Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 8 Colleagues are Enemies

I urge certain young people to think twice before acting!!

This post appeared online and sparked heated discussions. The poster was a "famous" veteran screenwriter in the industry.

The content is simple: it criticizes young people today for being overly ambitious, squandering and abusing investors' money right after graduation, and using unethical means to seek personal gain.

The entire text does not mention Chen Shouzhe's name, yet every word is about him.

Most people felt that the criticism was directed at Chen Shouzhe, but they also felt that it lacked force, since Chen Shouzhe's ability to secure funding from investors was a skill in itself.

Only those in the film and television industry understood that criticizing Chen Shouzhe was just a side effect; the real target was China Film Group.

Investors can spend their money however they want, but China Film Group is different; it's a state-owned enterprise, and its money belongs to the country.

The article subtly criticizes China Film Group for using taxpayers' money to invest in bad films, enriching themselves through shady dealings.

Many people are just watching this as a joke and are waiting for China Film Group's response.

At this moment, China Film Group also noticed it. They couldn't help but pay attention; a group of old guys came to block the door early this morning.

After Chairman Han Sanping finished dealing with the group of 'old beggars,' he immediately called Director Wang and asked him to come to his office.

"What exactly happened? Those old guys came to block the door early this morning," Han Sanping asked Director Wang. These old guys are usually very diligent in wailing and mourning, but today they actually gathered together and were making all sorts of sarcastic remarks.

I haven't seen them make any movies, nor have I seen them win any awards, let alone achieve any box office success. The movies they make can't even be released, and we still have to support them.

It can be said that what Han Sanping hates most is this group of old fogies who sit in the latrine without doing their business.

"It might be related to a movie that the group recently invested in," Director Wang said with a serious expression.

"Which movie did you invest in?" Han Sanping remembered the movie their group had recently invested in, since every penny had to be approved with his signature and seal.

"It's that comedy film by a new director that I showed you not long ago."

"A comedy?" Han Sanping thought carefully for a moment: "You mean that one called...What's the trouble?"

“Yes, China Film Group gave its four million share for the last quarter of this year to a newcomer, so those old-timers… are unhappy.” Director Wang almost blurted it out, and Han Sanping glared at him.

“Since we’ve already voted, let’s vote. But it seems the impact outside is quite significant,” Han Sanping said, frowning.

"It's alright, this is actually better. At least we've already won in terms of marketing. You've also read the script and thought it was good, otherwise Enlight Media and Wanda wouldn't have invested," Director Wang said.

"When will filming begin?" Han Sanping asked.

"It was turned on yesterday," Director Wang said.

"So fast?" Han Sanping asked in surprise. Since the project was initiated, China Film Group's funding shouldn't have arrived yet, so how did filming start so quickly?

"Actually, the cost wasn't that high. The main cost wasn't in the actors, but in the set design. Plus, he had prepared a lot beforehand, so we started filming yesterday at the Huairou base," Director Wang said.

"Fine, this fund is meant to support newcomers, and it should be allocated to them every year, or to their juniors. If this continues, the country's money will just end up being given to them, humph!" Han Sanping is no ordinary person; his methods are ruthless, and even many international friends complain about him every day.

A person hated by even the enemy must be a good person.

Chen Shouzhe started filming yesterday without any opening ceremony. Apart from him being a newcomer, the crew members are all veterans from China Film Group. That's why Chen Shouzhe dared to start filming even before China Film Group's money was deposited into his account.

A portion of this money will eventually be returned to China Film Group, using their personnel, venues, and equipment—a form of indirect repatriation.

The crew had no objections to Chen Shouzhe being a newcomer as director. Director Wang arranged for him to be an assistant director, but he was worried that Chen Shouzhe lacked experience and wouldn't be able to keep the rest of the crew in check.

"Cut! Charlotte, wait, you've never done a kissing scene before? Sister Yan had no problem with it, but you can't? Are you even an actor? Or do you want to kiss Sister Yan a few more times?" Chen Shouzhe said to Shen Teng.

Everyone present laughed, which made Shen Teng blush.

"Brother Teng, if you can't do it, I can too," Yin Zheng said with a smile. "It's okay, it's okay, I'm a professional," Shen Teng took a deep breath and composed himself.

