"Really... that's ridiculous."
"Although I did spend more time outside this year and less time with you, there really was no sign at all."
“I’m very disillusioned.”
While Yan Liang went to the bathroom, Lu Yanhe did not mention Jiang Yuqian at all, but every word he said was directed at her.
Li Zhibai covered his face with one hand, also embarrassed.
"It's not that I don't want to say it. I was planning to tell you a long time ago."
"Oh my god, you are such a bitch. You even complained about her behind her back."
Li Zhibai jerked his neck and said, "Fuck, you're a dog. When did I ever complain to you?"
Lu Yanhe: "As long as you don't confess, you're still a dog."
At this time, Yan Liang came back.
He nodded in agreement and slapped Li Zhibai on the back of the head.
"you are a dog."
Li Zhibai grimaced.
"day."
……
The next day, the crew inexplicably discovered that the three of them began to get along well again and were talking and laughing together.
——Are you pretending?
——You didn’t talk to each other yesterday, but today you’re good brothers again?
——Your acting is really good. Our relationship improved instantly.
——I don’t know what happened between them.
——Maybe there was a lot of public opinion online, so their agency did some work?
——Can the agency do their job?
——After all, they are still filming this drama, and no one wants the drama to be affected.
……
Yan Lingyu came over with his kettle and asked, "Can I ask you now, what happened to you before?"
"Actually, it's nothing, but I can't tell you for now." Lu Yanhe shook his head. "Why are you concerned about this?"
Yan Lingyu smiled slightly and said, "I found that chatting with you more seems to help me better present the feeling that the director wants when I play the role of Ling'er."
“Do you know what the director wants to feel?”
"I know, but I can't act it out just because I want to." Yan Lingyu shook his head, "I seem to lack a little talent in acting."
"You acted very well. No one can compare with you in the role that suits you." Lu Yanhe praised, "Ling'er this time is completely different from the character you played in "Late Spring"."
"But I was able to put myself into the role in Late Spring," Yan Lingyu said. "When I was acting in Late Spring, I felt that I was good at acting, and I could quickly get into the situation. But in The Legend of Sword and Fairy, I was a little... maybe I don't have the personality of Ling'er, so I always have to find the state."
Lu Yanhe understood what Yan Lingyu meant.
In "Late Spring", her role is close to her own personality, and her true nature makes her understand the role. But the role of Ling'er is not her true nature.
"I've seen some of the footage that's been shot before. You don't have to think too much. In Director Luo's lens, you are Ling'er." Lu Yanhe encouraged, "You are completely different from what I usually see you."
"Thank you." Yan Lingyu pursed his lips slightly.
She turned her head and looked around to make sure no one around could hear them talking, then she said, "Yan He, I want to ask you, if Ling Yi likes Li Zhibai and confesses to him, will it work?"
Lu Yanhe was speechless.
"What's wrong?" Yan Lingyu was a little confused.
Lu Yanhe rarely knew what to say.
"Uh--"
"No chance for now." Lu Yanhe said.
Yan Lingyu: "Okay, I feel the same way. Lingyi has already given several hints in the past few days, but Li Zhibai has not responded at all. I guess that's the case too."
Lu Yanhe: "You seem to be very concerned about their affairs."
"Yeah." Yan Lingyu nodded and admitted it frankly.
"Did Jiang Lingyi ask you for help?"
"No, I'm just curious." Yan Lingyu said, "Did you finish filming at the end of September?"
"Yes." Lu Yanhe nodded. "The main roles of this play still lie with you guys. Song Fangtian will also join the crew soon, and your four-member protagonist group will be reunited."
Song Fangtian is the actress who plays Anu.
In this drama, the roles of the leading female character Yan Lingyu and the second female character Jiang Lingyi are basically all related to Li Zhibai. Although Jin Yuan, played by Lu Yanhe, is Lin Yueru's cousin and has feelings for her in the play, they are not significant. Jiang Lingyi's main role is still with Li Zhibai.
Only the third female character, Anu, is the official partner of Tang Yu Xiaobao, played by Yan Liang.
The two of them have a serious relationship. Although this relationship is not as classic as Li Zhibai's, the couple combination of these two people has been popular for many years.
Song Fangtian was supposed to join the crew earlier, but because of some problems with the previous drama, the completion time was delayed by more than a month. After coordination, her joining time was postponed.
