I was just thinking about taking the arts exam and you said I've been playing supporting roles

Chapter 231 Chen Jin: I made these dumplings just for this little bit of vinegar
Another day of military training has ended.

Some of the people collapsed on the shooting range. In addition to target shooting today, there were also three-position crawling, weighted cross-country running, rifle shooting, etc. The two armed police instructors really trained Chen Jin and the others like new recruits.

The key point is that the two armed police felt that Chen Jin had a talent for being a soldier, so they gave him a few more sets of training.

Qin Hao and the others burst out laughing.

Then...the ones who laughed the most added more than Chen Jin.

It's very real.

Now, these guys who had been training extra are all paralyzed, and the way they walk with their legs is not much better than when they have the fits.

"I really don't want to move for a moment!"

Gao Hu looked up at the sky with a dusty face, while Huang Haibai beside him wailed: "When will this day end? I paid Zhang Weiping 100 million yuan just to suffer this?"

"Hahaha!"

When talking about this, everyone laughed so hard that they peed themselves.

Because Huang Haibai paid the most, everyone has checked the accounts in the past few days. The 100 million that Huang Haibai paid for the character was still of some use.

Zhang Weiping promised his agent that he would give him a character name, Xu Dapeng.

The others are just passers-by, without even a name.

You know, Chen Jin is just an instructor Li.

But the sad thing is that this guy doesn't seem to have any lines. The only name, Xu Dapeng, is called out by the character played by Chen Jin.

This is really funny.

"Okay, brother, don't talk about younger brother, be tough, we all paid!"

Huang Haibai has a strong ability to self-regulate and quickly changed the subject: "Didn't you say that we only need to train for a week? It's already been 8 days!"

"Who told you, isn't it half a month?"

"Yes, I also remember it was half a month!"

"Do you think that we have been forgotten by the crew?"

Qin Hao suddenly looked at everyone and said, "There's not even anyone to offer condolences!"

"It would be nice to have a girl..."

Qin Hao screamed miserably, turned over, and moved in front of Wang Jingchun.

Lao Wang is now the big brother of all the staff, because he is the oldest and he doesn’t talk much, so he seems very calm.

The future Berlin Film Festival winner has a heavy idol image.

"impossible?"

Wang Jingchun was the most normal among all the members. The instructor saw that he was old and was reluctant to use too much force on him. "But there is indeed no news. I heard that the base has been shut down for a week?"

"Damn it, people are panicking, and there are also reporters scouting outside!"

"I almost got into a fight with them yesterday, damn!"

Nie Yuan is the person with the strongest sense of contrast.

He acts like a decent person in front of the camera, but is hilarious when cursing in private.

"Brother Jin, please say something. I heard that Bell is about to die. Why are you acting like nothing happened?"

"Ask Director Zhang? You are our biggest connection now!"

"That's right, what's going on? Tell us what's going on."

These bastards started chatting about this gossip as soon as they stopped. But there wasn't much to talk about, except for training, eating and sleeping. There wasn't even an actress, so it was obvious that they could only brag about this little bit.

And Chen Jin is their only first-hand resource for obtaining information, because he is from Zhang Yimou's studio.

"Brother, I'm with you guys every day, how would I know?"

Chen Jin is the youngest among the group, but no one looks down on him.

They have been in this circle for a long time, and it is obvious that they are all savvy people. Nie Yuan was given the role of Yang Guo in "The Return of the Condor Heroes" by Huang Xiaoming, and he is still quite introverted.

"See, you still don't treat us as brothers!"

Huang Haibai crawled to Chen Jin's side with a grunt: "Phone, I see your phone is very busy every day, your agent didn't tell you anything?"

"I have a new movie to shoot, it's my own company's business!"

Chen Jin took out his phone and raised it: "I'm going to go on Double Eleven this year!"

"..."

Everyone suddenly fell silent.

After two seconds of silence, Huang Haibai gave him the middle finger.

"I don't even know where the next one is!"

"You haven't even started filming yet, but you already have a next one?"

"I didn't hear that it was filmed by my own company..."

