Chapter 775: Roll

In November, Lu Yan He completed the second phase of filming for *Godless* and returned to China without stopping to join the crew of *Friends*.

"I am very sorry, this year because of me, we cannot film according to the previous mode." When Lu Yan He first read the script with everyone, he was the first to stand up and apologize to everyone.

Everyone waved their hands.

Yin Xincheng said: "We have filmed so many seasons, we are very familiar with it. Even if we don't film according to the previous mode, we will definitely be able to complete the filming of this season with high quality."

Others also echoed.

Everyone was comforting Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He: "Thank you all."

On this point, Lu Yan He's approach had always made everyone feel uncomfortable.

Clearly, Lu Yan He was the most core person of *Friends*, and his status in the entertainment industry today had almost reached the top; it was impossible for anyone to have any criticism of him for such a small matter. At such a time, he still appeared too "fearful and trembling," putting his status very low.

However, it was precisely because of this point that *Friends* had been filmed to the third season, and the whole story had been filmed to the sixth season; all the lead actors were popular and big names, and in this crew, not to mention that none of these actors were acting up, none of the companies and teams behind them dared to "challenge" or "act like a big shot."

However, it was not that they were really sensible.

Lu Yan He had heard from other places about some of their teams "acting like big shots" or "throwing tantrums."

There was no way to deal with this kind of thing; it could not be prohibited.

Their value was placed there; once they were popular to a certain extent, it was the platform and the production team that would coax the stars.

The market granted them the qualification to "act like big shots" and "throw tantrums."

It was impossible for Lu Yan He to hear that someone's team had a bad reputation in the outside world and rashly go to "remind" them.

Even if he knew that this kind of thing, even standing from the so-called perspective of justice, was "a dog catching a mouse and meddling in other people's business."

Because Yan Liang had to film *Speed*, he had been working out recently, and his whole body had become a bit more robust.

For this reason, Lu Yan He also had to make some foreshadowing and explanations in the *Friends* script for the changes in Yan Liang's physique.

Although Yan Liang's popularity overseas was not high now, as long as it was mentioned that he was the lead actor in *Friends*, many people would still react: Oh, it's him!

Just like many Chinese audiences were not familiar with Lisa Kudrow, once it was said that she was Phoebe in *Friends*, they would immediately "Oh, it's her!".

This was the influence of a hit show.

The US version of *Friends* was broadcast on Maxine, and the results were actually quite good, and the ratings were also very high.

However, it seemed that the luck of this IP had been sucked away in advance, resulting in the US version of *Friends* being quite good in all aspects, but not exploding like the original timeline.

Instead, it was Lu Yan He and their copyright that, as time passed and season after season was broadcast, had more and more viewers on Maxine, the repeat viewing rate was frighteningly high, and it was constantly mentioned on social platforms; many people and memes in the show had become elements of mass popular culture.

In short, it was getting more and more popular.

It is said that the broadcast agreement for the first season of *Friends* signed between Beijing TV and Maxine had expired, and Maxine paid another 5 million dollars just to renew the broadcast rights for the first season—just for a three-year renewal.

When Lu Yan He heard this news, his eyelids drooped, and he could only tell himself that Beijing TV only had the ability to take advantage of things.

In recent years, Beijing TV had really been doing worse and worse, becoming increasingly desolate.

Guarding the only seedling *Seventeen Layers*, all other major projects, without exception, failed to meet expectations, and its market share was constantly shrinking due to the streaming media era.

If it weren't for Jiang Lan here trying every possible way to create new blood, Beijing TV would probably have long since been reduced to a streaming media broadcast platform.

Many TV stations now had such a positioning.

They had no confidence at all to do exclusive broadcasts or even joint broadcasts.

They were all broadcast on video websites first, and then broadcast a round on TV stations, calling it "going on satellite," but in reality, it was just one of the sales channels for production companies where "even a mosquito is meat."

Lu Yan He also truly admired Jiang Lan for this.

