Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

At this moment, Cheng Er's face showed a sincere plea, with no trace of the arrogance of a promising young man.

The opportunity was rare, and he was alone with Yang Che. Cheng Er adopted a very humble attitude and changed his address from Yang Che to "Brother Che" as Zeng Jian used to address him, without any awkwardness.

Yang Che raised an eyebrow. The only director he contacted was a novice named Wu Shixian, the mixed-race Chinese director of "Car 44." His father was Chinese and supposedly a descendant of Wu Zixu.

"Old Cheng, have a seat. Do you know Wu Shixian?"

Cheng Er's face showed obvious disappointment, but he forced a smile and said, "I know him. He's two years older than me. His film 'East Twenty-Two Streets' is awesome."

Yang Che, seemingly lacking any emotional intelligence, asked with a chuckle, "More impressive than your criminals?"

Cheng Er's expression changed, and she gritted her teeth, saying, "I think I'm awesome!"

Yang Che smiled and gave a thumbs-up, then his expression changed, and he said very seriously:

"You're right, I have a very complete idea for this film. I've even acted out the kind of look the male and female leads should have when they interact. I don't know anything about lighting, but I've thought about what kind of lighting effects the scene should have... and the theme song, I've even hummed the tune and written the lyrics."

So, whether it's Wu Shixian or you, Cheng Er, whoever can achieve the effect I want is the director. Do you understand what I'm saying?

"I understand, it's competition. But how exactly will it be competition?"

Yang Che clapped his hands and smiled: "Once everyone is here, I will tell you the whole story. You will each draw storyboards and shoot a few segments. Whoever I think is good and best meets my requirements will be the director, and the other person will leave, or obediently follow the established plan as the executive director."

Cheng Er's eyes seemed to ignite a fire: "I'll talk to the factory right away."

Yang Che smiled, a gentle smile, a smile like that of a villain.

Time flew by and it was 10 a.m. on July 24th. This was Yang Che's fifth day in Beijing.

It's very hot in Beijing today. The weather forecast says it will reach 42 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature in Beijing since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Yang Che also felt quite hot, his heart was hot.

He sat at the head of the conference table in the conference room on the second floor of the General Political Department Guesthouse, his gaze sweeping over the faces of everyone in front of him before he calmly began, "Let's all introduce ourselves. For a long time to come, we'll be brothers and sisters eating from the same pot. I'll go first."

Yang Che stood up as he spoke: "My name is Yang Che. I am the screenwriter, supervisor, and producer of 'My Sassy Girl.' To put it bluntly, I am the person in charge of this film. In the past few days, more than one person here has asked me how I managed to secure the investment. I have been dodging the question. It's not that I don't want to share my experience, but I just want to say it once. So now I will tell you."

As soon as he finished speaking, thunderous applause erupted in the conference room of more than twenty people. After all, it wasn't just the directing and photography teams who dreamed of organizing the gathering.

Yang Che raised his hand to suppress it, and said in a serious tone, "You've already mastered the first move, flattery."

Everyone laughed, even the older folks were grinning.

Yang Che waved his hand: "Stop talking nonsense, you guys can't learn that."

"Eek~"

"That's going too far."

"....."

"Alright, enough of the nonsense. Everyone, please introduce yourselves in as much detail as possible."

After Yang Che sat down, he glanced at Ning Hao on his left.

Ning Hao's face was flushed, with a pimple popping out between his eyebrows; he looked like he was about to have good luck.

"My name is Ning Hao, and I'm Che Ge's assistant. I'll be handling the specific production work for our crew, like distributing lunchboxes and such."

Everyone understood that this was the production manager, who represented the producer in exercising administrative management authority during the production of the film and television work.

The producer is the one who brings things together; generally, the production team does more of the actual work during the preparation phase.

Cheng Er was wearing black-rimmed glasses today, which made him look more mature, and his tone was very calm.

"Hello everyone, my name is Cheng Er, and I am the director of this film. I hope that in the future, we can work together to complete 'My Sassy Girl' on time and with high quality."

Some people in the conference room looked at Cheng Er with dissatisfaction.

This does not include Wu Shixian, who was smiling憨厚ly at the moment.

Yang Che thought he looked a bit like an Indian, especially his profile.

"Hello everyone, my name is Wu Shixian. Many old friends, haha. Let me tell my new friends that I am a Sino-US joint venture. My father is Taiwanese and my mother is American. I graduated from the Directing Department of Beijing Film Academy in 97. Now I am a struggling artist in Beijing, making TV dramas and such. I am very grateful to Brother Che for inviting me to be the executive director of this film. I hope everyone will continue to support my work and Director Cheng's work in the future. Thank you."

"Clap clap clap!"

This guy wasn't lying; he was genuinely happy.

When Yang Che decided to cast Cheng Er as director the day before yesterday, this guy was disappointed for less than two minutes before recovering.

In light of this, Yang Che privately revealed to him his plan to start a film and television company, and also said that he wanted to sign him as a director and could invest in his own scripts. Yang Che also said, "Dude, you're technically skilled and have this kind of ambition, you'll definitely succeed."

If Yang Che hadn't stopped him quickly, this guy would have knelt down... Of course, he was just acting; Yang Che is still a bit thin now, while this guy is tall and strong.

Actually, even if this guy hadn't proven himself with his later works, Yang Che would still have signed him because of his American citizenship. After all, many low-budget but highly profitable films can only be made in the US, like *Saw*...

Not many people knew that Wu Shixian and Cheng Er were competing for the directorship. Zhao Xiaoding was one of them. He admired Wu Shixian quite a bit. It's not easy for someone in his early twenties to be so open-minded.

"Hello everyone, my name is Zhao Xiaoding. I served as the director of photography for 'My Sassy Girl.' Many of you brothers here are from Beijing Film Academy, including me. I graduated from the Cinematography Department in '87, haha. I'm not saying this to show off my seniority. I only worked as a cinematographer for a TV series right after graduation, and since then I've been shooting movies. I don't have much experience. I just wanted to say that we can communicate more in the future, and I also want to thank Brother Xiaoche for giving me this opportunity."

As Zhao Xiaoding spoke, he put his hands together and bowed in the direction of Yang Che.

Yang Che's lips twitched, and he said very seriously, "Brother Ding is Coca-Cola's go-to director, and he also works with BMW, Citroën, and other luxury brands. The beauty of his filming is absolutely top-notch in China."