Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 455 Visiting the Set, Refusing to Cooperate

"Our company has three crews here, including "Wulin Wai Zhuan", "Beauty's Rival in Palace" and "Pacific Rim". "Pacific Rim" is still in the preparation stage, and Director Guo Fan is in charge. Hengdian Group has given us great support. I'll take you to meet them later..."

After visiting the crew of "Wulin Waijia", Zhang Chen did not leave immediately, but took Chen Xiaowei to the crew of "Beauty's Rival in Palace".

Chen Xiaowei felt curious along the way. Even though she had been here for two days, she still felt fresh.

“So this is how movies and TV series are made~
Those fighting scenes were all shot in slow motion with wires, but why did the final footage show the normal speed, and the wires disappeared when the film was completed? "

"This is the post-production. Those wires can be erased through technical means in the post-production. They cost about 1500 yuan each~"

Chen Xiaowei was shocked. She calculated in her mind that filming a TV series was really expensive.

There are at least a dozen wires in one scene. There are so many scenes in a scene, and one wire costs 1500 yuan. The cost alone is not small.

After these two days of contact, Zhang Chen is quite satisfied with Chen Xiaowei. Although he has no experience in the film and television industry, he has a very strong ability to accept new things. For many things, he only needs to be told once to get started, and he can also apply what he has learned to other situations.

Therefore, capable people will be great no matter what they do.

Chen Xiaowei didn't know Zhang Chen's evaluation of her, she was still sighing in her heart:

There must be talented people behind Hengdian. This place is so convenient for filming, the prices are low, and the services are complete.

Hengdian advertises that it provides filming locations free of charge. The crew only needs to register with the coordination office in advance how many days they want to use the location. The coordination office will schedule each crew, and you can just use it on the day you want.

It is claimed to be free, but it is impossible to be really free. However, it only costs a few hundred dollars, so the fee can be so low that it can be ignored.

Only those scenes created by third parties are more expensive.

For example, if "Beauty's Rival in Palace" needs a scene of Peach Blossom Spring that is not here, then they can build it on the spot. After it is built, it does not need to be dismantled. If other crews want to use it later, they have to pay for it. This may be expensive, costing several thousand or tens of thousands of yuan a day. Hengdian Group and the crew that built the scene will share the profits in proportion.

“Many film crews are willing to come here, in addition to the free filming, another reason is that this place is very convenient.

All resources related to the crew can be found here.

You can tell me what kind of props you need today and we can place an order on the same day. They will be made and delivered to you on the same day without affecting the shooting at all.

If you change to other places, you won’t have such high efficiency.”

Chen Xiaowei responded, "Is there anything wrong with that?"

Zhang Chen gave her an admiring look and said, "Yes, it's because it's too convenient. There's everything around, so the actors are not very comfortable here.

If it were somewhere else, the actors would have nowhere to go after work and would have to stay in the hotel.

If the director wants to add a scene or chat about something, he can find someone with just one phone call.

But it’s not possible in Hengdian. You call an actor at night and say you want to talk to him about the script, but you find he’s out drinking. There are many crews and acquaintances here, and there are restaurants everywhere on the roadside, all open 24 hours a day. It’s inevitable that you’ll have to get together when you meet…”

"Hahaha, it seems to be true~" Chen Xiaowei covered her mouth and laughed.

"Then the people of Hengdian Town will be rich, and they will have no worries about food and clothing thanks to this film and television base..."

"Of course. The people in this town are richer than the average person."

After thinking for a while, he added: "In fact, as long as you are related to the crew, it is not difficult to make money."

He decided to take advantage of today's free time to teach Chen Xiaowei some basic knowledge.

"A crew can earn money from eating, drinking, defecating and urinating. Take lunch boxes for example. There are hundreds of people in a crew, and the standard for a meal is 10 or 15 yuan. There are a lot of things that can be manipulated."

"Are lunch boxes usually related to the director?"

“Not necessarily. Usually when a film crew is shooting in a certain place, they have to find a location host.

The so-called local guide is someone who has a certain amount of power in the local area, the so-called "big brother who handles things".

The local guides are all locals who know the area well. If you want to find a certain sight, they will know where it is after just a quick thought.

If you encounter any problems, the local guide can help you resolve them.

But the fees charged by the local guides can’t be too outrageous, so they have to make up for it from other places, usually with lunch boxes from the crew, which can be considered an invisible benefit.”

Chen Xiaowei nodded, "This is similar to our Internet marketing.

