Chapter 191: Mutual Buried Nails

"Don't mess around, watch the movie attentively!"

"I'll tell you something, Changchang."

Su Chang turned her head slightly, her eyes fixed on the big screen.

"Mm, say it."

The movie was playing Feng Feng Yuanzheng taking Zhang Zhang Yishan to steal things, making Su Chang's heart jump, fearing they would be discovered.

"How about I help you sign with Inquiry Realm?"

"What!?"

Su Chang turned around in horror, and the two little girls' heads bumped heavily together, each holding their heads and shouting in pain.

"What do you mean? Sign me for what?"

"Cultivate you!"

Liu Liu Yifei felt inexplicably sour in her heart; she didn't think about the fact that she had voluntarily given up the offer.

With her experience and scheming, she couldn't see for the time being that this was Lu Kuan's "love me, love my dog."

Using her best friend Su Chang, and then bringing the two to attend the premiere, was to release a signal to the mainland entertainment industry.

Su Chang was also somewhat naive; judging from her strange development route in the later years, she was also someone who had no plan for her career.

"Do I want to go, Sisi? He is so... lecherous!"

The small-scale "metoo" uprising of Xu and Dong failed, but Lu Boss's reputation for a chaotic private life had long been famous in the mainland entertainment industry.

Especially since these two little girls had eavesdropped in the VIP position.

"Agree! It's okay, he doesn't dare to do anything."

Liu Liu Yifei guaranteed Lu Kuan with certainty; actually, she had her own little abacus.

"I heard Yang Siwei say that now in China, Inquiry Realm, Yanda Huayi, Hairun Film and Television, and several companies like Small Horse Galloping are decent."

"Although Lu Kuan has a bad reputation, his character is also bad! He always pits others, there is nothing wrong with being friends with such people!"

Su Chang looked at her analyzing herself in an orderly way, crying and laughing.

He is bad? So you refuse, you let me go?

You are pitting your best friend!

"Why don't you go yourself?"

Liu Liu Yifei was pitiful: "He doesn't look down on me, saying my acting skills are too poor, and asked me to learn from you!"

Su Chang "comforted her old heart," this Little Lu director still has some vision!

At the beginning in the *Golden Powder* crew, Liu Liu Yifei, who had just entered the entertainment industry, was the most maddening for everyone, and Su Chang of the same age was much more saving.

Seeing Su Chang half-pushed and half-agreed, Liu Liu Yifei then threw out her real purpose.

"Changchang, can you do me a favor after you go?"

"What?"

"Help me watch him!"

"What!"

Liu Liu Yifei saw her surprised, and quickly covered Su Chang's mouth.

"It's like this, let me explain (cover up)."

"Lu Kuan is actually not bad by nature, but young people, you see, like the social environment, native family, etc., will have an impact."

Damn, the original words of Boss Lu's flickering you were all memorized.

"We can be considered friends, how can I watch him fall into bad luck?"

"So!"

Liu Liu Yifei solemnly held Su Chang's shoulders and said sternly: "You help me watch him, if there are any women with bad intentions approaching him, you call me, I'll find a way to stop him!"

Su Chang was stunned, and as smart as she was, she had already seen through her best friend's real purpose!

"Liu Liu Yifei! You are in puppy love? Your mother knows and won't beat you?"

"Nonsense! What puppy love! I am maintaining the justice of the entertainment industry!"

"He is like a beast, how many female stars suffer from him? How can you not stop it when you see it?"

Su Chang heard her say it was contradictory, and laughed without covering up: "Forget it, you are farting with your pants off."

Liu Liu Yifei pretended to be angry: "Just say whether you help or not? You agree, I will help you sign into Inquiry Realm, otherwise I won't talk to you!"

She really learned it, using the time difference of Lu Kuan looking for someone to sign Su Chang, and came to a "borrowing flowers to offer Buddha."

"Then I'll discuss it with my uncle!"

"Okay!"

Lu Kuan started to want Yang Yang Siwei to be his eye, controlling Liu Liu Yifei like a kite, but the effect was not good.

Helplessly, he developed a temporary Hu Ge.

Liu Liu Yifei is also a quick-witted one; hearing that he wanted to sign Su Chang, she turned around and started spy training work first.

The two stopped talking and immersed themselves in the fascinating movie plot.

Liu Liu Yifei and Su Chang have similar family experiences, both relatively lacking fatherly love from childhood, and longing for a warm family.

Like many ordinary audiences, they ignored their identity as actresses and felt the spiritual power brought by this tear-jerking drama with all their hearts.

Zhang Zhang Yimou and others evaluated and appreciated Lu Kuan's creation from a professional perspective.

