Chinese Entertainment Intelligence King

Chapter 143 You are still young, take care of yourself

Beijing, Mingjiang Film and Television Company

Boss Hao Yiping hung up the phone and looked at Director Liang Guoguan: "The person you recommended, Yan Li, was rejected."

"Rejected?"

Liang Guoguan was somewhat surprised and disappointed: "Why, are you not satisfied with the script or the role?"

"Do not have time."

Liang Guoguan: "..."

Thinking about Yan Li's situation, this statement is indeed correct.

"Pity."

Liang Guoguan shook his head: "This Yan Li's image is quite good, heroic and strong, which fits the setting of Hou Yi, the son of the God of War."

When Liang Guoguan first took over the project and researched the role of Hou Yi, his first choice was Wu Qilong, with whom he had a good relationship, and his second choice was Yu Bo from Zhouyi. He had worked with both of them before and trusted them more.

As a result, both of them were unavailable, so Liang Guoguan had to choose someone else, and then he saw Yuwen Chengdu in "Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties" on TV.

The audience sees this character and is guided by his traits and the plot.

But as a professional director, Liang Guoguan saw Yan Li's appearance and modeling ability, and began to align it with the image of Houyi he imagined.

Later, Liang Guoguan searched for Yan Li's information and saw the final makeup photos of Huo Qubing released by "The Emperor Wu of Han", which made him more determined in his choice.

However, knowing Yan Li's identity, he was also troubled by the difficulty of inviting him.

When others hear that he is the male lead, they will definitely come over quickly. However, Yan Li, the boss of a film and television company who can even produce his own dramas, may not care.

Liang Guoguan just sent the invitation with a try-it attitude. Since the other party didn't have time, forget it.

However, Liang Guoguan gave up, but his boss Hao Yiping thought they could get in touch again.

...

[Daily News ①: Director Liang Guoguan of "The Jingwei Filling the Sea" was impressed by Yan Li's image and acting skills, so he invited him to play the male lead, Hou Yi...]

Early morning, Beijing Film Academy residential complex, bathroom

Yan Li looked at the information refreshed yesterday with some surprise. He really met his mentor.

Director Liang actually took a look at the other party's resume yesterday.

A Hong Kong director, he has participated in "My Date with a Vampire" and later collaborated with Zhou Yi on many occasions. He participated in or directed "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", "Young King" and "Water Moon Cave". He is good at fantasy, martial arts and action themes.

Yan Li also read the plot synopsis of "The Jingwei Filling the Sea" sent along with the film contract. It can be regarded as a magical adaptation of the myth, which is in line with Liang's style.

What a good director!

Regardless of the director's level, the key is that he has a good eye and a very keen insight into excellent actors.

[Daily Intelligence ②: Hao Yiping, head of Mingjiang Film and Television, the producer of "The Jingwei Filling the Sea," intends to use Yan Li as the male lead as leverage to persuade investors to invest in the production, aiming for 500-800 million...]

Hey!
Yan Li couldn't help but curse, he knew things couldn't be that simple.

With an investment of 500 to 800 million, he can get the leading male role from eight out of ten film crews, except for those with big investments.

If it is an outsider like a coal boss, who only has money but no people or resources, he may be taken advantage of.

But Yan Li is in the film and television industry, so if he saves a little more money, he can set up his own crew.

Not to mention the male lead, he can even play the female lead!
Moreover, Yan Li searched the past information triggered by the system and did not see any previous information about "Jingwei Filling the Sea".

He currently has limited resources and funds, and film and television projects are risky, so he will only participate if he has a certain understanding of the project or feels that it can be profitable.

Apart from the leading male role, there is really little that can attract Yan Li in the project "Jingwei Filling the Sea".

There is another key reason. The company is developing and Yan Li is too busy to take on all the responsibilities. He has to play the leading male role in dozens of episodes, so he hardly has time to play the leading male role.

Becoming famous as an actor vs. making money by starting a company
Yan Li must be paying more attention to the latter item now. Once the company develops and has money and power, he still needs to worry about the development of the actors. He can directly tailor-make any subject matter and role he wants to play for himself.

【...】

[Daily Intelligence 2001: Yan Li has recently been contacted with information from six special effects companies... [Tiangong Huanying] Studio, founded in 400 by Jin Xin... whose comprehensive qualifications best meet Yan Li's requirements, and his preferred price for a partnership is 600 million to million...]

Yan Li became more energetic.

This information is the most useful today. At present, there are few special effects companies in China, and there are few people in the film and television industry who understand the technology, and many of them only have a superficial understanding.

