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

Chapter 458 Chaoyang Public Security: Is this Meng Bai?
April, Beijing North Huairou Hotel Villa Complex.

As a famous hotel-style villa area in northern Beijing, its popularity has always remained high because it is close to Yanqi Lake.

Early spring is a good time for travel and vacation. In previous years, this place would have been fully booked. However, due to the flu, the entire villa area has been deserted since the Chinese New Year.

However, starting two months ago, a large number of people and vehicles have been coming and going here, carrying a large amount of film and television equipment and stage props.

The largest conference center in the villa area has been closed since last month, and there are occasional noises of renovations. At the same time, a huge poster with the words "Sisters Riding the Wind and Waves Recording Center" was erected at the door.

The original conference hall has now been transformed into a large and magnificent stage.

Heng Video also attaches great importance to this program. Although it is just a "girl group audition" and most of the members are non-professional players such as actors, all of them are rented with top-notch equipment in the industry, from audio to screen.

In Meng Bai's words, good things may not be expensive, but expensive things are definitely good, so just spend the money.

Of course, the cost of the entire program also went up, with the investment in hardware alone amounting to hundreds of millions of yuan.

In comparison, although there are some big-name artists among the 30 contestants, such as Ning Jing, Zhang Yuqi, etc., their overall remuneration is not as high as the equipment costs.

"…Currently, the program has confirmed six companies for investment. The largest one is Pinduoduo, with a sponsorship fee of 200 million. The next ones are Proya and Douyin, both with 100 million. Then there are Evergrande Ice Spring, OPPO and Meituan, with prices ranging from 50 to 80 million."

In the conference room on the second floor of the recording center, the head of Hengten Network’s business department was reporting on the program’s current investment promotion situation.

Sitting in the first seat is Chen Zhixi, who is now the head of the entire entertainment business group of Hengten Network and the chief producer of the project "Sisters Riding the Wind and Waves".

Meng Bai sat next to her. In addition to them, there were also the program director, production team, and heads of various departments. Due to the current situation, the staff was reduced a lot, but all in all, there were still more than 30 people.

Fortunately, the whole house is very large, and even according to the new regulations, there is enough space for them to stay at least 1.5 meters apart.

After hearing the report from the head of the Ministry of Commerce, Chen Zhixi asked, "What is the total amount of investment promotion now?"

"According to the current quotes from these companies, it's about 500 million." The manager said, and then added: "But we are still negotiating with a few more companies, and there may be more additions before the official broadcast."

Chen Zhixi frowned, but did not respond.

Although the show is still more than half a month away from its official launch, the investment promotion began before the end of last year. Brands that have not yet been confirmed will not join the show temporarily unless there is a big hit in the show.

In other words, the investment cost for the entire first season of "Sisters Riding the Wind and Waves" is basically set at 500 million.

However, Chen Zhixi did not pour cold water on everyone, but simply said: "Okay, then the Ministry of Commerce will continue to follow up and report any progress at any time. As for the publicity and promotion, how is the popularity data now?"

The person in charge of the publicity and promotion team who was named leaned forward slightly with a smile on his face: "The data on the publicity and promotion side is very good, especially the pre-promotion song "Priceless Sister" that was released last week. It topped the trending search list on multiple platforms and is very popular."

As early as the beginning of April, Heng Teng released the promotional song for "Sisters Riding the Wind and Waves" amid the popularity of "Youth With You 2" and the just-launched "Creation Camp 2020".

Unlike the other two talent shows that recorded group dances, "Sisters" adopted the format of each contestant recording individually. Moreover, it was not the program team that was responsible for filming, but each "sister" completed it independently according to her own preferences.

The program crew said that they were restricted by influenza management regulations, so they couldn't record the show as a group. But unexpectedly, this "simple" promotional method actually attracted the attention of many fans and viewers.

Many people even left comments under the official Weibo posts of the contestants: "This 'I'm beautiful alone' look is the mental state that the sisters should have. If they all do the same old group dance, it would be meaningless."

Obviously, the label of "middle-aged independent women" set by the entire program hit the spot of a large number of female viewers. Coupled with the magical melody of the promotional song "Priceless Sister", the attention of the entire program spread all at once.

This is undoubtedly great news for the program team. At the same time, the program team has fully understood the needs of female viewers, and has new ideas for the development of subsequent programs.

This internal meeting lasted for more than two hours before it ended. The staff of the program team left one after another to continue their work, leaving only a few logistics staff in charge of cleaning up, as well as Chen Zhixi and Meng Bai.

