Lou Ye has been very annoyed recently. Last year, he planned and produced the first digital film project in China, "Super City", which was joined by Chinese youth directors, but it was unable to be completed due to various reasons.
There was nothing to shoot, so he wrote a script himself and wanted to shoot something he wanted. During this period, he often strolled along the Suzhou River with his old eight-mm camera, looking for inspiration.
Making a movie requires money. His friend Naian is willing to invest, but he doesn't want the other party to take all the risks, so he came to Shanghai Film Studio through relationships and contacted to purchase the factory target while also hoping to get a part of the investment.
But Shanghai Film Studio's reaction was dull and there was no accurate reply after a long time. Today he planned to come to the door to talk in person. If it doesn't work, he can only think of other solutions.
On Monday morning, the roads in the city were very congested, so he drove the Santaña and stopped. When he arrived at an intersection, he waited for the red light, and his aimless eyes suddenly froze.
A motorcycle was parked not far ahead, with a familiar back and model. He recognized at a glance that it was Li Tang he had just met yesterday. A girl sat in the back seat, holding her waist, very intimate.
Lou Ye smiled at the corner of his mouth. His impression of Li Tang was always that of a child next door. In a blink of an eye, the child grew up and had girlfriends.
After a while, the motorcycle started, and the girl lay on the boy's back, and the motorcycle was shuttled through the traffic.
Looking at the back that was leaving, Lou Ye suddenly felt that the scene was very familiar, especially like a scene described in the script.
“Dududu…”
The car horn behind sounded, and Lou Ye suddenly woke up. Only then did he realize that the green light had already been turned on, so he quickly turned on the gear and recharged the accelerator and walked forward.
...
"I'll come back tomorrow morning and go directly to the set. I don't need to pick me up, bye!"
After sending his ex-girlfriend to the station entrance, Li Tang turned his car and rode to the Shanghai Film Studio next door.
The audition was located in a small building in the Shanghai Film Studio. Someone registered at the door, collected his resume, issued a license plate, and then waited to call the ID.
There were about a dozen people sitting in the lounge. As soon as he looked out, he heard someone greeting: "Li Tang, what about here."
He looked up and said, hey, old classmate!
"Boss Ren, you are here too!"
In addition to the old classmates, there were several familiar faces present, and he greeted them one by one.
"We are the only ones in our class, where are Lao Liu and Da Lao Wang?"
After sitting down, Li Tang muttered.
Old Liu is Liu Xiaofeng, and the eldest elder Wang is Wang Yanan. They are all their classmates. After graduation, they are divided into the Shanghai Film Studio Actors Troupe.
"They will get the moon first."
Ren Zhenquan looked around and leaned over and lowered his voice, "I heard that the eldest son Wang has already been the male lead in this drama."
"oh."
Li Tang was not surprised. Wang Yanan was the first to come out to film in their Class 93. He played the second male lead in the first movie. Last year, he starred in the movie "I Love My Blood" with Wanwan idol singer Yi Nengjing, and also won the Hundred Flowers Award.
Nomination for Best Actor.
To be honest, Ren Zhenquan was inevitably a little jealous when he first heard the news. At this time, he saw Li Tang's indifferent look, froze for a moment, and then said to himself: "I'm here to try my luck."
Li Tang glanced at him, saw through and said nothing, and changed the topic: "Hey, how is your hotel business?"
Although this consignor is thin and very delicious, he opened a small restaurant focusing on Sichuan cuisine after graduation, which is also the origin of the nickname "Boss Ren".
Speaking of business, Ren Zhenquan's eyes lit up, but he still said modestly: "It's okay to be careless. Several more private rooms have been opened upstairs."
"Okay! Boss Ren, the boss is getting bigger now." Li Tang said with a smile.
He visited the Sichuan restaurant a few times when it first opened, and he saw that the business was good at that time. But he couldn't eat spicy food, and the distance was far, so he hadn't been there for a long time.
His family also opened a hotel and knew the hardships. His father had something to do with his relationship and capital back then, so he built the hotel to its current scale. Ren Zhenquan, a foreigner, managed a small restaurant in just half a year.
It's really not easy.
"Overall, average. I'm looking forward to clearing the foreign debt as soon as possible..."
Ren Zhenquan paused at halfway through his speech, because when it comes to foreign debt, it inevitably involves a person.
