Chinese Entertainment: Top-Tier Boyfriends of Young Actresses

Throughout September, Su Yu was constantly working non-stop.

His schedule was packed with various business activities: signing contracts, filming promotional videos, and attending brand events. He almost never stayed in one city for more than three days.

Although I was busy, I really made a lot of money.

The first thing to start was shooting with Master Kong Iced Tea and RIO Slightly Tipsy GG.

These two brands approached Su Yu when he first became famous and had submitted their GG (Golden Age) applications. Now that they have finally managed to hire Su Yu, their previous applications only need slight modifications to be submitted again. So, less than half a month after signing the contract, the two companies notified Su Yu to start the shoot.

Su Yu also confirmed during filming that the business departments of these two companies do indeed have his fans, and their positions are not low.

As for how he knew, it was because during the filming of RIO's GG, that fan had asked Su Yu to have dinner with him.

The fan looked to be in her early twenties, and Su Yu guessed that she was probably the daughter of one of their company's senior executives.

With insiders constantly promoting him, and given his current popularity, brands are naturally happy to collaborate with him.

The GG shooting process went more smoothly than he had imagined. It took less than five days to shoot both GG videos.

He also did quite a few commercial performances.

Throughout September, he attended five offline business events, each lasting one to two hours, held in shopping malls or hotel banquet halls in Beijing and Shanghai. He didn't need to fly to other places and could return on the same day.

In terms of pricing, the brand is very sincere, with a single offline commercial performance costing over 600,000 yuan, more than three times the previous price.

In the last few days of September, Huo Xiaolan also helped him get three magazine photoshoots and two interviews.

One is an inside interview in a fashion magazine, another is a film and television industry journal, and the third is a trend magazine geared towards young people.

Although they are not on the covers of top-tier magazines, their advantage lies in their precise reach, which helps him gain recognition in both the fashion and film industries.

The interviews were largely similar, mostly discussing the new drama, the experience of entering the industry, and future plans.

Su Yu's answer was decent, nothing particularly outstanding, but it didn't make any mistakes either.

After all the work was finished, Su Yu did the math: Master Kong Iced Tea would cost 10 million over two years, half of which was paid upon signing the contract, and the first installment of 5 million was received.

RIO's "Slightly Tipsy" brand has accumulated 8 million RMB in two years, with the first installment of 4 million RMB already received.

Marie Dalgar brand ambassador received 6 million yuan over two years, with the first installment of 3 million yuan already received.

The five commercial performances brought in a total of over four million yuan.

In addition, there are other miscellaneous sources of income.

In September alone, Su Yu Studio earned 18 million yuan from endorsements and offline business deals.

It's safe to say that 2017 was truly a golden age for the entertainment industry, with brands being incredibly generous with their spending.

The entertainment industry these days is basically picking up money from sacks.

Eighteen million—it would have taken him over a hundred years of not eating or drinking to save that much in his previous life.

And now, this is just his monthly income.

"Sister Huo," he put the income statement back on the table, turned to look at Huo Xiaolan beside him, "Pay the taxes as much as you're supposed to, and don't try anything funny about it."

Huo Xiaolan nodded: "Don't worry, everything is paid in full in accordance with national regulations. Costs that should be deducted are deducted reasonably, and taxes that should be paid are paid in full. This month alone, the studio paid more than four million yuan in taxes."

Su Yu nodded.

Four million in taxes—it sounded painful, but he knew better than anyone that he had to pay it.

After all, he had witnessed the tax upheaval in the entertainment industry in his previous life.

Those who racked their brains to save a few percentage points on taxes ended up losing everything, including their principal and interest.

Therefore, from the first day the studio was established, he set an ironclad rule: all income must be declared in full. Legal tax-saving measures are acceptable, but he will never touch any gray areas.

"Also," Huo Xiaolan changed the subject, her tone becoming more serious, "since you mentioned taxes, there's something I think I need to remind you of."

"Many of my colleagues in the industry are willing to use any means to save on taxes, such as dual contracts, splitting income, and exaggerating costs. There are many tricks they use. You should be careful in the future, so you don't fall into their trap."

Su Yu nodded. He was well aware of this, after all, a certain female celebrity who was suspected of having mental problems had fallen because of this.

Therefore, he would always bring Huo Xiaolan and legal personnel with him when signing contracts.

Although Su Yu sometimes makes mistakes in other matters, he remains clear-headed on matters of principle.

The two companies' investment in Su Yu's studio was also finalized and the procedures were completed this month.

Noon Sunshine invested 6 million yuan in Su Yu Studio, acquiring a 12% stake; Dai Lu invested 4 million yuan in her personal capacity, acquiring an 8% stake.

The two shareholding agreements were notarized by the same law firm in Beijing and signed within two days of each other.

With the funding secured, Su Yu was finally able to focus on his long-awaited project, "Someday or One Day."

The script outline and subsequent episode scripts for this drama have long been completed.

Huo Xiaolan had already helped him obtain the script registration and filming permit in early September.

First, the script outline was submitted to the broadcasting department to apply for a filming and production filing and public announcement. After obtaining the filing and public announcement, the notification and commitment procedures were completed before filming started. After going through the whole process, the filming permit was successfully obtained, which means that "Someday or One Day" can enter the formal pre-production stage at any time.

Of course, this is only the first step; the next step is to select a director.

Once the director is chosen, he will usually bring his own crew, including cinematographers, art directors, costume and prop masters, etc.

Then the producer, director, cinematographer, art director and others discussed the script and shooting style, while selecting actors and scouting locations to set the tone for the visual presentation of the work;

Then there's the scene breakdown, shooting schedule, budget breakdown, and so on. In short, the process is extremely complicated.

"Filming a TV series is really troublesome," Su Yu sighed.

Huo Xiaolan glanced at him from behind her desk: "What do you think? By the way, Director, have you decided who to cast?"

"Let's still find Chen Xiaoming to direct. I thought he did a good job when we shot the music video last time, and it met my expectations. Plus, he has his own complete filming team, so we don't need to set up the camera, lighting, or production crew separately, which will save a lot of time and energy."

Huo Xiaolan nodded and made a note in her notebook: "Chen Xiaoming is indeed a suitable choice. So, who's the female lead? Who are you planning to choose? Your two girlfriends, or that MV actress?"

Su Yu shook his head: "None of them meet the requirements."