Chapter 497: An Amazing Script

Wang Rong felt a certain sense of pride regarding the new film he was preparing.

Although his previous film had flopped in both box office and critical reception, the total box office for the films he had directed personally had already approached 2 billion, making him a very successful film director.

And for this new film, he was the primary screenwriter.

Most importantly, he felt this film was profound enough!

Wang Rong started as an Actor, initially acting in television series, and had produced several hit shows.

He was a formally trained professional; while his classmates were still studying, he had already begun playing the male lead.

However, he did not act in television series for long; after four or five years, he threw himself into the film industry.

After he started acting in films, most of his box-office hits were Comedy.

Coupled with the fact that he naturally possessed a comedic look, he had always carried the label of a comedic Actor.

In terms of personal honors, Wang Rong had won Best Actor.

However, he had only won Best Actor once.

For the male lead of a Comedy film, the difficulty of winning Best Actor was quite high.

Many comedic Actors had expressed that while their acting skills were seen as good by industry insiders, many audience members ignored this because they were performing in Comedy.

And after Wang Rong became a director, he actually followed the path of commercial Comedy.

Honestly, it was quite successful.

Yet, gradually, like many great directors, he no longer pursued only box office numbers.

He also wanted critical acclaim, he wanted profound content, and he wanted to win awards!

The endless emptiness brought by money—I've had enough of it! What I want now is prestige!

Although the new script Wang Rong prepared was still full of humor, the main subject of the filming was people at the bottom of society.

The core he focused on was some relatively sensitive social issues.

It had to make people feel both amused and, after calming down, deeply moved.

After watching the film *Ten Years of Work Offstage* directed by Luo Mo, Wang Rong deeply realized that Luo Mo was definitely a person with ideas.

"A person like this will definitely be fascinated by my new script."

"This round is secure."

……..

……..

On the other side, Luo Mo, who was preparing to trick a certain Best Actor onto his "pirate ship," did not know that this Best Actor also wanted to hook him.

He had the same thought as Wang Rong, also feeling that he was just bringing the script for him to look at and provide some oversight.

——*Mutual Hunting*.

Over these past few days, in addition to cooperating with the early promotion of *Reset*, Luo Mo also took the time to watch the first and second episodes of *Hunting Crime*, the first large-scale web series for Pineapple TV's 【Suspense Theater】.

Well, he used a borrowed membership.

"Pretty good, a work above the standard," Luo Mo evaluated in his heart.

He personally wasn't very interested in boys' love adaptations.

Therefore, he was mainly watching the cases, the Story Rhythm, and the lens language.

Suspense-type shows actually test a director's camera movement.

This *Hunting Crime* was top-tier in many aspects.

The cases inside were all social issues capable of sparking heated discussion, which really hit the mark for some viewers.

For example, the first case was about domestic violence.

It told the story of a woman who, after being repeatedly subjected to domestic violence, carefully planned and killed her husband, then disguised it as self-defense.

Under normal circumstances, the Story Rhythm of web series is relatively fast, and the plot is very tight, striving to achieve an effect that makes people unable to stop watching.

Therefore, it was not strange to have one case every two episodes.

Nowadays, it was actually some shows that focused on daily life that were particularly prone to filler.

In Luo Mo's view, *Hunting Crime*, as the first shot of a 【Theater】, was qualified.

But he didn't fear it either.

The 【Theater】 of the two major video platforms fired their first shots at almost the same time.

Thus, this first battle would be exceptionally important.

"A good start is half the battle," Luo Mo muttered.

"Huh, I have to say, the name of this show *Reset* is quite auspicious..."

After going to the studio to deploy some work-related matters, Luo Mo returned to his home in Xicheng and simply packed some personal items.

Xu Chujing was still in Beijing, still busy with the matter of terminating the contract with that international first-tier luxury brand that had made a principled error.

She encountered some trouble midway and needed the team to intervene forcefully.

This contract was one that Xu Chujing had to terminate.

As for Luo Mo, he had to head to Hangzhou to record the next part of *Director Show*.

Ning Dan, who lived upstairs from him, was also packing her luggage; she would go to Hangzhou with Luo Mo later.

Run Jie had been full of energy recently because of Luo Mo.

*Director Show* was originally an S-Class Project that she valued extremely highly, and with Luo Mo taking the spot, she was even more confident in the performance of this variety show.

It was quite magical; Luo Mo often could determine the traffic and quality of a variety show.

——A man with a large volume.

After the two sat in the nanny van together, Ning Dan glanced at the Briefcase and thermos cup in Luo Mo's hand.

