HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 422 [422] Thank you, Young Master Qi Yuan, for the meal!

Beijing.

Huang Xiaoming saw in the newspaper how successful his old classmate was now.

The male lead, with a $30 million budget, a $4 million salary, and an American distributor spending $20 million to buy overseas rights on the first day of filming... all this information kept bombarding his mind.

Looking back a few years ago, we all lived in the same dormitory at Beijing Film Academy, attending classes and playing together.

Several years later, everyone's development is vastly different. It would be a lie to say I'm not envious, but it's just envy, not jealousy.

He and Qi Yuan had a good personal relationship, and Qi Yuan even helped him out when he was filming "Infernal Affairs".

However, the film industry is tough. There are several factions in mainland China, and unless he becomes as famous as Qi Yuan, they prefer to use people from their own circle.

Some film crews in Hong Kong are willing to hire him to make movies, mostly for supporting roles, similar to Wu Jing, which are the most arduous and tiring roles.

Huang Xiaoming was much more clear-headed than Wu Jing; he felt that staying in the mainland would offer a better future.

Wang Jing was willing to invite him to play the male lead, but it was an adult film, which he said he was not worthy of.

After going through a lot of twists and turns, Huang Xiaoming decided to temporarily work in the mainland television industry.

Most actors follow this path: once they've made it in television, they then set their sights on movies.

Huang Xiaoming has been having good luck lately. By chance, he met the owner of a film investment company.

This company is called Baoshi, and it invested in a TV series called "The Emperor of Han Dynasty".

Huang Xiaoming thought his luck had finally turned around.

It turns out that he had just had dinner with this Baoshi boss, who then gave him a room key to a luxury hotel and invited him to discuss the script tonight.

It was only then that Huang Xiaoming realized that the boss wanted to stand behind him, which disgusted him. Just imagining the scene made his scalp tingle.

Back when he was at the Beijing Film Academy, he had heard people say that some big shots in the industry weren't interested in female stars, but were very interested in male stars. This time, he stumbled upon one.

For a moment, Huang Xiaoming was at a loss.

At that moment, he heard a buzzing sound in his ear, and his phone, which was on the table, vibrated. The phone screen displayed Qi Yuan's number.

Huang Xiaoming quickly answered the phone, and Qi Yuan's voice came through the receiver.

"Xiaoming, I heard you're planning to switch jobs recently. Are you interested in going to Hollywood with Ning Hao and Jiang Wen to make a movie?"

Hey!
Huang Xiaoming was so excited that he trembled all over.

Did he hear that right? Hollywood? Making a movie?

This was something he never dared to dream of.

He swore that even if Qi Yuan asked him to jump into the river right now, he wouldn't hesitate.

He only regretted that Qi Yuan wasn't sitting in front of him, so he couldn't kneel down and pay homage to his godfather!

Huang Xiaoming's brain raced, and he quickly realized: "President Qi, I've wanted to join Starry Sky for a long time. Before, I was afraid that I was too incompetent and would hinder Starry Sky's development, so I was too embarrassed to ask."

"Alright, go to Starry Sky and report for duty, then find Ning Hao. Remember to practice your English. I don't expect you to use your natural voice, but you'll still need it for work-related communication, right?"

Qi Yuan saw through it but didn't point it out; he understood it very well.

Huang Xiaoming never asked him for help, nor did he offer to join Starry Sky, because he was afraid that their friendship would turn into a relationship based on self-interest.

He admires Huang Xiaoming's character and conduct.

You can say he played the domineering CEO poorly, but you can't say he doesn't know how to behave.

Ning Hao contacted Qi Yuan today to ask which actors to look for.

Qi Yuan's reply was that he had someone look for someone in Hollywood.

But as a Chinese boss, he can't use all foreign actors in a film directed by a Chinese director, can he?
The story is set in the United States, where there are many Chinese people, so it's normal to have one or two Chinese characters.

Huang Xiaoming was planning to switch companies. He was Qi Yuan's old classmate, knew how to conduct himself, was handsome, and his acting was reliable when he wasn't playing domineering CEOs. Such a person had the potential to become Xingkong's future top star. And indeed, Huang Xiaoming proved to be very clever; after Qi Yuan gave him a hint, he immediately jumped ship to Xingkong.

Huang Xiaoming stated seriously, "I must learn foreign languages, and I will definitely work hard to learn English well."

Qi Yuan believes this.

People's impression of Huang Xiaoming's English has remained stuck on his 08 performance of "Nao Tai Tao".

In fact, Huang Xiaoming was spurred on by his shame and worked hard to learn English after being ridiculed by the public. He eventually reached the level of CET-6.

Compared to academic achievers, she'd be no match; but in the entertainment industry, where illiteracy is rampant, she's already considered above average.

After ending the call, Huang Xiaoming felt extremely relieved and casually threw the room key given to him by the boss of Baoshi into the trash can.

He now has the confidence to not want the "Emperor of Han Dynasty" project.

If the hotel room key was given to him by Qi Yuan, he might consider taking it back.

Qi Yuan: "?"

……

Dunshi, Yardang Geopark.

Scenes such as the Qin army besieging the city and Wuming's initial entry into the Qin state were all filmed here.

To speed up the filming process, the crew was divided into Group A and Group B. Group A was responsible for the dialogue scenes, while Group B filmed the action scenes.

Arriving at this place, Qi Yuan realized just how incredibly difficult it is to capture a truly picturesque scene!

Some filming locations are two or three hundred kilometers away from the city, and it takes a lot of time to travel back and forth every day.

Fortunately, everyone has something to look forward to. Hollywood distributors have already contacted us right after filming started, which is good news.

However, Miramax Pictures, which has expressed interest, is not a good company.

In their previous life, the "Hero" production team was ripped off. This company bought out the distribution rights for North America and several other European and American countries for $1500 million, resulting in a huge loss.

Despite being a box office hit in North America, New Pictures failed to generate any revenue and even delayed its North American release by nearly two years.

The company reasoned that since "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" had only been released a little over a year ago, releasing a similarly styled film like "Hero" would likely cause North American audiences to experience aesthetic fatigue.

They postponed the release without permission from New Pictures, which broke Zhang Weiping and Zhang Yingmou.

This company's smear campaign didn't stop there; they even planned to re-edit a version themselves and change the title of "Hero." It was only because Quentin Tarantino, who came to help promote the film, insisted that the version seen by the audience was preserved.

The company is also involved in the flimsy plot.

Zhang Yingmou himself said that he filmed a lot of content, but the company kept demanding cuts, and a lot of content was cut out.

A typical example is the fight scene between Zhang Manyu and Zhang Ziyi, which left the audience confused, as if something was missing.

With Qi Yuan's involvement, these problems were all solved without Qi Yuan even having to ask.

Because a major Hollywood film studio has entered the fray to compete with Miramax for the North American distribution rights to "Heroes," and that company is Warner Bros.

Zhang Weiping and Zhang Yingmou were both thrilled. If they could work with Warner, who would want to work with Miramax?
Warner made two demands.

First, Warner Bros. paid $3000 million to buy out the North American distribution rights for "Heroes," and all subsequent revenue generated in North America is unrelated to the production company.

Secondly, Warner Bros. helped New Pictures distribute "Hero" in North America, sharing the risk of losses, with subsequent profits going to Warner Bros. first.

The two Zhangs were incredibly excited, and inviting Qi Yuan to play the male lead was absolutely the right decision.

They were 100% certain that bringing Li Lianjie back from the United States would absolutely not have the same effect.

Zhang Weiping and the investors were practically kneeling before Qi Yuan, ready to thank him for his generosity.

(End of this chapter)