2001 Media Godfather

Chapter 23 Let's Go Out and Talk
When the two scripts are placed side by side, the difference in quality becomes immediately apparent.

Nothing has a stronger impact than a box of cash scattered on the ground.

Faced with this magical scene, everyone in the group reacted in different ways.

Li Chunhua and Jia Chenglin were only briefly taken aback, then their faces turned ashen.

Meanwhile, the grassroots staff stared blankly at the piles of banknotes on the ground.

I had only one thought in my mind: Director Lu got the money!

Xu Shu, however, was completely absorbed in the story of Geng Geng and Yu Huai, as if she were in another world.

It was a pure world, a world belonging to youth.

There is only simple joy, a gentle fondness, and clumsy bickering.

This made Xu Shu sigh softly, her gaze rising from the edge of the script to look at Chu An in the room.

At this moment, the meddlesome peer who taught her to revise the lyrics is the real male protagonist.

She looked away, gazing at the name on the script, and murmured softly, "This is what youth should really be like."

Silently approaching Zhang Yuan and Li Chunhua, his fingertips gripping the script were pale, and after a long while, he finally uttered a few words, "I want to act."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuan instinctively glared at her, but then realized the situation was inappropriate and gently advised, "Whether you can act or not depends on the company's arrangements. You're still young and don't understand these things."

Xu Shu lowered her eyes, staring at her toes, maintaining her usual aloof demeanor. However, the force with which her fingertips gripped the script, leaving marks, clearly indicated that her heart was not so calm.

Finally, after several attempts to speak, he managed to say, "The schedule is available."

This time it was Li Chunhua who spoke, her tone clearly impatient, "This isn't about scheduling! Alright, you go back to the guesthouse first, we'll handle things here."

“Okay.” Xu Shu agreed habitually, glanced at Chu An and Director Lu, and then left the conference room.

……

From Chu An's perspective, Xu Shu merely glanced at the script coldly for a while, then walked over to her assistant, gave her a few instructions, and left without looking back.

This arrogant celebrity really doesn't give anyone any face!
Chu An sighed, but also felt a bitter taste in his mouth. If Xu Shu didn't cooperate, there would be even more trouble later.

However, now is not the time to think about these things. Seeing that everyone was looking up at them, Chu smiled slightly, her face seemingly saying: "Stay calm! There's a show to be filmed!"

He began, "These past few days, everyone has been living in fear. To express his apologies, Director Lu will give each of you a large red envelope to calm your nerves."

"I'm not afraid to tell everyone, Director Lu has over 2000 million in his account!" Chu An said with a worried expression, a stark contrast to his usual demeanor. "I don't know how to spend it, I've been so worried I haven't been able to sleep at night!"

(Director Lu's inner monologue: Having money but not knowing how to spend it? Not a chance! Two Panavision Millennium apartments)

Chu An continued to boast: "As for the new play, everyone might as well go back and study the script carefully. Based on your professional experience, what do you think of the quality and whether it has the potential to become a hit?"

"If you think so, then let's work together to create another benchmark for this genre!"

"Great!!" someone shouted from the creation system, acting as the straight man, and the atmosphere became lively.

They're just there to do the work; the power struggles and backstabbing above them are none of their business.

You get paid to do work, it's that simple.

Now that the production team has money, a good script, and the director is so confident, what else is there to say?

Just focus on making good filming!
If they can truly produce a top-tier production in its genre, it won't just be Lu Mingze who becomes famous; the entire creative team involved will also benefit.

Over there, Li Chunhua's face turned pale and then purple.

He never expected this kid to refuse to film "My High School Days" right away; it turns out he was waiting for this!
What was even more unexpected was that a few words and a box of cash were enough for him to bring together the barely surviving film crew.

Just as he was racking his brains for a way to sabotage the system, Chu An gave him no chance. After calming down the creation system, he immediately changed his target.

As for the production system...

Everyone paused for a moment. Chu An smiled and said, "Although I've fallen out with Tiandu." Chu An didn't shy away from the truth, laying it all out in the open. Now, only those who felt awkward knew it.

"But!" he changed the subject, "after all, we've worked together, and Director Lu still remembers everyone's good deeds!"

“Especially Producer Li!” Chu An began sarcastically again, “He’s really put his heart and soul into our crew.”

"Director Lu said that as long as we want to stay, the previous incidents will be considered as if they never happened. Moreover, now that the production team has money, everyone who stays will receive double pay!"

"So, Producer Li, why don't you stay?"

Li Chunhua's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. This kid was really damn nasty. He knew perfectly well that he couldn't stay in the team, yet he still said something like that. How was he supposed to respond?

