Chapter 639

In October, Linghe's last movie to start filming this year, "Oh My Sea," started filming.

This work from the newly signed director Wu Chi was a project established to let him accumulate directing experience before filming "Those Years We Were Chasing Together."

The actors in this movie are basically unknown small actors.

Linghe only provided Wu Chi with 2 million yuan in production funds.

Wu Chi tried to use the script to move some first-tier actors, wanting to invite them to lower their pay to appear, but no one agreed.

"Oh My Sea" is not the kind of literary film that makes people see the hope of winning awards.

This script was favored at the time because its style was very close to "Those Years," both having a texture of the author's past experiences. It is very sincere, but like those "touching" articles in magazines, although "touching," it is not high-end enough.

After the movie started filming, it was filmed on location in a small town by the sea.

Because there are no famous directors and actors, in the eyes of others, this is just a small crew and is not paid attention to.

Only a very few marketing accounts and media noticed that the production company of this movie was actually Lu Yan He's Linghe, so they published a news, crowned it with Lu Yan He's name, wanting to cheat a wave of traffic.

People who saw the three words Lu Yan He and clicked in, took a look, and the so-called new film actually had nothing to do with Lu Yan He, so they exited in great disappointment.

Many people thought that this was Lu Yan He having new film movements again.

Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi took the high-speed rail together to this small town by the sea.

One is to relax and rest, take a short vacation, and the other is to visit the situation of this crew by the way.

Although it is a very small crew, it is also the first movie produced by Linghe that has nothing to do with Lu Yan He.

This year, one "Co-renting Men and Women," one "Oh My Sea," finally took the first step of "de-Lu Yan He-ization."

Lu Yan He was very gratified.

Chen Siqi said: "I found that in the entire entertainment industry, only you can really do this."

"Do what?" Lu Yan He was looking down at the latest issue of "Jump Up," and suddenly heard Chen Siqi's words, looked up and asked.

Their seats were adjacent, convenient for whispering directly.

Chen Siqi: "Filming this kind of small-cost film that has no mature channels to recover costs in others' hands. Your films always have Northern Lights Video and Ice Field Video to cover you, and you still have overseas channels. Channels are really too important."

"Is there a problem with the overseas version of 'Jump Up'?"

"There is no problem, but because the publishing and distribution channels are in the hands of others, the negotiation is very passive," Chen Siqi said, "The book 'Film Festival: Yuming' indeed has publishers interested, but they are not willing to give good conditions. However, in order for the book to be published and sold globally, we can only agree."

Lu Yan He actually had deep experience with what Chen Siqi said.

His previous few movies were okay, probably because the performance on streaming media was very good, and the box office around the world was also okay, so he had a little bit of bargaining power with film merchants around the world.

But he also knew that many Chinese films, because they have no distribution channels overseas, and overseas film merchants also know that Chinese films, except for the films of a few big directors and top actors, are snatched by people, most of the films have almost no market, so the distribution price is often pressed very low.

Then you don't sell?

If you don't sell, you can't earn a penny and can only smash it in your own hands.

The products are different, the industries are different, but the business logic is the same.

Now the price of Chinese dramas on overseas streaming media has come up a bit because several Chinese dramas in a row have achieved good results overseas and have good performance, so the bargaining space for Chinese dramas has become much larger.

Especially the streaming media copyright price of "Gold Rush" before was clearly marked and exposed, and there was no information gap.

Lu Yan He said: "In the future, if there is a chance, go buy a publishing company with global distribution capabilities."

Chen Siqi: "Can't afford it at all. Large publishing companies with channels globally are basically companies under media giants, which are a link in their entire cultural media matrix and cannot be sold. Stinger business transformed the year before last, wanting to cut off the traditional publishing line, so it was sold to Britain's Fandeng. Do you know the selling price?"

"How much?"

"1.62 billion US dollars."

(Note: This data is cited from Paramount's sale of its top publisher Simon & Schuster to private equity firm KKR for $1.62 billion in 2023)

Lu Yan He showed an unbelievable look.

Chen Siqi smiled bitterly, "Didn't expect it, right?"

"This is too exaggerated. Who said the traditional publishing industry doesn't make money?" Lu Yan He said.

