I'm not a drama freak, I can really see through the script

Chapter 345, The Shock of Tangren Media: One Person's Strength Rivals the Entire Group

At this moment.

There's a really bad feeling about it.

For the first time, Wang Lei, who had always been confident, felt this way because "The Long Season" had accumulated too many elements of failure: unconventional subject matter, an unremarkable cast (at least compared to the cast of "Lurking"), a difficult narrative, and a plot structure that had not been tested by the market.

But the current retention rate, which is similar to that of "Lurking," seems to be verifying something, a principle.

A profound truth
In "The Long Season," he accumulated these so-called 'uncertain elements'.
It is merely an uncertain factor, not a malicious one.

The current viewership ratings.

It represents one thing.

Li Xuan is indeed a talented person.

But the talent he found was beyond his expectations. Like "Lurking," it was a work that demanded solid skills, and he actually managed to achieve success with it.
This is what he found quite—explosive.

Every time I gain a better understanding of you, you slap me in the face with even more outstanding work, making me feel like a clown.
Even now, he feels that the situation is somewhat out of control.

If the ratings for "The Long Season" really do "out of control" and soar to new heights this time, then wouldn't the hope of recruiting Li Xuan be shattered?
“We’re not lacking in talent in Beijing, so you don’t need to have such a serious anxiety about talent.” Wang Su, who was standing next to Wang Lei, said, “Isn’t Lu Chuan in our circle one of them? I heard that his film ‘Nanjing Nanjing’ hasn’t even been released yet, but it’s already confirmed that it will go to the Tokyo Film Festival. Even Lionsgate has approached him. You could say that he is the most certain new generation talent in our circle.”

"The most promising talents were then 'played' by the sixth generation."

"This is also a kind of competition. If you want to reach the top, how can you just crush your peers? When even the sixth generation of directors become his stepping stones, he will be the biggest pillar of our Beijing circle. That's good."

Guan Hu is affiliated with Huayi Brothers. Wang Shu's words seem to imply that Guan Hu was suppressed, which means he is less skilled than others. However, Lu Chuan is still a member of the Beijing circle. The internal elimination and promotion is more like a process of 'removing stagnation' to make the Beijing circle better.

You've gotten rid of the blood clots, but what's the price to pay?

Oh, so the price is the interests of Huayi. If that's the reason, then it's utterly despicable.

This whole situation made Wang Lei start to have doubts about how the 'circle' operated.

However, it also confirmed one thing for him—people are selfish, including that Northeast King.

At this moment, Wang Lei had already decided to use his 'killer move'.

Your retention rate is indeed high, but if I use public opinion to reduce your viewership, exposure, and reputation...

Wouldn't that achieve the same goal?

At this point, "The Long Season" had reached its middle stage.

When Shen Mo's storyline was exposed.
How exactly was this 'delicate female student' murdered and dismembered?

This is in conjunction with her identity as a 'medical student'.

"Maybe it wasn't Shen Mo who was dismembered? What do you guys think?"

At this moment, Zhao Benshan was watching his work on TV, thoroughly enjoying himself, while his apprentices beside him were all baffled by their master's thoughts.

Only Song Xiaobao spoke from the side.

“I think it’s probably true. The murderer is Shen Mo! The person who was killed is someone else! I think that even the man in black who appeared in the initial 2007 storyline was Shen Mo herself! She is the ‘murderer’!”

"Such a sycophant, he only knows how to say what his master wants to hear," Zhang Xiaoguang muttered sarcastically from the side.

"That's exactly what I think! This show is really good, I've watched all the reruns, it's definitely amazing!"

Zhao Benshan ignored this and continued to watch.

Haha, Master is angry.

Zhang Xiaoguang gloated, thinking that Song Xiaobao's big head couldn't hold much brains.

Your master just said it, and you actually went up and agreed with him.

Things are different now. Master has long since broken ties with Fan Wei, and even said that they would never see each other again. In Northeast China, this sentence almost means that you have severed all ties. So, you are slapping Fan Wei in the face by starring in his works.

Moreover, Master suffered a great loss this time. Without Fan Wei as a supporting character, Master also sacrificed a lot.

