Huayu: Just started as a stagehand, but the director's comeback system

"Yeah, I've basically forgotten everything."

The first lesson in life: forget your roots as soon as you step out the door.

Being too sentimental in the entertainment industry is not a good thing.

As long as both people are dressed, they are strangers.

"What, do you want me to help you remember?"

Looking at the photos of herself and her boyfriend in her room while in the Ugly Country, Zhang Ziyi felt it was a bit of a mood killer.

After stretching her waistline, she immediately got up and placed the photo frame face down on the table.

She originally wanted to use her boyfriend Kenneth Fok's status to get close to the Fok family, but she didn't expect that the Fok family's first requirement for her was to quit the entertainment industry.

She's not so crazy as to abandon her own interests for a man.

Huo Qishan may have realized her attitude, or perhaps he felt he had gotten tired of her, and their relationship was now just a formality.

"Never mind, I don't have the habit of reminiscing about past hardships."

Jiang Huai listened to Zhang Ziyi's strained voice, but his heart remained unmoved.

Is it that Tong Liya isn't young enough, or is it that she can't find someone younger? Sexual games don't require much acting skill, so it seems that, aside from fame, who isn't better than the other?

"Jiang Huai, have you fed your conscience to the dogs?"

Zhang Zi felt that Jiang Huai hadn't given him any face, and his anger was growing stronger.

She pleaded with Zhang Yimou on behalf of Jiang Huai and even got him to promote the movie under her name. He really doesn't care about our past relationship at all.

Unfortunately, the person on the other end of the phone didn't give her a chance to continue cursing.

"Brother, book me a flight back to China... Don't ask when, I need to go back now."

Zhang Ziyi understood that Jiang Huai was so reckless because he was certain that she wouldn't make a scene.

Then she'll go and make a scene in front of Jiang Huai to see if his body is as stubborn as his mouth.

While Zhang Ziyi was still pondering, the call she had made to her older brother earlier came back.

"Hey little sister, the plane tickets are booked, we're taking off tonight."

"Please postpone it for one day; I have something to do today."

Zhang Ziyi felt she should get a beauty treatment, at least to make herself look her best; what would she look like rushing back looking so disheveled?

Ignoring her brother's complaints on the phone, Zhang Ziyi lit a cigarette and, just like Jiang Huai had done, decisively ended the call.

Zhang Ziyi lit a cigarette and looked at her still beautiful body in the mirror.

Jiang Huai was also helping Tong Liya with her check-up.

The Analects of Confucius, Book 8, says: "A gentleman does not contend with anything; if he must contend, it is only with himself."

He didn't remember what the translation was like, but Jiang Huai's only response was "Is that so?"

As he left the hotel, the Ferrari that had been driven back to him from the airport was filled with the atmosphere of Huaiyue.

After finishing his workout, Jiang Huai was too exhausted to drive, so he simply leaned his head on Tong Liya's shoulder and let her massage him.

Jiang Huai, on the other hand, blindly pulled up the Korean script library. Since the completion of "Beauty Inside," the script for his next movie has been delayed until now.

[Beep, no random country scripts have been selected from the database. Would you like to select one now?]

[Draw now.]

Jiang Huai looked at the several white balls that appeared in his mind and hesitated before choosing one that suited his taste.

[Successful extraction: The French script library is now open.]

Like the Korean script library before it, the French script library still only has two blacked-out scripts.

"Untouchable" and "No Declaration Required"

Unlike before, these two movies cannot be unlocked directly; instead, there are prerequisites for unlocking them.

Untouchable: Unlocking requires obtaining the complete film and television adaptation rights to the book "Second Breath".

Jiang Huai had never heard of this book before, but the black and white figures on the cover made him temporarily abandon the idea of ​​buying it.

He wouldn't be so presumptuous as to hire two foreign actors to film a movie in China; otherwise, he would be wanted by the Chinese public.

"No Declaration Required": Unlocking this feature requires extensive knowledge of regional jokes, lifestyle jokes, and language jokes arising from differences in customs in any adjacent region.

No need to declare seems much simpler than an inaccessible requirement.

However, judging from the requirements, it's likely to be a comedy, which doesn't meet Jiang Huai's requirement to make a fortune off Jing Tian.

Thus, Jianghuai had no choice but to close the French script library and open the Korean script library next door.

It's still just three isolated scripts: Parasite, Veteran, and Assassination.

Jiang Huai chose "Parasite" without hesitation.

The special effects for this name alone would be very expensive.

"Depend on!"

After unlocking the Parasite script, Jiang Huai originally planned to admire what kind of masterpiece it would be.

