Chinese entertainment starts with Hong Shixian

Chapter 289 How could I, Qi, be as bad as Guo Fan?
"What are you going to do?" Qi Hui asked quietly.

"I want you to act in a movie!" Lu Yang said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, you should have said so earlier..." Qi Hui immediately relaxed and smiled: "What role? Your 'Brotherhood of Blades'?"

“Of course,” Lu Yang said. “The male lead in my movie, the most handsome Imperial Guard: Shen Lian.”

"I'd like to invite you to star in this film!"

"And my sister-in-law, I've reserved the lead role for her too."

Upon hearing this, Qi Hui nodded in satisfaction. That's more like it.

But then he thought again and said with difficulty, "Old Lu, I'm currently working on a web series and can't spare the time."

The investment in "The Beginning" was not low, even more than that of Lu Yang's "Brotherhood of Blades".

Even if Qi Hui doesn't consider other factors, he still has to consider money, right?
"How could that be?" Lu Yang said seriously, "How could I possibly influence you, Senior Brother?"

"My movie is currently in the pre-production stage and will take a long time before filming can begin, probably in the second half of this year or even next year."

"I'm just letting you know in advance, remember to reserve some time for me."

"Okay, no problem." Qi Hui nodded. The timing of "Brotherhood of Blades" wouldn't affect Qi Hui's filming of "The Beginning" and "Battle of Changsha".

"There's one more thing," Lu Yang rubbed his hands together and chuckled, "Well... about that investment you mentioned before, can we talk about it?"

Qi Hui: “…”

So, you're still after my money!

"How much?" Qi Hui coughed lightly and asked.

If it's not a large amount, Qi Hui can still accept it.

"Twenty million," Lu Yang said with a smile, holding up two fingers.

"This... isn't much, and investment is certainly not a problem," Qi Hui said with a light cough. "But as you know, I'm working on 'The Beginning,' which has cost me a lot of money."

"Think about the world now. It's either a financial crisis, the US causing trouble, or a disease outbreak."

"I need to be on the safe side, don't I?"

This is not just idle talk. Last year's European debt crisis, the Prism scandal a few months later, and the H7N9 pandemic all contributed to this.

If the funding for "The Beginning" runs out, that would be a real problem.

"Don't worry, am I the kind of person who would embarrass you?" Lu Yang patted his chest and said, "As long as the funds arrive before the auction starts, it's fine."

"Hehehe... Let's sign the contract first, and then I'll use the contract to ask for some more investment."

With my senior's reputation, getting some investment will be no problem at all!

Lu Yang plans to try his luck at Huayi.

With investment from China Film Group and Qi Hui bringing his own investment to the production, wouldn't Huayi Brothers be tempted by this?
"Tsk tsk...you little rascal." Qi Hui chuckled upon hearing this: "So that's what you were planning."

"Well then, twenty million is a bit too little, I'll add another ten million for you."

As long as he doesn't ask Qi Hui for money now, Qi Hui wouldn't mind helping him more.

"Hiss... As expected of my good senior brother!" Lu Yang was greatly shocked. In fact, investing 30 million in this movie would have been enough.

However, there are ways to bid for 30 million.

If we can secure 50 million in investment, then we can bid for 50 million!

As a director, how could he possibly complain about a small investment?
"Come on, let's sign the contract. I've already drafted it."

"You little rascal, you've got quite a few tricks up your sleeve..." Qi Hui chuckled.

"Oh, not at all. You become like those you associate with." Lu Yang chuckled. "I learned it all from Lao Guo and you... hehehe."

"Hmm?" Qi Hui snorted irritably.

So what if you want to imitate Guo Degang? What does it have to do with me?
How could I, Qi, be as bad as Guo Fan?
……

Fujian Province, Egret City.

Qi Hui and Jing Tian traveled south and soon arrived at the film crew's residence.

With Xiao Yang as producer and Sun Molong as assistant director, the crew was well-organized.

Especially Lao Sun, who, as a veteran director who had worked within the system, managed everything in an orderly manner.

