"Because I want to work with Lu Yanhe, I like his works very much." Jin Yanshu said, "After the adaptation rights of "Friends" were obtained by other people in our TVN, I thought about adapting "Rouge". Although Lu Yanhe is more known as an actor, the works he wrote as a screenwriter even make a professional screenwriter like me jealous. Alas, how come young people nowadays are so talented. Haha, that's what I think."Jin Yanshu showed a helpless and kind smile of an elder.
Lu Yanhe, who had been sitting in front of Jin Yanshu and listening to her talk about female consciousness for a long time, was silently coated with a layer of gilded body by him.
Lu Yanhe could imagine how happy his fans would be when Jin Yanshu's words were reported by the media. They would tell everyone and tell everyone that even the executives of TVN could not ignore Lu Yanhe's talent, and they took the initiative to cooperate with Lu Yanhe to adapt "Rouge" for no other reason than to cooperate with Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe thought, whoever believes it will be deceived.
However, after the news that "Rouge" was going to be adapted into both a Chinese drama and a Korean drama, it still caused some trouble for Lu Yanhe.
For example, Jiang Lan, deputy director of Beijing Taiwan, expressed regret to Lu Yanhe, asking why the TV station did not cooperate with her but with Bingyuan Video instead.
Lu Yanhe spoke frankly because the other party came to him on his own initiative.
What you mean is, you blame me for not taking the initiative?
Jiang Lan didn't really regret missing a good opportunity.
A story like "Rouge" is not suitable for broadcast in Beijing or Taiwan even if it is made into a TV series.
The main audience in Beijing and Taiwan is not the target audience of "Rouge".
Jiang Lan took this opportunity to ask: "Do you have any other stories that we can collaborate on?"
Lu Yanhe said, "Tai Jiang, I do have a few scripts written and some ideas, but they are all very expensive."
Jiang Lan rolled her eyes at Lu Yanhe speechlessly, "Who do you think I am? Which of the projects you worked on with me has made you suffer a loss?"
"I don't know if I've suffered any loss, but you definitely won't. When we were filming 'Seventeen Floors', you even wanted me to sign a variety show cooperation agreement with Beijing and Taiwan."
Jiang Lan: "...It's such an old story, you still remember it."
Lu Yanhe: "...I have a good memory."
Jiang Lan: "I am also working with everyone for a win-win situation. With such a large investment in "Seventeenth Floor", we must also try our best to recover some costs from other aspects and reduce risks. Please understand me."
"Then why didn't you give us some red envelopes since "Seventeenth Floor" was so successful?" Lu Yanhe asked back.
Jiang Lan: "..."
Lu Yanhe knew when to stop.
He didn't really want to receive any red envelope from Jiang Lan. He just wanted to ask Jiang Lan for a little advice so that she wouldn't fool him. He knew what was going on.
Lu Yanhe currently has seven or eight stories with completed outlines, including "Love Letter", "You Are the Apple of My Eye", "The Chinese Paladin", "Dumb and Dumber", "Phone Call", and "The Notebook"... Some of them were written a long time ago but have never been advanced, such as "Dumb and Dumber". Some were eliminated during the selection process, such as "The Notebook".
Lu Yanhe sorted out the outline and project introduction he had written, and on a sunny afternoon, he went to Jiang Lan's office and gave them to her for her to review.
"Okay, then I'll take a good look at it first. If there's anything I think is suitable for being adapted into a TV series to be broadcast in Beijing or Taiwan, I'll tell you."
"Tai Jiang, you can take a look now." Lu Yanhe said, "I only have one copy of this information, I don't have a backup, and I have to take it back later."
Jiang Lan: "..."
Jiang Lan took a deep breath, not knowing what to say, so she could only sit down and work on the spot.
Lu Yanhe sat by the window, drinking coffee, but his mind was thinking about the excitement that the movie "The Mist" brought him.
He had seen so many horror thrillers before, but they couldn't be shown in China. Should he just write about them and let them go to waste?
What a pity.
