Abstract Art Award Winner

With a total investment of 50 million, Wang Sicong asked for another 15 million, easily raising the entire cost of filming the movie.

But as I said before, this movie was made to break into the industry; making money wasn't the primary goal. In fact, Han Han and Wanhe Tianyi had already invested in the film from the very beginning.

Later, Zhou Le distributed some money to He Youjun and Wang Sicong respectively. Based on this alone, it seems that Zhou Le did not invest in this movie.

However, this film is not a direct money-making tool for Zhou Le at present.

He can already gain a lot from movies, the most important of which are connections and resources.

Wang Sicong's investment wasn't a simple, straightforward one. After all, everyone could see Zhou Le's immense potential, and even though it was his first time making a movie, he was sure it would be a box office success.

Even if, like Da Peng did back then, he makes a terrible movie, the first one will definitely not lose money. With Zhou Le's influence and box office appeal, it's a sure thing that it will gross over a billion yuan.

His investment of 15 million, even with a generous limit, is only a quarter of that.

With an investment of 1 billion, he would receive at least 300 million and could pocket at least 80 to 90 million.

So this is pure profit.

Anyone with even a little knowledge of film investment knows this, let alone someone like Wang Sicong, who was born into Wanda Group and is himself a very successful investor.

Earning the money for himself would be like taking advantage of someone else, so after seeing Zhou Le nod, he also took out a folder and handed it to Zhou Le.

"I believe your movie will definitely make money, but I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to get something for nothing. Now I have an investment company under my control, so I often receive investment projects."

There are some areas I'm not keen on, but they definitely have potential. I've done market research in these areas. One of these two companies is a newly established company this year, currently seeking investment. The other is a lab at Tsinghua University, currently developing some kind of network project. I don't really understand it, but I had a professional review it, and it seems quite promising. If you're interested, you could consider investing in it.

Zhou Le thought to himself, "Here it comes!"

He then picked up the folder on the table.

The first one I found was a research team from Tsinghua University, who are currently researching a network project involving dynamic routing.

"How should I put it? I suggest you sign contracts with this company directly, that is, sign contracts with their research and development achievements, not only for current projects, but also for future projects."

Zhou Le nodded; he didn't really know much about this either.

But it sounds like it's possible.

Then he looked at the second company, called Shock Absorption Technology, which currently focuses on AI and artificial intelligence.

This company is easier to talk about because the field of artificial intelligence in China is still very promising, and these technologies can be applied to many areas.

However, most people don't have the opportunity to access these kinds of investment projects, including most in the entertainment industry; they can only invest in things like restaurants and MCN (Multi-Channel Network) agencies.

Zhou Le nodded. Wang Sicong does indeed have access to more things than ordinary artists.

Even if he were to invest, it would only be in the film and television-related fields.

"Okay, thank you very much, Principal."

“It’s okay, let’s make money together. But I’ve noticed you’re quite lucky. All the projects you’ve invested in before have made money, and not just small profits. You made a fortune with ‘The Wandering Earth’ and ‘Ne Zha’.”

"It's just luck. Actually, I don't know much about these things."

"That's even more amazing. You can make money without knowing anything. Okay, I'll make an appointment later. If you have time, go to their place for a visit and learn more about the situation."

If you don't have someone on your side responsible for risk control and market research, I can help you with that.

Wang Sicong is quite loyal in this regard.

This is also a good thing for Zhou Le, since the door has already been opened and the money is just sitting there anyway.

But after dinner, they went to the second game and didn't go back until almost morning.

But it's almost December, and the promotion for "Joy of Life" is about to begin.

The initial phase is just a warm-up, since the promotion of a TV series usually starts with setting a release date and then officially announcing it to let fans know.

"Joy of Life was released quietly?"

"Seriously, please stop. Look at what those male-oriented novels have become. Battle Through the Heavens was turned into a game of turning fighting spirit into horses, and Ze Tian Ji was turned into an idol drama. Only Ever Night was slightly better, but the protagonist still had a crooked mouth. But the others are just so-so. Among Mao Ni's books, The Interloper and Joy of Life are masterpieces in my heart. Please don't ruin them."

