Chapter 26: Project Initiation and Casting

Early in the morning, Wei Jin arrived at China Film Group and, under the guidance of the staff, came to Han Sanping's office for the first time.

"Little Wei, it's rare to see you. What made you think of coming to see me today? Come, sit."

Seeing Wei Jin, Han Sanping raised his hand to gesture for him to sit, while his secretary served tea on the side.

"General Manager Han, you're joking. I've just been busy with a pile of things at the Studio, I wouldn't dare neglect you."

Wei Jin said politely. This unremarkable-looking man before him would, in a few years, be known as the "Zuoshandiao" of the film circle.

"I've been preparing a script for a new film, and as soon as it was finished, I rushed over here."

"Oh? I was just talking about you. Did you bring the script? What is the subject matter this time?"

Han Sanping's eyes lit up upon hearing this. Wei Jin's first award-winning film had actually taken in over 35 million in box office, far exceeding the group's expectations and proving his strength; China Film Group had to get a share of this project no matter what.

"A youth campus theme, adapted from my novel of the same name."

Wei Jin handed over the script and began to explain.

"How much are you planning to invest this time? Let's be clear, China Film Group's investment share cannot be small."

Han Sanping said while taking the script and reading it.

"The preliminary budget is 10 million."

"That's not a big investment. Haven't you thought about doing some big scenes?"

Han Sanping said with some regret upon hearing this.

"General Manager Han, you're joking. You can't really do big scenes in a youth film."

Wei Jin was somewhat between laughter and tears. As expected, General Manager Han just loved big scenes and big productions.

"How about this: China Film Group invests 3 million, taking a 30% stake, and you leave the promotion and distribution to us."

Han Sanping pondered for a moment. With this level of investment, he could make the decision himself without needing to report it.

"No problem, then many thanks for your support, General Manager Han. Also, regarding the actors, do you have any suggestions?"

Wei Jin agreed readily. The reason he brought in China Film Group was precisely to seek support for promotion, distribution, and theater scheduling.

Currently, most domestic theater chains still had an administrative assignment nature; with one word from a leader, they could be quite helpful with scheduling. Furthermore, the film and television industry was most wary of eating alone.

"Tell me your plan first. Do you have anyone in mind?"

"My thought is this: for a youth film, the most important thing is the character fit. Acting requirements aren't high; it's mainly about the image being suitable. So, I plan to announce open auditions in the industry."

Wei Jin explained. In fact, he had originally intended for Ceng Li to star, but after Li Jie read the script, she said she couldn't pull off the feeling of this pure-type school beauty.

Wei Jin thought about it, and it was true; Ceng Li leaned a bit toward the "imperial sister" type and belonged to the category of bright and vivid beauties, so he decided to just hold open auditions.

"Hmm, that works. How about this: I'll submit the script first, and after it passes the review, we'll set up the project and cast the roles."

Han Sanping also approved of Wei Jin's approach, so he settled the matter.

Afterward, Wei Jin asked Han Sanping for advice on the operations of domestic theater chains and some policy-related issues.

Upon learning that Wei Jin had the intention to get involved in cinemas, Han Sanping gained an intuitive understanding of this young man's ambition, though he was more than happy for more people to invest in this industry.

Leaving China Film Group, Wei Jin headed to the school. Along the way, he met many alumni who came to greet him, and Wei Jin smiled and nodded in acknowledgment.

Arriving at Zhang Jiandong's office, it happened that Teacher Jiang Wei was also there.

"Hello, teachers."

Wei Jin was very polite when facing his teachers.

"You kid, it's been months since we last saw you. Tell me, what's the matter today?"

Jiang Wei was the first to speak and tease him.

"Teacher Jiang, you can't blame me. I've been busy writing a script, haven't I?"

Wei Jin hurriedly explained.

"Regarding the matter we agreed upon before, I wonder how many seniors are interested?"

Ever since Wei Jin expressed his need for graduates from film and television-related majors, the school had communicated with the senior graduating class at the beginning of the semester, and those interested had already reported to Zhang Jiandong. "I've already organized the list here; you can take a look first, or it's fine to call them over to meet."