To this day, Lu Yanhe has fully realized how much benefit a successful screenwriter can bring to his acting career.
It can be said that half of his current unique status in the entertainment industry is due to his identity as a screenwriter.
Apart from anything else, at least movies like "Saw", "The Ring" and "IT" are all very classic blockbusters.
Or, how about writing the scripts for these works to pave the way for his Hollywood career?
Horror movies have always been a classic example of low cost and high returns.
There are also "The Purge", "The Cruise", "The Butterfly Effect"... These are all movies he has watched.
Although it is not clear what kind of box office results they have achieved, the fact that he has seen them is definitely a classic among horror films. Of course, the last three films are strictly thrillers, not horror films.
In China, the two are not clearly distinguished and are basically both called horror films.
Because they are all scary stuff.
Lu Yanhe sent a message to Chen Ziyan, asking for her opinion.
Chen Ziyan was surprised: You have a new story?
Lu Yanhe: Yes, after reading the script of "The Mist", it gave me some inspiration.
Chen Ziyan: You can write the script first, but you may not be able to find a buyer so quickly, unless we produce the film ourselves. But as you know, this is basically impossible. In the United States, if you want to distribute a movie, you can hardly avoid those giants.
Lu Yanhe: We do not have a distribution channel, but Green Valley Films has released many horror films in the United States. They are very experienced in this genre. Maybe we can cooperate with them.
Chen Ziyan: We don’t know whether they are willing to cooperate with us.
Lu Yanhe asked: What if we invest ourselves, and they are responsible for the issuance, will they be willing?
Chen Ziyan: Are you going to invest in this movie yourself?
Lu Yanhe said: I can write a script with very low cost, almost no money.
The cost of horror movies is not high. For example, the famous "Saw" cost only $120 million and earned $1 million at the global box office. There are even more exaggerated ones, such as "The Blair Witch Project" and "Paranormal Activity", which used DV to create a pseudo-documentary effect and earned over $ million at the box office with tens of thousands of dollars. Of course, Lu Yanhe would not write about the latter two, unless he was anonymous-
He still wants to lose face.
Lu Yanhe was well aware of how badly these two movies were criticized for using "fraudulent" marketing and promotion methods.
Chen Ziyan said: Even if the cost is low, a movie still costs millions of dollars. Are you sure you want to spend so much money to make a foreign horror movie? This is not a Chinese film. In any case, there are still many ways to help you recover your losses.
Lu Yanhe said: Sister Zi Yan, I have an idea. It doesn’t cost millions of dollars. It only costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to shoot.
Chen Ziyan was stunned and asked: What's your idea?
Lu Yanhe said: A man woke up and found himself in a coffin. He was buried alive. There was limited oxygen in the coffin, and he had to find a way to escape before the oxygen ran out.
What Lu Yanhe was talking about was the movie "Buried" starring "Deadpool" Ryan Reynolds.
A film that takes place entirely in a coffin.
Chen Ziyan's head suddenly buzzed.
Some movies sell their plot twists and turns and the emotional tension between characters.
Some movies sell their unparalleled special effects and grand scenes, and the immersive movie world.
Some movies, like the feeling presented by Lu Yanhe's few words, sell an unprecedented idea.
Chen Ziyan didn't even need to think to know how attractive this story was.
This is a story that most people would not normally think of, but once they hear it, they can't help but be both scared and attracted to it.
Chen Ziyan wanted to tell Lu Yanhe not to be impulsive. It was not that easy to write an English horror movie script and then make it into a movie. They had such a hard time making "Love Letter".
But as soon as Lu Yanhe put forward this idea, Chen Ziyan was convinced.
Indeed, for a movie that takes place entirely in a coffin, only one space and one actor are needed to complete the filming of the entire movie.
The most important thing is that Chen Ziyan believes that Lu Yanhe will make this story tense and exciting. Lu Yanhe's ability to write stories has been fully proven.
Chen Ziyan said: I support you.
Lu Yanhe breathed a sigh of relief.
Chen Ziyan said: You write the script, we will register the copyright, and then we will go and talk to the American Green Valley Company.