In terms of absolute expressiveness, it will be much less. Much less.

Everyone knows that.
The importance of supporting roles. Those who play the lead roles all understand this principle.

A good supporting role can enhance performance by at least 30%.

The master must have hated "The Long Season" so much that he "poached" him and gave Fan Debiao a dream of becoming the lead actor.

If his dream is shattered and he can return sooner, his master's strength can recover more and faster. But if he is obsessed with the 'dream' and clings to false hope, it will be a loss for both his master and Fan Wei.

They should have bound Fan Wei to a contract from the beginning, otherwise this absurd thing wouldn't have happened.
Now, Zhang Xiaoguang looked at his master's gloomy face, while Song Xiaobao was still laughing happily, completely unaware that he had offended his master.

Hahaha, you country bumpkin dishwasher, you should go back to washing dishes!

"Wow~ You actually think Fan Wei's acting is pretty good, right?"

"Yes! His acting is superb! He played Wang Xiang very well!" Song Xiaobao said, "It doesn't feel like acting, it feels like he is really himself, just like the character Wang Xiang!"

Rich in layers, spanning eras.

Young Wang Xiang had a determined and optimistic look in his eyes—an arrogance.

In old age, it manifests as hunchback and slowness.

There is absolutely no trace of 'Fan Debiao' in it. There really isn't even the slightest trace.

Even Song Xiaobao said—

His acting skills have transcended the constraints of the 'past'.

Liu Xiaoguang's smile widened even more, almost revealing his master's dark expression.
At that moment, a phone call was made to Zhao Benshan.

After Zhao Benshan answered the phone, he fell silent.

In an even longer silence.

At this time, without anyone noticing, "The Long Season" began to gain popularity, and its retention rate exploded, even surpassing that of "Lurking".

Moreover, the level of discussion was very 'average'.

The TV series "Lurking" discusses Yu Zecheng, Cuihua, the station chief, and the deputy station chief.
"The Long Season" discusses Wang Xiang, Gong Biao, Bo Weijun, and Wang Yang.
The discussion surrounding "Chinese Paladin 3" revolves around Xu Changqing, Tang Xuejian, Jing Tian, ​​Zi Xuan, and Long Kui. It's fair to say that the achievements of "Chinese Paladin 3" at this point are already worthy of celebration; it's a work absolutely no less successful than "Chinese Paladin," and its popularity is certainly comparable. It can be said that Tangren Media has, this time, replicated its peak success.

It can be said that they have already 'won'.

Having achieved high ratings and promoted its lead actors, Tangren Media is now celebrating with champagne after accomplishing its goals.

It's not that we're about to open the champagne; it's that right now, it's champagne time.

At this moment, at the celebration banquet of Tangren Film and Television, Li Liguo was enjoying the celebration banquet, and there were several people who were being promoted to the center position, including Yang Mi, Liu Shishi, and Huo Jianhua, whose popularity seemed to be about to explode.

He once played Guihai Yidao in "The World's Finest", and now he plays Xu Changqing in "Chinese Paladin".

After years of silence, when he entered the Chinese-language market, his role as the madman Gui Hai Yi Dao had already deeply impressed people. His salary that year was as high as 6 yuan. In terms of status, he far surpassed Hu Qu. After all, Hu Qu had not yet debuted at that time.

He's considered 'lucky'. If he had focused on martial arts dramas back then, he might be gone by now. Instead, he tried diverse scripts, modern dramas, and comedies. Although his salary and status haven't changed much over the years, for young actors of this era, it's already a feat to maintain one's status when one's familiar genres become outdated.

Therefore, Huo Jianhua felt that this was still an achievement worth being proud of.

That should be considered an achievement.

Li Liguo was also very excited, finally able to replicate the success of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 1" back then, which can be considered as consolidating his position.

Everyone gains something.

Only Hu Qu was beside him, drinking wine—something called "sullen wine."

Cai Yulong then approached Hu Qu and said, "What's wrong? Our great hero, General Jing Tian, ​​you don't look happy at all."

"Am I happy?"

Your expression betrays you; you're not happy.

"Hmm." This time, Hu Qu didn't pretend anymore. After drinking, he started to talk more: "Actually, I was just thinking about Li Xuan, and his 'The Long Season'."

