Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 18 The Female Lead's Invitation

Entering March, Chen Shouzhe became busy. On the one hand, the school was about to start, and on the other hand, the film was in preparation, with contracts signed with four companies.

From the moment the script passed review, many film and television companies kept an eye on this project. Many inquired about the investment situation, but even after obtaining Chen Shouzhe's phone number, they couldn't get through because Chen Shouzhe had turned off his phone.

If a film and television company is contacting him to inquire about project investment, then the artist is asking about casting issues.

Many artists have their eyes on the role. Chen Shouzhe's previous film made several good actors, especially the lead actress Shen Teng Ma Li, whose salary has now reached the level of a second-tier actress. Yin Zheng has become known to countless people overnight, and Liu Yan has also become famous and is known as a sex goddess.

Many talent agencies came directly to Chen Shouzhe's company to inquire if he had any suitable roles.

Chen Shouzhe had no choice but to say that he would cast the actors and would inform them when the time came.

"This is crazy, everyone's looking for me. I need to get the confirmed roles sorted out first." Chen Shou picked up his phone, and after turning it on, he received a lot of calls and messages.

I found a phone number in my contacts and dialed it. The call was answered shortly after.

"Hello, who is this?" The voice on the other end of the phone was a woman's, but Chen Shouzhe could tell that it wasn't the person he was looking for, and he thought he had dialed the wrong number.

"I'm looking for Zhou Xun, Sister Xun, is this Sister Xun's phone number?" Chen Shou asked.

"Sister Xun is busy. Who are you? Please wait a moment."

"Okay, I'll have Sister Xun call me back later. My name is Chen Shouzhe."

"Chen Shouzhe, oh, okay!"

The call ended, and a little girl on the other end held the phone. A short while later, Zhou Xun finished her work and came over to rest.

"Sister Xun, someone named Chen Shouzhe called and asked you to return the call," the assistant said.

Upon hearing this, the other celebrities nearby turned to look. One of them, a handsome man with a warm smile, said, "Brother Xun, is Director Chen looking for you?"

"Looks like we should congratulate Brother Xun," the others said with envy.

The assistant didn't recognize Chen Shouzhe, but all the celebrities present knew him. He was the record holder for the highest-grossing film in China, and everyone in the industry knew that Chen Shouzhe was preparing for his second film. Everyone was speculating when casting would begin, and now the phone had been dialed directly to Zhou Xun's cell phone, which meant that someone had already been chosen.

"Let me make a call first." Zhou Xun casually picked up his phone and dialed. It was busy for a while before he got through. Chen Shou had just hung up a call from Huo Wenxi of Emperor Entertainment Group, but unfortunately, the line was full.

"Hello, Aunt Xun," Chen Shou said as he answered the phone.

"Are you looking for death? I told you not to call me that. Tell me what's wrong. If it's not important, I'll beat you up." Zhou Xun's lips twitched, clearly displeased that Chen Shou was calling her Aunt Xun.

"You know about my new movie, right?" Chen Shou said.

"I know, so what? You want me to act in it? Let me tell you, I won't accept any roles that aren't lead roles," Zhou Xun said casually.

"Don't worry, how's the lead actress?" Chen Shou asked.

The scene was very quiet. Even without the speakers on, everyone else was already listening intently. When Chen Shouzhe's voice came through, the people present looked at Zhou Xun with even more envy.

With her previous film grossing 1.5 billion yuan, Chen Shou, a leading lady on the big screen, already has a solid audience base. As long as her second film doesn't flop, its box office performance is destined to be good.

"Are you serious?" Zhou Xun stood up.

"Why would I lie to you? As long as you're available, come to the company tomorrow to sign the contract," Chen Shou said with a smile.

"Fine, I'll be there tomorrow. If you dare to lie to me, you're dead," Zhou Xun threatened.

After hanging up the phone, people around Zhou Xun thanked her one after another, and the actresses were especially envious.

The next day, Zhou Xun came to sign the contract, and at the same time, Chen Shouzhe and several other companies, including China Film Group, issued a casting announcement to the industry.

"The film 'Painted Skin,' primarily controlled by Shouzhe Film Studio and produced by China Film Group, Xi'an Film Studio, Enlight Media, and Wanda Pictures, has been officially approved and audition invitations have been sent to various talent agencies!"

Many talent agencies and artist studios have received audition invitations and have begun to review the character requirements in the scripts.

