In the entertainment industry, everyone has been reborn, but who will be their servant?

Chapter 103 Pure Friendship

The demo of "As You Wish" was completed on the 16th and given to Lao Zhang. Lao Zhang handed it over, and whether Liu Yifei could perform on stage depended on this demo.

After that, Liu Yifei focused on recording the song, recording it segment by segment and revising it word by word.

Due to the tight schedule, Liu Yifei stayed in the recording studio for more than ten hours at a time. She needed to have some professional skills so that she could fill in if she sang live.

During this time, Jane Zhang heard that she was recording a song, which she found quite interesting, so she made a special trip to see her.

The recording studio is divided into two parts: the recording room inside and the control room outside, separated by double-layered soundproof glass to prevent interference between them.

Liu Yifei was wearing a headset in the recording studio, standing in front of the microphone, singing with great enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, Zhang Liangying and Chen Yuli were in the control room. Chen Yuli adjusted his glasses and took a drag of his cigarette.

Operating the mixing console, he said, "Doesn't this song feel like it's of very high quality? The lyrics are poetic and tell a story in a gentle and detailed way. The first verse is nostalgic, the second is simple and down-to-earth, and the third verse builds up the emotions to an explosion."

He was talking to Jane Zhang; they're both in the music industry, so they know each other.

Zhang Liangying stood to the side, holding an earpiece in her hand, listening to Liu Yifei sing with her right ear and listening to Chen Yuli speak with her other ear.

"This song is amazing, whoever sings it becomes famous, who wrote it?" she exclaimed.

"President Xuan!" Chen Yuli flicked the ash from her cigarette into the ashtray.

"That new powerhouse CEO Xuan?" Zhang Liangying looked down at him, a hint of surprise in her eyes.

Isn't he a movie actor? He can also write songs!

“Yes, it’s him.” Chen Yuli nodded.

"How could Yifei be hanging out with him?" Zhang Liangying didn't understand. Xuan Zong was known in the industry as a country bumpkin and eccentric. That's what people said about him.

Anyway, as the word spread, its reputation suffered.

"I don't know." Chen Yuli shook his head. He had only worked with President Xuan for a short time. "I think President Xuan is quite good."

Anyway, he remembered that President Xuan treated him to a big meal yesterday, and they had a very pleasant conversation, unlike what others had said.

The two chatted for a while, and soon Liu Yifei finished singing and came out. Seeing Zhang Liangying, she became cheerful and said, "Liangying, you're here!"

"You sang well!" Zhang Liangying drawled out her words, her tone teasing.

"How can I compare to you professional singers? I'm only at the level of a karaoke singer," Liu Yifei laughed.

"But I have some advice for you: don't suddenly get too high-pitched in the second half. If you do, your breath will become shorter, and the whole passage will become disjointed. You should proceed gradually." Zhang Liangying's tone became serious.

“Yes, don’t be too emotional. Just have that sense of intimacy. Singing is like acting; you need emotion, but don’t overdo it,” Chen Yuli added from the side.

"Yes!" Liu Yifei nodded emphatically.

I don't know if they understood it or not. They just keep singing, just like acting.

Liu Yifei turned to Zhang Liangying and asked, "How come you have time to come to Beijing?"

"I also happened to be in Beijing for a charity performance." Zhang Liangying was also there for disaster relief.

Right now, the nation's focus is on disaster relief!
Liu Yifei looked surprised: "Are you also going to participate in the CCTV variety show on the 18th?"

"How could I possibly get on that stage? It's just a small charity performance." At this point, Zhang Liangying seemed to realize something and suddenly asked, "You want to go on that stage?"

"It's not confirmed yet. Qin Xuan said he'd give it a try, but there's still no news." Liu Yifei is still waiting.

"Hey, that's strange. You seem to be quite familiar with that CEO Xuan. He even helped you get on that stage."

Zhang Liangying was very curious, then gave a knowing look: "You two wouldn't..."

As she spoke, she pointed her two index fingers together, the meaning of which was quite clear.

