Chapter 122: Is the script for sale?

"My Brothers and Sisters" won't be released until July, so the advance promotion needs to run for at least half a month beforehand.

Promotion in this day and age isn't like it will be later, where directors have to take actors all over the country; right now, it basically relies on the promotional staff themselves to go to various places for grassroots marketing.

Wu Yuchen doesn't intend to waste effort on this. He accepted one interview and then handed full authority over to the distribution expert Yu Dong. With this guy around, he feels quite at ease about distribution; after all, Yu Dong built Bona up by relying on distribution—it's his signature skill!

Wu Yuchen is currently busy with the preparatory work for "Christmas in August." He went to look at several location scouts over the past two days and picked out one he was satisfied with.

This time, for filming "Christmas in August," he is still buying the brand name from the Beijing Film Studio; this is how private film and television companies operate if they want to make movies now.

……

"Liu Ye, Teacher Chang is looking for you!"

In the dormitory, Liu Ye's heart jumped instantly. He stood up with a start and asked, "Didn't Teacher Chang nod in approval yesterday?"

"We wouldn't know about that; maybe your eyes were playing tricks on you!" Chen Minghao teased him.

Yesterday, the freshmen at the Central Academy of Drama had just finished their major assignments. Those who passed finally let their hearts settle, which meant they probably wouldn't be expelled in the future.

Now that Liu Ye was being called over by Teacher Chang again, he couldn't help but feel anxious and fearful, terrified that he was being called over to be told he hadn't passed his major assignment and was going to be expelled.

"And you too, Chen Minghao, Teacher Chang called for you as well!"

"Ah?! That can't be right. How could I have failed! Teacher Chang was even praising me yesterday!" Chen Minghao said in surprise.

Liu Ye laughed immediately: "We wouldn't know about that; maybe your ears were hallucinating!"

At this, Liu Ye's heart settled by half; at least he had company!

After the two arrived at the office, they saw Teacher Chang chatting and laughing with a young man.

Chang Li waved at the two and then said, "The two of them are here; take a look."

When the young man turned around, both of them were shocked to recognize that it was indeed Wu Yuchen!

Chen Minghao's mind turned quickly. Realizing there was a good opportunity, he immediately put on a smile and greeted him: "Hello, Wu Dao!"

Seeing Wu Yuchen smiling at him, Liu Ye thought of the scene half a year ago where he had been seen bawling his eyes out, and felt a bit embarrassed. He awkwardly followed up with a, "Hello."

Wu Yuchen nodded and then said with a smile, "I'm about to start a film, and I'm looking for actors for roles. I wonder if you two have time over the next two months?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Minghao and Liu Ye both looked toward Teacher Chang; after all, the cautionary tale of Mei Ting was still fresh in their minds.

Chang Li smiled: "Wu Dao's film is no problem!"

Chen Minghao immediately said with a smile: "We're willing, we're willing! Wu Dao, I've seen all your movies; I'm your most loyal fan! I'm so excited that you came to find me!"

Liu Ye was also feeling incredibly invigorated at this moment. After all, Wu Yuchen is a Berlin Best Director; being able to find him, a student trailing at the bottom of the class, to act in a film was truly a tremendous affirmation for him!

Liu Ye smiled happily: "Thank you, Wu Dao!"

Wu Yuchen waved his hand: "Don't thank me yet. I still have to take you to audition and see the effect when paired with the female lead. If it doesn't work, I won't use you!"

Liu Ye and Chen Minghao exchanged a glance, both having only one thought in mind: they must perform well later.

Watching Jiang Qinqin and Liu Ye standing together, Wu Yuchen couldn't help but nod. Liu Ye's height of over 1.8 meters looked like a perfect match for the 1.67-meter Jiang Qinqin.

Then he pulled Liu Ye aside: "Smile, and be a bit more rustic."

Seeing that Liu Ye didn't quite know what "rustic" meant, he simply said: "Give me a goofy smile!"

Sure enough, the next moment, when Liu Ye gave a goofy smile, it actually had a bit of flavor to it, and Wu Yuchen also revealed a smile.

