Huayu: This producer has no bottom line.

Chapter 44 Time Waits for No One

After dinner, the night wind was chilly.

Ren Pingsheng drove the two to the train station.

Zhou Zhanyan was full and closed his eyes to rest in the back seat. The car was quiet for a while before Ren Pingsheng spoke first.

"How was it after two days of filming?"

Ni Ni thought for a moment.

"Before I came, I thought this had nothing to do with me; I was just returning a favor."

"Um."

"When I first saw you setting up the camera on the ground, I thought you were some kind of perverted director with some kind of weird fetish, trying to take advantage of me."

"and then?"

"Then, after so many takes, I kept thinking to myself, 'Am I being stupid?'"

Ren Pingsheng chuckled.

"But as we continued filming, I seemed to forget about all of that," Ni Ni said, looking at the streetlights outside the car window. "Especially today, Zhang Yibo told me that there was a particularly good line from yesterday that I didn't even know which one it was, but when he said it was good, I was quite happy."

She paused for a moment, then said, "I'm not sure if this is the right career for me, but at least I'm not opposed to it anymore."

Zhou Zhanyan, who was in the back seat, suddenly came to life.

"No longer rejecting it? My God!"

Zhou Zhanyan sighed dramatically, then leaned back on the seat in front of him, staring at Ren Pingsheng's profile.

"Director Ren, you're really something! You managed to distract a good student in just two days."

Her tone was slightly wary, "But putting it another way, being an actress is a young person's game. Director Ren, let me check this out for my Nini. If she really signs with you, what guarantees can you offer her? You can't just keep letting her play minor, unspeakable roles forever, can you?"

Ren Pingsheng glanced at Zhou Zhanyan in the rearview mirror, somewhat surprised and also somewhat appreciative of the girl's protectiveness.

How much was her salary during her internship at Procter & Gamble?

Zhou Zhanyan turned to look at Ni Ni, "How much was it again?"

Ni Ni sighed, "I've told you several times already, it's four thousand eight before tax."

"Okay, I'll pay five thousand, and meals will be provided."

Zhou Zhanyan's lips twitched.

"Are you speaking human language?"

"Isn't providing meals enough? The boxed lunches we have there taste pretty good."

Ni Ni couldn't help but laugh.

Ren Pingsheng, with one hand on the steering wheel, changed his tone and became serious, "Don't worry about her. Your roommate has a much brighter future than you all imagine."

Ni Ni turned to look at him, and Zhou Zhanyan leaned forward into the front row. "What do you mean?"

"It means you don't need to rush into making a choice; what's meant to be will be."

She wanted to ask more questions, but Ni Ni's phone suddenly vibrated.

"Hello, Director Wang?...Yes, I'm in Yanjing...What's up?...Okay, I understand. I'll be back at school the day after tomorrow."

After hanging up the phone, Ni Ni looked somewhat confused.

"What's wrong?" Ren Pingsheng asked.

"It was the school that called, saying there was something important that I needed to go back, but they didn't go into details over the phone."

Zhou Zhanyan in the back seat sat up abruptly. "What important thing is it? It's not a makeup exam, is it? You didn't fail any courses."

Ni Ni shook his head. "I don't know. Director Wang only told me to go back as soon as possible, and he sounded quite urgent."

The car turned into the drop-off area of ​​the train station. Ren Pingsheng parked the car and helped them take their luggage out of the trunk.

When Ni Ni took the box, she looked back at him again.

"Director Ren, what exactly do you mean?"

"What do you mean?"

"What you just said, 'What's meant to happen will happen,' will come."

Ren Pingsheng smiled and spun the car key around. "You'll find out when we get back to school."

……

On Monday morning, Dapeng was adjusting his breathing in the elevator of the Sohu Building.

He was dressed more formally than usual today, with his shirt buttoned all the way up to the top, and his hair was carefully styled before he went out.

The elevator doors opened, and Alex's office was at the end of the corridor.

The door was open, and Alex was typing on his computer. When he saw Dapeng come in, he forced a lukewarm smile.

"sit."

Dapeng sat down and took the initiative to speak.

"Alex, I've thought about what you told me last time."

"Hmm?" Alex stopped typing.

"My wife has a lot of objections to the 'Loser 2' project," Da Peng said, rubbing his hands together with a troubled expression on his face.

"You know, the incident involving Ms. Cang last season caused quite a stir. My wife argued with me every day during that time, and we almost got a divorce," Da Peng sighed. "You've invited quite a few female celebrities this time as well. If my wife sees them, I'm afraid my family won't be able to handle it."

Da Peng knew that he was saying this to give both sides a way out.

His contract with Sohu is much looser than that of traditional agencies, which is why he has been able to work on Sohu's shows while also acting in plays and movies and hosting variety shows on television in recent years.

"Harmony in the family brings prosperity in all things," Alex raised an eyebrow, then smiled. "Then you should focus on doing a good job with 'Deba De,' after all, it's your foundation, so don't be half-hearted."

Dapeng stood up, smiled, and patted the back of the chair. "Don't worry, it won't be a problem."

He was still shaken when he left the office.

The calmer Alex was, the more confident he was.

Life at Sohu will be tough from now on, but at least for now, he still has a salary, enough to get him through this transitional period.

I hope I didn't make the wrong choice.

Ping Sheng's side, it can be a bit faster.

……

Dawang Road, a glimpse into his life.

Ren Pingsheng saw Da Peng's text message, replied "Received," and tossed his phone aside.

The detailed editing scripts for the first three episodes were spread out on the table.

The plan to release the series after only three episodes was pre-arranged by Ren Pingsheng, and this was clearly stipulated in the contract with Youku—the first batch would consist of three episodes.

The person who was worried was a little confused when he saw this, and asked him why he didn't film it all at once.

Ren Pingsheng's response was to dynamically adjust the subsequent script based on audience feedback in order to control risks.

But the real reason is GG.

Ren Pingsheng opened an Excel spreadsheet.

The table lists the names of more than a dozen companies, including game companies, fast-moving consumer goods brands, e-commerce platforms, and even a newly launched group-buying website.

This list was compiled by him during this period, and it consists entirely of brands that had large-scale promotional needs in the first half of 2010.

Besides the platform's revenue sharing based on tiered commission rates for featured ads, he can also negotiate product placements himself.

However, the premise for embedding is to avoid letting GG ruin the content.

The original approach taken by "Wanwan" and "Diaosi" was to make GG (Girl) a part of the plot.

"Report to the Boss" should follow this approach, but it cannot be copied verbatim.

He wrote three principles next to the table:

No lines of dialogue unrelated to the plot are allowed to be spoken in the main film.

GG must be presented in a way that invites criticism; the brand must accept self-deprecation.

No more than three brands should be featured in a single episode; otherwise, it becomes a compilation of unwanted products.

When you take all three together, it becomes difficult to discuss.

Since the fewer the product placements, the higher the price per placement, why would a brand spend a lot of money to buy a product that "criticizes" them?

Based on data.

So he first appeared in three episodes running naked, without any product placement.

Use clean content to boost viewership and provide brands with real data.

You can calculate how much this GG is worth yourself.

At that point, he won't be begging people to vote; people will be lining up to vote for him.

Ren Pingsheng saved the form and looked up at the calendar on the wall.

11 month 23 number.

There are 11 days left until its launch on December 4th.

There are 17 days left until the release of "A Simple Noodle Story".

There are 42 days left until the release of Avatar.

There are still about four months until the Weibo war.

He picked up a pen and drew a circle on the four sides of the calendar.

"Time is running out, we need to find a way to give them a little push."