Chinese Entertainment Intelligence King

Chapter 114: Daily life back in Beijing and the little model who came up to me
The raging fire burned out, leaving only the warmth.

Qin Lan couldn't bear the whipping and fell asleep. Yan Li slept a lot on the way back, but he was not sleepy. He also took a look at the script left by Ma Yili.

Migrant Workers' Survival

It turned out that Yan Li was just killing time, but as he watched, his attitude became serious.

What a good book!

Yan Li found that he had underestimated this drama before. He thought it was just a story about a migrant worker struggling to make a living, and eventually finding a foothold in the city or returning home in despair.

The result is a group portrait that focuses on the entire group of migrant workers, with the main theme being asking for wages and their hard work in the city.

The characters are vivid and the plot is relatively realistic. Although there are some deliberate settings, they also ensure the highlights and conflicts.

There is no main theme or great truth, nor any good luck plot for the protagonist that the audience likes to see. There are only two naked words that echo the title of the play - to be alive.

“What a good show.”

Yan Li couldn't help but praise him again. As a professional actor and a new producer, Yan Li has read many scripts and has a good ability to distinguish.

Of course, a good script does not mean that the resulting drama will be good. It also depends on comprehensive factors such as the director, actors, and crew.

However, director Guan Hu does have representative works, and the actors proposed to be invited to the script are all powerful. Yan Li feels that the probability of the film being a success is still quite high.

Should I invest or not?

Yan Li was a little hesitant. He was optimistic about the quality of the drama, but as for the drama's prospects, especially its commercial prospects, Yan Li still maintained his previous attitude and was even more pessimistic.

Some of the plot is a bit sensitive, and the overall tone is not very pleasing.

To put it bluntly, migrant workers and rural families may not be willing to watch this kind of drama, and neither are children and the elderly. The real audience are urban residents and the petty bourgeoisie, and that's only a part of them.

This results in low acquisition desire among TV stations and unsatisfactory ratings.

Yan Li put himself in the shoes of the distributor. Even with the help of the system, he could not guarantee that he could sell this drama to satellite TV.

Of course, this kind of subject matter requires little investment. Yan Li estimated that it would take 500 to 800 million yuan to complete.

If we can't sell the satellite TV, we can still make a profit by selling local channels and the DVD market.

Yan Li himself values making money over artistic pursuits, but from the perspective of a film and television company, it cannot just invest in commercial films and television; it also needs some well-received works to enhance the company's image.

The company's image will be improved, which will attract talents, gain preferential policy support and recognition from the outside world, and bring many other hidden benefits.

Although these dividends themselves are not very profitable, they can help the company make more money.

Otherwise, those Hollywood companies are not fools. They invest money in art films every year. Film and television are cultural industries and cannot be considered solely in economic terms.

Yan Li did not invest a penny in "The Seven Fairies", but invested 500 million in "Detective Di Renjie", so Yan Li still has a lot of funds.

With this amount of funds, we cannot invest in large projects, so we can only invest in small projects.

Yan Li thought about it and decided to go back and find out if this project was promising. He would give it a try.

If the operation goes well, Yan Li may not be the one to pay for it, as he has a financial backer.

Boss Jin has even invested in avant-garde dramas, so this kind of slightly literary TV series might just suit his taste.

Yan Li looked at the script again. There were several female characters. He heard that Boss Jin was having a hot relationship with a dancer recently, so this would definitely help him get closer to her.

...

When he woke up early in the morning, Yan Li, who had not yet completely recovered from the heat of yesterday, pulled Qin Lan to do two sets of health exercises.

After finishing the exercises, Qin Lan went to brush her teeth, wash her face and feet. Yan Li called Boss Jin and made an appointment to meet in the next two days.

Then, while cooking noodles for breakfast, I sorted out the work I had to do in the past few days since I returned to Beijing.

The casting for "The Seven Fairies" is almost finalized. If there is really no suitable candidate for Dong Yong, then it is not impossible to use young actors and newcomers.

"Snow Goddess Dragon" will be broadcast on satellite TV soon, and Yan Li also needs to study the options of the second satellite TV station.

There is also "Conquer". It has been more than three months or even half a year since the broadcast of several satellite TV stations. The second round of broadcasting rights can be negotiated. The Chinese New Year is just two months away, so the more money you make, the better.

Just as he was thinking about something, Qin Lan finished washing up, saw him cooking noodles, and gave him a kiss out of emotion.