He looked at Li Tang, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Binbin is coming here in the past two days, uh, shoot an advertisement with me."
Li Tang smiled, without hiding it, and said, "I came yesterday. I just sent her to the station and went to Hangzhou."
"Really? What's the situation? Are you getting back together?"
Ren Zhenquan looked surprised, three question marks in a row, and then showed a complicated expression.
"No, how is that possible?" Li Tang shook his head.
Ren Zhenquan breathed a sigh of relief, tsk twice in his mouth, pretending to be regretful: "It is unrealistic for you two to be in Shanghai and the other in Beijing."
In fact, Li Tang knew his reaction very well. He and Li Binbin are fellow townsmen and have always had a close relationship. Li Binbin pursued many people back then. Although he never confessed, anyone with a discerning eye could tell that this guy is actually one of his admirers.
.
The people who audition the show come in and out, as short as three or four minutes, and for about ten minutes, the people who come out are disappointed and unsatisfied.
Ren Zhenquan went in and it took about seven or eight minutes to come out.
"How is it?" Li Tang asked hurriedly.
His expression was a little muted, and he was stunned for a moment before shaking his head: "No."
Li Tang could only sigh, pat his shoulder, and smiled bitterly: "If you can't do it, then I will have no hope."
Ren Zhenquan has better academic performance than him and is earlier than him in filming. Several films and TV series are listed on his resume. Although they are not the main characters, they are also supporting roles with names and surnames.
As for him, he was either a passerby or a bandit soldier. He was embarrassed to fill in the resume when writing his resume. He could only solemnly fill in "proficient in English" in terms of his specialties.
This is the only thing he can do now. But this is not recruiting a foreign company, but selecting actors, so it is likely to be useless.
Ren Zhenquan was obviously depressed. He opened a hotel as a side job, and acting was his main job. This time he couldn't even make a supporting role, which was a big blow.
He barely showed a hint of ugly smile and said, "I have something to do, so I'll leave first. Then, I'll invite you and Binbin to have a meal."
"OK."
Li Tang came late and was at the last. After Ren Zhenquan left, two more buddies came out in and hurriedly, and it seemed that the situation was not ideal.
Peng Xiaolian sat behind a big table and looked through her resume.
She went to the United States to study in 1989, returned to China in 1996, but did not return to the Shanghai Film Studio system. She only had a contractual cooperative relationship with Shanghai Film Studio.
"Shanghai Chronicles" is the most important film of Shanghai Film Studio this year. Knowing that it has a great responsibility, I specially asked old classmates to help.
The preparation period for the movie began very early, and some of the main characters have been confirmed, while others have selected actors. I am still hesitating whether it is suitable or not.
For example, the candidate for the male lead was recommended by the factory. Wang Yanan. Logically speaking, Wang Yanan has good image and acting skills. The two movies he has starred in are working with big stars, and the response is very good, with a certain audience base, and it is in the factory.
The young actors currently focused on training.
However, the male protagonist's character is a Chinese-American, and there are also a long English dialogue in the play. However, Wang Yanan lacks English abilities.
Of course, this is not a problem for Wang Yanan alone, it is common. Young mainland actors rarely speak fluent English unless they use Hong Kong and Taiwan actors or come back from studying abroad.
She paid special attention to this aspect during today's interview, but the results were disappointing.
The last one left, the actor from the Drama Center, a newcomer who just graduated last year, had no eye-catching performance resume. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, and she saw that the specialty column said "Proficient in English". She was surprised a little more
expect.
When Li Tang pushed the door open and saw two middle-aged men sitting in the room. The woman had short hair, slightly fat, kind-hearted eyes; the man was very thin and had a worrying hairline.
Needless to ask, the woman must be the director Peng Xiaolian. He knew Zhang Jianya, the director of Shanghai Film Studio. When he was a freshman, he played Bandit Bingyi in the anti-Japanese comedy film "Survival in Desperate" directed by Director Zhang.
"Hello Director Peng! Hello Director Zhang!" He bowed slightly.
"Oh, actor Li Tang from the Drama Center, please sit down."
Zhang Jianya looked at her resume and greeted her in a kind tone.
Although Li Tang had acted in his role, he was a supporting role. After many years, he had no impression at all. He just wanted to see the drama center.