"Lu Yanhe sent another script to Li Zhibai?"
During the break in filming "Dragon Inn", Yan Liang received a call from Zhou Ping'an.
Yan Liang: "What's wrong?"
"Another leading role movie?" Zhou Pingan asked, "Why did he give all the leading roles to Li Zhibai?"
Yan Liang: "Until now, Yan He has only asked us to act in Friends, The Legend of Sword and Fairy, Dragon Inn, and the one he is looking for Zhibai for now. How come the leading role has been given to Li Zhibai?"
Zhou Pingan: "Although the play 'Nineteen Years' was not successful, isn't it the same?"
"Nineteen Years" is a drama produced by Li Zhibai from scratch. The only relationship between him and Yan He is that Yan He helped Liu Jiazhen buy the copyright of the drama from Ruyi, and then Yan He authorized it to Zhibai."
Yan Liang was helpless.
"Zhou Ping'an, could you stop stirring up trouble?"
"I'm not trying to sow discord. I'm your agent and I want to work for your best interests."
"Yan He has no obligation to give us any benefits. You should understand this first!"
"Only a fool would think so." Zhou Ping'an said, "Do you know that the movie that Lu Yanhe went to find Li Zhibai for this time is Parameter's movie, a Hollywood movie. You should know what this means, right?"
"I only know that the screenwriter and leading actor of this movie are my friends, so I will support them no matter what." Yan Liang sighed irritably, "You always bother me with things like this."
Zhou Pingan: "Because you know in your heart that Lu Yanhe is partial to one person and not to the other."
"Then do you know how you favored Li Zhibai and Ma Zhiyuan over one another?"
"Do you know how you favor one over the other between Li Zhibai and me?"
"Do you know how you favor my long-term development over my short-term interests?"
Yan Liang asked three questions in a row, like firing three cannons at Zhou Ping'an in one breath.
Zhou Pingan was silent.
Chen Bige and her assistant walked over from the front and saw Yan Liang standing there making a phone call. They gestured to him, indicating that Liu Bige should ask everyone to come over.
Yan Liang nodded, made an OK gesture, and indicated that he would be there soon.
After Chen Bige and the others left, Yan Liang continued to say to Zhou Pingan: "I have to shoot now, so I'll hang up now."
After hanging up the phone, Yan Liang stood there in silence for a few seconds before turning around to find Liu Bige.
-
After Zhou Ping'an hung up the phone, he stood there in deep thought for a moment.
Of course, he was not reflecting on himself, nor was he thinking about the questions Yan Liang asked him.
Zhou Pingan is not that kind of person at all——
Of course he knew that he had done many things that were wrong to someone or a few people in the past, but he never felt that he had to be worthy of everyone.
That's not how the world works.
If he is not worthy of everyone, he will be unworthy of himself.
With this idea in mind, he climbed all the way from a person with no background to his current position, transformed himself, and became an "elite" looked up to by many people.
Why did you call Yan Liang?
Of course he knew that Yan Liang would not create a rift with Lu Yanhe because of this phone call.
However, the reason why he knows this and still enjoys doing it again and again is, to some extent, for "brainwashing". Some things, if said once or twice, may not have much impact on people, but if said too much, it will more or less plant a seed in other people's hearts, which may sprout at any time.
Zhou Ping'an must create space for this seed to germinate between Yan Liang and Lu Yanhe in order to prevent Yan Liang from leaving him and signing in to pick up fire.
It was in this way that he put a thorn in Yan Liang's heart.
He didn't believe that Yan Liang could be 100% magnanimous and not mind.
Most importantly, they are true friends to each other.
The truer the friend, the more he cares——
Why do you favor one over the other? -
However, these are all stopgap measures.
There were already many cracks in his relationship with Yan Liang in the early stages, and it was impossible to completely make up for it.
Both of them knew that when Yan Liang's career stabilized and he had more options, he would definitely leave.
Before that, Zhou Ping'an must bring out a first-line star.
Now, he has two stars, Cheng Hai and Meng Li, both of whom are relatively popular but have an awkward status.
In the entertainment industry, the status of a star is a very mysterious thing.
Some actors may have only acted in two or three plays, but in everyone's eyes, they have a very high status.
Some actors may have starred in more than a dozen dramas and have always been very popular, but in the eyes of many people, they are more like "just not out of date, but can't be said to have any status."
Meng Li belongs to the latter, an actor who has acted in many dramas and is quite popular, but obviously cannot be compared with Yan Liang.
It is obvious that Mengli became famous earlier, and his popularity and fame are higher than Yan Liang.
The three dramas "Friends", "The Gold Rush" and "The Mountain" directly established Yan Liang's dominant position among young male actors in Chinese dramas. Later, "The Internship" he starred in Jump Up Theater also maintained its top three position in the ratings of Jump Up Theater.
Doesn’t Mengli have any hit drama?
Of course there is, but she doesn't have any great power.
What she lacks may be like Zhao Liying before she starred in "Knowing Your Destiny" and "Piggy Bank".
