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

Chapter 143 See You Again

It was similar to the last celebration party for "Soul Ferry", except that the playback data displayed this time increased from the previous "500 million" to "1.2 billion".

"Ah, 1.2 billion views." Liu Jun put his arm around Meng Bai's shoulders and said, "Brother, I think your record will definitely earn you the best video of the year."

Meng Bai smiled, shook his head and said, "It's difficult. The number of viewers in the online drama market is growing at a very fast rate. We thought the 500 million figure was a lot last year, but it wasn't long before it was surpassed. It's the same now. Maybe in a few months, there will be a new hit drama."

But he did not forget that this year's online drama market also has the "super bomb" "Grave Robbers' Chronicles" from Penguin Video.

As one of the strongest IPs in domestic entertainment, not to mention the production quality, the name alone is worth "one billion views".

"Haha, it doesn't matter. The bigger the market, the more money we can make." Liu Jun said with great perspective.

After chatting for a while, he asked again: "The 'Review and Reform Conference' will be held in a few days. Are you ready to speak?"

Since it is a "seminar", naturally everyone from the official to the video platform to the practitioners will express their ideas.

Especially for producers like Arclight Films, which is currently in the first echelon of the domestic online drama market, their ideas and opinions will still be taken very seriously.

"Of course we have prepared it a long time ago." Meng Bai looked at Liu Jun and asked, "What do you think about Leshi.com now?"

"What else can I think of?" Liu Jun spread his hands and said, "I just hope to reduce censorship and control as much as possible. In the end, we will definitely have to follow the instructions of the higher-ups anyway."

Meng Bai frowned, thinking that the force was a little too light.

But it is understandable. After all, Leshi.com is a listed company and is greatly influenced by policies. It always has to make trade-offs and it is difficult for it to make any extraordinary moves.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Liu Jun asked, "Why, brother, what's your attitude?"

Meng Bai smiled, took a sip of the water in the glass, and said calmly: "My attitude is very simple. In addition to ensuring public order and good customs and legal requirements, we will fully lift restrictions on the subject matter and content of the online drama market. The relevant departments will only do post-production supervision and will not set up pre-production review."

"You..." Liu Jun took a breath of cold air: "It would be strange if you could pass this condition."

Meng Bai smiled: "I know."

"I know you still do this."

"Negotiation means asking for a high price and paying it back. If you don't ask for a higher price in the early stage, how can you create room for compromise?" Meng Bai said, "If you want to open a window, you have to first talk about removing the roof, so that you can finally open the window."

"Okay, it has to be you." Liu Jun gave a thumbs up. "Then it seems that our attitude should be more intense. However, I'm afraid that it won't be enough if there are only two of us."

"Don't worry." Meng Bai smiled and said, "I have already contacted Qiyi TV and Souhu Video, and they will also cooperate and strengthen their attitude."

"Wait." Liu Jun frowned and asked, "When did you start cooperating with these two companies?"

Damn, Arclight Films is now the top general of Leshi.com, why did it contact other platforms first?

Meng Bai explained: "Didn't I say before that I was planning to invest in a youth-themed web drama? That project is in cooperation with Qiyi TV."

Liu Jun thought about it and it seemed to be true. At that time, he considered that the risk-return ratio was not high, so he did not invest. Unexpectedly, he found Qiyi TV again.

"Besides..." Meng Bai said, "Don't forget, their movie 'Grave Robbers' this year is also a 'high-risk subject'."

"What about Sou Fox?"

"They collaborated with Tangren on a web drama this year, which is a supernatural fantasy drama similar to Soul Ferry. If the censorship of web dramas is tightened, they will also be uncomfortable."

Just like the previous struggle with TV stations, the online drama industry has temporarily united in the face of a common "external enemy".

After comparing notes with Liu Jun, Meng Bai walked around the room holding the wine glass and finally came to Li Qin's side.

After taking a look at her condition, Meng Bai smiled and said, "Teacher Li didn't drink much this year."

Li Qin paused for a moment and immediately thought of the celebration party after the first season of "Soul Ferry" last year.

I had drunk a few too many glasses at the time, and this guy helped me back to the room, and then...

A year later, the same scene, but the mood is very different.

"What's wrong?" Meng Bai sat next to her: "You don't seem to be in a good mood tonight."

"Is it obvious?" Li Qin asked.

Meng Bai raised his eyebrows: "I pay more attention to it."

Li Qin pursed her lips, and a smile appeared on her cold face.

"By the way, we at Arclight will start preparing for two more projects next month. One is a forensic crime drama, and the other is a campus-themed youth drama. Are you interested in trying it out?"

"Campus drama?" Li Qin asked in confusion, "Isn't Arclight mainly about suspense? How come there's suddenly another campus drama?"

She had heard of the forensic project before and even bought the book for it.

It’s a pity that the description in the book was a bit too realistic. She couldn’t continue reading halfway through, and now it is gathering dust in the corner beside her bed.

