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

Chapter 205 Can we invite "Screenwriter Meng Bai"?
After living with Li Yitong for a week, Meng Bai finally realized how happy it is to have a girlfriend who can dance.

During the day, he started adapting the script of "Ghost Blows Out the Light: The Mystical Ancient City".

In the evening, I studied the twenty-seven postures of folk dance with "Boss Li".

For example, the stepping song style, the willow-moving style, the double-wing style, the sun-chasing style and so on.

What a joy.

The only problem was that this neighborhood was in Xicheng, and he had to cross half of northern Beijing every day to get to Huguang.

Of course, he would not persuade the girl to move east.

Song Zhi's community is on the East Fifth Ring Road. When Li Qin comes to northern Beijing next year, he will definitely choose Chaoyang, which is close to Rong Xinda. They are not far away.

Fortunately, actors are working outside almost all year round, otherwise they would be in trouble in less than half a year.

"Where are you going today?"

Early in the morning, Li Yitong lay on Meng Bai's chest, looking up and asked.

"Teacher He has a movie premiering today. I will be collaborating with him on a show later, so I have to go and show my support." Meng Bai introduced them and then asked, "What about you? I see you haven't been working these past few days."

Li Yitong smiled sweetly: "Not really, Sister Qi has been urging me these past two days. Also, Director Wu Bai said he has a play over there and wants me to audition."

"Ah, it's the movie 'The Bad Guys' that he's going to shoot at the end of the year, right?"

"Yes, Director Wu said that he thought I was a good match for the role of the heroine and wanted me to give it a try."

Meng Bai nodded. He knew about this project. Wu Bai had talked about it a long time ago. It was an anime adaptation with a suspenseful martial arts theme.

Wu Bai is naturally the director, and the screenwriter is the original screenwriter of the animation to adapt it. The producer and cooperation platform is naturally the animated version of Qiyi TV.

As for the producer, Meng Bai was simply a figurehead, and the main work was left to Liu Zhi.

This kid has been working as an executive producer with me for two years, so it's time to give him a small production to practice his skills.

This is also the first major project since the establishment of Arclight Films that Meng Bai did not participate in the production. It can be regarded as a training exercise.

After all, as Arclight Pictures expands in scale, more and more projects are launched at the same time. It is unrealistic to rely on Meng Bai alone, and we have to start cultivating reserve forces in advance.

As for the results, Meng Bai's requirement for Wubai is to have a playback volume of 100 to 200 million, as long as he can break even.

Don’t think that 100 million or 200 million views are nothing just because the top online dramas such as "Forensic Qin Ming" and "Grave Robbers' Chronicles" have reached 2 billion views.

In fact, for more than 80% of the projects in the entire online drama market, it is already very good if they can achieve a box office of over 100 million during the broadcast period.

The vast majority of dramas hover around 70 to 80 million, and then accumulate slowly over time.

After flirting with Li Yitong for the whole morning, Meng Bai returned to his apartment, took a shower, changed into formal clothes, and then went to Wanda Cinema in the CBD of northern Beijing in a refreshing outfit.

This is where the premiere of "Gardenia Blossoms" was held.

"Teacher He, Mr. Meng from Arclight Films is here."

The assistant hurried into the backstage and said something to He Jiong.

"Okay, I understand. Please ask him to go to the guest area to rest first."

He Jiong responded and said to Huang Lei who was chatting, "Teacher Huang, I have a guest coming over here. I'll go over there first."

"Okay, you go ahead and get busy. Leave this to me." Huang Lei said.

For this movie, He Jiong found a creative team consisting mostly of people he knew.

For example, Huang Lei, his friend for many years, is responsible for the production of this film.

Watching He Jiong's hurriedly leaving back, the leading actors and staff including Huang Lei who were preparing backstage couldn't help but wonder, who is this "Mr. Meng"?

Judging from He Jiong's attitude, it seems to be quite important.

Of course, not everyone is unclear.

Song Zhi, wearing a white dress, was sitting aside, preparing to go on stage, when she suddenly heard someone mention "Mr. Meng". She immediately realized that it should be Meng Bai.

Pursing her lips to hold back the joy in her heart, she took out her cell phone and sent a WeChat message.

【You are here? 】

After waiting for a long time, Meng Bai finally replied to her.

[Yes, I just came here.]