"What?! Don't talk nonsense." Liu Yifei slapped her, then felt embarrassed.

"Can't we even talk about it?"

"It's okay to say anything, we have a purely platonic friendship." Liu Yifei put on a frank and open attitude, as if she didn't care what others said at all.

"Pure friendship?" Zhang Liangying leaned closer, her tone carrying a hint of ambiguity.

Liu Yifei seemed offended, raised her small fist, and punched her like a little girl.

The atmosphere immediately became lively when the two women were together, and the air became relaxed and joyful. Chen Yuli was seriously working on the audio, as she might need it tomorrow, which was the 18th.

That meeting was impromptu; there wasn't even a rehearsal.

Zhang Liangying put her arm around her shoulder and asked, "What kind of person is President Xuan? I heard he has a bad character."

"Don't listen to outsiders' nonsense. According to their logic, am I a bad person too?" Liu Yifei waved her hand.

"How can they be the same? You're just a netizen who doesn't know the truth and you're criticizing him. People in the industry say he's bad."

"Then I'll take you to see him; he's nearby." Liu Yifei picked up her clothes and bag.

Not wanting people to misunderstand Qin Xuan's character, she patted Chen Yuli on the shoulder and said, "Boss Chen, I'll be back in a bit. You can continue fixing it."

"Okay, go ahead!" Chen Yuli waved her hand.

The news of "Nanjing Photo Studio" passing censorship has been circulating for two days, attracting attention from the industry. Film and television companies want to get a piece of the pie, and actors are also looking to see if they can get a role, but there have been no public auditions for the new generation of actors.

Zhang Yi, in particular, regrets not taking on the role in the new generation's "The Nameless." If he had, they might have a connection now.

He dug out the email address that New Force had previously sent him, expressing his desire to participate.

We can't give a reply right now, since "Nanjing Photo Studio" has only just passed the review, the cast is still uncertain, and everything is still in the preparation stage.

Qin Xuan didn't hold any public auditions; it was all by invitation. In fact, he had his own choices and backups for who would play which role. For example, he preferred Fan Wei to play the photo studio owner, but Zhang Songwen was also acceptable. It wasn't that he had to choose any particular actor.

Only for specific roles, roles for which it's uncertain who can play the part, will they invite people to audition.

Just like traitors and Japanese, domestic celebrities generally don't feel that way. First, the audience is easily drawn into it and really thinks of you as Japanese; second, it's easy to hurt the feelings in the audience's hearts.

Not to mention that it's very bad for a Chinese person to play a Japanese person.

Therefore, these types of roles either need to be played by real Japanese people or by unknown individuals.

Taking advantage of this momentum, the new team quickly assembled a post-production crew, including editors Xu Hongyu and Zhou Yuan, visual effects artist Ding Yan, colorist and sound effects artist Jiang Jian, and about ten other people.

These people were all talents who later participated in the post-production of many films such as "Goodbye Mr. Loser" and "The Wandering Earth," and they were also planned by Qin Xuan long ago.

His formal training and abilities are not a problem. The first film he worked on was "The Nameless," which was a low-budget film. It was just that Qin Xuan himself raised the cost of the film.

The post-production studio also purchased a batch of equipment, including professional-grade computers, color grading systems and equipment, audio processing, storage systems, and editing systems, with an initial investment of three million.

The equipment was purchased by Cai Mei and Wu Guoqiang. Since they were family, they figured they could keep the money within the family.

This scale is only temporary. To make theatrical films and large-scale TV series, you need an investment of tens of millions. The post-production threshold for visual blockbusters is at least fifty million.

To create a suitable working environment for post-production, Qin Xuan rented an office in Jingyuan, also known as the 798 Art District. It is said that Wang Feng's music studio is also located here, and many artists, such as painters and sculptors, have settled here.

Some directors' personal studios are also located here, and this place will also serve as their office space in the future!

Clean and bright, with a strong artistic atmosphere, and a large space of about 400 to 500,000 square meters, the rent is 400,000 to 500,000 yuan a year.