Who knows, in the future, the Ugly country will have Star Wars, and China will have Parasite. Parasite, everyone who's seen it says it's great.

After reading the script, Jiang Huai only wanted to return it, but unfortunately, this option was not available in the script library.

This movie has nothing to do with science fiction, and it probably doesn't even need special effects.

Jiang Huai angrily shouted this out, and Tong Liya, who was still massaging his head, thought she had used too much force and quickly started rubbing it again.

"It's not your fault, I'm just thinking about some things that are bothering me."

Seeing the apologetic look on Tong Liya's face, Jiang Huai comforted her but didn't continue the massage. He drove home directly.

Jiang Huai doesn't plan to film Parasite anytime soon; at least not until after Black Coal, Thin Ice is released.

Jiang Huai plans to find a few more actors during this period, otherwise, with so many other companies exchanging interests recently, and with so few people on his side, he can't keep refusing.

If you are too unsociable, you may have fewer opportunities in the future.

……

Adhering to the principle of doing what you think of, and since his aunt had recently returned to the capital, Jiang Huai decided to take advantage of the situation and went directly to Huayi Brothers to discuss cooperation.

As a leading private film company in China, Huayi Brothers' ambition to go public is no secret within the industry.

Jiang Huai believed that the other party must have recently exchanged benefits, so it wouldn't be a problem for him to get involved as well.

"This is the first time I've met Director Jiang. He's really in high spirits."

"Mr. Wang, you flatter me. My humble family is no match for yours."

Jiang Huai's purpose in coming to Huayi Brothers was very clear: to poach some actors who were not A-list but were not newcomers.

Jiang Huai basically ignored the few new actors at Yihuai Media. It was fine if there were only a few, but if there were more, things would definitely get messy.

Therefore, he set his sights on actors already trained by other companies. Other companies might not agree, but Huayi Brothers, being a large and powerful company, was different.

"Come on, Director Jiang, Ms. Fu, have some tea. May I ask what brings you here today?"

If you need anything, please don't hesitate to tell me directly.

The boss noticed that Jiang Huai always had a smiling expression when he saw actors along the way.

I didn't think much of it and just assumed he was there to select actors for a new movie.

Wang would certainly welcome this warmly. Although Huayi Brothers has Feng Xiaogang as a cash cow, he only uses a few A-list actors in a movie, so he definitely won't need Feng.

If Jianghuai is willing to cooperate, it will definitely enable the actors under Huayi Brothers to achieve greater benefits.

"Chairman Wang, I'll get straight to the point. I'm here today to sign a few actors."

"Oh? Then Jiang Daoguang can't take it away even if he pays."

Upon hearing about Jianghuai, the King leaned forward slightly.

It's normal for actors to switch agencies in the industry; some actors under Huayi Brothers were acquired through transactions.

However, they are not short of money at the moment. If Jianghuai can only offer money as a condition, then I'm sorry.

"For my next movie, a commercial film, the lead and second lead actors have both been selected by Huayi Brothers."

After reading the script for Parasite, Jiang Huai concluded that Huang Bo was not a good fit for the role. As for Jia Nailiang, although his temperament was quite suitable for the male lead, his acting skills were simply not up to par.

In that case, it would be better to use the male lead and second male lead to replace some roles. Since if we don't choose newcomers, we can only choose actors from other companies, which would maximize profits.

After Jiang Huai finished speaking, the King hesitated for a moment. The conditions were barely enough, but barely enough for capital.

"Director Jiang, you can choose five actors from my team, both male and female, but at most two can be A-list actors."

Furthermore, Huayi Brothers will invest in your next two films, and you must receive at least 40% of the box office revenue from the next film.

Most of the top actors in China are now under Huayi Brothers, so selling off two of them wouldn't make the CEO feel bad at all.

Even so, he still pretended to be in pain, just to negotiate a higher share of the box office revenue.

With two consecutive box office hits, he had complete confidence in Jiang Huai's current earning power.

Therefore, the more you share, the more you earn; the less you share, the more you lose. Boss Wang will definitely take as much as he wants.

"Chairman Wang, the investment is fine, but 40% is too high. I only have 20% left, and I can leave it all to Huayi Brothers."

"Director Jiang, this shows a lack of sincerity. Training actors requires a lot of investment. Thirty-five is my bottom line. If it's not possible, then I'm sorry."

"Twenty-five percent, I'll take five percent from my own share, that's the most I can do."

The king always pretended to be heartbroken, and Jiang Huai could do the same, not to mention he had Fu Lulu as his wingman, who also pretended to be extremely distressed.