"Are you still thinking about attracting investment?" Meng Bai leaned back and asked in a relaxed manner.

"Yeah, for producers, what else matters besides money?" Chen Zhixi chuckled. "Venue, equipment, staff, pay, and publicity, each of them is a big expense. Judging from the current investment, the show will probably lose some money in the end."

"It's okay if it's a loss, just treat it as a sign of success." Meng Bai said: "This kind of program is very easy to make into a series. It doesn't matter if the first season doesn't make money. As long as the sign is established, it will naturally make up for it later."

"Indeed, that's how I comfort myself now, haha." Chen Zhixi said with a smile: "But having said that, I really think this program is quite interesting. If I were still an actor, I might have signed up to participate."

"If you really like it, you can sign up now. Yaoke Culture's boss lady Zhang Meng and Huang Shengyi have both participated."

"Forget it. If I really want to participate, it will be too embarrassing to reveal my identity. How can an organizer be a contestant himself?" Chen Zhixi waved his hand.

Meng Bai said nonchalantly: "It's okay, I'll talk to the production team about it and I'll just eliminate you in the first round."

Chen Zhixi rolled his eyes at him when he heard this: "Boss Meng, I have to save face too!"

The two chatted for a while about the show, and Chen Zhixi changed the subject: "By the way, I was just thinking of asking you. Haven't you been busy with something for more than a month? How come you have time to come to the discussion meeting today? Are you done with your work?"

"That's about right." Meng Bai nodded.

"What's the matter? I never had time to ask." Chen Zhixi asked curiously.

Meng Bai smiled mysteriously: "It's hard to say now."

"Oh, you've kept it a secret." Chen Zhixi asked jokingly, "Did you hook up with some girl?"

"Ha, just kidding, Sister Xi, now only girls are flirting with me, okay." Meng Bai said: "It's not that I'm keeping it a secret on purpose, it's just that it's not confirmed yet. Wait, if it can be finalized in the end, everyone in the circle should know."

Chen Zhixi was stunned. It sounded like this was a serious matter, and a matter with great influence at that.

After chatting for a while, the two talked about the recently popular "Twinkle Twinkle Star". Since the popularity value of "Eternal Love of Dream" exceeded "The Pillow Book", they have been suppressing each other for some time.

"Xiao Qu has been very popular recently." Chen Zhixi said with emotion: "Many young girls I know have been posting pictures like 'Zhang Wansen' in their circle of friends recently."

"The character is well designed and he performed well." Meng Bai said, "Also, male actors of his style are actually quite rare in the industry, so he is a differentiated player. Whenever there is a similar role, he is the first person that comes to mind."

"Indeed." Chen Zhixi said, "By the way, have you read the new movie script directed by Han Yan that I gave you last time?"

"Director Han Yan?" Meng Bai recalled, "Oh, it's the one called... "Send You a Little Red Flower", right?"

"Yes! Don't you think the image of the male protagonist is quite suitable for Xiao Qu?"

"Male protagonist...don't say it, it does mean that."

Chen Zhixi's performance as an actor was average, but his vision as a producer was surprisingly good. This was not only reflected in the selection of projects, but also extended to the selection of directors.

Over the years, she has discovered and collaborated with many new directors, from Xu Zheng to Chen Sicheng to Dapeng, each of whom has achieved good results.

Han Yan is one of them. Although his name is not as well-known as those actors who have transformed, he has produced many hit works. The earliest one is "Go Away Tumor King" and the later "Animal World", which are both excellent in both word of mouth and box office.

Ruyi Pictures had cooperated with Han Yan a long time ago and they had even founded a director's studio together. They had a very good relationship with each other.

"Send You a Little Red Flower" is Han Yan's latest film project. The subject matter is the realistic theme that has been popular in recent years. It tells the story of two boys and girls with brain tumors growing up together and fighting the disease.

Meng Bai had read the script sent by Chen Zhixi before. The male protagonist of the movie "Wei Yihang" had lost his passion and hope for life due to a brain tumor, and he always maintained an indifferent and distant attitude towards everyone.

However, this is just a disguise he uses to protect himself. In fact, he is still feeling everything in the world with his heart.

This kind of role is easy to play, with a strong character style and a few key labels, it won't be too bad. But it is also difficult to play. If you don't pay attention to details, it's easy to play a stereotyped character. Although it doesn't affect the expression of the plot, it doesn't add much color either.

Speaking of which, the character of this male protagonist is actually a bit similar to "Liu Qi", but when Qu Chuxiao was filming "The Wandering Earth", he had no experience, so his performance was actually average.

