This director is so innocent.

A north wind howled by, bringing a chill.

Su Jin couldn't help but shiver, but she still tried to remain calm and maintain her composure.

Looking into the distance, all that could be seen was a desolate and bleak landscape.

The grass and trees withered, the earth turned yellow, as if it had lost its vitality and life. A desolate atmosphere spread, making people feel endless sorrow.

"How is it, Director Su? Does this place meet your requirements?" A middle-aged man with slightly graying temples, wearing an executive jacket, asked Su Jin with a smile.

At the same time, a middle-aged man with rough skin was also looking at Su Jin expectantly.

Su Jin didn't respond directly, but instead turned her gaze to Ning Hao beside her and asked softly, "Ning Hao, what do you think?"

"I feel pretty good about it, especially this little grove of trees, it fits the scene quite well," Ning Hao said.

Su Jin nodded; he was also quite satisfied.

This was the third venue he had visited. He wasn't satisfied with the first two; they were either too poorly made or the setting didn't quite fit.

The only unsatisfactory aspect of this village is that it is too far from the county seat, more than 20 kilometers away, and the mountain road is rugged and difficult to travel.

Accommodation for the film crew will then become a problem.

Food is easy to solve; just ask the village aunties to cook, or hire a few chefs to work with the group.

As for staying in town?

The conditions don't allow it; this isn't a town, but a township, which is even lower than a town, and it has no tourism resources.

Therefore, there are no hotels in this village, only small inns, the very small kind.

There is only one restaurant, which was set up by the township government to specifically entertain leaders. In addition, teachers from the township's primary and secondary schools would occasionally host banquets for leaders here.

"Village chief, are there any families in your village who have gone out to work, leaving empty houses?" Su Jin asked, looking at the rough-skinned man.

Standing in front of him was the village chief, and the other person in the administrative jacket was the township head; both of them had come specifically to accompany him on the site visit.

For the village, if a film crew chooses to shoot scenes here, it will undoubtedly bring in a considerable income.

If managed properly, this place could even be developed into a tourist attraction.

"Yes, yes, yes..." the village chief replied hastily, his smile beaming.

Although he came from a rural background and hadn't received much formal education or traveled extensively, he had watched television dramas! He knew the benefits of a film crew shooting in his location.

Furthermore, the township head also told him that if the film crew really did film scenes in his village, the township would prepare to provide key support to his village.

"Is Director Su planning to rent our house?"

"Yes, your place is too far from the county town, it's inconvenient for the film crew to come and go, so we'll probably need quite a few empty houses."

If it were the middle of summer, we could set up a tent and make do, but it's the dead of winter now. When the cold winter comes, we'll freeze to death living outside.

Of course, the crew members are staying here, while the lead actors are still arranged to stay in the small county town.

Su Jin herself would live in the village to avoid the hassle of traveling back and forth.

He didn't care much about the environment; he grew up in the village, playing in the river, catching fish, and picking mulberries from trees...

"Don't worry, Director Su, I will definitely arrange a house for you." The village chief assured him repeatedly, adding in his mind that if there weren't enough houses, he would vacate his own house.

If it's any less, then vacate his brother's house.

"Thank you, Village Chief." After expressing her gratitude, Su Jin turned to the Township Chief and continued to thank him earnestly, "Township Chief, thank you for your help today."

"Director Su, what are you saying? I should be thanking you. Thank you for coming here to film," the township head said with a smile.

He wasn't like the village chief who only graduated from junior high school; he graduated from a junior college and had seen a lot of the world. He understood all too well the importance of a film crew coming here to shoot on location.

Let's talk about the visible benefits!

Food, drink, and lodging are all that's needed for the local villagers to have a good New Year.

After returning to her hometown, Su Jin declined the township head's invitation to dinner and took Ning Hao, Chen Zhixi, and two staff members back to the capital.

……

November has quietly arrived.

The annual Lunar New Year film season in China has begun.

On November 3rd, Gong Li's Hollywood blockbuster "Miami Vice" launched its offensive.

The film is adapted from an 80s American TV series of the same name and cost $1.35 million, but it still couldn't escape the general trend that TV series adapted into movies inevitably become bad movies.

It grossed $6300 million domestically in North America, but its overseas performance was also terrible…

It's worth noting that "Miami Vice" is hailed as one of the best television series in history.

The only redeeming quality in the film is Gong Li's rather daring passionate scenes.

It performed poorly at the international box office and also performed poorly domestically, earning only 125 million in its opening week and a final box office of 2600 million.

On November 14, "Skywalker" was released.

This is also a gangster film, starring Ekin Cheng, which grossed 200 million yuan at the mainland box office.

The director is Ruan Shisheng, an unknown director.

The promotional slogan for "The Skywalker" is "Ekin Cheng returns to the gangster scene after ten years," which is quite appealing.

Audiences went in expecting it to be like the old gangster movies, but they were surprised to find the director giving them a lecture.

Those who say there's no future in gangsters, that you should study to have a future.

Director Yuen Sai Sing's grasp of the theme that even gangsters can find redemption and start anew is far less impressive than his previous sketches such as "Two People, Three Legs" and "Neurotic Couple".

Although we attempted to achieve a grand vision, our actual capabilities were insufficient.

Actually, making use of Ekin Cheng's deeply ingrained image as a gangster is a rather interesting idea.

Just like Liu Qingyun's role in "Goodbye Ah Lang" in 1999, he also played a disillusioned gang leader who was released from prison, full of the vicissitudes of parting ways in the underworld.

The TV series "Skywalker" could have portrayed Ye Qiu as an even more unsuccessful character. After his release from prison, he encountered various setbacks and wanted to be a good person in obscurity at the bottom of society, but the police still did not believe him. Such a story would definitely be more moving.

Now that Ye Qiu has been released from prison, he's all-powerful and has a group of brothers who seem to have divine assistance around him. The eldest brother runs the shop perfectly well, and as soon as he returns, he hands over the money to him. This is no longer a gangster or triad member; they're practically a group of good citizens.

The most critical failure lies in the fact that Ye Qiu's character shows no inner struggle. He spends eight years in prison and reads a whole box of books, and suddenly he becomes a saint. This is simply unconvincing.

The director devoted all the scenes to Ye Qiu wanting to start over, but the police didn't believe his plan, making the group of police officers look like idiots.

The script of "Skywalker" has major problems and doesn't seem like the kind of work that a director like Ruan Shisheng, who comes from a screenwriting background, should make.

He wrote the screenplays for many classic Hong Kong films, including "A Chinese Ghost Story", "He's a Woman, She's a Man", "The Three Musketeers", and "A Moment of Romance".

The market is sluggish, and viewers don't even have the energy to complain.

Don't worry, Andy Lau and Fan Bingbing's "A Battle of Wits" is on its way, and in December there's another major release of the year, Zhang Yimou's "Curse of the Golden Breasts".

……

Please give me a recommendation vote and encourage me to continue reading!

Thank you, thank you very much.