Chinese Entertainment Intelligence King

Chapter 297 Not being famous is the original sin, Huo Siyan, Weibo PR Director

After the birthday party, they arranged for us to go to a karaoke room in a nightclub in the city.

The conditions in Hengdian are limited, so we have to make do. If it were in Beijing, we could find other projects.

"Mr. Yan, let me toast you, happy birthday."

Wen Zhang, who was attending the birthday banquet as a family member, came over to offer a toast. He and Ma Yili had come all the way from Beijing to celebrate Yan Li's birthday.

They were practically brothers-in-law, and Yan Li bumped into him and chatted casually.

"I heard you're planning to sign with Orange Sky?"

Wen Zhang nodded: "We are discussing it."

Earlier, Ma Yili officially signed as one of Orange Sky's "Five Elements Warriors," and her team consisted of Yuan Li, Hao Lei, Chen Xiaodong, and Wang Yan.

It's understandable that Yan Li looks down on Orange Sky and engages in bundled marketing tactics like combining four actresses with two soldiers.

But the combination is inexplicable, lacks selling points and gimmicks, and is just a forced pairing together.

For example, the so-called Five Elements Warriors, Yan Li couldn't figure out which five elements they were. After looking it up, he found out they were like fire-like passion, earth-like solidity, metal-like sharpness, and so on.

Those who know it's a celebrity group, but those who don't might think it's a fantasy web novel.

For bundled marketing, the first step is to find common ground.

If he were in charge, kicking out Chen Xiaodong and replacing him with Mei Ting, or creating one of Orange Sky's Five Great Dan Actresses or Five Great Golden Flowers, he would be better than this Five Elements Warrior.

Perhaps Orange Sky itself knew it hadn't taken off, so it dragged Huayi Brothers' five tigers into the competition.

The so-called Huayi Brothers Five Tigers refers to several male artists signed by Huayi Brothers this year: Huang Xiaoming, Feng Yuanzheng, Zhang Hanyu, Li Yixiang, and the last one, "Jin Ma Chao," has been kept in suspense for almost two months. Finally, it is Li Zonghan.

All that talk about excitement is actually just thanks to Huang Xiaoming, this popular young actor, who's drawing attention to the place.

The two sides argued for several months, but it didn't generate as much buzz as the Bazaar Charity Night featuring the "Four Big Brothers," let alone the "Four Dan and Two Soldiers."

Realizing it was pointless, Huayi withdrew on its own.

Huang Xiaoming, the leader of the Five Tigers, left the team and, bearing the title of Huayi Brothers' No. 1, played around with the other No. 1s.

Without opponents in the ring, Orange Sky's Five Elements Warriors are in an even more awkward position, as even the artists themselves are unwilling to include this title in their press releases.

However, Orange Sky doesn't seem to have given up yet, and plans to create another group of post-80s stars called Orange Sky Seven Princesses.

It's hard to say whether they're trying to piggyback on the fame of the seven fairies from "Happy Seven Fairies," since those seven are now well-known actresses in the industry.

Although Orange Sky has made many questionable moves, it is indeed the most suitable company for Wen Zhang to sign with.

Tong Dawei, Ma Yili, his good older brother and girlfriend are all there, they can take care of him and form a certain alliance.

Wen Zhang wasn't quite sure what Yan Li meant by those words. Could it be that Yi An also wanted to sign him?

That's really a tough choice!
Despite having connections, Orange Sky Entertainment has limited internal resources. They often need to secure outside projects, which requires the artists' connections to get things done. Otherwise, Ma Yili and the other actress wouldn't have tried to get close to Qin Lan.

Yi'an is completely different; it has abundant internal and external resources and a bright future.

The outside world talks about the four giants: Huayi Brothers, Yi'an, Hairun Media, and Orange Sky.

In reality, Orange Sky, this giant, is the most hollow.

They have money, but they've invested it all in the film "Red Cliff" and their plans to acquire Golden Harvest. The company's main business is artist management.

Hairun has considerable strength, but its main focus is on TV series, with few achievements in film.

