Chapter 731

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

The turbulence in the film market still dealt everyone a heavy blow.

Many people or companies failed to fully react at once; at least in their view, this change was simply too massive.

Rules that originally had no such requirements were completely laid down, and the key point was there wasn't even a hint of wind beforehand — this, this, this, surely they aren't serious?

Cherry Red Sweet Potato Melon: It's definitely real; several films that were set for release have already quietly withdrawn — don't believe me? Go check the cinema schedules!

Really Big Melon: Wow, wow, why would the authorities quietly drop a bomb? I feel the domestic film circle, though somewhat stagnant, is still better than those foreign political correctness ones, right?

Eat Up Eat Up: You can't put it that way; you can't pick the good one between two pieces of trash. Besides, the domestic scene shows trends of the foreign one; the authorities' move is directly related to the film market's chaos. Anyway, this ruckus has benefits — at least those people don't dare openly rake in money anymore!

Wandering Basalt: Not necessarily; the film circle had various rules before, but those people not only didn't follow them but loved exploiting loopholes. Who knows if this one can be enforced?

Turtle Turtle Outran Rabbit Rabbit: It definitely can; the authorities are serious this time. I have inside info — heard some who didn't take it to heart have already been warned; dare offend against the wind and they'll be arrested and heavily fined!

Eagle Spreads Wings: Really? That's wonderful! Who knows what I've watched these past years — all kinds of garbage. Capitalists simply don't treat us audiences as normal people; they dare push any film, terrible!

……

Online discussions about the content remained high, but everyone agreed: the authorities' sudden crackdown wasn't a minor skirmish but a serious rectification of market chaos.

This forced some coasting or guilty film projects to withdraw or delay indefinitely; some already approved but not yet started projects went silent; some already filming were caught in a dilemma — neither knowing whether to grit their teeth and continue, nor how to handle the finished product, most likely resorting to last-minute script rewrites and messy editing to muddle through the plot.

As for why Shen Yao knew so clearly? Naturally, it had to do with the contacts in her phone. Everyone was currently sighing and groaning; the slightest stir became known to all. Shen Yao wasn't deaf or blind; even without going to the company, she knew everything clearly.

"Tsk tsk tsk, whose production company is this? Such a fine face indeed," speaking of selling the Host a favor, actually just wanting to drag the Host down, best to swindle some money from the Host to warm their own shriveled wallet, "This is the entertainment industry for you — not a shred of sentiment, all schemes."

The System despised these people's crude methods; it thought fooling those green newcomers was one thing, but they actually dared swindle an old hand like the Host — one look from the Host could expose them all.

"Everyone's obviously too busy saving themselves, but it also counts as self-inflicted." Normally they only thought of shortcuts and quick money; now the authorities stepped in and warned them severely — serves them right. Shen Yao had no such worries, even with the company's several ongoing projects and the upcoming "Four Seasons."

"We might just pick up a bargain; the New Year film market is bleak, which is an opportunity for 'Four Seasons.'"

At least this film has no hard flaws; aside from the actors not being famous enough, every other aspect meets the normal passing standard.

In fact, just this situation already surpasses the vast majority of films on the market. After all, many films, including those by famous directors, spout incomprehensible nonsense.

Even hollow content with no substance; some profound conjectures rely entirely on the audience's own brain-supplemented reasoning — like doing reading comprehension. Inexplicable praise and messy narration — it'd be a miracle if the film market improved.

She raised her hand, called the company assistant via phone, and signaled them to seize the opportunity — promote "Four Seasons" heavily through the internet and media. While others hadn't reacted, occupy the bleak film market, at least seize the theater lines first.

Not mentioning the rest for now; audiences need various cultural lives to fill their days. "Four Seasons" releasing now isn't ideal, but with a lack of competitors, the audience's choices are also limited.

They might just make more money thanks to "Four Seasons."

Shen Yao harbored a hidden calculation; at least in her view, "Four Seasons'" box office highs and lows would be linked to Director Wang's next film.

