Lu Yanhe looked at Hua Ruzhen in astonishment, and for a moment, he was unable to react.
Hua Ruzhen was also surprised when she saw Lu Yanhe's reaction and asked, "What's wrong?"
"I haven't had much dealings with him... We just know each other." Lu Yanhe shook his head and put away the look of surprise on his face.
"Yeah." Hua Ruzhen didn't notice anything unusual, and just said, "I know that Chen Pinhe has a high status in China. He is the top male actor and one of the few domestic actors with international fame and influence. However, you have been the most popular in recent years, otherwise, Lune Reese would not have chosen you first. The movie "Doomsday" is considered a Hollywood A-level production. Although it is a relatively ordinary commercial blockbuster and does not fit your current film selection, putting this aside, except for the top A-listers, this is a very good project for any actor in the world. I tell you this to remind you that Chen Pinhe quietly intercepted the resources that were originally intended for you. There must be some means and connections behind him."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"If you value the international market, you have to be careful about him."
Lu Yanhe said, "Sister, if possible, I would like to ask you to do me a favor and help me find out who he relied on in Hollywood to get this project."
"Row."
Lu Yanhe hesitated for a moment, then added: "There is one more thing, sister, I have to tell you."
"Ok?"
"Chen Pinhe and I have an irreconcilable conflict." Lu Yanhe didn't want Hua Ruzhen to be involved in the feud between him and Chen Pinhe without knowing it. "I can't tell you what the conflict is now, but I have to tell you."
Hua Ruzhen showed a bit of surprise.
"Okay, I understand." Hua Ruzhen nodded and smiled slightly, "Since you call me sister, let alone other things, I will definitely stand on your side 100% on this little matter."
"Thank you." Lu Yanhe smiled.
Hua Ruzhen: "By the way, here are a few projects that I've been looking at recently. As you know, I've started to invest in film and television on behalf of the fund behind me. It's just the beginning and many people are watching me. I can't afford to make mistakes. I would like to ask you to help me see if these projects are worth investing in and what the risks are."
Lu Yanhe nodded and took it from Hua Ruzhen.
There was one project that surprised him because he had seen it before.
"Yesterday Again" directed by Wu Zhouyou.
This movie script has been out for a long time, but it still hasn't started filming.
At that time, they wanted Huang Kairen to star in the film, so Huang Kairen consulted Lu Yanhe for his opinion. Between it and "Hit the Bullet", Huang Kairen finally chose "Hit the Bullet".
"The script of Yesterday Reappears is actually quite good. I've seen it before." Lu Yanhe said, "At that time, this script and another script were both approached to Huang Kairen to act in. Huang Kairen wanted to act in both scripts, but because they started filming at the same time, Huang Kairen finally chose The Needle and the Blood. Has Yesterday Reappeared not started filming yet?"
"Yes." Hua Ruzhen nodded. "The previous investor withdrew his investment because he couldn't find a satisfactory leading actor. So the script came to me after many twists and turns."
"Has the leading actor been decided now?" Lu Yanhe asked.
Hua Ruzhen: "They told me that this movie has chosen Li Yuefeng and Meng Li as the leading actors, both of whom are relatively popular actors in China."
"It's Li Yuefeng who's the new boss?" Lu Yanhe was a little surprised. "You should know him. He starred in "Seventeenth Floor"."
"Yeah, yes, I know." Hua Ruzhen nodded, "They estimate the box office of this movie to be 5 million."
"Ah?" Lu Yanhe was surprised. "So high?"
"Do you think this movie can't achieve that?" Hua Ruzhen asked.
"It's a bit uncertain." Lu Yanhe said bluntly, "How much investment do they hope to get?"
"Sixty million." Hua Ruzhen said, "55% of the share."
Lu Yanhe thought about it and was a little surprised: "This movie cost over 100 million to make?"
"What's wrong? Isn't it appropriate?"
"It's not inappropriate, but the concept of this movie is mainly soft science fiction, with a certain day repeated over and over again. There are no special effects scenes, and there are no scenes that are particularly expensive. How can the production cost be so high?"
Lu Yanhe was surprised.
"Even the pay for the two leading actors, Li Yuefeng and Meng Li, is not very high according to the current market situation. The total pay for the two of them is a maximum of 15 million. It is impossible to be higher."
