Huayu, can you be called the best actor if you don’t indulge yourself?

Chapter 551 A Small Plot of Land
Everything in front of me.

This had a huge impact on Lin Yue.

Although she graduated from a top business school, her insights are unmatched by ordinary people.

But these lines of text.

Even a simple sentence made Manager Lin feel that it was worth pondering carefully, with a feeling of "a heavy sword has no edge" and "great skill is without artifice". It was very simple but contained a very profound business principle.

It's just a matter of focusing on a niche market.

This made her restless.

We are now in a blue ocean era of rampant expansion, and no company can resist the urge to expand wildly. The market seems boundless, and the number of users seems endless.

Everyone is scrambling to acquire land.

After making money, they want to get involved in every industry and squeeze into every sector. They won't rest until they become a behemoth with tentacles extending into all fields.

As for whether it will make money, and what kind of result it will produce.

These are all unknowns.

Blind and disorderly.

Lin Yue found that these two words summarized it very well.

In fact, Li Luo did not realize how much of an impact these words would have on Manager Lin. What seemed like an ordinary concept to him was actually the experience summarized after more than a decade of ups and downs in the internet industry.

This is the bloody result of countless people battling in the business world.

And now.

It was written lightly on the whiteboard.

Seeing Lin Yue leaning against the desk, staring blankly at the whiteboard, Li Luo waved for Zhao Xuejing to leave the office. He then walked over to Manager Lin and looked at the whiteboard with her.

"HBO + TVB?"

Looking to the side, Lin Yue couldn't help but ask.

"Business model".

Li Luo crossed his arms and explained earnestly, "We insist on creating our own content, integrating production and broadcasting, strictly controlling production costs, and cultivating the film and television industry. We cannot position ourselves as an internet company."

Regardless of their private relationship.

Lin Yue is a shareholder of the company and also the chief steward of the entire company.

Although I can make many decisions on my own, out of respect for my partners, I must reach a consensus on important decisions, especially major moves that involve future development.

This matter requires thorough communication.

A consensus on development was reached.

"Ah."

Lin Yue thought for a moment, then pressed on, "What's wrong with internet companies?"

"very good."

Li Luo leaned against his desk, took out a cigar and cut it open: "But I don't want to position myself as part of the internet industry. They play with concepts, talk about all kinds of data, and want market share."

"The ultimate goal is to achieve a near-monopoly scale."

"Using pricing power to exploit users."

"Or go public, play a game of musical chairs, and continuously increase the value of your shares."

"Whether they make easy money, quick money, or swindle money from stock investors through these means, and end up with a complete mess, is not even within their consideration."

"I want to do everything, but there's one thing I don't want to do."

"Or perhaps it's simply impossible to do."

"Ding~"

A crisp sound echoed in the office as Li Luo lifted the lighter cap: "That's creating high-quality content, which is exactly what I want to do!"

"Youtube?"

Lin Yue looked at the continuously gushing flames.

"Not feasible."

Li Luo slowly turned the cigar to make it heat more evenly: "It is not an easy thing to get users to produce content and thus form a high-quality video community. The most important thing is YouTube's almost zero bandwidth cost."

"If you can't keep up with this, you're destined to fail on this path."

Let’s talk here.

Lin Yue was completely certain of what he wanted to do, but doubts still lingered in her mind.

"Not competing or grabbing?"

Curious questions arose again.

This sentence on the whiteboard puzzled her the most: "In business, how can you not compete with others or fight for what others have?"

The company's film.

Every time it's released, it's been a bloodbath.

"That's not the meaning."

Exhaling a puff of smoke, Li Luo continued to explain patiently, "We don't allow private television stations to exist here, but the desire of capital to control the media will never cease."

"At this point, online video platforms became a viable alternative."

"The influence of the cultural industry."

"It is an irresistible temptation for any large capital firm. Through various cultural products, it can subtly exert influence, so they are willing to lose money to enter the fray."

"The next two or three years."

"Major internet companies will definitely enter the market one after another."

"They don't understand the content, but they know how to wield the big stick of money."

"Competition and pressure."

"They will compete fiercely and squeeze each other out, and the chain reaction will even intentionally or unintentionally drive up film and television copyright fees, raising actors' salaries to unimaginable levels."

"At that time, the salary of a popular actor may skyrocket to tens of millions or even hundreds of millions."

