Chapter 765

Sui Lingfang sensed the uncertainty in He Wuyou's heart and decided to call One Billion Media later to see what their attitude was.

"Jin Li specifically asked me to remind you that even if you can finish the script this month, you won't be able to assemble a team and start filming that quickly."

"She will likely join the 'Dawn 2' crew during the summer break. If 'Invisible Secret' also plans to start filming in the summer, she won't have time to act in it, and she won't double-book her schedule."

He Wuyou was stunned, "Then I can finish writing it this month, what should I do?"

Sui Lingfang said in a deep voice: "Drag it out!"

"After you finish writing, spend another two months repeatedly polishing the details. If you truly feel there is no room for further improvement and all details are polished."

"Then just drag it out and keep it under wraps. When reporting to One Billion Media, don't say you've finished writing; just say you're still creating. Sometimes, writing too fast is not a good thing."

He Wuyou agreed immediately: "Okay."

Delaying tactics—that wasn't difficult for him.

Anyway, the company pays his salary every month, regardless of whether there is work to do or not.

If the company wants to drag it out, he is more than happy to oblige.

This way, he can have more time to further his studies and think of new script topics.

At this moment, He Wuyou only understood the first layer of meaning behind "dragging it out."

He only thought it was because Jin Li's schedule was too busy, and if 'Invisible Secret' finalized the script too quickly and assembled a team too fast, Jin Li wouldn't be able to join the crew that quickly, hence the need to drag it out.

But later, when he wrote his second script, he finally understood the second layer of meaning behind what Sister Fang said about "dragging it out."

In the industry, the polishing speed for high-quality scripts is usually 2–3 years; one year is already considered very fast.

And he often finishes polishing a script in just a few months.

Such a fast finalization speed... they would instead think, are you trying to fool them? Was the script generated by AI? Or was this script created by multiple people and not his exclusive original work?

Because it's too fast, it would instead make the production company feel you are unprofessional, thinking you didn't take their business to heart and just casually produced a script to fool them.

Therefore, sometimes finalizing a script too quickly is also a form of disrespect to the client.

Although it sounds absurd, that is just how things are.

Some processes must be dragged out; even if you don't want to, you have to.

After explaining the pros and cons to He Wuyou, Sui Lingfang turned to call the person in charge at One Billion Media.

As soon as the call was connected, Mr. Yang asked very enthusiastically:

"Manager Fang, is Jin Li ready and able to join the crew at any time?"

Sui Lingfang:?

What drama did Jin Li accept? Why does she know nothing about it?

Sui Lingfang: "Wait, what? Join the crew at any time? She has no arrangements to accept any dramas recently."

Mr. Yang was stunned, "Didn't you pass word over that 'Invisible Secret' could be finalized this month? So we have been selecting the production team, director team, and cast recently."

"Everything is almost negotiated, and we are striving to assemble everything by next month. If we move fast, it will happen to be when Jin Li is on summer break, and 'Invisible Secret' can start filming."

Sui Lingfang's expression was somber.

Now she understood; there was definitely a communication problem between One Billion Media and Chenxi Entertainment.

One Billion Media had already reached the stage of assembling a team, but Chenxi Entertainment hadn't received a single whisper of it.

Even the fact that the screenwriter He Wuyou would finalize the script this month, she had heard from Jin Li.

And Jin Li's news came from Gu Cheng.

If Gu Cheng hadn't mentioned this to Jin Li, even Jin Li wouldn't have known that He Wuyou's finalization speed would be so fast.

If Chenxi Entertainment had known earlier, they would have definitely stopped One Billion Media immediately.

She said calmly and composedly: "I think there is a problem with our communication. Jin Li's summer schedule has long been booked for another crew, and she has no time for a new one."

"Why didn't you tell me when you were assembling the team? Also, how did you know He Wuyou finalized the script? Didn't he not contact you?"

"We at Chenxi Entertainment only learned today that the screenwriter was about to finalize the script. Where did your news come from? Is the source authentic and reliable?"

"Mr. Yang, don't get fooled by others!"

Mr. Yang was also stunned. Hearing the gravity in Sui Lingfang's words, his expression stiffened.

"I, I... I also heard it reported from the staff below."

"Wait, let me go find out where this news came from, and then I'll call you back."

After Mr. Yang hung up, he hurriedly sent messages to investigate.

Not long after, the case was solved.

One Billion Media had never been in contact with the screenwriter himself, but rather with the screenwriter's assistant.

The assistant was in frequent contact with He Wuyou, so he knew a series of his recent developments.

He Wuyou had mentioned to the assistant that he would finalize the script this month.

And just last week, someone from One Billion Media came to ask the assistant about the progress of the script, and the assistant leaked the news of the finalization.

