Chapter 25 Resources [VIP]
Chapter Summary: Two films, choose one
The final night marked a perfect end to the "Chasing the Light" program.
The production team prepared a celebration banquet, and the trainees who had not yet debuted were also invited.
Mu Zhi declined, citing her foot injury as the reason. After hugging Liu Cai and Zhou Jingzhu goodbye, she said, "I'll contact you again in Beicheng."
Assistant Minmin was helping Muzhi to hail a taxi back to the hotel.
He was stopped by his mentor, Xie Chaoyun.
"Sorry, I couldn't help."
He contacted Mr. Qiu, the head of the Owl platform, and learned that Xinghe Culture was determined to retain Mu Zhi's film and television contract, claiming that Owl's contracts for trainees were standardized and would not be modified for an artist, and that they were equally unwilling to compromise on Mu Zhi's film and television contract.
The two sides could not reach an agreement.
As Mu Zhi said, this is a matter between her company and the platform, and it is not something outsiders should interfere with.
Xie Chaoyun has no stance.
When Mu Zhi heard Xie Chaoyun apologize for not being able to help with the withdrawal from the competition, she smiled and said, "There's nothing to apologize for. This was originally my personal matter. Thank you for your concern, Coach Xie."
"The show is over, you don't need to call me mentor anymore..."
"Okay, thank you, senior."
"......"
Xie Chaoyun's eyes held a tenderness she herself didn't realize: "Since you've addressed me as 'senior,' and I've been in this industry for a few years and am a few years older than you, if you need any help in the future, you can..."
I put my hand in my pocket, holding my phone, thinking of exchanging contact information.
Mu Zhi wasn't oblivious; she now understood Xie Chaoyun's growing affection for her. After exchanging contact information and cultivating a subtle, flirtatious relationship, she might be able to obtain the resources or conveniences she desired from Xie Chaoyun.
But she disdained to do so.
It wouldn't be appropriate to just make friends with them, given the current large gap in their social standing.
Lately, all Mu Zhi has been thinking about is the recording of the show and the stage.
Right now, I'm thinking about my future career development; I don't have the mind to think about anything else.
The word "dating" was never in her life plan.
Before Xie Chaoyun could speak, Mu Zhi nipped the budding idea in the bud: "Senior Xie, you are a popular singer, and I am an up-and-coming idol who plans to act in movies in the future. It will probably be difficult for us to cross paths again."
That's for the best. Otherwise, if we were photographed together in private and rumors spread, I, a nobody, would be accused of trying to piggyback on your relationship and using you for publicity, which wouldn't be good for you either. Thank you very much for taking care of me during this time. I wish you a bright future and hope to meet you again someday.
After saying that, he turned and left without a trace of lingering affection.
To Xie Chaoyun's surprise, he convinced himself that he had to add Mu Zhi's contact information because he felt that this girl had great potential. From being a slacker on stage to having her skills recognized by everyone, her beauty became a hit, and she became the most popular. She had done her best to turn the tide against all odds, and he admired her.
So I wanted to help her.
But Mu Zhi's straightforward words just now... allowed him, as someone involved in the situation, to glimpse his own attraction.
The next morning.
Mu Zhi removed the cast from her foot. To avoid the fans waiting at the airport and to prevent being recognized, she and her assistant Minmin chose to take the high-speed rail and then transfer to a plane to return to Beicheng.
After signing with Xinghe Culture, the original owner lived in the dormitory arranged by the company.
Six girls, all new to the family, live in a three-bedroom apartment, sharing a room with two people.
Mu Zhi shared a room with another girl who participated in "Chasing the Light Girls," and she was eliminated in the first announcement of the rankings.
The acting student, a formally trained newcomer, seems to have recently moved back to live at the school.
Minmin stayed with relatives in Beicheng, saying she would move out and rent a house as soon as she had saved up some money.
Mu Zhi checked her account and found that she didn't even have 10,000 yuan in total. She didn't have the financial means to move out and could only stay in the company dormitory for the time being.
We returned to the north of the city and rested for a while.
Mu Zhi led her assistant Minmin to Xinghe Culture to complete the onboarding procedures, and then followed her agent Shang Jian to a conference room, saying that the boss wanted to meet Mu Zhi.
After waiting for more than ten minutes, Zhong Xuan, the boss of Xinghe Culture, finally arrived late.
A man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with a beard, and dressed in a navy blue Tang suit walked in, sat down in the main seat, and fiddled with the sandalwood beads in his hand.
She raised her hand to Shang Jian and Mu Zhi, who had just stood up, "Sit down, you two sit down too."
