Choose a day to become famous

Working quickly and slowly, "Love Letter" was filmed and completed three days before the Chinese New Year.

The entire crew cheered excitedly the moment Lu Yanhe announced the completion of filming.

Of course, the reason why they are so excited and excited is because they can go home for the New Year.

It was the New Year's Eve, and although the New Year's Eve dinner that Zhao Yuheng had prepared at the beginning was no longer needed, Lu Yanhe still asked Zhao Yuheng to give out the red envelopes that he planned to give out to everyone on New Year's Eve, one by one, as usual.

Lu Yanhe was particularly emotional.

"This is my first time as a director. Now that the movie is finished, I'm still dreaming. I feel like I just finished shooting the movie." He said with a smile, "It's different from being an actor. I found that I Being a director sometimes doesn't feel like a practical operation, because every specific job has to be done by everyone. I am only responsible for making requests, and everyone should have complained about me in their hearts. "

Everyone present laughed.

"However, it seems that being a director is like this, at least this is how I feel. I have to make demands, I have to be picky, and I have to demand everything that appears in the camera according to the standards I want, from the actors' performances to Changes in light, otherwise, once you feel you can make do with it, it won’t matter anymore.”

Lu Yanhe took a deep breath.

"I am very grateful to meet you all in the first movie I directed. Because of your help, we were able to complete this movie together. I know many people say that movies are the director's art, but only after being a director can I You know, the film cannot be completed by the director alone," Lu Yanhe said firmly, "We have finished filming, and we will do post-production and then release it. Then, we may have to go to film festivals and participate in many award ceremonies. Here. This is not the end of our reunion, let’s meet again in the future!”

Chen Bige put a hand on Zhang Ruozhi's shoulder and said, "Tsk, tsk, Ruozhi, look at how much you can talk with this mouth."

Zhang Ruozhi smiled shyly.

She said: "The director seems to be very interested in everything he does."

"You're right, he is really a monster." Chen Bige laughed, "After finishing filming, you went back to school?"

"Yeah." Zhang Ruozhi nodded, "I'm a sophomore in high school."

Chen Bige thought about it and said, "Maybe when this movie is released, you will be in your senior year of high school? Or have you finished the college entrance examination?"

"Maybe." Zhang Ruozhi nodded.

"Will you go to acting school?" Chen Bige asked.

Zhang Ruozhi starred in "Love Letter", so it is natural for her to become an actress in the future.

But she shook her head and said, "I have no such idea now."

Chen Bige: "It's good. Go to school well. Like Lu Yanhe, if you can get into a good university, you will have many more choices in the future. Don't worry about missing some opportunities. If you really want to be an actor in the future, you can come to me. , or contact Yan He, we will help you find opportunities.”

Zhang Ruozhi hummed shyly and flattered, "Thank you, sister."

Chen Bige looked at Zhang Ruozhi's shy appearance and couldn't help but touch her face.

"Also, you must be careful not to be deceived by some boys early." Chen Bige said, "You will meet many outstanding boys in the future, you know?"

Zhang Ruozhi's cheeks turned red with embarrassment.

-

Call it a day, pack your things, pack your bags, and go home.

During the Spring Festival travel period, it is difficult to buy all kinds of tickets.

When Lu Yanhe returned to Yuming after a long journey, it was already the 29th of the New Year.

Yan Liang has returned to his hometown.

Li Zhibai also returned home.

Lu Yanhe will still go to her grandparents’ house with Chen Siqi to celebrate the New Year this year.

There is no Spring Festival Gala this year, so they will sleep there one night.

Because there are no strangers or unknown relatives coming to visit, it is actually quite comfortable to celebrate the New Year at Chen Siqi’s grandpa’s house. There is no discomfort like having to chat with strangers.

Chen Siqi's cousin Jiang Huadong was also very funny. He secretly gave him a stack of his photos and said, "Brother Yan He, please sign each photo for me. My parents are usually too picky. You are very stingy about my pocket money. I will sell your signed photo to my classmates to supplement my pocket money. "

Still righteous and confident.

