Chapter 213 "The Disappearing Him" starts filming (4k)
Wu Mu looked at the manager candidate introduced by Yan Yongmei.
This is a middle-aged man, probably about 30 or 40 years old, with dark skin, a strong build, and a slightly formal and serious expression.
She wasn't angry when he told her directly that he didn't think highly of Wu Mu.
He is a passerby and he is not optimistic about it. There are not many talents in the circle who have been promoted from actors to capital. Not only are there few of them, but most of them are old stars who have been popular for 20 or 30 years.
Young idols like him seem to be very popular and have many fans, but in fact, it is a question whether they can escape the exploitation of capital, let alone become capital.
His previous contract with the company was 70%-30%, with him taking 30% and the company taking 70%.
The situation is probably similar for several other traffic sources in the circle.
Shi Wu's meaning was very clear. He meant that it was okay for him to help him for a while, as he himself just needed an opportunity to start a transformation and adapt. But after helping Wu Mu build up his business, he would jump ship if he found a better job.
Wu Mu naturally had no objection to it.
The main tedious thing now is setting up the studio. He has to do all the work by himself and he must be exhausted.
Once you’re done with the initial work and things are on track, it won’t be difficult to find a manager.
Wu Mu agreed, and the matter naturally became a good deal.
He already has all the producers and managers he needs, and now he can leave the rest to them.
When Shi Wu heard that Wu Mu's requirement for the studio was to maintain basic operations, not to hire too many people, and mainly to help him deal with the work that came to him, he thought to himself that he should have said it up front. Judging from Wu Mu's request, it was obvious that he didn't want to expand the studio.
Although he only regarded Wu Mu's studio as a starting point for transformation, he was busy with it with a strong sense of professional ethics.
Shi Wu was busy recruiting people to rent an office space, and also coordinating various matters with Wu Mu's subordinates.
Although Wu Mu was freed from the affairs of setting up the studio, he still had new things to do - familiarizing himself with the new script sent to him by Yang Rongfa and others.
This script has been modified in some ways compared to the version sent to him before.
The main changes are what Wang Ren mentioned before, which are about the personality changes he plays.
Wu Mu compared the two versions and found that the character he was going to play, Wang Chuang, had changed from a lively and active character to a slightly passive character.
The biggest change is that his character has changed from actively pursuing the heroine Lin Mo, with a rather persistent attitude, to the heroine Lin Mo also having feelings for him, and the two sides are getting closer to each other.
"Do you think I'm a passive person?" Wu Mu muttered to himself.
That's a pretty accurate prediction. Given his personality, he really wouldn't do something like pursuing a girl relentlessly.
He can accept the equal and sincere mutual attraction and approach from both sides, and when the girl tries to get closer, he can also respond with equal sincerity.
But I really can't accept the behavior of putting myself in a low position and desperately pursuing the other party.
There is no need for that. He is no worse than anyone else and deserves the other person's love.
The character's personality has been slightly modified. Although it is not to the point of being completely free of difficulty, it is indeed more familiar than the previous mode that was completely unfamiliar to him, which slightly reduces the difficulty.
Of course, Wu Mu estimated that this was the case, and he probably wouldn't be able to perform it even if he didn't cheat.
Although he couldn't see his acting points, given that his acting was criticized more severely than his singing, he estimated that his acting points must be lower than his initial singing points.
Wu Mu was familiar with the script. After all, he was taking other people's money. Although he was mainly going for the extra points, he still had to have professional ethics.
Not to mention writing a tens of thousands of words biography of the character or memorizing the script by heart, at least you can't go to the set and recite it one, two, three, four without knowing what plot you are going to play.
Well, although he still has a say in the film based on his current investment amount, I’m afraid if he really does that, or even directly uses green screen to cut out the picture, Yang Rongfa will have to accept it with a pinch of his nose.
It is not that difficult to familiarize himself with the script. Although his role is the second male lead and he will be given the title of special leading actor, but in terms of the number of scenes, his role is actually just a major supporting role with an important part.
He doesn't appear in the play for very long, probably ranking sixth or seventh among all the characters, and he mainly exists as a key conflict point in the plot.
Wu Mu was familiar with the script, and Yang Rongfa had also started the official announcement of the actors.
The crew’s newly created official Weibo account released the cast list for the TV series.
It had been let go once before, but the second male lead at that time was played by Zhou Yu, and plus it had gone through a series of twists and turns like changing investors, cutting the investment budget, etc., so it was necessary to announce it again.
Then, as expected, Wu Mu was severely scolded for this announcement.
My own brother had originally been officially announced to play the second male lead, but now the person has been suddenly replaced. Isn't it obvious that his resources have been taken away?
It would be strange if Zhou Yu’s fans didn’t run over and scold him.
This time, even the passers-by who had always been more supportive of him had nothing good to say about him.
"No, Wu Gou is doing well in variety shows and singing, why would he go to film a TV series?"
"Forget it. I've watched a movie by Wu Gou before, but I left the theater halfway through. His acting was so awkward. It was a complete waste of my money. He's really not cut out for acting."