Zhong Xuan didn't know much about Mu Zhi. He came to meet her simply because the artist he sent to participate in the talent show had made a splash and was valued by the Owl platform. As the boss, he had to get to know her and say a few nice words.
Mu Zhi listened as her boss painted a rosy picture for her:
"Choosing Xinghe Culture was the right choice."
"This is a great platform, and your future is bright."
"The company will definitely nurture you and make you famous," and so on, which is pretty much what the agent said.
It's the company's old sales pitch.
After the boss left, agent Shang Jian finally got to the topic that Mu Zhi was concerned about.
This refers to the company's development plan for her acting career.
"Didn't you mention wanting to act a few days ago? I went to great lengths to get you the opportunity."
As Shang Jian spoke, he pushed the prepared script in front of Mu Zhi and tapped it lightly on the table with one hand. "There are two dramas here, one is a period drama, and the other is a sweet romance drama that young people like now. Both of them will start filming in two months."
With a smug smile, he spread his hands generously and said, "You pick one."
During the few days that Mu Zhi stayed in the hotel due to her foot injury, she went online to collect information and went through all the movie, TV, and web series projects that were scheduled to start filming in the next four months, regardless of the size of the investment. She then looked down at the scripts for the two projects that Shang Jian had given her.
Upon seeing the titles, Mu Zhi recognized both web series.
The first so-called major historical drama was actually a historical food web series, for which she was offered the role of the fourth female lead. The character was a vicious heiress who, in order to win the male lead's love, was tricked by the second female lead into becoming a pawn, mindlessly tormenting the female lead to advance the plot, and ultimately meeting her demise halfway through.
For her second modern romantic drama, she was offered the role of the third female lead, the secretary of the domineering male lead. Her character was a woman who harbored a deep crush on her boss, trying to sabotage the relationship between the main couple. She attempted to seduce the male lead in the office, but after being repeatedly rejected, she harbored resentment and leaked company secrets to a rival company. Later, she was taken to the police station by the male lead.
Let's set aside the fact that both characters have very little screen time and are both very toxic.
According to the information she found about the original IP, project filing overview, and casting call, the production team was consistently poor, even "bad," and the director's previous works were all low-rated and terrible dramas.
The rumored male and female lead actors are all "seniors" who came out of talent shows a few years earlier than her.
Even if my acting skills are outstanding, acting in these two films is just a waste of time. Not only will it not benefit me personally, but I might also get labeled with the hashtag #ActedInBadFilms.
Mu Zhi sneered. Was Shang Jian's job as an agent far too easy? He dismissed her so casually.
He closed the script and pushed it aside.
"Mr. Shang, I learned online that a period fantasy drama called 'The Legend of the Flying Immortal' is about to start production, but the female lead hasn't been cast yet. I'd like to try my best to get a role in it. Could you help me get an audition?"
Shang Jian was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing the next second.
"There are countless actresses eyeing this ancient costume fantasy drama, the competition is fierce. You're an idol who hasn't officially debuted and has no acting experience, what are you doing joining the fray? Mu Zhi, people should be down-to-earth and take things one step at a time. Don't try to run before you've even learned to walk."
Shang Jianyou watched Mu Zhi's performance on the show "Chasing the Light" where she burst into tears in a second. Being able to cry doesn't mean you can act.
They are not the same thing.
Mu Zhi noticed that this agent was extremely arrogant towards the newcomers under her management, resorting to suppression and belittling to "tie her down." Any other newcomer sitting here being ridiculed like that would probably feel utterly ashamed.
She calmly pointed out, "I heard that the company is one of the investors in the drama 'The Legend of the Flying Immortal.' President Shang, all I need is an audition opportunity."
Shang Jian looked somewhat displeased. He hadn't expected Mu Zhi, a newcomer, to be so ambitious and have such strong opinions. How would he manage her in the future?
He had an audition slot, which was reserved for Lin Xuan, the company's top female star.
Lin Xuan vs. Mu Zhi—who is more important? His heart could weigh things perfectly.
"Don't mention 'The Legend of the Flying Immortal' anymore; it's not a resource a newcomer like you can even dream of. The two dramas I've arranged for you have small roles, but the pay is much more generous than other dramas. As a newcomer, you should take advantage of your current popularity and work hard to earn more money."
I came out of the conference room.
Assistant Minmin felt a chill run down her spine. "Sister, what do we do next?"
If Plan A doesn't work, then Mu Zhi has no choice but to activate the alternative Plan B.
Plan A involves leveraging the company's status as an investor to directly secure an audition spot, which would simplify things considerably.
