Chapter 251: Sorry, You Can't, But I Can

Luo Mo naturally did not know that Ding Xiaoyu had already begun to repeatedly practice the form of address "Brother Xiaoyao" in her heart.

He looked at Ding Xiaoyu, thinking the young girl was about to play the lead actress opposite him as his master, and feeling a bit awkward, he said: "Acting is our job, don't link it to real life. You don't need to feel awkward either; just let go and act when the time comes."

An actor's job content is acting; some actresses of similar age even play mothers or daughters.

It's just that everyone focuses more on the romantic scenes, and for the character relationships in other parts of the story, they don't seem to care much.

At the same time, Luo Mo looked at Ding Xiaoyu and couldn't help but remind her: "However... I've noticed that you seem to be a bit of an Experience School actor?"

Ding Xiaoyu has been acting since she was a child and hasn't even started university yet, so she doesn't count as professionally trained for now, but as a child prodigy like her, how could she not understand the meaning of the Experience School.

Many Experience School actors strive to immerse themselves in their characters to the greatest extent; for example, if they are to be beaten, they must be truly beaten, and they will also fully project their own emotions into romantic scenes.

Therefore, many in the Experience School get too deep into their roles, unable to detach themselves even after filming wraps, becoming acting fanatics, or even... acting maniacs!

Ding Xiaoyu is not that exaggerated, but she does have a slight tendency toward it.

Because her real life is too oppressive, she actually tends to want to personally experience the lives of the various characters in the play deep down.

This allows her to obtain the greatest degree of self-catharsis.

She looked at Luo Mo, nodded slightly, and did not deny this point.

"It's best to keep a good sense of proportion." Luo Mo gently patted her head with a gentle smile.

Whether in this world or on Earth, many Experience School actors win awards until their hands go soft, but they cannot live their own lives well.

He doesn't particularly hope that Ding Xiaoyu ends up like that.

Yu nodded obediently, but whether she really listened, Luo Mo had no way of knowing.

Anyway, she would be staying in his crew next and acting under his nose, so Luo Mo wasn't too worried.

Time moved forward another week, and the casting work was basically finalized.

Major roles like Tang Yu Xiaobao and Anu were also helped along by Guan Fei.

Speaking of which, when Peng Yuyan played Tang Yu back then, he wasn't as handsome as he is now, and he felt a bit overshadowed by Hu Ge at the time.

They later even filmed a "Generals of the Yang Family" together.

Many years later, he also filmed a period drama with mediocre word-of-mouth with Liu Shishi, only this time it became Peng Yuyan playing the male lead and Hu Ge playing the second male lead.

Among the series of leads, the final one to be settled was the role of Jiu Jianxian.

The Jiu Jianxian on Earth was played by Xie Junhao, a man who had defeated Zhang Guorong when winning an award.

Another role of his that left a deep impression on everyone was Sui Yangdi Yang Guang.

Come to think of it, this person's eyes are a bit listless, leaning towards "dead fish eyes," lacking that kind of piercing, spirited feeling, yet internally they make people feel a bit sharp.

When playing Jiu Jianxian, this pair of eyes is an absolute bonus.

After Guan Fei finished reading the script, his personal favorite was Jiu Jianxian, so he was exceptionally attentive when helping with the casting.

It is worth mentioning that the actor for Jiu Jianxian and the little actress who played Anu are real father and daughter in reality.

This made the actor playing Tang Yu feel a lot of pressure, as it meant he would very likely have to perform romantic scenes with someone's daughter right under her own father's nose.

And this father's gaze was especially terrifying!

Luo Mo wouldn't concern himself with these things.

He is currently selecting filming locations for some places.

Especially the filming for Mount Shu, which needs to be chosen carefully.

By the afternoon, Luo Mo and Guan Fei were discussing in the office.

A knock on the door sounded, and an employee came to report something.

"Come in," said Luo Mo.

The employee Xiao Zhou came in and said: "Boss, Penguin Video has contacted us; it seems they want to discuss matters regarding 'Sword Fairy'."