Therefore, in many people's minds, Huayi Brothers and Yi'an Group are the ones that have achieved all-round development and deserve to be called giants.

Huayi Brothers has a stronger overall foundation and strength, while Yi An mainly has great potential and outstanding individual aspects.

In particular, Yan Li also owns Yi An Cinemas, which adds a lot to Yi An's reputation.

If Yi'an and Yi'an merge, even if they don't have particularly outstanding performance in film production and distribution, it would be enough to make Huayi Brothers avoid their sharp edge.

A physical cinema chain built with a real investment of hundreds of millions of yuan is simply incomparable to a film company with light assets.

Therefore, if Yan Li personally recruits him, Wen Zhang is truly willing to abandon Cheng Tian and join Yi An.

After all, he has his girlfriend and good older brother taking care of him at Orange Sky, so he can get a share of any good things that happen.

However, he soon realized that Yan Li didn't seem to mean it that way; it was just casual conversation. Disappointed, he could only offer a toast and leave.

Yan Li watched Wen Zhang's retreating figure and shook his head inwardly.

Wen Zhang has a natural talent for acting, but unfortunately his appearance is not up to par, and he doesn't have a unique advantage over the other male actors in Yi An.

To put it bluntly, most of the plays he can act in could be acted by Yi An and her group of friends if they were given a little work.

If it's not quite suitable, Yan Li can also arrange for someone close to him, such as Tong Dawei, Nie Yuan, or Wu Yue.

Wen Zhang lacked competitiveness and connections, so naturally he wouldn't be favored or valued by Yan Li.

Of course, Wen Zhang is not incapable of breaking down this barrier; that barrier is Hong.

He can become famous and generate value, and Yan Li will treat him differently.

Yan Li is sentimental, but he is also very pragmatic when it comes to business. If you can make money for him, he will value you.

Under the same conditions, relationships take precedence; if someone can make more money, that's the top priority.

Leaving aside Fan Xiaopang, Deng Chao was able to be heavily promoted, even doing better than Zhou Yiwei and others, because Yan Li recognized his value.

If the value is realized and Yan Li's investment is repaid, Deng Chao's position as the top leader will not be shaken, and he will have to step down and give way to a more capable person in the future.

In the entertainment industry, fame means everything, and not being famous is a cardinal sin!

Of the Teddy Sisters, only Ma Yili brought her family. The others either didn't have any, didn't have time, or weren't suitable, so they all came alone.

Several people took turns toasting Yan Li, his brother-in-law. Logically, the people he valued most should be the popular ones like Huo and Li, or close friends like Liu Yun.

But no one expected that Yan Li would talk the most with Gan Wei, the younger sister.

"What's your husband, Lao Jia, been up to? It's been so long since we've seen each other. Let's get together sometime."

Although we don't consider any connection with LeEco, we still need to make contact privately.

Mr. Jia is a very good conversationalist, making it very comfortable to talk to him. In addition, LeEco is also a kind of rival to him, so meeting him can trigger more intelligence, help him understand the enemy's situation, and he can also learn from any good ideas he has.

This is also why Yan Li sometimes likes to meet with the Wang brothers from Huayi Brothers.

Luckily, Huayi Brothers' secrets were exposed, and many of its senior executives were unaware of its internal secrets.

If Yan Li were willing, Huayi Brothers would be constantly searching for internal traitors!

Gan Wei was somewhat surprised by Yan Li's familiarity with Boss Jia. In her memory, Boss Jia seemed to have met Yan Li only a few times.

However, she wasn't stupid and immediately said, "Old Jia often mentions you, brother-in-law. I just happened to be away on a business trip this time, otherwise I would have come too."

"That's right. I heard that LeEco is also going to enter the film and television industry. You and Qin Lan have a relationship, so we can share our resources and maybe we'll have a chance to cooperate."

Yan Li smiled and chatted, but Gan Wei was a little confused. She hadn't heard Boss Jia mention this news more than twice, so how did Yan Li know about it?

