Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 241 The First Actor

"I'm willing to try."

Wen Mu agreed anyway. It was an opportunity amidst the crisis. Even if he was banned for a few years, he believed that neither Han Sanping nor Chen Shouzhe would ignore him. After all, he was someone who had taken the bullet for the big boss.

“Since you’ve agreed, I can start making preparations. I’ll arrange all the actors and crew for you. Do you have any specific actors in mind? If you think they’re suitable, you can recommend them to me,” Chen Shou said.

“I don’t know as many people as you do, so you should handle it.” Wen Mu was quite honest.

“Okay, I’ll choose first. You can take a look at the list later. You can replace any that don’t fit, after all, you’re the director.” Chen Shou nodded and said. Although he said that, Wen Mu knew in his heart that it wasn’t his place to make the decision.

The two discussed the script for a while, and only left Shouzhe Film Studio when they were almost done.

"I was a little nervous meeting him just now." Wen Mu, who had just come down from the film studio, returned to the car and said to Han Jianu, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

"What's there to be nervous about?" Han Jianu asked, puzzled.

"An Oscar-winning director, a world-class commercial director. You could say he's the idol and role model for all young directors today. Who doesn't want to be like him, making a blockbuster film every time, and becoming a billionaire at a young age?" Wen Mu added.

"That's true, but I don't like him."

"You don't like it?"

"Didn't you know he has several women?"

"Isn't this normal? With his abilities, what woman could possibly hold him back?"

"Then he's a scumbag too. So what if he's capable?"

"That's true."

The two chatted and laughed as they drove away, while Chen stayed behind, looking at the script.

Since auditions for roles in a movie can't be publicly announced, the only option is to invite people to audition.

Public auditions have their advantages. At least they generate publicity before the movie is released, letting people who follow the film industry know that a certain director is starting a new project and that a certain actor is auditioning for it.

The bigger the audition, the more topics there are, which naturally increases the exposure for the film and television drama.

Of course, open auditions do not necessarily mean fairness; they are more about creating hype than fairness.

Huayi used to love doing this kind of thing: creating a big gimmick, then having various celebrities fight it out, and finally winning the award themselves.

Back then, that Sino-US co-production film dragged Liu Yifei into obscurity, and in the end, they clamored to blacklist her.

They had no power to choose the actors, and their attempts to manipulate the situation backfired, resulting in them being taken advantage of without any investment. In the end, they became enraged. It has to be said that the Wang brothers had a lot of questionable actions back then.

Now, Chen Shouzhe is faced with the task of selecting a reliable cast. Over the years, Chen Shouzhe has accumulated a considerable network of connections, so finding suitable actors in the film and television industry is not difficult. Based on his ideal image of a divine doctor and his acting skills, Huang Bo is the first one he would eliminate.

It's not that Huang Bo's acting is bad, but rather that his face looks too bitter; he's not suited to portraying a颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a sense of listlessness, dejection, or apathy) middle-aged man who brings hope to others.

Ultimately, Chen Shouzhe set his sights on Xu Zheng, a successful director who was also an actor and one of the earliest actors to transition into directing. He was capable, but also greedy. He had formed a new company with Ning Hao and another businessman and was constantly trying to recruit directors to join. Now, he was a major player in the industry.

Xu Zheng was confirmed as the first person, and Chen Shou first helped Wen Mu get the team together.

After Wen Mu also joined the team, they began to discuss the other actors. The main one to be cast was Xu Zheng, and the rest were to be finalized one by one.

Huang Bo's film has been in theaters for a week. Starting from the fifth day, box office revenue began a significant decline, falling below 100 million yuan. However, it miraculously surpassed 600 million yuan in a week, meaning the film has a chance to break the 1 billion yuan mark. This has given Huang Bo a huge boost, and he continues to promote the film, enthusiastically celebrating. Whether it can break the 1 billion yuan mark depends on this surge, which would allow him to join the "1 billion yuan director club." However, many other films were also released in May, and the film industry is known for its underhanded tactics. Fortunately, Huang Bo has Chen Shou behind him, which has prevented some people from taking advantage of him. Huang Bo's enthusiastic promotion has significantly impacted the film's box office performance.

With three weeks left, it's entirely possible that we could break the 10 billion mark.

Wen Mu also met with Xu Zheng. Xu Zheng was somewhat skeptical of Wen Mu, a new director, mainly because the person who introduced them was quite influential, a high-ranking official at China Film Group.

"Hello, Director Xu."

Wen Mu also saw Xu Zheng stand up to greet him and shake his hand.

"Hello, you're Director Wen Muye, right?" Xu Zheng said.

“It’s me,” Wen Mu nodded.

"I heard you want me to act in a movie. What kind of movie is it?" Xu Zheng asked with a smile.

"To be precise, it wasn't me; I was just a tool," Wen Mu said.

"Oh..." Xu Zheng was about to take a sip of tea when he paused, then chuckled and joked, "Who is it? I'm not cheap to get you to act in a movie."

"Haha, no rush, we'll definitely quote you the price you offered to the public," Wen Mu laughed.

Xu Zheng became increasingly curious about who had approached him to make the movie. He had also looked into Wen Muye, who was just a small-time director. Unless he could secure a large investment, his salary would be enough to bankrupt this small-time director.

Although the government has issued a salary cap, there are still plenty of behind-the-scenes maneuvers. Xu Zheng is not the kind of person who would let himself suffer losses. If the production team is good enough, he has already become an investor and can even get involved in the investment.

Therefore, he was more interested in the people behind the scenes than he was in Wen Mu at the moment.

"Director Xu, please sign this." Wen Mu also took out a confidentiality agreement. Xu Zheng glanced at it. He had brought his agent with him this time. The two of them looked at it together, and there were no problems. They immediately signed their names.

The confidentiality agreement is very simple: after reading the script, not a single word can be revealed. If the script is leaked to the outside world, all those who signed the agreement will be held accountable.

After the agreement was signed, Wen Mu also showed the script to Xu Zheng.

Xu Zheng didn't pay much attention at first, but the more he looked at it, the more his brows furrowed. As a director, he knew how excellent the script was, and if handled well, it could win an award.

His problem now isn't whether he wins an award or not, but whether the script will pass censorship.

The fact that he was chosen to act in the role means the script has been approved. The fact that the script was approved suggests that the person behind Wen Muye has considerable power, perhaps even greater than he imagined.

Sweat beaded on his bald forehead. The more he looked, the more alarmed he became—alarmed by the boldness of the script and by the power behind Wen Muye.

"Director Wen, can you tell me who wrote this script?" Xu Zheng asked after putting down the script and taking a sip of tea half an hour later.

“It was written by my girlfriend,” Wen Mu said with a smile.

"Who is your girlfriend?" Xu Zheng was taken aback. Another couple? Just like Ning Hao.

"Her name is Han Jianu!"

"Han Jianu? Chairman Han's daughter!!" Xu Zheng suddenly realized what was going on when he heard the name.

(End of this chapter)