The Rebirth of the Internet Celebrity Godfather

June 10, one week after Zhang Hanran’s thesis defense.

Cheng Yi, Zhang Hanran, Zhou Hengfeng, Wu Wang and others took a bus and arrived at the magical town of Rhine.

After getting off the bus, Cheng Yi didn't take care of his luggage. Naturally, staff would pack it up and help him put it in the hotel room.

After searching around, Cheng Yi found Chen Sicheng who was supervising the set scene.

"Brother Chen, long time no see!"

When Chen Sicheng heard the voice, he glanced back and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Cheng Yi: "You're finally here. Come, I'll take you to see the assistant director."

With that said, Chen Sicheng eagerly pulled Cheng Yi to see Dai Mo.

Dai Mo graduated from the directing major in 2004. After graduation, there were no rumors about him in the world. It was not until 2015 that he starred in the role of "Li Xiangqian" in "The Ordinary World" and he gradually became known, but he is still not very famous.

Famous, not even as famous as Cheng Yiyi.

Later, for some reason, he fell in love with Chen Sicheng and became a director under Chen Sicheng.

In his previous life, Dai Mo was quite successful under Chen Sicheng and grew rapidly. He directed the web drama "Detective Chinatown" and the movie "Manslaughter 2".

Especially Manslaughter 2, in the sluggish movie market in 2021, still achieved a box office of 1 billion, which is not easy.

At present, the "Detective Chinatown" web series is already in the planning process. This time, Chen Sicheng and Lademo came to be the assistant director of "This Killer Is Not Calm" just to practice brushing experience.

When Dai Mo met Cheng Yi, he was very polite, but he didn't have the arrogance and self-importance of someone who came from a major.

Think about it, Cheng Yi is both a producer, an investor, and a screenwriter. They are the trinity. He is the most powerful person on the set. He can change whoever he wants.

Not to mention he was an assistant director, even the director Chen Sicheng didn't dare to show off to Cheng Yi.

Chen Sicheng said: "Daimo, please analyze the current market of Internet University with Mr. Cheng."

Internet University is also a major Internet movie.

"OK!"

Dai Mo handed the printed report to Cheng Yi and Chen Sicheng.

Obviously, he was fully prepared and went to find people in the industry to learn about the Internet University and made an industry report.

Daimo said:

“For Internet majors, the general standard is to invest between 500,000 and 4 million, and the duration is between 60 and 90 minutes.

Of course, there are also those who invest more than 10 million, but this is not universal.

According to statistics, as of this year, more than 5,000 online movies have been distributed across the entire network, with revenue sharing ranging from several million to tens of millions."

Cheng Yi nodded, and Dai Mo continued:

"The creative cycle of an online university is generally a few months to a year. Of course, this is all external opinion. In fact, the entire process from project establishment to filming and post-production for an online university can take as little as one month and as long as three months.

It will be completed.

Because it is uploaded directly to the online platform, there is no need to schedule films or schedules. After the release, the funds can be recovered within 1-3 months.

It has been four years since the birth of Wangda. At present, there are three major domestic platforms, Acten, and the profit model is quite mature and similar, mainly relying on clicks and advertising.

The specific details are slightly different among the three companies."

Dai Mo stood up and pointed at Cheng Yi.

Cheng Yi understood at a glance that the so-called clicks are the number of on-demand views, because all major platforms have membership services, and non-members can only watch for six minutes, so one effective click is more than six minutes.

As long as you generate a click, you can get a few dollars.

Before the online movie is released, each major platform will give a rating to the online movie, ranging from S to A, B, C, D, and E. The higher the rating, the higher the price of one click. The lower the rating, the higher the price.

The lower.

Take Tengxun Video as an example. For S level, one click is worth 2.5 yuan. For D level, one effective click is only 0.5 yuan.

Among them, there is a five-fold difference.

"Go on." After reading, Cheng Yi said calmly.

Dai Mo nodded and continued:

“Currently, the themes of Internet majors are generally zombies, curiosity, comedy, big insects and snakes, down-to-earth, soft porn beauties, popularity, violence, gore, and modified classics.

This is determined by the profit model of the Internet University. It does not pursue the quality of the entire film, but only pursues the movie name, poster, and subject matter to attract viewers to click in.

As long as the audience watches for more than six minutes, they win.

For example, "Orochi" has a very fancy cover, a big-breasted beauty, and a big snake made with special effects, but you can only watch the first six minutes, and the big snake doesn't appear a few times in the whole movie.

For example, Wang Baoqiang starred in "The Taoist Comes Down the Mountain", which is a hot topic. Then the Internet University came up with "The Taoist Comes Out of the Mountain", "The Taoist Sister Comes Out of the Mountain", "The Taoist Goes Up the Mountain", etc., just to let the audience click on it to see what it is about.

It’s a thing.”

Cheng Yi wanted to laugh when he heard this. Taoist priests are so busy!

“To sum up, online movies have just started to emerge, and everyone wants to get involved, and everyone dreams of making money with their small fortune and big money.

But serious filmmakers look down upon it. Take "Qi Men Dun Jia", which currently has the highest revenue distribution, as an example. The starting revenue distribution at the box office is only 50 to 60 million, and any movie that goes online can earn hundreds of millions."

A trace of regret flashed across Dai Mo's face. He first glanced at Chen Sicheng, and when he saw that Chen Sicheng had no objection, he said to Cheng Yi:

"Mr. Cheng, it's not too late for you to regret it now. I've read your script. Don't blame me for exaggerating. Your script is really rare and wonderful!"

