Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 571 The Big Flowers

A company's character is often reflected in its founder's personality. For example, Qiutian Pictures focuses on film and television innovation and does not invest in technology and game companies under the guise of industrial layout like other film companies. Big data and traffic are very popular now, but Qiutian Pictures usually does not mention these. This is related to Li Qiutang's personality. Of course, many people also criticize Li Qiutang for being timid in his actions.

As a TV drama production company under the Autumn Group, Century Autumn's development is deeply influenced by the founder's personality. However, Century Autumn's personality does not belong to Li Qiutang, but to Cao Ping, who has always been in charge of the TV drama business.

Cao Ping comes from a background in serious dramas, so the dramas that Century Autumn has mainly produced over the years have mostly been serious dramas, including both period dramas and modern dramas.

They also produce idol dramas, but mostly as co-investors. However, in recent years, the Century Autumn team has realized the money-making potential of idol dramas and has been trying to produce some. Last year's "The Journey of Flower" gave Century Autumn a great taste of success, which is why they decided to produce idol dramas. This year, they will start filming a modern idol drama called "Because of You," starring Shu Chang.

Of course, serious dramas remain the company's focus, and the company is currently preparing its first online drama, a crime drama called "Day and Night".

Cao Ping left the system and started a business with Li Qiutang. The first project they produced was "Empresses in the Palace".

The collaboration between the company and the author on "Empresses in the Palace" was relatively pleasant. The company was initially reluctant to let Ada Choi play the Empress because her Mandarin was so bad, but the author insisted, and in the end, the company agreed.

However, the copyright for her new work, "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace," was snatched up by New Classics Media.

Cao Ping was angry about this for a while.

But there was nothing they could do. It was normal business competition. New Classics Media's price was higher than Century Autumn's, and they couldn't compete with them, so they had to accept the outcome.

After the announcement of the preparation for "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace", it is no exaggeration to say that all the actresses in Yanjing submitted their resumes to the production team.

Zhou Xun ultimately won, and filming began in August.

Director Li is so busy, he doesn't have time to pay attention to these things.

He asked the company to contact Zhou Xun, but was told that Zhou Xun's filming would start in August, and she wouldn't be available even in the first half of next year, let alone this year.

Director Li felt he was having a run of bad luck when two actors he had contacted were unavailable.

"You too, filming was supposed to start in October or November, and it's already July now. You've booked all the big names, so it's normal that they don't have time."

Li Qiutang is indeed a bit late in talking about actors.

"That doesn't mean everyone is too busy."

Chen Zhixi said, "Li Bingbing has always wanted to act in your drama, so why don't you ask her? The drama is good too."

"I want her to star in 'The Meg,' hasn't she agreed yet?"

"No, it seems she's specifically targeting your 'The Butterfly Lovers' movie. No matter how we talk to her, she keeps saying she's afraid of water and wouldn't dare to act in 'The Meg.' She doesn't want to act, but Fan Bingbing is very enthusiastic and has been trying to persuade us to take the role."

Li Qiutang didn't know Zhou Xun was going to film "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace," but she did know Fan Bingbing was going to film "The Legend of Ba Qing": "Is she going to be filming two projects at once again?"

Chen Zhixi said, "That's right, but I didn't want to be direct, so I never gave her a reply."

Li Qiutang said out of the blue, "They've all gone to film TV series, huh?" As a film director, Li Qiutang was quite curious about this situation.

Zhou Xun, Zhao Yanzi, and Fan Bingbing have all returned to the TV drama scene in the past two years.

"Filming TV series can be more lucrative and less risky."

"Putting aside everything else, Zhou Xun earns ten or twenty million for each movie she makes." Zhou Xun's movie salary has never been high, "but do you know how much she earns for a TV series? She earned 3000 million for 'Red Sorghum,' and for this 'Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace,' I don't know the exact figure, but it won't be less than that." Chen Zhixi opened her palm.

"If it were just a million or two more, I could say I'm sticking to the film industry for art, but if you were offered this much, what would you choose?"

That's a very practical statement, but that's generally correct.

"Besides, they didn't just randomly choose dramas. Both 'Red Sorghum' and 'Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace' are excellent." "Red Sorghum" goes without saying, and "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" was considered a top-tier drama from the moment it was announced. Perhaps it was because youth films and chick flicks were so popular in the first couple of years, with the screen filled with young people, that industry capital flowed in, squeezing out the living space of these 30+ actresses.

No matter how much pressure they face, these actors at the top of the pyramid should still have no shortage of scripts to offer in the coming years.

Going back to filming TV dramas may be a choice made by both the market and the actors themselves.

Li Qiutang and Chen Zhixi considered several more actors, but after much deliberation, they realized that they still preferred the same few.

This precisely proves that those at the top of the pyramid certainly don't lack suitors.

"Is Zhang Ziyi suitable?"

"The Grandmaster" saved Zhang Ziyi, but she hasn't starred in any decent movies since.

“She’s not good enough.” When Li Qiutang was creating the film, Zhang Ziyi was the first person he ruled out. “If I were to make a film about a stubborn person, I would definitely cast her.”

Chen Zhixi laughed at these words: "Are you praising her or insulting her?"

"She's already won three Golden Horse Awards, so it must be a compliment."

After finishing her work at the company, Li Qiutang drove to see Li Qiang again, determined to force him to finalize the script.

…………

The crew of "Now I'll See You" has finally opened the set to the media after more than two months of filming.

To avoid delaying filming, only a few media outlets were invited, about three per day.

Liu Yifei is currently being interviewed by the movie channel in the dressing room, and the reporter is an acquaintance.

"It's you again." Liu Yifei recognized the reporter as soon as she saw him; he was the one who had visited her on the set of "Mojin: The Lost Legend".

"I volunteered to come because I was told I was visiting your film set."

Liu Yifei laughed and said, "It's obviously fake."

After exchanging a few pleasantries with the two acquaintances, Liu Yifei sat down and officially began the interview.

The filming of "Now I'll See You" took more than two months. Liu Yifei said that what impressed her the most was: "Last month, Brother Hao had a daughter. He sent us photos in the group chat. The child is very cute."

The reporter actually wanted to ask Liu Yifei when she planned to have children, but he held back and said it was better to ask about her work.

"Is this your first time playing a mother, and how is it different from before?"

Liu Yifei said, "Actually, every role is different. This time it's not because she's a mother that it's different. Playing this role brought me a lot of freshness. Her way of treating her family and her way of treating life are very different from my own."

"What's the difference?"

“I’m probably a bit more careless. I’m not a very meticulous person in life, and I often fall short in my treatment of my family, which is very different from the character I play.”

"You're only 28 years old, why would you want to play a mother?"

"What attracted me wasn't the identity of a mother, but the character itself." Liu Yifei was genuinely expressing her true thoughts. "Her strength, reluctance to let go, sensitivity, and gentleness are all beautiful qualities of this character. Besides, I'm already 28. If I get married at the legal age and have a child the following year, my child will be about the same age as our young actress." She covered her mouth and laughed as she said this.

The reporter finally asked the question that was on their mind: "Do you plan to have children in the next two years? Have you thought about what your future children will be like?"

(End of this chapter)