"Thirty, any lower really won't do."

"Deal, Chairman Wang."

Thirty percent is the bottom line for both of them; Jiang Huai's share can be taken from the capital behind Jing Tian.

On the other hand, CEO Wang wants to ensure the maximum benefit for his company. With a 30% share plus the male lead and second male lead, trading only five actors would not result in a loss.

Just when both sides felt they had made a profit, Boss Wang showed Jiang Huai the internal rating list of Huayi Brothers without signing a contract.

Jiang Huai looked through the pages very carefully, occasionally consulting Fu Lulu's opinion.

The first actor Jiang Huai confirmed was Wang Baoqiang. Jiang Huai had met him on the set of "Inside Beauty" before and still remembered him.

Although Wang Baoqiang's current treatment is not top-tier, he has already become the male lead in Feng Xiaogang's movie, so it's natural that Boss Wang would let him occupy a top-tier spot.

Jiang Huai has a strong disagreement on this point. Although "No Thieves Under Heaven" did make Wang Baoqiang famous, there is still no follow-up support.

When he arrived at Jianghuai Company, Jianghuai also had to invest a lot of resources to promote him to the front line.

In the course of their amicable negotiation, Boss Wang made a concession and agreed to add another non-first-tier actor to Jiang Huai's cast.

Jianghuai naturally agreed with this result and acknowledged that Wang Baoqiang is currently a frontline player.

For the male actors, in addition to Wang Baoqiang, Jiang Huai also wanted Liao Fan, with whom he had worked before. On Fu Lulu's recommendation, the last male actor chosen was Duan Yihong.

When Fu Lulu was casting for Zhang Yimou, she had seen Duan Yihong's play and thought he was a promising talent.

Jiang Huai still trusted his aunt's judgment and decisively selected three male actors.

As for top-tier actresses, we can forget about the "Double Ice" (Bing Bing and Jiang Huai) that Huayi Brothers is heavily promoting; we can only choose from other actresses.

Jiang Huai hesitated for a long time before finally deciding on Mei Ting, who was turning thirty this year.

She's at the perfect middle age, so she has a lot of roles to choose from in the future.

However, the other party's agency contract is not entirely in Huayi Brothers' hands. To transfer Mei Ting to Yihuai Media, it would have to go through Wang Jinghua.

But that's something the king should worry about; Jiang Huai is only responsible for selecting people, and doesn't care about anything else.

The remaining second-tier actresses were all roughly the same in terms of experience and awards, so Jiang Huai directly selected two actresses, Jiang Xin and Li Xiaolu, who caught his eye.

Li Xiaolu is directly under Huayi Brothers, so her contract can be signed directly later. As for Jiang Xin, it will also require President Wang to talk to Wang Jinghua.

Jiang Huai had also heard about the contract between Huayi Brothers and Wang Jinghua, as most of Huayi Brothers' actors were under Wang Jinghua's name.

In particular, Wang Jinghua's contract with Huayi Brothers expired in August this year, and there have been rumors that Huayi Brothers wanted to renew it at a low price.

Perhaps the rumors are not entirely unfounded; otherwise, if Jiang Huai wanted to select actors from Huayi Brothers, he would probably have had to go through several more rounds of negotiations, and it certainly wouldn't have been as straightforward as it is now.

Although Yihuai Media has not yet officially established a relationship with the actors, Boss Wang generously offered to let the actors meet with their new boss.

Anyway, these people have all gone back to the capital after the New Year, so it only takes them about an hour to get here.

Jiang Huai realized that the King's politeness was genuine, so he agreed to meet with the actor he was about to sign.

After all, apart from Huang Bo and Tong Liya, who were able to make money, the actors in Yihuai Media's original acting business were still in the investment stage.

Now, with six more actors who are already capable of standing on their own, the company is truly thriving.

The first person to arrive at the company was Wang Baoqiang. He was an acquaintance of Jiang Huai, and when he heard that his contract was to be transferred to Jiang Huai's company, he did not show any resistance.

After all, there are too many top actors at Huayi Brothers, so the competition he faces to stand out is not small. However, his range of roles is not as wide as others. Maybe this time, switching companies will allow him to soar to new heights.

When the other actors arrived, Liao Fan was naturally excited to hear that his contract was going to be transferred to Jiang Huai.

The two had only parted ways in Berlin not long ago, and the joy of winning the award had not yet completely dissipated.

As for the other actors, although they all showed some sadness on their faces because they were being traded like commodities.

But Jiang Huai didn't care at all. He signed them to make money. Once he had more work for them, he wouldn't have time to think about these useless things.