Unboxing, Director!

Chapter 185 Better to be prepared than not and film director Ning Hao

Back at the company, Fan Binbin immediately threw himself into his work.

Her fashion career is starting to take off, and in addition, the promotion of "Xiao Shiyi Lang" is entering its final stage. She has a lot to do.

Lu Jiang immediately joined the "Dae Jang Geum" project team and gave the screenwriters new instructions.

Preparations for "Dae Jang Geum" are proceeding smoothly. The costumes, props, and other details have been completed. The next step is to enter the scene production stage. The overall project is expected to cost more than 50 million yuan. This is a real 50 million yuan, not just hype.

If you invest real money, at least in terms of aesthetics, it will definitely crush the original many times over!

Dawn's current funds are not enough to build the actual scene. They have to wait for new revenue to arrive or start attracting investment, but that would mean they have to officially announce the project directly.

According to the original plan, the investment promotion conference was scheduled to start at the end of August, but now Lu Jiang feels that the script still needs some revisions.

Given the original character design and plot development, it would be very difficult to find a replacement for Lee Young-ae in mainland China.

"Elegance reveals strength," resilience, wisdom, gentleness, and classical beauty—these requirements alone would shut out countless actresses.

Of course, there are also more suitable ones, such as Gong Li. In "Red Sorghum" and "The Story of Qiu Ju", she has a similar image. In the international arena, she can better represent the earthy feeling of Chinese women from the bottom class and is very powerful.

There's also Ju Xue, who played Empress Ma in "Zhu Yuanzhang," and she's also very suitable.

Others include Zhu Lin, Jiang Qingqing, Yong Mei, and Sun Li.

Although their acting skills, appearance, and temperament differ, most of them are quite suitable for the role.

The problem is that these actresses all have some issues, such as age. If Zhu Lin were 20 years younger, Lu Jiang would most likely choose her.

It's unlikely that Gong Li will act in a TV series, and she's also a bit too old.

In addition to these, there are also issues related to company development, which is crucial.

"Dae Jang Geum" is a global phenomenon and a huge hit, but the female lead was played by an outsider, which is not in line with Lu Jiang's interests.

Poaching talent is an option, such as recruiting younger actresses like Sun Li and Jiang Qingqing. Spending a little money to bring them over could yield significant returns in the future.

But Lu Jiang felt it was best to first assess whether the people he had on hand were capable of handling the task.

Currently, there are only three female artists in the show, Dong Xuan and Gao Yuanyuan. Instead of casting them, why not directly promote Fan Binbin and help him reach new heights? This would be in the best interest of the company.

But given Fan Binbin's image, it's really not easy for him to fit the role of Xu Changjin.

Therefore, Lu Jiang's new instruction was to have the scriptwriting department revise the script to be more suitable for Fan Binbin.

Whether it's suitable or not, we'll discuss it later; it's always better to be prepared.

Lu Jiang is quite confident in the company's screenwriting capabilities, as the company currently has a big shot affiliated with it.

That was introduced by Jiang Qitao and Situ Zhaodun, the screenwriters of "Emperor Wu of Han" and later "The Right Path of the World is Full of Vicissitudes".

Lao Zhao also introduced a big shot named Liu Heping, who was the screenwriter of "Yongzheng Dynasty" and later "Da Ming Dynasty 1566". He was not affiliated with any company, and Lu Jiang was not qualified to let him be affiliated with any company at present, but he could be asked to make corrections after the script was completed.

If we can find a suitable adaptation idea for Fan Binbin, we should be able to produce a mature adapted script.

With a decent script, coupled with improved costumes, props, and aesthetic design, even if the female lead is slightly lacking, this version of "Dae Jang Geum" should have no difficulty surpassing the original.

After assigning the tasks, Ning Hao knocked on the door a short while later.

Upon entering, Lu Jiang noticed that Ning Hao had a stubble on his face and looked quite haggard.

"How long has it been since you shaved?"

"Not much, just two weeks."

