This actor has something

Chapter 471 Film Crew Interloper
With a plate piled high with shrimp shells in front of him, He Daqi didn't stop. He picked up another shrimp, skillfully peeled off the shell, and threw it directly into his mouth without any dipping sauce.

Boiled shrimp paired with Tsingtao beer—a gout-free meal that He Daqi loves and can't stop eating.

Thanks to convenient transportation, even though Beijing is an inland city, you can still enjoy fresh seafood. Seafood caught at the seaside in the early morning can be bought at the Beijing market in the morning. In fact, to save time, the sorting is done in Beijing. Now, Beijing has become one of the largest seafood trading markets in the country.

Presumably feeling flattered by He Daqi's hearty appetite, Cheng Long chuckled and raised his glass again. Without a word, He Daqi immediately clinked glasses with him, and the cool, ice-cold beer instantly cooled him down.

"Brother, if you have time, you can come and be a guest star during filming," He Daqi invited with a smile.

This wasn't a drunken invitation; the drinking session had only just begun, and we were busy discussing business, so we didn't drink much at all.

Others might have reservations about inviting Jackie Chan to participate in variety shows, but He Daqi doesn't have that worry. Speaking of which, when he went to South Korea with Jackie Chan before, it was Jackie Chan who led him to a South Korean variety show.

So while others might not be able to get an invitation, He Daqi is quite confident of doing so.

As expected, Jackie Chan laughed heartily upon hearing this and agreed without hesitation: "Okay, let me know when you're filming this variety show, and we'll coordinate our schedules. I'll go and record an episode."

“Then it’s settled.” He Daqi nodded with a smile, then looked at Xie Tingfeng and said, “Brother Feng, go back and think about it. I know you just had your baby and might not be in the mood to work, but this variety show has good prospects and can improve your current situation a lot.”

"No need to think about it, I can agree right now. I have to thank Mr. He for giving me this opportunity. I'm not afraid to tell you, Mr. He, that after filming Bodyguards and Assassins this year, I haven't received any other offers, so I can start recording anytime now."

Xie Tingfeng spoke sincerely and with exceptional humility. If He Daqi hadn't witnessed his former arrogance, it would have been hard to imagine how many worries had weighed on him to make him look like this now.

“…Alright! Let’s have a drink too!” He Daqi refilled his glass and raised it in invitation.

……

……

Glug! Glug! Glug!

Wang Baoqiang was drinking a large bucket of milk, looking like a refugee who had just escaped from the desert.

Behind the camera, He Daqi, who had come to visit the set on a whim, was stunned. His little brother was really something else.

"What a talent!" Xu Guangtou's line perfectly encapsulated He Daqi's thoughts at that moment.

With a click, the scene immediately erupted in noise.

Since the filming was taking place in the airport terminal, the crew was very careful to maintain order. Also, this was the last shot to be filmed at the airport, so the crew members started packing up and leaving.

To be honest, He Daqi is a bit timid right now.

There's nothing much going on today, just wanted to say hello, show up, and support Xu Guangtou. After all, it's his first time directing, and he's bound to encounter all sorts of miscellaneous things. He Daqi showing up can help him avoid a lot of trouble.

However, looking at Wang Baoqiang who was hiccuping, He Daqi was a little afraid to get closer. He was afraid that if he went over to say hello, Wang Baoqiang would lose control and vomit all over him again.

Since we're already here, it wouldn't be right not to greet them.

He Daqi greeted Wang Baoqiang with a smile from a distance: "Baoqiang, it's just one shot, there's no need to be so harsh."

Because there were many people at the airport, He Daqi was wearing a mask and sunglasses, but that didn't stop Wang Baoqiang from recognizing him at a glance. He quickly waved and replied, "Brother, you're here! Hey! Brother Xu said that this scene is going to be filmed in one take, so I finished the whole drink in one go."

Upon hearing this, He Daqi clicked his tongue and glanced at Xu Guangtou discreetly. This bald guy is really not a good person.

"Mr. He," Xu Guangtou greeted him as he approached.

"Director Xu, you go ahead with your work. I see you're preparing to move to a new filming location? Don't worry about me, I just came by to take a look."

"It's alright, everything is arranged. I have to thank Mr. He for giving me the opportunity to make this film. It's been filming for a while now, so I'd like to give you a briefing."

Xu Guangtou clearly didn't want to miss this opportunity to chat with He Daqi, so he stood beside He Daqi with a smile, not moving an inch.