Our marketing activities often require hands-on work.”

Zhang Chen happened to know all this. This is true not only for the Internet, but also for many physical industries. Express delivery companies need to take action to conduct business, and Gome and Suning also need to take action to open new stores.

"Let me tell you another interesting story. I heard that a film crew went to a remote village to film a movie. There was only one small store in the village.

The owner of the convenience store was a smart guy. He bribed the director and got the lunch box business.

I can make a lot of money every day just from the lunch box business.

Besides, there are hundreds of people in the crew, and besides food, they also have other needs, such as fruits, sausages, condoms...

The goods in the convenience store can be sold out in one day.

Then, in the next month, the store owner called all his relatives to help with purchasing and selling goods. He stopped doing business in the small mountain village and focused on serving the crew.

He found out the crew's daily shooting schedule, and started work when the crew started and finished work when the crew finished. Every day he followed the crew in his own little van, and sold whatever the crew needed.

When the crew got off work, he was still setting up a stall in front of the store selling various snacks.

The crew members are tired of eating boxed lunches every day. From time to time, they want to have some snacks and drink some wine to improve their lives.

Just like that, a month later, when the crew finished filming and left, the shop owner’s car changed from a van to an Audi. He made at least hundreds of thousands from the crew. This was just him. The director and assistant director he honored probably made a lot too…”

Chen Xiaowei understood this story: "I will familiarize myself with the crew's affairs as soon as possible~"

Zhang Chen nodded and listened to what he was saying. If he wanted to manage a film and television company, he must be familiar with the tricks involved. Otherwise, what’s the point of management?
When we arrived at the set of "Beauty's Secret", the crew was taking a break. The actors were sitting in groups of three or four to rest, and we could vaguely see that they were divided into several groups.

Fan Xiaopang is alone~
Janice Man and Sammul Chan got together, probably because they are both from Hong Kong.

Yang Xiaomi seems to be very familiar with the two of them.

Hu Ge and Liu Shishi were talking about something, while the rest of the people were in twos and threes...

Soon a staff member recognized Zhang Chen approaching and shouted, "Director Zhang~"

When everyone heard the voice, they all saw Zhang Chen and Chen Xiaowei beside him.

"Hello everyone, I'm here to visit you, but I'm sorry, I didn't bring anything~"

Zhang Chen greeted everyone in a very familiar manner, and then went straight to the director's seat.

Xue Xiaolu was watching the replay. Hearing this, he turned around, saw Zhang Chen, and immediately stood up.

"Teacher Xue~"

"Zhang Chen~, oh no, Director Zhang~"

"Haha, it's okay, you can call me by my name, whatever makes you feel comfortable, I don't care about that~"

Zhang Chen never cared about these details.

Coming in front of Xue Xiaolu, Zhang Chen introduced: "This is President Chen, the company's new vice president. She will be the one to connect with you from now on~"

"This is Director Xue Xiaolu, a teacher at the Beijing Film Academy's Department of Literature~"

"Hello, Director Xue, I'm Chen Xiaowei~"

The three of them sat down and chatted casually.

"Teacher Xue, is the filming going smoothly?"

"It went smoothly. Everyone was very dedicated. The script written by screenwriter Yu was also very complete..."

Yu Zheng just happened to come over at this time, and when he heard the director praising him, he looked very proud.

Fan Xiaopang also came over at this time. Even though he knew that Zhang Chen was coming, he was the only one among the actors who dared to come over. The others could only watch from afar.

Zhang Chen hurriedly introduced her: "This is CEO Chen Xiaowei. She will be in charge of the film and television business from now on~"

"Sister Chen, please take care of me in the future~"

"Binbin, you're too polite. Director Zhang was just joking. I'm Manager Dong's assistant, helping with chores~"

The fancy sedan was carried by many people, and everyone was very polite when they met for the first time.

"What are those people doing over there?"

Zhang Chen pointed to a long dragon in the distance.

Fatty Fan said with a smile: "Those are extras. You may not know how famous our crew is in Hengdian. I think we have to fight for extras in our crew~"

I'm not talking nonsense. "Beauty's Rival in Palace" is very famous in the Hengdian extras circle, and there are so many beauties in it.

Those extras were scrambling for the spotlight, not for the money, but just to get a closer look at the beauty.

Zhang Chen looked around and indeed, walking into the crew was like walking into a country of women.

All the big beauties~
Fan Xiaopang, Yang Xiaomi, Qin Lan, Wen Yongshan, Liu Shishi, Sun Feifei, Zhao Liying, Bai Xue...