"Why are you like a veteran cadre?" She pursed her full red lips, smiled, and said.

Luo Mo put down his thermos, then pointed to his Briefcase and said, "Inside here, there are my treasures."

"Scripts?" Ning Dan asked.

"That's right, there are scripts for Director Show, and also the script for my new movie." Luo Mo did not hide it.

After the last recording of Director Show ended, Ning Dan had told Luo Mo the subject matter of the remaining short film that Tian Ou had drawn.

This time, it was not 【Comedy】.

According to the rules of the draw, it is actually possible for a director to draw the same category twice.

After he learned of this category, he felt it was quite interesting.

Luo Mo went back and thought about it, then decided on the script.

Upon hearing this, what surprised Ning Dan was certainly not the short film script, but that Luo Mo had actually brought the script for his own new movie.

Why bring it?

"Even if you want to promote it, you can't be this early, right?" She smiled.

"Could it be... you want to pick a few Actors from among the contestants on this show?" Ning Dan asked.

Luo Mo glanced at her and said, "Sister Dan, you guessed half of it right."

"Hm?" Ning Dan frowned, feeling a bit puzzled.

But as a woman, she didn't ask about business first, but instead said with full resentment: "Don't call me Sister Dan; before, when answering calls and on the show, didn't you always call me Ning Dao?"

Upon hearing this, Luo Mo could only cough a few times, while thinking to himself: "Then in my heart, I still call you Run Jie."

He did not answer this complaint, but said directly: "I intend to let Wang Rong take a look at this script."

"Is that so?" Ning Dan did not continue the previous topic, and after pondering for a moment, said: "He is indeed a very good choice."

"Right?" Luo Mo felt he had planned it very well.

"Do you need me to help you bridge the connection?" Ning Dan asked.

She and Wang Rong had known each other for quite a while; Wang Rong had been on her variety show seven or eight years ago.

Look at that, a mature woman is just great; without a single word of nonsense, she was smooth again.

Luo Mo said: "It's not a big problem; as long as he is willing to read the script, this matter is basically done."

"Is that so?" Ning Dan smiled and said: "Then I will wait and see."

………

………

Hangzhou and Shanghai are not too far apart; after the van arrived at the recording site of Director Show, Ning Dan went to arrange work first, while Luo Mo went to the lounge to take a short nap.

He had arrived too early; arriving at the recording site at the same time as Ning Dan was definitely early.

As it turned out, Wang Rong also arrived quite early.

The two men, each "harboring their own ulterior motives," chatted a few times on WeChat and then found a place to meet.

Luo Mo and Wang Rong were like people meeting in secret, exchanging documents.

"Then... I'll take it back to read?" Wang Rong asked.

"Sure, I'll take mine back to read carefully too," Luo Mo said.

He lowered his head and took a first look at the script; the script Wang Rong gave him was titled Million Diamonds.

Looking at this title, Luo Mo could roughly imagine a portion of the content.

Wang Rong also took a look at the cover of the script Luo Mo gave him.

The title left him a bit confused; he didn't know what it was about.

This movie was called—Dying to Survive.

………

………

After the two men returned to their respective lounges, Wang Rong started reading the script immediately.

Luo Mo received a call from Ning Dan, asking him to come over and help with something.

She wanted to make a small change to the competition format of Director Show, and she wanted to hear Luo Mo's opinion.

After receiving the call, Luo Mo had no choice but to put down the script for Dying to Survive first and go find Ning Dan.

But as soon as he walked out of the lounge, he turned back, put the script into his Briefcase, then put the Briefcase into a cabinet, and only then did he go out again.

During the initial preparation stage of a movie, confidentiality work still needs to be done well.

If someone is willing to bring a script for you to look at first, that is a very high level of trust.

Therefore, Luo Mo would still be a bit careful, rather than just leaving the script on the table in the lounge.

After thinking it over, he even told a staff member not to let anyone enter his lounge casually.

On the other side, as soon as Wang Rong entered his room, he started reading the content of Dying to Survive.

Very quickly, he became engrossed in it.

"Knock, knock, knock." A staff member knocked lightly on the door, but he didn't hear it.

It wasn't until the staff member knocked again and called out "Teacher Wang Rong" that he was startled back to reality.

Wang Rong read the whole script very slowly; he had only read a small portion of the content so far.

The Drama in the script had only reached the stage of going to buy "Fake Medicine" for the first time.

Wang Rong felt it was very interesting; he hadn't seen this kind of subject matter before.

However, based on the initial tone of the story and his habitual way of thinking, he viewed this content as a source of satisfaction.

