In October, Linghe's last film to be shot this year, "Oh, My Sea," began filming.
This work comes from the newly signed director Wu Chi. It was launched to allow him to accumulate directing experience before filming "You Are the Apple of My Eye".
The actors in this movie are basically unknown little actors.
Linghe only provided Wu Chi with 2 million yuan in production funds.
Wu Chi tried to use the script to impress some first-line actors, hoping to ask them to reduce their pay to perform in the film, but no one agreed.
"Oh, O Sea" is not the kind of art film that gives people hope of winning awards.
The script was chosen because its style was very similar to Those Years, and both had the texture of the author's past experiences. It was very sincere, but like those "touching" articles in magazines, although "touching", it was not sophisticated enough.
After the filming started, it was shot on location in a small seaside town.
Because there are no famous directors or actors, in the eyes of others, this is just a small crew and is not noticed.
Only a few marketing accounts and media noticed that the production company of this movie was actually Lu Yanhe's Linghe, so they released a news article and put Lu Yanhe's name on it, hoping to attract a wave of traffic.
People who saw the three words "Lu Yanhe" and clicked on it found out that the so-called new film had nothing to do with Lu Yanhe, and they left in disappointment.
Many people thought that this was news about Lu Yanhe’s new film.
Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi took the high-speed rail together to this seaside town.
One is to relax and take a short vacation, and the other is to take a look at the situation of the crew.
Although it was a very small crew, it was also the first film produced by Linghe that was not related to Lu Yanhe.
This year's "Housemates" and "Oh, Oh, the Sea, O Bah" finally took the first step towards "de-Lu Yanheization".
Lu Yanhe was very pleased.
Chen Siqi said: "I found that in the entire entertainment industry, you are the only one who can do this."
"What are you doing?" Lu Yanhe was looking down at the latest episode of "Jump Up" when he suddenly heard Chen Siqi's words and looked up and asked.
The two of them were sitting next to each other, making it convenient for them to whisper in each other's ears.
Chen Siqi: "It costs very little to make a small film like this, and other people don't have mature channels to recover the cost. For your film, you always have the Northern Lights Video and the Ice Field Video to back you up, and you also have overseas channels. Channels are really important."
“Is there a problem with the overseas version of ‘Jump Up’?”
"There were no problems, but because the publishing and distribution channels were controlled by others, the negotiations were very passive." Chen Siqi said, "There were indeed publishers interested in the book "Film Festival: Yuming", but they were not willing to offer good conditions. However, in order to get the book published and sold worldwide, we had no choice but to agree."
Lu Yanhe actually deeply understands what Chen Siqi said.
His previous films were okay, probably because they performed well on streaming media and had decent box office around the world, so he had some bargaining power with film distributors from all over the world.
But he also knew that many Chinese-language films had no distribution channels overseas. Overseas film distributors also knew that, apart from the films of a few big directors and top actors, most Chinese-language films had almost no market, so the distribution prices were often kept very low.
Then you won’t sell it?
If you don't sell it, you won't make any money and it will just be a waste of money.
The products and industries are different, but the business logic is the same.
The price of Chinese-language dramas on overseas streaming media has gone up a bit now because several consecutive Chinese-language dramas have achieved good results overseas and performed well, so there is much more room for bargaining for Chinese-language dramas.
In particular, the price of the streaming copyright of "The Gold Rush" was clearly exposed, and there is no information gap.
Lu Yanhe said: "If I have the chance in the future, I will buy a publishing company with global distribution capabilities."
Chen Siqi: "I can't afford it. Large publishing companies with global channels are basically subsidiaries of media giants. They are part of their entire cultural media matrix and cannot be sold. Two years ago, Stinger transformed its business and wanted to cut off the traditional publishing line, so it was sold to the UK's Fan Deng. Do you know how much it was sold for?"
"How many?"
"$ million."
(Note: This data is quoted from Paramount's sale of its top publishing house Simon & Schuster to private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts for US$2023 billion in )
Lu Yanhe showed an incredible look.
Chen Siqi smiled bitterly, "Didn't expect that?"
