Become famous another day.

The more meetings he held, the more Lu Yanhe realized that he knew nothing about company management.

I didn’t understand many of the operating principles, and I also realized how difficult it was to coordinate this.

A sum of money is invested in a place. When is it expected to come out? How much can be withdrawn? What places are waiting for the money by then? In case the money waiting in the early stage suffers losses or cannot be withdrawn that much, is there any backup plan?
Lu Yanhe had often heard the term "broken capital chain" before, but he didn't understand what it meant. But now, after listening to them talk about it, he slowly began to understand a little.

It's not that we really have no money, but we are stuck in a certain project and cannot get out. Other places are waiting for money, and if we have no money, we can't wait indefinitely. As a result, many things have been delayed.

Linghe has had good profits in recent years.

However, the initial accumulation is far from enough for the scale and goals that we want to achieve next.

Unless Lu Yanhe took out his own money to make up for it - Chen Ziyan reminded him from the beginning not to do this.

This is not entrepreneurship. Once you need to use your own money to run a company, it means that the company is not in a healthy operating state.

Also, eat as much as your stomach can hold.

After patching one end, if there is a problem with the other end, should we patch it? How much should we patch?

Inevitably, the topic of financing comes up.

After all, this is the fastest way to make money.

However, the reason why Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan have not chosen to raise funds is, firstly, they want to keep a firm grip on the company, and secondly, because if they were to sell some shares now to repay the money, the value would be too low, which would be far from the future value of the company.

I would rather the company develop at a slower pace and make initial accumulation on my own.

After all, this is not an industry that is about speed or who is one step faster.

As long as the content projects they create are good, the company will not be eliminated.

In the end, Linghe was sure of one thing.

First, reduce the investment in Raise the Red Lantern. The producer of Raise the Red Lantern is the company of Director Wang Zhong, and the film is not short of investment. It is just because of Lu Yanhe that the investment share of the film is given priority to Lu Yanhe. However, the film is not a box office hit. After its release, it will not be able to achieve a big profit in a short time just by relying on the box office.

In this way, part of the funds can be used to increase investment in "Chinese Paladin". Linghe is the copyright holder of this drama and one of the producers. The drama was filmed this year and will take about a year to post-produce. It may not be broadcast until the second half of next year. But before that, Northern Lights' investment will come in, and with various incomes such as advertising sponsorship, it will also get the first round of repayments.

But this puts forward relatively high requirements for "Housemates". If "Housemates" cannot be broadcast in the second half of the year, "Housemates" will not be able to return, and "Legend of Sword and Fairy" will have to absorb external investment again.

Then Linghe will earn less. At this stage, if Lu Yanhe wants to shoot "Chinese Paladin", it will be a 100% profitable and popular project - no matter how popular a movie is in the early stage, it still needs to collect box office money, but a TV series does not need to, and Northern Lights will pay for it. Even if the show really fails in the end, Linghe has already received the money, and it is only Northern Lights that loses - Northern Lights may not even lose money, after all, the early advertising business income may have already earned back the early investment.
-
After hearing this, Lu Yanhe said to Chen Ziyan, "No, Sister Ziyan, this is too complicated for me. I won't participate in the discussion anymore. It's very draining on me. I have to rehearse and shoot with everyone during the day, and I have to find time to cooperate with the promotional activities of the two crews. It's too tiring. I'll know what the company is going to do after you come up with a conclusion."

Chen Ziyan also felt that Lu Yanhe had been under too much stress recently.

She said: "During the filming of Friends, you should not participate in the discussion. When you finish filming this drama, which will be almost finished, you still have to join in. You have to understand these things, what direction the company should go and how to arrange it. You can say less, but you have to listen more. Putting aside other things, your future acting and playing roles in the workplace are all life experiences for you. You don't have to always look at the world from the perspective of an actor. Linghe Company is another perspective for you to understand the world."

Chen Ziyan's words always hit Lu Yanhe's spot at the most critical point.

Lu Yanhe's current work and life are indeed going too smoothly. He hardly encounters any difficulties, nor does he encounter situations like this that give him a headache.

If he continues to be complacent like this, his only role in life will be that of an artist.

Lu Yanhe nodded, accepted Chen Ziyan's opinion, and said okay.
-
One week after "The Mist" was released in North America, the North American box office exceeded 60 million.

D19 arranged for several main actors to appear on popular programs of several American TV stations to promote "The Mist".