-
After Lu Yanhe finished filming "The Legend of Sword and Fairy", he had no other arrangements to join the crew.
His next show is the second season of Friends.
It’s still early, and we have a quarter to rest.
However, he has a lot of non-acting work lined up this year.
Especially the preparation of the movie "Home Alone".
Lu Yanhe almost had the idea of directing the film himself.
Because it feels simple.
For this movie, as long as all the props on the scene are ready, we can just shoot it.
No need to talk about artistry.
But Chen Ziyan persuaded him.
"It's because it's simple, so don't make it your second directorial work." Chen Ziyan said, "Although this movie is good, it's just a light comedy. In fact, it's different from the impression you have in the public's mind. Forget the script. It's behind the scenes anyway. People won't feel it that strongly. They will only say that you wrote an interesting and childlike story. But as a director... It's like Liu Bige's "Fake Death", which is too different from "Late Spring". The audience will feel a sense of disconnection."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
He understood what Chen Ziyan meant.
In fact, the company has contacted several directors and is in the process of contacting, evaluating, and judging who is most suitable to direct the movie "Home Alone".
The production budget for "Home Alone" has been announced. The biggest cost investment is a house that can be renovated for filming, as well as the salary budget for the two stupid thieves. Although this movie has a big star like Lu Yanhe as the screenwriter and endorsement, it still needs star power in terms of actors and stars. Therefore, Chen Yin suggested that at least an actor who is known and familiar to the audience must be invited to play one of the stupid thieves.
Adding all the factors together, even if the budget was based on an ample shooting plan, in this era when making a movie easily costs hundreds of millions, the calculated number is only 756 million.
This is a truly low-budget movie. But it’s not that there’s not enough money, it’s that this kind of subject matter only requires this amount of money to make. The most exciting and “big” scenes in the movie also take place in this house.
Chen Yin said: "If Mr. Lu writes a few more scripts like this and they all do well at the box office, Linghe will have sufficient funds to compete with the cash flow of the first-tier film companies in the industry without taking out loans or raising funds."
The movie "Love Letter" brought Linghe hundreds of millions of cash flow from the box office alone.
The speaker has no intention, the listener has the heart.
After experiencing the first half of the year, Lu Yanhe knew how much impact insufficient cash reserves had on a company. It really affected any decision, and faced with the crisis of a possible break in the capital chain, he dared not let go.
If we can do more low-cost projects, can we accumulate more funds for the company?
Projects like Home Alone...
However, even Lu Yanhe only knew about these few.
It cannot be mass-produced.
It still depends on Chen Yin and the others to do it themselves.
While I was thinking about this, Hu Siwei came to mind.
-
After finishing the sitcom project "Housemates", Hu Siwei took a break for a while and started looking for new projects.
He read hundreds of stories from the company's IP and script libraries, but was not satisfied with any of them.
So far, there are actually no creators in China who specialize in creating stories centered around "situation comedy."
The sitcom craze started by "Wulin Wai Zhuan" and "Friends" has led to the few screenwriters in the industry who can write sitcoms being hired by various platforms with high salaries to write scripts for the next several years.
The script of "Man and Woman Housemates" was compiled episode by episode by Hu Siwei, Bai Jingnian and several young screenwriters.
Hu Siwei wants to continue with the sitcom genre, especially the production team of "Housemates". They don't want to set up a stall with great difficulty and then fail to sustain it, and everyone goes their own way.
Everyone needs to eat.
But stories suitable for sitcoms are hard to find.
A key premise of a sitcom is that it is uncomplicated, simple, yet able to accommodate a wide variety of stories.
To make the audience feel "companionship".
-
“Do I have a good story?”
"Even if it's just an idea, it's fine." Hu Siwei said, "I really haven't found a story that I feel is worth filming. I can't delay it any longer. If there are no more scripts for them to write, I can't keep holding them back and not accept other scripts."
He was talking about the screenwriters of "Man and Woman Housemates".
He signed those screenwriters to Linghe's company and they became Linghe's contracted screenwriters.
However, since they were all recent college graduates and had only written one script, "Men and Women Living Together", they were just starting out and dreamed of an opportunity.
