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

Chapter 333: Sleep when you should, pay taxes when you should

Just as Meng Bai thought, Li Qin, whose defense was broken, burst into tenderness like spring water.

Even if Meng Bai made some requests that were more excessive than before, she agreed with a blushing face.

Even though she couldn't keep up with the energy in the second half, Li Qin always gritted her teeth and insisted on catering to Meng Bai.

It’s a pity that the girl still doesn’t agree to introduce her best friend to each other.

After a few days, although Li Qin was a little exhausted, her complexion became more and more fresh and bright, and her originally cold temperament also became much softer.

Now that it was Wubai's turn, the director felt a little uncomfortable.

According to the plot, Fang Muzheng and Tai Wei will team up to set up a trap for Jiang Ya, who will be misunderstood and wanted. As a result, the situation of his prospective girlfriend "Minan" becomes better.

Although there are no important scenes, it still looks distracting.

There was no other choice but to ask the makeup artist to put on makeup before each shoot, trying to make Li Qin look pale and haggard.

Fortunately, there weren’t many shots of this girl left, so it wasn’t too troublesome.

At the end of October, the filming of "City Lights" gradually entered the final stage.

"When will director Cao Baoping start filming?"

"It's said to be until December."

"That's not bad, I can rest for a while."

Watching the assistant team carry the packed suitcases out, Li Qin walked to the door, turned around and hugged Meng Bai behind her.

"I'll go back first." She looked up at Meng Bai and said, "Don't look for other girls secretly."

"You're saying that. It's not like you don't know the current situation of our crew. There are only a bunch of old men left." Meng Bai put his arm around her waist and said, "Even Mai Mai has finished filming and returned to school."

"You even have your eyes on Mai Mai!" Li Qin said with a frown.

Meng Bai's breath stagnated. He looked at the woman who was giggling in his arms and patted her little butt. "What nonsense are you talking about!"

Li Qin knew that he was in the wrong, so he smiled guiltily and touched his butt again.

"Does it hurt?" Meng Bai's hand stroked it dishonestly and rubbed it twice out of habit.

Li Qin, who had been developed and matured in the past few days, suddenly had a breath disorder, her legs went weak, and she leaned into Meng Bai's arms.

Meng Bai smiled when he saw this, and leaned down to her ear and said, "How about having another farewell souvenir? Anyway, the flight is still early?"

Li Qin's heart moved, and she carefully looked outside the door, and found that the assistant and others had already gone downstairs with their luggage, and she felt relieved immediately. She closed the door, and was half-reluctantly pushed to the wall by Meng Bai, who then held her legs and hugged her close.

Half an hour later.

"You...why aren't you well yet?" Li Qin said breathlessly.

The cell phone that was tightly held in his hand kept ringing. It was obvious that the assistant was urging him because he saw that the time was almost up.

Meng Bai stood proudly without any sign of tiredness, looked at her blushing face, and said with a smile: "Otherwise, it might be faster if you try another way."

As he said this, he kissed her delicate lips.

Seeing the man's malicious smile, Li Qin rolled her eyes at him. But under the urging of the phone, she had to squat down while tying up her long hair with one hand.

"Why don't you wipe it first... ugh!"

Twenty minutes later.

In the underground parking lot, Jia Jia, the young assistant who was waiting by the car, was hesitating whether to make another call. Suddenly, she heard the sound of the elevator door opening, and then Li Qin appeared at the elevator entrance.

"Sister, you finally came down."

"I made a last-minute phone call. It's okay, I'll make it in time."

After getting in the car, Jia Jia asked the driver to drive to the airport. Just as she was about to say something to Li Qin, she found that she was frowning and pursing her lips, as if she was spitting out something.

"Sister, are you feeling unwell?"

Li Qin blushed when she was discovered, but she still tried to act calm and said, "It's okay, a small insect just flew into my mouth."

After saying that, he couldn't help but curse someone in his heart.
-
After seeing Li Qin off, Meng Bai finally focused on supervising the filming of the movie.

In fact, there are not many scenes left. Most of the plots have been filmed, and there is only the last part of "City Lights" - the "ultimate showdown" between Fang Mu and Jiang Ya.

In the movie plot, the police have completely confirmed that it was Jiang Ya who killed Liao Yafan and was also the real "City Light", but almost all the evidence was destroyed by the other party.

