Chinese Entertainment: Directors Start with the Fairy Sister

Chapter 116 The Turning Point: An Unexpected Opponent

"The Lunar New Year films are still the best!"

Ning Hao, returning from a nationwide "tour," looked at the New Year's film season with a sigh: "Boss Zhao, when are you going to try your hand at the New Year's film season?"

"How about next year?" Zhao Yanxi smiled and said, "This film, 'If You Are the One,' will be released during the Lunar New Year holiday next year!"

"Forget it, it's just a low-budget comedy..."

Ning Hao chuckled awkwardly, preparing to refuse, but then noticed that Zhao Yanxi seemed a little serious, so he immediately composed himself.

"Seriously? Are you serious?"

"Of course," Zhao Yanxi put down her pen and leaned forward slightly, "Why not?"

"Shouldn't the Lunar New Year film season be showing some lighthearted and enjoyable movies so that everyone can happily prepare for the New Year?" Zhao Yanxi pressed.

"I've always thought it was ridiculous to put films like 'Thunderstorm' and 'The Door' in the Lunar New Year film season."

Zhao Yanxi vaguely remembered that in the years after he graduated in his previous life, around 2014, the box office hits during the Lunar New Year season were mostly comedies.

Period dramas, action films, suspense films, special effects blockbusters, and so on, all have their own audiences.

But when it comes to the most widely watched genre, it has to be comedy!

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, next year's comedy films should be Stephen Chow's 'CJ7' and Chen Kexin's 'The Warlords'."

And then there's Feng Xiaogang's "Assembly".

"Aside from Stephen Chow, who can barely be considered a comedian, 'If You Are the One' has no rivals," Zhao Yanxi said with a smile. "Haozi, don't you want to take the Lunar New Year box office crown?!"

"Old Zhao, you know what, now that you mention it, I'm actually getting a little excited!"

"Let's get started. Today, the script is submitted for review."

The auditions for "Saint's Lament" are still ongoing. After much deliberation, Zhao Yanxi decided to give the lead role to Duan Yihong.

A graduate of the Central Academy of Drama, he played the assassin Luo Yang in the TV series "The True Colors of a Criminal Investigator" when he first debuted, and last year he also played the dashing and unruly Captain Yuan Lang in "Soldiers Sortie".

Li Jiangdao's image and acting skills are both suitable for the male lead who lives a life of danger.

After the male lead was decided, Zhao Yanxi had her staff announce the casting news.

Lead Actress: Zhang Manyu; Lead Actor: Duan Yihong; Second Male Lead: Tian Yu; Second Female Lead: Tang Yan...

The news sparked excitement among netizens: "Director Zhao has finally received the true teachings of the Beijing Film Academy!"

"Director Zhao has followed the same path as his predecessors..."

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"One is the legendary actress Maggie Cheung, and the other three are all from the Central Academy of Drama. Are actors from the Central Academy of Drama really that desirable?"

"Duan Yihong..."

Huang Xiaoming looked at this somewhat unfamiliar name and never expected that he would be "stolen" from the male lead role.

"I should have gone to see 'Painted Skin' back then..."

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He was somewhat annoyed. After "The Return of the Condor Heroes," making another TV series wouldn't be of much help to him. He might as well try Zhao Yanxi's "Painted Skin."

Regardless of whether Director Zhao can direct that $2000 million period drama well, it is still a big movie.

More importantly, through repeated collaborations, I was able to maintain my relationship with Director Zhao, so that I wouldn't be denied the audition opportunity for "Pieta".

"I still need to see Yifei more often!"

Looking at the final cast list, Wang Jing felt somewhat helpless.

"You didn't even get an audition?"

Zhu Yawen shook her head: "No, Yifei said this is Director Zhao's award-winning film, so it's very important."

"All right."

Wang Jing shook her head helplessly. Sure enough, without her own resources, managing artists is becoming increasingly difficult.

Even if they come across some promising talents, they are all signed by Orange Sky's main company instead of by their own Shiba Culture.

