China Entertainment's Standout

Chapter 693: The King of Dramas of the Year, Brilliant God

The heated discussions online did not affect the operation of the crew.

After the launch conference, the crew officially started filming in Qingdao.

The modern scenes will be filmed first, and Zhou Ye will join the crew in a while. Her costume scenes are concentrated in December.

Powder room.

Zhou Yutang put on makeup while reading the script.

The makeup for modern dramas is relatively simple, but for costume dramas, it sometimes takes two or three hours in advance.

In less than half an hour, Zhou Yutang had finished putting on her makeup and went over to glance at Zhang Ruolan.

She was mumbling something to herself, nervously reciting her lines. When she saw Zhou Yutang, she stood up from her seat.

"Mr. Zhou."

"Don't be nervous."

Zhou Yutang found a random chair and sat down next to Zhang Ruolan: "Let's go rehearse our lines."

The character setting of the heroine Ji Eun-tak is a 19-year-old senior high school student.

Zhang Ruolan is twenty years old this year. Now that she is wearing her school uniform, she looks fresh and beautiful.

Even Governor Zhou, who was used to seeing beautiful women, was dazzled.

have to say.

Teacher Yu has a good vision and he can develop into a producer in the future.

When dealing with newcomers, you must not ask too much of them. The best way is to give them some encouragement first to build their confidence, then slowly guide them and enhance their tacit understanding.

I feel that her serious attitude is a bit like that of a student towards a teacher.

"The lines are fine."

Zhou Yutang was a little amused: "Let's talk about the script. What do you think of this story?"

“I am very touched.”

Zhang Ruolan straightened her back unconsciously, and after a little thought, she said:

"It felt like fate. I was destined to be the bride of a god. I met a god who was lost in the human world, and then I slowly fell in love with him."

Zhou Yutang talked to her about the entire script to help her understand the role.

The story is set in the fictional dynasty Dafeng.

The hero, Kim Shin, is an invincible general.

Because of his great achievements, the emperor of Dafeng became suspicious of him, and some villains made slanderous remarks: "Everyone knows about General Jin Xin, not just Your Majesty."

As a result, the Emperor of Dafeng suddenly became murderous.

When Jin Xin defeated the foreign enemies and returned to the court in triumph, he threatened the lives of all his relatives.

When the birds are all gone, the bows are put away; when the rabbits are dead, the dogs are cooked; the imperial family is the most ruthless.

Jin Xin was a martial arts master and could have fought his way out of the battlefield, but for the sake of his family and subordinates, he was willing to die.

Rather than dying at the hands of a scumbag, it is better to be buried at the hands of one's own generals.

Even Emperor Daebong's most beloved concubine, Jin Shan, was not spared.

——Because Kim Sun is Kim Shin’s sister.

As her name suggests, she is a gentle and kind girl.

Perhaps this is the most tragic event in the world, and even God would be saddened by it.

The sun and the moon both set, heaven and earth wept together, and snow fell in July.

Or perhaps it was because General Jin had brought such great benefits to the people that the people were touched and prayed for him.

Or maybe the sword that killed him was an ancient divine weapon with extraordinary magical powers.

In short, Kim Shin died with endless resentment and pain, but survived in another way.

——He was cursed with eternal life, becoming a god banished to the human world, a ghost beyond purgatory.

Looking at the changes in the world, only the destined bride of the gods can pull out the sword from his chest and bring him true freedom.

The original story is touching enough, with a sense of fate and poetic mood.

That's why it was able to hit the heart of the female intellectual Yu Feihong.

This made her look at Zhou Yutang with new eyes, and she couldn't forget it for many years.

It was precisely because of this script that the foundation for the subsequent betrayal of the teacher and ancestors was laid...

But for Zhou Yutang now, his original thoughts were actually a bit naive.

If he were to write this story again, it would be about General Kim Shin making preparations in advance, secretly deploying his confidants and intimidating the imperial guards.

When something happened, he would immediately clear out the emperor's entourage and lead his troops into the palace.
Stepping on the golden throne and sitting on the dragon throne, isn’t that a joy?

"OK! The scene has been cleared, all departments are in place, let's start the test shoot!"

Soon, everything was ready, and executive director Guo Hu, holding a loudspeaker in his hand, announced the official start of today's shooting.

This time the crew is still divided into two groups, A and B. Director Lin Yufen is in charge of Group A, and Guo Hu is the executive director.

Yu Feihong is responsible for the filming work of Group B.

The cast members used are all the elite Jiangdong team from "My Love from the Star", and the professionalism of the crew is beyond doubt.