After the New Year, in the second year of junior high school, Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi returned to Yuming.

Chen Siqi is still staying in the hotel and refuses to stay there again.

This year, they did not choose to travel abroad for vacation. Instead, they took a good rest in the hotel for a few days together.

Both of them were really tired and needed a good rest.

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Lu Yanhe took Chen Siqi to attend their high school class reunion.

More than thirty classmates came in large numbers.

Many people I haven’t seen in three or four years.

This was organized by Li Pengfei and others. When he was in high school, Lu Yanhe was not very familiar with many of his classmates. Those who were really familiar with him never lost contact. When meeting everyone this time, Lu Yanhe felt a deeper sense of intimacy than when he was in school.

Maybe people are like this, and when they meet again after separation, they will feel a little more like "reunion after a long separation".

They went back to No. 13 Middle School together and took a group photo in front of the school.

The school was empty except for the janitor.

The uncle saw them taking a group photo at the school gate and asked them who they were.

They said they were students who graduated four years ago.

The old man smiled immediately, but when asked if he could go into the school to take a look, he shook his hand and said firmly: "No."

This is a very principled old man.

The classmate pushed Lu Yanhe out and said: "We are really graduates of No. 13 Middle School. Look, Lu Yanhe is an outstanding graduate of our school and a big star. You must know him, right? I'm not lying to you!"

The old man saw Lu Yanhe and said, "It's true."

Everyone thought they could be let in, but the old man said the next sentence: "Lu Yanhe is not allowed! There is no one else in the school now, no one can go in!"

Everyone had to give up.

It's rare for Yuming to have such a sparsely populated time.

Many people went back to their hometowns for the New Year and have not returned yet.

Everyone finally went to KTV and sang until the early morning before going home.

-

The Spring Festival passed like this.

Another year.

The senior year has also come to the last semester.

Because there are no classes, they don't have to go back to school so quickly. Lu Yanhe first looked at houses with Chen Siqi and prepared to rent another house in Ziyuan Bridge.

The house types in Ziyuan Bridge are similar, but the rent has increased a lot - Lu Yanhe suspected that they were being ripped off.

After all, people all over the country now know that they are definitely not short of money.

In fact, with their income, it is incredible for the agent that they still want to live here.

Although the houses here are expensive, they are only for ordinary people after all. In the eyes of the agent, with Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi's current net worth, they should have lived in the top-level community that can only be glimpsed in TV dramas.

This place can only be called a high-end community.

Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi picked and chose, and in the end they were not satisfied with the house, but the price.

After the agent knew this, it was unbelievable.

"The houses here are very popular. If they are put on the market, they can be rented out quickly."

"We can pay off for two years, and the rent here is not cheap. I don't believe you that it can be rented out quickly." Lu Yanhe said, "I have lived here for almost four years. I know that there are always some houses in this community that are vacant all year round and cannot be rented out."

Agent: "..."

I forgot that this person is also a permanent resident of this community.

"The rent is indeed a bit higher than when you rented it, but the whole market is going up, not just our order."

The agent's tone was a bit aggrieved.

He thought, it was just a little bit more than the market price.

After a lot of wrangling, they still cut a lot of prices, and both parties signed the contract with satisfaction.

When leaving, Lu Yanhe murmured to Chen Siqi: "Why do I feel like we are still being ripped off? When signing the contract, he didn't feel any pain at all."

Chen Siqi smiled and said: "If he really didn't make any money, he wouldn't sign with us, it's almost enough."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

As soon as the house was rented, Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi started another thing, decoration.

The rented house only had hard decoration, no soft decoration.

So, they also needed to buy a lot of things.

Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi spent three days visiting the furniture market, buying pots and pans, and finally finishing the house.

After the house was finished, we couldn't move in right away. The furniture had to get rid of the odor. Of course, Chen Siqi was also going back to school.

