After all of them were reborn, who would still be an actor?

Chapter 607: Being a Human or a Dog?

Sohu Video has developed well in recent years, but Zhang Chaoyang is very worried.

BAT has invested too much in domestic entertainment, making Sohu Video very uncomfortable.

He can keep up with the rush for film sources.

But without an industrial chain, it will inevitably die!

He regretted that he invested too late and now it is too late to invest in the industrial chain.

Zhang Chaoyang, who is financially free, successful, and owns two listed companies and a unicorn, has not given up.

He refused to accept and wanted to charge forward!

Sohu now focuses on American dramas, combined with big-budget TV dramas and low-cost self-produced dramas, and the benefits are very good.

The main thing is that low-budget self-produced dramas really make money, with costs of hundreds of thousands and advertising revenue of millions.

The drama produced by Huahua Entertainment with a cost of three million is of utter garbage and cannot compare to the low-budget self-produced drama produced by Sohu.

This is what Zhang Chaoyang is most proud of.

When it comes to producing self-produced dramas, Sohu Video is the best among all streaming media in China.

Zhang Chaoyang hates Li Mingyang very much and hates him from the bottom of his heart.

It was he who helped Li Mingyang stabilize Huayi, which enabled Li Mingyang to start shooting bouquets.

It is because of his network of connections that Chun Ai Nan Xi has been able to gather so many celebrities and become so popular.

But once Li Mingyang became famous, he turned his back on people and refused to acknowledge the film contract written in black and white.

What's even more shameless is that they used the IP of Diaosi Nanzi to threaten themselves and in turn helped Youku go public.

It's really not a good thing to cross the river and then destroy the bridge!
He had never seen such a shameless person, even more shameless than Gu Yongqiang and Gong Yu!
in business.

When Li Mingyang proposed to make a movie about loser men with Sohu, although Zhang Chaoyang was very resistant in his heart, he compromised in just three days.

The film industry is now at its most profitable!

The stock price anchor is on the movie box office!

Sohu is a listed company and can reap this dividend!
Entering the film industry through Diaosi Nanzi Movie, isn’t this a great opportunity for Sohu to break through?

Zhang Chaoyang agreed to the cooperation and personally went to Huashu Entertainment to discuss the cooperation with Li Mingyang.

He thought the negotiation would take a long time, but he didn't expect Li Mingyang to be so sincere. He only wanted 10% of the movie share and gave him the remaining 90%.

As the number one online drama in the domestic entertainment industry, Diaosi Nanren has been viewed over 3 billion times across the entire network.

This influence is even more terrifying than that of another phenomenal online drama, Love Apartment.

Under the name of Diaosi Men, marketing is fully utilized and it will definitely make a lot of money!
Zhang Chaoyang was very satisfied with Li Mingyang's show of goodwill. In addition, Li Mingyang also did his best to give Zhang Chaoyang a list of more than 100 guest stars, including Li Bingbing, Sun Li, Deng Chao, Huang Xiaoming, Xiao Shenyang...

This long list made Zhang Chaoyang very happy. He immediately rejected Li Mingyang's kindness and said that he would deal with these people.

As an Internet portal, Sohu is one of the first fashion information websites in China and has certain media and fashion resources.

In these two aspects, Sina has to call Sohu "Big Brother".

Sohu has not fallen behind yet and is still the leading Internet media, search and online gaming group in China.

But when it comes to long videos, Zhang Chaoyang is too conservative... or stingy.

The video business of the large entertainment sector is an important strategic layout of Sohu. Sohu Video was established at the end of 2004. Its predecessor was Sohu Broadband, which was several years earlier than Youku, iQiyi and Tencent Video.

In 2009, Sohu Video became a pioneer in the fight against piracy, leading the domestic video websites to fully legalize their content, and pioneered the online self-produced drama model, which continued to drive the growth of membership, advertising and paid services.

A closed-loop model for creating high-quality content at low cost.

Sohu Video’s low-cost self-produced dramas are very successful!

Leading the industry by ten years!

Sohu Video is a particularly alternative and successful existence in the history of long videos.

You can say that Zhang Chaoyang is stubborn and stingy, but you can't say that he is incompetent and has no vision.

Eight out of ten top executives in the long-form video industry at Dongda come from Sohu...

Sohu Video did not lose in the long video competition, but lost in its core business of portal, games and search.