"This is too exaggerated. Who says the traditional publishing industry doesn't make money?" said Lu Yanhe.
Chen Siqi said: "So, we acquire a top global publishing company? It's almost unrealistic. In fact, to some extent, it is others who want to acquire us, Jump Up."
Lu Yanhe: "If it jumps up, the current market value should not be low, right?"
"There is no way to compare with those traditional big companies. Their copyright library is too rich. Even if they do nothing, they still have a gold mine that keeps making money."
Lu Yanhe: "That sounds really enviable."
"Your Linghe will also become such a film company in the future." Chen Siqi said, "Look, in just a few years, Linghe has accumulated so many copyrights."
Lu Yanhe: "I hope they can develop several independent business lines in the future and don't have to rely on me."
"Sure." Chen Siqi said, "I've already seen the rough cut of 'Housemates'."
"Ah? When did you see it?"
"The last time I went to negotiate with the Jump Up Theater, I happened to run into an internal preview, and Hu Siwei invited me to watch it together." Chen Siqi said, "This play is really interesting, a light comedy, although... in my opinion, it is relatively simple and has no valuable content."
"Yeah." Lu Yanhe nodded. "That's good. What I fear most is that every work has to pursue valuable content, so that light-hearted works are only responsible for giving the audience a sense of relaxation. It's enough to do one thing well first."
"Yes." Chen Siqi nodded. "Hu Siwei is very worried that 'Housemates' will damage its reputation, but I think it's not a big deal. This drama should be well received by the market. Of course, for it to be a big hit, it may require the right time, place and people."
Lu Yanhe said: "This drama is an experiment. As long as it doesn't lose money, it's a success. I quite like this revenue-sharing model. I told Hu Siwei that as long as it doesn't lose money, we can continue with the second season. Situation comedies need to nurture the audience. By accumulating audiences season by season, they will become more and more popular."
Chen Siqi nodded.
"It's that word, what's it called? A sense of companionship." Chen Siqi said, "The reason why 'Friends' has been so popular for so long is that many people have regarded the characters in 'Friends' as their familiar friends after watching the show for the past few years. As long as the style remains the same, they will keep watching. The basic audience is so large."
Lu Yanhe said: "By the way, how is the Jump Up Theater going?"
Chen Siqi said: "It is relatively stable. When there are big stars in the leading roles, the ratings can reach more than , and the number of viewers can reach an average of about million. Under normal circumstances, the ratings are also stable at around %. The average number of viewers for each drama exceeds million. It can be said that this is a very successful attempt."
Lu Yanhe: "That's good."
"The sales of our magazine Jump Up has also been boosted by Jump Up Theater. Now the average sales of each issue can reach 45 copies." Chen Siqi said, "There was one issue in particular, because a short story by Ming Yin was pre-ordered to be adapted by Jump Up Theater and starred by Zhang Ruozhi, the sales of that issue even exceeded copies. Love Letter made Zhang Ruozhi famous overnight and he has many fans."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"It's very strong."
"In fact, Jiangyin Publishing House has made great contributions behind this." Chen Siqi said, "Do you know what they have been doing in recent years? They have established connections with bookstores and Lanson convenience stores near schools across the country, and have a huge distribution channel, so that our "Jump Up" can be easily purchased anywhere. Junior high school and high school students are a large part of the buyers of our magazine. Their mobile phones are strictly controlled, and they can't place orders online like everyone else, so they can only buy from places near the school. With this distribution channel, basically no marketing point of our "Jump Up" is wasted."
“Marketing point?”
"We have several marketing points in every issue of our magazine to attract everyone's attention," said Chen Siqi. "I said, I never want Jump Up to become a magazine that relies on its past success. For example, this issue you have in your hand has three marketing points. First, an exclusive interview with Jiang Yuqian about her starring role in the movie Telephone; second, a prediction of the annual ranking of Idol Era, voted by 10,000 readers of Jump Up, including analysis from ten authoritative media; third, Teacher Shi Xia's latest short story, Life."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"I require them to have a few points in each issue that will drive a certain group of people to buy this issue of the magazine." Chen Siqi said, "Only in this way can 'Jump Up' not slowly fall into fatigue. You know, a magazine with sales of 400,000 copies can still perform well even if you don't work too hard, but over time, people will no longer find this magazine interesting. There must always be something new for everyone."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
He actually agreed with Chen Siqi's idea.
