National Tide 1980.

The originally heated and solemn atmosphere of the meeting has now become relaxed and positive.

All eyes were focused on the future development blueprint of Big Ship Entertainment, their eyes filled with anticipation.

The leaders of the two local TV stations were beaming with joy, their eyes filled with expectation and recognition for Yao Peifang and Ning Weimin, clearly showing their confidence in further in-depth cooperation.

At this point, seeing that the time was right, Yao Peifang took the initiative to hand over the most crucial speaking opportunity back to Ning Weimin.

As Ning Weimin glanced around at all the attendees in the meeting room, the room quickly returned to a quiet atmosphere.

"Ladies and gentlemen, now we will begin discussing the details of this year's most important television drama project. I'd like to reiterate that our remake of Mr. Jin Yong's first work, *The Deer and the Cauldron*, is not only a significant step for Da Chuan Entertainment in expanding its film and television empire and creating a classic martial arts series, but also a crucial attempt to promote Chinese culture internationally and bring classic martial arts works to the television screen as faithfully as possible. This work carries not only Mr. Jin Yong's expectations but also everyone's. I believe that as long as we work together with dedication and strive for excellence, we will definitely be able to create a masterpiece that satisfies the audience and earns Mr. Jin Yong's approval!"

As soon as he finished speaking, enthusiastic applause erupted in the conference room, filled with approval and excitement.

As the applause subsided, Ning Weimin raised his hand, a determined smile on his face, and finally spoke solemnly.

"Now, I officially announce the establishment of the 'The Deer and the Cauldron' TV series leadership team! From today onwards, we will all exert our full efforts to promote the project's implementation, living up to the time and staying true to our original aspirations!"

These words were like a shot in the arm, instantly igniting the enthusiasm of the entire audience.

Everyone on the scene was beaming with excitement and fighting spirit, and their eyes met with a look of anticipation at the prospect of fighting side by side.

Following this, Ning Weimin will again announce the core members who are currently confirmed.

Executive Producer, Lu Xiaowei, Director of Beijing Television Art Center

Executive Producer and General Manager of Dachuan Entertainment Company, Yao Peifang
General Director: Tian Zhuangzhuang, Beijing Film Studio
Executive Director, Luo Guoliang, Tianjin TV

Assistant Director, Dong Zhiqiang, Tianjin TV
Martial arts choreographer, Yuen Woo-ping (Hong Kong)
Joint martial arts choreographer: Yu Hai (Mainland China)

Chief cinematographer, Jiang Shen, Beijing Film Studio

Jointly filmed by Wang Dongming and Zhang Meng from Beijing Television.
Art direction: He Baotong, Cai Longxi, Beijing Film Studio

The script was reviewed and approved by Wang Shuyuan et al.

That wasn't all. After reading it aloud, Ning Weimin cleared his throat again.

"Let me reiterate the approximate budget for this series. As mentioned earlier, we will be building our own martial arts city next to the Zhuozhou Film and Television Base, but that's mainly for the 'Condor Trilogy' following 'The Deer and the Cauldron,' featuring Song and Yuan dynasty-style sets. This series won't need it in terms of either time or content. Therefore, the investment in that martial arts city cannot be included. Since the main scenes of 'The Deer and the Cauldron' take place in the capital and are closely connected to historical court intrigues, our main filming location should be the capital. The entire series is roughly planned to have 40 to 50 episodes. Normally, the budget for each episode would be 300,000 yuan, meaning an investment of 12 to 15 million yuan. However, considering that the important scenes in the series need to be filmed on location as much as possible, such as the Forbidden City, the Kangwang Mansion, the Muwang Mansion, the Aobai Mansion, Qingliang Temple, Shaolin Temple, and Yunnan's Kunming, Yangzhou, Jiaxing, and XZ, the travel expenses are not insignificant. Therefore, I have decided to increase the overall budget for the series to 20 million yuan."

咝！
Everyone was shocked by the amount.

For no other reason than that people in this era have suffered for too long and their imaginations have been limited.

It's worth noting that a few years ago, Wang Fulin spent only 6.8 million yuan to film "Dream of the Red Chamber," and the year before that, Chen Daoming's "The Last Emperor" only cost 2 million yuan.

Originally, everyone was hoping for a budget of five million, but Ning Weimin immediately raised it to ten million.

