Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 439 Making empty promises and rewriting the script

Leading the two into the next private room, Zhang Yan didn't beat around the bush. After sitting down, he asked directly, "I heard you don't quite agree with the suggestions you made for our company?"

"This……"

Sha Rurong nervously wiped her sweaty hands on her pants before putting on a sincere expression and saying, "President Zhang, what I want is a TV series that is closer to reality and has a documentary style. If the lead actor's performance is too exaggerated, it will definitely ruin the overall style."

Zhang Yan was not unaware of this. If it was for the sake of making a good show, he would agree with Sha Rurong's opinion, but he was more concerned about the ratings now.

I understand your concerns.

Zhang Yan frankly said: "But you have to know that from the 80s to now, what China has never lacked is documentary-style TV dramas. What the audience wants to see now is novelty, excitement, and emotional engagement. If you want to achieve success, you have to add these ingredients."

Of course, these elements were present in the script, but they were somewhat subtle. What I needed was to amplify certain traits of the protagonist, making him more memorable and easier to share.

At this point, he raised his hand to signal Sha Rurong not to speak yet, and then added: "Director Sha, as you know, all the provincial TV stations are vying to go satellite TV. It is expected that by around 96, most provinces will have satellite TV stations broadcasting nationwide."

In order to compete for ratings and advertising revenue, TV stations will definitely increase their investment in TV dramas significantly, which will be both an opportunity and a challenge for directors like you.

You now face two paths: one is to sacrifice some viewership and continue to uphold your creative vision; the other is to seize every opportunity to make a name for yourself before the fierce competition among numerous dramas begins, and ride the wave of the times ahead of time!

These words stirred up Sha Rurong's expression, which kept changing.

Zhang Jiayi, who was standing next to him, was also very excited and couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Zhang, shouldn't we actors also seize this opportunity and make a name for ourselves as soon as possible?"

"of course."

As Zhang Yan spoke, he stared at him intently for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "If you were to act in this play, the most important thing to highlight would be the ruthlessness hidden in his bones—what kind of high-ranking official's son is he, who is both smart and kind, just like the perfect, idealistic characters in model operas?"

The original script had a male protagonist who was hired by two bosses as a laborer. He suffered hardship and toil along the way without gaining any benefits, and was even ridiculed and bullied by the bosses. However, he turned out to be the son of a high-ranking official who had run away from home to experience life.

This is absolutely outrageous!

Perhaps the screenwriter thought this would highlight the protagonist's uniqueness, but in Zhang Yan's view, it was an insult to the audience's intelligence.

"ruthless?"

Zhang Jiayi asked curiously, "Mr. Zhang, could you elaborate?"

Many TV dramas and films nowadays, although they have abandoned the stereotypical perfect protagonist, focus more on portraying the protagonist's pain and struggle.

Such ruthless protagonists are relatively rare in mainland Chinese TV dramas.

"Not urgent."

Zhang Yan glanced at Sha Rurong, who was still struggling with her decision, and laughed, "If Director Sha chooses not to cooperate, then I've wasted my breath—actually, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have said a single extra word."

Zhang Jiayi also realized what was happening, so he smiled sheepishly and shut his mouth, waiting anxiously for Sha Rurong to make a decision.

At this moment, the waiter came in with the menu, and Zhang Yan didn't stand on ceremony with the two of them, directly ordering eight dishes and a soup.

Seeing this, Zhang Jiayi quickly stopped the waiter and said, "Mr. Zhang, you're too kind. The three of us can't possibly eat this much."

Zhang Yan waved his hand to signal the waiter to hurry up and serve the food. After the waiter left, he explained to him, "This restaurant is not far from the cinema. It's always packed during mealtimes. The seven of us got two of the best private rooms. It's only right that we order more dishes because they were willing to give us face."

Zhang Jiayi suddenly realized, but he definitely wouldn't learn it if asked—he didn't have much money in his pocket, how could he dare to be so extravagant?
Sha Rurong had finally come to a conclusion. Although he wanted to stick to his creative vision, Zhang Yan's promises were just too tempting.