The others who overheard the conversation also turned their attention to Gan Wei.

Although Gan Wei tried to keep her background low-key, everyone in the group knew about it, because if you wanted to join, you couldn't hide it.

However, in order to secure her position within the Teddy Sisters group and avoid trouble, Gan Wei rarely mentioned LeEco, and the others didn't take this relatively unknown CEO Jia seriously.

All that is known is that he has some wealth and treats Gan Wei well, so Gan Wei is generous with her money. It is not very clear what kind of business he is in.

The main reason is that Yan Li is too popular and closely related to them, so he has stolen all the attention.

It wasn't until Yan Li showed his attitude towards Gan Wei and mentioned Boss Jia familiarly that many people realized they had underestimated Boss Jia behind this young lady.

Gan Wei became even more popular, and Huo Siyan, who was closer to Yan Li, secretly sought out Yan Li to inquire about the news.

"Brother-in-law, who is this Mr. Jia?"

"They make communications and internet products. Do you know LeTV? That's theirs."

Huo Siyan shook her head somewhat blankly. At present, there are hundreds of video websites of all sizes. Apart from the most well-known ones, the others have a low profile. LeTV has not yet made its move, and many people have never heard of it.

Yan Li thought for a moment and then rephrased it: "He should have a net worth of over 100 million."

He wasn't actually sure if Mr. Jia's net worth was that much. Judging from the company and actual assets, it was definitely more than that, but the key point wasn't necessarily Jia's money.

But no matter what, Lao Jia's potential is there, and even if it wasn't there, it was only a matter of time.

Upon hearing Yan Li's words, Huo Siyan immediately understood—Old Ninth (Gan Wei) had hooked up with a big spender.

It's 2007 now, and with a net worth of over 100 million, he's definitely one of the best people in the world.

Many popular celebrities don't even get this opportunity, so for a small-time actress like Gan Wei, it's definitely a stroke of incredible luck.

More importantly, he knows Yan Li and they seem to have a good relationship, which means he's not an ordinary tycoon, not to mention he seems to be venturing into the film and television industry.

For ordinary wealthy people, even if they are rich, they are just rich to these celebrities.

But for someone in the industry, the meaning of being rich is different.

Huo Siyan looked at Gan Wei, who was being pulled aside by Xiong Naijin and Ma Yili, and suddenly felt that her position as the second-in-command of the Teddy Sisters was in jeopardy.

Well, not necessarily. Huo Siyan glanced at Yan Li, her eyes flickering. Even if this Boss Jia had some ability, he couldn't compare to a prominent figure like Yan Li, an industry tycoon.

This can also be seen from Gan Wei's attitude; otherwise, she wouldn't have gone to such lengths to fawn over Qin Lan.

In this situation, as long as she clings tightly to Yan Li's coattails, she can still firmly hold the second-in-command position in the Teddy Sisters group.

Thinking of this, Huo Siyan glanced at Qin Lan, who was talking to Liu Yun, and leaned closer to Yan Li.

"Brother-in-law, I didn't find anything good as a gift this time. How about I take a few days off to make it up to you?"

Yan Li glanced at her speechlessly: "Whose production team is 'The Last Princess'?"

“It’s Yi’an’s.”

"It's good that you know it's my production team. You, the female lead, are taking leave every day, affecting the production schedule, and it's all my money that's being lost."

Huo Siyan was quick-witted: "Then I'll ask for leave again when I'm filming a Huayi Brothers movie."

Yan Li: "..."

She's really something; no wonder the Wang brothers are annoyed by her!

He patted her chubby thigh: "Sit over there a bit, or your sister Lan will skin you alive."

The private room wasn't that big, and Qin Lan and her loyal sisters weren't stupid. He didn't want to cause trouble for himself on his birthday.

Huo Siyan reluctantly moved to the side, and Yan Li picked up his wine glass and poured her a glass of wine.

"Speaking of which, I need your help with something."

Huo Siyan was somewhat flattered, but also a little confused.

"what can I do for you?"

