Chapter 158 Han Jinze

This survey result was within VIER's expectations.

The Starlight Music Awards have been suspended indefinitely. Starlight TV will also use this opportunity to thoroughly investigate other awards it hosts to ensure that similar incidents do not occur again.

This is both a shock and an opportunity for the Chinese music scene.

The cancellation of such a prestigious awards ceremony will inevitably dampen the atmosphere of the music industry to some extent, but other platforms can take this opportunity to refine their own awards ceremonies. It's hard to say who will become the leader in the music awards ceremony world in the future.

When Meng Fanxi heard the news, he was reading a script in Li Yingqiu's office. Upon hearing this, he opened his phone and found that his teammates in the group were also discussing the matter intensely.

Seeing that Meng Fanxi seemed to be in a better mood, Li Yingqiu smiled slightly and asked, "What fun thing did you see?"

Meng Fanxi looked up: "Xu You said that before the Starlight Music Awards are discontinued, could you please give us the Best Group Award trophy first?"

Li Yingqiu laughed when she heard this. The matter had escalated to this point, and almost everyone knew that the Best Group Award should have been given to VIER. However, Star Channel did not mention it in its statement. After all, this matter not only involved VIER, but also the group that replaced VIER in winning the award.

Meng Fanxi knew that it was unnecessary for Starlight TV to give them a Best Group Award, but she couldn't help but laugh at Xu You's bluntness.

The online public opinion was similar, with VIER's fans reacting particularly strongly. They didn't care what other groups thought; as the group directly mentioned by the whistleblower as having been cheated out of an award, the investigation results did not deny any of the whistleblower's claims, which meant that it was indeed true.

Moreover, this blacklisted award was of great significance to VIER. Perhaps Zhang Yang would not have gone abroad after sweeping all the awards that year, and the group's activities would not have been suspended for a year.

VIER fans vented their dissatisfaction in the comments, while fans of other groups also felt that their favorites might have been unfairly targeted. It was rare for fans of all groups to stand on the same side.

After chatting with his teammates in the group chat for a while, Meng Fanxi continued to look through the scripts he had received during this period.

Since his debut, his careful selection of scripts and his dedicated performances have earned him a small reputation in the industry. As a result, he now receives a wide variety of scripts, including both leading and supporting roles, and many new directors do not hesitate to extend invitations to him.

Since his debut, he has mostly played supporting roles with three-dimensional personalities and strong tension. In order to avoid being labeled as a "golden supporting actor", he has also started to take on leading roles in a planned manner.

Seeing that he was engrossed in reading the script, Li Yingqiu didn't disturb him much. However, when he took a break, she said, "The scripts you've received since you graduated have all been of very high quality, which may also be due to the abilities you demonstrated in your graduation project."

Meng Fanxi nodded. He didn’t know if it was because of his graduation project, but the scripts he currently had were of higher quality than those he had received before.

The suspense and revenge scripts are basically the best in the same genre. I didn’t expect that he would be directly invited to act in them. It’s a pity that most of them are TV dramas.

He now prefers filmmaking.

Compared to TV series, every shot in a movie is polished more carefully, and he is currently selecting a movie from these scripts that can be his first leading role.

Meng Fanxi placed two scripts in the center. Is it this science fiction film or this literary film?

With the two films starting production around the same time, a choice had to be made.

After taking a closer look at the names of the two scripts, Li Yingqiu secretly admired Meng Fanxi's eye for choosing scripts. He had previously been in charge of trainee-related content at Baihe, and although he had many resources, his ability to appreciate scripts still needed improvement. Therefore, he had shown the scripts given to Meng Fanxi to Wei Ye in advance.

Wei Ye's ability to judge quality was honed from a young age; he can instantly recognize which scripts have the potential to become hits, and these two scripts were among his recommendations.

Just as Meng Fanxi was about to make a decision, his phone rang. He put down the script and picked up the phone. It was Director Feng calling him.

"Hello? Teacher Feng?" Meng Fanxi answered the phone with a question in his mind. Director Feng usually didn't call him directly; they usually practiced using chat software.

"Fanxi, have you been busy lately? Have you taken on any acting roles?"

Meng Fanxi: "No, Director Feng, I've been reading scripts recently and haven't decided which role to take yet."

"An acquaintance of mine recently got a book that I think would be suitable for you. Are you interested?"

Upon hearing this, Meng Fanxi was certain that the script recommended by Director Feng was perfect. Just as she was about to reply, Director Feng added, "He only wants college students who are currently enrolled. Although you have graduated, you still meet the requirements. He also needs to conduct an audition."

Requiring college students to act, which means requiring newcomers to act, and requiring auditions, generally indicates that the quality is definitely not low.

Meng Fanxi thought for a moment and asked, "Teacher, could you please tell me what type of film it is and which director it is?"

Feng Huacan's laughter came through the phone: "Look at me, I got so excited that I forgot to tell you the most important information."

"It's Han Jinze's. The title is still being revised. It's a light comedy, but I've read the script. It combines commercial appeal with artistic merit, which is perfect for you."

Hearing Han Jinze's name, Meng Fanxi's heart skipped a beat. He was very familiar with Director Han. In his previous life, in order to pass the audition, he watched all of Han's movies and put as much energy into analyzing the director as if he were doing a graduation project.