This suddenly woke Cai Yulong from his drunkenness.

Li Xuan.

His—long season.

Back when Huo Jianhua was paid 60,000 yuan per episode, Li Xuan's total earnings were less than 60,000 yuan.
But now, if Li Xuan were an actor, judging from his status, his salary would be around 100,000 yuan per episode, purely in the television drama field.

Of course, Li Xuan didn't receive a salary; he received 'five percent'.

As a director's share of the profits, it enters the core interest layer.
“Even if I can’t see his other achievements, just looking at him as an actor, his acting skills as ‘Gong Biao’ are so good that I can’t be a turtle. I can see it, I can see how strong he is.” At this moment, Hu Qu sighed softly: “Even now, I have to accept that he started to leave me behind back then with ‘Bai Yue’.”

Gong Biao isn't getting much attention these days because the spotlight is on Fan Wei—who successfully transitioned from a comedic role to a more mainstream one.

And what about the discussions surrounding the other actors who have been praised?
Wang Yang, Fu Weijun, Shen Mo.

Is his efforts to "promote" people less effective than those of the idol drama "Chinese Paladin 3," which was specifically made for the purpose of promoting people and boosting ratings?
Thinking of this, Cai Yulong's wine lost its flavor.

We are a capital group.

He is.

A person.

He accomplished something that would have taken the entire group to achieve with his own efforts!
"Bloody Mist" has now been eliminated from the competition. The plot started to drag in the middle of the series. Although the ratings were still good, it could only be described as "good" overall.

It can't compare to the current ratings of shows like "Lurking" and "The Long Season".

Plot, character development, depth, and various other aspects.
If "Plot Against" paved the way for spy dramas, then "Lurking" took them to a whole new level.

Standing on the shoulders of giants.

Yao Chen was already basking in the glory that "Lurking" had brought her. She was already imagining Gao Yuanyuan's bewildered and regretful expression, and that would bring her joy. Thinking back to how Gao Yuanyuan had put on a brave face at Zhu Yuanyuan's birthday party, she wanted to know what kind of expression Gao Yuanyuan would have now, and just how deep her regret would be.

The result is what we see.

In "The Long Season", Shen Mo's popularity and discussion level were higher than that of her character Cui Ping.

Because no matter what, Cuiping in "Lurking" exists as a character dependent on the story, as Yu Zecheng's "assistant" and a foil. No matter how brilliantly she is portrayed, she cannot even be considered the "female lead," but only an important female character.

In "The Long Season", Shen Mo is the core of the contradiction spiral. Her character design, her acting skills, and her core are all crucial. She is not the female lead, but one of the main characters. Her role, her expression, and her role are all absolutely one of the main characters and one of the core points.

Even Yao Chen couldn't help but suppress the thought of jealousy that surfaced in her mind.

This is Gao Yuanyuan, who is beautiful and can achieve a high status just by her appearance.

She became jealous.

At the same time, she also harbored hostility towards "The Long Season".

"Wait and see when Zhao Benshan makes his move. Let him damage the reputation of 'The Long Season.' He's a selfish person; he'll definitely do it."

Even now, regardless of the ratings of "The Long Season," which won't affect "Lurking," Yao Chen still wants this project to lag behind "Lurking."

Fan Wei was somewhat dazed at this moment.

His current reputation and popularity are second only to "Lurking". He has seen the success of this top-tier project, both in terms of his reputation as an actor and the project itself.

I've accomplished that, in a way.
Under Li Xuan's leadership, they shed the label of 'Fan Debiao'.

This is a paradox. In the early stages of your career, you hope to have a label, because having a label means you can find suitable roles and projects more easily, which helps you improve quickly.

When you reach a certain level in your acting career, you want to get rid of the labels, because labels are shackles that bind you.

Of course, unlike a monster like Li Xuan—Fan Wei knew that since his debut, Li Xuan's label had been 'a thousand faces'.

As an actor, the versatile young man has his own specific 'labels' and style.

Now, as a director?
At this moment, I watched a performance on TV that blended various styles.

He should be too.

A director with a thousand faces.

(End of this chapter)