Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 444 Assistance
In March of this year, the newly established Ali Pictures announced its first film, "The Ghostwriter," directed by Ma Yucheng and produced by Tsui Hark.

At the time, she was attacked by Li Qiutang and Huayi, among others. Ali regarded Li Qiutang as a clown blocking her way and did not respond to the controversy.

Now in December, the production team of "The Ghostwriter" has finally announced that filming has started in Hengdian.

However, at the press conference for the start of filming, reporters discovered that Zhao Wenzhuo, the originally slated male lead, was nowhere to be found!
Instead, the role was taken over by rising star Li Yifeng, and the female lead was played by Zhao Liying.

When asked by reporters, director Ma Yucheng only said that the actors' schedules didn't match, and the collaboration with Zhao Wenzhuo had to unfortunately fall through.

Xu Yuanxiang, vice president of Ali Pictures, gave a different explanation for the casting change than the director. He said with a bit of pride, "Li Yifeng and Zhao Liying are the two most popular actors this year. They have more than 100 million fans across the internet. Our backend shows that their online discussion index is the highest among young actors. Why wouldn't I use such high-traffic and high-discussion actors? They both have a huge fan base, which is also conducive to our box office growth."

He was very proud of his big data analysis casting method and enthusiastically explained it to reporters: "Using big data for casting and even filming is definitely the future trend, just like Netflix..." He then used Netflix's successful experience to demonstrate the feasibility of big data analysis: "Ali has the largest audience data. Through the data, we can analyze audience preferences, what types of movies they like, what kind of actors they like, and what kind of plots they like in movies. We can analyze all of these from the data. Making movies based on specific needs will further reduce shooting costs and profit risks."

Zhao Wenzhuo was not mentioned at all, as if he had never participated in "The Ghostwriter".

Li Qiutang originally didn't want to get involved with "The Ghostwriter". He had just finished filming a big movie and needed to rest, prepare for his wedding, and had many other things to do.

But Li Qiutang ignored it, while others did. When Ali Pictures was first established, it poached people from all over the industry. In the autumn, Ali poached two core executives and took away more than a dozen elites from the production management and distribution departments. Companies large and small in the industry, such as Huayi, Bona, and Xiaoma, all suffered from its ruthless tactics.

No one even needs to specifically ask them to; these companies will tacitly and deliberately annoy Ahri.

Chen Zhixi, Senior Vice President of Autumn Pictures, posted on her WeChat Moments: "In the century-long history of film, many have claimed to be able to disrupt the industry, but none have ever succeeded. I don't know if big data can make good films, but I know that arrogance will definitely lead to failure."

At the premiere of "The Taking of Tiger Mountain," Yu Dong specifically mentioned big data: "Big data has been very popular in the film and television industry in the past two years. Now, when talking about making movies, we must mention big data. But I think we should not be superstitious. Movies are ultimately made by people, not by big data. If we are superstitious about big data and ignore human creativity, we will definitely suffer in the end."

Li Qiutang didn't have time to argue with Ali anymore. It's a very simple truth: Ma Yucheng, a director who switched from action choreographies, might not be able to control Li Yifeng and Zhao Liying.

Tsui Hark is the producer. How many days will Tsui Hark stay on set?

Li Qiutang is currently discussing ideas for Chen Sicheng's new film. Chen Sicheng wanted to make a mystery comedy during the filming of "Beijing Love Story," and he even mentioned it to Li Qiutang when they held their wedding in Tahiti.

The script is now nearing completion, and the movie title is simple and straightforward: "Detective Chinatown." Filming will take place in Thailand.

Chen Sicheng is a director promoted by the Sky Tree Project. His directorial contract is in the fall. Detective Chinatown will naturally still be mainly invested in by the fall. The second largest producer is Chengya Film & Television, a joint venture between the fall and Chen Sicheng.

Chen Sicheng had no objection to this; with companies investing in his films, what was there to be dissatisfied about?

To be honest, the script for "Detective Chinatown" that I showed to Li Qiutang today was very rough.

It's good that it's rough around the edges. Chen Sicheng has hit a roadblock and can't push the script any further.

Every great detective possesses extraordinary abilities, but whether it's Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, or Miss Marple, they all have powerful observational and deductive reasoning skills—that goes without saying.

Chen Sicheng is stuck here. How can we demonstrate Qin Feng's ability to observe details and reason logically?

Chen Sicheng said, "I watched Sherlock Holmes, and he completely shut down my ideas."

It's no exaggeration to say that Sherlock revolutionized the way detective films are made, showing creators how detective investigations can be filmed in this way.

Through slow motion, close-ups, and even writing down the observed connections, Sherlock's observation and reasoning process is visually presented to the audience. However, Li Qiutang, after reading the script for "Detective Chinatown," had a different opinion: "If 'Sherlock' can use it, why can't we?"

Chen Sicheng's current problem is figuring out how to give Qin Feng a cheat code.

“That’s easy. Just make Qin Feng have a photographic memory. What’s wrong with that?” Li Qiutang thought the matter was easy to solve. “Give him a memory like a camera, so he can remember everything he sees after just one look and recall it at any time.”

"It would be easier to adapt this for film and television. When Qin Feng is making his deductions, you can also use a memory palace to recreate the scene. It would look so good when filmed."

There are no patents for shooting techniques. As long as it doesn't constitute plagiarism of storyboards, there's nothing that can't be used.

Li Qiutang used many thriller filming techniques in "Mojin: The Lost Legend". Who can say that he infringed on copyright?
"I suggest you do an extra task: write biographical sketches for Tang Ren and Qin Feng, starting from their birth, a chronological account of how they gradually made their way to Thailand and how they met. This will help you develop the personalities of the two characters. As you have it now, Tang Ren is too one-dimensional; he was cheated on by his wife and couldn't stay in his hometown, so he went to Thailand. You need to flesh out the characters; they need to have a foundation so they can stand on their own."

"Okay, I'll go back and do it." Chen Sicheng wasn't immune to advice; Li Qiutang's suggestion was excellent.

The two of them held the script of "Detective Chinatown" and meticulously went over everything with Li Qiutang, from the rhythm and structure to the specific lines. Li Qiutang did have some experience to share with him regarding suspense and mystery.

Li Qiutang even took out paper and pen and drew storyboards for Chen Sicheng on the spot.

Finally, Li Qiutang asked Chen Sicheng, "When will you start filming?"

"May or June, I guess."

Li Qiutang pondered for a moment and said, "I need to borrow someone from you."

"Who to borrow?"

"Liu Haoran. He signed with you, didn't he?"

"Yes, what do you need him for?"

"If I lend him my filming time, it might conflict with your filming schedule."

Li Qiutang personally asked to borrow people, and Chen Sicheng had no choice but to agree.

"Don't worry, we won't wrong him. We'll cast him as the lead actor."

Chen Sicheng said, "What's the big deal? It's his honor to have you cast him in a movie."

“It wasn’t me who approached him,” Li Qiutang said. “It’s a film for the company, a youth film, and we need a male lead with a student-like appearance. We should keep the talent in the family, and Liu Haoran is the perfect age. Let’s see if we can make him a star.”

"The company is really pushing him, so I agreed on his behalf. We can just film other people's scenes for 'Detective Chinatown' first."

The male lead for "With You" was thus cast.

(End of this chapter)