Chapter 633: *2 Broke Girls* popped up

"Really... very ridiculous."

"Although I have spent more time outside this year and less time with you guys, there was really no sign at all."

"I am very disillusioned."

While Yan Liang went to the bathroom, Lu Yan He didn't mention Jiang Yuqian, but every sentence pointed directly at her.

Li Zhibai covered his face with one hand, also awkward.

"This is not that I didn't want to say, I planned to tell you earlier."

"Damn, you are really a dog, you are still complaining about her behind her back."

Li Zhibai suddenly stiffened his neck, "I rely on, you are the dog, when did I complain to you."

Lu Yan He: "Anyway, you are a dog if you don't confess for a day."

At this time, Yan Liang came back.

He nodded in agreement and slapped Li Zhibai on the back of the head.

"You are a dog."

Li Zhibai bared his teeth.

"Day."

The next day, people in the crew found inexplicably that the three of them started to have a good relationship again, talking and laughing.

—Is it fake?

—Yesterday, today is good brothers again?

—Acting is really good, the relationship changes as soon as it changes.

—I don't know what happened between them.

—Maybe the public opinion on the Internet is relatively large, so their brokerage company did the work?

—Can the brokerage company do their work?

—After all, they are still filming this drama, no one wants this drama to be affected.

Yan Lingyu took her water bottle, walked over, and asked: "Can I come and ask now, what happened to you guys before?"

"Actually, there is nothing, but I can't say it for the time being," Lu Yan He shook his head, "Why are you also concerned about this matter?"

Yan Lingyu smiled slightly and said: "I found that chatting with you guys more seems to allow me to better present the feeling the director wants when I play the role of Ling'er."

"Do you know what feeling the director wants?"

"I know, but it's not that I can act it out if I want to," Yan Lingyu shook her head, "In acting, I seem to lack a bit of talent."

"You acted very well, in the roles you are suitable for, no one can compare with you," Lu Yan He praised, "This time Ling'er is completely two characters from *Late Spring*."

"But in *Late Spring*, I can substitute myself into that character," Yan Lingyu said, "When filming *Late Spring*, I felt that I was good at acting, I could quickly enter the situation, but in *Chinese Paladin*, I am a bit... maybe it's because I am not Ling'er's personality, so I always have to find the state."

Lu Yan He understood what Yan Lingyu meant.

In *Late Spring*, her character is close to her own personality, and the true color makes her understand the character. But the role of Ling'er is not her true color.

"I have seen some materials that have been filmed before, you don't have to think too much, in Director Luo's lens, you are Ling'er," Lu Yan He encouraged, "It is completely different from you I usually see."

"Thank you," Yan Lingyu pursed her lips slightly.

She turned her head to look at both sides, confirming that no one around could hear them talking, and then she said: "Yan He, I want to ask you, if Lingyi likes Li Zhibai and confesses to him, is there a play?"

Lu Yan He was speechless.

"What's wrong?" Yan Lingyu was a bit puzzled.

Lu Yan He rarely didn't know what to say.

"Uh—"

"No play for the time being," Lu Yan He said.

Yan Lingyu: "Okay, I feel the same way. In the past few days, Lingyi has given a few hints, but Li Zhibai has not had any reaction, I guess so too."

Lu Yan He: "You seem to care about the two of them."

"Well," Yan Lingyu nodded and admitted frankly.

"Did Jiang Lingyi ask you for help?"

"No, I am curious myself," Yan Lingyu said, "Are you finished filming at the end of September?"

"Yes," Lu Yan He nodded, "The main scenes of this drama are still on you guys, Song Fangtian will join the crew soon, and your four-person protagonist group will meet."

Song Fangtian is the actress who plays Anu.

In this drama, the scenes of the first female lead Yan Lingyu and the second female lead Jiang Lingyi are basically related to Li Zhibai. Although Jin Yuan, played by Lu Yan He, has feelings for Lin Yueru in the drama, the weight is not large. Jiang Lingyi's main scenes are still on Li Zhibai's side.

Only the third female lead Anu has a serious line with Tang Yu Xiaobao played by Yan Liang.

These two people have a serious line. Although this line is not as classic as Li Zhibai's line, the couple combination of these two people has also been solidly popular for many years.

