Chapter 97

Aunt Liu, have I, He Yi'an, ever received a gift from you?

Upon seeing this text message, He Yi'an suddenly remembered that it had been four or five days since he returned, and he had been busy with work, neither going back to school nor visiting anyone on set.

"How embarrassing!"

Just as He Yi'an was about to reply, Zhang Jing called again: "Director He, Director Liu called, asking when you'd be free to watch the rough cut of 'Full House'."

At this moment, He Yi'an was in no mood to watch any rough cuts: "The company has a new vice president. She will be in charge of liaising with you from now on. I will have her go and take a look."

Without any hesitation, He Yi'an directly assigned Zhong Lifang to the task.

"Also, Director Ma said that the costume designs for 'Chinese Paladin' are ready, and he asked when you would have time to take a look."

"Have him send it to my email, and also CC Zhong Lifang."

"Also, Yan Danchen has a few commercial performance invitations that you need to decide on."

"Let her decide for herself, or you can decide for yourself. Don't ask me about these things."

Seemingly sensing the urgency in He Yi'an's words, Zhang Jing paused for a moment, then asked in a somewhat strange tone, "Director He, what happened? Why are you acting like you're washing your hands of the matter?"

"It's not that I'm just letting go," He Yi'an said, genuinely feeling that he was tired of being pestered by them all this time.

"From now on, let Zhong Lifang handle all these matters. Ma Mingding will handle the clothing samples. I'll just do the final review; I won't make every decision." Zhang Jing quickly accepted this hands-off approach: "Okay, I'll talk to President Zhong."

"Is there anything else?"

"There's one more thing," Zhang Jing hesitated for a moment, "I've made contact with Liu Yifei's mother."

He Yi'an became interested: "How so?"

"She neither refused nor agreed; she wants to meet with you first to discuss things in detail."

"Okay, did she mention a specific time?"

"She said she's currently in Yunnan Province, accompanying Liu Yifei on the filming of 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils' and it's inconvenient for her to come over, so she asked if you could come over..."

He Yi'an thought for a moment, then smiled: "So this means I should visit the set? I was wondering why Qianqian kept asking me. It seems like I have no choice but to go. Okay, then let's go to Yunnan Province."

Anyway, he's pretty much taken care of the company's affairs, so the rest can be handed over to Zhong Lifang.

Moreover, he really should go and see that little girl.

After all, it was something we had already agreed to.

He Yi'an leaned back in his chair, picked up his phone, and scrolled to Liu Yifei's text message. "You big liar, have you forgotten something?"

Thinking that I had promised and there had been no news for several days, that girl probably thought I had stood her up.

Before, when we were in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, we were close by but I never visited the set. Now that we've moved to Yunnan, does she think I won't go anymore?

If I really don't go, I guess they'll be angry, right?

I'm also a little curious to see what Xiao Liu looks like when he's angry.

However, if she gets angry, she's probably the hardest to appease.

After thinking for a moment, He Yi'an gave up on this suicidal idea and started typing: "Qianqian, how could I forget what I promised you? I've just been too busy these past few days. Now that things are almost done, I'm ready to come to Yunnan Province to see you."

The message was sent, and there was an instant reply: "Really?! You're not lying to me again, are you?"

"100% authentic, when have I ever lied to you?"

"Haven't you lied to me enough? You even said you'd invite me to act in a movie... When are you coming over?"

"Why are you still resentful? ... Do you still want me to go? I'll let you know the exact time in a few days."

"Yes! Of course I want to! Come quickly! Let me tell you, the scenery here is amazing, I'll take you to see it! They go whenever they have a break from filming, I've only been once, I've been waiting for you to come and take me, I'm so bored!" "Okay, I'll be right there!"

……

Two days later.

When the plane landed at Dali Airport in Yunnan Province, the sunlight outside the window was just right, shining through the porthole onto He Yi'an's face, so warm it was almost dazzling.

He raised his hand to rub his temples, his fingertips tracing the text message he had just edited on his phone, repeatedly checking the wording before pressing the send button.

However, this time the recipient was not Liu Yifei, but Liu Xiaoli.

"Aunt Liu, I've come here in person to discuss some project matters with you. I've already arrived at Dali Airport. I'll also visit Qianqian on set later. Please don't tell her yet; I want to give her a surprise."

A notification popped up indicating that the message had been successfully sent. He Yi'an put away his phone, leaned back in his chair, and looked out the window.

The sky in Dali is a purer blue than in Beijing. The Cangshan Mountains stretch endlessly in the distance, with low-hanging clouds hanging over their peaks, like a thin veil covering the dark blue mountains.

The reason why He Yi'an took the initiative to contact Liu Xiaoli instead of Liu Yifei goes back to a day ago.

He Yi'an didn't know how Liu Yifei managed to keep it from Liu Xiaoli, and actually made Liu Xiaoli believe that he had very little contact with her.

Seeing that her daughter hadn't been able to get He Yi'an to come over for so long, she decided to take matters into her own hands. The reason, of course, was to discuss the female lead of "Chinese Paladin" and some movie-related matters with him.

He Yi'an was stunned when he saw the message.