Chen Siqi said: "So, we acquire a global top publishing company? Almost unrealistic. In fact, to some extent, it is others who want to acquire our 'Jump Up'."

Lu Yan He: "The market value of 'Jump Up' now shouldn't be low either, right?"

"There is no way to compare with those traditional old-brand big companies. Their copyright library is too rich. They are a gold mine that is constantly making money even if they do nothing."

Lu Yan He: "Sounds too enviable."

"Your Linghe will also become such a film company in the future," Chen Siqi said, "Look, in just a few short years, Linghe has already accumulated so many copyrights."

Lu Yan He: "Hope they can have a few independent business lines in the future and don't have to rely on me."

"It's possible," Chen Siqi said, "I have already seen the rough cut of the 'Co-renting Men and Women' film."

"Huh? When did you see it?"

"Last time I went to communicate about the Jump Up Theater, I happened to run into the internal screening, and Hu Siwei invited me to watch it together," Chen Siqi said, "This drama is really quite interesting, a light comedy, although... in my opinion, it's relatively simple and has no valuable content."

"Yeah," Lu Yan He nodded, "Very good. What I fear most is that every work has to pursue some valuable content. Let light works just be responsible for giving the audience a sense of lightness. Do one thing well first, and that's enough."

"Yes," Chen Siqi nodded, "Hu Siwei is very worried that 'Co-renting Men and Women' will smash the brand, but I think it's actually okay. This drama should be liked by the market. Of course, to be a big hit, it might need the right time, the right place, and the right people."

Lu Yan He said: "This drama is an attempt. As long as it doesn't lose money, it's a victory. I quite like this revenue-sharing model. I told Hu Siwei that as long as it doesn't lose money, then continue to make the second season. Sitcoms need to raise an audience, accumulating an audience season by season, and it will become more and more popular."

Chen Siqi nodded.

"It's that word, what is it called? Sense of companionship," Chen Siqi said, "Why can 'Friends' be evergreen? It's because many people, through these years of chasing the drama, have already regarded these few people in 'Friends' as their familiar friends. As long as it's still that style, they will keep watching it. The basic base is too big."

Lu Yan He said: "By the way, how is the Jump Up Theater?"

Chen Siqi said: "Relatively stable. With big stars starring, the ratings can reach above 1.2%, and the number of viewers can also average around 5 million. Under normal circumstances, the ratings are also stable at around 0.8%. For every drama, the average number of viewers has exceeded 8 million. It can be said to be a very successful attempt."

Lu Yan He: "That's good."

"Our 'Jump Up' magazine has also been driven by the Jump Up Theater in sales. Now the average sales of each issue can reach 400,000 copies," Chen Siqi said, "Especially one issue of the magazine, because a short story by Ming Yin was pre-ordered to be adapted by the Jump Up Theater, starring Zhang Ruozhi, the sales of that issue even exceeded 450,000 copies. 'Love Letter' made Zhang Ruozhi famous overnight, and there are many fans."

Lu Yan He nodded.

"Very strong."

"Actually, behind this, Jiang Yin Publishing House has a lot of credit," Chen Siqi said, "Do you know what they have been doing in these few years? They have established connections with bookstores and Lanshen convenience stores next to schools across the country, and have a huge distribution channel, making our 'Jump Up' easily bought anywhere. Our magazine has junior high and high school students as a large purchasing body. Their mobile phones are strictly controlled, and they can't place orders online like everyone else, so they can only buy from near the school. With this distribution channel, basically no marketing point of our 'Jump Up' has been wasted."

"Marketing point?"

"We must make a few marketing points for every issue of the magazine to attract everyone's attention," Chen Siqi said, "I said, I never want 'Jump Up' to become a magazine that eats off old capital. Like the issue in your hand, there are three marketing points. First, an exclusive interview with Jiang Yuqian about starring in the movie 'Phone'; second, the annual Heavenly Star Ranking prediction of 'Idol Era' voted by 10,000 readers of 'Jump Up,' including analysis from ten authoritative media; third, the short story 'Alive' newly created by Teacher Shi Xia."

Lu Yan He nodded.

