It's reasonable for me to be a three-time Golden Horse Award-winning director and an all-around

Chapter 231 The Success and Failure of the Book of Changes; No one's face matters to me! (Seeking monthly votes)

"Following 'Soldiers Sortie,' the war drama 'My Chief and My Regiment,' produced by Ruishijie, supervised by Hou Hongliang, directed by Kang Honglei, and starring Duan Yihong, Zhang Yi, Zhang Nanqiang, and Xing Jiadong, will hold its opening ceremony press conference in Tengchong, Yunnan today."

"Li An, Tony Leung, Tang Wei, Wang Lihong, Chen Chong and other main cast members posted on their blogs to announce that the film 'Lust, Caution' has officially started filming in Malaysia."

"The casting for 'Pacific Rim' and 'The Forbidden Kingdom' has entered a heated phase, with actors frequently seen outside the buildings of Ruishijie and Huayi Brothers Film & Television..."

...

The former site of the Tengchong Anti-Japanese County Government.

This is the venue for the press conference for the start of filming of "My Chief and My Regiment".

Lu Rui rushed over from the hotel early in the morning. The moment he opened the door and saw the courtyard, memories suddenly flooded his mind.

Isn't this the very place where the scene of stewed pork with vermicelli was filmed in the drama?

A group of poorly clothed soldiers brought back various ingredients and seasonings, and cooked the most delicious meal they had ever eaten in their lives.

But it was this pot of pork stew with vermicelli that quietly determined their order of death.

Whoever contributes the least will be the first to die!
Kang Honglei was busy as a bee, while Hou Hongliang was relatively free.

Upon seeing Lü Rui enter, he immediately greeted him: "Chairman Lü, why are you here so early? There's still an hour until the press conference, plenty of time."

"I couldn't sleep, so I came to check on you."

The courtyard wasn't large, and after looking around, Lü Rui quickly grasped the situation.

The actors have all arrived and are currently getting their makeup done.

Clearly, after the press conference, there won't be much of a break before filming begins.

Actually, there's no point in having Lü Rui stay here. After all, you can't expect him to do all the work himself, can you?

But his appearance was like a stabilizing force, instantly dispelling the restlessness in the hearts of many people present and boosting their enthusiasm!

Kang Honglei, in particular, truly felt the importance that Lü Rui placed on him.

Flying from the capital to Yunnan, and then transferring to Tengchong, this level of attention is truly remarkable!
At 9:00 AM sharp, reporters began to enter the venue one after another.

As the auspicious hour arrived, the launch event officially began.

After a simple ceremony, the main cast and crew, along with the director and producer, went on stage to be interviewed by reporters.

Lü Rui naturally needed to make an appearance as well.

However, when the reporters saw him, most of the questions they asked were unrelated to "My Chief and My Regiment":
"Director Lü, have you finalized the casting for Pacific Rim? Who has been confirmed for the male lead?"

"Li An said at the press conference for the start of filming of 'Lust, Caution' that he would be aiming for awards. I wonder if it might clash with the release of 'Dying to Survive'?"

"Chairman Lü, will the production scale of Ruishijie's TV series projects continue to expand like its film business?"

"..."

Today is the day of the press conference for the start of filming of "My Chief and My Regiment", so Lü Rui did not answer any other questions.

He showed absolutely no interest in topics related to Li An's "Lust, Caution".

According to Tian Yu's analysis, there is a very high probability that Tang Wei's sudden breakup with him was instigated by Li An.

Otherwise, how could they have broken up so abruptly without any warning, when they had been dating for two years and their relationship was very stable, and they were even close to meeting each other's parents and discussing marriage?
As the old saying goes: It's better to tear down ten temples than to break up one marriage.

That old bastard Li An, his methods are just too insidious in order to achieve his own goals!
Regarding whether the scale of the Ruishijie TV series project would be expanded, he gave a brief response: "It will indeed be expanded in the future. We are currently assembling a dedicated screenwriting team and will also recruit more outstanding talents..."

After the interview, Lü Rui didn't linger. He said goodbye to Kang Honglei and the other actors and left Tengchong.

Hou Hongliang will be fully responsible for the subsequent arrangements.

As the company has grown to its current stage, in many cases, Lü Rui sets the tone, and other matters are naturally handled by his subordinates.

In particular, there are dedicated personnel on set to take full responsibility for security.

There is one thing that Lü Rui remembers very clearly.

In its previous life, after the filming of "My Chief and My Regiment" began, it experienced many problems, such as the death of a pyrotechnician due to a fireworks explosion and the sudden collapse of a covered bridge that injured 48 extras. It was incredibly unlucky.

