Chapter 207 Promoting Positive Energy
Jia Yueting took Xu Kun to the office on the third floor, and then he said seriously: "We are now being targeted by , and we have to be on guard against some things. What I mean is that while making a gangster story as a gimmick, it would be better to make a TV series that promotes righteousness.
In this way, once the underworld stories are targeted by the higher-ups, or even banned, we can launch programs that promote positive energy to offset the public opinion.”
That's what happened.
Xu Kun questioned: "It's a good idea, but if two dramas are filmed at the same time, won't LeTV's funding gap be a bit large?"
As mentioned before, online dramas are new and it is not easy to attract investment, let alone starting work on two dramas at the same time.
"It's indeed a bit troublesome. It would be better to make a drama with small investment, big gimmicks, and not make people feel poor."
After saying this, Jia Yueting stared at Xu Kun with hope, hoping that he could give him another good idea.
Are you an idiot who treats your buddy as a wishing well?
Xu Kun was a little speechless, but when it comes to programs with small investment, big gimmicks, and the ability to promote positive energy, he actually thought of one.
"Why don't we do a variety show?"
Xu Kun said: "Let's create a variety show where people read letters to the audience. Collect some touching letters from all over the country, such as suicide letters from the Anti-Japanese War era, suicide notes from terminally ill patients, or letters with sharp and humorous writing. Then find a few cheap and talented actors to read them. It won't cost much."
Due to "conditional limitations" in his previous life, he had watched only a handful of variety shows, and letter-reading variety shows were the most common. After all, most of these programs promote patriotism and can be regarded as political lessons for his fellow inmates.
Jia Yueting's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he said excitedly: "This is good, this is good, this is better than the underworld story!"
As he said that, he patted Xu Kun's shoulder fiercely and said, "I knew you must have some good stuff hidden in your belly!"
He paced back and forth excitedly for a few times, and then said, "But the first letter must be written to someone who has a gimmick, preferably a well-known anti-Japanese war hero!"
"That's not difficult. In fact, I heard someone say that when Ms. Yang's former residence was being repaired in the 80s, a family letter that had never been sent was found, or a love letter..."
After listening to that story, Lao Jia couldn't help but sigh and said solemnly: "You must be the director of this variety show, and you must invite the best actors to read it!"
"Not only do I want to be a director, I also want to be a guest host."
This time Xu Kun did not refuse, but took the initiative to take on the job of host.
After all, the letter-reading variety show mainly depends on the screenwriter, the copy, the host and the letter reader's performance. Xu Kun even feels that it doesn't matter whether there is a director or not.
"Okay then, you and Gan Wei will host it together!"
After a few words, the two decided on this variety show, tentatively named "Seeing Words as Faces".
Lao Jia attached much more importance to this variety show than any gangster story. He even cancelled his original plan of doing both evil and red at the same time and decided to shoot "Seeing Words as Faces" at all costs.
He even hoped that Xu Kun could postpone "The Domineering CEO Falls in Love with Me" for a few months.
"The female lead will have a retest on May 5th. How can you ask me to postpone it?" Xu Kun said speechlessly: "Besides, it will take some time to collect the appropriate letters and confirm copyright issues."
Only then did Jia Yueting give up in disappointment.
Xu Kun asked again: "Then are you still going to shoot "How to Become a Bad Guy"?"
"Let's shoot! Let's shoot "Words as Faces" first to promote positive energy, and then when we get the first round of financing, we'll use the underworld story as a gimmick - if we're criticized by the higher-ups, we'll bring out the sequel to "Words as Faces"."
Lao Jia was also a decisive person. He assembled a team that afternoon to collect appropriate letters from various places according to Xu Kun's plan.
After hearing about the idea of "Seeing Words as Faces", the son of his fellow villager took the initiative to take over the job of producer - this time, Lao Jia didn't even need to lobby, many coal bosses took the initiative to rush to invest money.
However, Xu Kun did not participate in these disturbances. After he set the general outline, he put his energy into "The Overbearing President Falls in Love with Me". Although "Seeing Words as Faces" is quite lethal in this era, if it really wants to become popular, it still has to rely on the originator of the overbearing president.
Because of Yang Mi's withdrawal, the candidates for the female lead were reduced from six to five, but the competition became increasingly fierce.
Xiong Naijin secretly proposed to invite Xu Kun to dinner through Gan Wei, but the purpose was obviously not as simple as just having a meal.
Xu Kun was somewhat tempted, but Xiong Naijin's chances of winning were really slim, and he was not the kind of person who would take advantage of everything and not admit his mistakes, so he could only refuse with regret.
On May 5, a fight even broke out at the Central Academy of Drama. On one side were Tang Yan's loyal fans, and on the other side were Tong Liya's classmates.
But as a teacher at the Central Academy of Drama, Tian Youliang still felt a lot of pressure. He even regretted filming any TV series - he has been filming dramas for more than ten years, but none of them were as torturous as "My Tyrant President Falls in Love with Me".
If I had just listed my credit as a screenwriter, I don't know how much trouble and controversy could have been avoided.
But it was too late to regret now, so he could only call for the female lead's second interview two days in advance, on May 5.
Among the five girls, the first to be eliminated was Wang Likun. Compared with the initial audition, this girl had not changed at all and was obviously even more lazy.
The second person to be eliminated was Tong Liya.
The reason was that the audition room was too stuffy and hot, and she was sweating after a short while. When Tong Liya came in for the audition, her makeup was smudged. Although her performance was better than the initial audition, she was still eliminated.
Xu Kun seriously suspected that Tian Youliang did this on purpose.
However, Director Tian obviously backfired. Although Tong Liya was eliminated, the makeup that Liu Shi used to highlight her eyes was exposed in the high temperature.
The best performers were Tang Yan and Xiong Naijin. Tang Yan's new hairstyle covered his forehead, and his interpretation of Lin Yuxin was much better than before; Xiong Naijin maintained the level of being a general among short men in the initial audition.
After everyone finished the audition, Tian Youliang was seen pacing around the room like an ant on hot pot.
Occasionally he stopped and wanted to say something, opened his mouth and closed it again, then continued walking in circles.
Chen Xuebin secretly curled his lips at the side. He knew that Tian Youliang wanted to choose Liu Shishi, but Liu Shishi's performance just now was the worst among Tang, Xiong and Liu, so he couldn't open his mouth.
Xu Kun also thought about whether he should just push Xiong Naijin up, so that he could also find a couple from the crew to avoid being bored during filming.
But he eventually gave up the plan. Firstly, he didn't want Tian Youliang to be emotional during the filming, and secondly, he always felt that it was a little lacking to let Xiong Naijin play Lin Yuxin.
So in the end, Xu Kun took the initiative to speak up for Tian Youliang and said, "Director Tian, Liu Shishi's makeup can actually be used with a little adjustment, but you still need to pay more attention to the shape, at least not to look so stiff."
"Yeah!"
Tian Youliang suddenly came to life and nodded quickly, "She is from Beijing Dance Academy, so her body shape should be her advantage. I guess the girl is just too nervous. After all, she has only been an adult for a short time."
After a pause, he turned to Chen Xuebin and said, "How about this?"
"You are the director, you have the final say."
Chen Xuebin spread his hands and before Tian Youliang could be happy, he added, "But this is my first time as a producer, so I don't have much experience. If something goes wrong with the leading actress during filming, don't blame me for being sarcastic."
"Should, should, should."
Tian Youliang smiled awkwardly and secretly decided in his heart that he would help Liu Shishi to improve her basic skills. After all, he was a teacher and drama director at the Central Academy of Drama, and he was best at training students.
(End of this chapter)