For example, various "blank-leaving narratives" from the third perspective:

Guan Xiaotong didn't know, Fan Bingbing looked at her wearing her favorite swimsuit and refusing to take it off, as if seeing herself when she was young;

When Feng Feng Yuanzheng was chasing the bus, he didn't know, Zhang Zhang Yishan on the bus finally said "Dad" silently;

Everyone didn't know, Zhou Xun gave up her job to keep Guan Xiaotong, and didn't know that Grandma said thank you silently on the beach.

To give an inappropriate example, Zhang Zhang Yimou looked at Lu Kuan now, just like Kurosawa Akira looked at Zhang Zhang Yimou one day in the 90s.

Master Kurosawa Akira and producer Kumada Masahiko watched Old Zhang's *The Story of Qiu Ju* together.

Less than 5 minutes after the movie started, Kurosawa Akira said to Kumada: This director has great skills.

Kumada was puzzled, Kurosawa Akira explained that his opening almost made me enter this foreign story.

Similarly, Zhang Zhang Yimou, who had just transferred from art films to explore commercial blockbusters like *Hero*, also saw the ambition of a young director in Lu Kuan's movie.

And the ability he possesses that is generally missing in domestic directors of this era.

The ability to tell a good story.

The long yet short viewing time ended, and the whole theater was filled with the sound of sobbing.

Liu Liu Yifei and Su Chang stood up with red eyes and joined all the audience members present in offering enthusiastic applause!

The reason Boss Lu dared to invest heavily in Focus Media when funds were tight, besides picking up bargains, was also because two expected revenues were about to be received.

The first was "Paranormal Activity," which was laid out at the beginning of the year.

The revenue from the second phase of the "Paranormal Activity" DVD release in North America dropped significantly because the film was released in theaters, selling only 330,000 copies in the third quarter.

After deducting all expenses such as distribution and transportation, the net profit received was 3 million US dollars.

Fortunately, Lionsgate was professional enough with independent films, and the 1,000 screens they controlled gradually increased screenings starting from midnight shows.

It has been on screen for half a month, with a North American box office of less than 90 million US dollars, which has not yet fully released its box office potential compared to the 193 million in later generations.

However, this exaggerated figure was also the cumulative result of multiple releases.

After deducting theater shares, promotion expenses, and various taxes, Wenjie (USA) received a profit of 11 million US dollars.

Honestly speaking, this is not a small amount, and it was still because of the bet Boss Lu made with Jason at the time, which lowered the film's distribution fee ratio.

Taking Nolan's masterpiece "Interstellar" as an example, the film's global box office was 670 million US dollars, with a total cost and promotion cost of 310 million; looking at the box office figures alone, it was almost a dead end.

If it weren't for the DVD and rental income as well as the peripheral revenue to save its life, Warner would have suffered a blood loss.

But even so, Warner only received 45 million US dollars in revenue from "Interstellar."

The second was "Chinese Paladin," which was a huge hit and was crazily sucking in money.

"Chinese Paladin" signed a flexible advertising fee realization mechanism with advertisers, with a base price of 12 million, 3 million less than "My Fair Princess III."

However, because of the soaring ratings, advertisers needed to pay according to a coefficient of 1.5, bringing the total advertising revenue to 18 million.

In the second round of broadcast rights sales that just ended, it was sold to four satellite TV stations including Shaanxi and Xiao Anhui provinces that won the joint bid at a price of 1 million per episode, for a total of 34 million.

The reason it was able to sell at a high price in a market where the price of costume dramas was constantly falling was, first, because four stations bought it together, and second, because the word-of-mouth was so good and the subject matter was scarce.

The first game-adapted drama, the first Xianxia drama.

With Wenjie's 65% stake, the second phase of "Chinese Paladin" brought in 45.7 million in revenue, making Boss Lu grin from ear to ear.

You have to say that TV dramas are still the way to make money these days!

In this way, the company's financial pressure was greatly reduced; he could safely invest in Focus Media first, and also prepare the initial shooting funds for "The Thief."

After all, tax rebates and pre-sales still take time; the crew couldn't just stop and wait for the money to arrive before starting work, right?

After the premiere, the entertainment media and guests in attendance, as well as lucky audience members, posted comments on media and blogs one after another to create momentum for "The Thief."

【Zhang Zhang Jizhong】: Director Lu's films always have the power to shock people from small things, and the lead actors' acting skills are explosive, gentle and silent. Highly recommended!

The bearded man's blog was the first to be posted, hanging at the top like a slogan of turning over a new leaf, just to gain Boss Lu's favor and forgiveness.

【Zhou Xun】: Kindness is an instinct, love must be learned. Friends are welcome to bring their families during the National Day holiday to come and "tear up"!

