Chapter 139
Good news, the game is awesome; bad news, it's seriously over budget
"Zhao Jiang" will start filming in early September and is expected to end at the end of February of the following year, which is almost half a year.
In other words, Ling Sui has to spend the New Year on the crew again, and he won't be going home for the Spring Festival for two consecutive years. If the crew finishes filming smoothly, she might be able to rush back to celebrate the Lantern Festival.
As for her 23rd birthday, Tang Bing bought her a cake and specially set aside half an hour for everyone to sing a birthday song for her and take some behind-the-scenes photos, which was considered a celebration.
Ling Suisui only blew out the candles, ate the strawberries and brown sugar pearls on the cake, and shared the rest with his colleagues.
Her parents understand that actors have no control over their work arrangements, but as for what the relatives on both sides might think, who cares?
Ms. Ling Fei was concerned about another thing: "When will your film be released? Will it be shown during the Spring Festival?"
Movies are not like TV series or online dramas, which can be watched on mobile devices. If you want audiences to spare a few hours to go to the cinema, the Spring Festival period is the best choice.
But all film crews understand this principle, so the competition during the Spring Festival period will be extremely fierce. If you are not confident in the quality of your film and are unable to secure a screening schedule, don’t even think about it.
There are a limited number of movies that audiences are willing to pay to watch, and the cruel Spring Festival period is where the top players take all the spoils, while the losers suffer a crushing defeat.
Ling Suisui: "I don't know. It depends on the arrangement of the distributor. Will you book the theater for me?"
Ms. Ling Fei replied: "It depends on the reputation of the movie. If it's good, I'll book 100 screenings for you. If it's not so good, your dad and I will buy two tickets and watch it secretly, which is also a kind gesture."
Ling Suisui: ...
Even the word "quietly" is used. Are her movies really that bad?
"I'm just kidding." Ling Fei said with a smile, "You're pretty well-known. I don't think anyone knows who Ling Suisui is, but if I say Sun Jiayi is filming a movie, my colleagues in the company will definitely be willing to go."
…Well, the third season of Freedom House is about to be aired, and Ling Suisui has long accepted the fact that the character is more popular than the person.
After all, this phenomenon has existed since she played Jia Zhenzhen.
Although Sun Jiayi's data cannot reach the top of the rankings, her success lies in her steady progress and she will never give up.
In a corner that no one cares about, "Freedom House" is almost a permanent fixture on the list of popular old dramas.
Years ago, Ling Suisui and Ai Tianming discussed the situation of "The Game is Online".
She was on the set filming and couldn't supervise the special effects in person, so this responsibility had to fall on Ai Tianming.
Ai Tianming assured her that he would do it well, and if he felt it was not up to standard, he would definitely not pass it.
Ling Suisui was still very relieved about this.
Although Ai Tianming is not good at anything in the investment field, he is a genuine second-generation rich. Given the aesthetic taste that was nurtured by his living environment since childhood, his vision must be extremely discerning.
The fact was indeed as Ling Suisui had expected. Party A, Ai Tianming, became the most difficult client for the special effects company. His high standards and high demands left Party B no room for slacking off, but this also brought negative effects.
He felt that everything he saw was not up to par, so he thought about upgrading his technology, but upgrading would cost extra money.
As a result, the expenses on special effects production increased, not only spending all the original budget, but also spending all the money used for publicity.
This is not enough. Even if he fills in all the budget, he still owes the other party money.
Ling Suisui and other investors who learned about this immediately became anxious. Besides, this is not an era where “good wine needs no bush”. If you don’t do any publicity and marketing for your web drama, who do you expect to watch it?
Even if Aoqi can attract traffic, it is impossible for him to spend much time on copyrighted dramas. Self-produced dramas are their own children.
Only if you have a strong voice will the platform add icing on the cake and help you make more money. If you don't get off to a good start, Aoqi will definitely not help you out, but will only be eager to take over and take away the last batch of leeks and be done with it.
Ai Tianming also realized this. He tried to attract investment again, but now everyone knows that he needs money. With the same investment amount as last year, investors dared to double the share of the profits they demanded.
The more they take, the less money those who invested before will take. No matter how stupid Ai Tianming was, he knew that he could not agree to such a thing. Unless he doesn't mind damaging his own interests and offending so many investors behind the game at the same time.
Ai Tianming had no choice but to use his ultimate trick - pleading with his family, begging them to help him again, and tearfully saying that this was the last time.
The Ai family was annoyed, but considering that the kid had never been a prostitute, gambler or drug addict, and only had some expensive hobbies, they still covered the cost for him. They couldn't just watch him become a deadbeat, could they?
However, they also gave Ai Tianming a very severe punishment.
All his car keys were taken away, the total balance in all his available accounts did not exceed one hundred yuan, and he was locked up at home and not allowed to leave. As for how long this state will last, it depends on the broadcast of "The Game is Online".
