Reborn in the Chinese Entertainment Industry: My Childhood Sweetheart is Boss Yang

As the filming progressed in Xiamen, Gu Heng felt that his eyes were almost not enough to keep up with the demand.

Ning Hao is indeed a genius; he can make something out of a single shot.

When those familiar faces from his past life appeared on set one by one, Gu Heng couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Especially when you see Wang Shuangbao and Bado, the two duo preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam, standing there, one with a face full of fat and a sinister air, and the other with shifty eyes and a face full of bad luck.

"You're spouting rhymes all the time, are you planning to take the postgraduate entrance exam?"

This line popped into Gu Heng's mind without his noticing.

And then there's Rong Xiang, who's as big as a small mountain. When he sits there, he certainly has the aura of a gang leader, but no matter how you look at him, he just has a comical quality.

These actors are all exceptionally talented; they truly deserve to be the ones Ning Hao picked out from the crowd.

"Boss, the way you look at me... is exactly the same as when I look at food?" Huang Bo whispered to himself as he took a break from touching up his makeup.

In the days that followed, the crew entered a period of intense adjustment. Ning Hao was now completely absorbed in filming, with a full budget, and no longer had to be as frugal as before.

Ning Hao was in charge of filming, while Gu Heng was in charge of taking notes and drawing inspiration from the script.

Occasionally, Gu Heng would get the urge to try his hand at directing a few shots.

Ning Hao leaned over to watch the playback, his eyes darting around before he chuckled and said, "Great job, boss! Your angle and composition are amazing! You've got potential!"

Gu Heng thought to himself, "Nonsense, I copied it from the whole thing, how could it not work?"

Gu Heng treated the crew of "oddballs" very well.

He gave his uncle Liu Jun a direct, firm order: "Raise the food standards! Stop with the bland, watery fare; make sure there's plenty of meat. These guys spend all day wallowing in the mud; they can't survive without some meat!"

Liu Jun's six months as a producer have paid off. Wearing a tank top and a work badge around his neck, he runs around the set with his protruding belly, looking every bit like a housekeeper, managing the logistics aspect perfectly.

During this time, Wang Zhongjun from Huayi even flew over to visit the set once.

Old Wang glanced at the monitor screen, then at the group of incredibly unsophisticated actors. Far from being disgusted, he excitedly dragged Gu Heng to a seafood feast.

At the dinner table, Wang Zhongjun, his face flushed with alcohol, began to paint a rosy picture for Gu Heng: "President Gu, I love Director Ning's 'dark' spirit. This film, we're not only going to make a splash at the box office, but we're also going to keep winning awards! From now on, Huayi Brothers and Vision Media will be deep strategic partners..."

Gu Heng peeled the shrimp while rolling his eyes inwardly.

The movie "Racing" hasn't even finished filming yet, and he's already having erotic dreams?

If the movie flops, you'll probably run away faster than anyone else.

You call yourself a deep strategic partner? Why haven't I seen you invest in any of my projects?

Of course, Gu Heng still smiled and replied, "Mr. Wang, you're too kind. We at Yuanjian are just trying to make a living by following Third Master and you."

Before things had even calmed down for two days after Wang Zhongjun left, news came from the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival.

At the 16th Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, "Crazy Stone" received several nominations, including Best Directorial Debut, Best Screenplay, and Best Editing—it certainly made a splash.

This was supposed to be a joyous occasion, but Ning Hao acted like a stubborn mule.

He clung tightly to the monitor, refusing to leave.

"Haozi, the nominations are all out. Aren't you going to Suzhou to walk the red carpet? It's the Golden Rooster Awards. At least give a national award some face," Gu Heng advised.

"No, I'm not going. How much progress will I miss if I leave? Besides, I'm in the middle of a good run. What if I stop and can't get back into the swing of things?"

Gu Heng was speechless: "As a director, you'd rather be glued to the camera? If you don't go, the organizing committee will think our Vision is throwing its weight around."

Ning Hao gave a wry smile and finally spoke the truth: "Boss, just let me film. I didn't have the money to film before, but now that I do, I wish I could film 24 hours a day."

There was no other way; I was terrified of being poor.

Gu Heng felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this. These days, it's rare to see a donkey who genuinely wants to make a good film.

But despite being moved, the matter still needed to be addressed.

Finally, Gu Heng simply kicked Ning Hao out: "Get lost, go get your award. I'll keep an eye on things here, the crew won't stop. I'll treat this as an early graduation internship; if it's not good, you can come back and reshoot."

Ning Hao left reluctantly, acting exactly like an old father leaving his child with a neighbor.

Now that Director Ning has left, Director Gu is officially taking over.

The crew didn't have any objections, after all, this guy was the real sugar daddy. Besides, everyone had seen how knowledgeable Mr. Gu was when he made a cameo appearance as director.

Most importantly, who would want to mess with the old man who pays their wages?

Gu Heng has really had a blast filming these past few days.

Although it was his first time officially directing a film, he had the original footage in his mind!

He still remembered what scene should be at what time. Sometimes when the actors couldn't find the right feeling, Gu Heng would simply step in and demonstrate it himself.

Especially those classic car crash scenes and the scene where the drug dealer is cheated; when Gu Heng was directing the play, he went into even more detail about the lines than Ning Hao did.

Over the course of a few days, the filming progress of the crew not only did not slow down, but actually accelerated considerably.

Everyone was astonished; this boss's learning ability was simply too abnormal!

Just as Gu Heng was working on his scene with Bado, news came from the Golden Rooster Awards.

As Gu Heng expected, Ning Hao won Best Director and Best Screenplay.

Although this year's Golden Rooster Awards were heavily criticized within the industry for its lack of integrity in rules, the fact that awards were given arbitrarily, and the terrible balance between art and commerce.

But it doesn't matter to Ning Hao, since "Crazy Stone" can't compete with them anyway.

Ning Hao returned with a wide grin, still wearing his wrinkled suit and carrying two trophies as he got off the plane.

As soon as he returned to the film set, the first thing he did was rush to the editing table to watch what Gu Heng had filmed over the past few days.

After reading it, Ning Hao remained silent for a long time, then turned to look at Gu Heng as if he were a monster.

"Boss...why don't you switch careers and become a director? These long takes you used could go straight into the final cut."

Upon hearing this, Gu Heng smiled enigmatically and patted Ning Hao on the shoulder:

"Alright, stop flattering. You've won the award, it's time to get back behind the monitor and start flattering."

Ning Hao chuckled, tossed the trophy onto the table, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Everyone assemble! All departments, get ready! The boss has done such a great job; if we mess up, it'll be a disgrace to the boss! Let's get to work!"