Chapter 45 Who is ugly is embarrassed
Placing Qiao Lele in Mingzhao Studio was a decision Du Wanwan made after thinking for a long time.
Her current impression of Jiangcheng's entertainment industry still lingered on Pei Xingyao's investigation and the plot of the original novel, which happened to mention Mingzhao Studio.
He still appears as a blind villain.
In the original novel, Mingzhao Studio appears shortly after Ding Zhiyuan officially takes control of Runjia Entertainment Group, which would be six months later. By then, under Ding Zhiyuan's management, Runjia Entertainment Group had reversed its losses and was gradually turning profitable. At this time, Runjia Entertainment invested in a talent show with a video website, selecting nine exceptional female artists.
Mingzhao Studio, the earliest profitable subsidiary of Runjia Entertainment, became the agency for these nine female artists. However, regarding the future of these nine girls, especially the development path of the third girl, Mingzhao Studio's philosophy clashed greatly with Ding Zhiyuan.
Mingzhao Studio believes that an artist's work is paramount, and when appropriate, publicity and financial resources are sacrificed to cultivate an artist's abilities. That female artist's acting is practically innate, a true gem in the rough. Using the company's resources to place her under a renowned director, even starting with the smallest supporting role, she's sure to rise to prominence, guaranteed to win countless Best Actress trophies.
Dante Zhiyuan believes that the most important thing for an artist is their ability to monetize. Beauty and acting skills are useless if they don't translate into money. Don't even talk about ideals; just do whatever the company tells you to do; making money is the most important thing.
What kind of movie are you making? How can making a movie be as profitable as appearing on a variety show?
During the argument, the head of Mingzhao Studio—Du Wanwan only then remembered that it was Fan Zhaoling—had a tirade against Ding Zhiyuan. He accused Ding Zhiyuan of ruining Qiao Lele's talent by designing a path for her, saying that Qiao Lele, who could have won Best Actress, was now practically his secret lover.
Qiao Lele happened to hear these words and burst into tears. Ding Zhiyuan first took the opportunity to gently coax Qiao Lele and successfully brought her to his bed, fulfilling Fan Zhaoling's prophecy. From then on, Qiao Lele became Ding Zhiyuan's secret lover. Until the end of the book, she was just a "girlfriend".
Ding Zhiyuan was so angry that he wanted to fire Fan Zhaoling for his beloved. Fan Zhaoling also got angry and simply took his own artists and severed ties with Runjia Entertainment, almost bankrupting himself.
Later, the original book seemed to mention that the artist who left Mingzhao Studio only won the Best Supporting Actor award in one of the three major film awards.
Regarding this award, the original novel was written with great contempt, full of the implication of "See, this is the consequence of not hanging out with Long Aotian."
However, Du Wanwan felt that with Fan Zhaoling's ability, under Ding Zhiyuan's control, securing supporting roles for his own artists in big-budget films was already a limit. And the fact that his artists immediately won awards once they landed a good role proved that Fan Zhaoling's training strategy was correct.
Now it seems that the artist should be Lin Yanzang, the young actor from Mingzhao Studio.
Fan Zhaoling has a long-term vision, Lin Yan has a conscience, is calm, and is capable.
With such a visionary studio that cares about artists, Du Wanwan is very confident in handing over Qiao Lele, this unripe gem, and is also happy to have them under her wing.
With Du Wanwan's tacit approval, Fan Zhaoling and Yi Jiantai naturally hit it off and quickly exchanged information.
Fan Zhaoling was already over forty, with nearly twenty years in the entertainment industry, making him more experienced than Yi Jiantai. As soon as he saw G-Light Entertainment's information, he knew it had no experience in film and television production. They were relying on hype and pretense, and they probably hadn't even applied for a TV series license.
But G-light Entertainment is too powerful. With the help of secret forces - now Fan Zhaoling knows that it is the power of Yu Chong, the president of Runjia Entertainment - it is almost possible to pick the hottest young actors and actresses in the entertainment industry at will.
