In a small Suyang and Li Zhibai sat face to face.
Li Zhibai rubbed his face hard.
When Lin Suyang saw his action, he immediately sighed and said, "Can you please stop messing with your face? Brother, we make a living by our faces."
Li Zhibai put down his hand, looked at Lin Suyang, and said, "Brother Yang, do you think I am asking for trouble?"
"Learning to be a producer is not about seeking hardship. You should suffer a little when you are young, and enjoy life when you are old." Lin Suyang said, "Let's be honest. Now all the people who come to you are idol dramas, right? For dramas like 19 Years of Crime Records, no one will come to you unless you do it yourself. This is the advantage of being a producer yourself. You don't have to wait for others to send you scripts. It's pretty good. It doesn't matter if it's a little tiring."
"I'm not tired at all..." Li Zhibai said with two dark circles under his eyes. "The problem is, neither of them is willing to compromise. What can I do?"
The two people that Li Zhibai mentioned who were unwilling to compromise were Liu Jiazhen, the original author, and Qin Yiwen, the screenwriter.
Since reaching a cooperation agreement with Dengta Video, Dengta Video did not hesitate and immediately arranged for its own signed first-line screenwriter Qin Yiwen to start the adaptation of "Nineteen Years of Crime Records".
However, the script had not yet been written, and Liu Jiazhen and Qin Yiwen had not reached an agreement on the direction of the adaptation.
"Dong dong dong".
Liu Jiazhen knocked on the door and came in.
Li Zhibai called out "Teacher Liu".
Liu Jiazhen walked in with a depressed look on his face and said to Li Zhibai, "Zhibai, can't we change the screenwriter? Why do I feel that the screenwriter you found is particularly unreliable? She insisted on adding a lot of scenes that I didn't write to my original story. In fact, I am not against her adding some original content, but you can't change the tone of the original characters. This is a very serious, dark suspense crime story. You insisted on adding some comedy and funny elements to it. Isn't this nonsense?"
This was not the first time Li Zhibai had heard these words.
He served as a mediator for these two people last night, but the mediation did not work out until two in the morning, so he got up early this morning to attend a meeting.
Less than ten minutes into the meeting, Liu Jiazhen and Qin Yiwen started arguing again.
Li Zhibai really didn't want his head to be buzzing anymore, so he escaped just now.
Now Liujiazhen has found me.
Li Zhibai looked at Lin Suyang for help. He really didn't know what else to say. He had said everything he could say eight hundred times, and his mouth was about to smoke.
Lin Suyang finally stabilized Liu Jiazhen and sent him out, but Qin Yiwen came in again.
"Zhi Bai, does Liu Jiazhen have to stay here and give orders about the script? If we have to shoot it one-to-one according to the original novel, then why do we hire me as the screenwriter?" Qin Yiwen folded her hands in front of her chest. "The original novel is so long. If we don't enrich the details and add some things, it will be finished in five episodes. Can our drama be shot like this? I know this drama is a very serious theme, but when can't a serious theme be interspersed with some funny comedy elements? In the past two years, which drama didn't have some such elements in it? Who would be willing to watch it if it makes the audience's spirit tense from the beginning to the end?"
Li Zhibai looked at Qin Yiwen with lifeless eyes, then looked at Lin Suyang.
Lin Suyang started doing Qin Yiwen's work again.
After Lin Suyang finally managed to coax Qin Yiwen away, Li Zhibai sighed and said, "This producer is really not a human being. He has caused too many troubles."
Lin Suyang: "Since you have chosen to be a producer, you have to persevere and adapt. You can't give up halfway."
Li Zhibai: "I am really crazy. I have to learn from Yan He to be a producer. What the hell, I should just be a star and be comfortable."
"How great! Others want to do it but don't have the opportunity. Look, among these actors between the ages of 20 and 30, how many have the opportunity and resources to become producers? You can count them on one hand." Lin Suyang advised earnestly, "This shows that the platform and investors recognize you, so they are willing to give you this opportunity. Do you think this is something that anyone can do if they want to? Look at the other artists I manage, they are still struggling to make further progress and maintain their popularity. Artists, as long as you don't become an investor with the initiative, you will not be able to escape the fate of being picked by others, no matter how popular you are."
Li Zhibai: "Of course I understand the truth."
