This actor just wants to verify.

Chapter 581: Going Upstream (asking for monthly ticket)

This was You Naihai’s first time as a director, and Du Qifeng had the final say on deciding on the main roles.

But the more he talked, the more he felt that An Xiaoxi was suitable - there was no other way, Hao Yun was talking to him for this purpose, and he kept pulling out his attributes and constantly reinforcing his true inner thoughts.

When discussing who was more suitable for the role, You Naihai looked at Du Qifeng for help.

Du Qifeng also gained a lot of attributes, so he also felt that An Xiaoxi was suitable.

But everyone in the circle knows that An Xiaoxi only acts in Hao Yun's films.

Hao Yun tailored the film specifically for her, and the movie she is currently filming is said to be the kind that one person can carry the entire film with.

But You Naihai had been his right-hand man for many years, so he could only bite the bullet and ask:

"Miss An, what do you think of this role?"

An Xiaoxi has been listening quietly to everyone's discussion. She rarely talks big in areas she is not good at.

Moreover, Hao Yun told An Xiaoxi to let him take care of everything.

Being asked this question suddenly, An Xiaoxi knew that Hao Yun's evil plan had succeeded, so she pretended to be confused and said, "I think it's quite interesting."

"Are you interested in acting?" You Naihai asked.

This is his first time directing, so you can imagine the pressure, but it is also a huge opportunity.

Wei Jiahui left Galaxy in 2004 and went to make films for China Star, the parent company of Galaxy Image at the time.

The one who left earlier than Wei Jiahui was You Dazhi.

After not getting paid for two or three films in a row, You Dazhi was the first to collapse.

He comes from an ordinary family, and his relatives and friends are all in Malaysia or Singapore. He is alone in a foreign country. If he is well fed, the whole family will be well fed, but if he is hungry, he can only bear it. He has no family to rely on. The anxiety of having no money hangs over him day and night.

Plus, I want to marry my girlfriend and have a family.

After filming "Very Sudden" in which all the main actors died, You Dazhi became completely desperate about the Hong Kong film market and resolutely left his master Du Qifeng and left Galaxy Image.

Now, only You Nahai is left.

If his film is successful, he will be the future manager of Milkyway Image.

Du Qifeng's mind is full of movies and he doesn't care about mundane matters.

"I... I can't act this kind of thing." An Xiaoxi followed what Hao Yun taught her, playing hard to get, and taking a step back and saying that she couldn't act well.

If the performance was really bad, Du Qifeng would not curse at people randomly.

Du Qifeng was really rude when he scolded people. Liu Furong was scolded to the point of collapse by him. Liang Chaowei stopped working with him after filming "Dark Flower". On the one hand, it was because he was hooking up with Wang Jiawei, and on the other hand, he scolded him too harshly.

"How could that be? This role is not difficult. She is just a new member of the tracking team who looks silly but has a strong memory and observation ability. Of course, there is room for her to perform. Her growth is the most obvious, and there is an unparalleled delicate psychological portrayal..."

You Naihai fell into Hao Yun's trap unknowingly.

The more I think about it, the more I feel that An Xiaoxi is suitable.

Moreover, the censorship standards for this movie are not too strict and it is much better than "The Warlords".

It can definitely be approved and released in mainland China.

Du Qifeng had originally not considered releasing the film in mainland China, as he felt that the censorship process would be too troublesome and would mess up the film.

But if An Xiaoxi joins, everything will be worth it.

There might be surprises at the box office.

With the decline of the Hong Kong market, the big ship of Milkyway Image is now in danger.

Even the parent company China Star is almost finished.

Du Qifeng is not the kind of dreamer who would ignore commercial operations for the sake of film art.

He is responsible for the livelihoods of dozens of people. If he can't find money, more and more people will leave like You Dazhi.

By then, Milkyway Image will be gone.

The business strategy of Milkyway Image has always been to make a commercial film to earn some money, and then make a movie with a strong Milkyway style.

"You can consider it. It only takes a month to shoot a movie here. You can learn something from Du Sir and Hai Brother. If the schedule is about the same, we can all shoot in Hong Kong by then." Hao Yun and An Xiaoxi sang in unison.

"When will the filming of "The Disciples" begin?" Du Qifeng asked.

"I'm not sure about the exact time, probably around May or June." This is exactly the effect Hao Yun wanted.

If the two films "The Disciples" and "Tracking" can be completed in May and June, basically nothing will be delayed.

So many mainland actors came yesterday, actually all of them were looking for opportunities in the Hong Kong circle.

The Hong Kong film industry has declined, but the directors and actors are not dead. The ability to produce movies is there, and mainland actors are scrambling to get even a supporting role [Note 1].

If An Xiaoxi could get the leading female role in a big label like Milkyway Image, it would definitely be a great honor.

Female characters with few roles but exceptionally bright performances have always been a major feature of Du Qifeng's films, such as Maggie Shiu in "Dark Flower", Yoyo Mung in "Infernal Affairs", and Ying Cai'er in "Judo Dragon Tiger Gate"...

Most of these people are not well-known and were not known for their acting skills before, but once they appear in Du Qifeng's films, their acting potential is often tapped, thus radiating their unique personality.

All I can say is, there are no bad actors, only bad directors.

As long as the director directs it properly, the stones will also glow with gold.

And "Tracking" even raised this kind of female role to the status of the top star. That's why Hao Yun decided that "Tracking" was a rare good opportunity for An Xiaoxi, which was within her ability and could improve her acting skills.

