It's reasonable for me, a stuntman, to live a crazy life, right?

Chapter 712: Sharpening the knife, aiming directly at the "Star Girl"!
It is no exaggeration to say that in the current mainland film market, if you can direct a movie with a box office of over 10 billion, you can be classified as a top director!
And Zhou Xingchi is one of them.

Although "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" caused quite a bit of controversy in film reviews, its box office performance was not in vain.

With the help of this movie, Zhou Xingchi successfully joined the 10 billion box office director club.

Although he has not won any major awards, he has a very high status among directors and actors in the industry due to his strong box office appeal and excellent directing skills.

However, such a "genius" level director had a very bumpy journey on the road of film.

When he was in Hong Kong, he was targeted by many parties because of the contract conflict with the Xiang family.

In the end, if Han Sanping had not saved him and helped him expand into the mainland market, many of his classic works might not even have the chance to be published.

However, a year and a half ago, when he was cooperating with Huayi, the two parties went to court due to conflicts of interest.

At that time, Wang Zhonglei, who was at the peak of his career, looked down on him and even openly mocked him for not understanding movies at all.

In the end, Zhou Xingchi lost the case and returned to Hong Kong in disgrace.

But I never thought that only one year later, he returned with new works!

When the project "The Mermaid" was announced, as expected, it immediately caused a huge sensation in the circle!
However, what no one expected was that there were multiple partners in the project announcement column.

Star Shine, China Film Group, Enlight Films, and Feiyue Films.

Looking at the three investors who reached a cooperation with Zhou Xingchi, not surprisingly, the entire circle, including Zhou Xingchi’s fans, were completely shocked!

"I really can't imagine who in the industry would dare to trip up these four companies after they unite."

"Haha, Huayi got kicked out, that's great. I feel sick just looking at that Wang Zhonglei."

"A man without faith cannot stand. This proverb is fully demonstrated at this moment!"

"With these three companies backing us up, I wonder how Huayi will be able to interfere with Master Xing's work this time. Humph, you guys are really being given a lot of face."

"Now that Stephen Chow has made a strong comeback, Huayi will definitely regret what they did before. Missing out on such a partner will definitely be a huge loss for Huayi!"

Due to reports from major entertainment news websites, the topic of "The Mermaid" stayed at the top of Weibo's hot search list for a whole day.

The number of people participating in the discussion has exceeded nine figures, which has caused the movie's popularity and topicality to soar sharply and become unstoppable.

Compared with the discussions of netizens, many companies in the industry that have artist management businesses, as well as some studios and celebrities themselves, have all taken action at this moment.

On this day, there was an endless stream of people coming to Chen Fei to inquire about news!
As we all know, in any project that Zhou Xingchi plays, even if he is just a supporting role, he can perform very well.

And if you are lucky enough to become the male or female lead, then you will soar to the sky!

You know, among the "girls" promoted by these big directors, the "Star Girls" are the most famous.

Especially for those new actors, if they can debut as a "Star Girl", they will definitely win at the starting line.

And according to the information released in the announcement, the selection of "Star Girls" this time is not limited to newcomers, even some famous female stars have the opportunity.

In this case, the competition will be extremely fierce!

At this time, connections, resources, and networks can come in handy.

Chen Fei was not surprised at all when he received the call from Huang Xiaoming.

After a few pleasantries, he said bluntly, "I think you should know Director Zhou's temper. He is the one who has the final say on the set, and his crew will not allow anyone to interfere.

If I had a say, he wouldn't have held this three-month audition. In fact, I was just an investor and didn't have any say in the crew."

What Chen Fei said was not wrong. He really had no say.

If he had the final say, Zhao Liying could now officially announce that she would star in "The Mermaid".

Although Zhou Xingchi gave him a set of actor information, it ultimately depends on the acting skills. The qualification to play the leading female role is not easy to get.

At this time, Huang Xiaoming responded from the other end of the phone:
"Is that so? Fine then. I won't bother you anymore. Next time if you have a chance, call Yifei and we can sit together. The TV series I starred in has been sold to Youku. We will have many opportunities to cooperate in the future."

