Chapter 212 He Can't Do It (4k) Liu Lan looked at Duan Ming expressionlessly, seemingly not very interested, "What do you mean?" Duan Ming felt that there were too many reasons. "First of all, Yang Rongfa's investment in this project is too high, and the pressure to recoup the investment is great." "And the subject matter they chose is a realistic subject that is not easy to sell. Director Wang Ren's directing style also tends to be slow-paced. It may be liked by experienced audiences, but most audiences don't have the patience to watch his style." "Also, they don't have a big platform to invest in them, so it's hard to sell them after they're done. Even if they do, the price of a short series of more than a dozen episodes won't be high." A lot of reasons. There were parts that deliberately catered to Liu Lan, but most of them were his true thoughts. It can even be said that this is basically the consensus among people in the industry. Everyone agrees that there is a high probability that Yang Rongfa and his team will suffer losses in this project. Even if they do not lose money, it seems that they will not make much money. In addition to the project itself, the investor Wu Mu is also a negative factor.

"Wu Mu may be recognized by the industry because of his singing and variety shows, but he is a complete layman as an investor. His investment can't bring any other resources or help except money." For project investment, although funds are important, the resources and support from investors are also crucial. The same amount of money, invested by Penguin and invested by Wumu who has no connections behind him, are obviously two different concepts. What's more, Wu Mu has to play the second male lead himself, which is an even more negative factor. Others may not know about Wu Mu's acting skills, but how could he, Wu Mu's former agent, not know? If you have nothing at all and go to a crew full of veteran actors, how can you perform it badly? Although he had thought the same about Wu Mu's singing level before, Wu Mu also shocked many people with his singing level. But people have to follow realistic logic after all, and Wu Mu hasn't shown any improvement in his acting skills yet. He can't just imagine that Wu Mu's acting skills have suddenly improved. This statement is well-founded. From every angle, there is no reason for Wu Mu's investment to be successful. Liu Lan listened, still looking calm, nodding expressionlessly, "What about his new studio? What do you think?" She could have cared less about Wu Mu becoming a star and making money. But if Wu Mu opened his own studio or company and became the capital himself, she would feel unbalanced. One of the main reasons why she had never taken Wu Mu seriously before was that Wu Mu was at best a star, which was a huge gap between him and her. They were simply from two different worlds. But if Wu Mu were to use his own capital and expand his business, that might make her even more unhappy than Lin Qingyue's matter. fortunately. "Wu Mu's new studio?" Duan Ming was stunned for a moment. "There's nothing special about his new studio. It's just a place to help him deal with things that he can't handle himself." Seeing the boss like this, is he still worried that Wu Mu will start his own company and expand it? How can this be.