Hu Siwei told them that there would be another project for them to write scripts soon, so he asked them to wait for the project. Otherwise, without the project, there would be no extra income, only the basic salary given to them by the company, which was enough for their basic living, but that was all. If there were no projects, they would definitely have to participate in other projects.
Lu Yanhe snorted.
The first idea that came to his mind was "The Big Bang Theory", but he didn't write the script himself because it involved too much professional physics knowledge, which required finding a script consultant and polishing it carefully, so he didn't put it on the schedule for the time being.
Lu Yanhe has brought up "Love Apartment" again... But if he writes "Love Apartment", will there be plots that the audience will feel are very similar to "Friends", and then people will accuse him of plagiarizing himself - he has run out of ideas.
What else.
Then, Lu Yanhe remembered an American TV series that he had watched some clips of but didn't know much about.
It's really just an idea that can provide a hint.
"I have had an idea, but it has not taken shape. The general story is about a rich girl whose parents go bankrupt and she is unexpectedly taken in by a waitress in a restaurant. They also start working as waitresses together. One is a rich girl who grew up in a wealthy family and was a little pretentious at first but was soon infected and actually had a good personality. The other is a poor girl who has been working at the bottom of society since she was a child. She seems very depressed but is actually very optimistic and kind. They live and work together. There are two main scenes, one is the restaurant and the other is the house they rent. Next to them, there is a stingy but actually kind-hearted boss, a chef who loves beautiful women and is not pretending but is not a bad person, a female neighbor who lives next to them, has a little money and a very unrestrained personality, and can't cook so she often comes to this restaurant to eat, and an old cashier who has a dream of music but is dying and has not made a name for himself. It's just this group of people, getting together, mainly telling a real, chaotic comedy at the bottom of society."
It is no exaggeration to say that Hu Siwei's eyes really lit up like a cluster of flames.
Whether a story is suitable for being made into a film or TV series, and what type of film or TV series it is suitable for, for people who are familiar with and understand this industry, basically just hearing a concept will give them a rough idea.
Hu Siwei has personally participated in the creation of many sitcoms including "Friends", "Wulin Waijia" and "Housemate". In the field of film and television, if you want to say that there is someone who understands the current Chinese sitcoms better than him, it is probably difficult to find that person.
He has his own standards for what kind of stories are suitable for being made into sitcoms.
Is there a common comedic thread running through the characters?
In this story, the contradiction between rich and poor brought about by the growing environment of the two girls is the core of the comedy that runs through the whole story.
Is there a fixed place where many stories can be emanated?
For example, the home of Rachel and Monica in "Friends" and the cafe in Central Park. For example, the Tongfu Inn in "Wulin Waijiao".
In this story, it's that restaurant.
For example, different characters. This is especially important and essential for sitcoms. Only characters with completely different personalities but each with their own likable qualities can collide to create endless jokes.
In this story, Lu Yanhe did not talk about the development of the story, but talked about the characteristics of each person.
This is the essential difference. For regular TV dramas, the most important thing is the growth of the characters and the story. But for sitcoms, the characteristics of the characters and the core of the comedy are the most important. The story is just a side dish. No matter how ridiculous it is, it will not affect the style and texture of the show. To be honest, many of the stories in sitcoms are more ridiculous than many "ridiculous movies", but because the focus of the show is not on the story, it is ignored by many people.
Hu Siwei asked, "Have you given this play a name?"
"Name?" Lu Yanhe was stunned. "Uh, 2 Broke Girls?"
"Great!" Hu Siwei slapped his thigh.
"Okay, this is it!"
Lu Yanhe was stunned.
"what?"
Hu Siwei said, "I want to do this. Can I use your idea and let the screenwriters write a script?"
"Alright..." Lu Yanhe hesitated for a moment, "But, I haven't thought too much about this story. I just thought of these things. If the plot doesn't go on, don't look for me."
"I'm so grateful that you can give us this idea. If I can't push the plot, why would I do this job?" Hu Siwei said, "I'll get the authorization agreement right away! That's amazing, Yan He, the idea you casually mentioned is something we can't think of even if we rack our brains."
Lu Yanhe: "..."
He wanted to say, no, it wasn’t actually an idea he came up with casually, it was also developed by others with great effort.
