Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 294 Refuse to invest
The novel *Investiture of the Gods* appeared on New Year's Eve last year, and then quickly became a book and a script, and is now in the project approval stage.

It's only been a little over two months, which means Chen Shouzhe was already well-prepared.

Moreover, the fact that they started producing the TV series before the IP had even gained traction demonstrates Chen Shouzhe's remarkable speed and shows just how confident he is in his work.

It was even faster than when Journey to the West was published. More than a year passed after the book was published before there was a TV series project, and it was CTV that approached them.

Now, Shou Zhe Film Industry, a top-tier production company in the industry, moves incredibly fast, giving the film and television industry no chance to react.

After being besieged last year, Ghost Blows Out the Light responded immediately.

They even decided to release a Journey to the West movie, just to leave them no way out.

Of course, despite their dissatisfaction, the talent agencies still had to get moving, and they began studying scripts and searching for suitable roles.

Ultimately, the most outstanding female character was found to be the fox spirit Daji, the fox demon who bewitched King Zhou.

The male role will definitely be Jiang Ziya. This role requires a certain age, so ordinary actors shouldn't even think about it.

Chen Shouzhe already has someone in mind, but it's unclear whether he will agree.

Chen Shouzhe planned to pay a visit in person, after all, this person had a rather high status in the film and television industry.

He had just hung up the phone after arranging to meet with CCTV the next day when Yang Mi called. However, the call wasn't to him, but to his daughter Chen Caiyu's watch. To prevent any accidents from happening to his daughter, Chen had prepared not only the watch but also other items. Who knew if someone would resort to desperate measures?

"Daddy, it's Mommy on the phone," the little girl said, glancing at the notification on her watch.

"Why don't you chat with your mom?" Chen Shou said, ruffling her hair.

"Okay." The little girl answered the call and raised her hand to make the call.

Just after hanging up with a few acquaintances, I received a call from Li Baibing. Unsurprisingly, it was about one of his artists.

“I know what you mean. There will be auditions. Just arrange for your people to audition. Yes, it’s CTV that’s in charge,” Chen Shou said.

"Okay, I understand." Li Baibing replied readily and hung up the phone after receiving the reply.

Other good agency owners also called, and even Blueberry TV, which they had worked with before, called to ask about the production team.

They were somewhat disappointed to learn that it was still with CTV. They had actually been in contact with Chen Shouzhe, hoping to win the contract for Investiture of the Gods, since they had tasted some success with Journey to the West.

They secured the rights for the fourth round of broadcasting. The first, second, and third rounds were all on CCTV, but the fourth round was given to CCTV-6 (Blueberry TV) because of Dilraba's connection. Chen Shouzhe had a deal with CCTV-6. In order for Dilraba to be on the front page, Chen Shouzhe paid a price: a favor from Shanghai Film Studio and the fourth round of broadcasting of Journey to the West.

Although it was the fourth run, Blueberry Channel still achieved a respectable viewership rating.

Blueberry TV doesn't have it, and neither does Hunan TV. They really want it, but unfortunately, they can't compete with CTV in this area. After all, CTV is the leader in this field. In terms of TV dramas, especially serious dramas, CTV has an absolute dominant position in China.

Even if Hunan TV wanted the broadcasting rights, it wouldn't get them. CCTV's dramas would definitely be broadcast on CCTV, or even CCTV-1, so forget about it.

However, the talent agencies under Mango TV are interested in the role. After all, Mango TV is a large and powerful organization that signed many contestants through talent shows in the past, and has signed many more people since then.

It can be said that Hunan TV is the originator of traffic generation. In an era when you could only send text messages and a text message cost two yuan, it achieved great success with text messages.

In the era of ringtones, a single catchy song could earn hundreds of millions of yuan. Hundreds of millions of yuan in the early 2000s, it's terrifying to even think about.

As usual, if you want a role, you need to audition. CTV will select the actors, and Chen Shou will only provide the money and script. He will act as the producer, just like with Journey to the West, and control the process.

However, now that the script has been approved, the subsequent preparations will take at least six months or even longer, and filming will take place in the second half of the year.

"Dad, Mom wants you to answer the phone." The little girl chatted with her mother for a while, and Yang Mi was probably getting anxious. She knew that Chen Shouzhe was definitely playing tricks on her again. It was the same last time. He made her chat with the little girl for a long time, made her sign a bunch of unfair sales agreements, and bought her a lot of things before he let her go and let her talk to Chen Shouzhe on the phone.

"Did your mother say what she bought for you, little girl?" Chen Shou asked.

"Mom said she'll buy me a pretty dress and a big water gun," the little girl said happily.

Is it pretty?

"good-looking."

“My baby looks good in everything. Put the watch on Daddy’s face.” Chen Shou hugged the little girl and put her hand to his ear.

"Whee!"

The little girl thought it was fun and put the watch next to Chen Shou's ear so he could answer the phone.

"What do you mean?" Chen Shou asked, naturally speaking to Yang Mi on the other end of the phone.

"Can we co-produce it?" Yang Mi asked.

"No."

"Why? It's very important to our company's development. Don't you know how much it can boost our stock price?"

"The company is your business. I've already taken it public for you. Investiture of the Gods is a co-production with CCTV. No other companies will be involved."

"What about the actors?"

"You can go for the audition; you can sign up yourselves."

"Okay, I see."

The call was abruptly ended, probably because the caller was angry, since Chen Shou had rejected the call.

However, Chen Shou did give her benefits; he even got her a role in the Journey to the West movie.

"Girl, let's go feed the horses."

"Okay."

He took his daughter to the stable to feed the horses, and then Chen Shou didn't answer any of the subsequent phone calls.

TV dramas can make people famous; just look at Journey to the West. It can be said to be the best TV drama in recent years, and the actors have benefited greatly.

Such S-level productions are highly sought after by stars in the film and television industry; even A-list celebrities must compete for important roles in them.

Chen Shouzhe suggested that Reba give it a try, but there was no guarantee that she would be selected. Chen Shouzhe did have the final say in casting, but CTV was also very assertive. They required that the actors' acting skills be up to standard and that they be stereotypical. In other words, the actress playing Daji had to be as beautiful and alluring as a fox spirit.

Today, Zhong Lifan called Wang Baobao's company and heard that Chen Shouzhe had invited him to audition for the role of Sun Wukong. Wang Baobao himself was very surprised and agreed to go at a certain time. He is currently dealing with other work and will not be back in the capital for another two days.

I also learned from Zhong Lifan that it was my good friend Huang Bo who recommended me, so I called to thank Huang Bo.

Huang Bo is currently preparing for his movie, and the script has already been submitted. We believe there will be good news soon.

(End of this chapter)