The battle for traffic in Chinese entertainment

Chapter 496 Company Affairs and Personal Future

Qu Mingzhen raised her head.

As expected, it was Xu Xing who came in.

Only Xu Xing would enter her office without knocking.

In fact, Xu Xing herself pays great attention to these little details. She used to be extremely polite in front of Qu Mingzhen, but she forgot which time after they joked around, Qu Mingzhen told Xu Xing that she could come in whenever she wanted.

"You came to the company right after getting off the plane? It's a pity that Manman has already flown to Shanghai again. Not long after she left, filming for 'Tang Dynasty Ghost Stories' will start soon. She is one of the producers of this drama and will be making an appearance."

"Sun Man told me. I came to see you."

Xu Xing smiled and walked behind President Qu, preparing to give her a shoulder massage.

But to my surprise, she wasn't too happy about it.

"Why are you massaging my shoulders? Can't you do something else?"

Let's do something else first!

Before Xu Xing could even pick her up, she slid off the chair and down to Xu Xing's feet.

Knowing that Xu Xing would be coming to the company today and that Sun Man would not be there, General Manager Qu made preparations in advance.

Not only did I get a full-body treatment, but I also got cleaned up. Once it started, I became completely absorbed and entranced, even a little crazy.

Even previous short reunions were never like this.

It seems like she's jealous.

"I didn't! Don't talk nonsense!"

Qu Mingzhen, unusually satisfied, embraced Xu Xing's body, her voice hoarse and languid.

"If not, then so be it," Xu Xing said, stroking her back which was as soft and smooth as silk. "Is Sister Rong jealous?"

“There should be,” Qu Mingzhen said with certainty. “Rongrong has been getting gentler and gentler with Manman. This time, she specifically told Manman that if she wants to have a child, she must tell her.”

"...Is this jealousy?"

"Otherwise what? Do you want to see Rongrong start being mean to Manman?"

"That's not true."

"But Manman also had her own agenda; she ran away the very next day."

"So you finally admit that you had ulterior motives when you ran away before?"

"...No way! I didn't run away the next day!"

"It was run a week later."

"Who wouldn't run away during that week? It felt like being imprisoned by a perverted lecher, okay?"

"I imprisoned you? You were the one who was really into it too, okay?"

"No... You're the one who betrayed my trust. Who could have known you were such a pervert? That week was just... if Rongrong had installed cameras at home, she would definitely think she'd been deceived by you for over twenty years and would immediately cut ties with you!"

"You don't like it?"

"I couldn't help but like it—uh, no, I really did. That was the craziest week of my life... If I didn't like it, I wouldn't be listening to you so much now~"

They hugged and chatted tenderly for a long time before going to the rest room to shower. By the time they got dressed, dried their hair, and were properly dressed again, it was almost six o'clock in the afternoon.

Only then did the two begin to talk about serious matters.

Xu Xing came over mainly to talk about work.

First, let's talk about the status of the company's several projects.

This year has been another year for Zheng Rong to stand out among film and television companies, continuing the strong performance of last year.

Excluding some of the investments, Zheng Rong's own productions, such as "Signal," "The Silent Truth," the web series "Detective Chinatown," "I Am Yu Huanshui," "Ashes of Love," and "The Romance of Tiger and Rose," have been hits one after another throughout the year.

Multiple themes are being explored.

Next year, Zhengrong will mainly produce "The Strange Tales of the Tang Dynasty" which Qu just mentioned, Xu Xing's "The Snow Sword", Meng Ziyi's "The Starry Sky", Zhang Ruonan's "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", and Tian Xiwei's "Qingqing's Daily Life".

There's also Hou Minghao and Sheng Ke's "The Hunting Crime Illustrated Guide".