"Eh? We haven't even released the character stills, and the filming progress is still zero, yet Penguin wants to come and buy the show?" Guan Fei was stunned.

He joked: "Luo Mo, you guys don't have some unspeakable deal, do you?"

"Get lost." After getting familiar with him, Luo Mo's speech became more casual.

But Penguin's actions were indeed a bit fast.

"Alright, I know, you go out and get busy first," Luo Mo said to Xiao Zhou.

In reality, as a Top Traffic star, Luo Mo doesn't have to worry about no one buying the shows he makes; it's just a matter of whether the price is high or low.

But to have them come knocking to buy it just as the project starts—this kind of treatment usually only exists for those big productions.

For example, after "Zhen Huan Zhuan" became a huge hit back then, the original team started working on "Ruyi Zhuan".

It was also before anything had started, and a large group of people were already holding cash to scramble for it.

In the end, the online streaming rights were sold for a figure that seemed incredibly terrifying at the time.

Although it seemed to be overshadowed by the hit show "Yanxi Gonglue" when it first aired, in the years after it finished airing, I don't know if it was because the concept of "fruit of previous karma" suddenly became popular, or if Zhou Gongzi's acting was truly convincing, but in recent years, its reputation and popularity seemed to warm up, and it was once again revered as a classic.

Luo Mo glanced at Guan Fei, who was twelve years his senior, and asked: "Brother Fei, what do you think?"

"What can I think? Of course I think highly of it!" he said in an exaggerated tone.

"You kid are an Ox; I've never enjoyed this kind of treatment!" Guan Fei was a bit envious.

Penguin is not short of money; this is common knowledge.

Penguin has great ambition; this is also common knowledge.

However, although everyone has cooperated very happily in the fields of music and animation, Penguin is not some mysterious existence standing from a God's Perspective, so why would they value "Sword Fairy" so much?

You have to know, only the show's title and the main creative team have been announced to the public so far!

"Let's chat and see, I reckon there are some additional conditions." Luo Mo smiled, and without avoiding Guan Fei, he made a call to the person in charge of docking at Penguin right in front of him.

After the call ended, the two sat in the office and looked at each other.

"Penguin is worthy of being Penguin, huh." Guan Fei clicked his tongue.

Luo Mo also nodded along.

Penguin Video offered a price for a top-tier major drama to purchase "Sword of Immortal".

But the additional condition is that for Luo Mo's next two dramas, Penguin must have the right of first refusal.

The dramas mentioned here refer to dramas in which Luo Mo serves as the lead actor.

At the same time, those where he serves as screenwriter or director also count.

"This is bundling," Luo Mo smiled.

"That's why I say they value you," Guan Fei circled around and applauded for Luo Mo again.

Penguin Video's thinking is very simple; with Guan Fei at least providing a floor for "Sword of Immortal", no matter how much of a novice Luo Mo is, the final product shouldn't crash and burn, nor should it flop to the point of total ruin.

Even if the final results are average, it doesn't matter.

Luo Mo is a Top Traffic, and his acting skills are on point. Whether we make a Self-made Web Drama together or cooperate in other ways, it is relatively stable.

Nowadays, this kind of bundling model is quite popular in the industry; one reason is the fear that after the other party takes off, they will dump everyone else. The other reason is that the competition is very fierce right now, extremely fierce.

Penguin Video is full of sincerity and is throwing money around like crazy, but in fact, they aren't throwing it at "Sword of Immortal" at all—after all, this drama doesn't even have a shadow yet—they are purely throwing it at the person that is Luo Mo!

Guan Fei looked at Luo Mo and said, "Penguin actually has great ambition these past few years."

"They entered the film and television platform space actually a few years later than the likes of Pineapple TV."

Luo Mo nodded; he was clear on this point.

Previously, there were five major video platforms, but back then, running a video platform wasn't nearly as profitable as it is now, and this involved many reasons, such as rampant piracy.

Later, during the period of rapid development, the five major platforms each showed their unique skills, and two of them collapsed.

Penguin Video happened to step into the battlefield at this time and successfully emerged as a dark horse.