This led to the people at One Billion Media becoming very excited and reporting the news layer by layer.

So much so that they hadn't even seen the actual script before they confidently went to assemble the team.

Upon hearing this, Mr. Yang couldn't help but scold angrily: "Nonsense!"

"How could you rashly go to assemble a team without even seeing the actual script, and then pass the news to me?"

"Doesn't the company have a specialized screenwriting team to review scripts? I thought you had already finished reviewing the script and confirmed there were no problems before passing the news to me."

"That's why I agreed for you to use your connections to assemble the team. And now you tell me you don't even know what the script looks like? Then how did it pass the screenwriting team's review?"

Mr. Yang's face was livid, and he said with great anger: "Also, you haven't even seen the script, how are you going to assemble the team?"

"Do you know what the content of the script is? What kind of scenes are needed? What professional teachers need to be invited to oversee it?"

A series of questions rained down, causing the senior executives to tremble.

Mr. Yang scanned them coldly, "Speak!"

One person spoke cautiously: "Mr. Yang, in the past, we always filmed our own self-produced dramas, writing, directing, and acting ourselves, so we followed the company's review process."

"But this time, we are cooperating with Jin Li, and a large part of the rights was given away. Jin Li didn't use our screenwriters but invited another one to write the script."

"We assumed that the review of the script content would also be completed by Jin Li's team."

"Since their screenwriter said it was finalized, it must have passed Chenxi Entertainment's internal review, which is why it could reach the finalization stage."

"Yes," another person also spoke, "Maybe the draft was already written long ago, and they were just making adjustments to the details. Perhaps it has already passed the first and second rounds within Chenxi Entertainment, and it's about to pass the third round of final review this month!"

"Mr. Yang, you can't blame us. We were also acting out of trust in our partner. That's Jin Li!"

"There is absolutely no problem with a script that Jin Li favors, so as soon as they said it could be finalized, we thought about assembling the team."

"Mr. Yang, although we haven't seen the final version of the script, we have seen the first draft and know it is an urban suspense film."

"We are confident about what kind of production team is needed. There are only a few directors in the industry who can film urban suspense, and we were just making contact with them in advance."

Mr. Yang stared at them deeply and sighed: "It's a mess, everything is a mess."

"Chenxi Entertainment is not a film and television production company; how could they have as many rules as we do, who specialize in film and television?"

"You applied your own rules to someone else's company, assuming the other party would follow your company's rules. This is a major taboo in communication!"

He changed his tone and said decisively: "Jin Li's manager called me today, not knowing where we got the news of the finalization. They also only learned today that the screenwriter would finalize it this month."

"They also didn't know we had privately assembled the crew. Fortunately, this mistake hasn't reached an irreversible point, and it's still in time to hit the brakes now."

"Jin Li's summer slot has already been booked by another drama, and our drama cannot start filming in the summer; we have to coordinate with Jin Li to adjust the schedule."

"Therefore, all preparation work currently in progress is suspended. Let's follow the company's work schedule for this year first. I don't think this drama will necessarily be filmed even by the end of this year; let's set it for next year."

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the other senior executives changed.

"This... the director has already agreed on the filming schedule with us."

"I've almost found the filming locations; I'm just waiting to sign the contracts."

"In order to find a good production team, I let out the word, and now many people know that One Billion Media is going to cooperate with Jin Li, and everyone wants to come and get a piece of the pie."

"Now saying we're canceling the cooperation, how embarrassing is that? If it gets out, where will One Billion Media's face be?"

Mr. Yang glared at them: "You didn't even see the final script, believed whatever the assistant said, and released the news in advance. And you think you're in the right?"

Some people were still unconvinced: "We weren't the ones who provided the screenwriter..."

Mr. Yang interrupted loudly: "But this drama is a joint cooperation between our One Billion Media and Chenxi Entertainment!"

"Although we gave Jin Li a lot of autonomy, the production team, director team, and most of the actors are provided by One Billion Media."

"So we must also have the right to know about the script, instead of transferring all rights to the script to Chenxi Entertainment."

"I know you have no confidence in the company's internal script review, otherwise we wouldn't always be filming trashy movies these past few years."

"But you cannot treat script writing as a burden, throw it to Chenxi Entertainment, and think you can do nothing and sit back and relax!"

"I'll say it again, Chenxi Entertainment is not a professional film and television production team; they need us to oversee it even more."

Some people said: "But the screenwriter invited by Chenxi Entertainment doesn't accept the suggestions we put forward. What can we do?"

"Yes, it's not that we don't want to make suggestions, but the screenwriter there doesn't listen, so it's better not to suggest."

Mr. Yang rubbed his temples and looked at them as if he were looking at a bunch of stupid pigs.

