The director starts by learning from the abilities of renowned directors.

Chapter 124 Becomes a Sensation, Top-Tier

"Please adjust the filming schedule; I won't be going today."

"Liu Shishi isn't going either!"

"Okay, bye."

In the morning, after getting up, Shen Qing first called the assistant director Zhang Fujian to arrange the work, then bent down and kissed Liu Shishi on the forehead. Liu Shishi closed her eyes beforehand, but opened them again to look at Shen Qing after he finished kissing her.

"Get some rest today, I'm going downstairs to buy some breakfast."

"Um."

Shen Qing picked up his coat and walked out. As he left the bedroom, he turned back to take one last, careful look at Liu Shishi lying on the bed. At that moment, he felt content.

He went to great lengths to win Liu Shishi's heart, from "Scarlet Heart" to "About Time." If it weren't for her, he might not have made those two works. He could have copied many works with much higher potential; those two works weren't that important to him.

I've finally gotten what I wanted, and I'm content. I probably won't bother chasing women anymore.

Tangren Media had already assigned Liu Shishi a personal assistant. After Liu Shishi's dinner party, she didn't return to the set, and Cai Yinong found out that very evening.

It turned out that Liu Shishi and the director had disappeared again the next day. Someone as shrewd as Cai Yinong naturally understood what the two of them had gone to do.

As for my feelings, those are complicated.

Cai Yinong herself had been with Li Guoli, who was married, so her views are relatively open. Besides, Shen Qing isn't married yet. He might be a little lustful, but aren't most men like that?

Maybe he'll turn over a new leaf in a couple of years?

She really liked Liu Shishi and genuinely wanted the best for her. But the problem was, from a career perspective, Liu Shishi getting into Shen Qing's bed was the only way to truly be good to her!

Putting aside other things, there's the recently aired drama "Scarlet Heart".

At first, Liu Shishi's agent arranged for her to play minor supporting roles like Lüwu. It was only after Shen Qing, an outsider, specifically requested that Shishi play the lead role of Ma'ertai Ruoxi.

What was the final result? With two channels broadcasting the show simultaneously, one achieved a 2.3% viewership rating and the other a 2.1% rating. Based on past experience, this viewership would rank in the top ten for the year.

What kind of dramas were in the top ten all year? They were all CCTV dramas! For a drama broadcast on a provincial satellite TV station to make it into the top twenty is considered a huge hit. "Scarlet Heart" has a chance to win the provincial satellite TV drama ratings champion this year.

After discussing viewership ratings, let's talk about Baidu search index.

When "Scarlet Heart" aired, its search index peaked at 200 million! What does this data represent? It's the second highest in the history of Chinese TV dramas!

The number one drama, "My Love from the Star," only has 210 million views!

Also this year's "Beauty's Rival in Palace" ranked third in history, with a peak search index of 54!

"My Fair Princess" was indeed very popular, but at that time the number of netizens was limited, and the peak search index was only 12.

The number of internet users increases year by year, and the search index will definitely increase with time, but even so, "Scarlet Heart"

This data is still remarkable.

After the broadcast of "Scarlet Heart", Liu Shishi's Baidu search volume ranked first among female stars, and there is a high probability that she has already secured the number one daily search volume in 2010.

As of now, Liu Shishi's Weibo followers have exceeded 1.5 million, making her the second celebrity in China to achieve this milestone.

The first is Shen Qing, who currently has 300 million followers and occasionally posts updates from the film crew. The second is Liu Shishi, with 150 million followers, the third is Fan Bingbing with 140 million, and the fourth is Yao Chen with 130 million.

Commercial performance fees have soared to 80 yuan, and recently, brands that have approached them have offered endorsement fees that have skyrocketed to 520 million yuan over two years.

In the current market, a two-year endorsement fee of 300 million yuan is enough to make someone a top-tier celebrity. Among domestic actresses, only Fan Bingbing and Zhang Ziyi command such high fees over two years. Gong Li's fee is 70 US dollars, which translates to less than 500 million yuan. Li Bingbing earns 380 million yuan, Liu Yifei 360 million yuan, Yang Mi 360 million yuan, Wang Luodan 300 million yuan, Li Yuchun 290 million yuan, and Zhao Liying 280 million yuan.

Liu Shishi's net worth has skyrocketed to that of a first-tier or even super-first-tier celebrity!

Actually, when "Scarlet Heart" first became a hit, most of the brands that approached her quoted around 300 million yuan for two years. However, as news spread that Liu Shishi was filming "About Time," brands started vying to raise their prices.

300 million, 360 million, 380 million, 500 million!

"About Time" is more than just a Shen Qing film.

Shen Qing is not only the director of this film, but also the male lead. Liu Shishi and Shen Qing play the male and female leads! Given Shen Qing's efficiency, the film could be released this year. With Shen Qing's influence, there's a very high probability that this film will be released in North America and achieve a relatively good box office. And as the female lead, will Liu Shishi have the opportunity to gain international recognition?

