Chinese entertainment, from radio love songs to superstars

Chapter 161, Fairy Sister [ words please subscribe]

The reputation of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" has exploded, and many media and drama critics have given it a score of 9, the highest among all versions.

Even Jin Yong came out to say that this version is the most recognized one at present, and that Shen Lang's Zhang Wuji is almost the same as the Zhang Wuji he wrote.

Just listen to his words. He has praised many film and television dramas adapted from his novels.

But then again, with the support of all this internal and external popularity, the ratings of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" have been rising steadily.

The average viewership reached 13.75%, surpassing the 12.79% of "The Sky of 10.65 Years Old" and the % of "The World's Granary", temporarily topping the list of the year.

However, judging from the data, whether it is the "Yitian" hanging high on the tree branches or the youthful "Sky", the ratings index they obtained is much lower than that of the TV series in 2001.

Last year's ratings champion "My Fair Princess" had an average rating of 17.74%, the runner-up "Love Across Time and Space" had an average rating of 14.19% and the third place "The Grand Mansion Gate" had an average rating of 14.06%.

Moreover, the road to the top for "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" and "The Sky of 18 Years Old" was very easy. Among the TV series currently being broadcast, these two TV series lack strong competitors and can be said to stand out.

This also shows that the ratings of TV series released in the past few years have been lackluster, and the Internet entering thousands of households has driven the rise of Internet TV, bringing huge challenges to traditional television.

Compared with the original time and space, Shen Lang's joining is of great help to "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber".

At that time, Su Youpeng's version was first broadcast in Taiwan Province, but the response was mediocre after it was broadcast. So Su Youpeng shouted to the audience at the mainland promotion meeting: "If the ratings of this drama break 7%, then I will run naked." It can be seen that they were under tremendous pressure for ratings at that time.

At this time, Fang Wanhua laughed out loud in the office.

Because with the huge success of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber", the third and fourth round broadcasting rights, online broadcasting rights and audio-visual distribution rights have skyrocketed in price, and many TV stations, video websites and publishing companies have raised the prices in various ways.

It can be said that this drama made a lot of money.

Fang Wanhua praised him generously, "Xiao Shen is a rare talent. With his intelligence, he can still thrive even if he is not in the entertainment industry."

Qian Guosheng, who was sitting opposite her, smiled and said, "When have I ever missed a good vision? In the future, when investing in film and television dramas, you should listen to his opinions more."

Fang Wanhua nodded and said, "The Internet is so popular now. I'm thinking about setting up a video website."

Upon hearing this, Qian Guosheng asked, "Video websites? I see that most of them are free or pirated. Can you make money from them?"

Fang Wanhua pondered for a moment and said, "This is indeed a problem. I'll talk to Xiao Shen about it some other day."

Qian Guosheng raised his hand, checked the time on his watch, and then said, "It's almost time for dinner. Let's ask Xiao Shen to come out and have dinner together."

Fang Wanhua thought it was okay, so she said, "Okay, two film and television dramas have found me and want to invest. It's a good opportunity to talk to him. I'll call him."

An hour later, Dasanyuan Restaurant.

In summer, light flavors are the best choice for eating Cantonese cuisine.

Shen Lang came with Gao Yuanyuan. When Fang Wanhua called, they had just finished shooting a commercial for Rejoice.

After almost finishing their meal, Fang Wanhua started chatting with Shen Lang about the video website.

Shen Lang recalled that in the original time and space, domestic video websites had long established the "Three Kingdoms" situation of "Youku, iQiyi and Tencent Video", and "fierce fighting" was inevitable between the giants.

The most direct manifestation is the burning of money. They staged a copyright war in 2018. Youku's copyright budget reached 300 billion, Penguin Video 250 billion, and iQiyi 100 billion. At that time, Penguin acquired Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace for 900 million per episode, with a total price of 7.8 million, setting a record for the highest acquisition price of a single episode, and it also became the most expensive domestic drama in history.

However, after years of fierce fighting, no one has been able to truly drive away the opponent. Instead, they have been burning more and more money. According to the financial reports released by each company, they have all experienced losses for several years.

Among these video websites, Mango TV is the only one that has made a profit, mainly because it is backed by Shonan TV and can buy programs from "brother" companies at low prices.

So in general, running a video website is a losing business.

"Sister-in-law, I'm not optimistic about video websites because rampant piracy and the awareness of paying are the biggest obstacles facing the digital content industry. It's not about whether they can make money, but about burning money and it's useless."

"understood."

Shen Lang is an experienced person, so naturally he can see further than Fang Wanhua.

Vicious competition has led to inflated copyright prices, and if cost pressure is not relieved in the long term, it will be passed on to users. The various payment methods will eventually lead to the collapse of trust between video websites and users, resulting in a vicious circle.

Of course, there is a way to crack it, which is to first deal with piracy and then monopolize it.