She is very popular and has a good reputation among the audiences. Her previous dramas were also very popular. She is one of the famous 85 flowers.
However, the two real ascensions were these two dramas.
It gave her the quality of an actor.
Yan Liang’s three dramas actually have the same effect.
The entire industry and the commentary circle saw the "quality of an actor" in him.
On the contrary, Li Zhibai is still defined as a very popular star with great acting talent, but that’s where it ends.
Even though he also starred in Liu Bige's "It's Not Ok to Fake Death", his performance in the movie was highly praised.
But “it was almost there”.
The critical node where your career directly reaches a new level is truly a rare opportunity.
Zhou Ping'an didn't know whether Cheng Hai and Meng Li had any hope of transformation. If one of them could win one of the "three major awards", perhaps that would be the real rise in status. However, from the current perspective, there is no such hope.
Fortunately, at least both of them are now very popular and are very famous.
He is still the gold medal agent who has many popular stars. After thinking about it, Zhou Pingan decided to send a message to Lu Yanhe:
——Yan He, I hope that next time there is a script, you can give priority to Yan Liang and Cheng Hai.
Lu Yanhe replied immediately: When "Friends" asked you to play Yan Liang, you refused at first. Have you forgotten?
Zhou Ping'an was suddenly stunned.
Lu Yanhe: After talking to Yan Liang on the phone, you sent me a message again. You are quite scheming. Are you trying to play both sides?
At this moment, Zhou Ping'an was really stunned and didn't know what to say.
Yan Liang actually turned around and told Lu Yanhe about his phone call?
???
-
"Zhou Ping'an is really a bit magical. Sometimes, I even let go of his past excessive behavior and thought that he was just a profit-seeking person, which was not too much. In the end, he can always remind you in a new way that he is actually a bastard."
Lu Yanhe put down his phone and complained to Chen Ziyan.
At this moment, they were sitting in a cafe, enjoying this idle afternoon.
Chen Ziyan smiled. "A person who is essentially profit-driven will definitely behave like a jerk even if he doesn't want to be one. There's nothing that can be done about it."
"He just wants to disrupt the people around Yan Liang who can provide help to Yan Liang, so that Yan Liang can only continue to rely on him."
"you are right."
Chen Ziyan nodded and gave Lu Yanhe an approving look.
"This is also his usual tactic. Look at the artists he has managed, especially those he has managed for a long time. When Li Zhibai was under his management, his reputation outside was not very good. Nine out of ten times, he was behind the scenes fanning the flames. The more isolated and helpless his artists are outside, the more they rely on him as their manager."
Lu Yanhe: "This is too deceptive. Yan Liang is in his hands. I don't know what he will do to him later."
"Then you don't have to worry. Before Friends, Yan Liang himself was not taken seriously by Zhou Ping'an. At that time, Zhou Ping'an had Li Zhibai and Ma Zhiyuan under his command. Even after he became famous, he was still not as popular as these two.
"By the time Zhou Ping'an only had Yan Liang left in his hand, Yan Liang had already become a big shot and was no longer a small artist that he could easily manipulate."
Lu Yanhe: "As for me, he can stir up trouble on both sides. Who knows what he will do to the other relationships around Yan Liang?"
"That's right. You may need to remind Yan Liang that you and he are very close now and no one can sow discord between you two. But others may not trust Yan Liang that much." Chen Ziyan said, "After all, Wu Zhouyou, the director of Yan Liang's film The Gold Rush, is Meng Li's boyfriend, and Meng Li is also under Zhou Ping'an's command."
Lu Yanhe couldn't help but sigh.
"But I don't think you need to worry too much. To be honest, Yan Liang has the best character among the three of you." Chen Ziyan said, "So, the reason why Zhou Ping'an feels so threatened is because Yan Liang makes him feel very threatened. He feels that he can no longer control Yan Liang."
"This guy is interesting too. Why do you think he always wants to control Yan Liang? Can't he just straighten out his attitude and do his job as a manager?"
"It's very difficult." Chen Ziyan said, "First, in China, the agent system itself is a wild thing that grew up. Many things in it are based on the overseas system, but there are also many things that are not perfect because there is no supporting system.
"For example, you have to know that in the United States, there are laws that stipulate that the contract period between agents and artists is very strictly limited. It cannot exceed three or four years. I forgot. No matter how big your agent is, when the contract expires, it must be renegotiated. This prevents many artists who are in the new stage from being cheated too hard.
"Secondly, although the domestic entertainment industry seems to be booming now, in fact, it is essentially still a one-man show. Brokerage companies like William Moss and CAA, which specialize in brokerage and can coordinate resources from all walks of life to do brokerage business, simply cannot survive in China.
"In China, to put it bluntly, as long as the resources are not in your hands, you can be extinguished in a second. The rules of the game are different. Whoever has the resources is the boss. In essence, our current environment is not a healthy and orderly ecological environment. You all know this, so I don't need to elaborate.