With their help, Qi Hui's life became much easier.

In the production office, Qi Hui flipped through the ledger in his hand, and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

It wasn't that anyone was trying to skim a profit; on the contrary, the accounts were perfectly normal, and everything was priced at market value.

No one tampered with it.

To put it simply, it's so normal it's almost abnormal.

While working on construction sites, some of the lower-level foremen would try to skim some profits. Qi Hui, having spent so much time on construction sites, was well aware of these things. As long as it wasn't too outrageous, the higher-ups would turn a blind eye.

This has become an unspoken rule; without some benefit, who would be willing to work so hard?

Do you really think everyone is a college student earning 3,000 a month?

Qi Hui stroked his chin and pulled out the cast and crew list.

Although Qi Hui had memorized it, a bad pen is worse than a good memory.

Director of Photography Guo Zengyou

Art Director Wang Wenxun

Lighting Design Cao Qian
Huang Haiping, head of the props team

Production managers: Cui Feng, He Li

……

These people all have one thing in common: they all came from the Noon Sunshine brand.

Qi Hui stroked his chin, thinking that the possible reason for not getting any benefits was that Sun Molong had been too harsh.

However, since things have already come to this, Qi Hui has no intention of changing them, so let's offer some benefits from another angle.

If you want a horse to run, you have to give it grass.
Immediately, they called over Xiao Yang and the production manager.

"You should upgrade our food standards," Qi Hui said, pointing to the film crew's menu.

"Huh?" Both Xiao Yang and the production manager were puzzled.

"Director, this standard is already very good," Xiao Yang said.

The two production managers remained silent and did not speak.

"It's alright, a little higher," Qi Hui said. "Filming is tough work, it's not unreasonable to eat well."

"The food standard will be increased by 10% on the original basis, with more seafood, pork, beef and mutton added. As for chicken, duck and goose, they should be reduced or eliminated altogether."

"Why?" Now it was the two production managers' turn to be surprised.

Chicken, duck, and goose are inexpensive and of good quality, making them the most popular choice for film crews.

"Springtime and summer are the seasons when outbreaks are more likely," Qi Hui said. "Have you forgotten about H1N1 a few years ago?"

"We must be careful in this regard; it's not too late to resume it in the summer."

As Qi Hui spoke, he stubbed out his cigarette.

Upon hearing this, the three looked at each other, but said nothing more.

The director is right. There have been too many infectious diseases in recent years, such as hand-foot-mouth disease, H1N1 influenza A, and H2N3.

We definitely need to be careful.

Thinking of this, the two production managers looked at Qi Hui differently. Besides this matter, the main reason was the increase in the food budget.

This director is such a great guy!

I used to think this director was a complete novice, too young, and was involved in such messy things as web series.

It seems a bit off-track.

But I never expected this...

……

The next day

When the opening ceremony began, Qi Hui didn't perform the ritual of offering a red cloth and a pig's head to Guan Yu. Instead, he simply announced the official start of filming in front of the entire crew.

Of course, there was a follow-up, which was giving an interview.

The opening ceremony for Qi Hui's film was attended by many media outlets, including online video platforms and media such as Sina Entertainment, Sohu Entertainment, iQiyi, Youku, and Tencent, as well as several television stations.

No print media came, not even the Southern media, which Qi Hui hated the most.

I guess they still look down on web dramas.

The main cast members of "The Beginning" are sitting in front of the camera: Qi Hui, Xiao Yang, Sun Molong, Jing Tian, ​​Lao Ling, and Xiao Zhang.

"Welcome everyone who has traveled a long way to attend the launch event for 'The Beginning'," Qi Hui said first, smiling.

"Director Qi Hui, you once said that whether a web series is cheesy or not should be judged by its content," a representative from Tencent Video spoke first.

"Without sufficient funding, you can't produce enough good content."

"Now netizens want to know, how much was invested in this web series?"

Qi Hui chuckled. As expected of Tencent, they asked such a pointed question right away.

(End of this chapter)