But this is simply a fantasy, no one can do it.

You could consider making short videos like Douyin, but that’s not possible now because smartphones haven’t even come out yet.

"By the way, two dramas have come to me and want to raise investment. See if there is any need to invest." Fang Wanhua took out the information from her bag and handed it to Shen Lang.

"Let me take a look." Shen Lang reached out and opened it.

【——Movie "Turn Left, Turn Right"

Director: Du Qifeng
Screenwriter: Ou Jianer, etc.

Actor: Candidates: Jin Chengwu, Liu Dehua, or Liang Chaowei

Lead Actress: Candidates: Leung Wing-kei, Kelly Chan, or Kao Yuen-yuen

Adapted from the comic of the same name by Jimmy, a cartoonist from Taiwan Province, it tells the story of the development of a man and a woman's fate and the gains and losses of their fate. 】

……

【——TV series "Little Soldier Zhang Ga"

Director: Xu Geng

Screenwriter: Xu Bing

Actor: Undecided
Actress: Undecided
Adapted from Xu Guangyao's novel of the same name, the film focuses on the growth of Zhang Ga, a young soldier from Baiyangdian. It tells the story of how Zhang Ga, under the guidance of Uncle Zhong, Luo Jinbao, and Captain Qian, continued to fight against the Japanese invaders and eventually grew into a disciplined and responsible people's soldier.

……

Shen Lang is familiar with them all.

The song "Meeting" that I sang for Stefanie Sun last year is the theme song of "Turn Left, Turn Right".

There is no need to talk about "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", Brother Ga has become a "big internet celebrity".

"It should be fine. You can invest." Shen Lang felt that no matter how much money there was to be made, he should make it. He added, "Yuanyuan's name, wasn't it you who added it, sister-in-law?"

"Me?" Gao Yuanyuan heard this and curiously leaned over to take a look.

"No, this is the information the other party sent. If I were to add names, it would definitely be you two together." Fang Wanhua said frankly.

"That's right." Shen Lang laughed dryly, turned to Gao Yuanyuan and said, "The filming will start early next year. See if you want to act."

"Sure." Gao's mother's health has improved a lot, and Gao Yuanyuan plans to start work at the end of the year, and this movie is just right for her.

"Yuanyuan wants to act. I will go talk to them about this." Fang Wanhua already treated her as her brother's wife, so she was determined to keep the benefits within the family.

"Thank you, sister-in-law." Gao Yuanyuan smiled sweetly and expressed her gratitude to Fang Wanhua.

Afterwards, they talked about film and television cities and theaters.

The film and television city will be put on hold for the time being. It is too expensive and cannot generate profits in a short period of time. We will consider it again when we have sufficient funds on hand.

The cinema chain plan starts with an acquisition, with the two companies forming a joint venture, each holding a 50% stake.

The next day, Shen Lang came to the Julang Film and Television Building.

"Blind Shaft" has wrapped up and entered post-production, which is being managed by director Li Yang.

Ning Hao continued to refine the script of "Crazy Stone" and it is almost finished.

Shen Lang also set up a screenwriting department and recruited some well-known and capable screenwriters.

They can't just blindly invest in other people's dramas, they also have to create their own film and television dramas.

His plan is:

1. If there is a rough version of the script, just buy it;

2. There was no script yet, so he wrote down a general idea based on his memory and asked the screenwriters to improve it.

Currently on the schedule are movies like Lost on Journey, Painted Skin, and Kung Fu Panda; and TV series like The Chinese Paladin, The Lotus Lantern, and Full House.

Yes, Korean dramas are among them.

Mainly, Shen Lang has watched quite a few of them, including "Full House", "Dae Jang Geum", "My Family", "Descendants of the Sun", "My Love from the Star", and "Queen of Tears".

Most of them are idol dramas, and precisely because they are idol dramas, they can make money in Korea.

In addition, work has also been arranged for the company's artists.

First of all, it was Chen Zihan. Shen Lang got her the leading female role of Princess Iron Fan in "Fortune Star Pig Bajie" and the leading female role of Nangong Zilin in "The Four Treasures of the Emperor".

In the original time and space, she was always the second female lead, but she had the strength and ability of the first female lead, what she lacked was opportunities.

Here, she may not be able to play the leading female role in some big dramas, but she can have no problem playing the leading female role in medium-sized dramas.

Then came Wang Baoqiang, for whom Shen Lang arranged some small supporting roles.

The main reason is that there are no TV shows or movies suitable for him right now, and forcing him into it would only make both parties uncomfortable.

Improve your acting skills first and wait for "A World Without Thieves".

Finally, it was Huang Bo. Shen Lang also arranged some small supporting roles for him.

Acting skills are very important, waiting for the filming of "Crazy Stone" to start.

Unlike Wang Baoqiang, Shen Lang also let him sing.

