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

Chapter 471 I want to be Brother Meng Bai’s “sister” for life!
In 1937, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident broke out, and the Japanese attempted to launch a full-scale invasion of China. In the midst of the nationwide war of resistance, the 87th and 88th divisions of the National Army launched a siege on the Japanese base in Hongkou, Shanghai, trying to drive the enemy into the sea, thus breaking out the "Songhu Battle".

The war began on August 8 and lasted until the autumn. More than 14 officers and soldiers from the 88st Battalion, 262th Regiment, 524nd Brigade, 1th Division, led by Lieutenant Colonel Xie Jinyuan, entered the Sihang Warehouse late at night on October 420 and held the warehouse. They fought fiercely for four days and nights, repelling more than ten crazy attacks by the Japanese army until the end of the war.

The "Battle of Sihang Warehouse" marked the end of the Battle of Shanghai. The National Army soldiers who participated in this battle were called the "Eight Hundred Heroes".

This is also the story background of the movie "Eight Hundred".

The film started shooting as early as 17 and was completed in the middle of 18. It was originally scheduled to be released in the summer of 19, but it was withdrawn just before it was released. The reason given to the public was "technical problems."

Of course, everyone knows that this is just an excuse. Everyone knows the real reason. There are obvious problems with the ideological orientation of this movie and the special time node last year.

When the movie was first withdrawn, they said it would be released after the National Day, then it was delayed to the end of the year, and then there was the flu.

Many people thought that this movie might be kept in the warehouse for a few years, but unexpectedly, Huayi took advantage of the current gap to move it out.

You know what, this is actually a good time.

Cinemas need an attractive big production, and colleagues in the industry hope that someone can come out to test the market, as audiences have been waiting for so long for new films.

Even in the promotion, the flu has just shown a wave of unified national solidarity in the first half of the year, and it is a perfect time to release a movie about the "National Army's War of Resistance".

As a veteran film and television company, Huayi was once considered the leader of the Beijing circle, but it has been declining in recent years and urgently needs to make up for the loss. This movie is just sitting there, so why not take it out and take a gamble? If you lose, it won't have much impact, but if you win, you will make a lot of money.

On Heng Teng's side, Chen Zhixi and his team originally felt that it was a bit tiring for them to lead the way alone. But when they saw that there was someone accompanying them, they immediately decided to release "Famous".

"The trailer materials for publicity have been prepared long ago. If we want to start promoting it now, we can use them directly." Meng Bai said.

"Famous" was originally scheduled for May Day, but the cinemas were not open at that time. However, all the publicity and promotion work had been prepared in advance, and now it can be used directly after a few minor changes.

After the meeting, everyone went about their business according to their respective plans, while Meng Bai called out to Chen Sicheng.

"Has preparations for Detective Chinatown 3 begun?"

"Yeah." Chen Sicheng nodded. "Originally, we planned to start in the first half of the year, and we should be able to finish filming by now and prepare for the Spring Festival next year. But I didn't expect that we had to wait for half a year."

"Good things take time. It's better than being interrupted in the middle of filming." Meng Bai comforted.

Chen Sicheng laughed: "That's true."

After that, he sighed and said, "But the story of the third part takes place in Neon, and the situation there is worse than ours. I originally wanted to shoot all the scenes there, but now it seems that I have to combine the two places to shoot."

"Actually, it may not be a bad thing if you think about it. There are many scenes shot in central Tokyo in the script. Normally, there are a lot of people there, so it's troublesome and expensive to use a location for filming. Now, few people dare to go out on the streets, so it's convenient."

"Hiss—don't tell me, I really didn't think of this."

Chen Sicheng's eyes lit up. "That's right. For example, the scene that needs to be filmed at the Ginza intersection was originally going to be a set. But now that I think about it, I can actually try to apply directly to be able to film on location."

Seeing the older brother's excitement, Meng Bai smiled and asked, "By the way, has the lead actor for Neon been decided? I know that Satoshi Tsumabuki will continue to play Noda Hao, but who are you going to get to play Kobayashi Anna?"

As a standard commercial mystery comedy, in addition to reasoning and action, every "Detective Chinatown Series" is inseparable from "Qin Feng's aunt".

In the first part, she is the "landlady A Xiang", in the second part, she is the "policewoman Chen Ying", and in the third part, she is the "suspect Kobayashi Anna".