"I asked the right person," Hua Ruzhen said, "In the cost sheet they gave me, the budget for the salaries of these two actors is 25 million."
Actors' salaries are trade secrets.
Many figures exposed by the media are false reports used to inflate their own values.
What Lu Yanhe said is the real market situation.
It is no secret that the film market is not good enough right now and actors' pay has shrunk accordingly.
Except for a few actors like Lu Yanhe who have made outstanding achievements and are still seeing their pay increase, most of the actors' pay has basically been cut in half, or even more, which is completely not on the same level as the pay for the drama.
But if it weren't for someone like Lu Yanhe who was very familiar with the industry situation, the so-called 25 million yuan in lead actor's pay would not be considered outrageously high to lay investors like Hua Ruzhen, and it would even be in line with their impression of the entertainment industry.
After all, the media environment has always been exaggerating the high pay of actors.
Lu Yanhe said: "The most important thing is that I think it is difficult for this movie to get a box office of 5 million. It is not a subject that can generate large box office revenue. Even if the word of mouth is very good, it can only make 3-5 million."
"If the box office is less than 3 million, my investment..."
"It's hard to get a big return." Lu Yanhe said bluntly, "Sister, why don't you invest in some TV series? The risk of TV series is much smaller than that of movies."
This time, all the projects that Hua Ruzhen showed Lu Yanhe were film projects.
"In Hollywood, the return rate of film projects is indeed much higher than that of TV series, but in China, except for those few that have box office revenues of over 2 billion, the profits may not be as high as those of TV series," said Lu Yanhe.
Hua Ruzhen said: "We are also watching the dramas, but it is difficult for us to get involved in large projects. Several large platforms have fixed capital partners, and our dividend priority is very low."
"Besides, we invested in several dramas before, and none of them were very good, including 'Liu Guang Yin'. Although it didn't make a loss, the profit didn't meet expectations." Hua Ruzhen said, "But in fact, 'Liu Guang Yin' is already a pretty good show."
Lu Yanhe understood. In fact, Hua Ruzhen didn't point out one thing.
The revenue from the series, based on the domestic practices, is not very transparent.
Membership income, advertising income, etc., all these data are controlled by the platform. Coupled with the ambiguity of production costs, external capital such as Hua Ruzhen can only see a confusing account.
They may not let you lose money, but they also won’t let you make too much money.
This is not like the movies.
Movie box office is real and cannot be falsified.
In the final analysis, it was because Hua Ruzhen was an outsider, she didn't understand the rules of the circle, and no one helped her to familiarize herself with these ways.
He thought for a moment and said, "I will try my best to get you some shares in some of the projects I'm working on with other platforms, and see if I can help you establish cooperation channels with them for other projects in this way. I can't really say. Although they all respect me now, when it comes to real interests, they may be willing to give me an extra 10 million or 20 million yuan in salary, but they may not necessarily be willing to give me an extra 10 million or 20 million yuan in investment shares."
"Are you reluctant? If so, forget it." Hua Ruzhen said, "The initial stage is difficult. After all, we don't know anyone. It takes time to build trust. I'm also ready. Just take it slow."
Lu Yanhe said, "I won't force you, but I can't promise you how much I can do. It's not a problem for me to give you a small share of my project, but I may not be able to say the same about other projects."
Hua Ruzhen nodded.
"It's good to be able to establish contact in this way first." Hua Ruzhen smiled, "It's a good thing I know you."
-
"Chen Pinhe actually tried to steal your role?"
Afterwards, Lu Yanhe told Chen Ziyan about the movie "Doomsday", and Chen Ziyan's first reaction was shock.
Chen Ziyan seemed surprised that Chen Pinhe would do this.
Lu Yanhe asked: "What's wrong?"
"It doesn't quite match my previous impression of him." Chen Ziyan said, "I don't know what he is like in private, but he always behaves elegantly and does not compete. He has always been very popular among the so-called upper class people in China because they think he has the temperament of an aristocratic gentleman."
Lu Yanhe curled his lips.
"I really didn't expect this." Chen Ziyan fell into deep thought, "But is this movie worth his investment?"
"Isn't it worth it to be the leading actor in a Hollywood A-grade production?"