Could it be that someone has taken a fancy to you and wants you to act as a pimp?
That's a bit too risky, and it also depends on the person. Only someone like Pan Jinlian could drag you into this mess. If you run into someone like Qin Xianglian, you'd be lucky not to get a beating.

Yan Li was unaware that he had become Ximen Qing in Huo Siyan's mind, and he explained it to Huo Siyan.

"I invested in a website whose main function is social networking. I can't explain it in a short time, but you can think of it as a blog."

"The website is newly built and needs some celebrities to boost its popularity. Don't you have a lot of friends? Help me get some people involved."

As mentioned before, Huo Siyan's poor interpersonal relationships are relative. Due to her personality, she has a wide social circle in the industry. Although the relationships may not be good, she can still strike up a conversation with everyone.

Yan Li didn't expect Huo Siyan to be of much help to him, but as long as she could be of some use, it would be better than nothing.

“Especially people from Huayi Brothers, recruit as many as you can, even if it's just to register accounts.”

Yan Li emphasized that it's easy for celebrities from other companies to get along with him, but it's different with Huayi Brothers. They are too wary of him, and the artists also have concerns.

But having Huo Siyan take charge is a different matter entirely.

She always liked to organize these kinds of messy things, and not many people cared. Even if they knew it was Yan Li's website, the artists were just helping Huo Siyan out, and the company couldn't blame them.

As for Huo Siyan herself, she's like a leech, she doesn't care what Huayi thinks of her.

"Is that all? Don't worry, I'll get you a whole bunch of people."

Hearing that this was the case, Huo Siyan felt relieved. Pimping was difficult, but getting a celebrity to register an account was easy.

She knows a group of people, and then mobilizes these people to recruit others. I wouldn't say she can dominate the entire entertainment industry, but she can easily recruit hundreds of people.

Seeing her confident demeanor, Yan Li thought that she might actually give him some surprises.

He personally took charge of the project, using Weibo to contact key personnel and elites, while also using business tactics to bind certain celebrities to prevent them from being poached.

Huo Siyan and the others helped to gather more people, regardless of whether these people used Weibo or not, they just wanted to create a buzz first.

Many celebrities have been running blogs for a long time, investing a lot of emotion and effort; it's not something you can just pull people in on a whim.

Yan Li even anticipated that these people would just come to register an account, give him face, and then continue with their blogging.

But no matter what, as long as an account is registered and verified, it means that the celebrity is on Weibo, and Yan Li can use this as a tool for promotion and traffic generation.

Then we tried to get these celebrities more active on Weibo, and even moved them from their blogs to Weibo.

To be honest, this also requires finding some celebrity shills to be active on Weibo and attract other celebrities to interact and users.

The Teddy Sisters are famous, have plenty of free time, and love to be lively—they couldn't be more perfect.

When he initially acquiesced to Qin Lan forming the Teddy Sisters group, this was also a consideration. In LeEco's future intelligence, the traffic of LeEco.com would also inevitably involve the Teddy Sisters charging into battle.

Thinking of this, Huo Siyan became pure and lovely in Yan Li's eyes.

"Work hard and do this well. I won't let you down. Have you heard of Xu Cai Nu, the blog queen? Maybe you'll become the Weibo queen."

Yan Li was making empty promises to Huo Siyan, but it wasn't entirely empty promises. Calling her the "Weibo Queen" might be an exaggeration, but if Huo Siyan made contributions to Weibo, Weibo would definitely provide some resource support, which would greatly increase her exposure and fame.

In addition, Yan Li was generous with material rewards, such as clothes, bags, houses, cars, jewelry, or even money.

As long as Huo Siyan can do it, he can afford it!

Huo Siyan listened with great interest: "Brother-in-law, I guess this counts as me working for your Weibo account."

"Well, it's considered external public relations. If you'd like, I'll have them print out a business card for you as the director of the public relations department."

Huo Siyan: "..."

How did you end up doing public relations after all these twists and turns?

