Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 146 Those who get ashore only kick those behind them off.

The great poet has benefited from an award for over two decades, which has built his current status.

In addition, he inherited his father's business, so he was originally a second-generation rich kid.

Just because his movie passed the test doesn't mean other people's movies will.

If I really tried, I would surely die.

If Chen Shouzhe can win a major award that no one has ever won before, he certainly has the ability to compete with great poets.

No matter how high his box office performance is now, it's like the difference between online authors and traditional authors. No matter how much money he makes, in front of so-called traditional authors, even if they write erotic poetry, their status is still higher than that of online authors who earn millions a month.

This is a ingrained mindset: those who have succeeded don't want to see others succeed.

This is true everywhere: the dragon-slaying youths who become dragons themselves will only become more ferocious.

Because they themselves are dragon slayers, they will go to extremes, even eliminating anything that could threaten them.

There will never be a situation where people underestimate a young person's potential.

Why was Chen Shouzhe suppressed in various ways as soon as he came out?

You, a fresh graduate, broke a movie record. How are we old guys supposed to compete?

How can we have fun together in the future?

It's the same in any circle: when a colleague who is more outstanding and hardworking than you joins your life...

You would never want to learn from him, nor would you want to be friends with him.

Instead, they will try every means to bring the other party down or kick them out.

This is human nature.

When you become famous, you'll always have friends around you, but when you run into trouble, those friends will all scatter.

This is reality.

Only by becoming strong can one change their destiny.

After experiencing Anle's incident, Chen Shouzhe realized that he was not strong enough and needed to become stronger.

After the celebration banquet, Chen Shou rested for a few days and it was time for him to go back to work. He hadn't been back to the company since returning to China.

When he arrived at the company, Zhong Lifan found him immediately.

“You’ve finally decided to come to the company,” Zhong Lifan said.

"Haha, with Sister Zhong watching over things, it doesn't matter whether I'm here or not," Chen Shou said.

"Forget it, I'm too lazy to talk to you. Anyway, I've already made quite a bit of money." Zhong Lifan smiled and said. The more money the company makes, the more bonuses she gets. There's still one movie that hasn't been released yet, and another one at the end of the year, which will be released next year. The company's profits this year are quite high, and her salary plus bonuses can easily surpass many big names in the film and television industry.

Those who received shares will not be as wealthy as her unless they sell all of them; she received only cash.

In the current stock market, stocks are losing millions every day; not everyone can withstand that.

"These are projects that have been piling up for two months and need your help. The filming of 'Mojin: The Lost Legend' is already underway, and 'A Chinese Ghost Story' is ready and waiting for you to start filming," Zhong Lifan said.

"So many copyrights sold?" Chen Shouzhe exclaimed in shock upon seeing a transaction document.

"Otherwise, Journey to the West is just too popular right now, and all sorts of derivative rights have sold for a lot of money, especially game rights. Tencent bought several in one go," Zhong Lifan said.

"That's a good thing. It's a steady stream of income, making money slowly." Chen Shou smiled and signed all the documents.

"Is Little Dream ready?" Chen Shou asked.

“It should be soon. When I saw Guo Fan last time, he said it was already in the final stages,” Zhong Lifan said.

I'll go take a look this afternoon.

After finishing up company business in the morning, Tao Le quietly joined Huayi. Although she kept a low profile, some people still noticed, and soon so-called 'insiders' came out to reveal the news.

Suddenly, many people were mocking Huayi and Tao Le, who had taken Huayi's shares and had them halved in value.

Previously, a single share was over 60, almost 70; now it's over 30, almost 20.

The previous online troll incident was also brought up, with Huayi allegedly bribing online trolls to smear Chen Shouzhe.

There were many onlookers in the film and television industry watching the drama unfold, but no one stepped forward to speak out. Huayi, however, issued a statement denying that they had done anything wrong and threatened to file complaints against the owners of those accounts.

They didn't send any lawyer's letters afterward, and the matter was dropped. However, Huayi's stock was still affected and fell quite a bit.

I went to Little Dream this afternoon. Things have settled down. Some domestic films are now choosing to be produced at Little Dream because it's cheap and fast.

Previously, media outlets reported that employees of an American internet company earn tens of thousands of dollars a month, spend thousands of dollars a month hiring programmers in China to create their products, and spend their days drinking coffee.

The high cost is due to the labor involved, and special effects also involve significant labor costs.

Therefore, doing the work domestically can significantly reduce costs. The special effects for "Bullets" and "The Taking of Tiger Mountain" were both produced by Xiaoxiaomeng, and they also handle projects for other companies. The company is still expanding, and even so, many projects are unable to be taken on due to market saturation.

After all, special effects can't be done on a whim; it takes time and communication with the production company about how to produce them. Usually, three or four projects are enough to keep the company saturated.

"How's it going?"

"I only have a few more days until it's finished, then I can have a proper holiday during the National Day holiday." Guo Fan stretched in front of his computer with a big smile on his face.