"You understand the truth, but when you start complaining, you don't care about your relatives." Lin Suyang looked at him sideways.
Li Zhibai looked at Lin Suyang in disbelief, "Why are you so vicious?"
Lin Suyang: "Maybe it's because everyone has discovered that this is the only way to subdue you."
Lin Suyang admitted it without hesitation.
Li Zhibai: "Alas, people's hearts are no longer the same as they used to be."
Lin Suyang smiled slightly.
Lin Suyang and Li Zhibai have been working together for almost a year. After a year of getting along, Lin Suyang has only one feeling in his heart: Zhou Pingan is really a big idiot for choosing Ma Zhiyuan over Li Zhibai.
To meet an artist like Li Zhibai is a blessing from his previous life, but Zhou Ping'an doesn't cherish him and instead does so many miscellaneous things.
In the past, Li Zhibai was difficult to deal with in the media and on camera. Of course, he was similar in real life. He had a bad temper and needed to be stroked. When he started to whine, people would want to block him.
But what about other than that?
Such a lazy person never stutters at work. Even though he complains so much that your ears are callused, his mumbling will not become a sign of slackness in action.
He is also a very emotional person. After getting along with you for a long time and becoming familiar with you, he will treat you as his own.
Lin Suyang never said anything, and he would take the initiative to offer to bring along other artists that Lin Suyang was bringing along for some work opportunities.
As for the jobs Lin Suyang arranged for him, Li Zhibai was actually a very easy-going person. As long as you told him openly that this job was for personal connections, that one was because he thought it was a good opportunity, and that another one was just an average opportunity, but the producer was great, and it would be a good thing to make a good connection through this opportunity. Li Zhibai himself didn't care about personal connections, and if you explained it clearly to him, Li Zhibai would not get angry and refuse to accept the job.
This person was completely beyond Lin Suyang's expectations.
Li Zhibai never hid anything from him. Sometimes, Lin Suyang heard from other places that someone was contacting Li Zhibai and wanted to discuss cooperation on a certain project. At first, Lin Suyang was quite nervous, worried that Li Zhibai would bypass him to take these jobs, just like Ma Zhiyuan before. But basically, Li Zhibai would give Lin Suyang the projects he heard about soon after, and he would say he would take some, and he would say he didn't want to take some, so that Lin Suyang could find a reason to refuse.
Lin Suyang slowly put his mind at ease. He was not a very strict and controlling manager. He was not the kind of manager who was selfish and took advantage of artists. He was really angry about Ma Zhiyuan's incident and almost became completely disappointed with this industry. After meeting Li Zhibai, Lin Suyang sighed, sometimes, don't blame the environment for being bad, in fact, it's just that you met the wrong person.
Later, Li Zhibai trusted him more and more. In addition to some work matters, Li Zhibai also asked him to handle other matters, such as the "Nineteen Years Crime Record" which had nothing to do with him.
During the production process, Li Zhibai always called him over, like a naughty child, and called him "Brother Yang" whenever he encountered a difficult problem.
Lin Suyang couldn't help scolding him, but he still tried his best to help him solve the problem. Even though he did all this, he couldn't get any commission from Li Zhibai. Li Zhibai's production work had nothing to do with his status as an agent.
After both sides were appeased, Lin Suyang said to Li Zhibai: "It's not a long-term solution to coax both sides like this. We need to reach a consensus on the script as soon as possible before we can start writing. Let's think of a way to get the two of them to reach a consensus."
Li Zhibai waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about this for now. I sent a message to Yan He and asked him to help me think of a solution. You can take a look at this first."
He pulled out an agreement in a plastic stationery bag from his bag.
"What is this?" Lin Suyang asked.
Li Zhibai said: "I am tired of being a producer. I can't handle it. I overestimated myself. Please come and help me."
Lin Suyang opened it and found that it was the producer contract of "Nineteen Years of Crime".
"Your reward is not much, and the budget is limited, so just consider it as a favor." Li Zhibai put his hands behind his head, "Help me."
As co-producer, he received a salary of 50 yuan and did not enjoy any subsequent share of the profits.
Lin Suyang was stunned.
An agent of his level can earn about two million a year. When Li Zhibai's business is good, the commission can be as high as four or five million.
This was the first time that Lin Suyang had received an invitation for a position like co-producer.
