Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 296 was released quietly; the Nine-Story Demon Tower incident.

"Wang Baobao has arrived. It seems he takes this very seriously. He's already putting on makeup, and it's actually quite interesting."

Urzan brought breakfast, and he didn't look like a director at all; he was eating a boiled egg.

There were very few auditions today, only a handful of people.

Wang Baobao is one of them, along with some other newcomers who have good skills.

If he really can't find a suitable person in the industry, Chen Shouzhe will definitely start using new actors.

These days, it's not that new actors can't be used, it's just a matter of how they're used.

"Let's check the makeup effect later. Huang Bo will be here soon," Chen Shou said.

"The movie script announcement came out today. He's going to prepare for his movie. What did Yunnan Insect Valley say?" Wuershan was still worried about his movie.

Although Chen Shou used his connections to suppress it, the higher-ups had already noticed the movie's influence. After all, there really were some idiots who bought Luoyang shovels after watching the movie.

Some tombs are well hidden, while others are right there in plain sight, like the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor.

Who knows if some madman might pull off a big heist? (The Blood River No. 18 is a big deal; in March 3, this tomb was also dubbed the Nine-Story Demon Tower.)
Because of the impact of the film, the authorities gave Chen Shouzhe the green light. They couldn't just crush him all at once. Considering his contributions to domestic films, they gave him time to figure things out.

"It will be released on the 29th. I've already communicated with the higher-ups, and the film will be delivered to major theaters two days in advance. As for publicity and distribution, forget about it; Wanda will handle the distribution exclusively," Chen Shou said with a sigh.

There was really no way around it; he got messed up, and it got pretty big. Even though he managed to suppress it, public opinion has already taken hold. Although the audience is definitely on his side, the higher-ups won't care about any of this, since there's already been a case of this being exposed.

Coupled with the media offensive from competitors, the higher-ups had to take action.

Suppressing it will ruin the IP, so the last movie will definitely still be released, but the rest can only be seen on websites.

"Is it going to be released on the 29th? Thursday. April's release schedule is terrible." Wu Ershan was a little disappointed. He didn't expect his movie to fall to this level. It was a movie that had broken 2 billion. It's true that it's better to avoid sensitive topics.

"If all else fails, you can go and make some money. Tencent offered you a high price. How about it? Want to give it a try?" Chen Shou said with a smile.

"Forget it. If a movie that exploits my nostalgia is made into an online film, it will lower its quality and disappoint my audience." Wuershan shook his head.

He is an ambitious director. If his reputation among the audience is damaged because of his online films, it will affect the box office performance of his subsequent theatrical films.

A director's reputation is very important. Why are people still willing to buy tickets for directors who have won major awards? Because they have made classics. So no matter what kind of movie it is, there will always be a group of viewers willing to pay for it.

He's like someone who uses a single film to reap the rewards of his accumulated fame; his future films will face significant challenges.

Wuershan has not yet chosen to shoot an online movie. He doesn't know if he will in the future. At present, he wants to do a good job with Journey to the West and continue to develop this IP like Mojin: The Lost Legend.

Everyone has their own pursuits. Guo Fan likes science fiction movies, Wu Ershan likes gods, demons and monsters, Wu Jing likes military combat, Huang Bo likes realism, Zhou Xingxing is a comedy director, and Jiang Wen lives in his own world. His movie is probably still being edited. I met him once during the Chinese New Year. He was still busy with his movie.

Huang Bo arrived shortly afterward, very excited. His phone kept vibrating, but he had silenced it; there were definitely a lot of people looking for him.

"Have all the actors been chosen?" Chen Shou asked.

"No problem, thank you Director Chen." Huang Bo clasped his hands in thanks to Chen Shou.

"So polite?" Chen Shouzhe was amused by his actions and thanked him in a serious manner.

Wuershan and Huang Bo were both aware that Chen Shouzhe had given them a great deal of authority. The script was Chen Shouzhe's, and he was also the production company. In fact, Shouzhe Pictures' model was not the domestic model.

In China, the system is director-centric, meaning that the director has the final say in the production team, while the producer is just an assistant.

In Hollywood, however, it's a producer-centric system, meaning the producer has absolute power on the production team and can decide everything.

Shouzhe Pictures belongs to Chen Shouzhe, who is the director. He understands the filmmaking process better than others and knows which actors are best to cast.

In theory, he should have complete control over the film, and the director only needs to shoot the film according to his script.

However, Chen Shouzhe gave them a lot of autonomy in their films, letting them choose the actors, which was tantamount to giving them a favor and letting them build connections.

Of course, Chen Shouzhe would always keep an eye on things in the end. After all, some actors might not be suitable, or there might be some dirty deals behind the scenes. Chen Shouzhe would intervene in advance to avoid a situation like the one in "Let the Bullets Fly".

Huang Bo is very independent. He chooses actors he thinks are suitable according to the script, and how to invite actors and do favors is his business.

Huang Bo had done all the favors, so of course he was grateful to Chen Shouzhe, though his actions were rather amusing.

"Sister Zhong will bring the contract over later. Just like before, the director's and actors' salaries will be given to you separately, plus a certain percentage. If you don't want it, you can return it to me," Chen Shou said with a smile.

"No, it would be an honor for me to be able to invest in the company's film. I will definitely invest. The budget for this film is 100 million." Huang Bo quickly replied.

"Pretty much. As long as you don't find any outrageous actresses, I can't afford an actress costing 80 million," Chen Shou said with a smile.

Upon hearing Chen Shouzhe's words, both Wuershan and Huang Bo laughed, knowing full well who Chen Shouzhe was referring to.

She's the cult leader's wife; she publicly says that's all the money she's worth.

Chen Shouzhe found it unbelievable; despite repeated orders from above prohibiting exorbitant film salaries, her movie salary had gone up to the sky.

It raises serious questions about the source of this money and where the investors got so much cash.

Even coal mine owners don't squander their money like that, but considering her background, one can actually deduce where all that money came from.

It's just a tacit understanding within the industry, and Chen Shouzhe naturally won't break it or interfere.

Over the years, many people have approached him, hoping he would produce a big-budget film. They are not short of money and can send him money through various channels.

We'll clean it up, and once the box office results are in, giving them 30% will be enough.

That's right, they'd be ecstatic if they got 30%.

The remaining 70% loss is irrelevant to them; in fact, they would love for the film to lose money, hoping that Chen Shou would make a super-budget film that would flop.

What they want is not for the movie to make money, but for how much money the movie can transfer into the bank.

The three chatted for a while, and then Zhong Lifan came over. Huang Bo was the company's boss, so he just needed to sign the contract. Once the contract was signed and everything was confirmed to be in order, the movie was officially approved, and all that was left was for the actors to arrive so that filming could begin.

After Wang Baobao and the other actors finished their makeup, they began their auditions.

(End of this chapter)