Chen Ziyan added: But why don’t you make this script into a Chinese-language movie?
Lu Yanhe: I feel that this kind of thriller and horror film may not have a high domestic box office, but of course I can make Chinese-language films if I have the chance in the future.
Chen Ziyan: This kind of one-man show has a lot of room for performance, and I think many male actors will be interested in it.
Lu Yanhe said: But this is a genre film, and it is destined to be a low-budget film, which requires extremely high acting skills from the actors.
Lu Yanhe felt that an actor who was capable of acting in such a movie might not necessarily be interested in the script.
Chen Ziyan: You underestimate the value of this script. This is a script that can really showcase the qualities of an actor. If the performance is good, it can win awards. I believe that many actors will compete for this film in order to win awards.
Performance awards?
Lu Yanhe realized that he might have fallen into preconceived impressions again.
Because in his impression, "Buried" is not a film that excels in acting - although the film relies entirely on Ryan Reynolds' performance to support the entire film, everyone generally thinks that the film wins in terms of story creativity.
Therefore, Lu Yanhe never thought that such an original script that had never been seen by others could be a script that could help actors win acting awards.
At this time, Jiang Lan finally finished reading the information Lu Yanhe gave her.
Jiang Lan looked at Lu Yanhe with shock.
Jiang Lan has worked in the entertainment industry for so many years. She has seen geniuses and quick hands, but she has never seen another screenwriter like Lu Yanhe who can write so many scripts in just a few years.
The most important thing is that the quality of his scripts is very high. He is not a writer who writes only a certain type of scripts. He is involved in both modern and ancient times, and the themes he covers include romance, comedy, fairy tales, suspense... Jiang Lan even suspected that Lu Yanhe had a strong team behind him to help him write scripts.
This is so productive!
"Tai Jiang, is there any story here that interests you?"
Jiang Lan nodded.
"Of course, The Chinese Paladin was written according to the structure of a TV drama script, right?" Jiang Lan asked. "It's not the size of a movie."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"This is indeed a TV drama script, but I prepared this drama for Zhi Bai and Yan Liang." He said frankly, "None of us three have time in the short term, so we definitely won't be able to shoot next year."
When Jiang Lan heard this, her face changed immediately.
"Give me this drama." Jiang Lan said, "I will use the highest level of resources to promote this drama."
Starring Lu Yanhe, Li Zhibai and Yan Liang?
This cast of leading actors could probably be completed by no one else except Lu Yanhe himself.
Jiang Lan could almost imagine how big a shock this drama would cause once the news was released.
"The Legend of Sword and Fairy" is a fairy tale drama with young people as the protagonists. It is also different from the current fairy tale dramas about love. This is a serious drama about heroes. In the TV drama market, this theme has been popular for decades and has produced many hits.
Jiang Lan simply couldn't imagine a situation where she didn't get this show.
This was the reason why Lu Yanhe put "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" in it and showed it to Jiang Lan.
Several of them will graduate next year.
Other dramas can be postponed, but "Legend of Sword and Fairy" cannot be postponed. This is a drama that should be performed when you are young. This is also what Lu Yanhe had thought of a long time ago, leaving a commemorative drama for the three of them.
Therefore, once the schedule is arranged, the filming of this drama will start the year after next, and the preparatory work will start.
Lu Yanhe said, "Tai Jiang, are you planning to get the exclusive TV broadcast rights for this drama?"
Jiang Lan was stunned.
"TV rights?"
"I want to keep the copyright of this drama in my own hands." Lu Yanhe smiled at Jiang Lan, "I don't want the tragedy of "Friends" to happen again."
Obviously, the script of "Friends" was written by Lu Yanhe, but because the copyright was in the hands of Jingtai, he was the one who was eliminated when the conflict between the two sides occurred. He will never let himself suffer such a loss again. Especially when continuing to cooperate with a partner like Jingtai who has a criminal record, it is not an exaggeration to be 800 cautious.
Jiang Lan remained silent.