Therefore, in this life, Lü Rui specifically imposed many restrictions on safety to ensure the smooth filming process.

Just as he boarded the plane, filming for "My Chief and My Regiment" had already begun smoothly.

At the same time, a press release regarding the launch event was also released:

"The original cast of 'Soldiers Sortie' returns in 'My Chief and My Regiment,' focusing on the arduous journey of routed soldiers struggling to survive amidst the chaos of war..."

"It is understood that the total investment in the drama is about 1.3 million yuan, which is a high-cost production in the domestic TV drama field. The main investment is in the construction of real sets, the filming of war scenes and the cast."

The production team recreated a life-size replica of the American C-64 transport plane, as well as tanks, armored vehicles, and other equipment.

"Lu Rui appeared at the press conference for the start of filming and revealed that Rui Vision will continue to expand its TV drama production business..."

Regarding the TV series "My Chief and My Regiment", although the industry was surprised by its production cost of 1.3 million yuan, it was not too unexpected.

After all, the arrangement of "real set construction" alone means that the cost will not be small.

In contrast, what everyone is more concerned about is the business expansion plan revealed by Lü Rui.

With the consecutive hits of "Crossing the Guandong" and "Soldiers Sortie", Ruishijie's TV drama business has successfully achieved a breakthrough from 0 to 1, and then to 2.

Although this achievement is not outstanding, it has accumulated valuable experience for the company.

Putting everything else aside, the success rate of making similar dramas in the future will definitely increase significantly!

Expanding the business at this time is undoubtedly the wisest choice.

However, the expansion of Ruishijie's business has put enormous pressure on other companies.

Especially regarding the I Ching, Jiang Xuerou was facing a huge headache.

Since "Water Moon Cave", all of the company's subsequent productions, such as "Legend of the Mirror" and "Phantom Needle", have flopped without making a splash.

Even works like "Li Wei Resigns from Office" and "Drinking Wine and Asking the Blue Sky" only generated a tiny bit of buzz and barely broke even.

The company's profits are now very poor, and it has even fallen to the point where it cannot pay its employees' salaries and has to delay paying actors' fees.

Right now, the entire company can only pin its hopes on the upcoming release of "Eight Trigrams Formation".

Success! Everyone was overjoyed, and the back wages were all paid in full at once.

If the company fails, it will incur huge debts and face immense pressure!
Such development is undoubtedly very unhealthy for a film and television company.

Without sufficient working capital, the entire operation could collapse if any major problem arises!

But now, the Book of Changes is the only option left.

Some people chose to stay and gamble with Jiang Xuerou, while others chose to leave.

She couldn't stop it, and there was no way to stop it.

After all, everyone has a family to support and needs money to live. We can't stop them from finding a more suitable job to make a living, can we?
Just then, Ruishijie was expanding its recruitment drive with generous benefits, which immediately attracted many people with a knack for I Ching to join them.

The remaining companies, such as Rongxinda, Tangren, Hairun, Ciwen, Huanrui Century, and Huace, have also seen some employees choose to switch jobs, but overall, the situation is still under control.

On the Zhouyi side only, nearly a third of the middle-level core staff left!

This would be a fatal blow to the company's future operations!

"President Jiang, there are rumors circulating in the industry, including within the company, that Ruishijie is going to acquire Zhouyi. Should we respond publicly?"

When the secretary asked that question, Jiang Xuerou felt incredibly aggrieved, but for a moment she didn't know how to respond.

After all, Ruishijie didn't hire headhunters to poach talent or engage in cutthroat competition; they were simply promoting their company's benefits and compensation packages to attract talent.

The reason why Zhouyi cannot retain its employees is due to problems with its own system, and has nothing to do with Ruishijie.

Therefore, Jiang Xuerou had a bellyful of pent-up frustration with nowhere to vent it.

"No need to respond, just do our own thing." She waved her hand weakly, signaling her secretary to leave.

At times like this, there is absolutely no way to respond.

Explanation is just covering up, and covering up is the truth; in fact, it only makes things worse.

In fact, Jiang Xuerou had considered that if the company really couldn't survive one day, it might actually be possible to sell it to Ruishijie.

After all, compared to other companies, the environment there was indeed a good fit for Zhouyi's team.

Now, she can only pin her hopes on the "Eight Trigrams Formation," hoping it can sustain the I Ching for a few more years.

……

In terms of auditions and casting, The Forbidden Kingdom was progressing much faster than Pacific Rim.

In just a few days, Huayi Brothers officially announced the casting of several roles.

