Chapter 1103 1203. Difficult Situation
Fan Binbin and Huang Xiaoming stood side by side by the window, looking at the heavy snow outside, and sighed at the same time.
What is called a leaky house encountering a sudden rain, it is now.
There were not many people in the restaurant to begin with, and it snowed outside for half a day, and there was no sign of stopping until now. Originally, their restaurant was located at the entrance of a remote alley in Hongdae, and the flow of people was not large. Now because of the heavy snow, the pedestrians outside were even sparser. Even if a few people occasionally passed by the door of the restaurant, they had no intention of stopping, and all left in a hurry.
According to the requirements of the program, the restaurant is to be open until 10 o'clock in the evening, but looking at the current situation, Fan Binbin thinks it may be closed at 8 o'clock, because no one will come to eat.
Thinking of this, Fan Binbin couldn't help but look at the program directors behind the camera not far away with resentment. It was these guys who set up so many obstacles, so that their ambitions when they came were all extinguished at this moment.
Li Xuri, the program's chief director, sat in a corner and had no expression on his face when he saw Fan Binbin's resentful look.
But in fact, he was more anxious than anyone else.
If someone paid attention, they would find that the director seldom ate recently because he was too angry and his gums were swollen and painful.
You should know that the initial investment of this program was as high as 30 million, and this was because several performers participated at a "friendship price".
The original settings, such as not doing any local publicity, not inviting any extras to pretend to be customers, etc., were all based on the high popularity of the four stars. I believe that even without these, the popularity of the four stars such as Fan Binbin and Huang Xiaoming can attract customers to the door.
After all, the early repression and the later explosion can make the audience feel very satisfied.
But he never thought that he overestimated the popularity of Fan Binbin and others in Korea. Now that the program has been on the air for two days, there are only a few customers who come to the door.
Li Xuri was very panicked and entangled in his heart.
There are many ways to change this situation. The simplest one is to invite some extras to pretend to be customers and consume in the restaurant. This method is effective quickly. Once implemented, it can immediately create the illusion of prosperity of the restaurant.
But when the program was planned, the core idea of the program proposed by Li Xuri was the word "real".
What he wanted to create was a real variety show without fakery, a real reality show. If he really hired extras, what would be the difference between it and other fake variety shows?
But if nothing is done, what if the situation continues to be half-dead?
The program invested 30 million yuan, and nearly 20 million yuan has been used in the early stage, so it is impossible to cancel it, but the program cannot be canceled, but the director can be replaced. Li Xuri has guessed that his end is to be replaced.
He is not afraid of being replaced, but he is afraid that the program concept he insists on will also collapse with his replacement.
Li Xuri knew very well that some directors in the company were very uncomfortable with him. These directors thought that it was reasonable and routine to use extras to enhance the atmosphere of the show, but Li Xuri disagreed with this. The two sides had quarreled more than once during the company meeting because of the conflict of ideas.
Li Xuri smiled bitterly when he thought of this. He did not expect that the first variety show he insisted on and put into action might fail. At that time, he would not only taste the bitter fruit of failure, but also be ridiculed by those people when he returned to the company?
"Director, director? Director!!!"
The call in his ear made Li Xuri retract his thoughts. He looked up and found that it was Jing Tiantian standing in front of him calling him.
"Director, are you okay? You look very bad." Jing Tiantian asked with concern, which warmed Li Xuri's heart.
Communicating with this group of stars from the Huayi Department, Li Xuri found that they all had a very likable quality, that is, affinity.
Whether it was Jing Tiantian in front of him, Huang Xiaoming standing by the window over there, or Fan Binbin who had also graduated from Huayi, they rarely had the airs of big stars. They were respectful and polite to program directors like him and ordinary staff.
"I'm fine, I just lost my mind. Tiantian, what do you want to talk to me about?" Li Xuri naturally wouldn't say what he was worried about. In front of outsiders, he had to be strong and confident so as not to break up the program group.
Jing Tiantian didn't go into it. When she heard Li Xuri's question, she remembered why she came here.