-
However, this time—
Lu Yanhe thought that Tom White from HP had been in contact with him for such a long time, and the two of them actually got along well, but due to some strange reasons, the two sides did not cooperate on many important projects.
Despite this, Tom White did not ignore him or distance himself from him, and still maintained his friendship with him.
Basically, Tom White will bid for any project that Lu Yanhe is involved in, as long as it is suitable for streaming media to be viewed by global audiences.
Unless the two parties have different value judgments on a project, such as "Wulin Waijiao", Lu Yanhe is unwilling to sell it at a low price, but Tom White feels that even at this low price, he is willing to pay it only for Lu Yanhe's sake.
This time, Lu Yanhe felt that he could send a message to Tom White in advance.
Although he did not write the script himself, Lu Yanhe knew that this story was very popular in the original world. Although it was not as popular as "Friends", it was also one of the most popular American TV series for a period of time.
If you take HP, you will definitely not lose anything.
After receiving Lu Yanhe's email, Tom White replied immediately: I will come to China in two days.
Lu Yanhe told Hu Siwei about this matter and asked the company to make preparations.
Lu Yanhe thought about it and invited Tom White to join the crew of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy".
Because it is a Chinese classical fantasy theme, this highly anticipated drama in China has been somewhat unreceived on overseas streaming media.
Because, this kind of ancient costume drama with classical fairy-tale themes, except for being relatively popular in Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, basically does not make any splash in the European and American markets.
It also encountered the same problem as "Wulin Waijiao".
Several international streaming media outlets are not optimistic about the show’s performance on their platforms.
Willing to buy, but not willing to pay the market price that Lu Yanhe had in mind.
Lu Yanhe invited Tom White to come because he wanted him to see what the filming of the show was like on the spot.
If possible, Lu Yanhe still hopes that the drama can be broadcast on streaming media and broadcast globally. At least in the Asian market, he believes that the drama is competitive.
Tom White accepted the invitation.
-
Tom White first went to Linghe Company, where Chen Yin and Hu Siwei were responsible for receiving him.
They introduced the production plan of "2 Broke Girls" to Tom White in detail. It was also difficult for them. They just got an idea from Lu Yanhe, and they had to turn it into a project plan that required building a framework within just two days.
Of course, although this is a headache for them who have been through many battles, it is not a big problem in the end.
Tom White listened very carefully. Apparently, he had no complaints about this sitcom theme which seemed promising at the first glance. However, he had some differences in the intention of cooperation in the production.
Tom White was willing to pay a high price to make this drama, but the high price meant that the copyright of the drama would belong to HP. This was equivalent to Tom White paying the money and hiring Linghe to produce the drama, and directly buying it out.
However, Chen Yin and Hu Siwei were both very clear about Lu Yanhe's thoughts.
Basically, he is unwilling to transfer the copyright. As long as it is his script, either the film copyright is shared by both parties like in the cooperation with director Wang Zhong on Rouge and Raise the Red Lantern, and the IP copyright remains in his hands, or the film and television copyright is also in his hands. The cooperation with the platform is in the form of copyright drama, and the platform only buys the broadcasting rights for a certain number of years, and does not own the copyright.
They all believed that Lu Yanhe was so persistent because the incident in "Friends" made them afraid of the ropes for ten years after being bitten by a snake once.
However, as the copyrights of these film and television dramas in the company were able to continue to bring in copyright income to the company several years later, they suddenly realized that if it is a popular drama with strong vitality, the long-term income may not be lower than the income at the premiere or the first broadcast.
Tom White obviously also knew about Lu Yanhe's habit.
He said that when he returns to the crew of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy", he will have a good talk with Lu Yanhe about this matter.
-
Lu Yanhe did not expect that Tom White would offer a production fee of 2500 million US dollars - as long as Lu Yanhe agreed to transfer the copyright of the first season of "12 Broke Girls" to HP at the same time, and produce no less than episodes of minutes each in the first season.
It doesn't matter if a sequel to "Friends" costs $1 million to produce, just like "The Big Bang Theory" in the later stages, the production cost per episode was $900 million, with 24 episodes per season, because they have enough viewers to make the money back.
But "2 Broke Girls" is a drama that we don't know whether the audience will like or not. It may even be a complete flop.
2500 million US dollars, this is a big gamble.
Losing the bet was definitely a setback and blow to Tom White's career.
