Chapter 174: Wanting to Get Something for Free
Xie Ran helplessly said, “Boss, I’m not really Zhuge Liang, how could I have predicted everything?”
Xu Youyou still looked at him with a suspicious look in her eyes.
Xie Ran sighed and said, “I admit that there’s an element of gambling in this. The reason I placed these famous actors and internet celebrities at the front was to make a good opening, but I didn’t expect them to get angrier than I imagined, otherwise, there wouldn’t be such a huge public outcry online.”
Xu Youyou knew he had planned this, and she actually relaxed a bit, then said, “But doing it this way, later famous actors or internet celebrities might not want to come for auditions.”
Xie Ran suddenly smiled and said, “Boss, I’ve never suggested that these celebrities would definitely be chosen. Moreover, fame is always a double-edged sword. Most actors who have made a name for themselves have already signed with management companies. They may not be willing to immerse themselves in understanding a role.”
“On the other hand, less famous but talented actors can help expand our company’s talent pool while also giving them the opportunity to become famous. It’s a win-win situation.”
Xu Youyou was stunned by his words.
Xie Ran continued, “For this audition, we’re traveling all over the country, trying our best to select high-quality male and female actors, and then try to get them to sign with our company.”
“If the drama becomes a huge hit, it’s like we’ve trained dozens of stars all at once.”
Xu Youyou listened to Xie Ran’s grand vision, imagining the scene, and couldn’t help but salivate. But then she thought, if her entertainment company were to soar, the foundation of success would be if the drama really became a hit.
Stars need to be nurtured, and once the popularity fades, it’s very likely that they’ll fall behind, wasting hard-won traffic. It would ruin their careers and be a shame.
“Since we plan to take this drama seriously, we should make it a masterpiece that has never been seen before.”
“As for the later development of the artists, that’s easy. We can discover and cultivate more excellent screenwriters and production teams. After all, you’re not short of money. Worst case, we could do like the short dramas and start dozens of productions at once.”
Xu Youyou couldn’t help but say, “Don’t be too confident, TV dramas and short dramas are completely different.”
If it were really that easy to find and cultivate a good production team, the entertainment industry wouldn’t be flooded with so many poorly made shows.
Xie Ran, however, was very confident and said, “There’s never a shortage of good production teams in the entertainment industry. The problem now is too much capital interference.”
“Capital wants to promote people, earn quick money through fan economies, so they rush to promote people, suck the life out of other roles, steal scenes, just to enhance the glory of their own actors.”
“When there are many investors in a drama, naturally, there will be this kind of conflict.”
“You’re different from these short-sighted investors. Compared to promoting individual actors, you care more about the overall quality of the show. Plus, we’re mostly going for the sole investment model, so we don’t have to worry about too many people interfering.”
Xu Youyou was flattered by his words, and she suddenly realized that as the boss, she didn’t do much, but the company was unexpectedly thriving.
Could it be that the boss was actually the biggest obstacle to the company’s success?
Xie Ran continued, “The management team doesn’t interfere much with the creative process, and our company is now in a virtuous cycle. Even the short dramas are praised as high-quality, and there are rumors that anything Xu Youyou produces must be a masterpiece. You just need to wait for the money to roll in.”
Xu Youyou couldn’t help but blush. She suddenly regretted being too hasty back then and felt there was no need to use her own name for the company. If she had known, she would have given the company a more elegant name.
Xie Ran continued, “Boss, Shu Yunling has signed the contract. With her contract as a template, other potential artists are also interested in signing with us.”
Xu Youyou was worried that Xie Ran was too focused on making money and might miss suitable actors, so she reminded him, “Even if the artists have signed with other companies, if the role fits, we must keep them under contract. We can’t suppress other characters just to promote our own actors.”
Xie Ran reassured her, “Don’t worry. Everything else is secondary. The main thing is to make the best Dream of the Red Chamber drama. If this drama is successful, our company’s reputation will soar, and I won’t make short-sighted decisions just for quick profits.”
Xie Ran then presented a new acquisition plan to Xu Youyou.
She opened it, and to her surprise, it wasn’t about acquiring an entertainment company, a video platform, or a manufacturing company, but a novel website.
“Why are we buying a novel website?” Xu Youyou didn’t quite understand.
Xie Ran explained, “In the future, our company will be expanding rapidly. We’re signing so many actors, and we need to increase our film and TV production teams. Original scripts take too long, but developing IPs from novels is much faster.”
“With our own novel website, we can create an entire entertainment ecosystem and develop quality screenwriters from novel authors.”
Xu Youyou felt like she was listening to a business presentation, and the more she heard, the more she felt that rescuing Xie Ran from the bridge underpass was absolutely necessary. This person always plans three steps ahead. If given enough time, it’s likely he could build her a commercial empire in just a few years.
“If you think it’s necessary, then just buy it. Let me know if you need any money,” Xu Youyou said, showing her full trust.
The novel website Xie Ran wanted to buy was a site that had once been popular but had fallen into decline due to the influx of capital into the novel market in recent years.
Even so, Xu Youyou thought this was a big deal worth billions, but in the end, it only cost two hundred million.
The day the acquisition of the novel website was completed, a line of text suddenly appeared in front of Xu Youyou.
[Congratulations to the host. After completing two unexpected “lucky finds,” you have received the task reward: Xuanxue Protection Shield x1.]
Xu Youyou was a bit confused: “What are the two lucky finds?”
She felt like she had missed something important.
The system quickly explained.
[Shu Yunling: A beautiful actress who was tortured to madness due to the entertainment industry’s unspoken rules. She should have shone under the spotlight but was instead targeted due to her extreme beauty. Unable to endure the pain, she lost her sanity.]
Xu Youyou recalled Shu Yunling’s beautiful, lively face and felt deeply relieved. It was fortunate that this girl had entered her company. Xu Youyou, who was holding her in the palm of her hand, would never let her face these ugly things.
[Fire Red Novel Network: A seemingly ordinary site that actually harbors a top-tier IP capable of supporting countless content creators.]
Xu Youyou’s eyes lit up. She immediately switched into “want to get something for free” mode and asked, “Which IP in Fire Red Novel Network is so powerful?”