Keep him? They'd have to kill him that day.

Not keeping him would make him seem petty.

For a moment, he couldn't utter a single word, and could only silently curse Chu An countless times with a gloomy face.

Chu An chuckled to himself, thinking: You little punk, trying to play those two-faced tricks on me? I'll fucking kill you with those two-faced tricks.

His expression of smugness infuriated Li Chunhua, making her want to explode on the spot and wish that no one would survive.

But that's not all.

This kid clearly doesn't know when to stop. Li Chunhua didn't say anything, so he turned his attention to someone else, "Brother Ji!" His target was Ji Yinglai, the coordinator.

"Please state your opinion: are you willing to stay or not?"

This terrified Li Chunhua. If Ji Yinglai had coveted the double salary and agreed on the spot, he would have lost face big time.

He glared fiercely at Ji Yinglai, and if he said anything that would embarrass Li Chunhua, Li Chunhua would eat him alive.

Fortunately, Ji Yinglai was sensible enough to understand the bigger picture. She glanced at Chu An, then at Li Chunhua, glared at him, and shouted, "Chu An! Don't try to sow discord! I'll listen to Producer Li!"

Li Chunhua understood these words perfectly from beginning to end, and thought to himself: This kid is not bad, I should give him an important role in the future!

Chu An blushed deeply and pouted sheepishly.

He simply said, "That's all for tonight. Tomorrow, the crew will officially enter the pre-production stage for 'The Best of Us,' and we'll strive to start filming as soon as possible!"

The attempt to win over people in the production system ended in a disappointing failure.

Once everyone had dispersed, Chu An, abandoning his relaxed and casual demeanor in front of others, said, "Now there are two primary issues."

Director Lu, "Which two?"

Chu An, "First, the female lead!"

Chu An originally thought that Xu Shu's side shouldn't have too much of a problem. Although she was aloof and high-class, it was a good script after all. If it was postponed for a while, she should be able to agree. It was just a matter of paying more money!

But now, Xu Shu has just left the scene early, and Chu An still doesn't know what she's thinking. Besides, there's no room for maneuver between them.

"Xu Shu has two months left on her schedule, and we must ensure that filming starts within half a month. Then, we need to finish filming her scenes within a month and a half, otherwise there might be trouble."

Director Lu's intelligence immediately kicked in, after all, he was back on set.

After thinking for a moment, he said seriously, "In that case, I'll start drawing the storyboard tonight. We can get started on script readings and shooting schedules, and aim to begin filming within a week!"

Chu An was somewhat skeptical of what he was saying.

It's unlikely that Lu Mingze would be busy with desk work alone for a week.

"Let's make a plan based on a two-week period!"

Lu Mingze didn't argue, preparing to prove Chu An wrong with his actions. Chu An said, "Another problem is with the production system; we don't have a single person there right now."

Tong Meng said, "Besides acting, I can also help out. If there's anything I need to do, just let me know."

Ma Lan also said, "I can also share some of the work of production and on-site production."

Chu An shook his head, "Everything else is fine, but there are two positions that need to be resolved immediately!"

Director Lu, "Which two?"

Chu An, “Coordinator and Assistant Director for Roles”.

Upon hearing that these were the two positions, Ma Lan immediately exclaimed that she knew what she was talking about.

Tong Meng seemed to understand but not quite, "Why these two positions?"

Ma Lan immediately explained the details of the behind-the-scenes work to Tong Meng, saying, "We can temporarily fill the positions of executive producer and production manager. If all else fails, we can find someone among us with financial acumen to temporarily fill in."

Chu An added, "Director Lu is no exception; he'll spend any amount of money!"

(Lu Mingze's inner monologue: It's my money, I can't make the decisions about it, where can I go to seek justice?)
Ma Lan said with a hint of disdain, "Director Lu is really not good enough. After all, the executive producer and production manager are responsible for controlling the budget and managing the finances." She looked at Lu Mingze with a hint of disdain. "If Director Lu manages the money, then this production crew is doomed."

Continuing on, “Life production and on-site production are grassroots jobs, which we can break down and have one person take on some of the work.”

"To put it simply, you can order your own lunch boxes and purchase your own props; it's just a bit tedious and tiring."

"However, coordination and role-directing assistants are not suitable!"

The production coordinator is the life manager on set. From trivial matters to equipment rentals costing tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, from on-set personnel scheduling to off-set liaison and location scouting, everything is inseparable from the production coordinator.

Even the daily actor schedules and filming schedules are all arranged by the coordinator.