"Camera ready!"

Chen Shou stared intently at the screen in front of him. As the scene unfolded, Shen Teng quickly got into character. Everyone else watched as Xia Luo forcefully pressed Qiu Ya's head down and kissed her.

The classroom erupted in cheers, everyone cheering like monkeys.

The unique lighting design resembles a sunset, and even evokes the hazy atmosphere of the 1990s.

The protagonist travels back in time, and the hazy, dreamlike atmosphere created by the lighting, along with the sense of age and dreamlike quality, effectively immerses the viewer in the ambiance of that era.

The assistant director arranged by Director Wang was surnamed Liu and named Liu Xingguang. He was almost forty years old and had long hair. He had been an assistant director for many years. At first, he was a little resentful of being Chen Shou's assistant director. He thought that a young man who had just graduated could make movies for the big screen, while he had to be someone else's assistant director.

Under pressure, he regarded Chen Shouzhe as some young master. When he saw the script and storyboard that Chen Shouzhe had prepared, as well as the set arrangement, especially his focus, he felt that he was not a newcomer.

"Okay, this one's done." Chen Shou said, holding the walkie-talkie.

Shen Teng breathed a sigh of relief, and then Yin Zheng came in and collapsed next to the teacher.

At noon, Director Wang came over and first asked Liu Xingguang about the situation.

“How was the shoot?”

"It's going very smoothly. After all, he has an undergraduate degree. There were some flaws at the beginning, but now it's very good and progressing very quickly. Although most of the actors are newcomers, he is very patient in teaching them."

How long do you expect filming to take?

"At the current pace, it's hard to say for sure, but it should be around two months."

"Yeah, almost."

Chen Shou was watching the footage shot today and chatting with the person in charge of editing.

"Keep this one, you see..." After finishing his meal, Chen Shou pulled the post-production team aside to discuss how to edit the footage.

Director Wang waited on the side for a while, and it was only when the people in the later stages noticed him that things stopped.

"Director Wang, I'm sorry, he didn't notice you came." Chen Shou hurriedly stood up.

"It's alright, it's alright. I just came to check on things. I am a producer myself, after all. It seems the filming is going smoothly. If you encounter any difficulties, just let me know," said Director Wang.

"There are no difficulties. With China Film Group around, what difficulties could there be in China?" Chen Shou said, flatteringly.

Although it was flattery, Director Wang loved to hear it. After all, they were China Film Group, the number one company in China. If China Film Group couldn't handle filming in China, other companies couldn't even dream of it.

"Haha, it's not as exaggerated as you say." Director Wang laughed and glanced at the people next to him, who tactfully left.

"Have you seen today's media reports?" Director Wang asked.

"I've seen a bit," Chen Shouzhe nodded, as one of his fellow disciples came over to tell him.

"Don't let public opinion influence you. A person's career has nothing to do with their talent. I'm investing in you under pressure, so you'd better do a good job filming," Director Wang said with a smile.

You can tell he's under pressure. Giving a newcomer so much money to make a movie, four million is a lot. Those old guys are putting a lot of pressure on him. Luckily, his boss is Han Sanping, who doesn't tolerate them. If it were a softer leader, he would at least be dragged out to take the blame.

"I will definitely make a good film, Director Wang. They can't affect me. My godfather called me this morning. He went through the same thing back then. Not everyone likes art. We'll do our best and leave it to the market. Besides, this is good. At least the movie is already generating buzz before it even starts. Chairman Wang even called me and said he could give me a discount on the publicity and distribution fees!" Chen Shou said with a smile.

Director Wang laughed when he heard this. It was indeed true. Chen Shouzhe's mindset was even better than he had thought. He came over to help Chen Shouzhe relax and relieve him of so much pressure. He could handle the pressure and just let him focus on making the movie. Now it seemed that this was indeed beneficial for publicity.

After all, the turmoil at his workplace had only just subsided, and he had offended a large number of media outlets, almost resulting in a joint boycott. The media were keeping a close eye on Chen, and that's why quite a few media outlets came to the film crew's location that afternoon.

(End of this chapter)