That wasn't all. Before everyone could even celebrate, Ning Weimin raised the budget for a single drama to 20 million yuan.

Such generosity far exceeded everyone's expectations.

No one has ever made a film with such a generous budget!

It can't even compare to "Li Xianglan," which was made in collaboration with Fog Studio.

After all, most of the 1 billion yen budget for that movie was spent on Japanese actors, and the remaining budget had to be divided among the three major film studios.

So after a brief, stunned silence, the conference room erupted in excitement once more. The most excited and exhilarated were none other than the core production team members of "The Deer and the Cauldron." The initial surprise had faded from their faces, replaced by barely concealed joy and elation.

Everyone's eyes sparkled with anticipation for the future, and their hearts were filled with the eager expectation of making a name for themselves in this high-budget, high-standard production.

But that's not all. Ning Weimin continued, "We also have certain advantages in terms of props and costumes. Many people may not know this, but whether it was Director Li from Hong Kong filming 'The Burning of the Yuanmingyuan' or the Italian director filming 'The Last Emperor,' I bought some of their props and most of their costumes. Later, to generate revenue for the Temple of Heaven Park, we even started a period costume photography project at the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, and I had a batch of costumes made based on those of emperors, concubines, ministers, and guards. So, for our filming of 'The Deer and the Cauldron,' we've actually solved 70% of the costume and prop issues. And they're definitely not the kind of shoddy stuff. As for my two requests, I only want to ask that during filming, you cherish these things as much as possible and not damage them. Secondly, we need experts to consider the history of the Kangxi era, and we should try our best to present the costumes according to historical accuracy."

This made everyone's feelings even more complicated. They even had costumes and props, and they were all high-quality items.

With so much money left, how can we possibly spend it all?

If this show were actually filmed according to budget, it would be phenomenal.

Director Tian Zhuangzhuang suddenly stood up, his face beaming with excitement.

"President Ning! A budget of 20 million, location shooting, and readily available props and costumes—this is simply creating the best creative conditions for us! To be honest, in all my years of making films, I never dared to imagine having such a generous budget, without having to worry about money, without having to be stingy with saving on sets and props. We can completely focus on polishing the work and capturing the essence of 'The Deer and the Cauldron'!"

His eyes were shining; it was clear he had already been planning how to use the budget to create a classic.

Following him, even the executive producer Lu Xiaowei showed a happy expression, his tone full of approval and expectation.

"President Ning's investment is remarkable. The budget of 20 million yuan demonstrates the boldness of Dachuan Entertainment and gives us all confidence. With such a good production team, such ample funding, and such a good story, I believe that 'The Deer and the Cauldron' will definitely become a hit TV series in mainland China."

As it turned out, his words perfectly aligned with Ning Weimin's wishes and became a catalyst for further discussion.

Ning Weimin nodded with a smile and continued, "That's right, Director Lu is absolutely right. Whether a TV series is good or not depends first and foremost on the script, and then on finding the director and casting. As for the script, we don't have much to say. 'The Deer and the Cauldron' is Mr. Jin Yong's most acclaimed work. Although many readers have differing opinions on whether this novel should be considered a wuxia novel, no one can say that the story is not good. As for myself, I have already promised Mr. Jin Yong that I will be as faithful to the original work as possible. So, we just need to ask our screenwriting team to make appropriate adjustments to the scenes and dialogue according to the story framework and the actual needs of filming."

"Regarding the director, Director Tian is a leading figure of the fifth generation of directors, having already produced many excellent works. His work ability is highly regarded by both the Beijing Film Studio and myself. Moreover, we had a private discussion a few days ago, and our ideas are largely aligned. We both hope to take a serious drama approach, authentically showcasing the local customs and regional characteristics depicted in the novel. In addition, with the assistance of Director Luo from Tianjin Television and Mr. Yuen Woo-ping from Hong Kong in charge of the action scenes, both of whom are experts in television drama production, I believe that the final product we produce will be a grand masterpiece surpassing the Hong Kong and Taiwan versions. I have no worries about controlling the overall pacing and realistic style of this series. Speaking of which, our top priority now is still the actors. As long as the actors are well-chosen, this series is already halfway to success..."

Ning Weimin's words were indeed true, and everyone present agreed with them, with many immediately bursting into passionate discussion.

He Baotong, who was in charge of art, was the first to agree.