What should the market value be for a rising starlet who is very young and has international influence? Look at the endorsement fees for Zhang Ziyi and Fan Bingbing.

It's true that Liu Shishi is signed with Tangren Media, but Cai Yinong can honestly say that most of what Liu Shishi has achieved today was given to her by Shen Qing, not by Cai Yinong herself.

Cai Yinong called Liu Shishi to discuss the endorsement, and casually asked about what happened after the dinner party that day.

"Shishi, you didn't go back to the film set that day. Were you with President Shen?"

"Sister K, I—"

"I was just asking casually—actually, I think this is a good thing. Really, the resources Shen Qing can give you are something that no other company or any other person in China can provide."

"Sister K, I'm not after his resources."

"All he can give you is his resources; what you truly want is something he can't provide. Just keep that in mind."

Filming for "About Time" has officially wrapped up, and Liu Shishi has moved into Shen Qing's house. When she has commercial performances, Tangren Media will send someone to pick her up and then take her back to Shen Qing's house after the performances. She goes home occasionally, but she is still determined to keep her moving into Shen Qing's house a secret from her parents.

After filming wrapped, Shen Qing kept an eye on the post-production editing while also taking some time to research Bitcoin. He quickly mastered the basics and eventually spent several thousand yuan to buy over 1 coins.

He had never bought this thing in his past life, nor had he ever bought it again, and he knew it would grow quite grotesque later on. Since buying it now wouldn't cost much, he figured he'd just buy some and keep it. His main focus would always be on movies, so he decided not to be greedy; he'd buy as many as he could before the end of the year, and from next year onwards, he'd temporarily stop paying attention to it.

"Source Code" has finished its overseas run, with a cumulative box office of $9065 million in North America and $2.15 million excluding Greater China.

One hundred million U.S. dollars.

Of the $2.15 million, the studio receives 10% of the initial total box office revenue, which amounts to approximately $950 million.

Fan Bingbing is also one of the film's producers, holding a 10% share, and she also received a portion of the money. Fan Bingbing's public image is becoming increasingly stable.

When Shen Qing happened to see Yang Mi recording "The Power of Love" at Baihua Recording Studio, he went over to check on her, only to find it was a disaster. He clearly remembered that Yang Mi's rendition of "The Power of Love" in the original timeline was alright, but now it seemed to be all thanks to the sound engineer.

However, this means that the choice of the female lead for "Back to 20" will need to be carefully considered.

"Back to 20" was a movie that Shen Qing had promised Yang Mi, but since Yang Mi's singing skills are so bad, and the female lead in this movie has a lot of singing scenes, it wouldn't be good to use dubbing for the whole thing.

This movie has been in preparation for a while, so let's put it on hold for now. As for the movie that was promised to Yang Mi, Shen Qing has so many movies in mind, he can just give her a different one.

"Our Times" is pretty good.

The reason given to Yang Mi was certainly not: "You sang so badly that even auto-tuning couldn't save you. It has exceeded my previous expectations, so I've decided to replace you."

Instead, he said, "I have a better script here, and I plan to invite Andy Lau to play a supporting role to help you achieve an even better result."

As a result, Yang Mi was extremely moved, and the two made love once in the car, and then again at Shen Qing's house.

She wanted to stay overnight at Shen Qing's house, but Shen Qing dismissed her with a casual excuse. At Shen Qing's other home—Panhai International—Liu Shishi was waiting for him. Yang Mi was nice, but Liu Shishi was a newcomer, and Shen Qing was currently taking good care of her.

As for whether he can still handle Liu Shishi after having slept with Yang Mi twice and returning to Panhai International, others might not be able to, but Shen Qing certainly won't have a problem. He feels that his physical fitness may have already surpassed the limits of human capabilities.

"Back to 20" has been temporarily shelved, and "Our Times" has begun emergency preparations.

The original "Our Times" film featured two actresses playing the female lead, Lin Zhenxin.

Song Yunhua plays Lin Zhenxin in her student days, the same actress who played Xia Zhu in "Hello Mr. Billionaire". Chen Qiaoen plays the adult Lin Zhenxin.

Wang Dalu plays Xu Taiyu during his student days, while Yan Chengxu plays the adult Xu Taiyu.

Yang Mi's age is just right for playing Lin Zhenxin in her student days, and she can also play the adult Lin Zhenxin if she dresses more maturely, so there's no need for two actors.

If the female lead is played by one actress, then the male lead will naturally be played by the same actress.

Casting then commenced.

The main focus is on selecting male roles, while Shen Qing's own company has many options for female roles.

In just a few days, Shen Qing met an actor named Zhu Yilong in her office. Chen Zhixi recommended him to audition for the male lead, Xu Taiyu.

While flipping through the documents in her hand, Shen Qing asked, "Are you from the 06 class at Beijing Film Academy, and are you familiar with Yang Mi?"

"Yang Mi and I are only one year apart, and our classes are next to each other. We often bump into each other in the corridor, so we're just nodding acquaintances."