Obviously, this is a naked challenge to the judiciary by Jiang Ya and the organization behind him, with the aim of forcing Fang Mu to execute an "extrajudicial ruling."

"I saw with my own eyes that you privately punished the rich second-generation who molested a young girl and let someone else take the blame. You have already crossed the line a long time ago. Why do you still have to continue to pretend to be strong in front of me?"

"Kill me, and you will achieve your ultimate redemption."

This is what Jiang Ya said to Fang Mu, and it is also the reason why he was determined to take on the challenge from the very beginning.

However, what he didn't know was that the "Punisher" he saw on the rainy night before was actually Tai Wei, not Fang Mu.

Because this past was exposed by Jiang Ya, although it could not be verified due to the long time interval, Tai Wei was still investigated by the Discipline Inspection Commission and was given a serious warning.

After the investigation, he was "demoted" from the position of captain of the Luteng City Public Security Criminal Investigation Detachment to serve as deputy captain in Binhai District, where he met Guan Hongfeng, who had not yet left the police force due to an accident.

This is the background connection between the "Psychological Crime" series and "Day and Night".

Of course, this is after the plot of the movie.

Fang Mu was not defeated by Jiang Ya's behavior. Instead, after discussing with Tai Wei, he designed a routine.

He shot and "killed" Tai Wei in public, and then confessed that he had accepted the title of "City Light".

In this way, he went from open to covert and forced Jiang Ya to show up.

In the final showdown, Fang Mu scratched Jiang Ya, then cut off the finger that contained the other party's flesh and blood DNA, wrapped it in a condom prepared in advance, and swallowed it into his stomach.

In this way, as long as the forensic doctor gets the evidence in his stomach, Jiang Ya can be convicted.

It’s not that Fang Mu has no other way, but he has already realized that there is an organization behind Jiang Ya that is providing help, and the other party’s target is himself.

In order to prevent more people around him from being in danger, he decided to exchange one life for another.

【Since "City Lights" was born because of me, it will end with me. 】

Meng Bai originally planned to kill Fang Mu in the script, but after discussion among the screenwriters, he deleted the clear ending.

It not only leaves a backup plan for possible sequels in the future, but also serves as a comfort to fans.

Because the final "decisive battle" involves action scenes, Wu Bai was left to shoot at the end. In this way, even if any actor was injured, it would not affect the entire movie too much.

This action scene is not too long, it is only about two minutes in the movie. But because Qin Hao and Zhang Luyi are not professional action actors, they need action directors to teach them step by step, so the shooting was very slow.

It took a full week to shoot the more than 100 seconds of footage.

But fortunately, it's finally over.

Before November, the filming of "Psychological Crime: City of Light" was completed.

The actors went back to their homes, and the crew began to dismantle the scene and recycle the props for use in the next project.

Meng Baize, together with the production team, began to check the crew's financial expenditures and accounts receivable.

However, he no longer needs to do the specific work himself, he just needs to review and sign it at the end.

"Brother, when are you leaving?"

Meng Bai walked out of the "Green Vine Public Security" building and happened to see Wang Longzheng sitting on the steps in front of the building, so he asked casually.

"I'll go back tomorrow." Wang Longzheng, who was awakened, replied with a smile, and then fell silent again.

Meng Bai didn't care whether the ground was dirty or not and sat down on the steps next to him.

"What's wrong? Did you have a conflict with Teacher Ma?"

"Teacher Ma" is Ma Wei, Wang Taling's girlfriend, the girl who was proposed to on the set of "Day and Night".

"You are caring about others." Wang Longzheng glanced at him, "We are very good friends."

"Is it because you suddenly realized that you are middle-aged and can no longer do what you want?"

"Haha, you are so shameless to say that to me. As for your bunch of girls, just hold on until you are thirty years old first."

The scumbag's face was naturally not something that could be broken by such a level of ridicule. Meng Bai asked without caring at all: "My physical fitness is something that mortals like you can't understand... So, what are you feeling melancholy about?"

"Nothing, I just felt a little emotional after seeing the ending of the movie."

From the first season in 14 to now, he has played "Tai Wei" four times in three years. Now that I suddenly find that the story has come to an end, I always have an inexplicable feeling in my heart.

But he is also an old actor, so he is not as emotional as Zhao Jinmai. He is leaving tomorrow, so he sits in front of the "Public Security" building where he has been for a long time.

