Chapter 760
, "Dawn 2: Apocalypse," has officially begun filming!
With her most important goal at the banquet accomplished, and possibly even managing to recruit a reasonably talented actor for a stage play, Jinli's mission was successfully completed.
She looked around and saw Gu Cheng.
He was standing next to Zhang Guang, with several of his teammates, chatting with an investor.
Noticing the gaze coming from not far away, Gu Cheng looked up and found it was Jin Li.
A faint smile appeared on his lips. Suddenly, he raised his glass of red wine as if to toast her, and drank it all in one gulp.
Jinli was also happy.
However, she doesn't drink alcohol; she drinks apple juice, which looks a bit like champagne.
She also raised her glass in Gu Cheng's direction and drank it all in one gulp.
"Stop looking over there. You can't even hide the smile on your face. Look at Guang-ge's expression; he's been glaring at you the whole time."
Chen Lin suddenly spoke up.
He didn't name names, but everyone knew who he was talking about.
Gu Cheng raised an eyebrow and said calmly, "I know you're jealous, so I'm not angry about your provocation."
Chen Lin said speechlessly, "Who said this is a provocation? What do I have to be jealous of? I clearly have a girlfriend too!"
Gu Cheng deliberately aimed to stab him in the heart, "Hmm, an underground lover who can't be public, with no name or status."
Chen Lin: ...
He was stabbed all over!
Even though everyone else is dating, Gu Cheng and Jin Li can interact openly, and Yan Xingdong and Xi Mengze can even publicly declare that they are dating.
And he and Qi Guanmingzhu...
There can be no overt interaction. Even if netizens reveal something, there can be no ambiguous or vague behavior. A clarification must be issued stating that nothing of the sort has happened!
Chen Lin felt that Guang Ge had been too biased in his handling of his romantic relationships.
Thinking of this, he gave Guang Ge a resentful look, and then went to look for Qi Guan Mingzhu.
Yan Xingdong shook his head as he watched.
Chen Lin said that Gu Cheng was being too obvious. He didn't even look at himself; he was like a puppy guarding its food, searching all over the place for its owner.
He lowered his head, covered his mouth with his hand, and reminded them in a voice only they could hear:
"Xiao Lin, watch your eyes. This banquet is a mixed bag, and a lot of paparazzi have infiltrated. Guang Ge went to great lengths to suppress your relationship, so don't let him down."
Chen Lin also lowered his head, covered his mouth with his hand, and whispered:
"Actually, I could have gone public with it, so why don't you all believe me..."
Luo Yi was the most composed of the four, which is understandable since he doesn't date.
He pointed out incisively, "You are fickle, impulsive, and easily angered. Among us, Guang Ge is most worried about you."
"Whether it's the captain or Gu Cheng, they have already achieved success in other fields. They can live well even without solo fans and have good public appeal, but you can't."
If you want to get out of this situation quickly, you need to focus more on building your career.
Chen Lin sighed, "I know, but my career... I can't act, and my singing and dancing aren't as top-notch as the captain's. What can I do?"
Gu Cheng thought for a moment, "If you want to switch to behind-the-scenes work, your voice is pretty good, why don't you do voice acting?"
However, given your strong stage presence, you should focus on developing your singing and dancing skills and further refine your dance abilities.
He paused for a moment, then said insightfully, "Dancing can also help you maintain your figure, which is actually quite good."
cough cough.
You know everything.
There were too many people at the banquet, and many of them had their own agendas.
Jinli saw Gu Cheng, but didn't feel comfortable going over to greet him.
Just then, Sister Fang wanted to introduce her to some investors, so Jinli followed Sister Fang and greeted the others.
Because of her reputation in the industry, investors are quite polite to her and want to participate in the investment projects she is involved in.
Jinli pretended to be regretful and said, "I only do small-budget investments and have never invested in large-scale productions. We'll have to work together next time."
That's true.
Jinli's investments were mostly completed in the millions.
Even though she invested in the variety show "Let's Farm" before, she only invested a few million.
She doesn't buy houses, nor is she keen on stock trading; she just keeps her money in her bank account to earn interest.
Jinli wasn't interested in any of the large-denomination bank deposit certificates. Feeling she had too much money, she kept donating it and frequently did charity work.
The paparazzi who have been following her all along know this.