"Director, Brother Liangliang asked me to ask you if you can close early today. He thinks there will be no customers coming to the store." Jing Tiantian said.
Li Xuri frowned, thought about it, and then shook his head at Jing Tiantian.
"No, even if there is no customer, we have to wait until ten o'clock before closing."
"Oh, okay, director, take a rest." Jing Tiantian's eyes flashed with a trace of disappointment. She thought she could go back to rest early today, but the director didn't agree to leave work, and she had no choice.
Li Xuri sighed as he watched Jing Tiantian leave.
He also wanted to leave work early, but now the show is like this, and he also wants to expect a miracle to happen, so he must wait.
Li Xuri's insistence was quickly conveyed by Jing Tiantian to the other three stars. Although they complained about not being able to leave work early, fortunately, all four stars were good-tempered. At most, they complained a few words jokingly and continued to stay in the store waiting for possible customers.
Fan Binbin was bored and flipped through the small gourds on the counter. This was originally bought from China as a gift for Korean customers.
She ordered a total of a hundred of these small gourds, and when she arrived, she jokingly told everyone that they were first come, first served. However, two days later, half of them had not yet arrived.
Looking at the pile of small gourds in front of him, Fan Binbin felt that he might really be confused this time.
Since leaving Huayi, Fan Binbin's film and television resources have plummeted, but this woman is not simple. She can't find good film and television resources, so she has developed into the fashion industry, shooting for various magazines and attending various red carpets. She also wears a very unique style, wearing a vacuum lace skirt and a gorgeous dragon and phoenix gown. In just two years, she has managed to become one of the most beautiful Chinese female stars.
People in the industry mostly laugh at Fan Binbin's name. Fan Binbin's looks are indeed good enough, and she belongs to the upper class in the entertainment industry where beauties abound, but the title of 'most beautiful' does not come to her. .
However, after being hyped by the media for a long time, the public gradually believed it, especially Fan Binbin's original fans. They quickly accepted and digested Fan Binbin's concept of the most beautiful Chinese actresses, and publicized it everywhere, causing Fan Binbin's reputation to disappear for a while. two.
But in Fan Binbin's opinion, all this popularity is pie in the sky. It seems that her popularity is not inferior to that of Zhang Ziyi, the real number one actress in China, but in fact she knows very well that there is a huge gap between herself and Zhang Ziyi.
Zhang Ziyi's popularity is not gained through hype, but accumulated through her works. This kind of popularity is very real, because the works are there and cannot disappear.
But her popularity is different. It is only created through planning and media cooperation. Not to mention Zhang Ziyi's solid popularity. From Fan Binbin's point of view, her current popularity is even like cloud smoke, which may be dispersed by a small breeze. .
So she also needs works.
She had no choice about film and television resources. Good works were monopolized by actors from big companies, and she didn't like the scripts handed to her. After much deliberation, she decided to participate in a variety show.
You must know that reality shows are a powerful tool for attracting fans. Whether it is the original "Infinite Challenge", or the later "We Got Married", "Longing for Life", etc., many participating celebrity artists have won the favor of the audience and also gained popularity. gained popularity.
Fan Binbin feels that he can also consolidate his popularity by participating in reality shows. At present, the best company in China for reality shows is undoubtedly Fanxing Entertainment.
Fan Binbin did not ask Nie Wei for help, but took the initiative to recommend himself. It happened that Fanxing was preparing for a new variety show, so they met by chance.
Fan Binbin didn't accept all variety shows. He first learned about the content of this new variety show, and then determined the guests he wanted to invite. Of course, he also confirmed his remuneration. The first few items were good, but the remuneration appeared here. There was a slight deviation, but Fan Binbin showed his decisive character at this moment and immediately decided to cut his salary and join.
She didn't ask Nie Wei just because she didn't want to waste the favor she had at the beginning. Now the salary reduction is also to sell Nie Wei's favor. In Fan Binbin's view, Nie Wei's favor is much more precious than those millions.
For a popular actress like Fan Binbin, the program team of the new variety show will naturally not miss it. After both parties determined the content and remuneration, Fan Binbin got her wish and joined the team of "Chinese Restaurant".
