One person's entertainment

Chapter 123: I voted for you
Good news came again. After reading the script of "Love Across Time and Space", Chang Li agreed to grant Liu Huohua and Hu Dajing two months of leave, on the condition that they must not fall behind in their textbook studies of each course, and that Shen Lingyou would supervise and tutor them.

Shen Lingyou agreed without hesitation. The condition was not harsh and it was relatively easy for him to achieve it.

Liu Huohua and Hu Dajing were extremely happy when they got the news. People are like this: those outside want to go to school, while those in school want to go outside.

Huo Wenxi hired a female assistant, who was her former colleague at Feitu Records. She resigned before her and happened to be looking for a job. She spoke standard Mandarin, was good at English, and had experience, which met the requirements perfectly.

With help, she felt a lot more relaxed.

But the important things are still done by her personally, which involves the accumulation of connections and resources.

The preliminary preparations for "Love Across Time and Space" are almost over.

The script was revised and, as planned, reduced to 24 episodes.

Most of the interior scenes were shot in the Grand View Garden, and a small number of exterior scenes were shot at the Feilong Film and Television Base in Pinggu. All of them were in Yanjing and rented.

Some of the actors on the list given by Shen Lingyou could not be found, so they were replaced with suitable ones.

The costumes and props are from the Ming Dynasty. We found historians and designers to customize the costumes for the leading actors and the main props. The extras rented the common costumes for Ming Dynasty plays.

Everything is ready, except for the funding.

To be precise, it is part of the funds.

The estimated budget is 800 million.

Shen Lingyou first invested 200 million in the name of Xinghuo. The money was the income from the copyright operation of the album "Xinghuo", that is, the copying rights sold to the publishing house; then he invested 100 million in his personal name. This was the profit he got from the album sales. After paying taxes, he pocketed several million.

The difference is 500 million.

He was too embarrassed to ask Chen Jiantian for help again as he had not yet made back the money he invested in "Never Forget Me".

The reason why he dared to take on this task was because he really had a coal boss.

It's like this...

Two months into the filming of Never Forget You, they happened to be in Pingyao, western Shanxi, where a coal boss named Liu Cheng found the crew and said he loved the song "The Nameless Man" so much that it made him cry, and he wanted to invest in Shen Lingyou's future albums.

It was the first time that Shen Lingyou heard about investing in an album, but the other party didn't understand. After he explained, he was politely sent away. He didn't take it too seriously. Later, when chatting with local extras, he learned that this Liu Cheng was actually a well-known coal boss in western Shanxi.

I left Liu Cheng's phone number at that time. This time, we were preparing to shoot "Love Across Time and Space" and we were short of funds, so I planned to talk to him and see if he was interested.

This day, Saturday, at the Huaxia Hotel.

"I'm really sorry to have asked Mr. Liu to make this trip."

"Hey, Mr. Shen, that's not the case. I'm just a rough guy who digs coal. I'm not afraid that you will despise me."

"Mr. Liu, you are too serious. There is no high or low in profession. We are all the same."

After a polite chat for a while, Shen Lingyou got to the point and said, "Boss Liu, I won't beat around the bush. We asked you to come here because our company is planning to shoot a TV series. We are short of funds right now. I wonder if you have any investment ideas in this area."

Liu Cheng showed a delighted look on his face and asked, "Is it you who will be the lead actor?"

Shen Lingyou nodded and said, "Yes, I will play the leading male role."

Liu Cheng asked again: "How much money do you need?" Shen Lingyou replied: "The total budget is 800 million..."

Liu Cheng said directly: "I voted."

Shen Lingyou was stunned for a moment, and quickly explained: "Boss Liu, we have raised part of the funds, but we are short of 500 million."

Liu Cheng also said: "Invest, invest as much as you want."

Shen Lingyou said cautiously: "Mr. Liu, how about I introduce the situation of our drama first?"

Liu Cheng waved his hands and said bluntly: "I've heard a saying that 'a work is a reflection of the author's state of mind'. If someone can write lyrics like 'I respect your silence and every roar, I respect you bending over to climb the mountain to reach higher places, and living hard with the sky above your head', how can he be a bad person? So I invested money for you as a person, and nothing else matters."

What else could he say? Shen Lingyou filled his and his glasses with wine and said, "Mr. Liu, I won't say more. I'll toast you a glass."

Liu Cheng smiled and said, "You're welcome. Cheers."

After Shen Lingyou put down the cup, he said, "The Asian financial crisis has had a significant impact on the coal industry, right? Mr. Liu is still able to support me like this, thank you so much."

Liu Cheng heard this and sighed, "Indeed, the coal market has taken a sharp turn for the worse this year. The price cannot be raised. One ton of coal cannot even be exchanged for a bottle of fine Xinghua Village wine. Many coal mining companies cannot continue to operate, so they look for contractors. Sometimes, you can get a coal mine by giving someone a pack of Hongtashan cigarettes. However, there is still not much improvement in contracting coal mines. Many people are still struggling with debts. I am not so bad. I have accumulated some customers in the early stage. It has an impact, but I can still barely operate."

Shen Lingyou recalled.

In the original time and space, the rise of coal bosses occurred after 2001. China joined the WTO and its GDP rapidly jumped at a double-digit rate, driving the energy industry to take off. In 2002, the guidance price of power coal was cancelled. Coal was stimulated again and its price continued to rise. From then on, coal, which had been disdained for a long time, was hailed as "black gold".

And, investing in this drama is a sure win, and it can also help Liu Cheng add funds to operate the company.

As the alcohol took effect, the two of them got along better and better.

Shen Lingyou pretended to be casual and told Liu Cheng that the downturn in the coal industry was only temporary and that a sunny spring would come in a few years. As for whether he believed it or not, it was none of his business.

The contract was signed at noon the next day.

Three days later, 500 million arrived.

Everything is ready, and "Love Across Time and Space" is scheduled to start filming on September 9th.

Just one day before the start of filming, the Japanese album "New Journey" was released, and the title song was "Dream" with lyrics written by Miyuki Nakajima.

Because the names of Miyuki Nakajima, Ayumi Hamasaki, etc. were used in the promotion, and the distribution rights were given to Sony Records, it attracted a lot of attention. Although it is not as popular as in China, it is still acceptable.

The first day sales data was not available so quickly, but Sony Records had a rough estimate of 1 copies.

How should I put it? Compared with Japanese singers, they are quite average.

The single "CAN YOU CELEBRATE" released by Namie Amuro on February 2th is the sales champion so far this year, reaching 19 million copies, 229 copies on the first day, 12 copies in the first week, and 75 million copies in the first month.

However, among Chinese singers, it is still okay.

At this rate, there will be no problem selling 10 copies.

However, Shen Lingyou's goal is to add another "0". Although he knows it is unlikely, it is definitely not just 10.

As I said, let the bullets fly for a while!

(End of this chapter)