Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 574 New Endorsement
Many fans often criticize Red Star House for being useless, saying that besides paying social security for Liu Yifei, it does nothing else and even takes a share of Liu Yifei's earnings.

But actually, fans have misunderstood Red Star House. Red Star House does not take a cut of Liu Yifei's earnings.

It's not that Hongxingwu doesn't help the young lady find resources; often it's just that she doesn't want them, or that the company and her team have differing philosophies in some areas.

For example, in terms of endorsements, after Liu Yifei got married, many daily necessities and food products came to her door with endorsement offers that were not low. Red Star House wanted to take the offer, but Liu Yifei's team did not want it, feeling that with Liu Yifei's current status, endorsing these products would lower her image.

Liu Yifei is such a lazybones; she just wants to relax and enjoy herself. She's not in a hurry to get new endorsements, since she already has three endorsements—Dior, CICC, and Tissot—that keep her busy enough.

Red Star House couldn't force Liu Yifei to accept the endorsement, so they had to give up.

But today, the business manager of Hongxing House came from Yanjing to the "Now I'll See You" production team, and they must persuade Liu Yifei to accept this endorsement.

The company went to great lengths to secure this deal. It's not that just because you're a high-profile celebrity, brands will blindly stick with you. They have their own considerations, and the artist's side also needs to work hard to win them over.

Estée Lauder's brand ambassador in China.

It's really puzzling that Liu Yifei doesn't have any beauty product endorsements.

Liu Yifei was a little surprised by the company manager's sudden visit. To her shame, she hadn't been to the company this year and had almost forgotten the name of the company's business manager.

Estée Lauder may not be considered a top-tier luxury beauty brand, but it's not bad either; it's a well-known international brand and won't lower Liu Yifei's status.

Liu Yifei is not opposed to new endorsements, but she is not particularly happy about them either. She will accept them if they come, and she will not accept them if they don't.

After discussing Estée Lauder, the business manager asked, "Would you be willing to endorse a down jacket?"

"Why would someone accept a down jacket endorsement in the middle of summer?"

"They need to find spokespeople in advance so they can start promoting their products when winter comes. Bosideng down jackets contacted us a few days ago, hoping to sign you as their spokesperson. They want to go high-end and want to use a spokesperson to give them a boost." Relying on just one spokesperson certainly won't achieve a high-end strategy, but hiring a high-end spokesperson is indeed a good move.

The business manager laughed when the topic came up: "They said they noticed your two down jackets were worn out and wanted to get you a new one."

Liu Yifei said, "Old clothes fit better. My two down jackets are still in good condition, and I can't bear to throw them away."

"That's why they asked you to endorse their down jackets."

The business manager continued, saying that although it's true that celebrity endorsements should be of high quality rather than many, Liu Yifei has too few endorsements.

"Your fans criticize the company for its inaction every day. It's one thing that they don't provide you with film and television resources, but they also don't provide you with commercial endorsements."

"Tch." Liu Yifei didn't care about that; she was happy as long as the Red Star House didn't cause her any trouble.

In the end, Liu Yifei agreed to endorse Estée Lauder and Bosideng, one high-end and the other affordable (Bosideng is still an affordable brand).

Bosideng's endorsement does not conflict with Dior's.

In fact, business managers would love to fill Liu Yifei's endorsement list to the brim. Brands from footwear, bags, daily necessities, food and beverages, hair care, internet products, etc., all have their own brands seeking out Liu Yifei, charging her ten million yuan each—and that's considered low—Liu Yifei earns seventy to eighty million yuan a year without lifting a finger.

However, the business manager was still hesitant to open up, knowing that Liu Yifei didn't value money very much, and worried that doing so would offend her.

…………

Ironically, the movie "Love O2O," which was mainly produced and distributed by Huace Media and co-produced and distributed by Jaywalk Studio, was released on the same day as Qiu Tian's own "Big Fish & Begonia."