If he fails miserably... then he won't be able to live a carefree life for the rest of his life.
Ai Tianming cried and told Ling Suisui that this time he was really betting his entire fortune and life on her.
Ling Suisui thought, how could that be possible. In a few months, the Ai family will feel sorry for him, otherwise who gave him the courage to spend all the budget?
Ai Tianming looks stupid, but the most he has done over the years is lose money from his business ventures. He never touches any business that truly violates the legal red line or makes money quickly. Don’t those people know that he is “stupid and rich”?
She automatically skipped the useless information and asked him, "Has the game's release date been set?"
New Year's Day had already passed, and the game had been changed from being broadcast next year to this year.
"Not yet." Ai Tianming sighed, "Aoqi's executives organized a film viewing party. They praised the quality of our series and could not find any flaws in the performance, casting, script, and costumes. They also praised your acting skills and special effects, but they did not mention when the release date would be set. It seems that the summer vacation release date is impossible."
Summer vacation is the best time for online dramas, and there is almost no possibility of them being aired unexpectedly. If we don't negotiate it a few months in advance, there will be no chance.
Ling Suisui was very calm: "Ochi has four S+ self-produced dramas to be released this year, how can we have a turn during the summer vacation? It would be great if we can air it in the first half of the year."
The copyright of the drama is given to Aoqi, so of course the sooner it is aired, the sooner we can feel at ease. If we are suppressed and don't lift our hands for a long time, there will only be more and more variables in the future.
She said to Ai Tianming: "You should try to schedule it in June first. Maybe you can take advantage of the summer vacation traffic when it's finished. If you can't make it in June, May is also OK."
Although "Game is Online" is not considered an idol drama, who wouldn't want to attract more viewers?
As the lead actor, this is all Ling Sui can do. It’s okay to make suggestions, but the actual implementation still depends on Ai Tianming.
She continued filming with the crew of "Zhao Jiang" and spent New Year's Eve with everyone. When the big screen was projected, Tang Bing felt that the content of the Spring Festival Gala was boring, so he asked several leading actors to improvise and perform a few programs.
This pie was set up by Tang Bing, and the first six actors were all graduates of the Film Academy.
For academic actors, "improvisation" has never been a problem. In addition, the performance content here does not need to be reviewed, and there is no need to consider whether it is positive and energetic, or whether it has educational significance. The skits in which several actors talk to each other are actually funnier than those on the Spring Festival Gala.
A few days before the final shoot, Ling Suisui met a senior who surprised her.
In fact, with Tang Bing's connections, she wouldn't be surprised no matter who she could invite, but... Teacher Qi Xuan?
At least when Ling Suisui and she met last time, Qi Xuan's attitude towards Tang Bing was still very resistant. She was actually willing to make a guest appearance in "Zhao Jiang"?
And it’s at this time - the sixth day of the New Year, and the Spring Festival holiday has not yet ended.
But no matter what, Ling Suisui was still very welcome to Qi Xuan's arrival.
She is looking forward to working with every actor who is better than her, because she can imitate and learn from them and make progress in the process. If she always tries to be more compatible with others, her acting skills will be lowered sooner or later.
If she dared to act, Tang Bing would dare to invite her, and both of them had no concerns that the heroine might be overshadowed.
There is no specific quantitative indicator for acting skills, and Tang Bing fully believes in Ling Sui's ability to become stronger when facing stronger opponents.
If the difference is too big, you will be crushed. The gap is not big, and we can catch up.
Qi Xuan plays an old commoner woman in the midst of war. Although she is called "old", she is actually only in her forties, so Qi Xuan does not need to wear too much special effects makeup.
But at the end of the Sui Dynasty, common people who lived to this age were already quite rare.
There are very few scenes of her, mainly appearing when Li Sanniang is rectifying military discipline and strictly prohibiting soldiers from plundering common people.
Ling Suisui had no rival scenes with her, because a commoner could not get close to Li Sanniang. She could only wait until Li Sanniang rode away on her horse, then kneel on the ground and kowtow.
Ling Suisui was very curious, and she asked Tang Bing, “It was just a small play, how did you convince Teacher Qi Xuan to participate?”
Not to mention that Teacher Qi has a delicate relationship with her. Even if they are good friends, she may not be able to spare the time to make a special trip.
Tang Bing looked at her: "Do you want to know?"
"I want to." Who hasn't been curious and wanted to eat some melons?
Tang Bing seemed to be hesitant to speak, and Ling Sui's mood was like a roller coaster, jumping back and forth between the excitement of knowing the answer and the nervousness of wondering if the teacher would tell her anymore.
Finally, observing that Tang Bing was finally about to speak, Ling Sui quickly pricked up his ears.
Tang Bing smiled and said, "If you want to know, go ask her. I won't tell you."
Ling Suisui: ...
Damn, the teacher got the upper hand in this scene. She is indeed a good person.
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