Global Film Emperor

Chapter 521 Second Financing Target

After several busy days, Lu Ze was really exhausted. It wasn't physical exhaustion, but mainly mental exhaustion. It seemed like he was just drinking tea and watching people act in front of the camera, which couldn't be more relaxed. But in reality, he was constantly on edge, and he had to pay attention to the program's effect and maintain proper speech and behavior.

This sense of constraint is much more pronounced than when making movies, at least for Lu Ze. After all, as a master of the experiential acting style, he feels completely at ease and incredibly free when he's in character. But variety shows are different; being a version of yourself that differs from your usual self is exhausting.

For example, a carefree young man who is not yet married and has no children might pretend to be a serious elder in front of his kids at home. He might be able to keep up the act for a while, but after a while, he will most likely fall silent and not know what to say.

Thinking about it this way, those variety show stars from the past also had their share of hardships. It's not that they were miserable, at least they made a lot of money. But having to be completely different from their usual selves, and even having to force themselves to maintain this image outside of variety shows and in front of others, must be somewhat torturous. After thinking about it, variety show stars seem to be no different from those who play with abstract concepts in the live streaming industry. One is that they appear to be standing but are actually kneeling, while the other looks like they are kneeling.

However, these past few days haven't been too boring. I've managed to go through all the students, and I must say, there are quite a few promising talents, many of whom can be called geniuses.

Even Lu Ze admitted that compared to some of the trainees, he was slightly inferior to them in the same age group. You have to understand, he was a man-made monster, a complete prodigy. His acting skills skyrocketed after the system was officially unlocked at the age of twenty-four. Even though he entered the industry late, he still managed to dominate the twenty- to thirty-year-old age group. The fact that Lu Ze felt inferior to them shows how amazing their acting talent was.

Lu Ze couldn't guarantee what these trainees would become in the future. Surpassing Lu Ze? That was probably wishful thinking. But as long as they didn't go astray and had good works to their name, becoming the face of China's performing arts industry was practically a certainty.

It wasn't until they made this show that the four teachers realized that China is not lacking in talent, and that there is no shortage of talent in any industry. It's just that in their industry at this stage, it's difficult to stand out simply by relying on talent.

Why are today's popular stars not satisfying to audiences? It's possible that people have always preferred veteran actors and looked down on young artists.

But the bigger reason must be that the stars who come from crash courses are not good enough in terms of skills, and they are developing in multiple fields and blinded by the existing income. The major companies need to take the blame for this. If it weren't for the pursuit of quick profits, the bad money would drive out the good, and the audience would be disappointed with the entire Chinese entertainment market. It would also keep the people in the industry in the dark, making them think that the performance industry is indeed facing a shortage of talent.

It's not that the young actors are all bad, but rather that the good ones have been driven away by the bad ones, which makes the older generation of actors unhappy, such as Guan Yong and Tang Juan.

The era in which they became famous was the best era for actors. Whoever was good enough rose to the top, without so many twists and turns. Now that they are older, they are less driven by ambition and inevitably develop a fondness for talent. It was during a meal that they started talking about these things.

……

“That student named Du Jin, his performance in Don Quixote was superb. Are you going to keep him or not? If you don’t, I will.”

At noon, the four of them ate vegetarian food. After all, there were two elderly people and Lu Ze who was on a diet. Even though Song Guiyuan really wanted to eat meat and fish, he had to give in to the majority and tasted the vegetarian porridge without much flavor. When Guan Yong said this, Lu Ze shook his head, chewed the food in his mouth and swallowed it before speaking.

"If you like it, you can keep it. I'm fine with anything."

The competition among the four contestants was naturally going to create a tense atmosphere, but behind the scenes, no one was hiding who was choosing which contestants. The other two were also willing to let go, which pleased Grandpa Guan. He kept putting food on the three of them's plates. It was clear that the boy named Du Jin had won Guan Yong's favor.

"Okay, I won't eat it. I'm on a diet."

With his hand in front of the rice bowl, Lu Ze thanked her, put down his chopsticks, turned his back, and flipped through his notes from the past few days. It wasn't that he was being unruly; he had only eaten a piece of rice the size of a child's fist and wasn't full at all. He didn't dare look at the unfinished food on the table.

Having dieted for so long and never eaten a full meal, Lu Ze's eyes now gleam with greed at the sight of any food. He'd probably eat two pieces of tree bark if the chef cooked them.

As for selecting trainees, three were confirmed, all chosen from those he had marked. The remaining spot, however, presented a dilemma for Lu Ze. He had three backup options, all of whom were excellent. He was reluctant to give up the remaining two trainees after choosing one.