At this time, no matter what you create, the same principle applies: you are sailing against the current, if you don’t move forward, you will move backward. You must have something that only you have, otherwise, why would people want to see your stuff?
"that--"
A slightly tentative voice suddenly sounded in their ears.
Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi looked up at the same time. A girl with a very pretty face and an overall artistic style was standing in the aisle, bending slightly and looking at them.
Zou Dong, who was sitting behind them, stood up immediately.
"Sorry--" Zou Dong was about to stop the girl from disturbing Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi.
The girl said to Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi, "I'm Jiang Yue, you may not know me, I'm here to film the movie 'The Sea'. Are you two here to visit the crew of 'The Sea' as well?"
Lu Yanhe did not know the girl in front of him, but he remembered the name.
He had seen her in the cast list of "Oh, My Sea".
"Hello." Lu Yanhe nodded to Jiang Yue, indicating that Zou Dong was no relation and they knew each other.
Only then did Zou Dong sit back.
"I'm sorry to bother you." Jiang Yue stuck out her tongue. "I shouldn't have bothered you, but it would be impolite if I didn't come over to say hello when I saw you."
She put her palms together and gave an apologetic expression.
"Then I won't bother you."
Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi smiled at her.
Jiang Yue stepped back.
Her seat was two rows behind them.
Chen Siqi asked Lu Yanhe: "Have you seen her before?"
"No." Lu Yanhe shook his head, "But I saw her name in the cast list of The Sea. She played a relatively important role."
Chen Siqi: "You even remember the cast and crew of the production crew of "The Sea"?"
Lu Yanhe smiled and nodded.
"I'm mainly curious about how others choose actors, what angles they consider, and what the main reason is for deciding on this actor. I like to think about these things." Lu Yanhe said. Chen Siqi: "So for others, it's just a cast list, but for you, it's a puzzle game, right?"
"That's roughly how it can be understood." Lu Yanhe smiled.
Chen Siqi: "She is quite cute."
"She has a bit of baby fat. Her looks seem to be quite rare in the entertainment industry."
"Well, he doesn't look like a protagonist in the conventional sense." Chen Siqi said.
The two chatted in low voices for a while, but once the topic changed, they didn't continue the conversation.
They didn't have a fixed topic to talk about, they just talked about whatever came to mind.
"I can finally see the sea this time." Chen Siqi's eyes were filled with excitement and joy when she mentioned the sea. "I haven't been to the beach for a long time."
Lu Yanhe: "It seems that calling you this time is a very correct choice."
"I've been so tired lately, so it's good to be able to take two days off. Although I can't really rest, I still have a lot of work to do."
During this journey, Chen Siqi was actually not idle.
She carries her laptop with her at all times, ready to use whenever she needs it.
Lu Yanhe: "You must be under a lot of pressure right now, right? You have to do a year-end inventory. I saw your live broadcast of opening readers' envelopes, which lasted 24 hours non-stop. It was too exaggerated."
Chen Siqi said: "We have specially recruited 20 part-time students to do this. Of course, this is also a gimmick. Our votes are counted in real time 24 hours a day, without interruption for a minute or a second. No other company can do this to our level. Have you seen the audience in our live broadcast room? The number of viewers is much larger than that of your live broadcast room."
Lu Yanhe: "How can there be few viewers if you do this? Fortunately, you said early on that you would not include me in the scope of this review in order to avoid suspicion."
"Everyone knows that you are the founding editor of Jump Up. The readers of Jump Up are your base. If you win first, others will question your value and credibility. Secondly, they will question you and think that you won first place unfairly." Chen Siqi said, "You don't need this."
"Sure, sure." Lu Yanhe didn't mind this.
Anyway, it’s fine as long as the dramas like "Friends" and "Love Letters" can still be counted normally.
