The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 596 Lineup
It was June 2007, and "The Grandmaster" was almost ready to start filming. However, Xu Jiuyang was presiding over a meeting at "File 404".

Yes, "File No. 404" is the renamed "Bureau 749".

The name "Bureau 749" is too unlucky. It's easy for someone to think of Lu Taro's terrible film. At least Zhang Yimou's "Half River Green" could make the audience with little sensitivity laugh thanks to the comedic performances of a few actors. "Bureau 749" is just a complete mess. It would be more appropriate to change the name.

As for why it's called "File 404," it's obviously a joke. In the internet age, a great joke can spread very quickly, like the famous "Ming Shi" or "Guangzhi, save me," and so on.

404 is an HTTP status code that indicates that the server cannot find the page or resource requested by the user. Over time, it has been used by netizens as a euphemism for something being missing.

Using it in a movie title can imply the top-secret nature of the files. With a little effort in the publicity and distribution, netizens will spontaneously help spread the word.

Of course, although it was said that Xu Jiuyang was presiding over the meeting, he was actually just an observer; the one who officially presided over it was Dong Qing.

She is also the producer of "File 404". There is not much to do at the investment company at the moment. She and Zhou Tao have been working together to manage the investment company and the game company very well. Zhou Tao is only a supervisor at Shenlei Technology. The specific affairs are handled by professional managers, and so far there have been no problems.

In addition, Xu Jiuyang brought the Xu sisters over from Angela and sent them to help him. Since "File 404" also invested in the project, it was very appropriate to call her over to be the producer.

It's worth mentioning that the Xu sisters aren't actually sisters; they just happen to have names like Xu Zi X. Interestingly, after having sex with them, Xu Jiuyang remembered that in his previous life, Xu Ziqi seemed to have married into another Hong Kong Li family besides the Cucumber Li family. How amusing!

"Everyone has met Director Feng Xiaogang; he will be in charge of this filming." Dong Qing was introducing the main members of the crew.

Feng Kuzi smiled and nodded to everyone, looking kind and approachable.

He had no choice but to humble himself. Although Huayi Brothers' bankruptcy was blamed on Kai Zi Ge, his reputation also plummeted. After all, this version of "The Banquet," despite being forcibly re-edited, was only slightly better than the version from someone's previous life. At most, it was just more human-like, but the overall flaws were not improved much, such as Ge You's portrayal of the emperor.

This is something that really can't be held back. Although comedians can act in serious dramas, it requires the director, screenwriter, and actors to have a good chemistry to achieve good results.

The play "The Banquet," adapted from "Hamlet," is neither entirely Chinese nor entirely Western, with a very chaotic storyline. Feng Xiaogang himself couldn't grasp this genre, so he naturally relaxed his requirements for the actors.

Ge You clearly felt the script was mediocre, and without the director's supervision, his performance inevitably came across as somewhat perfunctory.

Thus, this version of "The Banquet" will only be barely watchable in this lifetime.

Then, if people have seen the original version of "The Banquet", their tolerance for this version of "The Banquet" will be greatly increased. But since people haven't seen it, there are naturally all kinds of ridicule. At that time, gossip such as "Feng Xiaogang can no longer make movies" circulated everywhere, making him suffer.

Especially those people like Ye Jing who gave him the nickname "Feng Kuzi" (Feng's Pants), who fueled the flames in various ways, it was only because of the huge controversy surrounding "The Promise" that he firmly occupied the public's attention, otherwise he would definitely have been subjected to verbal attacks.

Under these circumstances, Feng Xiaogang had no bargaining power when faced with the olive branch extended by the "File 404" production team.

"My name is Jing Tian. I just released my first music album last year. This is my first time acting in a movie. I hope you seniors will give me your guidance." After being introduced, Da Tiantian stood up and bowed very politely.

Everyone naturally welcomed her with applause. Most of the people who attended the meeting knew about Da Tiantian through their own channels. Even if they didn't know her specific background, they knew that she must be someone important.

Is it really possible to star in a movie right away?
As for the few who don't quite understand, don't worry, they all have someone protecting them. "I can't explain it too clearly to you, but basically, don't pay attention to her, don't provoke her, just play your own role well," Xu Jiuyang said in a low voice to Wang Baoqiang, who was sitting next to him.

He will play a young soldier who sacrifices himself to save the female lead in the movie.

"I understand, Brother Yang." Bao Baoqiang nodded repeatedly, but seemed somewhat absent-minded.

Xu Jiuyang knew he was thinking about his girlfriend. After all, she was trained by a top-notch institution through Angela and Li Yunxin, and she was even from a media university, which perfectly matched his aesthetic.

Someone like Ma Jinlian could easily coax a baby into losing his mind, let alone this special agent specifically targeting him.

This is not a problem. Wang Baoqiang's professionalism is still trustworthy. Moreover, when we told him it was a supporting role, he agreed without hesitation.

Although "Man Jiang Hong" didn't make Bao Bao a superstar, as the lead actor and with a well-developed character, it still significantly boosted his fame. In ordinary productions, without a clear lead actor, it's not worth paying attention to.

After introductions and a brief initial briefing on the preparations, the meeting concluded.

As before, after everyone left, Da Tiantian happily approached someone and said, "Brother Yang, Brother Yang, did you watch the video I sent this time?"

"I watched it, and she acted quite well," Xu Jiuyang praised, while secretly feeling a little impressed that she did have a bit of acting talent.

The video that Jing Tian sent via email depicted the final scene of the script, where the female lead, after realizing her mistake, actively distracts the monster, giving the male lead and the others a chance to escape.

The challenge of this section lies in achieving both explosive power and restraint.

It sounds contradictory: how can you be restrained while having an outburst? However, it is actually possible. The most direct example is the scene in the original "A World Without Thieves" where Milk Tea Liu eats roast duck.

For new actors, performing this kind of scene can easily turn into hysterical yelling and screaming, which can be off-putting.

When Xu Jiuyang asked Jing Tian to perform this scene, he hoped she would back down. He even specifically told her not to push herself too hard, as she couldn't portray such nuanced emotions yet.

Unexpectedly, in the video that was sent, her performance, although still a bit immature, was passable.

More importantly, she performed without any props by herself without any help. In other words, if someone had helped guide the performance and used montage to assist and build up the atmosphere, it would have been possible to achieve a score of 70 or even 75.

For a new actor, delivering a performance of this caliber during a highlight moment of the role is already quite impressive, especially considering it's a commercially oriented film aimed at a broad audience.

In fact, if the movie is popular, this could very well become one of her signature roles.

For most actors, regardless of their talent, the first two or three roles they play are the ones they put the most effort into. If they put in the effort and are lucky, they may create classics and representative works.

(End of this chapter)