"If it's May or June, we can also shoot here, and it will be at the end of this month." Du Qifeng didn't have much to prepare. Ren Dahao and Liang Jiahui were both here today, and their schedules were fine, so there would be no problem for everyone else.

This is where Hao Yun’s brilliance lies.

He came up and said that he also had a similar script. Starting from the discussion of the script, You Naihai took the initiative to invite An Xiaoxi to act. Then, he took a step back and moved the filming time of "Tracking" together with that of "The Disciples".

"Give it a try. Don't you want to improve your acting skills? Learn from Du Sir and Hai Brother. They are the machine that produces movie kings and queens." Hao Yun persuaded.

“I also know that it is a rare opportunity to work with Milkyway Image, but I am worried that my performance will not be good and will slow down the progress of the crew.”

When An Xiaoxi saw Hao Yun winking at her, she knew the time was ripe and finally let go.

"If you can do it with ease, it won't be us who owe Sir Du a favor, but Sir Du who owes us a favor." Hao Yun laughed.

Du Qifeng also smiled, a rare occurrence.

Hao Yun is a real good person, and he knows how to behave well, always making people feel happy.

"Brother Hai, since you want to add some commercial elements, why don't you do something more high-tech? It can reflect the conflicting ideas between the old and new generations. I heard that the police station has a lot of high-tech equipment now." After Hao Yun finalized the cooperation, he began to discuss the script with You Naihai.

By this time the meal was over and everyone was having tea and dessert.

Du Qifeng, You Naihai, Hao Yunan and Xiaoxi were sitting in a corner discussing things.

As far as what You Naihai and Hao Yun talked about so far, Hao Yun felt that there were many areas that could be improved.

Of course, Milkyway Image sticks to its style, but Hao Yun values ​​An Xiaoxi's role and commercial realization.

"I have no money. Liang Wuzhe, can you help me this time and reduce my pay by another 50%?"

You Naihai called Liang Jiahui, and Liang Jiahui pretended to be choked and kept coughing.

Liang Jiahui has two nicknames, the first one is "Liang Wuzhe".

The nickname is said to have come from a period when he was struggling financially. On his girlfriend's birthday, he took her out for coffee. His girlfriend discussed with her manager and asked Liang Jiahui to give her a 50% discount on the coffee, and she would make up the difference.

There is also a saying that he once reduced his pay five times for a role.

Another nickname is "Liang Shisan" - at the most he filmed 13 movies a year, he was affectionately called "Liang Shisan" by people in the circle.

This time he starred in Yu Nakai's directorial debut, and he was more than 50% off.

The combined pay for him and Ren Dahua was less than 3 million Hong Kong dollars.

"Fist of Fury", which grossed 1100 million last year, ranked tenth on the Hong Kong movie box office rankings. That means if its cost was over million Hong Kong dollars, it had to rank in the top ten at the box office to break even.

"I can do without pay." An Xiaoxi said proactively.

Everyone at the scene was worried that her acting skills were not good enough, but after hearing this, they all looked at her with admiration.

Nowadays, celebrities are also poor, so it is rare for them to start working without asking for money.

Hao Yun wanted to pull her ears. How could she say so easily that she didn't want any pay?

This is a bargaining chip.

"What's the total cost?" asked Hao Yun.

"No more than six million..." You Naihai felt very pitiful. He invited Liang Jiahui and Ren Dahua to make his debut film, but the cost was only approved for six million.

This is not Du Qifeng's fault. Galaxy Image has little money left, and China Star has also reached its limit.

"I'll add four million, but I want half of the mainland film revenue. What do you think, Sir Du?" Hao Yun didn't come up with this idea on the spur of the moment. He had discussed it with An Xiaoxi before, and each of them would put out two million Hong Kong dollars.

If the movie is too shoddy, even if it has a strong Milkyway Image style, it will not do much to improve An Xiaoxi.

It would be better to spend more money and make the plate bigger.

Whether or not you can recover your capital is not particularly important.

Hao Yun was more concerned about deepening the cooperation with Milkyway Image. Hearing that China Star was about to fail, the two sides were already discussing the issue of separation.

Let’s try cooperating for a few times first. If there is value in cooperation, Hao Yun can help Galaxy Image expand into the mainland market.

Hao Yun gets scripts from the system, and occasionally there are some that are not suitable for mainland production. At that time, he can cooperate with Milkyway Image.

You can't come to Hong Kong just because you want to.

Some Hong Kong directors are so ruthless that they can charge you three thousand dollars for an umbrella.

With a fixed partner, these problems cannot be eliminated, but at least you won’t be cheated without knowing it.

Du Qifeng and You Naihai were a little surprised.

Why did this mainland guy suddenly talk about investment? Doesn’t he worry about losing money?
Some movies cost millions, and many celebrities can afford that kind of money. However, the risk of movie investing is greater than playing stocks, and the cycle is longer. If you are not careful, you can lose everything like Stephen Chow's Star Overseas.

Liu Furong is also a superstar who became poorer and poorer as he made investments.

Therefore, most celebrities don’t touch on investment.

It is now popular for Hong Kong capital to move to the mainland. Why is Hao Yun going against the current and investing in Hong Kong movies?

Note 1: In 2023, Chen Kexin is preparing a new film "Jiang Yuan Lane", starring Zhang Ziyi. TV drama stars of the level of Yang Mi and Zhao Liying are fighting for the role of the second female lead.

(End of this chapter)