It can be said that Tom White is indeed sincere.
Lu Yanhe shook his head.
"Tom, you know I don't want to share copyrights with others." Lu Yanhe said, "I don't want to suffer the loss of "Friends" again. It was obviously me who wrote the script and provided the story ideas, but in the end I couldn't keep it in my own hands."
Tom White said: "Yan He, if it is a copyrighted drama, I can't give you a satisfactory price. This is where my authority ends."
Lu Yanhe said: "Tom, maybe we can have a new mode of cooperation."
"Well?" asked Tom White. "What do you mean?"
"The price you pay for the show is determined by the number of viewers and the length of time they watch it," Lu Yanhe said. "In other words, if the show doesn't do well, you don't have to take any risks. Although you all say that I've been successful and it's a miracle, I never believe in miracles, and I don't know when I'll fail. If you spend $2500 million to buy Broke Girls today and it doesn't do well, you'll be blamed, and I'll feel uneasy."
Tom White looked at Lu Yanhe hesitantly.
Lu Yanhe: "This kind of cooperation model is actually very common between actors and film producers, right? The actor can get a share of the profits based on how much the box office reaches. Especially the more famous the actor, the more likely they are to adopt this kind of salary structure."
Tom White nodded.
"To be honest, I know very well that the $2500 million you are willing to pay for this show is already a very high price. Believe me, I am absolutely aware of this. However, I will not hide it from you, I am more greedy, because I believe that I have greater ambitions for this show. I think it may not be another show that can achieve the same results as Friends."
Tom White looked at Lu Yanhe with some surprise.
"So, you said 2500 million to sell out the first season, Tom, maybe you will think I am arrogant, but I think, maybe in the dimension of three or five years, I will think it is worth a higher number, one, even two, or even higher." Lu Yanhe said to Tom White, "Of course, I want to get such a number, it must be because this show can reach the height that you and I hope it can reach."
Tom White hesitated for a moment, and suddenly talked about "Love Letter". He said: "Love Letter is still being shown all over the world. Its performance in various markets around the world is actually a bit beyond our expectations. In particular, the box office performance of this movie in the United States is unexpectedly strong. In the end, it sold over 8 million US dollars, which greatly exceeded the predictions of various box office forecasting agencies. When you insisted on separating it and cooperating with film distributors in various places and insisting on releasing it in theaters, did you expect such box office performance?"
"No, regardless of whether or not this movie has such box office performance, I will choose to cooperate individually with film studios in various places." Lu Yanhe said, "Because this movie has no pressure to lose money, it will make money no matter what. The Linghe Film and Television Production Company I founded needs such a movie to establish connections with film producers around the world and open up the situation."
Tom White nodded and said, "You are actually a creator with a very business-minded mindset."
Lu Yanhe: "Thank you."
Tom White smiled and said, "I can discuss this cooperation model with you further, but you certainly won't say that we don't even have to give the reserve price, right? We still have to bear the risk of failure to some extent, but it is no longer a gamble. If we lose, we won't lose much, and if we win, we won't win big either."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
He admits this.
"I hope you can keep the English remake rights of 2 Broke Girls for me. I know you will definitely keep a window for this show, at least you won't authorize others to remake it before it's finished. Maxine is now remaking the English version of Friends, and I can imagine how unhappy you are. I don't plan to do a remake before your version is finished, but I don't want it to be snatched away by others."
Lu Yanhe: "I can reserve the remake rights for you, but Linghe and I will participate in the remake work, especially some bottom line issues, which must be clarified in the agreement. At the same time, I hope that "Wulin Wai Zhuan" and "Chinese Paladin" can try this new cooperation model together."
Tom White said: "Yan He, you have to know that we have evaluated the play "Wulin Waijia", we-"
"It doesn't matter. I don't need a penny. I don't want a base price." Lu Yanhe said bluntly, "But you must allocate the necessary publicity resources. How much we can get in the end depends on our ability."
Tom White looked at Lu Yanhe in disbelief.
Lu Yanhe smiled slightly. "Tom, I am very willing to cooperate with you. Since Love Letter can exceed your imagination and prediction, why do you still have to trust your experience and data models 100%, instead of trusting the person in front of you who has created many miracles, and give a chance to the project you are not optimistic about? I said, regarding My Own Swordsman, I don't want a reserve price. Let's negotiate directly based on the number of viewers."