Zhang Jiandong took the list out of the drawer and handed it to Wei Jin.

Wei Jin took the list and scanned it. He didn't see any names from his memories, but that was normal.

The entertainment industry didn't actually lack talent; it lacked opportunities to stand out. The directors he was familiar with from his past life only succeeded because they got the opportunity. Those who were unknown weren't necessarily incapable of achieving results; it might just be that their luck was a bit worse.

"Alright, on the weekend, have these seniors come to my Studio. There's a project coming up soon that will let everyone practice."

"Oh? You have a new project again?"

Jiang Wei was a bit curious; he was also a person who couldn't stay idle.

"The script has already been submitted to China Film Group for review. Once it passes, the project will be established, and if things go fast, we'll start filming this month."

Wei Jin explained, then looked at Jiang Wei again.

"Teacher Jiang, I actually have a TV series script here. I wonder if you'd be interested in directing it?"

After saying this, he handed the script he had prepared long ago to Jiang Wei.

"There's such a good thing? Let me see."

Jiang Wei took the script, and on the cover were two large characters—"Lurking".

He read it for nearly half an hour, while Wei Jin and Zhang Jiandong chatted on the side about the new film.

Jiang Wei had helped oversee the previous film, "Buried", but this time Wei Jin was truly carrying the load alone. Zhang Jiandong also offered some pointers in advance to prevent the talent he valued from suffering setbacks.

"Phew, the script is written really well. You kid always has so many whimsical ideas. I'll take this project."

Jiang Wei said with some emotion.

"That's great. Teacher Jiang, don't worry, regarding the remuneration, I'll give you the top industry rate. Also, there's no rush for this project. Take your time to submit the script for review, do the pre-production first, and we'll start filming after the New Year."

Wei Jin had a sense of wanting to compensate Jiang Wei; for his first film, Teacher Jiang had contributed a lot.

"Alright, I know you kid is very wealthy, so I won't stand on ceremony with you. I'll start preparing the crew here and wait for your notification."

Jiang Wei didn't stand on ceremony at all.

Two days later, Wei Jin received notification from China Film Group that "Those Years" had passed review and could now be registered for project and casting.

On September 6th, Wei Jin Fengliu Studio issued a notice to companies in the industry:

Directed by Silver Bear Director Wei Jin and adapted from a bestselling book, the first domestic youth campus-themed film "Those Years" will hold open auditions on Saturday, September 9th.

Audition roles:

Female Lead (Zhang Shiyi), Second Female Lead (Ma Lijuan), age 17-27; Male Lead (Wei Liang), Second Male Lead (Zhang Bochun), Third Male Lead (Wang Jianguo), age 18-25, plus several supporting roles. Once the notice was sent out, Wei Jin's phone was blown up with calls.

All sorts of invitations to dinner, attempts to get chummy, and requests to pull strings were flatly rejected by Wei Jin, who only said that China Film Group required auditions and there was no way to make exceptions, and so on.

Just as the artists from major companies were gearing up, the university students from major film and television academies were even more frantic.

Because the film was holding open auditions, it meant they also had a chance, and the age requirements were practically tailor-made for them, eliminating quite a few competitors.

For a time, students at major film and television academies almost all had a copy of "Those Years" in their hands, which actually contributed quite a bit to the novel's sales.

The reason the artists were so excited was that there were simply too few domestic films released in this era.

Throughout 2004, up until September, only a meager ten or so domestic films had been released, most of which received little attention, and only two had box office earnings exceeding ten million.

One of them was precisely "Buried," directed by Wei Jin.

Therefore, "Those Years," being an adaptation of a bestselling novel of the same name and written and directed by a well-known director, was truly a very high-quality resource in this era.

As a newbie author writing a book for the first time, I humbly beg for collections, follows, reading updates, and recommendations. Thank you everyone. As a newbie author writing a book for the first time, I humbly beg for collections, follows, reading updates, and recommendations. Thank you everyone.

(End of this chapter)