Huayu: Starting with mentoring female stars

"Female lead, are you serious?" Chen Zhou asked.

"Of course I'm serious. As long as Director Chen is willing to give me a chance, I will definitely perform better than last time, until you are satisfied," Yang Mi promised.

"Apart from that, you're not considering anything else, right?" Chen Zhou asked.

"Yes, I only want to play the female lead," Yang Mi said.

"Then forget it." After saying that, Chen Zhou hung up the phone directly, not giving in to the situation.

"Wait...wait a minute! Director Chen, wait a minute!"

Yang Mi was still calling out when she realized that Chen Zhou had already hung up the phone.

Her other roommates had all heard the whole thing.

"Honey, I'm not trying to be mean, but why don't you consider the supporting role that Senior Brother Chen Zhou mentioned? At least you could get a role, right?" Zhang Xiaofei said.

"Yes, Mimi, one of the characteristics of Director Chen Zhou's movies is that they really bring out the colors of ordinary people. Maybe she says she's a supporting character, but she can still make you memorable to the audience, right?" Yuan Shanshan added.

Hearing these words, Yang Mi's face darkened with displeasure:

"Are you kidding me? Why is it that Liu Yifei gets the lead role just because she works with him?"

"Besides, the female lead in this new movie is that girl named Jing Tian. In what way am I inferior to them?"

"Why should I play a minor role with almost no screen time? I'm not doing that."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaofei and Yuan Shanshan stopped talking.

As her roommates, they were well aware that Yang Mi had always been proud and arrogant.

They are particularly career-oriented.

Sigh, if it were them, they would have definitely agreed to Chen Zhou's offer right away.

At this moment, Yang Mi was thinking to herself:

One day, she will make Chen Zhou regret not choosing her to play the female lead!

Just wait and see!

Two days later, all the investment for Chen Zhou's new film was raised.

Besides the 800 million he invested himself, the remaining 500 million shortfall was covered by Liu Dehua's investment.

Because he directed and wrote the script, he was entitled to a 15% share of the contract he signed this time.

虽然百分比跟上次一样没有变化，但300万成本的15%份额是45万，1300万成本的15%份额则是195万，高了许多。

With his additional investment of 800 million, he holds a total share of 68.33%.

Go all in!

On March 21st, a large-scale film and cultural exchange event was held in Kyoto.

Chen Zhou attended as an invited guest.

Besides him, Jiang Wei and Sun Honglei also received invitations.

Because their previous film, "Lurking," was also a key project.

After Chen Zhou and the other two arrived at the scene, they met many familiar actors and directors, such as Xie Jing, the director of "Garland Under the Mountain".

And the cast and crew of the hit TV series "Crossing the Guandong" which aired in January of this year, including Li Youbing and Zhu Yawen.

Chen Zhou was seated in the second row by the organizers.

Jiang Wei and Sun Honglei were sitting next to him, and those sitting in the first row were mostly elderly people.

As soon as Chen Zhou sat down, a familiar face came up to greet him.

It was Ning Hao.

"Director Chen, hello, I'm Ning Hao. I've seen your film 'The Nameless,' it's an excellent work," Ning Hao said.

"Director Ning, hello. I also really like your film 'Crazy Stone'." Chen Zhou exchanged pleasantries with him.

"Director Chen, you're really amazing! With the same investment of 300 million, your movie grossed a whopping 1.5 million at the box office, which is far more than my film 'Crazy Stone.' Compared to you, I'm just a nobody." Ning Hao said with admiration.

"It was just luck; it was all thanks to the audience's kindness," Chen Zhou replied.

"I heard you've recently started preparing for a new movie. Is that true?" Ning Hao asked.

"It's true. Everything else is ready. The script reading session for the production team is starting tomorrow. It was originally supposed to start today, but we were invited to participate in this event," Chen Zhou said.

"Director Chen, you really are a highly efficient director. I need to learn from you in this regard," Ning Hao said with a smile.

"Director Ning, you're too kind. There are many things I need to learn from you," Chen Zhou said.

Ning Hao felt particularly comfortable with Chen Zhou's high emotional intelligence in conversation.

He had originally thought that Chen Zhou, having achieved his current success, would be somewhat arrogant.

After all, if it were him at Chen Zhou's age, making a film like "The Nameless" that grossed 1.5 million yuan, he would definitely be arrogant.

This made him admire Chen Zhou's character even more.

After saying hello, Ning Hao returned to his seat.

As Chen Zhou watched Ning Hao's retreating figure, he felt a strange sense of dread, like he was being treated like a minotaur.

Because in his past life, the director of the film "No Man's Land" happened to be Ning Hao...

Not long after, two more people came up to Chen Zhou to curry favor.

But this time it wasn't men, but two well-known actresses.

One is Gao Yuanyuan, and the other is Qin Lan.

These are the two actresses from the film "Nanjing Nanjing".

"Hello Director Chen, I'm Gao Yuanyuan. It's nice to meet you here." Gao Yuanyuan extended her hand.

"Hello." Chen Zhou shook hands with him.

"Hello Director Chen, my name is Qin Lan." Qin Lan also extended her hand.

"Hello." Chen Zhou's expression remained unchanged as he shook hands with Qin Lan in greeting.

"Director Chen, your film 'The Unknown' is truly a great movie. When it was first released, Lanlan and I went to see it in the cinema, and after watching it, I became a fan of yours immediately," Gao Yuanyuan said.

"Yes, Yuanyuan and I even went to see it twice. It's really rare to find such a good movie," Qin Lan agreed.

"Thank you for liking my film, it's my honor," Chen Zhou said.

He said this not to the two female celebrities, but to the two audience members.

"By the way, Director Chen, if it's convenient, could I have your phone number?" Gao Yuanyuan asked cautiously.

"I want to keep one too," Qin Lan added.

"No problem." As he spoke, Chen Zhou took out his phone.

Then he exchanged phone numbers with Gao Yuanyuan and Qin Lan.

Both Gao Yuanyuan and Qin Lan were very satisfied to have successfully obtained the phone number.

They went up to Chen Zhou to get his contact information.

Everyone knows that Chen Zhou is a leading young director with limitless potential.

If I don't take this opportunity to build a good relationship with Chen Zhou, I'll probably have to go through someone else to introduce me to him in the future.

Seeing how popular Chen Zhou was, Jiang Wei and Sun Honglei were watching with delight.

They wouldn't find it strange.

They would only think that Gao Yuanyuan and Qin Lan are both smart people.

There's not even a need to discuss Chen Zhou's directing talent.

Given Chen Zhou's looks, it's perfectly normal for female celebrities to be attracted to him.

There's no way around it, Chen Zhou is universally acknowledged as handsome.

"What are you two doing over there?" At this moment, Lu Chuan walked over from not far away.

"It's nothing, just saying hello to Director Chen."

After saying that, Qin Lan took Gao Yuanyuan and left first.

They were on the other side, but they made a special trip to get to know Chen Zhou.

Before leaving, Gao Yuanyuan gave Chen Zhou a smile, showing her intellectual side and trying her best to leave a good impression.

Lu Chuan, dressed in a suit, with his hands in his pockets, casually pushed up his glasses, feigning politeness:

"Director Chen, it's been a while. You seem even more radiant than before. It looks like your 1.5 million yuan box office success has certainly made you very proud!"

"Of course, but Director Lu Chuan, you look much more haggard."

"Could it be that he's been thinking about me too much and seeing how well I'm doing has made him a little sleepless?"

Chen Zhou smiled.