Surrounded by BAT... Zhang Chaoyang’s proudest work - Sogou.

In the end, the penguins got the better deal.

2010年8月搜狐与阿里巴巴宣布将分拆搜狗成立独立公司，引入战略投资。2013年9月引入腾讯注资4.48亿美元，腾讯搜搜也并入搜狗。

Finally, when Alibaba was subject to antitrust rectification, Penguin swallowed up Sogou!

Among BAT, Sohu is undoubtedly the most powerful Internet company.

Weibo is a giant in the field of public opinion, but from the beginning to the end, it has never reached the first echelon and has always been a younger brother...

Several attempts to expand the business territory were rejected by Alibaba, Sina's second largest shareholder...

The negotiations between Li Mingyang and Zhang Chaoyang went smoothly until Li Mingyang called Dapeng in and appointed Dapeng as director.

Zhang Chaoyang's face immediately changed, "Director Li, I'm talking to you. If you don't want to be the director, forget about this cooperation."

After saying that, Zhang Chaoyang felt that he had been fooled and stood up to leave.

"Mr. Zhang, don't be anxious! Just listen to what I have to say." Li Mingyang stretched out his hand to stop Zhang Chaoyang and pushed him back.

"There's nothing much to say. I don't trust anyone else, but you."

"Dapeng is also a famous billionaire director. Most of the third season of Diaosi Nanzi was shot by Dapeng. Dapeng is very good at shooting vulgar and borderline comedies."

Zhang Chaoyang didn't even bother to look at Dapeng. He had condescended to come to Hengdian to negotiate in person because he came for Li Mingyang. What kind of ungrateful person is Dapeng?

"He is just lucky. I don't have any trust in him. If you keep talking to me like this, then forget it. It's boring." Zhang Chaoyang was too lazy to talk anymore and stood up to leave.

Li Mingyang stood up again to stop the other party and appealed to his reason and emotion.

Dapeng also had a smiling face all the time, with his back arched like a mantis shrimp.

Seeing that Zhang Chaoyang's face was getting worse and worse and he insisted on leaving, Li Mingyang smiled slightly and made a bet with Zhang Chaoyang.

"Mr. Zhang, I will strictly control the script. Comedy is very script-dependent. I will be the producer, but I will still be the one making the decisions. Dapeng is just a nominal director. If you are really worried, we can sign a bet contract."

"How do you bet?" Zhang Chaoyang's expression eased and he sat back down. "It's just a small fight, I don't have that much free time."

"Haha, I know Mr. Zhang is very busy, so let's put a bet of 500 million on the box office. If you lose, I will compensate you for your loss."

"Loss?" Zhang Chaoyang said unhappily, "I can use my reputation to let those people make a cameo appearance for free. It's a low-cost comedy, and the maximum is 10 million. Your bet is too insincere."

"Mr. Zhang is awesome! He is worthy of being the godfather of the Internet!" Li Mingyang flattered him first and then dropped a bombshell.

The bet was 500 million at the box office. If it didn't reach that, he would lose money according to the box office. If it finally reached 100 million, he would pay 400 million out of his own pocket.

Dapeng was so shocked that his glasses fell off.

Zhang Chaoyang was also shocked. It was the first time he heard of this kind of bet!
He immediately slapped his thigh and agreed!
However, he also made a request, that is, if Dapeng failed to achieve the expected box office of 500 million, Li Mingyang would personally become the director and cooperate with Sohu to make a movie with a box office of over 500 million.

"No problem." Li Mingyang shrugged and agreed to Zhang Chaoyang's request very easily.

Zhang Chaoyang felt that this was a harsh request, but Li Mingyang actually agreed to it.

This made Zhang Chaoyang suspicious, fearing that Li Mingyang would cheat, so he immediately called the entertainment team doing the interview in Hengdian and signed the contract while they were interviewing!
Nail this cooperation down in black and white and include interviews with the characters!
If Li Mingyang dares to go back on his word, we will make it public so that the people of the whole country will know what an ugly face Li Mingyang has.

At around four o'clock in the afternoon, Li Mingyang not only completed all of Zhang Chaoyang's stringent requirements, but also signed them.

Boss Zhao and Wang Changtian were also watching.

Zhang Chaoyang felt relieved, smiled like a child, and gave Li Mingyang a big hug.

Li Mingyang gave Zhang Chaoyang great respect and benefits.

