Ma Zhiyuan's speech in the live broadcast room was intended to create topics for himself and increase popularity."Top of the Mountain" can also use this incident to hype itself up.
A topic that comes to your doorstep.
"Mountaintop" finally entered another dimension of fire——
contradiction.
First, Yan Liang openly admitted that the role fell to him because Ma Zhiyuan did not play it that year. Then, the director of "The Mountain Top" Shen Mofan stood up and said that he gave the script to Ma Zhiyuan mainly because Yan Liang was not as popular as he is now. From a commercial point of view, Ma Zhiyuan could help the show in terms of commercial value. Looking back now, everything was the best arrangement.
Ma Zhiyuan was ridiculed by many people.
He broke down and cursed in the live broadcast room, saying that Yan Liang was only a beggar today because of Lu Yanhe's charity, and that he simply didn't have a friend like Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe counterattacked: Don’t be jealous, Yan Liang has me as a friend, and you have a son.
A big defense was breached.
Lu Yanhe's words were almost murderous.
You know, Ma Zhiyuan's career plummeted because of this incident.
Yan Liang also fought back: I don’t rely on my friends’ charity, but on your charity. After all, it’s not Yan He who gave me the role of "The Mountain Top". It’s you who didn’t play the role that gave it to me. Don’t be modest.
For a time, the excitement of this drama caused a significant surge in traffic on the entire platform.
"The Mountain Top" ushered in a large wave of traffic.
As the show was nearing its end, the daily playback volume exceeded 900 million for the first time, and the number of viewers of the latest episode exceeded million.
Strictly speaking, this drama is still not a big hit.
In terms of average playback volume per episode, the show currently has only around 4000 million views. If we do not use the domestic calculation rules but instead look at the intuitive number of viewers from the backend, the actual number of viewers who have watched the show for more than 1700 minutes is only million.
Popular, but not a hit.
However, the domestic gameplay is not entirely based on the number of viewers, but also on the number of patch ads and the popularity of the game on major social platforms.
By the latest episode of "The Mountain Top", there were as many as five promo ads.
In the vertical field, the drama has indeed attracted a group of loyal viewers.
This makes brands very willing to pay for the show.
From this perspective, "The Mountain Top" is indeed a hit.
The main reason is that it has such a good reputation. It is the drama with the best reputation so far this year.
-
"Your performance in this drama should allow you to continue to be nominated for acting awards this year." Zhou Pingan said to Yan Liang, "But the hope of winning is still slim."
Yan Liang nodded.
His performance in "The Mountain Top" did receive a lot of praise, but this time, the performance of another male lead in "The Mountain Top", Wei Mingran, attracted more attention. Even Yan Liang himself had to admit that in this drama, the two actors Wei Mingran and Ren Suping had real charm in their characters.
Zhou Pingan said: "You have had several hit dramas in a row, all of which are double male lead or group portrait dramas like "Friends". You will have to take the male lead in the drama later, otherwise it will affect your subsequent development. I hope that "The Flowing Light" starring you and Zhang Lan will have a good broadcast effect."
Yan Liang said: "I will soon be filming The Chinese Paladin, also as the second male lead, while Zhi Bai's character is the first male lead. Are there any suitable scripts now? I also feel that I need to adjust my direction in future roles. I will continue to film the second part of The Gold Rush and the Friends series, which will still focus on dual male leads and group portraits. I have seen many marketing accounts say that although my dramas are popular, they are not caused by me."
"That doesn't matter. You're actually the one who's carrying the show. You can tell by the number of views for the first episode of The Mountain. The opening numbers are actually very good. You know, you're the only popular star in this show. Wei Mingran and Ren Suping are both talented actors, but they've never been very famous. It's this show that has further increased their popularity." Zhou Ping'an said, "So, don't worry about what the marketing accounts say. People in the industry can still see the inside story. The reason why The Mountain didn't perform well in the middle isn't because you can't carry the show, it's the style of the show. I've evaluated your recent shows, and I actually still want to get you a lighter-style male lead show, preferably a workplace show."