Wang Deshun (Jade Emperor), Zou Zhaolong (Jade God of War), Li Bingbing (White-Haired Witch), Zhao Yanzi (Golden Swallow)...

According to the press release, the film has a dual male lead and dual female lead structure.

With the official announcements of Li Bingbing and Zhao Yanzi's roles, it's clear they are indeed the two female leads in the film. Immediately, the internet and industry insiders are abuzz with discussion.

"One of the four Dan actresses and two Bing actresses co-starring? Holy crap! This project is pretty impressive!"

"First Zhou Xun and Zhang Ziyi collaborated, now Zhao Yanzi and Li Bingbing, tsk tsk? Could Huayi be thinking of signing Zhao Yanzi?"

"Where's Fan Bingbing? Why isn't she in any roles? Is it true that the rumors circulating online are true that she's leaving because her contract is expiring and she's being blacklisted by Huayi Brothers?"

Various rumors circulated within the industry.

However, at this moment, the one who is most heartbroken is Wang Jinghua, who has parted ways with Huayi.

Since starting her own business, she has had access to even fewer film and television resources than before.

Although Orange Sky doesn't interfere in company affairs, it's far inferior to Huayi in terms of resources.

Especially after the release of the $7000 million co-production project "The Forbidden Kingdom," those actors who followed her out of Huayi Brothers and joined Orange Sky Entertainment felt incredibly regretful.

But right now, Huayi Brothers isn't giving them a chance to audition for "The Forbidden Kingdom".

He couldn't even handle a supporting character, let alone the main character.

This is Wang Zhonglei's punishment for the "traitor"!

What upset Wang Jinghua even more was that there seemed to be some exclusion within the industry towards Orange Sky, a company invested in by Japanese capital.

No matter how hard Wu Kebo tried to spend money, find people, and pull strings, he just couldn't get a theatrical distribution license.

Even when he tried to acquire a license from mainland China, no cinema chain was willing to sell it to him, as if they had blacklisted him.

Left with no other choice, he had to go to Hong Kong in an attempt to find another way out.

This also made it very difficult for Wang Jinghua to carry out her work in mainland China.

Actors like Chen Daoming and Hu Jun, who are already famous, naturally don't need her to help them find projects. There are plenty of resources coming to them from the outside world. She just needs to provide relevant services and cooperate well.

But the path to success for other young actors is even more difficult!

For example, right now, seeing Xia Yu and Wen Zhang walk in dejectedly, she knew without even guessing that their audition had failed.

The character they were chasing was none other than Qiu Qing, the male lead in "Pacific Rim".

Unfortunately, neither of them could make it through the first round of auditions.

"Sister Hua, I'm sorry to disappoint you." Xia Yu sighed, unable to hide his disappointment.

He's a Venice Film Festival Best Actor winner, yet he was eliminated in the first round of auditions—that's pretty tragic.

The projects funded by Huayi are generally difficult for ordinary people to access, because in most cases, they involve various exchanges of interests.

But it's different with Ruishijie.

Because Lü Rui doesn't handle artist management, the casting process is relatively fair.

But precisely because it is "fair" enough, its requirements are extremely high, and the audition is extremely difficult!
Just like the male protagonist Qiu Qing, he needs to be brave, resolute, and responsible, as well as emotionally rich and vulnerable, and he also needs to understand teamwork, be humble, and be good at learning...

In the character's backstory, he was once a highly decorated mech pilot. After experiencing the pain of his brother's sacrifice, he still chose to rejoin the battle, piloting a mech deep into the Pacific Rift with his new partner to challenge the monsters.

This demonstrates not only his fearless courage and resolute fighting spirit, but also his strong sense of responsibility.

At the same time, he was caught in an emotional spiral due to his brother's sacrifice, and made no attempt to hide his grief.

This differs from the resolute and silent hero image in traditional action movies, revealing his emotionally rich and vulnerable side.

Suitable actors must meet all these requirements, be between 25 and 30 years old, and be in good physical condition...

Given these conditions, those who can survive the first round of auditions are considered top performers in the industry!

In any case, Xia Yu didn't make it through, and Wen Zhang, who had just graduated from the Central Academy of Drama, also suffered a crushing defeat in the first round, which almost shattered his confidence!
"Sister Hua, you didn't go to the audition. It was terrifying. Top Hong Kong artists like Nicholas Tse and Edison Chen were all eliminated in the first round..."

Hearing Wen Zhang's words, Wang Jinghua frowned slightly, looking somewhat troubled.

She didn't get an audition for "The Forbidden Kingdom" and couldn't get involved in "Pacific Rim." Her title as the top agent in the Chinese entertainment industry is almost becoming a joke.