【Fan Fan Bingbing】: I cried several times while filming the movie, and I didn't walk out of the character until the wrap-up. Looking forward to everyone's post-viewing thoughts, you can write them below this blog post!

【Yu Dong】: Once again conquered by the storytelling of Director Lu's films. He can always find a glimmer of human light in filth and darkness. Recommended!

Fatty Yu failed to send a girl at the beginning and didn't manage the distribution of "The Thief," but he initially booked the distribution of Wenjie's "Love is Not Blind."

With such a good opportunity, why not lick it with all your might?

【Zhou Zhou Jielun】: The concert ended on September 12th. Today, I dragged myself for a few days to come and see A-Kuan's movie in advance. Seeing the scary Teacher Feng suddenly turn into a timid middle-aged man, I truly admire his acting skills. An absolute masterpiece!

【Han Hong】: One day at the beginning of the year, Director Lu found me and said he wanted me to sing a movie theme song. I listened to the demo called "The Dawn is Here" and my eyes immediately moistened. No matter when or where, family affection is always the most shocking power. I recommend everyone to go to the cinema together to watch this touching movie!

There were also celebrities like Na Ying, Ke Lan, Chen Kun, and Huang Huang Xiaoming posting to support.

Before that press conference that shocked the internal entertainment industry, such a lineup could not have formed spontaneously.

But Boss Lu, who holds TV stations and top Hollywood projects, already has a faint trend of capitalization, and everyone can't help but lean towards him.

The audience was led by these celebrity big Vs to discuss topics, and they all began to look forward to the young director's second masterpiece.

And white-collar workers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen were surprised to find that they saw advertisements for "The Thief" in front of and inside elevators every day when they went to work!

"Kindness is an instinct, love must be learned. During the National Day, 'Shoplifters' will steal your tears, please look forward to it!"

Lu Kuan's blog account also began to engage in "flamboyant operations" half a month before the release.

The "Shoplifters" crew decided: In the first week after the movie's release, that is, during the National Day holiday, they would prepare tissues for the audience in large cinemas in first- and second-tier cities across the country!

After the movie ends, fans and friends are welcome to register with the resident staff based on the number of remaining tissues, and the top three who use the least can receive prizes!

The event is called "Tear-jerking Challenge, come if you're not convinced!".

Fans and audience members are interacting, checking in, and setting flags below the blog post.

"Long Qishi Lu Kuan, what are you being arrogant about? Just wait and see if your dad cries or not."

"Are you kidding me? What if you smear onion juice on the tissues?"

"Last time "Whiplash" said there were no pee breaks and didn't let us go to the bathroom, this time you say you want the audience to let out a lot of water. Washing machine, you just can't get past body fluids, right?"

Liu Liu Yifei laughed out loud, 【Road Roller】 liked it!

She also switched to her main account, and with the help of Central Academy of Drama top student Yang Yang Siwei, she racked her brains to post a very literary film review.

【Liu Liu Yifei】: I stole a childhood in the store, you buried scars in the mud. The innocence that should have been possessed was used for crime, and the truth that should have been clear was covered up.

The most bone-deep cruelty of life is also the most healing disease of the family. After watching the movie, I cried my eyes out and just wanted to give my mom a hug immediately!

The film review was excellent, but the fans quickly went off-topic.

"The filthy Long Qishi director, you made my Zhao Linger cry, and you want to make us cry too?"

"Wang Wang Yuyan, actually I am your mother who has been separated for many years, can we have a hug?"

"Wow, Fairy Sister's writing is so good. I was also drawn to attend the premiere today. Seeing you and Lu Kuan standing together, I wish I could go up and kick him to death!"

Once this topic marketing method came out, the distribution teams of Bona, China Film, and Shanghai Film in the circle closed their doors for meetings!

Study it well for me!

Employees of film distribution companies in the internal entertainment industry hated Lu Kuan to death. Can you just stop for a while?

Making movies is one thing, but once it comes to distribution, you start rolling, and we have to work overtime in various ways.

We also have to research your plan, hold meetings, summarize, and write reports!

Topic marketing and hype can be imitated, but they can't imitate the 24-hour circulating advertisements in elevators in major first- and second-tier cities.

From now on, at least this advertising channel is not something they can get for competing films in the same period as Wenjie.

On Saturday, September 20, 2003, countless Chinese Paladin fans waited in front of the TV to watch Liu Liu Yifei's first variety show appearance.

Happy Camp is not a live broadcast; what is playing now is a pre-recorded program.

After "The Thief" press conference, Yang Yang Siwei took advantage of the momentum to continue to coerce the program team to give her artist Liu Liu Yifei the program treatment corresponding to her status.

