Global Film Emperor

Chapter 90 Hello (End of today)

"Alright, Brother Liu, just stop at the entrance of the community. I'll walk back. You must be tired today. Go home and rest."

Lu Ze opened the car door and got out. He loosened his tie, leaned out the car window and gave Liu Bin a few words of advice. After Liu Bin drove away, Lu Ze looked away and headed home.

I took a set of photos these past two days, and it was quite tiring. We changed locations every half day, ran all over Shanghai, and changed outfits quite a few times. We finally finished shooting tonight.

Once inside the room, I weighed myself on the scale next to the refrigerator by the door. It was okay; I weighed 147 pounds, no change.

There was a bottle of chilled beer in the refrigerator. He opened it, but didn't turn on the light. He sat on the sofa by the light of the neon lights outside, silently sipping the beer.

The finale of "The Capital Youth" aired last night. The male and female leads got together and walked down the aisle, while Tang Yufei broke up with Guo Xiaofei and also found her own love.

After all his plans failed, Guo Xiaofei left the capital and never returned, nor did he ever contact his friends again.

Actually, by the middle of the story, when Guo Xiaofei turned to the dark side, a group of girls started to hate this character. They labeled him as hypocritical, greedy, and as someone who didn't cherish such a good girl as Tang Yufei.

The actor who played him, Lu Ze, was also affected to some extent. Although there is a saying that if someone can make everyone hate a character, then that actor must be a good actor, this does not affect the girls' disgust for Guo Xiaofei or even Lu Ze.

He had glanced at Weibo before and found that a large number of girls had already unfollowed him and left. They remembered the character, but couldn't love him, so they naturally left.

On the contrary, the remaining fans are a group of adults who understand Guo Xiaofei and feel only sympathy for him, not disgust, because they see themselves in Guo Xiaofei to some extent, and how they themselves have been changed by various pressures.

Lu Ze doesn't know exactly how many fans he has now, and he no longer checks Weibo. From beginning to end, he has only posted one smiley face.

More than twenty days have passed since the TV series aired, and he has been resting for more than a month. He has no new dramas and only occasionally goes on trips. Not many people are paying attention to him, so naturally he doesn't earn much money.

In fact, many production teams sent Lu Ze audition invitations, and some even offered to let him go directly to the production team if he agreed, but they were all melodramatic romance dramas.

But Lu Ze got tired of it after filming it once, and their script wasn't even as good as "The Capital Youth," so they should probably stop feeding the audience garbage.

This aligns with the company's positioning of Lu Ze, because if Lu Ze's acting skills are only used for romance dramas, it would be a waste. He should take the route of high-quality productions and act in some good dramas, so that Lu Ze can be molded into a leading figure among young actors.

Having Lu Ze as a role model will greatly benefit the company's interests, since young idols are constantly depreciating in value, while good actors are constantly appreciating.

After finishing a bottle of beer, Lu Ze burped, put the bottle back in the cardboard box, glanced at the time—it was already nine o'clock—went to the bathroom to wash up, and then lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.

He had just chosen a course with a fairly ordinary plot and was about to start studying when his phone suddenly rang, jolting him out of the system space.

Picking up his phone from the bedside table, Lu Ze squinted at the light, puzzled. He wondered why Zhuang Yu was calling him, since they hadn't been in contact since Song Guiyuan's wedding.

"Hello, Mr. Zhuang."

"Hello Lu Ze, am I disturbing your rest by calling so late?"

Lu Ze picked up his phone and glanced at the time. He had only been asleep for five minutes. He denied it to Zhuang Yu: "No, it's only a little past nine. It's still early before I need to rest."

"That's good. Here's the thing, as I told you before, I want to try directing, so I wrote a script myself. I called to ask if you have time tomorrow. I'd like to meet with you and talk."

Lu Ze learned of his purpose; he wanted to cast him in a movie. Although he didn't know why he had come to him, he didn't refuse. After all, he was free anyway, and they were acquaintances he had drunk with, so it was hard to refuse.

"Mr. Zhuang, are you in Shanghai?"

"Yes, I just got off the plane in Shanghai."

"Okay, I'm free all day tomorrow. You can arrange a place, and I'll come over."

After hanging up the phone with Zhuang Yu, Lu Ze plugged in the charger, turned over, and went to sleep, continuing his system course.

"Turn left, walk 50 meters east, and you will reach your destination. This navigation is now complete."

