This director lacks vision.

Chapter 210 Audition for the Female Lead
As soon as Jiang Yifeng entered the hotel, he was surrounded by a group of reporters.

"Director Jiang Yifeng, did you receive Cai Yinong's message about sending you Green Corpse Cold?"

This reporter knows how to stir things up; she came right off the bat asking about trending news.

Jiang Yifeng said directly, "Today is the audition for Lost in Thailand. I will only answer questions related to the movie. Thank you for your cooperation."

Upon hearing this, a reporter immediately asked, "In 'The Hunt,' you said that 'Lost in Thailand' is a film that glorifies Thailand and involves money laundering and fraud. Is that true?"

Jiang Yifeng smiled and said, "Of course it's fake. It's just a joke to amuse everyone."

The movie Lost in Thailand is a sequel to Lost on Journey, and it still tells the hilarious story of Niu Geng and Li Chenggong.

This is a purely comedic film; I just hope everyone will have a good laugh when they see it in the theater.

Another reporter asked, "Your previous two films were comedies, and this one is also a comedy."

Other successful directors are making big-budget films that reflect historical sentiments. For example, director Feng Xiaogang is preparing to film "1942", director Zhang Yimou is filming "The Flowers of War", and director Lu Chuan is filming "The Last Supper".

It seems like you're the only one who's consistently making comedy films.

Is this your preference? Will you be making more realistic or art-house films in the future?

Jiang Yifeng thought for a moment and then said, "I never limit myself; I can film anything."

"Back to 20" is not a purely comedic film. I believe that most viewers will be moved to tears and have their own insights after watching this movie.

Besides movies, I also filmed Pacific Rim, a science fiction and fantasy TV series, which was the first of its kind in China.
Hunting is a work with a realistic focus, and it is the first TV series in China to combat online fraud and cyberbullying.

Dark Glory is a revenge-themed drama, and its weekly broadcast format is also the first of its kind in China.

These are all my innovations.

Focusing solely on comedy films is a rather narrow view.

"So, what's your target box office for Lost in Thailand now that it's in production?"

Jiang Yifeng said directly, "Last time, returning to 20 years old was two small goals. This time, let's double that in Lost in Thailand, making it four small goals."

I am confident that this film will ultimately gross over 12.2 billion yuan, completely defeating Avatar and becoming the number one film in the Chinese market.

The goals that were not achieved in "Lost in Thailand" will be accomplished in its sequel, "Lost in China."

Upon hearing this, the reporters at the scene became somewhat agitated.

To date, the only Chinese film to have grossed over 10 billion yuan is "Back to 20".

The second-ranked film, Let the Bullets Fly, only grossed over 6 million yuan at the box office.

Jiang Yifeng's boastful claim of achieving four small goals and reaching 12 billion yuan in box office revenue is truly arrogant.

But his past achievements speak for themselves, and no reporter refuted them.

Everyone simply noted down this news item, preparing to broadcast it as a key story.

Jiang Yifeng answered a few more questions, then turned and left.

Just then, Wang Sicong walked in wearing sunglasses, and the reporters immediately surrounded him.

Since the airing of "The Hunt" and the subsequent experience of losing his spouse, Wang Sicong's popularity has indeed soared.

Following Jiang Yifeng's advice, he defended himself online, saying that he had not been deceived and that it was all for the purpose of promoting the TV series.

This was met with ridicule and mockery from netizens.

Wang Sicong has offended many netizens and frequently engages in online arguments, making him increasingly popular and a recent focus of attention.

His appearance at the audition for Lost in Thailand was quite unexpected, and it became a hot news topic.

This is exactly the effect Jiang Yifeng wanted. Wang Sicong has high popularity, and his role in Lost in Thailand is much more effective than that of ordinary celebrities.

Jiang Yifeng left the media area and entered the audition room, where he saw Hu Qian, Chen Sicheng, Yi Xiaoxing, and Liu Xunzimo sitting inside.

There are two assistant directors for this film, Chen Sicheng and Yi Xiaoxing, while Liu Xunzimo is the screenwriter representative.

Jiang Yifeng originally planned to bring Guo Fan over to help, but Guo Fan was in the animation department and took a liking to the comic book "Those Years, Those Rabbits, Those Things" and planned to turn it into an animated film.