"A-level films that don't have an investment of over 100 million are all fake A-level films," said Chen Ziyan. "I've paid attention to this movie before. Of course, I didn't know that the director of this movie had the idea of looking for you to star in it. I only know that there is an Asian male protagonist in this movie, but after I carefully thought about this movie, I felt that it was not worth acting in. First of all, its investment is not high or low, more than 60 million US dollars, which can't be called low-cost, nor can it be called a big production. Secondly, the director of this film has always been a commercial special effects filmmaker, but his past works have had tepid reputations and no personal characteristics. The box office is also acceptable, but it is not good enough to bless the actors. For well-known actors, it is just a performance experience like a job, at most it will add one more line to your resume."
Lu Yanhe suddenly realized.
"Chen Pinhe took the initiative to act in this movie. I can only think that he wants to start over. In recent years, he has been taking a break. Apart from acting, he has not appeared much. The only work that has received some attention is "White Pearl". "
"He's already in such a position now, why is he suddenly fighting for it?"
"Maybe he's threatened by you?" Chen Ziyan laughed, "After all, the only thing you lack compared to him now is a few trophies and experience."
"Oh, so I can make him feel threatened?"
"Are you underestimating yourself? How could you not make him feel threatened?" Chen Ziyan said, "Especially since you are now so popular in the entertainment industry and are no longer limited to being an actor. If I were Chen Pinhe, I would be so anxious that I can't even sleep."
"why?"
"The entertainment industry is his base camp, so why was he able to suppress you in the beginning and prevent you from making a name for yourself?" Chen Ziyan said, "Isn't it because of the connections he has accumulated in this industry and the power he holds that can firmly suppress you? Even if you work hard and write "Remember" and become a little famous for a while, the company will suppress you and not give you work, and your exposure will be gone as soon as you are exposed."
Lu Yanhe recalled what had happened before and fell silent.
"But with your current rise, will anyone still be willing to help him? For you back then, others were happy to give you face, but what about you now?" Chen Ziyan said, "In other words, if one day, you suddenly want to take action against him? How could he suppress you so easily back then? If his status is gone and people in the circle no longer buy into his account, can you also suppress him so easily?"
Lu Yanhe was enlightened.
"I think Chen Pinhe will probably have to resume work in full," Chen Ziyan said. "He was already so successful before that he didn't need to work hard on his career anymore, but now he probably can't."
Lu Yanhe: "I have never thought of dealing with him."
"you sure?"
"At least I haven't thought about dealing with him now." Lu Yanhe said, "I just hope that he and those things will be as far away from me as possible."
Otherwise, how can I take revenge on him?
"I can't expose his true face in front of everyone. I killed one thousand enemies but lost eight hundred of my own. From now on, in front of me and behind my back, I don't know how many people will look at me with tinted glasses. When others see me, their first reaction is not anything else but Chen Pinhe's illegitimate son."
Lu Yanhe's face turned pale and he felt suffocated when he thought of this scene.
Chen Ziyan: "It would be best if this matter could be kept secret forever."
She added: "But even if someone finds out one day, it doesn't matter. You have done nothing wrong. You have worked hard to make your life good enough. Others can say whatever they want. No one can bend your spine. Don't belittle yourself."
"Sister Zi Yan, I know, but there is no way. Can the son of a murderer say that he has severed ties with his parents and no longer be affected by the name of a murderer? The word illegitimate child is the greatest helplessness. He was brought into this world without consent from the beginning. He knew nothing, but the moment he was born, he was treated differently by this world. I have always known that people can never get rid of the influence of blood ties."
Chen Ziyan gently patted Lu Yanhe's face.
"Nothing is forever, nothing is impossible." Chen Ziyan looked at Lu Yanhe firmly, "All your efforts, struggles, and all that you have accumulated through hard work are for you to fight against the secular world and prejudice. Even if you can't change the world, you won't admit defeat. Even if you say the most pessimistic words to me in the most pessimistic attitude, I know that you won't compromise."
Lu Yanhe was stunned.
Chen Ziyan said: "Do you know why I unwaveringly choose you, support you, believe in you, and stand with you?
Lu Yanhe looked at Chen Ziyan blankly.
Chen Ziyan smiled, her smile was a little bleak, but also open-minded.
"Because I am the same as you." (End of this chapter)