The entire crew operates around Zhou Yutang, and considering his tight schedule, his role has the highest priority.

The other reason is to take care of the newcomer Zhang Ruolan.

This drama has a total of thirty episodes, and according to the production schedule, it is expected to be completed within one and a half months.

On the first day of filming, the scenes arranged were relatively simple, so everything went relatively smoothly.

After finishing work, Zhou Yutang returned to the hotel arranged by the crew.

At present, Liu Yifei has gone to Shenzhen with Wu Yuze's drama troupe, and Liu Shishi is also busy with the announcement of a brand event.

Just after sending the message and returning to the hotel, Jiang Xueruo called: "Mr. Zhou, the contract has been signed."

"If there's no problem, just spread the news. You can arrange the publicity."

Zhou Yutang spoke slowly, and glanced at the meeting minutes of the film viewing meeting that Ni Ni had compiled.

This film viewing conflicted with the start of filming, so he simply left Ni Ni in Beijing to help and let Li Shuang host the film viewing.

Anyway, there are not many companies that have the ability to take on such a big contract, including Mango TV, Shanghai Magic City, Su Province and a few others.

We had contacted each other privately long before the film screening.

Although the bidding process was fierce, there were no unexpected events.

With 688 million per episode and a total of fifty episodes, the first broadcast rights of "Joy of Life 3" were sold for a full 3.44 million.

This price has already broken the sales record for a single episode premiered in China.

The online copyright is not too expensive, only 550 million yuan per episode, and the total price for 40 episodes is only 2.2 million yuan.

This time, Bilibili is still the exclusive channel, and Tencent is also the distributor.

Jiang Xueruo is capable, and putting her in this position can be said to be like a fish in water.

Zhou Yutang didn't need to say much, she could implement many things on her own.

I was just about to read the script when I suddenly received a call from Da Mimi.

Ever since Mihang Company successfully raised funds, Yang Mi has been promoted to capital and has paid close attention to the operation of this kind of project.

It can even be said that he cares more about it than Zhou Yutang.

After hearing Zhou Yutang calmly quote the price, Da Mimi on the other end of the phone opened her lips slightly and her eyes suddenly widened.

"Hey, Sister Mi, your signal is bad?"

After a long silence, Zhou Yutang was about to hang up the phone.

"Don't hang up."

Da Mimi came back to her senses. She didn't know the exact cost, but she still couldn't help but admire:

"The production cost is 200 million at most, so the profit should be at least 300 million, right?"

Naturally, she felt indescribable envy in her heart.

If MiXing could operate a project of this level, it would really take off on the spot.

It is possible that the 300 million yuan in financing can be converted into US dollars.

But it’s just a thought.

In this circle, only a god like Zhou Yutang can create such a miracle.

It was precisely the feeling of standing at the top and making her look up that made Yang Mi even more obsessed and attached, and willing to be his lover.

"It's just a small profit."

Zhou Yutang said modestly.

Of course, the revenue from the annual drama king cannot be just this much.

This includes the traffic bonus for the video platform and the subsequent long-tail effect, both of which are considerable hidden income.

After chatting about the first round of "Joy of Life 3" for a while, Zhou Yutang showed some concern for the fish in the pond: "Sister Mi, I heard you are still in the crew?"

"Why, do you want to come visit the set?"

"I just joined the team, so don't be too tired. Take a break when you need to. There is no end to making money."

"You've made all the money."

"..."

After listening to Da Mimi talk about the itinerary, Zhou Yutang couldn't help but stand in awe.

In the second half of the year, Yang Mi has two more dramas and a movie expected to be released, which is really unique.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yutang saw the message from Tian Ming, which was about variety shows.

"No wonder Mango TV didn't follow through this time."

Insider information: the higher-ups are discussing new regulations that will ban all child stars under the age of 10 from endorsing advertisements or performing in variety shows.

This knife cut into Mango TV's aorta.

Mango TV's money-making drama "Where Are We Going, Dad?" may have to stop for a while.

I guess the station is busy trying to find ways to use their connections and has no time to care about him.

"Shocking news! The final season of Joy of Life breaks the sales record of Chinese TV series, and the TV series is broadcast in Shanghai and Jiangsu Province!"

"The new drama of the Grand Commander has sold at a sky-high price, and it deserves the title of the best drama of the year!"

"Log in to Bilibili and Tencent Video to pre-order the final season of Joy of Life!"

"I will take stock of all the masters in Joy of Life for you!"

"Joy of Life 3" is a super popular IP for men and has always attracted much attention. It is no secret in the industry that Jiangdong Entertainment holds a film screening.

Because in addition to inviting several top TV stations, satellite TV stations with slightly weaker strength also participated.