Isn’t the copyright of the TV series in the hands of Beijing and Taiwan?
It doesn’t mean that the copyrights of all TV series broadcast in Beijing and Taiwan are in their hands. In fact, most of the TV series broadcast in Beijing and Taiwan are just copyrighted dramas, not self-produced dramas.
However, those copyrighted dramas have already been filmed and produced by others, and they just spend money to purchase the broadcasting rights.
The situation is different now.
Jiang Lan asked: "Are you planning to film the drama "Legend of Sword and Fairy" yourself?"
Lu Yanhe shook his head and said, "Although we have a production company, we don't have enough staff and experience, so this drama must be produced by someone else. The drama "Legend of Sword and Fairy" is quite special. After all, there is only one script now, and it is also a project I have reserved for myself. If Beijing and Taiwan want this drama, they can wait until we have time to shoot the drama, and then bid with other TV stations. Or if you are in a hurry, you can pay the purchase money in advance and we will form a production team, or you can form it yourself, provided that you meet my requirements."
Jiang Lan looked at Lu Yanhe in disbelief.
She really wanted to ask at this moment: "Do you think I look stupid?"
Lu Yanhe didn't expect Jiang Lan to agree to such an outrageous condition.
He just threw out a condition first, leaving it at that, and then we can talk about it slowly later.
But no matter what, Lu Yanhe was serious about the advance payment. The original work of "Legend of Sword and Fairy" has 34 episodes, and it is a huge world view, which requires a lot of special effects production. If you really want to make it well, the investment in this drama will start at least 2-3 million.
Lu Yanhe definitely doesn't have the money to do this.
too expensive.
He can shoot a little bit himself, but if he does it all by himself, the risk is too great.
Even though Lu Yanhe believed that this drama would be a success.
Lu Yanhe mentioned "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" to Jiang Lan today because of this matter.
Jiang Lan did not respond, but changed the subject.
"Except for The Legend of Sword and Fairy, the others are movie scripts," said Jiang Lan.
"Yes, but the fact that Rouge will be adapted into two TV series gave me an inspiration. Although they are movie scripts, they can also be adapted into TV series." Lu Yanhe said, "Just like Lost on Journey, although there is no official announcement yet, Bingyuan Video has also bought the adaptation rights and will adapt two web series based on this concept."
Jiang Lan: "..."
She really wanted to complain that the people on video websites are really stupid and have a lot of money.
Bingyuan Video's adaptation of "Lost on Journey" is entirely based on the influence of the name "Lost on Journey" and the concept of "road comedy". Jiang Lan doesn't know how much Bingyuan Video spent to buy the adaptation rights, but it must have been expensive.
Jiang Lan suddenly understood why Lu Yanhe had asked for such a high price when he mentioned the production of The Chinese Paladin.
This is because the appetite is enlarged by the surrounding environment.
Jiang Lan could fully imagine how many people were writing blank checks to ask Lu Yanhe for cooperation, and Lu Yanhe could fill in the numbers on them at will.
Jiang Lan took a deep breath.
She still needs to go back and think carefully about the "Legend of Sword and Fairy" project.
As for other scripts, Jiang Lan didn't particularly like any of them because they were not suitable for adaptation into TV series.
"Love Letter" and "Those Years" are stories about youth and campus life, which are not what the audiences in Beijing and Taiwan like.
"The Call" involves elements of dual time and space and suspense and thriller. If this type of subject matter is adapted into a TV series and broadcast on video websites, it may attract vertical audiences, but it will hardly get ratings if it is broadcast on TV stations.
Dumb and Dumber was eliminated. It is extremely difficult to adapt a comedy story with two male protagonists into a TV series.
"The Notebook" is a love story that spans a very long time... This is the only story among the remaining stories that seems suitable for Beijing and Taiwan. But, a love story? Even if this story is very touching and has a lot of room for adaptation, in this era, is there anyone willing to watch such a pure love story?
Jiang Lan wasn't sure either.
Apart from other things, each of these scripts and stories has its own highlights and selling points. But they are not suitable for a traditional TV channel like Beijing TV. This is not the era when TV stations were king.