The more this happened, the more careful Fan Zhaoling and Yi Jiantai became. After preparing everything, they registered the official Weibo account for the TV series and issued an announcement.
@TV series Hu Ji Zhuan [V]: Hu Ji persuades guests to drink wine. @Lingyun Media.
A Weibo post immediately caused quite a stir in Jiangcheng's entertainment circle.
The entertainment industry is huge, with hundreds of thousands of people working in it. But it is small, with only a few circles.
They are all divided by region.
The Jiangcheng Entertainment Circle has a name in the regional circle, but some people have always said that it would be better to change the name to "Runjia Circle" because 90% of the Jiangcheng Entertainment Circle, from artists to producers, are from Runjia Entertainment.
While Runjia Entertainment is the least profitable division of Runjia Investment Group, it's still a big deal, with many big-name celebrities retired there. Consequently, Jiangcheng's entertainment gossip revolves almost exclusively around Runjia Entertainment Group, and the city's paparazzi and marketing accounts are all focused on it.
Any movement of Runjia Entertainment will be captured by the paparazzi and become a hot topic depending on the situation.
As soon as the official Weibo account of "Legend of Hu Ji" was released, marketing accounts smelled the gossip in it.
Wait, it seems a few days ago a company under Runjia Entertainment issued a recruitment notice, recruiting actors for "The Legend of Hu Ji". However, the company that issued the recruitment notice was not Lingyun Media, but G-light Entertainment.
What's going on? One crew has two official accounts? Or are two companies under Runjia Investment filming the same script?
The marketing accounts secretly inquired about it and were immediately shocked by the inside information.
It turns out that two subsidiaries of Runjia Entertainment have suddenly replaced their general managers. The two were already secretly competing during their probationary period. Now, one company has released a casting call, while the other has officially announced the production company. Both are titled "The Legend of Hu Ji"!
Moreover, the character requirements released by G-Light Entertainment are almost identical to the plot written in Lingyun Media's TV series filing.
The drama is about young and beautiful women from the Western Regions who are good at brewing wine. They come to the Central Plains to open wine shops and play around with the male protagonist, a local official.
This situation is so interesting.
Out of respect for Runjia Entertainment, the marketing account learned the inside story but didn't dare to publish it immediately. Instead, they asked Runjia Entertainment about their attitude. The answer they received was tacit approval.
What is being acquiesced to? Which party is acquiescing to it? Is it G-light Entertainment or Lingyun Media?
The marketing account immediately guessed that it was an internal struggle within Runjia Entertainment, a small workshop trying to ride on the popularity of a big production. What's that description called?
Oh, trying to get attention by force, to make yourself known, and to take the opportunity to improve your status.
So a marketing account posted on Weibo first.
@追剧前线: Look what I found! Two subsidiaries of Runjia Investment are actually filming the same drama simultaneously? Is this a fake and a fake, or is this a new Runjia operation, one script, two companies shooting? A new competitive model? [Surprise][Surprise][Surprise]
After the marketing account released the post, it hired a group of internet trolls to do the work, and soon the topic #True and False Hu Ji Chuan# became popular.
"This marketing account is really good at what it does!" Xi Yimiao looked pleased and scolded his subordinates again. "Why are they targeting their competitors? They didn't even know they had registered an official account! Hurry up, register one too!"
Then, another account also posted on Weibo.
@TV series Hu Ji Zhuan official blog: Where to go after stepping on the fallen flowers, laughing into Hu Ji's wine shop. @G Light Entertainment
The two Weibo posts both used the same poet's verses and claimed to be the official account of Hu Ji Zhuan. This caused a stir and immediately attracted the attention of the onlookers.
Both companies are subsidiaries of Runjia Entertainment, and are considered sister companies. They're clearly working on the same drama, which has already become a hot topic on Weibo. Yet, the two companies seem to ignore each other and just go about their own business.
