Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 646 Visiting Team
"Wu Kong" became the first domestic film to gross over 100 million yuan on its opening day this summer, but it still couldn't stop netizens from being dissatisfied with the film's quality.

Some people say that "Youth" which was released the day before was even worse, but you can't compare it to a bad movie. "Journey to the West" is the biggest IP in Chinese film industry, without exception. Works based on the theme of "Journey to the West" naturally have a head start in terms of publicity and distribution. If you enjoy this advantage, you have to accept that the audience will use a magnifying glass to find your shortcomings.

"The Legend of Wukong" grossed 4 million in 4 days, but received a failing grade of 5.8.

Viewers who have read the original novel believe that the film only focuses on special effects and ignores the essence of the original work. Viewers who have not read the novel say that the film has made too many changes to "Journey to the West" and that the film does not tell the story of "Journey to the West" at all.

Oh right, Jing Tian didn't act in "Youthful Days". The movie had a very short preparation period. Jing Tian was filming "Divas Hit the Road 3" abroad at the time, so the production team found Zheng Shuang instead.

She regretted missing out on a movie lead role back then. Looking back now, it's fortunate she went to record a variety show. If she had taken on "Qinghe Male High School," Jing Tian would be torn apart by netizens now.

Jing Tian's team did not expect "Love O2O" to become such a hit. This makeshift team has extremely poor resource management skills. A year after the drama became a hit, all they have arranged for Jing Tian are variety shows, and she has not received a single film or television opportunity.

Fortunately, both seasons of "The Glory of Tang Dynasty" performed well, and "Divas Hit the Road 3" also had a good broadcast effect, so Jing Tian's popularity did not drop.

Jing Tian has secured a role in a drama series, also produced by Century Autumn, which Youku has pre-purchased. The series is titled "East Palace" and will begin filming next month.

Although Li Qiutang had basically stopped managing the Century Autumn project—Cao Ping's team was more professional than hers when it came to making TV dramas—Jing Tian still sent Li Qiutang a message:
"Director, I've taken on a project for the company called 'East Palace,' which will start filming next month. I'm currently in Yanjing for equestrian and action training."

Li Qiutang, who was in Qingdao, had no idea that "Goodbye My Princess" was a production of his company. But after hearing Jing Tian say that, he figured it must be a production of his company, so he replied with a jack-of-all-trades: "Okay, then you should film it well. You have some popularity now, so film a couple of good dramas and impress the audience. Our Tian Tian is also a pretty good actress."

Like Liu Yifei, Jing Tian likes it when others praise her acting skills.

They started work at 10 a.m. that day, and within two hours they had finished filming the remaining scenes from the previous day.

Li Qiutang checked her watch; it was 5:12.

"This efficiency is a bit unusual for me," Li Qiutang said with a smile, picking up her walkie-talkie. "QC checks and adjusts the footage. If everything's fine, I'll take a break and have lunch here. All departments, get ready for the scenes we're shooting this afternoon."

The assistant director's voice came through the walkie-talkie: "Director, we're filming the underground city this afternoon, not in this studio."

Li Qiutang glanced at the schedule and said, "That's not right. This scene hasn't been finished filming, so why are we moving to another location?"

The production manager said, "There are scheduling conflicts among the actors, and several actors need to take leave to go out."

Film crews often encounter this kind of thing.

They said they would let us film for two more days without charging extra.

It's alright then, this actor is quite good at handling things.

"Have the actors from the underground city arrived yet?"

"no problem."

"If everything is alright on your end, then it's OK."

Li Qiutang was still on set communicating with the staff about filming when his assistant came in from outside the studio.

"Director, they're here."

"Who's here?" Li Qiutang asked without looking up.

"Me?" Liu Yifei's voice rang out.

Director Li looked up and saw his wife standing gracefully in front of him, wearing sunglasses and holding a bouquet of flowers.

She has a lot of oddly styled sunglasses, but she looks good in them.

"Here, these flowers for visiting the set, to give you a little ceremony." Liu Yifei presented the flowers to Director Li.

"Still doing this." He scolded him verbally, but Director Li didn't hold back when it came to his actions.

Accompanying Liu Yifei was Chen Zhixi, the executive producer of "The Wandering Earth." She laughed and said, "You two are acting quite distant. I would have thought you weren't familiar with each other."

Director Li began to speak sarcastically to Chen Zhixi: "Oh, so you know to come here. I thought you didn't know this was your film crew too."

"Here I am," Chen Zhixi said. "I didn't come for nothing, I brought you some food. Are you just starting work or finishing up?"

"We just finished shooting one set and are waiting for QC feedback. Once that's done, we'll have lunch and rest, and then move on to another location this afternoon."

"There's a truckload of watermelons outside the shed. I bought them with Yifei, and we'll distribute them to everyone later."

Both of them were visiting the "The Wandering Earth" set for the first time and greeted the main actors present.

Wu Mengda didn't even know that Li Qiutang and Liu Yifei were already married.

"Huh? You've been together for eight years and married for two?"

“Yes, that’s right,” Liu Yifei said with a smile.

Many older generation artists still don't know that Liu Yifei is married.

Liu Yifei feels a little happy every time she explains that she is already married.

"How old are you? You look no more than twenty-two or twenty-three. Are you dating so early?"

Liu Yifei laughed and said, "I was born in 87, so I'm 30 years old."

“Oh, that’s normal.” Wu Mengda couldn’t offer any advice on matters of the heart.

Liu Yifei laughed and said, "Many people don't believe I'm married. Last week I went to see Chen Peisi's play and went backstage to see him, but he didn't believe I was married either. He insisted that I was lying to him."

Li Qiutang said, "Your damn vanity is terrible."

"Hahahaha!" Everyone laughed.

This kind of joke only comes from the husband; it won't be as funny if someone else says it.

As she spoke, Li Qiutang's walkie-talkie rang: "Director, my footage is all set."

"it is good."

Li Qiutang then announced that the morning's work was over and that it was time for lunch and a rest.

In the afternoon, Liu Yifei accompanied Li Qiutang to film a scene, while Chen Zhixi stayed on set. As the executive producer, her job wasn't there.

Han Zi'ang had almost no role in the underground city, and Wu Mengda didn't come in the afternoon.

"Ah! Finally, I can take off the protective suit!" Zhao Jinmai was the happiest person during the filming of this scene. She had been wearing that protective suit for the past two months since filming began. This afternoon, they were filming the scene of her attending class at the underground city school.

Liu Yifei joked, "They're still growing. Wearing a protective suit that weighs 60 or 70 pounds every day, are you going to take responsibility if they don't grow taller?"

"Really?" Zhao Jinmai became nervous after hearing Liu Yifei's words. "Will I really stop growing?"

"Don't listen to her nonsense. You think you'll stop growing taller after filming one movie? That's an exaggeration. At most, you'll grow a little taller," Li Qiutang teased her on purpose.

"You're such an annoying person." If you were to rank the most disliked person in the "The Wandering Earth" crew, Li Qiutang would definitely be in the top three.

Li Qiutang was filming in an orderly manner, while Chen Zhixi led a team to check the accounts. She wasn't new to producing; she knew what to let go of and what to catch. As long as it wasn't too outrageous, she would turn a blind eye. After all, filming was the top priority for the crew, and everyone had to be happy to finish the filming.

"Why has the makeup team made twelve purchases in a month? Don't they usually have enough stock?" Chen Zhixi noticed something was wrong. "You report every two days, and you still report them?"

(End of this chapter)