"are you crazy?"

Lin Yue was speechless.

It sounds incredibly absurd, yet it somehow feels perfectly logical.

"Not crazy."

Li Luo shook his head, twitching the corner of his mouth as he said, "This is the inevitable choice for those who can't create content, and actively raising costs to increase the difficulty of competition is also their consistent thinking."

"To inflict eight hundred casualties on ourselves and kill a thousand enemies."

"Through this method, we forcefully squeeze out our competitors."

"at last."

Lin Yue's mind raced as she quickly picked up where he left off: "Once a certain market size is achieved and pricing power is secured, we can then find ways to recoup the losses. The money lost in the early stages is just a necessary business cost."

Speaking of it.

She couldn't help but look at the words "Great effort brings miracles" written on the whiteboard.

This statement perfectly illustrates this idea: first, use money to crush all competitors, and then, once you have exclusive market control, you can make money however you want.

"Yes."

With a cigar in his mouth, Li Luo said with a smile, "Most internet companies think this way, and their executives will push for this to happen. Whether the platform loses money or not is none of their business."

"This situation."

"It was bound to happen."

"Therefore, we must avoid violent clashes with those internet companies. We will not compete with them or fight them for content. We will insist on original content and avoid bloody copyright wars."

"Learn from TVB to build your own artist system."

"Not to be held hostage by skyrocketing salaries."

He was fiddling with a cigar.

Li Luo simply plopped down on the desk, saying with a slight smile, "With the moat formed by the copyrights acquired by Juyuan Network, we can just sit on the wall and watch them fight their battles."

"As long as we can consistently produce high-quality content, users will naturally vote with their feet."

"Heavy investment does not equate to good content."

"That big stick."

"It won't hit us."

"Xinghuo Films does not seek to monopolize the market. Even if it only accounts for a third or a quarter of the market, given the potential of our domestic market, there is a very good chance that we can achieve annual revenue of 10 billion yuan in the future, so I want to give it a try."

In the future, long-form video platforms will be as bad as they can get.

Related information.

Li Luo had also paid attention to it before.

Don't users pay? How do you generate billions in membership revenue per quarter? Not to mention advertising and content distribution revenue. At its peak, a single long-form video platform could generate two to three hundred billion yuan in annual revenue.

That's it
We also had to implement various cost-cutting and efficiency-improvement measures, which resulted in various losses!
Are bandwidth costs high?

High indeed.

But it only accounts for about 10% of the cost.

The main reason for the losses is the annual content costs, which amount to tens, hundreds, or even over two hundred billion yuan.

Hundreds of billions spent on content.

Based on current figures, that's enough to produce a hundred high-budget TV series.

One episode airs every three days.

It can be broadcast from the beginning to the end of the year without stopping.

These guys managed to push up the procurement cost to 10 to 20 million per episode, and the exclusive broadcasting rights for "The Legend of Da Ru" even went up to a sky-high price of 1.3 billion. With such outrageous costs, it would be a miracle if they didn't lose money!
There are factors of competition involved, and of course, there are also some reasons that are quite intriguing.

Those executives who were complaining endlessly.

I reckon they wish this situation could continue indefinitely.

Li Luo still remembers what happened in another industry. Those involved in new energy vehicles all said that if they threw in 50 billion yuan, they would probably only make a noise. This scared Lei Zi into preparing 100 billion yuan.

They were prepared to stake all the honors of their first half of life on it.

that's it.

I have absolutely no confidence.

Regardless of whether the money is enough, let's just throw it in first and see what happens. At worst, we'll lose money, and if we lose, we'll just add more.

But ultimately...
It was done with just over 30 billion yuan!
Lei Zi was stunned, the investors of other car companies were dumbfounded, gritted their teeth and checked the accounts, and some new car companies also collapsed, with executives and managers running away one after another!
To put it simply, it boils down to one sentence.

Making money from customers is never as easy as making money from investors.

Even if the temple is poor.

Some people estimate that they are rolling in money.

There's nothing new under the sun, which suggests that the huge losses of those long-form video platforms could have gone nowhere. YouTube is hot, so people are saying they want to be the next YouTube.

When Netflix becomes popular, people say they want to be the next Netflix or the next Disney.

This can be used to make a judgment.

What they really want to do is create a concept.

