I am a historical film director in the entertainment industry.

"Sister Li, Director, are you going for a walk on the hill outside the village?"

"Yes! You came back from the mountain?"

Upon hearing Jiao Junyan step forward to greet her, Zeng Li asked with a smile.

"Yes, the scenery on the hilltop is nice; you can see the whole village, and the grass is soft—it's very comfortable to lie on there," Jiao Junyan said.

Jiao Junyan was right about this; whenever the crew had free time, they would go to the mountain to enjoy the scenery.

"Director, Sister Li, we're going back for dinner now. Goodbye."

Zhang Xiaofei said.

"Okay, let's go for a walk over the hill."

"Goodbye."

Watching Cheng Sheng and Zeng Li's departing figures, Zhang Xiaofei asked blankly, "Yanyan, do you think Director Cheng and Sister Li are dating?"

"How could that be! Look at the distance between them, they're definitely not boyfriend and girlfriend." Jiao Junyan said with an air of knowing everything.

“Really? But my sixth sense tells me that they’re definitely hiding something,” Zhang Xiaofei said with a suspicious look.

Jiao Junyan looked her up and down, then jokingly said, "My sixth sense tells me that you like Director Cheng."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaofei couldn't hold back any longer. She grabbed Jiao Junyan and tickled her armpits a few times, saying, "I think you're the one who likes Director Cheng!"

"Oh no, I'm ticklish."

"Being ticklish is a good thing."

"Hahaha……"

……

Because Zeng Li wasn't going back, Cheng Sheng had to return to Kyoto alone.

As soon as he got off the plane, Cheng Sheng went home first.

After resting for a night, I went to the company early the next morning to inquire about the company's situation.

The idol dramas "The Heirs" and "Reply 1988" are almost finished filming.

Xing Aina also promoted the two TV series, and domestic TV stations contacted Shengli Film and Television Company one after another, hoping to purchase the first broadcast rights of the two idol dramas.

Online video platforms, including major platforms like Youku, Tencent, and iQiyi, began contacting Shengli Film and Television Company as soon as the TV series started filming.

They all wanted to buy the online streaming rights to both dramas, and even more specifically, to have them streamed exclusively.

Exclusive online broadcasting refers to an operational model in which online platforms purchase exclusive broadcasting rights for films, TV dramas, or variety shows, enabling them to broadcast these programs within a limited time and area.

This model, which emerged in China in 2005, has led domestic television stations to purchase dramas at high prices to boost ratings and advertising revenue, creating a 'Matthew effect' that intensifies competition among satellite TV channels.

This model was quickly adopted by online platforms, who saw the benefits of exclusive broadcasting and directly bought out the broadcasting rights.

In this way, a show can only be broadcast on its own platform, and not on other platforms.

Cheng Sheng directly instructed Xing Aina to refuse.

Cheng Sheng could clearly distinguish whether selling to one company or selling to multiple companies would be more profitable.

A one-off deal is not what Cheng Sheng wants.

Moreover, now is not a good time to sell the drama. Wait until the idol drama is finished filming, organize a screening, and the drama can be sold for a higher price.

Therefore, contact is possible, but Cheng Sheng has no intention of selling the drama right now.

Filming for "The Great Tang Dynasty 2" began more than a month ago. The director is Liu Meng, and the cast is the same as "The Great Tang Dynasty 1," except for the newly added actors. Initially, Cheng Sheng was busy with his own affairs and did not attend the opening ceremony of "The Great Tang Dynasty 2."

Not long after filming began, Cheng Sheng received a call from Liu Meng complaining about all the difficulties the crew was facing.

The biggest challenge is still the actors' acting skills.

Previously, when filming "The Great Tang Dynasty 1", Liu Meng did not feel that there was a problem with the actors' acting skills.

However, as soon as filming for "The Great Tang Dynasty 2" began, the actors encountered numerous problems.

For example, Zheng Guolin won the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival, so his acting skills should be fine, especially since he played Li Shimin.

But in the very first scene, Liu Meng noticed that Zheng Guolin's acting wasn't as smooth as in "The Great Tang Dynasty 1," and instead looked a bit off.

At first, he thought Zheng Guolin hadn't integrated into the crew and wanted to train him slowly, but after two days, he found that Zheng Guolin's acting skills hadn't improved at all, which directly delayed the filming schedule.

This greatly angered Liu Meng.

They're both from the same movie, playing the same character, just with different directors. How come their acting is so different?
He suspected that Zheng Guolin had a problem with him, otherwise his acting would be so different before and after. If his acting was like this, he wouldn't be able to win the Venice Film Festival Best Actor award, let alone the domestic Best Actor award!
When Cheng Sheng heard Liu Meng complain about Zheng Guolin's poor acting skills, he immediately understood that it wasn't Zheng Guolin's fault.

It was all because of his immersive experience that Zheng Guolin's acting skills in "The Great Tang Dynasty 1" reached their peak.

Now that the immersive experience is gone, the acting skills have naturally reverted to their original state.

But he couldn't tell Liu Meng about this. Instead, he comforted Liu Meng, told him to be patient, and let Zheng Guolin get used to the film crew first.

If his acting still isn't up to par, he'll go and help him out.

It was thanks to Cheng Sheng's words that Liu Meng was able to patiently continue filming.

Besides Zheng Guolin's issues, Su Chang's portrayal of Empress Zhangsun also has significant problems.

Although her acting problems are not as serious as Zheng Guolin's, her acting is not as stable as in "The Great Tang Dynasty 1".

This also caused Liu Meng a great deal of worry.

He discovered that the problem wasn't just with Zheng Guolin and Su Chang; the other actors also had similar issues, and their acting skills were nowhere near as good as in "The Great Tang Dynasty 1".

This is like a martial arts master suddenly having their skills crippled, turning them into a cripple.

Liu Meng doubted whether he was dreaming when he was filming "The Great Tang Dynasty 1", otherwise why would the actor have changed so much, as if he were a completely different person.

Besides the actors, Liu Meng also discovered that the crew members behind the scenes were not as useful as those in "The Great Tang Dynasty 1".

They're all the same set of behind-the-scenes staff, so why are there such big differences?

Hearing Liu Meng complain about so many problems, Cheng Sheng also discovered a serious issue.

If I hand over all the sequels I make to others, and the two movies are so different, won't that arouse suspicion?

When every actor in his movie has god-like acting skills, if you change the director, even if it's a sequel to the same movie, the actors will fall short!
This is indeed thought-provoking, but Cheng Sheng isn't too worried, since he already had an excuse—the director who's best at training actors.

If you use this to fool others, outsiders won't suspect much.

But most importantly, the film is too different in its beginning and end, which is very disadvantageous for future films.

Thinking about all this, Cheng Sheng secretly reminded himself that he should visit Liu Meng's film crew more often to give them a boost and make them feel more immersed in the story.

After all, the two movies shouldn't be too different.

The company also has another movie in production, Ning Hao's "Crazy Stone".

Filming for this movie has been going on for almost four months, and it still hasn't wrapped up.

This puzzled Cheng Sheng greatly. (End of Chapter)