glass fish tank

Chapter 17

When rushing to the restaurant from the set, Beijing was so congested that nothing could get through.Numbers are limited in the city, so Mu Ning, Anna, and Chen Xuehua came in the same car, so they were all late.

If you had known that there was such a big mountain as Zhuang Yao, you would have to leave half an hour earlier, how could you make Mr. Zhuang wait an extra minute.

Standing at the door, Mu Ning quietly looked at Zhuang Yao's expression, and he didn't seem too surprised.

"Oh." Chen Xuehua yelled secretly, and said to Mu Ning behind him, "Sorry, I didn't know Mr. Zhuang was still there."

Mu Ning and Anna exchanged eyes, and they had a tacit understanding. He smiled and said to Chen Xuehua, "It's nothing, it's just my old club."

Several people sat down, and Chen Xuehua naturally sat beside Yue Fangcun.

Yue Fangcun divorced peacefully two years ago. His ex-wife is the person in charge of Xinshi Capital and has a close cooperation with Xinshi Films.Therefore, the relationship between the three is pretty good now, and they get together occasionally.

Next to Chen Xuehua were director Du Ze, producer Ma Ran, and screenwriter Li Feiyang.

The two bosses, Zhuang Yao and Yue Fangcun, are naturally the superiors.Bai Xiaotan is next to Zhuang Yao, and then his manager Lao Zhu.

Anna and Mu Ning were a little embarrassed, they sat directly opposite Zhuang Yao and Yue Fangcun.

Ma Ran has been in the industry for more than ten years, but he only started following the trend of buying and selling IP in the past two years.Although he has a good vision, he likes to drift with the crowd and is short-sighted.

"I'm actually quite hesitant to do "Black Rose" this time." Ma Ran recalled the posture of the year, took out the cigarette case, twisted two cigarettes out, passed them over to Yue Fangcun and Zhuang Yao, and the two accepted them. Yes, Bai Xiaotan took out a lighter to light a cigarette for Zhuang Yao.

Mu Ning was hungry and had no intention of socializing, staring at the cold dishes on the table in a daze.

"The status quo of our industry, there are only so many audiences to please. Young people, post-90s. Aren't these people playing Weibo or something? The script of "Black Rose" is purely original, and the story is really good. I watched It can be popular. After all, those of us who are current generations have to give some opportunities to young screenwriters, right?"

Li Feiyang felt that he was clicked, and quickly echoed: "Yes, yes. This TV series can be filmed, and then there is such a good team to do it. I must thank Mr. Ma for running around."

"Hey, it doesn't have much to do with me. I'm just a contractor at best. I still have to thank Mr. Yue." Ma Ran transferred his flattery to Yue Fangcun, who clinked glasses with him, which should be very useful.

The dishes came out quickly, plate after plate.Every plate brushed past Mu Ning's head, and the aroma rushed, making Mu Ning even more hungry.

Zhuang Yao looked at the little man across from him staring at the dish with his eyes straightened, his hands lying on the edge of the table, sitting upright like a student, and he wanted to laugh a little.He lifted the chopsticks, pushed the plate, picked up the chopsticks symbolically, and said: "What are you doing here, let's eat first."

People at the table picked up their chopsticks one after another, regardless of whether they were hungry or not.

Before taking two bites, Li Feiyang got up to pour the wine.

Yue Fangcun looked at Li Feiyang and said, "Xiao Li, I think that in this industry, IP alone is not enough. In the end, I guess it will depend on you professionals."

Li Feiyang felt a lot of bitterness, and said repeatedly: "Oh, you don't know, there are few professionals. Our industry has a low threshold..." Before he finished speaking, Old Zhu over there interrupted: "Yue How do you say this? Several big IPs still have red faces this year, just... tsk, I feel almost lucky."

The words were taken away, Li Feiyang had no choice but to sit down resentfully.

Yue Fangcun has a lot of IPs in his hands, but this year there are not a few so-called big IP works on the street.This one is no less elegant than Zhuang Yao.He is a typical boss style, only looking at the books and not the script. If there is no income from IP, who will flock to it.

"It's not bad luck." Du Ze sighed, and said, "There are too many things produced according to the law, so it's not easy for the audience to be fooled, right?" Du Ze dusted off the soot, and then said, "At the moment, these things are on the market. Even if there is no major problem with the hardware itself, if there is no celebrity, it will not be sold. Okay, let’s invite a popular celebrity to come. Once you come in, you will be involved in three plays at the same time. Stay in a crew for 20 days, with more than a dozen stand-ins, and today you have a fever I’ll catch a cold tomorrow. What good things can be photographed here. ——We also want to photograph something that can be preserved, but with so much money, it would be foolish not to earn.”

Yue Fangcun smiled and said, "Why, you don't like substitutes?"

Du Ze knew that Yue Fangcun used to be the master who used doubles the most. How much a double would only cost a day, and how much a serious actor would get a day.No one knows how to settle this account better than the boss.It was because of Chen Xuehua's ears that "Black Rose" was not reduced to a stand-in work.

