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

Chapter 363 The Big Event Begins

Unlike "Peace Hotel" which is set in a snowy area, the story background of "Secret and Great" returns to the classic Shanghai map of spy war dramas.

At the Chedun Film and Television City in Shanghai, the opening ceremony of "Secret and Great" had just ended, and a girl with a high ponytail stood in front of Meng Bai.

"Meng Bai, oh, no, now I should call you...Mr. Meng!"

"Well, what's the matter with Mr. Meng or not? Just do as you like, Xiao Wang."

"Hey, who is Xiao Wang?"

"Haha, just kidding. Long time no see, Xiao Ning."

"Hmm... your tone sounds like my uncle calling me." Zhang Jianing, who originally looked full of energy, frowned and said dissatisfiedly.

Like Zhang Ruoyun and Xin Zhilei, she is also one of the leading actors in "Secret and Great", playing the second female lead "Ding Fang", a self-willed and independent female writer in the Republic of China.

She fell in love with Gu Yaodong because he rescued her heroically, but ended up standing against him because of her father's position as a high-ranking official in the Republic of China. After her father fell from power and her family lost power, she fled to Hong Kong and never saw each other again.

The character of this second female lead is very peculiar, she is straightforward yet literary, willful yet coquettish, noble yet sometimes a bit of a green tea. In short, she is a girl with a very complex personality.

Although Zhang Jianing is not very popular, his acting skills are good. Moreover, his plain appearance is also in line with the characteristics of Ding Fang's character.

Of course, the most important reason is that she just joined Taiyang Chuanhe this year, so she is the first to get the upper hand.

"Alas, I was the one who introduced Brother Yang to you." Zhang Jianing sighed, "In the blink of an eye, both of you have become my bosses."

"Come on, with your uncle here, who dares to control you?" Meng Bai said.

Zhang Jianing's uncle is "Doctor Wen" Zhang Xiaolong, a master's tutor at the Central Academy of Drama and a famous classical etiquette director in the domestic entertainment industry. Although he is his uncle, Zhang Jianing's parents divorced when he was young and he grew up with him, so he is no different from his father.

At the beginning of the year, Zhang Xiaolong signed a contract with Taiyang Chuanhe and brought her over as well.

In addition to Zhang Jianing, other leading actors in "Secret and Great" include Wang Taling, who plays the second male lead "Xia Jicheng".

In addition, the male lead Zhang Ruoyun, or Xin Zhilei, is an outsider, otherwise this drama would become an "internal drama".

"If you join the team, will you stay here forever?" Zhang Jianing asked curiously.

Meng Bai shook his head: "Stay for a while, I will leave when you have no questions about the script."

"By the way, speaking of scripts, I've been wanting to talk to you about this." Zhang Jianing said with emotion, "You don't know, I've filmed so many dramas in the past few years, but our group is the first project to get a complete script."

"Don't other groups get scripts?"

Meng Bai wondered, are there so many Wang Jiaweis in the film and television industry now?
"It's not that they don't give it to me, but most of the time they only give me the opening scene, and the rest is given to me after I join the crew." Zhang Jianing said, "The most outrageous thing I've encountered is that I didn't know what the specific part of the scene was until the night before when I was going to shoot the next day."

"Isn't this... a bit outrageous?"

"It's not outrageous at all. In the past two years, especially since last year, many crews have been very anxious to prepare for projects. They start filming as soon as the deadline arrives, regardless of whether they are ready or not."

Meng Bai was not surprised by this. The film and television industry as a whole has become impetuous for more than one or two years.

"There are always people who work on projects seriously. When I worked with Noon Sunshine a few years ago, they prepared well in advance."

"That's Noon Sunshine, of course it's different." Zhang Jianing said as if it was a matter of course: "Everyone in the industry knows that the only two teams that can be completely guaranteed to be reliable are Arc Light and Noon Sunshine."

