Chapter 77

If he has this much money, could you share some with him?

Standing at the foot of the small hill that Hu Zhenzhen had mentioned, General Manager Zhu had only one thought in mind.

This was the first time he had ever heard someone call a big mountain a small hill.

In Mr. Zhu's memory, the hill should be about the size of a small earthen mound, and it would take a person ten minutes to walk to the top of it.

The mountain in front of him had thousands of steps, and even looking up at the top made Zhu's neck tired. When he heard Hu Zhenzhen mention "small hill," his lips twitched.

"Mr. Hu, is this the Xiaoshan you were talking about?"

“Yes,” Hu Zhenzhen said, leading the way up the mountain. “There’s a small waterfall on the side of the mountain. Let me take you to see it.”

There's also a waterfall!

Mr. Zhu was completely numb.

There are rocks, mountain paths, a waterfall, and even a pavilion. Is this the little hill Hu Zhenzhen was talking about?

He followed behind Hu Zhenzhen, unable to utter a single word.

Of course, a large part of the reason for the silence was that General Manager Zhu really didn't have any energy left.

After finishing his meal, he rested for a while and then came this way with Hu Zhenzhen. He was able to ride a horse on the way here, so he didn't feel too tired.

But once you get to the bottom of the mountain and want to climb back up, you have to do it step by step on your own.

Mr. Zhu is overweight and doesn't exercise much.

After climbing the mountain for only five or six minutes, people were already panting heavily.

"Mr. Hu, where's the waterfall? I can't see a trace of it."

Of course you can't see it from here; the waterfall is on the other side of the mountain, and you need to walk up and go around to see it.

We've only just started climbing, less than ten minutes have passed.

Hu Zhenzhen wanted to tell him this, but when she turned around, she saw that General Manager Zhu's face was covered in large beads of sweat.

"Mr. Zhu, would you like to take a break?"

If Chen Kai hadn't been at the very back of the group, Hu Zhenzhen would have been genuinely afraid that President Zhu would faint and fall off the mountain.

Climbing this mountain seems too difficult for people who don't exercise regularly. Realizing this, Hu Zhenzhen asked again.

"To see Zhu Zong Waterfall, you have to climb halfway up the mountain and then walk a little further to the right. Do you want to go check it out?"

These words were essentially giving President Zhu the opportunity to give up.

Hu Zhenzhen thought he really didn't look like someone who could climb up the mountain, and it would be really unnecessary if something happened to him while he was climbing.

Mr. Zhu looked extremely tired, and Hu Zhenzhen assumed that he would immediately agree after she said that.

But in reality, Mr. Zhu gritted his teeth and persevered.

"We've already climbed this far, it would be a real shame if we didn't see the waterfall."

Since General Manager Zhu insisted on climbing, Hu Zhenzhen continued to lead the way.

Fortunately, they brought several bottles of water with them before climbing the mountain.

After walking and stopping frequently, and drinking two bottles of mineral water, Mr. Zhu finally saw the waterfall.

"Phew, Mr. Hu, phew, this waterfall of yours, phew, it's really great."

Mr. Zhu's breathing sounded like a broken bellows, but he was in good spirits. After seeing the waterfall, he wiped the sweat from his brow and walked with even more energy.

Walk straight ahead for a while, and you'll reach the small platform at the foot of the waterfall.

Hu Zhenzhen built a small pavilion there for viewing the scenery, but in order not to affect the view of the waterfall, the pavilion was built in a somewhat secluded place.

As long as that corner is avoided, only the waterfall can be preserved during filming.

She was thinking about filming, but Mr. Zhu only has time to think about himself right now.

Finally, they arrived at their destination and could rest. He sat in the pavilion and took a few deep breaths.

After drinking another bottle of water, I finally felt better.

After going through all sorts of hardships to climb up, Mr. Zhu thought the waterfall was exceptionally beautiful.

"This place is so beautiful, Mr. Hu. You have a good eye for choosing. If you ask me, we should develop this place into a scenic area and sell tickets."

