Chapter 5: Talent Agency

Laughing and chatting, they entered the school gate.

Someone spread the word that an agency had come to the school to sign talent, and many students ran off to join the excitement.

This period was roughly when domestic agencies had just started to gain a foothold.

Regardless of their reputation later on, when it came to agencies and agents, one really couldn't bypass the name Huayi, nor could one bypass Wang Jinghua.

"Linzi, shall we go take a look too?" Zhu Yawen clearly wanted to go see.

"We're only freshmen; do you want to sign with an agency?" Lin Nan asked. He hadn't made any plans yet; sometimes, when one "knows" too much, one's thinking can easily become detached.

But Lin Nan also wanted to seize every possible opportunity, just as he had seized the chance with Director Li Yang and *Blind Shaft*.

"Then let's go take a look," Lin Nan hesitated for a moment before deciding to go join the excitement with Zhu Yawen.

Generally, agencies would directly approach the school to understand a student's situation, selecting people based on a combination of external conditions and grades; this was for newcomers.

Child stars were different, but they usually already had families or companies and didn't need to be scouted at school.

Lin Nan only remembered that Zhu Yawen had once signed with Huayi, and eventually ended up at a company called Yixin.

Regarding student employment, the Film Academy was much more open than its neighbor; as long as it was good for the students, they would accept it.

It was also this point that made many students lean more toward the Film Academy rather than the Drama Academy.

As for which of the two schools was better, no one could say for sure; it depended on what the students themselves thought.

The two schools were labeled differently—one produced actors, the other produced stars—each with its own characteristics.

But it must be said, from the school names alone, two different paths had already been set.

One for drama, one for film.

And the latter had a more shining trait: it produced great directors.

There were many students queuing outside the large classroom, and some teachers were maintaining order; people were jumping up to look inside, as if there were auditions going on.

Lin Nan and Zhu Yawen couldn't squeeze in; it was clear that those gathered outside ranged from freshmen to seniors.

In this day and age, there really weren't many film crews, but there were certainly plenty of students.

However, the good news was that the guidance price for coal and electricity had been canceled this year. What did that mean?

It meant that coal prices were set to rise, and the generous coal bosses were about to make their fortunes; before long, they would be waving stacks of cash into the film and television industry, and at that time, film crews would spring up like bamboo shoots after a rain.

"They really are signing people," Zhu Yawen said, standing on tiptoe to take a look.

Most Film Academy students tended toward film crews and companies; their intention to apply to theaters was not as strong as those next door.

"Senior, which company is inside?" Lin Nan asked someone who had just squeezed out.

"Huayi, who else could it be? Too bad they didn't take a fancy to me," he said, not looking annoyed, and walked away.

Huayi's reputation had been quite big these past two years; it was the first in the mainland, having started as an advertising company.

With Director Feng in their hands, along with *Be There or Be Square* and this year's *Big Shot's Funeral*, the company had become famous overnight.

And then there was that number one agent.

"Lin Nan, Zhu Yawen, you two are here too."

It was their class teacher, Teacher Zhou, coming over from the side.

"Teacher, we're just here to see what the excitement is about."

Lin Nan had no intention of trying to sign with an agency; it wasn't the right time yet. At the very least, he had to wait until after the New Year, once there was good news from Director Li Yang.

"Exactly, they might not take a fancy to us either, even though I think I'm pretty good," Zhu Yawen said, being a bit shameless, though that was just his personality.

"Taking a look is fine; you'll have to deal with this sooner or later," the teacher said kindly, looking at the two students.

"The people inside are from Huayi. You can go in and try; consider it a way to learn and broaden your horizons. You shouldn't just study well at school; you also need opportunities. You need to understand the audience's preferences, and talent agencies are just an intermediary channel."

"Understood, Teacher," the two agreed readily.

"Shall we give it a try?" Zhu Yawen suggested, watching Teacher Zhou walk away.

Lin Nan nodded. Might as well try; there was nothing to lose.

It was just that he had self-awareness: following the standard process, a student with no background and no resources, even if signed by Huayi, would start as a nobody and would need at least five years to see any progress.

And currently, Huayi already had a batch of leading artists; newcomers would need a long time to stand out, or might not stand out at all, eventually being restricted by their contracts.

Others might be fine with it, but Lin Nan couldn't accept that kind of efficiency; otherwise, he might as well not have come back to this life.

Lin Nan followed behind Zhu Yawen; while Lao Zhu said he didn't want to, his body was eager to try.

As for Lin Nan, he was purely bored and just accompanying Lao Zhu for the experience.

Most people went in and came out quickly, in a few minutes; a small number lasted ten or twelve minutes.

Lao Zhu belonged to the latter.

"He said I'm not suited for playing young leads, but rather for military or tough-guy roles," Zhu Yawen said, rubbing his chin, a bit unhappy, even though he did have military family members.

You have to admit, she was worthy of being an agent; she saw it at a glance.

Lin Nan patted his shoulder, "A real man should play soldiers and tough guys."

With that, Lin Nan also entered the large classroom.

He looked at the person inside, and the other party looked at him.

"Student, please sit down. Let's start with a self-introduction," Lin Nan sat down.