She held the *Seventeen Layers* series in her hands, but despite the pressure within Beijing TV, she firmly refused to develop it blindly. Up to now, only the spin-off starring Chen Pinhe had entered the actual production stage, just to ensure that the *Seventeen Layers* series could flow for a long time, so that Beijing TV would not collapse across the board.

Of course, *Jiang Yan*, with Lu Yan He as producer, Lian Bei as director, and Yan Liang as lead actor, was another major project in Jiang Lan's hands.

This could also be considered Lu Yan He cooperating with Beijing TV in a disguised way.

But Lu Yan He didn't mind.

Because whether it was him or his friends, they all earned what they deserved from this project, and no one suffered a loss.

The key was that this was a good story; Lu Yan He believed that for the actors, this was a project very worth acting in.

For Lian Bei, this was also a director's work that could allow him to go to the next level.

As for whether *Jiang Yan* could actually make money for Beijing TV, it should be able to. After all, for a major project with such a lineup, before it was broadcast, there was already a deposit for copyright and advertising fees. But how much could it earn? Could it be as profitable as *Friends*? That probably wouldn't be possible; the production cost of this show alone was more than 200 million.

Everyone received their salary strictly according to the market price, not being polite at all.

Lu Yan He was the same; he received his producer fee without any hesitation. Without him, *Jiang Yan* could never have formed such an all-star lineup.

Couldn't Beijing TV see that its profit space in such a major project was limited?

The income ceiling for TV dramas was placed there, and it was not a movie, where the ceiling was extremely high. But could Beijing TV refuse such a project? Regardless of whether other people inside Beijing TV were short-sighted, Jiang Lan was very clear that the most critical thing for Beijing TV now was to prove that it could still produce a top-tier project and have the power to bargain with advertisers.

Advertisers pay for "expectations," not "sharing profits" with TV stations based on broadcast results.

Therefore, if Beijing TV could still produce a hit drama like *Seventeen Layers*, okay, the advertisers' trust in you would be much higher, and they would be more willing to pay. To be honest, where do advertisers have such clear data to prove how high their advertising conversion rate is?

Each brand's advertising budget is placed there; how to prove that their budget was spent correctly and worth it? It's very simple; they can only use quantifiable data such as ratings and broadcast numbers to write reports. But in other words, even if the data of this project is not that beautiful, will the advertisers actually suffer any loss? Anyway, it cannot be reflected immediately on the books.

Under these circumstances, Beijing TV must have hit film and television dramas that can stand on their own feet, and also be able to maintain a good relationship with advertisers, so that they are willing to spend more of their own advertising budgets on Beijing TV.

Therefore, with such an operational logic, is the profit space of *Jiang Yan* limited? Then without *Jiang Yan*, would these advertisers still be willing to invest? For those ordinary small projects, could they still "show some interest"?

Jiang Lan's calculations were very clear.

Even, after Lu Yan He finished filming the third season of *Seventeen Layers*, he had been cold to her and Beijing TV for so long, but she still persistently "asked about his well-being" every few days, trying hard to ease the relationship with him. For every movie of Lu Yan He, she would definitely buy the broadcast rights from time to time and broadcast it on Beijing TV.

Lu Yan He had no opinion about her personally, but Lu Yan He had already made a decision in his heart. Unless one day Jiang Lan herself became the head of Beijing TV and could make decisions completely, he would never cooperate with Beijing TV on his own projects again. At most, it would be like *Jiang Yan*, using his influence in the entertainment industry to help her gather the team.

However, when Jiang Lan appeared on the set of *Friends* in the name of visiting the set, Lu Yan He was still a bit shocked.

*Friends* was now a TV drama of Yuehu TV, and Jiang Lan was, after all, the deputy head of Beijing TV; the relationship between them should be "kings not meeting kings."

One should avoid suspicion.

What Lu Yan He didn't expect even more was that Jiang Lan came to visit him.