—The grand-scale "BL Adaptation 101" project is in full swing within the industry, and Zheng Rong has also decided to participate. Having failed to secure a major BL IP, they ultimately decided to continue with Zheng Rong's focus on mystery and deduction. This script wasn't just something Zheng Rong's writing department casually cobbled together. Two of the scriptwriters, Wu Yao and Jia Dongyan, were from the writing department, and Jia Dongyan had previously worked with Zheng Rong on the TV series adaptation of "The Message."

The realistic themes are mainly Guo Jingfei and Teacher Tong's "The Rival".

Among the projects that haven't been officially approved yet, there's "Raging Storm," written by director Xu Jizhou, who has already accepted Zheng Rong's invitation to create a TV series on the theme of cracking down on organized crime. The script is expected to be finalized early next year.

For film and television companies, this kind of drama is, to some extent, also a "mission-oriented drama." Zheng Rong didn't go to shoot the mainstream dramas that he hadn't accumulated experience in, so this kind of drama about cracking down on organized crime is relatively easier to do.

Mr. Qu is a master at getting approvals approved.

In addition, there is Xin Shuang's next work, which has been in development since "The Hidden Corner" and is currently called "The Long Season" (also known as "Winter Blade").

It's unclear when this project will start filming. Director Xin just joined the project team after completing his period of reflection, and it's said that it's still far from being finalized, and filming may not even start next year.

Then came the second season of "Joy of Life".

If all goes well, filming will begin at the end of next year or the beginning of the year after.

Finally, there's "Dark Glory," a drama that Xu Xing revealed in advance. It's expected to be officially launched and begin production next year.

I won't mention the other dramas that were invested in and produced by companies like Jiaxing and Hesong.

Other topics related to dramas include "Sweet Home," which is scheduled to premiere on the 18th of next month, and "Childhood Games," which will premiere on January 1st of next year.

"Sweet Home" is a work by Zheng Rong's Korean branch, while "Childhood Games" is a work by Gangcheng Company.

Mr. Qu offered a few words of encouragement, hoping that both ventures would be highly successful and that Zheng Rong would gain a foothold in the Korean and Hong Kong drama markets.

Before the drama even aired, Xu Xing simply expressed her agreement.

In terms of film.

Because of the better-than-expected box office performance of "A Little Red Flower", Zheng Rong ultimately did not choose to release "Sheep Without a Shepherd 2" this year, after all, the male lead Wang Baoqiang was moved to next year.

"Bad Genius" is scheduled to be released next month, on December 25th, which is Christmas Day, a Friday.

Filming for "Sheep Without a Shepherd 3" began at the beginning of the month.

The male protagonist ultimately chose Deng Chao.

Zheng Rong internally felt that if they used the much cheaper Ray Jiayin, the box office ceiling might only be 20 billion.

Deng Chao's price wasn't as high as initially expected; they eventually agreed on 3000 million. Deng Chao said he mainly liked the script very much.

That's certainly true.

Zheng Rong's initial intention to invite him to star in the drama was not very strong; it was just a preliminary contact. Two months later, Deng Chao's team took the initiative to contact Zheng Rong, expressing that he did not want to miss out on the script.

There was also a little anecdote: Xu Zheng also expressed some interest in the script.

Those in the industry know that when Zheng Rong was making the "Sheep Without a Shepherd" series, he was considering whether to use big names to boost box office or "newcomers" to reduce costs.

However, before any formal contact was even made, Deng Chao's team already agreed that they only needed 3000 million.

In terms of personal image, Xu Zheng is more suitable than Deng Chao; he can truly portray a wolf in sheep's clothing.

However, his recent falling out with the theater director, along with his wife's messy relationship with Zhang Ting's family, made it impossible for Zheng Rong to choose him.

In addition, one of the roles in this movie has been recast.

After Xu Xing gave Fan Chengcheng the opportunity to star in the Hollywood film "Don't Look Up," Fan Chengcheng's team declined the offer to play a minor role as the son in "Sheep Without a Shepherd 3" just two days later.

It's unclear whether there's a direct connection. Perhaps his team feels that Xu Xing's energy is so extraordinary that taking this minor role would be a waste, and they're waiting for a more important role in the future.

