Chapter 208 The Domineering CEO's Fantasy Journey
Because he had decided on the female lead according to his own ideas, Tian Youliang mainly followed Xu Kun's opinions in the casting of the second and third female leads. He chose Jiang Xin for the second female lead and Qin Lan for the third female lead.
In fact, for the role of the second female lead, Tian Youliang is more optimistic about Wang Luodan and Bai Baihe, but Jiang Xin's performance is not much worse, so he didn't make a fuss about it.
At noon, Xu Kun, Tian Youliang, Chen Xuebin, and two assistant directors drank eight kilograms of Laobaigan in a small restaurant near Nanluoguxiang.
After having a good meal and a few drinks, the five of them agreed to continue interviewing the second and third male candidates the next day, and then they parted ways at the door of the tavern.
Tian Youliang returned to school in a daze. He was lying on the single bed in the office when he heard someone banging on the door.
Tian Youliang thought something urgent had happened at school, so he struggled to get up and open the door, only to find that the person who was knocking on the door was his former partner Zhang Chen.
While Tian Youliang was distracted, Zhang Chen squeezed in with a briefcase and sat down behind the desk without any hesitation.
Tian Youliang scratched his head and had to sit on the sofa opposite.
"Brother Tian, what you did was not fair!"
Zhang Chen tapped his desk with his fingers and said angrily, "You were the one who got me into this trap. Last year, you said you were in a hurry to sell your shares, and I didn't say anything at the time, right? But now you want to shoot a TV series, and you didn't even tell me the news. This is too disloyal, isn't it?!"
Zhang Chen is actually not from an insider circle. He studied science and engineering and works as a civil engineer.
But he has been interested in literature and art since he was a child. Later, he was persuaded by Tian Youliang and brought another friend together to set up a small film and television company in 03.
At that time, I was also planning to shoot a TV series, but SARS happened to hit me, which directly delayed the project.
Later, at the end of the year, Tian Youliang said that the TV series could not be produced for the time being, so it would be better to just do a stage play, which he is good at.
As a result, even though Tian Youliang used his connections to invite a popular variety show host to make a guest appearance, the stage play did not make much money, and by the second half of last year it was barely able to break even.
Tian Youliang persisted for a year, seeing no hope and feeling embarrassed, so he simply found a reason to withdraw his shares. On the contrary, Zhang Chen continued to persevere.
"Xiaochen, don't get excited, don't get excited."
Tian Youliang knew he was in the wrong, so he quickly put his hands together, signaling Zhang Chen not to get excited, and then said awkwardly: "I'm also working for someone else. The male lead put together the crew himself, so I have no say in many things."
"Then at least give your brother a tip!"
Zhang Chen continued to poke at the table in dissatisfaction: "You know our company is struggling to make ends meet. Apart from anything else, you signed Xiao Shen with the final say. Now that you want to film a TV series, you have to find him a role to make a living, right?"
"This……"
After Tian Youliang withdrew his shares, he felt embarrassed and wanted to avoid Zhang Chen. How could he take the initiative to contact the other party?
Now that Zhang Chen had come to him, he felt that he had to give an explanation, so he hesitated and said, "Then I'll go back and talk to the investors to see if I can get a role for Xiao Shen."
Zhang Chen then turned his anger into joy and said, "And many of our crew members were recruited by you, Brother Tian. You might as well bring them all into the crew. It will definitely be convenient for them to use when the time comes!"
"This one……"
Tian Youliang wanted to refuse, but firstly, his tongue was swollen from drinking, and secondly, he felt guilty, so he finally agreed without thinking.
After Zhang Zhen left, he was dazed for a while and then fell asleep in a daze.
When I woke up again, it was already nine o'clock in the evening.
Thinking back to what he had promised Zhang Chen, Tian Youliang slapped his forehead helplessly. It was relatively easy to insert an actor, but the miscellaneous workers in the crew were Chen Xuebin's base.
Chen Xuebin is not a good person.
Forget it, let’s settle Xiao Shen’s matter first.
Tian Youliang grabbed his cell phone and found Xu Kun's number, but after thinking about it, he did not dial it. Instead, he changed his clothes and took a taxi straight to Xu Kun's house.
If you want to make a request, you have to act like you are begging someone.
But when I arrived at Xu Kun's community, I found him empty. I called him and found out that Xu Kun was exercising in a nearby park - our brother Kun has been a bit lonely lately and can only vent his excess energy through exercise.
