Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 355 Trip to Changbai Mountain

News comes quickly and goes quickly.

The rumor that Liu Yifei changed her profile picture to confirm her relationship only lasted for three days before being overshadowed by news of Zhang Ziyi's relationship troubles.

Zhang Ziyi and Sa Beining announced their marriage at the beginning of the year. However, with the release of "The Grandmaster," Zhang Ziyi experienced a resurgence in popularity, leading to questions about the state of their relationship.

From the beginning of the year until now, the two have never mentioned marriage. Now, it is widely speculated that the two have broken up, and Zhang Ziyi's new boyfriend is said to be Wang Feng.

Another major event is that Fan Bingbing is acting in a TV series again after 4 years. The producer of "The Empress of China" publicly called out that he wanted to invite Fan Bingbing to star in the series.

However, Fan Bingbing has not yet agreed, which may be for marketing purposes.

However, the marketing was highly effective, and the show quickly gained attention.

In contrast, Liu Yifei simply changed her profile picture; as for whether she's in a relationship or not, nobody seems to care anymore.

This is also what Liu Yifei wanted. Just as netizens were speculating whether Zhang Ziyi was a homewrecker in Wang Feng's relationship and how much Fan Bingbing would receive for acting in the TV series, Liu Yifei took off for New York.

Filming for "Lucy" is about to begin.

The day after Liu Yifei left the country, the production team of "The Last War" officially announced the main cast, with Nicolas Cage paired with Chinese actress Yang Mi.

This is another headline.

During the press conference interview, Yang Mi expressed her liking and admiration for Nicolas Cage, saying that she would do her best to make this movie well.

There's been a lot of news in the industry lately, with some films getting approved, some starting filming, and some wrapping up.

Guangxian announced its support for Deng Chao's transition to directing, with his debut film "The Breakup Guru" scheduled to begin filming in Beijing next month.

The film "Brotherhood of Blades" from the Towering Tree Project has wrapped up filming on the Ulan Butong Grassland.

Li Qiutang, the project manager and art director of the Towering Tree Project, attended the wrap-up press conference to support new director Lu Yang.

Li Qiutang didn't come to the grasslands on purpose; he's not that free. He's been on the grasslands these past few days preparing for "Mojin: The Lost Legend."

At the wrap-up press conference, Li Qiutang used "Brotherhood of Blades" as an example to refute those who said they didn't like using Hong Kong and Taiwan actors, citing Zhang Zhen and Jin Shijie as proof.

"I find it ridiculous to say that we are prejudiced. We never consider such things when selecting actors."

It is a consensus that Li Qiutang rarely, or almost never, uses Hong Kong and Taiwan actors.

In response, Li Qiutang explained: "It's not that I don't want to use them. I've auditioned for many Hong Kong and Taiwan actors for my own dramas, but their Mandarin is really difficult to pass the test. I don't think my request is too much to ask that they speak Mandarin lines well."

Li Qiutang continued to promote her "Towering Tree" project at the event: "We are constantly in contact with new directors, and we have many ways to collaborate. Everyone is welcome to participate."

When it comes to "Brotherhood of Blades" and Lu Yang, Li Qiutang is full of praise, saying that Lu Yang put in a lot of effort to film "Brotherhood of Blades", and that her help was just icing on the cake.

"Martial arts stories can still be made; good stories never go out of style."

Drawing on his own filmmaking experience, Li Qiutang said of the Towering Tree Project: "The focus is on nurturing talent, not on commercial profit. We allow new directors to make mistakes."

Although the first film in the Sky Tree Project, "Lost in Thailand," brought Autumn Pictures a huge profit, the Sky Tree Project's core principle of supporting newcomers remains unchanged.

Today's wrap party featured Lu Yang and his "Brotherhood of Blades" crew. Lu Yang briefly reviewed the two-month filming process, emphasizing that the work of a new director is indeed arduous.

But on stage he also remarked with emotion: "Fortunately, we finally finished it."

The reporter was curious as to why Lu Yang chose Shu Chang to play the female lead, Zhou Miaotong.