What Mr. Zhu said wasn't entirely untrue. After all, many scenic spots only have one place worth visiting. This small hill is a good place to climb, and you can also see the waterfall. In addition, there are many unique buildings that Hu Zhenzhen had people set up.

"Let's not do it for now. The area behind this mountain has another purpose."

She refused, and Mr. Zhu didn't insist.

On this trip, he toured Hu Zhenzhen's film and television base thoroughly. He wouldn't say he knew everything about it, but he had a general idea of ​​what it was like.

Before leaving, Mr. Zhu washed his face with the spring water from under the waterfall.

The cool water splashed on his face, instantly relieving the heat and sweat, and he finally felt more comfortable.

There's still a long way to go down the mountain. Mr. Zhu knows his body well; he'll inevitably break a sweat going down the mountain. He wants to cool off now so that the sweat on his face won't get in his eyes as soon as he starts to descend.

In addition to Mr. Zhu's investment, Hu Zhenzhen also received investment from another person.

That's Xiang Wei.

Before investing, she specifically consulted Hu Zhenzhen to confirm, and learned that Hu Zhenzhen had indeed invested 1 billion yuan, so she doubled her investment to 100 million yuan.

This brings the total investment for the new film to 1.11 billion.

With so much money, even if you just throw it around, you can still make a splash in the market.

Correspondingly, it's not easy to recoup such a large investment.

The film revenue is shared with the theaters. The more Hu Zhenzhen invests, the more box office revenue she needs to break even after the film's release.

Given that there was an agreement with Lu Ye, Hu Zhenzhen still readily gave him the 1 billion.

She used money she got from the system, and this billion yuan almost wiped out all the money she had earned from doing parent-child tasks recently.

Since Baihua Ranch got on track, Hu Zhenzhen has never been this poor.

It gives you the feeling of starting from scratch and building something new.

Hu Zhenzhen wasn't too afraid of losing with this all-or-nothing gamble, but for Lu Ye, the pressure was considerable.

Lu Ye and Lei Tao have been sleeping at the company for the past three days.

The two of them, with dark circles under their eyes from staying up late, were discussing the storyboard with great enthusiasm.

With such a large investment in the film, the two of them were under considerable pressure. It was precisely because of this that they paid even more attention to details and wanted to make the film even better.

Superhero movies from the United States have been incredibly popular in the last two years.

There are very few big-budget special effects superhero movies like this in China, which is why China has always been ridiculed for not being able to do special effects well and produce superhero blockbusters.

In reality, China's special effects industry has long been developed and has produced a wealth of talent.

One reason why blockbuster superhero movies can't be made is insufficient investment; not many investors dare to gamble on such risky projects.

Secondly, people in China don't inherently worship heroes as much.

What do they worship?

When pondering this question, Lu Ye and Lei Tao's answers were surprisingly consistent.

immortal.

God is not a concept that belongs exclusively to any one country.

However, China has a large enough number of myths and legends. The variety of gods and the stories of gods passed down from different regions are enough to provide the film and television industry with an inexhaustible source of inspiration.

In recent years, due to various factors, fewer and fewer production teams dare to film mythological dramas.

On the contrary, fantasy dramas that discuss love and romance, and suspense dramas that explore the truth, have become the mainstream in the market.

"Brother Lei, let's make a decision. We can't delay any longer."

The investment amount is too large, and the two are being extremely cautious. At this point, they still haven't been able to decide on the ending, whether to adapt it or follow the original mythological ending.

Lei Tao wrote both versions and showed them to Hu Zhenzhen.

Hu Zhenzhen affirmed his creative abilities.

She was satisfied with both versions and readily agreed to let Lu Ye make the decision.

The problem was thrown to Lu Ye, and he and Lei Tao discussed it, but couldn't make a decision for a long time.

"The original ending is easier for audiences to accept, but it's too unoriginal. Who wants to go to the cinema to see something they already know?"

Lei Tao's statement implied a preference for an adapted ending.

Lu Ye actually liked the adapted ending, but he was unsure whether the public would accept it.

With such a large investment in the film, the costumes, props, and sets will be top-notch. Under these circumstances, if the story has problems and the film fails to reach its full potential, neither Lu Ye nor Lei Tao can accept it.

