A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 36 Inhuman!
Let's book tickets and set off.

It's about making money! Especially this kind of business where you go to a place, perform on stage for ten minutes, get paid, and leave!

He's quite valuable now. He recently did several commercial performances in Hong Kong, usually for one or two songs, earning between HK$100,000 and HK$120,000 per show. Including runway appearances, he only received HK$200,000. Last time he went to Southeast Asia for promotion, Lin Jianlu asked Ge Fuhong about it. Ge Fuhong said that the average price offered to Lin Jianlu in Southeast Asia was around $8,000 to $10,000, which she turned down. She'd rather not accept any job than accept one with a lower price.

Now it's all good. They're offering $8 for two songs, after tax. Lin Jianlu won't bear any tax or legal risks. A contract is required. They won't make any dirty money. They'll reimburse your airfare and provide you with a five-star hotel suite.

In the end, the prices were mostly around $50,000 to $60,000 per event.

Fly directly to Singapore to begin your money-making journey.

Everyone was requesting "Bei'er Shuang" and asking to dance. However, for the second song, there were requests for "Fairy Tale," "Ten Years," and "Brave Heart," among other things.

After a few performances, Zhang Aijia reminded Lin Jianlu, and Lin Jianlu himself realized that he needed to hire some backup dancers. The performance was going well, and "Bei'er Shuang" was very popular in Southeast Asia. In particular, many non-Chinese people also liked the song, which opened up the market. The market was much larger than relying solely on Chinese people to pay for the songs. However, after performing on stage a few times, Lin Jianlu found that simply relying on himself to sing and dance was not quite enough.

Go ahead and confess. Go back and confess.

They could even consider signing six to eight dancers on a stable basis. Judging from the current trend, even if they only perform a few times a year, that would still be a million-dollar income.

How much would it cost to support several dancers!

Singapore to Bangkok, Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta, Jakarta to Hong Kong.

As it turns out, there was absolutely no privacy in Hong Kong. As soon as I got off the plane, I was spotted by paparazzi who had been watching the airport for years. The next day, the newspapers published an article titled "Lin Jianlu has found a new love, and Zhang Aijia is suspected of cheating!"
They were walking side by side out of the airport, looking tired from their journey, and behaving intimately.

Even more absurdly, the two spent several days together in Bangkok, suggesting they may have already purchased a love nest abroad.

Wang Fei called and mocked me for ten minutes.

And some tall girl actually foolishly called to ask if it was true or not—

"What cheating?! I didn't cheat at all!"

"How would I know if she cheated on me? She came with me to Southeast Asia to make money! She earned forty or fifty thousand US dollars, or more than three hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars, just for one trip with me! She made a lot of money! ...You're so despicable!"

She obediently accepted the scolding.

Of course, Lin Jianlu exaggerated a bit. Ge Fuhong made the contact, and Zhang Aijia accompanied her, so they split the money 50/50, each earning 24,000 US dollars—but it really was only for four days!
Leung Wing-ki's career has been smooth sailing since her debut, thanks to the strong support she receives! This is already her second film, and she even received a Best New Performer nomination. How much is she being paid for playing the second female lead in this new film, "Feel 100%"?

Only HK$120,000!

Ge Fuhong took 30% of her money, but that's not much!
However, since they were so concerned, Lin Jianlu still went to visit her on set the next day.

She seemed exceptionally happy.

When Lin Jianlu suddenly appeared, almost in the blink of an eye, she straightened her neck and stood proudly like a swan. She even deliberately chatted with Lin Jianlu for several minutes on the outside, as if she was showing it off to everyone on set. Hong Kong media had been hyping up the fact that Lin Jianlu and she had developed feelings for each other while filming the MV and were already dating. Neither of them had denied the rumors. Ge Fuhong had explained that she was just trying to gain some popularity.

Everyone is under the same agent; this is standard practice.

On set, Wang Jing waited until Liang Yongqi finished showing off and whispered to her for a while before sauntering over. Lin Jianlu laughed and hugged him.

After chatting for a few minutes, once a shot was finished, he called for a pause and invited everyone to come over and say hello.

The film's investor is Best Partner Film Company, which was just established this year. Wang Jing is the initiator and shareholder. The company focuses on producing comic book adaptations and targets only young people under 25. Their first film was "Young and Dangerous," which was released earlier this year and directed by Andrew Lau.

The first two films, "Young and Dangerous," were huge hits, making Ekin Cheng and Jordan Chan instant stars. Before the first film even finished its run, the second film, "Young and Dangerous 3," had already started filming. The second film was released before the first one had even finished its run. To this day, the second film is still showing, and the third film, "Young and Dangerous 4," has already finished filming. The first two films were box office successes, but they attracted widespread criticism from almost all sectors of Hong Kong society. As a result, the film adaptation of the manga, "Feel 100%," was urgently started, with the intention of releasing it after the third film made money, in order to slightly embellish and reverse public opinion.

When Chan Ho-nam is in love, he's a good person, not someone who only knows how to fight and kill!

When it comes to treating filmmaking as a business, Wong Jing is definitely an expert.

The director of this film is Ma Wai-ho. Ekin Cheng, who recently became a sensation in Hong Kong with the two "Young and Dangerous" films, and the female lead, Cheng Sau-man, are both present. Chingmy Yau also happened to be here today for a guest appearance.

After exchanging greetings and a few words, Ma Weihao asked the production crew to help move the chilled watermelon that Lin Jianlu had brought over, and everyone had to say thank you—such is the etiquette for visiting the set.

Wang Jing, however, had a sharp eye. He spotted Lin Xilei immediately, and even though she was wearing a baseball cap, he was still surprised and whispered, "Wow, your assistant?"