Although this was within the agreement, Wang Jing always felt as if she was walking the same old path she had taken at Huayi.

It's not even as good as Huayi.

In the early years at Huayi, I was able to access some resources.

"I'm watching 'Red Cliff'!"

Wang Jing has given up hope of securing resources from other big-name directors. Orange Sky Entertainment managed to get a small investment in "Red Cliff," so she can only seize this opportunity to promote her artists.

Seeing the comments from netizens, Zhao Yanxi knew that someone from the Film Academy would definitely call her.

As expected, it was Professor Mu Deyuan who called. There was no complaint in his tone, but rather a hint of teasing: "I mentioned to the acting department a long time ago that the teaching approach needs to be changed."

"If we were truly good at teaching, why would we, as directors and filmmakers, abandon our fellow students and keep running to the other school?"

"Did Director Wang complain to you?" Zhao Yanxi asked with a smile.

"No, Lao Wang didn't," Mu Deyuan changed the subject, lowering his voice, "but some school leaders did come over and gave a message, which we shouldn't take too seriously. However, you did make a mistake in thinking things through."

"How so?"

"Publicly selecting actors at this critical juncture will affect school admissions and enrollment..."

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After Mu Deyuan finished muttering to himself, Zhao Yanxi remembered that the school had released its admission brochure a few days ago, which was the time for the new batch of art students to register.

Zhao Yanxi was the face of the film academy's recruitment efforts, but at this crucial moment, that face switched sides...

"Unexpected, unexpected, I really didn't think that much about it."

Zhao Yanxi smiled wryly and said, "I just wanted to announce it so that people wouldn't keep asking me about the audition."

"Alright, no need to explain to me," Mu Deyuan said quite casually. "The actors who have been through the wringer on the stage at the Central Academy of Drama are easy to work with."

He paused, then got to the point: "By the way, the school's final exams are in a couple of days. Are you, such a busy person, able to find time to come back and participate?"

Film school final exams are usually held quite early, since January is the busiest time for celebrities, and the school can't easily call all the acting students back for exams.

"Yes, I had forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it."

Zhao Yanxi was somewhat depressed.

Why is it that everyone else who is reborn gets to take civil service exams and get into graduate school, while I have to take final exams for transferring from a junior college to a four-year university?!

"Talk to your classmates more often when you have time~ It's all mentioned in the class group chat," Mu Deyuan said with a smile. "Alright, I won't bother you any longer, you're such a busy person. Come to the office first!"

"clear"

Zhao Yanxi understood immediately; Old Mu was definitely going to mark some "must-pass" test points for her!

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Yanxi opened the blocked QQ groups and found that there were indeed undergraduate photography students discussing class information.

"I should be able to get a recommendation for graduate school next year."

By transferring from a junior college to a bachelor's degree program and then securing a place in a master's program, Zhao Yanxi has truly turned a slacker into a top student.

At the end of December, the overseas market was also booming.

The Christmas season is no less important than the Lunar New Year season in China. "Juno," which sparked a "bad girl" craze in North America in July, is also making a strong entry into Eurasia during the Christmas season.

In many European countries, South Asia, Central Asia and other places, Juno is once again creating its own box office legend.

Zhao Yanxi vaguely remembered that in her previous life, nearly 60% of the global box office of "Juno" came from overseas markets outside of North America.

Overseas box office revenue sharing is generally much less than that in the domestic market. For example, when Hollywood films are imported to China, the production company only receives 13% of the box office revenue.

While other countries are not as dominant as China, they generally only receive around 35% to 40% of the total box office revenue. In addition, domestic distributors charge a large distribution fee, so on average, they only receive about 20% of the total box office revenue.

Although the amount was small, there was still a share of more than 20 million US dollars.

While domestic media were reporting on "Juno," news also came in that "Curse of the Golden Flower" had a poor box office performance: "It opened in 1,200 theaters, with an opening weekend gross of approximately $850,000..."

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