The big brothers eat the meat, and the younger brothers should also feel involved.

Compete for 3 rounds of follow-up broadcasts of "Joy of Life 1.5", and book the second and third rounds in advance.

For the TV station, with the phenomenal ratings of the first two series as a foundation, plus the guarantee of Governor Zhou's title as the ratings king, there is no need to wait and see, just go for it.

By the time the contract was signed, the news had spread throughout the film and television industry, causing an uproar.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, I thought the second part's 580 million was already unbeatable, how could it be higher?"

"Zhou Yutang's appeal is too terrifying. Does anyone know how many were sold?"

"My friend at Shanghai TV said there is a confidentiality clause."

"It will break the total sales record. It will start at at least 6 million. Zhou Yutang is going to make a fortune."

"."

"Joy of Life 3" did not disclose the specific sales price to the public.

The Internet is full of various true or false statements from so-called industry insiders.

However, insiders from various TV stations collectively confirmed that breaking the sales record for a single episode and total price of Chinese TV dramas is a recognized fact.

As soon as the news came out, it quickly occupied the pages of major media and caused heated discussions among netizens.

"The trilogy has finally landed smoothly!"

“Is there any hope that it will be broadcast in the new year?”

"That shouldn't be possible. The Legend of Miyue on Shanghai TV is about to air, so it will definitely have to give way."

"I am really crying. The boss is so rich and hardworking, and he is filming again."

“It’s really a blessing to be a fan of Jiangdong dramas. This year’s “Wu Xin: The Monster Killer” and “Nirvana in Fire” are both very good, and there are three more big dramas to be released at the end of the year!”

"The above person, you missed "Go Princess Go". This web drama will be broadcast on Bilibili next month."

This year's TV drama market is truly a battle of the gods.

Nirvana in Fire just became a hit, and then there was Disguiser, followed by Go Princess Go and The Journey of Flower, which were scheduled for December and are still being promoted. However, Legend of Miyue, which was broadcasted by Beijing Satellite TV and Shanghai Fantasy TV, wanted to seize the first move in the Lunar New Year and started a battle with the popular Disguiser.

The drama circle at the end of the year was quite lively. Zhou Yutang was filming on the crew. The crew members were all following these two dramas, and he also ate a lot of melons.

Mr. Jing and Mr. Hu joined forces to fight against Mango TV, attracting everyone's attention.

The density of advertising bombardment for the drama "The Legend of Miyue" is quite astonishing.

During the break in filming, Zhou Yutang glanced at the ratings and reputation of the two TV series compiled by Ni Ni.

The ratings of these two dramas both exceeded 2, and it was hard to tell which one was better. However, in terms of word of mouth, "The Pretender" undoubtedly had the upper hand.

"The Disguiser" currently has a Douban score of 9.1. "The Legend of Miyue", which was expected to be a rival to "The Legend of Zhen Huan", only scored 7.2 points at the beginning.

From the perspective of word of mouth, it seems that the winner has been decided.

As both are directed by Zheng Xiaolong, the heroine Sun Li in "The Legend of Miyue" is inevitably compared with Zeng Li, the Empress Qing in "The Legend of Zhen Huan".

It is normal to pull others down in the entertainment industry.

As the leading actress of "Legend of Miyue", Sun Li has been questioned a lot because of the high ratings and low reputation. She said frankly:

“Zeng Li and I are friends, and we are happy to accept all kinds of opinions from everyone.

But I prefer to read comprehensive reviews, and wait until the show is finished, then the reviews will be the most accurate. Now they are more or less one-sided. I can't say this show is better or worse than "The Legend of Zhen Huan". It is an independent work. If you say it is a bad show, I will definitely not admit it and will definitely refute it."

In fact, the ratings of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" did not reach the top all at once.

As the plot slowly unfolds, the ratings steadily increase, word of mouth takes off, and finally it becomes a phenomenal hit.

The current "Legend of Miyue" may not be as good as "Legend of Zhen Huan", and the main reason is that the audience's expectation threshold is different.

When "The Legend of Zhen Huan" was first released, it was so stunning that it immediately became the pinnacle of palace fighting dramas, and it led to subsequent hit palace fighting dramas such as "Palace" and "Startling by Each Step".

The audience's expectation threshold for "The Legend of Miyue", which is said to be a rival to "The Legend of Zhen Huan", is at least 80 points.

The quality of "The Legend of Miyue" is only 60 or 70 points at most.

This creates a certain psychological gap among the audience, which is why there are so many negative reviews.

Regardless of the reputation, with such ratings, it can be foreseen that several producers have actually made money.