According to Zhang Chen, "Beauty's Rival in Palace" must stick to the theme, and all the actresses in the crew must be beauties.

As they jokingly say, they have captured almost all the most beautiful female stars born in the 80s in China.

"By the way, Director Xue, I have contacted a reporter to come over and promote our production. Please arrange for everyone to touch up their makeup and make themselves look prettier. I am going to promote this production well..."

Zhang Chen told Chen Xiaowei the idea he had discussed with her before.

This idea was actually thought up by Chen Xiaowei. As someone who works in the Internet industry, she is well versed in hype.

"Okay, I'll let everyone get ready~"

Xue Xiaolu gave the order, and soon all the actors got the message and went to the makeup artist to touch up their makeup one by one.

Fan Xiaopang also went back and asked his personal makeup artist to do his makeup.

As the heroine of the show and also the one responsible for appearance, she must ensure that she is the most beautiful.

This aspect must not be taken lightly.

The sluts in this crew are all so beautiful, and she doesn’t want the newspapers to reveal that Fan Binbin is outshined in the crew.

Zhang Chen walked and stopped among the flowers, reluctant to leave.

There are so many fairies here, and they all wink at him.

Women are like this, when they are alone, they are as timid as mice and will blush if you look at them for a second.

But if a few of them get together, the jokes they tell are so obscene that even men can't handle it.

Under the operation of the makeup artist, beauties emerge one after another.

The art and makeup levels of "Beauty's Rival in Palace" are very high, and these people were interviewed by Zhang Chen personally.

During the interview, it’s useless to talk about which awesome crews you’ve been on, you have to demonstrate your skills on the spot.

Those who can meet Zhang Chen's requirements will stay. If they don't meet Zhang Chen's requirements, sorry, next one~
Among the flowers, the fairies showed their charm to Zhang Chen.

There are many beauties in Hengdian, but none of them has such a high sugar content as "Beauty's Rival in Palace".

Zhang Chen just walked up to Hu Ge.

The main male actors in this drama are Hu Ge and Sammul Chan.

Hu Ge plays the emperor Liu Heng, while Sammul Chan plays the general Wei Zifu.

"Director Zhang~"

Seeing Zhang Chen looking over, Hu Ge took the initiative to greet him. Zhang Chen patted him on the shoulder and said, "How are you? Are you used to filming this drama?"

I greeted him casually, but I was thinking, it's already September, Hu Ge is safe and sound, so everything should be fine.

Amitabha~
Hu Ge wouldn't have to get hurt, and his assistant wouldn't have to die.

But then he thought, if his assistant was fine, would there be another assistant later?
It seems that the two of them got married in the end.

But on second thought, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda, so let it ruin someone's marriage. It seems that they got married during the epidemic because they were pregnant.

They put on their makeup one after another, and some even changed into new costumes. The specially designed costumes set off the women's figures very well.

The costumes in "Beauty's Rival in Palace" did not strictly follow the loose style of the Han Dynasty, but were slightly improved to better highlight the curves.

What Zhang Chen is going to make is not a historical drama, so there is no need to be so elaborate.

Compared to the rigor of clothing, beauty is the most important thing.

Zhang Chen carefully identified the girls, and the differences immediately emerged.

They are all monsters, but some are fairies, and some are monsters~
How to distinguish fairies from monsters?

It's very simple, just look at the breasts.

Big and small monsters~
All the ladies sitting here are fairies, only one is a monster, blind sister, why are you bowing your head~
After a while, the reporter contacted by Chen Xiaowei arrived.

Crazy photo taking~
The kind that murders film~
Yingying Yanyan, beautiful beyond measure~
The beauty of these women is attractive to both men and women~
As usual, there was an interview after the photo shoot. Zhang Chen accepted the interview and also brought Yu Zheng along.

"What kind of story is "Beauty's Rival in Palace"? Is it a palace-fighting theme similar to "Beauty's Rival in Palace"? "

"It's a palace intrigue theme, but the starting points of the two dramas are different. For more details, I think it's better for our screenwriter to tell you in person."

Yu Zheng is a similar figure to Zhang Da Huzi, one of the two people who loves hype the most in the TV drama industry.

Although he is still very young now, Zhang Chen doesn't mind giving him a chance.

Facing the camera, Yu Zheng was excited and pushed up his glasses: "I had great ambitions when I created this drama. I wanted to surpass War and Beauty and create a different kind of palace drama~"

roar~
It’s Yu Zheng indeed!
If you don’t say anything shocking, you will die!
“The theme of “Beauty’s Rival in Palace” is the cruel palace fighting, and there are no winners in the play.