"Mr. Ning is right. Jin Yong's martial arts novels actually have a wider popular appeal than 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' and 'Water Margin.' Although Jin Yong's novels were introduced to the mainland relatively late and their popularity is not high, they became popular very quickly. Since the Hong Kong version of 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' entered the mainland in 1983, it has sparked a Jin Yong craze. Especially now, they are being read all over university campuses. University students call Jin Yong's novels 'adult fairy tales.' Not to mention junior college students and undergraduates, even graduate students love them. So if this 'The Deer and the Cauldron' is made into a TV series, it will definitely be loved by a large audience. It might even boost book sales."

However, he then changed the subject and mentioned some unfavorable factors.

"But that's also the most troublesome part. There are a lot of highly educated people among Jin Yong's fans in mainland China. These students are very picky, unlike those housewives who like mundane family dramas and will watch whatever they're given. If we invest so much in making a TV series, and we don't choose the right actors, they will criticize us and we won't get their approval. It could have a very bad impact. That wouldn't just be half a failure, it would be a complete loss."

That's not all; assistant director Dong Zhiqiang also expressed some casting difficulties based on his own experience.

"Oh dear, to bring a literary work to the television screen in a satisfactory way, suitable actors are crucial. China has never lacked good actors; the key is how to select them. I must say, this novel has so many characters. I've only read half of it these past few days, and I've already noted down no fewer than a hundred important characters. In my opinion, *The Deer and the Cauldron* has just as many characters as the Four Great Classical Novels. The problem is, if we really want to find the best actors, we'll probably have to send people to different places to scout, like we did with *Dream of the Red Chamber* and *Journey to the West*. But if we do that, the process will inevitably be quite lengthy. I'm worried it will affect the start date of filming."

He paused, then added, "But the most difficult thing is that there's no unified standard for casting. Everyone's understanding of the character is different, and even we ourselves have a hard time reaching a consensus. To be honest, we've already had the costume designers on the set create a preliminary costume design for 'The Deer and the Cauldron,' including both main and secondary characters. The original novel has one or two hundred characters, and it's too difficult to completely replicate the characters from the book. So we have a general approach: to capture the spirit and essence of the characters and express their temperament. But even with these character designs, there are still many differing opinions, and we haven't even reached a consensus internally."

As he spoke, he took out a thick sketchbook, with one character per page, all of which were design drawings.

Regarding this, Ning Weimin said, "I know this is a huge project. However, the difficulties aren't as numerous as you might imagine. My idea is to proceed in several steps. First, we'll specifically select actors for some particularly important roles. For example, we've already decided on the two most important roles in this TV series: Wei Xiaobao and Emperor Kangxi. They'll be played by Chen Baoguo and Chen Daoming. In addition, there are several other crucial roles that require careful selection. For instance, Wei Xiaobao's seven beautiful wives, each with their own unique characteristics. We can audition the most popular actresses right now, such as Lin Fangbing from the Beijing Film Studio, Tao Yumin from 'Yang Naiwu and Xiao Baicai,' Wei Huili who played Miss Gao in 'Journey to the West,' and Chen Hong, who was chosen to play Diao Chan in 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms,' and Xiao Qiao." He Qing, and Li Yuanyuan from "Fortress Besieged," are both eye-catching and already quite famous actresses. Although their specific roles are still uncertain, that doesn't stop us from extending invitations. If we find these people, they'll surely find suitable roles. To put it bluntly, everyone should look at big-budget productions like "Dream of the Red Chamber" and "Journey to the West." As long as we have recognized actors, we can find their contact information through those production teams—wouldn't that save us a lot of effort? As for other minor roles, we'll start by selecting from our own institutions. If that's still not enough, or if there aren't any suitable candidates, we'll continue looking around Beijing—Beijing Film Academy, Beijing People's Art Theatre, Beijing Youth Art Theatre, the General Political Department, and so on. We'll select another batch. Finally, if we still can't meet all our needs, we can issue a public announcement for a wider selection.

To be fair, although Ning Weimin's statement was somewhat autocratic, his idea was actually quite practical.

Even if this method may not be fair, it is highly feasible.

As soon as he finished speaking, a chorus of discussion arose in the conference room, and everyone felt that they had found the right direction to solve the problem.

The anxiety surrounding the casting process that had previously lingered in everyone's minds quickly dissipated. (End of Chapter)