As far as he knows, among his films, only that movie seems to combine commercial appeal and artistic merit, but that's impossible, isn't it? It's only been seven or eight years since Director Han made that movie.

No matter what, he couldn't miss this opportunity. He thought about what kind of movie Director Han had made around this time in his previous life. It could be "Ling Feng" or "Dream of Autumn Leaves".

Meng Fanxi suppressed his somewhat chaotic thoughts and agreed, "Teacher, I want to try."

Director Feng was delighted to hear this and went on and on about it.

Meng Fanxi then learned that it turned out that several directors were sitting together catching up, and Director Feng was praising him highly during the meal. He then asked if there were any good scripts suitable for him recently. Director Han told him the truth, but he also emphasized that the audition requirements were very strict and that he wanted to find newcomers without fame to play the roles. He said that even if he recommended someone, they might be rejected.

Director Feng took Director Han's phone and read the script. He found it very suitable for Meng Fanxi, so he got Meng Fanxi an audition opportunity. If Meng Fanxi didn't want to go, he wouldn't force him. He also wouldn't tell him about the events during the meeting to put pressure on him.

Now that Meng Fanxi had agreed, Director Feng recounted the whole process. Meng Fanxi was deeply moved. For Director Feng to ask for such an opportunity was to incur a favor. If Meng Fanxi hadn't agreed, the favor wouldn't have been repaid, and he wouldn't even have known about this incident.

After sincerely thanking Director Feng, Meng Fanxi added the contact information of Han Jinze's assistant director, which was recommended by Director Feng.

The other party quickly agreed to his friend request, and his tone was very polite. He was surprised that it was him who added the friend. Generally, many famous stars have assistants or agents who help them coordinate scripts.

Meng Fanxi didn't think too much about it. Since it was Director Feng who recommended him personally, he would of course add him directly out of respect.

Looking at the chat box with this assistant director, it would be a lie to say that Meng Fanxi's feelings were not complicated. In his previous life, the person he added for the audition was just an assistant. He was so humble that he was practically in the dust, and the assistant was indifferent to him.

Now he actually contacted the assistant director Wen Qizhi directly, and Wen Qizhi also conveyed Director Han's welcome.

When Wen Qizhi sent over the audition script, Meng Fanxi finally felt at ease.

The movie title has not yet been decided, but the plot is very familiar. He can automatically pick up the second half of the lines as soon as he sees the first half. Every action and every scene seems to take him back to his past life, where he was fully immersed in the film crew day and night.

After reading only two pages, Meng Fanxi became a little excited. Li Yingqiu, who was watching, obviously found that Meng Fanxi's state was not right. Was he depressed or happy?

He couldn't explain it.

Meng Fanxi hesitated to scroll through the script on his phone screen, thinking to himself that perhaps this was fate, that it would eventually come to him no matter how many times it went around in circles.

It turns out that the movie Director Feng recommended was the masterpiece in his previous life that made him experience great ups and downs - "Simple Things".

Wen Qizhi then sent another message.

Wen Qizhi: Hello, this film is currently holding auditions at several major film schools. However, considering that you have already graduated and it is not convenient for you to return to school for the audition, Director Han has arranged a separate venue for the audition. I will send you the time and location later.

After thinking it over, Meng Fanxi replied with "Okay".

Li Yingqiu asked, "Fanxi, are you planning to audition?"

Meng Fanxi nodded, "Director Han's movies are never bad, especially since the script is really good. I want to give it a try." He also wanted to find out why Han Jinze wanted to film this script now, instead of a few years later.

However, he is now almost completely confident about the audition, not only because of his understanding of the entire play, but also because of his age.

In his previous life, he auditioned for six rounds. The reason why Han Jinze hesitated was that he was too old. Compared to the age of twenty-something set in the script, he was too old at the time. If it weren't for his acting skills and his appearance that didn't look his age, Han Jinze would never have used him.

Now, his image perfectly matches the script's description; the only thing that doesn't meet the requirements is that he's not a newcomer.

He knew Han Jinze. He wanted new talents simply because they were highly malleable and had no fame. He wanted to create artists with the Han Jinze label to demonstrate his ability to identify talent.

Han Jinze is indeed quite arrogant, and Meng Fanxi did not dare to underestimate this audition. After determining the time and place, he began to prepare for the audition.

During this period, Wei also sought everyone's opinions on the group's plans for the year. Just as they had hoped, an album and a tour were arranged. As for variety shows, they would probably appear on a few programs to promote the album. They were more cautious about long-term reality shows.

Before the audition, Han Jinze unexpectedly sent a friend request, which surprised Meng Fanxi. He thought he would pass the audition without any audition.

Of course, this was just his fantasy. Han Jinze's leading roles, even those he often worked with, all required auditions; there had never been an exception.

Han Jinze, with his directness as a great director, sent a message to Meng Fanxi: "I saw your graduation project and it's very inspiring. Even if you didn't get the audition this time, we can continue to work together in the future."

Meng Fanxi replied, "Thank you, director. I look forward to working with you."

Of course, it won't be next time; this time, he's determined to win "Simple Little Things".