China Entertainment's Standout

Chapter 966 The Young Actresses Taking the Stage: The New Generation of Zhang Yimou's Girls
Old Master Tian's health has been poor lately.

After finishing his business, Zhou Yutang made a special trip to visit them that evening, bringing gifts with him.

This influential gentleman, whose words carry significant weight in China, provided some assistance in Jiangdong's rise to prominence.

Upon seeing Zhou Yutang, the old man seemed to be in much better spirits than usual.

These elders, when talking about national affairs, often become indignant about the current tense situation and the aggressive United States, reminiscing about the past.

As people get older, they tend to reminisce about the past.

Their generation has experienced the baptism of war and endured hardship along the way.

After listening to the glorious past of the Tian family patriarch, Zhou Yutang entered Tian Ming's study and closed the door to speak.

This comes at a time of unprecedented change, where a single move can have far-reaching consequences, leading to increased friction between the two sides and a great deal of uncertainty.

"Yu Tang, what do you think?"

Tian Ming was a little unsure and wanted to hear Zhou Yutang's thoughts.

Zhou Yutang shook his head and chuckled, "The great man wrote it all in his book."

"We must recognize the logic of imperialism's disruption, failure, further disruption, further failure, until its demise, and establish the people's logic of struggle, failure, further struggle, further failure, further struggle, until victory."

"Abandon illusions and prepare for a protracted struggle against imperialism!"

Listing Bilibili on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is a long-term strategy, and the timing is not yet fully right.

If we wait another ten years, the balance of power may change.

The wheels of time keep turning.

Throughout its 5000-year history, Tokyo University, which held a dominant position in world civilization for a considerable period, will eventually return to its rightful place.

Indian: That's right, it is I!

Zhou Yutang was so busy in Shanghai that he barely had time to rest.

To accommodate Governor Zhou's schedule, the annual meetings of several companies, including Xingchen, Bilibili, Mingjie, and Yusheng, were specially scheduled for these few days.

And at this time.

Liu Yifei, who has returned to China from Milan, has already started her annual leave early.

When there's a project, she will absolutely devote all her focus and energy to it.

But when it's time to have fun, he knows how to enjoy it too. He's planning to accompany Aunt Liu back to Wuhan for the Chinese New Year this year, and he even arranged a small get-together with Mr. Zhou before the new year.

"I really envy you, Sisi."

"What's wrong, Sister Xun?"

Miss Liu was in a very good mood.

Hmm, it's definitely not because that brat Zhou is going back to Beijing in a couple of days.

She tilted her head, her black hair cascading down her shoulders like a waterfall, her skin smooth and white, her eyes bright and her teeth white.

Young Master Zhou was momentarily stunned, then chuckled and exclaimed, "You're really lucky, Boss Zhou! You seem to be getting younger and younger!"

"Is there any?"

"Of course! Look at your face, it's so tender you could squeeze water out of it."

Zhou Gongzi, in her hooligan form, reached out and touched Liu Tianxian's fair and delicate cheek: "Sister, I'm already old and gray."

"Sister Xun, are you alright?"

Miss Liu slapped Mr. Zhou's hand away and asked with a smile.

In fact, the media has been gossiping about Zhou Xun and Gao Shengyuan's breakup these past few days.

This couple, who once flaunted their affection for each other in front of the media, have not appeared together in public for over a year.

The sweetness of the past is like a withered flower.

Last year, when Zhou Xun celebrated her birthday in October, her husband Gao Shengyuan did not appear, which sparked rumors of marital discord.

Later, Gao Shengyuan deleted all the photos of the two of them from his social media posts.

"I'm perfectly fine. It's just a breakup, so what?"

Zhou Gongzi's expression remained unchanged as she hummed a popular song from a while back: "Breakups should be dignified; no one should say goodbye."

It's a pity that despite her beauty, her voice is terrible, almost unbearable to listen to. She's off-key and even sang a medley of lyrics: "The beginning is always wonderful every minute, everyone thinks the passion will never fade."

"Let me tell you, all men are the same."

"Goose, goose, goose~~"

Young Liu laughed out loud, like a goose quacking. She thought to herself, "That Zhou is definitely different."

Aside from marriage, which wasn't a necessity for her, she received everything she could.

Children from single-parent families are often sensitive, and Xiao Liu is no exception.

Thanks to Aunt Liu's several failed marriages, she has an inexplicable fear and resistance to marriage.

Hearing Young Master Zhou pour out his grievances, Zhou Yutang inexplicably came to mind.

I never forget her every year on my birthday.

Every gift I gave was thoughtfully chosen.

It may not be expensive, but it often touches her heart.

Last month, I had a fashion event abroad. During a long phone call, I casually mentioned wanting to go to Yunnan to see the camellias in bloom, but my schedule was packed throughout January.

Jiangdong's private jet made a special trip to Kunming before transferring to Milan.

Many people have been paying close attention to Zhou Yutang's movements, leading many entertainment reporters in the industry to believe that the Grand Commander had gone crazy with excitement after winning the Golden Globe Award and was running around the world.

