The Common Man's Return in Chinese Entertainment

Fan Xiaotian smiled and pointed out the window, "Hai Run Films, have you forgotten about them?"

Ma Zhongjun smiled confidently, "Hai Run Film and Television is a large and powerful company, and my Ciwen Media is not bad either. Moreover, this young brother Ji is the last disciple of Teacher Wu Bin."

"So it's confirmed?"

"It's settled. As for the contract terms... I'm signing him to Ciwen Media with the intention of making him the face of Ciwen Media. I'll give him the same treatment as other companies' potential artists."

Hearing this treatment, a hint of surprise flashed in Fan Xiaotian's eyes. "You think highly of him?"

Ma Zhongjun gestured outside, "He's only 18 this year. Whether it's his looks, physique, or skills, he has the makings of a star. He won't even be 30 in ten years. It's worth taking a gamble."

Fan Xiaotian laughed and said, "Old Ma, you've killed two birds with one stone. You've not only discovered a new talent with unlimited potential, but also a mature martial arts team."

Upon hearing that Fan Xiaotian had instantly guessed his intentions, Ma Zhongjun laughed heartily and said, "Old Fan understands me perfectly."

"Okay, shall I do it, or will you talk to me yourself?"

"I'll go with you. Since we're going to poach someone, and she'll be the first artist for Ciwen Media's agency in the future, we naturally have to show our sincerity."

"it is good."

......

"Senior brother, even though you've heard it many times, I still want to thank you."

Kou Zhanwen smiled and waved his hand, "Junior brother, I'm really benefiting from your success this time. Although Ciwen Media has only been established for five years, this Mr. Ma entered the film and television industry in the 80s. He is a senior figure in the industry. Besides, Mr. Ma is very sincere. Let's not talk about these things."

Upon hearing this, Ji Qingxu joked, "Then it seems that part of what I said about taking my senior brother to eat and drink well has already come true."

Kou Zhanwen laughed heartily and said, "That's right, junior brother. Although we don't know if what this Mr. Ma said can be fully realized, since we have such an opportunity, we don't need to worry about the future for the time being. Let's just focus on filming."

"clear."

"Get some rest, we'll head back to the film set first thing tomorrow morning."

"it is good."

After Kou Zhanwen left the room, Ji Qingxu looked at the file folder on the coffee table and chuckled softly.

Ji Qingxu has signed a contract and officially confirmed his role as Zhang Danfeng, the male lead in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". The condition of the contract is that he will join Ciwen Media and become Ciwen Media's first artist.

In addition, Kou Zhanwen also brought his stunt team to join Ciwen Media, which was one of the conditions for Ji Qingxu to play Zhang Danfeng.

Currently, Ji Qingxu and Kou Zhanwen are still artists under Hairun Film & Television. However, their contracts with Hairun are very lenient. It might be an exaggeration to say they could leave at any time, but the termination conditions are not complicated. Ma Zhongjun, the founder of Ciwen Media, said he would handle it.

Ji Qingxu was somewhat surprised by the signing terms offered by Ma Zhongjun. This Mr. Ma was very generous. Ji Qingxu signed an 8-year contract with Ciwen Media, splitting the profits 6:4, with Ji Qingxu receiving 4%.

It might not seem like much, but based on Ji Qingxu's current understanding of the entertainment industry and the inside information Kou Zhanwen provided, the offer is surprisingly good.

It's considered good if 20% of newcomers make it, most make 10%, and 30% are extremely rare.

In addition, Ma Zhongjun promised that if Ji Qingxu's fame grows, the revenue sharing can be discussed in the future.

In addition to revenue sharing, Ciwen Media also promised to give Ji Qingxu the lead role in a film or television drama every two years.

Although everyone knew that Mr. Ma had the intention of "spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones," and in order to win over his senior brother Kou Zhanwen's martial arts team, Kou Zhanwen's conditions for joining Ciwen Media were not bad either. Ciwen Media would set up a separate action direction department, and Kou Zhanwen would be the head of this action direction department. It has to be said that Mr. Ma was indeed very generous.

