Didn't you say that we would lose money after filming?

Chapter 117 Award-winning Letter [45 more]

The middle-aged man in front of Xia Yuan at this moment was one of the leading actors he was looking for, named Xu Dazhi.

He also has another identity, that is, a visiting professor at Xinhai Drama Academy, teaching the Performance Department.

Since one of the majors in the directing department is acting, Xia Yuan had also taken his class.

The teacher Xu in front of him was no simple character. Even Xia Yuan, who was now testing the waters in the TV drama market with the momentum of Let the Bullets Fly, had to respectfully call him teacher.

Although the status of a director is indeed much higher than that of an actor, you also have to look at who it is for.

For example, the person in front of you is already a giant in the television industry. It can be said that when Xia Yuan was still wearing open-crotch pants, he was already very popular. He once dominated the industry for a period of time in his prime, played countless classic roles, and is now a household name.

Teacher Xu Dazhi has gradually retired from the film industry in recent years and focused more on teaching, but his status is getting higher and higher.

Xia Yuan came here this time just to invite this person out, because the role is suitable for him and fits his mentor.

Secondly, although this newly launched project "Underground Traffic Station" is a test work and a pathfinder for his transformation into the TV drama market, the investment is not large, only 500 million, and he does not plan to use actors with high pay for other actors.

But the leading cast still needs someone who can calm the situation and lead the team, which will make the work much easier.

After all, this is quite a headache for Xia Yuan.

After all, the budget is there. Although it is challenging, it is still difficult to implement it. With such a small amount of funds, it is difficult to find a group of actors who do not require high pay but whose acting skills can meet his requirements.

But Xia Yuan still chose to take on this challenge, because after filming several movies, he had already tried everything he should, should, and wanted to try.

Now, normal filming seems to no longer satisfy him.

Facing some challenges can make work more interesting.

Of course, the reason why he found Teacher Xu Dazhi was because Teacher Xu Dazhi had a very close relationship with him.

Where did he get those books on experiential techniques? At this stage when experiential teaching is completely banned in China, the teaching materials he collected are almost as good as banned books.

He got it by begging Teacher Xu Dazhi.

Xu Dazhi was holding the script and flipping through it: "Sun Youfu, the owner of Dingxianglou, runs the donkey meat restaurant left by his master in Anqiu County. Although he has the mentality of a commoner, he often gives in to the Japanese invaders for his livelihood, but he still hates the Japanese invaders in his heart. He is the main manager of the underground transportation liaison station, but he is unaware of it."

Yes, that’s right. The role that Xia Yuan gave to Teacher Xu Dazhi was the role of Shopkeeper Sun Youfu.

This is a very difficult role to control, requiring extremely high acting skills. It naturally represents the epitome of the common people of Hanxia who were living in dire straits during that period.

He represents millions of ordinary people.

This is a very complicated character. You might say that he is greedy for life, afraid of death and profit-driven. That's true, but everything he does is to protect the family business left by his master. When it comes to the critical moment of life and death, he is still willing to sacrifice his life.

It is actually very difficult for ordinary actors to master this role.

"Recently, I don't have any film contracts, and I haven't filmed for a long time." Teacher Xu Dazhi closed the script and said this first.

Xia Yuan felt a little disappointed.

But then Xu Dazhi changed the subject.

"But I didn't expect that in this day and age, there are still people who want to make sitcoms. This is beyond my expectation." Xu Dazhi said with emotion: "Maybe you don't know that I started out making sitcoms and dramas in my early years. In recent years, the television industry has developed rapidly, and traditional television has declined. More young people prefer to watch costume dramas and fairy tales. The market for traditional TV dramas has gradually been eroded and occupied. Although it is a TV series, in fact, the largest market and platform now has become the online platform, and sitcoms have disappeared.

I admire you very much. You have made so many achievements in filming, and you are also a director of phenomenal works. You are the most outstanding student among all the freshmen in this year's new drama major. I am proud to have taught a student like you, but you still choose such a difficult path without hesitation. "

Xu Dazhi sighed.

