This director is so innocent.

"Hey bro, thanks. Have a smoke to relax."

After the emblem left, Su Jin took out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket.

He took out two cigarettes, handed one to Wang Ying, and put the other in his mouth. Then he stuffed the rest of the pack of cigarettes into her hand.

Looking at the cigarette in his hand, Wang Ying didn't pay much attention.

After all, with his current income level, this level of cigarettes is something he can easily afford.

However, as the saying goes, it's the thought that counts, and what he truly valued was Su Jin's carefree and easygoing attitude.

Snapped……

With a crisp click of the lighter, a tiny spark instantly ignited the cigarettes in their hands.

Su Jin took a deep breath, then exhaled a long puff of smoke and said, "Brother, how long have you been following Master Bao?"

Wang Ying looked thoughtful, and sighed, "It's been about ten years!"

"So long? I thought you'd only been with Master Bao for four or five years!"

Su Jin looked surprised, then asked, "Does Master Bao have any plans for the next project?"

"What? You want to play the lead role?" Wang Ying looked at Su Jin with a half-smile.

"No, I was just asking casually," Su Jin said with a smile, waving her hand.

The projects that followed the outline were mostly not very good; what he valued was Wang Ying as a person.

He wanted to involve Wang Ying to protect his own project.

That's right, he plans to direct and star in his next project.

It's really risky for a novice like him to direct a project without experienced people around.

"Really no idea?" Wang Ying asked suspiciously.

"Really, no," Su Jin said helplessly.

"Then why are you asking this?" Wang Ying asked, puzzled.

"I didn't mean anything by it, I just wanted to ask if you're free later on. I'd like you to be the assistant director for my film crew."

Holy crap...

Wang Ying looked at Su Jin with a face full of surprise. It had taken him nearly ten years to become a director.

During that time, he worked like a slave, never complaining, before Da Gangzi gave him this opportunity, but he still ended up working as Da Gangzi's assistant.

What did he hear now?

Su Jin, that kid, has never acted in a single film, yet he wants to be a director.

Is the world just too crazy, or is he outdated?

"Are you serious?"

"More real than real gold."

Do you have a script?

"Yes, but I don't have it on me; it's at my company."

"Okay, I'll make a decision after I've read the script."

"Then it's settled, bro."

……

The emblem on the other side returned to the resting place.

Seeing that her boyfriend looked unwell, Commander Ma asked with concern, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong!" Wen Zhang forced a smile and smiled at Commander Ma.

This won't fool Commander Ma. She knows her boyfriend well; he's not the type to keep secrets.

"What's wrong with you?"

Li Xiaolu, who was looking at the script, suddenly said sarcastically, "What else could it be? She must have gone to show off and got scolded by the director!"

"you……"

Commander Ma glared angrily, about to speak, when Li Xiaolu interrupted him, saying:

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean, 'what do you mean'? I've long disliked his smug attitude. When I won the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress, he was still in junior high!"

After saying that, she walked away without waiting for Commander Ma's reply.

Li Xiaolu didn't go anywhere else; she went to play with Su Jin.

After all, she still has a film to shoot later!

"Hey... what's with the emblem? Why did he have such a blank face as soon as he got back?"

"Why are you being so gossipy?" Su Jin looked at Li Xiaolu speechlessly.

"Just curious!"

"What's with the curiosity? Go film your scene! The assistant director is calling for reinforcements."

"Tell me tonight," Li Xiaolu said, and then rushed off to film.

That evening, Su Jin filmed two scenes.

It's very tiring and also harmful to the body.

I spent the first half of the night in Li Xiaolu's room, and the second half of the night I went to Ge Meimei's room.

……

On June 28, "Crazy Stone" was released.

The box office performance is very good, showing signs of becoming a dark horse.

It grossed nearly two million in its opening weekend, taking the top spot at the box office for the week.

It grossed six million in its second week.

For a low-budget film, this is a huge profit.

Ning Hao's worries were relieved, and he couldn't stop smiling every day, even going on promotional tours with great enthusiasm.

It received mostly positive reviews both within and outside the industry.

However, there were also some negative comments, such as accusations of plagiarism from the foreign film "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels".

Ning Hao made no attempt to downplay this, stating bluntly that if identical narrative structures in films constitute plagiarism, then 99% of films worldwide would be suspected of plagiarism.

Ning Hao was happy, and so was Zuo Shandiao from China Film Group. With a wave of his hand, he made a promise to Ning Hao.

"As long as your next movie script passes the test, all the box office revenue from 'Stone' will be used to invest in your movie."

Zuo Shandiao also accomplished that.

The 1300 million yuan box office revenue was all invested in Ning Hao's next film, "Crazy Racer".

On June 30, Xu Cairen's "Dreams Come True" was released nationwide.

The film cost 600 million yuan, with Wang Shuo, a self-proclaimed "sycophant," serving as the screenwriter and Han Tongsheng as the lead actor.

This is an art film, not many people watch it.

The final box office was quite impressive, at 40.

You read that right, it's 40.

Logically speaking, with box office numbers like this, they should be losing so much money they wouldn't recognize their own grandmother.

However, Xu Cairen had already recouped her investment through GG ads, commercial sponsorships, and other copyright revenue.

The "GG" clips are the few clips that play at the beginning of a movie theater.

At present, only Feng Xiaogang can recoup his investment through box office revenue alone.

Because he was making a comedy, the budget was not high to begin with.

However, most others cannot do this; they recoup their costs and make a fortune through copyright revenue.

This is why big companies are vying to make blockbuster films.

If making blockbuster movies doesn't make money, capitalists won't work out of passion.

That's not like investing in art films, where a few million can solve the problem.

A blockbuster film that doesn't cost hundreds of millions to make can hardly call itself a blockbuster.

On July 11, "Superman Returns" was released.

The domestic box office in North America was only $2 million, while the global box office was $3.9 million, for a total of $5.9 million.

The film grossed 620 million yuan on its opening day, easily achieving the highest opening performance since the start of the summer season, and grossed 3171 million yuan in its first week.

Affected by "Superman Returns", the box office of "Stone" has dropped to less than 50 per day.

However, Yu Weiguo, the producer of "Stone", is arranging for the film to be screened on Hong Kong Island.

At that moment, Su Jin also received a phone call.

"Hey, what are you doing!"

The person on the other end of the phone was a young girl with a very pleasant, sweet, and soft voice...

It also carries a hint of playfulness and coquetry.

……

P.S.: This is the lead actor's first TV series as a director. Does anyone have any opinions? Feel free to share.