"Thanks husband."

Yan Li turned his head away and said, "Just thank you, no need to kiss."

Qin Lan was stunned for a moment, then reacted and spat at him: "You didn't feel dirty when you ruined me, and now you pretend to be clean."

After saying that, he didn't care that Yan Li was hiding. He stood on tiptoe, hugged Yan Li's head and kissed him, hesitating.

"Well, that's what you taught me."

Yan Li was helpless. It was all his own fault. He was bullied by Qin Lan for a long time before he could escape by claiming that the noodles were almost cooked.

Qin Lan was still a little indignant and gently pinched Yan Li's waist: "Next time, if you don't brush your teeth, I will kiss you."

Yan Li: “…”

Each person had a bowl of noodles and some side dishes that Yan Li had prepared earlier. After Yan Li coaxed her for a few words, Qin Lan forgave him with a bit of arrogance.

Yan Li's eyes moved slightly. This little girl was spoiled by him and became a little cocky. He was being gentle and considerate to her just now, but now he would make her "cry" when he turned around.

After dinner, Yan Li wanted to take Qin Lan out for a walk and some shopping, but she complained that her legs were weak and her waist was sore and she didn't want to move, so she pulled Yan Li home to watch DVDs.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that kind of disc. Qin Lan didn't dare to provoke Yan Li, so it was a video disc -

"treasure bowl"

Yan Li looked at himself in the corner of the cover, a little surprised: "This drama's DVD is sold only so far?"

The drama "Cornucopia" started airing in the middle of the year, but is currently still being broadcast on local channels.

Yan Li asked Cheng Lidong, the ratings performance was okay, but not outstanding, so it would take some time for the show to be broadcast on satellite TV.

This is also the normal process for TV dramas with decent performance on many local channels. They will not be thrown into the warehouse and gather dust without anyone watching them, but they still lack some performance and luck to be broadcast on satellite TV, so you can only wait in line.

Once the opportunity arises, it will be broadcast on satellite TV, making back the investment or even making money, and the TV series and actors will also be exposed and become famous.
If they can't wait, they'll just keep showing up on local channels. After two years, no one will watch it and it'll be thrown into the warehouse gathering dust.

As far as Yan Li knows, in this situation, it is normal to wait for a year or two, and sometimes it can take as long as 3 to 5 years.

There might be longer ones, but Yan Li had never heard of them. After all, there weren't that many on the Star Platform in the early years.

Even the concept of satellite broadcasting has only become popular in recent years. In the past, TV dramas were distributed and sold to local stations, with one market in each province. Only CCTV and a few satellite TV stations covered the entire country.

This has also led to the fact that the ideas and distribution strategies of some old-fashioned distribution companies and teams are unable to keep up with the new era.

In order to take things easy, some people only focus on local channels and ignore or are unable to do anything about larger and more profitable platforms such as satellite TV.

If he wasn't so busy and had no time, and if "Cornucopia" had been broadcast on local channels and DVDs had been sold, with limited profits, Yan Li really wanted to take over the distribution business of this drama and let Cheng Lidong take a look.

Is it really that difficult to be a star?!
Yan Li asked Qin Lan how the set of discs was selling, and Qin Lan shook her head.

"Generally speaking, this drama wasn't broadcast in Beijing, so few people knew about it. Plus, I think I was the only one who bought it, and all of them were because of Zhang Weijian."

Zhang Weijian's influence is no joke. There are many audiences who like him. Some people will buy into the show just because of his picture on the cover, even if they have never heard of it.

"Let's see."

Yan Li rubbed his hands. Among all the dramas he had filmed, he had only watched one, "Conquer".

Although both "Cornucopia" and "Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties" were broadcast, Yan Li had never seen them on TV, probably due to luck. He was really curious about his own performance.

Qin Lan turned on the TV and DVD player. The first thing that appeared on TV was not the drama, but a video of Zhang Weijian holding a CD of "Cornucopia" to promote the fight against piracy.

"Combating piracy is everyone's responsibility..."

Yan Li looked at Qin Lan and asked, "How much did you pay for this disc?"

Qin Lan held up a finger and said, "Three discs, 10 yuan in total."

“It’s a pirated copy.”

Yan Li was at a loss for words. Normally, a genuine DVD of a TV series would come in several discs, and the price would rarely be less than 20 yuan. If there were several discs or even just one disc for the same TV series, and the price was still low, nine out of ten times they were pirated.