"why?"
"Because you have the upcoming costume dramas "The Legend of Sword and Fairy", which are all muscle action-oriented, while the styles of "The Gold Rush" and "The Mountain Top" are both relatively heavy." Zhou Pingan said frankly, ""Friends" is still relatively light-hearted. In the field of workplace dramas, you actually have a lot of room to play."
Yan Liang nodded after hearing this.
"Your image is very rare among young actors. You are one of the few actors who prefers the image of a martial artist. Apart from "Friends", the dramas you have taken on are basically based on this image. Therefore, taking on a workplace drama with a heavier literary color can help you dilute this inherent impression."
Yan Liang understood what Zhou Ping'an meant.
"Then see if there is a script suitable for me."
"It's just that it's hard for me to choose a script right now. Your previous dramas were all very good. I don't want to just accept a script for you. Even if it's worth 70 or 80 points, it's not enough." Zhou Pingan said, "Given your current situation, I think the best situation is to help you get in touch with big directors, but I don't know which of them will make workplace dramas in the future. I'll think about this. Anyway, you have to shoot three dramas this year, "Chinese Paladin", "The Gold Rush Part 2" and "Friends Season 2". Your schedule is almost full. The key is to see what dramas to accept next year."
"Yeah." "Actually, if there's a suitable movie, that's fine too." Zhou Ping'an said, "But movies are more risky. Given your current situation, if you act in a movie, you can only play second or third role in a slightly larger production, which doesn't mean much to you."
"Brother Ping An, can you help me get in touch with an art film every year?" Yan Liang said, "Without considering the box office and commercial value, I want to hone my acting skills in such a film. Anyway, I'm not going to be a movie star in the short term, so it doesn't matter if the box office performance is not good, but it can allow me to challenge myself."
"Of course, I can. I'll tell you the truth. I will only accept films that can be shot within a month. Otherwise, it will take too long." Zhou Pingan said, "You have two series to shoot. The time in a year is limited. If you have aspirations, I won't stop you, but you also have to consider your current stage of career development. I won't allow you to waste too much time on art films that you don't know how much return they will bring."
"Okay." Yan Liang nodded.
-
Yan Liang was actually quite surprised. He didn't expect that his communication with Zhou Ping'an would become smoother and smoother.
He was even a little confused and curious about when this change began.
Is it Zhou Pingan who has changed, or is it him who has changed?
This exchange made Yan Liang suddenly feel that "the conversation went exceptionally smoothly".
Both of them spoke frankly about their ideas and needs without any ambiguity or concealment.
Yan Liang went back and told Lu Yanhe and Li Zhibai about it.
Lu Yanhe said: "It would be strange if he hadn't changed after all these years. You are now his only trump card. He must want to keep you, so he will naturally respect you."
Li Zhibai nodded and agreed with Lu Yanhe's point of view.
"Don't forget, Zhou Ping'an learned a lesson from me and Ma Zhiyuan before, and he must have reflected on it." Li Zhibai said, "He is such a smart person, he must know his current situation, which is different from before. In the past, he had several celebrity artists under his control, and if one failed, there was another one. If I leave, there is still Ma Zhiyuan. Of course, he won't talk to you nicely."
Yan Liang: "No, I think it's more than that. His personality seems to have become softer. This is a change in his personality, not a change in his behavior. I can't help but wonder if he has been stimulated by something else."
Li Zhibai said: "What kind of stimulation can he get? The biggest stimulation for him is Ma Zhiyuan's sudden explosion."
Yan Liang held his chin in his hand and thought deeply.
Lu Yanhe: "Why don't you care what has happened to him? As long as he can communicate with you properly, that's enough."
"And his planning for your acting is quite accurate." Li Zhibai said, "What I didn't expect was that he would agree to your idea of acting in an art film a year. With his profit-seeking personality in the past, how could he agree to that? Art films don't get paid much, and you have to spend a lot of time on set filming. If the box office isn't good in the end, it will affect the market's evaluation of you."