It’s okay to be easily fooled by the high prices offered by special effects companies, but the most annoying thing is the low efficiency and high prices.

They dare to boast that the level of outsourcing for 5000 yuan is comparable to Hollywood.

By the time the deposit is paid, there won’t be enough time, so the producer will have to accept it even if he is not satisfied.

The information Yan Li had inquired about in the circle and the information he had obtained about the other party after contact were all rather vague. Now that he had systematically uncovered and sorted out the information, it all became clear.

At the same time, Yan Li was also able to see how deep the waters of this industry are.

Among the six special effects companies, one is purely an intermediary that takes business and then outsources it, and the other two have mediocre capabilities and rely entirely on bragging.

You should know that these six companies were not chosen randomly by Yan Li, but were contacted after inquiring and screening.

It turned out that half of them were parallel imports, and the remaining three had decent technical skills, but each had its own flaws.

One has relatively high prices, and the other treats people differently based on their needs. They work very hard for well-known crews and those that pay a lot, but are a bit sloppy with ordinary crews and projects.

Only the work of Tiangong Phantom had good price, technology and attitude, but the scale was small and the progress was a bit slow.

Yan Li planned to go back and talk to the person in charge of Tiangong Phantom.

Take a look at the specific progress schedule and if it is within an acceptable range, choose this one.

Thinking of this, Yan Li grinned a little. Special effects are really expensive, and you get what you pay for, so there is little flexibility in negotiating prices.

Fortunately, he did his homework in advance and saved some funds, otherwise he would have to invest additional money in the production.

The special effects budget of "The Seven Fairies" is at least 400 million+, which is not top-notch in the film and television industry, but it is definitely on the higher side.

The key is that if these 400 million+ can be spent seriously on special effects, the resulting effect will definitely be impressive in the field of TV dramas.

Yan Li calculated that the investment in special effects for publicity could reach tens of millions.

As long as the special effects are good, it will be easy to explain to the sponsor, and even if the TV station feels that there is some water in the film, they will not be able to squeeze out too much, and Yan Li can then naturally raise the price.

Yan Li began to understand why this business was so complicated. It was really convenient to do accounting.

The crew had to blow up the scene for actual filming, but this thing could be easily done on a computer, and then the contract could be filled in with numbers directly.

Tsk, it has to be high-tech!

...

When I came out of the bathroom, Dong Xuan hadn't gotten up yet. It was a rare weekend, and they had half a day off for their graduation drama, so they could sleep in.

Yan Li didn't call her, went downstairs for a walk and exercise, and bought some breakfast by the way.

When he returned home, he saw Guan Yue leaning against the bathroom door and talking to Dong Xuan who was washing her hair.

"You came so early in the morning, can you give us some time alone?"

Yan Li placed the breakfast on the table and said unhappily that the Beijing Film Academy residential complex was close to Beijing Film Academy, which was indeed convenient for Dong Xuan, and also convenient for Guan Yue and others to come and have a free meal.

"Old Dong went with you to Wu City to film for a few months. Now that you're back in Beijing, you can't spend more time with me."

Guan Yue was very confident that Dong Xuan didn't belong to Yan Li alone, her best friend also had a share.

Yan Li was too lazy to argue with her, or perhaps he had deliberately created this situation.

Otherwise, there would be no one to restrain Dong Xuan. She would be pestering Yan Li every day. How could he go to Qin Lan or other people? He couldn't always work overtime or go on business trips.

So, even though Yan Li complained, he actually supported Guan Yue sticking to Dong Xuan.

Whenever Tong Dawei was away filming, Guan Yue would drag Dong Xuan back to the dormitory or stay with her in the Beijing Film Academy complex. Yan Li was always "helpless" to have his girlfriend snatched away by her.

Tong Dawei also strongly supports Guan Yue and Dong Xuan playing together when he is not around, otherwise he would be worried about them filming alone outside.

With the encouragement and indulgence of their two boyfriends, Guan Yue and Dong Xuan did not drift apart like many best friends who were too busy with their relationships to pay attention to each other. Instead, they became closer and closer after they each started dating.

Now both of them are thinking about staying in school. In addition to being classmates and best friends, they will soon become colleagues and help each other, which will make them even closer.

If Yan Li had not known that Guan Yue had instigated Dong Xuan to get pregnant and force her to get married, his attitude towards Guan Yue would definitely be much friendlier.

After Dong Xuan finished washing her hair and started eating breakfast, Guan Yue followed her without hesitation and shared the new information she had learned with Dong Xuan.

As mentioned before, compared to the less famous Dong Xuan, it is more difficult for Guan Yue to stay in school.