Just in time, He Daqi actually had something to tell him. He had originally planned to talk about it during the post-production of the film, but now that Xu Guangtou's filming was going quite smoothly, he decided to bring it up in advance.

"I can tell from just these few shots of Director Xu's 'Lost in Thailand' that it's pretty well made. It seems you've been learning a lot from Ning Hao. But that puts my mind at ease. Now, let me tell you about the plans for the future."

Upon hearing He Daqi's words, Xu Guangtou immediately straightened his expression and his smile disappeared. Regardless of what kind of person this was, at least he had made the right gesture.

"Mr. He, please speak."

"Actually, this 'Lost on Journey' is just the beginning. I'm planning to make a 'Lost' movie series. I also have a 'Lost in Thailand' script, but I'm not in a rush to film it. I plan to insert another movie between 'Lost on Journey' and 'Lost in Thailand'."
After you finish the post-production of "Lost in Thailand," take some time to experience it in India. Then, when you return to China, come to Asia-Vietnam and have a good discussion with the editing department. Then, produce a printed version of "Lost in Thailand."
"If you can write the script for 'The Indian Revenge,' I can play a major supporting role. Let's make it clear first, my character should ideally be related to their religion. I'll give you a character sketch later. What do you think, Director Xu? Would you be willing to go through with this plan?"

"Yes, of course I'm willing!" Xu Guangtou excitedly crumpled the script in his hand into a ball.

"Okay, let's have a proper talk after you finish filming and post-production."

……

……

He Daqi discovered that even without filming, he was still incredibly busy this summer.

Preparing for a new variety show, he went to various set visits and made cameo appearances, finally managing to cover it all, and now he's going to start teaching Lu Han acting skills.

It wasn't like this last year or the year before. Back then, we weren't filming in the summer, so I could have barbecues, beer, and seafood every day. Life was so carefree.

How come we seem to be going back to the way things were?

Today, I've been busy with miscellaneous tasks for half the day again.

"Da Qi, are you really not going to come and play a cameo role?"

Chen Kaige saw He Daqi off at the entrance of the film crew, looking rather reluctant to part. Zhao Benshan, standing next to her, also seemed hesitant to speak, clearly sharing the same sentiment as Chen Kaige.

"I'm so sorry, Director Chen, I'll definitely do it next time! I've been so busy right now, I really didn't expect your production team to get things ready so quickly. Otherwise, I would have squeezed in some time to come and make a cameo appearance. What a coincidence!" To be honest, He Daqi was genuinely sincere this time. He was actually quite interested in seeing how Chen Kaige would handle "A Simple Noodle Story," and he wouldn't mind making a cameo appearance.

The problem is that he couldn't even make a cameo appearance this time, as there were still a lot of things waiting for him. He really didn't expect Chen Kaige to prepare the film crew so quickly.

When preparing for Wuji, Chen Kaige spent more than a year, but this time he only took a month. Isn't that ridiculous?

Perhaps He Daqi's refusal was within Chen Kaige's expectations. After being rejected with a final invitation, Chen Kaige didn't linger and watched as He Daqi got into the van and slowly left the film crew.

He sighed in the car, having wasted another half a day of his life.

The problem is that the remaining half-day also has to be wasted, which is really frustrating.

The van left one film set, drove for half an hour, and then entered another film set.
Jinling Photo Studio is a traditional large-scale production, with many extras, actors, and staff.

Most of the production costs are in labor, but conversely, once filming is complete, post-production costs can be reduced.

He Daqi's arrival was not surprising to everyone, after all, he had been coming over every day since filming started.

He claimed to be teaching Lu Han how to act, but every time he came, he would sit and ponder for a long time, and he would hardly have any interaction with Lu Han at all. Half an hour was considered good.

"Teacher He, I feel like I understand some of what you taught yesterday."

"As long as you understand, that's fine. No rush, take your time." He Daqi smiled and decided to give Lu Han two more days of simulation experience later.

Lu Han was unaware of He Daqi's sinister intentions. At this moment, she was excitedly asking He Daqi all sorts of questions and even took out a notebook to record what He Daqi had taught her.

He felt that He Daqi's teaching was much better than the teacher from the Beijing Film Academy that he had hired. Teacher Xu was actually a good teacher, but Lu Han just couldn't understand much of it, probably because his foundation was weak.

Unlike He Daqi, who could say a few words today and Lu Han would have a dream about it that night and understand a lot of it all at once, even though the dream was quite depressing, Lu Han just took it as something on her mind and something she dreamed about.

If you're filming "The Story of Nanjing" every day, isn't it normal to dream about the same scenes?