When talking about this topic, the two men became visibly more interested.

"How is Nagasawa Masami?"

Meng Bai frowned: "I feel like she's not as good as Yui Aragaki."

"Oh——" Chen Sicheng gave him an ambiguous look: "What those netizens said online is quite right. Your aesthetic taste is always mediocre."

"You can't say that. I think Ishihara Satomi is pretty good too."

"Okay, no need to explain. I know you like to take the smooth road."

Chen Sicheng put his arm around Meng Bai's shoulders and said enthusiastically, "When we go back to shoot, come along if you have time. I'll show you something fun."

Meng Bai took his arm away in disgust: "Brother, you have the wrong person. I am not such a casual person."

"Haha, we don't know each other yet, try this on me."

"The main reason is that I don't speak Japanese and can't communicate, which makes it less fun."

"Fuck, you still need to communicate this thing. Yada, Siguoyi, big meda, a library, these few words are not enough for you?"

"...Awesome!"

Meng Bai gave a thumbs up, convinced: "You play, I'll see if I have time then."

As an investor, it is normal to inspect the filming situation of the crew, and it has nothing to do with the Japanese style.

"But you'd better be careful, don't let Senior Sister Tong catch you."

"Haha, brother, your mentality is not good." Chen Sicheng said nonchalantly: "She has known about it so many times, what can she do in the end? Women, just coax them a little, don't take it too seriously."

This time Meng Bai just smiled and said nothing more.

……

Chen Zhixi acted quickly. As soon as the meeting was over, Heng Teng began to contact the theaters to prepare for the release of "Famous".

She also took advantage of the situation by first finding out that "The Eight Hundred" was scheduled to be released on August 8, and then chose the same date.

The actions of Huayi and Hengten have aroused strong reactions in the industry.

One of these two is an old-established powerhouse, and the other is a newcomer in the industry. They actually decided to release their new films almost at the same time, which was beyond everyone's expectations.

But this way, everyone can save trouble and no longer have to argue. Once we see how these two companies perform, we will naturally know the real market situation.

Compared to the practitioners' indifferent attitude, the audience is quite looking forward to the two films.

Counting from the Spring Festival period, it has been more than half a year since we last went to the cinema or watched a new movie.

In comparison, "The Eight Hundred" has a higher popularity than "Famous", after all, the former's star lineup and subject matter are definitely more attractive to the audience.

However, the popularity of "Fame and Fame" is also quite high. Firstly, the "Arc Light Productions" label still has some appeal. Secondly, there are only two movies like this, so if you pay attention to one, you will definitely pay attention to the other as well.

Everyone wants to see how these two movies perform. However, there is still a month before the release of the film, and the most popular topic online is the just-announced college entrance examination results.

Compared with ordinary candidates, art students from major film and television schools need to pay attention to another result, which is the re-examination and admission situation of major schools that comes out immediately after the college entrance examination scores.

Speaking of which, there are quite a few "star candidates" in the three major universities this year, but the two most popular ones are Zhang Zifeng and Zhao Jinmai.

As the two most popular “post-00s young actresses”, it is impossible not to be compared with each other.

That is to say, the two had already said before that one wanted to apply to Beijing Film Academy and the other wanted to go to the Central Academy of Drama, and they were separated from each other. Otherwise, if they both applied to the same school, their fans would definitely quarrel even more.

With such attention, the two's specific results could not be concealed. Before they even announced it, their results were already exposed online.

Zhang Zifeng's college entrance examination score was 394, and she ranked third in the performance examination of Beijing Film Academy.

Zhao Jinmai scored 524 in the college entrance examination and ranked first in the performance examination of the Central Academy of Drama.

394 versus 524. Although the two students are from different provinces and the difficulty of the test papers is different, the score difference is still too tragic in comparison.

It was nothing for Zhao Jinmai. Firstly, she had the highest score, and it was not just ordinary high. 524 points was enough to pass the first-tier line even for a normal candidate in Liaoning. Secondly, she was less popular and usually kept a low profile, so everyone's expectations of her were low.

But for Zhang Zifeng, her reputation has been a bit bad recently.

The main reason is that this girl has previously marketed the "academic nerd persona". When recording "A Longing for Life", the program crew often gave her shots of studying and reading.

He even said to fellow regular member Peng Yuchang on the show, "400 points is enough just to have hands."

