This director is so innocent.

Chapter 167 Last Place and First Place

A large single-level apartment in Chaoyang District.

Liu Xiaoli and her daughter were having lunch together. Looking at her daughter's unhurried attitude, she couldn't help but feel angry.

"Sisi, aren't you going to call Su Jin?"

Why call him? The requirements are all written in the notice! He must speak English, be a good actor, and be no older than thirty.

Which of these three conditions do I not meet?

"It's one thing if it meets the requirements, but it would be better if you called and asked!"

"There's nothing to ask. Making the call only made things more difficult for Su Jin."

"What's so difficult about that? It's not like we're asking him to cast you directly. We just need to ask the casting director about his preferences and the plot, etc."

"Forget it, Mom. Trust your daughter. There's no one suitable in mainland China besides me."

"Hehe—fair competition is good, but I'm afraid the audition is just a pretext."

"It shouldn't be. If it weren't for unfair competition, Su Jin wouldn't have made such a big fuss."

Seeing that her daughter had made up her mind, Liu Xiaoli sighed. "She's really grown up now; she has her own opinions."

Suzhou, the cast and crew of the TV series "The Dream of Red Mansions".

After Yang Mi finished filming a scene, she was called to the side by director Li Xiaowan.

"Honey, I heard you and Su Jin have a good relationship?" Li Xiaowan said with a smile.

Yang Mi isn't stupid; upon hearing this, she immediately understood why Li Xiaowan had contacted her.

They definitely want to use her as a go-between to get Rong Xingda's heir, Li Xiaowan's son Lin Shen, cast in "The Maze Runner".

Although she had figured it out, she still obediently nodded.

"Could we ask him out for dinner?"

"Dinner? Director, Su Jin should be in Beijing!"

"Well, he doesn't need to come. Shao Hong will be there eventually. I can also give you a few days off so you can go with her."

'

Yang Mi sneered inwardly, but still put on a happy face: "Thank you, director, but I can't guarantee that Su Jin will agree."

"It's okay, you can just make a call."

OK.

Yang Mi took the phone from her assistant and dialed Su Jin's number in front of Li Xiaowan, putting it on speakerphone.

Within seconds, the sound came through the microphone.

"Feed".

Not wanting Su Jin to say anything more, Yang Mi spoke directly, "Su Jin, are you free? Our company's CEO, Shao Hong, would like to invite you to dinner."

"General Manager Shao Hong? Li Shao Hong?"

"right."

"I'm busy, I've been quite busy lately."

Yang Mi turned to look at Li Xiaowan, who waved to her, indicating that she should hand over her phone.

Yang Mi reluctantly handed her phone to Li Xiaowan, who took it and smiled, "President Su, this is Li Xiaowan."

"Director Li! I've heard so much about you."

"President Su, I dare not accept such praise. On the contrary, I have heard a great deal about your name recently."

"Not at all, it's all thanks to the respect of our peers."

After a round of mutual flattery, Li Xiaowan finally said, "President Su, I wonder about the casting for 'The Maze Runner'—"

"Oh, this? I'm just a screenwriting consultant, I can't make the final decision. The final decision rests with Fox."

"Then an audition?"

"Which actor from Rong Xingda is Director Li helping out?"

"My son, Lin Shen."

"That's no problem, Director Li, just give us your name when the time comes."

"Thank you, Mr. Su. I'll treat you to a simple meal when I get back to Beijing."

"It's nothing, a small matter."

After hanging up the phone, Su Jin called Huang Jiaqiang and told him about Lin Shen's situation.

Huang Jiaqiang is mainly responsible for screening the resumes of actors in the early stages, and has already received hundreds of resumes.

Su Jin was slightly surprised when she found out; it seemed like everyone, from humans to dogs, had sent her a resume.

As for Carlin's deep resume, it's unnecessary.

Why not do a small favor for something that can be done so easily?

Ding-dong————

My phone beeped with a notification of a text message.

When I picked it up, I found it was from Yang Mi. It read, "Don't let Lin Shen succeed in the audition."

Su Jin chuckled. Yang Mi was overthinking it. With Lin Shen's pretentious acting skills, he had no chance of succeeding in the audition.

It was a little after four in the afternoon.

Su Jin met Wen Ziren, who had come all the way from North America, at the company.

He had short hair, was thin, not very tall, and had an average appearance. He wore a black T-shirt and jeans, and looked rather listless.

Is it from the long journey, or from not being able to recover from watching two movies?

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Su Jin took out the script for "Lurking" and handed it to James Wan and George.

"James, this is your next project."

"George, take a look too."