"Let's go with the adapted version."

Lu Ye hardened his heart.

"Since Mr. Hu has also approved it, it means that the story is still worthwhile. What we need to do next is to tell the story well and have the actors perform it well."

He rambled on and on, unable to hide his inner unease.

Lei Tao is even better than Lu Ye.

Although he was the one who wrote the story, and he was nervous, compared to Lu Ye, Lei Tao's nervousness seemed rather nonchalant.

"Just do your best and don't let yourself have any regrets."

His words were already a way of comforting people.

Lu Ye was already used to his blunt way of comforting him. He slapped his forehead a few times until his face turned red, and finally he came to his senses.

"We can't hesitate any longer. It's settled. We'll start auditioning actors tomorrow and try to start filming in winter. I want to film the scene of the Jade Pool Assembly on the ice."

Since we chose mythology as the theme, we naturally had to choose something more popular.

When Lei Tao was creating this story, the first thing that came to mind was the childhood idol of the masses.

Erlang Zhenjun, Yang Jian.

With such outstanding characters, the audience will have expectations before watching the movie.

Many people have told the story of Chenxiang splitting the mountain to save his mother, but Yang Jian, who did the same thing, is rarely mentioned in film and television dramas.

Lei Tao grasped this line of thinking, which is why he decided to tell the story of Yang Jian.

Erlang Shen is a household name, but the story of Erlang Shen splitting the mountain to save his mother is something that audiences may be seeing for the first time on the big screen, bringing a sense of novelty and unknown.

"Don't worry, with 200% effort, we will definitely succeed."

These words were less of a way to comfort Lu Ye and more of a way to encourage himself.

Lu Ye didn't feel comforted after hearing this. He turned around and went out the door to discuss with his assistant which roles to start with in the casting process.

When news spread that Jianghu Films was preparing a new movie, actors in the entertainment industry paid close attention to Lu Ye's situation.

Recently, no matter which company they work for, the question agents are asked most often is this:

"Any audition requests from Jianghu Film & Television?"

Jianghu Film and Television didn't try to hide it; the news that they were going to make a mythological drama had already spread.

After the broadcast of "The Dragon Slayer", everyone knew that Hu Zhenzhen had a large film and television base and was exceptionally good at creating large-scale real-life scenes.

They dared to make a mythological drama and invested a huge sum of money, a billion yuan, so they must have a lot of confidence in this movie.

With that in mind, even more actors wanted to join the cast.

However, getting into Jianghu Film and Television is not so easy.

Many companies tried to find back channels and connections to get their actors in, but found that they couldn't find any way to do so.

Their technology is as solid as a rock.

From the producer to the director, and even the two investors besides Hu Zhenzhen, everyone made it clear that they wanted fair casting.

Even the contracted actors in Hu Zhenzhen's Jianghu Film and Television had to go through a proper audition and compete with others if they wanted to participate in this movie.

However, compared to actors from other companies, they are still quite competitive.

Given that the actors' acting skills are similar and they fit the roles well, director Lu Ye prefers to choose actors from this company.

There's nothing else to it; it's just that we know our own actors well, and they're all obedient and don't cause trouble.

Lu Ye has led many film crews.

Before joining Jianghu Films, he had seen many instances of fans of male and female leads fighting over billing order in film and television productions.

Some obsessive fans even go so far as to tally the appearance times of each person, and attack the production team if the male and female leads appear only a few minutes apart.

This really caused Lu Ye a lot of trouble at the time.

He doesn't have this problem with products produced by Jianghu Films.

The reason is simple: these actors don't fight over billing order, and their fans get along like a family, harmonious and friendly, so naturally, such extreme situations don't occur.

The world-building this time is so vast that there are many characters that Lu Ye doesn't have a suitable candidate in mind.

In this situation, an external audition is absolutely necessary.

He sighed in advance, but only smiled slightly after his assistant told him that Jiang Chen was coming to audition.

"Why do we still need Xiao Chen to audition? Actually, I had already decided on that role. I'll go to Mr. Hu's house and ask Xiao Chen to play it."