"Brother, please give me a role. I can pay for it!"

"Hahaha!"

Everyone burst into laughter again. This buying of roles has become a meme. In the past few days, a lot of negative information about Zhang Weiping was exposed on the Internet.

However, Zhang Yimou's studio has not failed to do public relations and has already begun to distance itself from the new picture.

Although Zhang Yimou did not accept media interviews, many people in the industry privately said that there was nothing wrong with him, that he had already been released from the Inspection Bureau, and that reporters had taken photos of him.

Only then did everyone feel confident enough to joke around.

As long as there is no problem with the director, then the show will be fine. At worst, we can just change the investor. This is very common in the circle.

Moreover, given Zhang Yimou's status, there are many people who want to invest.

This drama is a bit dangerous.

Because no one is sure how much the box office will be when the movie is released, and mainly because of the overseas market, there are also big problems with the release.

The subject matter is too sensitive.

Moreover, the investment in this film is also high. Even if it is not 6 million as Zhang Weiping said, but 1.5 million, it must be more than 4 million to barely break even.

The key point is that this does not include publicity and promotion.

The entire team comes from all over the world, and the daily meals for more than 2,000 people are a considerable expense.

Every day of delay will incur a day’s fee, plus various liquidated damages.

After something like this happened, the new investors would certainly worry about whether the release would be affected... So with so many factors added together, it would be a bit difficult to find investment.

"Tell me the truth, Brother Jin, is there a role suitable for me?"

Huang Haibai asked.

Just as Chen Jin was about to reply, the phone beside him rang.

A very unexpected person.

Pang Liwei?!

"Phone, I'll talk to you later!"

Chen Jin spoke to Huang Haibai, picked up the phone, stood up and walked out of the shooting range.

"Shit, something must be wrong!"

"Answering the phone with your back to us?"

"His agency called?"

"Come on, who would answer the phone in front of us?"

Which artist doesn't have some secrets? It's obvious that these guys are just joking.

As Chen Jin walked out, she heard Pang Liwei say on the other end of the phone: "Xiao Jin, come somewhere tonight, I'll text you later, don't tell anyone else!"

"Okay, Sister Wei!"

"Try not to be seen when you come here. Look left and right to avoid reporters!"

"Ok!"

Chen Jin felt the seriousness of the matter and estimated that it was related to Zhang Yimou.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Jin came in front of everyone.

No one would ask whose phone number it was.

"My new drama is a youth romance. You guys are definitely not suitable for the leading role, but I do have a few supporting roles. If you're interested, you can come and play?"

"If it doesn't work out, I'll do the next show. I'll definitely be thinking of you all!"

Chen Jin is still short of people.

The acting skills of these actors are all okay. They can’t play the leading or second male lead, but they are definitely the material for gold medal supporting roles.

People like Wang Jingchun and Qin Hao have remarkable acting skills in China, and Wang Jingchun is at the top level. The Berlin Film Emperor award is still very valuable, so Chen Jin maintained a good network of contacts for this military training.

He doesn't put on airs at all, he's just everyone's younger brother.

It can be considered a friendship forged during "military service". If Huang Haibai had not been framed, he would have been a top male actor in China in the future.

Not to mention Du Jiang and Nie Yuan.

It’s this guy Gao Hu, stay away from him, but he is in the same boat with Huang Bo and his group, and he has a strong network of contacts.

Of course it’s right to get to know each other.

"Double Eleven? This year?"

Wang Jingchun asked.

Everyone obviously turned over and looked at Chen Jin.

"Yes, the box office should be guaranteed, but whether it will be a hit or not... I don't know!"

Chen Jin had the confidence to say this, and everyone believed it. With the popularity of "Love Is Not Blind" last year, Chen Jin was definitely the undisputed king during the Double Eleven period.

Moreover, this year is one of the three 11s that only comes once in a thousand years. Merchants and major e-commerce companies had already started promoting Double Eleven before the New Year; so the popularity of this year's Double Eleven will definitely surpass that of previous years, and it seems that several movies are scheduled to be released on this date.

"Come on, come on, give me a small role and I'll play it!"

"Me too, I've had enough of the TV series!"

"Brother Jin, leave one for me..."

"..."

Everyone was talking about it. They were not like Chen Jin, who insisted on having the first and second male roles, mainly because of their age.

Unlike Chen Jin, he is currently in an upward period.

They are now powerless and can only rely on luck.

It would definitely be better if there is a leading male actor. If not, then he can just make a cameo appearance or act in some high-exposure movies. This is also a form of promotion for himself, and at the same time, he can show his face so that he won't be forgotten by the audience.

The main thing is that Chen Jin's drama has a great chance of becoming a hit, so if I take part in it, it will also add something to my resume.

Works have always been the label of an actor. Even if you are not famous, if you just say that you have acted in XX movie, people will look up to you.

This is the current situation of many domestic actors.

"Okay, I'll give it to you when the time comes!"

"I will definitely think of you guys when I play important roles in new dramas in the future!"

“I feel like the money I spent on the character is worth it!”

Huang Haibai suddenly said, holding back his laughter, "At least I got to know everyone, and I got to know Brother Jin!"

"Haha, you're here again!"

“Spending money to meet people, right?”

"Haha, it's really worth it..."

Everyone laughed, and Wang Jingchun directly suggested: "Let's go, no one cares about us, let's go out for a meal together!"

"Come on, come on, Lao Wang is treating us!"

"AA, I spent all my money on characters!"

"Again? You can't get through, right?"

"Ha ha!"

A group of male actors teased each other and found a nearby food stall to have a hearty meal.

A man’s happiness is so simple, with wine, people and topics to talk about!
Chen Jin drank until around 8 o'clock, then found an excuse to leave.

He took a taxi and drove towards the address Pang Liwei had agreed upon.

He did look around and found few reporters, and there were not many people in this place at night. After more than half an hour, he finally arrived at a teahouse.

After getting off the car, Chen Jin deliberately walked around, called Pang Liwei, and walked into the box through the back door.

Wow, they are all here.

This is a three-court trial.

In addition to Pang Liwei, there was Zhang Yimou, who was wearing a hat and looking a little tired, and his daughter Zhang Mo.

"Director Zhang, Sister Wei, Sister Mo!"

Chen Jin casually greeted him, and Zhang Yimou waved his hand: "Sit down, don't be so polite!"

Zhang Mo also personally poured a cup of tea for Chen Jin.

"What's the matter?"

Chen Jin took a sip and looked at the three of them.

"You should have heard about Mr. Zhang's matter, right?"

Pang Liwei looked at Chen Jin and couldn't help but speak.

Chen Jin nodded: "Yes, now Weibo is full of news about him!"

"Something really happened, and it's a big deal!"

"steal--"

Pang Liwei was about to speak, but Chen Jin pointed and said, "Sister Wei, is it safe here?"

"It's safe. It's owned by a friend of mine. We used to come here often when we were casting for Jinling!"

"Checked!"

Pang Liwei said, Chen Jin hummed: "Then you say!"

This caution surprised Zhang Yimou.

"Tax evasion..."

Although Pang Liwei said it was safe, she still lowered her voice deliberately and approached Chen Jin: "Mr. Zhang... Oh, Zhang Weiping, he stole hundreds of millions!"

Take the risk, what Mr. Zhang, now they all hate this guy to death.

"so much?!"

Chen Jin's surprise was not fake.

He thought that Zhang Weiping had more than one yin-yang contract, but he didn't expect there would be so much tax.

When Guo Meng was looking for product placement sponsorship this time, the advertiser had actually proposed this plan, but Guo Meng rejected it because he knew it was a trap.

Then in the past few days, advertisers have apparently become more standardized and refused to mention this matter again, appearing to be very well-behaved.

"It's mainly dividends!"

"He didn't invest in the movies Director Zhang made, but the investors gave him dividends, and he never reported the money!"

This is indeed a huge asset.