Aunt Liu, do you know that your house is haunted?

How can you reveal almost all your cards before you've even discussed anything?

He Yi'an knew, of course, that Liu Xiaoli was helping her daughter find movie resources. After all, after filming "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" in the original timeline, Liu Yifei not only went back to school but also filmed "Love Winner".

Liu Yifei was the most youthful and lively in this movie, but when it was released in mainland China, it didn't even make it into mainstream theaters, let alone achieve any box office success.

Actually, it didn't cause much of a stir.

This is the demographic that Liu Xiaoli has not systematically analyzed when going to the movies.

Before 2005, the number of people who could go to the cinema was limited. After 04, the development of BT downloads and online videos provided a basis for young people to watch a large number of movies and TV series.

While a significant portion of this group has been converted into the main force of moviegoers, the real main audience for movies is not young people at all.

In fact, a closer look reveals that the main consumer group in the film market at the beginning of the century was the post-70s generation and a portion of the post-80s generation who had just entered the workforce.

Keep in mind that those born in the mid-85s were still in middle school at this time. Therefore, the main audience for the film is not Liu Yifei's primary consumer base.

They mainly watched Hong Kong and Taiwan historical dramas, which is one reason why people from Hong Kong and Taiwan were popular in the entertainment industry at that time.

同时2005年之后,国内的电影屏幕也突破了5000块这个分界点,其实从2003年开始每年基本都是保持着20-30%的增长。

Why start in 2003?

It was all because of the success of "Hero" that more capital saw the potential of the domestic film industry, and more money poured in.

This further promoted market development.

Everything is in flux; a single hair can affect the whole situation.

Starting in 2003, the annual growth rate was around 30% until 2008, when it began to experience explosive growth.

It reached 46% in 2009 and grew by about 60% in 2010.

By the time the so-called 85-95 generation and Generation Z came to the forefront and became mainstream, it was already after 2010.

Therefore, those who wanted to make money by making new-era youth films before 2008 were basically just making assumptions without understanding anything.

In a market dominated by those born in the 70s, youth films similar to "You Are the Apple of My Eye" are simply not going to be popular. Their youth films are "In the Heat of the Sun" and "Days Related to Youth."

The film "Sunshine" was shot by Jiang Wen, and the screenwriter and director of the drama "Youth" is Ye Jing, whom we mentioned before.

It mainly shows the protagonists' daily lives of skipping classes and getting into fights.

Living on the streets was the main theme of their lives. While the outside world was in turmoil, these people continued to enjoy the sunny days in their own world, seemingly detached from worldly affairs.

That's why these people often like to talk about ideals and sentiments later on.

Everything is determined by the market!

This is why He Yi'an doesn't make any films about eggs or youth.

Because there is simply no market for it.

Who are you going to show this to?

The novel "You Are the Apple of My Eye," which has been written about to death by many people, is indeed quite good, but it only started to gain popularity after 2012.

And despite all the hype, they didn't even reach 8000 million.

The reason it has received good reviews is entirely because those born in the late 85s and early 90s are gradually gaining more influence. Therefore, He Yi'an doesn't need to know in detail what "Love Winner" is really like; he just needs to know that it's a youth drama for young people.

At present, any youth film aimed at young people is acceptable.

It's a sure win!

Because its target audience is not yet ready to go to the cinema to see this movie.

This is also why He Yi'an has never thought about making any awesome commercial films.

The market is immature, and the audience is nearing the end of its life cycle.

Everything needs to be done gradually.

One cannot go against the general trend of development.

Even if he is a reincarnated person, he only has some foresight than others, but when it comes to actually doing things, especially making movies.

It must conform to the characteristics of this era.

Every era has its own unique style.

That's why he makes art films, and they need to be relevant to contemporary issues. That's why he anticipated making a film about the Three Kingdoms, preparing to capitalize on the trend of period dramas started by "Hero." These are all characteristics of the times.

The idea that making a commercially successful film that will be a hit in later years will guarantee that people today will like it is simply naive.

People think differently in every era, the movie-watching audience has changed several times, and tastes are constantly evolving.

Of course, although he had a clear idea in his mind, he was still surprised when he saw that Liu Xiaoli actually wanted to talk to him about the movie.

He still shamelessly fell for her.

He was still thinking about how to bring up the topic when he went to visit the set.

Unexpectedly, Liu Xiaoli offered him a raft.

"Aunt Liu... Aunt Liu, tell me, have I, He Yi'an, ever accepted a gift from you? Why are you giving me such a great opportunity?"

Knowing that this was a rare opportunity, He Yi'an saw the news and didn't dare to delay. He immediately booked a flight and flew directly to Dali.

At this moment, he was afraid that if Liu Xiaoli discovered that Liu Yifei was deceiving her and had given her the wrong signal, then everything would be difficult to discuss.

He Yi'an is still not entirely at ease about Liu Hanhan's intelligence in this regard.

However, what He Yi'an didn't know was that Liu Yifei was the one reading the text message with Liu Xiaoli. She was very happy to see He Yi'an's message about giving her a surprise.

Then I decided to give him a surprise!

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P.S.: Another 10,000-word update today~ Please support!