Zhang Chaoyang returned the favor by taking a photo with Li Mingyang, Wang Changtian and Boss Zhao downstairs of the iconic circular building of Huashu Entertainment.

Although it is just a group photo, the energy behind it is Zhang Chaoyang's face!

Zhang Chaoyang’s face still works pretty well now!

The owner of the face fruit!
Not to mention domestic entertainment, even the leaders of BAT, Ma and Li, have to give face!

"Okay, don't see me off. Director Li, if you need any help, just tell me." Zhang Chaoyang stood at the car door, holding Li Mingyang's hand, and said generously.

"Of course, of course, Mr. Zhang, please don't find me annoying!"

Zhang Chaoyang laughed and waved to everyone, then got into the car contentedly.

Looking at the phantom of Master Rolls-Royce going away.

Wang Changtian was surprised, "Why is this guy so easy to talk to?"

"Did you promise him something?" Boss Zhao was also puzzled.

Li Mingyang took out a disinfectant wipe from his pocket, tore open the package, and disinfected his hands while cursing, "Fuck, you stingy guy! There's not a penny in the contract!"

"..."*3
"Brother Li, this is unnecessary. He is simply robbing."

Dapeng spoke up for Li Mingyang.

But Li Mingyang, Wang Changtian and Boss Zhao just smiled and said nothing.

The atmosphere was extremely weird.

Just as Dapeng was trying to figure it out, Boss Zhao looked into the distance and suddenly said, "We're here."

Dapeng followed the direction Boss Zhao was looking and turned his head to see more than a dozen buses heading towards Huahua Entertainment!
……

Li Mingyang would rather risk losing hundreds of millions of dollars and still finalize the contract with Zhang Chaoyang.

First of all, Diaosi men have indeed reached the point where they can make movies and rip off the audience.

It’s time to bring out Dapeng’s Pancake Man!
The Pancake Man is a huge bad movie with an extremely idiotic plot that insults the audience.

Dapeng is no longer a nobody. He has already made two movies, Far Cry 1 and Far Cry 2, both of which grossed over million yuan.

But the second film cost too much, 3000 million, it seems to have lost money...

Of course, we tell others that we are making money.

Far Cry 2 has been changed beyond recognition, bordering on vulgarity, and the plot is very stupid, but it is much better than Pancake Man. After the experience of two movies, Dapeng's lower limit has been raised, and the upper limit depends on luck.

As a major IP on the entire network and with ticket subsidies, it is not difficult for Diaosi Nanzi to make 500 million.

Secondly, no one in the domestic entertainment industry can come up with such a crappy contract.

Zhang Chaoyang is now his iron ally.

It is extremely difficult for Huayi to destroy his friendship with Zhang Chaoyang.

If Wang Dajun saw that crappy contract, he would most likely vomit blood, because the gambling contract they gave to Feng Kuzi was the opposite of what was agreed upon.

Huayi Brothers acquired 10.5% of the equity of Dongyang Mira for 70 billion yuan. This broken company only has a few tables and a few people, and is an absolutely insolvent company.

The bet agreement lasts for five years and requires Dongyang Mira to achieve a net profit of 5 million yuan that year and a 1% annual net profit growth thereafter. If the performance target is not met, Feng Kuazi will make up the difference in cash or other means.

This contract is purely for giving money.

Even if the company makes losses every year, Feng Kuazi can still earn more than 400 million yuan by just lying down.

In comparison, Li Mingyang signed a gambling agreement with Zhang Chaoyang at the risk of losing a huge sum of money.

How could Wang's army not vomit blood, how could it not have dissensions?

Thirdly, and most importantly, it sets a trap for everyone in the domestic entertainment industry in the gambling agreement.

With his bet agreement as a proof, anyone who bets against capital in the future will vomit blood!

Get Sohu!

Li Mingyang has managed to wipe out all the Internet capital that could hinder his actions.

Alibaba has Cai Zhongxin to deal with, and Li Mingyang also promised that as long as Alibaba acquires Youku, the "Spy Play" movie will be launched immediately.

Use a bunch of big cakes to buy off iQiyi.

Use a gambling contract to buy off Sohu.

On the Penguin side, Li Mingyang did not take any action, but there were basically no problems.

Penguin is copying Shanda and swallowing up Shanda Literature, which is the future of Yuewen!

The No. 1 IP in domestic entertainment!