No one was shouting at each other, calling the other a fake. But while the conversation seemed polite, a closer look revealed a certain tartness.
The topic became a hot topic on Weibo and major forums, with discussions everywhere. Some people even started posting bets on which version of "The Legend of Hu Ji" was the real one.
"Bet placed! G-light Entertainment vs. Lingyun Media, the true and false Hu Ji Biography."
0L: Which company is the real "The Legend of Hu Ji"? Is Runjia really so cunning as to have two subsidiaries shoot the same script?
1L: Whoever comes out first is the real one, right? G-light Entertainment sent out the actor recruitment notice first, so it should be G-light Entertainment.
2L: If it was G-light Entertainment, but Lingyun Media officially announced it, wouldn't they point fingers at each other and call you a "flop" for plagiarism? Why is there no response?
3L: So G-light Entertainment is the one who plagiarized? I heard G-light Entertainment has quite a reputation.
4L: But I haven’t seen Lingyun Media accusing G-light Entertainment of plagiarism?
There were all kinds of opinions at the time, but no one had a definite answer.
Xi Yimiao, Yi Jiantai, and Fan Zhaoling all saw these various speculations.
Fan Zhaoling was worried that the staff of Lingyun Media were all new and easily provoked, so he quickly reminded them, "Public opinion is a double-edged sword. We must proceed with caution and not be led astray by it, nor try to manipulate it. Clarify when necessary, and make mistakes when it's not necessary. What we need to do now is to focus on filming the series."
Xi Yimiao was persuaded by Yu Chong: "Yi Jiantai is Du Wanwan's man, don't you still want to pursue her? It will be of no benefit to you if they fall out now, so just bear with it for now."
That's true, but is he going to just let it go? Impossible.
Xi Yimiao immediately contacted all the entertainment companies in Jiangcheng, asking them to be "cautious" about cooperating with Lingyun Media. Of course, Yu Chong's face was used, but it didn't need to be too much. After all, Lingyun Entertainment's "The Legend of Hu Ji" was basically a joke. What big names could they afford?
After saying hello, Xi Yimiao felt very proud.
He wanted to see how Lingyun Media would prepare the crew without actors.
Lingyun Media did encounter considerable difficulties. Although they had confirmed the female lead for "The Legend of Hu Ji", the other actors had not yet been decided, and the artists they contacted refused one after another.
The male lead is easy to deal with, since Lin Yanzang's role is gone now, so why not just let Lin Yanzang play the male lead in "The Legend of Hu Ji"? But a drama can't just have male and female leads, what about the other actors?
The secret fight between G-light Entertainment and Lingyun Media was so intense that even Tian Sisi, the maid who took care of Du Wanwan's daily life in the Du residence, knew about it.
Du Wanwan had greeted Yi Jiantai and Ye Shiqing at the Du residence several times. Tian Sisi knew that Lingyun Media was her own people, and she was worried when she saw the gossip.
"Miss, this G-light Entertainment is so annoying. Would you like to help President Yi? Bullying President Yi is just bullying you!"
Du Wanwan shook her head slightly.
It's not that she can't suppress Yu Chong, but she wants to use Xi Yimiao as a springboard to test Yu Chong's control over the Jiangcheng entertainment industry. Now is not the time to make a move.
But Sisi was right. Lingyun Media worked for her, and she had to help when they encountered difficulties.
Du Wanwan pondered for a moment and sent a list to Yi Jiantai.
Ever since she discovered her system was suppressed by the original novel's harem system, rendering her unable to even speak, Du Wanwan had diligently reviewed the original novel's plot. She knew that the absence of Ding Zhiyuan didn't mean the original novel's plot had been completely altered. The harem system was the faithful executor of the original novel's plot.
Then, she would have to make good use of the original plot and turn the tables quietly.
What she gave Yi Jiantai now was the cast list of "The Legend of Hu Ji" in the original novel.