LeTV's boss Jia held a high-profile press conference, calling on shareholders to burn for their dreams together.

It also includes another producer, Ruyi Pictures.

"This guy really made it work."

Zhou Yutang saw a piece of news about the film and television industry and sent a congratulatory message to Ke Liming.

"The Cultural and Creative Fund, which Tianshen Entertainment has participated in establishing, plans to invest RMB 15.23 billion in Ruyi Pictures in cash. After the investment is completed, the Cultural and Creative Fund will hold a 49% stake in Ruyi Pictures!"

As soon as the news came out, it caused a small shock in the industry.

TianShen Entertainment, which went public through a backdoor listing last year, was originally a gaming company that focused on both web games and mobile games, making a lot of money and achieving remarkable results.

He has produced "Ao Jian", which had a monthly total revenue of over 8000 million yuan, and "Cang Qiong Bian", which was launched in July this year, and has maintained a stable performance around the tenth place on the IOS best-selling list.

Funds from the gaming industry are pouring into the entertainment industry with the goal of creating a dual-line industrial chain of pan-entertainment and Internet+.

Therefore, Confucian culture was chosen.

"Boss, it seems that Guangguang is still a shareholder of Tianshen Entertainment."

Ni Ni, who had just rushed to the crew from Beijing, did some homework privately.

“Guangzhou has a stake, but not much.”

Zhou Yutang replied to Ke Liming's message, "With this effort, Ruyi Pictures is now valued at over 30 billion."

With a high academic background and professional experience in overseas financial investment, Ke Liming has indeed performed very well in capital operations.

The reason for cooperating with him is that Colin is an extremely smart person.

Zhou Yutang likes to deal with smart people.

Everyone should contribute their chips, trade fairly, don't treat the other party as a fool, and both sides can achieve a win-win situation.

The scale of Ruyi culture is naturally inferior to that of Jiangdong Entertainment.

But Zhou Yutang is not the only visionary person in the world.

When Colin Ming turned to the film and television industry, he started to plan book publishing and hoard IP very early.

He started the film and television copyright agency project, and now he has accumulated considerable excellent works and writer resources.

Nowadays, high-quality IP has become a scarce resource in the film and television market, copyright fees have skyrocketed frequently, and the competition is quite fierce.

Give it to peach and give it to Li.

Zhou Yutang helped him raise the valuation of Ruyi. In addition to paying a large sum of cash, Ke Liming also unilaterally opened the Ruyi Culture Film and Television Copyright Center.

In short.

He might be making a lot of money.

But Zhou Yutang definitely did not lose out either.

Jiangdong Entertainment has developed to the point where Zhou Yutang no longer needs to be involved in every detail of its management.

Most of his energy is still devoted to the filming of the crew.

Compared to the relatively easy filming in the past few days, the difficulty of today's performance gradually increased.

The number of retakes was also quite frequent.

Yu Feihong led another group to focus on filming the scenes with Brother Long and Gao Ye.

According to the producer, the progress there is the same.

but.

Whether it is Brother Long or Gao Ye.

In terms of acting skills, she is much better than Zhang Ruolan.

Zhang Ruolan imagined a beautiful scene after the filming of the TV series started: conquering the entire crew with her strength, and everyone cheering for the new Pisces Girl.

The actual situation after filming started: After the simple scenes in the early stage, one scene had to be NGed many times in a row.

One time he forgot his lines, another time he even walked out of the camera.
I don’t know what happened, but she seemed to have forgotten all the acting skills that Liu Tianchi taught her. Zhang Ruolan was at a loss as she couldn’t keep up with the rhythm.

It's already dark, but the crew hasn't finished work yet, as tonight is a night scene.

And it’s a very important play.

The kissing scene between the bride of the god and the god at the night snack stall.

The stagehands were setting up the scene while director Lin Yufen was personally explaining the play to Zhang Ruolan.

When a director explains a play, he is mainly conveying his intentions for filming so that the actors can understand and implement them.

Lin Yufen, who has worked with Zhou Yutang several times, completely trusts a monster like him.

There is no need to say more. Just let him play freely and the best results can be achieved. In some places, we even have to follow his ideas.

More energy was put into training Zhang Ruolan.

But as a director, Lin Yufen has to coordinate the overall situation and has a lot of things to do. After a brief talk, she discussed the next shoot with Zhou Yutang, the director of photography and the head of the lighting team.

Executive director Guo Hu continued to follow up and explain the play to Zhang Ruolan.

"Xiao Zhang, don't feel too burdened or nervous. Kissing scenes are normal."

"Uh-huh."

Zhang Ruolan nodded in response, but her heart was actually tense.