"Those Years, Those Rabbits, Those Things" was the first prize winner of last year's Sohu Weibo Comic Contest. Fengxing Media bought the copyright but has not made any progress since.

Because some people in the animation department were reassigned to design "Pacific Rim" and work on comic book publishing;

Following Zhang Chaoyang's original idea, some people created "Fishing Master".

Another group of people took a liking to the "Soul Street" comic, bought the copyright, and have been busy producing the animation.

Therefore, the animation adaptation of "Those Years, Those Rabbits, Those Things" has been temporarily delayed.

After assisting Jiang Yifeng in filming Pacific Rim, Guo Fan, who had also worked in animation, frequently visited the animation department to exchange ideas.

After a while, I got interested in the "That Rabbit" project.

"President Jiang, this is the list of roles and actors for today's auditions." After Jiang Yifeng sat down in the middle, Hu Qian handed him the information and continued, "There are 16 roles in total, 11 males and 3 females."

"so much?"

Jiang Yifeng never expected to audition for so many roles this time.

Because Lost in Thailand is a sequel to Lost on Journey, many of the characters have been cast.

Wang Baoqiang played Niu Geng, Xu Zheng played Li Chenggong, and Li Chenggong's ex-wife was Zuo Xiaoqing. Jiang Yifeng also incorporated elements of the Black Gang, blending in some references from Dark Glory. Zhang Songwen and Qiao Shan were invited to play local gang leaders.

Hu Qian explained with a smile, "The more roles there are, the more actors audition, and the better the publicity effect."

Besides, the actors in the industry still complain that we don't give out enough roles.

Everyone wants to act in "Lost in Thailand," even if it's just a supporting role.

Even for supporting roles in a film by a renowned director, the competition is fierce.

It allows you to gain exposure and increase your visibility, and also helps you build a good relationship with the director.

Jiang Yifeng nodded, looking at the documents in his hand.

At 9:30 a.m., the first role to be auditioned for was Huang Bo, one of the male leads.

This is the most competitive role today.

Not only did Fengxing Media's own signed artists, such as Bai Ke and Da Peng, audition, but many middle-aged star actors also came.

Huang Xiaoming, Huang Bai, Deng Chao, Wu Jing, Zhang Yi, Lu Yi, Li Chen, and others all participated in the audition.

Moreover, they each used their own connections and resources to seek help from acquaintances.

After comprehensive comparison, Huang Bai and Deng Chao had the best audition results.

As long as Deng Chao isn't filming scenes with Yu Baimei, both his acting skills and comedic effect are excellent.

After some discussion, Jiang Yifeng finally decided on Huang Bai.

In their past lives, Wang Baoqiang, Huang Bai, and Xu Zheng had excellent chemistry, so learning from their successful experiences shouldn't be a problem. As for Deng Chao, Jiang Yifeng cast him in a supporting role as a pharmaceutical business owner in Thailand.

Jiang Yifeng was very efficient, landing two roles in one go, and the audition process was quite fast.

At 12:30 pm, the auditions for female roles began.

Unlike the original Lost in Thailand where female characters were largely absent, Jiang Yifeng likes to push the boundaries a bit.

After all, a genuine blockbuster film is incomplete without some sensual scenes.

In his version of Lost in Thailand, besides the ladyboys, there are four main female characters with names and surnames.

One is Fan Bingbing, who was invited to make a cameo appearance as Niu Geng's dream girl, inspired by the original Lost in Thailand.

Then there are Li Chenggong's ex-wife and Huang Bo's wife, played by Zuo Xiaoqing and Tong Liya respectively.

The last female character, and also the most important one, is Bobo, a local Thai tour guide.

This is a Thai woman who taught herself Chinese and specializes in serving Chinese tourists.

In order to make more money, she tricked Li Chenggong and Niu Geng into spending money.

But by sheer chance, he became friends with Niu Gengli.

Li Chenggong had no connections in Thailand, and with Huang Bo's interference, he couldn't get a ladyboy to endorse him at all.

So he came up with a plan: he bribed one of the competition organizers to let Bobo disguise himself as a transvestite to participate in the competition.

This character has a significant amount of screen time; she is the female lead in the film and one of the key roles in today's audition.

Jiang Yifeng glanced at the time and said, "It's getting late. Let's hurry up and let all the auditioning actors come in together."

As soon as these words were spoken, the staff immediately went to make arrangements.

Two minutes later, ten more beautiful women appeared in the audition room.