The house they rented was next to the house owned by Lu Yanhe, Li Zhibai, and Yan Liang. This was Building 17, and that was Building 18, right next to each other.

Li Zhibai and Yan Liang were shocked to know that Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi rented a house next door.

"Damn, we thought you were going to move out soon and we would be separated forever." Li Zhibai said.

"You are exaggerating. Even if I didn't rent in Ziyuan Bridge, but rented somewhere else, it would still be in Yuming. How could we be separated by two places?" Lu Yanhe said, "We can still meet up often."

"With the nature of our work, even if we live in the same house, it's hard for us to meet up a few times a month, let alone not living together." Li Zhibai said, "Especially for playing games. If we don't live together, it's hard to meet up just to play a game together. Then of course it's okay if you live next door. If I open the window and call you, you can hear it."

Li Zhibai's face showed visible happiness.

Only then did Lu Yanhe know that Li Zhibai and Yan Liang had lost a lot of time in private because he might move out soon.

But these two people never told him about it.

Although it is said that friends don't have to live together all the time and spend time together day and night to be friends. However, for the three of them, they have lived together since they were fifteen years old, and it has been almost seven years now. After such a long time, it is not so easy to separate. No one would say something like "I can't bear to leave you" in a sticky way. For boys, such straightforward emotional expression is almost impossible, but these words are understood without saying them.

"We have to celebrate this." Li Zhibai said immediately, "I think we should go out for a meal."

Yan Liang: "Let's have a meal. It's rare that the three of us are here now and haven't joined the group."

"When will you join the group later? Do you have any plans?" Lu Yanhe asked.

Yan Liang shook his head and said, "Not yet this year. I filmed several dramas last year. I won't join the crew in the first half of this year. I should go to record a variety show as a permanent guest."

"I am still reading the script. I have a lot of stock now, so I am not in a hurry to join the crew." Li Zhibai said.

Lu Yanhe: "So am I the only one who is busy this year?"

"You are busy first." Li Zhibai smiled.

"Who told you to shoot so many sequels." Yan Liang also said.

In fact, Lu Yanhe has not many sequels to shoot, just "Seventeenth Floor".

Mainly, the two movies "Burning Fire" and "Mist" occupied his schedule this year. Especially "Burning Fire", a movie takes nearly three months to shoot.

Of course, this is related to the fact that this movie is a blockbuster setting, with many big scenes, which is indeed difficult to shoot.

Moreover, in the past three months, Lu Yanhe did not have a scene every day. After Lu Yanhe shot so many scenes, he was finally able to shoot at a normal pace.

-

Lu Yanhe has action scenes in "Burning Fire", but not many.

This is mainly an oriental magic movie, which constructs a world of magic.

Lu Yanhe is the only main actor who has not yet had his look finalized. Because he was filming "Love Letter" before, he did not take time to participate in the crew's makeup.

Lu Yanhe went there that day.

What Lu Yanhe did not expect was that it would take him more than an hour to do his look. From hair to makeup - this is the role that Lu Yanhe spent the longest time to make up. Lu Yanhe was almost numb from sitting, and he just needed to take a nap.

Lu Yanhe's identity in the movie is a student of the magic academy.

They told him that his look was relatively simple, without any special effects makeup.

Some actors who have special effects makeup take at least three hours to put on makeup.

This is what magic blockbusters are like, with many "inhuman" beings in them.

Lu Yanhe looked at some makeup photos of other actors and had a general understanding of the style of these characters in the movie. This is a costume magic movie with very oriental elements. Indeed, it feels like a Chinese blockbuster, and you can tell at a glance.

However, from the styling to the texture of the costumes, the crew's dedication can be seen at a glance. Costumes are the type of drama that is most easily judged by the audience for its quality. How much investment has been made and what standards have been achieved can be seen at a glance.

Fortunately, the movie "Burning Fire" did not become a shoddy industrial movie.

Wanren Hai also came later.

