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

Chapter 520 Uncle Wouldn’t Be Such a Beast
Throughout the summer of 2021, the audience was almost surrounded by arc light, and it was an all-round surround from the big screen to the small screen.

At the beginning of June, the online drama "The Beginning" was a great success and became the most popular drama in the first half of the year.

Then, in mid-July, "The Accidental Detective" was released online. With the help of this "summer season" with almost no competitors, the total box office exceeded 25 billion, becoming the "only savior" of major cinema chains and theaters.

Not long ago, as the summer vacation was coming to an end, "Sweeping Dark Storm" once again dominated hot searches and short videos with its sensitive subject matter and hardcore plot of "adapted from real cases", becoming the hottest TV series at the moment.

Since its premiere, the drama has topped the daily ranking of dramas viewed in the same period for more than a week in a row, and its popularity is catching up with the hit dramas "Mountains and Seas" and "Awakening Age" at the beginning of the year.

Even the Political and Legal Affairs Commission was shocked by this result. They originally just wanted to do a project to report the results and show the results of the "anti-gang and anti-evil" campaign over the past three years. Unexpectedly, the final film would become so popular.

The Political and Legal Affairs Commission even held a special seminar, inviting several leading actors such as Sun Honglei, Liu Yijun, Bai Yu and the main creators of the crew such as Wang Wei to "discuss" the influence and popularity of the drama.

As a core figure, Meng Bai was invited to attend the meeting - this time he met not the director of the Film and Television Center, but the core leader of the entire Political and Legal Affairs Commission.

In a sense, Mr. Meng can now be said to have "reached the ears of the higher authorities."

As for the content of the discussion, there was nothing special. The leader praised the creative level of Arclight and encouraged the support of film and television works for political and legal work.

At the end, he also said that since the drama was so successful, the two sides could continue to cooperate and create the next work.

Meng Bai naturally would not refuse, and he also took this opportunity to ask for the big boss's personal contact information.

No matter whether it is useful or not, it is always necessary to have a way to contact.

With three consecutive hit works, ArcLight’s dominance is unquestionable, but this is not the end yet.

According to the broadcast plan announced by ArcLight at the platform launch conference at the beginning of the year, there will be the ancient idol drama "The East Palace" in September, the third part of the "Tracing Back Series" "Want to See You" in October, and the two-part series "One Life, One World" and "Mr. Zhou" in November.

Each drama has attracted a lot of attention. It can be expected that as long as the quality of the drama is good, the performance will definitely not be bad after it is broadcast.

However, for Meng Bai, these dramas to be broadcast are already in the past. The subsequent publicity, promotion, and broadcasting will naturally be handled by the staff below.

Apart from company matters, he is currently busy with the filming of "The Wandering Earth 2" and the preparations for "All or Nothing".

Needless to say, "The Wandering Earth 2" is ArcLight's key project for the next two years, and its status is similar to that of "The Three-Body Problem" which is still in preparation.

Over on Landao, Guo Fan and his team have completed the preliminary work on the scenes and props, and will start filming next month.

Because the story line of the second part is a prequel, mainly telling the story before the start of "The Wandering Earth Project", "Liu Peiqiang", who died at the end of the previous part, "resurrected" in this part and continues to play the male lead.

In addition to Wu Jing, the leading actors this time also include Li Xuejian, Andy Lau, Sha Yi, Ning Li, Wang Zhi, Zhu Yanmanzi, etc. Compared with the first part of "one old and two new", the lineup can be said to be much more luxurious.

Of course, the production cost of the film has also risen. Although there are companies like XCMG, Sugon and the Blue Island government willing to help for free, the total investment is still as high as 800 million.

Taking into account the publicity and promotion costs before the release, the cost is equivalent to doubling that of the first film.

Meng Bai and several other producers have calculated that they will not lose money, but they may not make a lot of money either.

However, the focus of this project is no longer on the profits itself. It can be said that as long as the performance of the movie is satisfactory after its release, they will be considered successful.

With Guo Fan and Gongger around, there is no need to worry too much about the production of "The Wandering Earth 2".

What worries Meng Bai more now is another film project "All or Nothing", which is the previous "Fishing Operation" about electronic fraud in northern Myanmar.

The reason for the name change is mainly because there are too many movies called "XX Operation" in the past two years, especially the two directed by Dante Lam.

ArcLight was worried that the audience would be confused after seeing the name and think that the main storyline was about how the police detect and combat online fraud, so they changed the name to its current one.

