, and worked backwards from the production schedule. We weren't very satisfied with the script, but there was no time to make any changes, so we had to bite the bullet and make the movie."
The D19 members breathed a sigh of relief when they heard Lu Yanhe say that.
At least Lu Yanhe didn't say that he wouldn't make any more "Mist" series.
Judging from what he said, he was mainly dissatisfied with the script.
That's easy, let's continue developing the script.
The D19 team asked, "If you were given a script that you were satisfied with, would you still be willing to return to the Mist series?"
“As long as the script is good enough, of course.” Lu Yanhe nodded.
The people in D19 breathed a sigh of relief.
Besides the "Mist" series, D19 also approached Lu Yanhe to see if he had any scripts they could collaborate on.
The film "Home Alone" made everyone in the film industry interested in the script in Lu Yanhe's hands.
In particular, Lu Yanhe had previously sent the script for the movie "Buried Alive" to D19.
But D19 missed it.
result--
They had a huge success at Sundance.
Lu Yanhe was not surprised by D19's attitude.
Heads of film companies he had worked with, as well as producers and directors he hadn't, all started sending him emails or making phone calls. Among these people, there were at least ten whose industry status and influence were no less than Murken Sorge's.
Lu Yanhe said, "All the scripts I have are already with partner companies, so there are no spare scripts available at the moment."
Upon hearing this, the D19 staff showed a hint of disappointment, but still said enthusiastically, "We hope you can give us priority consideration for your new script. Although D19 is an independent film company, as you can see, we are developing rapidly, and the box office of our films is no less than that of big companies like Parameter. Moreover, we will definitely offer more favorable terms."
Lu Yanhe smiled slightly.
"certainly."
In fact, in Hollywood, there are many companies that, like Aurora Video back then, offer a huge sum of money to Lu Yanhe, with similar cooperation terms such as producing two movies for them within the next five years.
Lu Yanhe had actually seen similar cooperation terms before. For example, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the screenwriter of "Fleabag" and "Killing Eve," signed a three-year contract with Amazon in 2019, earning nearly $60 million. However, she didn't produce any content for Amazon during those three years. As a result, Amazon renewed her contract after it ended...
Lu Yanhe hasn't received such a clause yet, but it's not bad either.
For example, Parameter proposed a five-year non-exclusive agreement with Lu Yanhe. Within those five years, Lu Yanhe would write two film scripts for Parameter, for which he would receive $15 million. This was only the scriptwriting fee; in addition, Lu Yanhe would receive separate fees for producing or starring in the films. Furthermore, as a screenwriter, Lu Yanhe would also receive 1% of the global box office revenue from the films based on those two scripts.
Lu Yanhe refused.
He knew that Parameter's offer was very generous, but he also knew that his script had a higher value and there was no need to buy it out for $15 million and 1% of the global box office.
To put it bluntly, the movie "Home Alone" alone, based on its global box office revenue, the screenwriter's salary and profit sharing, the profits he received from Linghe as the owner of Linghe Production Company, and his personal profits as an investor, all add up to at least $100 million.
Not to mention the derivative revenue generated after the film's release.
With a global box office of over 500 million US dollars, roughly speaking, the production company would only receive less than 200 million US dollars in revenue, and Lu Yanhe would take half of that... This is even without Lu Yanhe starring in the film.
However, Lu Yanhe accepted the money with a clear conscience. He didn't raise funds from outside to produce the film; Linghe contributed a portion of the production costs, and he contributed the remainder.
Therefore, those cooperation terms might tempt many people, but they weren't enough to tempt Lu Yanhe.
-
Before leaving the United States, Lu Yanhe finally made an appointment with Uber Clark.
He did this so that he could give the script for "Red Eye" to Uber Clark.
“Uber, this is a movie script I wrote. Green Valley is developing it, and the female lead is Jiang Yuqian, the female lead in ‘Squid Game.’” Lu Yanhe explained the situation to Uber Clark directly. “This is not a film that can compete for the Oscars, but it will definitely showcase your acting skills. Simply put, it is a thriller, but not the traditional horror type. The entire movie is almost entirely about you and Jiang Yuqian’s scenes together.”
Uber Clark looked at Lu Yanhe with some surprise, and was momentarily stunned.
He didn't expect that Lu Yanhe would actually send him a script.
However, judging from the information Lu Yanhe provided, even if Lu Yanhe, as a screenwriter, had produced a box office hit like "Home Alone," this script wouldn't have been appealing enough to him.
In fact, Lu Yanhe himself knew that the "Red-Eye Flight" project had its shortcomings.
The downside is that this film is purely a genre film, so its potential isn't high enough. Also, there's no well-known director or other big-name actors involved. You could say that if Uber Clark had participated, he would have been the only big star in the film.
Of course, Lu Yanhe still had other cards to play.
"This movie will be shown in at least three thousand theaters in North America," Lu Yanhe stated.
Sure enough, after the number of theaters was mentioned, Uber Clark became somewhat interested.
This number indicates that Midoriya plans to release the film on a large scale.
This also demonstrates Midoriya's confidence in this film.
Lu Yanhe continued, "Similarly, the reason why Jiang Yuqian was chosen as the female lead in this film is because the film is to be released on a large scale worldwide, and the box office target for this film is to break 100 million worldwide."
Upon hearing this, Uber Clark's interest grew even stronger.
As Lu Yanhe mentioned earlier, the production budget for this film is no more than 20 million US dollars. If that's the case, this film will be another box office hit.
In Hollywood, the concept of a box office hit has both absolute and relative value. For example, a movie with a production cost of only one million dollars can be considered a huge hit if it grosses ten million dollars.
In Hollywood, this is of great significance to an actor.
In recent years, in order to win an Oscar, Uber Clark has mainly made biographies or dramas, and has not made many commercial films. As a result, he has not made a film that has grossed over $100 million worldwide for many years.
He starred in the movie "Red Eye".
This box office success will definitely benefit him.
Lu Yanhe continued, "And this character, Youbo, after you go back and watch it carefully, you will definitely understand what I'm about to say—"
Uber Clark was taken aback.
"This is a film that will give many Academy members a new understanding of your acting skills," Lu Yanhe said. "Few actors can play this role well, and those who do will definitely be supported by critics. This year, Huang Feng lost many early awards for the Oscar for Best Actor, but at the last minute, because of the huge box office success of 'Home Alone,' his performance in the film was very well received, and so the situation changed."
Lu Yanhe smiled slightly at Uber Clark.
"The character in 'Red Eye' serves the same purpose."
At this moment, Uber Clark was truly tempted.
Lu Yanhe thought to himself that he was really getting better and better at making empty promises.
He's too lazy to accept the empty promises others make for him, yet he keeps making empty promises to others.
Wow, I seem to have a knack for making pancakes.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
