Chapter 573 Director

After considering the matter, Li Zhibai decided to follow Lin Suyang's advice and openly ask Liu Manbo for her opinion.

As Lin Suyang had predicted, Liu Manbo chose to "settle the matter peacefully."

After he got the job of directing this drama, the identity of the director was what he cared about most.

Lower pay is fine, whatever.

Liu Manbo didn't want to go through any more trouble. She was worried that if she tried to negotiate with Lighthouse Video, they might be dissatisfied and start thinking about changing directors again.

After understanding Liu Manbo's thoughts, Li Zhibai nodded and said nothing more.

He realized the impulsiveness and idealism of his previous thoughts. He wasn't exactly disappointed, but he felt somewhat uncomfortable. However, he could only accept it.

Li Zhibai always knew that his situation was different from others. He had his family's backing, which gave him more confidence from the moment he entered the competition. Even more resilient than that was his own personality. Zhou Ping'an couldn't control his arrogance, let alone anyone else.

But he knew that everyone's situation was different, especially with his friends Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang by his side.

For him, it was a matter of pride; for others, it was a matter of fighting for their livelihood.

That's settled then.

Li Zhibai sent a message to Lu Yanhe, telling him that the director had been decided and thanking him for recommending Liu Manbo.

Lu Yanhe: That's good. I hope the filming goes smoothly.

Li Zhibai: How are you doing in Thailand?

Lu Yanhe: I'm about to leave for Malaysia.

Li Zhibai: I saw the news. Will you be working with Cai Na later?

Lu Yanhe: Not yet, what's wrong?

Li Zhibai: I've seen some domestic media outlets making this speculation.

Li Zhibai added: "Some people say that you two have a close relationship, and that Cai Na's management contract in China may be signed with your company."

Lu Yanhe was taken aback and said: No.

He added, "But what you said reminds me. I'll go ask Sister Ziyan."

As a result, Lu Yanhe learned from this question that Chen Ziyan was not only negotiating with Cai Na about the agency rights for mainland China, but also communicating with Liu Manbo about signing him to Linghe.

The former is picking up fire, the latter is the Spirit River.

The companies owned by Chen Ziyan and Lu Yanhe have gradually revealed their respective focuses.

Chen Ziyan said: "I plan to sign Cai Na's mainland actress agency contract and Liu Manbo's director agency contract to Linghe, and then sign their commercial contracts to Shihuoqu."

Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "That's good."

They are clearly distinguished, and each has their own area of ​​expertise.

Chen Ziyan: Cai Na is still very interested in the Chinese mainland market and hopes to enter it. However, her performance on the show "The Birth of an Actor" did not attract much attention or discussion, which made her a little worried about not being able to adapt to the local environment.

Lu Yanhe said: Her Chinese is not very good, and it is impossible for her to really develop here. She is very popular in Southeast Asia.

Chen Ziyan: Yes, I've met with her twice. She's quite cautious about collaborating, but probably because of you, she and her team are quite positive about it.

Lu Yanhe asked: What are your plans for Cai Na's future career development in our country?

Chen Ziyan: To be honest, we only have a temporary plan for her. You told me that there might be a role for her in the second season of "The Squid Game". In addition, our current mainstream direction is to do international cultural communication. With Cai Na's popularity and fame in Southeast Asia, if she is willing to develop in China, she will definitely be able to get a lot of opportunities. My communication with her team has not yet entered the stage of career planning. In fact, we are still in the initial contact stage.

This kind of cooperation will definitely happen gradually.

It takes time for both parties to build trust gradually.

Chen Ziyan: The domestic entertainment industry still has a large market for overseas stars. It used to be quite difficult to make a name for ourselves in this area, but now there is a favorable environment for this, and as you know, many overseas artists also want to enter our market.

Lu Yanhe: Given the opportunity, we would generally like to come; our market is too big.

Chen Ziyan: Yes, so Shi Huo also wants to do this. On the one hand, it is to find opportunities for our artists overseas, and on the other hand, it is to find opportunities to sign some overseas stars. This is actually more conducive to our expansion in overseas markets.

Lu Yanhe: Yes, it's good.

Chen Ziyan: I had dinner with an executive from a Montreal film company today. He knows I'm also your agent and really wants to meet with you to see if we can work together in the future. But he's very frustrated because he had a script he wanted to send to us, but he didn't know who to contact or what channels to use. We can't delay finding an agency for you overseas any longer. I came here today to meet Darren Wilson, and I will finalize the contract terms with him as soon as possible.

Lu Yanhe: Okay.

-

"Okay?" Li Zhibai looked at Zhou Jin in disbelief.

That's bizarre, truly bizarre.

At this moment, Li Zhibai had no other thoughts besides this one.