"Okay, stop sighing. I didn't say there won't be a sequel." Meng Bai said, "Besides, "Psychological Crime" has ended, but there is still "Day and Night 2". We can continue next time." Wang Longzheng was excited when he heard this: "When will the second season start filming?"

"It's hard to say. We haven't even started writing the script yet." Meng Bai spread his hands. "Besides, there are also the online drama Detective Chinatown and the new series Crime Hunters ahead of us. I guess we'll have to wait 19 years."

ArcLight Films has many projects this year and will have even more next year.

There is no other way. The company is making too much money. It is too much of a loss to keep the excess funds in the bank and earn interest. It is better to invest them all as expenditure costs. Although taxes still need to be paid, they can be reduced to some extent.

This is not tax evasion, but just some reasonable and legal tricks in financial auditing.

Logically speaking, he has been very law-abiding since he did not follow the trend and register a company like "Horgos Arc Film and Television".

Because it is located in the border area, the tax policy in Horgos is extremely favorable, so in recent years it has gradually become another "tax haven" for film and television companies after Shanghai, Wuxi and Hengdian.

For an annual turnover of 900 million, a company in Beijing North would have to pay nearly 550 million in taxes, but in Horgos, it would only be around million.

With a difference of nearly 40%, it is no wonder that these companies have flocked to the West.

Chen Jing had mentioned to Meng Bai before whether they should register a shell company in Horgos like other companies, specifically to handle the financial transactions and account transfers for film and television projects.

However, Meng Bai considered it and refused.

Firstly, he has a similar company in Landao. As a well-known "local entrepreneur", the relevant departments of Landao have also given Arc Light many preferential policies. Although it is not as big as Horgos, it is still okay.

Furthermore, in his opinion, it is hard to say how long such a blatant and increasingly intense "tax avoidance" trend can last.

Once the wind direction changes, not only will you have to spit out the fruit you swallow now, but you may also have to spit out something else.

Look at Brother Baoqiang. After his divorce, he would rather borrow money to pay the taxes.

Our President Meng is also an honest man. He sleeps when he should and pays taxes when he should.

Speaking of Wang Baoqiang, Meng Bai remembered that he should have recently gone to New York with Chen Sicheng to shoot the movie "Detective Chinatown 2".

Unlike the first part, Meng Bai only made an outline of the script for this part, and the remaining details were filled in by ArcLight's screenwriter department and Chen Sicheng himself.

Moreover, compared to the first film, the production cost has also increased significantly. After all, New York is not like Bangkok, and the cost of the crew alone is a huge expense.

The budget has increased from 8000 million to 4 million, and there is an additional 1.5 million in publicity and promotion costs. In other words, the second film must make at least 16 billion to break even.

This achievement would have been completely unrealistic a few years ago, but for today's domestic film market, it is not impossible.

Ticket subsidies are getting smaller and smaller, ticket prices are getting more and more expensive, more and more cinemas are being built, and the number of moviegoers is increasing every year.

With the first film's box office of nearly 12 billion yuan as a foundation, the second film can be said to be a sure win as long as its quality is not too bad.

However, in this case, the production of the "Detective Chinatown 3" web drama must also be put on the agenda, and it must be broadcast before the movie is released.

In addition, Arc Light has many other projects lined up. So the finishing work on Blue Island was almost done, and Meng Bai returned to Beijing North first.

……

As soon as he returned to the company, he received an unexpected good news.

The previous small production "Chef Fang in the Flower Garden", which was co-produced with Huace and had never been taken seriously, unexpectedly became a hit.

Or to be more precise, it was the female lead "Fang Yishao" played by Zhu Xudan that became famous.

[Who can resist a little cook who can cook, has kung fu skills, is adorable and can encourage her husband? ]

[Three thousand rivers, only one spoonful! ]

[(Fang Yishao cooking stills) Guys, I really like this! ]

[Knife in hand, follow me. Kill Shen Yong and grab a spoon! ]

[What, does the guy above look down on me, Master Shen, the number one hungry tyrant in Dongxiang Mansion? (Manually funny)]

【…】

Looking at the vast barrage of comments shouting "wife", not only the audience but also the producers like Hu Guang were dumbfounded.

The backend of Tencent Video shows that more than half of the viewers are following this drama, and the level of interaction is extremely high.

Even in the barrage of the main film, there appeared a huge "One Spoon Army".

For a long time, most film and television companies have positioned ancient costume romance dramas like "Chef Fang in the Flower Garden" mainly for young female audiences who like sweet dramas.

