Chapter 413 Manslaughter
For Meng Bai, the most direct impact of the 5 billion celebration party for "The Wandering Earth" is that the company's film and television department has received a lot of projects and scripts.
Thanks to the widespread dissemination of "Little Broken Ball" fans, many people on the Internet now know Guo Fan's title of "Cyber Succubus". Among them, "Wu Jing became the leading actor after guest appearance" and "Meng Zong became the main force after co-investment" are the two cases that the audience talks about most.
Now, not to mention the circle, even the audience outside the circle also know that it was he who provided a lot of financial support behind the scenes that made "The Wandering Earth" a "box office miracle, the light of science fiction".
For people in the industry who are now in the cold winter of film and television, it is really difficult to find such a rich sponsor who is willing to spend money.
In addition, Arc Light Film and Television now has a special film and TV series business, so the three companies can basically receive a large number of project plans every day.
Everyone hopes to be lucky enough to be valued by "Meng Zong" and then become the next Guo Fan, or the next "The Wandering Earth".
"Don't talk about yours. The number of projects we have received recently at Ruyi has doubled compared to before."
In the office, Chen Zhixi said with a smile: "The funniest thing is that more than 30% of the projects are science fiction themes."
"Haha, science fiction is hot now, and everyone wants to take advantage of the opportunity to get some of the heat." Chen Sicheng on the side responded: "I won't be surprised if a batch of things like "Answer Earth", "Fly Out of Earth" and "New Earth" appear in theaters in a while."
Meng Bai on the other side couldn't help laughing when he heard this. Obviously, he also felt that Chen Sicheng's description was likely to happen.
After laughing, he shook his head: "It's okay, just follow the trend. There will always be filmmakers who work hard. The mud and the sand are mixed together, and the waves will wash away the sand. Time will eventually leave those works worth remembering."
"I hope so."
The three have been working in the film and television industry for many years. Although they are now more concerned about capital and businessmen, they still have expectations for this industry.
After sighing for a while, the three changed the topic and talked about business.
When Detective Chinatown 2 ended, Chen Sicheng said he wanted to put the third part on hold for now. After discussing with Meng Bai, the two proposed a new "Southeast Asian crime theme" movie. During
this period, in addition to being busy with The Wandering Earth, Meng Bai has also been thinking about new stories privately, and now he has finally come up with the first project.
"Manslaughter?"
Chen Sicheng and Chen Zhixi looked at the cover of the script in their hands, which had the name of the movie written on it.
"Well, it's worthy of being Mr. Meng's work. The name has that feeling as soon as it is heard." Chen Zhixi had a bright smile on his face and praised it without hesitation.
"Come on, Sister Xi, let's not do this."
Meng Bai waved her hand indifferently, and then began to introduce the content of the script to the two.
"Speaking of which, the story of Manslaughter is actually derived from Detective Chinatown 2." Meng Bai said: "The protagonist of the movie is one of the protagonists of the New York case, Song Yi."
In the New York chapter of Detective Chinatown 2, many detectives from other countries appeared. Like Noda Hao from Japan and Kiko from Hong Kong, these are not just supporting NPCs, they will definitely appear in the later stories.
In addition to these "god-level" detectives, there is also a fuse character of the case, "smuggler" Song Yi. He was initially suspected of being a murderer by the protagonist group, and later became a follower of the "Tang Detective Duo" because of the wanted list.
But until the end, Qin Feng finally discovered that he was actually the real mastermind behind the whole case and a member of the mysterious "Q Organization".
After the first part was released, Kun Tai, who was "incompatible with evil", received a lot of praise from the audience, so in the second part, Chen Sicheng called him over again and played "Song Yi" again.
This is also the first time in the entire "Green Ivy Criminal Investigation Universe" that the same actor played two roles.
Of course, the two characters of Kun Tai and Song Yi have nothing to do with each other. Compared with the movie version and the web drama version, there is also a semi-independent story line, which does not affect the main line of the web drama.
In the plot of "Detective Chinatown 2", Qin Feng once asked Song Yi about his background. At that time, the latter said that he used to live in Bangkok and came to the United States to find his missing sister.
However, with the exposure of Song Yi's true identity, no one knows whether this "background story" is true or he fabricated it in order to reasonably approach Qin Feng and others.
Therefore, when Meng Bai was thinking about the new project, he combined this point with the fragments of inspiration in his mind to write a new story similar to "Song Yi Prequel".
In the new story, Song Yi is a businessman living in a small town in Thailand. He opened a small company and his favorite thing to do is to watch movies.
He often says that "When you have seen more than a thousand movies, you will find that there is nothing strange in this world."