From IP incubation to film and television adaptation, Shanda Literature is the most important piece of the puzzle.

Chen Tianqiao's pan-entertainment strategic vision that was ahead of its time ultimately benefited Penguin.

It’s not like Lao Chen hasn’t tried before, but Shanda Literature’s four failed IPO applications chilled Lao Chen’s heart.

Finally, Shanda Literature, which was worth tens of billions, was sold to Penguin for nearly 5 billion.

The merger of Shanda Literature and Penguin Literature coincided with the golden age of film and television, and the valuation reached a maximum of 800 billion yuan!

The Harvester Penguin has made its calculations clear by acquiring an online literature giant with a market value of nearly 50 billion yuan at an acquisition cost of nearly 800 billion yuan.

But Penguin did not fully realize its original intention of acquiring Shanda Literature.

In the process of helping Penguin enter the cultural and entertainment industry with "text IP as the source", China Literature Group has lacked coordination with film, television, games, animation and other sectors.

This is an internal problem of Penguin.

There is basically no solution unless Brother Ma handles it personally.

The drawbacks of the heterosexual king system.

However, the core of Penguin is games, and Pony Ma cannot spare the time.

This is similar to Xiaomi. Lei Jun is surrounded by Xiaomi's elites. Whichever department he is in charge of will take off.

Once he leaves that department and switches to another track, the original department will decline visibly!

IP requires everyone to work together to make the flames burn brighter. Penguin must unite all those who can help him.

Penguin has reached an agreement with Shanda Literature, and is now trying to unite with it and give it benefits.

Li Mingyang came to Penguin at this time and offered him benefits, but it was all in vain.

After dealing with the Internet giants, Li Mingyang began to decentralize and integrate all resources within the company, preparing for war!
Wu Zhikui's Great River has finally finished filming.

In the multimedia conference room of Huahua Entertainment, Li Mingyang selected hundreds of people, as well as senior executives from Guangguang and Huace, to watch the rough cut of "The Great River" together.

Extreme evaluation!

The top executives of Guangguang and Huace were not satisfied with this TV series and gave it a very low rating...

But the young employees of Huahua have a high opinion of Dajiang Dahe.

The main reason is that the actors are in line with their aesthetics, the performances of all the cast are online, the three-line narrative is expressed very completely, and each line looks good.

Song Yunhui represents the development of the state-owned economy, Lei Dongbao represents the rural collective economy, and Yang Xun represents the individual economy. Together they form a chapter of the times, with the three lines complementing each other, and the plot is very compact!
The original novel of Like a Flowing River is more like an outline novel, with many things to say but lacking details and universal emotions.

Compared with the original version, the version of "Like a Flowing River" directed by Lao Wu has differences in adaptation details and lacks depth of content. He did not shoot according to the script, but borrowed heavily from the original work.

Through a large amount of information, the three lines are mixed together to form a good three-line loop.

The visuals are very strong, with a lot of one-shots...

Old Wu made use of his expertise and put a lot of effort into the camera, scheduling, and transitions, creating a very cinematic feel.

This version of Like a Flowing River actually feels like a Netflix custom series...

The information is dense, the plot is fast-paced, the characters' emotions are extreme, Song Yunhui's growth, Lei Dongbao's passion, Yang Xun's repression... the main contradictions are highlighted, and there are many dramatic conflicts.

All in all, Lao Wu's "Da Jiang Da He" has outstanding advantages and is quite explosive, which is beyond Li Mingyang's expectations!

It is slightly worse than "A Flowing River", with a weaker sense of time and a poor sense of immersion.

But it's much better than the other two! It's a total steal.

The most exciting part of "A Flowing River" is the first one, and each one is worse than the previous one... The second part focuses on Song Yunhui, and Lei Dongbao makes a cameo appearance at the beginning and at the end, and it ends just like that.

The plot of the third part is like catching a plane, it flies very fast and is extremely boring.

The character transitions are very abrupt, there is no sense of immersion, and it is particularly out of place.

This is also an old problem of Noon. Kong Sheng made a good start, but other directors continued the trend. In comparison, the ones they made became worse and worse...

Li Mingyang has trained Lao Wu for almost three years, and has filmed movies, online movies, and TV series for him.

Old Wu is a bit stubborn and needs a reference. Without a reference, he will fall into great self-doubt.

This is also why he was able to create the One Punch Man online movie which was based on comics and became a huge hit.