"I require them to have a few points in every issue of the magazine that will drive a part of the group to definitely buy this issue," Chen Siqi said, "Only in this way will 'Jump Up' not slowly fall into fatigue. You know, a magazine with sales that have reached 400,000 copies, actually, if you don't do it seriously, the results will still be very good, but over time, everyone will not feel that this magazine is interesting. You must always have new things for everyone."

Lu Yan He nodded.

He actually agrees with this idea of Chen Siqi very much.

At this time, no matter what you create, it is the same logic: sailing against the current, if you don't advance, you retreat. You must have something that only you have here. Otherwise, why would people come to see your things?

"That—"

A voice with a bit of tentative tone suddenly sounded in their ears.

Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi looked up at the same time. A girl with a very clear look and a quite literary overall style stood in the aisle, bending slightly and looking at them.

Zou Dong, who was sitting behind them, stood up immediately.

"Sorry—" Zou Dong prepared to stop this girl from disturbing Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi.

The girl said to Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi: "I am Jiang Yue. You might not know me. I am going to the 'Sea' crew to film. Are you two also going to the 'Sea' crew to visit the set?"

Lu Yan He indeed didn't know the girl in front of him, but he had an impression of this name.

He had seen her in the cast list of "Oh My Sea."

"Hello." Lu Yan He nodded to Jiang Yue, signaling to Zou Dong that it was okay, he knew her.

Zou Dong then sat back.

"Sorry, disturbed you." Jiang Yue stuck out her tongue, "Originally shouldn't have disturbed, but seeing you, not coming to say hello, felt impolite."

She put her palms together and showed an apologetic expression.

"Then won't disturb you."

Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi showed her a smile.

Jiang Yue retreated.

Her seat was two rows behind them.

Chen Siqi asked Lu Yan He: "Have you seen her before?"

"Haven't seen her," Lu Yan He shook his head, "But I have seen her name in the cast and crew list of 'Sea.' She plays a relatively important role."

Chen Siqi: "You even remember the cast and crew list of the 'Sea' crew?"

Lu Yan He nodded with a smile.

"I am mainly curious about how others choose actors, from what angles they consider, and what the main reason for deciding on this actor is. I quite like to ponder these," Lu Yan He said. Chen Siqi: "So for others, it's just a cast and crew list, but for you, it's a decryption game, right?"

"Pretty much can be understood this way," Lu Yan He laughed.

Chen Siqi: "She is quite cute."

"A bit of baby fat. In the entertainment industry, her kind of look seems quite rare."

"Yeah, not a protagonist look in the conventional sense," Chen Siqi said.

The two chatted in low voices for a while, and once the topic branched off, they didn't chat back.

They didn't have a fixed thing to chat about, chatting wherever it went.

"This time finally can see the sea." Chen Siqi, as soon as she mentioned the sea, had some excitement and leaping in her eyes, "Haven't been to the seaside for a long time."

Lu Yan He: "Then it seems that calling you this time is a very correct choice."

"Too tired recently, being able to rest for two days is quite good, although can't really rest, still have a lot of work to deal with."

On this journey, Chen Siqi actually really wasn't idle.

【In one look】

Her laptop was carried with her, needing to be used at any time.

Lu Yan He: "You guys should be under a lot of pressure now, right? You have to do the year-end review. I saw your live broadcast of opening reader envelopes, 24 hours non-stop, too exaggerated."

Chen Siqi said: "We specifically recruited twenty part-time students to do this. Of course, this is also a gimmick. Our vote counting is 24-hour real-time statistics, not stopping for a second. No second company can do it to our extent. Did you see the audience in our live broadcast room? The number of viewers is much more than your live broadcast room."

Lu Yan He: "You do it like this, how can the audience be small? Fortunately, you said early on that to avoid suspicion, you didn't include me in the scope of this review."

"Everyone knows you are the founding editor-in-chief of 'Jump Up,' and the reader base of 'Jump Up' is your basic base. If you take first place, others will question the gold content and credibility, and secondly, they will question you, feeling that you took first place unfairly," Chen Siqi said, "You don't need this either."

"Okay, okay." Lu Yan He didn't mind this.