"Om..."

The vibration of his phone interrupted Lu Ze's thoughts. He took it out and glanced at it. It was a message from Fatini. There were three messages in total, plus a missed call that only lasted three seconds before the call ended.

Lu Ze wouldn't have been surprised if the call had come earlier; on the contrary, the later he received the news, the more he felt that Fatini had a lot of patience. It made sense, since his cash flow was much larger than that of small businesses like theirs, and he didn't need to rush to release movies to make a profit like Mickey.

To put it bluntly, the profits from a business deal he closes are higher than the revenue from releasing a movie he impulsively put together. His eagerness is unlikely to be due to profit issues; it's more likely that he wants to showcase his work and satisfy his long-held wish for a moment of instant gratification.

He scrolled through the messages, all asking if he could make a call. He wiped the screen with his finger to remove the fingerprints, apologized to the three people at the table, got up, went to the bathroom, and made the call.

"Hey, ancestor."

He was speaking Chinese, though with an extremely strange accent, but the words were few, so it was still somewhat understandable. "Did Mickey teach you?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"It's not something nice to say. What's the matter? Why are you in such a hurry?"

"No, if you have something to do, go ahead and do it. I just wanted to let you know that the film is finished, the sound effects and foley are all done, and the second version of the trailer is about to be released. Remember to check it out on Twitter. As for the publicity, you don't need to worry about it."

This was a huge concession, so big that Fatini was willing to waive the obligation that Lu Ze was required to cooperate with in the later publicity, which was clearly stated in the contract. But this was not simply out of friendship or cowardice, but out of consideration for business purposes. Lu Ze was clear about this, and even if he had no choice, he still had to accept Fatini's kindness.

"OK, thanks."

"It's a small problem, don't worry about it. Just remember to be my tour guide when I visit China in the future. By the way... did I forget something and you skipped over it? You said there was something wrong with what Mickey taught me? I thought that was what you meant, but what do you mean?"

"You should ask Mickey yourself. I understand what happened. I'll hang up now if there's nothing else."

"Wait a moment, I have something very important to tell you."

"Ok?"

"Mickey's financing has made some progress. They originally wanted me to act as their intermediary, and I couldn't really refuse, after all... I have business dealings with them, plus our relationship... you know what I mean."

Lu Ze frowned. Talking about investment is talking about investment. Global Brothers won't easily let someone invest just because Fatini is the middleman. On the contrary, they will be more vigilant. After all, this is their company. They've grown it from just two people to this size. Giving up shares is something that would make people uncomfortable. Fatini's transparency not only makes Lu Ze himself resistant, but Mickey, a possessive and controlling person, will also be disgusted. He'll probably try to sweet-talk him.

Before investing, they must have known about the composition of "Global Brothers," so how could they not know what kind of person Mickey is? Lu Ze couldn't think of a reason, but there were only two possible purposes: to save money or to get more shares.

Fatini told him this because he didn't dare to say it to Mickey himself, fearing that Mickey would immediately start criticizing him. Mickey had even revised his script, so he owed Mickey a favor. He didn't want to be scolded and wouldn't be able to retaliate, which could lead to a falling out between the two. This was something Fatini didn't want to see, so he could only talk to Lu Ze first and have Lu Ze convey the message, since Lu Ze and Mickey were best friends.

"Ah."

The two people on the phone were in an awkward position, and could only laugh awkwardly at each other over the phone. Of course, Fatini's laughter was a little more awkward, since he knew that Lu Ze did not care about the company's operations. Now, he was obviously trying to drag Lu Ze into the mess and share the blame with him.

However, the fact that Fatini made this call to him indicates that he was unwilling to get involved in this mess, but also found it difficult to refuse. This suggests that the other party is definitely not a small company or investment bank, but must be someone with a significant background. Thinking of this, Lu Ze's previously interrupted conjecture suddenly reconnected, and he gradually began to form a line of thought.

Since the other party would definitely know who Mickey is, the fact that he had Fatini act as an intermediary shows that he didn't intend for Fatini to convey the financing information to Mickey. This information... was originally meant to be conveyed to Lu Ze.

"That's really ruthless," Lu Ze cursed inwardly, but his anger towards Fatini gradually subsided. This time, Fatini had also been used as a pawn.

"Fatini, we're even now."

"Hahaha, I never said you owed me anything..."

"Mickey was right when he taught you that I am your ancestor."

"?"

"Speak, who is it?"

"Uh, it's... Disney."

"..."

(End of this chapter)