We definitely can't use up all this space, but it can be used to prepare for future team expansion. It's better here than in that dilapidated place at the Beijing Film Academy.

Besides the funds from the new production company itself, the money also came from the production costs of "The Unknown". The funds were not used up when the movie was filmed, and post-production was also part of the production.

So we can invest this money directly. In addition, investing in "Nanjing Photo Studio" and editing the photos as we shoot is also a good idea.

In any case, Qin Xuan is using capital to build his own production system.

The office area is filled with unopened equipment, and staff are installing wiring in various corners.

Wu Guoqiang and Cai Mei stood amidst a pile of equipment, counting the goods. After all, they had spent so much money; what if the supplier delivered less? They had to be careful.

Xu Hongyu and other post-production staff were gathered together debugging the software, their eyes shining. Zhou Yuan exclaimed, "The read and write speed of this storage array is amazing!"

"The school doesn't have that kind of equipment yet." Ding Yan glanced at it.

Jiang Jian and others, who were also involved in color grading and sound effects, were hoping to use professional equipment for the tense situation, since such professional equipment was not available at the school.

Not to mention that you won't need it at school, people won't let you get started so quickly when you first go out into the world.

The things at school are very basic, just for you to practice. The things here are all professional film and television grade, such as 2K HDR professional monitors and professional reference screens that simulate real visuals.

4K monitors are not yet widespread, and professional 4K monitors cost over a million dollars.

“President Xuan, let’s get right to it.” Xu Hongyu looked at Qin Xuan, who was standing in the middle.

"Use it if you can."

Qin Xuan replied, talking on the phone at the door.

These past two days, his phone has been ringing non-stop. Besides calls with the Olympic bid team, he's been receiving invitations from various executives in the entertainment industry.

He had already declined Fatty Yu's invitation to dinner; it's a small piece of cake, and it's impossible to cooperate with everyone.

The call was from Li Xiaoping, the vice president of Guangxian. Qin Xuan said, "If President Wang is truly sincere, he should call me himself."

He felt that the other party had no sincerity at all. If they wanted to participate, they actually sent a deputy to make the contact. Wang Changtian himself should have made the contact. Wasn't that looking down on him?

If I asked you to invest 100 million, could your deputy approve it?

At that time, Enlight Media was just a small player in the film industry, hovering on the edge of entry, and had not yet achieved the influence it would later have.

Qin Xuan hung up the phone and caught a glimpse of Liu Yifei and Zhang Liangying, who were holding hands like best friends.

"Wow, this is your new office!" Liu Yifei led Zhang Liangying around, looking at the surroundings.

This place is open-plan, with raw red brick walls, exposed concrete beams and columns, and metal pipes, giving it an industrial feel.

She peeked inside; it was a bit messy, but the modern office furniture contrasted with it.

"Yes, we just moved here. What brings you here?" Qin Xuan was quite surprised. Logically, Liu Yifei should be practicing singing right now.

"I've come to see you. Your business is growing bigger and bigger!" Liu Yifei said with great satisfaction, placing her hands on Zhang Liangying's shoulders and introducing her: "Zhang Liangying, my good friend."

“I know you, you’re a famous singer, and I often listen to your songs.” Qin Xuan extended his hand.

Zhang Liangying shook hands with him briefly, secretly sizing him up, and said modestly, "I wouldn't dare call myself a singer, I'm just a small-time celebrity."

"A minor celebrity like you should be secretly happy," Qin Xuan said, implying that she was very famous.

Zhang Liangying was amused and her mood improved. She then pursed her lips and looked at Liu Yifei.

Liu Yifei raised an eyebrow at her, as if to say, "Is he alright?"

Zhang Liangying smiled slightly, remaining silent and offering no comment!

Qin Xuan didn't notice their subtle expressions. When his phone rang again, he apologized, "I'm sorry, I've been too busy these past two days. Please feel free to visit."

Seeing that the number was a landline, he dared not be negligent, fearing he might encounter a situation like Old Zhang's again.

(End of this chapter)