Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 717 Signing a Contract
In fact, Li Qiutang didn't watch a single episode of "Produce 101".

However, he had heard a great deal about Yang Chaoyue's marketing skills.

Yuehua Entertainment was a partner of the "Produce 101" program, which was initially designed to promote Yuehua artists.

But no one expected Yang Chaoyue to suddenly appear out of nowhere.

After she emerged as a breakout star, the show began to favor her in terms of viewership.

Technically speaking, Yang Chaoyue really doesn't know anything, but she has one thing that she's better than all the other girls on the show.

She clearly realized that this was not just a singing and dancing competition, but also a variety show. Singing and dancing were not the key; talent was the most important.

This isn't to say that she did it on purpose; all her performances were for the audience's benefit.

Rather, it's that her upbringing shaped her perspective on the show, and from her own perspective, that's how she came to see it.

She's a naturally gifted performer; it's not that she's deliberately acting like this.

To be honest, after Yang Chaoyue became famous, Mubu Culture and Tencent were planning to sacrifice her to pave the way for other artists. But they didn't expect her to become so popular and bring in so much traffic. So Mubu Culture and Tencent took the opportunity to promote her.

As for director Jiang Wen going to the "Produce 101" set to promote "Hidden Man," Li Qiutang felt that this was also an innovation, and it seems that Jiang Wen is under a lot of pressure.

Li Qiutang is going to meet a director today. He has been personally in charge of the Towering Tree Project. He has been busy filming these past two years and hasn't met with many new directors. Now he has to get back to work.

Today he's meeting another fellow Northeasterner, Shen Ao.

She was only two years younger than him and came to see Li Qiutang with her first feature film, "The Beneficiary," which she wrote and planned to direct.

Shen Ao is a new director, but he is not unfamiliar with Li Qiutang. He joined the Towering Tree Project in 16 through an introduction, but he had never figured out what to film. This time, he finally came up with an idea and wrote a script, and came to Li Qiutang to ask for credit.

Li Qiutang glanced at the script and, to be honest, Shen Ao's current version of the script was somewhat rough. In fact, the story of "The Beneficiary" even had the feel of a melodramatic soap opera.

His explanation was: "The general story has been decided, and we are preparing accordingly. We will gradually refine it later."

As a newcomer, Li Qiutang doesn't have high expectations; as long as the questions aren't too outrageous and can be explained logically, that's fine.

The dark humor crime story "The Beneficiary" has always been popular. Although Shen Ao's story is a bit melodramatic, Li Qiutang thinks there won't be any problems as long as the costs are controlled.

Li Qiutang gave Shen Ao two suggestions regarding the script, and then asked him:
Have you finalized the casting yet?

"We're still in talks. There are plenty of actors who can play a role like Wu Hai. I was thinking of casting Lei Jiayin, but he..."

"He's too expensive, isn't he?" Li Qiutang guessed right away.

Wu Hai, this kind of middle-aged loser, is indeed Lei Jiayin's comfort zone, but Lei Jiayin has already become famous, especially with "How Long Will I Love U" now grossing 8 million yuan. Shen Ao's money is not enough to hire Lei Jiayin.

"The Beneficiary" is not the kind of film that could persuade Lei Jiayin to lower his fee to star in it.

As the producer, Li Qiutang could invite Lei Jiayin on Shen Ao's behalf, but Li Qiutang knew something Shen Ao didn't: "Don't bother with Lei Jiayin. 'The Longest Day in Chang'an' nearly killed him, and he won't be taking on any more roles this year." As Century Autumn's super project for next year, Li Qiutang has been paying close attention to "The Longest Day in Chang'an."

Shen Ao also said, "There are many roles like Wu Hai that can be played. If not, I'll try another one." In fact, he was also worried that Lei Jiayin's asking price was too high and he couldn't afford it.

Shen Ao doesn't need Li Qiutang to help him find actors for the time being.

"Do you want to play the role of Yue Miaomiao?"

“Sure, I’ll save myself some trouble.” The boss wanted the female lead, what could he say? “You want Yifei to act in it for me?” Li Qiutang smiled and said, “Go ask her, if she agrees I won’t say a word.”

"Forget it, I wouldn't dare to dream of Liu Yifei acting for me." This is no joke; many directors are hesitant to hire Liu Yifei.

Li Qiutang continued, "I'll find you a top celebrity to help sell tickets. How about Shu Chang?"

"Okay!" Shen Ao's hesitation for even a second would be disrespectful to Shu Chang.

He's a top star in the drama industry, and one of the best actors among the post-85 generation. What could he possibly be dissatisfied with?

"Isn't she too expensive? I can't afford to hire her."

"Don't worry, Shu Chang's movie salary isn't high. I'll talk to her for you. Once it's settled, I'll give her your WeChat ID so you can chat."

"That's good."

There is indeed a divide between the television drama industry and the film industry, and Shu Chang's transition has not been smooth.

Li Qiutang, her brother-in-law, can help her for now, but she still has to walk her own path. Big-budget films and directors won't be looking for her for the time being. She's willing to act in low-budget productions with newcomers, but she just can't seem to find good roles. Fortunately, she still has a job in the film industry, so she can keep looking for something better while she's still working.

"The Beneficiary" is not very good, but it is not bad either. Yue Miaomiao has a lot of screen time. Although she is the second female lead, it is not a bad thing to give her to Shu Chang.

The two then discussed some preparatory issues and problems encountered in the application for the Australian visa. Li Qiutang either promised to solve them for him or introduced relevant friends to help him.

"The Beneficiary" will be filmed entirely in Chongqing. Li Qiutang introduced Shen Ao to a friend who runs a film and television company in Chongqing and also taught him some of the unspoken rules of film crews:

"He helps you find venues and extras. You can ask them for anything in Chongqing, and it's all free. You should give them the crew's lunch boxes later so they don't work for nothing."

That's how local bullies make their money.

Applying for Australian visas is proving difficult.

"What's wrong?"

Shen Ao said, "Our producer took the boxed lunches to his friend, saying that he knew someone who could help us get the equipment sorted out."

Li Qiutang said, "Your production team can discuss this amongst yourselves." If things were done according to Li Qiutang's idea, the boxed lunch business would definitely have to be done with the local bigwigs in Chongqing, and coordinating the venue would be more important than renting equipment.

This is an unspoken rule in film crews. Everyone knows that film crew meals are profitable, and everyone wants to do this business. It all depends on how the crew divides the profits.

After communicating with Shen Ao for another half hour, Li Qiutang finally took his script and some materials and left.

I don't know what's wrong this year, but it seems like all the companies have slowed down the pace of releasing new films.

At least this year, I haven't heard of any company raising a lot of money to undertake large projects.

No sooner had I said that than the next day, a bombshell news story shocked the entire entertainment industry.

Huanxi Media announced a cooperation agreement with director Zhang Yimou: Zhang Yimou will direct three online TV series over the next 6-10 years (one of which may be converted into a film project depending on the circumstances), and Huanxi Media will have exclusive investment rights for the online series; in return, Huanxi Media offered Zhang Yimou a generous deal of 150 million shares plus 100 million yuan in creative funding, with the director's fee to be calculated separately.

The important thing isn't that Zhang Yimou signed with Huanxi Media, but that Zhang Yimou is going to film a web series!
Zhang Yimou, the national director, is making a web series?
By the way, when Huanxi Media signed Sunglasses last year, they also said they would invest 4 million yuan to produce an 18-episode web series for them. However, given Sunglasses' production efficiency, it might be eight to ten years before we see the series.

It seems that web dramas are really popular now.

(End of this chapter)