Chinese Entertainment 2017: Starting from the Top Writers

Chapter 11 Preparations
The next day, Lin Li left the hotel without saying goodbye to the two of them and went straight back to school.

After what happened last night, he didn't want to meet Wang Zhixuan again so soon, to avoid regretting it.

God knows how long he took to take a cold shower yesterday before he calmed himself down!

Lin Li found Chen Chao after returning to the dormitory, and the two began to discuss the specific details of the filming together.

Due to funding issues, when Uncle Cat was filming this drama "We Are So Cute" in his previous life, the investment was less than 10 million yuan, so the scenes, costumes, props and some plots in the drama were simplified.

But does Lin Li need money?
Of course we have money!
Over the years, the royalties and copyright income from his works have long enabled him to achieve financial freedom.

Considering that the actors found are basically newcomers like in the previous life, Lin Li estimated that an investment of about 15 million yuan would be enough to restore the drama better.

In fact, when Lin Li was selecting his debut work, he thought about whether he should just make a movie.

But considering that I have only taught myself the knowledge of directing and have never put it into practice, I decided to shoot a low-budget web drama first to practice my skills.

Lin Li had watched this drama in its entirety in his previous life, and he could basically remember most of the scenes and plots in it.

After the drama became popular, it also brought great benefits to the director Uncle Mao. It is a good drama that is suitable for gaining audience appeal.

In addition, we, who are so cute, also led the Kiwi platform to achieve a "breakthrough" in broadcast mode.

Traditional shared-revenue dramas basically adopt the model of releasing all episodes at once, mainly for the purpose of concentrated publicity and maximizing the cumulative click-through rate of the episodes, thereby obtaining higher profits.

Before the broadcast of So Cute We Are, Uncle Cat and his team had an in-depth discussion with Li Li of Kiwi. Due to their confidence in the quality of the work and the high-quality plot that was enough to attract the audience to wait and discuss, they finally decided to update the show online with 2 episodes per week for non-VIP members and 8 episodes per week for VIP members.

As the broadcast time was extended, the popularity did not decrease but increased. After a week of word-of-mouth fermentation, "So Cute We" once again reached a peak in popularity during the second week of broadcast.

Kiwi's content popularity index shows that the popularity of the second update reached 6114, an increase of about 2000 over the first broadcast.

The comparison of search index is even more obvious. Compared with the first broadcast, the search index of the second update has increased by nine times and maintained a continuous upward trend, reaching its peak on August 8.

The hot search on Weibo also reached the 19th place on the day of the second update.

As a successful example of a shared-revenue drama, "We Are So Cute" is a great encouragement to independent creative teams and Kiwi.

From a creative perspective, short series projects are more suitable for small scale and are easier to control in terms of content and rhythm. At the same time, they can make the style more focused and the field more vertical. This is a creative form with a higher success rate for independent creative teams.

From the perspective of the platform, this drama has strengthened Kiwi's choice of diverse themes for its shared-revenue dramas.

In the same year, Kiwi expanded the revenue-sharing model to include more themes besides costume dramas and sweet pet dramas, including youth dramas, suspense dramas, etc., hoping to meet the preferences of more audiences, break the shackles of content homogeneity, and bring fresher blood to the revenue-sharing drama market.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, "So Cute We Are" has become an "unconventional" work in the film and television industry and has successfully occupied the circle market.

Looking at it from this point of view, Uncle Cat has indeed achieved the goal of "proving himself", completed a trial to break through the siege, and embarked on a new path.

This is also an important reason why Lin Li chose this drama.

Chen Chao’s personal ability is beyond doubt as he was able to be admitted to Renmin University.

Both of them studied industrial economics, and given their relationship, Lin Li wanted to train him to be a company trader.

After some communication with Chen Chao, it was confirmed that he would invest and serve as the company's executive director, register Nanxun Culture and Film and Television Company, and Chen Chao would serve as the general manager and be responsible for overall coordination.

We will make a transition in the early stage, and then optimize it after finding the right candidates. We will set up a makeshift team first.

Next, Lin Li will meet with the assistant director introduced by Mr. Huang to discuss the crew setup and determine the official start time of filming.

Chen Chao went to look for office space for the company, register the company, and recruit some basic staff positions.

"I am selling myself to you. I will work for you, so you have to be responsible for me."

After the matter was settled, Chen Chao acted pretentiously and rudely towards Lin Li.

To be honest, Chen Chao was handsome, but he was the kind of handsome that looked rather feminine. Combined with his expression at that moment, Lin Li wanted to slap him to death.

"Get lost and get back to work. I'm going to leave first. I have to meet with the assistant director introduced by Mr. Huang tonight. You should set up the company as soon as possible. Your godfather is waiting to pay you."

Lin Li pushed Chen Chao's face away with a look of disgust.

"You really turned your back on me, eh~"

"Do you still want to go to the crew to see the beauties?"

"Okay, boss, I'll get started right away!"

Watching Chen Chao leave, Lin Li also changed into a thick down jacket and went out. He was really looking forward to the assistant director introduced by Teacher Huang.