"Ahhh, is Zhanzhan finally going to be on a big male-oriented IP? I can't wait, I'll just live on Tencent Video when it happens."

Let's clean up the mess.

"To be honest, I really think it's watchable. Putting aside the director and screenwriter, the main thing is that Zhou Le plays Fan Xian. I have never doubted Zhou Le's acting skills, and his eye for choosing scripts has never been wrong."

"I also think we can see it then. Besides Zhou Le, there's also Chen Daomin. In my memory, Chen Daomin hasn't acted much in recent years, but every time he does, it's a masterpiece."

"Brothers, don't argue with Xiao Zhan's fans. Let them watch if they want to. Anyway, he's playing Yan Bingyun and doesn't have many scenes in the early part of the story."

"Yes, I'm still willing to look forward to Brother Le's acting. I hope he can do a good job filming it."

Fans of the original novel are quite optimistic about Zhou Le's performance in "Joy of Life," especially since there are many veteran actors in the cast, and judging from the official lineup, there aren't many duds.

Many female fans, especially Xiao Zhan's fans, have only one goal: to win Xiao Zhan's heart.

Most people aren't particularly fond of Xiao Zhan's popularity, so their comments sometimes carry a critical tone.

But in the eyes of the fans, their brother is the most perfect and the best, so they naturally didn't want to see these things, and soon they started arguing.

After seeing these online arguments, Sun Hao, the director of the series, and the staff from Tencent Pictures responsible for liaising with the youth project team, both felt that the strategy they had previously set was correct.

The reason why the role of Yan Bingyun was given to Xiao Zhan was firstly because we really wanted to see if he could bring in viewers, and secondly because New Classics Media couldn't afford to leave them without any male actors.

Some things are better left unsaid and not made too obvious.

However, the early promotion of "Joy of Life" was not just about releasing posters online. Considering the internet-savvy nature of Zhou Le and Xiao Zhan, they arranged for many of them to appear on screen in Tencent's internal variety shows.

They also sponsored the number of times they went out to participate in variety shows together.

So during the period before the Lunar New Year, Zhou Le, Li Qin, Xiao Zhan, Guo Qiling, and Song Yi appeared on every variety show they could get on. Every day, they either worked or had to travel.

However, Xiao Zhan's personality and the persona he cultivated in front of his fans were not as likable as Zhou Le's. Although he was handsome, Zhou Le's greatest strength was seizing opportunities.

He didn't openly suppress Xiao Zhan on the show. There's only so much screen time in a program, and after editing, the camera naturally focuses on whoever is speaking. Meanwhile, Guo Qiling is incredibly shrewd; he always manages to smoothly take over the conversation, either shifting the focus to Song Yi or Li Qin in the next second.

They just wouldn't give it to Xiao Zhan.

So much so that after recording "Happy Camp," He Jiong even went outside to remove his makeup backstage.

He didn't dare to ask Zhou Le directly, because he was really worried that if he did, Zhou Le would be too blunt and others would overhear.

"Qi Ling, I want to ask if Xiao Zhan and you guys have a bad relationship?"

Guo Qiling was indeed shrewd. After hearing this, his eyes darted around, and he stopped talking, focusing his attention on He Jiong. His tone seemed quite sincere: "That can't be, Teacher He. We're all in the same head office. Besides, even if his personality is a little difficult, neither Brother Le nor I are the kind of people who like to nitpick."

He had seen the two arguing a long time ago when he read the news and followed the gossip online. Although they seemed to have reconciled at the Weibo Movie Night this year, anyone could see that Xiao Zhan was unwilling.

After all, not everyone would do something like being dragged into taking photos by an enemy and then having them posted on Weibo.

Guo Qiling's words can be broken down into three interpretations.

"Neither Le Ge nor I are petty people, but Xiao Zhan is not easy to get along with, otherwise we would not be unable to get along."

“His personality is flawed, and his inability to fit in is his problem, it has nothing to do with us.”

"Although we work in the same company, there is not much competition between us. If he hadn't been so bad at interpersonal relationships, we would definitely want to have more friends and more options."

He Jiong discovered that Guo Qiling was sometimes similar to him, and they were very similar in their speech and actions.

