Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 383 Visiting Team
The film "Beijing Love Story" topped the daily box office with 1.02 million yuan on its opening day, igniting the Valentine's Day box office.

It surpassed 200 million in the first three days of the year.

The outside world was truly stunned.

Project Towering Tree is terrifying!

So far, none of the four films planned for release by the Santian Tree Project—"Lost in Thailand," "The Fault in Our Stars," "Ex-Files," and the film version of "Beijing Love Story"—have lost money. Even the art film "The Fault in Our Stars" broke even and earned the lead actress and director Golden Horse nominations.

Moreover, their price-to-earnings ratios are all very high.

"How much money did Autumn Pictures make!" This is something that has amazed countless people in the industry.

The success of "Beijing Love Story" brought the outside world's enthusiasm for Autumn Pictures to its first peak. Many companies and producers wanted to join the Sky Tree Project, and more new directors actively submitted their resumes to the Sky Tree Project, hoping to be noticed by Autumn Pictures and receive funding to complete their film creation.

Autumn Pictures welcomes collaborations, but Zhang Zhao doesn't accept money from just anyone or any new director.

There wasn't much opposition within the company to the idea of ​​a drama director from the Beijing People's Art Theatre wanting to make a movie.

"12 Angry Men" is a classic in film history. The company's decision-makers have basically seen the movie and feel that as long as the cost is well controlled, it is indeed worthwhile to remake it.

The company makes money and is willing to support the development of art films, documentaries, and short films.

Xu Ang named the film "Twelve Citizens" and successfully got it approved in the fall.

Only three days had passed since Li Qiutang agreed to help with this play backstage at the Beijing People's Art Theatre, two of which were weekend days.

Li Qiutang arrived in Hengdian that day. The preparation work for "Mojin: The Lost Legend" was very complicated, mainly divided into three places: Yanjing Huairou, Liangxi Digital Film Industrial Park and Hengdian. Hengdian's supporting facilities were more comprehensive than those in Huairou.

Li Qiutang came to work, but was forcibly dragged to visit the set.

Kong Sheng said, "Since we're already here, it wouldn't be right not to take a look."

The first person to visit the set of "Nirvana in Fire" arrived just a few days after filming began.

The news that "Director Li Qiutang is in Hengdian" couldn't be kept secret at all, and soon, almost every film crew, big or small, shooting in Hengdian knew about it.

Hengdian was relatively quiet after the Lunar New Year, but according to reports, more than a dozen film crews were still working.

No sooner had Li Qiutang joined the cast of "Nirvana in Fire" than Jing Tian followed her in, still wearing her makeup. To be honest, Jing Tian looked really beautiful in her period costume.

"Brother Li."

"You're in Hengdian too?"

"Our film crew is right next to 'Nirvana in Fire,' all in the Qin Palace area." Jing Tian is currently filming "Ban Shu Legend," another historical drama with a strong female lead.

Li Qiutang hadn't been to the TV drama set for a long time. Seeing Hu Ge on set, he laughed and said, "I told you, you look very handsome."

It's true that Hu Ge took on another period drama, "Nirvana in Fire," but whether he listened to her advice is unknown to Li Qiutang.

Many of the actors on set today were people Li Qiutang had never met before. The only ones she was familiar with were Hu Ge and Liu Tao, and she barely spoke to the others.

Li Qiutang laughed and said, "I've been filming for so many years, but I've never filmed in the Qin Palace. Are the sets in the Qin Palace easy to match?"

“It’s easy to match,” Kong Sheng said. “Hengdian has such complete facilities; they can make whatever you need.”

After chatting for a few minutes, Li Qiutang, not wanting to delay the filming, sat next to Kong Sheng and watched the monitor together.

He still wasn't used to the way TV dramas were filmed. Although TV drama crews could film a single take several days, on average, TV dramas were still too fast-paced, and the lighting and cinematography were a bit rough.

Kong Sheng joked, "If you made a TV series, I don't know how popular it would be."

Li Qiutang replied, "I have a ton of things to do with my movies, I don't have time to film TV shows."