Shu Chang has had fewer projects in the past two years, and she's not as popular anymore. Moreover, she had previously been active in television dramas, and landing a leading role right away seemed like a high starting point to reporters. "The Fault in Our Stars," as an art film, doesn't have much attention and hasn't been released yet, so it's understandable that reporters considered Shu Chang a relatively unknown actress in television dramas.

Lu Yang's answer was very down-to-earth: "Shu Chang is a very cost-effective actress, and she fits our production team's requirements very well."

That makes sense. Shu Chang only received less than 50 yuan for playing Zhou Miaotong. She didn't become as popular as Liu Shishi, who auditioned at the same time, but her acting skills were much better than Liu Shishi's.

The price wasn't high, and the acting was good. Although he wasn't famous, he was still a very good choice, so we naturally used him.

Strictly speaking, Shu Chang is a newcomer to film, but reporters don't treat her as one. Have you ever seen a newcomer who has been acting for more than ten years?
Shu Chang also said that she hopes her film career will go smoothly, but she will not give up on television dramas, and revealed that she will join a television drama production team this year.

Shu Chang's key now is to regain popularity, not to transform into a movie star.

After the "Brotherhood of Blades" crew disbanded, Li Qiutang remained on the grassland and went directly to Changbai Mountain a week later.

Wanda Cinemas will be holding its annual film recommendation conference and seminar here, which will be attended by 40 cinema chains and more than 20 film companies from across the country.

To my shame, as a native of Northeast China, Li Qiutang has never been to Changbai Mountain, and he has only visited the Fengtian Imperial Palace a few times.

“If it weren’t for your meeting, I really wouldn’t have thought of coming to Changbai Mountain,” Li Qiutang said to Ye Ning. “Your resort is really well-run.”

The meeting venue was obviously located in Wan Da's own Changbai Mountain resort area.

It just opened last year and it's really doing very well.

Ye Ning said, "If you like it, stay a few more days. There's plenty of time."

"Finish your work first, then we can talk about having fun."

Wan Da is very influential in the industry, and his film recommendation events have received positive responses from various cinemas and distributors.

Li Qiutang saw Zhang Ziyi, who had recently experienced a "relationship change," at the resort. Zhang Ziyi was there to promote her upcoming film, "Very Lucky."

I also saw Mark Chao and Yang Ying, who came with Huayi Brothers to promote "Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon".

Yang Ying was kicked out of the film crew by Li Qiutang, but when she saw Li Qiutang at the dinner party on the first day, she acted as if nothing had happened, respectfully saying "Hello, Director" with her glass held very low and a bright smile.

Li Qiutang didn't talk much with Yang Ying, but she spoke a few more words with Zhao Youting. Chen Guofu strongly recommended him to Li Qiutang, saying that he was the most promising young actor in Taiwan.

You said the same thing when you recommended Eddie Peng last time!

Mark Chao is actually a month younger than Li Qiutang. Li Qiutang always thought he was born in the late 70s or early 80s, but it turns out he is so young.

Chen Guofu said, "Don't you think he's perfect for the role of Hu Bayi? His action scenes in 'Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon' are excellent."

Although it is known that the possibility of Li Qiutang using a Taiwanese actor to play Hu Bayi is very low, there is no harm in mentioning it and giving it a try.

Li Qiutang only said that casting hasn't started yet: "You're welcome to audition when the time comes."

But Zhao Youting was actually a little unhappy when he heard this. He is currently very popular, with movies like "Monga", "Black & White Episode 1: The Dawn of Justice", "Caught in the Web", "So Young", and the upcoming "Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon" all being top-notch resources in the industry.

Since Chen Kaige's "Caught in the Web", he has met with countless producers in the past year, but he has never auditioned. This director, who is only a month older than him, actually asked him to audition.

You are very capable, that's true, but I'm also very popular right now. Which big name would stand there and let others criticize them?

But Mark Chao also knew that the opportunity to star in "Mojin: The Lost Legend" was extremely rare. Although auditioning was difficult to accept, it wasn't impossible. He agreed to meet with Mark Chao to discuss the role.

(End of this chapter)