They actually wanted to call Lu Yanhe back to cooperate with the publicity, but this time Lu Yanhe had no choice but to refuse.

His filming of "Friends" is still in full swing, and rehearsals for the Spring Festival Gala have also begun. How can he find the time to go to the United States to promote "The Mist"?

He was only paid such a small amount of salary, and now that the box office results are so good, there is no talk of giving him a bonus - in Chen Ziyan's words, there is no sincerity in asking him to continue to cooperate with the promotion, and there is no mention of remuneration at all, as if it is an actor's voluntary work.

Although the box office of "The Mist" was good and it was also of great benefit to Lu Yanhe, this was not a reason for D19 to use Lu Yanhe's labor force for free.

As a result, the next weekend, "The Mist" still earned more than 1.3 million US dollars at the box office, and the film officially exceeded million US dollars. Combined with overseas box office revenue, the global total box office of "The Mist" reached million US dollars.

D19 sent a celebratory message:

At this rate, it is a foregone conclusion that The Mist will gross over 100 million in North America.

With the cinema box office performance being so good, the prices of other copyrights have also risen accordingly.

"The Mist" is on the verge of becoming one of Hollywood's highest return-on-investment films this year.

At this time, many viewers and fans of "The Mist" suddenly gathered on Twitter and appealed to D19 company, hoping to shoot a sequel to "The Mist". They wanted to see the return of the Asian ghost played by Lu Yanhe.

In Europe and the United States, such petitions often appear - hoping that a certain drama can continue to have a sequel, or liking a certain character very much and hoping that a spin-off film can be developed for this character. This is not uncommon.

In the United States, developing sequels is a very normal thing, whether it is a movie or a TV series. It is rare for a box office hit not to develop a sequel.

It can be said that the "sequel industry" in the United States is also very mature and complete.

In fact, the box office of "The Mist" is so good that D19 will definitely develop a sequel for the movie. However, D19 has some thoughts on whether to let Lu Yanhe return.

Given Lu Yanhe's performance and popularity in this film, plus the media's praise for him, his salary for the sequel will definitely not be low. D19 has not yet started negotiations with Lu Yanhe for the sequel, and has not yet decided what kind of salary to give him.

Lu Yanhe is really popular in the United States now.

Among the actors in "The Mist", the attention received by the other actors combined is not as high as Lu Yanhe.

One important reason why D19 is unwilling to pay Lu Yanhe a high salary is that they believe that Lu Yanhe can become the biggest beneficiary of "The Mist" because their early publicity strategy has provided Lu Yanhe with a lot of topics.

Now, Lu Yanhe has become famous in the United States with "The Mist", and it is also due to their credit and contribution.

However, they could just say this to themselves. If they really used this to pressure Lu Yanhe to pay him back, not only would Lu Yanhe definitely disagree, but if it got out, it would even become a laughing stock in the industry.

Of course, there is another important reason why D19 has not yet started negotiations with Lu Yanhe. They had previously sent Lu Yanhe another script, which was also a horror thriller, but Lu Yanhe declined it.

In that script, Lu Yanhe was even the main character, and his perspective ran through the entire story. However, Lu Yanhe's agent said that Lu Yanhe had just starred in a horror film, and wanted to act in other types of films next.

This is no longer possible.

Would Lu Yanhe be willing to return to the sequel to "The Mist"?
Without showing a little sincerity, what are the possibilities for Lu Yanhe to return?

This is a problem they need to face.

After being in contact with Lu Yanhe for such a long time, if they did not know enough about Lu Yanhe at the beginning, or their understanding was still at the stage of arrogantly believing that Asian actors were flocking to Hollywood invitations, they no longer think so now.

Lu Yanhe's popularity and topicality are not limited to Asia.

For Hollywood stars, Lu Yanhe's fame and influence in Europe and Asia are beyond the reach of many of them.

Just look at the overseas box office of the movie "The Mist" and you will know -

According to the current overseas media reviews and social media popularity of "The Mist", it is an indisputable fact that most media, film critics and those who comment on the film on the Internet are focusing on Lu Yanhe.

According to data from box office research agencies, especially in Asia, about 30% of the audience went to the cinema to watch this movie just for Lu Yanhe.
-
this day.

After Lu Yanhe, Li Zhibai and Yan Liang finished a rehearsal for the Spring Festival Gala, they went to the stage to watch the replay of their performance.