"Go abroad to buy it cheap, then bring it back to sell at a high price."

"Wouldn't that make a fortune!" Wang Rong thought to himself.

He carefully put the script away, and after thinking about it later, decided to carry it with him.

One reason was that it was safer this way, and the other was that Wang Rong's heart was itching, and he really wanted to keep reading.

He even forgot that his job today was to be a director, not to read a script.

After walking out of the room with the staff, Wang Rong suddenly slapped his thigh and muttered, "That's illegal!"

The female staff member wearing black-rimmed Glasses was startled and turned her head with a stiff neck to glance at Wang Rong.

"He... what is he saying?"

"What is he thinking about in his head again?"

"I hope I haven't run into some big trouble."

The entertainment industry is very dirty.

Wang Rong met her gaze, his mouth twitched, and he laughed dryly: "That, haha, hahahaha, I was thinking about my own short film."

"Okay, okay, Teacher Wang Rong, please come with me first, let's go do a Backstage Interview." She walked forward quickly.

Wang Rong coughed lightly and followed immediately, while his heart was still thinking about the content in *I Am Not a Medicine God*.

"Selling Medicine according to how the male lead is doing it is illegal!"

Thinking of this, Wang Rong became even more curious about the subsequent Drama content.

He really wanted to know how the end of the script would resolve this very important issue.

Most importantly, this so-called "Fake Medicine" seemed to have the same efficacy; it really could save people.

Well then, doesn't the problem arise!

Wang Rong was not looking at the script purely from a reader's perspective, but from the perspective of an Actor, a screenwriter, and a director.

So he was thinking while reading.

The more he thought, the more he felt that this subject matter, as well as this story, had so, so much that could be mined.

In contrast, his own *Million Diamonds*... what kind of depth is that!

In terms of subject matter and story, it was directly weaker.

Comparing from the big picture, it wasn't even on the same level.

It's just that he hadn't read much of the script yet, so he didn't know how the completeness and details of this script were handled.

Wang Rong's Backstage Interview segment ended very quickly.

One reason was that the young girl conducting the interview wanted to ask Luo Mo more questions.

The other reason was that Wang Rong himself was a bit distracted, and his cooperation level wasn't particularly high.

Once he was free, he immediately continued reading the script for *I Am Not a Medicine God*.

Wang Rong even took the time to check the time; he could probably read for about another hour.

He immediately raced against time.

—He simply couldn't stop!

By the time another staff member knocked on his door to have him head to the Recording Hall, he had just happened to see an extremely classic line in *I Am Not a Medicine God*.

When Wang Rong saw this sentence, he couldn't help it and read the line out loud, directly in the state of an Actor acting.

"【I have been selling Medicine for so many years, and I have discovered that there is only one kind of sickness in this world—the poverty sickness.】"

He slapped the table in admiration!

"This script, damn! This script... damn!"

Wang Rong didn't dare to delay the recording, but he put the script for *I Am Not a Medicine God* into his bag like he had found a treasure, and carried it with him.

It's a treasure, this is a treasure.

"This script, it still needs me to oversee it?"

"Am I qualified to offer suggestions for it?"

"What kind of suggestions could I possibly offer!?" Wang Rong was completely stunned.

He could barely pick out any faults!

The story logic also had no problems.

After all, you have to know that this movie on Earth was adapted from a true story.

At the beginning, when he saw the title, his thought was: "What a shitty name, it doesn't feel very attractive."

Now, it was: "This title is also super good!"

After arriving at the Recording Hall, the first thing he did was walk quickly toward Luo Mo.

Coincidentally, Luo Mo was also carrying a Briefcase in his hand.

"How far have you read in the script?" Wang Rong asked directly.

"I haven't read it yet. Ning Dao just had something for me, then I went to do a Backstage Interview, and then I was busy with some other things. Brother Rong, I'll read it as soon as I have time." Luo Mo was still a bit embarrassed, making it seem like he didn't value it much.

But he had indeed been very busy just now and had no time.

Wang Rong said immediately: "No need to read it."

"Huh?" Luo Mo was slightly stunned.

Wang Rong also felt that this statement was ambiguous and easily misunderstood, so he immediately added: "I've thought about this script and feel there are still many immature parts. I've decided to push the project back, push it to... push it to the second half of the year, no, push it to next year!"

"By then, I'll show you the final version after revisions." Wang Rong started spouting nonsense.

In his heart, he kept chanting: "Good thing he hasn't read it, good thing he still hasn't read it."

Putting *Million Diamonds* and *I Am Not a Medicine God* together is simply shameful.

(PS: Only one chapter today.)

(End of chapter)