Not only has she become more active in school, but she has also signed a contract with a music company through Tong Dawei's connections and is about to release a new album.

To put it bluntly, it is to gild your resume.

Professional singers who have released albums, have actual achievements, have some impressive data, and preferably won some sleazy award or something, will naturally become "outstanding graduates" and meet the requirements for staying in school.

Not only Guan Yue can use this trick, Yan Li is also thinking about finding a few fake awards to give to Dong Xuan to make her presence felt.

After all, "Snow Goddess Dragon" is a TV series that has been broadcast on satellite TV and its broadcast results are also impressive. Dong Xuan is still the leading female role. If she is a little shameless, she can even get the title of "XX Best Actress".

"Oh, by the way, a senior student who stayed on campus told me that if I could appear on TV, it would be very helpful for my chance to stay on campus."

"Yan Li, you work in distribution and you know a lot of people at the TV station. Can you help us find a substitute host for one or two episodes? Any show will be fine."

Guan Yue was there to popularize science, either as a substitute host or just an on-location host who only showed her face.

Clearly appearing on a TV show and having relevant material can add a few more items to your resume, and it is a relatively important resume.

“Isn’t CCTV’s more effective?”

"Of course!"

Guan Yue asked excitedly, "Do you have a connection?"

Yan Li drank a mouthful of porridge and said, "I'll go ask. Even if CCTV can't do it, satellite TV won't be a big problem."

At present, many TV programs have several hosts, one or two core ones, and the others are supporting roles. They don’t compete for jobs, they just want to show their faces. With Yan Li’s connections, it is indeed not a difficult task.

"Boss Yan is mighty, Boss Yan is domineering, Boss Yan is awesome."

Guan Yue stopped being angry and started to flatter Yan Li, but Yan Li didn't buy it.

"Stop talking nonsense. I'm not helping you for nothing. If there are any wild beasts around Dong Xuan, block them for me and report to me immediately."

"Make sure to complete the mission."

Dong Xuan was a little dissatisfied: "I'm still here. One of you bribed me and the other betrayed me. Can you please do it behind my back?"

Before Yan Li could say anything, Guan Yue stuffed a bun into her mouth and said, "Shut up. You're lucky to have Mr. Yan care about you."

"Xiao Guan is good."

Yan Li gave a positive comment, Dong Xuan rolled her eyes, and then went to trouble Guan Yue.

...

Guan Yue disturbed their world of two, so Yan Li simply called Wu Maowen, and the two drove to a store in Haidian that was under renovation.

After the Spring Festival, Yan Li invested in three Internet cafes.

He has wanted to work in this industry for a long time. As the saying goes, don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Among the industries that Yan Li is currently involved in, the stock market returns are the highest, but the risks are the greatest. Moreover, if he has money but no power, he is just a piece of fat meat.

The film and television entertainment industry has decent returns and considerable risks, but its advantage is its loud voice.

Not only does it have a wide range of influence and can leverage various means to benefit other industries, but it can also bring fame and protect oneself, which is the foundation of Yan Li's career.

In addition, Yan Li also considered developing other industries to open up more sources of income, share more risks, and also to employ more people.

The Internet cafe industry is currently a relatively profitable industry.

Yan Li conducted a survey. In the first two years, when the Internet was just emerging, Internet cafes did not have many functions and their main profit came from time-based Internet fees.

An Internet cafe with about 50 computers, if it is full every day, can make a daily gross profit of about to yuan, and an annual profit of nearly one million yuan.

This was at the beginning of the century when most people's wages were only a few hundred yuan, but the profit of an Internet cafe was comparable to that of a small factory.

More importantly, it is still only the initial stage of Internet cafes.

After 2002, online games became popular. In addition to overnight internet fees, Internet cafes could also sell game cards and Q coins, and their revenue soared.

As far as Yan Li knows, it is not uncommon for an Internet cafe of the same size as the one mentioned above to have a gross revenue of over 10,000 yuan per day when business is good.

In other words, an investment of hundreds of thousands or millions of yuan in an Internet cafe will pay off in at most half a year.

After deducting various water, electricity, network, taxes and labor expenses, making a few million yuan a year is like playing. If you open a few more stores, earning tens of millions a year is not a dream.

Of course, this kind of cash cow business cannot be started just because you want to. All relationships in all aspects must be maintained well.

For example, Yan Li owns three Internet cafes. In name, he is the only boss, but in fact he has two partners, who hold a 30% hidden stake.

I won't go into details, anyway, with these two partners and some necessary management, Yan Li's three Internet cafes can live in peace.

"elder brother."

Seeing Yan Li, his cousin Yan Xin, who was supervising the shop, ran over and asked, "Why are you here?"