As long as they can hype up the concept and keep telling investors stories to attract hot money, they don't really care about the specifics of what they're actually doing.

Therefore, Li Luogan felt no pressure regarding this matter.

Plan however you want.

Since things are already in such a terrible state, no matter how much trouble we cause, things won't get any worse.

"Poaching people."

Lin Yue realized the key point.

If that were to happen, competitors would definitely spare no expense to poach talent. This is not impossible; some business battles, once started, could even bankrupt an entire department.

"Not afraid."

Li Luo smiled and shook his head, then waved his hand and said, "I'm not afraid of either the artists or the technical department."

"As for the artists, as long as they are willing to pay the breach of contract penalty."

"Dig anywhere!"

“The Beijing Film Academy, the Central Academy of Drama, the Shanghai Theatre Academy, as well as major media schools, dance schools, and opera schools produce hundreds of handsome men and beautiful women every year. There are countless talents in our country.”

"Many people simply don't have the opportunity to stand out, which doesn't mean they lack ability."

"There is a platform and opportunities."

"There's no need to worry about not being able to cultivate high-quality artists."

"We're even less afraid of technology!"

"This isn't some cutting-edge high-tech field; it's not like you can't get things done without someone. Without good content, it's all for nothing."

Inside.

This is one of the reasons why Li Luo wanted to create a platform.

Deep down.

He is passionate about the film and television industry.

Those flying and darting adventures, those bizarre and fantastical stories, brought me countless joys.

These are joys.

It should continue.

Most actors today come from ordinary families. Although few who can get into art schools come from poor families, they are not necessarily exceptionally outstanding.

Given the opportunity, these people all give it their all and shine.

Horse riding and swimming.

They were willing to learn and do anything, including martial arts and martial arts. It was thanks to their continuous hard work that the grand spectacle of the "Four Dan and Two Bing" (referring to four top actresses and two top actresses, respectively) competing for supremacy and the rise of young and middle-aged actors was possible.

Li Luo wasn't sure if the overall environment could change, and he wasn't foolish enough to fantasize about fighting against all capital.

But at least, they can hold onto their own little corner of the world.

To give more ordinary players a chance to succeed.

It won't become stagnant.

"Allocation mechanism?"

Lin Yue thought for a moment and asked again.

"excitation."

Li Luo flicked off the ash from his cigar and smoked it until it glowed crimson: "If we strictly control the production costs in the early stages, then we need to use a portion of the profits as positive incentives in the later stages. We should learn from TVB's cost control methods."

"But we can't be stingy like them."

"To give a rough example."

"If the TV series sells for 100 million yuan after it's released on the platform, after deducting production costs, we will take out a portion of the profits and let the main creators, such as actors, directors, screenwriters, and action choreographers, share the money according to their respective proportions." "We will keep sharing it, continuously sharing it."

"As long as this show can generate revenue on the platform, they will have a steady stream of income."

"Can it make money?"

"It is relevant to everyone."

"Instead of just shooting and then handing it over to the platform and that's it."

"This will maximize the enthusiasm of the staff. These long-tail revenues will motivate them to put in the effort to make the film and perform well, rather than just doing a perfunctory job."

About that.

Lin Yue heard it all clearly.

It's simply about giving performers a base salary plus commission, eliminating one-off deals, and nipping the idea of ​​making a quick buck and leaving.

The better the film sells, the more money you guys make.

And you can keep earning money.

This approach controls costs and prevents staff from leaving due to low salaries, as was the case with TVB. Most importantly, it balances the interests of the production team.

Want to make big money
We have to put in the effort to ensure quality.

As for competitiveness and attractiveness, for example, if others offer a one-off deal of one million, Xinghuo Films offers two hundred thousand plus unpredictable subsequent revenue.

About that.

It all depends on how well your platform performs!

Doing business is never smooth sailing; you'll always face obstacles. Just deal with them as they come.

only.
"That sounds good."

Lin Yue unbuttoned her coat, trying to breathe more easily: "Having control of the online copyrights to more than 5,000 films and TV series, we do have a head start. The width and depth of our moat are not a problem."

"But given the current market environment, do you think it's necessary for us to get involved ourselves?"

"how to say!"

"Paying habits are hard to change."

"wrong."

