Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 105 The best of us
After entering the office, Meng Bai didn't wait for Liu Jun to greet him. He took out tea from the tea cabinet and made some tea for himself.

"Hehe, this is my office, you act like you're at home." Liu Jun couldn't help but laugh and scold as he watched Meng Bai's series of familiar movements.

Meng Bai sighed and said, "I feel bad for you to have a sip of tea. It's not for nothing. I just brought a few boxes of authentic Jinhua ham from Hengdian. I'll put it in your car and bring it back to my eldest nephew to taste."

After that, he brought another cup of tea to the desk and whispered, "I also brought you two boxes of Dongyang specialty boy eggs. It is said that this thing is nourishing and aphrodisiac, just right for you, brother."

"What are you talking about? I don't need to make up for it." Liu Jun said disdainfully, and then said: "But it's your kindness anyway, brother. Let's put it in the car later."

"hehe."

The two chatted for a while, and Meng Bai turned the topic to Zhu Zhenhua who had just left.

"Oh, he has a youth campus-themed project, which is a remake of a novel, and he wants to come and talk about cooperation with Leshi." Liu Jun said.

Meng Bai raised his doubts: "Isn't youth-themed novels popular right now? Why do I think you rejected him?"

Liu Jun smiled and said, "Brother, since you are mainly engaged in suspense dramas, you may not understand. Youth-themed dramas are indeed a popular choice in the past two years, but not all projects of this type are suitable for investment."

As he spoke, he began to explain to Meng Bai.

Most of the youth-themed works that have become popular in the past two years are classified as "youth pain", and the main style is "don't do anything to make it big". What about premature love, pregnancy, abortion, breakup, car accidents, fighting, cheating, young restlessness, and the ignorance of men and women... In short, the more outrageous the plot is and the more the protagonist is doing something to make himself big, the more the audience is willing to watch it.

Like last year's hit "So Young", this year's "My Deskmate", and Zhu Zhenhua's previous film "So Young", they all basically follow this path, and the "degree of self-destruction" is gradually escalating.

It is precisely because of this that the market has gradually reached a consensus on youth-themed projects. If you want to make a living in youth films, you have to work hard to make your male and female protagonists go further on the road of "acting".

It is rumored that in many youth-themed script projects nowadays, it is not uncommon for one of the male and female protagonists to die or go crazy. It has evolved to the point where the protagonist and supporting actors are involved in a car accident together. If you don't know, you might think it is a traffic safety law education film.

In this situation, if anyone dares to say that he wants to make a fresh youth film, investors will not think you are special, but will only think that you are a fool who does not understand the market at all.

But Zhu Zhenhua is this fool.

"The project he brought was called The Best of Us, a youth-themed novel. I took a look at it and it was, well, a very fresh and plain style. The hero and heroine were both high school students, encouraging each other to go to college together."

Liu Jun said: "This kind of content style is certainly no problem for writing novels. But our web dramas need to have a sense of the internet and explosive points. Who would watch your male and female protagonists who are either in class or doing homework every day?"

Meng Bai thought for a moment and said, "I think it's okay. A simple little romance drama is also quite interesting. Besides, most youth films nowadays are bloody. Making a fresher one can be considered a differentiated competition."

Liu Jun shook his head: "Brother, differentiated competition is not that simple. Another thing is that for investors, the biggest highlight of youth films is low cost and high return, which is a small investment for a big gain. But according to his plan, his project requires a budget of 20 million."

At this point, Liu Jun shook his finger and said, "Twenty million! This budget is enough to make a youth film, and the return on investment will be higher."

Now Meng Bai understood that the emotional problem was caused by the funding budget.

It has to be said that a budget of 20 million yuan for a youth-themed web drama is indeed a bit expensive. The actual investment in "Psychological Crime" was only 30 million yuan.

What's more, his theme was not to follow the mainstream market, but to go in the opposite direction, which undoubtedly made the investors feel uncomfortable. It is estimated that Sohu did not agree to the new project request of this "hero" for the same reason.

However, Meng Bai did not quite agree with Liu Jun's point of view. Although he did not know much about youth themes, since the original novel performed well, it showed that this style of story would not lack an audience.

As a content creator, he knows that many times the audience is just like the client, and they themselves don’t actually know what they want to watch.

Only when the real finished product is placed in front of them will they suddenly realize, oh, this is what I want.

Meng Bai had always thought that Arclight Films' production style was somewhat monotonous. After all, from him to Wu Bai and Wang Wei, they all tended to prefer suspense themes.

He also wanted to try some youth-themed or romantic idol-themed projects, but he really didn't know much about this area and didn't dare to start easily.

But now, an opportunity is in front of us. With the popularity of the original work as a foundation and the project team's successful experience, isn't this a good opportunity to give it a try?

As for the low return on investment, Meng Bai didn't care that much.

Essentially, he is more of a content producer than a businessman. It doesn't matter whether he makes a lot or a little, as long as he makes a profit in the end.

Of course, these are just his own assumptions. Whether to invest or not, or whether others will choose him, are still unknown. He has to wait until the face-to-face meeting before he can decide.

After talking to Liu Jun for a few more words, Meng Bai said goodbye and left. When he reached the door, Sister Su told him that she had told Zhu Zhenhua about the invitation.

"He seemed a little surprised, asked about your news, and said he would wait for you downstairs." Sister Su introduced what happened just now.

Meng Bai thanked him, turned around and went downstairs to the coffee shop where he and Gan Wei had discussed the script of "Soul Ferry". As expected, he saw Zhu Zhenhua sitting alone by the window.

"Hello, Mr. Zhu." Meng Bai walked over and introduced himself with a smile in the other party's surprised look: "Arc Light Films, Meng Bai."

"You are Mr. Meng!" Although he was somewhat shocked by the other person's youth, Zhu Zhenhua quickly reacted and shook his hand, saying, "I am Zhu Zhenhua from Xiaotangren Culture."

Like Meng Bai, he had only heard of the other person but had never met him. In his imagination, Meng Bai should be an experienced and senior middle-aged man, probably the image of Wu Bai.

Unexpectedly, the other party turned out to be a young man.

However, despite his feelings, he did not look down on the other party. The other party's "Soul Ferry" opened the "first year of online dramas"; "Psychological Crime" ranked first in the number of views among all online dramas this year.

The success of one drama may be accidental, but the success of the second drama can only be a result of strength. His achievements are here, no matter how young he is, everyone will only praise him and say "Mr. Meng is indeed young and promising."

However, he was still a little confused about the invitation. According to his understanding, Arclight Films seemed to specialize in suspense-themed works and did not seem to have much experience in youth-themed works.

Thinking of this, Zhu Zhenhua didn't waste any more words and asked directly: "Mr. Meng, I heard that you are interested in my project?"

(End of this chapter)