I was rejected when I wrote a song, but I became a king on my debut.

Chapter 291 Charlotte’s Troubles

Although Zhou Yu's plan to make his first movie was not widely publicized, in this circle, if you want to make a movie, the news cannot be kept secret. Especially for an artist like Zhou Yu who is highly watched, everyone is watching him. If there is any movement, it will be known by others.

Many people in the circle knew that Zhou Yu was preparing to shoot a movie recently, which instantly made them alert.

This guy has tried his hand at music, been an editor, and been an actor, and now he's preparing to be a director?

"This is just nonsense."

Many people think it's ridiculous. Zhou Yu, why don't you just focus on music and scripts and be an actor in some movies? Why do you want to get involved in the directing industry now?

Although you, Zhou Yu, have created many myths, many people are still a little skeptical about you being a director.

It's not that I don't believe in Zhou Yu's skills, but I think that being a director and making a movie is too risky. Zhou Yu, your acting skills are so good now, and everyone has seen your performance in "The Legend of Yunxi". If you have acting skills, you can be an actor, so why do you have to be a director?
If he just went to film, with Zhou Yu's status and popularity, it would be no problem for him to get a high salary. But being a director and making a movie is completely different from being an actor, and the risks are too great.

Many people did not question Zhou Yu's skills and abilities as a director. Is there anything this guy cannot do now?
What they questioned was whether Zhou Yu's film would be good enough and whether it could be recognized by the market. Even though the animated film "Tian Gang Chuan" proved Zhou Yu's scriptwriting ability, animation is animation and live-action movies are live-action movies. These are two completely different concepts.

The key point is that Zhou Yu is not the director of "Tian Gang Zhuan", and this animated film is not released through the cinema channel. This makes many people feel that even if Zhou Yu can make a movie for the first time, it will probably flop.

There are so many film directors in China, even some big ones, but they can't guarantee that every movie they make will be a big hit. There are even some movies that are well-received but poorly received, with good word of mouth but poor box office performance.

The film industry is a complicated business. It's really too hasty for Zhou Yu to want to get involved so quickly.

Everyone knows that Zhou Yu runs an entertainment company, so he will definitely not let go of the film and television industry. After all, it's such a big piece of cake, and everyone wants to take a bite.

But not everyone can succeed in the big-screen cinema business.

Zhou Yu, you have a script, so you can find an excellent director to work with. By joining forces, you might be able to achieve some success. However, many people still doubt that you are working alone.

"You probably don't know yet, but I heard that the movie Zhou Yu is filming this time is a comedy, and he plays the second male lead. The male and female leads are Wang Teng and Li Li."

When people in the industry learned about this news, their doubts became even stronger, and some even looked forward to the show.

"Haha, Zhou Yu is really a young and brave man who is not afraid of tigers. Who would watch comedy movies these days?"

"That's right, comedy movies are not popular now. If you say that when Stephen Chow was around, then comedy movies were okay, but now, it's hard to say."

"And Zhou Yu wasn't the male lead. Wang Teng and Li Li were chosen instead. These two have little box office appeal except for performing in the Spring Festival Gala and in dramas."

"I think Zhou Yu was probably afraid that his first movie would flop, so he thought of making a comedy because the investment in this movie was low but the returns would be high if it became a hit. But in the current environment, if he makes a comedy and uses such bad actors, it's hard not to fail."

……

At the beginning, many people in the industry thought that although Zhou Yu was not very optimistic about his first film, he was really good at writing scripts, so he might be able to succeed.

But when he found out that the movie Zhou Yu was going to shoot was a comedy and that the actors he invited were all unknown people, he immediately laughed in his heart.

The movie is a comedy that has been a flop for the past two years, and the actors are unknown comedians who have no box office appeal. If you hadn't seen Wang Teng and Li Li on the Spring Festival Gala, you probably wouldn't know that these two people exist in the circle.

In an instant, the fact that Zhou Yu was going to make a movie made many people in the circle laugh.

This guy is just asking for trouble.

"Haha, let me see if you can create a miracle like this?"