"Oh, boss, I don't know what to say, really, thank you." Upon hearing the news, Huang Bo cried and laughed like a child, his excitement was beyond words, and his gratitude to Shen Lang was beyond words. Just because he sang "Blue Lotus" in the bar, he officially embarked on the road of being an actor and singer.

This was something he hoped for but never dared to even dream about.

At this moment, something really happened to him, and the one who brought all this about was Shen Lang.

"When the day comes when you become a movie emperor or a singer king, just remember that there is a person called Shen Lang and a company called Julang. That's enough." Shen Lang patted his shoulder and said earnestly.

"How could I forget your kindness? I've put it all here." Huang Bo said, touching his heart.

"Let's record the song." Shen Lang said with a smile.

Starting from next year until 2008, it will be the era of ringback tone, where a single song can generate hundreds of millions in revenue.

And these songs are called "Internet songs".

Shen Lang wants to earn this money, but doesn't want to sing. What should he do?

Huang Bo became the perfect candidate because he is down-to-earth, has a solid foundation, and has no room for lowering his profile.

So, Shen Lang selected several good online songs for him, namely "Ten Thousand Reasons", "Two Butterflies" and "Pray to Buddha", and would add more songs later depending on the results.

"When the relationship reaches a point where it can no longer be saved

And when you decide to leave

You want me to find a reason to make you come back

But in the end I still let you go..."

Huang Bo is much more efficient in recording songs than Liu Yifei and Shu Chang. After all, he has been a resident singer in a bar for several years, so his basic skills are solid enough.

In the original time and space, he also performed on CCTV Spring Festival Gala with his singing.

For him, singing a few online songs is no problem at all.

At this point, Julang Films and Jingtao Music took advantage of the situation to expand the market, and their prospects are bright.

------

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On the afternoon of July 7, the Jinling Hilton Hotel was crowded with people.

Today is the launch conference of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", a big-budget TV series with a 3400 million yuan investment. It is also a remake of Jin Yong's classic novel. It has attracted much attention since the beginning of the project, and dozens of media outlets came to the scene.

Everyone was patting Shen Lang, when suddenly a burst of chattering was heard.

Follow the sound and look.

It is the group of actresses in this drama.

Speaking of the female characters in "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", there are so many beauties.

Duan Yu's sister group;

Duan Zhengchun’s wives group;
The three beautiful women groups of Xiaoyao Sect;

The four swords of Plum, Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum of Lingjiu Palace;
If you want the young, there are young people; if you want the mature, there are mature people.

Zhang Jizhong's version is even better than other versions in terms of the choice of actresses.

Among the young beauties, Liu Yifei, who plays Wang Yuyan, can truly be called the "Oiran". In addition to her extremely classical features, she is also very clean, indifferent and pretty.

Among the ranks of older beauties, Christy Chung is the undisputed leader of the "famous flower". Although she wore a pair of sunglasses and was not as flamboyant and sexy as when she attended the Academy Awards ceremony earlier this year, her femininity was still evident.

A group of beauties appeared and immediately attracted the attention of everyone present.

Reporters from various media raised their cameras and video cameras to record this scene.

"Brother Lang!" Yan Danchen posed over there and walked towards Shen Lang immediately.

"Your outfit today is both fashionable and beautiful." Shen Lang smiled and complimented Yan Danchen's outfit. This time she chose a white shirt and tied a black bow, which looked quite fashionable. The flared pants on the lower body also looked classy.

"Thank you. You look very sunny and handsome today." Yan Danchen started a wave of commercial flattery. Her smile became brighter and her face was glowing red, like a ripe apple. She seemed very happy because she accepted Shen Lang's suggestion and successfully got the role of Zhong Ling.

The actresses and actors present today have once again demonstrated that “fashion is cyclical” and that what everyone wears is the most popular at the moment and will become outdated in a few years, only to become popular again in the future.

"Brother Lang!" At this time, the cute and lovely Liu Yifei and Shu Chang also came over to greet Shen Lang.

"What kind of outfit are you wearing? One black and one white, the black and white devils?" Shen Lang said as he looked at them.

"Oh, we are dressing like sisters." Liu Yifei pouted in protest. Is the phrase "Black and White" used to describe beautiful women?
"Mr. Chen said that the combination of Xixi and I must create differentiation, so we have to take an unfeasible route," Shu Chang explained.

"There's still some time before the EP is released, and you're already getting into the groove?" Shen Lang asked.

"Just get used to it first." Shu Chang said.

"Doesn't it look good?" Liu Yifei asked.

"It's not that it doesn't look good, it's just that it doesn't match well and exceeds the maturity of your age." Shen Lang replied.

"Look, Xixi, did I say you were too mature?" Shu Chang said to Liu Yifei.

"It's not that bad. High school students in the United States dress more maturely," said Liu Yifei.