When Lu Ye invited Jiang Chen to act for the first time, his motives were not entirely pure.

But after actually witnessing Jiang Chen's talent, his thoughts changed.

Such excellent young actors are extremely rare in the industry. Since the boss's son has the desire and ability to act, wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?

There are two important scenes for young Yang Jian, and the first thing Lu Ye thought of when he read the script was Jiang Chen.

Based on his understanding of Jiang Chen, the child was definitely capable of playing the role.

On the contrary, it's difficult to find an actor to play the adult Erlang Shen.

In today's entertainment industry, there are very few actors who can perform both action and dramatic roles.

In particular, Erlang Shen has an indispensable requirement—handsome appearance.

This single request alone is enough to put Lu Ye in a difficult position.

Being handsome is not enough; Erlang Shen's appearance needs to be upright, and his temperament is also required.

With so many conditions combined, Lu Ye was in a real bind.

He specifically looked up a list of actors and compared them one by one, but after a whole day, he still couldn't find a suitable Erlang Shen.

They're either handsome with an effeminate air, too short, or simply lack acting skills.

After much deliberation, none of them satisfied him, so he could only hope that casting a wide net would work and attract some unknown actors.

"Once you're ready, remember to tell Ms. Hu and ask her to audition with us."

The film's investment was substantial, and since they weren't planning to spend huge sums on actors' salaries, a significant amount of money was allocated to the production team itself, so Lu Ye didn't dare make any decisions lightly.

As for the lead actors, at least the big boss, Mr. Hu, needs to make the final decision.

Things are progressing very quickly.

Lu Ye anticipated that casting would take a lot of time, so he didn't want to waste a single day.

The lake only freezes to a safe thickness naturally within a month during winter, and the film crew must officially start filming before that time.

Otherwise, we would have to wait until winter a year later to film that scene.

If the time frame is too long, the actors' condition will be different, and it's easy for flaws to appear.

The best solution is to power it on as soon as possible.

Two days later, at the audition.

As soon as Hu Zhenzhen arrived, she was met with stares from a group of actors waiting to audition.

She's incredibly famous in the entertainment industry now; most serious actors would love to join Hu Zhenzhen's production team.

Not only were there no messy issues, but the actors were also treated exceptionally well, with guaranteed meals and accommodation.

It may sound unbelievable.

But for actors who are not yet famous, these basic things are what they care about.

"Hello, Mr. Hu!"

A young actor, who was not far from Hu Zhenzhen, was the first to greet her.

This sentence seemed to trigger a chain reaction, and in an instant, the words of General Manager Hu, who was sitting on the floor in a messy, disorganized manner, rang out in the lobby.

Hu Zhenzhen didn't know whether she should answer them or not, so she just kept saying "Hello everyone" and then quickly went into the audition room.

Jiang Chen was pulled along by her, watching the people who came to audition with a mixture of amusement and annoyance.

Once inside, he tugged at Hu Zhenzhen's sleeve and said with some worry, "Mom, I have too many competitors."

Hu Zhenzhen was immediately amused.

"They're not your competitors; your competitors won't be here for a few days."

Today, we'll mainly be selecting supporting actors who have significant roles in the film.

For movies like this, the script wouldn't be given to the actors directly so they could draw their own lines.

Everyone has to perform the same thing, and only those who perform well have the chance to receive a second topic and perform an extra scene.

With so many actors waiting to audition outside, Hu Zhenzhen estimated that the auditions would go on until eight or nine o'clock at night.

"Mr. Hu, come quick!"

The audition had already begun, and Lu Ye greeted Hu Zhenzhen, leaving her the seat of honor.

Seeing this, Chen Kai scanned the room with his eyes, found a small chair, and moved it next to Hu Zhenzhen's chair.

This is Jiang Chen's location.

The auditionees varied greatly in skill level; some were talented, while others were so over-the-top that they were unbearable to watch.

Hu Zhenzhen felt a little bored after an hour.

She's not a professional in this field, so while she can watch for a while, it's hard for her to stay focused when faced with long, tedious tasks.