Du Ze said repeatedly at this time: "Mr. Yue, you are talking about business."

Zhuang Yao didn't interrupt, his eyes kept drifting towards Mu Ning.

Anna sipped her red wine, and added slowly: "Director Du is right, but the current situation is really not the same." Everyone at the table looked up, waiting for her next words.Only Lao Zhu lowered his head to look at his phone, and didn't answer.

"Actually, those popular stars are much busier than ordinary actors. They have to maintain exposure and serve fans during the running activities. Those who can get out of the group for 20 days are considered dedicated." After finishing speaking, Anna Mu Ning was secretly kicked under the table, the latter ate the most seriously among the people at the table, he closed his ears and ignored him.The cheeks are puffed up, like a hamster.

"What are you doing?" Mu Ning was not happy.

"Say a few words, or it will be in vain." Anna whispered to him.

Mu Ning is not a social type, he is even less speculative in front of these ordinary people who only talk about money.

Thinking of this, Mu Ning quietly glanced at Zhuang Yao.

He has been with Zhuang Yao for ten years, and he knows that Zhuang Yao understands art and art better than everyone present.In his bones, he may also be arrogant and look down on these things.But looking at Zhuang Yao's smiling and silent appearance, no one thinks he is noble at all.

Because when Zhuang Yao talked about money, he was really a businessman.What kind of drama can be popular, which commercial film is worthy of big investment, and even other industries that are closely related to the entertainment industry, they have a clear background and play well.

But if there are a few who understand, you can chat with him about drama, art philosophy.He can talk better.

Mu Ning propped up his chopsticks and stared at Zhuang Yao in a trance. It seemed that it was not difficult for him to enjoy both refined and popular tastes.But I have no interest in these endless IPs, fresh meat, and so-called "boutique content".

What he said in "Star Wars" is his voice, some things have to be done, but he has the right to hate.

Zhuang Yao felt this gaze and looked at Mu Ning.

Mu Ning looked away in a panic, and accidentally knocked down the sparkling water in his hand.The voice was a bit loud, which attracted the attention of the people at the table.

Zhuang Yao, who hadn't said much all this time, finally said, "That's right. I heard that Mr. Yue is planning to release a costume drama?"

Everyone's attention was drawn away by Zhuang Yao again, Mu Ning buried his head in cleaning the table and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I had a meal with Mr. Wang from Tianyi Entertainment some time ago." While Yue Fangcun was talking, Chen Xuehua sat beside him and picked up food for him. Are you looking for Zheng Duan to make a movie?"

""Xuanmen"." Lao Zhu rushed to answer, got up and passed the cigarette, and Yue Fangcun also took it.

"Yes, it's "Xuanmen". It cost 6000 million to invite Zheng Duan. Filming plus publicity, 6000 million packaged, it's a good deal. I planned to invite Zheng Duan, but I asked about it two days ago, and the price has increased. Now I'll give you this number." After Yue Fangcun finished speaking, he raised his index finger.

"One hundred million, tsk tsk tsk." Du Ze shook his head in amazement.

Ma Ran waved his hand and said, "Hey, Lao Du. There's nothing to be surprised about, and it's not 6000 million real money."

Both Zhuang Yao and Yue Fangcun were laughing.

For these Xiaosheng Xiaohua who are anxious to get on the top, tens of millions is not as good as a good resource.How much to ask and how much to get in the end, no matter how much you can play the abacus in the hands of the bosses.

What Anna and Lao Zhu did was to increase the prices of their own artists, and their expressions were normal to their ears.Mu Ning gasped.Although he had heard about it, this kind of salary was simply a fantasy in the era when he debuted.

Seeing that Du Ze was silent, Ma Ran said again: "Talk about [-] million, and you can still bargain. Look at Zhong Fangyuan, the most popular now. Movies are bad one after another, and TV dramas are packaged for [-] More than [-] million. There is a price but no market, let them do it.”

Du Ze was smoking a cigarette, frowning.Directing was originally a job focused on artistic creation.But in this chain of contempt in China, unless the director is full of awards and has connections, he is a part-time job.Sesame-sized farts have to be taken care of.

"There are still those who are serious about creating." Li Feiyang saw the needles: "Our crew is pretty good."

Having said that, there is something in Li Feiyang's heart that he doesn't understand.What's the use of acting as a conscience now?It's useless if you can't make money.

The prototype of "Black Rose" was a pure criminal investigation drama. Ma Ran read it and asked him to change it into a love drama and a criminal investigation drama.After working overtime and finishing the revision, I told Yue Fangcun the outline, and Mr. Yue said: No way.It's not romantic enough, and there are too many cases to solve, no one likes to watch it.Moreover, there are too many criminal investigation scenes, which burn the budget and have to be changed again.

Li Feiyang changed from the left to the right, from the top to the bottom.It was changed to the routine of Jinbangwen on the online literature platform.Show it to his master, who is so angry that he is like a smoke from seven orifices.

But what can Li Feiyang do, he can't change the world.

No matter how much ambition, after all, it is not as good as a rice bowl.