Listening to Zhang Jianing muttering about some outrageous things she had seen the crew do, Meng Bai couldn't help but shake his head.

When he joined the crew, the atmosphere in the circle was not so urgent. After that, he always followed his own tradition and did not pay much attention to how other crews filmed, so he was not as clear about these things as these actors.

But think about it, it makes sense. In the past two years, capital has poured into the film and television industry and hot money has poured in. If you just register a film and television company and start a project, there will be people to raise funds. It can be said that the industry is booming and prosperous.

In this situation, naturally everyone wants to start production early and realize the cash quickly. The script and the team don’t matter. Just buy a novel, find someone to revise it, and then attract some traffic and shoot for a few days, and a drama is done.

As for the quality of the finished product, it doesn’t matter whether it’s good or bad, as long as there are fans supporting it. Inflate data, buy water army, control comments, it’s good for you, me and everyone.

But then again, this kind of enthusiasm that relies entirely on falsehood will eventually end. By then, only a vast exodus of people will be left behind.

In fact, everyone in the industry knows this, but everyone thinks there is still time, as long as they don't become the slowest fool.

Meng Bai couldn't say anything to these people. After all, if it weren't for the "Inspiration Fragments" plug-in that could guarantee high-quality and popular works, perhaps Arc Light would be the same as them.

It is obviously impossible for Arclight to shake the development trend of the entire industry by itself. What Meng Bai can do now is to ensure the operation of the company, accumulate capital, and maintain Arclight's healthy capital chain.

Only in this way can we protect ourselves when "winter" comes.

Who knows, we might be able to catch a few rabbits or wild boars that died on tree stumps due to lack of survival skills to make up for the loss.
-
Meng Bai stayed in Shanghai for a week until the filming of "Secret and Great" stabilized, and then he left.

Before leaving, he stopped by Huang Zheng and asked about Pinduoduo's listing.

Still in that not-so-big office, Meng Bai looked at Huang Zheng, who looked exhausted yet excited: "I thought you had gone to America."

“Why am I going to America?”

"Ring the bell. Isn't this the procedure for going public?"

"It's just a ceremony. It doesn't matter who rings the bell." Huang Zheng said nonchalantly.

Okay, it's your company, whatever you want.

"So, has the specific launch time been decided?" Meng Bai asked.

"Nasdaq has confirmed our listing application, and the date is set for the 26th of next month."

Huang Zheng laughed again. “Speaking of which, it’s all thanks to those short videos you shot. Pinduoduo’s image has changed a lot since they were released. Otherwise, it might not have passed the review so quickly.”

"It's just some tricks in the entertainment industry, but it only works once. If something similar happens again, we'll have to find a new trick." Meng Bai waved his hand, "Besides, I'm also a veteran shareholder, and I'm counting on you to make a fortune."

"Hahaha, Mr. Meng, you've got to be kidding me. I specifically asked about your position in the film and television industry. Don't pretend to be poor in front of me."

"How can you say you're pretending to be poor? Look at which film and television company doesn't have an Internet giant behind it? I'm still counting on you."

"Come on, you are a giant now, why do you need to look for others?" Huang Zheng laughed and said, "If you really want to cooperate, you might as well look for Zhang Yiming of ByteDance. You two have similar businesses."

"Why, are you familiar with him?" Meng Bai asked.

"I know him, but we're not together." Huang Zheng shook his head. "Why, are you interested?"

"You're right. Our businesses are similar. I'd like you to introduce us to each other one day. Maybe we can discuss some business cooperation."

"Didn't I say we're not together? If you need anything, I can help you contact Wang Xing. Maoyan, who works for him, is a better fit for you."

"Don't worry, that's just my thought. Let's get the listing done first."

……

After returning to Beijing, Meng Bai first called the head of the film and television department to ask about the situation of "Soul Ferry: Huangquan". "As of this morning, the number of effective viewings of the film exceeded 1400 million, which is equivalent to more than 3500 million in box office revenue."

