China Entertainment: Been working as a director since 03

Chapter 389 Li Yu unexpectedly became the best senior student in Beijing Film Academy
"I'm actually speechless."

Wang Jing felt that Li Yu's words were rough but his logic was sound.

There are really too many artists in Hong Kong who hate Li Yu.

Their superior status in the mainland has completely disappeared, and Li Yu made the greatest contribution.

"Director Li, since you've said that, I won't be polite with you."

Wang Jing was no longer humble.

Since Li Yu doesn't mind being his shield, he can boldly use Li Yu as a shield to deal with Hong Kong artists.

In the subsequent actor selection, the first actor Li Yu chose was Wang Baoqiang, the soul of the "Detective Chinatown" series.

Li Yu has a favorable impression of Wang Baoqiang.

He should be one of the rare grassroots actors who has truly made a comeback from being an extra to becoming a superstar.

Many people would say that Zhao Xiaodao and Wang Baoqiang are similar, as both of them rose through the ranks as extras.

Li Yu wanted to say that Zhao Xiaodao's starting point was much higher than Wang Baoqiang's.

Zhao Xiaodao did not start out as an extra. She debuted through a talent show. In her early years, she won the championship in a talent show called "Yahoo Star Search" and then successfully signed a contract with an agency.

Perhaps Zhao Xiaodao did not have ideal resources when he first debuted, so he played many small roles.

But he is much better than Wang Baoqiang, who gets up early and works late in Hengdian, and is picked by casting directors like fruits and vegetables in the vegetable market.

It is no exaggeration to say that the starting point of Zhao Xiaodao's entry into the circle is the end point that most of the Hengdian extras will never reach in their lifetime.

"Wang Baoqiang?"

Wang Jing was stunned for a moment, and soon, fragmentary information about this person appeared in his mind.

He has some understanding of Wang Baoqiang. He is said to be an actor who started out as a group performer. He is very dedicated and has first-class acting skills.

With just a little bit of dressing up, Wang Baoqiang's image will be very consistent with the character setting of a wretched uncle.

This is Wang Jing's first work to open up the mainland film market, and he personally attaches great importance to it.

Although he has given the right to choose the main actors to Li Yu.

If the actors chosen by Li Yu are not suitable, he will also express his opinions.

He first searched for Wang Baoqiang's detailed information and after reading it, he was full of admiration for Li Yu's vision.

"I've always heard people say Director Li has an excellent eye for selecting actors, and after seeing him today, I can see that his reputation is well-deserved.

I'm not exaggerating at all. If you ask me, I can't think of an actor more suitable to play Tang Ren than him. "

Wang Jing was full of admiration.

Li Yu decided to give the role of A Xiang to Shi Shi.

In the original time and space, Mrs. Chen was able to play the role of Ah Xiang mainly because she was the director's wife.

She is not Li Yu's wife, so there is no need for Li Yu to be kind to her.

Mrs. Chen is also famous for her acting skills and good looks, and she is not irreplaceable.

Shi Shi, who has studied at Beijing Film Academy for nearly two and a half years, can now surpass her in acting skills.

The roles she can play will only be easier for Shishi to play.

Wang Jing had no doubt about this.

It’s not like he hasn’t taken care of his girlfriend in movies before.

It is human nature to give priority to those who know you well.

Afterwards, Li Yu appointed a few more actors, and the rest of the actors were left to Wang Jing to decide.

As long as Wang Jing selects actors according to the selection criteria that Li Yu mentioned earlier, Li Yu will not have any objection regardless of whether the actors are from the mainland, Hong Kong, or Taiwan.

Wang Jing really wants to support Hong Kong artists, just like he really wants to support Hong Kong's film industry.

He told Li Yu clearly that he was going back to Hong Kong Island to select some actors.

"Director Wang, you have made so many bad movies over the years and supported a large number of Hong Kong film practitioners. I wonder if you have noticed that the decline of Hong Kong films is multifaceted.

Not only can it not compare with the mainland in terms of investment and production, but there is also a lack of young artists.

The actors are still the same ones from 20 or 30 years ago, like a pool of stagnant water, completely lifeless.

If the veteran artists from Hong Kong do not meet the standards and cannot be used, you can always change your thinking and select some young Hong Kong actors.

I believe they are very happy to take over. If you do this, won't you be contributing to the cultivation of talent in Hong Kong's film industry?"

Li Yu made a very sincere suggestion.

Whether Wang Jing uses it or not is Wang Jing’s own business.

After Wang Jing left Beijing and returned to Hong Kong, "Knife of the Assassin" had been released for exactly one week, with a weekly box office of over 190 million, and it was about to break the 200 million mark.

Judging from the box office performance of the movie, breaking 300 million is a foregone conclusion.

As time goes by, it won't be a problem to break through 400 million.

As for whether he can reach 500 million and allow Lu Yang to enter the 500 million club, it depends on the film's staying power.

Lu Yang himself is very satisfied with the current results. Even if it cannot break through 500 million, he can accept it.

His initial expectation was to ensure that he would not lose money.

This is his first commercial film, and he really doesn't dare to ask for too much.

Lu Yang led the starring team headed by Zhang Zhen and Shi Shi to roadshow in Shanghai.

During the interview, a reporter asked Lu Yang: "Director Lu, you have achieved such success in your first commercial film. What do you think?"

“I don’t have any feelings, because the market feedback every day after the movie was released was beyond my expectations.

If you ask me who is the biggest contributor to the success of this film, I don’t think it would be me.”

Lu Yang took a breath and said seriously.

"You are both the director and screenwriter of this movie, so how could you not be the biggest contributor?"

The reporters were very confused.

"Of course it wasn't me. You probably don't know, do you? I met so many investors with the script of "The Blade of the Assassin" in the past two years that I can't even count them all.

None of them were optimistic about my "The Blade of the Assassin", and they were even less willing to invest in me.

At that time, even I was almost in despair. In countless quiet nights, I even doubted whether it was a wrong decision for me to switch to making commercial films.

When I was about to give up, I received a call from a teacher at school.

My teacher told me that my senior, Director Li Yu, wanted to meet me, and said that Director Li was very interested in my work "The Blade Strikes".

I couldn't believe my ears and wondered if I had heard it wrongly.

I waited for a few days, and by the day we were scheduled to meet, I had thought everything through.

If Director Li really thinks highly of my script, I would only dare to ask him for an investment of 30 million.

As a result, after I mentioned the figure of 30 million, he told me that 30 million was not enough to make a good costume martial arts film.

With a wave of his hand, he doubled the 30 million and invested 60 million in me.

Without Director Li’s generous investment, the film “Blade of the Assassin” might never have been released.”

Talking about the bumpy road of this movie, Lu Yang was a little moved, especially when he talked about Li Yu investing in him, his eyes were a little moist.

He was really grateful to Li Yu, and it was absolutely from the bottom of his heart without any falsehood.

After listening to Lu Yang's personal experience, the reporters were envious and shocked.

The shocking thing is that Lu Yang went from being unpopular in the early days to having a successful counterattack now, which is amazing.

I'm envious because Lu Yang has a good senior who casually invested 60 million in Lu Yang, a director who was making his first commercial film. I have to say that Li Yu is really generous.

We are all human beings and we all have seniors. Why are their seniors not as good as Lu Yang’s seniors?
Because of Lu Yang's moving words, after today, Li Yu gained another nickname, the best senior of Beijing Film Academy.

(End of this chapter)