Wu Mu has no capital and no resources, and his personality does not allow him to build relationships within the circle. Are you going to expand this? There are many companies in the circle that were originally opened by celebrity studios, or by celebrities themselves who transformed themselves into bosses, and then grew big. But these companies undoubtedly became successful after years of accumulation in the industry and building up a large number of personal connections. Where would Wu Mu, an idol star who has only been popular for a few years, get such resources? Whether it's artist management, film and television series production, online drama variety shows, music production and distribution, etc., which one can he, an idol star, do? "Can't he invest in projects on his own? Just like now." Liu Lan asked expressionlessly. Duan Ming felt that his boss was really worrying too much. "He simply cannot afford the risk of his own investment projects. Even if Yang Rongfa and his team didn't lose much money on this project, if he continues to invest like this, he will sooner or later run into a losing project. With his little money, if he runs into a project that doesn't make money, he will probably lose everything." He felt that once Yang Rongfa and their project was finished, Wu Mu would have to face reality and just be a star and make money. Anyway, he is not optimistic. Duan Ming is not the only one who is pessimistic. The industry is not optimistic either. This directly leads to the fact that capable and ambitious people have no intention of switching jobs to work for Wumu. After Wu Mu spread the news and asked his friends to keep an eye out for him, some people came to recommend themselves through various channels. But when Wu Mu investigated, he found that these people did not even meet the lowest requirement of being reliable. They were all third-tier behind-the-scenes personnel in the circle who came to him with the purpose of taking advantage of his fame and enhancing their resumes. However, the producer recommended by Lin Qingyue is indeed reliable. In a private restaurant near their home that they had visited several times, Wu Mu met the producer recommended by Lin Qingyue. This woman was probably about forty years old, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and looked a bit serious and formal. Lin Qingyue introduced him, "Wu Mu, this is the producer of my previous film, Yan Yongmei, Sister Yan." She smiled and said, "For our next film, the producer should also be Sister Yan." The woman called Sister Yan looked at Wu Mu, and after staying on Wu Mu's face for two seconds, she stretched out her hand and said, "Hello." Wu Muhui shook it, "Hello, Sister Yan." In fact, Wu Mu had met Lin Qingyue's producer before. The woman named Zheng Qiuxia who was invited to Lin Qingyue's house for dinner was also Lin Qingyue's producer. However, the producer was mainly responsible for paying the money, and since the producer often talked about Lin Qingyue's mother during dinner, he roughly guessed that Zheng Qiuxia should be related to Lin Qingyue's mother. Then, from the series of projects that Sister Yan introduced herself as having participated in, several were films directed by Lin Qingyue’s father, Lin Xueming. He guessed that Yan Yongmei was most likely related to Lin Qingyue's father. Tsk, is this the value of the second generation of dogs? Their parents have connections and can send people to help with their projects. Wu Mu smacked his lips and looked at Lin Qingyue. Lin Qingyue glared at him with amusement, "Don't think I don't know what you are thinking. I don't rely on them. They made a lot of money by investing in my films."

Well, Director Lin, you have to rely on yourself, right? Coincidentally, so am I. I, Wu Mu, am where I am today because of my own hard work, Wu Mu thought with a little joy in his heart. Of course, he also knew that Lin Qingyue was not lying. Given the scale of Lin Qingyue's previous films, the investment cost was very small, and it won an award, so it must be a huge profit. Sister Yan Yongmei, who was sitting opposite them, looked at their tacit interaction with a slightly strange look in her eyes, but she tactfully said nothing and just got straight to business. "Qingyue has already told me the reason why you came to see me. I asked someone to find out about Yang Rongfa's project before I came here. The shooting period of their entire project is about three months. The first month will be in Dongshan Film and Television City in Beijing, and the last two months will be in Chuncheng. The main shooting location is the Chuncheng Iron and Steel Plant. The entire crew has about 120 to 130 people, and they will be stationed at the Chuncheng Guest House at that time." Yan Yongmei introduced to Wu Mu the details of Yang Rongfa's project. He is a professional with deep connections in the circle and knows more than the investor Wu Mu. What she learned involved all aspects, from the shooting time and location, to the composition of the crew, and even which investors were behind the scenes, who would be sent to follow the crew, and who would have the final say in the crew. Yan Yongmei had a general understanding of all of this. Wu Mu listened to Yan Yongmei's introduction and nodded. Naturally, he had no objection to the candidate introduced by Lin Qingyue. After demonstrating her professional abilities, the next step was Yan Yongmei's fee quotation. Even if it's an acquaintance who introduced you, there's no reason to let someone work for free. Yan Yongmei has two standards for charging fees. "If you hire me just to ensure the safety of your own funds, to understand the whereabouts of your funds and to follow up the progress of the entire project in real time, and you don't need me to watch over the crew every day, then you can just take 300,000." "If you want me to follow the team throughout the whole process and be deeply involved in the project arrangements, it will cost 800,000." Eight hundred thousand, this number sounds like a lot. But Wu Mu understood that senior producers in the industry generally charged this kind of fee. Eight hundred thousand is even considered a relatively small amount. Some producers who can help find resources charge a starting fee of several million. Everyone undoubtedly knows how to choose to use hundreds of thousands of dollars to ensure the safety of tens of millions of dollars. Moreover, he did not need Yan Yongmei to keep an eye on the crew, as that was needed only if he intended to intervene in the specific production of the project. His main purpose was to insure his own funds, not to interfere in the production of Yang Rongfa and others. So you only need to pay three hundred thousand. And the three hundred thousand also came with an unexpected surprise. After agreeing on the fees and confirming to hire Yan Yongmei, Wu Mu and Lin Qingyue inevitably talked about the manager he needed. For this, Lin Qingyue has no good candidate to recommend for the time being. After all, anyone needs to think carefully before jumping to Wumu, a ship with unclear prospects. However, Yan Yongmei, who was listening on the side, had a thoughtful look on her face. "Do you need a manager to help you run your studio?" she asked Wu Mu. Wu Mu nodded, curiously, "Does Sister Yan have anyone to recommend?"