When Xu Kun came back sweating profusely, he turned on the air conditioner and electric fan, washed his face hastily, and then sat down to ask Tian Youliang why he came. Tian Youliang did not hide anything and told him everything about his past with Zhang Chen. Finally, he said helplessly: "Although it was not my original intention, this matter really screwed Zhang Chen. Now he came to me and asked me to find a way to make a living for the people of Happy Twist. I was really embarrassed to refuse."
Xu Kun always felt that this "Happy Twist" was somewhat familiar.
So I asked tentatively: "Who is the actor he wants to recommend?"
"That young man is called Shen Teng, he graduated from the PLA Academy of Art. Not only is he handsome, but he also has a talent for comedy. That's why I decided to recruit him into Happy Twist. Who would have known..."
Shen Teng has a talent for comedy, and Xu Kun immediately identified with him.
But he's handsome...
A round face appeared in his mind. It wasn’t ugly, but it wasn’t handsome either, right?
Even if it was just for Shen Teng's potential, Xu Kun felt that he should do this favor.
But he pretended to be embarrassed: "It's really too late. It's okay to be a last-minute replacement, but if it's an internal appointment... it's too unfair to other actors."
In fact, is there anything absolutely fair in the circle?
Wen Zhang had already received the script for the role half a month ago. With such a big advantage, it was no different from being directly selected.
As for Li Donghan, since their relationship was only superficial, Xu Kun did not provide any special treatment.
So finally, after Tian Youliang's repeated requests, Xu Kun "reluctantly" agreed to support Shen Teng in playing the sunny, handsome and upright third male role Meng Wei - of course, the prerequisite is that Shen Teng cannot perform too badly during the interview tomorrow.
After seeing off the relieved Tian Youliang, Xu Kun went to the bathroom to take a shower and wondered, if the person who came for the audition tomorrow was really Shen Teng, then could he bring some classic comedies of later generations to the big screen in advance?
But on second thought, I feel that it is not reliable. Given the current atmosphere and public opinion, even if "The Richest Man in Xihong City" is made, it may not be a box office hit.
The same is true for "Charlotte's Troubles".
On the contrary, "Lost on Journey" is more in line with current reality - the issue of Spring Festival travel has become a focus of discussion as early as the 90s, and now the most mature box office window in the mainland is the Lunar New Year period created by Feng Xiaogang.
The foundation for this subject to become a hit already existed, but Xu Kun was originally worried that he would not be able to replace Xu Guangtou and would mess up the movie.
But if this movie "A Boss Falls in Love with Me" can become as popular as Xu Kun expected, it can be used to pave the way for "Lost on Journey".
For example, the promotional slogan could be written as: Lost on Journey: When Meng Hao encounters the Spring Festival travel rush, a fantasy journey of a domineering president.
In short, as long as the girls who like TV dramas can be deceived into watching, the box office performance won’t be that bad.
Besides, the funny points of Xu Guangtou in Lost on Journey are not expressed through exaggerated expressions or body language, but mainly come from the contrast between his status and reality, as well as the comparison with Bao Qiang.
Xu Kun felt that he should be able to handle this style of performance.
Even if his performance is not as good as Xu Guangtou, with the bonus of his domineering personality, the contrast effect presented in the end may be even stronger.
If it's well-made, maybe it can make up for the reputation problems brought by the domineering president drama.
As for Bao Qiang...
He stayed in "Wulin Waijia" for more than half a year, and his comedic talent had long been stimulated, and his performance would definitely not be inferior to the original version.
The more Xu Kun thought about it, the more he felt that this story was credible. He ran into the study without even having time to put on his pants, and wrote down all the story plots he remembered that night.
He still remembers some of the main jokes, such as Baoqiang drinking milk, the male protagonist buying fake tickets, transferring from a plane to a truck, from a train to a bus, from a bus to a tractor, and the scene of walking into the wrong room in a small hotel.
But I can only recall two or three percent of some specific lines.
But it doesn't matter, this kind of thing can be left to a professional screenwriter, and there is a ready-made one in front of us - Tian Youliang's best skill is actually comedy writing.
Even if Tian Youliang can't handle it, Xu Kun can ask Liu Heng for help.
Once Chairman Liu gives the order, what screenwriter can’t be found?
(End of this chapter)
