Chapter 768 New Ideas
Lu Yanhe was unaware of the workload this would place on Lucy Bates' styling team, but even so, he would not lower his standards in this regard.
A character's image is extremely important.
This goes without saying.
Ignaz Bell had no objection to Lu Yanhe's suggestions or the agreement of Lucy Bates' team.
He actually seemed quite pleased with the situation, saying that if there wasn't enough time, Lu Yanhe's scenes could be postponed.
Lu Yanhe didn't want to become the director's excuse for "overspending".
It's one thing for him to understand it, but it's quite another for him to use it as an excuse for a director to "overspend".
If a huge pot falls from the sky, even he would be hit and see stars.
He immediately contacted Lucy Bates to ask how long it would take. If she was short-staffed or didn't have any good ideas, he could ask some stylists in China to help.
In response, Lucy Bates said solemnly, "This is my job, Lucy. Do you not trust me?"
Lu Yanhe knew that his suggestion would likely be rejected. No one—especially a top-tier technical talent like Lucy Bates—would allow others to intrude on their field under the guise of "helping."
That was enough for him to hear what Lucy Bates said.
Before that, Lu Yanhe still took some time to communicate with Ignaz about his understanding of the character.
Ignaz said, "I don't really want to know these specific details, Lu. I'm only responsible for preparing all the settings on set. I need to see on set how your character will appear. I don't like to imagine an actor's performance."
At this moment, Lu Yanhe was truly astonished.
Having worked with so many directors, he is the first one who didn't want to know the actors' specific ideas and designs before the actual filming.
Lu Yanhe suddenly realized why Ignaz's previous projects had frequently exceeded their budgets.
-
Lu Yanhe went to ask Darren Wilson about it.
You wouldn't know unless you asked, and once you did... it was quite a shock.
Ignaz Bell's favorite thing to do is to discuss an actor's performance on set and then give the actor hands-on guidance on what adjustments to make.
He even likes to perform himself, showing the actors what kind of performance he wants.
Lu Yanhe asked, "Does he do the same for actors who are very good at acting?"
“Yes.” Darren Wilson nodded. “Yes, so he actually doesn’t have a very good relationship with many of the big-name actors he’s worked with.”
Lu Yanhe could imagine it.
While it's true that top actors often have their own personalities, very few who achieve stardom in Hollywood lack genuine professional skills. It's just that some top actors aren't known for their acting prowess, but that doesn't mean they're bad actors—for example, the famous Marilyn Monroe and Leonardo DiCaprio.
How could an actor like that allow himself to be "hands-on" instructed on set?
The more outstanding an actor is, the more freedom they demand.
Lu Yanhe now shares this sentiment to some extent. He doesn't want to be a robotic actor either. During the filming of "The Golden Era," he was new to the industry and lacked confidence, so he often hoped the director would provide clear and specific guidance.
Later, as he progressed further on his acting career, accumulating experience and developing his own ideas, he grew to dislike directors who treated him like a puppet. Of course, he had never actually encountered one.
He is considered a relatively lucky actor. Since entering the industry, he has never encountered a bad director or a truly bad film.
If Ignaz Bell is truly the kind of director who demands that actors execute his designs exactly, Lu Yanhe feels that he might also have a disagreement with Ignaz Bell on set.
It's unclear what's going on with Ignaz Bell. After all, he wants to communicate with him beforehand, but Ignaz isn't willing.
-
Conflicts between actors and directors are commonplace.
Of course, each case has its own circumstances.
Even so, this doesn't prevent some films from being filmed very well in the end.
However, Lu Yanhe still prefers a pleasant cooperative atmosphere.
At least, he's used to acting in this kind of atmosphere.
“Don’t worry about things that haven’t happened yet,” Chen Siqi said after hearing about his worries on the phone. “Maybe it’s not like that at all. You know, many things may seem true on the surface, but they can be misinterpreted. Didn’t Darren say before that if he likes an actor, Ignaz is the kind of director who completely treats the actor as a character and is willing to kneel down and worship him? You can tell just by hearing that kind of creator; they’re more or less a bit obsessive, and what you have plenty of experience with obsessive creators is working with them.”
"..." Lu Yanhe had to admit that Chen Siqi's words immediately soothed his mood.
Is it true that he lacks experience in working with paranoid individuals?
Both Liu Bige and Huang Tianlin are directors like this.
“Besides, you’re the most tolerant big-name actor I know who’s also a director,” Chen Siqi said. “Don’t think about these things and make yourself panic.”
"..." Lu Yanhe was amused by Chen Siqi's last four words.
-
Meanwhile, the Ling River.
Chen Yin received the two guests with some surprise.
Chen Yin almost wanted to describe these two guests as "uninvited guests".
"Mr. Huang, Mrs. Huang."
Generally, such visits are arranged in advance.
Set a time in advance, conduct business-to-business meetings, and make relevant arrangements.
But this time, when Huang Zhongjing and Huang Tai came to Linghe, they only called Chen Yin half an hour in advance to ask if it was convenient for them.
Chen Yin didn't know their purpose, hesitated for a second, and then agreed.
After hanging up the phone, Chen Yin immediately called Xu Tianming to ask if he was at the company and if he could come back.
Not for any other reason, but because—
Chen Yin had been the "chief steward" of Linghe for so long, but he had never directly liaised with Huang Zhongjing and Huang Tai.
Chen Yin was of course aware that this was because Huang Zhongjing and Huang Tai had always regarded Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan as the true power holders of Linghe. At the very least, there was a proper CEO, Xu Tianming, who was there. Chen Yin, as a "chief steward," was not on the same level as them, so he would not "lower himself" to communicate with him directly.