Jiang Lan hesitated again and again, looked up at Lu Yanhe, and asked, "If it were you, which of these stories do you think would be more attractive to the audience if adapted into a TV series?"
Lu Yanhe said: "For video platforms, it must be "The Phone", and for TV stations... maybe "The Notebook" is more suitable, but if I were to adapt it, the theme would not just focus on the love story of the protagonists, but would enrich the background of the two protagonists and the background of the times."
In the script of "The Notebook" written by Lu Yanhe, this is a drama about the Republic of China. Because of the war background involved, the historical background must be set here.
Jiang Lan thought about it and according to Lu Yanhe, this would be a huge project.
If she wanted to make a magnificent love epic, why did she need to adapt The Notebook? She might as well just find another screenwriter to customize a script like this. Twenty years ago, she would be willing to invest a lot of resources in such a project.
Now, she feels that love epics no longer have such a big market and are not worth her making such a huge investment.
So, after looking around for so long, Jiang Lan finally found the one that Lu Yanhe wanted but the conditions he wanted were "extremely high", and Jiang Lan felt that the rest were not suitable for Beijing and Taiwan.
Waste of time.
Jiang Lan said, "We still need to think carefully about how to make the drama "Legend of Sword and Fairy". Yan He, if you want us to invest in this drama, then we must share the copyright income together."
"I just ask you to prepay the purchase money."
"Isn't that just a disguised investment?" Jiang Lan asked with a smile.
Lu Yanhe shrugged and said, "Neither the Northern Lights Video nor the Icefield Video would consider this an investment."
Jiang Lan: "They are all backed by big capital groups and don't spend money as money. We traditional TV stations now have to spend every penny wisely."
"Is the revenue of Friends so bad?" Lu Yanhe asked, "Tai Jiang, I can still enjoy 8% of the revenue share of the first season of this drama. The revenue is not that bad, right?"
He looked at Jiang Lan with a smile.
Don't play the victim.
Your cash cow was planted by Lu Yanhe with great effort.
He knows exactly how much money you can make from this show.
Jiang Lan: "..."
She felt very troubled when dealing with Lu Yanhe.
This person is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with (fool around with).
"By the way, Yan He, there is one more thing I forgot to tell you." Jiang Lan changed the subject.
Lu Yanhe asked: "What's the matter?"
Jiang Lan said: "Regarding "The Seventeenth Floor", the third draft of the second season's script has been revised. We want to develop a theatrical version after the second season."
Developing theatrical versions of popular TV series, or movies, is not common in other countries and regions around the world, except in Japan, where it has become a common practice.
Even though they became as popular as "Friends" and "The Big Bang Theory", we haven't seen them develop spin-off films.
However, Lu Yanhe feels that the world view of "Seventeenth Floor" is indeed suitable for developing a theatrical version.
It is itself a genre film with a battle royale theme and a level-breaking style. Whether it is a TV series or a movie, such content is generally not restricted by form.
Lu Yanhe asked: "Are you planning to let everyone return?"
"Yes." Jiang Lan nodded, "Let's use the original crew of the TV series to film the theatrical version."
“Have you written the script?”
"Not yet, and I want to seek your opinions first." Jiang Lan said, "especially yours and Chen Bige's opinions."
"What is Sister Bi Ge's opinion?" Lu Yanhe asked.
Jiang Lan said: "I haven't asked her yet. I want to hear your opinion first. She will definitely refer to your opinion before making a decision."
Lu Yanhe said: "I don't know when the movie will start filming, but my schedule for next year is basically all sold out, and the year after that I want to film The Chinese Paladin, so I don't know if I can make it in time."
Jiang Lan said: "The schedule must be coordinated. If it really can't be coordinated, we will wait for your time later. I want to know, are you willing to act?"
"If it's still the original team, I'm willing." Lu Yanhe expressed his attitude directly, "However, you have to discuss the specific conditions with Sister Zi Yan. I don't have the final say in this regard."