Although "Beauty's Rival in Palace" also has palace fighting scenes, the perspective is different. In this drama, there is friendship, love, loyalty, and betrayal...

Fun and cruel coexist!

This is a story about a girl's growth. She was born in a humble family and was teased by fate. She could only rely on herself to step by step reach the pinnacle of power. This is an inspirational story.

The reporter listened more and more familiarly: "Why does it sound like Wu Zetian?"

"No, the audience is too familiar with Wu Zetian's story, and it's hard to give it more play, so we changed someone else - Dou Yifang!"

"Who is Dou Yifang?"

"The wife of Emperor Wen, the third empress of the Western Han Dynasty, she was originally just a little maid in the Western Han Dynasty palace, serving the Empress Dowager Lü Zhi. Later, she miraculously became the concubine of Emperor Wen, the Empress, and later the Empress Dowager and the Grand Empress Dowager...

I think this story is very inspiring.”

Zhang Chen pointed his finger in a circle and said, "Reporter, you have also seen the cast of our drama. It's not a bad name to call it "Beauty's Rival in Palace", right?"

The reporter glanced at the girls and said, "No delay, no delay, it will be broadcast in a certain month, I will definitely support it~"

Zhang Chen put his arm around the man's shoulders and said, "Haha, when it comes to the prettiness of the actors, we can't beat anyone except Journey to the West!"

"What a golden sentence, absolutely a golden sentence, Director Zhang, let's use this as the title of today's report - we won't admit defeat to anyone except Journey to the West!"

"Brother, you are someone who understands media~"

After stuffing a thick red envelope, the reporter left.

In the afternoon, shooting continued.

Hu Ge was also filming The Legend of the Condor Heroes at the same time, so he left after filming for a while.

But he came back not long after, and Cai Yinong came with him.

"Mr. Cai~"

"Director Zhang, I heard from Hu Ge that Director Zhang was coming to visit the set, so I came here right away. I've been wanting to get to know Director Zhang for a long time~"

"Mr. Cai, you're welcome~"

"I wonder if Director Zhang has time tonight. I'll treat you and we can have dinner together~"

"Well, okay then."

Cai Yinong came over personally to invite Zhang Chen, and it was difficult for him to refuse, so he agreed.

However, he could probably guess that Cai Yinong's intention in inviting him to dinner was simply to cooperate, but Zhang Chen was not very interested.

Tang Ren has been doing well in the past two years~
"Legend of Heaven and Earth: The Precious Lotus Lantern", "The Female Generals of the Yang Family", "The Book and the Sword", "Unparalleled in the World"...

There will also be the "Xianjian" that became popular last year~
"Legend of Sword and Fairy" became popular all over the country, but it also exposed their weakness - poor relationships.

Such a popular drama didn’t even get broadcast on TV.

Zhang Chen guessed that Cai Yinong wanted to cooperate with him because he was attracted by the good relationship between Xingchen Entertainment and various satellite TV stations.

But Zhang Chen really couldn't think of anything that Tang Ren had that he needed, so he was not optimistic about the cooperation between the two companies.

"Although I am Taiwanese, I started out as a slacker in Hong Kong. I was previously the coordinator of the Hong Kong Film Awards and the agent of Guan Yonghe and Roger Kwok. Later, I started working on my own.

When I first started working on my own, I had already decided to make costume dramas.

why?
Because only period dramas can sell overseas~"

Cai Yinong seemed to be chatting casually, but Zhang Chen knew that she was telling him that she was not a weakling.

"Mr. Cai, you are amazing~"

Hu Ge and Liu Shishi next to them listened with great interest. Although they were Tang Ren’s eldest brother and eldest sister, it was the first time they heard these things.

Zhang Chen suddenly wanted to laugh. She was as gentle as a chrysanthemum and worthy of being Mr. Yuan’s godgranddaughter. She knew how to provide emotional value when listening to storytelling.

"Boss Cai is truly a heroine~"

Zhang Chen gave her compliments, saying that it was indeed not easy for a woman to make such a big name in the mainland.

"But I don't quite agree with your model of Hong Kong and Taiwan directors + Hong Kong and Taiwan male leads + mainland actresses + Hong Kong behind-the-scenes team. It may be okay at the beginning, but now that mainland film and television have begun to show their prowess, I'm afraid Mr. Cai's model is..."

