This actor has something

Chapter 474 False Promises

Infinite Challenge became a hit, an absolute sensation.

The show hadn't even been filmed yet, the cast had just been finalized, and the director was busy with other things, but under these circumstances, Infinite Challenge became a hit simply because of its title.

Even the producer, He Daqi, had no idea what would happen during the actual filming, but the reporters described it in great detail, not only announcing the regular cast members but also providing a detailed list of guest stars.

Isn't that amazing?

At first, He Daqi was quite interested in finding out who was so bold as to leak the information, since Asia-Pacific's confidentiality measures have always been strict and these regular guests have all signed confidentiality agreements.

When "Where Are We Going, Dad?" was being filmed, the explosive news that He Daqi had two children was kept completely secret until the show was about to air, when He Daqi himself finally revealed the news.

But right after the contract was signed, someone leaked the information. How could He Daqi be at ease?

He Daqi was all set to go on a rampage, but then he saw that the reporters' revelations were getting more and more accurate, even revealing the filming locations for the first few episodes. At this point, He Daqi suddenly lost interest in investigating.

Since there was no one else around, He Daqi had only shown the rough filming process to Lu Yang and Liu Ying. Even Wang Jinghua only knew the general outline. Lu Yang would never be so crazy as to go out and spread rumors. So this bombshell must have been released by Liu Ying.

He Daqi roughly knew why Ya Yue hadn't had any major projects this year. He guessed that Liu Ying wanted to use this incident to create some hype. Otherwise, although Ya Yue had made a lot of money from TV dramas and low-budget movies this year, the lack of significant activity would not be good for Ya Yue's stock price.

So after learning that it was Liu Ying who released the information, He Daqi could only cooperate as much as possible. What else could he do?
You have to understand that even a slight fluctuation in Asia Pacific's stock price can be a small profit, and a big fluctuation would be even more exciting. A lot of people are waiting to profit from this, so He Daqi can't afford to act recklessly.

However, there was a benefit: Shanghai TV station quickly sent people over to cover the initial filming costs. The reason was simply to ensure that He Daqi could solidify the current guest lineup, fearing that Asia-Pacific might dismantle the current lineup due to funding issues.

He Daqi was quite embarrassed. He had only put together a guest lineup and already made money. This variety show was still just a concept. People were only willing to trust him because of his reputation.

To be honest, He Daqi thought that Asia-Pacific Television had a pretty good relationship with Shanghai TV, and that his own reputation was quite useful. He was quite pleased with himself for a while.

But He Daqi didn't think so now. Things took a turn for the worse, leaving him speechless. He thought he was already ruthless enough, but he never expected that there were capable people at Shanghai TV who were even more ruthless than him.

They directly held a bidding conference to auction off the title sponsorship of Infinite Challenge and other various sponsorships. This concept variety show has been played to an extreme. Before filming even started, the advertising was almost sold out.

What made He Daqi most furious was that the title sponsorship was ultimately won by Yan Jiu's mobile phone brand, Red Crab. After all that, He Daqi still had to pay a share of the money.

If you had said so earlier, He Daqi would have given Yan a list of nine names and let him sponsor various film and television dramas according to the list, guaranteeing that they would all be blockbusters.

The bidding site was still bustling, but He Daqi didn't want to stay any longer. He happily came over to watch the drama unfold, only to find himself caught in the crossfire, leaving him feeling quite melancholy.

After casually greeting the person in charge of Shanghai TV, He Daqi quietly got up and left the bidding hall through the staff entrance.

He found a quiet spot and took out his phone to call Yan Jiu.

"Hey, Yan Jiu, this is He Daqi. What were you thinking, sending someone to bid for the title sponsorship of Infinite Challenge?"

"Mr. He, this is a plan that the company's senior management came up with after careful study and discussion. We believe this variety show has great potential. After securing sponsorship for the first season, we can gain some advantages if we want to continue as the title sponsor."
After Mr. Gou's previous investment, our new factory has officially started production, and capacity is gradually catching up. So we're looking to test the waters in the domestic market. Our main goal going forward is to place advertisements. Plus, this variety show is related to you, Mr. He, so we've prioritized analyzing whether it's suitable."

Yan Jiu had guessed that He Daqi would call her, so she was well prepared and explained He Daqi's doubts with a concise answer.

He hadn't paid much attention to Yan Jiu's side to begin with, and now, after hearing about the new developments in the mobile phone brand, He Daqi was bewildered and speechless.