They just don't leak the news much.
Upon hearing this, one investor suddenly asked, "Are you interested in large investments?"
Jinli paused for a moment, then said without changing her expression, "That depends on the project. If the project is good enough, I won't refuse."
This investor mentioned a recently hyped large-scale film and television project called "The White Lotus's Guide to Conquest," which is adapted from a fantasy novel.
This project is being developed into a series of films, and because it has a fantasy/martial arts background, the special effects will be very expensive.
The moment the title "The White Lotus's Guide to Conquest" was uttered, everyone around fell silent.
The investors looked at each other, their expressions a mixture of surprise and uncertainty.
"This project..."
"If I remember correctly, this project was announced two years ago, and it's recently reached the filming stage. How could it not have attracted investment?"
One investor muttered to himself, confused about the situation.
The person who first invited Jinli to invest in this project explained a few points:
"We have indeed reached the filming stage recently, but just before filming started, we found that the investment we had secured was insufficient, and we are now planning to seek external investment."
However, there are very few spots available, only a handful. This news hasn't leaked out, and I happen to have one spot, so I'd like to invite Jinli to join.
The man looked intently at Jinli. "Are you interested in this project?"
Jinli lowered her eyes slightly and instantly analyzed the person's thoughts.
They're using her as a litmus test!
It's widely rumored in the industry that she has extraordinary luck; any project she sets her sights on is guaranteed to be a huge success, so many projects hope to secure her investment.
The reverse is also true.
If a project currently in preparation receives her investment, does that mean the project is of good quality?
Those who have been investing in the film and television industry are no strangers to "The White Lotus's Guide to Success".
While Jinli was still pondering, some investors volunteered:
“Brother Zhou, it’s not fair of you to keep such a good project from me. I’ll transfer the money to you right away if you need any more.”
"Yes, let us have a piece of the pie from such a great project!"
"This drama has attracted an investment of three or four hundred million yuan, so the shortfall shouldn't be too big. I didn't expect Brother Zhou to have such connections and channels to obtain additional slots."
……
But President Zhou didn't answer anyone else's questions; he just looked at Jinli.
He only wanted Jinli's investment.
Jinli replied, "My investments are all small-scale; I haven't handled large investments. I don't recall the drama you mentioned; I need to go back to the company to do some research before I can give you an answer." President Zhou immediately said, "Could we add each other on WeChat?"
Jinli said shyly, "You can just add my agent on WeChat."
Sui Lingfang sensed something and immediately intervened, saying, "Yes, yes, just add me on WeChat. Jinli's personal account is not for discussing work; it's for students and teachers from Tsinghua and Peking Universities. I've always managed her work account."
Other investors could only marvel at Jinli's incredible luck.
Such a great investment project was being offered to her so eagerly; even God was chasing after her for money.
But only Sui Lingfang vaguely sensed that Jinli did not want to invest in this project.
After the dinner, they got into their car.
Sui Lingfang immediately asked, "Don't you think highly of President Zhou's investment in 'The White Lotus's Guide to Success'?"
Jinli blinked and asked curiously, "Why do you say that?"
Sui Lingfang smiled and said, "Your explanation to the public is that you have never been involved in such a large investment before, so you have never heard of this drama."
However, I have always been responsible for screening your scripts. Two years ago, when this drama was being registered, the script was handed to you, but you did not accept the role, saying that the script was not good.
"This drama was getting a lot of hype online at the time, so I remembered it. I felt sorry for you when you said you weren't going to take the role."
She couldn't quite remember what happened two years ago.
All I remember is Jinli saying calmly, "I don't think this drama will be successful. The relationships between the characters are complicated. It's more suitable for a TV series than a movie."
At that time, the internet was buzzing with discussion about the show.
The leaked information suggests that well-known celebrities will be joining the project, and that a host of big-name actors have been invited, with an investment amounting to hundreds of millions.
The production team did a great job, finding investors and securing funding right away.
So at that time she was still very regretful, thinking that Jinli might have misjudged him this time.
Two years have passed.
The pre-production work for this drama has finally been completed, and the sets and props have all been made.
Don't think that two years of preparation is a long time; in the film and television industry, this time is actually not slow.
It's common for things to drag on for three or five years.
TV dramas are better; the preparation period isn't as long.
