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

Chapter 31 The Simplest Management Method
Although Yu Yi's audition could not be described as a formality, it did end very quickly.

There is nothing to complain about. His professional acting skills, honed through more than ten years of acting experience, completely crush young actors like Li Qin and Zhang Ruoyun.

As for the image, what a joke, that person was personally selected by the chief screenwriter, how could he not fit the character's personality.

Meng Bai: No one understands what a “soul ferryman” should be like better than me.

After Yu Yi, the remaining two auditioners did not bring any more surprises, and their levels were basically around the same as Chen Ruoxuan.

At this point, the actors for the three main characters of "Pendulum" have basically been confirmed -

The male lead is "Xia Dongqing", Zhang Ruoyun.

"Soul Ferryman Zhao Li", Yu Yi.

The heroine is "Wang Xiaoya", Li Qin.

Meng Bai was quite satisfied with the result.

He had been worried that if the male lead was finally chosen to be a newcomer, his status would not be a good match for Li Qin, which might cause some problems during filming.

Now, whether it is Zhang Ruoyun or Yu Yi, although they are not top-tier celebrities, they are not much different from Li Qin.

Meng Bai sent the candidate result to Gan Wei. Fortunately, this elder sister did not give him any extra trouble and only expressed her trust in Meng Bai and their choice.

Since the investors had no objections, the cast was finalized. The crew quickly notified the two of the result and gave them time to come over and discuss the pay.

Compared with Li Qin's original "outrageous" contract, the contract requirements of the two male protagonists are undoubtedly normal, and they are all basic requirements.

After negotiation, Yu Yi finally offered a salary of 300,000 yuan, which was the same as the director's salary of 500 yuan, but there was no additional step-by-step performance incentive. At most, if the performance of the final project was good, the investor might be happy to give a celebratory red envelope.

Zhang Ruoyun's pay was much lower, only 120,000 yuan. But he didn't say anything, as this price was actually beyond his expectations.

According to his initial thinking, 70,000 or 80,000 yuan was not unacceptable.

Meng Bai privately inquired about this buddy's situation and got some information.

It is true that Zhang Ruoyun is Zhang Jian's son, and he has mostly filmed his father's dramas since he entered the industry, but the relationship between these two father and daughter is not very good.

There are many people in the entertainment industry who are loyal, but even more who are promiscuous. Especially those at the top level, they are more promiscuous than the others.

Director Zhang Jian obviously belongs to the latter category. Zhang Ruoyun is his child with his ex-wife, and after his ex-wife, he had three or four wives. Zhang Ruoyun grew up with his grandparents, so we can imagine the complex emotions between the father and son.

Of course, Meng Bai had no intention of blaming Zhang Ruoyun's father. He was confident in himself, and if he could get to the same position, it might not be much better.

In other words, sometimes a person looks upright not because he has good character, but because he is poor.

With the three leading actors confirmed, the preparations for the "Pendulum" crew have entered the final stage.

The decoration of the "convenience store" set has been completed. There are all kinds of shelves, counters, and goods. To anyone who looks at it, it looks like a proper convenience store.

The crew members and technical staff have also arrived. Except for the production team and the director team, the rest were basically brought over by Liu Zhi.

In his words, these people are "the best available within the current budget."

The outdoor locations that the crew needed had also been contacted, and Professor Zou from the Chinese Academy of Drama helped to talk to someone and agreed to lend a dormitory building in the new Changping campus to Meng Bai free of charge.

At this point, the entire "Pendulum" crew was completed. Meng Bai waved his hand and decided to treat everyone to a "start-up banquet".

Of course, it must be the crew’s account that was taken.

Not everyone was invited, but the main creative team, director team, technical team, logistics team, plus the three leading actors and their assistants.

In total, there were more than thirty people, so Meng Bai directly found a hotel and booked a small banquet hall.

Meng Bai stood in the middle of the banquet hall, looking at the crowds of people below, and a feeling of pride suddenly surged in his heart.

More than a month ago, he was still an unknown screenwriter who was struggling to make a living and wandering around the film crews.

And now, he is the producer who directs an entire crew and leads everyone to work on a project together.

The reversal between life circumstances is sometimes really amazing.

After sighing for a few seconds, Meng Bai regained his composure.

Now is just the beginning of his long journey in the future. It is not even a step. He just needs to feel the atmosphere a little. If he wants to continue, he has to take it step by step.

"Everyone!"

Meng Bai greeted everyone and the banquet hall immediately became quiet. Everyone's eyes turned to their "producer".

"I know everyone is waiting for the meal to start, and I don't want to delay the meal, so I'll try to be brief."

There were bursts of low laughter and applause from below, and it was obvious that everyone agreed with Meng Bai's words.

"It's not my first time to act in a drama, but it is my first time to be a producer. Over the past month, I would like to thank everyone for their cooperation, which has enabled me, a 'new producer', to set up the crew so quickly. There is my work here, but more importantly, it is everyone's hard work. I would like to thank you all here first."

"The preparations are now basically complete. Next week, we will officially start filming, and we expect to finish it before the end of the year. This requires not only my efforts, but also the cooperation of everyone."

"I can promise everyone here in advance that as long as the crew can complete the filming on time and with quality and quantity, there will be red envelopes when the filming is wrapped!"

"Wow—"

As soon as Meng Bai finished speaking, there was applause from the audience. Many people even cheered loudly for Meng Bai, shouting "Producer Meng is awesome!"

Obviously, compared with making big promises and pumping up enthusiasm, direct monetary incentives can better motivate people.

Meng Bai looked at the noisy scene with a smile, and continued after it quieted down a bit, "But I also like to say some ugly things in advance. This project has placed the efforts and hopes of many people, including me, on it, so I don't want to see any problems caused by human factors."

"If you have any doubts about the requirements of our creative team and director team, you can raise them at the beginning of the discussion. But if anyone starts to complain and say useless things when the requirements are being implemented, sorry, please leave."

Meng Bai did not give any serious warnings or orders, but everyone present had been with Meng Bai for at least a month, and everyone understood that this "producer" would be merciless in some aspects.

After all, Meng Bai has been in the crew for two years, and he knows the temperaments of these people in the circle very well.

He knew very well that he had little management experience and could not come up with any sophisticated management methods.

Therefore, he chose the simplest and easiest management method - clear rewards and punishments.

If you do a good job, I will give you more money;

If you don't do your job well, get out of here!
(End of this chapter)