"My name is Lin Nan, Class of '02 undergraduate, 181 centimeters, 70 kilograms," Lin Nan said, very serious and matter-of-fact.

"Haha, no need to be so serious," the other party was a woman in her thirties, with a young woman who looked like an assistant beside her.

"My name is Wang Jinghua, General Manager in charge of artist signings at Huayi."

"Your image is very good. Do you have any plans for your future acting career?"

"I'll wait until I graduate. I'm still a freshman, and my studies are more important," Lin Nan said evasively.

"A freshman? There are quite a few freshmen in your class who are filming. Liu Yifei is in your class, right? She's currently filming her second project this year, *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils*, which is a big-budget martial arts production," the other party was clearly surprised by Lin Nan's attitude.

"Yes, I just visited the set. It is indeed quite large, and I saw quite a few Huayi-signed artists there," Lin Nan added a little too much.

Hu Jun was an artist under this woman opposite him.

Wang Jinghua was even more curious. The students who came in before were all very eager, wanting to say ten sentences for every one asked, but this student before her didn't say much.

He even seemed a bit cold, as if he didn't care.

"Have you filmed anything before?" Wang Jinghua asked again.

Lin Nan raised his head and looked at this godmother of agents, "I filmed a low-budget movie," he said very naturally.

"What is the name of the movie?"

Wang Jinghua suddenly became interested because she saw a hint of a smile on Lin Nan's face when he mentioned filming a movie.

"A movie adapted from the novel *Divine Wood*, which couldn't be released."

Lin Nan didn't want to continue. He had come in just to complete the audition process, asking and answering casually.

He ended up discovering the person opposite him was this godmother. He wanted to be perfunctory and end it quickly, but the other party was very professional and didn't follow the script. Shouldn't you be saying: "You can go back and wait for news"?

"Li Yang, *Blind Shaft*?"

Now Lin Nan felt something was wrong; the other party actually knew so much.

"Yes."

Wang Jinghua and her assistant looked at each other, then looked at Lin Nan again; he was different from the previous students.

"Director Li Yang's film—those in the circle who should know, know. From the very beginning, it was prepared to be taken abroad."

"And it seems you've already found a path, heading straight for Berlin. I've heard from people in the underground film circle that the chances of winning an award are not small. You're quite lucky."

"Thank you, I also think it can win an award," Lin Nan said politely.

"Alright, you can leave. It's clear you aren't thinking about signing," Wang Jinghua said with a smile.

Lin Nan smiled helplessly, "I just wanted to come in and give it a try, didn't think much of it. My teacher and classmates are waiting outside."

"Alright, go ahead."

Lin Nan walked out of the classroom and was greeted by Zhu Yawen's inquiry.

"Nothing much, I didn't think about signing with a company, just said a few words. Teacher Zhou, we'll be leaving first." Teacher Zhou nodded, and Lin Nan and Zhu Yawen left.

"Sister Hua, that student just now really was just going through the motions, wasn't he?" the assistant asked during a break.

"It's clear he has his own ideas. But I actually quite like him; at the very least, he's the only one who wasn't thinking about signing," Wang Jinghua replied.

"Let's see a few more, then we'll leave. Did you record the information for all the previous students?"

"It's all registered. Actually, you don't need to come yourself; we can just handle it."

"Coming to see isn't a waste of effort. You are still young, and I still need to guide you."

"Linzi, what if they want to sign me? Should I sign or not?" Zhu Yawen asked.

Lin Nan rolled his eyes. You really can imagine things. In his memory, when Lao Zhu signed with Huayi, Wang Jinghua had already left. Lao Zhu was delayed for several years and only truly improved after signing with the company called Yixin.

"If that woman just now wanted to sign you, I think you could consider it. She has quite a few people under her, including singing groups and actors—Teacher Chen Daoming, Senior Hu Jun from the Central Academy of Drama, Li Bingbing..."

Lin Nan introduced them to Zhu Yawen.

"The key is that they might not take a fancy to me," Zhu Yawen said, scratching his head after hearing Lin Nan's words, beginning to face reality.

"Good that you know. Don't spend all day dreaming. However, if you really hit the jackpot and get lucky, you can indeed consider signing," Lin Nan said, leaving it at that.

He still had to plan his own path. If Director Li sold the copyright, how much money would he get, and what should he do with it once he had it?

The '96 class's Master Huang had *The Prince of Han Dynasty* broadcast this year to rave reviews.

Over there, *Wind and Cloud* was also sweeping the streets and alleys; children were holding wooden Blood-Drinking Mad Blades and Peerless Good Swords, dueling on the streets.

Lin Nan was wondering, should he use his own money to promote himself once he had it?

He couldn't afford to mess with TV dramas unless a coal boss sponsored him, but he could try low-budget films; he still had a few ideas in his head.

Besides, there were so many seniors from the directing department at school who were still doing odd jobs, and seniors and classmates from the acting department whose wages were also low.

Organizing a project himself seemed easy enough.

Lin Nan pondered this, and good heavens, there was great potential, truly great potential.

"Linzi, what's wrong with you? You're smiling so creepily."

Zhu Yawen patted Lin Nan, looking as if he had seen a ghost.