Cai Yinong had also heard about Zhang Chen's contempt for Hong Kong and Taiwan, and did not refute it. Instead, she said, "Director Zhang is right. I also recognize this problem, so I signed Hu Ge and Shishi. Facts have proved that mainland actors can indeed carry the ratings~"

Zhang Chen had nothing to say, Cai Yinong did exactly that.

Chen Xiaowei next to him interrupted: "As a woman, I understand how difficult it is for President Cai. At the same time, I admire President Cai's keenness in the Internet. President Cai should be the person in the entertainment industry who attaches the most importance to the Internet..."

"Oh? What happened? Tell me more about it~"

Seeing that everyone was interested, Chen Xiaowei continued, "Mr. Cai should be one of the first film and television company owners in China to pay attention to Tianya. Every time a film and television project is launched, there will be related discussions on the Internet, and the popularity is not low. These should all be the work of Mr. Cai..."

"Thank you so much, thank you so much, I thought no one noticed this, but I didn't expect that someone has already noticed it~"

Cai Yinong smiled modestly.

When Zhang Chen introduced the two of them before, she didn't feel anything special. But now she realized that Chen Xiaowei was indeed quite capable.

"By the way, I haven't thanked Director Zhang for his help yet. Thank you Director Zhang for giving Hu Ge and Shi Shi the opportunity to participate in the project of "Beauty's Rival in Palace". You two, why don't you toast Director Zhang~"

The two raised their glasses upon hearing this, and Zhang Chen followed suit and drank it all.

After drinking a glass of wine, Blind Sister's cheeks immediately turned rosy, and her whole temperament was no longer as gentle as a chrysanthemum in her character setting, but became delicate and charming.

However, this did not cause much critical damage to Zhang Chen.

When Blind Sister debuted, she was known as 'Little Liu Yifei'. The two do look somewhat similar, and both have a cool and aloof style.

But they are not Zhang Chen's type, not to mention they are a pair of A~
Everyone talked about a lot of rambling, and Cai Yinong finally got to the point.

“Director Zhang, Tang Ren has strong film and television production capabilities, and the TV series we produce are always in great demand.

Xingchen Entertainment’s film production capabilities are also the best in the industry. I think our two companies are naturally complementary, so why not strengthen our cooperation~”

Zhang Chen did not comment, and Chen Xiaowei said beside him: "Then how does Mr. Cai plan to cooperate?"

"Our film and television projects are open to Director Zhang, and Director Zhang's film and television projects are also open to Tang Ren, so everyone can achieve a win-win situation~"

Cai Yinong spoke excitedly, but Zhang Chen sneered.

A win-win situation?
Win-win situation~
Tang Ren's TV series are indeed good, especially the ancient costume dramas, which do sell well.

But Tang Ren’s movies are like a plague, causing all kinds of losses.

"Suspicious" ~
Beautiful Mandheling
The former invited Big S to partner with Liu Ye, and the director was Herman Yau, the best horror film director in Hong Kong, and it was not even released in theaters.

The latter is pretty much the same.

On the other hand, Star Entertainment is number one in the industry in terms of movies. As for TV series, its current production "Wulin Waijia" is number one in its time slot, and its new production "Before Dawn" is also selling well.

In terms of TV dramas, Xingchen Entertainment doesn't need Tang Ren at all, but in terms of movies, Tang Ren has gained a lot.

How is this a win-win situation?

This is pure poverty alleviation.

However, only Zhang Chen can say that he looks down on Tang Ren. If it were other companies, such as Huayi, they would not dare to look down on Tang Ren.

They are quite capable.

Tang Ren has his own studio in Hengdian, the 2000-square-meter "Tang Ren Pavilion" and the small white building of the Tang Ren Hengdian Production Center.

Just for this point, at least it shows their strength.

More than 90% of film and television production companies can have their own studio in Hengdian.

"President Cai can communicate more with President Chen on this matter. I will start filming Pacific Rim soon, so I will not interfere with the company's routine affairs. I will leave them to Manager Dong and Vice President Chen. You can communicate among yourselves."

Zhang Chen used a great move, and Chen Xiaowei immediately followed up: "I just got here, and I'm not familiar with the business yet, but I'm looking forward to cooperating with Tang Ren. Let's keep in touch on weekdays~"

Chen Xiaowei is also a person who knows how to deal with things. What she said made Cai Yinong unable to tell whether it was true or not.

Anyway, the trick is to procrastinate.
(End of this chapter)