Zhou Jin is a senior executive at Lighthouse Video in charge of the "Nineteen Years" project. She doesn't usually come to the site, but she unexpectedly showed up today.

Upon seeing him, Li Zhibai had a bad feeling—

One doesn't visit the temple without a reason.

When Lu Xianbo had his accident, the crew was in chaos, and Zhou Jin didn't show up to reassure the crew on behalf of Lighthouse Video. Now that everything is proceeding smoothly and orderly during filming, he has finally appeared.

Sure enough, a short while later, Zhou Jin came to find Li Zhibai.

As soon as he explained the situation, Li Zhibai felt a wave of dizziness.

Lu Xibo has won over his family and his wife, and hopes to return to the production team to direct the series.

"His wife will release a statement tonight apologizing to the public, saying that she deliberately lied about his infidelity because she had a fight with Lu Xibo, and wanted to ruin him."

Li Zhibai found that he really couldn't stand such words—they were so stupid they were almost an insult to human intelligence.

“The nude photos of Lu Bo that she held up at the scene have already gone viral online. You’re saying you’re deliberately lying at this point? Who would believe that?” Li Zhi asked.

Zhou Jin said, "We will explain that it was photoshopped. The photos were not posted directly online; there was only video footage from the scene."

Li Zhi asked, "So, this makes you think that Lu Xibo can come back to direct this drama?"

Zhou Jin said, "Lu Xibo's understanding and familiarity with this drama is definitely better than Liu Manbo's situation when he took over temporarily. Moreover, Liu Manbo is, after all, a new director. Although the shots he shot these past two days have been quite good, many problems have also arisen. For example, yesterday, he insisted on finding a new extra because of an extra's unsuitable appearance, which delayed that scene by two hours."

Li Zhibai laughed in surprise and said, "President Zhou, you're so well-informed! You know everything that's happening on set, big or small. When Lu Xunbo had his accident, the crew was being held together by those two assistant directors, and things were in complete chaos. Why didn't you come over to take control of the situation?"

Lin Suyang: "..."

If he couldn't be stopped immediately, Li Zhibai would start criticizing.

Zhou Jin's smile also froze.

After regaining her composure, Zhou Jin offered another explanation.

"At that time, we were having an emergency meeting to discuss how to resolve this matter."

Li Zhibai continued with a sarcastic "oh".

"So, now that Lu Xunbo says he wants to come back and continue directing, you're all tempted?" Li Zhibai said. "His wife has been appeased and can now give false testimony, but what if she changes her mind again? What if she breaks up with Lu Xunbo again? Will the film still be made?"

His expression turned serious at that moment, and he even exuded a strong aura of pressure.

Zhou Jin: "Zhibai, don't get agitated. I know this might be hard for you to accept. You brought Liu Manbo over, and now you're suddenly bringing Lu Xibo back to direct. But this is a film and television project with an investment of over 100 million yuan. I hope you can understand that if a mature and experienced director, who is also the director most familiar with this project, returns, Liu Manbo can still retain her position as director. It's a dual-director system, with Liu Manbo in charge of the B-unit filming."

“I refuse.” Li Zhibai said without hesitation, “Lu Xibo is a ticking time bomb. Do you think Jiang Jun and I have so much free time? We’ve spent so much time preparing and filming a drama, and then because of his petty affairs, bang, the whole show explodes, the audience boycotts it, the sponsors withdraw, and we’re in deep trouble—why should I use the reputation and audience goodwill I’ve worked so hard to build over the past few years to endorse a lying director?”

Zhou Jin was stunned.

He hadn't expected Li Zhibai to be so resolute in his refusal, refusing to back down in the slightest.

Li Zhibai said directly, "If you insist on bringing Lu Xibo back to direct this drama, then I will withdraw and stop acting."

Zhou Jin's face instantly turned ugly.

Lin Suyang sighed deeply, feeling it was necessary to step in and smooth things over.

“President Zhou, Zhibai is right. Have you considered that if something goes wrong with Lu Xibo, can you cover it up? If his wife causes trouble again like she did on the day of the opening ceremony, the investment of over 100 million yuan might really go down the drain.” Lin Suyang’s tone was calm, but he specifically emphasized the risk. “Lu Xibo is a contracted director of your Lighthouse Video. We can understand that you want to use him, but both Zhibai and Jiang Jun have put so much effort and energy into this drama. Put yourself in their shoes, how could they be willing to risk their efforts being destroyed by such a time bomb?”

Zhou Jin glanced at Li Zhibai, but the latter was no longer looking at him, keeping his head down and avoiding eye contact.

-

I can't stay awake any longer, I'm too sleepy, I'll just post what I've written first.

(End of this chapter)