Production began at the beginning of last year and has been going on for two years. Finally, the animated film is finished. Chen Shouzhe only worked on it for a few months. Guo Fan was in charge of the project. Chen Shouzhe set the outline and Guo Fan filled in the details. In the past two years, he has hardly been anywhere except for two months in the United States with Xiao Xiaomeng. Even when he was on vacation, he was still thinking about how to make a good film, except for spending time with his family.

"Take a good vacation and I'll give you a script when you come back. Take a look then," Chen Shou said with a smile.

"What script?" Guo Fan asked, rubbing his hands together.

"I won't let you down. There are still three months left, so there's plenty of time," Chen Shou said with a smile.

"Is it really going to be released during the Spring Festival?" Guo Fan asked excitedly.

"Since we can make it in time, it would be best to release it during the Spring Festival. It's a family-friendly movie, which is the most suitable. Besides, the concept is so good, why miss such a good opportunity?"

"That's true."

The two chatted for a while and then started working. Chen Shouzhe also joined them to work on the final part. He would also do some of the work. He had been in charge of the early stages of production, but now he wanted to personally oversee the final stages, since the investment in this film would shock the outside world.

Chen Shou spent the next few days in a dream, until Zhong Lifan told him that everything was ready for A Chinese Ghost Story and they were just waiting for him to come and film it.

Chen Shou then left Xiao Xiaomeng, and the film was completed the day after he left.

"Great director, it's not easy to get a meeting with you."

Upon arriving in his hometown in the Northwest, Chen Shou decided to go home first. He hadn't been home since returning from the United States, so he went home first before heading to the film set.

Having already had the first installment, the second installment features the same cast and crew. Chen Shou doesn't need to handle the pre-production preparations; he's already adept at arranging everything and coordinating the actors, so filming can begin immediately.

“It’s not easy for me to see you, big star,” Chen Shou said with a smile.

"Good to know. You have no idea how famous I am now." Yan Danchen never expected that she could become famous abroad and become a sensation in Southeast Asia and other places.

Her ghost-like appearance has been imitated by many people, who think she is an ancient fairy, and some have even confessed their love to her at events she attends.

With just one movie, she became a top-tier actress, and Chen Shouzhe even said that two more movies were waiting for her, a wildly popular series, to keep her firmly in the top tier.

As for whether there was a relationship between her and Chen Shouzhe, everyone knew the answer, and the crew members knew even more clearly that the two were practically living in the same room.

There was no filming on the first day; instead, we had a script reading where everyone shared their character's background and discussed the project to determine the direction of the shoot. The shoot only began on the second day.

Of course, there was definitely a script reading in the dark. The next day, Chen Shouzhe felt a bit overwhelmed. He couldn't afford to mess with a woman in her thirties.

Yan Danchen is almost forty, but you wouldn't guess it in normal times. However, this air of age perfectly matches the image of a female ghost—mature and alluring, giving her a second spring in her life.

With the first film as a foundation, and given that it hadn't been long since the first one, filming went very smoothly.

On the first day of filming, Guo Fan called to say that the movie was finished, and Chen Shou immediately told him to take it to be submitted for review.

The publicity for "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy" has already begun, and Chen Shouzhe needs to travel between the two locations, so the filming speed here needs to be accelerated. Moreover, the filming will be paused for a period of time because of his departure, and the goal is to finish filming before the Lunar New Year.

The premiere event, organized by China Film Group, involved a total of six production companies: three state-owned enterprises and three private enterprises.

Many people are curious about so-called mainstream commercial films, and many production company bosses and directors have come to watch.

This resulted in over a thousand people attending the premiere, including a large number of A-list and B-list celebrities.

No one would have thought that Chen Shouzhe would dare to make a patriotic film. After all, Chen Shouzhe is a director associated with commercial films. When people mention him, they think of his comedy films, ghost films, or science fiction films. No one would have thought that he would make a patriotic film.

Chen Shouzhe arrived relatively late, having rushed back by plane, and brought Tong Dawei and Yan Danchen with him; they are also top-tier actors.

Seeing Yan Danchen holding Chen Shou's hand, many female celebrities looked on with envy and jealousy.

A second- or third-tier female celebrity in her late thirties or early forties became a first-tier female celebrity with just a supporting role in a TV series and a movie, which is the envy of many.

At the same time, he was also comparing women who were ten years older than him. Chen Shou could still have his way with them, so did they have a better chance?

Many female celebrities secretly plotted, looking at Yang Mi, Dilraba, and Yan Danchen, all of whom were women who had affairs with Chen Shou.

The higher-ups also came; after all, it was the main theme, and Chen Shouzhe saw Zhang Hongsheng.

"Director Zhang, it's been a long time," Chen Shou said.

"You actually still want to see me?" Zhang Hongsheng laughed.

"How could I not want to? I haven't done anything wrong."

"Forget it, I'm too lazy to argue with you. Let's see how your patriotic film turns out. If it's bad, you'll be in trouble."

(End of this chapter)