Thanks to the original author for listing almost the entire cast and crew of a drama in order to increase the word count. The list Du Wanwan got was very detailed.
But Fan Zhaoling only took a glance, frowned, and asked hesitantly: "Mr. Du, this list... are you sure?"
He recognized many of the names above. They were all internet celebrities who used titles like "beautiful director" and "beautiful script supervisor" to attract financial sponsors in the entertainment industry.
"What you need to fight for are only the names marked in red on the list, but I want you to contact every single one of them. In particular, you need to confirm whether they have joined the G-Light Entertainment crew after rejecting them."
So that’s how it is. I understand.
Yi Jiantai and Fan Zhaoling immediately contacted all parties and gave Du Wanwan a report a week later, which detailed the whereabouts of every person on the list.
The list included those who had joined G-Light Entertainment, those who had joined Lingyun Media, and those who, sensing competition, had chosen neither. However, almost all of the names highlighted in red had signed contracts with Lingyun Media.
As expected. Du Wanwan couldn't help but laugh.
The harem system insists on following the original work, but it never considers that the original work is not the truth.
The original plot was simply to make it easier for the male protagonist to sleep with women, so the original cast of "The Legend of Hu Ji" was not judged by talent at all, only by gender and appearance, and almost all of them were beautiful women. The male protagonist, acting as director, took advantage of all the female characters in the crew, sleeping with four or five women in one film, and from these four or five women, he chose Qiao Lele as his long-term girlfriend.
Naturally, the characters in the original novel who are appreciated by the "director" and deserve special mention are all beauties.
Du Wanwan does not believe that good looks mean lack of ability, but when she hires people, she only looks at their abilities, not their looks.
The red marks in the list are the capable cast and crew members that she identified and selected one by one from the details of the original work.
Now, almost all the people marked in black on the list have been signed by G-Light Entertainment, but almost all the people marked in red have chosen to cooperate with Lingyun Media.
In other words, the appearance belongs to G-light Entertainment, and the ability belongs to Lingyun Media.
very good.
Du Wanwan was very satisfied and asked, "Is the crew almost complete? Then let's go ahead and make the official announcement."
Yi Jiantai also thought so. After discussing with Fan Zhaoling, he finalized the cast and crew list, took makeup photos for the male and female protagonists, and officially announced it.
@TV series Hu Ji Zhuan [V]: Welcome our male and female protagonists, Hu Ji Yu Jin @Qiao Lele, and ancient city management Wu Yizi @Lin Yanzang.
The accompanying picture is the final makeup photo of the male and female protagonists.
Xi Yimiao was a bit nervous when he heard Lingyun Media had officially announced the male and female leads, but then he looked at the Weibo post and burst into laughter: "Yi Jiantai is so low-class! He's actually trying to compete with me with two newcomers! Come on, let's make an official announcement too!"
The staff members below were complaining bitterly. He said it was an official announcement and it was official. The final photos and posters could not be photoshopped!
But who dares to disobey the boss's orders?
That evening, G-Light Entertainment also released an official Weibo announcement.
@TV series Hu Ji official blog: Welcome our male and female protagonists, Hu Ji Yu Jin @杜晓雨[V], and ancient urban management officer Wu Yizi @傅子誠FZC.
Except for the different names of the actors and the lack of makeup photos, the rest of the text is almost identical to Lingyun Media.
The internet exploded immediately.
[No way? Not only do the two dramas share the same title, but the male and female protagonists also have the same names? And the professions are exactly the same?]
[Is it really the same script, but two companies are filming it? This is the first time I've seen this kind of operation.]
[Now we're going to have a good show. Comparisons are frustrating. Only when there is comparison can we see the difference.]
[Okay, now whoever's ugly is embarrassed. Hurry up, I can't wait for the show to start!]
Thanks to these two Weibo posts, the topic #True and False Hu Ji Chuan# has become popular again. It has directly been on the hot search list without any purchase.
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