"I'll let Sister Du check your outfits for future events," Shen Lang said.

As they were talking, staff came to inform them to take their seats as the launch conference was about to begin.

Sit in a row.

The C position is Zhang Jizhong, Shen Lang and Hu Jun, the biggest names.

Then on the left are Gao Hu and Liu Yifei. Although Liu Yifei is a newcomer, she is one of the protagonists.

Next on the right are Chen Hao and Liu Tao, important characters in the play.

The others sat in the back row.

The host said, "Dear leaders, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. We welcome you all to the press conference for the upcoming launch of Tian Long. First of all, let me introduce the guests attending our press conference today..."

Representatives from both investors and producers were present.

Zhou Xiaowen is the chief director, Ju Jueliang and Yu Min are the directors of the literary scenes, Zhao Jian is the director of the martial arts scenes, and the pure martial arts directors are Yuan Bin and Yang Junyi.

Yuan Bin is one of the Seven Little Fortunes. In his early years of learning the art, he was the least noticeable one. In the 1980s, when his fellow apprentices began to show their talents, he remained unknown and had not made any achievements.

He rarely collaborated with fellow apprentices such as Hong Xibao and Cheng Long. Instead, he became an assistant to another famous martial arts instructor, Cheng Xiaodong, and designed many classic action scenes for films such as "New Dragon Inn", "Crouching Tiger, Hip Hop", and "A Chinese Ghost Story".

Later, he was appreciated by Xu Ke and was promoted to the martial arts instructor of "Once Upon a Time in China III: Return of the Lion King". He also served as the executive director of "Once Upon a Time in China IV: The Return of the Condor Heroes", and finally became famous.

Zhang Jizhong also accepted Shen Lang's suggestion and used Yang Junyi.

If he wants to catch up with the progress, he has to shoot in groups.

There are a lot of fighting scenes, so one Yuan Bin is definitely not enough, and Yang Junyi can just make up for it.

From this we can also see the luxury and strength of the creative team of the drama "Tian Long".

After introducing everyone, Zhang Jizhong became the main target of media reporters.

He had made preparations in advance and honestly explained the filming plan for "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils".

First of all, the "Life and Death Cliff" in the first scene of the play has been found, in the Shidu Tourist Area in Yanjing.

The entire shooting period is expected to be more than 5 months. The actors will first undergo a month of training in body shape, horse riding, movements, etc. The shooting will start on August 8. After finishing the shooting of the Cliff of Life and Death, the crew will move to Xiaonan Xinpu in Huaibei for shooting. In mid-September, the crew will move to Jiangsu and Zhejiang. After that, they will split into two groups, one to Taohua Island and the other to Yongkang for shooting. In November, they will enter Dali in southern Yunnan. The shooting will end in Dali in January next year.

In addition to Zhang Jizhong, Shen Lang is one of the actors who is eager to be interviewed.

The questions I'm asked most often are about the show's styling and plot, but these are all confidential and not much can be revealed.

When talking about the three confidantes in the play, Liu Yifei, Yan Danchen, and Jiang Xin, Shen Lang said that although they are all newcomers, they have no problems with their temperament and acting skills.

The actors in this version of "Tian Long" give everyone a unanimous feeling that the actors are younger and more fashionable. The 15-year-old Liu Yifei plays the "Fairy Sister" to the 18-year-old Shen Lang. In other TV shows, Zhong Liti, Wang Luyao, Peng Dan and others, who are at best older young women, have all become "expectant mothers" with many children.

In the media's view, it is not clear whether the investors are too confident in the actors' acting skills, or they want to faithfully restore the real ages of the characters in the costume drama.

Zhang Jizhong explained this question: "In the original novel, Wang Yuyan, Ah Zhu and Ah Zi were all teenagers, so we chose 15-year-old Liu Yifei and 19-year-old Jiang Xin to play them. Since we have found teenagers to play the leading roles this time, their elders should naturally be younger as well."

When the reporter interviewed Shen Lang about this, he asked him, "Liu Yifei is 8 years younger than you, and you still have to call her "Fairy Sister", do you feel awkward?"

When Shen Lang heard this question, he wanted to tease Liu Yifei and shouted directly, "Sister Fairy."

His action made Liu Yifei blush for a long time before she reluctantly responded.

Then, Shen Lang explained: "Sister Fairy is actually the name of the statue in Langhuan Blessed Land. Besides, calling her 'Sister Fairy' doesn't sound nice, right, Xixi?"

When Liu Yifei asked this question, she blinked and said thoughtfully, "It seems so."

During the photo shoot after the press conference, Shen Lang became the object of competition for photos.

He is one of the most favorite singers of all the sisters and aunts, and they have to touch him when they see him.

After the press conference, everyone went their separate ways. The leading actors will gather at the Beijing Film Studio for training in three days.

(End of this chapter)