Ning Hao was full of energy, and as he spoke, he took out the script, saying, "I've got the script you wanted. I've accomplished my mission."

This was the task Lu Jiang assigned him more than two weeks ago: to deliver a movie script within a month.

I thought Ning Hao would pretend to be dead, or hand in his assignment at the last minute, but I didn't expect him to finish it in just over half a month.

That's a very good attitude.

Upon closer inspection of the script, it turned out to be titled "Incense".

Let's continue watching the plot.

It really is the same "Incense" from before.

Although it wasn't "Crazy Stone," Lu Jiang was already very satisfied.

The film "Incense" didn't generate much revenue, but it helped Ning Hao make a name for himself in the industry.

Reputation is very important, just like Lu Jiang now. Because of his Best Director award at Cannes, he is considered a quintessential successor to the fifth generation of directors in the industry, a mainstream figure. This will greatly benefit his future film career.

Circles are just groups of people praising each other.

Although Ning Hao's "Incense" may not have won any international awards, it still has a significant impact on the Chinese film industry.

With these advantages, it will be much less troublesome to have Ning Hao film other movies in the future.

Of course, besides these, the most important thing is...

After being pushed so hard by himself, film director Ning Hao is back!
Making movies is where Ning Hao's greatest value lies.

Not bad!

Lu Jiang was very satisfied: "Not bad, Haozi! You produced such a great script in just two weeks. It seems I'll have to give you more responsibilities in the future!"

Upon hearing this, Ning Hao felt extremely pleased.

It wasn't just because his own talent earned him praise from the great genius Lu Jiang.

It was also because the long-standing knot in my heart finally had a remedy.

After being showered with praise for so many years, we've finally found the right way to repay it.

Isn't this much better than pimping?
However, he also knew that the outcome would depend on the film's performance.

Even the best script needs to be adapted for the market.

So, in response to Lu Jiang's praise, Ning Hao remained unusually humble: "Let's wait until I finish filming it before we talk about it. Let me make it clear first, don't have too high expectations. I wouldn't even dare to dream of it being shortlisted for the top three European film festivals."

Speaking of this, it gave Lu Jiang a hint.

The film "Incense" is actually quite good.

However, due to the limitations of the shooting conditions, it looks very rough overall.

If you spend a little more money, its quality can be improved significantly.

Of course, Lu Jiang didn't have much hope of making it into the top three European competitions.

But simply submitting a nomination is not difficult for Lu Jiang now.

While film quality is important for getting into the top three European cinemas, the right platform is even more crucial.

Now, as the best director at Cannes, Lu Jiang can submit his films to Cannes independently, even without the help of Situ Zhaodun.

So if you really want to do this, you just need to make "Incense" meet the standards of the relevant film festivals.

Lu Jiang then said directly, "You should send the script to Lao Zhao first."

If Lao Zhao thinks it's feasible, then let's do it!
Ning Hao became anxious after hearing this: "No, we have to make this clear first. If you're really aiming for the top three in Europe, I'm not really sure I'd dare to bid."

Ning Hao immediately backed down; he really didn't want to be elevated too high.

Lu Jiang smiled and reassured him, "Don't worry, I'll be very satisfied if you can film it according to the script."

"Really?"

"real!"

"But I'm still worried. Sigh, I'm really not cut out for this. What if I don't make it to the finals? Don't blame me later."

"No wonder!"

"Really?"

"Damn it, is this never going to end?!"

"My heart is pounding, bro!"

"You really are something else." Lu Jiang was speechless and simply yelled, "Do you think you're me? You think you can get nominated with your debut work? Dream on!"

Ning Hao felt relieved as soon as Lu Jiang started cursing. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I think so too, hehe!"

"Hey you head!"

Lu Jiang waved him away impatiently, but was quickly called back. The two then discussed the script and filming of "Incense" for another hour or so before Lu Jiang finally set off for Tianjin.

On June 9th, Lu Jiang officially joined the cast of "The Story of a Noble Family".
(End of this chapter)