Film remuneration: 50 yuan
This is certainly not a small amount. Lin Suyang himself is an agent, and he knows very well what the proportion of personnel expenses for a movie is generally.
There are nearly eight or nine co-producers of this movie. Lin Suyang guessed that he must have received the most among them.
Lin Suyang glanced at Li Zhibai in surprise.
"You're just trying to make extra money for me."
Li Zhibai said, "What extra money? You have to help me do a lot of things. I don't want to be a producer anymore. I have no choice but to finish this job."
Lin Suyang smiled, pushed the agreement back, and said, "I'm doing this for you, so you don't need this agreement. You're my artist, and if you can develop well, I'll benefit as well. There's no need to calculate it so clearly."
Li Zhibai frowned and said, "Just take it. I'm not the one paying you. Dengta Video is paying you. You should take it."
Lin Suyang was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "Okay, then I'll sign it."
"Also, there is a role of a college student in this play, which I think is quite suitable for Chen Jing. Didn't you say before that he wanted to try to be an actor? This college student role doesn't have many lines, but there is a lot of room for performance. You can let him give it a try." Li Zhibai said.
Lin Suyang looked at Li Zhibai seriously, and after two seconds, nodded.
"it is good."
-
Lu Yanhe took some time to go to the lighthouse to watch the video.
Looking at Li Zhibai's expression of despair, he couldn't help but laugh for nearly a minute before he stopped.
"Where are Brother Jiazhen and Teacher Qin?"
"We just had a fight and now we're going back home." said Li Zhibai.
Lin Suyang brought a bottle of mineral water to Lu Yanhe.
"Thank you."
Lu Yanhe took it and thanked him.
He asked Li Zhibai: "Let's not talk about their opinions for now. What do you think about this drama being adapted into a web series?"
Li Zhibai: "Then I actually think that Mr. Qin's idea of adaptation makes sense. This is not a movie, so it is impossible to tell a story so concisely, especially the story of the original novel, which has a very tragic tone. I also hope to insert some passages that can soothe people's emotions and some funny parts in the middle, of course, it will definitely not affect the tone of the main story." "I actually like the overall gloomy atmosphere of the original novel." Li Zhibai said, "But if it is made into a drama, if it has that gloomy feeling from beginning to end, it will definitely be advanced, but as a viewer, I can't watch it."
Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "Okay, I understand what you mean. I will do Brother Jiazhen's work."
After hearing what Lu Yanhe said, Li Zhibai said hesitantly, "Don't go to do Teacher Jiazhen's work. I'll go. I just want to ask you how to do the work. You have a good relationship with him, so don't be unhappy about this."
"Not really." Lu Yanhe said, "In fact, Jiazhen is a very easy person to communicate with. He is particularly afraid of others changing the style and adding elements that are not in the original work because the previous movie version did this and ended up with a weird movie. Jiazhen is a novelist and doesn't understand film and television production. So, if he suffers a loss in this regard, he will think that such practices are problematic. I went to explain it to him clearly, from the perspective of film and television creation. He is not a stubborn person."
Only then did Li Zhibai understand what Lu Yanhe meant.
"I'll go with you," Li Zhibai said, "I'll also watch and learn."
-
Just as Lu Yanhe said, Liu Jiazhen is not the kind of writer who does not allow others to change a single word of his original work.
He was just bitten by a snake once and became afraid of ropes for ten years.
"Teacher Qin Yiwen is a very experienced screenwriter. Although she is very young, she has already created several excellent works. Brother Jiazhen, you can go and take a look at the works she adapted in the past."
Lu Yanhe said to Liu Jiazhen, "I just went to find out what Mr. Qin's ideas are for the adaptation, and I roughly understand why you are unwilling. It is probably because Mr. Qin's ideas for the adaptation are similar to many of the methods of the movie version, and you are worried about repeating the same mistakes, right?"
Liu Jiazhen sighed and nodded.
"You know what I'm thinking." Liu Jiazhen said, "It's not that I don't want her to make innovative adaptations, but at least don't change the overall main plot and style, otherwise, readers will definitely feel cheated."