"come and see."

Yan Li took a few glances, took the safety helmet handed to him by another younger brother, stepped into the store, asked about the progress of various renovations, and asked the other two stores by the way.

"Lao Chen's store is small, so the progress is fast. The Tian brothers' store is the largest, so it's slower."

Those of Yan Li's old family members who tend to work in the film and television industry are temporarily helping out at Yi'an Company, and the rest are working as supervisors in three Internet cafes.

Yan Li found professional managers to be the general managers of the three Internet cafes, and the remaining three managers or deputy managers were appointed by Yan Xin and others, while the others were network administrators and security guards.

What’s interesting is that the younger brother of the Tian brothers and Old Chen mentioned by Yan Xin, both used to be network administrators. Now they have returned to their original careers and have received promotions and salary increases.

Yan Li was quite trustworthy in these old family members. After all, they were carefully selected and their character was guaranteed.

Moreover, Internet cafes have electronic management systems, so the amounts and other things can be matched, and there will be no problems with the accounts.

After a tour, Yan Li was quite satisfied. His cousin was from the army. Although his abilities were not outstanding, he could be considered helpful with some training.

In fact, this is the case for most ordinary people. As long as there is no problem with their IQ or personality, they will be able to grow if given a chance.

Yan Li himself has also grown up little by little, so he is willing to help some people improve.

Being poor cares themselves, being wealthy cares the world!
Yan Li is not yet as powerful as someone who can help the world, but he still hopes to support those around him within his ability.

"correct."

Yan Li remembered something and told his cousin, "Try not to tell your sister-in-law about opening an internet cafe. I'll take you to meet someone soon. If I don't have time in the future, I'll let her check the internet cafe's accounts."

Cousin Yan Xin's eyes were a little strange: "Brother, my sister-in-law is very good. You opened an Internet cafe without telling her, and you didn't let me tell my uncle and aunt about my sister-in-law. You don't want to be Chen Shimei, do you?"

"What are you talking about? Am I that kind of person?"

"I remember the daughter of Liu Qianjin, the bicycle repairman on the street, Gao Yan from the village next door, and, oh, Kong from our school..."

Before he could finish his words, Yan Li kicked him: "Shut up, that's just youthful recklessness."

We got together in a muddle and parted in a muddle. The hormones of adolescence were more agitated than the so-called emotions. Now let Yan Li recall that some people's appearances are blurred.

"I hid the internet cafe from your sister-in-law for a reason. I didn't tell my family because I was afraid your grandparents would start urging me and start imagining things. Don't let your imagination run wild."

After explaining a few words, Yan Li grabbed his neck with one arm and threatened with a grin.

"Shut that damn mouth of yours. If your sister-in-law or anyone else asks about my past, just say you know nothing. If even a single word gets out, I'll strip you naked and parade you through the village."

Yan Xin shrank his neck and nodded hesitantly. Yan Li looked at Wu Maowen again, who had a calm expression.

"When have you ever seen me tell you anything about yourself?"

"Did you hear that? Learn from your brother Mao Wen. You have to tell me about the others. If anyone makes a mistake, I will take care of them."

Yan Li felt somewhat fortunate that when he was on the set of "The Seven Fairies", there were many people around and he was not very familiar with them, so Dong Xuan had not had time to ask about him.

Fortunately, Yan Xin's incident today reminded him, otherwise, once they became familiar with each other, Dong Xuan or Qin Lan would find out his past, which would be a big joke.

Afterwards, Yan Li personally visited two other stores and treated several key members to a meal.

Wu Maowen, who has quit drinking since he became a driver, sat in the driver's seat.

"Going back to the Beijing Film Academy, Guanghuali, or Tuanjiehu?"

As Yan Li's personal driver, others may not know Yan Li's situation, but Wu Maowen cannot hide it.

"Well, go to Zhiqiang South Park, over at Xinjiekou. I'll show you the way."

Yan Li reported a new address. Wu Maowen, who was always calm and taciturn, couldn't help but look back at his old brother, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke.

"I don't mean anything else, but you're still young, so take it easy."

"You're overthinking it. The rent over there is due. I'm going to go to the landlord and hand over the key."

Wu Maowen didn't reply, but started the car silently. When they arrived at the place, Yan Li completed the handover with the agreed landlord, picked up his personal belongings, and sent two text messages to Huang Shengyi.

I've secured a female lead role for you in Tangren's "New Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio." I'll contact your company for an interview.

[The lease of the Nanyuan apartment has expired and I have moved out. I will express mail your belongings to your dormitory.]

...

(End of this chapter)