Global Film Emperor

Chapter 81: Preparing to Start Filming

What a small world! Lu Ze never expected that an acquaintance of his would come to Qian Shijia for an interview. Maybe she really will become an artist in the same company as Lu Ze in the future.

"Oh? You two know each other? By the way, you two worked together on Director Guo's film, right? Okay, you two chat first, I've finished eating, I'm leaving now."

"Then I won't see you off, Director Han."

"Tch, it's only a few dozen meters, what are you going to do delivering it?"

Han Chen wiped his mouth with a napkin, picked up his plate, stood up, greeted the two of them, turned his back to Lu Ze without turning around, waved, and left the restaurant.

Li Jianni was very happy. She always felt a little nervous when she came to an unfamiliar place, and she only felt much more relaxed after seeing familiar people. She knew before that Lu Ze had signed with Qian Shijia, but she didn't expect to actually run into him during the interview.

"Have a seat, Jenny. How did the interview go? Were you confident?"

There were dumplings for lunch today, celery and pork dumplings, they were incredibly delicious. Lu Ze picked one up, dipped it in vinegar, and stuffed it into his mouth, not even thinking about maintaining any image.

"I can't tell. Minister Wang and the others seem quite kind, but I really have no idea whether it will pass."

"You're definitely fine. You're a film school graduate, an academic, good at both practice and theory, and you already have a fan base. How could you possibly have a problem?"

Lu Ze spoke decisively because the two had worked together and Lu Ze was very familiar with Li Jianni's professional skills. Just the fact that Guo Deming had never scolded her once after she got used to filming on set was enough to show how capable she was.

In addition, the character Xiao Zui she played was really captivating. Anyone who likes "My Team" has a great fondness for her. She must have at least three or four thousand active followers on Weibo. Having a fan base is a huge plus.

"I hope so."

Li Jianni was still a little unsure. Having not even graduated from university, she didn't really have much confidence in herself. If she hadn't acted with Lu Ze, she would have been a little more confident, but she knew that while Lu Ze's theoretical knowledge might not be that extensive, he was indeed formidable in actual combat.

The strength of the method acting school is also reflected here: it "revives" characters through forced brainwashing. As long as the brainwashing is successful, the character can basically play any role convincingly.

Of course, the drawbacks of the method acting school are also much more serious than those of other performance schools.

"Would you like some dumplings? They're delicious. By the way, what about your studies? If you really sign with the company, will it affect your studies?"

Li Jianni waved her hand, pushed the dumplings back in front of Lu Ze, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and shook her head.

"It won't have a big impact. After all, I'll be a junior soon, and the school has already allowed me to take on acting roles. As long as I pass the exams, I'll still get my credits and graduate smoothly without having to take a leave of absence."

There's one more thing she didn't mention: Qian Shijia was recommended to her by her homeroom teacher. This year's class at the Shanghai Film Academy is a bit unfortunate; very few students are able to go out and act while still in college, and most of them are child stars who have already acted before even starting university and are already famous, and they've all signed with companies.

The only one left was Li Jianni, who was picked by Guo Mingde after entering university. Moreover, she was a freelance actress. Her class teacher believed that Li Jianni already had a certain fan base, and there were quite a few people who liked her. Letting her continue to attend classes at the university might not necessarily be good for her future development.

It just so happened that the homeroom teacher had some connections with Qian Shijia. After considering it for a while, the teacher recommended Li Jianni to Qian Shijia and told Li Jianni that if she passed the interview, signing with Qian Shijia would be beneficial.

Therefore, Li Jianni, who could no longer sit still at school, immediately agreed to the teacher's arrangement and came to Qian Shijia to prepare for the interview.

Lu Ze didn't inquire about anything else. The company's arrangements were beyond Lu Ze's control, and the two weren't that close, so there was no need for Lu Ze to say anything good about her.

Although if Lu Ze really recommended Li Jianni to Wang Min and Gao Wanzhi, they would take it as a reference, but Lu Ze wouldn't actually gain anything from helping her. The company currently has very few artists, and it hasn't reached the point of forming cliques. Since the relationship isn't that good, and there's no benefit to be gained, why would Lu Ze speak well of her? "I have something to do, so I'll have to go now. I'm leaving."