As a young director with only co-directing experience, his previous resume was not extensive, and he had no connections whatsoever. If he didn't seize this opportunity to take a chance, it would be even more difficult for him to make a name for himself in the future.

Finally, Sha Rurong picked up the teacup in front of her and drank it all in one gulp. As if to signal a signal to smash the cup, she slammed it back onto the table and said in a deep voice, "President Zhang, whatever you say you want to change, as long as it's not too outrageous, I'll do it!" "So, we've made a verbal agreement?"

"It's settled!"

"Okay, that makes things easier."

As Zhang Yan spoke, he pointed to Zhang Jiayi across from him: "First of all, the character of Jiayi needs to be changed. Don't make him some kind of high-ranking official's son who runs away from home to experience life. Just set him up as a young man who wants to climb the social ladder, who secretly saved 10,000 yuan and plans to make a fortune through Lü Lin's connections."

After being slighted and insulted by his employers, Lü Lin and Lao Zhao, he encountered a trap set by local thugs. Instead of honestly rescuing the people, he first asked the female protagonist if she had any way to purchase jellyfish. He found that the female protagonist was just as clueless as he was, so he gave up the idea of ​​abandoning Lü Lin and Lao Zhao and running away alone.

The scene where the taxi driver is forced to stop by a thug on a motorcycle while escaping should also be changed. Instead, there should only be one motorcycle chasing after them, and there's only one thug on it. Is that reasonable?

The number of thugs was changed to three, carrying watermelon knives and machetes..."

It's supposed to be documentary style, but Zhang Yan thinks this part is pure nonsense. What kind of local thugs and bullies, when their scheme fails and they want to resort to violence, just send one of their henchmen on a motorcycle to chase after them, without even carrying weapons?

Of course, the most ridiculous thing is the protagonist's background as the son of a high-ranking official.

Upon hearing Zhang Yan's statement, Sha Rurong couldn't help but interrupt, saying, "Mr. Zhang, if you change it like this, the scene where the male lead rushes out of the car with a wrench, chases away the thugs, and then throws away the motorcycle keys will seem unreasonable—but without this scene, how can we highlight his bravery?"

"It's easy!"

Zhang Yan said without hesitation, "Just don't let the protagonist get out of the car—when the driver subconsciously tries to step on the brake, have him pounce on the driver's thigh and make the car crash into the motorcycle and rush over. It would be best to add some gory special effects."

"This……"

Sha Rurong seemed to be deep in thought.

Zhang Yan continued, "That's the kind of contrast we're looking for. In order to hitch a ride and make money, he pretends to be timid and submissive in front of Lü Lin and Lao Zhao, but he has to be ruthless when it matters."

Otherwise, like in the current script, someone so talented, courageous, and with a powerful family background is portrayed as a submissive and overly kind person in front of Lü Lin and Lao Zhao. Do you think that aligns with human nature?

"This one……"

Sha Rurong frowned and hesitated for a long time before nodding and saying, "If it's a change of this magnitude, I think I can still accept it."

As she spoke, she glanced at Zhang Jiayi beside her, then hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't.

He believed Zhang Jiayi could handle the original, perfect protagonist role, but now that he needs to portray a more complex human character, he was a little unsure.

Seeing this, Zhang Yan chimed in, "Jiayi's acting skills are still quite good."

If it weren't for Zhang Jiayi, he wouldn't have gone to so much trouble—after all, in his eyes, "Walking with a Millionaire" was only somewhat interesting, far from being something he was determined to win.

Zhang Jiayi then realized what was happening and quickly patted his chest, saying, "Please rest assured, Director Sha, I will definitely perform well and will not let you and President Zhang down!"

Zhang Jiayi was originally chosen by Sha Rurong, but now he has become Zhang Yan's chosen one.

Seeing this, Sha Rurong could only offer him a few words of encouragement before continuing to discuss with Zhang Yan what parts of the script needed to be changed.

In fact, Zhang Yan didn't change the main plot. He just dyed the male protagonist's pure white color to a darker gray, and then set him up to be attracted to the female protagonist who is full of a sense of justice, but was rejected by her at one point.

Instead of the original script where the two innocent girls are attracted to each other and then compete to be the saints to clean up the messes of the two villains.

(End of this chapter)