Shen Qing looked up at Zhu Yilong in front of her. His face was still quite youthful, but he exuded a calm and composed aura. Shen Qing remembered that Zhu Yilong later seemed to have won almost every major award, becoming the first post-85s generation Grand Slam winner. Also, it seemed he had signed a 35-year contract with a company? Some said he signed it in 09, some said he signed it after graduating from university, and others said it was in 2014.

The claim that the contract was signed in 2014 for a term of 35 years seems to originate from the "Public Transfer Prospectus" disclosed by the company before its listing on the New Third Board, which, in accordance with regulatory requirements, included information about the company's artists.

When Shen Qing saw this gossip in his previous life, he was more inclined to believe that Zhu Yilong signed the contract during or after his university years, and the 2014 contract was likely a renewal. This was because, based on Zhu Yilong's resume, he had considerable contact with the company during his university years and acted in many of their productions after graduation.

"Have you signed a brokerage contract?"

The person is sitting right across from you; just ask directly. Shen Qing intends to sign him, for the same reason she signed Chen Xiao and Li Yitong—to keep him as a stable, versatile tool. As long as he doesn't cause any scandals, has acting skills, and can play most roles, that's enough.

Even if he had already signed with that company called Feiyun, it wouldn't matter. Shen Qing's company had plenty of good resources. With a little resource exchange, the deal would likely be done. At this point, Zhu Yilong was just a minor character and didn't have much value. Shen Qing's company's resources were much more valuable.

"No, but we do have close partnerships with some companies."

"Are you planning to sign there after graduation?"

"right."

"Don't sign with that company, sign with our company, Magic! I have high hopes for you."

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Shen."

Zhu Yilong thought for a few seconds and then agreed.

Shen Qing asked his assistant to call Chen Zhixi in and said, "He's joining our company. You'll be in charge of managing him, and the contract will follow Chen Xiao's version."

Chen Zhixi nodded.

Shen Qing added, "No need for an audition, Xu Taiyu is the male lead."

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Chen Zhixi nodded again and asked, "Then shall I take him to go through the procedures?"

Shen Qing nodded.

"Come with me!"

Chen Zhixi said to Zhu Yilong.

Zhu Yilong nodded and followed Chen Zhixi out of Shen Qing's office.

On June 1st, "Legend of Lu Zhen" officially premiered on Zhejiang Satellite TV, Anhui Satellite TV, and eight local channels. On its first day, Zhejiang Satellite TV's ratings soared to 1.6%, while Anhui Satellite TV's were slightly lower at 1.4%. The following day, Zhejiang Satellite TV's ratings climbed to 1.9%, and Anhui Satellite TV's to 1.8%.

This data is undoubtedly another hit, and it's highly likely to be another phenomenal hit.

The day after "Legend of Lu Zhen" premiered, Zhao Liying happened to be in Beijing, and Shen Qing made a special trip to stay at her place for one night.

The reason for choosing the next day was that the ratings for the premiere had already been released, and Zhao Liying knew perfectly well that her new drama had become another hit, as expected. She had almost secured her position as a top-tier actress, and all of this was thanks to Shen Qing. By staying at her place the next day, Shen Qing would receive an even more luxurious experience. Conversely, if she went on the day of the premiere, Zhao Liying's main focus would likely be on anticipating the premiere's reception.

The news that "Legend of Lu Zhen" has been released again has caused a great shock to the industry.

Magical Films doesn't produce many TV series, but every work from Magical Films is a phenomenal success!

One drama can propel a female lead to instant stardom.

Zhao Liying's previous drama, "Boss & Me," was a poor success, yet she still managed to become a near-A-list actress. Now, with "Legend of Lu Zhen" poised to be another phenomenal hit, Zhao Liying's status as an A-list actress is firmly established.

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Although Liu Shishi has played some roles before, and her role as Long Kui in "Chinese Paladin 3" was quite popular, she is only somewhat familiar to most viewers.

As a result, after "Scarlet Heart" was released, he immediately rose to the top tier, which is quite exaggerated. His latest endorsement is worth more than 500 million yuan, while a typical top-tier celebrity only earns more than 300 million yuan.

Another issue is that the online popularity of "Scarlet Heart" is too exaggerated. Many dramas with much higher viewership ratings are a level below "Scarlet Heart" in terms of popularity on Tieba and Baidu Index.

Actually, the most amazing one is still "My Love from the Star".

This drama, starring Fan Bingbing, not only swept across China but also had a huge impact throughout East and Southeast Asia. After its release, Fan Bingbing's endorsement fees soared to the tens of millions, and it even completely reversed her previously controversial reputation.

Now, the drama "Legend of Lu Zhen" has become a huge hit.

Jin Yong's dramas made Liu Yifei a star, and they also used two other dramas, "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" and "The Return of the Condor Heroes," plus the boost from "Chinese Paladin." As a result, Shen Qing's Magical Films is almost mass-producing A-list actresses.

The instant popularity of "Legend of Lu Zhen" must have been quite a stimulus for Yang Mi, as her starring drama "Palace" is also about to premiere.

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