Shen Yao didn't want to invest at a loss either — just like those capitals invested in Zhou You, they're probably going to lose everything clean.

Why say this? Because it's directly related to the film Zhou You shot.

Zhou You's signed contract stipulated his films be pure commercial blockbusters, and the content was ancient mythology. Everyone knows entertainment people love all kinds of adaptations and compilations when filming, so the content's authenticity is hard to verify.

Moreover, ancient myths are passed-down content; to film them well and attract viewers, the dry plot must be optimized and added to — which touches the authorities' red line.

Before the authorities cracked down severely, no one took such things seriously. But now it's different. Zhou You shot two back-to-back; heard they're nearly wrapped, leaving only effects and production content.

But the basic plot is already set — equivalent to completely propping Zhou You and his behind-the-scenes capital up there, with no way forward or back.

Shen Yao previously received an investment application from Chunfeng Company, but she declined, citing too many company projects and inability to spare attention at the moment.

Tsk tsk tsk

Wonder how Director Zhou You will survive this.

But these troubles are temporarily unrelated to Shen Yao. Even though she really wants to laugh at Zhou You, she still has to finish her own batch first.

For instance, the release of "Four Seasons" — time waits for no one. Seize every opportunity to widely promote the film. For this, Shen Yao spent quite a bit extra on marketing; the internet was still the bulk.

Fortunately, all Shen Yao's efforts weren't wasted. Director Wang's "Four Seasons" was unremarkable at release, but its content was exceptionally satisfying.

Especially for emotionally rich viewers — they're most willing to watch this type of film. Touched by moving scenes, they shed tears patter-patter. Leaving the cinema, they couldn't wait to bestow every laudatory phrase they knew on this film.

Online water armies exerted effort — not only posting ticket stubs but also reviews, guiding more audiences into cinemas to see "Four Seasons."

Films all go from unpopular to popular; there's a gradual process.

Originally in Shen Yao's plan, "Four Seasons" was good, but due to subject matter and actors, it would at most earn her a small sum.

The result? The authorities' sudden move caused the entire New Year slot to be bleak, giving "Four Seasons" a great head start — including water armies and marketing accounts blanketing promotion. As long as audiences entering cinemas didn't hold too strong malice toward the film, at worst they'd give a "worth the ticket price" rating, not a crackling "this film sucks."

Online reviews grew more and more, positive ones countless.

During this period, the assistant specially called to ask if Shen Yao needed additional marketing funds. Shen Yao stopped them, saying excess is as bad as deficiency. They'd already made plenty; no need to continue marketing. If it annoyed audiences, it wouldn't just affect this film, but the company's reputation and subsequent projects.

"Let's leave it at this. If we can maintain this box office for a while, our income far exceeds expectations." It had already reached Shen Yao's mental target; even an early exit would be fine.

But earn as much as possible — Shen Yao would never waste a money-making opportunity.

By the time "Four Seasons" left theaters, the film had actually earned nearly two billion.

Really not a little. Though the New Year slot has always been the film market's most profitable period, audiences don't like seeking suffering either.

No good films? They just don't go to the cinema. Staying home watching dramas or videos beats spending dozens of yuan and wasting two hours.

In Shen Yao's expectation, one billion was already the target. Didn't expect it to double — even with extra marketing spend, that bit of marketing cost can't compare to the real gold and silver earned back. Shen Yao's mouth corners nearly split from grinning. Director Wang's side was also capital non-stop, just like Zhou You before.

But the difference between Director Wang and Zhou You is Director Wang lacks excessive ambition. She still wants to earnestly film the story content she wants. Capital begs her to film? Even with high prices, no.

"This is different people's different choices." Some abandon principles for money; some abandon money to keep principles.

Director Wang and Zhou You's different choices created their different circumstances.

But this is only the present. After some time, who knows — Director Wang might also be dazzled by the outside world's glitz, eager to earn handfuls of cash. What ideals, what state of mind — none compare to cash in hand.

Shen Yao never tests human nature, nor believes in it.