Lu Ze looked up. It was an ordinary coffee shop, located on a quiet but somewhat old street. It wasn't a chain, but the exterior was beautifully decorated, with ivy climbing all over the walls.

He glanced inside and saw Zhuang Yu chatting with a middle-aged man who seemed to be a shop assistant. They looked to be having a very pleasant conversation, and both of them had smiles on their faces.

Zhuang Yu pushed open the door and went inside. When he saw Lu Ze, he waved to him, and Lu Ze nodded and went over to sit down.

"Let me introduce you. This is my friend Lao Qu, and this is actor Lu Ze."

The two shook hands, and Lao Qu asked Lu Ze what he wanted to drink. Lu Ze casually ordered a drink, and then Lao Qu left, giving Lu Ze and Zhuang Yu some space. "As an actor, you must be very busy, right? Well, I'll get straight to the point. I want to make a movie."

It was a bit warm inside. Lu Ze had just taken off his clothes and hung them on the back of the chair when he heard Zhuang Yu's words. He immediately turned around and looked at him with some surprise.

Movies and TV series are vastly different, in every country, not just in terms of length or the fact that movies are more concise and efficient, but also in terms of what they represent as something that is generally accepted.

status.

This has created a hierarchy of contempt: movie stars look down on TV drama stars, TV drama stars look down on web drama stars, and web drama stars look down on micro-movies. This is not a joke; it is a real phenomenon.

Lu Ze had thought about making movies one day; it was a certainty. His company had even found him a film crew before, but his image wasn't suitable, so he had to give up.

"Then why are you looking for me?"

This puzzled Lu Ze, because the two had only met once, and he was not particularly famous. If he were a famous actor, it would be normal for a director to come to him to discuss a script, but it felt a bit abrupt to him.

"It's still because of limited funds. The investment was raised by selling my house, so it wasn't much. That's why I can't afford big-name actors. I wasn't in this industry before. Although I know some actors, we didn't have much interaction. The most important thing is that my brother-in-law, Song Guiyuan, recommended you to me. He said you were suitable and that you needed this role."

"There's something else you're not saying: I need this film, so my salary won't be too high, right?"

Old Qu brought over the coffee. Lu Ze took a sip and made a joke, but he was actually quite touched. Song Guiyuan seemed unserious, but he was indeed a thoughtful person who understood him.

Lu Ze now understands why Zhuang Yu took the initiative to toast with him and why the two of them sat at the same table; it was all arranged by Song Guiyuan.

Zhuang Yu smiled, took out a stack of A4 papers from his briefcase, which were already bound, placed them on the table, and pushed them to Lu Ze.

"Take a look at the script I wrote myself."

Lu Ze took it and began to read it. The script wasn't too thick, but it required reading slowly, word by word. Half an hour later, Lu Ze got up.

"Your script is a bit too much. I'm going out for a smoke, wanna come together?"

"No, I don't smoke."

Lu Ze didn't pay attention. He went out, lit a cigarette, and fell silent. After finishing the cigarette, he came back and continued reading. After going back and forth four times, he finished reading the script.

Why did you write such a story?

"Because I want to film something truly meaningful, and it's about everyday life, not just an individual. I hope this aspect will be noticed."

Zhuang Yu was a very refined person, always with a gentle smile on his face, but now his expression was very heavy, and there was not even the slightest trace of a smile on his face.

Lu Ze saw through him. Zhuang Yu was an artsy type, which was easy to see. After all, if someone was willing to sell houses and land just to make a movie he wanted to make, who else would do such a thing if they weren't an artsy type, a bit simple-minded, or had extremely strong self-confidence?

But he was indeed a man with a soul, and what he wanted to shout out resonated with Lu Ze.

Therefore, Lu Ze could not refuse.

What is the total investment?

"Seven and a half million, all I can give you is one and a half million."

"I accept. Can you come to Qian Shijia tomorrow to sign the contract?"

"can."

"I'll take the script with me?"

"Please."

The script was carefully placed into a bag; it was a treasure, both to Zhuang Yu and to Lu Ze.

He nodded to Zhuang Yu, who had a gentle smile, and left the coffee shop, still feeling a heavy weight in his heart.

This time, he's going to play a character named Tree.

Thank you to the generous patron Youmengzhiyu for the patronage! An extra chapter is definitely coming!
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(End of this chapter)