Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 365 The Film Crew and the Dance Troupe

Said before.

Feeling threatened by Zhou Tao, Ni Ping asked Chen Dadao, who was full of vigor and ambition, to step forward in order to confront Zhang Yan behind Zhou Tao.

The production team of "Zhengda Variety Show" was initially on high alert and intended to have Zhang Yan perform some kind of surgery on the show. However, they were persuaded by Zhang Yan to reconsider and decided to wait and see how the reform of "Variety Show" went before making any decisions.

As a result of this waiting, a huge lump of something arrived.

Not only was the content of the program planned by Director Chen pretentious and ridiculous, but it also affected Ni Ping, making her unable to speak human language.

After this episode aired, it received a flood of negative reviews, which scared the production team so much that they changed it back to the original version overnight. The director and chief planner also made a self-criticism report both internally and externally.

Actually, the director and chief planner had felt something was amiss beforehand, but Director Chen's imposing presence was indeed quite intimidating, and the achievements he made last year left everyone speechless.

In addition, following Tianjin TV, Shandong TV also launched a variety show that became a nationwide hit, so the two of them impulsively used Director Chen's plan—yes, Zhang's influence was also involved.

Now that things have turned out this way, the most embarrassed person is actually Ni Ping, since she was the one who strongly recommended her boyfriend for help, but it turned out to be such a huge hindrance.

Not only did she write a self-criticism, but she also voluntarily offered to withdraw from the program. Now CCTV is considering whether to replace her.

According to Zhou Tao's inside information, if Ni Ping leaves "Variety Show", she will most likely be replaced by the daughter of a former director.

However, they probably won't change the cast for now, at least until the ratings stabilize again, or even when they completely collapse.

This news was not important to Zhang Yan; it only made him laugh. The biggest benefit was that Zhou Tao stopped urging for reforms and focused on making minor adjustments with the crew.

He rested for one night and went to inspect the film and television city the next day.

The film and television base is not yet open to the public, but the crew of "A Messy Life" has already moved in.

"A Messy Life" is a modern drama, with most of the outdoor scenes filmed in the streets and alleys, while the indoor scenes and some scenes with special backgrounds were mainly filmed at the film and television base.

The film and television base attached great importance to this, mainly because this was the first film crew to shoot at the base. They wanted "A Messy Life" to try out all the new facilities and see what could be modified.

It's no wonder the people at the film and television base are so motivated; they're just getting a fixed salary with maybe a few holiday gifts at most.

However, because Zhang Yan converted the film and television base into a tourism project ahead of schedule, the base management committee's pockets have become bulging after two months of operation. Taking advantage of the fact that there was no intention of "requisitioning" the base from above, a considerable portion of the money was distributed as bonuses to the employees.

This immediately boosted everyone's morale, making them feel as if they were at home in the base.

When Zhang Yan arrived at the filming location, he found that Zhang Guoli's aura was completely different. When they first started filming "The New Dragon and Phoenix", Zhang Guoli would often say, "Do you think this is okay?"
Now, all they say is "Get it done right away!"
When I saw Zhang Yan, I felt a little embarrassed.

Zhang Yan gave him a thumbs up and said, "Brother Guoli, you're starting to look like a great director."

"No, I'm still far from that level."

Zhang Guoli was quick to be modest, but after finishing his business, he asked about the progress of "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo". Upon hearing that the assistant director and screenwriter were in the preparation stage, he said with some difficulty, "I heard that the lead actor has limited time and has to finish filming this year - but what about the post-production of 'A Messy Life'?"

"This is not urgent."

Zhang Yan thought for a moment and said, "What I mean is to give it to Chengjie to try first. If Chengjie can't handle this responsibility, then we can do the post-production together after you finish filming 'Prime Minister Liu Luoguo' - I guess by then our Dream Realization Post-Production Center should be officially in operation."