Including herself — these subjective existences are unreliable. At least not like objective laws sitting there, able to say one not two.

…………

Time arrived at the summer of the new year, and Shen Yao gave birth to the baby girl in her belly at the hospital.

A full seven catties in weight, she looked just like a little meatball; when Jiang Han Zhou held the child in both hands, he still looked somewhat dazed, after all, such a soft and floppy thing was actually connected to his own bloodline.

After these years of development, the Company would not run into trouble even without them presiding over the overall situation.

Shen Yao simply entered a postpartum care center and lay there peacefully for a month.

By the time she returned to work at the Company, the season had already turned to crisp autumn; the baby girl also had the name Jiang Cheng, and as for a nickname, she was called Qiqqi.

The assistant who had originally followed Shen Yao had already been promoted, responsible for managing independent business.

Shen Yao's assistant position was a year-round recruitment post; as long as one performed well, one could be promoted. It could be said that those assigned to Shen Yao's side faced great pressure, but the probability of moving upward was not low.

Glancing at the delivered report, Shen Yao was somewhat surprised by the Market's current choices; she had only been gone a few months, how had things changed so obviously?

The assistant indicated that short videos were currently hot, which greatly restricted Online Video playback, while simultaneously giving rise to many more projects, such as short dramas.

Calling them short dramas was somewhat inaccurate; it should be said they are vertical-screen dramas.

They are that kind of crudely made TV Drama, only a few minutes long but unexpectedly attractive; the content cannot be called exquisite or high-end, yet it makes the Audience immerse themselves in it, to the point they can't help but spend money tipping for it.

The assistant also discovered this point, which was why she proposed this project; although it looked a bit like it had barriers with film and TV dramas, it was indeed very profitable.

Shen Yao: ……

Shen Yao took the opportunity to glance at the short drama content; sure enough, for someone like her with very high requirements for content and makeup and styling, she fundamentally could not get into it.

But ordinary Audiences did not have this worry; the fast Rhythm compensated for the short dramas' various flaws to a large extent, and even because the short drama plots were overly rich, the Audience just liked this tune.

"Contact Hongshi Network"

This kind of matter absolutely could not forget Hongshi Network, which held numerous novel IPs; after all, only Hongshi Network had the qualifications to gallop continuously on the short drama track.

Okay

Actually, it was just that Hongshi Network was more down-to-earth; its novel IPs had quite a few that fit the short drama creative concept, investing in short dramas was a sure profit.

But no matter how profitable, Hongshi Network would also not possibly throw itself in headfirst; it was truly afraid of losing money.

Hongshi Network's Leader was still the original one; previously, relying on Shen Yao, he had earned quite a lot of money; although he had not continued to be promoted, he had also not been fired.

Currently, Hongshi Network still relied on cooperation with Shen Yao to make money; related film and TV project investments were not few, and losses were extremely rare — either a small profit or a big profit; in the Leader's eyes, Shen Yao had also become a Big Shot.

Now that the Big Shot wanted them to invest in the short drama track, and furthermore use Hongshi Network's own novel IPs, the Leader naturally had no objections, but she did not understand why, when long dramas were being filmed perfectly well, they still had to separately film short dramas.

"Short dramas have short duration, short cycles; if handled well, capital returns faster."

Compared to long dramas, which take at least one year and at most who knows how many years, short dramas are still less likely to lose money.

Moreover, short dramas are currently just like a piece of undeveloped blue ocean; as long as one enters, one can make money.

Not taking advantage of this time to gather a few more sums; once Other People realize it, or capital can't help but want to enter the field, it won't be easy for them to make money anymore.

Shen Yao's cooperation with Hongshi Network was still the previous Pattern, so some words she did not say too directly; after both parties signed the contract, the relevant projects were set up, and only then did Hongshi Network's Leader understand what was going on.

The Leader thought to himself: no wonder she can make money; her brain really turns too fast.

Their Hongshi Network has always been a Big Family and Great Business; doing it this way they wouldn't lose much, and it could also deepen the cooperation relationship between both sides — pretty good.