But no one knew that King You of Zhou lit the beacon towers just to amuse the celestial being.

During those days, she was in the top-floor suite of the Bulgari Hotel, the room filled with the fragrance of camellias.

Liu Yifei took photos and posted them on Weibo. Netizens, unaware of the inside story, assumed she was a top-tier celebrity and received special treatment from the organizers.

Thinking of this, Miss Liu felt a sweet warmth in her heart.

"Hey, hey, hey, can't you show a little respect for a recently divorced woman?"

Young Master Zhou waved his hand in front of Liu Yifei's eyes.

"what?"

Liu Yifei was slightly taken aback, and blurted out, "Sister Xun, you've even gotten your marriage certificate?"

"Adults are all about efficiency. If there's no affection left, why not divorce? Are we just going to stay together for the holidays?"

Young Master Zhou leaned back gracefully, then suddenly remembered something, his eyes darting around, "Were you just thinking about Boss Zhou?"

"No, no, don't talk nonsense."

Despite her actions, the ever-proud Liu girl delivered a smooth three-part denial, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear and smiling as she asked, "Sister Xun, what are your plans next?"

Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace is embroiled in censorship issues, the production company has announced a postponement of its premiere, and the company has just gotten divorced.

Compared to other actresses of her generation who have achieved great success, Zhou Xun seems to be an unlucky woman who has failed in both love and career.

"The wise do not fall into the river of love; let us build a beautiful China."

"You want to take the postgraduate entrance exam?"

“What your boss Zhou said is really insightful; it’s still more important to focus on building a career.”

Zhou Xun shrugged and said, "I want to focus on my career, and I have a favor to ask you for."

Is there anything I can do to help you?

"Of course you can. Come and see what this girl from Beijing Film Academy is like."

Young Master Zhou took out his phone, unlocked it, opened a file sent to him on WeChat, and began studying it with Miss Liu, who had come over.

Liu Yifei glanced at it and asked curiously, "Sister Xun, are you going to mentor a newcomer?"

"It's time to give young people a chance to rise to the top."

Zhou Xun sighed knowingly, while Liu Yifei smiled and said, "It does look quite good. However, it seems that the Beijing Film Academy just issued a policy this year that students cannot sign any financial contracts with companies outside the school while still enrolled."

"Where there's a policy, there's a countermeasure. You can sign an agreement first."

Young Master Zhou leaned closer and said mysteriously, "Go tell Boss Zhou not to try and steal her from me." Liu Yifei was speechless: "Jiang Dong has his eye on her too?"

"No, you, the landlady, don't know?"

Mr. Zhou laughed and said, "Mr. Zhou seems to have a high opinion of this girl. There are quite a few companies in the industry eyeing her now."

"What boss lady? Don't talk nonsense."

Liu Yifei gave a coquettish laugh and then raised her hand to deliver a very impolite elbow strike.

I went back and inquired about the situation for Young Master Zhou.

Miss Liu has always been very loyal to her friends.

However, if it involves the interests of the Jiangdong artist ecosystem, we certainly won't force it.

"Sign if you want, I'll let Zhou Shufang know."

After hearing Liu Yifei's words, Zhou Yutang remembered the girl who looked somewhat like Zhou Ye.

I think I encountered this during a movie roadshow at a certain station; the information was added to the Jiangdong database a long time ago.

However, since Jiangdong signed Zhou Ye first, Zhang Jingyi, who has a similar type of talent, has become less of a priority.

He didn't concern himself with the company's artist management affairs; that was entirely handled by Zhou Shufang and Yang Tianzhen.

After all.

Previously, with limited monetization channels, the income from each commercial performance was quite substantial.

But once the entire Jiangdong region expands, there are too many ways to make money.

Moreover, Jiangdong's artist management business plan for the next few years has already been implemented.

Yang Chaoyue, Zhang Ruonan, Zhou Ye, and Wang Churan have already secured their top spots among the new generation of actresses, so they will inevitably need to be given a lot of resources to support them.

The annual meetings of Yu Sheng, Ming Jie, and Bilibili have made the news again.

The most anticipated event was Mingjie's family's small-scale variety concert.

Music has always been Mingjie's main business. Starting with "The Voice of China", it has grown into a media giant with a market value of hundreds of billions.

Leveraging its strategic partnership with Warner Music, the company boasts extensive experience in organizing concerts both domestically and internationally, and features leading artists such as Xu Song, G.E.M., Wang Jiaer, and Li Longhao.

However, at the small variety show at Mingjie's annual meeting that night, the most attention was still focused on Cai Xukun, the popular newcomer from "Idol Producer" who is proficient in singing, dancing and rapping.

Compared to Chengcheng, who only drops small pearls, Kunkun is truly something else.

They seized the window of opportunity presented by the decline of the Korean wave and the lack of new idols in the Chinese entertainment industry.