Now, this live broadcast has been going on for more than a month.
The ranking of each statistical unit changes in real time.
But it is these readers' votes displayed in front of the live camera that have gained the public's trust in the simplest way.
Only "Jump Up" magazine has such a large readership and can provide so many reader votes.
After all, Jump Up is the only magazine in China with sales of 400,000 copies.
"There are still many doubters who say that the Internet is so developed now, but we are just trying to attract attention by not holding online voting and insisting on using the traditional mailing method like we do now." Chen Siqi laughed, "There have been such criticisms. I directly responded that we are just trying to attract attention, so what? Then this person stopped talking."
Lu Yanhe also laughed.
"Some people are really interesting. When they see others about to do something, they have to prove that they must have some ulterior motive. If there is no ulterior motive, why do these things that don't matter if they don't do them?" Chen Siqi was helpless. "Yes, doing this can promote sales. If you want to vote, you have to buy the magazine, so what? We don't deny this idea, as long as the final result is fair and there is no fake votes."
"Is there anyone who buys a lot of magazines to vote just to get votes?" Lu Yanhe asked.
"Under normal circumstances, there would be no such practice. A magazine costs more than 20 yuan. How to cheat? How?" Chen Siqi smiled speechlessly. "Is there anything worth cheating in our inventory? It's not like you will be promoted if you get the first place. We want to make a credible inventory, but it doesn't mean that you will get any benefits if you are on this inventory."
Lu Yanhe: "Many fans are still quite fanatical."
"I know that some fans are really fanatical. Some fans would directly order hundreds or even thousands of copies just to have their idol on the cover of a magazine. But again, our inventory is not that valuable. Fans are not stupid. I am not the only one doing the inventory. With so many media platforms doing the inventory now, can they afford to buy it all? Secondly, we have also made a series of restrictions. One envelope can only accept one voting result. We have issued an explanation before, just to prevent vote manipulation as much as possible."
Lu Yanhe: "It takes a lot of time to do this inventory work. Just to prevent vote-rigging as much as possible, a lot of work needs to be done."
"Fortunately, our voting base is large enough. Even if someone uses various methods to circumvent our rules to cheat votes, the cheating is limited and has little impact on the overall situation." Chen Siqi said, "Our results are counted in real time. You can see everyone's reactions on the live broadcast room barrage. Currently, most of them are positive. Everyone still recognizes this ranking result. Although this result changes every day, the most popular works and actors are generally the same."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"Are there a lot of people coming to say hello to you?"
"That's too much." Chen Siqi said, "I feel helpless. I said that the vote collection is broadcast live 24 hours a day. Don't say I can't agree to do anything fishy. Even if I want to, how can I do it? Can't they see the live broadcast format? We even open the envelopes in front of the live camera."
Lu Yanhe said: "Because there has long been a deep-rooted consensus in China regarding these reviews and awards, that is, you must have connections to get in. If you reject them, they will definitely not think that it is because the review is really fair, but will think that they are not on the right path."
"..." Chen Siqi nodded, "You are right, that's it. I come again after being rejected. I come again after being rejected. I give in."
Lu Yanhe: "Are there any changes in sales in September?"
"So far, the number of copies has almost exceeded 500,000," Chen Siqi said. "However, in order to prevent people from deliberately collecting tickets, we have stopped printing the September issue. The real readers have already bought it."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"We have also issued an announcement. For those who really didn't buy the September issue for some reason but want to collect the complete collection, we will reprint it again next year." Chen Siqi said, "The same is true for October, November, and December. After one month of sale, we will no longer reprint it."
"If you want to collect tickets, is there still a way to collect the current month's issue in bulk?"
"There's no way to prevent this," Chen Siqi said. "We can't guarantee that there aren't any fake votes in these polls, but with so many people wanting to buy within a month of the release, it's not necessarily easy to collect tickets. There are also many genuine readers buying."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"However, maybe by next year, we will have to think of other ways." Chen Siqi said, "What I am worried about is that if the results of this year's inventory are very influential and can really promote a lot of actual interests, then next year there may be capital to swipe votes and try to influence the results. Now, at most, some fans swipe votes for their idols, which does not affect the overall situation. If there is really a force of millions or tens of millions to swipe votes, our methods are fake and cannot withstand it."