Under the expectant gazes of Liu Ye and Chen Minghao, Wu Yuchen took out two scripts and handed them to each of them.

"Liu Ye, your character is the male lead; go back and study it well."

"Chen Minghao, although your character is technically the third male lead, the screen time is substantial and the weight is heavy; prepare well."

"Wu Dao, don't worry, I will definitely cherish this opportunity!" Chen Minghao said immediately.

Liu Ye was as happy as a fool at this moment. Before coming, he only thought it was a small supporting role; he never expected to be asked to play the male lead, which left him stunned!

He bowed directly to Wu Yuchen: "Thank you, Wu Dao, thank you, Wu Dao!"

After the two left, Jiang Qinqin walked over and asked, "Are you sure about choosing those two? How is their acting?"

"Their acting is still quite green, but it's not a big problem; they are both teachable talents. My current standard is mainly temperament and image, and they are very suitable."

For a pure love film like "Christmas in August," the image and temperament of the leads are extremely important. He can polish the performance on set, but age, image, and temperament are hard to change.

Liu Ye was someone Wu Yuchen had already set his sights on. When he went to watch his major assignment performance yesterday, he happened to see Chen Minghao and felt he was very suitable for the role of the male lead's good friend in the film—a funny and kind boy. It just so happened that the two were classmates themselves, which made it very suitable, and they would have more chemistry when acting.

Jiang Qinqin nodded upon hearing this; since Wu Yuchen had said so, there was nothing to worry about.

However, neither of them left. After waiting here for a while, two more people were led over.

As soon as the two entered the room, they shouted in unison: "Hello, Teacher Wu!"

Jiang Qinqin couldn't help but cover her mouth and smile upon hearing this.

Looking at Huang Huang Xiao Ming and Chen Kun before him, Wu Yuchen also waved his hand with a helpless smile:

"Don't try to get close; I only look at whether you're suitable or not. If you aren't, being affectionate won't help~"

He hadn't expected that after he had gone over to show off once, the people in their class wouldn't even call him 'Senior' anymore when they saw him, calling him 'Teacher Wu' directly instead.

"Chen Kun, you go first; stand over there and let me see."

There is another important role in the film, the second male lead, who could also be said to be the son of Liu Ye's character. Now, Wu Yuchen was having them both audition for this role.

Wu Yuchen had Chen Kun stand next to Jiang Qinqin, then had them constantly change poses, and subsequently paired them for a scene, observing them back and forth for a long time.

This character is undoubtedly a handsome guy, which is why he would attract the female lead and her best friend in the modern timeline to both like him.

Not only handsome, but also appearing cool on the surface, while actually being a warm-hearted person inside, silently liking the modern female lead.

Previously, Wu Yuchen's first choice was Chen Kun; after all, the 'Factory Flower' is indeed handsome enough, and cool too. But after having the two pair up this time, and observing carefully, he found that Chen Kun's temperament...

The current Chen Kun radiates a youthful aura that combines melancholy, rebellion, marginality, and sensitivity, which is naturally related to his upbringing. Just as his homeroom teacher Cui Xinqin said, he feels like a hedgehog, and it will take a couple of years for that to fade. This temperament of Chen Kun's should be very popular with some art-house directors, but it doesn't quite fit the character's setting.

Wu Yuchen frowned, had Chen Kun step down, and swapped in Huang Huang Xiao Ming.

Huang Huang Xiao Ming's face is undoubtedly handsome enough, but...

"Huang Xiao Ming, give me a smile."

Seeing the goofy energy in Huang Huang Xiao Ming's smile, which looked a bit like a husky, Wu Yuchen rejected him directly. The current Huang Huang Xiao Ming is a bit better than when he first entered school, but he still has an immature look—the kind that tries to act cool but can't pull it off.

"Alright, you two go back and wait for notification."

After the two left, Jiang Qinqin came over and asked: "What, neither of them works?"

"I need to ponder this."

Wu Yuchen pondered carefully. Huang Huang Xiao Ming is definitely out, but Chen Kun?