Song Fangtian was supposed to join the crew early, but because the previous drama had some situations, the killing time was delayed by more than a month. After coordination, her time to join the crew was delayed.

After Lu Yan He finished filming *Chinese Paladin*, he had no other arrangements to join the crew.

His next drama is *Friends* Season 2.

Still early, there is a quarter to rest.

However, he has a lot of non-actor work at the end of this year.

Especially the preparation of the film *Home Alone*.

Lu Yan He almost had the idea, should he direct it himself?

Because it feels simple.

This film only needs to make various props on the scene, and then film it.

No need to talk about artistry.

But Chen Ziyan persuaded him.

"Just because it is simple, don't let it be the second work you direct," Chen Ziyan said, "Although this film is good-looking, it is just a relaxed comedy. In fact, it is different from the impression you have in the public's heart. The script is fine, no matter what, it is behind the scenes, the feeling given to everyone is not so strong, and it will only say that you wrote an interesting, very childlike story, but being a director... just like Liu Bige filmed *Death Is Not an Option*, the difference from *Late Spring* is too big, the audience will have a sense of fragmentation."

Lu Yan He nodded.

He understood what Chen Ziyan meant.

In fact, the company has already contacted several directors, who are contacting, evaluating, and judging who is most suitable to take over the director's work of *Home Alone*.

The production budget of *Home Alone* has already come out. The biggest cost investment is the need for a house that can be transformed for them to film, and the pay budget for the two stupid thief actors—although this film has a big star like Lu Yan He as a screenwriter and has an endorsement, it also needs star light in terms of actors, so Chen Yin proposed that it must be invited to a familiar actor that the audience knows to play one of the stupid thieves.

Adding everything up, even if it is a budget made according to the generous filming plan, in this era where filming a movie costs hundreds of millions, the calculated figure is only 7.56 million.

A real small-cost movie. But this is not that the money is not enough, it is this theme, it only needs this little money to film. The most exciting bridge in the movie, and the "big scene" bridge, is also happening in this house.

Chen Yin said: "If Lu Zong writes a few more such scripts, and the box office can be good, our Linghe doesn't need loans, doesn't need financing, and can have sufficient funds to compete with the cash volume of first-line film companies in the industry."

*Love Letter*, this movie, just the theater box office brought hundreds of millions of cash flow to Linghe.

The speaker is unintentional, the listener is intentional.

Lu Yan He experienced the first half of the year and knew how much impact the lack of cash reserves had on a company. It really affects any decision, facing the crisis that the capital chain may break, not daring to let go of his hands and feet to do it.

If you can do more small-cost projects, can you accumulate more funds for the company?

Projects like *Home Alone*...

However, even Lu Yan He only knows a few of them.

Can't mass produce.

Still have to rely on Chen Yin and the others to get it.

Just thinking about this, Hu Siwei came.

After finishing the sitcom project *Co-renting Men and Women*, Hu Siwei rested for a while and started looking for new projects again.

He looked at hundreds of stories from the IP library and script library collected by the company, and he was not very satisfied.

Up to now, there are no creators in China who specifically create stories around "sitcoms."

The sitcom craze set off by *My Own Swordsman* and *Friends* made those screenwriters in the industry who can write sitcoms all signed by various platforms with high salaries to create scripts for the next few years.

The script of *Co-renting Men and Women* was gathered episode by episode by Hu Siwei and Bai Jingnian with several young screenwriters.

Hu Siwei wants to continue the category of sitcoms, especially the production team of *Co-renting Men and Women*, don't easily set up a stall, and then be unable to continue, each doing their own thing.

Everyone has to eat.

However, stories suitable for sitcoms are too hard to find.

A key premise of a sitcom is not complex, simple, but can hold all kinds of stories.

Let the audience have a "sense of companionship."

"Do I have a good story?"

"Even if it's just an idea," Hu Siwei said, "I really didn't find a story that I feel can be filmed. Can't drag it on anymore, no more scripts for them to write, and I can't keep blocking them, not going to take other scripts."

He is talking about the screenwriters of *Co-renting Men and Women*.

Those screenwriters were signed to Linghe's company by him and became Linghe's signed screenwriters.

However, because they are all fresh graduates and have only written one script of *Co-renting Men and Women*, they are all at the beginning, dreaming of an opportunity.