The former was a cooperation agreement reached by Huace Media in exchange for the investment share of the TV series and movie "Love O2O" in the film "Buddies in India" by Qiutian Pictures. The female lead of the TV series "Love O2O" was given to Jing Tian, ​​and it was broadcast in about ten days. Qiutian Pictures only briefly handled the film and sold its share of the movie to Jiaxing Media at par value without making a penny, but still acted as the distributor.

Jaywalk Studio signed a performance-based agreement with Autumn Pictures. Autumn Pictures can't just stand by and do nothing; they still need to provide appropriate support. After all, Autumn Pictures wants Jaywalk Studio to fulfill the 3.1 million yuan performance-based agreement more than anyone else.

Jaywalk Studio cast Dilraba Dilmurat, who was relatively unknown at the time, in the film version of Bei Weiwei. Now, with the two films clashing, "Love O2O" is actually quite uncertain, while "Big Fish & Begonia," although an animated film, has been hyped up to an alarming degree, with its marketing campaign reaching across the entire internet.

In addition, there was another film before it, "The Lost Tomb," which has now grossed 7 million yuan.

But Gu Man is still Gu Man after all, and her IP still has a strong market. "Love O2O" sold 50 million copies on its first day.

Unfortunately, Big Fish & Begonia only grossed 6900 million on its opening day.

Li Qiutang still showed up at the "Big Fish & Begonia" event to support the film, once again calling on the industry to pay attention to animated films. He said that Qiutang's family's strength is really limited. Can Qiutang invest in 10 or 20 animation companies? Can he invest in 100 or 200?

Li Qiutang genuinely hopes that funds can flow into the animation industry.

Including its previous work, "Monkey King: Hero Is Back," Almond Films also sought partners, but few responded.

Because of its appeal to nostalgia, "Big Fish & Begonia" still attracted a few investors willing to give it a shot.

Compared to the profits she earns, Li Qiutang is willing to share the pie in order to expand the entire animated film industry.

But still, nobody believed him!

In fact, the investment threshold for animated films is much higher than that for live-action films, and it's not something that ordinary companies can handle.

Animated films generally have a longer production cycle than live-action films. Live-action films can be filmed this year and released next year, but animated films rely entirely on production, often taking three or four years to complete. If an animated film is finished in two years, it is considered to be extremely efficient.

The movie "Boonie Bears" is an exception.

However, the movie "Big Fish & Begonia" did not receive very good reviews. The setting was grand, the soundtrack was great, and the visuals were good, but the story was criticized by the audience as being too saintly.

The producer sent to the other side of the sky in the autumn discovered a problem with the story, but the creative team was incredibly stubborn, and the producer couldn't persuade Liang Xuan and Zhang Chun.

Big Fish & Begonia won over audiences with its nostalgia, but lost out on its plot.

If the story isn't enough, the visuals will do; if that's still not enough, the soundtrack will.

But then again, they just made the same mistake that all new directors make.

"Big Fish & Begonia" has at least delivered a strong commercial performance, grossing 2.27 million yuan in its opening weekend.

What could Li Qiutang do? Of course, she chose to forgive them.

In comparison, "Love O2O" only grossed 1.22 million yuan in its opening weekend, which should still be profitable for the production company, but this figure is far worse than the booming business of youth films two years ago.

The failures of the two youth films this year, "So Young 2" and "Love O2O," probably mark the end of the era of easy money in youth films, or rather, the concentrated outbreak point of problems in youth films—audiences are tired of melodramatic youth films, and investors are also withdrawing from this genre.

This further proves that Li Qiutang's decision to stop developing youth films was correct.

A good film can certainly overcome anything, but the trend of youth films has already passed. The "golden age of youth films," built on nostalgia and melodrama, came to an end this year.

But did anyone notice that in a corner of the theater, there was an animal documentary called "Born in China"?
Directed by Lu Chuan, with Zhou Xun providing the voiceover.

It's really hard to judge Lu Chuan. If you say he's bad, he has made a few good films, and this documentary is excellent; if you say he's great, he often plays with abstract concepts for the audience.

I heard that Lu Chuan is going to film a second part of "Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe", focusing on the mysterious Bureau 749.

(End of this chapter)