In contrast to her, nine-year-old Jiang Chen watched very attentively.

"Xiao Chen, are you studying?"

Before the next actor came in for an audition, Hu Zhenzhen quietly asked him.

Jiang Chen nodded seriously.

"Everyone here is very strong, and I need to learn from my seniors."

This precocious little man's demeanor is somewhat similar to Chen Kai's serious expression.

Hu Zhenzhen smiled and didn't disturb his studies, showing that his serious attitude towards learning was good.

She was a little distracted, and thinking that she couldn't bear to watch anymore anyway, she moved her chair back a bit and picked up her phone to look at it for a while.

In just a short while, Lu Ye caught her out.

"President Hu!"

Lu Ye's tone was urgent, "You really need to take a good look at the actors, you've already invested all your money!"

Hu Zhenzhen really couldn't stand it anymore; all these people's performances were pretty much the same.

Eight out of ten use the same formula; it's obvious they've studied it, but it's too formulaic.

Only when a very different performance comes in does she feel like putting down her phone and watching the whole show.

"I know it's been invested, a billion."

Hu Zhenzhen's tone was very calm, "So Director Lu, you need to keep your eyes open and make sure you find the right actors."

Lu Ye was very annoyed and turned his head away with a resentful expression.

"It's not enough for me to just agree; one-man rule is unacceptable. Mr. Hu, you also need to agree."

Once the two became familiar with each other, they didn't hold back when they spoke.

Hu Zhenzhen simply pointed directly at Lei Tao, "Isn't screenwriter Lei helping me with the quality control? There are also so many assistant screenwriters and assistant directors here. With you all here, I feel at ease."

She was relieved, but he wasn't!

Seeing that he couldn't persuade Hu Zhenzhen, Lu Ye simply changed his tactics.

Normally, when the actors come in to perform, he, as the chief director, would comment on their performances and then tell them to go back and wait for news.

Occasionally, when he gets tired of talking, Lei Tao will say a few words on his behalf.

In order to get Hu Zhenzhen to watch the performance carefully, Lu Ye came up with a terrible idea.

After each actor finished their performance, he would immediately turn to Hu Zhenzhen and ask her questions.

"Mr. Hu, would you like to say a few words? What do you think of the actor's performance?"

Hu Zhenzhen immediately stopped him.

She only glanced at it; what kind of evaluation could she possibly offer?

Even if she had looked closely, Hu Zhenzhen, being an outsider, wouldn't have been able to offer any useful feedback.

She gave an awkward laugh. "I can tell that this actor has some academic background, but I'm not a professional when it comes to judging acting. Professional matters should be left to professionals. Director Lu, I'd like you to give your evaluation."

Lu Ye then adopted a director's demeanor and explained a few words.

Hu Zhenzhen was caught off guard by his trick and became more cautious. For the next half hour, she actually watched attentively, just as Lu Ye had hoped.

It's not that she's unwilling to look carefully; it's just that looking carefully makes no difference to not looking carefully at all.

After watching for another half hour, when Director Lu asked her how it went, Hu Zhenzhen still couldn't answer anything.

She originally only intended to come here to go through the motions, but Lu Ye persuaded her to come to the audition room.

Now, just thinking about spending a whole day like this makes me restless.

Later on, Hu Zhenzhen simply stopped caring.

She asked a staff member for an A4 sheet of paper, wrote a few large characters on it, and pasted it in front of her seat.

The next actor to audition entered the room. He was nervous at first, but when he saw the big words in front of Hu Zhenzhen, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

After he laughed, he caught Hu Zhenzhen's attention, and she looked up at him twice.

"It's okay, don't be too nervous."

Hu Zhenzhen offered a perfunctory word of comfort before looking down at something else.

Lu Ye wanted to open his mouth, but when he saw the paper in front of her, he silently looked away.

"Alright, let's begin the performance."

Hu Zhenzhen secretly curled the corners of her mouth, finally feeling relieved.

In front of her, the words were written in large black and white, making them hard to ignore.

[An investor who knows nothing about acting.]