Hu Siwei told them that there would be another project for them to write scripts soon, so he pulled them to wait for the project. Otherwise, without a project, there is no extra income, only the base salary issued by the company. That base salary is enough for their basic life, but only so. If there is no project, they must participate in other projects.

Lu Yan He "uh"ed.

The first idea that popped up in his mind was *The Big Bang Theory*, but he didn't write this script himself, because it involved too much professional physics knowledge, which required finding a script consultant to polish it well, so he didn't put it on the schedule for the time being.

Lu Yan He also popped up *iPartment*... It's just that if he writes *iPartment*, will there be bridges that make the audience feel like *Friends*, and then be questioned by others for copying himself—exhausted talent.

What else.

Then, Lu Yan He thought of an American drama he had seen some segments of, but didn't really know much about.

It really can only provide an idea.

"I have had an idea, but it didn't take shape. The general story is a rich girl, because her parents went bankrupt, she was accidentally taken in by a girl who worked as a waiter in a restaurant, and they also started working as restaurant waiters together. One is a rich girl who has been well-off since childhood, a bit pretentious at first but quickly infected, and has a very good actual personality. One is a poor girl who has been fighting at the bottom of society since childhood, seemingly very depressed, but actually very optimistic and kind. They live together and work together. The main scenes are two, one is the restaurant, and one is the house they rented. Around them, there is a stingy but actually kind-hearted boss, a chef who loves beauty, doesn't pretend at all but is not a scumbag, a female neighbor who lives next to them, has a little money and a very unrestrained personality, doesn't cook herself, so she often comes to this restaurant to eat, and an old cashier who has a musical dream but is dying and hasn't made a name for himself. A group of people like this, gathered together, is mainly talking about a chaotic comedy at the real bottom of society."

Without exaggeration, Hu Siwei's eyes really lit up like a cluster of flames.

Whether a story is suitable for filming into a film and television drama, and what type of film and television drama it is suitable for, for people who are familiar with and understand this industry, basically listening to a concept, they have a number in their hearts.

And Hu Siwei personally participated in the creation of so many sitcoms like *Friends*, *My Own Swordsman*, and *Co-renting Men and Women*. In the field of film and television dramas, if someone knows more about the current Chinese sitcoms than him, it is estimated that this person cannot be found.

He has a standard in his heart about what kind of story is suitable for making a sitcom.

Is there a comedy core of characters that can run through the beginning and end?

In this story, the contradiction between rich and poor brought by the growth environment of the two girls is the comedy core that can run through the beginning and end.

Is there a fixed place that can also diverge into many stories?

For example, the home of Rachel and Monica in *Friends*, and the coffee shop Central Perk. For example, the Tongfu Inn in *My Own Swordsman*.

In this story, it is that restaurant.

For example, different character personalities. For sitcoms, this point is especially important and indispensable. Only characters with completely different personalities but each with pleasing points can collide with endless jokes.

In this story, Lu Yan He didn't talk about the development of the story, but about the characteristics of each person.

This is the essential difference.

For regular film and television dramas, the character growth context and the rise and fall of the story are the most important. But for sitcoms, the characteristics of characters and the core of comedy are the most important. Stories are side dishes. No matter how bloody it is, it does not affect the style and texture of the drama. To be honest, many story developments of sitcoms are more bloody than many "bloody files," but because the focus of the drama is not on the story, it is ignored by many people.

Hu Siwei said: "Did you give this drama a name?"

"Name?" Lu Yan He was stunned, "Uh, *2 Broke Girls*?"

"Too great!" Hu Siwei slapped his thigh.

"Okay, just this one!"

Lu Yan He was stunned.

"Ah?"

Hu Siwei said: "I want to do this, can I use your idea to let the screenwriters write the script?"

"Also... okay." Lu Yan He hesitated, "However, I haven't thought about this story very clearly, I just thought about these things. If the plot can't be pushed down later, don't look for me."

"You can provide us with this idea, I have already thanked heaven and earth. If I still can't push the plot, why am I still doing this job," Hu Siwei said, "I will go to get the authorization agreement immediately! Too awesome, Yan He, the idea you said casually is what we want to break our heads and can't think of."

Lu Yan He: "..."

He wanted to say, no, actually it is not an idea he said casually, it was also developed by others with hard work.