Given the level of competition in the Henan college entrance examination, 400 points is indeed not a very high score, so there was nothing wrong with her saying this at the time.

But the problem is, since you said that, everyone will naturally expect the same from you. As a result, now that the final result has not been achieved, the boomerang will naturally hit back.

Zhang Zifeng has always had a good reputation because of her good acting skills and her image as the "national sister", but now her image has more or less collapsed.

But it’s okay, at least the scores are above the passing line, and the overall result of third place is also pretty good, which saves some face.

Compared to those who usually boast of scoring 500 or 600 points, but finally only score around 200 points and fail to pass the line, this is just a small problem.

However, Zhao Jinmai took advantage of this wave of turmoil to reap some benefits. Many viewers discovered that Han Duoduo, who "saved the earth" at the time, has grown into a big girl.

And as she grows older, her appearance has improved a lot compared to when she was a child. At first glance, she looks like the cute "girl next door".

It can be said that all she needs now is a starring role in a hit drama to break away from her previous “child star” image and firmly establish herself in the first echelon among the “little flowers”.

"I heard that you called Zi Feng?"

Meng Bai said cheerfully: "Not bad, girl. This wave of taunting is great. Now you have learned how to kill people and destroy their hearts."

"I didn't!"

Zhao Jinmai's shy and anxious voice came from the phone: "It's just a normal phone call, how can it be mocking."

"Well, it's a smart move to make the other person feel it for themselves without leaking any information."

"I really didn't..." The little girl groaned, "Brother Meng Bai, you bullied me again."

"Haha, okay, no more jokes." Meng Bai said, "I still have to congratulate you, Mai Mai, for being the first in your major. You will be my junior sister from now on. When you go out and have something to do, just say your name, Brother Meng Bai. I still have some face."

"Hello, senior brother!" Zhao Jinmai called sweetly.

"Hello, Junior Sister." Meng Bai smiled and said, "I'm used to hearing you call me 'Brother Meng Bai'. It's a bit strange to suddenly change your name."

"Then I'll just call you 'Brother Meng Bai'."

Zhao Jinmai was delighted. She actually didn't want to call Meng Bai "Senior Brother". After all, the title was too common and many people could call him that.

"Brother Meng Bai" is different. After knowing him for so many years, she knows that he is the only one who calls him that.

Even though it was just a title, it made her feel like she had a special place.

Meng Bai didn't care too much about what the little girl was thinking. He just said it casually. It didn't matter what she called him.

"What are your plans lately?"

"I don't have any plans. I'll study the script more before school starts."

"Oh, yeah, school starts in just one month."

Meng Bai thought about it. The Central Academy of Drama starts in early September, and "The Beginning" will start filming in late September. This girl will definitely not be able to complete the military training, and she will probably have to make up for it next year with the new batch of "junior and junior" students.

Thinking about the start time, he remembered another thing: "Mai Mai, I remember your birthday is at the end of September, right?"

"Yes, September 29th." Zhao Jinmai said, "It should have been turned on by then."

"Do you have any wishes? Senior Brother can help you realize one."

"Ah?" Zhao Jinmai was surprised and happy when he heard this, but he still suppressed his excitement and said, "No need, Brother Meng Bai, you have already given me the script, this is the best gift."

"I won't say any more. The script is a meeting gift for you, my junior sister. Birthday gifts are another matter." Meng Bai said, "It's my eighteenth birthday, a rite of passage. It only happens once in a lifetime, so it's still very memorable. Tell me what you want, and I'll help you realize it."

After all, Zhao Jinmai can be considered as my "sister" who grew up with me, and it is also a once-in-a-lifetime coming-of-age ceremony, so it is no problem to fulfill her little wish.

"I want to be Brother Meng Bai's 'sister' for life!"

Zhao Jinmai really wanted to say what was in her heart, but the girl's shyness and concerns made her keep her mouth shut.

Taking a deep breath, she said in a somewhat hoarse voice, "Actually, I don't have any particular wishes... How about I think about it?"

"Sure. It's valid until your birthday. I won't be responsible after it expires." Meng Bai said with a smile.

"Yeah, I remember."

Zhao Jinmai smiled and said, "Then Brother Meng Bai, we'll meet at Blue Island."

"See you on Blue Island."

(End of this chapter)