The director team was very satisfied with this new song that the three of them collaborated on.

Youthful and energetic, which suits their age, is also what the audience expects most from this trio.

This song itself is very mainstream, and "Let the whole world speak Chinese" is a very popular cultural trend in the past two years. They incorporated rap into this song and added traditional Chinese elements such as tongue twisters, making it both mainstream and refreshing, making it sound good.

Coupled with Lu Yanhe's recent popularity around the world, this performance by him, Li Zhibai and Yan Liang was a perfect performance on stage.

The director team was very polite to all three of them.

On the contrary, some photographers, lighting team and other technical department personnel did not treat them very well.

Lu Yanhe was a little surprised, but later he found out that because Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang were too busy recently, they did not participate in several rehearsals. According to the rehearsal standards of the Spring Festival Gala, this actually affected their work. For an event of this scale, any small problem could have a huge negative impact on one's career. A performance stage is not only about the performing artists, but also about the many staff members behind the show.

Here, no matter how big a celebrity you are, you are just a label on the stage, a tool to complete a job. Nothing can better describe their work attitude than "not seeking merit but seeking no mistakes". As long as you can complete the job smoothly and without problems, it is already a great achievement.

Of course, there is another very important reason.

Those who can participate in the Spring Festival Gala program team basically have a background, and it is normal for them to ignore big-name stars like you - you are a star, and I am no worse than you.

After the rehearsal, Lu Yanhe went to eat with Li Zhibai and Yan Liang.

"I saw some media saying that D19 is planning to make a sequel to "The Mist". Is that true?" Li Zhibai asked.

"Is it true?"

"Huh? Don't you know they're going to make a sequel?" Li Zhibai asked.

Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "They have probably communicated this intention to me, but we haven't had a formal discussion, nor have they formally invited me to return for the sequel."

Li Zhibai: "Fuck, they're not going to change the role, are they?"

"Generally not." Yan Liang was still calmer and more rational than Li Zhibai. From a common sense perspective, a sequel would not be operated in this way. The reason a sequel is a sequel is to replicate the success of the first one, or even to go a step further. How could they give up the box office selling point of the first one?

Lu Yanhe said: "Sister Zi Yan guessed that D19 has not yet decided what contract terms to give me."

Li Zhibai: "So are you going to act?"

"It depends on what direction they plan to develop the sequel in. If there is a good idea and a good story, it would be good to play in the sequel." Lu Yanhe said, "At least there is a character that is well-known in Europe and the United States."

Films like "Late Spring" and "Road to Glory" won awards at international film festivals, but most people have never seen them.

Lu Yanhe's commercial purpose in starring in "The Mist" is to increase his own popularity and expand his influence in Europe and the United States.

He has never shied away from this.

“Actually, probably because The Mist did well at the box office, a foreign horror film also approached me.” Yan Liang suddenly said.

Li Zhibai said with a sigh, "Is he from Hollywood too?"

"No, it was a script given to us by a British film company." Yan Liang said, "But after reading the script, I found it to be a very ordinary horror story, not much different from the ones we have seen."

"So you're not going to answer it?"

"Zhou Ping'an wants me to take it." Yan Liang said, looking at Lu Yanhe, and also spoke frankly, "Zhou Ping'an thinks that Yanhe is very popular in Hollywood, and there will definitely be a lot of scripts looking for him. He can't handle so many by himself. I can take advantage of Yanhe. So, the same horror movie, the same Asian actor, let Europe and the United States know that there is a Chinese actor like me who is about your age, and many opportunities will come to me."

Lu Yanhe rolled his eyes and said, "Zhou Ping'an is a pervert. You don't need to rub shoulders with me. Friends and The Gold Rush have already attracted the attention of many European and American film and television companies."

Yan Liang: "But I think what he said makes sense, so I'm thinking about it."

Li Zhibai asked: "Are you the protagonist in that horror movie that asked you to be the protagonist?"

"Yes." Yan Liang smiled, "However, my character is a mysterious ghost hunter from the East, not a ghost."

“It sounds very exciting.”

"It's actually a police and gangster movie with a bit of horror and thriller. You can think of it as the police catching criminals." Yan Liang said, "It feels like this script is completely in the format of a police and gangster movie."

"Hahaha." Li Zhibai laughed.

Lu Yanhe: "What about the director? If the director is good, even if the story is old wine in a new bottle, it can still be filmed well."