Many people shook their heads. Zhou Yu was too impatient. If he wanted to enter the film and television industry, he had to do it step by step. Even if he wanted to make a movie, he was afraid of losing money on the first try, so he could find more investors.

Given Zhou Yu's popularity and status, if he wants to make a movie, many people are likely to invest. If for no other reason, it's just for Zhou Yu's traffic and reputation.

But now, this guy is investing his own money and making this kind of comedy that is bound to fail. He is really courting his own death.

Zhou Yu didn't know what those people in the circle thought, and even if he knew, he wouldn't care.

At the moment he is having dinner with the crew. The film "Charlotte's Troubles" will start shooting the day after tomorrow. Everyone is gathering here to welcome everyone in the crew.

"Come on, Mr. Zhou Yu, I'll toast you a glass."

The male lead, Mr. Wang Teng, was sitting at the main table. He raised his glass to toast Zhou Yu. His partner Li Li also quickly raised her glass and stood up to toast.

"Hey, hey, hey, I don't dare, Teacher Wang, Teacher Li, please sit down quickly. I can't stand you guys like this."

Seeing this, Zhou Yu quickly stood up and saluted back.

Wang Teng and Li Li smiled and said that this must be toasted.

The two are actors on the edge of the entertainment industry. Although they have often appeared on the Spring Festival Gala in recent years, their careers are not going well. They usually perform in dramas to make some money. As comedians, they are not doing well in today's declining comedy industry.

When they received Zhou Yu’s invitation, it felt like a dream to them.

Who doesn't know Zhou Yu? Now, there are so many people who want to work with him. After meeting him on the Spring Festival Gala this year, Wang Teng and Li Li chatted with him for a while and had a good impression of this young man.

This time Zhou Yu was going to shoot a comedy film. After receiving the invitation, the two people who had not yet announced their work came without saying a word.

Although many people in the industry were not optimistic about the comedy film that Zhou Yu was shooting this time, the two who had read the script knew how good the script was. And regardless of whether the movie would be a hit or not, at least Zhou Yu gave them a chance to appear on the big screen.

In recent years, they haven't received any scripts for filming. Most of the time, they just acted in dramas, even if they appeared on the Spring Festival Gala. But with the decline of the comedy industry, it didn't help their careers much.

As an actor, who doesn’t want to appear on the big screen?

Moreover, the script Zhou Yu gave them this time was so good that Wang Teng and Li Li really didn't want to miss it. Even though they knew that many people in the industry were not optimistic about their film, they felt that this film might not be bad. What if it created a miracle?
Zhou Yu and his crew were chatting. It was already March 10th. The investors of "Charlotte's Troubles" this time were only him, Yang Qian, Wen Shiyi, and Penguin. Zhou Yu originally thought that it would be enough for the three of them to invest. But when Penguin knew that he was going to make a movie, they invested without saying anything and without asking any questions. Zhou Yu hadn't even shown the script to Penguin yet, and they invested directly. Zhou Yu asked them, and the person in charge of Penguin said so.

"What we value is you, Mr. Zhou Yu. As for the movie, if it can be a hit, that would be the best. If it can't be a hit, that's fine too. Just think of it as us helping Mr. Zhou Yu share the risk."

Penguin has done a good job. Now the cooperation with Zhou Yu is getting deeper and deeper, and they have also seen more and more value in Zhou Yu. This time, it is not an investment in a movie, and this kind of low-cost comedy movie is not a big production with hundreds of millions of dollars invested. Zhou Yu's "Charlotte's Troubles" has a maximum cost of 30 to 40 million yuan, and Penguin directly invested 10 million in it.

This amount of money is nothing to Penguin. They don't care whether Zhou Yu's comedy can be a hit or not, they just need to maintain a good relationship with Zhou Yu. Now everyone knows that Zhou Yu is a member of Penguin, one of their own, so they must support him.

At the beginning, Penguin actually wanted to persuade Zhou Yu to change the subject. Even if the budget was not enough, they could increase the investment. After all, with Zhou Yu's talent, it would be no problem for him to write a good script.

