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

Chapter 46: Meng Bai is shy and abstinent?

January 8th, Laba Festival, Beijing Normal University Exhibition Hall.

“There are so many people here.”

In the waiting area behind the stage, Li Qin looked at the bustling exhibition hall outside and said in surprise: "I thought that students from such a first-class university would be reviewing in the study room at this time. I didn't expect so many people to come."

"Normally, a university has 20,000 to 30,000 students. Even if only one twentieth of them come, that's still more than a thousand people." Meng Bai said, "What's more, exam week is a time of high stress and boredom. It's rare to have an event, so many people are still happy to join in the fun."

Leshi.com's execution efficiency is quite high. As soon as Gan Wei finished discussing the publicity plan with Meng Bai, he immediately turned around and made arrangements for the "Pendulum" crew.

Of course, such activities held in schools cannot be directly called "crew meeting" or the like, but should be named "Youth Contemporary Spiritual Exchange Meeting" or "Youth Knowledge Exchange and Sharing Meeting".

That is to say, select a point with "positive energy" from the work and use it to carry out activities.

This is actually quite easy for the drama "Soul Ferry" because many of the unit stories talk about some hot social topics and positive energy.

For example, the topic of "plastic surgery" in the "Lust, Caution" chapter, the choice between "justice and compromise" in the "Hanging Sword" chapter, the discussion of "environmental protection" in the "In Cold Blooded" chapter, and the "patriotic sentiment" in the "One Night in Bridget Jones" chapter, etc.

There were not many people from the "Pendulum" crew, Meng Bai, Wu Bai, Li Qin, Yu Yi and Zhang Ruoyun. And the ones who were going to go on stage were only the last four people.

"Aren't you going to play?" Li Qin asked puzzledly.

Meng Bai shook his head: "We don't need so many people, you can just go up. Besides, at the fan meeting, people only come to see the director and the leading actors. How many people care about who the producer and screenwriter are?"

"By the way, Mr. Meng, I wanted to ask you this question when we were filming before." Zhang Ruoyun walked over and looked at Meng Bai and said, "You don't seem to like these interviews?"

Meng Bai shook his head: "It's not that I don't like interviews, I just don't like facing the camera."

"Why?"

"How should I put it..." Meng Bai pondered for a while and said, "Compared to being scrutinized and criticized in front of the camera, I still prefer the feeling of being able to control the situation and observe the whole scene behind the camera."

Zhang Ruoyun and Li Qin were silent.

You know what Meng Bai said, it really makes sense. As actors, they are in front of the camera almost every day, and they are constantly scrutinized by everyone from directors to audiences.

"Now that you mention it, I suddenly feel a bit like a puppet." Zhang Ruoyun frowned.

"You have to make choices in every profession." Meng Bai said: "Actresses earn a lot, are popular, and have fans who love them. It can't be that there is no price to pay."

Stars and artists can earn hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars for a single film, so what if they are “scrutinized”? I wonder how many people want to have this opportunity to be “scrutinized” but still can’t get it.
-
The "Pendulum" crew arranged seven roadshow meetings in total, at five universities in northern Beijing and two universities in Shanghai, almost one meeting a day.

The effect on the scene was quite good, with almost 700 to 800 people attending the event from every college. And it can be seen that, except for a small number of people who came to join in the fun with their friends, most of the students who attended had watched Soul Ferry.

Every time the three main characters including Li Qin appear on stage, they receive a lot of cheers, and the groups that favor them are quite distinct.

Needless to say, Li Qin is mainly attracted to boys. She is the kind of pure and innocent girl who is very attractive to boys, especially those of her age.

Zhang Ruoyun has mostly female fans, and many girls said that they particularly like the "cowardly yet handsome" feeling he has in the drama.

What is somewhat surprising is that Yu Yi’s popularity is almost the same on both sides. Both boys and girls think that this “crazy and cool” “soul ferryman” is super handsome.

Leshi.com selected two events with relatively good results and bought several hot search terms on Weibo, which really attracted a lot of traffic.