What if he changed the character setting to be a melancholy, rebellious type for Chen Kun's sake? But this setting has no effect on the plot at all.

Wu Yuchen shook his head. As for other candidates, the first requirement for this role is that he must be handsome enough—the kind that makes people think he's a handsome guy at first glance.

In terms of handsomeness alone, Chen Kun and Huang Huang Xiao Ming are already the best that these few classes have to offer. As for the Central Academy of Drama side, the handsomest one is Liu Ye himself. Wu Yuchen had already looked back four or five years and found that neither Beijing Film nor the Central Academy of Drama had anyone handsomer than them.

Suddenly, a handsome face Wu Yuchen had seen just a few days ago flashed through his mind.

Three days later, Wu Yuchen looked at Wu Yanzu, who was standing next to Jiang Qinqin: "A-Zu, give us a smile!"

Seeing Wu Yanzu's dashing and handsome smile, Wu Yuchen couldn't help but nod; his image and temperament were both excellent. Moreover, Wu Yanzu was about the same height as Liu Ye, so he looked quite compatible with Jiang Qinqin.

Wu Yuchen gave the two of them an OK gesture. Wu Yanzu walked over and asked, "Wu Dao, are you really going to let me play the second male lead? I've never even touched acting before!"

Wu Yuchen smiled at him: "I called you all the way here; do you think I'd let you make the trip for nothing?"

"It's no problem, just treat it as a vacation!" Wu Yanzu laughed.

"You don't need to worry about the acting; just listen to me. This role isn't that difficult, and your image and temperament are truly suitable. But there is one thing: can you speak Mandarin?"

Wu Yanzu scratched his head: "The master who taught me kung fu is from Beijing, so he speaks Mandarin. After I started university, I also spent a year in Beijing for exchanges to learn kung fu, but I haven't spoken it for two years now, so I only know a very simple amount."

Hearing this, Wu Yuchen smiled:

"Having a foundation is good. Here's what we'll do: I'll hire a personal teacher for you. For the next month, you have two tasks: one is to follow the crew to watch us film and read the script to understand the character, and the other is to learn Mandarin. At the very least, you must get your lines down."

The crew's filming was originally split into two storylines: one was Liu Ye's story in the 70s, and the other was Wu Yanzu's story in the 90s. It would be fine to film Liu Ye's storyline first for the first month or so.

He had money now, and the filming budget was very generous, so he was in the mood to slowly coach these newcomers.

In a rented room, a scruffy-looking man was leaning back in his chair, listening to the sound of cicadas outside the window and daydreaming.

Zhang Yibai had just experienced a setback. He had lived in Shancheng for a whole year, creating a script for a period drama about the history of Shancheng from the special era to the Reform and Opening-up.

That was his first time writing a TV script; he had previously mainly helped singers shoot music videos, so he focused more on building emotion and atmosphere in the script, with fewer lines for the characters. To this day, he could still remember the scene two months ago when a TV station producer pointed at his nose and cursed:

"You call this a TV script?! A TV script needs dialogue; everything must be explained clearly through lines, do you understand? You keep having the characters mope around and run to the riverbank, making the protagonist a semi-mute—how is this supposed to be filmed? Say something!"

This left Zhang Yibai, who came from the Central Academy of Drama, fuming with anger. He thought to himself, I won't film it the way you said; I'll film it and show you!

Consequently, after returning to Beijing, Zhang Yibai gathered several classmates from the Central Academy of Drama and held meetings in the room for three whole days, forcing everyone to reveal their secret love stories and writing all the usable material into the script.

The lineup he polished the script with could be called luxurious in the future:

There was Diao Yinan, who won the Golden Bear Award at Berlin for "Black Coal, Thin Ice"; Huo Xin, who wrote "Kung Fu Hustle" and "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" for Zhou Xingxing; Zhang Yang, a representative of the Sixth Generation directors who had just finished filming "Spicy Love Soup"; and Wang Bin, the literary planner for Zhang Yimou.

The script was polished, but he couldn't get any investment at all. The evaluation from the Shanghai TV station was: "A fool took a terrible, stupid script!"