The two took the script and began to read it silently with their heads down.

"Lurking" was a huge hit, even more so than "Saw".

The film cost $150 million to produce, grossed $5400 million in North America, and $1.01 million worldwide.

The film mainly tells the story of Josh Lambert, a high school teacher, and his wife Lana, who move to a new home with their four children. After their eldest son, Dalton, falls into a coma in an accident, strange phenomena begin to occur in their home.

So they asked the exorcist Ellis to investigate, and discovered that Dalton had the ability to have his soul leave his body and was lost in "Otherworld." The story follows Josh Lambert, with Ellis's help, as he tries to bring Dalton's soul back from "Otherworld."

If you haven't seen it yet and want to watch it, I suggest turning off all light sources, making it as dark as possible, and turning the volume up to the maximum. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

George looked at it for a while, then put it down; he wasn't very interested in horror.

On the contrary, he liked Su Jin's office very much.

A Chinese-style tea table, a Chinese-style office desk, a calligraphy and painting hanging on the wall, and a row of large bookshelves—it was exactly the ancient oriental charm he had imagined.

"Boss, when are we going to move offices?"

"Change offices?"

"Yeah! That studio in New York is too small, only about 50 square meters. Let's get a bigger one."

"Let's wait until next year to exchange it!" Su Jin changed the subject, "When will the royalties for 'The Maze Runner' volumes one and two, and 'Divergent' and 'The Hunger Games' arrive?"

"HubCollins is checking the accounts, and the money should arrive next week."

"Approximately how much money?"

"The four books together are worth about $2400 million."

Su Jin nodded and said nothing more.

By this time, James Wan had already read the rest of the script and was completely convinced of Su Jin's new boss character.

He's good at writing novels, and he's also good at writing screenplays.

When he first received the script, he was a little dismissive of it. He skimmed through it and found that there were some parts he didn't understand.

Then I looked at it carefully once, and then I looked at it carefully again.

After being told this three times, he was completely convinced.

The script for "Lurking" is brilliant; it perfectly captures his feelings and feels just like he wrote it. The more you read it, the more you enjoy it.

"Boss, how did you come up with this out-of-body experience idea?"

Su Jin smiled but didn't answer. She poured him a cup of tea first, then said, "You're of Chinese descent. I wonder if your parents ever told you the story of 'children losing their souls'?"

"No." James Wan shook his head. Although his parents were of Chinese descent, he couldn't speak Chinese, so how could he possibly know about "losing one's soul"?

In China, people are said to have three souls and seven spirits.

The three souls are: the first is the fetal light, the second is the refreshing spirit, and the third is the hidden essence.

The Seven Souls: The first soul is named Corpse Dog, the second soul is named Hidden Arrow, the third soul is named Sparrow Shade, the fourth soul is named Devouring Thief, the fifth soul is named Non-Poison, the sixth soul is named Purifying Filth, and the seventh soul is named Stinking Lung.

After Su Jin finished speaking, she looked at Wen Ziren, who looked confused, and explained the meaning of these professional terms to him.

But James Wan still looked at him with a blank expression. What a load of crap, he shouldn't have bothered to teach foreigners about our ancestors, what a waste of breath.

"Simply put, a child's soul is unstable before the age of 10 because they have just been reincarnated. Sometimes it forgets to return to its body, and even if it does, it may be incomplete. This is called 'losing the soul,' understand?"

"I understand now." Wen Ziren was a little excited, but his eyes also held a hint of resentment. If you had explained it this way earlier, wouldn't I have understood long ago?

"Where is the medium?"

"This is a combination of a yin-yang person and a spirit medium. The former can see ghosts, while the latter can travel between the yin and yang realms, meaning they can enter hell to retrieve ghosts—"

Chinese culture is profound and extensive. You should learn more Chinese in the future; it will benefit your screenwriting.

"See that row of bookshelves?" Su Jin pointed to a row of bookshelves behind her and said, "That's where I got the inspiration to write 'The Maze Runner,' 'The Hunger Games,' and 'Divergent.'"

George and James Wan looked at the huge bookshelf, which was 2.5 meters high and 5 meters long and filled with all kinds of books, and were immediately filled with awe.

"Boss, have you read all these books?" George asked curiously.

"No, I only watched half of it," Su Jin said shamelessly.

He only read a few of those books; most of them were secondhand books he bought from secondhand booksellers to make a show of his business.

In the evening, I treated the two of them and some people from Fox to dinner.

The meal ended around 9 p.m., and for the rest of the time, Huang Jiaqiang accompanied them, showing them around the culture of Beijing's bathhouses.

