Chapter 391 He only gives away what he doesn't want.
"Brother Huang is willing to act, that's the best news."
Lu Yanhe told Wang Zhong on the phone, "Director, I'm fine on my end. After thinking it over, I still feel that I'm not suitable."
Wang Zhong said, "However, you and Bige have scenes together in the short film, and you have great chemistry."
"Really?" Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised.
“Yes,” Wang Zhong said. “Moreover, it gave me new inspiration, making me want to expand on it and turn it into a feature film.”
Lu Yanhe was taken aback. "Huh?"
Wang Zhong: "Let me think about this for now. We'll put it aside for now. No matter what, we have to finish filming 'Rouge' first. It's been delayed for too long. Now that Huang Kairen is willing to act in it, we should hurry up and finish it."
Lu Yanhe hummed in agreement.
When do you plan to shoot this movie?
"It will be around February or March next year. Huang Kairen has taken on a role in a drama before that. After he finishes filming, he will need time to rest, recover, and prepare."
Chen Bige, on the contrary, kept her schedule open for "Rouge".
She is now very careful about choosing roles, rarely taking on more than two roles a year, usually only one.
Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised, "At this time?"
"What's wrong?" Wang Zhong asked. "Is there a problem with the timing?"
“No, there’s no problem,” Lu Yanhe said immediately. “It’s just that I suddenly realized I have a lot of projects this winter. I’m going to act in ‘The Road to Glory’, and then ‘Lost in Thailand’ and ‘Rouge’ will start filming one after the other. Fortunately, ‘My Own Swordsman’ was postponed because we had to build a real-life inn, otherwise it would have been even more outrageous.”
Wang Zhong smiled and said, "Then it seems that next year and the year after will be another bumper year for you."
"How would I know?" Lu Yanhe smiled. "Anyway, I'll be thankful if the film can be made normally. It's only when you're doing a project that you realize how many things there are before filming even begins."
After all the back and forth, it can take a year or two for a project to go from scriptwriting to filming, and sometimes there's been no progress for a year or two.
There's no such thing as starting preparations in the first half of the year and filming in the second half. Only Hong Kong did something as crazy as that in the 1980s and 90s.
Wang Zhong said, "We need to start casting for the other roles in 'Rouge.' Besides Chen Bige and Huang Kairen, we can't cast any celebrities for the second male and female leads. Otherwise, the salary expenses will be too high, which will seriously increase the production budget."
Lu Yanhe said, "Well, we'll do whatever you say. Director, your eye for talent is one in a million."
"OK."
Because the domestic box office target for "Rouge" was only around 100 million yuan, and with the addition of overseas and video platform copyright revenue, the final production budget for the film was set at around 40 million yuan.
For an art film, that's not low. But for a cast like Wang Zhong, Chen Bige, and Huang Kairen, it is indeed low.
That's why Wang Zhongcai said that there were no other star actors available.
For an art film, an all-star cast is not very meaningful.
The base size is only so big.
Many art films that can field an all-star cast do so because the director has a stable global distribution network and a large fan base. The production company calculates that the film will be profitable, and the big stars who star in it will automatically lower their fees because of the director.
Just like Chen Bige and Huang Kairen in this film, they both voluntarily reduced their salaries considerably. However, even after the reduction, their salaries were still a significant amount, which would take up a portion of the production budget.
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Lu Yanhe gave up his screenwriting fee and only took the subsequent profit sharing.
He knew the film's box office prospects were not good and didn't want to further strain the already tight production budget.
After learning about the financial difficulties of "Rouge," Aurora Video generously offered to increase its investment to make the film's production more financially feasible.
This greatly surprised Wang Zhong and his group.
Upon inquiry, it was discovered that this was done to maintain a good cooperative relationship with Lu Yanhe.
Not only did Lu Yanhe's "The Seventeenth Floor" become a huge hit this year, but his team's "Jump Up" also made "High Platform Confession" which earned tens of millions of yuan in advertising revenue per episode with a production cost of less than 50,000 yuan per episode. This does not include other income such as traffic generation, which gave Aurora Video a huge unexpected surprise.
They have now collaborated with the "Jump Up" team to create a special program called "High Platform Confession" and will continue filming it.