Anyway, as long as these few dramas like "Friends" and "Love Letter" can be normally counted.

Now, this live broadcast has been going on for more than a month.

The ranking situation of each statistical unit is changing in real-time.

But it is these reader votes displayed in front of the live broadcast camera that have gained the trust of the public in the most simple way.

And only "Jump Up" magazine can have such a huge reader base that can provide so many reader votes.

After all, "Jump Up" is the only magazine in the country with sales that can reach 400,000 copies.

"There are still quite a few doubts, saying that the internet is so developed now, not willing to do online voting, and insisting on using the traditional way of writing letters and mailing like this, is playing a gimmick," Chen Siqi laughed, "There has always been such criticism. I replied directly, saying we are just playing a gimmick, so what? This person didn't speak."

Lu Yan He also laughed.

"Some people are really interesting. Seeing others want to do something, they have to prove that others have some ulterior motive for doing this. If there is no ulterior motive, why do these things that don't matter if they are not done?" Chen Siqi was very helpless, "Yes, doing so can promote sales. If you want to vote, you have to buy the magazine, so what? We didn't deny such an idea, as long as the final result is fair and there are no fake votes."

"Are there those who buy many magazines to vote in order to brush votes?" Lu Yan He asked.

"Under normal circumstances, there won't be such a practice. A magazine costs more than 20 yuan, brush votes? How to brush?" Chen Siqi laughed speechlessly, "Is there anything worth brushing in our review? It's not that you will fly up if you brush to first place. We want to do a credible review, which doesn't mean you can get any benefits if you get on this review."

Lu Yan He: "Many fans are relatively fanatical."

"I know, there are indeed fans who are very fanatical. Some fans, in order for their idol to get on the magazine cover, directly place orders for hundreds or thousands of copies. But still the same sentence, our review doesn't have that much value, and fans aren't stupid. It's not like only my family is doing reviews. Now so many media platforms are doing reviews, can they buy them all? Secondly, we have also made a series of restrictions. One envelope only accepts one voting result. We issued an explanation before, just to prevent brushing votes as much as possible."

Lu Yan He: "To do this review work, the effort to spend is really not small. Just to prevent brushing votes as much as possible, a lot of work has to be done."

"Fortunately, our voting base is large enough. Even if some people bypass our rules to brush votes through various methods, the brushing is limited, and the overall impact is not big," Chen Siqi said, "Our result statistics are real-time. On the live broadcast room barrage, everyone's reaction can be seen. At present, it is still mostly positive. Everyone still recognizes this ranking result, although this result changes every day, but the most popular works and actors are generally those."

Lu Yan He nodded.

"Are there quite a few people coming to greet you?"

"That's too many," Chen Siqi said, "I am very helpless. I said this vote counting is a 24-hour live broadcast. Don't say it's impossible for me to agree to play tricks. Even if I am willing, how can I play? Can't they see the form of this live broadcast? We even open the envelopes in front of the live broadcast camera."

Lu Yan He said: "Because domestically, regarding these reviews, awards, etc., a deeply rooted consensus has long been formed, that is, there must be relationships that can be walked. You refuse them, they will definitely not think it is because this review is really fair, but will think that they didn't walk the right path."

"..." Chen Siqi nodded, "What you said is really right, that's it, refused and came again, refused and came again, convinced."

Lu Yan He: "Are there any changes in the sales in September?"

"So far, it's about to break 500,000 copies," Chen Siqi said, "However, in order to prevent people from deliberately collecting votes, we have stopped the additional printing of the September issue. True readers, those who should buy have already bought."

Lu Yan He nodded.

"We also issued an announcement. For those who really didn't buy the September issue for some reason but want to collect them all, we will print it again uniformly next year," Chen Siqi said, "October, November, December, these three months are also like this. One month after going on sale, there will be no more additional printing."

"Are there still ways for those who want to collect votes to collect a large number of monthly issues?"

"This kind of thing can't be eliminated," Chen Siqi said, "We can't guarantee that there isn't a single brushed vote in these votes, but within one month of going on sale, so many people want to buy, and it's not necessarily that easy to collect votes. Many true readers are also buying."

Lu Yan He nodded.