Song Yi came to Thailand from China to work hard for many years. He has a wife, Ayu, and two daughters. The eldest daughter, Song Qian, is fifteen or sixteen years old this year and is in middle school. The youngest daughter, An An, is six years old and has not yet started elementary school.
Song Qian is an excellent student in school. At a class reunion, she was sexually assaulted by the son of the local police chief. When the perpetrators chased them home, they were accidentally killed by Ayu and Song Qian.
Song Yi, who rushed back after receiving the news, understood that although his wife and daughter were killed by mistake, and the other party was the first to attack, his mother was the chief of the police station and could not let them go.
In order to protect his family, Song Yi used his years of experience in watching movies and used the "montage" technique to conceal the truth and help his lover and daughter escape the crime of "manslaughter".
"On the second, watch the boxing match and eat cake together. On the third, go to the market and go home in the evening."
Chen Zhixi looked at the lines repeated many times in the script, and after muttering a few words, he suddenly realized: "Isn't this the editing technique of film and television in the later stage?"
"Yes." Meng Bai nodded: "By repeating actions and strengthening memory, the evidence and reality are misaligned, and a day is freed up."
"Wonderful!"
Chen Sicheng on the other side read the script and breathed a sigh of relief: "This technique is indeed very clever. Moreover, it is also very dramatic."
After speaking, he smiled: "This script is awesome. I just finished reading it and now I have the idea of filming it."
"Then let's shoot. I originally asked you to come here because I wanted to hand it over to you." Meng Bai said.
This series was originally discussed by the two of them. In addition, Chen Sicheng has experience in both Thai background and suspense themes, so it is no problem to hand it over to him.
"It's also our contribution." Chen Zhixi hurriedly said.
"Don't worry, Sister Xi, we are a family now, and we will definitely not forget you."
"Oh, I almost forgot, you are my boss now."
The three most important people in a project, the investor, the director, and the producer, are here, and this project was approved without a doubt.
"In this case, is it confirmed that Xiao Yang will play the male lead?" Chen Zhixi looked at the two men, "After all, if this movie is regarded as a derivative of "Detective Chinatown 2", then the actor cannot be changed."
"No need to change. When I wrote the script before, the character image was designed according to "Detective Chinatown 2." Meng Bai said, "Besides, Xiao Yang's acting skills are not bad, and his audience appeal and appeal are also good, so let him continue to play the role."
"What about other characters? What are your plans?"
"No hurry, we will discuss it slowly after the preparations are completed."
Chen Sicheng also had new questions: "There are two settings in the script that I don’t quite understand. One is Song Yi’s daughter Song Qian, who has the same name as his missing sister mentioned in "Detective Chinatown 2". Is this a foreshadowing? Also, if this is used as an introduction to Song Yi’s background, then how did he join Q and then go to New York?"
Meng Bai smiled after listening, "Are you curious?"
Chen Sicheng and Chen Zhixi looked at each other and nodded: "Yes, I'm quite curious."
"Do you really want to know what happened behind this?"
"Yes."
"Very good, then wait and watch "The Accidental Murderer 2"."
"..."
Chen Zhixi and Chen Sicheng were both choked. Looking at Meng Bai's smug expression, the former rolled his eyes speechlessly, while the latter just laughed and cursed.
"Okay, okay, just kidding."
Meng Bai said with a smile, "It's like this. The script ends with Song Yi turning himself in and going to jail. From an off-stage perspective, this is mainly to circumvent censorship, but from a plot perspective, it is to trigger the story later, so that Song Yi has the opportunity to contact Q, and the latter helps him escape from prison."
"The name of the eldest daughter, Song Qian, is indeed specially designed. She is the key to the later plot. It was because something happened to her that Song Yi agreed to join Q and come to New York. As for what exactly happened..."
Meng Bai spread his hands, "I haven't thought about the later part yet. I'll talk about it when the second part is about to be filmed."
The story was interrupted at the exciting part, and the reason was that the author was too lazy to write. This is undoubtedly a very maddening reason.
However, Chen Zhixi and Chen Sicheng both admitted in their hearts that this is really a good way to whet the appetite. Especially for the audience who have watched "Detective Chinatown 2", they will definitely be very curious to know the later plot at that time, and the audience base for the second part will be there.
So although there is still some resentment, the two did not continue to ask.
As a senior Thai film producer, Chen Zhixi's connections and channels there are the strongest in the mainland film industry. The story of "Manslaughter" does not involve any big scenes, so it is very simple to prepare.