Chen Yin couldn't help but overthink the sudden call from them today, who said they wanted to visit the company.
Chen Yin's personality was inherently "defending the city".
He's not a very ambitious person. His ambition is limited to occasionally advancing in his career and occasionally increasing his income. However, he has no motivation to achieve rapid advancement through frequent job hopping.
More important than anything else, the most important reason Chen Yin called Xu Tianming immediately was to "clarify" his relationship with Longyan.
Otherwise, this inexplicable and sudden visit would make it seem as if he had a long-standing personal relationship with Huang Zhongjing and Huang Tai.
Chen Yin didn't want to cause such a misunderstanding.
Xu Tianming understood Chen Yin's personality very well.
Because of this understanding, Xu Tianming was particularly curious about why Huang Zhongjing and Huang Tai had suddenly come to visit.
Others may not know, but the two of them do.
Although Lu Yanhe has several projects in cooperation with Longyan, his relationship with Longyan is not very good, and there have been many disagreements.
This is definitely not just a casual visit.
However, after they sat down in the conference room and exchanged pleasantries, Huang Zhongjing and Huang Tai's purpose for coming completely stunned Xu Tianming and Chen Yin.
-
"Longyan wants us, Linghe, to do the peripheral development for 'Burning Fire'?" Lu Yanhe raised his voice almost a octave on the phone. "Huang Zhongjing and Huang Tai came to discuss it in person?"
"Yes," Xu Tianming reported over the phone. "I also reported it to President Ziyan. She asked me to talk to you about this matter and to tell you that she will investigate the situation behind it."
Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "President Xu, thank you for your hard work."
“No, not at all,” Xu Tianming said. “However, the development of peripheral products for ‘Chinese Paladin’ has indeed made many film companies envious. They have even come to me indirectly to inquire about how it was done.”
For domestic film and television companies, the surrounding development is a complete wasteland, currently still in a very rudimentary stage. The difference between them and the "Chinese Paladin" project is like the difference between a school flea market and a real shopping mall. The former is really just playing house.
Lu Yanhe said, "With so many templates and examples already in front of them, how can they not learn by imitating them?"
“They don’t dare, not because they can’t learn,” Xu Tianming said. “Our quality control requirements, market forecasts, and scale control for the development of each peripheral product are not things that these companies can figure out in a short period of time. Even if they try to imitate us, to be honest, it’s easy for them to encounter problems such as unsold goods, stockouts, and quality control failures.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Yanhe said, "Aren't these things all discovered through trial and error?"
“The problem is, none of them have tried it,” Xu Tianming said. “Moreover, the cost of trial and error is very high. When we look for factories and manufacturing companies, we have dealt with dozens or even hundreds of them across the country and tried them one by one.”
Lu Yanhe: "That's certainly true."
Xu Tianming said, "Actually, President Lu, I have an idea."
"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was taken aback.
"We can work hard to develop the related products and services for film and television dramas and take it over," Xu Tianming said.
"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was taken aback.
Xu Tianming said, "Everyone knows that the development of peripheral products for film and television dramas is a huge market, but before the market really takes off, no one dares to really invest. Only Linghe, because its starting point was different from other companies, started with copyright operation and after commercial cooperation with many brands, gradually explored all kinds of suitable peripheral development and derivatives. In fact, we even obtained many resources from the brands themselves."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
A film or television series doesn't necessarily become a hit and then be able to generate derivative products and services.
Moreover, the success rate of derivative products is even lower than that of movies.
Therefore, when many IP owners create derivative works, they often directly authorize another company to do so, and only collect something similar to a naming fee. The finished product is made under the name of a certain IP, but it actually has nothing to do with the IP. At most, it is labeled with a so-called "producer" or "supervisor".
Without a healthy ecosystem and a sustainable industrial chain, the resulting derivative products become increasingly niche fan-oriented exploitation machines.
Lu Yanhe felt that Xu Tianming did this particularly well.
Everyone talks about quality control, but only Xu Tianming actually leads his team to travel all over the country, conduct on-site inspections, and oversee the entire supply chain.
Everyone knows that merchandise is a fast-moving consumer good; once the hype dies down, it stops selling. So, they generally don't make long-term plans. Only Xu Tianming, when a drama is in the planning stages, starts to make some targeted plans and positions merchandise as "using IP images to add value to the brand," and has done a lot of high-end development.
However, what Xu Tianming said is quite different from the copyright derivatives that Linghe is currently leading.
What Xu Tianming was talking about was essentially about focusing on development and becoming an MCN company specializing in film and television merchandise.
However, Lu Yanhe did not refuse immediately. Instead, he said, "President Xu, this field is very unfamiliar. Your vision is good, but if we are to do it, I need to see something more concrete, such as how big the market is."
Xu Tianming said, "Understood. I will prepare a survey report and a related work plan. This is definitely a huge market, and most importantly, this is a market that traditional manufacturing industries haven't yet entered. It needs a powerful integrator who can bring together different types and different focuses of production companies to meet various development needs. This market is currently untapped, and if we succeed—"
“I know, I understand.” Lu Yanhe interrupted him. “The director here is calling me, I have to go. President Xu, since you think this part is worth doing, please prepare a detailed report, and we can discuss it in detail later.”
"good."
-
Lu Yanhe didn't even need his identity as a transmigrator to know how big this market was.
However, he was also well aware that the market for this segment wasn't that large.
It relies heavily on major studios, big IPs, and very strong operational capabilities to truly succeed.
This applies to both Disney and the Harry Potter series.
Linghe is not that kind of company.
More importantly, to do something like this, Linghe's current staff might not be enough.
It would require establishing a completely new department, or even a new company.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
