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

Chapter 542: Calling the skill name can increase the hit rate

Tian Xiwei is currently filming "Wind Blows in Midsummer" with Li Qin, so the "double agent" matter can be put on hold, and it will be in time after she finishes filming and leaves the crew.

Chen Yao didn’t have many scenes in “Kuang Kuang”, but because it involved two timelines, he had to stay with the crew for a long time, which ended in June.

Just as she had thought before, there was no problem at all in auditioning with the label of "Mr. Meng's Strict Selection", and she was directly cast in the role of "Xiao Yuhu" Chanzhi.

As for the male lead "Zhang Yongan", the final choice was a new actor named Zhang Linghe. He is not a professional actor. He studied electrical automation in college and became an actor after graduation.

Coincidentally, his first drama was filmed with Chen Yao, and this is their second collaboration. The more familiarity between the two can also make up for his shortcomings in acting.

The crew's preparation work had already been completed. As soon as the two leading actors joined the crew, they flew directly to the UK with the production team.

Short dramas are small in size and have a short production cycle. That is, there are more special effects shots in "Escape from the British Museum", and Arclight happened to have its own special effects company and didn't want to mess around, otherwise it would probably be broadcast next month.

But even if it is like this now, it’s almost the same. One month for preparation, one month for shooting, and one month for production. It can be launched before October and can also take advantage of the National Day popularity.

……

As we enter the summer vacation, the biggest news is that Shanghai, which has been silent for two months, has finally been unsealed.

For the film and television industry, this timing is quite suitable because it coincides with the summer season. As one of the most important cities in the country, even though many areas in Shanghai are in a "high-risk" state, it is still more critical than other places.

But compared to previous years, this year's summer season is much quieter. Although a total of 3 movies have been scheduled, only "Alone on the Moon" and "Jurassic World " have higher expectations.

The former includes the awesome combination of Shen Teng and Ma Li, while the latter is the final chapter of the series.

Ruyi also has two movies to be released, one is "Life Events" starring Zhu Yilong, and the other is "Mozart from Outer Space" which Chen Sicheng took time out to shoot last year.

This wave is the early competition between the director and the leading actor of "She Was Missing".

Before its release, the expectations for "Mozart from Outer Space" were higher than "Life Events". After all, the former has Chen Sicheng and Huang Bo, and the theme is a comedy for all ages, which is better than a realistic theme about "morticians".

But after the actual release, the two were completely reversed in terms of word of mouth and box office performance.

"Mozart from Outer Space" grossed 2.2 million yuan, received a rating of 4.3, and received mostly negative reviews from the audience.

[It's a bit childish for elementary school students, but really stupid for adults. ]

[Director Chen, if you are short of money, you can just tell us directly. We will transfer it to you for the sake of "Detective Chinatown". Why do you have to make a movie and waste our brains?]

[From "Detective Chinatown 3", it can be seen that letting Chen Sicheng tell the story by himself is really a mess. Please, Director Chen, let's bring Mr. Meng back! ]

[Huang Bo is getting worse and worse now. His acting style has remained unchanged for thousands of years, and it has become much greasy. ]

【…】

Obviously, this movie can be regarded as a "Waterloo" for both Chen Sicheng and Huang Bo.

In contrast to "Mozart from Outer Space", the previously inconspicuous "Life Events" has emerged as a dark horse.

The box office exceeded 1 billion in 13 days after its release, and the total box office accumulated to 1.6 billion in one month, ranking second in the summer box office rankings, behind "Lone Moon" which earned 3 billion.

When seeing the final results, Meng Bai even made a special phone call to Chen Sicheng, joking that with the release of "Her" next year, he would have to "take advantage" of Zhu Yilong's popularity.

Chen Sicheng smiled and didn't take it seriously. For him, as long as the movie performed well, it was fine. It would be even better if the lead actor was popular.

The filming of "Gone Girl" was completed two months ago and is currently in post-production. It is expected to be released in the summer of next year. It will be released together with "All or Nothing", which will also be released in the summer of next year.

There is no need to worry about the two movies "killing each other". As the longest schedule, the summer schedule is more than enough time for them to be released separately.

Along with the two films, the web drama version of The Three-Body Problem was also completed. The first part of the storyline was filmed to the end of "Operation Guzheng", which is about half of the first part of the original novel.

In addition to these three big productions, ArcLight also has several smaller projects this year.

After Xin Shuang became famous with "The Bad Kids", ArcLight gave him the highest authority over its own script library, allowing him to shoot any script he liked.

This guy didn't hesitate and studied it for half a year. Finally, he chose a script that Meng Bai had put in there before, called "The Long Season".

It is still a suspense theme, but this time the story background is shifted to the Northeast, and the time is the special and turbulent period of the 90s.