Zhang Guoli clearly favored the latter, but since Zhang Yan said that assistant director Cheng Jie should give it a try, he couldn't very well stop him—in the end, whether it worked out or not was up to him, the director.

Then he tentatively asked, "I can't handle everything by myself. When can you find someone new to share the burden with me?"

"It's unlikely in the short term." Zhang Yan laughed. "Even if there are suitable candidates, they would prefer to work on movies rather than TV series. You'll still have to take the lead in the TV series sector."

Zhang Yan was referring to Feng Xiaogang, but Zhang Guoli understood it to mean Guan Hu. However, due to a series of unexpected events, Zhang Guoli was relieved.

He used to worry most about not getting any work, but now he's afraid of having too much work to handle, and Zhang Yan has poached a famous director to disrupt the market.

After talking with Zhang Guoli, Zhang Yan then spoke with Chen Daoming. Chen Daoming didn't have any other requests, but he asked Zhang Yan to help him find a suitable assistant.

He has high standards for himself and his assistants. He had previously hired two people who were not suitable, so he turned to the company for help.

Historically, it was Wang Jinghua who served as his assistant during this period. However, now that Wang Jinghua holds a high position of power in Yuanmeng, she certainly cannot serve as his assistant again.

Zhang Yan couldn't think of a suitable person for the time being, so he went back to ask Chen Hong, who was in charge of this area. Chen Hong was also worried.

She thought the most suitable person was actually Chang Jihong, but Chang Jihong was about to be promoted and would become the director of the actor management department.

At this point, it would be inappropriate to ask her to be Chen Daoming's assistant.

"Chang Jihong is definitely not suitable—but what about others? Doesn't our company have any good candidates?"

"There are a few who are alright, but to say they meet Chen Daoming's criteria... hey~ right, how about we let Li Xue give it a try?"

"Li Xue? Is she suitable?"

“I think it should work. This girl is smart, hardworking, and has a good eye for things—I’ll have Chang Jihong teach her a lot.”

Originally, Li Xue should have been Wang Jinghua's prized student, but now she has been transferred to Chang Jihong. This can be considered as Zhang Yan's butterfly effect.

"And what about her studies..."

"I'll talk to her about it later, and she should agree. After all, no matter how well she does in her major, it can't compare to the future of realizing our dreams."

That's true. If Li Xue can truly serve Chen Daoming well, then it proves that she is indeed cut out for this. I dare not say that she can reach the level of Wang Jinghua in the future, but she still has a chance to catch up with Chang Jihong.

After discussing the assistant's issues, Chen Hong reported the latest developments of the dance troupe to Zhang Yan.

Wang Luyao returned six days ago and, in addition to the original seven people, recruited two more graduates from the Beijing Dance Academy, bringing the total to nine.

Although it was a pity that they couldn't get into the doubles program, it still exceeded Zhang Yan and Chen Hong's expectations—mainly because of the exemplary role models set by their senior classmates, Wang Yan and Li Xiaoran.

Upon returning to Tianjin, Wang Luyao didn't rest for a moment. She immediately went to two art schools in Tianjin to conduct campus recruitment. This time, she was naturally not turned away, and the students' enthusiasm far exceeded that of the Beijing Dance Academy.

Firstly, the reputation of "realizing one's dream" is well-known in Tianjin and is in no way inferior to joining a state-run song and dance troupe; secondly, the level of these two art colleges is incomparable to that of the Beijing Dance Academy.

Wang Luyao clearly didn't value these people as much as she did at the Beijing Dance Academy; she selected more than twenty outstanding dancers in just three days.

"A total of 36 people have been selected. Wang Luyao plans to have them participate in the housewarming ceremony on the 6th, to broaden their horizons, perform a dance, and then officially sign contracts."

"36? Isn't it 30?"

"If there are any unsuitable ones later, they can be eliminated. Besides, some of them are here to become actors, so they definitely won't stay in the dance troupe for long."

(End of this chapter)