Just as he said, sitcoms in China have now entered a period of decline.

What are people looking for? They are all big-budget, high-quality dramas.

Either they can make a lot of money, as long as they are not badly made, they can make money, or they are all kinds of female-oriented dramas that are killed by templates.

The art form of sitcom seems to exist only in people's memories and is almost dead in this market.

Xu Dazhi said: "So, even if it's just to encourage your courage, I decided to take on this drama. As for the salary, I don't ask you for much, ten thousand yuan per episode is enough. This was the price I paid for sitcoms before. I also want to revisit this feeling more often." Xu Dazhi sighed, with a nostalgic look in his eyes.

Xia Yuan was overjoyed when he heard this and stood up immediately: "Thank you very much, Teacher Xu! As for the pay, 10,000 yuan per episode is too little, I will give you 50,000 yuan per episode!"

"No, it's ten thousand, no negotiation." Xu Dazhi waved his hand casually.

"That's fine." Xia Yuan could only thank Teacher Xu Dazhi.

Then, the candidate for Sun Youfu, one of the most critical characters in Xia Yuan's mind, has been finalized.

For a teacher of Xu Dazhi's status, offering such a price is basically a friendly performance for free.

As for the other roles, just when Xia Yuan was still planning to go through the painstaking casting and getting ready to rack his brains,

Something happened that he could not have imagined.

Next, calls came to him one after another.

They were all actors who had worked with him before.

These people didn't know where they heard the news that he was going to try his hand at TV dramas, so they called him first.

One by one they expressed their willingness to play the role.

There is the actor who played Chen Shi in "Master", Huo Chunliang, and there is Zhou Yisen, who was once a good friend in the society and whose career is now on the rise, and he once played Lei Yongcheng in "Vulgar Comedy".

There are also some actors he had worked with before, including the owner of a farmhouse food stall who found an opportunity because of his filming of "Vulgar Comedy" and entered the entertainment industry in one fell swoop, and became an actor halfway through his career. Now he is also a big star and has taken on some important supporting roles in some films, and has gained a certain fame.

There were even some actors who had never worked with Xia Yuan before and called to ask if there was any chance for them to work together in his crew.

Including Chu Zhongtian, needless to say, this guy is a big shot. As long as it is Xia Yuan's play, he must have a part in it.

Just like that, the cast of "Underground Traffic Station" was inexplicably gathered together?

First of all, Chu Zhongtian is a perfect fit for the role of the 'fake' protagonist Shui Gen. With his temperament and image, there's no need to choose, he's the right person.

This is what he said to Chu Zhongtian: "This time, it's a serious role, you are the protagonist!"

Chu Zhongtian was half-believing and half-doubting: "Really? No more tricks?"

"No." Xia Yuan shook his head.

"There's no need to be so heartfelt, right?" Chu Zhongtian asked again.

"No need." Xia Yuan shook his head.

"The protagonist? Are you sure?" Chu Zhongtian asked again.

"Sure! When have I ever lied to you? Would I let you be a supporting role? Who the hell are we? You are the protagonist!" Xia Yuan was a little impatient.

"Okay! I'll play it!" Chu Zhongtian gritted his teeth and decided to trust Xia Yuan again. He immediately turned down several invitations for roles in big-budget movies with investments of over 100 million yuan from outside film producers.

Since then, the cast of "Underground Traffic Station" has basically been confirmed.

Except for one more role, there is still no one chosen.

That is the number one traitor, the villain with the most screen time, the captain of the detective team of the Anqiu Military Police Command, Jia Gui, Captain Jia!
But just when he was still worrying about the selection, something unexpected happened.

That day, the company received a letter.

"Invitation letter to the Golden Rooster Awards ceremony?" Tang Ying held the letter, stared, and shouted.

Then he suddenly looked at Xia Yuan.

broken.

(End of this chapter)