"Old Wei, what's going on?"

Shortly after the Weibo post was published, Tang Yan called to inquire. Wei Yang turned on the speakerphone and continued working on the computer.

"There's nothing going on. Didn't I tell you? Just stand there and watch the show."

That being said, Da Mimi’s current situation is actually very unfavorable.

Tangren's reputation is much better than that of Si Yatou, and it has more fans. In terms of reputation, the two sides are not on the same level.

A lot of negative news about Da Mimi and Cai Yinong was exposed, but the two people have different positions, one is a boss and the other is an artist, so the damage they suffered is naturally different.

Although Lao Cai was chased and scolded by Da Mimi's fans, it was not a big deal for her. However, Da Mimi lost her popularity among the public and her perception in the industry, which had a significant impact on her.

Wei Yang said he would not take sides, but in fact he had implicitly acquiesced to the situation on both sides. According to this trend, he was somewhat inclined to Lao Cai's side.

This is also normal. Although the dispute between Yang Mi and Tangren has nothing to do with him, he is one of the two major shareholders of "Scarlet Heart".

Si Yatou and Da Mimi infringed on the interests of "Startling by Each Step", which meant they offended Boss Wei. He didn't fire at them because of their past friendship and Liu Shishi's face.

“…What does Shishi say?”

When Tang Yan heard that Wei Yang seemed a little unhappy, she quickly changed the subject. Wei Yang glanced at the reduced QQ chat page next to him and saw Liu Shishi's series of complicated expressions.

"What can she do? Her hands are made of flesh. She can just pretend to be dead."

Regarding the dispute between Tangren and Da Mimi, Liu Shishi has always stood neutral, and even vaguely supports Da Mimi's side. As an artist, she still has some empathy.

But this time, Da Mimi took over Si Yatou's role as a Qing Dynasty traveler, which cannot be explained in a few words.

Even though Liu Shishi has the filter of a good sister, this behavior cannot be completely rationalized.

So now Liu Shishi has complicated feelings towards Da Mimi. Although she still cherishes their old relationship, there is obviously some gap between them compared to before.

Otherwise, even if Liu Shishi did not publicly take sides, she would help mediate, or even ask Wei Yang to mediate. But this time she did not take any action. She pretended to be dead, begged Wei Yang not to say anything, and then ignored the dispute between the two sides.

Wei Yang also thought this was a good thing. He had previously felt that Liu Shishi trusted Da Mimi a little too much, which was not a good thing.

It would be fine as far as career is concerned, but the key point is that he is afraid that this woman will stir up trouble and give Liu Shishi random advice, which is something Boss Wei does not want to see.

Now Liu Shishi is distant and wary of Da Mimi, and Wei Yang is actually somewhat happy about it.

Wei Yang was not the only one who was happy to see this happen. Tang Yan also had a similar idea.

As mentioned before, among the beauties in The Legend of Sword and Fairy III, Da Mimi is considered the core. Tang Yan and Liu Shishi are both best friends of her, and the two are a little inferior to each other.

Now the relationship between Da Mimi and Liu Shishi is awkward and tense, which is a good opportunity for Tang Yan to please both sides.

Especially for Liu Shishi, if she could squeeze out Da Mimi and become Liu Shishi's best friend, then not only would it be good for her career, but she could also be close to her...

So Tang Yan chatted with Wei Yang for a while, and then she went to comfort Liu Shishi, making it clear that she wanted to make her presence felt.

Wei Yang was too lazy to get involved in the intrigues between these fake sisters, so he turned off his phone and continued to work.

The document he is reading now is the relevant information about the product placement of "Come, My Love".

This drama has attracted a lot of advertisements by leveraging Wei Yang's name.

The male protagonist's luxury clothing, watches, and cars; the female protagonist's women's clothing, games, snacks, digital products, and electric cars; the hotels, tourist attractions, magazines, and jewelry brands involved in the plot, etc., have accumulated double-digit product placements and related sponsorships.

Among them, the highest bids came from Longines watches, Yadi electric vehicles and the jewelry brand. "My Sunshine" even had to involve some separate plots for these three companies.

For example, the male and female protagonists give each other Longines watches as gifts, the Yadi electric car is the female protagonist's car, and even the male protagonist, the overbearing president, is ridden by the female protagonist, and the jewelry brand is the store that the female protagonist and her cousin later started a business and joined...

There's no other way. The money they paid is sufficient, you can't just let them show their face. There must be enough shots and memorable points.

Boss Wei is very kind in this regard. What's more important is that the better the effect, the more return investors will come.

The previous "My Love from the Star" was the best example. If this drama had not been a huge seller and almost created an economic effect, how could its commercial value have skyrocketed so fast? And how could so many people come to support the new drama "My Lucky Star"?

According to current calculations, the revenue from product placement in "Come, My Love" reached 18.5 million, setting a new record for the selling price of product placement in mainland TV dramas.

Before this, the highest price for product placement in a domestic TV series was probably the recently aired "Let's Watch Meteor Shower 2", which was about 15 million.

Although this drama has a terrible reputation, it is popular enough and the original cast is starring in the sequel, so there are many people willing to buy it.

Wei Yang was quite satisfied with this price. In fact, if he negotiated more freely, he should be able to raise the price further, at least breaking through 20 million easily.