After the previous few days of filming, she had a sufficient understanding of herself.

He is not the kind of talented player that Teacher Liu Tianchi said.

For example, if there are no accidents, most of Zhou Yutang's scenes can be done in one take, easily and freely.

Although she tried her best to express herself, there were always various shortcomings and it was common for her to reshoot several times.

Zhang Ruolan has a humble mentality, but it’s not that she is afraid of hardship.

He had only heard about Zhou Yutang's way of doing things and was afraid that his performance would drag down the overall progress of the crew, thus causing dissatisfaction from Governor Zhou.

Qingdao in late November.

The temperature has started to drop, especially the cool breeze in the evening.

Zhang Ruolan felt colder than the night wind, as if she had fallen into an icy cave.

Tonight's shooting was not smooth. After three takes at the beginning, she was unable to get into the state and had to temporarily stop shooting.

Although Zhou Yutang and the director team did not criticize her too harshly, she still felt lost and sad.

She put 100% effort into her first play, a drive she had never experienced even when she was in school.

But the facts prove it.

When it comes to acting, hard work alone is not enough.

If hard work alone is useful, then this circle would be full of actors with top acting skills.

Zhang Ruolan understood this truth, but she couldn't help feeling depressed.

She really wanted to talk to Zhou Yutang, but Governor Zhou, who had been so gentle the past two days, seemed to be very busy these days. He was answering phone calls during his breaks and discussing filming matters with Lin Yufen.

That sense of distance caused Zhang Ruolan, who was smiling strongly on the surface, to slowly collapse her psychological defenses.
The official announcement was made at a press conference a few days ago. He had just reached the peak of his life, but now he has fallen to the bottom again.

Life's joys and sorrows come so suddenly.

She sat in a corner and began to doubt herself.

She even had wild thoughts, worrying that Zhou Yutang might get impatient and replace her directly.

After all, my good friend Zhang Yuxi said that this kind of thing does happen.

The agent, named Sister Hong, realized that Zhang Ruolan was in a bad mood and immediately reported the situation to Zhou Yutang.

"Xiao Zhang, are you a little nervous?"

Zhou Yutang moved a blue plastic stool and sat next to her.

"Well, a little bit."

Zhang Ruolan looked at Zhou Yutang with some restraint and apologized sincerely: "I'm sorry, I've dragged down the crew."

“That’s how we all got here.”

Zhou Yutang smiled gently: "If you really can't accept it, you can use dislocation or a substitute. There is always a way."

The crew assigned him three stand-ins, including one for Zhang Ruolan.

There was a stand-in with a body shape similar to Zhou Yutang, who stayed in Yu Feihong's group and was responsible for some minor shots where the face was not shown.

"No, no, I'm fine."

Zhang Ruolan stood up from her seat anxiously and waved her hands repeatedly.

"Then please give me more advice later."

Zhou Yutang raised an eyebrow: "This is my first kiss."

"."

Zhang Ruolan's lips curled up slightly.

He wanted to laugh but didn't dare to. He glanced at Zhou Yutang secretly, then quickly lowered his head.

Everyone on earth knows that Governor Zhou has a reputation for being a playboy, but he actually said it was his first kiss. It's funny no matter how you hear it.

"What are you laughing at?"

Zhou Yutang glanced at her nonchalantly and moved closer: "Let me tell you a joke. There was a certain actress in the industry who was quite famous."

"She had to film a kissing scene with her co-star in a play, and to prevent any physiological reactions, she deliberately ate a lot of leeks and garlic before filming the kissing scene."

"what?"

Xiao Zhang was confused: "What happened next?"

"Then, the other actor was badly hurt. He didn't know about it and finished the scene very professionally. He vomited for three consecutive days and didn't even eat or drink water during this period. From then on, he had a psychological trauma about kissing scenes. By the way, you didn't eat garlic at night, did you?"

"How is that possible? I didn't eat!"

Zhang Ruolan finally couldn't hold back her laughter and reached out to gently hit Zhou Yutang's arm.

That smile was like the warm sunshine that melted the ice, or like a kitten's paw, gently scratching Zhou Yutang's heart...

Feeling Zhou Yutang's eyes as deep as the ocean emitting a blazing light, Zhang Ruolan's heart beat uncontrollably a few times.

A blush rose from her fair cheeks and spread to her crystal clear ears.

"It's about to start. Are you ready?"

Zhou Yutang stood up.

Zhang Ruolan looked at Zhou Yutang in the moonlight.

He seemed to be the lost god exiled in the human world.

Loneliness is deep, yet brilliant and dazzling.

(End of this chapter)