But the development of things was beyond the expectations of both parties.
This program did not go as smoothly as the previous programs produced by Fanxing. For two consecutive days after the filming started, the restaurant run by Fan Binbin and others turned out to be unpopular. Even if the program was not broadcast, Fan Binbin and others knew that such a situation could not be edited. What content.
This show is going to be cool! Fan Binbin thought sadly.
And this was not just her idea. Several others, including Huang Xiaoming, also had the same idea. Even the most hard-working Tensor had to give up.
The 'miracle' that everyone was looking forward to did not appear, only 'despair' came. The Chinese restaurant stayed up until ten o'clock, and there was not a single customer. The four stars, including all the program staff, quietly packed everything up after ten o'clock, Then he left the restaurant without saying a word.
On the way back, the bus carrying the artists was filled with silence.
The atmosphere inside the other bus carrying staff was equally solemn. Li Xuri sat in the last seat, leaning against the window, and dialed a series of numbers.
The call was quickly connected, and Ma Dong's voice came from there.
As one of the founders of Chinese reality shows, Ma Dong can be said to be Li Xuri's life mentor. At this confused moment, the first thing he thought of was to call Ma Dong and ask for help.
As soon as the call was connected, Li Xuri said hello, and immediately told Ma Dong about his troubles and difficulties on the other end of the phone. This conversation lasted for more than half an hour, until the bus arrived at its destination, and Li Xuri Xuri didn't even finish.
In the end, everyone got out of the car, except Li Xuri who stayed in the car and continued talking to Ma Dong on the phone.
"Your concept is not wrong. Adhering to truth is the right way to go. Because truth brings uncertainty, uncertainty sometimes becomes a classic flash of inspiration in the show. This is something that extras cannot interpret, because extras are Follow the script. Since there is a script, there must be a routine, and the audience will find clues. "
"But now the truth I insist on makes it difficult for the show to continue." Li Xuri said bitterly.
"That's because you didn't use the right method. First of all, you made a mistake in selecting people. Among the four artists you chose, although they are very popular in China, they actually don't have much influence in Asia. Think about it. Which of Fan Binbin’s masterpieces is popular abroad?”
""The Martian"?" After thinking for a while, Li Xuri replied.
"She is just a guest role." Ma Dong replied with a smile. Li Xuri thought for a long time and was finally speechless.
"Huang Xiaoming is better. His "Nirvana in Fire" was once very popular, but after all, it's been a while, and his drama is a costume drama. As for Jing Tiantian and Tensor Liang, I don't need to tell you."
"You don't invite extra performers and don't promote the local area. These methods are all very good, but you only ignore the popularity of the four artists in the local area. To put it bluntly, celebrities rely on popularity to open restaurants. You put them in a popular place." How can their business be good in a country that is not visible, especially if they don’t understand the language?”
"Then what should we do? We can't change people temporarily, right?" Li Xuri cleared away the confusion in his mind, but he was still gloomy.
He also realized that he had not thought carefully about the problem, but the contract was signed. If he broke the contract at this time, he would not be able to bear the liquidated damages alone.
"You are not allowed to change the company even if you want to. Will you pay the liquidated damages?" Ma Dong laughed and scolded Li Xuri, and then took the initiative to pay attention: "The star team of the Chinese restaurant cannot be changed, but you can start with the guests and find popular guests. Open up the current difficult situation and things will get better in the future.”
"That's right! You can invite guests!" Li Xuri patted his forehead. He didn't expect such a simple solution. Sure enough, his mind was frozen due to worry recently.
"Okay, you don't have to worry about the guests. I'll help you contact him." Ma Dong also cared about the young man he trained and took the initiative to help him take on the task of finding guests.
Amid Li Xuri's constant thanks, Ma Dong hung up the phone.
Looking at the news on the web page, Ma Dong pressed a series of numbers with a smile. In fact, before talking to Li Xuri, he had already identified the best person to help "Chinese Restaurant" overcome the difficult situation.
Thanks to Fantasyland for the generous tip.