Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 137: Tacit Understanding and Actor Selection
Cao Yang instructed Cheng Jianye to have a verbal battle with Zhang Weiping, and to hype up the issue tacitly. This would increase the popularity and would be good for everyone.

However, the turn of events was somewhat unexpected.

Before Cheng Jianye could respond, the internet was already buzzing with activity.

"Are the industry standards in the film and television industry so high now? Zhang Weiping said Cao Yang would not shoot a man's drama."

"Hey, isn't it? Has Cao Yang ever filmed a man's drama?"

"The guy above, Cao Yang just won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, right? That movie is a man's movie."

"Uh, I thought this movie was another movie from a female perspective."

"It's a pure man's play, with only one male lead and no female lead."

"What you said makes me feel that Cao Yang is a bit split. He can either make movies from a female perspective, where men are dispensable, or he can make movies about men, where women are dispensable."

"Take a look at the movie above, Empty Room. Although it is a movie from a female perspective, Liu Ye's role is not less than Yu Feihong's. On the contrary, it is more."

"Back to the topic, just because he didn't win the Golden Palm Award for Best Actor, they say Cao Yang is not good at playing men's roles. Isn't that a bit too much of a joke? Zhang Weiping is an industry insider, but he doesn't even have this common sense?"

"This person is just an amateur and often talks nonsense."

"When laymen command professionals, I'm afraid of encountering this kind of high-level people who pretend to know everything."

"Predictably, Zhang Yimou will be destroyed by him sooner or later."

"I agree. If you don't know something, then don't come out and embarrass yourself."

Even the great poet Kai Ge said in front of reporters, "He is a film salesman, how can he understand what is the art of film? He may not even have seen the Palme d'Or."

……

Cao Yang took a look and found that although the comments online were very satisfying, they deviated from the preset topic. It looked lively, but the name of the movie was not mentioned at all. How could this be acceptable?
When it was time to end the situation, Cao Yang did not hesitate at all and quickly brought the topic back.

So he accepted the interview with the reporter.

Reporter: Director Cao, Zhang Weiping said that you don’t know how to film a man’s movie. What do you think about this?
Cao Yang: I want to thank Mr. Zhang. From his words, I can tell that Mr. Zhang has very high expectations of me. I will be filming a commercial film "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" next. It is possible that I will not be able to meet Mr. Zhang's requirements for the time being and win the Best Actor award.

However, I will always motivate myself, remember what Mr. Zhang said, and strive to win the Best Actor award as soon as possible.

Reporter: Speaking of commercial films, Director Cao, Zhang Weiping said that making commercial films is not like playing house, and he advises you to continue making what you are good at. What do you think about this?
Cao Yang: There is a first time for everything. The first time I made a movie was "A Night Alone on the Beach". No one was optimistic about me at the time. They said how could a student who hadn't even graduated yet make a movie?

Many people rejected my invitation and the process was a bit difficult, but the ending was pretty good. I won the Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival and also helped Xiaoran win the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress Award.

Therefore, I will do my best to make my first commercial film "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" well and will not disappoint the audience.

Reporter: Director Cao's new movie is called "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox"? It sounds like a monster movie?
Cao Yang: "Nine-Tailed Fox" is a large-scale fantasy film. It tells the story of a nine-tailed fox demon coming down the mountain and entering the human world. It has grand scenes, gorgeous visual effects, love and hate, and it is a very complete story (laughs).

……

Throughout the interview, Cao Yang kept talking about "Nine-Tailed Fox", at least to get the advertisement out first and get the topic back. Sure enough, the Internet began to discuss Cao Yang's new film "Nine-Tailed Fox", and the print media also began to report on Cao Yang's new movie.

Zhang Weiping took one look and thought, this won’t work. What I want is for the two films to compete with each other, to hype up the two films and make both films famous, not for one of your films to monopolize the news.

What else can I do? Start to criticize.

"What is this "Nine-Tailed Fox Demon"? It even came down from the mountain to enter the world. I said it was just a child's play. Doesn't this prove what I said?

Commercial films still have to be watched in one place, with big investments, big scenes, and big stories. "House of Flying Daggers" is another epoch-making film just by hearing the name. "

Cao Yang changed the topic, and this time the person to be punished was the production director Cheng Jianye.

"I know Zhang Weiping. He used to sell lunch boxes, houses, and was a drug dealer. Now he's a movie seller. Do you expect him to understand movies?
Why did director Cao Yang make "Nine-Tailed Fox"? He had just made a movie called "Despicable Milk" in Hollywood, which won the Cannes Palme d'Or and is likely to win another Oscar.

He is very popular in Hollywood. Several movies with investments of over 100 million dollars wanted to invite Director Cao, but Director Cao refused. He felt that the domestic market was starting to improve and he wanted to contribute to domestic films.

Director Cao is very enthusiastic and wants to make "Nine-Tailed Fox" well. Director Cao gave up a bright future in Hollywood. Please believe in Director Cao's sincerity. This is definitely a groundbreaking movie..."

In this way, Cheng Jianye and Zhang Weiping would curse and quarrel with each other every now and then, and "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" and "House of Flying Daggers" became known to more and more people.

Amid the chaos outside, Cao Yang invited Li Xiaoran and Gao Yuanyuan separately and asked them to try out both roles.

After weighing the pros and cons, he still thought that Gao Yuanyuan was more suitable to play Xiao Wei.

Gao Yuanyuan has a first love face. She can play the role of being innocent and pure, or being pitiful, and can make men unconsciously take good care of her. This fits Xiao Wei's character.

Otherwise, Wang Sheng would not have developed such a strong desire to protect her that he even shouted out the three words "I love you" in the end.

Although Li Xiaoran also performed infatuation, pity and free and easy in "A Night Alone on the Beach", her face can be used to play a charming vixen or a heroic and tough role, but it does not quite fit the character of Xiao Wei.

The three roles that Cao Yang reserved for the Beijing Film Academy also caused a sensation during the auditions. After all, this was Cao Yang's first commercial film, and it was also a blockbuster with an investment of over 100 million yuan, so many senior students who were studying outside the school rushed over.

After three days of auditions, Gao Xiang, who had a lot of roles in the movie, chose Yu Bo, a senior from the class of 99.

The role of the maid in the mansion was chosen to be Wang Luodan, who had worked with him before in "Secret Sunshine". Everyone knew that Cao Yang was nostalgic, so Liu Shan, Li Mingyi and Ning Hao could not help but take this into consideration.

As for the female guest who has very few roles, according to Cao Yang, he only needs to find an intern or assistant to make a cameo appearance.

But this only leaves two places for the school. Although the lizard demon still used Zhou Yiwei, this guy is a college student and has already graduated, so he is naturally not considered a student.

In the end, the female guests were included to make up the three quota.

As the female guest, they chose Jiang Yiyan.

According to what Ning Hao said privately, Jiang Yiyan's appearance is not too outstanding in the entertainment industry, but her face exudes an artistic atmosphere, gentle as water, yet pure and coquettish.

I am very lustful.

(End of this chapter)