In this situation, the Northern Lights video came to the rescue, offering timely help.
Aurora Video has received an additional investment of ten million.
The news came as a shock to many in the industry.
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"It's really enviable that someone would invest more so readily."
Fu Kai, the director of "The Road to Glory," was deeply moved upon hearing the news.
"Rouge" had a production budget of 50 million, but "Road to Glory" only had 10 million.
In comparison, "Road to Glory" is not expected to do well at the box office, even though Fu Kai has a previous film that was a box office hit, "Enjoy Life While You Can".
The story of "Rouge" is actually quite good; it's not fair to say it's bad just because it has an art-house script.
"Path of Glory" is considered dull by many film companies.
If Shang Yongzhou hadn't ultimately decided to take the role, they wouldn't have secured this ten million investment.
Fu Kai also knew that this was not a good movie—he had this understanding before filming began and had made this plan.
Therefore, he himself did not expect that such a story would eventually be starring Shang Yongzhou and Lu Yanhe.
It's almost unimaginable that such a production budget could yield such a cast.
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"But why would Yan He take on such a low-budget film? And he's not even the male lead; he's playing a supporting role for Shang Yongzhou."
"What male supporting role? It's clearly a dual male lead story." Someone immediately retorted.
"The dual male lead theory is a lie. Shang Yongzhou is the lead actor, while Yan He is only the second lead. Although Shang Yongzhou is a senior actor who debuted earlier than Yan He and has won some awards, in the past year or two, Shang Yongzhou is no match for Yan He, is he?"
"Be careful what you say. There's no need for Yanhe to belittle our seniors."
"Shang Yongzhou is inferior to Lu Yanhe? What kind of person with a screw loose would be so shameless as to say that?"
...
Before going to bed, Lu Yanhe logged into his Weibo account and found that his comment section was very noisy. Upon further inspection, he thought, "Huh?"
What's going on?
He didn't even have time to investigate why the argument had occurred; the most pressing matter was—
Lu Yanhe immediately replied to the fan who said Shang Yongzhou was inferior to him: Are you sure you're my fan? Are you sure you didn't mistype? Don't slander me.
Chen Ziyan's message came through shortly after: "You're fast! I haven't even had a chance to contact you yet, and you've already replied to your fan."
Lu Yanhe said: Well, I saw it all, so I can't pretend I didn't see it. Sister Ziyan, you saw what they said too.
Chen Ziyan: Your reply only adds fuel to the fire, drawing more attention to the matter and even drawing people into the discussion.
Lu Yanhe: Uh.
Chen Ziyan: Don't reply casually now. We'll handle the rest. I've already contacted Shang Yongzhou's management team and we're investigating whether someone is orchestrating this behind the scenes, trying to sow discord between you two while you're working together, and making you criticize each other.
Lu Yanhe: Huh?
Chen Ziyan: Your starring role in a movie with Shang Yongzhou will more or less make some people feel threatened and aware that you are no longer an unknown newcomer. Your very existence will make people feel threatened.
Lu Yanhe: Then because I was going to star in a movie with Shang Yongzhou, some people felt threatened and wanted to ruin my relationship with Shang Yongzhou. They deliberately found these accounts to stir up trouble and sow discord.
Chen Ziyan: Don't you think this is a bit unbelievable and exaggerated?
Lu Yanhe: A little.
The next second, Chen Ziyan sent a screenshot, saying: "This was received three seconds ago. The ID you replied to has been searched and compared. It has been confirmed that this ID is not your fan at all. It used to be a fan of the band 'Rainy Pear Blossoms,' which was quite influential. Later, the account was sold and the ID name was changed. This is a typical tool account."
Lu Yanhe was stunned, somewhat at a loss.
Chen Ziyan: Now you know things aren't as exaggerated as they seem, right? The industry you're in is one where nothing seems out of the ordinary, so stay vigilant.
The incident involving Lu Yanhe and Shang Yongzhou trended on social media for a while, briefly appearing at the end before being removed shortly afterward.
Chen Ziyan and Shang Yongzhou's team worked together to remove the trending topic from the search results and reduce its popularity.
Lu Yanhe suddenly remembered the incident of "eating one bite and spitting out another" that happened not long ago.