The most important fox spirit, Xiao Wei, is gone. Many people in the industry already know that the role was pre-selected for Zhou Xun, highlighting the benefits of connections. Zhou Xun has a good relationship with Yu Qian, Chen Shouzhe's master, which is why she was invited to the role. The remaining characters are also excellent, especially the other three of the four core characters, whose lives revolve around the love triangle between two men and two women, both human and demon.

The audition was scheduled for Guangming. There was no other way; his company only had one floor, so where would they find a large enough space for an audition?

This time, it's the same old team: the producer is still Director Wang, the assistant director is still Liu Xingguang who assisted him in filming Charlotte, and in addition to the three of them, there is also a costume designer and Tao Le, the newly recruited general manager of Chen Shouzhe's company.

Film academies have many departments. Entering a film academy doesn't necessarily mean studying directing or acting. There are also many post-production talents, such as cinematographers, screenwriters, managers, and post-production specialists.

Chen Shouzhe met a senior from the management department through his mentor Wang Hongwei and invited him to join his company. He had already reached an agreement with other companies, but he joined out of respect for his mentor Wang.

If you want your company to grow bigger and stronger in the future, it is important to cultivate talents. Except for the performance department, the Beijing Film Academy is far superior to the Central Academy of Drama next door in all other aspects.

While it's true that the Central Academy of Drama produces actors, the Beijing Film Academy has more directors, and ultimately, actors have to listen to the directors.

The script for Painted Skin has already reached the actors. If the actors feel that there are suitable roles for them, they can come to audition. Each actor will be given two roles.

After a day of watching the same actors, Chen Shou was getting a little tired.

"This is the final list. There isn't a single amateur. Wang Sheng even has several A-list male stars. Pang Yong requires a lot of fighting, so there are many martial arts actors, including many Hong Kong martial arts actors," the assistant director said, showing the list.

Chen Shouzhe glanced around, and then Wang Changtian came in.

How did the audition go?

"Those guys from your company are pretty good. If they're all about the same, you can place an order."

Others naturally have different opinions, and under similar circumstances, they would definitely choose their own people. Among the five investors, most of the actors are from Enlight Media.

"If we do another audition tomorrow, we should be able to finalize the decision," Director Wang said, rubbing his temples.

"There aren't many people left, we can finalize it tomorrow." Chen Shou nodded.

The auditions continued the next day, and I watched almost all of them. I have to say, Huayi Brothers really has a lot of actors.

Chen Shouzhe finally selected several main actors. The role of Wang Sheng was given to Chen Kun, a first-tier actor. Pang Yong's role was very important, with many action scenes and the need to use a Guan Dao, so Wu Yue, a martial arts actor, was chosen. He also had to be the kind of person with a strong will. For the female lead, Pei Rong, there was definitely no Miss Zhao in this world, so Zeng Li, a leading actress from China Film Group, was chosen.

This time, the film crew didn't use China Film Group's equipment, but instead used Xi'an Film Group's equipment. Because their filming location was in the desert of Northwest China, Xi'an Film Group actually benefited more, and they made things much easier for Chen Shou's film crew to arrive.

However, Chen Shouzhe hasn't gone yet. They need to choose a location for the set design. He'll go back to the Beijing Film Academy to report for duty first, since he's a graduate student now.

“While other graduate students are still studying, you’ve started making one movie after another. Maybe what you said about making money was right,” Professor Hou remarked when he met Chen Shouzhe.

He's also a director, but it's not easy for him to make movies. He has to beg and plead to get funding, unlike his student, who already has projects worth over 100 million.

Comparing people is infuriating.

"I'm just lucky. I hope this one will be a success too. If it fails, I'll probably be doomed," Chen Shou said with a wry smile.

"We'll do our best. How long will the filming take?"

"This time it's more difficult. It won't be enough for two or three months, and there's a lot of work to be done afterward."

Painted Skin is not like Charlotte's Trouble. It requires a lot of special effects, and the scale is quite large, with war scenes. With so many people, it's difficult to control and prone to errors. Two or three months would be considered fast.

He explained the reason to the college, and the college naturally had no objection to his behavior. It's better for graduate students to get hands-on experience than to just talk about it on paper. The college also plans to take some third-year students to the film crew to learn.

Chen Shouzhe naturally had no objections. They were all good laborers. It's true that college students are valuable these days, and they are also the most useful.

University students are welcome to intern.

Xi'an Film Studio was well-prepared, Chen Shou arrived and all the actors were in place. The story begins with a bandit suppression operation.

(End of this chapter)