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

Chapter 493 Can I make a date with Yui Aragaki?
Tokyo, Akihabara.

"It's worthy of being called the holy land of the second dimension. My strong chuunibyou soul is about to awaken."

On the streets of the core electronics street, Meng Bai couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the cosplay team that stretched over a hundred meters in front of him and nearly a thousand young people dressed in different styles.

"Boss, you are a pure instant actor, so please stop pretending to be from the second dimension." Hua Yan, who was standing by, couldn't help but complain when she heard this.

"Haha, when I was watching the show, you were still hugging Pleasant Goat and calling him hubby."

"What happened to Pleasant Goat? Apologize to Pleasant Goat's chef!"

"Honestly Huahua, have you ever considered cosplaying as Oosaka Taiga or Rikka? They seem to suit you very well."

"Enough is enough, boss! Enough with the height jokes!"

The two of them were talking about one thing at a time. Chen Sicheng, who had just come over from behind, was listening to their conversation and couldn't help laughing: "I didn't realize that, Mr. Meng, you have such a wide range of interests."

Meng Bai and Hua Yan turned around and greeted each other.

"I used to watch more when I was in school, and I even thought about switching to being an animation screenwriter. Unfortunately, our animation industry has never developed." Meng Bai said: "On the contrary, I haven't paid much attention to it in recent years."

"Better than me. I've only watched Naruto and One Piece." Chen Sicheng gestured at the scene in front of him, "How is it? Does it have a bit of the flavor of the second dimension?"

If "Detective Chinatown 1" was still a relatively serious mystery comedy, then starting from "Detective Chinatown 2", Chen Sicheng has greatly weakened the reasoning part and instead used comedy and exotic customs as the core selling points.

The Bangkok Chinatown in the first film showcases Thai customs such as religion, transsexuals, and natural traditions; the New York Chinatown in the second film features American styles such as gang culture, motorcycle gangs, central streets, and Chinese circles.

Now that the third part has come to Tokyo's Chinatown, various Japanese elements are naturally indispensable.

Hot springs, temples, sumo, kimono, yakuza...naturally including the most representative two-dimensional world.

There is a plot in the movie "Detective Chinatown 3" where the murderer behind the scenes asks Qin Feng, Tang Ren and his party to look for clues, and they happen to catch up with a comic convention parade.

This segment was specially designed by Chen Sicheng to showcase Akihabara, the "holy land of the second dimension". He collaborated with local co-production agencies in Tokyo and mobilized nearly two hundred staff members and thousands of extras.

This is also his personal characteristic. He is very keen on the visual effects of such large scenes. In the original "Detective Chinatown 2", there was a scene of running wildly in Times Square. He even said through the mouth of the character "Tang Ren" that "this is called a blockbuster!"

It has to be said that Chen Sicheng does have a deep understanding of commercial films. Whether it is the plot, setting, or scene, the purpose is to make the audience enjoy the show.

Of course, behind the grand scenes is a lot of money. In the current film and television winter, the production cost of "Detective Chinatown 3" has increased instead of decreased, reaching million.

Taking into account the subsequent publicity and promotion, the box office must be at least 20 billion to break even.

However, considering the current IP value of the "Detective Chinatown" series and the box office performance of previous works, this number does not seem that high.

"Where are Teacher Baoqiang and Haoran?"

"I'm changing clothes." Chen Sicheng said with a smile: "The classic cross-dressing scenes in each film should be preserved."

Hearing this, Meng Bai immediately thought of the "eye-catching women's clothing show" of the trio in the second part. Especially Wang Baoqiang's large-size women's clothing, it was simply an insult to the retina.

"So, what style are you going to have them change into this time?"

“Hehehe, you’ll know after you see it.”

Looking at Chen Sicheng's obscene smile, Meng Bai couldn't help but take precautions in his mind to avoid seeing any disgusting scenes later.

After chatting for a few words, Chen Sicheng's phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the name of the caller, and the smile on his face suddenly disappeared, replaced by a strange frown. Then he didn't answer the call and just hung up.

"What's wrong?" Meng Bai asked curiously.

"Nothing, just a nuisance call." Chen Sicheng put the phone back into his pocket and replied casually.

Can domestic harassing calls be made to Japan?
Meng Bai had some doubts in his mind, but he was not the kind of person who liked to ask questions. Since the other party said so, he just listened to it.

At this time, Chen Sicheng's complexion had returned to normal. When he arrived at the director's location, he pulled a skinny middle-aged man over.

"Let me introduce you. This is the president of Nitta Eiga, Kunihiko Kitagawa. He is the person in charge of the co-production agency of the crew in Tokyo."

