Run, Best Actor!

"Actually, I don't really understand, Mr. Liu, why did you insist on making this movie?"

Chai Zhiping took a sip of the flower tea that Liu Taile poured for her and said, "I believe that with your discerning eye, Mr. Liu, it's not hard to see that 'Tiny Times' is a terrible movie."

With your current good reputation and high popularity, Mr. Liu, even if you want to switch industries, you can choose a project that is much better than "Tiny Times" for your first project.

Why did you insist on joining our group, and why did you choose to bring your own investment to join?

"It's simple, because this movie can make money."

Since the other party was so "thoughtful" of him, Liu Taile decided to speak the truth: "And Sister Chai, you should have seen the scene I filmed yesterday. My acting was pretty good, wasn't it?"

"To be honest, Mr. Liu, your acting skills are far superior to A-Dong's."

Chai Zhiping sighed, "If you had been born in Taiwan, you probably would have debuted in idol dramas long ago, and might even have become a sensation across Asia!"

"Sister Chai, you flatter me."

Liu Taile said modestly.

"I'm not just flattering you."

Chai Zhiping said seriously, "People in the industry are too kind to call me the 'Godmother of Taiwanese Idol Dramas,' but I am unworthy of it."

However, after many years in the industry, I believe my eyesight is still quite sharp, and I'm sure I won't misjudge people.

Mr. Liu, you were truly born to be an actor, because your acting talent is simply too extraordinary!

"Thank you for the compliment, Sister Xie."

Liu Taile smiled calmly and accepted the compliment directly.

Upon seeing this, Chai Zhiping felt a chill run down her spine, realizing that although Liu Taile was young, he should not be underestimated because of his youth.

This person is very cunning!

"Mr. Liu, just because this project can make money isn't convincing enough."

Chai Zhiping added, "And it feels like what you want to do is more than just be an actress."

After filming that scene yesterday, I heard that Mr. Liu, you, Director Guo, and your colleagues from the directing and screenwriting teams had a long discussion in the conference room, and that you wanted to revise the scenes involving the character Nan Xiang.

"It's all for the sake of making this movie better."

Liu Taile said without changing his expression, "There are some issues with the storyline of the character Nan Xiang, and we are trying our best to fix them."

"But isn't it a bit much to not let me, the producer, participate in meetings related to filming or even script revisions?"

Chai Zhiping wasn't so easily fooled and went straight to the point, asking, "Mr. Liu, especially since you've just joined the crew, isn't it inappropriate for you to participate in script revision meetings as an actor?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Taile immediately put his teacup on the table. "Sister Chai, didn't you just say that I joined the crew with my own investment?"

I also invested money in this project, so strictly speaking, I am also one of the producers.

So, as a producer, shouldn't you offer suggestions on filmmaking?

"..."

Chai Zhiping frowned.

This is the situation she least wants to see right now.

Because from the very beginning, she believed that inviting Liu Taile to the film crew was not a good thing.

It's not that I feel sorry for the character Gu Yuan, but Liu Taile definitely won't be satisfied with just being an actor.

After all, although the other party is young, he has already achieved great success in the sports world.

People who reach the top in one industry will not remain resentful and inferior to others when they switch industries.

They were determined to stir up a storm.

I didn't see them now directly calling themselves producers.

They also participated in the script revision process.

This clearly indicates an intention to deeply participate in film production and seize some say in the film industry.

Others might not be able to tell, but Chai Zhiping immediately felt unwell.

Moreover, this also subtly aligns with the northward expansion strategy of their Taiwanese artists.

It's obvious to anyone with eyes that with the rapid growth of China's national strength, the mainland has long surpassed Hong Kong and Taiwan to become the absolute center of China's entertainment industry.

If I want to make a name for myself in this industry in the future, I will definitely need to develop my career in mainland China.

In fact, as early as the beginning of the millennium, many senior executives in the Hong Kong and Taiwan entertainment industries foresaw this and had been making preparations.

After all, they have long been accustomed to being at the top of this industry, so how could they tolerate their voice in this industry gradually diminishing?

Therefore, we can see that in the past few years, when the famous director John Woo was filming "Red Cliff," he took money from China Film Group but gave more important roles to artists from Hong Kong.

Those from mainland China mostly end up playing minor supporting roles.

The most outrageous thing was that they arranged for Zhao Bafei to be Lin Zhiling's co-star, which directly propelled the latter to the top tier.

In fact, this film, "Tiny Times," also subtly had this purpose.

Although Yang Mi is nominally the female lead, she was surrounded by a group of Taiwanese celebrities.