But he didn't want it to be just right.

After Teacher Fan started making waves, Xu Xing only needed to invest in Teacher Fan; he wouldn't be given any important roles in the future.

Now, Xu Xing has taken this role and changed it to a daughter, to give the younger generation a sweet treat.

Fan Chengcheng said he wouldn't act, and a bunch of calls immediately went to Xu Xing and the executives at Zheng Rong, but in the end, Tian Xiwei was chosen.

The director chose Kevin Ke.

The film "The Invisible Guest" is a bit dull overall. Kevin Ke will only be criticized for overacting, not for being dull.

From a business perspective, it's best to consider this.

The main project for the time being is "Sheep Without a Shepherd 4". It has been confirmed that it will be "The Tuner", starring Hsu Hsing herself, and it is expected to be filmed next year.

In terms of film, Zheng Rong is currently mainly investing in projects of other companies, and its own projects are based on Xu Xing's scripts, and it is mainly a television drama company.

However, other film projects are also in the works, though they may not necessarily come to fruition in the end.

Xu Xing asked casually and felt that the project "Fishing" was somewhat familiar. After looking at the script outline and thinking about it, he realized that it was "All In" which had been controversial for plagiarism.

It's still version -1 of "All or Nothing".

Hopefully, the copyright issues can be resolved as clearly as possible this time.

After discussing company matters, we started talking about Xu Xing.

The scheduling for film, television, and audio is actually quite clear.

Mr. Qu always said he hoped Xu Xing wouldn't overschedule herself and tire herself out.

Hsu Hsing's responses were always about taking advantage of her youth and high energy to work harder.

This time, we'll mainly talk about the pursuit of awards.

Last year, Xu Xing starred in three films and television series: "The Wandering Earth," "Joy of Life," and "Someday or One Day," all of which were huge hits. However, despite being nominated for Best Actor at most of the major domestic awards, he has yet to win any awards.

—Among them, during last year's Golden Rooster Awards selection period for "The Wandering Earth", Xu Xing did not receive a Best Actor nomination and did not attend.

Of course, Hsu Hsing swept all the purely vote-based awards, such as the audience's favorite.

Therefore, Xu Xing did not attend any of those award ceremonies.

These three works are indeed very commercial, so there's no need to compete for them, and Zheng Rong didn't try to promote them either. But next year, "Signal" and "A Little Red Flower" are both contenders for awards.

"So, you should still take some time to go to Xiamen for the Golden Rooster Awards at the end of the month. You're pretty sure to win Best Actor for 'Little Red Flower' next year, and you should be able to win Best Screenplay for 'Sheep Without a Shepherd' this year without any surprises."

Mr. Qu made the suggestion.

"also."

Xu Xing nodded.

Xu Xing has always valued reciprocity, so she went to show her support first.

Finally, we talked about the upcoming reshoots for "Blossoms Shanghai".

"Will it be too late for next year's Cannes?"

"Judging from this situation, we won't make it."

"Then it will have to be the year after next. We can wait a little longer."

"Ah."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Xu Xing stayed in the capital for two days.

Having taken care of everyone who needed it, it was actually quite relaxing.

Then I flew to the city of Hai.

"Sister Man just left. She said she was going back to Beijing because of a very urgent meeting."

Zhou Jieqiong said cautiously.

She sensed that Xu Xing and Sun Man were showing some signs that were hard to understand, but she didn't say much about it.

"Hmm," Xu Xing said, not paying much attention, "Is Chaoyue still playing games?"

She had promised to attend the opening ceremony of "Tang Gui", but the two female leads were still in Haishi and the ceremony hadn't even started when she ran away.

Then let Xu Xing inspect Zhou Jieqiong and Yang Chaoyue, Pei Xijun and Yingtao!

The TV series "Tales of the Tang Dynasty" is adapted from the novel of the same name published in 2013.

