Huayu: When the director changed his major

When Cheng Xi was in China, the second assistant director in the United States would report the filming progress to Deng Jie in writing every day.

Therefore, Cheng Xi was fully aware of the situation on set.

As for wanting to go to the film set as soon as he landed in New York, it was obviously to cheer everyone up.

Almost all the actors are present, but the lead actor Qin Feng and the actual director are not, which has dampened everyone's morale somewhat.

This is why Xin Yukun looks so tired.

After all, maintaining a multinational film crew while the main actors are not present is not easy.

Now that I'm here, I should show myself as soon as possible.

He was the anchor of the film crew.

The production crew sent three cars to pick up Cheng Xi and her group.

The four main creators, Cheng Xi, Wang Baoqiang, Zhu Zhu, and Xin Yukun, sat in one car.

Cheng Xi had been abroad before, but those places were all in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

This is my first time visiting the beautiful country, New York.

The so-called world's largest city.

So he looked out the window out of curiosity.

Zhu Zhu was introducing the street scenes on both sides and some landmark buildings that they passed by.

Many people may not know Washington, but they have certainly heard of New York, and some may even subconsciously think that New York is the capital of the beautiful country.

The situation in China is somewhat similar to that in Beijing and Shanghai.

Many foreigners who are unfamiliar with China may only know Shanghai.

In fact, Cheng Xi saw the panoramic outline of New York when the plane was about to land.

With skyscrapers rising on both sides of the Hudson River, the Empire State Building stands out, giving one the feeling of being on the banks of the Huangpu River.

And on Liberty Island not far away, the Statue of Liberty can also be faintly seen.

To be fair, although Cheng Xi is a very patriotic person, it must be said that the United States does indeed have the demeanor of a great power.

If someone from an ordinary country came to the United States and hadn't seen much of the world, they would indeed find the air here sweeter.

Freedom and democracy seem so readily available.

But Cheng Xi knew very well.

This democracy is based on your obedience to him and your willingness to be his subordinate; it is only given to you on the surface.

Cheng Xi was fully aware of how terrifying capitalists were.

Once confrontation begins, any attempt to reason with anyone is out of necessity.

After all, this country's rise was tainted by original sin.

From top to bottom, everyone believes that might makes right.

As Cheng Xi sat in the car, listening to Zhu Zhu's introduction and looking out at the bustling traffic and magnificent buildings, he couldn't help but smile and think to himself.

No wonder so many people regard this place as a beacon.

In Cheng Xi's view, it may have been true in the past, but not now, and even less likely to be true in the future.

The unprecedented changes of the century must be observed in the eyes of this great Eastern power.

After driving for more than half an hour, we arrived at today's filming location—a police station near Chinatown.

Since Cheng Xi wasn't there, the scenes filmed were either supporting roles or scenes where Qin Feng wasn't present.

Today's segment features a conversation between the female lead, detective Chen Ying, and her superior at the police station.

In the original film, an actor who looked very similar to Pu Zi was chosen to play the role.

However, Pu Zi has not yet started his presidential campaign.

So Cheng Xi made a slight change to the script here.

Otherwise, it would directly expose one's foresight.

According to the timeline, Pu Zi should be about to embark on his presidential journey, but it's estimated that no one is optimistic about him right now.

I reckon they were all looking at me with mockery and disdain.

Especially those people in Washington.

To be honest, Pu Zi's experience is truly inspiring.

He was just a nobody at the party, and Lucian made him look incredibly humiliated.

But a few years later, he made a triumphant return.

This swept away Lucian and his establishment.

Okay, let America be great again.

At 9:30 a.m., Cheng Xi and others arrived at the film set.

Staff have already started setting up the set.

Everyone was delighted to see Cheng Xi arrive and greeted her warmly.

"Hello, Director Cheng!"

"Director Cheng, you've arrived!"

Cheng Xi also nodded in response.

Aside from the local actors, 70% of the creative team Cheng Xi used this time were veterans from "Detective Chinatown 1," who knew Cheng Xi's temperament and made the collaboration smoother.

Thirty percent of the teams used were local, partly to better coordinate the filming process.

The schedule for today is to start filming at 10 o'clock, and the actors have all arrived and started getting their makeup done.

After arriving at the film set, Zhu Zhu went straight to the dressing room.

Xin Yukun then said:
"Boss, we thought you'd be on set this afternoon, so we scheduled the group scenes for this afternoon."

