Shadow of Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 197 Income
Although the first part of "Dialogue Between Ancient and Modern Classics Illuminates China" only has 21 episodes, the pre-production preparation alone took half a month.

Fortunately, Liu Xiaoli was very capable and took on the role of producer, which relieved Hu Xiaobei of a lot of pressure.

Hu Xiaobei is extremely efficient, and with her precise control over the shooting process and her strong overall planning ability, she was able to successfully wrap up filming within the planned one and a half months.

In other words, if we start counting from when Hu Xiaobei returned to Beijing, it took nearly two months to film this drama, not including the week of post-production.

As of April 28, the production of the series was officially completed, and CCTV was entrusted with handling subsequent promotion and broadcasting.

During this period, the main actors involved in the collaboration were mostly veteran actors.

They are all of very high caliber, with superb acting skills. Each of them has accumulated profound acting skills and their own unique artistic style throughout their acting careers.

Hu Xiaobei enjoys filming very much and doesn't need to spend much effort or thought on training the actors.

All you need to do is communicate with the actors in advance about the role's positioning and the effect you want to express.

These veteran actors, with their rich experience and profound understanding of the performing arts, basically don't need him to worry about anything anymore.

On many occasions, their superb performances even brought Hu Xiaobei some unexpected surprises and inspiration.

In comparison, the students' level was much lower.

Fortunately, most of them played minor roles and extras, and with Hu Xiaobei's patient and meticulous guidance and reasonable arrangements, there were no problems.

Moreover, the students' acting skills have improved to some extent through the experience of working on this drama.

Among them, An Xiaoqian benefited the most.

As the lead actress in this drama, she had to act opposite one or two veteran actors in almost every episode.

These veteran actors are either tenured staff members from Beijing People's Art Theatre or Beijing Drama Theatre, or they are seniors from Beijing Film Academy. Those with slightly weaker acting skills are not qualified to play a leading role in an episode.

For example, Mr. Lan Tianye, who portrayed Jiang Taigong with a calm and dignified performance style in "Investiture of the Gods", has also achieved remarkable success on the stage of drama, and has also achieved great success in a certain unspeakable field.

For example, he played the role of Master Chang in "Teahouse", perfectly portraying the character's upright and stubborn personality. He also played the role of Master Zheng Rong, the Supreme Lord Laozi, in "Journey to the West".

There's also Liang Guanhua, who has won numerous awards in the field of drama and is well-known to audiences for his role in "The Happy Life of Zhang Damin," where his precise portrayal of the character is truly admirable.

Of course, this character may not be very famous, and not many people know him, but if you mention the chubby Di Renjie in "Detective Di Renjie", many people will probably know who he is.

There are many, many veteran actors like this whose names I don't know.

For example, Wu Gang, who demonstrated superb diction and acting skills in the play "Mutiny", later became famous for works such as "In the Name of the People". His performance is also very delicate and full of tension, but he is not very famous now.

There's also Feng Yuanzheng from "Don't Talk to Strangers," whose acting skills once terrified a generation of female viewers.

Of course, we can't forget Wang Zhiwen, a representative of the middle-aged generation of actors who graduated from the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy and was assigned to the Central Academy of Drama as a dialogue teacher after graduation.

Wang Zhiwen possesses profound acting skills, with clear enunciation, accurate pronunciation, and an extremely infectious tone.

His long monologues were not only delivered with precise rhythm, but also with varied intonation and full of emotion.

There's a saying in the industry about his lines: Wang Zhiwen's performance is so convincing that you can hear it directly.

Even without watching his performance, just listening to his lines is enough to fully express the character's emotions and feelings, allowing the audience to easily immerse themselves in the story.

Of course, this doesn't mean his acting was bad.

Wang Zhiwen's performance is very delicate. He can vividly show a variety of complex and sincere emotions through subtle changes in his eyes and facial muscles, making the audience feel the emotions.

Even in emotionally intense scenes, he can control his emotions with ease, portraying the character's emotional outbursts realistically without exaggeration. His performance is highly infectious, immersing the audience in the story.