However, this pirated disc even has a video of the crew cracking down on piracy burned into it, which is pretty arrogant.

Qin Lan didn't care whether it was pirated or genuine, she just nestled in Yan Li's arms and watched the show.

She wanted to save this drama to watch with Yan Li, so she had been holding back from watching it before. Now she can finally have a glimpse of it.

The first episode introduces the story of the poor boy Shen Wansan who wants to get rich and marry a wife, and Yan Li does not appear.

Qin Lan looked at Zhang Weijian's signature slightly exaggerated body language and rapid recitation of lines, feeling a little displeased, and looked up at Yan Li.

"In which episode did you appear?"

"It should be the end of the first episode, or the second episode." Although the script marked several episodes and sections, after filming and editing, Yan Li was not sure whether the finished product would be the same as the script.

Qin Lan then continued to watch patiently. Yan Li did not appear, and she was not interested in Zhang Weijian, so she turned her attention to Fan Xiaopang.

"Is she the heroine?"

"The second female lead is Zhang Ting, the little playboy from "A Love Across Time and Space."

"Oh."

Qin Lan looked at Fatty Fan and said, "What a pity. She's quite pretty. Are you familiar with her?"

Yan Li thought for a moment and gave an accurate evaluation: "Not bad."

Qin Lan immediately perked up: "How is she?"

Yan Li said honestly: "It's just okay."

"It's okay. I think she has a cheerful personality, is pretty, and has fair skin."

Yan Li paused, the last sentence has a lot to say.

Without responding, Yan Li asked, "Have you seen her?"

"She came to our station to do a program, and we met once."

Qin Lan signed a contract with a subsidiary of Hunan TV, so she would receive some announcements from Hunan TV from time to time.

Fan Xiaopang started her career with "My Fair Princess" and met many people at Hunan TV in her early years. Although she broke up with Qiong Yao later, that was a conflict between them and did not mean that she was banned by Hunan TV.

Qin Lan was not going to fool him, so she kept asking, "Go on, she's white and beautiful, don't you have any ideas?"

"Even if I had ideas, people wouldn't look down on me. At that time, I was just a small-time actor, and only fools like you would follow me."

"You are the fool."

Qin Lan patted him, then hugged Yan Li happily and said sweetly.

"I have a keen eye, so I picked up a treasure."

Yan Li didn't say anything, but tightened his hold on Qin Lan's hand. Qin Lan smiled slightly, tilted her head back and kissed him again.

In the second episode, Yan Li finally appeared and competed with Shen Wansan and Su Bancheng for a woman, but ended up failing and left angrily.

Qin Lan was a little disappointed: "Is that all?"

Yan Li nodded. "He'll appear again later, and it'll basically be the same pattern: he'll cause trouble for the protagonist, then be dealt with by the protagonist, and finally commit suicide by jumping into the river."

Qin Lan counted on her fingers: "Yuwen Chengdu, this Song Dian, and Wu Tian from Conquer, that's three villains I've played in total."

"Four. He was also a villain in the movie 'Lucky Star Pigsy' filmed in Yunnan Province."

"You've become a professional villain."

Qin Lan chuckled: "It seems that the directors have seen through your true nature. You are a bad guy."

Yan Lifeng said calmly, "Then why are you calling me good husband and good brother so happily?"

Qin Lan blushed: "You are so bad, so bad that pus is flowing."

"It's all for you."

Qin Lan: "..."

After playing and fighting, the two of them stayed at home and watched a drama for the whole morning. In the afternoon, Yan Li went to work at the company, and Qin Lan stayed at home to recuperate for the next battle.

Yan Li originally planned to use the excuse of going to the company to actually go see Dong Xuan.

But after going out, I still chose to go to the company.

There was no way. Qin Lan was too passionate yesterday and left several marks on his chest from sucking and biting him.

Yan Li pondered for half an hour, but it was difficult to explain where the mosquitoes came from in October, so he could only wait for a day or two.

Since the company was too close to Beijing Film Academy and the BMW was an eyesore, Yan Li did not drive but took a taxi.

When passing by the Beijing Film Studio, Yan Li suddenly saw a woman and a man arguing on the side of the road. He glanced at them and asked the driver to pull over.

"Ms. Wang, our company offers very good treatment. If you sign with us, we guarantee that we will make you a star within three years."