Yan Yongmei actually did, "I have a friend who shoots short dramas who recently wants to switch to working behind the scenes. He used to be an assistant director under Director Lin. I can ask him if he's willing to come." Director Lin? Wu Mu subconsciously looked towards Lin Qingyue. Lin Qingyue smiled, "I'm talking about my dad." She also looked at Yan Yongmei curiously, "Is it Senior Brother Shi Wu? He wants to switch to being a behind-the-scenes person? Not a director anymore?" Yan Yongmei was helpless. "All the short dramas he shot in the past two years lost money, and he even put in a lot of money. So he felt that he really had no talent in directing, and wanted to switch to other careers while he could still work." Lin Qingyue shook her head and laughed, "Short plays are not that easy to shoot. If they look simple and crude, and the plot is unclear, the audience will still not buy it." Lin Qingyue said, seeing Bian Weimo's puzzled expression, and explained to him, "This is a former student of my father, from the directing department of Beijing Film Academy. After graduation, he worked as an assistant director for my father for a few years, and then he started making movies on his own. However, after making two low-budget movies, there was no improvement. In the past two years, I saw that short dramas were popular, so I invested in making short dramas on my own." Well, it’s only normal to lose money when making a movie. It is basically difficult to find a few directors in the industry who have not made a movie that lost money. It’s just that some directors still have a chance to get back on their feet after losing money, while others have no chance to get back on their feet after losing money, or simply become discouraged. These people usually switch to other jobs. Although he had been losing money on making movies and it seemed unreliable, Yan Yongmei did not introduce him to Wu Mu to cheat him. Yan Yongmei looked at Wu Mu and said seriously, "Although Shi Wu has been losing money on making movies, he knows everything about the industry and has deep connections in the industry, not only with Director Lin, but also with a lot of his fellow students at Beijing Film Academy. You will definitely not lose money if you hire him as your manager." Lin Qingyue agreed, "Senior Brother Shi Wu does know a lot of people. He has been in the industry for so many years, and apart from losing money on movies, basically nothing can cheat him. Besides, he is a nice guy." From this perspective, this person is quite suitable. Wu Mu thought to himself. Entertainment company manager sounds very professional, but in fact, it doesn't really require any professional knowledge. All you need to do is to have sufficient knowledge about the various sectors in the industry, know what person to look for for what, where there are pitfalls, how to find reliable people, etc. If you have deep connections in the circle, then it is a free benefit. Wu Mu didn't hesitate, "Then Sister Yan, can you introduce me to Senior Brother Shi Wu?" "Okay, I'll call him now and see if he can come over." Yan Yongmei nodded. After listening to Lin Qingyue and the others' description, Wu Mu felt that this person was quite suitable. But the person they were talking about, Shi Wu, started to grumble after receiving Yan Yongmei's call. The manager of Wu Mu Studio? This doesn't seem like a good place to go. Basically, anyone with a clear mind would find it difficult to be optimistic about the development of Wumu Studio. Not to mention the lack of resources, Wu Mu's previous personality of exposing various companies on Weibo was unbridled. Everyone felt that it would be difficult for such a person to make it far in the industry. If we say that we rely on Wu Mu's fame and on handling projects that invite Wu Mu to appear on TV shows, we can actually survive without worrying about the studio closing down. However, it's okay to just muddle through in a studio that has absolutely no development, but it seems a bit unwise to go there with the goal of truly building a career.

Although Ishitake lost money on his movies, it wasn't to the point where he had to find a place to make a living. However, after hesitating for a while, Shi Wu finally decided to meet Wu Mu. Then after meeting Wu Mu, he said bluntly, "I am not optimistic about the development of your company, but I can work in your company for a while. You should mainly need someone to help you set up the company. I can help you with this." (End of this chapter)