There were plenty of people who gave the same evaluation as the Shanghai TV station. After all, he was just a director who shot music videos and didn't write scripts according to the conventional path—what are you being so arrogant about?

This left Zhang Yibai feeling very depressed and dejected.

Just then, his phone rang, and he heard Diao Yinan's voice on the other end:

"Hey, Yibai, come quickly. I entrusted someone to send the script to Wu Yuchen, and he wants us to go over!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yibai stood up with a start and asked excitedly, "Is he willing to invest?"

"I don't know yet, but since he called us over, he must be interested. Come quickly!"

Following Wu Yuchen's win for Best Director in Berlin, no one in the industry didn't know him now. Zhang Yibai heard that his company had already started producing TV dramas themselves, so there might really be hope!

In the office, Wu Yuchen flipped through the script in his hand, which was still called "Love Follows." Wen Hui and Yang Zheng—this was definitely "Cherish Our Love."

"Cherish Our Love" could be called the first youth idol drama in the mainland. It was popular for several years and launched quite a few stars; Li Yapeng, Xu Jinglei, Wang Xuebing, Liao Fan, and others could all be considered to have risen from this drama.

Of course, it also made Zhang Yibai, the small-eyed, round-faced man standing before him, an overnight success, establishing his title as the "Godfather of Youth."

To be honest, Wu Yuchen quite liked the drama "Cherish Our Love." It had love, dreams, trends, and romance, while also containing the helplessness and confusion of reality. It was considered very realistic among youth idol dramas, which was also the reason it could resonate with so many young people at the time.

But he didn't really want to use Zhang Yibai. This guy had done drugs in his past life.

It's said that in the entertainment industry, any star exposed for touching that stuff is finished, but Zhang Yibai managed to thrive, even participating in the tribute film "My People, My Country," ranking only after Chen Kaige and ahead of people like Guan Hu and Ning Hao.

This operation from above was truly baffling; one can only say that the requirements for directors and the standards for actors are different.

Wu Yuchen thought for a moment and asked, "How do you plan to film it?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yibai began to talk about his usual stuff: filming raindrops, filming wind, filming light and shadow, filming dilapidated factory buildings... to summarize, it was filming atmosphere, filming emotion, and filming states.

After listening, Wu Yuchen said, "Zhang Yibai, what you've said is all fine, but a TV drama is different from a music video. Don't you think just these things are too little?"

Zhang Yibai was silent after hearing this. He hadn't been convinced when the previous producer scolded him. But now, the one speaking to him was Wu Yuchen, the Berlin Best Director, which made him start to doubt himself.

Subsequently, Wu Yuchen asked again, "Are there any other preparations?"

Zhang Yibai whispered, "What else is needed?"

Wu Yuchen sighed: "I'm not saying you have to draw storyboards like a movie, but you should at least indicate the shots and camera angles in the script, right?"

Zhang Yibai swallowed hard upon hearing this and could only remain silent. He came from the playwriting department of the Central Academy of Drama, not the directing department, and had only shot music videos before, so he was lacking in some areas.

Wu Yuchen continued to ask, "How much money do you plan to ask for?"

Zhang Yibai gathered his courage and said, "4 million?"

Wu Yuchen shook his head upon hearing this number. This TV drama was a purely urban show with not a single big scene, and the actors were all newcomers. If it were in his hands, it could be filmed in less than a month, and 1 million-plus would be the absolute maximum.

But in his past life, Zhang Yibai, this novice, filmed it for 3 months, spending a month just practicing, and at the beginning, he didn't even know how to direct the actors. For the first 1-minute scene, he filmed for two whole days; even filming a movie wouldn't be as dawdling as him.

It was a coincidence that Hu Ge happened to be among the extras in this scene. Later, when he met Zhang Yibai, he even mentioned this: "I was the one sitting in the corner on the bus. You filmed for two whole days; when the crew was serving food, you were still filming, and by the time I went, there was no food left."

Zhang Yibai and Diao Yinan had a bad premonition when they saw Wu Yuchen shake his head. Sure enough, the next moment, Wu Yuchen asked:

"Are you selling the script?"