"The character of Liang Anna was very ambitious at the beginning. At the same time, due to various subjective and objective reasons, she was thirsty for money. So after she arrived at the park, she quickly adapted to life there and derived a unique set of survival rules..."

In the office, Meng Bai was explaining the character and personality of the heroine of the movie seriously. Meng Ziyi was sitting opposite him, holding the script in his hand, listening solemnly.

“I feel like this role is very difficult.”

After a long while, Meng Ziyi finally said with a guilty conscience: "Besides, I haven't made many movies before. Now I am suddenly asked to be the female lead in such a big production. Is it really possible?"

"Why not? Since I'm showing you the script, it means you must meet the requirements of this role in some aspects. And you're not the only candidate for this role. The crew will have another audition later. I'm giving you the script so that you can familiarize yourself with it in advance."

After Meng Bai finished speaking, he looked at the girl who still looked worried and comforted her, "Don't worry, I've said it before, leave the work to me, you just need to use your own abilities." Meng Ziyi nodded, then sighed, "Actually, I'm not that worried about this new role. At most, I'll be rejected after the audition. What I'm most concerned about now is whether the performance of "Eastern Palace" will be bad after it starts airing."

Although it is not the first time she plays the female lead, the last time "Twinkle Twinkle Star" was an S-level project, with the support of her uncle, and she is only a female lead of equal importance, so the pressure will be much less.

But this time it’s different. Although "Eastern Palace" is also an "arc drama", the main producer is Tianshen Entertainment, and the platform’s internal rating is only A-level. Moreover, she is the leading female role, and the situation she faces is completely different.

It's okay to be ridiculed, the key is not to affect my uncle. After all, it was he who supported me when I was being ridiculed the most and won these two heroines.

She has been busy promoting her new drama recently, and has been cooperating with the drama production team to participate in activities almost every day, for fear that the drama will not perform well after it is aired.

"It's not as serious as you think, it's just a drama. Arclight has had failed projects over the years, don't be so nervous." Meng Bai said: "What's more, according to the trailer data released so far and the number of reservations on the platform, it shouldn't be too bad."

"Really?"

"Of course, why would I lie to you?"

"Phew, that's good, that's good..."

Meng Ziyi patted his chest, and the worries in his heart were finally relieved a little.

As the two were talking, there was a knock on the office door. Meng Bai greeted them, and then the door was pushed open, and a small figure walked in from outside.

"Meng...Sister Meng?"

Zhao Jinmai, dressed in casual clothes and with long hair draped over her shoulders, walked in happily. Just as she was about to raise her hand to greet everyone, she saw Meng Ziyi sitting in the room and changed her words abruptly.

"Hello, Mai Mai!" the latter responded with a smile.

Although they knew each other, the two girls had very different personalities and ages, so they were not very close. When they met suddenly, both sides felt a little awkward.

Fortunately, Meng Bai is here.

"Hey, Mai Mai, take a seat first. There are drinks in the freezer, help yourself."

"Oh, okay." Zhao Jinmai responded obediently, "It's okay, you guys are busy, don't worry about me."

The girl went to the freezer and got a bottle of water as if she knew the place well. Then she sat in the corner of the sofa and waited for the two of them quietly.

Meng Bai didn't continue his long speech. He just told Meng Ziyi what she should pay attention to in the next audition, then stood up and saw her off.

"My little uncle."

"what?"

"Why did Mai Mai come to see you?"

"Didn't 'The Accidental Murderer' just end its run? She had been abroad recording a show before, and when she came back today I talked to her about the movie." Meng Bai explained naturally.

"Oh, so that's it." Meng Ziyi looked at him suspiciously, thought about it, and couldn't help but said: "Uncle, you won't do anything to Mai Mai... Oh!"

Meng Bai retracted his hand, looked at his niece who was holding her forehead and crying out in pain, and said calmly: "If you have the energy, read the script more and stop guessing blindly every day."

Meng Ziyi rubbed his forehead and puffed his lips, but didn't say anything.

She didn't know why, but whenever she saw a girl with her uncle, she couldn't help but feel suspicious.

There's nothing we can do about it, it's just that he has a bad reputation in this area.

But then, Meng Ziyi comforted herself in her heart that it shouldn't be a big deal this time. After all, Mai Mai had just come of age, and her uncle wouldn't be so beastly as to attack a little girl...right?

She thought of the possibility of this happening, but she misjudged the positions of both parties. Of the two, Zhao Jinmai was the one who did it.

After watching his eldest niece take the elevator downstairs, Meng Bai returned to the office.

As soon as he entered the door, before he could turn around, he felt a petite body hugging him from behind.

(End of this chapter)