Chapter 161 Buy one get one free
The next morning, Xu Kun received a call from Ge You, asking him to go to director Feng Xiaoning for an audition two days later.
Without waiting for Xu Kun to thank him, Ge You asked again: "I just asked around and found out that Director Feng had already chosen Mr. Hu. Did you know about this?"
"I heard from Teacher Lu."
Xu Kun answered honestly: "But she said that Mr. Hu is a Manchu, so it is definitely not appropriate for him to play Zhu Yuanzhang. When the time comes, just let the news out..."
“Don’t, don’t!”
Ge You quickly interrupted him: "I guessed that you might be thinking of this, but I tell you, you can't do this, at least not openly!"
After a pause, he continued, "You may not feel it normally, but in this circle, the remnants of the Qing dynasty are quite powerful. If you offend them all for a TV series, you will lose the big picture while picking up sesame seeds."
Xu Kun was still a little unconvinced, but then he heard Ge You say: "Besides, how can you be sure that they won't do the opposite? If they say, 'Han people can play the emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the ancestors of the Manchus, why can't the Manchus play Zhu Yuanzhang?', what will you do?
This play is funded by the government. Do you think the government will care more about the debate between Chinese and barbarians or the united front ideology of national unity? If Mr. Hu expresses his willingness to play Zhu Yuanzhang in order to break down the ethnic barriers, what else can you use to fight him? "
"Uh~"
Ge You's words left Xu Kun speechless.
When he and Lv Liping were designing their shady tactics, they looked at the matter completely from the perspective of the common people, but ignored the consistent policy from above.
If it was privately invested, it would be fine, but this film has an official background...
If the other party raises the banner of national unity, then Xu would be shooting himself in the foot.
So he asked sincerely: "Uncle, what do you think we should do about this?"
"Just try your best. We don't have to die on this show."
Ge You first said something discouraging, then changed the subject: "But if you can point out Mr. Hu's Manchu identity without missing a word, it might have some effect - but you have to be careful not to show the Chinese-barbarian debate on your face."
After ending the call with Ge You, Xu Kun pondered for another half an hour before he came up with a basic idea.
But seeing that it was almost noon, he still had to act as a go-between and accompany Jia Yueting to Feng Xiaogang's banquet.
So Baoqiang was asked to find Li Yixiang and ask him to help collect some information about the early and late Ming Dynasty - it didn't have to be too in-depth, just a few landmark events and some specific data would be enough.
Then he asked Chen Xuebin to take care of the issues of costumes and makeup artists.
After arranging all this, Xu Kun got into Jia Yueting's car with a heavy heart.
The restaurant Feng Xiaogang arranged is a small private restaurant, which is usually not open to individual customers and only accepts advance orders from regular customers.
Xu Kun was originally worried that it would be a bit awkward to bring Huo Siyan along, but when he arrived at the place, he saw that Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei brought Li Bingbing and Fan Bingbing, Feng Xiaogang brought Xu Fan, and Jia Yueting was accompanied by Gan Wei.
From this perspective, Feng Xiaogang and Jia Yueting seem to be rare good men. After all, one is with his wife and the other is with his girlfriend.
When Feng Xiaogang asked Xu Kun to introduce Jia Yueting, he hoped to find a different way to promote "A World Without Thieves". After all, the content of this movie was somewhat restricted in the mainstream media.
So at that time, I thought that it would be quite impressive if we could invite Mr. Wang Zhonglei to accompany us.
But now all the kings, big and small, have arrived.
This is because Huayi has already figured out Jia Yueting's background. Both parties are well-connected, so naturally they have to give each other enough face.
From the moment they met, the two sides had a lively conversation.
However, there were no serious topics to talk about at the beginning, mostly various gossips in the circle.
For example, a few days ago a film crew was in Guangxi. The hotel they rented in advance increased its price, and the crew was unwilling to pay the difference but also refused to move out. In the end, the boss ordered his men to fight, and the crew's assistant Deng Ye was stabbed 14 times.
Another example is Wu Ruofu who was kidnapped a while ago. He was in a state of panic for 23 hours and finally rescued by the police in the early morning of the next day after going through many hardships. This incident was later made into a movie, "Saving Mr. Wu" starring Liu Dehua. Of course, the many scandals that Xu Kun attracted after his fame were also one of the topics of conversation at the table.