The so-called "co-production agency" is a company that assists the crew in filming. They are usually local bosses. They will help the crew find suitable filming locations, contact and coordinate with local people, provide the crew with various personnel and props needs, etc.

According to the unwritten industry rules in China, these services are generally provided free of charge by the co-production agencies, as the saying goes, "We are all colleagues helping each other."

Of course, this "help" cannot be one-sided. The crew will also hand over matters such as catering, extras, and vehicle transportation to these co-production agencies.

This part requires serious money.

Don't underestimate these small things. Take the lunch boxes for example. Any large crew has hundreds of people. At 60 yuan per person per day, that's to yuan a day.

A project takes one or two months to shoot, which is considered fast. A film can earn four or five hundred thousand. The key is that the cost of lunch boxes is also low, and the profit margin is frighteningly high.

And this is just the food aspect. With so many people in the crew, there are so many needs for food, clothing, housing and transportation.

This is why many places welcome film crews to come and shoot. In addition to publicity needs, the crew’s daily food and drink can generate a wave of peripheral income.

Chen Sicheng introduced Meng Bai's identity to Kitagawa Kunihiko. Upon hearing this, the other party immediately stepped forward and bowed, saying in Chinese with a strange accent: "Teacher Meng Bai, welcome to Tokyo."

"Hello." Meng Bai said, "President Beichuan's Chinese is pretty good."

Kitagawa Kunihiko smiled politely: "I once studied at the Beijing Film Academy, so I have a good understanding of Chinese."

"I see."

"Teacher Meng Bai, if you need anything from now on, you can tell me directly and I will do my best to solve it."

"Please trouble you, President Kitagawa, but I'm here mainly to watch the filming of the crew, nothing else." Meng Bai thought for a while, "If the schedule allows, I'd like to go to the AKB theater. After all, it's rare to have time to visit Akihabara."

"I didn't expect that Mr. Meng Bai is also a fan of AKB. This is very simple. If you have a convenient time, tell me and I will find someone to arrange it." Kitagawa Kunihiko said with a smile: "Or, if Mr. Meng Bai has a favorite member, I can help you contact him to have a meal together or something."

Meng Bai raised his eyebrows: "President Beichuan has this kind of connection?"

"Haha, if it's just an invitation to a banquet or something like that, it's actually very convenient. As for deeper communication later on... that depends on Teacher Meng Bai himself."

Meng Bai realized that what the old man meant was that he would only help with overt invitations such as meeting for dinner. As for whether you can hook up privately, it has nothing to do with him.

That’s right. After all, he is the president of a film and television company, not a pimp, and he doesn’t get involved in this kind of business.

"Teacher Meng Bai, do you have a favorite member?"

"If you say so... Miyawaki Sakura?"

"Ah, Sakura-chan, an idol who has been very popular in recent years." Kitagawa Kunihiko frowned, "But as far as I know, she seems to be developing in Korea at the moment. If I want to invite her, it will be difficult in terms of time."

"Haha, don't take it so seriously, President Kitagawa. I was just joking." Meng Bai laughed and said, "I'm just curious about the theater. There's no need to meet in person. Oh, if I can make an appointment with Aragaki Yui, then I'm still very interested."

"...I'd better ask Sakura-chan about her time." Kitagawa Kunihiko said with a wry smile. However, he could tell that Mr. Meng in front of him really had no interest in this and was just joking.

Chen Sicheng went to make a phone call, so Meng Bai had nothing better to do, so he started chatting with Kitagawa Kunihiko, mainly talking about the film and television markets of the two countries.

"China's film and television market has developed rapidly in recent years. We can often see many imported Chinese-language film and television works here, especially online dramas."

"Our online dramas are indeed developing very fast, but other aspects, such as TV dramas and movies, have also been average in the past two years."

"Alas, the market in Japan is similar. There are fewer and fewer high-quality contents, and the only ones left are remakes and comic adaptations."

Kitagawa Kunihiko sighed and said, "The internal situation is relatively easy to deal with. The most difficult situation is now generally recognized by the industry as the external enemy."

"foreign enemy?"

“Netflix.”

"Oh... that's true."

As mentioned before, Netflix has been eyeing the East Asian market with a huge audience. Previously, it joined forces with Qiyi TV in the hope of opening a springboard to the domestic entertainment industry, but it has not been successful due to policy restrictions.

Netflix was not discouraged, and instead began to focus on Japan and South Korea.

Especially in South Korea, as a reserve of the old Americans, it has a deep acceptance of American style. This time, with Netflix's production and local leading actors, it really touched the hearts of young Koreans.

Almost all of the Korean dramas that have become popular in the past two years are produced by Netflix.

