The entertainment empire began with Liu Yifei's premarital pregnancy.

"Mr. Lin, everyone has arrived!"

"good!"

Lin Bufan nodded slightly. When he arrived at the conference room, the actors were already there.

The cast includes Liang Jiahui as the male lead, playing Zhang Zili; Li Xiaoran as the female lead, playing Wu Zhizhen; Liao Fan as the second male lead, playing Liang Zhijun, the female lead's ex-husband; and Yu Ailei as Captain Wang of the criminal police team, playing the third male lead.

The fourth male lead is Wang Jingchun, who plays Rongrong, the owner of the laundry shop; and the last female lead is Su Lijuan, who is the ex-wife of the male lead Zhang Zili.

"Director Lin!"

Upon seeing Lin Bufan enter, Liang Jiahui, Li Xiaoran, Liao Fan, and others all stood up.

"Everyone, please sit down!"

After Lin Bufan sat in the main seat, he gestured to everyone and then looked at them: "Today, we'll have a script reading session. If anyone has any questions about their character, please speak up and we can discuss them."

Ever since "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate", Lin Bufan has become fond of these script reading sessions.

Of course, this isn't the kind of thing in the industry where they go through a script reading but end up messing things up; it's something that genuinely contributes positively to the development of film.

The film "Black Coal, Thin Ice" is actually a love story disguised as a suspenseful crime thriller. Upon closer examination, it reveals a captivating quality: cold, oppressive, yet blooming in the most unexpected place—a dangerous flower, the "flower of love."

In the end, the male protagonist wavers between "solving the case and making meritorious contributions" and "love for his lover," and finally chooses to send his lover to prison by his own hands, and then sets off an extremely absurd fireworks display for her in broad daylight.

The plot of this movie unfolds in four stages.

The first phase begins with a dismemberment case, which leads to the death of one police officer and injury to another. The male protagonist, Zhang Zili, is also shot in the abdomen, resulting in his retirement from the military and becoming a down-on-his-luck factory security guard.

In the second stage, the story gradually begins to unfold.

Five years ago, a dismemberment case was solved, but in the following years, two similar cases of body dumping occurred in the small town.

All the cases ultimately involve one person: Wu Zhizhen.

At first, the male protagonist Zhang Zili approached Wu Zhizhen with the intention of returning to the police force, attempting to extract information to solve the case and ultimately turn his life around.

However, when feelings are born, they cannot be controlled by human will. He fell hopelessly in love with this mysterious, aloof, seemingly dangerous woman, but with a pitiful appearance.

The third stage is the investigation of the truth. As the male protagonist delves deeper into the investigation, the mystery surrounding Wu Zhizhen gradually dissipates.

The fourth stage is the ending and climax of the entire film. The case is successfully solved, and Zhang Zili has achieved his goal of making a contribution. He thought he was happy and joyful, but he did not feel these feelings.

He personally sent the woman he loved to prison. As Wu Zhizhen was being put into the prison van, Zhang Zili ran to the rooftop and, in broad daylight, lit several brilliant but absurd fireworks for her.

Especially at the end of the film, when Zhang Zili walks into an empty dance studio and performs that clumsy dance, the entire movie concludes at its climax.

The entire film has a somber tone, and the most challenging role is that of the male protagonist, Zhang Zili.

"Brother Hui, the focus of this film is all on you."

Lin Bufan turned to Liang Jiahui beside him: "This film is aiming for the 58th Berlin International Film Festival. As long as you, Brother Hui, give a brilliant performance, winning Best Actor is practically guaranteed!"

"Don't worry, Director Lin!"

Liang Jiahui replied earnestly.

Having missed out on the Best Actor award at Venice for his previous film "Lust, Caution," he absolutely cannot miss out on this one.

The others all looked at Liang Jiahui with envy. Having read the script, they knew very well that the focus of the film was entirely on the male lead.

Even the female lead, Li Xiaoran, was aware of this.

This role doesn't offer her much room to showcase her talent, so winning an award is practically impossible.

However, being able to participate in this kind of film is a qualification in itself.

For two consecutive days, the 6th and 7th, everyone was in the meeting room for script readings, until the 8th, when filming for "Black Coal, Thin Ice" officially began.

Given Lin Bufan's current status in the industry, he doesn't need to rely on a press conference to generate buzz.

When the film wins an award, that will be the best publicity.

The launch event was quite troublesome. With Lin Bufan's current wealth, he could have just given up if it weren't for the system's rewards.

Naturally, he was too lazy to socialize with those reporters. He wasn't a celebrity and didn't need to rely on them to become known to the national audience.

Despite Lin Bufan's international fame, his popularity among the general public may not even be as high as that of some second- or third-tier celebrities.

His popularity is only supported by his scandals; otherwise, Lin Bufan would almost never appear in the public eye.

"Are the props and lighting all ready?"

Behind the monitor, Lin Bufan turned to look at Guo Fan beside him.

"Everything is ready, Director Lin!"

Guo Fan nodded.

Guo Fan, who aspired to be a director, never expected to become Lin Bufan's assistant director.

He knew very well that Shen Ao, the director signed by the company, was originally Lin Bufan's assistant director. He later became famous in the industry with the film "Lost in Thailand" and entered the club of directors with hundreds of millions of yuan.

Although insiders believe that the total cost of the Olympic bid was inflated, who dares to say that the director lacked ability?

That's why Guo Fan didn't want to miss this opportunity. Since becoming the assistant director of "Black Coal, Thin Ice," he has been busy on set almost every moment.

"Notify all departments and actors: filming will begin in 15 minutes!"

"Yes, Director Lin!"

Fifteen minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

"Action!"

Lin Bufan sat behind the monitor, staring at the screen, holding a walkie-talkie in his hand.

When making a movie, it's impossible to shoot in order, so the first day's scenes were ice skating.

As filming began, Liang Jiahui took a deep breath, then got into character, his eyes fixed on the target ahead, and glided forward.

"Click!"

"Cut! Next shot!"

Liang Jiahui's acting skills are beyond question; he portrayed the character Zhang Zili perfectly.

Just when Lin Bufan thought the filming would go smoothly, an accident caused the crew to stop filming immediately.

"Quick, call 120..."

Behind the monitor, Lin Bufan was sitting steadily at first, but then an unexpected situation occurred in the next second.

Li Xiaoran plays Wu Zhizhen, who accidentally slips and falls on the ice rink.

Because it happened so suddenly, and because the extras next to them didn't react in time, a series of falls occurred.