Regardless, Huo Siyan was quite excited; she could tell that Yan Li valued this Weibo post very much.

If she does a good job, she'll definitely make a big splash in front of Yan Li.

In addition, she herself felt it was an opportunity to show off and gain attention by taking advantage of the situation. If this Weibo post went viral, she might become known as "Sister Yan" in the industry.

Well, it's a bit too much for her to do it all by herself; she'll need to find some helpers.

Li Xiaolu is one; she has good interpersonal relationships. Ying Cai'er is another; mainly, she knows people in the Hong Kong entertainment circle…

"What did you and Siyan talk about? Why are you acting so mysteriously?"

Seeing Huo Siyan, who seemed uninterested in drinking and singing karaoke and was instead planning to get to work, Qin Lan was somewhat puzzled.

"Please ask her for a favor."

Yan Li took a sip of wine: "During this time, if she asks you for help with Weibo or anything, try your best to help her out."

Qin Lan nodded, then added with a hint of jealousy, "What kind of help is it? Is she capable? Should I do it?"

Yan Li smiled and put his arm around Qin Lan: "She's the one who can handle this. You keep an eye on her for me and make sure she doesn't cause any trouble."

People are suited for certain tasks. Qin Lan is not suited for this kind of social work, but she has a relatively stable personality and can keep Huo Siyan, who is prone to letting loose, in check. Therefore, Yan Li asked her to stay behind the scenes to provide support and cover for them.

As they were talking, Yang Mi seized the opportunity to offer a toast.

Yan Li subconsciously let go of Qin Lan, afraid that Yang Mi would tell Dong Xuan later. Qin Lan sensed this and pressed his hand back down in dissatisfaction.

Yang Mi pretended not to see it. At today's birthday party, Dong Xuan would definitely ask her what she needed to say.

Say what needs to be said, and never cause trouble for yourself by saying what shouldn't be said.

Especially Yan Li. If you offend Qin Lan, Dong Xuan can still protect her, but if you offend Yan Li, you're really doomed.

Seeing Yang Mi's expression, Yan Li relaxed. He didn't have much affection for this girl, but he admitted that she was a smart person.

"You, Xuan... Sister Lan and Sister Xuan have recommended you to me quite a bit, and the company has also done a good job with you."

"You should discuss this with Rongxinda later. It would be best if you could resolve the contract issue yourselves."

"Let's not talk about the company's projects. You know about 'Chinese Paladin'? They're releasing a new drama series. Your arrival is a gift to us."

For Yi An, getting a Yang Mi who hadn't yet become particularly famous from Rong Xinda wasn't a difficult task.

However, in the past two years, Yi An has poached quite a few artists. If an artist voluntarily terminates their contract and switches companies, it can at least serve as a fig leaf.

Yan Li will not let Yang Mi suffer any losses; the company will compensate her for whatever amount of breach of contract penalty Yi An should pay.

Yang Mi nodded. Although she wanted to wait for Rong Xinda's "New Dream of the Red Chamber" to see if she could benefit from it, Yan Li had spoken, so she decided to make plans as soon as possible.

Rong Xinda only has one "New Dream of the Red Chamber", while Yi An has a vast amount of resources.

The Qin-Dong alliance is very beneficial to her now; delaying it will only lead to unforeseen changes, and this opportunity will be lost forever.

After finishing talking about Yang Mi, Yan Li thought about the information he had previously seen about the future of the four little actresses.

Liu Tianxian, Yang Mi, Wang Luodan, Huang Shengyi
At that time, Yan Li thought that Yi An could completely replace one of the four actresses by promoting Wang Ou. Now it seems that Yi An can win over two of the four actresses.

However, it's unclear how valuable these four young actresses are. If they can be compared to actresses like Xiao Yanzi and Xu Cai Nu, then they'll be much more valuable.

By the way, Yang Mi's face looks a bit square, and her figure isn't particularly outstanding.

I heard she had been to South Korea before, and after signing the contract, the company will take her there again for a promotion, which will be more beneficial to her career...

　(3000/124000)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)