Lu Yanhe: "No, what Teacher Qin is best at is to maintain the core and theme of the original work based on other people's stories, and add some new things to make the audience feel fresh. Because many people are already familiar with the story of "Nineteen Years of Crime Records". Zhi Bai plays a murderer. As soon as he appears, everyone knows that he is a murderer. At this time, the adaptation of the series must be adjusted to keep the audience looking forward to it and feel fresh. Teacher Qin wants to add some such elements and innovative content to the script, one is to make the story richer, and the other is to use this kind of comedy and funny elements - of course, this must be arranged in the right place to form a strong contrast. When the final sad emotions reach the hearts of the audience from the play, the audience will be more touched."
Liu Jiazhen looked at Lu Yanhe with doubt.
Li Zhibai saw this and said, "Teacher Liu, although I am the producer and the lead actor of this drama, I am first and foremost a reader. I read the original script of the movie version first - not the crappy one that was finally broadcast. I liked it very much, so I bought your original novel and read it as well."
He crossed his hands together nervously.
"As a reader, I know the theme and core elements of this story very well," said Li Zhibai. "I will definitely not change these key parts, but as Yan He said just now, your original novel is very popular and sells well. Secondly, it has been adapted into a movie version, and many viewers have seen it and know what the story is like. So if we want to make the adaptation of this drama still interesting and fresh to the audience who know the story, we must make some major adaptations."
"Teacher Qin doesn't want to turn the whole story into a comedy. If that's her idea, don't say you object, I would be the first to disagree." Li Zhibai said, "She won't modify the characters' personalities to make them funny or weird, let alone a spoof. Instead, she will add some daily and lighthearted sections on this basis."
"How do we add this? It would be easy to turn it into something that looks weird, right?" Liu Jiazhen asked.
Li Zhibai: "For example, when the police were searching for my whereabouts, they had a lot of investigations and investigations. In fact, they could use the most ordinary people in the market environment to add some stubborn hooligans and gangsters. They refused to cooperate and were arrogant, but they didn't expect that they would hit a wall and immediately change their faces and beg for mercy. It's something like this."
Liu Jiazhen was silent for two seconds and asked, "Is this what Teacher Qin said? She just added these contents in these places?"
"That's right." Li Zhibai nodded. He had already heard that Liu Jiazhen's tone had softened.
Lu Yanhe also smiled and looked at Liu Jiazhen, "Why don't we write the script for the first episode based on this idea, and take a look?"
Liu Jiazhen took a deep breath and said, "Okay then."
-
After finally resolving the conflict between Liu Jiazhen and Qin Yiwen temporarily, Lu Yanhe and Li Zhibai went to have dinner nearby.
"You're treating me tonight," Lu Yanhe said. "You came all the way here to treat me to a good meal."
"Eat whatever you want." Li Zhibai hooked his arm around Lu Yanhe's neck, his tone relaxing after a long time.
"I've noticed that you've really changed since you became a producer. You've spoken so many words in a coherent way, and you've done a great job of convincing people in Liujia Town so quickly."
"I told you a long time ago that he is not the kind of stubborn person." Lu Yanhe smiled, "Now you know how annoying it is to be a producer, right?"
"It's really annoying. When I was acting, there weren't so many problems. I just went to the set every day to perform and then left. It was so easy." Li Zhibai said, "I didn't expect that just writing a script, and I haven't even started writing the script yet, would cause so much trouble."
"Think about it, a project with a production cost of nine figures, a crew, from front to back, from the director to the field staff, there are hundreds of production staff involved, how can there be no trouble?" Lu Yanhe said, "Anyway, when filming on a crew, it is impossible not to encounter some troubles and problems. All the producers and directors told me so."
Li Zhibai: "Then you are not annoyed?"
"It's annoying, but there's no point in being annoying." Lu Yanhe said, "Unless you stop being a producer and become an actor, then you can just focus on acting."
He was doing well as an actor, but now he chose to be a producer, of course, because he had more ideas and hoped to have more initiative.
Lu Yanhe didn't know whether Li Zhibai would be willing to persevere or choose to give up after experiencing the hardships of the producer's position.
For them, especially for them personally, transitioning to become a producer is really a chore.
They are still so young that they don’t have to think about transformation.
They can live a comfortable life for another seven or eight years, and then start planning their transformation after they have accumulated more age, social experience, and personal connections.
Lu Yanhe knew that if it weren't for the fact that he was the producer, Li Zhibai probably wouldn't have thought of this so quickly.