In the end, the current situation of the four major platforms was formed.

Nowadays, this industry has already reached a certain scale and climate, and it is much harder for others to enter the market.

"In terms of foundation, Penguin is inferior to the other three major platforms," Guan Fei said directly.

Luo Mo understood this point; after all, although they forced their way in during the golden age, they were still half a step slower than the others.

For example, on Earth, don't look at how that Boss Jia ran abroad to build cars, but the video platform he tinkered with back then was very prescient; when others didn't value copyrights and even relied heavily on piracy to attract viewers, he was frantically purchasing the copyrights to major classic films and dramas at low prices.

The copyright fees back then, the total price for a whole drama, might not even equal the cost of half an episode of a big production today.

In the past, when everyone made dramas, they mainly earned money from television stations. It's not like now, where the online streaming fees for many dramas are far more than the money given by television stations.

Therefore, many people in the industry say that Boss Jia was the first person among all video websites to frantically purchase legitimate copyrights, and also the first to make money.

In this world, the copyrights to those classic films and dramas from the past are mostly controlled by the other three major platforms, such as Pineapple TV.

Penguin can now fight them to a standstill because everyone has the strength to compete with their new dramas, new variety shows, and new anime.

But they can't compete with others in terms of inventory.

It's just like on Earth, where many people, when they have nothing to watch while eating, will still choose to watch the classic mealtime drama "Wulin Waizhuan".

There's no other way; if the old stuff doesn't work, then they can only put effort into new things.

After all, as time passes, the hit shows broadcast this year might also be revered as nostalgic classics in a few years.

Therefore, the Penguin Video of this world also has the boldest style of operation.

Anyway... we have plenty of money!

【Signing the person but not the drama】, Luo Mo had heard of this form in his past life, but he never had the qualifications to experience it.

He didn't expect that just after stepping into the film and television industry, he would feel it.

"I think the general direction is fine, but the details still need to be polished slowly," Luo Mo said to Guan Fei.

"Alright, you, you've taken a huge advantage again," Guan Fei said with a smile: "There's no way around it, those of us in the industry all know that starting next year, the four major platforms will likely fight even more fiercely."

"Why?" Luo Mo asked.

"The opportunities in the next few years are good, and the things involved in this are quite complex; I could talk to you for a whole night. In short, it's that none of the four major platforms are satisfied with being one of the four, and they all want to take the opportunity to become the head of the four!" Guan Fei said.

Luo Mo nodded; for them, it was actually just a case of making money while things were chaotic.

If the platforms are willing to lose money to grab market share, then the good things produced by creative teams will have a premium.

"This kind of long-term cooperation is actually a good thing," Guan Fei said: "What do you think about this model?"

He had always felt that Luo Mo was a young man with many ideas, so he wanted to discuss it with him.

"I think we can create a theater section for a specific category," Luo Mo said, looking at him.

"If the reputation can be established, in the future, works produced by that category's theater can drive traffic to each other, becoming popular before they are even broadcast," Luo Mo said.

What he was talking about was actually somewhat similar to the 【Mist Theater】 on Earth.

"Your idea is quite interesting," Guan Fei's eyes lit up, and he said: "It's a pity that it's very difficult to execute; after all, one prospers with it, and one suffers with it."

This kind of model requires a high probability of producing high-quality works.

Just like how 【Mist Theater】 initially relied on dramas like "The Bad Kids" and "The Long Night" to directly open up the market.

So much so that everyone has extremely high expectations for works produced by that theater.

But the key lies in the fact that when expectations are high, the requirements also become high.

With pearls and jade in front, the comparison is very strong.

Therefore, this section has slipped quite a bit again this year.

This form, if it keeps rising, can be explosive!

But if it flops a few times in the middle, then everything is for nothing.

After all, everyone is not a prophet, nor are they the kind of Ox person who makes a hit out of everything they film, and no one can know the market feedback in advance.

However

"Sorry, I can," Luo Mo said in his heart.

(PS: First update, seeking monthly votes! Only a few hundred votes away from moving up one spot.)

(End of this chapter)