Chen Fei responded: "Okay, if I find a suitable role, I will contact you in advance."

After hanging up the phone, Huang Xiaoming shrugged helplessly at Yang Ying, who was pouting and looking reluctant.

"You just heard it. It's not that I won't help you. This is Zhou Xingchi's crew. How could an ordinary actor possibly catch his eye?"

As we all know, Zhou Xingchi has extremely high requirements for actors' acting skills!
In addition to being a well-known tyrant on the set, he is also the nightmare of many actors.

Those who had the opportunity to participate in the filming of his movies, almost all complained after the filming was completed, and they all said that Zhou Xingchi was too demanding!
For a single shot, he would even shoot it over and over again until he was satisfied.

Faced with such high demands, how could Yang Ying, who once needed eye drops even for crying scenes, possibly meet his requirements?

The most typical example is "Kung Fu".

People in the industry are criticizing Huang Shengyi for always starring in bad dramas, but when it comes to her role as the "mute girl" in "Kung Fu", without exception, all the praises are there.

Of course, Huang Xiaoming, who has a very low EQ, would definitely not do anything to hurt his girlfriend.

He patiently coaxed her, "Although we can't find an introducer, we can still take the initiative to sign up. Since Zhou Xingchi has called for fair, just, and open casting, it means that you also have a chance of winning the award."

Yang Ying was also very confident. Listening to Huang Xiaoming's words, she clenched her fists and cheered herself up "fiercely"!
"That's right! I can do it! I will definitely be chosen!"

"Okay." Huang Xiaoming stroked his girlfriend's long, smooth hair and said, "I'll arrange for someone to sign you up right away. Wait for my good news."

……

At the same time, with the exposure of the "Mermaid" project, many people in the industry turned their attention to Huayi.

You know, before this, Huayi was always able to get involved in any of Zhou Xingchi’s projects.

But now, their investment share is gone in this project with an investment of 4 million yuan, which is completely equivalent to "resource loss" in the eyes of many people.

For a listed company, this situation is very likely to affect the stock price.

The subsequent situation was not unexpected. When the market opened the next morning, the share price of Huayi, which had been maintaining an upward momentum, was cut in half, showing a long-lost decline!
On Huayi's side, the two Wang brothers looked unhappy.

With the help of cultural and tourism projects, Huayi's stock price and market value have been rising and are about to reach 400 billion.

But now, just because Zhou Xingchi did not bring Huayi into his new film project, the stock price fluctuated. This is really fucked up. At this moment, Wang Zhongjun once again determined to follow the development path of "de-monopolizing the film industry".

Because the establishment of a film project can cause stock price fluctuations, this is extremely detrimental to the company's future development and is extremely unhealthy.

It seems that real estate, Internet, catering and education are relatively stable at the moment.

Wang Zhongjun frowned and asked in a deep voice, "Why did he approve the new film project so quickly this time?"

"I am not sure as well."

Wang Zhonglei shook his head, but what came to his mind were the analyses of netizens.

If nothing unexpected happens, Zhou Xingchi is ready to avenge his previous shame and regain his lost face.

"No matter what the reason is, the most important thing now is to suppress the heat, minimize the impact on us, and curb the falling stock price."

Wang Zhongjun looked at the head of the public relations department next to him. This was an old man who had been with him for a long time and was trustworthy.

"Okay, Mr. Wang, I'll arrange it right away."

The other party nodded first, and then suddenly said, "Director Wang, do you need me to trip them up again? Give them a warning?"

Wang Zhongjun turned his head to look at him and said in a deep voice: "Warn who? Warn China Film? Or warn Feiyue Film?"

The man fell silent instantly. These were all giants that Huayi could not afford to offend!
Especially Feiyue Film and Television. If they offended them, they could just change a few codes on the Weibo backend and Huayi would be in big trouble.

"I don't think there's anything to be nervous about." Wang Zhonglei said nonchalantly, "It's already extremely difficult to get back the investment of a project with a total investment of 4 million, let alone generate any profit."

At this time, the head of the public relations department suddenly thought of the content he had discussed with Alibaba before, and immediately nodded and agreed: "That's right, and this is not a big IP, it's just an original script."