Meng Bai also went to several colleges and universities in northern Beijing. However, he mostly sat in the audience, mainly listening to the students' complaints or comments.

The reason why I said "mostly" is because Meng Bai also went on stage at a roadshow meeting, which was the roadshow of the Central Academy of Drama.

"I don't care what you do outside, but in your own school, can't you show your face to your junior classmates?" Professor Zou looked at Meng Bai and said with a teasing expression.

"Teacher, didn't you tell me that we screenwriters should just focus on the behind-the-scenes work and not always think about being in the spotlight?" Meng Bai said innocently.

"Bullshit!" Professor Zou said disdainfully, "When I said screenwriters should focus on the behind-the-scenes, I meant to tell you to focus more on the script, so as not to be distracted by all those sensual and decadent things. You've already finished filming this script, so what are you afraid of being distracted by?"

Finally, under Professor Zou's "oppression", Meng Bai had no choice but to go on stage. "Hello, fellow students. I am Meng Bai, Class of 07, majoring in drama literature. I am also the screenwriter and producer of the play 'Pendulum'." Meng Bai stood on the stage, looking at the crowd below, which was much larger than that of other schools, and introduced himself loudly.

As soon as he finished speaking, cheers rang out from below, mixed with many shouts of "Senior Brother Meng Bai".

"Xiao Jie, Xiao Jie, look, it's my Senior Brother Meng Bai!"

In the crowd below the stage, Zhu Xudan pulled her classmate Liang Jie and spoke excitedly.

"I know, I know. You're going to pull my clothes off!" Liang Jie looked at Zhu Xudan helplessly.

Ever since she reunited with Senior Brother Meng Bai on the crew, her best friend has become like a possessed person, calling him "my Senior Brother Meng Bai" "my Senior Brother Meng Bai" all day long.

Glancing at her best friend's excited expression, Liang Jie said, "Why don't you just go on stage as well? You're also an actor, and you can be closer to your senior brother."

"Well, forget it then." Zhu Xudan shook his head. "There are so many people watching on stage, and I can't do anything. I might as well shout from the audience. Besides, so many people from our school have participated in this play. Are we going to go up there again?"

After saying that, she didn't know what Meng Bai said, but she followed the students around her and cheered loudly.

Liang Jie rolled her eyes. It was over. Her best friend was beyond help!
……

Meng Bai didn't say much on the stage, and left most of his time to Li Qin and the others.

Although Leshi.com did not buy hot searches for this event, many students in the audience recorded videos and uploaded them online.

Some students from schools that had participated in the event before saw the video and were surprised to find that there was one more person in the creative team.

"Can anyone tell me who is that handsome guy sitting on the far left of the stage next to the director?"

"Friends, why can't I find him in the play? Does anyone know which role he plays?"

"..."

In the comments of the Weibo video, a bunch of people focused their attention on the sudden appearance of Meng Bai.

"Reply: I'm a student of the Central Academy of Drama. Let me explain. The one you are talking about is our senior, Meng Bai. He is not an actor, but the screenwriter and producer of this play."

"No way, such a handsome guy is actually a screenwriter?"

"So this is the screenwriter. Wow, I'm impressed by the script, let alone anything else about this drama."

"Why didn't I see him at the previous meet-and-greet?"

"+1 for the audience. According to the senior, he is not used to the camera, so he was always off the stage before and only performed on stage at our school."

"In the audience? I was there that day, but I didn't see it. I'm heartbroken!"

“Heartache +1!”

"This little brother is not used to the camera, is he shy and abstinent? I love him even more now!"

“Love it more +1!”

"..."

There are all kinds of off-topic comments in the video, and Meng Bai, a screenwriter who only appeared once, unexpectedly gained a lot of popularity. It's because he doesn't have Weibo, otherwise he would have a lot of fans.

Of course, if he knew that these netizens imagined him to be a "shy and abstinent guy", he would probably spit out blood.

Come on, he's the complete opposite type!
But it’s a good thing. No matter what we discuss, it will increase the popularity of the original drama.

With the help of this favorable trend, the performance of "Pendulum" has soared again.

(End of this chapter)