Yan Liang: "This also shocked me. I thought I would have to argue with him for a while, but I didn't expect him to agree so easily."
Lu Yanhe: "Maybe he realized that you actually have a chance to win an award, so he also hopes that you can win an award by acting in an art film. Don't you think he cares that your drama "The Mountain" can help you get nominated for the three major awards again?"
"That's right." Yan Liang nodded. "Maybe he really hopes that I can get nominated for a film award with my art film? I can't imagine that he doesn't do things based on gains and losses."
"If 'The Mountain' is going for an award this year, will last year's Blue Ribbon incident have any impact on you?" Li Zhibai asked.
"I don't know." Yan Liang shook his head. "If there is an impact, there is nothing I can do. I had already made the decision to do this. If they want to deliberately prevent me from getting the nomination because of this, there is nothing I can do."
Lu Yanhe said: "Let's try to win an award overseas."
"what?"
"'The Mountain' can apply for several Asian TV drama awards." Lu Yanhe said seriously, "Has the overseas streaming rights for this drama been sold?"
Yan Liang said: "I heard that we are still in communication with HP and Maxine, but the prices offered by these two platforms are relatively low, so we haven't reached an agreement. In fact, this drama may not be able to set off a viewing craze on streaming media like "The Gold Rush". "The Gold Rush" took advantage of the theme, but the viewing threshold of "The Mountain" is indeed a bit high."
Lu Yanhe: "But the reputation of "The Mountain" is also really high. You can talk to Zhou Pingan. When "The Mountain" is broadcast overseas, you can ask Zhou Pingan to help you make arrangements to at least get this drama into the selection range of those major awards. The quality is very good. What we need to do is to let more people know about this drama and see its goodness."
Yan Liang: "Well, I think Zhou Ping'an still hopes that the drama "Mountain Peak" can bring me some awards, nominations are fine. He said that I have been nominated for acting awards for two consecutive years, which can create momentum. He doesn't mean that I must win an award now."
"Indeed, you have been nominated for acting awards for two consecutive years with a hit drama, which to a certain extent proves your acting ability." Lu Yanhe nodded, "In fact, these two dramas should have also made you noticed by many big directors, right?"
"Yeah." Yan Liang nodded. "In the past six months, Zhou Ping'an has actually taken me to meet many directors, but it's still difficult to get a suitable opportunity to work together. It depends on fate. Apart from the few dramas that have been confirmed, I will not take on group dramas or dramas with two male protagonists in the short term. I have to play the leading male role, otherwise I'm afraid of being stereotyped in the industry. It's too difficult for me to play the leading male role in a big director's crew. Other people's dramas don't necessarily have the leading male role. Even if they do, they are generally more mature male characters. Our age still doesn't have an advantage. I now especially understand what Yan He said. Our current age has great limitations, which prevents us from acting in many dramas."
In film and television dramas, the golden age for male actors is between 30 and 50 years old, and they are all too young now.
Lu Yanhe said: "If you really can't find a suitable script, I will write you a script with a male protagonist."
Yan Liang: "No, no, no, no, if you have a suitable script, you can come to me. Don't always write scripts for me. I also want to prove myself. I can still be a good actor even if I don't act in Lu Yanhe's scripts."
"You don't have to listen to those people's nonsense. The dramas you starred in, The Gold Rush and The Mountaintop, were not written by me. You have been very successful, but they acted as if they didn't see these two dramas."
"I must admit that if it weren't for Friends, my career as an actor would have been more tortuous and difficult. Since they have this impression of me now, I can't explain it over and over again, so I will try to rely on myself first and act in more dramas. If one drama doesn't work, I'll act in two. If two dramas don't work, I'll act in three. This will eventually change everyone's impression of me."
Yan Liang's words touched Lu Yanhe deeply. But at the same time, he was also very relieved. This was the Yan Liang he knew. It was great that they were still themselves. They were still the same as before. (End of this chapter)
