Chinese Entertainment: Top-Tier Boyfriends of Young Actresses

After discussing and agreeing on the terms, Su Yu handed these matters over to Huo Xiaolan.

He then went back to school and took another exam.

During this time, he also roughly finished writing the script for the music video. He consulted Tian Liangliang on many issues related to scriptwriting, and Tian Liangliang patiently answered them one by one, giving him a lot of practical advice.

It took him several days to revise the script to his satisfaction.

Back at the company, Huo Xiaolan had already finalized the selection of the director needed for the music video.

"I've found the director you need for your music video, his name is Chen Xiaoming."

She pushed the information in front of Su Yu, "Graduated from the Directing Department of Jinling Academy of Arts. She mainly shot GG and micro-films before. Last year, she took on a few MV projects for MCNs, and the response was pretty good."

"This person has a strong ability to control the visuals, and their visual style is youthful and refreshing, which matches the tone of your song quite well."

"Besides, he doesn't have any feature film projects at the moment, so his schedule is flexible."

Huo Xiaolan paused, then added, "As for the compensation, the current market rate for a music video director is around ten thousand yuan. I negotiated a lower price with him, and we got it down to eight thousand yuan."

Su Yu nodded. He was indeed not familiar with MV directing, but Sister Huo's choice of director must have its reasons.

"In addition, I also had someone inquire about the female lead in the music video."

As Huo Xiaolan spoke, she sent an electronic document to Su Yu's phone. "The message we released was 'BJ Young Actors MV Female Lead Recruitment,' requiring applicants to be current students, have acting experience, and have a pure and innocent image."

"We received these application materials in less than three days, a total of twenty-one."

Su Yu flipped through the documents, somewhat surprised: "So many?"

"It's normal," Huo Xiaolan explained calmly, leaning back in her chair.

"You know what's going on in the industry right now."

"This year, the Beijing Film Academy's Performing Arts program received more than 8,500 applications, but only 75 places were available, making the application-to-admission ratio 114 to 1."

"Every year, several hundred students graduate from the acting departments of Beijing Film Academy, Central Academy of Drama, and Beijing Dance Academy alone. Adding in students from other art schools, there are at least a thousand new actors entering the industry every year."

"But how many of them actually get roles and sign with a company? A lot of students start submitting resumes, running around to different production teams, and taking on all sorts of gigs from their freshman year. MVs, GGs, micro-films—as long as it's a legitimate opportunity, people are scrambling to get on it."

"We released the information this time through direct recommendations from school teachers, rather than through open recruitment, which inherently screened out a large number of people; otherwise, we would have received far more than this number."

Su Yu nodded.

The competition in the entertainment industry is indeed fierce; even a relatively unknown actress has so many college students vying for the role of the female lead in her music video.

He opened the documents and began to look through them one by one.

The vast majority of them are from Beijing Film Academy, with fewer from Central Academy of Drama and Beijing Dance Academy.

This is probably because these two schools have stricter management of on-campus students taking on outside jobs, requiring multiple levels of approval. Beijing Film Academy is more lenient in this regard, and students can take on jobs as long as they can get the signature of a teacher in their department.

He flipped through the photos one by one; they were all quite nice. Several of them looked somewhat familiar to him, probably because he had seen them in some TV shows later.

His fingers suddenly stopped when he saw one of the documents.

A passport photo was pasted in the upper left corner of the resume. The girl in the photo had a simple ponytail, an oval face, a high nose bridge, and a cool and elegant look that didn't belong to her age.

"Zhou Ye?"

Su Yu read the girl's name aloud.

Hearing the noise, Huo Xiaolan came over to take a look: "This girl is nice. She's a freshman in the acting department of Beijing Film Academy, class of 2017. She's really good-looking, with well-defined bone structure and a cool temperament. She's quite distinctive and not like those sweet girls."

Su Yu stared at the ID photo, a strange feeling welling up inside him.