Since Lu Yanhe decided to take on the movie "Burning Fire", Lu Yanhe has talked with Wanren Hai many times. They have met privately and chatted online. They have talked a lot and are already familiar with each other.

The director who took a somewhat "creepy" name is actually a very kind and funny person.

For Lu Yanhe's styling, Wanren Hai looked up and down for a long time, raised several questions, and asked the styling team to redo it for Lu Yanhe.

They are all very detailed places.

In "Burning Fire", the role of Li Wushang played by Lu Yanhe is like a character in every epic and legendary story, a "growing" teenager character.

In many stories, such a character is often the protagonist from the first perspective.

But in "Burning Fire", the protagonist from the first perspective is a man of revenge, that is, the role played by Shang Yongzhou.

But Lu Yanhe still has a lot of scenes. In "Burning Fire", it is almost the same as "Road to Glory". The two can almost be said to be the dual male protagonists of this movie.

Moreover, if "Road to Glory" is a main line in which two people appear in parallel, in "Burning Fire", the first half is basically a line for each of them, sometimes intersecting, sometimes separating, and each carrying half of the beam.

However, just because Lu Yanhe has never made a commercial blockbuster, the box office results of the movies he starred in in the past have been stable at the position of hundreds of millions of box office, so his salary is much less than Shang Yongzhou, and he can't get a share of the box office. Shang Yongzhou can.

This is why Chen Ziyan told Lu Yanhe at the time that he must make a commercial blockbuster.

As an actor, if you don't want to enter the top paid actor club, you can of course keep making your own movies without considering your identity and image in the market. Like Lu Yanhe, he can continue to shoot movies like "Late Spring" and "Road to Glory" and get a few hundred million at the box office. Compared with their production costs, it is a big hit and a miracle. The halo above Lu Yanhe's head will continue.

However, if Lu Yanhe wants to enter the club of top-paid actors, he must have a starring movie with a box office of over 1 billion or 2 billion, or even a work that ranks among the top 20 in film history. Box office results are always the biggest asset for an actor to negotiate for pay, not the shock and surprise in the industry, not how many awards he has won.

The film project "Burning Fire" is one of the top projects in China. There is nothing to say about Lu Yanhe's choice of it. The director is good, the script is good, the production company has spent money to improve the production quality, and Shang Yongzhou will act with him, so he doesn't have to bear the box office pressure alone--

Even if such a blockbuster project fails, the spearhead will not be directly pointed at him.

Although it is not very kind and not very arrogant to say so, this is the reality.

Chen Ziyan also has to consider that if a blockbuster fails, for an actor, not to say fatal, it is definitely not a trivial matter, even for an actor of Lu Yanhe's level. It was Lu Yanhe's first time starring in such a blockbuster. It was not a good idea to take too much risk. If he had used Shang Yongzhou to do it, the film was a success. With Lu Yanhe's role and setting, he could reap big dividends. If it had failed, it would have been a success. Not to bear the brunt of the blame.

If these twists and turns in her heart were to be spoken out, of course it would appear that she did not trust Lu Yanhe so much, and was not so aboveboard, and her interests were so clear. To put it bluntly, she wanted to take advantage of the advantages and not bear the disadvantages - but in reality, It is the standard for an agent to accept projects for his artists.

Shang Yongzhou took the lead role himself, and it was not someone who tricked him and forced him to take it.

All actors who take over must bear its responsibilities.

Chen Ziyan was just weighing the pros and cons.

-

"I'm actually quite surprised that you're willing to play "Fire"."

In the evening, Wan Hai and Lu Yanhe had dinner together, and that's what Wan Hai told Lu Yanhe.

"I was worried before that you might not like this kind of blockbusters." Wan Hai smiled, "You have acted in so many art films before."

"That's because no blockbuster script as good as "Burn Fire" has come to me before." Lu Yanhe also gave a small commercial compliment, "I am willing to act in any type of movie, but sometimes the scripts sent are really not good enough." It’s beautiful, but the script is so perfunctory that even if you were to film it, I would feel helpless. I don’t know why many commercial films come to me with scripts like this.”