He made two movies, one was Far Cry and the other was The Adventures of Li Xianji.

The shooting of the TV series "Big River" is very high-level. Lao Wu is fully qualified to be a TV series director. However, he questioned the script while shooting, and started shooting based on the original novel, and accidentally shot it in the Netflix style... movie-level pictures, the rhythm of a high-quality long drama, short and sharp.

This is a good thing, but it is not in line with the trend.

All the senior executives of Huace shook their heads and sighed, not because the filming was bad, but because Old Wu shot it too short!
The rough cut only has thirty episodes!

It’s not easy to sell!

TV stations prefer to buy long dramas, the longer the better!
Long dramas are good for audiences to invest in their emotions. For the sake of maintaining stable ratings, if a 70-episode drama has high ratings, why buy three 3-episode dramas?
As a buyer's satellite TV platform that relies on advertising to recover costs, the longer the series, the more space there is for embedded advertising. Therefore, it is also fond of long series, and performers can also increase their pay through this.

In this way, the producers, platforms and artists can all benefit from the "water injection", thus forming a "conspiracy" that everyone is happy with, and they all make profits by lengthening the number of episodes.

In 2012, the new "My Fair Princess" had 99 episodes, the new "Water Margin" had 86 episodes, "Love is a Little Blue", "The Three Daughters of the Xia Family", and "The Story of My Mother's Home" all had 80 episodes, "Temptation to Go Home" had 68 episodes, "The Legend of Zhen Huan" had 76 episodes, and Zhang Jizhong's version of "Journey to the West" had 66 episodes... Each of these "epic productions" is so profitable!

The TV drama circle is under the trend of "water injection".

Even if the main feature is excellent and only 40 episodes are made, the investors will think it does not suit the market and will not invest.

Old Wu’s rough cut of 30 episodes of Great Rivers… confused Huace.

A work of about 30 episodes is broadcasted in half a month. Even if it has good reputation, it will end before it can drive up the ratings. Long dramas have stronger stickiness to the audience, ferment topics more effectively, and the duration of advertising exposure is also extended accordingly.

The TV station can't sell it at a high price.

Lao Wu's "The Great River" is more suitable for a fast-paced web drama, but web dramas are not selling well now, and they are losing money...

With a cost of hundreds of millions, it must be sold to TV stations to make money!
Li Mingyang doesn't care how Huace solves this problem.

Old Wu didn't have time to reshoot the scenes as he had more important things to do.

Li Ming manages Huashu Entertainment, and does a good job, but she is of the laissez-faire type, and the production of Huashu Entertainment's self-produced dramas is growing too slowly.

Li Mingyang handed over the management of Huahua Entertainment to Lao Wu again, who would guide the production and be in charge of the production business!
Li Ming went to Korea to be Zhang Wei's assistant, in charge of the live broadcast business.

Zhang Wei continues to be in charge of Huahua Technology and is in charge of video business.

Xiaoye and Ahuo are jointly responsible for Pangu special effects, and are in charge of special effects and animation business.

The Sino-Korean Bouquet Project was established by four companies, namely, Guangxian, Huace, Bouquet Entertainment, and iQiyi, to form a new company, Juzhong Culture Communication Co., Ltd., with Li Mingyang as the head.

Originally there was Yu Dong, but this guy was pulled away by Zuoshandiao halfway.

Yu Dong kept shouting about his dissatisfaction with Zuoshandiao, but he did not dare to resist at all.

"The second half of the year is the most important for us. If we win, we will be able to challenge iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video."

"We can't lose! We only have one chance."

After Li Mingyang finished talking about his plan, he glanced at Boss Zhao, Wang Changtian, Zhang Wei, and Old Wu in the conference room.

"There is a big premise in your plan. Will TVing really merge with FBTV?" said Wang Changtian.

"Yeah! If TVing and FBTV don't merge, we'll be a joke."

Li Mingyang lit a cigarette, took two puffs, and put it out. "I am not just an external director of CJ. In half a year at most, I will become the vice president of CJ Entertainment."

Wang Changtian and Boss Zhao were both stunned, unable to believe it.

"I don't know how long I can serve as the vice president. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If I miss this one, there will never be another such good opportunity again."

“What I can assure you is that there will definitely be a place for you on FBTV!”

"Okay, are you going to be a human? Or a dog?"

……

(End of this chapter)