However, the corresponding investment will not be too much, at least not as much as for big-budget movies.
Jinli rummaged through her memories and recalled this incident, then smiled and said:
"Yes, I don't think this show is good. I remembered it as soon as he mentioned the name, and I don't plan to invest in it."
Sui Lingfang asked curiously, "Aren't you really going to look into it? After two years of preparation, the script is no longer the original version. Maybe the script has been revised so well that you'll feel it's worth it."
Jinli shook her head: "I won't look into it. There are so many profitable businesses in the world, I can't possibly do them all. My energy is limited."
Firstly, I don't want to deal with investments of tens of millions right now; the amount is too large. Secondly, I don't have a good impression of this drama, so no matter how well the script is revised, I still think it won't work.
Sui Lingfang nodded: "Okay, I understand. I'll find an opportunity to help you refuse President Zhou."
Jinli was unaware that her tactful refusal had actually put President Zhou on guard.
He used reverse thinking, and his attitude was very firm.
Jinli's confidence in this drama = her investment acumen = her ability to make money
Jinli's lack of confidence in this drama = poor investment skills = no money made
The ladder has already been handed over. President Zhou doesn't think Jinli would complain about having too much money, so she doesn't think highly of the show, which is why she decided not to invest!
This gave President Zhou a strong sense of crisis.
He has invested nearly 100 million yuan in this drama from its preparation to several rounds of financing, making him one of the larger investors in the drama.
That's why he was able to get the supplementary investment quota.
He asked himself if his investment acumen was as good as Jinli's. Although his track record was also good, with a 60-70% success rate in investing, it was nothing compared to Jinli's perfect accuracy.
Film and television investment is a long process with a particularly slow return on investment.
Even if you make a profit, it will take several years to recoup the costs.
Therefore, after much deliberation, President Zhou made a momentous decision.
He wants to recoup his initial investment!
He sold his investment share to other investors who were interested in the show.
This drama was a huge hit, and many people wanted to get on board, so Mr. Zhou's sale went very smoothly.
When asked why he sold the shares, Mr. Zhou cited reasons such as wanting to expand his business overseas and urgently needing to recoup funds.
In the end, after securing all the investment, the show was filmed in just three months, while the special effects took a year to complete.
Released a year and a half later, the film flopped at the box office, only managing to recoup half of its costs.
President Zhou, on the contrary, resisted this risk.
That's a story for later, so let's leave it at that for now.
-
Jinli returned from the banquet, slept soundly, and joined the cast of "Dawn 2: Apocalypse" the next day.
The second installment was produced on a much larger scale than the first, using more special effects and building more sets, and correspondingly, it featured more characters.
Director Chu also spent a lot of money on the cast of this drama, not only inviting popular celebrities, but also many veteran actors.
Among them, no fewer than three have won the titles of Best Actor and Best Actress.
Once the cast was announced, every netizen who saw it exclaimed, "This is a real big-budget production!"
However, with a large crew, trouble is more likely to occur.
In order to quickly establish his absolute authority in the crew, Director Chu gave the entire crew a hard time on the first day of filming.
On the first day of filming, the first scene we shot was having all the actors stand at attention!
This scene corresponds to the beginning of the script, where the clone is cultivated and implanted with an instruction chip, and must obey the orders of the big boss behind the scenes.
The mastermind behind the scenes provided the original models for these clones to be the first batch of superhumans in the apocalypse.
Because this group of people were the first to be infected by the virus, they have a high number of viral vectors in their bodies and strong special abilities.
This last group of people, after fighting and killing various deformed mutants for many days, were besieged and killed by many mutants.
Countless people have passed by, and the places where they died were discovered by scientists. Their remains were taken back to the base and sealed thereafter.
The mastermind behind it all used the genes of these people to create clones.
These clones were used as war machines from the moment they were born.
Whether it's physical fitness or special abilities, they are all top-notch.
The laboratory was merely their hiding place.
Before being awakened, they had no idea that their bodies had such great potential.
The scene where Director Chu is filming the soldiers standing at attention represents all the clones being trained and assembled together under the orders of the big boss.
The group of people stood there with lifeless eyes and expressionless faces.
Their expressions can be blank, but their bodies must be strong; Director Chu wants to capture the feeling of a "humanoid robot army." (End of Chapter)