Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 591 Visiting Team
Actually, Zhang Zhao had another film that he hadn't told Yu Dong, but Zhang Zhao felt it didn't matter if he didn't tell him about it.

Because this is a film imported from Japan, and the import procedures haven't been completed yet.

"Your name. 》

The film was released in Japan in August, causing a sensation and constantly breaking box office records.

In September, Almond Pictures, an animation film studio under Autumn Pictures, began the process of importing the film, contacting Toho, the copyright holder of "Your Name," through Japan's GAGA distribution company.

However, because the DVD submitted for review was leaked and copied in advance, and high-definition links appeared online, Almond Films had to stop importing it.

The leak had a significant impact on Almond Films at the time.

Despite the persistent piracy of "Your Name" in China after the National Day holiday, Almond Films still chose to take the risk again.

Almond Films kept a low profile this time, not publicizing its intention to import "Your Name," but it has continued its efforts to combat piracy.

Also after the National Day holiday, after learning that Li Qiutang had given the role of Zhu Xiaoyan to his wife, Li Bingbing chose to take on the role in "The Meg".

Li Qiutang didn't really manage this film. Actually, if it were him, he wouldn't have dragged Li Bingbing through this for so long. It doesn't matter who plays Zhang Suyin, but the team seems to have decided on her and kept her there for months.

However, it was a success in the end, and Li Bingbing boarded a plane to New Zealand.

That day, Li Qiutang was working at the Huairou base. "The Butterfly Lovers" was confirmed to start filming in mid-next month, and casting for "The Wandering Earth" had begun.

The casting team first decided on Han Ziang, a role that the screenwriters had in mind when writing the script, but the casting process didn't start with Han Ziang, but rather with the CN171-11 rescue team.

Normally, for large-scale casting calls like this, aside from the main and minor roles, casting calls for other characters are not released to the industry. This applies not only to the main characters, but also to important supporting roles.

However, because "The Wandering Earth" was not well-regarded by the industry beforehand, the casting team, in order to make a good impression, surprisingly went against the norm and issued the casting requirements for the CN171-11 Rescue Team to the industry as a group instruction.

In fact, this could be considered a form of advance publicity.

The official Weibo account for the movie "The Wandering Earth" was registered a long time ago, but it is very quiet and has few followers.

On this day, the official Weibo account released an announcement:
"Project Wandering Earth Launched! Global Casting for the Movie 'The Wandering Earth' Officially Begins!"

The attached image shows the actor requirements.

"Cast actors needed: 1. Three males, aged 30-40, with some established acting credits, 180cm-185cm tall; 2. Female, aged 20-30, graduates of professional acting schools preferred, those with acting experience preferred, 165cm-172cm tall; 3. Male, aged 40-50, with some established acting credits, around 180cm tall. All roles require a military bearing. Actors must be of good character, have no bad habits, no obvious tattoos, be willing to undergo haircuts and action training, and be obedient to management. Agents and actors are welcome to recommend or nominate themselves."

The poster concludes with instructions on how to submit your resume.

As expected, the actions of the "Wandering Earth" production team attracted attention within the industry.

The so-called lack of optimism about "The Wandering Earth" comes from the investment perspective. Many companies are unwilling to invest in this film, but this has nothing to do with the actors. They work for a fixed salary, and the director is an industry bigwig like Li Qiutang.

Therefore, after the training program was launched, many actors in the industry were willing to give it a try.

These actors won't be able to reach Li Qiutang yet; a casting team is helping with the selection.

That day, as usual, Li Qiutang arrived at the Huairou base early to work.

"Director, someone's visiting the set."

"Who is it? Didn't we say we weren't allowed to come? How many people are coming every day? How am I supposed to do my job?" But some people the staff couldn't stop, and this was the one who came today.

Lin Chaoxian and Peng Yuyan are currently very popular.

But Li Qiutang wasn't familiar with either of them, so what was the point of her visiting the set? Actually, this was the fault of one of the producers on the set. The two had told the producer a few days ago that they would visit Director Li today, but he forgot to inform Li Qiutang of this.

The success of "Operation Mekong" is said to be due to the efforts of Autumn Pictures, but to my shame, Li Qiutang never went to the "Operation Mekong" set.

However, Li Qiutang still received the two. Li Qiutang had never met Lin Chaoxian, but she had met Peng Yuyan a few times.

"Oh, Director Li, it's an honor to meet you. I've been wanting to visit you for a long time." Lin Chaoxian was very polite. As soon as they met, he shook Li Qiutang's hand and said with a warm smile, "Here are some tea and snacks." His assistant handed over two bags.

"Thank you." Li Qiutang gestured for her assistant to accept the money.

After they sat down, Li Qiutang said, "Your movie was such a hit during the National Day holiday, how come you still have time to come here? It's almost 9 million now, right?"

"Hehe, we reached 9 million yesterday." This achievement is something Lin Chaoxian can be proud of. "This is Eddie Peng."

"Hello, director." The director in front of him was two years younger than him, but Eddie Peng didn't act arrogantly at all.

“We’ve met before.” The two shook hands.

After exchanging pleasantries, Lin Chaoxian explained the purpose of his visit: to see the preparations for "The Wandering Earth" and to learn from them.

"Director Li is number one in industrialized film production in mainland China." While this statement may be flattery, it's not entirely without merit.

Li Qiutang welcomed this exchange and learning opportunity, and immediately took the two to the studio to explain things to them.

The preparation work for "The Wandering Earth" was only partially carried out in Beijing. Crew members were stationed in Liangxi, Chengdu, Hengdian, Oriental Movie Metropolis, and even overseas to follow up on related work.

“You’ve come at just the right time,” Li Qiutang said, showing the two the exoskeleton protective suits from the film crew. “This equipment was designed by our domestic team and manufactured by Weta Digital. It was just shipped from New Zealand the day before yesterday, and you are the first people to see it.”

Li Qiutang also showed the two some new technologies used during the preparation of "The Wandering Earth", such as VR location scouting, cloud storage, and collaboration.

VR location scouting technology is being developed in collaboration with Huawei's subsidiary, while cloud technology is being developed in collaboration with Tencent. The former is already usable, though the effect is only so-so, but it does save time and effort. The latter is still in the exploratory stage.

After listening, Lin Chaoxian praised Li Qiutang for his intelligence, saying, "Compared to you, we are really a makeshift team." He even made an appointment with Li Qiutang's special effects supervisor on the spot, saying that he would consult him in the future and use these new technologies in his film crew.

Regarding the dynamic preview, Li Qiutang said that domestically, some people say they value it, while others say they don't.

"Many investors are unwilling to spend too much money on pre-production. Spending 10 or 20 million to make the whole film into an animated film is crazy. Many production teams just make a 20 or 30 minute dynamic preview and that's it. But this money should be spent. A full-length dynamic preview can actually save a lot of money."

He then showed the two a 20-minute animated preview clip of "The Wandering Earth" that had been completed so far.

After the two finished their visit and study, more than an hour had passed, and the group returned to the lounge for a short rest.

"Director Li, your 'The Wandering Earth' is sure to be good," Lin Chaoxian said. "I saw that the production team posted an actor recruitment notice a few days ago. You need male actors with a military bearing, right?"

What do you think of Eddie?

(End of this chapter)