This number is already quite large at the moment. Wei Yang can already imagine that when the TV series "Come on, Mr. Love" is broadcast, many people will criticize it as an "advertising drama" or something like that.

Even the previous "My Love from the Star" has received similar controversy.

Wei Yang doesn't care about this. If you want to make money, just ignore the sour words.

Besides, this is the normal operation of film and television projects. There are so many product placements in Hollywood, but we don’t see these people leading the pace every day. Instead, they praise others for their advanced and mature commercial market operations.

To put it bluntly, this matter can be viewed from any angle. Don't follow other people's pace, but follow your own pace.

Wei Yang plans to arrange for someone to send out a press release to publicize the record-breaking product placement of "Come on, Mr. Love" and show off Blue Whale's operational capabilities and commercial value, so that the platform can raise the price in return.

Of course, Wei Yang doesn't care about the reputation of advertising for money, but he does care about the impact of advertising on the quality of his work.

He can arrange the advertisement to fit the plot, or even create related plots, which are essentially serving the plot. However, he is very averse to putting the cart before the horse and letting the plot satisfy the advertisement, even sacrificing logic.

The male protagonist can be made fun of occasionally, by having the overbearing president "come down to earth" and be carried by the female protagonist on an electric bike, creating a contrasting laugh point.

But it is impossible for the male protagonist to ride an electric bike all the time, and even his car cannot be a low- or mid-end car, but a luxury model of a high-end brand.

This work is organized and uploaded by Liujiu Book Bar~~

The watch the male protagonist wears is a gift from the female protagonist that she spent several months' salary on, so he wears a watch worth tens of thousands of dollars.

The above-mentioned "Let's Watch Meteor Shower Together" is a typical negative example. It sacrifices plot logic and subverts the story setting to satisfy the advertisement, resulting in many complaints.

Wei Yang couldn't allow such a situation to occur in the project he was in charge of, so he pushed some advertisements that did not meet the conditions and requirements.

For example, there was a pajamas advertisement that offered a very high bid, but required that Wei Yang be in pajamas for no less than 20 scenes and 40 minutes.

Wei Yang was filming "Come on, Mr. Shuai", not "The Temptation of Wei Yang". There were so many scenes where he was wearing pajamas, and the pajamas he wore were particularly ugly.

So even though the other party offered a very high price, Wei Yang still declined it.

Even so, the 18.5 million advertising placements and a large number of free sponsored props and scenes basically covered the cost of "Come, My Love".

According to the budget made by Blue Whale itself, the total investment of "Come, My Love" is around 20 million, and the main expenditure is Wei Yang's salary.

After the hit of "My Love from the Star", Wei Yang's salary has been rising steadily, and he is currently one of the highest-paid actors in the mainland TV drama market.

Due to the initial constraints of cost control in "Eastern Palace", and since Wei Yang was the main controller and had major investors watching over him, the price he got was lower than the market price.

"My Sunshine" is produced independently by Blue Whale, so there is no such concern. Public is public, private is private.

Even now, Wei Yang's prices are slightly conservative.

300,000 per episode! If it were an outside crew, they wouldn’t be able to hire Boss Wei at this price.

He even heard that someone offered Fan Xiaopang a sky-high price of 550,000 per episode, a price that many big names from Hong Kong and Taiwan could not get. However, Fan Xiaopang did not accept the offer, perhaps out of consideration for his career or because there was something fishy about the project.

Wei Yang's status and popularity are still lower than Fan Xiaopang's. The highest price he offered outside is 420,000 per episode, which is very sincere, but Wei Yang obviously will not go out to film for the 18 million.

There are 32 episodes in total in "Come, My Love", and Wei Yang has roles in about 28 episodes. 300,000 per episode equals 8.4 million, which is almost half of the total cost.

It is worth mentioning that as the female lead, Xiao Zhao’s pay is only 10,000 yuan per episode, and the price per episode is even lower than that of some well-known supporting roles.

Of course, Xiao Zhao has the most scenes, with a total of 30 episodes. At 10,000 per episode, he can still make 300,000, but it is not even a fraction of what Boss Wei makes.

But for Xiao Zhao, the pay is just a small matter. He can pick any newcomer in the entertainment industry.

5 million vs. the heroine of Wei Yang's new drama Putting aside those who are obsessed with money, more than 90% of normal people will choose the latter. Even if it rises to 10 million, it is estimated that half of them will choose the latter.

After all, if Wei Yang made her famous, with the current market environment in the entertainment industry, she might be able to earn 10 million in just a few years.

If you become as famous as Liu Shishi or even as popular as Fan Xiaopang, it will be easier for you to make 10 million.

Not to mention paying for the film, even if it's just paying money and providing their bodies, there are still crowds of girls who would agree without hesitation. Well, to some extent, Xiao Zhao is one of them.

After all, he followed Wei Yang and took out all his assets, which was even more "sacrificial" than these people...

But outsiders don’t know the ins and outs of this. When Blue Whale officially announced that Wei Yang’s new drama "My Lucky Star" is about to start filming, with new actress Zhao Liying as the female lead.

Baidu Tieba, Tianya, Weibo, major news websites and even countless fans and passers-by have all raised the same question.

Who is Zhao Liying? (End of this chapter)