These veteran actors, when acting opposite An Xiaoqian, would also put pressure on her, inspire her, and teach her from various aspects, including the details of her performance. With these veteran actors taking turns giving An Xiaoqian lessons, they taught her acting step by step.

With Hu Xiaobei providing invaluable guidance, An Xiaoqian's acting skills have improved rapidly during this period, practically skyrocketing.

It's like playing a game where the top-tier players on the entire server take turns leveling up and fighting monsters for a lower-level character, making the leveling speed as fast as a rocket.

If at the beginning of her performances, An Xiaoqian relied on her talent and hard work, it was like groping forward in the dark, unable to find the right path or direction.

Now, under the careful guidance and instruction of many predecessors, she seemed to have found the dawn breaking through the thick fog, found the right direction to move forward, and embarked on a wide and broad road to heaven.

Her acting skills also improved by leaps and bounds, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon and undergoing a complete transformation.

For An Xiaoqian, filming this drama not only brought her a lot of gains in acting skills, but also some financial benefits.

According to previous analysis, Hu Xiaobei should be able to earn tens of millions of yuan from this drama, while An Xiaoqian and her daughter will each earn nearly one million yuan.

Moreover, these incomes are tax-free, or rather, they meet certain policies during this period and are exempt from taxes, or even eligible for subsidies.

Without going through official procedures, without cooperating with CCTV, and without the endorsement of Beijing Film Academy, how would Hu Xiaobei have known or been able to get through these steps?
Although An Xiaoqian filmed The Condor Heroes for half a year, she only received less than 300,000 yuan in remuneration.

But given her current status and influence, she could easily earn a million by simply shooting an advertisement or getting an endorsement.

Even if she were to take on another role, a million-dollar salary wouldn't be considered high.

During the filming period, Hu Xiaobei kept a close eye on Huaxia Shipbuilding (PS: it is China Shipbuilding, now it is Hudong Heavy Machinery) and Haitong Securities (PS: now it is called Dushi Shares).

First, the share price of Haitong Securities (Dushi Shares) has been fluctuating in the range of 4-4.81 yuan.

According to his research, even in a bull market, it would be difficult for a stock to increase twentyfold, and the stock's price fluctuations would be significant and unstable.

Huaxia Shipbuilding (Hudong Heavy Machinery) is different. It is large enough, has strong backing, and the country's investment in this area will only increase over the next two decades.

Huaxia Shipbuilding (Hudong Heavy Machinery)'s current stock price fluctuates roughly in the range of 5-7 yuan. Even in a bull market, a 100-fold increase is unlikely, but a 40-50-fold increase is still possible.

The only thing that Hu Xiaobei was unsure about was whether Hudong Heavy Machinery would be reorganized into the Huaxia Shipbuilding company he knew.

This problem has been troubling him since January, and now, four months have passed and a major bull market is just around the corner.

Hu Xiaobei knew that it was time to make a decision.

Over the course of four months, Hu Xiaobei not only researched various information about Huaxia Shipbuilding (Hudong Heavy Machinery) himself.

I also learned about the situation indirectly through the relationship between Liu Xiaoli and Professor An's family.

Of course, it doesn't involve any confidential information.

In 2005, the shipbuilding industry was in a phase of integration and development, and the country had a policy orientation to promote the integration of shipbuilding industry resources and create large shipbuilding enterprise groups.

As a major enterprise in the shipbuilding industry, Hudong Heavy Machinery has a tendency to participate in industry consolidation and expand its scale.

Moreover, Hudong Heavy Machinery was already expanding its business scope at that time, not only having a solid foundation in ship main engine manufacturing, but also extending into other fields such as ship supporting equipment.

The diversification of its business and the expansion of its scale have made it difficult for the original name "Hudong Heavy Machinery" to cover the scope of its future business, and there is a need to change the name to reflect the overall business layout of the enterprise.

These kinds of things are semi-public in nature, and they've already been building up momentum within certain circles.

Not only was it not considered significant information by the An and Liu families, but it was also hardly a secret to those involved in the field.

(End of this chapter)