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

Chapter 113 Chinese Drama Exchange Meeting

As the year draws to a close, the weather gets colder by the day. In the last week before New Year's Day, a heavy snowfall hit northern Beijing, and the entire city instantly became a blanket of white.

At the beginning of the month, Meng Bai received an invitation, or rather a notification, from his tutor, asking him to attend this year's "Alumni Exchange Meeting" of the Central Academy of Drama as a representative of the "Outstanding Alumni" of the Drama Major.

Meng Bai naturally agreed without hesitation. After all, he was just giving some chicken soup and bragging in front of his fellow juniors.

He had seen this job when he was in school and was very familiar with it.

At the entrance of the experimental theater, Zhang Jianing looked at Meng Bai who was rushing over and waved, "This way!"

Meng Bai took a few quick steps and came in front of her. He took a breath and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Senior Sister. Please come out to pick me up."

"It's okay." Zhang Jianing said nonchalantly, "Why are you here so late?"

"Tsk, don't mention it." Meng Bai sighed and said, "Knowing that there might be traffic jams due to the snow, I got up early in the morning and set off. But I forgot to take a closer look at the address when I left. I got on the Third Ring Road and headed straight for Dongmianhua Hutong."

The Central Academy of Drama used to have only one old campus, located in Dongmianhua Hutong near Nanluoguxiang. But starting this year, the new Changping campus has also been put into use, and the main group of people are freshmen and sophomores.

The "Alumni Exchange Meeting" of the Central Academy of Drama has two main parts. The first one is to share experiences with freshmen, so the venue was naturally chosen to be the new campus.

Although I arrived a little late, it didn't matter, because the atmosphere of this exchange meeting itself was not particularly serious or formal. Freshmen participated voluntarily and came and went as they pleased. The "alumni" who came to share their experiences also set their own topics, and the main point was a free atmosphere.

Meng Bai followed Zhang Jianing into the theater, which was already full of people.

It is true that the school says that it is "voluntary to participate", but how many people who can be admitted to the Central Academy of Drama are not here to become stars? Knowing that the "seniors" who came today are all "big guys" with certain resources in the industry, many students, especially those in the acting department, how could they miss it.

After all, unlike other majors, there are countless examples in the acting department of being noticed by a crew or a director during the freshman period and then becoming famous with a play. Who can guarantee that you will not be the next one to get the opportunity?

Meng Bai followed Zhang Jianing from the edge of the theater to the front row and sat down. This row was mostly populated by “graduates” who had come to attend the exchange meeting today.

Looking around, there were indeed a few familiar faces. One of them was from their drama major, but he was a year older than Meng Bai.

It’s not that Meng Bai knows a lot of people, but most of the people who can come to the exchange meeting have achieved some success.

Generally speaking, these people were often among the best students in school, and would appear as representatives in various school activities or commendations. After seeing them so many times, you will naturally become familiar with them.

Glancing at the person speaking on the stage, Meng Bai asked Zhang Jianing, "Who is on the stage?"

"Yang Ming, he's from the same class as me, and he's from the directing department." Zhang Jianing introduced him, "But from what he just said, it seems like he's now transitioning to being an agent."

"Agent?" That's a bit of a stretch.

However, Meng Bai had an idea. He was thinking about the issue of the agent for some time. Maybe they could discuss it after this was over.

This is another function of this exchange meeting, which provides a platform for communication for alumni in the same industry.

Meng Bai arrived late, so he was the last to speak. Fortunately, everyone's speeches were mostly about work, without any empty talk, so the process went pretty quickly, and it wasn't long before it was his turn.

"Next, we welcome Meng Bai, the producer and screenwriter of the popular online dramas "Soul Ferry" and "Psychological Crime", who is also an outstanding graduate of our drama literature major, to share his experience and exchange with everyone."

Following the host's announcement, Meng Bai walked onto the stage. This was the second time he had faced such a large crowd in a while. He didn't know if it was because there were no cameras this time or because he had gotten used to it, but he felt much more comfortable than the last time at the National Drama Festival.

Looking at the unfamiliar but excited faces in the audience, Meng Bai sighed in his heart. This innocent yet somewhat foolish look is exactly the same as they were back then. "Hello, fellow students. I am Meng Bai, a 07 drama literature major. I am currently a producer and screenwriter." Meng Bai looked at the audience and asked, "I think anyone has seen it, right?"

“Yes!” “Yes!” “I have!”

There was an immediate chorus of responses from the audience, fully verifying the main audience groups summarized in the backend data of Leshi.com.

"I just asked our teacher, and most of the people present today are from the acting department, and most of them probably want to be actors in the future."

Meng Bai said: "For actors, especially new actors, the most important thing is audition. You must have heard many seniors from the acting department talk about this topic, but they are basically from the perspective of actors. Today, from the perspective of a producer, or a crew, I will tell you about how new actors should audition and how to make the director who interviews you more willing to choose you."

They were all his junior classmates from the same school, so Meng Bai had nothing to hide and just talked about some of the issues he would consider during the audition.

It’s no wonder that this topic really attracted everyone’s strong interest. After all, it’s rare for producers to take the initiative to talk to them about how to select actors.

Even in the second half, when he talked about some more professional experiences, even "graduates" of the acting department like Zhang Jianing listened attentively.

After talking for more than ten minutes, Meng Bai finally finished his "experience sharing". But at the end, he said separately: "... Of course, all the above mentioned are means for everyone to increase the success rate under the same circumstances. But in addition to this, there are some truly decisive factors."

"What's the factor, senior brother?" someone shouted from below.

"Resources, background, popularity, and connections." Meng Bai said calmly.

The students below were instantly shocked when they heard this. But after thinking about it carefully, it seemed that there was nothing wrong with what he said, and everyone was just subconsciously avoiding it.

Meng Bai had anticipated everyone's reaction, and after waiting for the discussion to calm down a little, he said, "The purpose of saying this is that I hope everyone can realize the cruelty of this industry sooner."

"You are not just competing with newcomers of the same age, but also seniors who have debuted for many years and child stars who have been famous for a long time. These are the factors you should consider before you fight for an opportunity, instead of blaming them on failure."

At this point, Meng Baihu changed the subject again: "But everyone, don't be too anxious, because you all have at least one resource. Yes, that is your mentor, your seniors, and us seniors."

"Those of you who have watched Soul Ferry and Psychological Crime should know that many of the actors in those films are juniors and seniors of our major. The work email addresses of our Arclight Films are all available to teachers of the acting major. If there are students who are interested in our Arclight project, please send us your audition resume."

As a good producer, you should never forget to give the crew the opportunity to recruit new members.

"Senior, can I sign up on the spot?" a boy in the audience shouted.

Meng Bai looked over in the direction of the voice: "No problem, what's your name? What grade are you in?"

"Brother, my name is Qu Chuxiao, and I am a sophomore this year."

"OK, sophomore Qu Chuxiao, right? I'll remember it." Meng Bai nodded.

Hearing Meng Bai's words, the boy was instantly overjoyed, and the classmates around him also looked over with envy.

If I had known this earlier, I would have stood up just now!
Unexpectedly, before everyone could continue to react, Meng Bai suddenly turned to the acting teacher beside him and said, "Teachers of our acting department, please remember that sophomore Qu Chuxiao tried to skip class to participate in the filming of an external play. Please pay special attention to him."

"Hahaha……"

The students in the audience were all stunned, and then burst into laughter, leaving Qu Chuxiao alone with a confused look on his face.

There is actually such a thing. This is Brother Meng Bai, who was once known as the strongest in the drama major!
(End of this chapter)