In the previous life, it wasn't until 17 that Wei Fenghua, the novelist who was writing the screenplay with Guo Jingyu, had the idea of ​​adapting his novel into a film and television series. After Guo Jingyu approved it, they bought back the film and television rights from the publisher.

It was initially planned to be a web movie, but it was later changed to a TV series.

However, this time, the film and television adaptation rights to this novel were included in the list and acquired by Xu Xing during the IP sweep when Zheng Rong was founded.

At the beginning of last year, Zheng Rong contacted Wei Fenghua, who had already learned screenwriting experience from his mentor Guo Jingyu, and invited him to personally adapt the script for "Tang Gui".

Wei Fenghua immediately accepted the invitation, and Guo Jingyu also readily supported it.

The script was finalized this year, and the project was officially launched and preparations began.

The true male lead, Su Wuming, was played by Pan Yueming.

Although Yang Zhigang's original performance was so compelling that it seemed like no one else could do it, Xu Xing initially considered inviting Guo Jingyu's team to produce the series, with Yang Zhigang still playing Su Wuming.

But in that case, Zheng Rong would have to give them a significant share of the project.

After all, they own a company and prefer to work on their own projects.

Even with a substantial share allocated, it's hard to say whether such a collaboration might have unforeseen problems that could affect the filming of subsequent installments.

For example, Guo Jingyu suddenly felt that a certain script was particularly suitable for Yang Zhigang, so he put aside "Tang Gui" and let Yang Zhigang go back to film his own company's drama.

Therefore, it's still more reassuring to rely on our own people from the Zheng Rong Group.

Teacher Pan's acting skills are quite good. He can portray Su Wuming's temperament in a way that is refined, arrogant, silly and cute, and sinister.

The second male lead, Lu Lingfeng, uses the character Lucky Star Da Sha, Li Jiulin.

The fact that Pei Xijun, the female lead, chose Zhou Jieqiong can be seen as a way for Xu Xing to help her out.

Zhou Jieqiong is now a true member of our own people.

Her contract has been signed with Zheng Rong.

After the disbandment of IOI, the group that debuted through Produce 101, Zhou Jieqiong remained a member of Pristin, a group under her South Korean company Pledis Entertainment.

Her contract in China is with Star Shine, the Chinese subsidiary of Paradox Interactive.

However, Pristin wasn't profitable, so Paradox Interactive disbanded Pristin last May.

Zhou Jieqiong wanted Xu Xing to help her terminate her contract and sign her to Zhengrong.

But Pristin doesn't make money; Zhou Jieqiong does.

With Xu Xing's protection, Zhou Jieqiong has developed very well in mainland China in recent years.

P社 has been dragging its feet and unwilling to terminate the contract, and Zhou Jieqiong even wanted to unilaterally terminate the contract, so she slowly started a lawsuit.

It wasn't until Bigit acquired Paradox Interactive this year that Paradox finally relented, agreeing to a $500 million termination fee and leaving.

In June, Zhou Jieqiong officially announced her signing with Zhengrong.

Meanwhile, marketing accounts revealed that the newly launched project, "Tales of the Tang Dynasty," was Zheng Rong's signing gift to her, and filming finally began at the end of the year.

The second female lead, Cherry, is played by Yang Chaoyue.

Including "Ever Night 2", Yang Chaoyue has appeared in three dramas this year.

The other two dramas, "Dance of the Phoenix" and "Midsummer is Full of Stars", were both produced by Tencent. Xu Xing didn't interfere much; if they flopped, so be it. The main thing was to accumulate acting experience.

Xu Xing glanced at it a few times and felt that she was a bit stronger in her previous life. Although the difference was not obvious, she had only just started acting.

Yang Chaoyue performed quite well under Xu Xing's guidance; she acted whatever Xu Xing asked her to act.

This book, "Records of Strange Tales in the Tang Dynasty," also allowed Yang Chaoyue to accumulate experience.

After that, Xu Xing prepared a drama series for her, "The Legend of Canglan," in which she played the female lead.