Lu Ze finished the last sip of orange juice, nodded to Li Jianni with his tray, and turned to leave, leaving Li Jianni to watch Lu Ze's retreating figure while gently biting her lower lip.

On July 18th, the script was all finished, exactly twenty episodes. To everyone's delight, Han Chen finally lived up to Lu Ze's expectations and actually secured a few advertising fees, such as for a certain brand of instant noodles, a certain brand of mineral water, a certain brand of mid-range SUV, and so on. The amounts were not large, but together they solved some problems.

The company has signed a total of six new artists, which is quite a lot—two men and four women, including Li Jianni. As for their profit-sharing contracts and the length of their contracts, Lu Ze had no idea; he couldn't find out.

After writing the last Chinese character, Lu Ze slammed the pen on the table. He had used up a whole box of pen refills writing all these days of random stuff. The biography and autobiography, totaling four or five hundred thousand words, were finally finished.

He leaned back in his chair and shook his aching hand vigorously. The first knuckle of his middle finger had been dented by the pen, which was probably related to his pen-holding habits.

He took a sip of passion fruit and honey water, and the sweet and sour taste was quite nice. The passion fruit and honey were a gift from Gao Wanzhi, who said that he should supplement his trace elements while working, as it would be good for his health.

"Brother Lu, Director Han wants you to go to his office."

Wang Zixuan knocked on the door, half-opened it, and poked her little head out to speak to Lu Ze.

"Okay, I know."

Closing the notebook, Lu Ze guessed that Han Chen had already finished selecting the actors. After all, Han Chen usually felt a headache whenever he saw Lu Ze and would avoid him like the plague. He would never appear in front of Lu Ze unless it was something important.

Putting his phone in his pocket, Lu Ze walked to Han Chen's office, knocked lightly on the door, and went inside. Sure enough, besides Han Chen and Gao Jian, there was a man and a woman inside.

The woman is Li Jianni. Lu Ze wasn't surprised at all that she got the lead role in this drama, because he had already sounded out Han Chen beforehand, and Han Chen said that Li Jianni was more to his liking.

Lu Ze had met the other man a few times at the company and knew some information about him. The man's name was Zhang Haopeng, he was thirty-three years old this year, and he was also an actor from an academy. He had previously signed with a company, but he was not favored by the higher-ups, so he was sidelined and spent his days taking on minor supporting roles in small dramas. He made do like that for ten years.

When his contract expired, he terminated it. His previous company saw that he had no value and didn't keep him. But he was a determined man and didn't give up on his dream of becoming an actor. He continued to look for a suitable agency and eventually came to Qian Shijia. After passing the interview, he stayed there.

However, this should be his last chance. If he fails to make a name for himself in Qian Shijia, he will be over forty by the time he terminates his contract again. At that time, he will have no choice but to give up his dream, because no one will give him another chance.

"Lu Ze, come and sit down. We're all from the same company, so I won't say anything too serious. All I can say is that this is the company's first investment, an investment in you and me. If we don't do a good job, we're all finished. This is a film that concerns our future, so we can't be careless."

How could Lu Ze not know what Han Chen was emphasizing? Why did he keep talking to Han Chen about the script? Actually, he was also trying to save himself. If that script written by screenwriter Zhao were filmed exactly as it was, it was hard to guarantee whether it would be a hit or a flop. Lu Ze didn't like chasing after Han Chen, and he knew it was annoying, but he really had to talk to him.

Lu Ze was alright, but Zhang Haopeng and Li Jianni were incredibly nervous. Who would have thought their first project after joining the company would be so big? The pressure was immense, all resting on the shoulders of these five people in the room.

"The script is ready, and now we need to take action. We've already fixed the minor flaws in the first and second cases. Everyone, go back and get ready. The production team is ready to go. We should save on the opening ceremony and press conferences if possible. We won't hold them anyway, since not many people will care. A strong online promotion after filming wraps up is better than a hundred press conferences. I'm entrusting this matter to you, Minister Gao."

"Don't worry, no problem. I'll work with our sister company to develop a promotional plan. You just need to focus on filming."

Gao Jian was Hu Zhiguang's old subordinate, having come down with him. He also had many acquaintances in other branches, so he was quite confident in his ability to handle publicity.

Han Chen nodded, stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, and said, "Then let's officially start filming the day after tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)