"He's just showing off, isn't he?" Kong Sheng turned to the production manager and asked with a smile. "Absolutely."

After some joking around, Li Qiutang was dragged by Jing Tian to their "Ban Shu Legend" drama crew.

On the way there, Li Qiutang asked Jing Tian how her preparations for Ding Sitian were going. Jing Tian recited a few of Chairman Mao's quotations to Li Qiutang on the spot, but she was dressed in ancient costume, which created a striking contrast.

“I’ve even learned a few revolutionary songs. ‘Like father, like son; like father, like son; if you’re a revolutionary, stand up for me; if you’re not, get the hell out of here!’ Hahaha!” Jing Tian laughed as soon as she sang that line.

"You sang quite well." It was clear that Jing Tian didn't underestimate Ding Sitian, a supporting character with limited screen time. "Have you learned the accordion?"

"I'm learning. I even brought my teacher to the set. I learn from him after filming," Jing Tian said proudly. "I'll show you later."

For the evening dinner, Li Qiutang insisted on treating the crew, refusing to let them pay. Besides the crews of "Nirvana in Fire" and "Ban Shu Legend," the crew of "Beauty's Private Kitchen," also from Hengdian, also attended.

Li Qiutang had never heard of this movie, but she recognized its lead actors, Zheng Shuang and Ma Tianyu.

As a top-tier actress, Zheng Shuang could have chosen not to attend this gathering. Li Qiutang wouldn't have known if she hadn't come, nor would she have felt that she was being disrespectful.

But Zheng Shuang was still brought over by the production crew and her agent to make her face known.

Zheng Shuang and her agent came over to toast Li Qiutang and Kong Sheng. Kong Sheng is a top director in the drama industry, and Zheng Shuang naturally wanted to get to know him.

"Director, our Xiao Shuang is a loyal fan of yours." This is a manipulative opening line.

Kong Sheng laughed and said, "It was Ying Mi who made her say it herself; there's no such thing as an agent speaking on her behalf."

But actually, Zheng Shuang had never seen Li Qiutang's movies, not even the famous "In Time". She was already famous at that time, so she didn't have time to watch movies.

However, Li Qiutang didn't care whether the other person was a fan of hers or not, and didn't make things difficult for Shuang Meizi. Instead, she said, "You and Tian Tian are classmates, right? If I remember correctly."

“Yes, we’re in the same class,” Jing Tian said, but she didn’t look at Shuang Meizi. She glanced at her and spoke to Li Qiutang.

Based on this one detail, Li Qiutang guessed that the two classmates were probably not familiar with each other.

Zheng Shuang confirmed that the two were classmates, but then added with a smile, "Tian Tian was already famous back then. She was the first big star in our class, and we were all extremely envious."

It sounds like they're being sarcastic or sarcastic.

Tian Tian isn't some innocent flower; she can tell right from wrong. She's been criticized constantly since her debut. Zheng Shuang is far more popular than her; she's hardly a big star.

Even if Tian Tian realized that her classmate was being sarcastic about her, there was nothing she could do; she wouldn't talk back.

When Zheng Shuang offered a toast, Li Qiutang only took a sip, while she and her manager downed their drinks.

But Li Qiutang would give Jing Tian a chance to shine. He asked Jing Tian, ​​"Did you bring the accordion?"

"In the car." Jing Tian was puzzled.

Li Qiutang asked Jing Tian's assistant to bring over the accordion, as he wanted Jing Tian to play a piece for everyone: "Let you see the person I chose."

Everyone else said Jing Tian was no good, but Li Qiutang insisted that Jing Tian perform well.

"That's because they don't know how to film. If you find the right roles and the right acting style, how could it not be good?"

Everyone agreed, saying that Jing Tian's acting skills would definitely improve after being trained by Li Qiutang, and encouraged Jing Tian not to care too much about what others say, and just to do her best.

Whether it was flattery or genuine gratitude, Jing Tian was very thankful.

But no one saw the disdainful look in Zheng Shuang's eyes.

(End of this chapter)