However, his acting skills have improved a lot over the past few years, otherwise this time's "Zhang Wansen" would not be so attractive.

So it is quite suitable for him to play the male lead "Wei Yihang".

This movie is in preparation recently, and Chen Zhixi thought of Qu Chuxiao who is currently very popular, and he could just take advantage of his popularity.

"Okay, I'll ask Xiao Qu's team and have them connect with Director Han Yan." Meng Bai said.

Chen Zhixi nodded, and then asked again inquiringly: "What about the female lead? How about letting Ziyi work together again?"

"Meng Ziyi?" Meng Bai shook his head without hesitation. "She's not good enough. The character of the heroine Ma Xiaoyuan is that of a 'first love' type of person. She's a bit far behind."

"What about Mai Mai?" Chen Zhixi asked again.

"Mai Mai..."

Meng Bai hesitated for a moment and felt that he was more suitable than Meng Ziyi, but still a little reluctant.

"I'll talk to her later and ask her to go and audition with Director Han. But she's going to shoot 'The Beginning' next, so I'm afraid she won't be able to adjust her schedule."

"Oh, yes, I almost forgot about this." Chen Zhixi said, "Okay, let's look for one here. But speaking of it, it's really hard to find young actresses of this 'little white flower' style in the circle."

Meng Bai suddenly smiled, and seeing Chen Zhixi looking at him in confusion, he waved his hand: "It's okay, you just suddenly mentioned the actress 'Little White Flower', and I remembered a candidate who was very suitable in the past."

"Who?"

"Chu Yuxun."

"Chu Yu...ah."

Chen Zhixi suddenly realized and then couldn't help laughing.

It’s true, if this movie had been made ten years ago, Shuangzi would have been very suitable for the role of the female lead.

It’s a pity that she has been going further and further down the “crazy” path in recent years, her popularity has been almost exhausted, and her relationships have been on and off. Now only a few core fans are still supporting her.

Many people on the Internet think that given this girl’s current condition, she will sooner or later make a big move.

"Send You a Little Red Flower" is the first film project controlled by Hengten Network after the acquisition of Ruyi, so Chen Zhixi attaches great importance to this project.

In fact, she also felt that Meng Ziyi and Zhao Jinmai were somewhat different from the character of the heroine "Ma Xiaoyuan", but one of these two girls was Meng Bai's relative and the other was his "sister", so she asked an extra question.

Fortunately, as she understood Meng Bai, the first requirement for selecting a role is always compatibility, followed by closeness and distance.

After discussing the movie, there was nothing else to say. Meng Bai was about to leave when the phone rang.

"Hello, are you Mr. Meng Bai?"

A strange male voice came from the other end of the phone, sounding polite yet a little stiff.

"I'm Meng Bai, who are you?"

"Hello, Mr. Meng Bai. We are from the Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Public Security Bureau."

"Chaoyang Branch?"

Meng Bai was stunned for a moment, and his mind quickly began to recall what he had done recently.

Chen Zhixi, who was standing by, had just said hello and was about to leave, but when he heard this, his eyes instantly flashed with gossip. He held his phone in his hand and pretended to be busy, but in fact he pricked up his ears to listen to see if there was any explosive news.

That is the famous "Chaoyang Branch" in the entertainment industry. Many big stars have fallen here.

Now he suddenly calls Meng Bai, could something have happened to him too?

Could it be that he got a little girl pregnant, then denied it, and finally she called the police?

Chen Zhixi was guessing in her mind. Based on her understanding of Meng Bai, it seemed that the only problem might be with his work style.

While she was thinking about all sorts of things, Meng Bai went over his memories and confirmed that there was nothing wrong. Then he asked, "Hello, comrade. What can I do for you?"

"Look, we have a record here that you once reported a case of 'fund fraud' in October 2013, right?"

"October 2013..."

The timeline in Meng Bai's mind began to rewind.

Isn’t this the time when I first met Li Qin?

"Yes, there was a report to the police." Meng Bai said, "But it's been many years, and the swindler is said to have fled abroad. Is there anything else to be re-investigated?"

He remembered asking the police officer in charge of the case a few years ago, but he was told that the scammer had fled to northern Myanmar and there had been no news since.

The arc had already begun to develop at that time, so Meng Bai no longer paid attention to it.

"It's like this. We recently received a suspect who might be the perpetrator of the original fraud case. If you have time recently, could you please come to our place and help identify him?"

"Fuck, I caught him!"

(End of this chapter)