Yang Mi, Zhang Yuqi, Liu Yan, Li Xiaoran, Xu Dongdong, Guo Shuyao, Wang Li Danni, Ai Shangzhen, Guan Tingna, Li Xiaolu.

These beauties have one thing in common: they have very large breasts.

They were selected by Hu Qian based on the requirements of the roles.

Jiang Yifeng sized up the beauties and, without beating around the bush, said directly, "I want a 'DuangDuangDuang' effect. Take off your high heels and do some jumping jacks on the spot."

Lost in Thailand is a road comedy film with many scenes of running away.

Jiang Yifeng wanted the female tour guide, Bobo, to create a wave-like motion when she ran, attracting the audience's attention.

The first requirement for this role is that she be sexy.

Jiang Yifeng's audition requirements were extremely blunt and direct, but no one dared to question them.

At his command, ten beautiful women jumped up, deliberately shaking themselves.

The audition room was instantly filled with a turbulent, erotic scene.

After looking around, Jiang Yifeng pointed directly at Zhang Yuqi and Li Xiaolu and said, "You two are not strong enough and do not meet the requirements. You are eliminated."

Zhang Yuqi and Li Xiaolu: "..."

These two are considered quite talented among female celebrities, but there are always stronger ones out there.

Among these beauties, they are indeed slightly inferior, lacking a striking and natural "Duang" effect.

Upon hearing that they had been eliminated, Zhang Yuqi and Li Xiaolu were both heartbroken.

This is not only about not getting the role, but also about losing in a contest of strength.

So much so that Li Xiaolu wanted to get another beauty treatment to improve her skills.

After Zhang Yuqi and Li Xiaolu left, Jiang Yifeng said, "Now you all take turns striking three poses, and you should feel good about yourselves."

Posing is a great test of an actor's self-expression ability and also an assessment of their overall image.

Bobo, the tour guide, is a gold digger who is as fragile as paper but as arrogant as the sky.

She has a high opinion of herself, believes she is incredibly beautiful, and wants to find a good husband.

But she kept getting scammed by scumbags.

After seeing everyone's poses, Jiang Yifeng kept only Yang Mi, Liu Yan, and Li Xiaoran.

These three women had the best overall performance.

At this point, Yang Mi was full of confidence.

She believed that she was better than others, both in terms of her relationship with Jiang Yifeng and her fame.

There's no problem getting Bobo as the female lead.

But then Jiang Yifeng said, "You guys perform a dance. My character will be involved in pole dancing."

During the dance segment, both Yang Mi and Liu Yan were completely lost.

Li Xiaoran stood out.

She is indeed very suitable for the role of Bobo. She is sexy enough, has a somewhat arrogant personality in private, and has a slightly bitter look, which matches Bobo's tragic background very well.

Thailand is like a brothel for white men.

Jiang Yifeng included the character Bobo in the script not only to add humor, but also to show the helplessness and suffering of the Thai lower class, the cruelty of the ladyboy industry, and the true nature of the white man's brothel through her perspective.

Jiang Yifeng didn't waste any time and said directly, "Let's go with Li Xiaoran. You can join the crew as soon as possible, receive relevant dance training in advance, and familiarize yourself with the living habits of the local Thai people."

Hearing this, Li Xiaoran was overjoyed.

"Thank you, Director Jiang! I will definitely prepare diligently!"

She couldn't resist jumping up and down a couple of times to celebrate, her figure, revealed under her white low-cut T-shirt, suddenly became voluptuous.

Yang Mi was so angry at the sight that her mouth hurt...

Jiang Yifeng ignored Yang Mi's feelings. After the audition, he treated all the actors who got roles to a meal together.

Some of these people will first go to Thailand with Chen Sicheng and others to familiarize themselves with the local environment and figure out their roles.

Thailand's peak tourist season is in winter, when the climate is dry and cool.

The worst season is summer, which is not only hot but also has frequent showers.

Jiang Yifeng chose to shoot in June, partly because it's the off-season for tourism and there are fewer people, making it easier to shoot while also saving costs; and partly to catch the Lunar New Year film season this year.

This was his first time filming outside of Beijing; he went directly abroad, so he prepared very meticulously.

For safety reasons, Jiang Yifeng also spent extra money to hire a team of bodyguards, emphasizing a cautious approach.

(End of this chapter)