"It's okay for a team to work on a theme, but for a film and television company, the risk is too great, and they always have to explore new areas." Meng Bai said: "I just happened to see a good project, so I plan to invest and give it a try. How about it, are you interested in giving it a try? But then again, it doesn't seem to suit your style." Li Qin squinted and looked over: "What do you mean? Am I not suitable for campus dramas?"

"Ha, how could that be? No matter which high school Teacher Li goes to now, they won't check your student ID at all." Meng Baidui laughed and said, "I'm just saying that the role of the heroine may not be suitable for you."

The heroine of "The Best of Us" is called "Geng Geng", a lively, cheerful, cute girl who is not very good at studying.

Not to mention the appearance, even the character's setting is very different from Li Qin.

In comparison, she is actually more suitable for the role of the beautiful, cool and noble daughter of a wealthy family in Korean idol dramas.

Roughly similar to the less unruly "Liu Rachel" in "The Heirs".

Listening to his explanation, Li Qin smiled slightly, but then fell silent again.

Meng Bai was now certain that this girl really had something wrong. Just as he was about to ask, Li Qin spoke first, "Come for a walk with me."

"Now?" Meng Bai looked around and found that the celebration banquet had not ended yet.

"Is it inconvenient?" Li Qin stared at him.

"It's not inconvenient at all." Meng Bai stood up and made an inviting gesture: "Please come in, Teacher Li."

Going out from the side door of the hotel, there is a small side road outside. Both sides of the road are full of parked cars, which has reduced the originally wide two-lane road to a single lane.

After walking a few steps along the path, Li Qin rubbed his hands. It was not yet the end of the first month of the lunar calendar, and it was cold in northern Beijing, with the temperature at night even below zero.

Seeing her looking at him, Meng Bai tightened his down jacket and said, "Don't look at me. I only have this one coat. Or if you don't mind, you can wear it with me."

"No, you can put it on yourself."

The street lights on the path were not very bright, and the light was dim at intervals. But there was an advantage, which was that there was no need to worry about being recognized or photographed secretly.

"What happened to you tonight?" Meng Bai spoke first.

“It’s nothing, actually. I just suddenly realized that the Soul Ferry project has ended. It seems that there won’t be any chance for us to meet again in the future. I have a feeling of parting.” Li Qin said.

"Oh, I thought it was something else." Meng Bai waved his hand nonchalantly: "This project is over, there are new projects. Don't worry, the door of our Arclight Films will always be open to you, Teacher Li."

Li Qin's mouth twitched, but she didn't laugh. She was silent for a while, then continued, "The studio did some statistics some time ago, and found that the cost-effectiveness of online dramas in terms of popularity growth, star status, and pay is too low. So..."

She paused, sniffed, and then continued, "So from the perspective of future development, I may still focus on TV dramas in the future."

In fact, the company and her agent had discussed this issue with her as early as after the broadcast of "Soul Ferry".

She took the role under the pretext of "a breakthrough in her role positioning". The final result did help her expand her acting range a little, but it did not help her much in terms of overall development.

Of course, she knew that she agreed mainly because of the profit sharing.

But when Meng Bai approached her with the script for the second part, she actually had no choice but to refuse it.

It was just that on the one hand, she wanted to bring this role and story to a complete end, and on the other hand, it was because of Meng Bai that she resisted the pressure from the company and filmed the second season.

But now, with the entire series coming to an end, she naturally has no reason to stay with the web drama.

"TV series..." Meng Bai suddenly realized. No wonder the girl asked him during the day whether Arclight Films had any plans to make a TV series.

After a pause, he smiled and said, "That's good too. I've said it before, you're still suitable for developing in the direction of ancient puppet dramas or CCTV's serious dramas."

Seeing that the girl was silent, Meng Bai comforted her, "It's okay, it's not a life-and-death separation. We have worked together for so long, it's always a good thing to have a more suitable path. Anyway, we are all in the same circle, maybe one day, Arclight Films will start filming a TV series or a movie, then there will be opportunities for cooperation."

Li Qin closed her eyes tightly to hide the dampness, and said with a smile: "Okay, then I hope Teacher Meng can still give me a bite of food by then."

"Well, it's hard to say." Meng Bai said, "If there are too many actresses who want to work with you, and you can't pass the audition, I can't do anything about it."

Li Qin laughed when she heard this. She had heard this before.

"Well, wish us a happy goodbye then." Li Qin looked at him and said.

"Yes, I will." Meng Bai nodded with a smile.

The two turned around and walked back.

"Meng Bai!" Li Qin suddenly shouted.

Meng Bai turned around and smelled a fragrance, and then he felt a woman hugging him.

He hesitated for a moment, but finally raised his hand and embraced the other person.

Only lovesickness resembles the beauty of spring, and I will send you home from south to north of the river.

(End of this chapter)