Cheng Xi understood what Xin Yukun meant: everyone originally thought they would be welcoming him in the afternoon.

There aren't enough people right now, so even if we try to boost morale, the effect probably won't be significant.

"It's alright, I'll take a look first. Let's have all the main creators gather at 2 PM, and I'll also call Smith over."

"Okay, boss, I'll have someone arrange it."

The morning's scenes were simple, consisting of dialogue and some background information about the police station.

The main focus is on the personality of Chen Ying, played by Zhu Zhu.

This can be considered a setup for what's to come.

This was also the first time Cheng Xi had seen Zhu Zhu act on set, and she was impressed by her beautiful policewoman outfit.

Especially the pistol slung at his waist.

I couldn't help but recall a beautiful scene from when I was practicing shooting at the shooting club.

Honestly, looking at her slightly pouting lips, with that defiant look, it was quite striking.

I really want to shoot her, or be shot by her.

The older members of the crew all knew Cheng Xi, but some of the local actors were completely unfamiliar with this young man.

When they heard that this person was actually the director and the boss of the film, they were all surprised and looked at Cheng Xi frequently.

During filming, everyone knew that this movie was a sequel, as the first film grossed 16.5 billion RMB.

Converted to US dollars, it also has a box office of more than 2.7 million US dollars.

This seemed incredibly unbelievable to everyone.

Are Chinese films really that good now?
Not to mention they had already heard that this young director had other films with even higher box office returns.

He can now be considered the number one person in China.

Although many people still look down on Chinese films, thinking that apart from kung fu movies, they are all industrial garbage.

But no matter what, seeing Cheng Xi at such a young age is still quite shocking.

After all, he's young, and he must be very, very rich!

Police Chief: "They managed to escape like this? What kind of nonsense is this? Is this some kind of Chinese farce?"

Chen Ying (Zhu Zhu): "One is the suspect Song Yi, and the other two are detectives hired by Uncle Qi! I don't know why they are together."

Police Chief: "Why did you hire these idiots? Can't we investigate? Arrest them all!"

Chen Ying: "They are just detectives, not criminals!"

"."

Cheng Xi: "Click~ Not bad."

"One more in five minutes."

The morning's filming ended quickly.

Cheng Xi hadn't directed in a long time, and with the added jet lag, he felt quite rusty.

The moment Zhu Zhu finished filming, she went to Cheng Xi's side and confidently asked:
"So, Director Cheng, is my acting up to your standards?"

Upon hearing this, Xin Yukun first replied with a smile:
"Zhu Zhu, your performance today was even better than usual. You really captured the feeling of arguing your point!"

Cheng Xi chose Zhu Zhu as the lead actress because he had seen her previous performances in film and television dramas.

Indeed, she moved the audience emotionally even in this simple scene today. So I praised her:
"She's worthy of being the woman I've set my sights on."

Cheng Xi's double entendre made Zhu Zhu even happier.

"Director Cheng certainly has a good eye!"

If it were any other actor, they would definitely be nervous if Cheng Xi suddenly appeared next to them.

It takes a long time for me to get into the zone.

After all, Cheng Xi has relatively high requirements for film actors.

He often swore on set.

Zhu Zhu is clearly different; the more Cheng Xi is there, the more motivated she becomes to perform.

And they did perform better.

She perfectly captured the essence of a beautiful female detective.

This is the true demeanor of a strong, independent woman.

To be honest, she and Fan Binbin are quite similar in personality.

However, Fan Binbin's confidence stems from her hard work and struggle to the top.

Zhu Zhu, on the other hand, was born this way, stubborn yet possessing a touch of nobility.

Whether one is better or worse depends on personal preference.

Cheng Xi clearly preferred Zhu Zhu's look, which was more confident and brighter.

Xin Yukun then suggested:
"Boss, why don't we go and rest first? You must be tired after running around all day. I see Zhou Ye and Xiao Tian can't stay awake and have fallen asleep next to me."

Cheng Xi also looked to the side at this moment.

Sister Feng was seen guarding the three little ones.

Zhou Ye and Tian Xiwei had already fallen asleep.

This is on a noisy film set.

Cheng Xi told them to rest in the dressing room or in the car first, but they insisted on coming to join in the fun.

Cheng Xi had no choice.

See? Actions speak louder than words.

"Alright, it's about time. Let's settle in first. We'll start work promptly at 2 PM."

UTA Brokerage branch in Manhattan, New York.

Veteran agent Smith is currently in talks with several producers regarding the upcoming "The Conjuring 2" film project.