The person in charge said with a little excitement: "It has only been more than half a month since the broadcast. Although the popularity is not as high as before, it is still played hundreds of thousands of times every day. I estimate that in another half a month, it will definitely break the record."

Hearing this, Meng Bai couldn't help but feel a little excited.

Although the box office performance of Soul Ferry: Huangquan is not worth mentioning compared with the previous theatrical films, but if we calculate the specific income, it may not be worse than them.

The key is that the production cost of this film is low, so there is only one producer, and any profit is theirs without having to share it with others.

The revenue sharing of 3500 million is not worse than that of the "Detective Chinatown" series. And it's less than a month, and there are still five months of revenue sharing period to come.

If we work harder, we might be able to catch up with "Journey to the West: Conquering India" - although Wang Baoqiang's film was poorly made, it grossed nearly 800 million yuan at the box office. In terms of performance alone, it is considered one of the best domestic films.

"Okay, the publicity and promotion efforts have basically reached this point. The rest will mainly rely on long-term efforts." Meng Bai said: "How is the publicity preparation for City Lights going?"

"Psychological Crime: City of Light" was filmed at the same time as "Soul Ferry: Huangquan", but due to the theater schedule, it was released two months later.

In fact, at the beginning, the film was supposed to be released during the National Day holiday. But because of the conflict with "Detective Chinatown 2", it was moved forward to late August, which was considered to be the tail end of the summer vacation.

"We have started releasing promotional posters a few days ago, and there will be a series of follow-up promotional plans. Director Wu Bai is planning to start a roadshow from the end of July, mainly in several super first-tier and first-tier cities..."

The person in charge looked at the information in his hands and reported everything.

Meng Bai was also listening carefully, interrupting him from time to time to ask about the details.

Although as a big boss, he does not need to complete many business tasks personally, but he still needs to understand what he should understand.

Why is it always easy for the second generation to fail when they take over a company? It is because they are too far away from the business end, always blindly trust those professional managers, and then are sidelined.

After talking for more than half an hour, the report finally came to an end.

"...Okay, just proceed as planned." Meng Bai said, "Also, the first part of the 'trilogy' series in cooperation with Qiyi TV will also begin preparations soon. You guys should find a director first."

"Okay, Mr. Meng, I'll go get ready then."

The person in charge stood up, nodded to Meng Bai and said goodbye, then walked out. As soon as he left, Hua Yan rushed in in a hurry.

"Boss! Boss! Big news!"

Hua Yan hugged her pad and threw herself on the table opposite Meng Bai.

"Why, did you find out that your paper husband has fallen out of love?"

"What? How can a paper man collapse? No, boss, look at this."

As she said that, she handed over the pad in her hand.

"Xiao Cui blasted Fan Qiaoqiao..." Meng Bai glanced at the screen, "Isn't this the hot search last week? You call this news?"

"Ah?" Hua Yan was stunned for a moment and turned the screen. "Oh, sorry, I clicked the wrong one... um, this is it."

Meng Bai: →_→

Looking at the screen again, Meng Bai was just having fun at first, but as he watched, his expression gradually became serious.

[Recently, due to the filming of the movie "Cell Phone 2", the famous host Cui Yongyuan and directors Feng Xiaogang and Liu Zhenyun had a conflict. Cui Yongyuan sent four Weibo posts in one day, targeting the film's main creators. As of today, the crew has not responded to this matter. ]

[Just today, the heroine of the movie "Cell Phone 2", Fan Qiaoqiao, released a promotional Weibo for the movie, which once again triggered the core contradiction. Cui Yongyuan even revealed that Fan Qiaoqiao had previously engaged in... and other phenomena during the filming of the project, which triggered heated discussions among netizens...]

"Celebrity conflicts", "hiding production costs", "astronomical pay for actors"...

Almost every keyword can trigger a heated discussion. Now that they are put together, one can imagine how lively the online public opinion field is.