However, this time—

Lu Yan He thought that Tom White of HP had been in contact with him for so long, and the two were actually compatible, but by mistake, many important projects were not cooperated by both sides.

Despite this, Tom White did not ignore him or alienate him because of this, and still maintained his friendship with him.

Basically, any project Lu Yan He participated in, as long as it was a work suitable for global audiences on streaming media, Tom White would bid.

Unless there is a difference in the value judgment of a project by both sides, such as *My Own Swordsman*, Lu Yan He refused to sell at a cabbage price, but Tom White felt that even this cabbage price was willing to be paid for Lu Yan He's face.

This time, Lu Yan He felt that he could send a message to Tom White in advance.

Although the script was not written by him personally, Lu Yan He knew that this story was very popular in the original world. Although it didn't explode like *Friends*, it was also one of the most popular American dramas for a period of time.

If HP takes it, it will definitely not lose money.

After Tom White received Lu Yan He's email, he also replied for the first time: I will come to China in two days.

Lu Yan He told Hu Siwei about this matter and asked the company to prepare.

Lu Yan He thought about it and invited Tom White to visit the *Chinese Paladin* crew.

Because it is a Chinese-style classical Xianxia theme, this big drama that has attracted much attention in China is a bit cold in overseas streaming media.

Because, this kind of classical Xianxia theme costume drama, except for being relatively popular in Southeast Asia and Japan and South Korea, basically cannot set off any waves in the European and American markets.

It also encountered the same problem as *My Own Swordsman*.

Several international streaming media are not optimistic about the performance of this drama on their platforms.

Willing to buy, but not willing to give a market price that can get Lu Yan He's satisfaction.

Lu Yan He invited Tom White over, also wanting him to see on the spot what the filming of this drama is like.

If possible, Lu Yan He still hopes that this drama can be broadcast globally on streaming media together. At least in the Asian market, he believes this drama is competitive.

Tom White accepted the invitation.

Tom White went to Linghe Company first, and it was Chen Yin and Hu Siwei who received him.

They introduced the production plan of *2 Broke Girls* to Tom White in detail. It was also difficult for them. They just got an idea from Lu Yan He, and they had to turn it into a project plan where the framework had to be built in just two days.

Of course, for them who have been through many battles, although it is a headache, the final problem is not big.

Tom White listened very seriously. Obviously, for this sitcom theme that looks like it has something to do, he is also not dissatisfied. It is just that there are some differences in the intention of cooperation in production.

Tom White is willing to pay a high price to make this drama, but the high price corresponds to the copyright of this drama belonging to HP. It is equivalent to Tom White funding, hiring Linghe to produce this drama, and buying it out directly.

However, Chen Yin and Hu Siwei both know Lu Yan He's thoughts very well.

He basically refuses to let others share the copyright. As long as it is his script, either it is like cooperating with Director Wang Zhong on *Rouge* and *Raise the Red Lantern*, the film copyright is shared by both sides, and the IP copyright remains in his own hands, or the film and television copyright also remains in his own hands. The cooperation with the platform is in the form of copyright drama. The platform only buys the broadcast rights for a certain number of years and does not own the copyright.

They all think that Lu Yan He has such persistence because of the *Friends* incident, which made them bitten by a snake once and afraid of the well rope for ten years.

However, as the copyrights of these film and television dramas in the company can actually continue to bring copyright income to the company after a few years, they suddenly realized that if it is a popular drama with strong vitality, the long-term income is not necessarily lower than the income at the premiere or the first broadcast.

Tom White obviously also knows this habit of Lu Yan He.

He said that when he goes back to the *Chinese Paladin* crew, he will have a good talk with Lu Yan He about this matter.

Lu Yan He didn't expect that Tom White would offer a production fee of 25 million US dollars—as long as Lu Yan He agreed to transfer the drama copyright of the first season of *2 Broke Girls* to HP at the same time, and produce no less than 12 episodes of content with a volume of 20 minutes per episode in the first season.

It doesn't matter if a sequel to *Friends* offers a production fee of 100 million US dollars, just like *The Big Bang Theory* reached the later stage, the production cost per episode is 9 million US dollars, 24 episodes per season, that is because they have enough audiences to earn the money back.

But *2 Broke Girls* is a drama that doesn't know if the audience will like it. Maybe it went straight to the street.