In front of Bai Jingnian, Jiang Lan said: "I have always known that when you were at Beijing TV before, there was a lot of talent that was not fully tapped, but at that time I couldn't rashly intervene in your affairs. If I had gone against the crowd to support you, in that environment, it would have been a bad thing for you instead, so I could only watch you, such an excellent director, leave. You don't know how much my heart was bleeding."

Bai Jingnian: "..."

A momentary expression of "you've said everything" appeared on his face.

However, they were all adults, and it was natural to give each other some face. Especially since there had never been any conflict between him and Jiang Lan. Just as Jiang Lan said, even though she was a deputy head, he had never been under her faction and basically had no intersection.

Once Jiang Lan spoke up for him at that time, the nature of many things would change in the eyes of some people.

That would be "betrayal."

Lu Yan He really didn't understand why Jiang Lan had to come to the *Friends* crew at this time.

But in the eyes of everyone, Jiang Lan being able to come only meant that she was awesome—

A deputy head of Beijing TV, no matter what, came to the crew of a hit project that she "lost," and talked and laughed with people; just this demeanor was enough to be described as "broad." Jiang Lan came with great fanfare this time.

Not only did she come, but she also treated the whole crew to drinks.

This made the *Friends* crew not know whether to issue a press release.

Usually, such celebrity visits would be accompanied by a press release, which could be considered a warm-up and publicity for the show.

No matter how big the IP or how thick the fan base, publicity was still needed.

But if a press release were issued, how would others see it?

A leader from Beijing TV came to visit the set... if you had changed to a leader from another station, it would be fine, but it happened to be the "old home" of *Friends*.

The crew was still struggling, but Jiang Lan had already pulled Lu Yan He aside.

"Yan He, I need your help." As soon as Jiang Lan spoke, Lu Yan He was stunned.

"Ah?"

Jiang Lan said: "Are you planning to bring the Hexi Film Festival to China?"

Lu Yan He's eyes widened in surprise.

"Where did you hear the news?"

"The news hasn't spread yet; I heard it from one of my teachers." Jiang Lan said, "Recently, the news about the Hexi Film Festival being canceled was making a big fuss. Beijing TV was originally going to report this news, but it was temporarily withdrawn at the last minute. I felt strange, so I went to inquire, and only then did I know that you were doing big things in silence."

"I didn't participate much in this matter." Lu Yan He said, "I don't know the specific situation either."

Jiang Lan looked at Lu Yan He with burning eyes. "If this matter is successful, I want Beijing TV to become the official partner TV station of the Hexi Film Festival. Who can I find to get involved in this matter?"

Lu Yan He said: "Director Jiang, I really don't know."

"Who is communicating with the Hexi Film Festival?" Jiang Lan paused, then said solemnly: "Yan He, Director Shen is retiring this year. If I can bring Beijing TV to join this event, I will have a great hope of going further. I really need your help."

Lu Yan He became serious at this time.

"What did you finally say to her?"

"I said, if it is confirmed that the Hexi Film Festival will be held in China, I will see the situation and help her bridge the connection."

"Beautiful." Chen Ziyan praised, "This kind of thing is exactly what you can't agree to directly."

"Mainly, it's not up to me." Lu Yan He said, "Furthermore, what the situation of the Hexi Film Festival is now, I haven't asked, and I don't know. If I rashly let Beijing TV get involved, who knows if it will affect the final negotiation results."

Chen Ziyan: "Jiang Lan herself is the deputy head of Beijing TV, but she needs to get involved through you, which shows that in her line, no one can reach into this matter. This is very worth exploring. At this stage, even her line can't reach in; think about how exaggerated the confidentiality of this matter is."

"But the news has already spread."

"The news can't be covered up." Chen Ziyan said, "The key parts are covered tightly, making people unable to find a way in; that is the real thing."

Lu Yan He nodded.

Changing the venue of the Hexi Film Festival is a big deal.

If it can really be fought for to be held in China, not to mention that this can directly promote the development of the Chinese film industry, what is undeniable is that Chinese films will no longer be outside the international mainstream vision.