Many people may think that producers and executive producers are the ones who have the most control over a director's spending desires and budget.

Actually, no! Producers only make overall adjustments, while the person who truly saves money for the production team is the project coordinator.

Good planning can save a lot of money and ensure that every penny is spent wisely.

Therefore, the role of coordinator is irreplaceable.

Why did Chu An specifically name Ji Yinglai? Because of all the people in the entire production system, he most wanted to keep Ji Yinglai.

Another irreplaceable position is the assistant director.

This is the lowest-level position.

In the film crew, this is the job that pays the least, gets up the earliest, works like a dog the busiest, and is the least liked.

The job of a role director's assistant sounds simple, but it's also the hardest to implement.

The coordinator sends out the cast schedule for the next day, and the assistant director then communicates with the costume, makeup, and prop departments and the actors in advance according to the schedule, specifying the time for filming, makeup, and which costumes and makeup requirements for the next day.

After the communication was finalized, the next day, according to the scheduled time, we had to get up earlier than the actors by phone to remind them, a process commonly known as "jiao chen" (getting up early).

After the actors get up to put on makeup, they still need to "monitor the makeup."

It's not enough to just make sure the makeup and styling meet the script requirements.

The series is continuous, but the filming may be separate.

Today we're shooting this makeup and costume, but the previous scene was filmed a month ago. The actors looked exactly the same way they did in that scene, and that's how they look a month later.

If your hairstyle was messy a month ago, your makeup and styling can't be neat today. If your hair clip was on the left a month ago, it can't be on the right today.

The number of bloopers in a film depends on how attentive the assistant director is.

In short, this is an exhausting and thankless job.

Like the coordinator, he is an indispensable role in the production crew.

To put it bluntly, these two positions are more important than the director. Some film crews don't even need a director; the cameraman can just shoot according to the storyboard and script. But try filming without a production coordinator and an assistant director for roles—the crew would be reduced to a pulp in two days.

Chu An's brows remained furrowed as he looked at the three men. "Do you have suitable candidates for these two positions?"

He had just entered the entertainment industry, and he thought that this guy had been around for many years and must know a few useful people, right?

As it turned out, Chu An was overthinking it.

Lu Mingze shook his head so hard it flew off his feet. "Don't look at me, I'm only focused on filming!"

Ma Lan also looked bewildered, "Don't look at me, I'll just follow Director Lu."

Finally, Tong Meng's resentment exploded, "Why are you looking at me? I'm just playing the mom!!"

Chu An, "..."

Tired.

"Fortunately, we dug a pit for Li Chunhua."

The three people were confused.

What kind of pit? Where is it? I don't know about it.
Meanwhile, Li Chunhua returned to the guesthouse but didn't sleep.

How can I have time to sleep?

In fact, Chu An's sense of smell was quite keen. He pressed Director Lu several times to ask if the conflict between him and Tian Du was simply because he didn't want to film Qing Dynasty dramas anymore, but Lu Mingze couldn't give a clear answer.

In reality, there are other factors involved.

Simply put, Director Lu offended someone. Some people in the higher-ups couldn't stand this crazy director and specifically wanted to teach him a lesson.

Now things have taken a turn for the better. Lu Mingze, who was supposed to be dead, has actually made a comeback, managed to get the money to start filming, and even got such a good script.

She thought to herself: "Don't let Lu Mingze really make a comeback, or I'll be the one who suffers."

So, upon returning to the guesthouse, he ordered Jia Chenglin with a gloomy expression to gather everyone in the production system for a meeting.

"We're all key members of the company, we can't let that kid's nonsense fool us! As for double pay, Lu Mingze doesn't have that kind of influence."

"We must keep in step with the company. I will apply to the company later and make it up to everyone with my next film!"

He said a lot of polite words and then made a huge empty promise.

There was nothing Li Chunhua could do; after all, he didn't manage the money in the company and couldn't put real money on the table like Chu An did.

Everyone naturally expressed their support, agreeing to stand with Tiandu and declaring that they would never betray the company.

After the meeting ended, Ji Yinglai ran into Chu An at the door of her room.

"Brother Lai, still awake?"

Ji Yinglai smiled, not surprised that Chu An was there. He took out a cigarette and offered it to Chu An. "Shall we go outside and chat?"

Chu An held the cigarette in his hand without lighting it and said with a smile, "Let's go outside and chat!"

……

.

It's not easy for a washed-up author to start a new book. If you like it, please show your support! Vote for it with your monthly tickets, and thank you all for trying to keep reading.



(End of this chapter)