As for comedy films, there really hasn't been much success in recent years.

But when Zhou Yu showed the script of "Charlotte's Troubles" to Penguin, the person in charge clapped his hands and applauded.

Zhou Yu's script is impeccable. They read the script of this comedy and found it funny and full of jokes. The key is to see it to the end, you will find that this movie is not just a comedy, but also contains good truths and implications. It is a comedy with deep meaning.

All of a sudden, Penguin changed its view on Zhou Yu's film. It seemed that this comedy was really worth a try. Zhou Yu's script was so good, it would be a pity not to give it a try.

If it explodes, you'll make a lot of money. Even if it fails, you won't lose much.

……

After the entire crew had a party, the film "Charlotte's Troubles" officially started shooting the next day!
Because this drama is a modern drama, Zhou Yu did not go to other places to shoot, but found the filming location in Zhonghai City. Zhou Yu had already communicated with the school.

Today is the first scene, Charlotte comes to attend Qiuya’s wedding.

Zhou Yu sat in front of the director's monitor. This time he was both a director and an actor. Although the work was a lot and a bit tiring, he felt a great sense of accomplishment when he did it himself.

"Okay, for the first round, Teacher Wang Teng is ready..."

"start!"

As a luxury car drove into the hotel gate, it circled the entrance for several times without stopping, which also attracted the attention of the students in the room.

"I said brother-in-law, that's enough. I have to go back quickly."

"My girlfriend's 60th birthday today, and she didn't even know I drove out."

Charlotte, played by teacher Wang Teng, was wearing a dress and sitting in the back, observing whether her old classmates noticed her.

"Then drive slower and let's go around two more times."

Zhou Yu looked at the monitor. Although Teacher Wang Teng and his team seldom filmed, they had performed in many dramas and their acting skills were still very good. The filming looked very smooth.

As the shooting progressed, we arrived at the wedding and our teacher Wang appeared.

"Yuan Hua, can you improvise a poem based on Xia Luo's outfit?"

It was Zhou Yu's turn to film. He was wearing a suit and played Yuan Hua. This was the role he had prepared for himself. He felt that the male lead was not suitable for him, but he felt that the male lead was very suitable for him.

The crew members looked at Yuan Hua, played by Zhou Yu. The suit looked so handsome on Zhou Yu.

The actress who plays Qiu Ya is a third-tier artist in the industry. She is 28 years old this year, beautiful and in good shape. Of course, she is still far behind Yang Qian and Wen Shiyi in terms of beauty.

This time, she was able to play the role of Qiuya because she was recommended by Director Chen.

Zhou Yu originally planned to find Yang Qian, but Yang Qian's schedule was already full and she had already joined the crew this month. There was no choice but to find another actor. When he was chatting with Director Chen before, Director Chen recommended Su Xue to play the role of Qiu Ya.

When Su Xue knew she was going to work with Zhou Yu, she was so excited that she couldn't sleep all night.

Now looking at Zhou Yu on the set, this is her first time to be in such close contact with Zhou Yu, and she has to say, it is really handsome.

"No wonder many people in the industry are keeping an eye on Director Zhou."

Which woman wouldn’t be moved by such an outstanding, handsome and young man?
With the appearance of Teacher Wang, the atmosphere on the set became much more cheerful. Ning Wanqiu and the others found this conversation very funny.

"Teacher, do you still remember me? I came first in the winter long-distance race that year."

Teacher Wang looked embarrassed: "First..."

"During the Chinese New Year that year, my father gave you a Sony radio."

When Teacher Wang heard this, he suddenly realized: "Zhang Yang! That teacher can't forget it."

Yuan Hua, played by Zhou Yu, raised his glass to toast at this time: "Teacher Wang, my father gave me a TV."

"Yuan Hua, you are still such a handsome guy."

"Teacher, I gave you a calendar."

"The teacher doesn't remember that."

……

With just a few lines of dialogue, the characters were instantly established. Everyone watching the filming couldn't help but laugh out loud.

(End of this chapter)