Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 218 Yang Lan's Revenge

After returning to Tianjin, Zhang Yan immediately fell into endless busyness, shuttling back and forth between film crews and program crews.

After obtaining the license, the production team accelerated its pace, and on August 12, "The New Dragon and Phoenix" officially started filming at the Chengde Mountain Resort.

Because the August 1st Film and Television Base has not yet been completed, the crew needs to film in Chengde, Beijing, and Tianjin.

The main filming locations at the Summer Palace are the imperial court and palace scenes.

The street scenes and indoor scenes will be filmed on the Ming and Qing style street at the Beijing Film Studio.

Some special scenes, such as the Leopard House, will be built separately at the August 1st Film and Television Base—a joint investment by the film and television base and Yuanmeng, and will be considered part of the film and television base in the future.

The process started at the end of June, and it's expected to be almost finished by October. It's definitely not suitable for actual living, but it'll be enough to set up a proper structure.

Zhang Yan originally intended to have a co-director, but after approaching Ma Huiwu, the director of "Tianjin Wei," Ma Huiwu said he would just be a backup.

If Zhang Guoli can handle it, then let him do it alone. If he can't, then it's not too late to find Lao Ma.

Since Ma Huiwu was so unconventional, Zhang Yan placed all his bets on Zhang Guoli in the early stages.

Zhang Guoli was also walking on thin ice at the beginning, but fortunately, the crew was full of veterans from the August First Film Studio who were able to help him fill in the gaps and make up for many things.

After enduring the first few days with trepidation, and seeing that Zhang Guoli was becoming more and more adept at his work, Zhang Yan did not stay in Chengde for long. He handed over the producer's duties to Chen Hong and Deng Jie, and returned to Tianjin alone.

The second season of "I Am a Singer" is still waiting for him to take charge.

Not long after returning to Tianjin, Zhang Yan received inside information from Tao Hong: "Animal Ferocity" had been renamed "Sunny Days" and filming officially began on August 23.

The day filming began happened to be Wang Shuo's birthday, and Jiang Wen even put up a banner on set that read: "May the sun always shine brightly, and may Master Shuo always be awesome."

Thank goodness I didn't vote for this movie, or I would have been disgusted!
It has to be said that Jiang Wen is a bit rebellious.

Zhang Yan thought that after Wang Shuo was criticized, Jiang Wen would choose to keep a low profile and avoid suspicion, but he did the opposite. However, this further proves that Dong Ping really failed to control the overall situation.

"It's only just been turned on."

Zhang Yan frowned and said, "You don't have many days left of summer vacation, right? What are you going to tell the school then?"

"Director Jiang and Liu Xiaoqing persuaded the school leaders, and I am now a special exception, able to stay in the crew until filming wraps up."

Movies definitely have more prestige.

Zhang Yan felt a little sad. He gave Tao Hong a few more instructions, telling her to get her payment as soon as possible, and then ignored the matter.

One day in late August.

Zhang Yan was negotiating with the production team about the scheduling issues during the preliminary rounds when Wei Liben sent over a gold-embossed invitation.

"Old Wei."

Zhang Yan asked with a smile, "What's all this about? Did your son get into Tsinghua or Peking University?"

"My little rascal is only in the second year of junior high school."

Wei Liben handed the invitation to him, saying with a hint of envy, "On September 16th, our Tianjin TV station's relay satellite will be launched. The station's leaders will all go to Jiuquan to watch the satellite launch, and you, General Manager Zhang, will be among them."

Upon hearing the news, the entire production team was filled with pride. Everyone eagerly passed around Zhang Yan's invitation, and although the text inside was simple, they just couldn't get enough of it.

"Now our Tianjin TV station is really something! Besides CCTV, we're the only ones that can broadcast via satellite, right?"

"Inner Mongolia TV seems to have been launched a satellite a couple of years ago, but their main purpose is to cover the entire Inner Mongolia region, which is different from our national coverage."

"Then let's stay in second place!"

"What do you mean second place? CCTV isn't even in the same league as us. We're the first local station to be able to broadcast nationwide via satellite!"

Sure enough, as long as you add enough modifiers, everyone can be number one.

Of course, Tianjin TV did make a name for itself this time, and it deserves a big celebration.

He pulled Wei Liben aside and asked, "After we go online, when will we officially start broadcasting signals to the outside world?"

"I estimate it will be at least mid-October. After all, it's the first time it's been broadcast on satellite, so we need to do a few rehearsals to make sure everything goes smoothly before it's officially broadcast."

"That's good."

Zhang Yan breathed a sigh of relief, because the number of applicants for the preliminary rounds far exceeded expectations, and the amount of work done in the early stages also far exceeded expectations. He estimated that it would take until early October to sort things out.