The main plot of the story is not complicated. Wang Yang, the son of taxi driver Wang Xiang, died in a murder case many years ago. Twenty years later, the murderer who had escaped for many years reappeared because of a license plate case. Wang Xiang, his brother-in-law Gong Biao, and the resigned old criminal policeman Ma Desheng formed a trio and began to re-investigate this unsolved case that had been buried for twenty years. After Xin Shuang asked for the script, he made some adaptations and added more elements of the era on the basis of suspense.

Among the three leading actors, Fan Wei was chosen to play Wang Xiang, Qin Hao, who had worked with him once before, was cast as Gong Biao, and Chen Minghao was cast as Ma Desheng.

In addition to these three "elderly groups", there is also a "youth group" in the story, the core of which is the heroine of the show - Shen Mo, a girl who looks literary but is actually very black.

Because of the success of the previous work, and the character setting is also very exciting, the competition for "Shen Mo" is quite fierce. Many people contacted Xin Shuang, wanting to play this role.

However, all of these were rejected by Xin Shuang. There was nothing he could do as the role had already been reserved by his boss Meng.

As for the selection of Meng Bai, there is no need to ask, there is no one more suitable than Zhao Jinmai.

Putting aside the image, acting skills, and popularity, Mai Mai, as a native of Shenyang, has already achieved a perfect match with "Shen Mo" in terms of the character setting.

It just so happened that this girl had just had an argument with Zhao's mother because of the "discovery of her relationship with Meng Bai". Joining the group for a while would also allow both parties to calm down.

In addition to "The Long Season", Arclight also has two low-budget film projects, and the main creators are the other two members of the previous "Famous" three-person screenwriter team.

One is Wang Yitong, who wrote a science fiction story called "Cosmic Exploration Editorial Department". It tells the story of a middle-aged science fiction magazine editor who has been doing nothing all his life, but suddenly receives a signal that seems to be from the depths of the universe, so he embarks on the road to find aliens.

According to him, the inspiration came from a program similar to "Approaching Science" broadcasted by Shandong Satellite TV that year. In the program, a man claimed to have caught an alien, but when the interviewing reporter opened the box, he found a silicone model inside.

Meng Bai read the script and found it quite interesting, so he directly "exiled" him to Guo Fan.

Another person who submitted a project was Li Yang, but he came with Zhang Ruoyun and brought a script that was hard to tell whether it was science fiction or fantasy. It was called "Safe Evacuation from the 21st Century."

The reason why it is difficult to define its subject matter is mainly because the story is a bit too "crazy".

Li Yang had written this story a long time ago, but because no one understood it, he put it aside. It was not until he finished filming "Famous", that he took out the script and improved it.

The new script was accidentally seen by Zhang Ruoyun, who thought the story was quite interesting, so he contacted Li Yang and expressed his desire to play the role of the male lead "Wang Zha". He also volunteered to go with him to find Meng Bai to see if the project could be approved.

Meng Bai looked at the "script" in his hand. Strictly speaking, this thing is not quite the same as a traditional script, because it is mixed with a lot of cartoons and graphic demonstrations, and looks more like a "product manual."

"Are you sure you understand the story?" Meng Bai looked at Zhang Ruoyun opposite him.

"Yes, I've seen it, and I think it's quite interesting. Including the character design of the protagonist Wang Zha, doesn't it feel like a classic boy's comic?"

"Shonen manga is real, and your chuunibyou is real too."

"Haha, you're a person who plays games and shouts out the names of skills when you use them, and you have the nerve to call me a middle school student?"

"Calling out skill names can increase your hit rate. What the hell do you know?"

Meng Bai replied, then looked at the script in his hand.

How should I put it? From his experience, this movie is a type with a strong personal style. Whether you can watch it or not depends on whether you can understand the screenwriter's imagination.

But then again, the cost of such small productions is generally not too high, so from a commercial perspective, it is still worth a try.

Looking at Zhang Ruoyun and Li Yang, Meng Bai nodded and agreed to the project. Then, like Wang Yi, he "sent" all of them to Guo Fan.

Let him discuss science fiction topics with people who understand science fiction, and as the boss, just be responsible for paying.

Both "Space Exploration Editorial Department" and "Safe Evacuation from the 21st Century" are small-scale films with a combined cost of less than million yuan. Even if they lose money, the losses will not be much.

This kind of investment is not so much about making money as it is about supporting and training newcomers in the industry. The film and television industry is a job of "casting a wide net to catch more fish". Invest in projects of various types and themes, and you never know which one will become a hit.

For example, many years ago, Light Media invested in almost all domestic animation studios, and then made a 50 billion bet on "Nezha".

I heard that this project has recently started filming the second part. Conservative estimates show that it will start at at least 50 billion yuan, and it can also cultivate an IP.

Arclight was established late, and rose even later. Although it has a strong momentum, it is still a little behind these old companies in terms of foundation. Therefore, Meng Bai is now constantly cultivating his own talent base system to consolidate the foundation.

When the day comes when the arc light leaves his script and he can still produce excellent works, he will be considered a true king.

(End of this chapter)