Huayu: This producer has no bottom line.

Chapter 135 Fellow Villagers Scam Each Other

I ran into someone as soon as I got back to the studio building.

It was Wang Li. She walked a little hurriedly, and her eyes lit up when she saw Ren Pingsheng. "President Ren, you're back."

"Okay." Ren Pingsheng nodded, and the two of them walked into the elevator together.

"Yu Zheng called again today, still asking about Ya Ya's schedule, but this time..."

""

"This time, you're not asking Lu Xueqi, are you?" Ren Pingsheng pressed the floor button.

Wang Li nodded, "Yes, he mentioned another Qing Dynasty drama, a script he wrote himself, where he said he'd play the second female lead, and filming is expected to start in July."

The elevator arrived, and Ren Pingsheng stepped out. Through the glass door of the studio, he saw Dapeng, Baike, and the others gathered together, excitedly discussing something.

Hearing the door open, several people turned around at the same time.

"Ping Sheng is back!" Bai Ke was the first to rush up, his eyes shining brightly. "Did Sister Wang just tell us we're going to film a movie?"

Dapeng also came over, "Pingsheng, you're so quick! So, what role did you get me?"

"Everyone gets a turn," Ren Pingsheng said, tossing his bag on the table. "The production team will need some time to prepare. Your current task is to do your jobs well. We'll let you know when it's time to audition."

He walked into the inner room, waved to Wang Li, and gestured for her to come in.

Wang Li followed, closing the door behind her, and continued the conversation, "What did Yu Zheng say? He told us to reply as soon as possible."

""

"He didn't mention 'Zhu Xian'?"

"He mentioned it, but it was just a pretext," Wang Li said, flipping through her notebook. "He first said that the project for 'Zhu Xian' was too big and couldn't start filming in the short term. Then he mentioned that the Qing Dynasty drama would start filming in July, and that he could go to 'Zhu Xian' after that."

really.

This old fox really took the art of getting something for nothing to the extreme. He used the novel "Zhu Xian" as bait to flirt with all the girls he liked, and finally tricked them into his "palace".

However, his impatient manner of trying to recruit people everywhere clearly showed that he was in a hurry.

Tangren's "Scarlet Heart" is already in preparation. If he wants to be the first to try something new, he must film "Palace" before Tangren does.

"President Ren," Wang Li asked tentatively, "I've read the outline he sent. He's a villain, and the character is quite well-developed."

Ren Pingsheng did not answer immediately. He leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

The second female lead in the drama is Nian Suyuan.

To be fair, this role was very significant to Tong Liya's acting career in her previous life.

Before playing Nian Suyun, she was just a familiar face in period dramas, but the huge success of "Palace" made her one of the new Four Beauties of Period Dramas, which helped her gain popularity for her later role in "The Love Story of Yanjing".

But this life is different.

In her past life, she had no better options, but now she has the role in "Old Boy" as a foundation, Feng Jiaqi in "Love is Not Blind" waiting for her, and other opportunities offered by LifeShow.

She has already paved her own way in acting, so there's no need for her to play a scheming villain who will stop at nothing to climb the social ladder. The character of Nian Suyuan clashes with her current image as a pure and innocent first love.

Once the image of a "bad girl" is deeply ingrained in people's minds, it will be difficult for the audience to accept her playing a "sweet girl" role in the future.

There are too many examples like this in the entertainment industry. Many actors can never shake off the labels brought by their roles. Guo Zhenni is a typical example.

"It's over," Ren Pingsheng said, raising his head with a resolute tone.

"You turned it down?" Wang Li was stunned. "President Ren, Yu Zheng's dramas are getting good ratings right now, and Ya Ya has been on hiatus for two months. This drama is scheduled to start filming in July, so setting the date now is just right and won't affect her audition for the movie you mentioned."

"It doesn't fit her image. Do you remember what I told you before? An artist's image needs to be strictly planned. A villainous role in a palace drama doesn't fit her current first love persona."

"What about the Immortal Executioner's Blade..."

'

"Zhu Xian is Zhu Xian, they're two different things," Ren Pingsheng interrupted her. "Go tell Yu Zheng that Ya Ya has a scheduling conflict, so we can't take on this role, but we're still willing to discuss collaborations for Lu Xueqi in Zhu Xian, or other suitable roles."

Wang Li nodded and quickly jotted down a few notes in her notebook. "Okay."

"Be polite in your tone, but make your attitude clear," Ren Pingsheng added. "Yu Zheng is vengeful, so don't give him any ammunition."

"clear."

As soon as Wang Li left, Ren Pingsheng's cell phone on the table vibrated.

"Mr. Liu sounds to be in a good mood. What's wrong? Has the financing gone smoothly?"

"Haha, you can't hide it from Mr. Ren. Shanda and CDH have finished their due diligence, and the valuation is even better than we expected. I'm calling to confirm with you about the investment seat we agreed on with Shengping Vision earlier—"

"Don't worry, the money is ready, and we can start the process at any time," Ren Pingsheng readily agreed.

Investing in Gewara is not just a financial investment, but also a crucial asset for Gewara's future foray into theatrical distribution.

"Then it's settled," Liu Yong breathed a sigh of relief, it was clear that he still wanted to maintain a deep cooperation with Ren Pingsheng.

Then, changing the subject, "By the way, Mr. Ren, there's something else. There's a low-budget comedy film called 'Lost in Thailand' that's going to be released next month. Their distributors have contacted us, wanting to follow the 'Avatar' model and do some online promotion."

Lost on Journey?

Ren Pingsheng's eyes lit up instantly.

This road comedy, starring Xu Zheng and Wang Baoqiang, managed to rakble nearly 40 million yuan at the box office during a deadly period when it was being fiercely attacked by Hollywood blockbusters!

However, his publicity and promotion were actually quite average, and he basically relied on word of mouth to spread his reputation.

If we intervene now, is it possible for the box office to surge even higher?

"Mr. Liu," Ren Pingsheng interrupted Liu Yong, his tone becoming extremely serious, "you tell the publisher that online marketing is fine, but I want to talk to them about it."

"What are you going to talk about?"

"Let's talk about how to help them double their profits."

After hanging up the phone, Ren Pingsheng couldn't help but chuckle.

When I feel really sleepy, someone gives me a pillow.

He was just wondering where he could make some quick money when his fellow villager handed him the money.

It's quite a coincidence that the investors in "Lost in Thailand" weren't some film and television giant, but rather a small company from Jiangcheng, a hometown of the film industry.

The key issue is that the company's boss is an amateur and, to top it all off, a gambler.

To make this film, they risked everything and scraped together seven million. To save money, the production team cut corners wherever possible, even setting up their own shell company for distribution.

When filming wrapped, the accounts were completely empty, and there wasn't a single penny left for promotion.

So even if the lunchbox uncle's videos have 50 million views across the internet, they don't have the money or ability to convert that traffic into actual box office revenue.

The audience had a good laugh after watching the video, completely unaware that it was actually a teaser for a movie.

What Shengping has in abundance is the ability to convert internet traffic into real money!

If he were to take over the online promotion and distribution of "Lost in Thailand", he would be absolutely confident that he could push the box office of 30 million to 50 million or even higher!

This is a sure-fire way to make money.

: