Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 101 Long time no see, ex-girlfriend
Hengdian, Noon Sunshine Company.

Different from the two auditions organized by Meng Bai himself, the audition atmosphere at Noon Sunshine was more casual. Basically, after the audition actors finished their performances, the main creators of the crew raised their hands to vote on the spot, and then the final result was determined.

To be honest, Noon Sunshine is the producer that Meng Bai has seen in recent years that respects screenwriters the most.

As a screenwriter, he not only has the right to vote on the auditioning actors, but also if he misses the audition for a few days, the crew will send him the recorded videos of the auditioning actors every day and ask for his opinion.

When Meng Bai first received the video, he was very surprised and even called Hou Hongliang to verify it.

"You are the original screenwriter of the script, and you know best what kind of actor is most suitable for each role. We will naturally consider your opinion." This was Hou Hongliang's reply to Meng Bai at the time.

Since he was so respectful, Meng Bai would not deal with it casually. Those days happened to coincide with the filming of the important plot of "Pendulum 2". After returning home every day, Meng Bai would stay up late to watch all the audition videos.

Fortunately, Noon Sunshine’s auditions are not scheduled every day, otherwise if it lasted any longer, he felt that he might have died of sudden death.

Now that the filming of the pendulum was nearing its end, Meng Bai had some time, so he simply flew over and watched the audition with Li Xue and the others.

Because the crew had already had some idea of the candidates before inviting the audition actors, the audition was very quick. Before Meng Bai came, several major roles, such as "the four siblings of the Ming family", "Wang Tianfeng", "Liang Zhongchun" and "Nan Tian", had basically been determined.

Meng Bai had previously questioned Noon Sunshine's decision to choose Hu Ge for the male lead "Ming Tai", mainly because he was not sure whether this "Xiaoyao Brother" could still act like a young gentleman when he got older.

However, after watching the audition video, I found that the role of "playboy" is indeed in Hu Ge's "comfort zone", and people can easily empathize with him.

So in the end Meng Bai agreed to Noon Sunshine's decision to have Hu Ge play the male lead "Ming Tai".

As for the other three main characters of "Ming Family", Jin Dong, Wang Kai and Liu Mintao were finally confirmed, all of whom are Noon Sunshine's own people.

Although these people are all talented and have the image and acting skills to match the roles, it can also be seen that the producers' own artists do affect the possibility of choosing some roles.

Among the remaining main characters, the candidates that have not yet been finalized include "the femme fatale Wang Manchun", "Military Control Commission agent Yu Manli" and the official partner of the male lead "Cheng Jinyun".

Meng Bai privately suspected that the reason these few female roles were left was probably because Noon Sunshine was too "dominant in masculinity and deficient in femininity" and there were few actresses.

At the audition site of Noon Sunshine, a wave of auditions had just ended. The people in charge of the auditions were waiting for the next scheduled audition actor and started chatting.

"The crew is scheduled to start filming in mid-January next year. Is your time available?" Li Xue asked.

"Don't worry, we've reserved time for our crew in advance." Meng Bai said, "Besides, I'm the screenwriter, and I don't have to stay in the crew all the time. If there are any problems, we can communicate online."

“You still have to go and see it on site.”

As they were talking, the next actress for audition walked in. She was a woman with a mature temperament.

"Hello, directors and teachers. My name is Wang Yuejun, and I'm auditioning for 'Cheng Jinyun'." The woman introduced herself.

Meng Bai subconsciously took a look at Wang Yuejun. By ordinary people's standards, she was pretty, but her appearance was a little dull, giving people a "rustic" feeling.

He leaned over and whispered to Li Xue next to him: "Just looking at this face, no introduction is needed as soon as he appears. Anyone can tell that he must be a comrade of our party."

Li Xue moved her mouth, perhaps trying to hold back her laughter. After taking a breath, she whispered, "This girl is from the capital side."

"Ah, this...then why do we need an audition? Can't we just sign it directly?"

"It takes time. It's not the same as it was back then when the coal bosses were here. The investors also need to maintain their reputation." Li Xue said, "And we always have to see what the real level is. If it's too outrageous, we have to refuse it."

Noon Sunshine has capital, and although the demands of the investors must be respected, they do have bottom lines.

However, Meng Bai had no interest in watching the audition. He made an excuse to go to the bathroom and asked Li Xue to vote according to his wishes.

Coming out of the bathroom, Meng Bai glanced at the audition meeting room and found that it had not yet ended, and he did not want to interrupt. He found a small meeting room with an open door, opened the window to look at the scenery and take in the fresh air.

Noon Sunshine is similar to Arclight Film and Television, and also rents an office building in a film and television industry park in Hengdian. However, compared with the exquisite scenery of Arclight, this place seems much noisier.

Especially just a few steps outside the gate of the industrial park, you can see small drama crews queuing up to recruit extras, and the bustling crowds are similar to those in a rural market.

Meng Bai missed the pleasant environment of Arclight Films in his heart. He was about to go back to see if the audition was over when he suddenly heard a knock on the door behind him. Then, a familiar girl's voice came over.

"Hello, teacher. Where is the audition for the production of The Disguiser?"

Meng Bai's eyelids trembled and he slowly turned around to look.

A girl with a face as pretty as a ragdoll cat was standing at the door, wearing a slightly oversized black down jacket on her thin shoulders, looking like a little girl who stole her father's clothes. Sure enough, it was really her.

……

"Hello, Senior Sister. How do I get to our school's experimental theater?"

"over there."

"Would you mind leaving me your contact information? I can ask you again if I can't find it."

"...Since you are my junior, alright."

……

"Ah - you're talking about Senior Sister Song. Tsk, she's pretty good, but her name is too hard. Why is such a pretty girl called Song Tie?"

"That word is pronounced 'zhi', and my name is 'Song, Zhi'!"

"Sorry, Senior Sister, I didn't see you."

"Haha, I finally caught you. It turns out that you are the one who has been calling me 'Song Tie' behind my back!"

"Senior Sister, this is all a misunderstanding..."

……

"Tiezi, what are you doing?"

"I told you not to call me 'friend' anymore! What kind of nice guy would call his girlfriend 'friend' every day?"

"Okay, Tietie."

"You are not allowed to call me 'Tietie'!"

"Then I, as your boyfriend, must have a more intimate name for you, right?"

"I thought it was cute when you called me Senior Sister before."

"Don't be funny, girl, you are less than half a year older than me, okay?"

"One day older is still older, and I'm one year older than you. Be good and call me sister."

"Call me sister? I want you to call me sister today!"

"No, no, we're outside! I was wrong, I was wrong..."

……

"Meng Bai, can you be more mature? This is not a school. The investors are paying for it. What's wrong with changing the script?"

"I didn't say they can't change it, but the question is, it has to follow basic logic, right? Look at the crap they've come up with now, it's disgusting even with my name on it."

"I'm not saying that your persistence is wrong, but at least we should make money first before considering other things. Do you think my salary is enough for the two of us to live on?"

"There are ways to make money, and there are ways to make money, and besides, I've been doing part-time jobs to make money, okay? What else do you want?"

"I don't want to argue with you right now. I think we should both calm down and talk again."

……

All kinds of memories from the past came flooding back to my mind. As time passed, I could no longer feel those feelings that I thought were unforgettable.

Meng Bai sighed in his heart. He walked to the door, looked at Song Zhi who was standing there in a daze, smiled naturally, and stretched out his hand and said:

"Long time no see, Senior Sister."

(End of this chapter)