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

Chapter 216 Very handsome, very powerful, and very handsome
If we talk about who is doing the best among the "Mou girls", it must be Gong Li.

If we talk about the one who is doing the worst, Nini is either the first or in the top three.

She became famous overnight for her role as Yu Mo in The Flowers of War, but before she could enjoy the benefits, she encountered the "breakup between the two Zhangs".

In 2012, Zhang Yimou announced his breakup with Zhang Weiping, with whom he had worked for years, and quit New Picture Pictures.

The direct trigger was that the performance of "The Flowers of War" did not meet Zhang Weiping's expectation of "1 billion box office".

The fundamental reason is that Zhang Yimou has reached the limit of his tolerance for Zhang Weiping's long-term interference in filming and production, as well as the uneven distribution of benefits.

Zhang Weiping is not a pushover either. He unfollowed the fan base and turned against the group, causing the "over-birth" incident.

At the same time, the contracts of all its actors including Zhou Dongyu, Dou Xiao and Ni Ni were withdrawn.

I have to say that Master Zhang is still very popular, and almost all the actors stand on his side in this conflict.

Nini is no exception.

After all, at the beginning, Zhang Weiping wanted to assign the role of "Yu Mo" to his own Han Xiting, but in the end Zhang Yimou insisted on choosing her.

You can say it's about repaying a favor or about finding someone with thicker thighs to hug, but Ni Ni is on Zhang Yimou's side anyway.

But the problem is that the contract is still with Zhang Weiping.

So she was directly hidden away.

When "The Flowers of War" was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, most of the crew went, but she, the heroine, could only watch the live broadcast at home.

He had just debuted, had no connections or resources, and his biggest backer became his enemy. It was a devastating start.

For a long time, Ni Ni had no acting jobs, and her popularity was maintained by shooting for fashion magazines.

The current situation has recovered somewhat, but it is difficult to return to the momentum of the past.

I don’t know if it’s the team’s plan, but her main idea in accepting roles in the past two years is to follow the trend.

After the hit of Love Is Not Blind, she immediately took on another work by the same author titled Waiting for the Wind.

After the hit of So Young, she quickly took on the role in Fleet of Time.

Even in investment and financial management, she also got involved in the financing of LeTV Pictures...

It is reasonable to suspect that her agent is most likely a web writer who has changed careers.

The "Tomb Raider IP" was very popular this year, and she didn't get a role in the movie version, so she set her sights on the TV series version.

Although it is a web drama, it is a big production with an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars. It is a rare resource for Ni Ni who just broke up with her new teammates at the beginning of the year.

In the audition meeting room, Meng Bai sat behind the table and looked at the other party.

Speaking of which, Nini's face is not that of a standard beauty.

The "catfish style" appearance is called "high-end face" in a nice way, but in other words it is not that good-looking and it depends a lot on the angle and makeup.

Just like today, she was obviously prepared. She didn't put on heavy makeup, but chose a more natural style, which made her look very comfortable.

Her long hair was tied into a high ponytail at the back of her head, making her look much more dashing.

A military green jacket and a rose-red tight shirt on the upper body, and tight jeans on the lower body.

Although her figure is not curvy, her proportions are good, especially her legs, which are long and straight.

It’s a pity that it’s winter, otherwise the effect would be better if I changed into shorts and long boots.

Oh, he means the role adaptation effect.

While Meng Bai was looking at Nini, Nini was also observing him.

Before coming, she asked someone for some information about the other party.

A genius screenwriter who started from scratch and opened the curtain on the online drama market.

In two years, they shot four hit dramas and created a top production team in the field of online dramas.

Each one sounds amazing.

Originally, Nini thought that Meng Bai would be a middle-aged uncle, at least thirty years old or above.

It wasn't until I saw him in person today that I realized he was a young man younger than me.

And he is very handsome.

There is also that kind of youthful yet mature temperament that makes people unable to help but want to explore.

And he is also very handsome!

Perhaps he felt his gaze, Meng Bai looked into her eyes.

Nini quickly smiled brightly.

"No need to laugh so loudly."

Meng Bai suddenly spoke up.

The smile on Nini's face froze.

"Shirley Yang's personality is that of a highly educated person, a graduate of the Naval Academy, rational, calm, gentle, and compassionate, so most of the time, the most she can do is smile knowingly. Your smile right now looks a little... greasy."

"..."

The smile on Nini's face faded, and she couldn't help but feel depressed.

She has read a lot of negative reviews online, such as "not good-looking" and "not getting it", and she can understand them all.

But, this was the first time I heard someone say that their smile was oily.

The things I am most confident about about my appearance are, first, my figure, and second, my smile!

What kind of description is this! Either you are handsome, or you are auditioning, or you need help, or...

Forget it. The more I talk about it, the more guilty I feel.

Nini was complaining in her heart, while Meng Bai was also thinking about it.

The character of Shirley Young is very charming in the original novel, but this also means that it is difficult for an actor to fully bring out the essence of the original work.