Although Helan later obtained the video, proving that Ji Qianxing had secretly filmed it, Ji Qianxing released it through the media after filming it.
Lu Yanhe has always had a carefree attitude, believing that he is upright and has nothing to fear, and that he is not afraid of what others will say or do.
But as it turns out, if we don't pay more attention, troubles will only increase.
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"So you mean that Lu Yanhe abandoned the script he wrote himself for 'Rouge' because the male lead's character had major problems, and instead went on to act in a movie with a budget even lower than 'Rouge'?"
Zhou Shuchun, a reporter from the Art News, asked in surprise.
“That’s right.” Lian Xun nodded and said to Zhou Shuchun, “You signed a confidentiality agreement regarding this matter. Don’t forget, no matter what, you cannot reveal that I told you this. Otherwise, I will sue you in accordance with this confidentiality agreement.”
Zhou Shuchun: "Lian Xun, you don't need to emphasize these things to me. I'm not the kind of reporter from a third-rate tabloid. Even if we don't sign this confidentiality agreement, I still won't say a word. Not a single piece of information about you will be leaked. In all my years as a reporter for 'Art News,' have you ever seen any of my informants get exposed?"
Lian Xun nodded.
In fact, he knew that Zhou Shuchun's words were more reliable, which is why he ultimately chose to meet with Zhou Shuchun to discuss this matter.
"Huang Kairen refused several times at first, but Lu Yanhe kept trying to persuade him to act in the script he wrote for him. Huang Kairen finally gave in to his persistence and agreed." Lian Xun said with a sullen face, "I'm getting angrier and angrier. Lu Yanhe didn't want to act in the script himself, but he asked Huang Kairen to act in it. That idiot Huang Kairen actually thought it was a good role."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Shuchun frowned slightly and said, "Lian Xun, Wang Zhong is the best director at the Xituer Film Festival, not to mention Chen Bige. It can be said that, given Huang Kairen's current situation, it is generally impossible for him to get a production with this kind of team. I have interviewed too many actors. Do you know how many actors of Huang Kairen's caliber dream of making a film like this?"
Lian Xun said, "If the character's personality was even slightly better, I wouldn't say anything. Do I not understand how strong the production team is? You yourself said that if the character's personality is really good, why would they have cast Huang Kai-ren?"
“I heard that Lu Yanhe himself was willing to play the role, but he had concerns because of his age,” Zhou Shuchun said.
"This is all just a smokescreen he's putting out," Lian Xun immediately said. "If it were truly a good role, would he be willing to give it up to someone else? Have you ever seen an actor willing to give up a really good role to someone else?"
These words touched Zhou Shuchun.
This statement finally gave Zhou Shuchun the idea that "what Lian Xun said might be true."
Indeed, these things are judged by actions, not intentions—if it's truly a good role, no actor would be willing to give it up.
Having talked to so many actors, Zhou Shuchun is well aware of the appeal of a good role to an actor.
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"I was actually quite interested in the script for 'Rouge' before," Shang Yongzhou said when he met Lu Yanhe. "But it's such a pity that I couldn't get the role."
At the time, Shang Yongzhou turned down the film because he wanted to focus on preparing for the movie "The Road to Glory".
Lu Yanhe laughed and said, "Now that I think about it, our film had a limited budget, so it was impossible for us to afford to hire both you and Sister Bige to act in it at the same time."
Shang Yongzhou said, "As long as it's a good script, I can bring my own investment to the production team."
Lu Yanhe looked at Shang Yongzhou in surprise.
"Of course, although the script is good, I guess many people would have doubts about the role of Twelfth Master. Huang Kairen dared to take it, which shows his courage," Shang Yongzhou said. "In recent years, I have seen him playing it safe and taking on very conservative roles. It is rare to see him take on such a role."
"Brother Kai-Ren has always wanted to break through his own limits."
Shang Yongzhou looked at Lu Yanhe and asked, "What about you? Why didn't you act? I heard that Director Wang Zhong also had his eye on you."
“My age is a big problem,” Lu Yanhe said frankly. “If I were thirty instead of twenty, I would definitely have taken the role.”
Shang Yongzhou laughed twice.
"You wrote 'Rouge' and 'Raise the Red Lantern' for Chen Bige, when are you going to write a script for me?" he asked.