According to her experience, if the project is established now, it can basically be prepared before the summer vacation, and it will take two or three months to shoot. If everything goes well, it can even catch up with the Spring Festival next year.
However, this kind of suspense crime theme is a bit disadvantageous in the Spring Festival. It is better to delay it until the May Day or summer vacation, so that there is no need to rush.
As for the producers of this project, Arclight Film, Ruyi Film and Chen Sicheng's Yitong Film and Television are definitely there, and then Wanda and Jingbei Culture, two familiar ones, can be added. In addition, China Film, Maoyan, and Alibaba can also be called.
This is a routine operation in the film industry. It is not just about sharing financial risks, but more about gathering the strength of all parties to give the film more distribution and publicity resources.
In particular, this project is the most promising "Meng Bai + Chen Sicheng" combination in the current film industry, which is basically equivalent to a steady profit. No matter who is involved in this kind of project, it is equivalent to owing a favor to someone. When other projects need to use that person in the future, it will be easier to talk to him.
The three of them chatted in the office for an afternoon and almost decided on the general plan of this project.
Chen Sicheng raised his hand to check the time: "Let's have dinner together in the evening?"
"Sure, no problem for me." Chen Zhixi said. Chen
Sicheng smiled ambiguously: "Mr. Chen, it's okay for you to come to dinner, but we won't take you to the entertainment activities after dinner."
"Entertainment activities?"
Chen Zhixi was stunned for a moment, but reacted in a blink of an eye. She spat at the two men opposite: "Bah, disgusting!"
"No, Sister Xi, I haven't said anything yet." Meng Bai expressed innocence.
Chen Zhixi rolled his eyes at him: "Don't give me that, do you think I don't know that you two are the same kind of people. Do you dare to say that you won't go to the entertainment activities in the evening?"
"Why not? I really won't go." Meng Bai said righteously.
Chen Sicheng looked over when he heard it: "There's no need, junior brother. Let's not give up our happiness just for the sake of a breath."
Meng Bai spread his hands: "The main thing is that I already had plans with other friends tonight. Not to mention entertainment, I can't even go out for dinner."
"Friends? Ah, your girlfriends, right?" Chen Sicheng waved his hand: "There are plenty of opportunities to match up, and this night is all that matters. Come with me, I'll take you to do something fun."
"Forget it, I'm not interested in the kind of women who can't stand looking at each other without heavy makeup and lights."
"Alas, sometimes, you can't just look at the face..."
Chen Sicheng muttered a few words, and seeing that Meng Bai was indeed not interested, he waved his hand: "Forget it, I really have nothing in common with you young people. Let's go."
"You...be careful."
-
"Wow--"
With a hissing sound, accompanied by the ingredients being poured into the pot, the spacious kitchen was suddenly filled with the aroma of oil.
Jin Chen leaned against the refrigerator door, looking at her friend dressed as a "little cook", and couldn't help saying: "I say, you are too pampering him, and you cook for him yourself."
Li Yitong, who was cooking carefully, carefully stir-fried the dishes in the pot until she covered the pot, then raised her head and smiled: "I didn't say who I cooked for, how do you know it's not to celebrate your termination of the contract?"
"Come on, I don't know you, you value love over friendship. But I have never eaten the food you cooked."
"Then I can taste it today."
"..."
Jin Chen grinned speechlessly, and had nothing to say to this love-brained friend.
Speaking of which, she was supposed to make an appointment with Li Yitong today. One was to celebrate the completion of the other's new drama, and the other was to celebrate that she finally terminated the contract with the company and regained her freedom.
Since she went to court with her former company Tangren and had a complete fallout with each other, Jin Chen has almost no acting offers in the past year. Including the resources she contacted through some of her own connections, they were all rejected by the company in the name of contract disputes.
Like Arc Light's "Secret and Great", and Noon Sunshine's "Long River", all of them are hit dramas in the past few months. For a small actor like her who is not even a third-tier actor, it was really a chance to become a big hit, but she missed it.
In the past year, she only aired a small web drama that she had filmed before, and the results were quite fuzzy. Then she participated in Tencent's "Supernova Games", and relied on her dance skills to perform rhythmic gymnastics, which at least made a small splash.
But generally speaking, this year has been wasted.
However, she was open-minded and managed to hold on for a year, making it through the last period of the contract. The contract just expired a few days ago, and she finally got rid of the obstacles of her original company.
However, this year of silence still had a great impact on her. The film and television industry is changing very quickly, and she was not a very popular actor to begin with, so her current situation is not much worse than that of newcomers.
Fortunately, she still has a best friend.
More importantly, her best friend has a super awesome boyfriend.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