Of course, there is another major reason. At that time, Li Zhibai wanted to act in the movie version of "19 Years of Crime", but was rejected by Ruyi Films, who wanted Chen Ziliang instead. Looking back now, Ruyi Films must be regretting it, but the rejection at that time must have been a big blow to Li Zhibai.
Li Zhibai said, "We'll decide whether to do it or not later. Now that we've started, we can't give up halfway. We have to keep doing it."
Lu Yanhe smiled.
"It's not easy for you to say such words. You really should let Yan Liang hear them too."
"Go away." Li Zhibai glanced at him sideways. "In your eyes, I don't have any good qualities, right?"
Lu Yanhe: "It is important for a person to know himself. I applaud you for knowing yourself."
-
It has been a while since the two of them had dinner together.
Li Zhibai has been busy with the "Nineteen Years of Crime Records" since he came back from the finished filming.
Originally, both of them were not on the crew and had relatively free time.
Li Zhibai said: "I was invited to participate in the Lingyun Award. Do you think you have a chance to win the award this time? If there is no hope, I am too lazy to go. It is meaningless."
Lu Yanhe asked curiously, "You were invited to present the award?"
"Yeah." Li Zhibai said, "I haven't won any awards myself, not even been nominated. What kind of awards are you asking me to present? It's not legitimate."
"That's probably because they value your influence." Lu Yanhe smiled. "That's great. You can go and meet a lot of people. And for the drama "19 Years of Crime Records," don't you need to find a lot of actors? Now you and Mr. Jiang Jun have been confirmed, but there are still many roles that haven't been confirmed yet."
"Can those who act in movies watch TV dramas?" Li Zhibai questioned, "I find that those who are in the film industry have very high noses and cannot watch TV dramas."
"What kind of people are they? Why don't I know many people like them? Don't be influenced by their prejudices." Lu Yanhe said, "Look at Sister Bi Ge. She is considered the top actress in the movie industry. She is still acting in TV series. She has acted in the second season after the first one."
"That's you. I tell you, you just work with such a good team that you have fewer chances to encounter those monsters." Li Zhibai said, "Of course, I'm not qualified to say that I've encountered many, but I have indeed encountered a few. Oh, that's because I've acted in a few movies, yes, and I've acted in movies directed by big directors. I wish I could stick garlic in my nose and carry it around."
Lu Yanhe asked: "Did you encounter this while filming a TV series?"
"Ah."
"What's the point of talking about that? If he has the ability, he shouldn't come to act in TV dramas." Lu Yanhe said speechlessly.
Even though the contempt chain that movies are superior to TV series still exists in the industry, not many people would show it so openly on their faces.
Only the most superficial people would act like this.
Li Zhibai: "Haha, I also bully them in the same way."
Lu Yanhe: "You are not afraid of offending people."
"I'm not afraid of shit. Who have I ever been afraid of since I was a child?"
"Come on, aren't you afraid that Meng Li will continue to harass you?" Lu Yanhe asked.
Li Zhibai: "…We were talking so well, why did you suddenly mention that lunatic?"
"You are just bragging, as if you are really fearless." Lu Yanhe complained.
Li Zhibai: "Who is bragging? You are just looking for trouble on purpose."
Lu Yanhe smiled.
"What a joke."
Lu Yanhe: "You are shit."
"Damn it." Li Zhibai cursed, and his cell phone suddenly rang. He picked it up, took a look, and put it down again.
But then, the phone suddenly rang again.
This time it was a phone call.
Li Zhibai frowned and said irritably, "Why is it endless?"
Seeing this, Lu Yanhe asked, "Who is it? Is this a harassing call?"
"Yeah, it's a harassing call." Li Zhibai put down the phone and hung up.
Lu Yanhe: "Then you better be careful, don't let anyone recognize you as Li Zhibai, or your number will be leaked, which will be troublesome."
"No." Li Zhibai pointed at his phone, "He's not a stranger. I know him. He just keeps pestering me. It's annoying."
Lu Yanhe was stunned, looked at Li Zhibai in surprise, hesitated for a moment, and asked: "Woman?"
Li Zhibai nodded.
-
"Idealist Lu Yanhe" (3) has been updated, the same place~ (End of this chapter)