As for Japan, their film and television industry is relatively conservative and has its own way of playing. However, these are all trivial matters. Netflix directly offers a luxurious salary contract, and few people can refuse it.

And because of the success of Korean dramas next door, many people also think that cooperation with Netflix is a good idea, which can in turn stimulate local practitioners and form a "catfish effect."

However, some people are worried that although cooperating with Netflix has many advantages at present, it is not without disadvantages. In addition to leading to the occupation of top talents and resources, it will also increase the overall cost of film remuneration in the market.

It is obvious that the president Beichuan in front of Meng Bai belongs to the "opposition".

The two chatted while waiting for Chen Sicheng to come back, but they didn't see him for a long time.

Meng Bai looked around curiously and found that he was talking on the phone in a corner not far away. Judging from his expression, he didn't seem very happy.

He frowned and walked towards the other person. As he got closer, he could hear some words from afar.

"I've already said that I'm busy filming and don't have time... Can we talk about this after we get back... Hehe, what's the point of discussing this now? And I don't think either of us is qualified to say this..."

Meng Bai felt that there seemed to be something wrong with this conversation, so he slowed down his pace and deliberately kicked a stone to make a noise.

Sure enough, the sound startled Chen Sicheng who was immersed in the phone. He looked over here and saw Meng Bai looking down at his shoes, and seemed not to notice him.

"Okay, I have something else to do here, so let's leave it at that for now."

Chen Sicheng said something hurriedly and then hung up the phone. At this time, Meng Bai seemed to have finished the inspection and continued to walk over.

"Who have you been talking to for so long?" Meng Bai said naturally, "I thought you were gone."

"Well, some troubles in the country, nothing much." Chen Sicheng was relieved to see that he didn't seem to hear anything, and put on a smile: "How was the chat with President Beichuan?"

"Not bad, he's quite enthusiastic."

"Of course. I introduced you to him and told him that you are the owner of one of the top film and television companies in the country and an entertainment mogul with a net worth of tens of billions of dollars."

"No wonder... you really can blow for me."

"When you're out in the world, you give yourself an identity. Besides, I didn't lie to him. What did you say that's not true?"

The boss of a top film and television company, worth tens of billions of dollars, an entertainment mogul, indeed every label is correct.

"Okay, you're awesome." Meng Bai responded, and then pointed to the phone in his hand: "Are you really okay?"

"It's just a little trouble, nothing."

……

The scheduling time involved in a scene with thousands of people is not something that can be completed in a short time. The crew started preparing in the morning and was not able to start filming until the afternoon.

Meng Bai also saw Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran in disguise. In fact, it was not as exaggerated as Chen Sicheng said. They were just two gourd brothers.

Compared with the women's clothing in the previous part, it is nothing compared to the big one.

However, Tony Jaa's cosplay of "Cherry Maruko" fully inherited the explosive effect. I wonder how he was convinced to accept this makeup.

This time, Meng Bai came here, in addition to watching the filming of the movie, and also to talk to Chen Sicheng about the second part of the web drama.

Since it has been decided to restart the "Second Phase of the Green Ivy Universe", "Detective Chinatown" must be included. Just like the first part, it will be aired before the movie is released, so that they can boost each other's popularity.

From the comments on "Sweeping Dark Storm", it can be seen that this series already has a foundation among the audience. In this way, more character linkages can be arranged in the second phase, truly transforming from an independent story to a "criminal investigation universe".

Meng Bai stayed in Tokyo for a few days. He didn't see Yui Aragaki, but he did see Masami Nagasawa.

I don't know if it's a common phenomenon among Japanese actresses, but their looks deteriorate drastically after they turn 87. Ma Jiang, born in , is only one year older than Janice Man, who plays her mother, but she looks much older.

Alas, since ancient times, beauties are like famous generals, and they are not allowed to grow old in the world.

"What did Meng Baisen say?"

Masami Nagasawa looked at the handsome man in front of her and asked with some confusion.

"Nothing." Meng Bai smiled, "I said if there is a chance, Miss Changze is welcome to visit China."

The translator next to her repeated it in Japanese in a low voice, and Nagasawa Masami immediately smiled like a typical actress: "Arigato Koseimas."

Well, Majiang is still pretty when she smiles. Unfortunately, Meng Bai really doesn't understand Japanese, so he can only nod and smile as a response.

Tsk, Qin Shi Huang died too early.

He was watching the crew setting up the venue when he suddenly saw the young assistant walking towards him in a hurry with a strange look on his face.

"what happened?"

"Boss, here's the news from China." Hua Yan handed over the phone.

Meng Bai took it and looked at the screen, and then his eyes suddenly became serious.

[Yoozu Chairman Lin Qi died of poisoning! ]

(End of this chapter)