A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 46 Jia Jingwen

On July 8th, accompanied by Zhang Aijia, Zhou Linggang, one of Taiwan's four famous producers, also personally waited at the film set for Lin Jianlu to officially join the cast of a TV series called "Four Daughters".

I promised it before.

Taiwanese cinema is practically dead, with only a handful of art films produced each year. And even with this output and scale, it's only thanks to Hou Hsiao-hsien's "A City of Sadness" winning an award at Venice that Taiwanese art films were able to reach overseas audiences, which has allowed them to retain some semblance of a foundation.

However, records, TV dramas, and variety shows have always been strong points, especially records, which have maintained a large output to Hong Kong and Southeast Asia year after year, earning foreign exchange and thus producing a large number of singers.

Originally, TV dramas were just for entertainment within Taiwan, with occasional exports to Southeast Asia. However, in recent years, with the friendly relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and numerous exchanges in the arts and culture sector, Taiwanese TV dramas have begun to rapidly move towards co-productions with the mainland, and have been quite prosperous for a time. Although the political climate has cooled this year, economic and cultural exchanges have remained smooth.

Zhou Linggang has made large-scale investments in mainland China, and co-producing dramas between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait is a basic part of his business. He himself often travels between the mainland and Taiwan, so he is well aware of how popular Lin Jianlu is in the three regions.

What does it matter if it's just a TV series and a cameo role? The main thing is that both parties feel good about each other and are willing to communicate and interact more, so this is just a small gesture.

Of course, in reality, Lin Jianlu didn't really care much about getting closer to Zhou Linggang. After all, he didn't think he had any acting skills, and he made a lot of money easily by releasing records, so he didn't want to waste time filming any TV series. He took this role more because of the connections of his two agents—Zhang Aijia and Zhou Linggang had a personal relationship and had known each other for many years, while Qiu Fusheng, the Taiwanese media tycoon behind Ge Fuhong, was Zhou Linggang's biggest financial backer, and they had a close working relationship.

For the sake of this face, it's worth delaying for a few days.

It is expected to take a total of four and a half days.

The drama "Four Daughters" tells the story of Liu Binren, a single father with four daughters of different personalities. Now that the old man is 60 years old, his daughters are trying to find him a companion. However, their love lives are all in a mess. For example, the eldest daughter has a love triangle, the second daughter has a lot of problems in her career and love life, and the third and fourth daughters also have their own issues. In short, it's a tangled mess of stories.

The director's name is Huang Yigong.

Lin Jianlu was only making a guest appearance, so his role couldn't be too big. Therefore, he was arranged to fall in love with the third daughter, Xiaozhi, in the drama. It is said that the entire TV series is about 26 to 28 episodes. Lin Jianlu appeared in five of them, but his total screen time was only about 30 to 40 minutes.

It's a relatively weak storyline, and it was added at the last minute when the script was changed.

Then of course it's easy to shoot.

It was a great honor for Lin Jianlu to make a guest appearance, and the entire crew cooperated to film his scenes as early as possible.

This drama has cast several big names in the Taiwanese television industry, especially Yue Ling, who plays the eldest daughter, and Zheng Jiayu, who plays the second daughter. They are said to be popular television stars.

However, Lin Jianlu knew very little about them.

He only knew two people: Gui Yalei, who played Aunt Bai in the play and was responsible for having a romance with the old man, and Jia Jingwen, who happened to be his co-star.

This girl is truly beautiful, the epitome of delicate, refined beauty.

Especially her eyes, so moist and alluring.

Thanks to Torin's willingness to make a cameo appearance, Alyssa Chia's role as the third daughter, Hsiao-Chih, has seen a significant increase in screen time. It remains to be seen whether she will receive a raise.

However, somewhat unexpectedly, Ada Choi, a young girl, looked distressed. She rarely spoke on set and would sit alone in a corner when she wasn't filming. As soon as the crew announced the end of filming, she would leave without saying a word.

The impression Lin Jianlu got of her was... gray, wooden, dull, dejected, stiff, gloomy, and utterly devoid of any luster.

She is completely different from the Jia Jingwen that Lin Jianlu knew in her previous life.

We gradually became more familiar with each other and had a brief chat.

Lin Jianlu suddenly realized that this person could actually be considered a student of the Beijing Film Academy—the 93 class of the Performance Department of the Beijing Film Academy, and Xu Jinglei's classmate!

Her ancestral home is Tianjin, and her grandfather still lives there. In 93, her father closed the family restaurant in Taiwan, sold all the family property, and moved north to Tianjin with his family and all their savings.