Even when Chinese films are at their most commercial, there are still many young filmmakers who are insisting on the creation of art films. But they have neither market volume nor local film festivals and awards support, and neither the people nor the films can come out. With soil and a window, such a group of people has the possibility of being seen.

Many times, whether an industry has a steady stream of fresh blood also depends on whether the soil of this industry is big enough.

If it is not big enough, then naturally some "first-come, first-served" people will control the resources of the entire industry, covering the sky with one hand, and newcomers will not be able to emerge.

Most importantly, the foundation of the Hexi Film Festival is placed here. If it can be held in China, not to mention that there will be a few "local protection" films shortlisted for the main competition every year (this is something that the main competition unit of all major film festivals will do, including Cannes), other units are also cradles for young directors to grow.

For a film, being able to have a window to be seen directly and struggling to find a window for others to see are two completely different concepts.

At this time.

The Locarno Film Festival held in December released the list of shortlisted films for each unit at this time.

The Locarno Film Festival has always been one of the four major international film festivals, with the lowest presence in China.

Last year, because Director Wang Zhong served as the jury president, it attracted some attention in China, but overall, Chinese films rarely appeared at this film festival.

Including Lu Yan He, whose performance at international film festivals in recent years has been so strong, no film has ever been shortlisted for the main competition unit.

Mainly because it was snatched away by other film festivals, and the relationship between Locarno and Lu Yan He is relatively average.

Unexpectedly, this year, three Chinese-language films were shortlisted for the Locarno Film Festival.

Three Chinese-language films, all with big stars.

The first one, starring Liu Teli, *On the Xunyang River*, tells the story of a fisherman's family.

The second one, the new film *Hesitant Outlook on Life* by director Wang Shuai, who was shortlisted for the Locarno main competition unit with *In the Waves* before, starring Yu Mengling, and Jiang Yue, who acted in Linghe's two films *Oh My Sea* and *There is a Strange Woman in the Building*, also participated.

The third one is the film *Portrait*, starring Xu Yiren, who previously starred in the hit film *Someone Under the Bed*.

This is the session with the most Chinese-language films shortlisted for the main competition unit of the Locarno Film Festival in history.

The Chinese film circle has started to carnival.

A rare prosperous year—

And because the films shortlisted this time all have popular actors starring in them, the media volume is also very large, not to mention the fans, who are doing publicity everywhere.

In addition to these three films, an American film starring Jiang Yuqian and Li Zhibai was also shortlisted for other competition units.

Overall, the number of Chinese filmmakers at this Locarno Film Festival exceeded any of the four major international film festivals in the past three years.

"When did Xu Yiren suddenly film such a movie?"

"Yeah, I didn't hear any news before."

"Didn't she always film some genre films before?"

In the discussion of the shortlisted films for this Locarno Film Festival, the one that surprised and puzzled the industry the most was actually Xu Yiren.

Because in the industry, Xu Yiren's positioning is actually very similar to Jiang Yuqian's, a star with high commerciality, not an actor.

Liu Teli and Yu Mengling are the actors in everyone's mind.

Xu Yiren can be said to be one of the most popular actresses in the film field in recent years, because every film she starred in broke 100 million. Starting from *The Home I Haven't Returned to for a Long Time*, her box office results have been continuing, without interruption—

As a result, she also suddenly acted in an art film?

When Chen Ziyan came to visit the *Friends* crew, she said to Lu Yan He: "I heard that she didn't receive a salary for filming *Portrait*."

Lu Yan He showed surprise.

"Ah?"

"Because the crew could only afford a salary of 500,000, which is far lower than her market price. Receiving it would lower her own value, so it's better to act for zero salary." Chen Ziyan said, "She is quite ambitious. Having the title of box office queen is not enough; now she has started to rush for awards."

After a pause, Chen Ziyan said again: "I feel that the entertainment industry has been rolled by you a bit. Before, everyone was half a catty to eight taels, and if it was rotten, it was a nest. Now, rolled by you, everyone has started to run overseas. Having box office is not enough; you have to go internationally to win awards." (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 776 =====