Chapter 412

Tang Mu White went from HP's development strategy to his appreciation for Lu Yan He, making Lu Yan He realize very quickly that he was a very talkative person.

After chatting with Tang Mu White for another half hour, Lu Yan He slowly figured out his intention.

It turned out that he had taken a fancy to *Friends* and wanted to adapt it into an American TV series.

Lu Yan He was stunned.

"Mr. White, although I am the screenwriter of *Friends*, the copyright of *Friends* is not in my hands. If you want to buy *Friends*, it's useless to find me; its copyright is in the hands of Jingtai—the TV station that aired it," Lu Yan He explained.

Tang Mu White said: "I know. Actually, I also know that Maxine has already bought the adaptation rights to *Friends*."

Lu Yan He looked at him in confusion. "Then what do you mean by talking to me about the copyright of *Friends*?"

HP couldn't adapt *Friends* anyway.

Tang Mu White said: "We want to cooperate with you and ask you to write another script like *Friends*."

"Hmm?"

Lu Yan He didn't expect that Tang Mu White's purpose in finding him was this.

For such a cooperation invitation, Lu Yan He really didn't dare to agree easily.

"Mr. White, I have several scripts in progress, and I don't have time to take on new ones for the time being. Moreover, I am not good at writing scripts in English," Lu Yan He said.

Tang Mu White said: "I know you are a very popular star in China and also a very high-profile newcomer screenwriter. However, you have also seen that *Friends* is written so well and shot quite well, but because your Chinese TV dramas have no distribution channels, it only became a big hit domestically. Now that it's on Maxine, it hasn't formed the same influence as it did in your China. You certainly know the reason for this: it's because you don't have a global platform that allows global audiences to see it, nor do you have channels for global distribution."

Lu Yan He frowned when he heard Tang Mu White say these things.

Because he knew Tang Mu White was right. Indeed, the current video platforms in China haven't even formed a certain user scale in other Asian countries and regions, let alone globally.

Without global channels, no matter how popular a work might be, it cannot be seen.

Lu Yan He said: "Mr. White, you are right about this point, I admit it. However, this is not enough to move me."

Tang Mu White said: "Can't the goal of creating a show that audiences all over the world love move you?"

"No, this goal moves me. But I have already written *Friends* for this theme. If you ask me to write another script with the same theme as *Friends*, I definitely won't be able to write it better than *Friends*," Lu Yan He said. "So I said this can't move me."

Tang Mu White sighed with some regret and said: "This story has plenty of room for further expansion."

"But the characters are gone. With six protagonists, I have already written the character types I most wanted to write for this theme. If I write more, I can only write characters very similar to them. It's not just that I think they are similar; the audience might also think they are similar."

Tang Mu White heard this and said: "Then you don't plan to write any more urban-background sitcoms in the future?"

"Not in the short term," Lu Yan He said bluntly.

Tang Mu White sighed with regret.

"Alright." Although they didn't reach a preliminary intention on cooperation, Tang Mu White didn't change his face toward Lu Yan He because of this, nor did he get up and leave, but continued to chat with him.

"In recent years, I have been paying attention to the film and television market in mainland China. The magnitude and speed of its changes are very rare on a global scale," Tang Mu White said. "Compared to Hollywood films, we streaming companies have never been able to find a way in."

Lu Yan He: "Every country must have its own areas to defend, especially in this era, where almost every field is experiencing unexpected contradictions and conflicts. Just like our domestic platforms, after they became popular in your United States, they were also banned by your government and judicial system for some high-sounding reasons."

Tang Mu White nodded. "I don't mean to accuse or criticize; I am very clear about this point. It's just that facing such a huge market in mainland China, we feel like we've seen a gold mine but can't participate in the mining. You must be able to understand this feeling."

Lu Yan He laughed.

Tang Mu White's directness and honesty made Lu Yan He have a few more good feelings for him at this moment.

"Of course I understand, just as we also hope to let the whole world see Chinese-language films and shows," Lu Yan He said. "Actually, Mr. White—"

"Just call me Tang Mu," Tang Mu White said.

Although he looked more than ten years older than him, foreigners have this habit, and Lu Yan He, having watched so many films and shows, knew this.

"Okay, Tang Mu," Lu Yan He laughed. "Although we cannot cooperate on a show like *Friends*, maybe we can find other projects to cooperate on."

Tang Mu White looked at Lu Yan He with some surprise. "Hmm? Do you have any other good stories on hand?"

"I have indeed written several stories that are currently being shot or have already been finished, including the film *Rouge* directed by Wang Zhong, and the road comedy *Lost in Journey* starring Jia Long. In addition, there are two shows preparing to be shot soon: one is *Squid Game*, which has a theme very similar to *Seventeen Layers*, and the other is our historical sitcom *My Own Swordsman*. These stories may not be suitable for adaptation into English shows, but these stories should be popular in Asian countries and regions," Lu Yan He said. "These projects currently haven't discussed distribution outside of mainland China. If HP values the Asian market and wants to get good works, maybe you can take a look at these."

Tang Mu White showed some unbelievable surprise.

"You actually created so many scripts? If I remember correctly, you only started being a screenwriter two years ago."

Lu Yan He brought out his universal answer.

"I only started trying to be a screenwriter two years ago because of *Friends*, but in fact, I had been trying to write scripts myself a long time ago. The story of *Lost in Journey* was written when I was in my third year of high school."

The shock on Tang Mu White's face lessened slightly, but he was still very surprised.

"I've heard of Jia Long; he is a very famous comedy film star in your China," Tang Mu White said. "It seems I really need to seriously understand the few projects you mentioned."

Lu Yan He kept smiling.

"Of course, you won't be disappointed, Tang Mu. I think it's really possible for us to have a good cooperation," he said.

Chinese-language films and shows have always been influential in the Asian region, unlike in Europe and America, where they have almost no volume except for big directors.

It just so happened that HP found Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He wasn't modest either and directly introduced these projects of his to Tang Mu White. If it could really facilitate cooperation between HP and these projects, it would be a good thing. One more channel, one more choice.