"However, maybe next year, we have to think of other ways," Chen Siqi said, "What I worry about is that if the review results this year have great influence and can really promote many actual benefits, then maybe next year there will be capital coming down to brush votes, trying to influence the results. Now at most, it's some fans brushing a little bit for their idols that doesn't affect the overall situation. If there is really that kind of million-level, ten-million-level power coming down to brush votes, these methods of ours are all fake and can't hold up."

"Then it's up to you to study," Lu Yan He said, "There are always ways."

The two chatted all the way, and when they finally arrived at the station, they both felt dry-mouthed.

The filming location of "Oh My Sea" is in a small town by the sea. From the high-speed rail station, there is still a car ride of several hours.

The local area has already contacted the car and the driver.

When leaving the station, they met Jiang Yue again.

Beside her was a short-haired woman, looking very capable.

As soon as their eyes met, the short-haired woman pulled Jiang Yue up.

The other party actively said: "President Lu, President Chen, hello, I am Shen Yicheng from Kuyu, and also Jiang Yue's agent."

Kuyu?

Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi were both stunned because they hadn't heard of this company.

"Hello." Lu Yan He still politely shook hands with the other party.

"Are you also going to the 'Sea' crew?" Shen Yicheng said, "We are reporting to the crew today."

"What a coincidence, met here," Lu Yan He said, "There are many people here, and it's not convenient to talk. Shall we talk again when we return to the crew?"

"Okay." Shen Yicheng nodded with a smile.

After Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi and their party left, Shen Yicheng looked back at Jiang Yue.

"Why didn't you take the initiative to follow up just now?"

"I feel like they don't want to be disturbed," Jiang Yue said.

Shen Yicheng: "Which big shot wants to be disturbed? If everyone has the same mentality as you, how can people like us get familiar with them?"

Jiang Yue: "... Mainly they don't know who I am at all. If I go up to say hello rashly like this, their bodyguards almost stopped me."

Shen Yicheng: "At least this way they remember you. If you get to know them together with the crew, how can they remember who you are."

Jiang Yue sighed.

"Okay."

"Miss, you said you wanted to be a star, so I resigned and started a business to accompany you to break into this entertainment industry," Shen Yicheng said helplessly, "We don't have much background, just the two of us fighting. If we still want face, it's better to pack up and go home directly."

Jiang Yue pouted and hugged Shen Yicheng's arm.

"Okay, okay, I was wrong. I will try to make my face thicker next time," Jiang Yue said, "I know you are working hard. I will try not to drag you down."

Shen Yicheng: "Sigh, let's see if there is any improvement after acting in this movie. If there is really no improvement, we will sign your film and television contract to a powerful film and television company. In this way, at least we don't have to run around for auditions everywhere and can have dramas to act in."

Jiang Yue: "Listen to you, whatever you want to do is fine."

Shen Yicheng: "I really had water in my brain back then, agreeing to accompany you to break into the entertainment industry."

"Hey, since we are here, don't regret it," Jiang Yue said, "Look, didn't I take a role by my own strength?"

"A supporting role in a small movie with a production cost of only 2 million," Shen Yicheng said, "This is not worth our pride."

"Hey, everything has a first step," Jiang Yue laughed, "It's okay, we will definitely get better and better."

"You strive for some spirit, and I will also work hard, striving to at least cover our expenses this year, don't do business at a loss anymore," Shen Yicheng said, "Otherwise, that little money of ours, I don't know how long we can squander it like this. If we really spend all the money, you can only go home and continue to be your miss."

"What miss, my family just opened two factories, but you said it as if my family is a rich big family."

"At least when you were in school, there were drivers driving to pick you up. For us commoners, the miss of two factories is also a miss."

"Go, go, stop mocking me," Jiang Yue said, "Let's go, see how I use acting to conquer Lu Yan He! Look at how lucky I am, just joined the crew and ran into Lu Yan He visiting the set."

Shen Yicheng laughed.

This old classmate of hers has nothing else, just one thing that is very cow—that optimistic spirit, very strong.

The first day of the New Year, start updating.

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Recommend the old book "I Became the Scandal Heroine Overnight" (End of chapter)