Li Bingbing recalled with emotion the scene when he first met Xu Kun.
As he spoke, he couldn't help but glance at Fan Bingbing.
At the beginning, Li Xiaolu said that she wanted to make friends with Xu Kun and let Xu Kun shave Fan Bingbing's head into a yin-yang style. Who would have thought that in just three years, Xu Kun would have risen from an extra to this level?
Fan Bingbing's attention was mainly focused on Huo Siyan. The last time they met, she vaguely felt a similar aura from her, as well as a vague hostility.
Now the feeling is clearer.
At this time, Xu Kun saw an opportunity, stood up and toasted the two Mr. Wangs, saying, "While the two Mr. Wangs are here, I will recommend the virtuous today regardless of my relationship with them."
Then he mentioned that Huo Siyan was interested in joining Huayi, and emphasized that the drama "The Miracle Doctor and His Lover" in which she starred was currently being broadcast in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and was expected to be introduced to the mainland soon.
Fan Bingbing said to himself, "So that's how it is."
Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei looked at each other, and Wang Zhonglei laughed first: "Actually, when I was on the set of Cell Phone last year, I felt that Miss Huo was a rare talent, but I was afraid that you, Xiao Xu, would not be able to let go, so I didn't let the company contact her."
Wang Zhongjun immediately said, “I thought you had figured it out and were ready to join Huayi—why don’t you just join us? Then you can choose any movie or TV series that Huayi invests in!”
Tsk~
Why are you still thinking about buy one get one free?
Xu Kun was a little unsure about what to do for a moment. Last time Wang Zhonglei made an invitation, Uncle Ge helped to fend it off. Now that he needed a favor from Huayi, Wang Zhongjun brought up the old matter again.
If I continue to refuse, it would seem a bit ungrateful.
"Haha~"
At this time, Jia Yueting suddenly laughed and said, "You two are trying to steal my girlfriend right in front of me. Isn't this a bit inappropriate?"
"Um?!"
Before Mr. Wang could come to his senses, Wang Zhongjun immediately became alert and asked tentatively, "Why, Mr. Jia is also interested in entering the film and television industry to get a piece of the pie?"
Even if others have this intention, they may not be able to make much waves in the film and television industry, but Jia Yueting has a background, and the obsession of those coal bosses in Shanxi with the entertainment industry is well known to everyone.
With background, capital, and youthful energy, if he could really establish his own school in the Beijing circle, he would definitely be a strong rival of Huayi.
"That's not it."
Jia Yueting waved his hand and smiled, "I don't have the vision of the two Mr. Wangs to make a fortune in the film and television industry. I plan to set up a website that focuses on genuine film and television dramas. When the time comes, I will inevitably ask for your support from Huayi."
Wang Zhongjun finally breathed a sigh of relief, but he was still a little confused. What does the video website have to do with Xu Kun?
Seeing this, Jia Yueting smiled and explained, "Compared to his ability as an actor, I value Xu Kun's keen grasp of the future more. Since I met him, I have revised the idea of the video website several times, and each time I made changes based on his suggestions. The more I changed, the more confident I became."
Xu Kun quickly declined: "Mr. Jia, that's too much. Didn't you also shoot down a lot of my unrealistic ideas?"
After Jia Yueting's interruption, Wang Zhongjun's invitation to Xu Kun to join Huayi was temporarily perfunctory.
The two sides then began to discuss serious matters.
Huayi's natural desire is to use Jia Yueting's new online media to build momentum for "A World Without Thieves".
In addition to hoping to purchase the copyright from Huayi, Jia Yueting also hopes that Huayi can invest a sum of money in the upcoming LeTV Video Network, so that the two parties can form a strong alliance.
But it is obvious that Huayi Brothers are very interested in the former but not so interested in the latter.
The main reason is that they are pessimistic about the issue of online copyright and think that making special effects blockbusters and attracting more audiences to theaters to watch movies is the best way to solve the problem.
This is not only the future policy set by Huayi Brothers, but also in line with the planning route of China Film Group CEO Han Sanye.
(End of this chapter)