Speaking of which, this incident can actually be regarded as a historical legacy in the film and television industry.

As early as 2003, Feng Xiaogang filmed a Lunar New Year movie called "Cell Phone". The plot is about a famous TV host Yan Shouyi who accidentally forgot his cell phone at home. His wife found out about his affair, and then a series of events were triggered by the "cell phone".

In terms of the plot alone, this movie is actually quite interesting. At that time, the popularity of mobile phones and pagers began to decline, and mobile phones gradually became people's newest tools, but many new social problems also emerged.

It must be said that Feng Xiaogang had some ideas at that time. In addition, the screenwriter was Liu Zhenyun, and there were popular actors such as Ge You, Zhang Guoli, Xu Fan, and Fan Qiaoqiao, so the box office performance and influence of the movie were quite good.

The only problem is the character of the male protagonist "Yan Shouyi" in the play. He is the host of a TV station and hosts an interview program called "Say What You Say"...

These characteristics are very similar to Cui Yongyuan, who became famous for hosting "Telling the Truth" at the time.

Many people even directly believe that he is the prototype of this character.

It wouldn't matter if he was a positive character, but the key point is that in the movie, the male protagonist is a negative character who "cheats on his marriage, is good at lying", and "says one thing in front of people and another behind their backs".

Cui Yongyuan was furious at the time and directly confronted the two main creators, Feng Xiaogang and Liu Zhenyun.

It’s no wonder he made a fuss about it, because some people really think that the image of the male protagonist in the movie is what he actually looks like.

Of course, the entertainment industry at that time was still called the "artistic circle", and everyone's communication was relatively "simple". In addition, there were many CCTV hosts in the movie, who made peace with each other, and Liu Zhenyun apologized and promised not to talk about the movie in the future, and finally nothing happened.

After so many years, things have changed, and the protagonists of the incident have each had their own experiences, and this incident has been sealed in history.

Until this year, 15 years later, I don’t know what Feng Xiaogang and others were thinking, but they actually brought out this movie again and planned to make a sequel.

When the news of this project first came out, Cui Yongyuan approached Liu Zhenyun and said that he had been greatly troubled by this movie and did not want to go through it again.

According to the WeChat chat records recently released by Cui Yongyuan, Liu Zhenyun should have promised him at that time to change the role and story and ensure that it had nothing to do with him.

But perhaps they felt that Cui Yongyuan had left CCTV and was not as famous as he was back then, so they did not need to care about it. Later, when Huayi Film and Television announced the project trailer, not only was the cast almost the same, but even the names and settings of the characters in the movie were not changed.

The background of the male protagonist "Yan Shouyi" was directly changed to a former host who left the TV station and switched to a talk show career.

Honestly, this is a bit too blatant.

Cui Yongyuan, who had been cheated, naturally would not give up. Just like he did 15 years ago, he directly cursed Feng Xiaogang and Liu Zhenyun on Weibo using his real name, saying, "Everyone knows that Feng Xiaogang is a scumbag, and Liu Zhenyun has become a scumbag even faster."

As for the film crew, I don’t know whether they knew they were in the wrong or were afraid of exacerbating the conflict, but they haven’t responded yet.

Until today, the female lead Fan Qiaoqiao, whether to take sides or something else, suddenly posted a promotional Weibo post for the movie, saying "Cell Phone 2 shooting site! Wu Yue (character name) is very happy."

This Weibo post was like the last cactus that killed the camel, and it directly angered Cui Yongyuan.

He no longer cared about anything and first forwarded a piece of news that "Fan Qiaoqiao won the National Spirit Creator Award", and then wrote "One dares to send it, and the other dares to receive it."

After being ridiculed by Fan Qiaoqiao's fans, he sent out three consecutive Weibo posts and posted a screenshot, directly pointing out the unspoken rules in the circle.

This was like a stone that caused a thousand ripples. For a time, almost everyone, both inside and outside the circle, began to pay attention to this matter.

(End of this chapter)