I really don't want to make bad movies!

Ju Jingyi sent Xia Ming a long message.

Her words revealed her sincere feelings; she only asked Xia Ming to give her a chance to return to the film and television industry.

KIKI even had her artist add Xia Ming's WeChat account late at night using her private account to show her sincerity, all in order to get a chance to appear on screen.

Don't underestimate this opportunity; it's the studio's only hope for survival.

If they can reappear in the public eye, it is possible to rebuild their reputation.

After the live interview, Xia Ming did talk to He Junyan about the X Theater.

After the battle in "Atlantic Rim 2", Xia Ming's status rose sharply in the eyes of several investors.

In order to compete with Huang Xuke for talent, He Junyan immediately promised to make Xia Ming the executive producer of X Theater.

X Theater is Tencent Video's next key project, and the position of executive producer is of paramount importance.

But Xia Ming refused.

When they approached He Junyan with the concept of X Theater, they even included two scripts, all in an effort to secure investment.

Tencent plans to use X Theater as a channel to launch at least two S+ level web dramas a year, but Xia Ming does not have the time and energy to serve as the executive producer.

He's destined to make movies.

But He Junyan had helped him after all, and Xia Ming wanted to repay that favor.

After an agreement between the two parties, Xia Ming was ultimately appointed as the project consultant and technical advisor for the theater. He not only received a share of the profits from each web series produced by X Theater, but also had real power over personnel scheduling and setting creative directions.

Simply put, Xia Ming is the most powerful person in charge. He can interfere in the creation of every drama series and even decide the content output of the entire theater, but he has a lot of freedom in his time.

Tengzi naturally had many schemes in mind. If Xia Ming became more and more popular in the future, they could use Xia Ming's name to market the theater.

If Xia Ming fails, they'll say he was just a figurehead.

In the field of investment, Tengzi is indeed quite authoritative.

Xia Ming thus obtained the actual position of person in charge of X Theater, and using this as a lure, he asked KIKI for evidence of Yang Xianghua's crimes.

As it turned out, Xia Ming was right.

After Ju Jingyi sent a long, pitiful essay, KIKI asked someone to deliver a document to Xia Ming.

It listed detailed evidence of Yang Xianghua's embezzlement.

Xia Ming also had He Junyan give Ju Jingyi a supporting role in a sweet romance drama, with a salary of only six figures.

This romantic comedy isn't even a show from the X Theater; it's just a regular A-level web series.

Xia Ming only said that he was in charge of X Theater, and never said that he would give the roles in X Theater to Ju Jingyi.

After this uproar that swept across the internet, Ju Jingyi's studio was burdened with huge negative news, and his status plummeted. It's no longer possible for KIKI to use Ju Jingyi's name to bully others on set.

Xia Ming wasn't talking nonsense. If Ju Jingyi is willing to put in the effort, she can still gain a foothold in the idol drama genre.

After all, you can't expect all viewers to watch movies with substance and depth, and many people aren't interested in intricately plotted and mind-bending web series either.

Many female viewers just want to watch lighthearted romance dramas after get off work, watching good-looking male and female leads fall in love. We can't deprive these viewers of their right to watch and listen.

Ju Jingyi should just stick to being a cute pet mascot. Whether she can broaden her acting range in the future depends entirely on herself.

Negative news such as production crews neglecting their duties, interfering with creative processes, and exorbitant actor salaries are ultimately not the iron fist that forces people to leave the entertainment industry.

Life isn't a fantasy novel. There's no enmity between Xia Ming and KIKI, so there's no need for him to chase after KIKI and try to kill her.

He was furious about the actions of the two studios and made them pay the price with his own actions, thus gaining his own benefits.

Public opinion is still circulating online, but it has little to do with Xia Ming anymore.

……

The next day, Xia Ming and Huang Xuke delivered Yang Xianghua's criminal records to the court, and he would soon be brought to justice.

"Why don't you try your luck at becoming the CEO of the TV drama division? Your performance has been pretty good lately, hasn't it?"

Walking with Huang Xuke, Xia Ming couldn't help but ask.

Huang Xuke laughed and shook his head: "I'm doing fine in the short video section. The TV drama section is too complicated. Each project involves several studios, or even hundreds of people."

"I wonder if those who embezzle are acting against their will or driven by self-interest."

"With Yang Xianghua's arrest, at least a third of the people in the entire TV drama division will be dragged down with him."

"You've gone too far this time; Kiwi is definitely going to suffer serious damage."

Huang Xuke sighed: "The most outrageous thing is that you broke up and reorganized the movie projects that were originally going to make money, and we can only get a small share of the profits."

"Is it my fault?" Xia Ming shrugged, knowing that Huang Xuke didn't mean to complain.

"I've already discussed it with Wang Hui. The director's cut of 'Atlantic Rim 2' will be released on your iQiyi platform. Whether you can get the viewership depends on your ability."

Huang Xuke smiled and put his arm around Xia Ming's shoulder, patting his chest and saying, "That project has nothing to do with me, but thanks to you, I led the short video section to capture the most traffic in the Ju Jingyi incident, injecting a large number of fresh blood into Green Fruit Short Video."

"Especially those film critics who make parody videos of 'Atlantic Rim 2'!"

"I heard that Japanese commentary videos on Bilibili and Yinpu have been throttled. Many netizens who want to follow the drama have come to our Green Fruit Short Video platform to watch Riyue's commentary videos."

"This account gained 300,000 followers in three days, all of them are genuine, active followers!"

"So many?!" Xia Ming exclaimed in shock.

He's been too busy these past few days to pay any attention to the account.

What do you think?

Huang Xuke's nose was practically pointing to the sky: "I have a feeling that Riyue Commentary is definitely no less promising than that 'poisonous snake' commentator from Yin Fu, and will definitely have tens of millions of fans in the future."

"By the way, when are you free? I said I'd get you some tea and we could do a live show together." Huang Xuke looked at Xia Ming.

"Uh, I definitely won't be free anytime soon."

Xia Ming pulled a poster for the Desert Film Festival from his jacket pocket: "Professor Xie Fei gave me this poster and asked me to attend this film festival."

In his spare time these past few days, he would search for the list of participating directors on the posters.

Some are young directors who have made one or two small films, while others are veterans who have been deeply involved in art films.

Huang Xuke took the poster, glanced at it, and nodded slightly: "I've heard of this Desert Film Festival; it's quite well-known in China. Although it's called the Desert Film Festival, it's actually organized by ranch owners in Northwest China."

"After seeing coal bosses invest in the market, they also wanted to get a piece of the pie."

"This film festival has a mature system. If you win an award there, a film company will directly sign the copyright, and they can even help you distribute it overseas."

Huang Xuke shoved the poster back into Xia Ming's hands, squeezing his shoulder: "You just boasted on the live stream, are you planning to use this film festival for publicity?"

Both of them are industry insiders and know that hype must be supported by content.

Xia Ming's actions stirred up the entire film and television industry, attracting tens of millions of onlookers to pay attention to the incident. He even gave up on his new work during a joint interview live broadcast.

If you open Weibo now, you can still see four or five entries related to "Xia Ming's new work" in the top ten trending topics.

This certainly saved a lot of money on publicity and ensured that his name always appeared in the top positions in the film and television industry, but it also risked making him a "red name" (a term used to describe someone who becomes famous for their negative publicity).

If Xia Ming's next work isn't of good quality, his image might actually be used as a wanted poster for Luffy.

As for the criteria for judging quality, people still value the prestige of awards more than box office figures.

After all, Atlantic Rim 2 grossed $600 million...

Xia Ming naturally understood this principle, which is why he wanted to carefully polish a work to compete for awards!