"Go! Get all the eligible actors in the company to go, whether they are leading or supporting roles. At the very least, they have to get me a few key roles. We can't let Orange Sky Shine become a laughing stock."

Wang Jinghua became somewhat agitated.

Meanwhile, at the audition for "Pacific Rim," Zhen Zidan was even more excited than she was!
"What did you say? The casting director told me I don't need to come for the second round of auditions? I've been eliminated?"

"Yes."

The agent nodded slightly, stabbing Zhen Zidan in the heart once again.

He originally thought that after making arrangements at the party in Hong Kong, Lü Rui would give him a chance out of consideration for his elderly mother.

Unexpectedly, the opportunity only allowed him to participate in the first round of auditions, and he was immediately rejected.

"What about other supporting roles? I could try for the position of the Supreme Commander of the Defense Force, or a professor of monster research!"

He didn't want to go back in such a dejected manner; he wanted to try again.

However, the agent shook his head again, gave him a complicated look, and said, "Don't even think about it, these roles are not for you at all."

"..."

Zhen Zidan fell silent immediately.

In a daze, he suddenly realized that he seemed to have never had much influence in the mainland film and television industry.
Meanwhile, inside the audition room...

Lu Rui quickly tidied up the audition resumes on the table, handed them to Zhao Peng, and instructed, "Put all these names into the shredder."

"it is good."

Zhao Peng took it and, without the slightest hesitation, immediately complied.

Even though one of them was introduced by Jackie Chan, and his son, Prince Fang's, resume was also mentioned, Lü Rui still didn't give him any face.

The same applies to those recommended by Yinghuang and other Hong Kong and Taiwan capital firms.

If it's not suitable, it's not suitable. As for pre-selection, apart from Liu Yifei, there's no such thing as a predetermined role.

This is a $2 million project, and Lu Rui has to be responsible for the quality of the film; no one's face matters to him.

"Brother Rui, Zhang Guoli recommended his son Zhang Mo..."

"Pass, appearance and temperament don't match."

"Wu Yanzu, Eddie Peng..."

"No, those with non-standard Mandarin are out of the question. I don't have the extra energy to find new voice actors for post-production."

"Brother Rui, this is Chen Baoguo's audition clip. Take a look."

"Let him play the role of the Supreme Commander of the Pacific Rim Defense Force. With his presence, he can definitely handle it."

These few actors in China who act in serious dramas, both in terms of appearance and temperament, are particularly to Lü Rui's liking.

He exudes integrity and is clearly the kind of leader who can maintain composure.

"And what about the character Xing Fei played when she was a child?"

"Contact Zhao Jinmai's parents and see if she has time to come and make a cameo appearance."

Lu Rui had previously worked with Zhao Jinmai on the film "Dying to Survive".

This little girl is so cute and adorable.

Lu Rui had a rather good impression of her, and given his habit of using familiar business partners, it would be even better if she were willing to come over.

"Brother Rui, for the role of the Monster Studies Professor, the Central Academy of Drama, Beijing Film Academy, and Shanghai Theatre Academy have all recommended a bunch of people. Here are some of their audition clips..."

Quite a few people tried to get roles through the channels of the three art schools.

Chen Minghao, Tian Zheng, Liu Ye, Chen Kun, Guo Xiaodong, Huang Xiaoming, Zu Feng, Nie Yuan...

After looking around, Lü Rui felt that, considering both age and temperament, the least known Yu Hewei was the most suitable.

"It's him!"

Lü Rui pointed directly to Yu Hewei on the list.

He wove straw sandals and endured hardship, fought against Cao Wei and resisted Wu, but in the end, the Imperial Uncle betrayed Shu. Then came the music and the dance.

Although "Imperial Uncle" is not yet famous, his acting skills are quite good, and Lü Rui has high hopes for him.

Over the course of several days, suitable actors were successively selected for roles such as the male supporting character, the third female lead, and the fourth female lead.

Shu Chang, recommended by Liu Yifei, Jing Tian, ​​recommended by Wanda and Lu Zheng, and Tang Yan, Zhao Peng's girlfriend, were all given suitable roles with minor appearances in the film by Lü Rui.

It's actually similar to a cameo role, just a few shots, and it doesn't affect the overall picture.

Immediately after resting at home for a day, Lü Rui went all out and prepared to finalize the roles of the male lead and the second female lead.

But to his utter surprise, just as he was about to arrange for the casting director to call the male candidates who had made it to the second round, as well as the female lead competitors, to come for auditions, one of the candidates suddenly sent a message saying... he had been in a car accident?!

(End of this chapter)