I was really shocked when I read it, and I almost wondered if it was written by you!

It's a burden for a few minutes, with constant peeing throughout the whole process, and the plot is complete, with no major flaws.

For a script like this, if you find a leading actor who can handle the box office, such as Wang Baoqiang, Shen Tong, Huang Bo, etc., plus the guidance of Director Chen and me, it will definitely get more than one billion in box office."

One billion?

It’s smaller! The layout is smaller!

In the previous life, "The Killer Is Not So Calm" starring Wei Xiang was able to get a box office of 2 billion, and in that movie environment, if it were replaced by first-line stars such as Huang Bo, Shen Tong, Wang Baoqiang, etc., it is conservatively estimated that it could get 3

One billion box office.

However, that is not what Cheng Yi wants!

Because this movie Cheng Yi is used to praise him, Zhang Hanran, and his many Internet celebrities, not just for the box office.

Not to mention that Cheng Yi now has hundreds of millions of funds at his disposal. Just by supporting Zhang Hanran and others and breaking the shackles of Internet celebrities, the revenue created can reach hundreds of millions a year.

To put it bluntly, he simply doesn’t care about the billions in box office.

And even if it takes billions at the box office, how much will he get to share?

He is just a screenwriter who produces a script, and at most he invests a little money, which he distributes to theaters, actors, directors, plus promotion fees, and in his hands, it can reach several hundred million at most.

Moreover, the cycle for withdrawing funds is still long, so why bother?

Besides, there is a reason why Cheng Yi chose to make "This Killer Is Not So Calm" into a major online movie.

Cheng Yi asked: "Director Dai, let me ask you, what is the average Douban score of Internet universities now?"

Dai Mo answered truthfully: "Usually it's three or four points. The current highest-grossing movie "Qi Men Dun Jia" only has a score of 4.4, which is considered high."

Cheng Yi asked again: "Then what do you think the rating of "The Killer Is Not So Calm" would be if it were made into a theatrical movie?"

Dai Mo thought for a while and said: "Can it be 7 points?"

Cheng Yi stretched out a finger, shook it, and said:

"Absolutely impossible, it's only 6.5 points at most. First of all, our name is not serious. This killer is not very calm. It is full of enthusiasm and ruins the classic Internet flavor, which gives people a bad impression.

"

Dai Mo said: "We can change it!"

"No need to change, the crux of the problem is not here." Cheng Yi shook his head and said, "This is determined by our movie script. This script conceals the background, time, causes and consequences of the story, and the connection with the outside world.

To put it bluntly, it is a stage play that takes place in a closed world, but the stage play is moved from the stage to our set.

Therefore, its cinematic feel is relatively weak, its logic is not that strong, and its rating is not very high."

"We can expand the world view, and the styling doesn't need to be so exaggerated, and the setting should be more realistic." Dai Mo said eagerly.

Cheng Yi still shook his head and said: "NONONO, this movie is specifically designed to make the audience laugh. The weird movie title, the unique scenery, the funny characters, and the exaggerated performances all create a sense of magic and let everyone in a magical world.

In this world, take the initiative to give up logic and enjoy a funny sketch."

"This", Dai Mo gradually understood. "Does it mean to sacrifice the sense of cinema and realism, so that the audience can focus on the funny thing?"

"right!"

Cheng Yi finally nodded and said: "So, if we go to theaters, the box office will be high, but there will definitely be a lot of criticism, and there will definitely be people who want to make money, but if we don't go to theaters, we will go online

Where’s the line?”

Cheng Yi's eyes were bright: "Audiences have been suffering from big online movies for a long time. Our movie is just a popcorn movie to make money when it goes to theaters. But online, we are gods, we are dimensionality reduction strikes, and we are here to save the Internet.

Great movies exist!

With you, Director Chen, and me, with the support of the three of us, we will definitely break the record of "Qi Men Dun Jia". It is easy to get a share of 60 million, and you don't have to share it with others. When the time comes, netizens will still

Will you praise us? Isn’t it delicious?”

Dai Mo thought about it carefully:

Hiss! It smells really good!

Whether it's in theaters or online, how much money a movie makes has something to do with him, but it doesn't have much to do with it. He's getting paid a dead salary! The majority is with Cheng Yi. Cheng Yi is willing to make less, so why should he worry?

?

Just like Cheng Yi said, if it is launched on an online platform, then they will definitely save the existence of big online movies. When the time comes, once it is promoted, won't he become famous?

There are a lot of 6:00 movies, but there are no 6:00 movies online!

In fact, there is one thing Cheng Yi didn't say, which is that he wants to set up a film studio to specialize in making big online movies.

Anyway, the actors are ready-made, as are the internet celebrities under his banner, and the scripts are also ready-made. In his previous life, he was a movie lover. He has memorized several movies before 2024. Although it is specious, he does not remember many, but the overall framework is remembered.

The restoration is pretty much the same, and it will definitely be a blast when photographed!

Even if after 2024, his prophetic advantage is used up and the film studio has been trained, what will he have to worry about?

This is another industrial chain!

If it develops well, annual income of over 100 million is not a problem.

Chen Sicheng said: "Okay, then listen to Mr. Cheng, we will make a big Internet movie and save the Internet together!"

Cheng Yi and Dai Mo said together: "Save Wangda!"

Chen Sicheng looked at Cheng Yi with a lot of emotion in his heart: A year ago, Cheng Yi was just a small internet celebrity who came to his crew to play a supporting role. Today, a year later, he turned out to be a financial sponsor and worked for him himself.

Directed.

A two-level reversal, nothing more than that!