I never expected that it could attract such a large number of straight male audiences.

Tencent Video has also conducted some investigations and found that this situation is not completely unreasonable.

First of all, the proportion of male audiences in the film and television market has never been low, but in recent years most of the so-called ancient idol dramas and fairy tale dramas are targeted at the preferences of female audiences, so there seem to be very few male audiences.

On the contrary, Arclight Pictures, which mainly produces suspense dramas, almost never lacks male audiences.

It is also for this reason that after seeing that the producer of this drama is also Arclight Films, a large number of straight male audiences were attracted to it.

In addition, the plot of this drama itself is also in line with the appetite of male audiences. There are no messy house fights or various sadomasochistic routines.

Most of the plot is basically just about cooking, eating, solving cases, and watching the male and female protagonists show off their love.

In addition, the character of the heroine "Fang Yishao" is indeed likable, so it is normal for the show to be so popular.

The only thing that many viewers are complaining about is that this drama is worthy of being produced by Arclight Films. Even if it is a period drama, it has to add suspense and detective elements, which really does not forget its original intention.

No matter what, "Fang Yishao", everyone's new generation wife, became popular, and Zhu Xudan, who played the role, also became famous.

Just like "Tong Ronger" in the first half of the year, Zhu Xudan also enjoyed the same treatment that Li Yitong had at the beginning.

His popularity soared, his number of fans increased greatly, and various film and television resources also came in.

When the drama first aired, her team was helping her to secure the role of "Zhou Zhiruo" in the new version of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber".

This remake is the same as this year's "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", with the same director and team. Although the show was not very popular, Li Yitong, who played "Huang Rong", became really famous.

Therefore, when faced with the two female protagonists of the new version of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber", a group of young actresses also competed fiercely.

Zhu Xudan was not the first choice, but the role of Fang Yishao became popular every few days, which boosted her popularity. In addition, Taiyang Chuanhe also had the channels of Arclight Film and Television, so the crew decided to let her play Zhou Zhiruo.

This girl has been very cheerful recently. She calls Meng Bai every other day, and her tone is very intimate.

Meng Bai even suspected that if it weren't for the phone between them, the girl would have pounced on him directly.

"Very good." Meng Bai said while holding his phone, "Our Soul Ferry: Huangquan is counting on you to gain more popularity."

"Eh--"

Zhu Xudan on the other end of the phone puffed his lips and snorted.

She is still not dazzled by the sudden popularity. From the audience's perspective, her popularity is definitely not as good as the value of the "Soul Ferry" IP itself.

"Alright, act well in the new drama. The role of Zhou Zhiruo is a tall mountain ahead of you. If you act badly, don't blame the audience for scolding you." Meng Bai said, "I have something else to do here, so I'll hang up first."

"Oh, okay, then you go ahead and do your work first, Senior Brother."

Zhu Xudan said something disappointed, and then heard the sound of the phone being hung up.

After exiting the call interface, Meng Bai's photo appeared on the background wallpaper of the phone.

Looking at the screen with a silly smile, Zhu Xudan couldn't help but flicked his forehead.

Really, my senior has cheated on so many girls, why can’t he cheat on me too?
No, don’t be impatient, you have to find the right opportunity.

Zhu Xudan thought so and opened the browser on his mobile phone.

The "historical searches" in the search box are filled with keywords such as "Li Qin + Meng Bai", "Li Yitong + Meng Bai", "Song Zhi + Meng Bai", etc.

……

the other side.

Meng Bai really didn't lie to Zhu Xudan, he really had something to do at the moment.

"Sorry, Mr. Fang, I've kept you waiting for a long time. I just had something to do." Meng Bai walked into the reception room and said to Fang Fang who was waiting inside.

"Mr. Meng, you're too polite. Just don't blame me for your sudden visit." Fang Fang said with a chuckle.

As she spoke, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart. In the past, Meng Bai always went to Penguin Films, but now it's the other way around, she has to go there herself.

But there is nothing we can do about it, since Arc Light has such a great influence now.

Previously, the news that Yuewen wanted to acquire ArcLight for 150 billion yuan was widely circulated in the circle, and many people doubted the authenticity of this news.

But as different groups within a group, they at Penguin Pictures clearly know that this is true.

Yuewen's status within Tencent is much more important than theirs. Even they treat Arc Light with courtesy, so there is no reason for us not to move around more.

(End of this chapter)