I'm really good at this.

After sitting in front of the monitor for twenty minutes, Zhang Hongren was dumbfounded.

He felt a tightness in his chest, and he had a lot to say that he had to get off his chest.

According to another assistant director, this scene was meant to showcase the touching storyline of the male lead's kind and innocent heart.

This TV series is a period fantasy drama, with romance as its main theme.

That's right, the main theme is love!

Or rather, are there any other TV dramas these days besides romance dramas disguised in various forms?

The TV series is called "Clouds Fall into the Mortal World".

In short, it's the story of a naive son of the Heavenly Emperor who descends to the mortal realm without permission and falls in love with a female emperor.

It's old-fashioned and cliché.

But if the filming and acting are both good, then there's not much of a problem.

But that's where the problem lies.

Zhang Hong watched the clip for twenty minutes.

This part of the story is about the god who has just descended to earth, who is also the male protagonist.

To demonstrate his kind heart, a heart-wrenching scene was arranged.

The male protagonist was walking down the street when he saw an old man holding an old woman sitting on the ground.

The old lady was seriously ill and was on her deathbed; she had already begun to make her final arrangements.

Then comes the point of criticism.

The male protagonist stood two meters away, silently watching the old woman ramble on.

She said things like, "Old man, I'm not going to make it anymore, I can't stay with you any longer."

And here comes another deeply moving background music track that's sure to make you wet your pants.

And then... she went on and on for fifteen minutes straight!

Fifteen minutes, holy crap!

Why can't you die no matter how many times you try?

Zhang Hong has already finished her lunchbox! She's still not dead!

Then the male protagonist stood two meters away and watched for a full fifteen minutes!

Then the old woman said she was in great pain and begged the old man to give her a quick death.

The old man agreed and raised his hand to stab the old woman to death.

Then the male protagonist suddenly rushed up and grabbed him: "Grandpa! I'll give you all my money! Please take your aunt to see a doctor!"

Then the old man was particularly surprised: "Huh? Who are you? Why are you giving me money? Why are you being so kind?"

The male protagonist said, "I've seen the love between you two, and I'm deeply moved. I'll give you all my money so you can go see a doctor quickly."

Zhang Hongren was dumbfounded!

You stood two meters away for fifteen minutes!

Fifteen minutes!

Is this old man blind?

A blind man regained his sight—what a medical miracle!

If Zhang Hong were in charge, he would have made the elderly couple take the money and run away as if nothing had happened!

Didn't you want to be sentimental? If you're sentimental for fifteen minutes, what kind of atmosphere is left?

And wasn't the point to portray the male lead as innocent, simple, and kind?

That's exactly how it should be done!

Unfortunately, something even funnier is about to happen.

After trying to refuse for a long time without success, the old lady thanked the protagonist profusely for a long time, half-dead.

She said a bunch of nonsense like, "You're so kind, thank you so much, I really don't know how to thank you enough, you're such a good person!"

He talked for a full five minutes!

I know you wanted to create a persona, and maybe the script did gloss over it, but to film it like this, all that's left is to be funny!

Five minutes later, after the old woman finished expressing her gratitude, her head lolled to the side, her eyes rolled back, and she breathed her last.

Yes, she died!

At this moment, the gleam in Zhang Hong's eyes had faded.

He couldn't understand what he had watched in those twenty minutes.

Sentimental?

With such a terrible pacing, what's the point of trying to be sentimental?

To establish the protagonist's character?

He just thought the protagonist was stupid, ridiculously stupid.

The camerawork and its language are rubbish.

And the actor's performance was absolutely terrible!

That's not just trash! It's absolute garbage!

Something that could be filmed in just a few words took a whole twenty minutes!

And why does this scene look so familiar? It's like I watched this TV series in a past life.

Upon closer inspection, isn't this just... cough cough!

Let's not mention the name of that TV series.

However, Zhang Hong was still quite impressed.

He remembered watching TV with his mother one evening in his past life, and this particular scene happened to be shown.

He complained about the TV series back then, saying, "I could do that too!"

Zhang Hong turned his head and glanced at the guys in the photography crew.

His eyes were complicated.

There's a lot to say in it.

But the guy must have figured it out, so he scratched his head and smiled wryly: "Director Zhang, you know me, I didn't want this either... but there's nothing I can do, that's just how the plot is."