25 million US dollars, this is a gamble.

If the gamble is lost, it is definitely a setback and blow to Tom White's career.

It can be said that Tom White is indeed sincere.

Lu Yan He shook his head.

"Tom, you know, I don't want to share copyright with others," Lu Yan He said, "I don't want to eat the loss of *Friends* for the second time. It was clearly the script I made, the story idea I provided, but in the end, I couldn't keep it in my own hands."

Tom White said: "Yan He, if it is a copyright drama, I can't give a price that satisfies you, my authority is here."

Lu Yan He said: "Tom, maybe we can have a new mode of cooperation."

"Hmm?" Tom White asked, "What do you mean?"

"Decide what kind of price you want to pay for this drama based on the number of viewers and the duration of viewing," Lu Yan He said, "In other words, if this drama has poor results, you don't have to bear the risk. Although you all say that I have been successful and it is a miracle, I have never believed in miracles myself, and I don't know when I will miss. You bring 25 million US dollars to buy *2 Broke Girls* today, if the results are not good, you will be blamed, and I will be uneasy."

Tom White looked at Lu Yan He hesitantly.

Lu Yan He: "This mode of cooperation is actually very common between actors and film parties, right? If the box office reaches a certain amount, the actor can get a share, especially the bigger the actor, the more they will adopt this way of composing pay."

Tom White nodded.

"To be honest, I am very clear that you are willing to take 25 million US dollars to buy this drama, which is already a very high price. You believe in me, I absolutely know this point. But I don't hide it from you, I am more greedy, because I believe that I have greater ambition for this drama, I think it may not be another drama that can reach the results of *Friends*."

Tom White looked at Lu Yan He in surprise.

"So, you said 25 million, just sold out the first season, Tom, maybe you will think I am arrogant, but I think, maybe in the dimension of three or five years, I will think it is worth a higher number, double, or even double, or higher," Lu Yan He said to Tom White, "Of course, I want to get such a number, it must be because this drama can reach the height you and I hope it can reach."

Tom White hesitated for a moment, and suddenly talked about *Love Letter*, he said: "*Love Letter* is still being shown all over the world now, its performance in various markets around the world is actually a bit beyond our expectations. Especially the box office trend of this movie in the United States is unexpectedly strong, and finally sold over 8 million US dollars, far exceeding the predictions of various box office prediction agencies. At that time, you insisted on separating it and cooperating with film merchants in various places, insisting on showing it in theaters, did you think of such a box office performance?"

"No, no matter whether there is such a box office performance, I will choose to cooperate with film merchants in various places separately," Lu Yan He said, "Because this movie has no loss pressure, no matter what it is, it is profitable. The Linghe film and television production company I founded needs such a movie to establish contact with film merchants all over the world and open up the situation."

Tom White nodded and said: "You are actually a creator with a business mind."

Lu Yan He: "Thank you."

Tom White smiled, "I can further explore this mode of cooperation with you, but you definitely won't say, we don't even need to give a bottom price, right? We still have to bear the risk of failure more or less, but it is no longer a gamble, lose, lose not much, win, also cannot win big."

Lu Yan He nodded.

He admitted this point.

"I hope you can reserve the English remake rights of *2 Broke Girls* for me. I know, you will definitely want to reserve a window period for this drama. At least before it ends, you will not authorize others to remake it. Maxine is currently remaking the English version of *Friends*. I can think of how unhappy you are. I don't intend to remake it before your version is finished, but I don't want it to be snatched away by others."

Lu Yan He: "I can reserve the remake rights for you, but I and Linghe want to participate in the remake work, especially some bottom-line problems, which must be clarified in the agreement. At the same time, I hope *My Own Swordsman* and *Chinese Paladin* can try this new mode of cooperation together."

Tom White said: "Yan He, you have to know, *My Own Swordsman*, this drama, we have evaluated it, we—"

"It doesn't matter, I can not want a penny, don't want a bottom price," Lu Yan He said bluntly, "However, the promotional resources you should configure cannot be less. In the end, how much we can get depends on ability."

Tom White looked at Lu Yan He in disbelief.

