Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 680 Visiting Team
Mr. Li came to Xiangshan to watch "The Longest Day in Chang'an". If he doesn't go to Hengdian on the way, won't people say he's being unfair?

"The Longest Day in Chang'an" is a super web series produced by Century Autumn. "Goodbye My Princess" cannot compare in terms of budget, but Jing Tian, ​​the female lead of "Goodbye My Princess", is a senior outsider of Century Autumn. Besides, the company currently has more than just "Goodbye My Princess" in Hengdian. There is also "Under the Power".

"You go and see for yourself on behalf of the company. The actors will definitely be happy to visit you on set."

Li Qiutang wants to revive the TV drama business, which means she has to work hard and thoroughly understand the company's productions.

Actually, the company didn't need to urge him to go to Hengdian. When Li Qiutang arrived in Xiangshan, the news that "Director Li Qiutang went to Xiangshan" had already been known by several major crews in Hengdian. Jing Tian was ordered by the "East Palace" crew to call Li Qiutang and invite him to Hengdian.

Li Qiutang was transferring trains from Xiangshan to Hengdian when, while she was still on her way, several crews in Hengdian received confirmation that Director Li was coming to visit Jing Tian on set.

"Tian Tian is really something, she managed to get the director to come."

"It has to be Tian Tian; we can't get anyone else to do it."

"I've had the director on WeChat for two years, but I haven't dared to say a single word to him."

He showered Jing Tian with compliments until she was almost dizzy.

"Oh dear, I just mentioned it casually, I didn't expect him to actually come." Jing Tian was still quite proud of herself.

The journey from Xiangshan to Hengdian takes three hours. Li Qiutang used the car to look at some TV series materials and handle some work.

Century Autumn was born to produce serious dramas. Many of the founding team members were brought out of the TV station by Cao Ping. It wouldn't be a big problem for this group to transition to web dramas, but it would be quite difficult to transition to idol dramas.

This is exactly the same as that of another company in the industry, Daylight Entertainment.

Both companies have the same founding team from television stations and the same background in serious dramas, and they both face the same transformation dilemma.

The difference is that Century Autumn is much larger in scale than Daylight Entertainment. Daylight Entertainment can continue to produce serious dramas, but there aren't enough serious dramas for Century Autumn to produce, and it's not compatible with other types of dramas, which will affect Century Autumn's development.

Is it difficult? Yes, it is, but we must do it, even if it is difficult.

To this end, Cao Ping specifically recruited a group of young people into the company as planners and project initiators, most of whom were women.

There's no way around it, idol dramas aren't made for male viewers!

The shift from television to websites may seem like just a change in broadcasting platforms, but it is actually a fundamental change in the way information is disseminated.

Whether the internet has changed movies is hard to say, but it is certainly profoundly changing television dramas.

"Hey, send me a summary table of the company's TV drama broadcasts over the past two years." Li Qiutang called back to the company to request a document.

The company already had this kind of information, so there was no need to organize it specially. The information was quickly sent to Li Qiutang's mobile phone.

Even in the fall of this century, there are flop dramas. For example, "The Perfect Wedding," which aired last year, had abysmal ratings and was utterly worthless.

There's also Dilraba's "Hot Girl", which eventually achieved an average viewership rating of over 1, but it aired during Hunan TV's prime time slot, so it can only be considered a hit.

This year's results were excellent. "Day and Night" became a huge hit and a phenomenon among web dramas; "Nothing Gold Can Stay," in which he continued to collaborate with Sun Li, was also very popular, and Sun Li really carried the ratings; the modern drama "The First Half of My Life" also became a hot topic of discussion among TV dramas of the year.

Did you notice? It's all serious drama.

There was only one idol drama, "Because of You," which was a minor hit.

The rest of the dramas were co-invested, with some losing money and some making money, but Century Autumn still maintained its leading position in the market.

This summer's blockbuster hit was "Princess Agents," which wasn't produced by the company. Zhao Liying's momentum is very strong, and she seems to be catching up with Sun Li.