Lu Yanhe said, "Brother, do you need my scripts? You have so many film offers."
Shang Yongzhou: "It looks like there are a lot of them, but 99% of them are poorly made stories, like they come out of a vending machine. Moreover, it's hard to find truly challenging scripts in the mainstream market now. To be honest, it's not that you have to play very difficult roles, but if you keep playing those unchallenging roles, you'll become numb."
"That's why you chose a script like 'The Road to Glory,' and only you can make it into a film." Lu Yanhe immediately said, "That's what Sister Ziyan told me."
“Fu Kai has always wanted to seriously make a film based on a story he wrote himself. He’s done a lot of commercial films before, so when I got the script for ‘Road to Glory,’ I didn’t even realize he wrote it,” Shang Yongzhou said. “Initially, there were concerns. The investment was small, and we didn’t have to worry about box office returns, which made it difficult. There were too many unfavorable factors. I didn’t take the role because of the script. To be honest, I mainly wanted to help Fu Kai fulfill his dream of making such a film. He told me that he might only have this one chance in his life to make a film like this, to talk about his understanding of life and the world. So I had to help him, and that’s how I took the role.”
When Lu Yanhe heard Shang Yongzhou tell this story, he was thinking of Liu Bige.
Why did I accept the role in "Late Spring" back then?
The more I learned about this industry, the more incredible I became about the decision he made at the time.
Only a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger, which is why he dared to take on such a film.
If it were him now, would he still dare to accept the offer?
After thinking about it... it seems... I still... dare.
Filming "The Road to Glory" involves many driving scenes, so Lu Yanhe had to learn to drive. He had previously enrolled in driving school but had been learning sporadically, mainly because he was too busy to concentrate on getting his driver's license in one go. Now, even without the time, he had to make do.
Chen Ziyan then found him a professional driving instructor.
Perhaps it was a habit before filming, but Shang Yongzhou would come to see Lu Yanhe every two or three weeks to talk about the script and the acting, so that they could get to know each other.
Lu Yanhe became more and more relaxed in front of Shang Yongzhou, losing his previous restraint.
The two get along quite well when it comes to acting, and they have a lot in common.
Shang Yongzhou was not the kind of theater fanatic, nor did he have the eccentric temperament of an artist.
This is quite similar to Lu Yanhe's kind and benevolent style.
When the two of them chatted, neither of them said anything harsh or condescending; they were both quite polite to each other, which made the atmosphere quite pleasant.
Shang Yongzhou also talked a lot about the time when he was taken care of by Chen Ziyan.
It's clear that Shang Yongzhou really misses the days when he fought alongside Chen Ziyan.
"She's always meddling in everything, worrying about everything. She wants to manage your work, and she cares about the details of your life, even the clothes piled up in my room." Shang Yongzhou couldn't help but laugh as he spoke. "Is she still like that now?"
Lu Yanhe said, "I feel okay, probably because I always live with other people. Sister Ziyan hasn't said anything about it."
Shang Yongzhou: "That's true. You haven't even lived alone yet, and you probably won't live alone in the future. That's good. Sometimes I'm quite envious. I've basically never lived with anyone, never had that experience. I've always lived alone."
Lu Yanhe said, "If you find the right person to live with, you can definitely live together happily."
Shang Yongzhou asked, "Don't you live with your girlfriend?"
"I...we live quite far apart, so I haven't thought about it yet."
I did consider it, but after weighing the pros and cons, I gave up on it. Renting a place wasn't cost-effective; I could only live in that place for two or three months a year.
Shang Yongzhou: "Your age is truly enviable."
"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was taken aback.
Shang Yongzhou said, "Don't worry about it, just take it as me saying it casually."
Shang Yongzhou is only in his early thirties; it's not time to lament his age yet, is it? Lu Yanhe felt that what Shang Yongzhou envied just now was probably not just his age.
Just as he was pondering this, Lu Yanhe's phone suddenly rang, and it rang repeatedly, one after another, as if everyone was sending him messages at the same time.
Lu Yanhe looked down at his phone, and his first reaction was to give Shang Yongzhou a wry smile.
"I have a feeling I'm in trouble again?"
(End of this chapter)
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