Li Luo looked at her and said seriously, "Chinese people do have a willingness to pay, and that can be cultivated. The more than 200 million yuan box office of our movie 'Painted Skin' couldn't have just fallen from the sky."

"It all depends on how we do it."

"What about the permit?"

Lin Yue tapped on the table, shifting from asking a question to figuring out how to solve it: "How do we handle this? The relevant policies are very restrictive; it's not something that can be resolved simply by spending some money."

Having invested so much money in purchasing film and television copyrights, she certainly paid attention to the current market situation.

On one side, demons were running rampant.

Piracy is rampant.

On the other hand, there is a frantic contraction, with policies tightly restricting operations.

"nailed it."

Li Luo flashed his bright white teeth and said with a radiant smile, "After the movie ends, take the documents and submit your applications for the 'Information Network Transmission of Audiovisual Programs License' and the 'Radio and Television Program Production and Operation License'."

"All such certificates have been applied for; it's just a matter of going through the normal procedures."

"Uh"

Lin Yue's eyes widened.

The girl couldn't help but chuckle.

With a vast library of licensed film and television resources, its own film and television base under construction, and strong production capabilities, the company has no problem allocating hundreds of millions of yuan in funding.

Even the licensing process has been completed.

Compared to existing long-form video platforms, Xinghuo Films has far too many advantages.

Most importantly.

It's the man sitting next to me.

With him in charge of the content, the matter is almost half done.

This way.

What's there to resist?

She dared not dream of an annual revenue of 10 billion yuan, but if she could control the budget in all aspects, even a revenue of only a few billion yuan would be an astronomical figure. Last year, the total domestic box office was only 3.3 billion yuan.

This number.

It has already supported a large number of employees.

"Dry!!!"

Swallowing hard, Lin Yue excitedly slapped Li Luoliang's hand.

smiled.

Li Luo swung his hand and struck.

The two continued talking, with Li Luo sharing his thoughts: "Even though TVB has declined, there are still many lessons to be learned from this television station."

TVB is only limited by its small market size; the other side still has many advantages.

The horse racing mechanism is an example of this.

TVB has artist training classes, and Spark Entertainment could do the same.

We sign qualified new artists from major art colleges, but unlike the current artist training mechanism, we directly turn these new artists into company employees, all of whom are paid to work.

Then divide it into several levels.

Levels such as Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow.

Signed artists must pass relevant assessments, undergo training, and hone their acting skills from scratch on film sets before they can officially become junior artists.

Each promotion to a higher level.

Artists' monthly salaries, film and television revenue sharing, and advertising revenue sharing will all increase.

Then, through resource allocation and profit distribution, these artists are encouraged to race forward like horses in a race.

The capable rise.

Those who cannot adapt will be eliminated.

If you want to earn millions or tens of millions a year, then you'd better use all your skills to please the audience with your acting skills and conquer movie fans with your strength. Don't think that you can earn 208 a day by just standing loosely in front of the camera and reciting a few lines.

We cannot afford to slack off yet.

A large number of up-and-coming artists are waiting to rise to the top.

This forces these people to proactively enhance their professional skills and to hone their acting abilities.

This kind of opportunity.

Those with connections and resources naturally look down on them.

But this door.

It's not for those kinds of people.

Many people enter the film and television industry with dreams, only to leave disappointed in the face of capital and connections. At least at Xinghuo Films, they still have the opportunity to make their own efforts.

sound.

That's somewhat presumptuous.

But Li Luo wanted to take things for granted.

Like I said before, it's already rotten to the core.

No matter how much you play, the situation won't get worse. No matter how much you mess around, you'll be rich and powerful in this life. Even if you do nothing and just lie at home sleeping all day, you can still earn hundreds of thousands in the dream world.

So I decided to go all out and see if I could come up with anything new.

These words left Lin Yue speechless.

He nodded excitedly.

She never liked living a routine life, otherwise she wouldn't have left such a prestigious company as Anta and followed Li Luo to work in a small studio.

Since there is an opportunity.

Of course we should take a gamble!
October 8th.

Li Luo flew to the land of cherry blossoms.

Building the Spark Film and Television Platform is a long-term plan. The so-called Spark Class, the horse racing mechanism, the establishment of production teams, and so on, cannot be created out of thin air with a wave of the hand.

Personnel and teams need to be assembled.

Software also needs to be developed.