Lu Yan He smiled slightly: "Tom, I am very willing to cooperate with you. Since *Love Letter* can exceed your imagination and prediction, why do you still have to believe in your experience and data models 100%, instead of believing in the person in front of you who has created many miracles, and give a chance to the projects you are not optimistic about? I said, about *My Own Swordsman*, I don't want a bottom price, let's bargain directly based on the number of viewers."

Tom White was shocked by Lu Yan He's decisiveness at this moment.

Lu Yan He's change still surprised him quite a bit.

In the past, in Tom White's heart, Lu Yan He was still a person with more creator colors. Today, what Lu Yan He said and what he fought for made Tom White look at him with new eyes.

A bit strange.

After Lu Yan He and Tom White finished talking about work matters and reached some consensus, the atmosphere between the two people was slightly relaxed.

Lu Yan He took Tom White to the crew to turn around and introduced some story backgrounds and highlights of *Chinese Paladin*.

"Maybe you can understand it as your Western *Lord of the Rings*," Lu Yan He said, "Although there are still many differences, in essence, they are all based on the world we are in, creating an extraordinary world, and then a group of young people defeat the villain and save the world."

Tom White understood as soon as Lu Yan He said this.

In fact, it is very difficult to accurately convey to these foreigners what is Xianxia and what is common people.

Sometimes, you might as well find a target they can understand, and they can understand what you are saying from the set they can accept.

As soon as Tom White heard that this story is a Chinese *Lord of the Rings*, his personal interest was obviously higher.

For no other reason, *Lord of the Rings* is an epic novel with a very wide spread in their historical culture, and it has even become a cultural symbol, just like Shakespeare is to Europeans and Americans.

It is also a story that Europeans and Americans love to watch.

If *Chinese Paladin* is also such a story model, then it is different from his initial understanding.

Lu Yan He looked at Tom White like this, and didn't know what kind of understanding he had.

He didn't explain it either. If you are interested, just look at it slowly, understand it slowly.

Whether a story is good or not, how a drama is, like Tom White, who has read countless films, as long as he is really willing to understand it seriously, there are few misjudgments.

People's accumulation is not just fooling around.

Others in the crew had already received the notice and knew that Lu Yan He would bring the head of HP Asia to visit the crew today, so they were not surprised to see this foreigner beside Lu Yan He.

Instead, when the visit was almost over, Tom White said to Lu Yan He with some surprise: "Your crew has so many people, but it seems to be much cleaner and tidier than the Chinese crew I have been to before, not so noisy."

Since *Gold Rush* also sold for a high price at HP, Tom White has become an object of warm invitation from domestic film and television companies.

They all hope to earn a sum of US dollars from HP.

Earning seven figures of US dollars is also an unexpected joy.

Of course, basically, there are not many Chinese dramas that can meet Tom White's standards in a year, and those that can emerge are almost all concerned by first-line streaming media platforms, and they may not necessarily fall into his home.

But in any case, Tom White has been to quite a few Chinese film and television crews.

Lu Yan He said: "The director of this drama, Luo Yuzhong, is the director who cooperated with me on *Golden Age* before. The segment I played in that drama was screened when I held a personal work exhibition in Venice. I remember you were also there."

"Oh, I know which one you are talking about," Tom White nodded.

"He is our top drama director in China, and also my guide," Lu Yan He specifically used the word guide. He knew that this word has a special reference in Western culture. He felt that saying so should let Tom White understand Luo Yuzhong's weight in his heart.

Tom White nodded.

"In the past few years, our film and television drama market has expanded extremely due to hot money, leading to many unprofessional people coming in, and also creating many bad habits, which have not disappeared until now. However, in a truly good crew, you will not see those chaotic and out-of-control scenes," Lu Yan He said, "You should go to more good crews to see."

Tom White laughed.

He said: "I didn't mean to accuse your Chinese film and television crews."

"I just hope you can see more good ones, don't be affected by some bad existences, and affect your overall judgment of our Chinese film and television dramas," Lu Yan He said.

Tom White made a gesture of "Okay, I accept what you said," "Speaking of which, Yan He, thank you, this time you notified me first."

Lu Yan He: "You should know very well that I have always hoped to cooperate with you. There have been too many times when things went against my wishes before. After all, cooperation is not something that can be decided by the wishes of the two of us. I believe that with this *2 Broke Girls*, we will have more and deeper cooperation in the future." ===== CHAPTER 634 =====