【What are you doing?】

【I'm talking to your director about you. 】

【…】

Song Zhi put away his phone, unable to help but tap his toes in embarrassment. Why did he suddenly feel like a teacher meeting a parent?

On the other side, Meng Bai looked at the row of ellipsis she sent and grinned.

In fact, he had just seen He Jiong walking over from the work area passage at the side.

This girl is really something. Use your brain and think about it. If you are really chatting with her, how should you reply to her WeChat?

"Teacher He, congratulations!"

"Congratulations, Mr. Meng. The new drama is a huge success!" He Jiong said enthusiastically.

Meng Bai paused for a moment, then realized that the drama he was talking about should be "The Disguiser".

Since the first week of the show's broadcast, its ratings have remained stable between 2.4 and 2.5, firmly occupying the top spot in the prime time of major satellite TV stations during the same period.

At the same time, the drama is also very popular online. There are countless re-creations and editings of various plots and characters, and any of them can get a good amount of views.

The sophisticated production, excellent plot, and idol-like male and female protagonists attracted a large number of young audiences who had not watched much spy war dramas before.

Many film and television companies in the industry have begun to explore whether the trend of "spy war dramas" has returned.

"The Disguiser" has not yet finished airing, but there are already a large number of spy war projects waiting in line for approval.

Listening to He Jiong's congratulations, Meng Bai said politely: "It's mainly because of the production level of Noon Sunshine. I'm just a screenwriter."

"You can't say that. For a TV series, the most important thing is the script. I saw many viewers online saying that they were interested in watching the show only after knowing that the screenwriter was Meng Bai."

He Jiong's words were not nonsense. The name "screenwriter Meng Bai" has gradually become known to many audiences in the past two years with the huge hit of several online dramas of Arc Light.

Because Arclight Films also promoted "The Disguiser", many Arclight fans knew that the screenwriter was Meng Bai, so they chose to watch the show.

Some viewers also checked the production team online after watching the drama.

After seeing Meng Bai's name, I exclaimed, "So it's the script written by Meng Bai, no wonder."

There are even some film and television companies that want to take advantage of the "spy war drama" trend. They don't understand the online drama market and are asking around to invite "Teacher Meng Bai" to write new scripts.

When this news reached Meng Bai, he was left in a state of confusion.

The script of "The Disguiser" was originally co-produced with Noon Sunshine, which was a coincidence.

Now that ArcLight Pictures is on the right track and he has his own production team, it will be almost impossible for him to hand over the script to other companies in the future.

Meng Bai is happy about the popularity of "The Disguiser", as it means that Arc Light's share of the 10 million yuan investment is secure.

In fact, Noon Sunshine has already transferred 60% of the profits.

The rest will be settled only after the show is finished and the TV station returns the payment.

This money will be received by the end of the year, and together with the share of "Forensic Qin Ming" from Leshi.com, ArcLight's account will immediately be well-funded and it can continue with new projects next year.

"By the way, do you have any suggestions on the selection of members for "Who's the Detective?" He Jiong asked about the show again.

Meng Bai said: "I actually talked to He Chen before. It would be best if the members could have an assessment before deciding on the final list."

"Assessment?"

"It doesn't have to be complicated. Just make a simplified version of the show scene and let the invited guests do some simple investigation, reasoning and narration."

Programs like "Star Detective" are different from other variety shows, and the requirements for regular members are quite high.

The requirement here is not to be very smart. In fact, it is difficult to find a few particularly smart stars.

This show has many elements, including reasoning, logic, acting, narration, emotion, comedy, and show effects...

It is enough if one of these elements stands out.

Therefore, Meng Bai suggested to He Chen that he should first select a "big list" with a larger number of people, and then invite them one by one to do an "assessment test".

The program team will classify and score each person based on the results of the assessment test.

Later, based on these data, the most suitable candidates will be selected as permanent members of the program.

There is no need to waste the rest of the ones who perform well. You can invite them as guest stars later.

"I have contacted Mr. Sa before." He Jiong said, "If it is just for the video platform, CCTV has not yet imposed any restrictions, so there should be no problem."

"That's great." Meng Bai said with a smile.

Actually, it doesn't matter who the other members are. There are only two core members - He Jiong and Sa Bening.

I wonder what the effect will be when these two top hosts in the domestic hosting industry come together.

(End of this chapter)