Over the next two days, Huang Jiaqiang took them to see the ancient sites and historical landmarks of Beijing. He exclaimed loudly at each place, as if he had never seen the world before.

Especially during their visit to the Forbidden City, the children were shouting all the way, attracting a lot of attention, which made Huang Jiaqiang feel embarrassed.

The third day, 10:00 AM.

The casting for "The Maze Runner" began at Fox's Beijing office.

Not only Fox, but the other five major Hollywood studios have all established offices in China.

Most of the actors who auditioned were born in the 1980s, because the age limit was imposed on those born in the 1970s.

The oldest of the post-80s generation are already 28 years old, while "The Maze Runner" is mostly made up of young people. Adding a person in their thirties would be quite discordant.

Interviewers: Marty Bowen, George, and Huang Jiaqiang.

The first two are producers of "The Maze Runner", and Huang Jiaqiang is also a producer, representing the three parties in China.

Su Jin didn't go; he went with Yang Qing to Ningbo to check out the filming locations for "You Are the Apple of My Eye".

The filming location was set in Ningbo because there was a scene in "You Are the Apple of My Eye" where the characters went to play by the sea, and Ningbo is located by the sea, making it much more convenient.

After looking around, it felt pretty good.

Ding-a-ling ding-a-ling————

When her phone rang, Su Jin assumed it was George or Huang Jiaqiang calling to report on the casting process.

But when I took out my phone, I found it was a toothbrush.

He pressed the answer button, but before he could speak, a voice with fangs came through the receiver, "Su Jin, why weren't you at the audition?"

"Didn't I tell you already? I'm just a minor character, I can't make decisions for Fox, so of course I won't be at the audition."

Liu Yifei sneered, too lazy to expose Su Jin's flawed lies, and went straight to the point: "I'm asking you, did I pass the audition?"

"I don't know. That female character was just a minor supporting role, and she died a really tragic death. I don't understand why you actresses are fighting over her!"

"That's easy for you to say when you're not in my shoes. If I were as capable as you, would I need to audition for such a trashy role?"

Upon hearing this, Su Jin was slightly taken aback; he could detect a hint of resentment in his voice.

Before he could speak, Liu Yifei asked, "Where are you?"

Ningbo.

"What are you doing there?"

"Checking out the set; my next film will be shot here."

"Those years?"

"Um."

"Has the female lead been confirmed?"

"Um."

"Who?"

"He's a newcomer; you don't know him."

"How do you know I don't know them if you don't tell me?"

That's weird. How come you're just like Yang Mi? Yang Mi said the same thing before.

"Liu Shishi".

"Her!"

"Do you know him?"

"Isn't she in that Weibo poll about Shen Jiayi? And she's in last place." Liu Yifei said with a hint of sarcasm.

Su Jin couldn't stand it anymore. After all, Sister Xia was the female lead he had chosen. How could he tolerate being mocked like this?

So he retorted without hesitation: "Even though she's ranked last, she's still the female lead. What's the use of being ranked first?"

O

"you----"

"What do you mean 'what do you mean'? If there's nothing else, I'll hang up. I have a dinner appointment to attend!"

Liu Yifei was absolutely furious; her small chest heaved with rage.

If it weren't for needing Su Jin's help, she wouldn't be Liu if she didn't give him a good dressing down.

"Remember to ask about the audition for me."

"Okay, I'm hanging up."

After hanging up the phone, Su Jin and Yang Qing went to the dinner party.

We visited the school in the afternoon, and the head of the teaching department told the principal about it.

The principal then told the head of the local education bureau about it, and then a group of leaders, both high and low, accompanied them on a tour of the school.

After the visit, they insisted on treating them to a meal, saying it was to thank him for his donation.

Therefore, evening flights have been rescheduled.

Actually, it wasn't a donation, it was a donation of goods. They donated desks for one grade, but judging from their eating habits, they might need to donate desks for another grade.

Sure enough, during the meal, a group of people praised Su Jin extensively, even bringing up his previous donations for the ice storm and the earthquake, almost making him the top philanthropist in the country.

Since they had already said that, it was too much trouble not to donate, so they donated fifty computers to expand the school's computer lab.

This middle school isn't one of the best, nor is it the worst; it's somewhere in the middle.

Even so, the undergraduate admission rate is still over 85% every year.

Consider the average high school in his small county; the undergraduate admission rate is calculated based on the number of students admitted.

Even the best high school only has a 70% undergraduate admission rate. The difference in education between urban and rural areas is too great.

Do you have any recommendations for the female lead in "Mulan"? Who do you think would be suitable?