Wang Zhongjun couldn't figure it out for a moment, so he could only wave his hand casually: "Okay, everyone get busy, and prepare to start the opening plan of the second cultural and tourism district."

……

After returning to the capital from Shanghai, Chen Fei did not do anything else due to time constraints. Instead, he called Zhao Liying directly and asked her to come to the company.

"Director Chen, long time no see."

Zhao Liying was still a little reserved when facing Chen Fei.

Although the person in front of her was smiling friendly, she could still feel a slight sense of pressure.

It seems that the higher you go in the circle, the more you can feel this pressure, but this is not a difference in status, but a feeling of looking at the "dome" from afar.

Even in her dreams, Zhao Liying didn't dare to dream of reaching Chen Fei's current status.

"Yeah, it's been a while since I last saw the 2000 million-follower female celebrity on Weibo."

Chen Fei teased her with a smile.

With the influence of "The Journey of Flower", the number of Zhao Liying's Weibo fans increased very quickly, and she successfully gained tens of millions of fans in a very short period of time!

At this point, if we only look at the number of Weibo fans, she is almost at the same level as Yang Mi, Yang Ying, Jing Tian and others.

The only difference is that she currently doesn't have a movie starring her that can compete at the box office.

"Director Chen, please don't make fun of me. If you hadn't accepted me, I would probably still be playing a supporting role. Everything I have now is given by you..."

As she spoke, Zhao Liying's heart unconsciously surged with true emotions.

Since joining Feiyue Film and Television, she has been led by the company almost all the way, and the resources she enjoys are something she could never have imagined when she was at Huayi!
Especially this drama "The Journey of Flower", which directly pushed her to the ranks of the most popular female stars this summer.

Even Yang Mi, who has starred in TV series and movies such as "Gu Jian Qi Tan" and "Breakup Guru", is not as popular and talked about as her on Weibo.

And all this was brought to her by Chen Fei!
She will never forget it in her life!
"Okay, there's no need to say such sensational things."

Chen Fei interrupted her in time, then took out the information he had prepared in advance and handed it to her.

"You can take this information back and take a look at it. It will be very helpful for your future auditions, but there is one thing you must remember. It must be kept confidential. You cannot tell anyone or show it to anyone."

"Oh well!"

Zhao Liying responded and took the information in a daze.

At first she didn't think much about it and just thought it was the company's new TV drama project, but when she saw the three big words "Mermaid" on the cover of the information, she was instantly shocked!
After being stunned for a long time, she finally reacted.

"Director Chen, this... is this Director Zhou Xingchi's new film project?"

"That's right." Chen Fei nodded: "I recommended you to him, hoping that you could play the leading female role, but he refused because he planned to use the 'national audition' method to determine the final candidate for the leading female role.

But in the end, he gave me the information and asked me to pass it on to you.

If you go back and take a closer look, you will find that it not only contains the complete script, but also a detailed character profile of the heroine, which will be helpful for your audition."

Hearing these words, Zhao Liying was immediately extremely excited!

Although you can't go the "internal selection" route, if you have a detailed script and character profile, you can definitely greatly increase your audition pass rate.

This time, Fade Chen gave her a huge surprise!
"Director Chen, I... I don't know how to thank you. Is there anything I can do for you? Just tell me, I'm willing to do anything..."

Zhao Liying was so excited that she was talking nonsense.

Seeing her state, Fade Chen couldn't help but smile: "Don't think too much, just work hard to prepare for the audition. I don't need you to do anything, nor do I need you to give me anything in return.

Of course, if you can successfully get the qualification to play the leading role of "The Mermaid" and become the new "Star Girl", this should be considered a kind of repayment, at least it will not let me down. "

"Director Chen, don't worry, I will definitely work hard!"

Zhao Liying hugged the information in her arms tightly and assured Chen Fei seriously. Her little face was round and chubby, which made her look cute and adorable.

At the same time, almost all actresses born after 85 or even 80 in the industry have started to take action, sharpening their knives and aiming directly at the goal of becoming a "Star Girl"!

……

(ps: First update, please vote for me!!!)
(End of this chapter)