Jiang Lan took a second to hold back her eye roll.
-
After leaving Jiang Lan's place, Lu Yanhe went to Chen Ziyan's place.
It was Chen Ziyan who asked him to go over there.
Not only Chen Ziyan was there, but Lu Qingzhen was also there.
"Sister Zi Yan, Sister Qing Zhen." Lu Yanhe greeted them.
Chen Ziyan said, "Please sit down. I asked you to come here today because I have something to tell you."
Lu Yanhe was a little surprised. He wondered what the matter was that Chen Ziyan called him over so seriously.
Chen Ziyan said: "Because you are also one of the shareholders of our company, we think you need to know this matter as well."
Lu Yanhe also invested in this high-end brokerage service company founded by Chen Ziyan and Lu Qingzhen.
I also received dividends at the beginning of this year.
Lu Yanhe always forgets these things.
He is involved in a lot of things now, so he won’t be able to remember things that he doesn’t come into contact with often.
Chen Ziyan said: "We want to tell you something. Your sister Qingzhen and I have been planning this for almost half a year and have decided to start it."
"Huh?" Lu Yanhe looked at her with some surprise.
"We are ready to become the agent for foreign artists." Chen Ziyan said, "There are almost no agents for foreign artists in China, but now our domestic market... especially in recent years, due to various reasons such as policy-level cultural exchanges, many programs or other aspects will invite foreign artists to come, including many foreign films released in China, and many foreign artists will come to China to promote them. We all believe that the market for foreign artists in China will gradually increase in the future. If we can seize the opportunity and sign some artists' agent contracts in China, we will make a lot of money in the future."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"Okay, Sister Zi Yan." Lu Yanhe didn't understand these things, he believed whatever Chen Zi Yan said.
Chen Ziyan shook her head and said, "Yan He, there is one more thing."
"What's the matter?" Lu Yanhe asked puzzledly.
Chen Ziyan said, "When we decided to do this, we suddenly thought of this: Should we find a strong agency overseas to take care of all your overseas affairs? You have more and more overseas work now. In the past few months, you have to go abroad two or three times almost every month. Moreover, as you go to Hollywood to film, this situation will become more and more frequent. Now every time you go out, we find a service company overseas. Of course, their basic service work is okay, but compared with professional agencies, it is definitely still a long way behind. If it is not a director like Muken who comes to you directly, if you don’t have an agency overseas, it is almost impossible for you to have the opportunity to get their script."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
Overseas, if an actor wants to act, he must first find an agent. This is different from the situation in China, because overseas there are very complicated unions and other systems, with many regulatory requirements, so if you don’t have an agent, you can’t sign a contract or a role.
You can’t even get any scripts because the scripts of major film and television companies are all sent to the agency and controlled by the agents.
Unlike in China, you can be a self-employed actor.
Lu Yanhe thought for a moment and asked, "I am going overseas to sign a contract with an agency to represent me. Doesn't that conflict with my contract with Star Entertainment?"
Chen Ziyan: "I will take care of it with Star Entertainment. If we give them some sweet treats, they won't refuse. Besides, your contract with Star Entertainment only has two years left, and we obviously won't renew it with them. They wanted to try to interfere with your work before, but now they have completely given up on it."
Lu Yanhe: "Sign an overseas agency to handle my overseas agency affairs... That's fine, but I definitely won't be able to focus on overseas work in the next few years. Isn't that a waste?"
Chen Ziyan said, "Waste? Yan He, nothing is wasted with you. Just like the movie The Mist, according to Hollywood industry practice, your agent can directly take 10% of your one million salary, which is $10. For an agent who is not at the top of the industry, this may be one-third or even one-half of their annual income. You have the salary for the movie The Mist in your hand. As long as the news spreads, a large number of senior agents will compete for the position. Of course, we are not looking for an agent, but a strong agency."
-
The monthly votes are only 1536 now, which does not meet the conditions for adding more chapters, but I will still add it.
My writing skills have returned recently and I can write quite smoothly.
Please give me a monthly ticket! (End of this chapter)