Just then, a phone call came in. Smith glanced down, frowned, and hung up.

"Whose call is it? You can answer it."

"Yellow monkey"

"Ha ha ha ha."

This remark drew a burst of laughter.

The room was full of white people, so saying a few discriminatory things could actually help to build rapport.

"Is it that Chinese film crew business you recently landed?"

"Yes, Li Bingbing introduced him to me, saying he's a great director in China. Does China have any good directors?"

“If there were a good director, Li Bingbing wouldn’t have come to play a supporting role for us.”

"And they even found someone from CAA to play the female lead, it's unbelievable."

UTA has been fiercely competing with CAA, the top talent agency, lately.

However, one more composed producer said:
“Smith, never speak like that to James Wynne again.”

“Of course! James is different from them; he’s half American.”

Smith gave him an "OK" sign and said it repeatedly.

James Wan is the English name of Wen Ziren.

He rose to fame in Hollywood at the age of 27 with "Saw".

Later, he won the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film with the low-budget horror film "The Conjuring," thus establishing his reputation.

He's been in the spotlight lately.

His film, "Furious 7," is currently showing in theaters and has grossed nearly $14 billion worldwide in just over a month.

To become the most sought-after director right now.

Moreover, he is so young, and his future prospects are limitless.

So he is about to start the Conjuring 2 project, which has piqued the interest of everyone present.

I'm trying to find a way to get involved and get a share of the profits.

As everyone was chatting and laughing, Smith's phone rang again.

He could only shrug helplessly and go outside to answer the call.

"Okay, no problem, I'll be there this afternoon."

After hanging up the phone, Smith chuckled:
"Edison Chan, do you think you're Jackie Chan?"

"You want me to be at your beck and call? You'd better get used to the pace of Hollywood. This is America, you yellow-skinned monkey!"

2 PM, Chinatown.

The filming location is Uncle Seven's mansion.

After all the actors and main cast members had arrived, a translator from the production crew came to Xin Yukun's side and said something.

Xin Yukun's face immediately turned somewhat ugly.

Cheng Xi: "What's wrong, Yu Kun?"

Xin Yukun: "Boss, Smith said he had something come up and won't be coming this afternoon."

As Xin Yukun spoke, he kept glancing at his boss's expression.

He knew Cheng Xi's personality; the boss was always kind and gentle to those who were obedient and capable.

However, for those who disobey, especially those who neglect their work, they will absolutely not tolerate any dissent.

Zhu Zhu, who was also nearby, learned of the situation.

Zhu Zhu: "Didn't you already agree? Why did you change your mind at the last minute? The people at UTA can't be this unreliable."

In Zhu Zhu's view, some people in the United States are unreliable.

However, promises made will at least be kept in the spirit of the contract on the surface.

Cheng Xi's expression remained unchanged.

He waved his hand and said:

"Never mind that, let's begin normally."

Cheng Xi certainly knew a thing or two about Smith's background.

Before coming to the United States, Deng Jie had already given Cheng Xi a general overview of the information available here.

UTA stands for Uninited Talent Agency.

It is United Artists Agency, one of the five most famous talent agencies in Hollywood.

Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Jim Carrey and other superstars are all under his management.

The directors include super directors like the Coen brothers and Christopher Nolan.

Moreover, it is a giant spanning fields such as film and television, literature, music, games, and sports.

The company has nearly 1500 employees worldwide and an annual gross profit of over $3 million.

Moreover, they are all notorious "one-tenth" types, taking 10% of the artist's earnings as commission.

In other words, the resources they leverage need to be multiplied by 10.

Cheng Xi's Zui Bai Entertainment also follows a major entertainment strategy, but compared to others, it is indeed somewhat lacking.

And the recent big news is also about UTA.

Nearly 10 CAA brokers suddenly resigned en masse, taking their clients with them, and jumped ship to their arch-rival UTA.

For a time, UTA was the most popular company.

CAA is currently the world's largest brokerage firm.

Spielberg and James Cameron are among those who signed them.

Zhu Zhu also followed this path.

No wonder Mr. Smith was so arrogant towards Cheng Xi.

With ambitions that even CAA dared to challenge, they certainly wouldn't care about some director from China.

It seems that Li Binbin's influence isn't very effective in America.

The treatment of Chinese actors in Hollywood can be gleaned from this.

But no matter what, even if you, Smith, have powerful backers, my sword, Cheng Xi's, is still sharp. (End of Chapter)