These things will take a long time to perfect, but Li Luo is not in a hurry. He understands very well the principle that one must eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time.

If you rush forward without thinking, you might die without even knowing how.

on the other hand.

The work at hand cannot be stopped.

The main reason for coming to Japan is to promote the TV series "My Sunshine".

Here.

The TV series is already halfway through its run.

Thanks to its excellent quality, "My Sunshine" also sparked a craze.

Upon arrival at the hotel.

Hundreds of Japanese girls gathered there.

As the handsome man stepped out of the car, the Japanese girls screamed loudly, swarming over him for autographs and photos, creating a chaotic scene.

October 9th.

Li Luo has come to South Korea again for promotional activities.

Although the copyright fee here was only over five million RMB, sometimes you can't just look at the immediate benefits. As long as you build up the market value, you won't have to worry about not being able to sell it for a high price in the future.

Despite conquering markets everywhere with the help of the Korean wave, the Koreans have kept their own market tightly under control.

The three major television stations.

All Chinese-language TV dramas are restricted from entering the market.

The reason for this is that when "Princess Pearl" was introduced, it was so popular that many imported Chinese-language television programs could only be broadcast on some small TV stations, or even only on ChinaTV.

This TV station was even intended for Chinese people living in South Korea.

Its influence is extremely poor.

Such an action reveals a stingy nature.

Therefore, it cannot be said that the State Administration of Radio and Television's ban on Korean content is problematic. Before this, they had already restricted us for more than ten years. So, in Li Luo's view, there should have been some countermeasures long ago. We can't just be the ones taking the hits!

However, "My Sunshine" was relegated to a small TV station's midnight slot.

But it is thanks to its excellent quality.

It achieved quite good viewership ratings in South Korea.

As a result, the event also attracted hundreds of fans, with screams of various "oppas" filling the air, marking a small wave of Chinese influence.

October 10th.

Arriving in Hong Kong Island on Li Luo's flight, they continued their promotional work for "My Sunshine".

October 11th.

They traveled to a number of small countries in Southeast Asia.

Each place they visited.

The accompanying staff recorded the scenes and sent the pictures, texts, and videos back to China, dazzling the fans and driving up the box office of "Painted Skin".

Sun Haiying's outburst also generated a lot of buzz for the film.

"This kind of movie is garbage and will never be as good as those artistic works from Hollywood."

"How dare he compare it to Titanic? Titanic holds a pivotal position in global film history. And what kind of nonsensical adaptation is your Painted Skin?"

"I suggest that Li Luo take a break from acting and go back to school to study for a while, so that he can learn how to be a good person before he starts working."

"He's so cute!!!"

It is preceded by a strange adjective.

These blunt remarks made netizens burst into laughter.

No matter how much he curses.

The box office of "Painted Skin" continues to soar.

October 14th has arrived.

The distributor, Guangxian Media, released another report, stating that as of October 13th, the film "Painted Skin" had successfully surpassed 300 million yuan in box office revenue in just 18 days since its release, setting a new record for the fastest box office gross in history.

As soon as this news came out.

Everyone was stunned.

There are still twelve days left in the run of "Painted Skin". Even if it only grosses five million a day, it can still break the 3.6 ​​million mark.

Everyone realized that "Painted Skin" might actually break records.

A whole decade.

This record is expected to be broken.

When those who care about this matter realized this, countless people felt inexplicably excited, and fans of the film were even more excited, clamoring to go back to the cinema, determined to take the title of the greatest film in history.

Many people remain silent.

It broke through the defenses.

Both are present.

"If Painted Skin can become the number one film in history, it will be a disgrace to our market, and even more so to those in the industry!"

Beijing Airport.

As soon as Li Luo stepped off the plane, he was surrounded by reporters who excitedly handed him newspapers.

Those pairs of eyes that were glowing green.

She just stared at him, hoping for a response.

"Oh~"

Shaking the newspaper aside, Li Luo nodded with a smile and said, "I didn't expect him to be such a cutie. I'd like to thank Teacher Sun for helping me promote the movie. He deserves some credit for the box office success of 'Painted Skin'."

"Thank you, thank you~"

"I'm almost embarrassed by this!"

"Pfft~"

The reporters were red-faced with embarrassment, never expecting this guy to not only kill them but also destroy their spirit!
(End of this chapter)