In the current TV drama market, Sun Li is the leading actress in the Qingyi (mature female role), while there are many other young actresses, represented by Yang Mi, Shu Chang, and Zhao Liying. Securing the time slots of these four actresses means a huge hit.

Liu Shishi and Tang Yan have really fallen behind. Century Autumn wanted to collaborate with Zhao Liying, but they couldn't find a suitable project or secure her availability, which is a pity.

Overall, Century Autumn's core business of serious dramas is very stable, but under the great wave of the Internet, business expansion is somewhat difficult. It is trying to expand into the female market by making idol dramas. At present, it mainly learns from the experience of co-investing in other companies' projects, and occasionally produces one or two idol dramas on its own to test the waters.

It takes time, and Li Qiutang is giving it time; otherwise, she wouldn't have planned ahead for two years.

Thinking about company matters, Li Qiutang quickly drove to the entrance of the Qin Palace. Since Li Qiutang's car did not have a crew pass, it naturally could not enter. A deputy director of the crew was waiting at the entrance and went to greet Li Qiutang's car when it arrived.

"My butt's gone numb from sitting all the way here, let's walk." Refusing the assistant director's offer to take her to the set in the crew's car, Li Qiutang grabbed her thermos and walked away.

"You guys have been filming for a long time, haven't you?" Li Qiutang remembered hearing Jing Tian say a long time ago that "East Palace" was starting filming in Dunhuang.

"Yes, filming started in August, and it's been more than four months. We're wrapping up in Hengdian, so there's only about a week left of filming."

As the assistant director walked, he said, "You wouldn't believe it, but when we told the crew in the group chat that you were coming to visit the set, many of the actors who had finished filming said they wished they could stay a little longer."

"Once filming is over, I should just leave. I'm not some kind of superhuman, there's nothing to see here."

"We don't usually see you, who would have thought you'd come to visit the set of a TV series?"

“There aren’t many TV drama crews coming,” Li Qiutang admitted. “There aren’t many crews at the Qin Palace either, so there aren’t many people.”

"Today there are only two groups at Qin Palace, and more groups at Guangxiang Street and the Qingming Riverside Scene."

As they spoke, the group arrived at the film set. The crew was shooting in the square outside the Qin Palace, with the director's tent set up in a corner of the square.

Jing Tian, ​​dressed in a bright red robe, stood in the studio watching the playback.

"Director." The staff greeted Li Qiutang as he arrived.

According to industry practice, when a director visits another film set, the film crew also calls him "director," without adding his surname to distinguish him.

Call me Director, Director Qiutang, or even Director Li Qiutang in full. Just don't call me Director Li, and definitely don't call me President Li. Calling me President Li is like an insult.

When Jing Tian heard Li Qiutang arrive in the director's studio, she turned around and smiled, "Director, you're here."

It has to be admitted that Jing Tian looks really beautiful in this outfit.

Director Li Muge stood up and replied, "Distinguished guest."

Li Qiutang's assistant presented the gifts for the visit, which the two accepted.

"You guys are almost done filming, right?" Li Qiutang sat down and chatted. "How's Tian Tian? Was it easy to film her?" Li Qiutang had known Jing Tian for 11 years, but had only filmed her twice, and both times were not easy.

Jing Tian is actually not easy to film, but Li Muge won't say that on the spot. "Once the crew gets along well, filming will be quick."

Li Muge prefers shooting on location. He says, "Shooting on location takes time, but it greatly reduces the pressure on post-production. So it's not a waste."

Li Qiutang arrived in Hengdian in the afternoon. In Hengdian, it gets dark early in winter, and daylight is precious. After exchanging only a few words, Jing Tian returned to the film set to continue working.

In the evening, the film crew hosted a dinner for Li Qiutang, but the crew of another drama from the same company, "Under the Power," couldn't come because they were filming a night scene.

However, Li Qiutang saw Zhao Liying at the dinner party.

"Director, it's been a long time." Zhao Liying came over with a cup, smiling broadly.

(End of this chapter)