"Ya Yue also has a TV series that has been agreed upon with Shanghai TV, called Love Apartment. Since you guys are going to advertise everywhere, we can arrange for someone to talk to Shanghai TV about sponsoring the series later."

"Okay, Mr. He."

"Okay, I'll hang up now."

After ending the call, He Daqi put his phone in his pocket, smacked his lips, and felt that the money shouldn't be wasted. Fortunately, the variety show hadn't officially started filming yet, so he could make up for it by trying his best to get the sponsor's products featured in the show.

Especially since Red Crab Phone is their own product, they really need to think carefully about what the plot requires.

……

……

Only those who have worked at the Asia-Pacific Film & Television Post-Production Center will know how comprehensive their post-production process is.

Xu Guangtou now deeply understands that this place is simply a paradise for novice directors.

The staff here are all more professional than him, a director who came to the profession halfway through his career. He can ask them anything he doesn't understand. For example, Xu Guangtou knows that there are more than a dozen junior directors who graduated from the directing department of Beijing Film Academy.

Everyone here has some skills, they just aren't famous yet.

At first, Xu Guangtou was puzzled as to why so many skilled people were all gathered here doing post-production. Later, after inquiring, he realized that there were more people than he had imagined. They were all making low-budget films and television dramas. Often, a group of three or four people could find a way to put together a production crew. Those who filmed quickly could produce two or three works a year.

Upon further inquiry, it turned out that the directors on the Asia-Pacific side received a share of the profits. These seemingly insignificant directors were making Xu Guangtou envious of their earnings in a year, quietly accumulating wealth. No wonder they were all holed up here.

Xu Guangtou was initially a bit arrogant after making a film about a man lost on the road, and with He Daqi's plan to create a series of "Lost" movies, he now realizes he's nothing.

Good news: as long as you get the script and finish filming a movie in Asia, you can handle the post-production yourself.

Bad news... same as above.

"So how do you guys usually get scripts? Is it all Mr. He who comes up with the inspiration, and then you guys fill in the details?" "What are you thinking? We can't even snag Mr. He's projects. Generally, Mr. He comes up with the inspiration, then the screenwriters appointed by the big director perfect the script, and then it's filmed. Based on the box office data, the editorial department jumps on the bandwagon and comes up with a bunch of scripts with similar themes and plots. We just film them as fast as we can and get a piece of the action. For example, Painted Skin. Now there's Painted Wall, Painted Bones, Painted Demon, Painted God, Painted Monster, and so on and so forth, a whole bunch of low-budget copycat works."

Xu Guangtou was completely dumbfounded. After a long while, he finally asked, "Painted Skin is a fantasy drama, right? If we follow the trend of Painted Skin, what about the special effects in post-production? There's no way to cut costs on this, is there?"

"The top two floors are the graphic design and color department, specializing in special effects. It's a company that spun off from Asia-Pacific. It's full of junior students from Beijing Film Academy. They have a complete set of special effects for Painted Skin that they produced back then. With a little bit of connections, you can find a special effects team to help you transfer the effects and make them look beautiful, even better than you can imagine."

Holy crap! You guys have turned filmmaking into an industrial assembly line? Is this for real?

Xu Guangtou had also heard that during the heyday of Hong Kong cinema, a movie could be filmed in as little as a week. However, those were drama films. Now, even fantasy films are being made like that, which is simply outrageous.

The most ridiculous thing is that they copy themselves, and others can't imitate them. They take care of the entire production process from top to bottom. As long as the initial project is done well, it's hard not to make money later on.

Spurred on by these shrewd, money-making tycoons, Xu Guangtou also became a little anxious. Even though he hadn't finished the later parts of "Lost in Thailand," he was already thinking about what He Daqi had said about "Lost in India."

It seems that He Daqi arranged for me to go to the editorial department to find someone to work on the script, and what else did he say?
As Xu Guangtou was pondering this matter, he looked up and saw He Daqi, the person involved, coming out of the elevator, followed by Lu Yang, who had finished the post-production of "After the Blooming of Flowers 2" and had gone home to rest for a few days. The two chatted as they walked toward the office.

"Mr. He," Xu Guangtou quickly greeted.

"Has Director Xu finished post-production?"

"Not yet. I just suddenly remembered that Mr. He mentioned that when you were working on the script for 'The Lost Tomb,' you said you wanted to design the background of the character you were playing. Since we happened to run into each other today, I thought I'd ask you about it."