He paused, looked back, then leaned close to Zhang Hong and whispered, "Director Zhang, those old men and women are from the investors. And that pretty boy, they're all together. If they want to add scenes, we can't stop them."

"Hmm, that makes sense..." Zhang Hong nodded, indicating that he understood why the three of them had such terrible acting skills.

Even those facing life-or-death separations, their faces were expressionless, as if they were just reciting lines from a script.

No matter what mood you're in, all you do is frown. Pshaw!

But there's nothing we can do; they're the investors, after all.

Even though he knew nothing about the entertainment industry, Zhang Hong knew that people who brought their own funding to get roles were not to be trifled with.

At this moment, Wang Yeyin, who had gone to negotiate with that pretty boy, returned with a gloomy face.

Just by looking at his expression, Zhang Hong knew the result wouldn't be good.

"Xiao Wang, what did they say over there?"

"Wang Chen hid back in the van and didn't get out. His agent said he demanded Director Sun apologize to him, otherwise he wouldn't film the movie." After saying that, Wang Ye cursed, "What kind of arrogant nonsense is this! Director Sun wasn't wrong to say he has no acting skills!"

Wang Chen is the name of that pretty boy.

Zhang Hong glanced at him: "Xiao Wang, can you afford a house in Beijing?"

Wang Ye was taken aback, then became somewhat angry: "Director Zhang, I can't afford a house in Beijing! But I'm still young! At worst, I can go back to my hometown! And what does that have to do with what's happening now?"

"Don't be angry." Zhang Hong patted him on the shoulder. "Actually, I can't afford it either."

Then he shrugged: "You see, you get angry when you're hit where it hurts, and it's precisely because it's true and there's no way to refute it that you get even more furious."

Wang Ye asked thoughtfully, "So, Director Zhang, you think that guy has no acting skills?"

"Nonsense, someone with acting skills is called a 'talented young male actor,' isn't he?" Zhang Hong laughed. "Also, just call me Brother Zhang."

But I'm two years older than you... Wang Ye opened his mouth, but in the end he still called out, "Brother Zhang."

The atmosphere wasn't so tense anymore, but Zhang Hong sighed: "But even if he has no acting skills, we still have to use him now. I'll go and find a way to apologize on behalf of Director Sun later, otherwise if the investor really withdraws his investment, we'll be finished, and this movie won't be able to be made."

As a seasoned ordinary office worker, he is well aware of the importance of saving face.

For big shots, face is very important.

But for office workers who are struggling to earn a living, what is face?

Okay, all of this is just old hands comforting themselves with nonsense.

In Zhang Hong's view, if you don't treat yourself as a human being, then others are even less likely to treat you as one.

Moreover, he had just learned that the total investment for this film was 90 million.

Jimei Culture Media invested 85 million yuan, and the remaining 5 million yuan came from Director Sun Zheng's own pocket. We can't let Director Sun's 5 million yuan go to waste, can we?

Ok?

Zhang Hong suddenly realized something was wrong.

He looked up and asked, "Xiao Wang, how much is Wang Chen's salary?"

Wang Ye thought for a moment and replied, "If we calculate based on the per-episode fee, he can earn a total of 80 million for this show."

Does that mean that excluding the pretty boy's salary, all other costs added up to only ten million?

Moreover, five million of that was paid out of Sun Zheng's own pocket?

No wonder it's strange. In this parallel world, I'm just a new director. How could I get someone to invest 90 million?

I initially thought it was because of Director Sun's influence, and now it seems that's part of the reason, but the more important reason is actually here.

Zhang Hong stroked his smooth chin: "What, this Wang Chen... is he the male lead chosen by Jimei Culture?"

Although this investment ratio is absurd, he had seen similar things in the news in his previous life.

For example, a TV series has an investment of 100 million yuan, but the male lead's salary is 80 million yuan.

Upon closer examination, it was discovered that the investors who financed the film had intricate connections with the financial backer behind the male lead.

hehehehe...

"Yes." Wang Ye took out his phone and flipped through the information. "Jimei Culture Investment said before investing in this film that they would only invest if Wang Chen and his team were involved, and they wouldn't invest if Wang Chen and his team weren't involved. Moreover, this clause was written into the contract."