So when "Tang Gui" was officially announced, there was a little incident. Zhou Jieqiong's name was listed first, which almost made Yang Chaoyue's fans furious.

The two fans engaged in a fierce online battle, leaving the villagers utterly humiliated and nearly losing face.

Yang Chaoyue's peak popularity was indeed higher than Zhou Jieqiong's, but two years have passed since "Produce 101" ended, and Yang Chaoyue has not produced any convincing results.

Zhou Jieqiong's professional skills and achievements are now better than hers.

First, there's the stage presence.

Although Yang Chaoyue has been working hard to live up to Xu Xing's expectations and her dancing has improved, Zhou Jieqiong, who has more talent and experience, is just as hardworking and still far surpasses her.

Their biggest difference isn't their body language, but rather Qiongbao's increasingly refined eye and facial expression management, which she handles flawlessly, exuding a cool, domineering, and alluring charm... It's truly effective.

Yang Chaoyue also tried to achieve this type of temperament, but it really made Xu Xing feel wooden. So she could only go for the cute style, which is a style that Xu Xing prefers.

Then comes acting.

Judging from the number of views alone, it's not even as good as the stage performance.

Despite both being female-led dramas, Zhou Jieqiong's "The Imperial Coroner" has garnered more views than "Dance of the Phoenix" and "Midsummer is Full of Hearts" combined.

Although neither of them is good at acting, Zhou Jieqiong is still a bit better.

Finally, the music is the most unbearable to watch.

Although Zhou Jieqiong is constantly mocked by haters for ruining songs and has been dubbed "the first person to be covered and crushed," there is also the saying that "the ancient style music circle has faded away since Qiong started to piggyback on others' fame."

But Yang Chaoyue's singing...

Zhou Jieqiong's songs have tens of millions of collections across both platforms.

As soon as Zhou Jieqiong returned to China, she obediently came to Xu Xing's side and became his puppy.

In the public eye, she not only doesn't have the same idol-disqualification issues as in her previous life (like the "Shrimp Car" incident), but she also knows that Xu Xing is a goddess in public, so she restrains herself and is no longer ridiculed as a "tomboy" on variety shows.

Offstage, she tries hard to maintain the image of a demure young lady, only occasionally laughing on variety shows and saying that she is not actually such a quiet person.

In addition, there's the comparison with Cheng Xiao, who's obsessed with love, and Zhou Jieqiong is even being touted by her fans as the number one female idol in China.

In addition, there are two other returning beauties, Meng Meiqi and Wu Xuanyi.

Let's compare the actual results.

Ancient Victoria Song?

My sister Qiong doesn't mention Pristin, and you Song Qian doesn't mention F(X). Let's compare your individual achievements.
How do we compare their current international reputations?
Zhou Jieqiong's diligent practice of the pipa and her pursuit of a traditional Chinese beauty image are indeed catering to Xu Xing's tastes. However, her team also regularly releases a lot of traditional Chinese style content on overseas social media, as well as some stage and practice room videos from China, which receive the highest number of likes and shares among female celebrities in China.

—Not counting Cheng Xiao.

Therefore, these domestic idols with high popularity really can't really shake Zhou Jieqiong.

Yang Chaoyue probably felt the same way.

When they were rehearsing together, she looked at Zhou Jieqiong, who was showcasing her talents, with envy in her eyes.

After the fans started arguing, she specifically apologized to Zhou Jieqiong.

Of course, Zhou Jieqiong also apologized to her.

Both of them apologized to Xu Xing.

Because in the end, the two fan groups started arguing with each other about "being kept by Xu Xing".

Pan Yueming (first), Li Jiulin (second), Zhou Jieqiong (third), and Yang Chaoyue (fourth).

The last character in the main cast of "Tang Gui" is Fei Jishi, played by Chen Chuang, who also played the role of Xiaotianquan in the original version.

should be no problem.

(End of this chapter)