This girl is destined to be a top-tier actress in her late twenties, on par with Xiao Tian and Chuan Mei, but now she's competing for the lead role in my music video.

"Let's go with her. Her face is perfect for the role of a female lead in a music video."

Huo Xiaolan nodded: "Okay, this girl is very beautiful. I'll contact her over there in a bit."

A day later, Su Yu met this future top star downstairs at the company.

Zhou Ye was wearing a simple white T-shirt and jeans, her hair was tied in a ponytail, and her face was bare, making her look clean and neat.

She stood at the company entrance, carrying a canvas bag. Apart from her pretty face, she looked no different from an ordinary college student.

"Hello, Teacher Su, I'm Zhou Ye."

Su Yu sized her up.

In real life, she is even more vibrant than in her ID photo. Her bone structure is clear, her jawline is smooth, her cheekbones are slightly prominent but not abrupt, and her high nose bridge and slightly angular lips make her face delicate and powerful.

This kind of "cold and sharp" look is indeed rare in today's entertainment industry where sweet girls are everywhere.

At the same time, Zhou Ye was also curiously observing the young actor in front of her.

After receiving the acceptance notice, she did her homework and learned that Su Yu was not from a professional acting background, but had already acted in three dramas, two of which have not yet been broadcast, and a youth drama in which he is the lead actor is about to be released.

She had originally thought that the actor would be mature, steady, and shrewd, but the boy in front of her looked more like a college student.

She looked up and saw the natural light streaming in from the corridor falling directly on Su Yu's profile.

His bone structure is exceptionally good, with high brow bones and a clean, crisp, and decisive almost folded line between his forehead and jawline.

The light accentuated the height of his nose, making it appear even more defined. His slightly upturned eyes were captivating, drawing attention without any hint of frivolity or artifice.

In addition, with his towering height of 1.82 meters, it's hard not to take a second look at him.

"No wonder this non-professional actor has landed so many roles," Zhou Ye thought to herself. Just by putting his face in front of the camera, he could convince the audience without even saying a word.

Looking at the girl in front of him, Su Yu suddenly remembered her later scandals.

He remembered that the girl later started dating one of the guests on the show "Peach Blossom Village".

Back then, Lai was still a nobody who hadn't made a name for himself and didn't even have a decent representative work in the Chinese entertainment industry, while Zhou Ye had already won an award for her role as Wei Lai in "Better Days" and was recognized as a promising new generation star in the industry.

And what happened? She drove 20 kilometers alone to his apartment building, without even bringing an assistant, and stayed at his hotel for several days. She didn't even leave the hotel for those few days and nights, and we don't know what they were doing inside.

Thinking of this, Su Yu couldn't help but sigh inwardly: This girl is definitely a bit love-struck.

"do you have a boyfriend?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Su Yu realized that he had asked a bit abruptly. He had just thought of Zhou Ye's later scandals and hadn't thought it through before asking the question.

Zhou Ye was slightly taken aback, her brows furrowed slightly, and her eyes showed a hint of confusion and a subtle wariness as she looked at him. She clearly hadn't expected her business partner, whom she was meeting for the first time, to suddenly ask such a personal question.

"Don't misunderstand," Su Yu quickly explained. "I've read the script for this music video. There are a lot of scenes where the female lead needs to portray the feelings of being in love. I just wanted to confirm if you can handle those emotions."

Zhou Ye's brows relaxed, but the hint of wariness in her eyes still lingered.

She thought about it seriously for a moment, then looked up and said, "I can do it. Although I don't have experience in this area, I can understand the emotions in the script, so don't worry."

Looking at her serious and earnest expression, Su Yu suddenly realized that his thoughts just now were a bit immoral.

The girl came all the way to audition for the lead role in his music video, and she was very polite. But all he could think about was her future scandals.

He coughed lightly, banishing these random thoughts from his mind and refocusing his attention on the important matter at hand.

"Then it's settled. Sister Huo will discuss the contract details with you. The shooting date is set for two days from now."