Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 326 What to say when sitting with your girlfriend

"In order to earn money to treat his son who suffers from asthma, the male protagonist Wu Hai, under the instigation of his good friend Lao Zhong, conspired to marry the internet celebrity Yue Miaomiao as his wife, tricked her into signing an insurance policy with himself as the beneficiary, and then fabricated an accidental death to obtain a huge compensation. Wu Hai pretended to be a rich man, and through persistent means, he successfully pursued Yue Miaomiao and registered for marriage. The plan of 'killing his wife to defraud insurance' began from then on..."

Meng Bai was flipping through the script in his hand, which was the "The Beneficiary" that Ning Hao mentioned, a crime film with a realistic style.

After he got the script, he looked up some information and found that it was actually adapted from a real case. The story prototype is basically the same as the movie plot, and the design is very ingenious.

The prototype of the male protagonist married the female victim, and his friend pretended to be a rich man to seduce the female victim, and then conspired to meet her at the riverside and drown her. In this way, the male protagonist had no time to commit the crime, and his friend had no motive to commit the crime, and they testified against each other to clear their name.

If it weren't for the strong request of the victim's parents, the police would have conducted a detailed re-investigation and almost allowed the two murderers to succeed.

Compared to the original story, the script of "The Beneficiary" has been greatly changed in the second half.

For example, the male protagonist was moved by the female protagonist's behavior and attitude after marriage, and at the last moment, he decided to terminate the plan. The female protagonist also escaped death because she concealed her ability to swim during the live broadcast.

When Meng Bai saw the ending of the story, he couldn't help but laugh.

It has to be said that after No Man's Land was banned for two years, Ning Hao has clearly figured out a lot of things. He no longer plays those edge balls, but honestly focuses on commercialization in the "safe zone".

After sighing for a while, Meng Bai turned his attention back to the script.

From the perspective of the movie alone, it can be regarded as a very neat script. The main plot of the crime theme, interspersed with some social topics, are all classic routines of crime films.

Although some of the plot twists are a bit abrupt, they are acceptable. If the full score is 10, I would give it about 7 points.

For a newcomer, this is already a very good evaluation.

However, movies are different from TV dramas. The quality of the script is only the basis. The key lies in how the director presents it.

Shen Ao is a new director with no previous experience in feature films, so it is impossible to judge from his past works, but Meng Bai believes in Ning Hao's vision.

The directors chosen by him all have some skills under their belts.

After closing the script, Meng Bai already had an idea in his mind: this movie was worth investing in.

It was only 10 million. If I made money, it would be the best. If I lost money, it didn't matter. The key was that I could use this opportunity to establish a relationship with Ning Hao and his group.

In the past, the domestic film industry was very focused on regional circles, such as the Beijing circle, Hong Kong circle, and Northwest circle. All the resources were controlled by a few big directors.

However, with the development of the film and television market and the entry of emerging Internet capital, these old circles have gradually declined. Today's film industry is in the process of mixing and connecting new and old capital, and there is no new fixed division.

However, many film practitioners know that the future circle will no longer revolve around a few people. More often, it will be centered around the production team, with several investors participating together and each forming an independent group.

Arclight Films' main focus is on online dramas. Although it is now slowly beginning to plan for movies, it will not ultimately put all its focus here.

As a result, the output will naturally be very low, and it will be difficult to bring out the advantages of scale.

However, the previous experiences with "Wolf Warrior 2" and "Detective Chinatown" gave Meng Bai inspiration.

The reason why we mainly produce online dramas is that ArcLight itself is the leading team in the entire industry and its strength far exceeds that of other companies.

But movies are different. Instead of just working on our own projects, we might as well collaborate with other teams.

Ruyi and Chen Sicheng count as one, Guo Fan and Wu Jing count as one. Now, if Ning Hao can be added, then Arclight can also occupy a place in the circle. Therefore, his real benefit from investing 10 million in "The Beneficiary" is not in the box office of the movie, but in the investment itself.

As for Ning Hao, I believe he will not refuse.

After all, supporting new directors has too much uncertainty and does not meet the basic needs of capital appreciation, so many people just talk about it but take few actual actions.

Therefore, having a partner like Arclight Films is also a good choice.

Having made up his mind, Meng Bai did not rush to reply to Ning Hao, but sent the script back to the company's project team.

By the way, let them come up with an analysis report.

Although he has always had good luck and vision, it would not be conducive to the company's development if he always made the final decision.

Since Arclight has a project team, it should not be idle. Analyze the pros and cons of project investment, just as a preparation for the future expansion of the scale, which he cannot consider one by one personally.

After sending the message, Meng Bai put away his phone, got up and went to the shooting site.

It was the break between scenes, the crew was tidying up the venue and the set, while the staff were adjusting the lighting and camera positions. Qin Hao stayed in the director's group, discussing something with Wu Bai while looking at the screen.

The whole scene was busy and orderly.

After looking around, Meng Bai went to the logistics team to get a bottle of water and walked to the side of the set.

Behind a small table, Li Qin, dressed in casual clothes, was reading a thick script, looking up from time to time as if thinking about something. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail, swaying from side to side with the movement of her head.

"Den."

There was a slight sound, and Li Qin, who was immersed in thought, was startled. She looked up and saw Meng Bai looking at her with a smile.

"Teacher Li, you are so serious. I stood behind you for a long time and didn't notice you."

Meng Bai said, handing over the water in his hand: "Here, your lips are dry and you don't even know how to find water to drink."

"is it?"

Li Qin stuck out her tongue and licked her lower lip, which was indeed a little dry: "I was reading the script and didn't pay attention."

She reached out to take the bottle, said thank you, then unscrewed the cap and began to drink from it in small sips.

He had only taken two sips when he saw Meng Bai sitting down next to him, with his hand around his waist.

"You, you, what are you doing!"

Li Qin's eyes widened, and she hurriedly put down the water bottle. She looked around to see if anyone in the crew was paying attention to her, and took Meng Bai's hand away: "There are so many people watching, don't move."

"No one is watching." Meng Bai said nonchalantly, "Besides, if they see it, then so be it. I'm sitting with my girlfriend, what can I say? I'm not afraid, so why should you be afraid?"

When Li Qin heard the name "her girlfriend", she was delighted and her strength in pushing was weakened by three points. But after a pause, she said, "It's not that I'm afraid, it's mainly because there are so many people in the crew and they are gossipy. I don't know what will happen if it gets spread around."

(End of this chapter)