But they dare to speak their minds more than I do.

Zhou Le and his team have been rushing from one show to another lately, appearing on almost every popular variety show that's currently being filmed.

After all, Tencent is financially powerful and holds a pivotal position in the industry.

Arranging for a few people to appear on a variety show is incredibly easy.

Moreover, Zhou Le is a top-tier variety show personality.

Let alone Zhou Le coming to promote the movie, even if there was no movie, they would still spend money to invite Zhou Le to film a few episodes of the show.

During this time, Zhou Le was busy with work, but on this day, he suddenly received a WeChat message from Su Yingxia.

"Brother Le is prone to getting sick lately, so please make sure to wear a mask when you go out. And come back as soon as you're done with your work. There's been some trouble in Hubei recently, so don't let it affect your work."

Zhou Le had also heard about what was happening over there.

But he is the one who listens to advice the most.

He quickly bought a large number of masks, and after thinking about it, he also bought some cold medicine and anti-inflammatory drugs before he felt relieved.

As the days went by, after all the variety shows he was supposed to be on had finished, the director suggested that Zhou Le could also post on his personal account, do some live streams from time to time, and chat with the audience.

After finally finishing up here, Zhou Le went to Shanghai to meet with the main creative team members and finalize some of the final details of "Make a Name for Yourself" before returning to Beijing.

Because he had been traveling for a long time, Zhou Le would buy some local specialties in each place he visited and then send them back to his home first.

After returning to Beijing, Zhou Le took these local specialties to visit Yu Qian again.

"Wow, you bought so much stuff! Will you be able to finish it all?"

"If you can't finish it, just eat it slowly. It won't spoil in the refrigerator anyway."

Zhou Le didn't think much of it, because the better he developed now, the more he had to thank Yu Qian back then.

Moreover, the more he got involved in the circle, the more he realized that the circle was actually quite closed off. Although new faces appeared every year, he knew that most of these new faces appeared at just the right time.

If you can't bring any benefits, how can you possibly stand out?
Most of those who emerge are people promoted by capital. If Yu Qian hadn't introduced me, even if I knew martial arts, I might not have been able to successfully join Wu Jing and Da Peng's film crew.

However, as the premiere date of "Joy of Life" draws closer, press releases about Zhou Le, Xiao Zhan, Guo Qiling, Li Qin, and others are being published one after another, and many of Xiao Zhan's fans have begun to support their idol.

Besides seeking attention and popularity elsewhere, the most effective way for them to demonstrate their strength is to win the most popular award at this year's Weibo Night.

Currently, besides various markets, the best indicator of an artist's popularity is their popularity on Weibo.

The so-called ranking competition was also conducted on Weibo.

Because Lunar New Year's Eve falls earlier this year, the Weibo Night selection process started earlier as well.

Fans of the celebrities on the list immediately took action.

Xiao Zhan's fans took first place, but the second place was not Wang Yibo, but Cai Xukun, who had just debuted through a talent show.

They were tricked before, which caused their ranking to drop, so they were determined to climb back up this year. However, after they climbed to second place, they realized that the current number one was too strong.

However, Cai Xukun's fans were not to be trifled with, and soon the two sides started arguing again.

Everyone is campaigning for votes, but I don't know who had nothing better to do than drag a few esports players into this.

Because during the mid-year chart battle, some fans of popular celebrities questioned whether Jay Chou was no longer popular, which sparked a chart battle.

This ultimately led to Jay Chou taking a commanding lead.

However, Jay Chou himself doesn't really strive for these things.

So at the end of the year, those e-sports players who had called on their fans to vote for Jay Chou were brought up in the spotlight.

Although Xiao Zhan received a high number of votes, Uzi, Clearlove, and others quickly appeared on the list.

It just so happens that the League of Legends All-Star event is about to start in the next few days.

Zhou Le plays games with them every day.

"Brother Le, what are these fans thinking, putting us up here to compete with those celebrities?"

"If you're so capable, then go for it. There are plenty of people in the esports scene, and there are plenty of generous people willing to send you gifts."

Looking at Uzi, Zhou Le smiled and said. (End of Chapter)