Run, Best Actor!

The position of producer for film and television dramas used to be somewhat awkward.

If a film is well-made, becomes a box office hit, and is widely popular, in most cases, the director is the one who benefits.

If a film fails, collapses, or is ruined, the producer not only has to share the blame with the entire crew, but also suffer reputational damage.

Those who have served as producers have always been either senior or of high seniority, and their abilities go without saying. They usually also have all sorts of "gangster names".

比如绰号「徐老怪」的徐尅，有不少经典电影都是他监製的，比如《英雄本色1、2》、《倩女幽魂1-3》、《古今大战秦俑情》、《笑傲江湖1-2》、《新龙门客栈》等。

That's right. In particular, the "A Chinese Ghost Story" and "Swordsman" series, although they are both considered to be Xu Ke's films, he was actually only the producer. The director was actually his old partner, Cheng Xiaodong.

However, in the past two years, the Chinese entertainment industry has almost ruined the position of producer – in recent years, many actors who want to switch to behind-the-scenes work have taken the position of producer as their first step in changing careers.

For example, Hu Ge, who already owns Tangren shares, served as the producer for the TV series "Xuan-Yuan Sword: Scar of Sky".

It can only be said that the show's success didn't tarnish his reputation too much.

While Angie Chai, the producer of the "Tiny Times" film series, is not very well-known in mainland China, she is known as the "Godmother of Taiwanese Idol Dramas," and her abilities and connections are not to be underestimated.

The most celebrated work of this "godmother" was undoubtedly the adaptation of the Japanese manga "Boys Over Flowers" into the hugely influential Taiwanese idol drama "Meteor Garden" at the beginning of the millennium.

They also launched four male idols who were good at nothing except for their looks, forming the boy idol group F4.

Oh, later on, Zhu and Wu got old and even lost their faces.

And then there's Barbie Hsu, that troublesome female celebrity.

However, beautiful women often have short lives, so I won't dwell on that.

However, it must be said that with just "Meteor Garden," a landmark work in idol dramas, Chai Zhiping can occupy a certain place in the history of Chinese entertainment film and television.

Because that TV series has been remade many times, and each time it has had a certain influence.

For example, Hunan TV's 09 remake of "Meteor Shower" successfully launched idol stars such as Zheng Shuang, Zhang Han, and Yu Haoming.

In 2018, Chai Zhiping and Taiwanese director Lin Helong co-directed a remake of "Meteor Garden," which introduced young idols such as Shen Yue, Wang Hedi, and Guan Hong.

In addition, in 2011, Giddens Ko wrote and directed "You Are the Apple of My Eye," with Chai Zhiping as the producer.

Needless to say, that movie was a box office and critical success, and the male and female leads became instant hits across mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

It can be said that no matter how harsh the standards, one has to admit that Chai Zhiping does have unique insights into the production of idol dramas.

This "godmother" has an amazing eye for choosing idol stars.

The people she selects, regardless of gender, are all top-tier based solely on their ability to attract fans, regardless of their professional skills.

In short, they are all likely to become popular.

Clearly, she has some real talent to have become a "godmother".

When filming "Tiny Times," Chai Zhiping brought so many Taiwanese artists to the mainland in order to open up the market.

Since the golden age of Taiwanese idol dramas has passed, whether Taiwanese actors can rise to prominence in mainland China depends on whether they are willing to put effort into this film.

Before coming here, Chai Zhiping was full of ambition, thinking that fifty years old was just another beginning in life.

After arriving, Chai Zhiping unfortunately suffered a crushing defeat.

There was nothing she could do; it was the artist she brought who was so incompetent and caused a huge mess.

This drastically reduced her influence in the project.

Originally, in the first "Tiny Times" movie, her role in the crew was greater than Guo Jingming's.

Although Guo Jingming insisted on maintaining his directorial authority on set, most of the content for the first film was decided together by the two of them.

Oh, that's a more tactful way of putting it.

Strictly speaking, it was basically Chai Zhiping who made the final decision.

That's how we got the barely watchable "Tiny Times 1".

However, because the film's box office performance was so good, director Guo Jingming's influence on the crew increased dramatically.

Afterwards, that guy betrayed his benefactor and insisted on participating in the entire editing process of the sequel, "Tiny Times 2: The Age of Youth," and changed the tone of the entire film to a dark and reversal style.

As a result, the movie's rating was much worse than the first one, and its box office was nearly 200 million less than the first one!

Therefore, the third film in the series, "Tiny Times 3: The Golden Age", was another product of the two working together, and it grossed more than 500 million yuan at the box office, becoming the highest in the series!

However, less than a month after the movie from the original timeline was released, a certain Taiwanese male celebrity caused a major scandal.

This resulted in Chai Zhiping having less say in the production of the fourth film in the series, "Tiny Times 4: The End of Soul."

So, despite being the final installment of the film series and even more popular in the film market in 2015, "Tiny Times 4: The End of Soul" only grossed a little over four million more than "Tiny Times 1" in total box office.

It grossed more than 30 million less than "Tiny Times 3: The Golden Age".

This back-and-forth demonstrates that Chai Zhiping's role as producer in film production cannot be ignored.

"Sister Chai, please have some tea."

The next morning, Liu Taile specially invited Chai Zhiping to his room and personally poured her tea.

"You call me 'sister'?"

Chai Zhiping laughed, "Mr. Liu, you're only two years older than my daughter. Calling me that makes us different generations."

"Sister Chai looks very young. I feel a little awkward calling you 'Auntie'."

Liu Taile, however, spoke words against his will quite naturally.

However, as a woman, no one dislikes hearing such words.

Chai Zhiping was visibly pleased to hear this, and the wrinkles on her face smoothed out slightly. "Mr. Liu, you have such a sweet tongue. I'm sure many young girls will like you."

Yang Mi clearly doesn't know her stuff; she chose the wrong person before.

Upon hearing this, Liu Taile paused, his gaze towards Chai Zhiping becoming more intense.

"Oh dear, I misspoke."

Chai Zhiping immediately apologized, "Look at me, I'm getting old and my brain really can't keep up anymore, so I sometimes say the wrong thing."

Mr. Liu, please don't worry about it.

"It's alright, Sister Chai."

Liu Taile smiled again, "When you're young, you're bound to experience things like this."

However, Sister Mi and I are still friends. I owe it all to her as a matchmaker that I had the opportunity to join the "Tiny Times" crew and work with Sister Chai.

"Yeah, you're right. You and Yang Mi really have a good relationship!"

As she spoke, Chai Zhiping sighed again, "But to be honest, it was really Ah Dong who was a disappointment and caused a huge mess. Otherwise, the first step of the movie was already filmed, so how could there have been so many twists and turns?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Taile's smile faded.

Where did this old woman get such hostility?