Zhang Hong asked thoughtfully, "What is Wang Chen's relationship with Jimei Culture?"

"Wang Chen is a contracted artist with Jixing Culture Communication. I've investigated, and Jixing and Jimei have the same boss. I've also heard that this boss has powerful backers, but nobody knows who they are." Wang Ye said resentfully, "I'm afraid it's just another boss trying to make money by promoting his own artist."

"No, no, no, it's not that simple," Zhang Hong laughed.

That makes it clear.

Jimei claimed to have invested over 80 million in a major production, but ended up paying the male lead 80 million in salary.

This Wang Chen is just a tool.

In other words, the capital behind Jimei made a huge mistake in its publicity campaign, and also used director Sun Zheng's name to promote its own young idols, and then recouped most of that money.

That's incredibly clever!

But this gave Zhang Hong a sense of reassurance.

Five million isn't enough to make a movie?

That's impossible!

Anyway, that's all there is to it! Just film it the way you always have.

Just find any handsome actor.

If you give the other person a way out later, then everything will be fine.

If the other party insists on causing trouble, then Mr. Zhang wouldn't mind letting them fail miserably.

He waved his hand: "Hey you."

The camera crew member came running over excitedly: "Director Zhang, you called me?"

"Okay, go and get ready. Find several cameras to film everything that's about to happen, and remember to turn on all the audio equipment. Film it from every angle, every direction, without any blind spots, including wide shots, medium shots, and close-ups."

"Here, first pin the little bee to my collar. Remember to keep it discreet; it needs to be covered by my overcoat so no one can see it."

"Alright! Just you wait and see!" Although he didn't understand why, the photographer still happily went to get ready.

After putting on the little bee, Zhang Hong straightened his military overcoat, then tucked his hands into his sleeves and leisurely walked towards Wang Chen's nanny van.

Upon arrival, Wang Chen naturally did not get out of the car; only his female agent, who appeared to weigh at least 200 pounds, stood arrogantly outside the car door.

When Zhang Hong brought Wang Ye over, she looked at Zhang Hong with disdain and said, "What do you have to say? Either Sun Zheng comes over and apologize, or you insulted our company's artists first, and we're not filming this movie."

Heh... Zhang Hong laughed.

Director Sun even vomited blood and was hospitalized, how can he apologize now?

He bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle and then loudly proclaimed, "On behalf of Director Sun Zheng and the entire crew, Zhang Hong apologizes to Mr. Wang Chen! I firmly disagree with Director Sun's statement that Mr. Wang Chen's acting is subpar! No one in our crew agrees either!"

Director Sun Zheng was hospitalized because he was angered by Mr. Wang Chen; he had only himself to blame!

"If our production team loses Mr. Wang Chen, a future Oscar-winning actor who will surely be a part of our future, we will definitely regret it!"

The fat woman's expression immediately changed.

She gritted her teeth and said, "What do you mean!"

"No, no, no, I'm just apologizing." Zhang Hong smiled innocently, even a little humbly. "How about I kneel down before you two? If that's not enough, I'll kowtow a few more times? I won't stop until my forehead bleeds, okay?"

The fat woman's expression twisted into a ferocious grin: "You're going to talk back to me like that? Fine! I'm telling you! We're not making this movie! You can wait to have your funding withdrawn and the whole operation disbanded! I'd like to see how you plan to make this movie!"

Zhang Hong pulled his hand out of his sleeve, snapped his fingers, and then raised his left hand in a V-sign.

Wang Ye, whose face was flushed with excitement, suddenly realized what was going on.

Then he took out a cigarette and placed it between Zhang Hong's index and middle fingers.

After Zhang Hong put the cigarette in his mouth, he took out a lighter and lit it for Zhang Hong.

Zhang Hong took a deep breath, then blew a cloud of smoke into the fat woman's face, and smiled as he uttered a single word:

"Get lost!"

In his past life, he was a keyboard warrior, and when he encountered such trashy TV dramas, he would often go online to complain about how rubbish they were!

Then, when the fans of these young idols couldn't get away with their insults, they started making personal attacks, bringing up an old, tired topic: "If you're so good, why don't you do it yourself!"

So!

Nowadays!

Keyboard warrior Zhang Hong is about to tell her!

I can do it too!

He's definitely going to film this drama!

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