"Don't mention it. Even the director's previous works were mediocre." Yan Liang said, "If they were any better, I wouldn't be so hesitant. I'm not the kind of actor who only takes on a good script. I'm not at that level yet. Besides, this movie probably won't be released in theaters, but directly on streaming media."

"what?"

"That being said, it hasn't been decided yet." Yan Liang said, "This is another reason why I hesitate, because for a streaming movie, you may work hard for two or three months to shoot, but it will be gone in less than a week. I haven't seen any movie on streaming that has caused a lot of discussion, and the influence is also average."

Lu Yanhe: "This is indeed the case."

Li Zhibai: "If you refuse to answer, will Zhou Pingan force you to answer?"

"Probably not now." Yan Liang said frankly, "My hesitation is not because he insists on me taking the call, but because I'm afraid of missing an opportunity."

"The roles you take on now are mainly TV series. However, given the current entertainment industry ecosystem, if you want to go further, you either have to make a bigger hit TV series or join the film industry," said Li Zhibai. "Movie actors are more senior than TV series actors - although we don't think so, this is how the industry believes."

Yan Liang: "Yes."

He sighed softly.

Lu Yanhe said, "It's okay. I think since you are hesitating, it means that this project still impresses you. I think you can give it a try. Failure won't affect you at all. When I took on The Mist, I was actually nervous. After all, horror movies are said to be low-level, crude, and simple. But later I thought, the worst that can happen is that the box office performance is not good. I can afford to fail. You are the same. You have the two series of The Gold Rush and Friends in your hands. You don't have to worry about failure in the next few years."

Li Zhibai also nodded.

"Zhou Ping'an has a good eye for choosing roles for people, except for his bad character. If he says this role is worth filming, then there must be something worth filming."

Yan Liang glanced at Li Zhi.

"Are you telling me what I said to you before?"

Li Zhibai: "You said it yourself, learn from others' strengths to make up for your own weaknesses. Since Zhou Ping'an is so good at choosing scripts, you can trust his judgment."

Lu Yanhe shook his head in disbelief and sighed, "I never thought that one day I would hear Li Zhibai say such words."

Yan Liang also said: "Who isn't? It's unbelievable."

Li Zhibai: "...That's enough for the two of you."
-
The average ratings of "Friends" have remained above 3% since the two episodes in which Li Zhibai made a guest appearance, especially as students began their winter vacation, the ratings have remained high.

This is especially true for online playback.

Both Yuehu TV and Aurora Video are very satisfied with the performance of this drama.

Not to mention Maxine.

When "The Mist" grossed over 1.7 million U.S. dollars in North America and over 19 million U.S. dollars worldwide, and Maxine spent a high price to snatch the streaming rights of "The Mist" from several streaming competitors, D finally made up its mind and expressed its willingness to offer Lu Yanhe a salary of million U.S. dollars for the sequel.

Because D19 felt from the negotiation process with Maxine that they were more interested in Lu Yanhe than the movie "The Mist".

The salary of 6 million US dollars is much higher than the 1 million US dollars Lu Yanhe received for the first film. Converted into RMB, it is more than 40 million RMB.

Lu Yanhe has never received such a high salary for his roles in domestic movies.

D19 thinks he is generous enough.

But Chen Ziyan was not satisfied. She was not dissatisfied with the number, but she was dissatisfied that Lu Yanhe could not enjoy the box office dividends.

However, from the perspective of the market, Lu Yanhe is an actor who has just arrived in Hollywood to make movies. Even though his first work has such good box office performance, he has not yet reached the stage where he can negotiate box office dividends.

This is rarely done in the industry.

Chen Ziyan's attitude is very clear.

"The development of the sequel is not based on how popular the movie "The Mist" is. In fact, we all know that the sequel can be developed because everyone likes the role of the Asian ghost played by Yan He so much." Chen Ziyan said, "This sequel must be developed around Yan He's role, and the selling point is also this role, Yan He. In other words, without Yan He, this sequel does not exist. In this case, I think Yan He deserves to enjoy the box office dividends. This is what Yan He deserves."

D19, the person who was in charge of negotiating with Chen Ziyan, had an unhappy expression on his face.

Because he thought six million dollars was already high enough, Chen Ziyan was still not satisfied, which was greed.

Chen Ziyan didn't care whether his expression was ugly or not, nor did she care whether he was angry or not.

She just expressed her own thoughts. Let D19 discuss the next matter in a meeting. (End of this chapter)