"Then it's up to you guys to research it." Lu Yanhe said, "There's always a way."
The two chatted all the way, and when they finally arrived at the station, they both felt dry mouthed.
The filming location of "Oh, O Sea" is in a small town by the sea, which is several hours' drive from the high-speed rail station.
The vehicle and driver have been contacted locally.
When they were leaving the station, they met Jiang Yue again.
There was also a short-haired woman next to her, who looked very capable.
As soon as their eyes met, the short-haired woman pulled Jiang Yue forward.
The other party took the initiative to say: "Mr. Lu, Mr. Chen, hello, I am Shen Yicheng from Cool Fish, and I am also Jiang Yue's agent."
Cool fish?
Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi were both stunned because they had never heard of this company.
"Hello." Lu Yanhe still shook hands with the other party politely.
"Are you also going to the crew of "Oh, the Sea"?" Shen Yicheng said, "We will report to the crew today."
"What a coincidence, we meet here." Lu Yanhe said, "There are so many people here, it's not convenient to talk, can we talk again when we get back to the crew?"
"Okay." Shen Yichen nodded with a smile.
After Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi left, Shen Yichen turned around and looked at Jiang Yue.
"Why didn't you take the initiative to follow me just now?"
"I feel like they don't want to be disturbed." Jiang Yue said.
Shen Yicheng: "Which big shot wants to be disturbed? If everyone has the same mentality as you, how can people like us get along with them?"
Jiang Yue: "... Mainly because they didn't know who I was. I rashly went up to say hello and their bodyguards almost stopped me."
Shen Yicheng: "At least this way they will remember you. If you meet them together with the crew, how will they remember who you are?"
Jiang Yue sighed.
"Ok."
"Miss, it was because you said you wanted to be a star that I quit my job and started a business to accompany you in the entertainment industry." Shen Yicheng said helplessly, "We don't have a lot of backgrounds. It's just the two of us working hard. If we still have some dignity, we might as well just pack up and go home."
Jiang Yue pursed her lips and hugged Shen Yichen's arm.
"Okay, okay, I was wrong. I will try to be thicker-skinned next time." Jiang Yue said, "I know you have worked hard, and I will try not to hold you back."
Shen Yicheng: "Well, let's see if you can get some improvement after this movie. If not, we can sign your film and television contract with a strong film and television company. This way, at least we don't have to go around auditioning and working alone, and we can have a role to play."
Jiang Yue: "I'll do whatever you want."
Shen Yicheng: "I was really out of my mind when I agreed to accompany you to the entertainment industry."
"Well, now that you're here, don't regret it." Jiang Yue said, "Look, I got the role based on my own ability."
"It's just a supporting role in a small movie that only cost two million to make," Shen Yicheng said. "It's not something we should be proud of."
"Oh, there is always a first step for everything. At least this first step has been taken smoothly." Jiang Yue smiled, "It's OK. We will definitely get better and better."
"If you work hard, I will work hard too. We should at least cover our expenses this year and stop doing business at a loss." Shen Yicheng said, "Otherwise, we don't know how long we can squander our little money like this. If we really spend all the money, you can only go home and continue to be your eldest daughter."
"What young lady? My family only owns two factories, but you make it sound like we are a wealthy and powerful family."
"At least when you were in school, there was a driver to pick you up. To common people like us, the daughters of the two factories are still daughters."
"Go away, stop humiliating me." Jiang Yue said, "Let's go, and see how I can conquer Lu Yanhe with my acting skills! Look how lucky I am, as soon as I joined the crew, I ran into Lu Yanhe who came to visit the set."
Shen Yichen also laughed.
There is nothing else about this old classmate of hers except for one thing that is very amazing - her optimism.
-
New Year’s first day, update.
Asking for a monthly ticket!
Recommended old book "I Became the Scandal Heroine Overnight" (End of this chapter)