Tom White was shocked by Lu Yanhe's decisiveness at this moment.
He was still quite surprised by Lu Yanhe's change.
In the past, in Tom White's mind, Lu Yanhe was mostly a creator. Today, what Lu Yanhe said and what he fought for made Tom White look at him differently.
It feels a bit strange.
-
After Lu Yanhe and Tom White finished talking about work, they reached some preliminary consensus, and the atmosphere between the two became a little more relaxed.
Lu Yanhe took Tom White to the crew and introduced him to some of the story background and highlights of the drama "The Legend of Sword and Fairy".
"Perhaps you can think of it as the Western version of The Lord of the Rings," Lu Yanhe said. "Although there are still many differences, it is essentially a story about creating an extraordinary world based on the world we live in, and then a group of young people defeating the villains and saving the world."
Tom White immediately understood what Lu Yanhe said.
In fact, if you want these foreigners to accurately understand what immortals are and what ordinary people are, it is very difficult to convey them in a faithful and elegant manner.
Sometimes, you might as well find a benchmark that they can understand, so that they can understand what you say from the perspective that they can accept.
When Tom White heard that this story was a Chinese version of "The Lord of the Rings", his interest was obviously increased.
The reason is simple: in their history and culture, The Lord of the Rings is an epic and widely circulated novel, and has even become a cultural symbol of some kind, just like Shakespeare to Europeans and Americans.
It is also a story that Europeans and Americans love to read.
If "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" also follows such a story model, then it would be different from his initial understanding.
Lu Yanhe looked at Tom White and didn't know what kind of understanding he had.
He didn't explain it. Just watch it slowly as long as you are interested and you will understand it slowly.
Whether a story is good or a play is good, people like Tom White, who have watched countless films, rarely make mistakes in judgment as long as he is really willing to understand it carefully.
People's accumulation of wealth cannot be done casually.
The other members of the crew had already received the notice and knew that Lu Yanhe would bring the head of HP Asia to visit the crew today, so they were not surprised to see the foreigner next to Lu Yanhe.
Instead, when the tour was almost over, Tom White said to Lu Yanhe in surprise, "Your crew has so many people, but it seems to be much cleaner and tidier than the Chinese crews I've been to before, and not so noisy."
Ever since "The Gold Rush" was sold at a high price by HP, Tom White has become the target of invitations from domestic film and television companies.
Everyone hopes to make some US dollars from HP.
Being able to earn seven figures in US dollars would be a pleasant surprise.
Of course, there are only a few Chinese-language dramas that can meet Tom White's standards in a year, and those that do emerge have been noticed by almost all first-tier streaming platforms, but they may not necessarily be broadcast by him.
But no matter what, Tom White has visited many film and television crews in China.
Lu Yanhe said: "The director of this drama, Luo Yuzhong, is the director who worked with me before on "The Golden Age". My clips in that drama were shown at my solo exhibition in Venice before. I remember you were there too."
"Oh, I know which one you're talking about." Tom White nodded.
"He is the top drama director in China and also my mentor." Lu Yanhe specifically used the word "mentor". He knew that this word had a special meaning in European and American culture. He thought that by saying this, Tom White should be able to understand the importance of Luo Yuzhong in his heart.
Tom White nodded.
"In the past few years, the commercialization of our film and television market has been extremely inflated due to hot money, which has led to the entry of many unprofessional people and created many bad habits, which have not disappeared until now. However, in a truly good crew, you will not see those chaotic and out-of-control scenes." Lu Yanhe said, "You should go to a better crew more often."
Tom White laughed.
He said: "I don't mean to blame you Chinese film and television crews."
"I just hope you can see more good things and not let the bad things affect your overall judgment of our Chinese film and television dramas," said Lu Yanhe.
Tom White made a gesture of "OK, I accept what you said", "By the way, Yan He, thank you for informing me first this time."
Lu Yanhe: "You should know that I have always wanted to work with you. There have been too many times in the past where things went against our wishes. After all, cooperation is not something that can be decided by the will of the two of us. I believe that with this "2 Broke Girls", we will have more and deeper cooperation in the future."
-
Recommend the new book "The Demon-Catching Sword". (End of this chapter)