"Based on these two points, the core of the relationship between domestic agents and artists is often outside the legal cooperation framework. Agents usually have to put all their efforts into one or two artists, make a splash, and make them into a popular star with bargaining power before they have the opportunity to enter the real game and really enter this circle.
"Think about it, from the perspective of an agent, are they obliged to give you so many resources? Actually, no, but they have given you far more than what is agreed in the contract. Now that you are famous, you may not want to leave. However, in this environment, famous artists are abnormally given huge initiative. Which agent can remain calm and watch the chips he has created with his resources go out on his own?
"Of course, from the artist's perspective, they naturally think that I signed you and you invested a lot of resources in me, but I also brought you a lot of returns, so I don't owe you anything. From an objective perspective, you really don't owe me anything, but to be honest, those resources of mine don't matter who I invest in. I invested them equally in everyone, and then you became famous because I gave you most of my resources. At this time, what does the share in the contract mean to me?"
Chen Ziyan broke it down bit by bit and told Lu Yanhe what her agent had said, so that Lu Yanhe could clearly understand the operating logic behind it.
Lu Yanhe nodded thoughtfully.
"Let's not talk about whether these things are right or wrong. They are just a phenomenon. We just want to figure out the causes behind this phenomenon so that it will be easier for you to deal with people in the entertainment industry later."
Chen Ziyan warned.
Lu Yanhe nodded again.
"Then it's easy to understand Zhou Ping'an's situation. He bought the wrong horse and let go of a horse that looked unruly but was actually worth real money. The horse he bought, which he thought he could control tightly, was ruined. He saw that all the chips he had accumulated over the years were going to be lost overnight.
"In this situation, will he care about the horse that has grown stronger quietly, since he raised it himself? Will he have the self-knowledge to not restrict the horse from running freely? Will he watch helplessly as the most valuable horse in his hands is stolen away by others?
"He doesn't know any of that, so he can only be a bastard and do whatever it takes to keep the horse with him, just like those managers who do everything they can to prevent the artists they made famous from going out and becoming independent."
Chen Ziyan picked up the cup, took a sip of coffee and smiled.
"He just underestimated the trust between you and Yan Liang." Chen Ziyan said, "Of course, he could only underestimate it, because in his world, people can never trust each other like you and Yan Liang do.
"His values determine his judgment. He didn't succeed in disrupting your relationship this time, but he definitely won't think that he misjudged your relationship. He will just think that if it doesn't work once, try it twice. If it doesn't work twice, try it three times. It's nothing more than a drop of water wearing away a stone."
"Psycho." Lu Yanhe couldn't help but spit out these three words after listening to Chen Ziyan's description of Zhou Ping'an's mental journey.
"Yes, a psychopath." Chen Ziyan nodded. "Don't use common sense to look at these people. You actually told me that you no longer care about his past behavior and think he is just a profit-seeking villain. I am shocked."
Lu Yanhe: "I didn't forgive him for that."
"No, I don't care whether you forgive him or not. What I care about is that you can never let down your guard against a wolf like this who may stab you with a knife at any time." Chen Ziyan's eyes shot out a sharp look.
The phone rang.
It’s Chen Ziyan’s cell phone.
She picked it up, took a look, and said, "It's Darren calling. I'll answer it first."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
He took out his cell phone and sent a message to Yan Liang, telling him what had just happened between him and Zhou Ping'an.
Yan Liang: Don’t pay attention to him from now on.
Lu Yanhe: I'm fine, but I'm afraid he's doing something like this with other people without telling you.
Yan Liang: Basically, most people who have worked with me know that my relationship with Zhou Pingan is not very harmonious. I have always been on guard against this fact of his, so it’s actually okay.
Lu Yanhe suddenly remembered what Chen Ziyan had said just now, that Yan Liang's character was actually the best among the three of them.
It seems so.
-
After Chen Ziyan finished the call, she came back and gave Lu Yanhe an expression that said "Guess what happened".
Lu Yanhe looked at her with some confusion, not understanding what was going on.
Chen Ziyan said: "The movie "Doomsday" may really have to be shelved."
"what?"
"Tom Felton has officially exited the film."
"Why?" Lu Yanhe looked at Chen Ziyan in surprise, "Did he take on another movie?"
"No, that's not it. The official statement is that he was not satisfied with the final script." Chen Ziyan sat down again. "This is a very bad phenomenon. Not only did he withdraw, but he also spread the word that the script was bad. Parameter will have to think carefully before finding other actors to replace him. No one will be willing to take a movie that Tom Felton clearly said was not good, unless the movie is good enough to slap Tom Felton in the face. Otherwise, this will have a significant impact on the reputation of any replacement actor."
"Then what about the movie "Doomsday" -" Lu Yanhe was surprised and confused, not knowing where this movie would go.
Chen Ziyan said: "Parameter will now re-evaluate the film. Even if it continues to be filmed, the internal evaluation will be downgraded. Without an actor of Tom Felton's level leading the cast, this film would not have been able to get the current investment."
"We haven't even made any real moves yet, and Chen Pinhe's movie has already failed?"
Lu Yanhe felt it was unbelievable. (End of this chapter)