"Do you still not understand? We have a cooperative relationship with Chenxi Entertainment. Cooperation will have wins and losses. If they want to invite other screenwriters to write, that's their business."

"We fulfill our responsibilities, oversee well, review well, and give our opinions. Whether Chenxi Entertainment is willing to adopt them is another matter."

"If the performance is poor after this drama airs, it can't be blamed on us. The contract we signed with Jin Li allows us to sue the artist for compensation if the broadcast performance is too poor!"

Even if he were a king, leading so many stupid birds would still be exhausting.

Furthermore, what's the point of excitedly assembling a team?

If Jin Li says she won't film, she won't film. What can they do to her?

This group of people still delusionally thought they could use the excuse that the team was already assembled to make Jin Li film this drama first. Is that possible?

Mr. Yang had inquired; the crew Jin Li was going to join in the summer was 'Dawn 2', which was a big production, a big movie!

Even if One Billion Media filmed high-quality works every year, their influence couldn't reach the film circle, let alone 'Dawn 2' was being helmed by an international director like Chu Chenliang.

Moreover, One Billion Media was also known as the "King of Trashy Movies."

Once the news of "rapidly assembling a team to compete with Director Chu for Jin Li's schedule" got out, the only one who would be mocked was One Billion Media.

Mr. Yang felt that this group of people was hiding something from him.

After scolding them, he went to check the accounts.

He didn't know until he checked; he was shocked once he did.

No wonder that group of people hurriedly went to find a filming team to assemble a crew just by hearing the news that the screenwriter would finalize it this month.

It turned out they had cut all the projects that were originally scheduled to start this year, intending to concentrate their efforts on 'Invisible Secret'.

And the reason why these projects were cut was that the screenwriters participating in the projects approved this year were all from the previous batch.

Many screenwriters were fired during the internal cleanup, leading to a huge shortage of manpower for the projects, making it impossible to keep up, which is why they were cut.

However, every company has KPI targets every year. If they slack off and don't dig for new projects, their performance won't look good.

That's why they thought of hurrying to bring 'Invisible Secret' to the table, striving to make it this year's performance.

Filming only this one drama and making it a high-quality product is better than filming those five, six, seven, or eight projects that are destined to be trash.

Mr. Yang looked at the accounts and sneered.

"They had a good idea, but they didn't stop to see how Jin Li would follow your pace as you wish."

"They never understood that this cooperation has always been One Billion Media begging Chenxi Entertainment to do it, not Jin Li begging me to tailor a drama for her."

Mr. Yang didn't call Sui Lingfang until the evening, first apologizing.

"I've checked, and it was a problem with the company's internal review, which led them to assemble the team without seeing the final script. We were too anxious about this matter."

"Don't worry, all preparations have been called off. Everything will be based on Jin Li's schedule. Whenever she is free, we will film."

Sui Lingfang wanted to say, why not wait until next year.

But the words reached her lips, and she hesitated a bit.

Seeing that Director Chu also attaches great importance to 'Dawn 2', she didn't know if it could be finished in the summer.

If it happened to be filmed from summer until November, and Jin Li had to join another crew in January, she was worried Jin Li wouldn't be able to handle it.

Now Jin Li doesn't need to make herself so busy, and she hopes to give Jin Li more sufficient rest time before joining a crew.

So Sui Lingfang said: "Let's wait and see next year. Jin Li will only have a schedule next year, but I don't know the specific time. She has to film 'Dawn 2' this year, so she can't join the crew."

"By the way, there is something you might not know. Do you remember He Wuyou? He is the new screenwriter who wrote 'Invisible Secret'."

A bad premonition flashed through Mr. Yang's heart, "I know, I remember him."

He felt this new screenwriter was worth cultivating and even instructed his subordinates to arrange things for him well.

It is very rare for a script to be favored by Jin Li, who even personally requested to find the original screenwriter.

Jin Li's eye for people has always been accurate, and he was also aiming at Jin Li when he wanted to invest in He Wuyou.

He didn't expect that he would eventually resign because he couldn't endure the hardship.

Sui Lingfang: "We recruited He Wuyou, and he is now responsible for perfecting 'Invisible Secret'."

"Because he was once your employee, he didn't know how to communicate with you, so he hasn't been in contact with One Billion Media."

"I have already talked to him about this. Tomorrow, Chenxi Entertainment will send a specialized liaison officer responsible for communicating matters regarding the cooperation with One Billion Media."

"If One Billion Media has anything to understand, just ask this liaison officer. There's no need to contact He Wuyou's assistant; he's just a handyman who doesn't understand anything."

Mr. Yang: "Okay."

After hanging up the phone, he slapped his thigh heavily.

Damn it, he couldn't even keep a talent, and he even got his home stolen by Chenxi Entertainment!