Two more promotional videos will need to be filmed then. If the TV station airs it too early, the second season of "I Am a Singer" will be too late.

After seeing Wei Liben off.

Zhang Yan clapped his hands and said, "Alright, everyone quiet down. Let's try to finalize the process in the next couple of days. I need to go to the Beijing Film Studio at the end of the month to discuss borrowing the venue."

Then, after returning from Beijing, we'll have to host a welcome-back party for the singers who have fulfilled their dreams. During this time, the production team will be entirely in your hands.” The summer tour of the Eight Immortals of Dream Fulfillment [with Wang Feng added] will begin on July 10th—the day after the college entrance examination—and is expected to end in early September.

There will be another wave in mid-October, and then we'll prepare to participate in Tianjin TV's New Year's Eve gala.

This year is the first year of being broadcast on satellite TV, and Ma Yuan wanted to make a splash, so he discussed with Zhang Yan the idea of ​​changing the New Year's Eve concert into a New Year's Eve gala and broadcasting it on TV.

Tianjin TV has unique advantages in organizing galas, at least in terms of having plenty of crosstalk routines and fewer taboos than CCTV.

As for skits...

The top-tier group is definitely aiming for the Spring Festival Gala, and Tianjin TV is not up to the task of competing with them.

Meanwhile, under Zhang Yan's urging, everyone started discussing the rules of the preliminary round again. Before they could say more than a few words, Zhang Yan's cell phone rang.

Zhang Yan apologized and ran to the hallway to answer the call. He then heard Zhou Tao say in a panic, "Zhang Yan, I'm in trouble. People from the U.S. embassy just came to the station to verify that I submitted materials to go abroad, but I didn't do that at all!"

There's a lot of gossip at the station now, everyone's saying I want to take advantage of my fame to develop my career abroad, even the program director is blaming me for keeping it from him..."

The Chinese Poetry Competition officially premiered on August 15th, and it has only aired three episodes so far, yet it has already become a nationwide sensation.

According to statistics, people around thirty years old particularly appreciate this program. Firstly, it represents the golden age of poetry in the 1980s, carrying their youthful memories; secondly, the program is perfect for watching with children, as it is both educational and entertaining.

Zhou Tao also won the title of "Little Ni Ping" with her dignified and elegant stage presence—although she herself doesn't particularly like the title, it is enough to show the success of "Chinese Poetry Competition".

But before they could even enjoy their happiness for a few days, tragedy struck.

"That's a pretty ruthless move. Who have you offended?"

Zhang Yan couldn't help but gasp. If he had been framed in other ways, the station might not have believed him so easily. But there had been several previous cases of people wanting to study in the United States—like Chen Daoming's wife.

Therefore, the leaders of Taiwan will most likely prefer to believe it to be true rather than not.

"I do not know either!"

Zhou Tao said urgently, "Since the show became a hit, there are now many people who are envious of me—not to mention anything else, there are several female hosts who came in with Kang Hui."

She paused, then added, "And... do you think it could be Yang Lan?"

"Yang Lan?"

Zhang Yan immediately thought of what happened that night, but Yang Lan should not know the specific relationship between herself and Zhou Tao. Could it be that just because she and Zhou Tao are friends, she directly took her anger out on Zhou Tao?
That's incredibly vengeful!

"Zhang Yan?"

At this moment, Zhou Tao had gleaned the answer he wanted from Zhang Yan's silence: "Have you and her already...?"

"Uh~"

Zhang Yan didn't want to reveal the truth, so he could only vaguely say, "Even if I offended her, she shouldn't take her anger out on you, right?"

really!

Zhou Tao took a deep breath and asked again, "Did she say anything to you?"

"This one……"

Zhang Yan thought for a moment and said, "She did ask me before whether you told me that she was already married."

That woman actually went straight to the point!

Zhou Tao's suspicions about Yang Lan increased considerably; she had originally thought Yang Lan would try to hide this fact.

It seems Yang Lan didn't want to be controlled by him, so he chose to take the initiative, and then...

"And then you also mentioned Chen Hong's matter?"

"Of course, why would I lie about this?" Zhang Yan said, then asked in return, "Is there some other connection between you and her? And is it related to me?"

"It does not matter!"

Zhou Tao immediately changed the subject: "What do you think I should do now?"

“Make a vow, tell the leaders in Taiwan that you will never go abroad in your life.”

"This……"

Zhou Tao hesitated for a moment.

"What, you don't actually want to go abroad, do you?"

"Who doesn't want to go abroad these days?"

(End of this chapter)