This is also why Ji Qingxu and Kou Zhanwen agreed to join Ciwen Media.

However, Ji Qingxu also had some doubts. This CEO Ma was so decisive and generous in his actions, so why was there so little news about Ciwen Media in the entertainment industry in later generations?

Logically speaking, with such a founder, the company should be developing better and better. Could it be that something unexpected or unforeseen happened along the way?

After thinking for a while without figuring it out, Ji Qingxu stopped thinking about it and decided to let it go. After all, he had only signed an 8-year contract, and he would only be 26 years old in 8 years. If something unexpected happened in the middle of the contract, he could leave if he wanted to, and he could just pay some penalty for breach of contract.

Picking up the script from the coffee table, Ji Qingxu smiled happily. To be able to become the male lead in his freshman year of college was a privilege usually reserved for only a handful of the most famous artists in the entertainment industry. It was truly impressive. Moreover, the pay for this role was several times higher than that for "Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties," at 5000 yuan per episode. "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" was expected to have 35 episodes, and Ji Qingxu's role would be in about 20 episodes, bringing his total pay to 12 yuan.

Ji Qingxu could pocket all 12 yuan, because Ma Zhongjun generously declared that the drama was a signing gift for Ji Qingxu, and the company would not participate in the profit sharing.

......

On the way back the next day, Ji Qingxu asked, "Senior brother, should we tell Haibin about my role as the male lead in 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes'?"

Upon hearing this question, Kou Zhanwen stroked his chin and thought for a moment. "Tell him. Even if we don't tell him, he'll find out sooner or later. Leave this to me; I'll talk to him."

"Okay, thank you, senior brother."

......

Back on set, Ji Qingxu didn't know what Kou Zhanwen said to Huang Haibin, but Huang Haibin congratulated Ji Qingxu without showing any other negative emotions. As for what he was really thinking, Ji Qingxu didn't bother to find out, since he had already secured the male lead role.

From then on, Ji Qingxu was able to focus on filming his scenes for "Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties".

......

"Get out, get out, everyone get out, what's there to see?"

Hearing Hu Mingkai kick people out, everyone laughed and walked outside. Ji Qingxu was among them. He glanced at the cell behind him with a strange look in his eyes. This famous scene was very well-known in short videos in later generations.

The scene about to start filming is Yuwen Chengdu queuing up.

Thinking about this scene, Ji Qingxu couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Qin Shubao's wife actually tried to assassinate Yang Guang, and was even caught and humiliated? Isn't she afraid of being visited by the door god Qin Qiong in the middle of the night?"

Ji Qingxu wondered if Hong Kong directors all had a "cuckold fetish" when filming? Because Ji Qingxu remembered many Hong Kong dramas featuring scenes where important female characters were defiled, such as *Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties* and *A Step into the Past*...

This show has more than just this one ridiculous scene; many other plot points are also quite absurd.

In addition to the plot, the costumes, props, and war scenes were also very shabby. As expected, what people online said was true. Hong Kong and Taiwan directors are very bad at making historical dramas. They lack some basic common sense and logic. If it weren't for the good acting skills of the actors in this drama, it would be no different from those ordinary bad dramas of later generations.

Of course, Ji Qingxu had also witnessed the money-making methods of Hong Kong directors. This drama was advertised to have an investment of 2000 million and a planned production of 40 episodes.

Hu Mingkai was frugal wherever possible. Aside from the main actors' salaries, which couldn't be reduced too much, the costumes and props were simply appalling. Cheng Yaojin wore a few pieces of wood as armor, and Yang Guang wore yellow pajamas as a dragon robe. When filming war scenes, they would never film more than one day if they could finish it in one day, because filming for an extra day would mean paying more extras... I dare not say more, but Hu Mingkai would definitely make a seven-figure sum after filming this movie.

Thinking of this, Ji Qingxu chuckled softly. Whatever, it wasn't a TV series he invested in. Besides, Hu Mingkai even cast him as Luo Cheng, so he could be considered his "mentor." He just needed to do his job well, and the rest was none of his business.

......