Zhang Yimou made so many movies for him, each of which earned several million or tens of millions. Moreover, it is impossible for each movie to earn several million. "The Hawthorn Tree" earned more than 1 million, so he should have at least 10% of the dividends.

"So you came to me now... just to tell me this?"

Chen Jin smiled. This matter actually had nothing to do with him at all. Pang Liwei must have been throwing out a clue.

"Let me do it!"

Zhang Yimou interrupted Pang Liwei who was about to speak, looked at Chen Jin and said, "Chen Jin, don't treat me as a director now, just talk about business. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Don't make it difficult, and don't say it's for my sake. My face is not that valuable. Just treat it as business!"

"Originally I really didn't want to tell you about this, but now, I'm really facing great difficulties!"

Zhang Yimou was still very direct and sincere. Pang Liwei would definitely be tactful: "But your money didn't come from the wind. I won't ask for a few million!"

"But this may cost a lot of money. You should know what I mean, right?"

"The main reason is that Mr. Jiang and his friends have withdrawn their investment. I feel embarrassed to call them again. If the production of Jinling is delayed any further, the show will be over!"

What Zhang Yimou is worried about is still this film.

The longer it delays, the worse it will be for the film.

"That's right. Don't be embarrassed. If it doesn't work, we can think of other ways. Now we are discussing the current interests and how to minimize the losses!"

"But if it really comes to that, we can just reshoot and re-select the players. That's fine too. The investment might not need to be so huge!"

Pang Liwei added: "So, I secretly called you over to discuss this matter..."

"Whether Mr. Zhang agrees to sell is the key!"

Chen Jin must be very interested in "Jinling".

Otherwise, why would he have dug such a big hole for Zhang Weiping? In addition to protecting himself, he actually had a bigger ambition - the Spring Festival period!

He made these dumplings just for that little bit of vinegar.

Currently, no filmmaker in the industry sees the potential of this schedule.

But in fact, last year's "Avatar" already had this trend; and this year's "Bullets Fly" also contributed to the Spring Festival.

Next year there will be two Hollywood blockbusters, "Mission Impossible 4" and "Sherlock Holmes", which will together make over 10 billion.

But these movies did not actually deliberately hype the concept of the Spring Festival period. They were released before or after the Spring Festival and achieved good box office results.

It was not until the year after next that Stephen Chow, who created the Lunar New Year box office in Hong Kong and mainland China, finally saw the potential of the Spring Festival box office.

He took advantage of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" to open the Spring Festival period for the first time, and released it on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and took in more than 12 billion yuan at the box office.

This is the first time that China has had the concept of the Spring Festival period.

However, Stephen Chow still lacked confidence, and he did not promote the concept of the Spring Festival period, but just set the period for the first day of the Lunar New Year.

The main reason is that it missed the Lunar New Year holiday.

Chen Jin's goal is to start one year earlier than Stephen Chow with the help of "Jin Ling".

They will even widely publicize the concept of the Spring Festival period, so that everyone will know about the family fun of the Spring Festival period, just like on Double Eleven, and go to the cinema to boost China's overall consumption level. This is definitely something the country hopes to see.

So, this year, this year too!
And this candidate is none other than the national teacher Zhang Yimou.

Chen Jin doesn’t have this ability, at least not at the moment; but Zhang Yimou’s “Jinling” is enough to set off this schedule!
Chen Jin has been thinking about this plan for a long time.

But no one said anything, they just planned it step by step, and now it is finally time to reap the fruits of their labor!
During the Spring Festival in January next year, he will once again start another explosive schedule besides Double Eleven!
A future market worth hundreds of billions.

A market that will allow Chinese films and economy to take off.

A movie is not just about making billions at the box office. It can actually drive consumption, travel, industry, culture... and so on. These are what Chen Jin has never seen in autobiographical movies.

There are only two periods in China where the qualitative change of movies can be achieved through quantitative changes: one is the summer vacation and the other is the Spring Festival.

The former is mainly driven by students.

But the latter, the power of the whole family watching movies during the Spring Festival, is actually stronger!

(End of this chapter)