Moreover, every audience has a different understanding of the character, so no matter what the choice is, there will inevitably be people who are dissatisfied.

Among the other versions currently available, "Nine-story Demon Tower" uses Yao Chen - I really doubt the mental state of director Lu Yu when choosing the actor.

The movie Mojin: The Lost Legend uses Shu Qi, so this is related. But the movie hasn't been released yet, so I don't know the details.

The only thing I want to complain about is why this group of middle-aged directors like to use Shu Qi so much. Like Xu Qing from Beijing and Zhiling from Taiwan, she is almost becoming a standard vase in movies.

In comparison, Nini is relatively well-suited in terms of comprehensive conditions.

He has a good appearance and figure, and has the temperament of an adventurer. He is of the right age, speaks English very well, and is a top-tier celebrity in terms of popularity and fame.

If there are any disadvantages, one is that the acting is a bit poor, and the other is that it is a bit expensive.

Pan Yueming's pay is 70 per episode, Chen Minghao's is 35 per episode, and Ni Ni's offer is 110 million per episode.

(Special note: actors’ pay is calculated based on the number of scenes they appear in, not the total number of episodes)
Shirley Young did not appear until the middle of the first story, and her role was relatively small.

But even so, Nini's total salary alone is more than 1100 million.

Looking back to a year ago, the investment in the entire drama for many projects might not even be 10 million, which shows how fast the online drama market is developing.

In fact, as a producer, Meng Bai has a very strong control over the actors' pay, which is basically kept below 35% of the total investment.

You know, according to the general situation in the industry, if the actor cost of a drama is less than 50%, it can be said to be "spending money on quality."

"Before filming begins, the leading actors have to undergo action training in advance. Including the shooting time, it will take about four to five months. Is your schedule available?" Meng Bai looked at Nini and asked.

"Okay, there's no problem on my end!" Nini said quickly.

"Okay, that's it for today. We at Arclight will give you a detailed answer within two days."

Meng Bai stood up, smiled and shook her hand, saying, "I hope we can have a chance to cooperate."

Nini's eyes lit up. The tendency of this sentence was already very obvious. It was almost certain that he would participate in the performance.

I habitually wanted to smile, but halfway through, I suddenly remembered what I had just said. I quickly suppressed the grin and said with a faint smile: "I am also looking forward to working with Teacher Meng."

"It's much better now. But the shooting hasn't started yet, so it's okay to smile a little wider, it still looks good."

Nini was stunned for a moment, then looked up and saw Meng Bai had a natural expression, as if he had just said something very ordinary.

She tilted her head, and the faint smile on her face turned into a bright smile with her mouth wide open.
-
The wait was not too long. The day after the audition, Ni Ni received news from Arclight Films that she would be playing the role of "Shirley Yang".

At this point, the last piece of the puzzle of the "Tomb Raiders Trio" has been completed.

Arclight and Penguin Pictures quickly announced the final cast of the leading actors.

As Meng Bai expected, a heated debate immediately broke out on the Internet.

One is the candidate for Hu Bayi. Pan Yueming used to be very famous, but he has been quite quiet in recent years, and many young audiences have hardly even heard of him.

The controversy surrounding him is mainly about his appearance. After all, Tianxia Bachang once said that the prototype was Liu Huohua.

Most book fans also know that there is little chance of actually inviting him, but they will still use this as a reference.

So let alone Pan Yueming, even Chen Kun from "The Mojin" was considered unreliable when it was first announced.

Of course, it is still much better than Mark Chao in "Nine-story Demon Tower".

But no matter how much the debate goes, the overall popularity is still average.

Before seeing the final film, no one can guarantee whether an actor is suitable or not.

What is really surprising is Ni Ni's version of "Shirley Yang".

Not to mention the issue of image matching, no one expected that this former "Mou Girl" would come to star in a web drama.

But thinking about it again, it seems to be okay.

With an investment of hundreds of millions, this big production is really no worse than some movies.

The audience suddenly discovered that, since some time ago, the labels attached to online dramas are no longer "shoddy" or "vulgar".

Instead, they are replaced by "novel subject matter", "well-made", "interesting plot", etc.

However, some people have raised doubts.

It’s not that the online drama market has grown. On the contrary, there are still a large number of shoddy online dramas broadcast on various platforms.

In fact, the only works of Arclight Pictures truly have these labels.

In other words, it was Arc Light that single-handedly raised the ceiling of the entire web drama.

As soon as this view was put forward, it was immediately recognized by the vast majority of people.

No matter how much controversy there is online, it is the audience’s business and has no impact on the production crew.

Now that the main cast has been confirmed, most of the casting for Arclight has been completed, and what remains are some supporting roles.

Meng Bai didn't care much about these things and basically left them to Li Muge and the director team to decide.

He also did not forget to call Wang Ou and told her that he regretted not choosing her.

The young lady was actually mentally prepared and didn't take it seriously at all. She even teased him and asked him what he was going to do at the National Drama Festival in a few days.

Meng Bai said that escaping is shameful, but very useful.

(End of this chapter)