Her portrayal of Lin Xiao was not good enough, and she was completely overshadowed by Gu Li.

The goal remains the same: to use Yang Mi, currently the most popular female celebrity in the Chinese entertainment industry, as a stepping stone to elevate the careers of Taiwanese artists.

In the original timeline, they almost succeeded, but unfortunately, someone was incompetent and dragged others down with them, causing the whole thing to fall apart.

Yang Mi's work extends beyond the "Tiny Times" series; she also starred in other popular TV dramas such as "Swords of Legends," "The Breakup Guru," and "The Witness."

Their popularity and status remain stable.

However, Chai Zhiping and others' plan failed two years earlier than expected.

With Liu Tai-le joining the "Tiny Times" crew, Chai Zhi-ping's control over the crew became increasingly weak.

So how could she not secretly dislike Liu Taile?

"Mr. Liu."

Chai Zhiping steadied herself and said seriously, "I know you really want our movie to be better, but..."

He leaned forward slightly, saying, "This may not satisfy everyone."

So, changing Nan Xiang's storyline is enough for now; please don't push your luck any further!

Hearing her say that, Liu Taile felt a pang of disappointment.

It's surprising that Chai Zhiping, who was once ambitious and enterprising, remained so stubborn in her thinking in her old age.

They place too much importance on people who are from Taiwan.

It can't be said that she has unique ideas; after all, she wasn't born in mainland China, so it's inevitable that her perspective is somewhat narrow.

It's simply a matter of not seeing the bigger picture and trying to stop a chariot with one's bare hands; that's overestimating one's own abilities.

Most importantly, despite being known as the "godmother of idol dramas," she failed to uphold the industry's established principles in idol films like "Tiny Times."

According to the "Axioms of Idol Dramas": an idol drama must focus on a couple; a couple must be a man and a woman; and an idol drama must use romance as its selling point.

From this, we can deduce two theorems:

First, idol dramas, which depict how men and women fall in love.

Second, the male and female leads in idol dramas must be a good match.

Even in the clichéd plot of a domineering CEO falling in love with me, the "Cinderella" heroine must have very obvious shining qualities that can complement her CEO boyfriend.

If "Tiny Times" is a story about four women, then many of the characters in it are now portrayed incorrectly.

In a typical novel, there is only one or a few protagonists, and all the stories revolve around them, forming a unified set of values.

However, the problem with "Tiny Times" is that its values ​​are confused. It doesn't talk about independent women, and the sisterhood is not tenable. So it is a hodgepodge and can only rely on exquisite visuals and seemingly down-to-earth characters to bombard the audience with visuals.

The solution that Liu Taile and Li Yi came up with was to create a control group.

Dividing the "four sisters" into two categories and having Nan Xiang and Gu Li develop into "darker" characters indirectly reflects the "naive and innocent" nature of Lin Xiao and Tang Wanru.

The matter with Nanxiang has been resolved; now it's time to change Guli's situation.

However, judging from Chai Zhiping's words, she only wants to maintain the status quo and does not want to make any further changes.

I guess they were afraid that their original strategy wouldn't achieve the desired results.

But who are you threatening?

Liu Taile sneered inwardly.

If you don't want things to go well, then don't blame me for digging pits and harming people.

Thinking this, Liu Taile's expression turned serious as he said, "Sister Chai, I understand your thoughts, but in fact, our situations are quite similar."

You are a group of people who went north, hoping to make a name for yourselves in the mainland.

As for me, I'm a newcomer to the field, so I'm essentially a newcomer to the game.

In this situation, both sides should actually cooperate sincerely.

"Cooperation? What do you mean?"

Upon hearing this, Chai Zhiping couldn't help but ask.

"It means that we can share resources and expertise on certain projects."

Liu Taile made this suggestion, then suddenly asked, "By the way, Sister Chai, do you know anything about director John Woo's new film?"

"You mean the movie 'The Crossing'?"

Chai Zhiping was indeed taken aback and quickly pressed for details, "Mr. Liu, do you have connections for that project?"

"I've met with Mr. Li from Beijing Pony Media a few times."

Liu Taile said calmly, "That project requires a large investment, so Pony.com doesn't limit the investors."

Of course, I don't expect to get many shares, but I should be able to get one or two small roles.

I wonder if Sister Chai is interested?

"Such a great project, of course I'm interested."

Seeing that Liu Taile had truly shown "sincerity," Chai Zhiping's attitude immediately underwent a 180° turn.

"Now we can have a proper discussion about some of the characters in 'Tiny Times'."

Upon hearing Chai Zhiping say this, Liu Taile broke into a bright smile.