Lin Jianlu asked in surprise, "You haven't seen it before?"

"I hadn't noticed it before!"

As he spoke, he subtly gave a thumbs-up and then winked at Liang Yongqi, giving her a knowing look that any man would understand—Lin Jianlu waved his hand, “You’re overthinking it! I don’t need to hide when I’m picking up girls!”

Wang Jing laughed heartily.

Then he cursed, "Damn! This handsome guy is inhuman!"

...Meeting a client.

Lin Jianlu's so-called "shining eight minutes" on the catwalk became a fuse.

The vast market of East Asia and Southeast Asia has always been a place of absolute importance for all products and companies aspiring to international sales. In the past, the mainland market was difficult to penetrate, but Hong Kong and Taiwan were very developed, and the Hong Kong entertainment industry had a great influence on Southeast Asia, and even Japan and South Korea, where some stars had influence. Therefore, international brands of all sizes were happy to use Hong Kong and Taiwan stars as spokespeople and to shoot advertisements.

Now, more than a decade after the mainland opened up, especially in recent years, the number of wealthy people in the mainland has begun to increase, and even some light luxury goods have begun to be consumed in considerable quantities. However, at present, the mainland has almost no real entertainment industry and cannot produce big-name stars with real commercial value. So, there is no other way but to rely on Hong Kong. Although Hong Kong stars cannot sell movie tickets or official albums in the mainland, they still have a strong reputation in the mainland through various forms of piracy.

But that was in the past.

Just like Sylvia Chang said, Lin Jianlu suddenly appeared out of the mainland.

At this time in 1996, he had established himself in mainland China and achieved sales of millions of genuine albums, making him the number one celebrity in mainland China. At the same time, he also broke through Hong Kong and Taiwan without any obstacles. Since the release of "Cold to the End", he has almost simultaneously become the number one celebrity in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Incidentally, he also has considerable influence and recognition in Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, and other countries.

This alone makes him an absolute force that no international company with ambitions in this market can afford to ignore. Moreover, his good personal image—handsome, rugged, fashionable, and trendy—makes him, despite being only twenty years old, not just a typical teenage idol since his debut, but a powerful figure straddling both the teenage idol and mature man categories.

and so……

Fashion, suits, shoes and socks, men's luxury goods, casual wear, sportswear, automobiles, watches, fast-moving consumer goods, convenience foods, daily chemical products, health products, men's products, over-the-counter medicines... and so on.

Brands, big and small, that other singers, actors, and celebrities had struggled for years to acquire suddenly came knocking on their door.

According to Ge Fuhong, she is currently in contact with about 80 brands across 17 major categories, most of which are top international brands and are interested in signing Lin Jianlu as their spokesperson.

For example, in the sportswear category, Nike and Adidas.

But his involvement in sports goes far beyond that; he's even been approached by ski companies to endorse their products!

It is said that many people from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia like to go skiing in Hokkaido, Japan, and there is a large market demand for this type of product in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea.

Lin Jianlu's healthy, fashionable, rugged, and talented overall image perfectly matches their endorsement needs.

For example, in the beverage category, besides Coca-Cola and Pepsi, there are two other brands that came from mainland China: Jianlibao and Xurisheng.

In addition, there is a company in mainland China called Jin Sang Zi Throat Lozenges...

There are also fast food chains like KFC and McDonald's...

Anyway, let's meet!

Doing business is all about making money, and selling yourself is all about it!
As I said before, you have to let people see the goods in person, or even just have a brief chat.

Of course, this is on the premise that both sides have reached a satisfactory conclusion.

In addition, according to Ge Fuhong and Zhang Aijia's arrangements, there are even seven or eight more interviews waiting for him, and if you include TV program invitations, that makes ten.

They were both handpicked by the two of them, and they had to take care of all sorts of forces; they were all mouthpieces.

Lin Jianlu didn't mind, but if his agent thought the work was really necessary, he was willing to take the time to cooperate so that he could retire better in the future.

However, at this moment, a phone call from Taiwan disrupted the established work rhythm—Old Duan called personally, saying that the global sales of "Cold to the End" had reached approximately 8.6 million copies, and Rolling Stone was preparing to officially announce that the sales had exceeded 10 million copies!

Furthermore, we will officially announce our application for diamond record certification from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry!

Diamond albums, a globally standardized product, require ten million records sold—this isn't just a joke. They must be genuine, with clear shipping routes and distributors; everything must be verifiable before they'll grant certification.

Currently, there isn't even a single diamond album in the entire Chinese music market.

In the music industry, there are occasional artists who boast about their album sales of ten or twenty million copies, but that's just fooling the fans. Insiders actually laugh at it. Hong Kong and Taiwan together have about thirty million people, plus about twenty million overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. That's only a small market. How can you sell twenty million records to sixty million people, or sell ten million records to non-Chinese communities? It's ridiculous!

The world's top 100 records are ranked based on certified sales. Currently, the 100th record is stuck at 9.8 million copies. Even Japanese records have three on the list, but there are no Chinese records at all.

Even though he boasted about having 30 million copies, he wouldn't dare to get any certifications.

But with "Cold to the End", Lao Duan is clearly confident and dares to play for real!

If "Cold to the End" gets certified, it will not only be directly listed in the top 100 records, but will also become the first and only super record in the Chinese music scene.

But it's clearly not time yet. In Lao Duan's words, "Let's apply first, and by the time we go through the actual certification process, we should have around ten million!" — Yes, that's very Lao Duan, that's very Rolling Stone!
In short, come quickly!

Let's brag together!
(End of this chapter)