The college student manager who took the young girl Liu Liu Yifei to bravely enter the entertainment circle was full of emotions about the fickleness of the world.

Boss Lu was right, improving one's own strength is the most important thing.

Lu Kuan was running a roadshow in Xiangjiang. Seeing Yang Yang Siwei's text message, he smiled and let it go. With nothing to do, he also turned on the TV to watch "Happy Camp."

He was examining the significance of this program to a satellite station, pondering how to replicate and innovate on the Travel Channel.

Or even replace it.

The previous text mentioned various circles in the internal entertainment industry that have appeared; each circle has its own characteristics, and Xiangtai's characteristics stem from its innate corporate nature.

The Hong Kong-Taiwan circle has always been on the path of decline;

The Northwest circle barely maintains the status quo by relying on a few core directors of the fifth generation;

The Beijing circle has been constantly reshuffling, and the leading figures of each generation are different;

While the Xiang Army has always been uniquely outstanding and somewhat transcendent.

The key to this is that their circle is not centered on any person or force, but as a large state-owned platform itself, constantly grabbing resources and making the cake bigger.

No matter which station head is in power, no matter which host leaves, it cannot hurt its foundation.

This is the advantage of the system.

But Boss Lu also knows that Xiangtai's great disaster is precisely because of its nature!

The attribute of a state-owned platform is very special. It requires enterprises and public institutions not only to create economic value but also to act as an official mouthpiece and shoulder the heavy responsibility of guiding public opinion!

In other words, you must both conform to the trend of entertainment to create benefits and quickly withdraw after the official clear guidance, returning to the social value of the mouthpiece media itself.

And Xiangtai is the most outstanding representative of the reform of local satellite TV, the first to implement the host-centered system, and the first to establish the development policy of entertainment-based station establishment.

In 2021, the Cyberspace Administration of China officially started the "Clear and Bright · 'Fan Circle' Chaos Rectification" special action.

It was also in this year that Happy Camp was suspended indefinitely, using the excuse of upgrading and revising to whitewash the peace.

But all the discerning people in the circle could see that this was used as a raft, a chicken to be slaughtered to warn the monkeys to rectify a certain circle culture.

How deep is the entertainment foundation of Xiangtai, or the Happy Camp that Boss Lu is watching?

He has seen a piece of data:

As early as 2018, Happy Camp's naming fee was as high as 700 million, and it had almost no cost other than software and hardware and host remuneration.

Because at that time, artists were already crying and begging to be on the show, so why would they need to pay them appearance fees?

Why did the "Clear and Bright Movement" target Xiangtai and its flagship program?

First, Xiangtai's entertainment has become capitalized, and its influence is too great! The official feels that the tail is too big to wag.

Just the listing of Mango Excellent Media alone has reached a market value of over 160 billion at its peak!

Second, Xiangtai and Happy Camp are the face representatives of the excessive entertainment of the internal entertainment industry.

In 2015, Internet capital killed into the entertainment circle on a large scale to start self-made variety shows. They poached a group of old hands from Xiangtai at high prices, all of whom came out of the "Super Girl," "Fast Boy," and "Singer" series.

Among them, the core teams of the talent shows of the two major video platforms, Penguin and Kiwi, all came from Xiangtai.

The madness of Internet capital chasing profit far exceeds the entry of the previous wave of coal bosses, and all kinds of dazzling talent shows and paid voting projects are emerging one after another!

It is even worse than the fan circle birthplace, the Stick Country. The Stick Country is a capitalist country, and they can ignore it, but we can't.

Including the fall of a certain Chu Yuxun, besides the various reasons that she herself cannot wash away, it is also because Xiangtai's Tianyu made her famous.

What's more, starting from the introduction of "Dae Jang Geum" in 2005, Xiangtai has been a practitioner of letting the hungry wolf of the Stick Country knock on the door.

Happy Camp's encounter is the above clearly sending a message to Internet capital!

Don't earn every penny! Don't invite everyone! We are serious this time!

"Taking history as a mirror," Xiangtai's twenty-year development process is extremely enlightening for Boss Lu.

Where should the Travel Channel under his actual control go?

How to go with the flow in the wave of entertainment, build barriers when the Korean wave is raging, and build a golden body before the official de-entertainment?

Including conforming to the national policy of cultural self-confidence, and making preparations in content and public opinion in advance!

Tell good Chinese cultural stories, bring out our own positive stars and cultural products, and export them to Korea, Japan, and the US and the West!

To put it nicely, Boss Lu's approach is a cultural investment by an artist and filmmaker.

To put it darkly, this is also a political speculation by a reborn cheater.

(End of chapter)