Wan Hai smiled.

"Although everyone is using the word blockbuster to describe "Burning", I actually want to play "Burning" for a very important reason. Director, I have always been very impressed by this kind of fantasy story with the background of traditional Chinese culture. Interest. Just like martial arts works, it creates a world that may not exist in reality. I am referring to qinggong and martial arts. "Lu Yanhe laughed, "Creating such a world based on reality is similar to what I saw when I was a child. Like the world's top ten unsolved mysteries, I naturally have a feeling of curiosity and yearning for a new world that cannot be found in the real world. Moreover, I have always felt that our domestic Chinese movies have never had a representative fantasy. It’s a movie like this, so after seeing “Fire”, I felt the excitement I had been waiting for for a long time.”

This is indeed an exaggerated modification of his true mood.

But the essence is not lying. This is how Lu Yanhe views "Burning".

If he didn't think the movie could be made well, he wouldn't have accepted it.

Wanhai said: "This type of movie, especially with the current production budget. In the past, the technology was immature, and I didn't think it could be made. Now that the technology has finally matured, and our domestic market has grown, it may be able to sustain it." I only dare to make such a big investment.”

Even directors are afraid of failure.

Lu Yanhe smiled.

He also understands Wan Hai very well.

It was only after I became a director that I realized how much pressure a director feels when a film fails.

When he was an actor before, he had never faced this matter so directly. As for the movie "Love Letter", the investment was already so small. Lu Yanhe often had to face the need for additional budget for some specific shootings, or if a scene was not shot smoothly, it might cause problems with the arrangements for the next few days. Wait for the question. These are still some specific problems. The most terrifying thing is the pressure of "if the movie fails, it won't sell at the box office."

Forget the losses - that's what Lu Yanhe really thought at the time. At worst, he would lose money himself, or at worst, he would pay out his own pocket to pay back the money to every friend who invested (this idea was also very childish, but that's what he thought at the time) thinking, in order to soothe one's anxious state). What was Lu Yanhe more afraid of? He was afraid that he would fail and betray everyone's trust in him.

This drama stars Chen Bige. If a starring drama fails, it will also affect Chen Bige's reputation. Not to mention, there are so many people coming to help. He who can calculate it clearly with money can return it even if he sells it, but these favors and the trust others have in him cannot be returned.

This is true for "Love Letter", let alone thousands of people.

It’s true that everything he did was good, but if he failed, no film company would dare to film with him in the next four to five years.

That's how serious it is.

-

Before Lu Yanhe joined the crew to film "Fire", Zhong Benshuo came to see Lu Yanhe happily.

"Squid Game" has been popular on Maxine for more than two months, and its popularity remains the same.

Maxine's stock price soared as a result.

The global popularity of "Squidward Game" exceeded everyone's expectations for the show, including Jong Ben-suk himself.

Zhong Benshuo couldn't help but sigh in his heart, how prescient he was to attach importance to and befriend Lu Yanhe. He had long forgotten that there were actually some unpleasant things between him and Lu Yanhe.

Zhong Benshuo came here this time to inquire about the progress of the second season of "Squid Game" with Lu Yanhe.

The overseas streaming rights for the first season of "Squid Game" were not authorized by Lu Yanhe, but by Northern Lights Video. The copyright for the first season is not owned by Lu Yanhe, but by Northern Lights. But according to what Zhong Benshuo knows, Lu Yanhe will share the copyright for the second season of "Squid Game" with Northern Lights Video. This means that Lu Yanhe can also affect the outcome of which streamer is authorized for the second season.

Jong Ben-shuo knew very well how good the relationship between Lu Yan-he and HP was. The short film "Night Run" was snatched away by HP. Later, several of Lu Yan-he's dramas were also booked in advance by HP, and they had nothing to do with Maxine.