This should have been a happy occasion for the whole family. Jia Jingwen continued her studies in Tianjin and later, as a Taiwanese compatriot, was admitted to the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy. However, her good fortune did not last long. Her father first suffered investment losses, almost losing everything, and then was diagnosed with lymphoma. As a result, she dropped out of school shortly after enrolling, and finally, in 94, the whole family returned to Taiwan to seek treatment for her father.

That year, she was 20 years old.

The exorbitant medical bills have depleted our savings. My father is seriously ill and bedridden, requiring a large amount of money to stay alive every day. My mother is in tears every day and has completely collapsed. My younger brother is still young and needs to go to school...

She herself said that in the past two years, she took any job she could get. Before her family moved to Tianjin, in 1990, when she was sixteen, she was discovered by a talent scout on the street and filmed commercials. After returning, she filmed a lot of commercials, co-hosted a children's program, and also filmed a lot of TV dramas. She would take any role, no matter how small, and accept any low pay.

In her words, "As long as I act, it's ultimately others who will pay me, not the other way around! Of course, I want to make money!"

This year, "Four Daughters" is her fifth drama!

Her smile is actually very bright.

But she said, "Three million! The thought of owing someone three million makes me want to die!"

To be honest, as they chatted, when Lin Jianlu first heard her mention these things, her first reaction was almost to suspect that the girl was trying to commit fraud—even if this rhetoric wasn't fraud, it still felt strangely familiar.

As a result, he found an opportunity to ask director Huang Yigong, who actually said it was true.

It is said that she is known in Taipei's entertainment circle for her diligence and hard work. Everyone sympathizes with her situation and is generally willing to give her some small roles. She is the fourth female lead in this drama, which is neither important nor minor. Originally, anyone could have chosen her, but Huang Yigong ultimately chose her.

The role isn't very big, and filming will probably be completed in less than a month before I leave the set. My salary is NT$20.

That's roughly equivalent to less than 50,000 RMB.

For her, this was already considered a big role with a high income.

Of course, harsh environments temper people, and she wasn't just pretty; she was also quite smart. After we got to know each other better, she said, "You're a big star! If there's a suitable opportunity in the future, please introduce me to some work! It would be even better if you could film a music video; I can film your music video for free! Please, please!"

Lin Jianlu chuckled, but after thinking for a moment, she nodded seriously, "Okay!"

Her words suddenly reminded Lin Jianlu of Liu Ruoying.

She's doing well lately.

Because they filmed the music video for "Fairy Tale"!

Her career had already stagnated due to the quiet failure of her last album. Just when she was starting to gain popularity, she was hit rock bottom again. She had no choice but to continue helping out at her teacher Chen Sheng's studio, remaining a nobody. However, after "Fairy Tale" aired, she quickly received several television program invitations, filmed two commercials, and appeared on the covers of several magazines. Even magazines in Hong Kong and mainland China sent her messages to Taiwan, expressing their desire to take her cover photos and interview her about her story with Lin Jianlu.

Suddenly, it felt like I had been brought back to life.

In comparison, the boost that the "Ten Years" music video brought to Leung Wing-ki was not as significant. Leung Wing-ki was born in Hong Kong, where the entertainment industry is thriving, and Ge Fu-hung particularly favored and promoted her, so her treatment was naturally unmatched by others.

If you don't believe me, look at Lin Xilei. After filming her last TV series, she could only wait for it to air before looking for another opportunity.

Because she is from Taiwan, she can't speak Cantonese.

Taiwan's entertainment industry as a whole is far inferior to Hong Kong's. If she wants to go to Hong Kong, without someone putting in a lot of effort and having a strong network to support her first step, it will be extremely difficult for her to gain momentum.

Take Wu Qianlian, for example. She's also a Taiwanese actress. How did she rise to fame?
They found the famous director Du Qifeng to be their agent!
…………

On the fifth day after joining the crew, Lin Jianlu's scenes were completed.

I don't know how the filming went, but he was definitely dedicated. He was never late or left early, and he memorized the entire script. He never got stuck because he couldn't remember his lines. He just acted according to the director's instructions. Apart from not being able to speak Mandarin with a Taiwanese accent, his acting was probably passable.

Before leaving the crew, he carefully handed out his business cards to several of the main actors he already knew, sincerely inviting them, "If you have the opportunity to film in the capital in the future, you can give me a call, and I'll treat you to a meal!"

Everyone put away their business cards and repeatedly expressed their agreement.

When it was Alyssa Chia's turn, he handed over his business card, but at the same time, he wrote down Sylvia Chang's number on the back: "If you encounter a hurdle you feel you can't overcome, call me! If no one answers my phone, call this number on the back, it's my agent Sylvia Chang's number."

Alyssa Chia took the business card, paused for a moment, and then her eyes suddenly welled up with tears.

(End of this chapter)