When Xu Guangtou mentioned it, He Daqi remembered.

He thought that Yin Jiong's matter would not be resolved until at least next year, so he was not in a hurry to figure out the role of this supporting character. However, he did not expect that Xu Guangtou would start to work on the script now.

“Design me as a mixed-race child from Chinatown in India, who is extremely lucky since childhood, makes a living selling Buddhist souvenirs in Chinatown, has a particularly good relationship with the local temples, and later becomes a Buddhist by chance because of the protagonist. Remember to make my image as upright and dignified.”

After thinking for a moment, He Daqi finished designing the background. Then, ignoring Xu Guangtou's frown, he led Lu Yang into the office.

"You want to become a Buddhist disciple?" Lu Yang muttered with a strange expression as soon as he entered the room with He Daqi.

"What? You want to see my compassion?"

"No, no, senior brother, let's talk about the variety show instead." Lu Yang waved his hand repeatedly.

“No need for preparations. Just film according to my plan. The first and second episodes will both be filmed in Shanghai. The Shanghai TV station has already contacted some local departments for us. We’ll discuss how to film the rest after we’ve filmed these two episodes.” He Daqi said, placing the variety show script in front of Lu Yang.

Plans can't keep up with changes. The original idea of ​​taking it slow and preparing, and as long as we could finish filming this year, we could produce and broadcast it next year, has now been disrupted.

There's no other way. The advertising fees have already been paid out, so this variety show needs to be filmed as soon as possible. It's not that we're in a hurry to broadcast it, but we need to produce it quickly so that it can be approved by Shanghai TV. Otherwise, if we produce it while it's being broadcast and it gets stuck, then we'll be subject to breach of contract penalties.

He Daqi didn't want to take on this kind of trouble, so he decided to just send the censorship to Shanghai TV. If it didn't pass the review, there would be plenty of time to revise it. Let Shanghai TV worry about how to revise it.

Lu Yang was frowning as he looked at the variety show script. The more he read, the deeper his frown became. After a long while, he looked up and asked, "Senior brother, why does this look different from your first design? Why are there so many soft advertisements for Red Crab phones?"

"They're the title sponsor, they paid for it, so we have to provide excellent service. Besides, the first phase was all about using our phones to do tasks everywhere, so shouldn't we praise how reliable the phone is?" He Daqi said as if it were true, looking like he'd been brainwashed by money.

"Shall I start preparing the filming crew now?"

"Yes, the sooner the better. Get people to Shanghai first. Let me know when they're ready, and I'll try to get the regular guests to free up a week of their schedules so we can film the first and second episodes."

Lu Yang didn't ask He Daqi why he was in such a hurry all of a sudden. If they started preparing for filming now, the timing would be quite right. At least by the time filming was finished, it would be before the release of "After the Flowers Bloom, the Hundred Flowers Kill 2". This was good news for Lu Yang.

Judging from He Daqi's words, he was prepared to continue to work hard to take over the remaining filming tasks, which relieved Lu Yang of his worries.

The two discussed the filming process in detail in the office for two hours. When they felt it was about time, Lu Yang hurriedly went to prepare the film crew.

He Daqi clicked his tongue, then looked at the script for a while. Since he couldn't help much by staying in Asia, he took the elevator down to the garage and got into the van.

In less than half an hour, the convoy returned to the manor villa. He Daqi entered the villa but did not see Zhou Huimin and the two children. Just as he was wondering about this, Zhou Huimin called him.

“I saw you’re back. I’m leading the kids in hopscotch at the gym. Just come over here.”

"I'm not going. You take care of them. I have something to do."

Zhou Huimin was silent for a while after hearing this. She was about to tell He Daqi to put down what he was doing and come over to play with the child, but then she hesitated.

After a long pause, he asked casually, "Do you remember you promised the children that you would take them to South Korea to go on a yacht trip?"

"Of course I remember. I'll be going in about ten days. Something came up, but it won't delay my trip to South Korea."

“He Daqi…you’ve already made up for it. In about ten days, they’ll be going back to kindergarten. What? Are you planning to ask for a long leave for them?”

He Daqi was stunned for a moment. He thought Zhou Huimin was joking with him. He moved the phone away from his ear, put it in front of him, swiped a couple of times to open the calendar, and then realized that Zhou Huimin was not lying.

Why did this summer go by so fast? He Daqi was lost in thought.

(End of this chapter)