If a drama like "Squid Game" was preempted by other places in the second season, then Jong Ben-shuo could directly send his resignation letter to his boss's email.

Lu Yan-he quickly figured out the purpose of Jong Ben-shuo's visit.

In fact, Jong Ben-shuo still didn't know Lu Yan-he well enough. If he hadn't made a big fuss with Maxine, Lu Yan-he would not have rashly changed the platform for the second season on the premise that the first season had been successful.

Changing a platform means giving up the foundation of the previous success. After all, although there are many people who have membership accounts on two platforms at the same time, there are also many people who watch dramas on only one platform.

Just like after JK Rowling and Warner collaborated on the first Harry Potter movie, there must be other companies with high-priced contracts trying to poach the sequel - the rights to develop the sequel of Harry Potter have always been in the hands of JK Rowling, not Warner. However, in this case, JK Rowling did not choose to cooperate with another film company, but instead collaborated with Warner on eight films and made a "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" series.

Why can many people with bad relationships continue to cooperate - because they have common interests.

The same is true between Lu Yanhe and Zhong Benshuo.

But Lu Yanhe did not intend to reassure Zhong Benshuo so quickly.

He hesitated anyway, and did not say that the second season would definitely be given to Maxine. He only said that the script had not been written yet and he had not considered this matter.

What Lu Yanhe did not expect was that Zhong Benshuo offered a very exaggerated number.

"This is not for "Squid Game", but for you, Lu Yanhe." Zhong Benshuo said, "As long as you agree to give the subsequent broadcast rights of the "Squid Game" series to Maxine, Maxine will pay you 50 million US dollars in creative service fees."

50 million US dollars, that is about 300 million RMB.

Even Lu Yanhe was shocked by this number.

Is this... the dizziness of being hit with money?

"Yanhe, you have always known the sincerity of our Maxine in wanting to cooperate with you." Zhong Benshuo said, "This creative service fee is not only paid to you to get the subsequent broadcast rights of "Squid Game", but also we want to express to you how much we value you. I still say that if you are willing to tailor a drama for Maxine, you will get a unique treatment in this world, which other places will definitely not be able to afford."

Lu Yanhe: "..."

He looked at Zhong Benshuo, hesitated for a long time, and wanted to ask, is their Maxine so rich?

Of course, Lu Yanhe knew that the money given by these streaming platforms was very exaggerated.

In both worlds before and after the crossing, streaming media seems to play the role of "local tycoons" - it's not that they are local, but that they really pay money as if it is not money.

Amazon gave Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the star and screenwriter of "London Life", a three-year cooperation agreement with an annual salary of 20 million US dollars. The most exaggerated thing is that Amazon renewed her contract even though she did not make any series for Amazon in these three years.

Not to mention, the two sequels of "Knives Out" directly brought "007" Daniel Craig a salary of up to 100 million US dollars.

Sometimes, Lu Yanhe also thought about when he could sign such a contract.

Unexpectedly, without any signs, Zhong Benshuo came with such an agreement.

It's simply a money-giving agreement.

The 50 million US dollars does not include the normal procurement costs of the sequel to "Squid Game". It is called "creative service fee". To put it bluntly, it is a goodwill check written by Maxine to Lu Yanhe.

Lu Yanhe took a deep breath silently, so as not to appear too "unsophisticated". He remained calm, unmoved, and as steady as a rock.

"Mr. Zhong, I admit that you and Maxine are indeed very sincere."

Lu Yanhe looked at Zhong Benshuo and said word by word: "But before the formal preparation, we are not in a hurry to decide who will get the sequel of "Squid Game". "

Zhong Benshuo finally asked this question.

"Yanhe, what do you want?" Zhong Benshuo said, "We can't let "Squid Game" fall into the hands of others."

Lu Yanhe blinked, and there was no attitude or emotion on his face, only a polite smile: "Let me think about it, and you should continue to think about it. Let's talk about this issue later." (End of this chapter)