Now, the only way to try and get an audition spot is by working as a regular extra.
It wasn't that Mu Zhi was fixated on this period drama; she valued the script most when choosing a role, but now she couldn't even read it. "The Legend of the Flying Immortal" was adapted from a novel, a well-known old IP, and she had read the novel's plot and thought it was acceptable.
The production team of "The Legend of the Flying Immortal" is also quite good. The director is Wu Ce, who once directed an 8-point ancient costume political drama web series. In recent years, the quality of his works has declined and the reputation has not been good. However, it is a coincidence that in every drama he directs, one of the male and female leads is always a newcomer. Netizens say that he likes to use new actors.
The male lead is said to be a classically trained actor who has appeared in several low-budget films but is not very famous.
This is a story about a god who broke heavenly rules and was banished to the mortal realm. After several reincarnations, he finally let go of his love and saves the world from a great catastrophe, and is restored to the ranks of the immortals.
Popular actresses and rising stars are unwilling to play supporting roles.
As a result, even though the film was about to start shooting, they still couldn't find a female lead.
Therefore, this is Mu Zhi's opportunity.
Assistant Minmin was curious about Muzhi's Plan B, so she followed him to a traditional Chinese style photography studio.
"Sis, where are we?"
"cosplay?"
"You could say that."
Mu Zhi plans to submit her video to director Wu Ce, who listed his work email address on his personal Weibo homepage and the casting email address published in the casting call, to audition for the female lead.
Extras in Hengdian who are just playing minor roles will go to a photo studio to choose their own costumes, do their makeup, and then shoot a video to introduce themselves before sending it to the casting staff and waiting for the audition results.
Mu Zhi had never experienced this in her previous life. Her biological mother was a three-time Golden Horse Award-winning actress with a high status in the industry. When she entered the entertainment industry, she was favored by the halo of being a second-generation star. For the roles she needed to audition for, her agent would take her directly to meet the directors and producers.
This is the first time I've done this.
In reality, if a typical extra were to submit their self-recommendation video, it would almost always go unnoticed. Mu Zhi's advantage is that she is backed by Xinghe Culture Company, which invested in the project. The name #MuZhi# has generated some buzz for her participation in the talent show, and she is also a female lead who dares to take on challenges. Hopefully, this will attract the attention of the staff who are reviewing the emails.
The female lead in "The Legend of the Flying Fairy" is a fairy. Based on the description of the heroine in the original novel, Mu Zhi chose a light pink costume. The fabric didn't feel very high quality, but it looked alright on her. She then had her hair and makeup done at the shop.
As soon as Mu Zhi stood up, the studio owner, photographer, and makeup artist were all amazed, praising her as "a fairy descended to earth" and "it's a waste not to shoot period dramas with such beauty."
Mu Zhi just smiled and took a few photos against a solid-color background.
Then she chose a scene in the store and asked her assistant Minmin to record a video of her with her phone. She chose a scene from the original novel "The Legend of the Flying Immortal" to perform.
It was Minmin's first time recording, and she almost dropped her phone.
Mu Zhi lay on the ground, her lips painted with lipstick to resemble a severely injured and bleeding person, performing a scene of saying goodbye to the male lead as she was about to vanish into nothingness.
Minmin was completely stunned!
It felt like watching a short clip from a movie; I was so moved by Mu Zhi's performance that I cried.
"Waaaaah, sis, you're amazing! You're definitely going to be famous!"
Minmin agreed to be Muzhi's assistant after watching the second and third performances. She had a much better impression of Muzhi and thought that this girl was beautiful, had good singing and dancing skills, and had a bright future.
Today, accompanying Muzhi to the photo studio, especially after watching Muzhi's performance, Minmin realized that her previous understanding of Muzhi was just the tip of the iceberg. Muzhi's talent in acting is terrifyingly amazing, practically at the level of a top-tier professional actor! She really struck gold. Muzhi entering the entertainment industry is no longer just a question of whether she will become famous.
A strong premonition rose in Minmin's heart:
Mu Zhi will definitely go very far in the industry!
After filming the video, Minmin volunteered to do some simple editing and added the photos. Based on the email address and tips given by Muzhi, she directly titled it with "[Xinghe Culture]" and "[Muzhi] [Lead Actress in the Competition]" and sent it out...
On the way back.
Assistant Minmin mustered up her courage and asked, "Sister, have you considered changing companies?"
On her first day at work, she discovered that the brokerage director, Shang Jian, did not value Mu Zhi, lacked the discerning eye to recognize her talent, and liked to put on airs.
It's too difficult for an artist to succeed without the support of a good company.
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