After another round of instruction, Lu Han happily took her notebook and went to the side to study the new knowledge.

As soon as Lu Han left, Ning Hao came over.

He frowned, looking at Lu Han with a puzzled expression, and sat down next to He Daqi as he looked at her.

"Don't you think something's strange?" Ning Hao asked, puzzled.

"What's strange about it?" He Daqi asked back.

"I feel like Xiao Lu's acting skills are pretty reliable. Isn't he supposed to be a newcomer? He only studied singing and dancing before, so how come he's better than those experienced actors when it comes to filming? Is it because Lao Zhang is really good at training actors? Or is the mentor you hired for him a real master who's good at teaching apprentices?"

He Daqi immediately objected: "Why can't it be that I taught her well? Have you even seen Painted Skin? Zhou Jie's acting skills that won her the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress were taught by me step by step!"

"Get lost! You come here every day and only teach for half a minute. What can you possibly teach in that half a minute? You've even started to pat yourself on the back. I believe you taught Sister Zhou, but you definitely didn't teach Lu Han," Ning Hao retorted with a look of disdain.

"Believe it or not, if you don't believe me, ask him directly. I have a special way of educating people."

After finishing speaking, He Daqi comfortably closed his eyes on the recliner. In the sweltering summer, hiding under a parasol and enjoying the cool breeze from the fan was quite pleasant.

Seeing that He Daqi wasn't going to say anything, Ning Hao didn't bother to argue anymore. He looked at the busy crew and prepared to organize people to continue filming as soon as the set was finished.

Seeing that Ning Hao was no longer bothering him, He Daqi immediately entered the simulation training space, simulated for exactly two days, and then exited.

Two days is enough; any longer and Lu Han might not be able to handle it.

The two-day simulation ended, but only a minute had passed in reality. He had accomplished the main purpose of his stroll over today. He picked up his bag, took out his notebook, and began to think about the variety show.

I've been working on the script on and off for so many days, and I've actually pretty much figured out the script for the variety show "Infinite Challenge" by now.

At this moment, He Daqi was simply taking out his notebook as usual to think about variety shows, not preparing to write a long article about them.

Without Lu Yang's help this time, He Daqi had to fiddle with things on his own, which slowed down the process. Even though he had plenty of time, He Daqi was starting to feel like slacking off.

Infinite Challenge is different from Where Are We Going, Dad? When we were on Where Are We Going, Dad?, He Daqi only planned to do well on the first season and decide on the rest based on the actual situation. Now, it seems that He Daqi doesn't need to worry about the rest.

As for Infinite Challenge, Ho Tai-kei is prepared to produce a high-quality production. Whether it's the first season or the later ones, it can't be worse than the original version in the library, right? After all, the original version has been filmed for so many seasons.

He Daqi doesn't want to repeat the mistakes made in "Where Are We Going, Dad?" that were overlooked in "Infinite Challenge," such as the director's issues and the regular cast's issues.

The director issue is easy to solve. He Daqi plans to wait until Lu Yang finishes the post-production of "After the Flowers Bloom, the Hundred Flowers Kill 2" before bringing him over to "Infinite Challenge" to explore new territory. At the same time, he plans to have Lu Yang train a new person to take over the second season.

The current idea is to either find a new director from the Beijing Film Academy, or to poach the original director of the domestic variety show "Infinite Challenge" that we found in the film library, even if that director is still doing odd jobs now, as this would be easier to poach.

Anyway, Lu Yang will be the one teaching. If that doesn't work, we can try teaching two at once. Even if he can't teach them all in a short time, it's okay. That way, Lu Yang will have to suffer a bit, and we can continue teaching him in the second season.

He Daqi believed that as long as he told Lu Yang that he could only continue making movies if he taught his successor properly, Lu Yang would be extremely enthusiastic in teaching his apprentice.

So the issue of variety show directors is actually quite easy to resolve.

The biggest problem now is the issue of regular guests.

Unlike the original Infinite Challenge which started with six people, Ho Tai-kei plans to have eight people in the first season.

His biggest dilemma right now is whether to keep the character of Wong Sam-shek from the original version.

People like Huang Bo, Wang Xun, Sun Honglei, and Zhang Jiashuai are all now part of Ya Yue, so there's no need to think too much; just use them.

Huang Sanshi was different. He Daqi's relationship with him was just so-so. They only exchanged text messages and phone calls during the Chinese New Year. If they were to actually weigh him, he wouldn't weigh much.

(End of this chapter)