He wrote and composed his own song, "I Wanna Get Love," making him the only A-class contestant on the show "Idol Producer" to create an original song and dance performance. His individual fancam videos have garnered over 1000 million views!
The burgundy velvet coat she wore on the show, sponsored by The Rest of My Life, sold out immediately, and the fishnet top she wore underneath sparked a sales frenzy of over 50 units across the internet.

Kun Kun, who is currently riding the wave of popularity, was invited by Mingjie to be a guest performer because of the high number of votes he received on the company's internal network. His popularity is indeed quite high.

Some of Kun Kun's fans even offered exorbitant prices online for invitations to Mingjie's annual meeting.
"Boss, Kun Kun is in trouble."

On the plane back to Beijing, the topic of the annual meeting came up, and Chen Duling mentioned it briefly.

"Does Kiwi want to take over his agency contract?"

"how do you know?"

Chen Duling asked in surprise.

Isn't this obvious?

Zhou Yutang shook his head and couldn't help but chuckle.

Kun Kun, who had been training for two and a half years, had already participated in a shoddy program called "Super Idol" before his popularity took off after entering "Idol Producer".

At that time, a Shanghai-based talent agency called Yihai Film & Television made a big promise to Kun Kun and directly signed him.

Later, he formed the boy group SWIN with nine other members. Their achievements were mediocre, and they were practically unknown.

Yihai Films got their show, "Idol Producer," into the show, which was a last resort, and it unexpectedly became a hit overnight.

Anyone who rises to fame and becomes a sensation on a talent show platform is almost always supported and promoted by the platform itself.

This windfall is not a charity for the kiwi fruit company. If they want to allocate resources to subsequent programs, they need to secure their financial contracts first.

However, at that time, Kun Kun had already signed a 7-year long-term contract with Yihai Film and Television, with various additional conditions and a penalty of up to 80 million yuan for breach of contract.

"It's really dark."

Speaking from the perspective of working people, Chen Duling said, "I heard from Sister Xiaoyu that Kunkun was still a minor at the time, and several members of SWIN were child laborers. They have had almost zero income since their debut, and even the costs of holding fan meetings and releasing albums were shared by the members themselves."

Zhou Yutang raised an eyebrow. "It's nothing more than a struggle for interests."

Now that Kun Kun has kiwifruit as his backer, he naturally refuses to pay the money and directly sues his former employer for bullying a minor, sending them to court.

I chatted with my secretary and kept an eye on the film market.

After entering February, the daily box office of "Project Gutenberg" and "Never Say Die" inevitably declined due to their delayed release.

The former has already overcome numerous obstacles, and its total box office has reached 17.03 billion yuan.

The latter's total box office of 23.89 billion yuan was even more dazzling, standing out from the rest of the Lunar New Year film season.

It even broke the record for the highest-grossing comedy film by Happy Twist.

"Is Huayi now that bad?"

"Brother, it's not that Huayi is not capable, it's just that Jiangdong is too domineering."

"Two films grossing 4 billion yuan will directly qualify them for the Lunar New Year film season."

"The big Spring Festival movie season is coming soon, I'm really looking forward to 'Operation Red Sea,' I heard it's even more exciting than 'Wolf Warrior 2'!"

"I was at the premiere in Hainan, and this movie is absolutely amazing. I'm sure it will be a box office smash!"

"."

Film and television companies in the industry are paying attention, and netizens are also discussing it extensively.

The Spring Festival is just over ten days away.

The festive atmosphere in Beijing is growing stronger.

While busy with post-production work on "Shadow" and the Winter Olympics program, Zhang Yimou also hosted the audition for his new film "One Second".

Previously, the studio's assistant director had already cast a wide net across the country, explicitly requiring no prior film or television acting experience, which will likely disappoint most actresses in the industry.

After that, they used everyday videos and unfiltered photos, followed by close-up shots with a film camera.

Those who survived to this stage are extremely rare. Zhang Yimou personally reviewed the footage and watched it several times.

Finally, his gaze lingered on a girl for a long time.

Seeing the Imperial Advisor with his hands clasped in front of his chest and one hand supporting his chin, with Zhang Mo, who had worked for him for many years, beside him, he knew that this was his father's characteristic when he was thinking.

Once his brow relaxed slightly, Zhang Mo asked, "Dad, what do you think?"

The casting directors around him were also paying close attention to Zhang Yimou's reaction.

As per Zhang Yimou's requirements, tens of thousands of eligible girls across the country were screened, and now it's time to review the results.

"Has this girl auditioned for 'Shadow'?"

"Director Zhang, do you still remember?"

"Hehe, you have a good foundation; you're cut out for this job."

Zhang Yimou smiled and said, "Let's choose her."

All eyes turned to that direction.

At first glance.

She's not stunningly beautiful at first glance, but her facial features are smooth and quite pleasing to the eye.

She doesn't possess the stunning beauty of a top-tier goddess, but the combination of her features perfectly aligns with traditional Eastern aesthetics and has a memorable quality.

From Gong Li to Zhang Ziyi, and now this girl, they all have a face that looks like it's on a movie set.

Again.

You can always trust Zhang Yimou's judgment.

(End of this chapter)