Wang Ou was a little impatient and walked away: "Sorry, I'm not interested in your company."

"Hey, Miss Wang, please don't leave..."

The man in a suit and glasses was about to reach out to grab someone when his arm was grabbed by a hand. Yan Li stood in the middle and glanced at Wang Ou, who looked a little panicked.

"what's the situation?"

Wang Ou was overjoyed when he saw Yan Li and hid behind him: "Boss Yan, I don't want to sign with their company. They keep pestering me."

The man in the suit and glasses took a look at Yan Li's muscular figure and smart clothes, then took a step back and said, "Hello, sir. We are scouts from XX Company..."

Yan Li didn't want to listen to his nonsense and waved his hand: "Don't you understand that I don't want to pay attention to you? Let's go."

The man in the suit and glasses was still unwilling to give in, so Yan Li clenched his fist and shook it in front of him: "I have a bad temper, don't be ungrateful. I'll say it again, get out."

Yan Li is not a violent person, but many times, this kind of strength and threat of force is much better than wasting spit.

Sure enough, the man in the suit and glasses bullied the weak and feared the strong. He didn't even say a harsh word and walked away in shame.

Wang Ou said with gratitude: "Thank you, Mr. Yan. If it weren't for you today, I would be in trouble."

"It's not that exaggerated. If you use your phone to call the police, he will be scared."

Yan Li had no intention of taking credit for it, and asked Wang Ou why he didn't sign with the company of the man in the suit and glasses.

He had some impression of the little model in front of him.

Others interviewed for the role in "The Seven Fairies" to seek a role, but she didn't care about the role, but hoped to sign a contract with the company and pursue early development.
Many people would give him a nice face or get his work phone number and send him text messages to greet him.

But if Yan Li doesn't respond, and you keep trying to please him for a long time, it will eventually become a waste of time.

Wang Ou blocked him twice and sent him text messages but received no response. Although he was not as active as in the early days of sending greetings every day, he still sent greetings once or twice a week. It can be said that he persisted the longest among those who did not get the role.

"His agency is just a front. They don't have any resources. They just drag people out to drink and have fun. I have a friend who got scammed, so I know."

Yan Li understood that there were still many shell companies like this that were selling dog meat under the guise of selling mutton.

When he sees a pretty girl, he claims to be a talent scout and tricks her into signing a contract, saying that he will help her become a big star.

But after signing the contract, they would just assign them a few small roles or advertising models, and then package them and send them out to accompany drinking and social events.

If you don't want to, you can terminate the contract, but you will have to pay tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of yuan in liquidated damages.

Wang Ou is a young model from another place. She is pretty but has no background. She must have encountered this kind of company many times.

Before, she had been determined to sign with Yi'an Film and Television, probably because Yi'an was able to produce films and television shows that were obviously better than those shell companies.

It's not easy for a small model to work alone. Having a company means a stable job and a backer, and she doesn't have to live a hard life with one meal a day.

Wang Ou was lucky enough to make it to the second round of interviews, so he was different from those actors whose main purpose was to get a role.

If Yan Li had directly held an audition and interview, there would probably be quite a few models and newcomers who wanted to sign Yi An, and he would probably have received several times more room cards and sexy photos.

If you don't stand in that position, you have no idea how many beautiful women are trying to get ahead, and how willing they are to take risks...

"Boss Yan, today is all thanks to you. Please do me a favor and treat me to a meal so I can express my gratitude to you."

Yan Li didn't take this matter to heart and was ready to withdraw after understanding the situation, but Wang Ou insisted on expressing his gratitude, as if he owed Yan Li a big favor.

Looking at Wang Ou's cordial invitation, especially his gentle and beautiful face, and long and straight legs, Yan Li felt his sincerity and hesitated.

"I have something else to do at the company."

"It's okay, I can wait for you."

Wang Ou felt that Yan Li's attitude had softened, so he picked up his bag and acted as if he would obey Yan Li completely.

"That's fine."

Yan Li glanced at her and said, "Come back to the company with me first."

Huang Shengyi is not here, Qin Lan and Dong Xuan are too incompetent, and he is reluctant to bother them. It is not impossible to consider finding someone who is suitable to take over temporarily.

However, you still have to find out the bottom line. It's okay to give some resources or money, but don't have any other thoughts.

Things are different now. With his high status, many people are really concerned about him. Yan Li doesn't want to cause trouble for himself...

(End of this chapter)