At seven o'clock in the evening, Lin Li arrived at the agreed restaurant and found a seat with a good view. He sat down and could see people coming and going on the street, separated only by a transparent glass wall.

"Hello, is this Teacher Lin?"

After sitting for a while, a steady searching voice was heard, and Lin Li looked up at the person who came.

This is a young man wearing a thick black cotton coat, jeans, and a pair of very old-fashioned dad shoes.

Or he could be called middle-aged, wearing a pair of black-framed glasses that showed his age, and looked steady and mature. If Lin Li didn't know his actual age, he would have thought he was a 40-year-old middle-aged man. "Hello, Director Wen, I'm Lin Li, please take a seat."

Lin Li stood up with a smile, shook hands with the man, and then asked him to sit down.

That’s right, the assistant director that Teacher Huang introduced to Lin Li was Wen Muye.

Wen Mu, born in 85, also looks quite mature. When I talked with Mr. Huang yesterday about the selection of assistant director, Mr. Huang recommended this person very attentively. Lin Li knew his achievements in his previous life, so he had no objection.

At this time, Wen Muye was not yet the successful director in his previous life. His only achievement was shooting a few short dramas. His most famous work at present should be Requiem filmed in 14.

Lin Li recalled Xu Zheng’s comment on Wen Muye in his previous life: “Wen Muye is a natural born director.”

He was given the opportunity because he was appreciated by Ning Hao, but what really impressed Ning Hao was Wen Muye's unique self-style.

“Find strength in stillness.”

Wen Mu is also a great storyteller.

The realistic shooting technique can make the audience feel more empathetic.

Wen Muye's skill in portraying small characters vividly is his "essence", and his magic lies in how to use small characters to lead the audience to accept life.

“Although I learned about Teacher Nanxun’s age from Teacher Huang, I still couldn’t help but sigh when I saw her in person. She is so young!”

Wen Mu also looked at Lin Li and couldn't help but sigh.

"Director Wen, you're too polite. I'm just lucky. I believe that after this cooperation, Director Wen's abilities will be seen by more people."

Lin Li was modest at first, and then spoke to Wen Mu very seriously.

Wen Mu can be considered a late bloomer. Before he became famous, he was always a poor student.

The beginning of a "counterattack" is often when ordinary people are struggling for the ups and downs of life. "Poor student" was a label that had been attached to Wen Muye for the past 20 years. He had the worst grades and only scored less than in the college entrance examination. He had no choice but to choose to study television directing in a third-tier university, which was described as "unprofessional" in the words of the industry.

Not only that, after graduating from university, he prepared to take the postgraduate entrance examination for the Beijing Film Academy. However, after three years of preparation, he just barely reached the passing score. It can be said that in the subject of examinations, the title of "poor student" has always followed him.

"Thank you, Mr. Lin, for your kind words. I wonder what plans Mr. Nanxun has for the crew?"

Wen Mu also smiled bitterly and thanked Lin Li, then got down to business.

"Director Wen has directed many short films before, so he should have the filming team, right?"

"Yes, but my team is basically made up of people from Beijing Film Academy."

"That doesn't matter. I have great faith in the strength of Director Wen's team. Teacher Huang highly respects Director Wen. I have also seen several of Director Wen's works and I am very confident."

"Since Teacher Lin trusts me, the team will use me. I wonder if Teacher Nanxun has decided on the actors?"

Feeling Lin Li's trust, Wen Mu stopped talking and started to work.

"I have currently decided on the male and female lead and the second female lead. I also have some actors in mind. I will send them to Director Wen later. Please contact these actors."

"Okay, it would be great if someone is chosen. What about the specific start time of filming?"

"I'm officially on holiday on the 12th, how about we start filming in Jiangcheng on the 15th?"

Lin Li thought about the holiday time he had learned from the school leaders and informed them.

"I almost forgot that Teacher Nanxun is also a top student at Renmin University. Your achievements always make me subconsciously ignore your age."

Wen Mu was dazed for a moment, then he began to sigh.

Lin Li was used to this kind of reaction and kept smiling.

Afterwards, the two discussed the shooting location, costumes, and actor casting for a long time. It was not until a little after ten o'clock in the evening, when they had eaten and drunk enough, that they ended the communication.

"I'll trouble Director Wen with everything after that. Thank you for your hard work."

At the restaurant entrance, Lin Li held Wen Muye's hand and said goodbye.

"Thank you for your trust, Mr. Nanxun. I will prepare well and get the crew ready. Next time we meet, I will call you Director Lin."

Wen Mu also said with a smile.

He has not had a smooth life in recent years, and this time he was recommended by Teacher Huang to be the assistant director of the first work of the great writer Lin Li, which is also a rare opportunity for him.

“We’re working together to make this show a good one.”

"Okay, let's work together!"

The two said goodbye reluctantly and separated in the cold wind.

Wen Mu also looked at Lin Li's figure watching him in the taxi's rearview mirror, and suddenly had a premonition that he would gain a lot this time, a very metaphysical feeling.

(End of this chapter)