"Yeah, isn't it good to come back and continue filming variety shows? I watched the new episode of Go Fighting yesterday, and Huang Bo was jokingly saying that he hoped the director would invite Wu Gou to be a guest star."
"And I saw the revelations online. It seems that he acted as an investor himself, brought money into the group, and then kicked Zhou Yu out. Although I don't like Zhou Yu very much, this move is really a loss of character."
"I can understand why he kicked Zhou Yu out. He and Zhou Yu are rivals. Zhou Yu's fans have also scolded him several times. It would be strange if he didn't kick him out if he had the chance. But it's a bit disgusting that he invested in the crew and played the leading role himself."
One-sided wind direction.
The main reason is that he brought money into the group and kicked out other actors, and then the things he performed touched everyone's sore spots.
Many people are disgusted by the operation of bringing money into the crew and inserting their family members. This kind of thing has happened in several popular TV series in recent years.
It was originally a TV series with a very good reputation. Everyone's acting was on point, and it was a pleasure to watch the veteran actors acting together. But there were always a few actors who were stuffed in and acted like the bad apples in the pot, ruining everyone's interest.
Of course, the premise of all this is that Wu Mu’s acting skills are not good. If Wu Mu’s acting skills are good and no worse than others, then everyone might think it is a normal means of competition.
But that kind of thing is possible.
It's not like they haven't seen Wu Mu's acting skills before, it's the kind of performance that's completely overdone, so awkward that it makes people's scalps numb, and anyone who sees it will pick their feet.
Netizens are all complaining that Wu Gou is starting to mess up his life, and that life is becoming boring. They are all waiting for Wu Gou's TV series to come out, but they will definitely not watch it.
This trend certainly couldn't affect Wu Mu, nor the crew at all. Yang Rongfa didn't want to hire Wu Mu, but he had no money!
If they don’t invite Wu Mu, who will invest in them?
But they were not affected, but other investors in the project were a little bit overwhelmed. Some people had already withdrawn their investment after Li Hu was arrested, and although the rest had not yet withdrawn their investment, they were all in a wait-and-see state.
As a result, while waiting and watching, Wu Mu became the largest investor and also played the second male lead?
Some investors immediately chose to withdraw their investment, thinking that the project was too risky and there was no hope of making money.
After running for three or four times in a row, the direct result was that the project had a funding gap again.
There is still more than 20 million missing.
Yang Rongfa was extremely anxious.
Wu Mu, who heard about this from Shi Wu, the contact, hesitated for a moment before saying, "Contact Yang Rongfa, I'll fill in the gaps."
Shi Wu, who had become the manager of his studio, was visibly stunned when he heard this. He couldn't help but ask, "Boss Wu, should we continue to invest? Isn't the risk too great?"
Adding this more than 20 million, their investment amount has reached an exaggerated figure of more than 90 million.
For large platforms, this may be just a small number and a risk that they can fully afford.
But for a small star studio like theirs, it is already a very large amount.
If this turned out to be a loss, he doubted whether Wu Mu's studio would be disbanded.
Wu Mu had his own ideas. "It's okay. 90 million is 90 million. Also, tell Yang Rongfa that if anyone else wants to withdraw their investment, let them do so. I will make up for it and let them prepare according to the previous progress."
To outsiders, Yang Rongfa's project is very risky.
Normally, the risk is indeed very high.
But he has a performance card.
Although the investment amount is not entirely his own, he will not use it on the series itself to avoid working for others.
But by then, using it for the soundtrack album of the drama can also boost the popularity of the drama itself. He dare not say that it is guaranteed to make money, but the risk is definitely not as big as imagined, and it should not be a big problem to break even.
Therefore, it is better to invest a higher amount now so that you can get more money when you make money.
Not only did he not withdraw his investment, or cut the budget and start filming, but he even asked others to withdraw their investment before he could add to the investment?
Shi Wu really couldn't understand his operation at all. It was just like a gambler who put all his capital on the gambling table. It didn't look like running a serious company at all.
But after a few days of contact, he had already realized that Wu Mu only needed a tool role, so he didn't say anything more.
Anyway, he gave his opinion based on his professional experience, and Wu Mu had no choice but to listen to him.
Well, after adapting to the transformation, he should switch to the next company as soon as possible, otherwise he is afraid that Wu Mu Studio will go bankrupt in his hands, which will affect his reputation.
Don’t let people outside say that Shi Wu loses everything he does. This time it really has nothing to do with him. He is the smart one.
Shi Wu went to help Wu Mu contact and deal with it.
When Yang Rongfa heard that Wu Mu was actually willing to make additional investments, he was so eager to set up a tablet for him.
It was the first time that he discovered that Wu Mu was such a high-quality investor.
It’s even less worrying than the coal bosses of the past!
It would be fine if they didn't interfere with their filming at all, but they also asked for additional investment.
From this perspective, playing the second male lead is nothing at all; just consider it as the price of such a generous investment.
The project, which has encountered many twists and turns since its inception, continues to be prepared.
Then it’s almost time to actually start the machine.
Originally, everything had been prepared when Li Hu was the investor, and now it was just a matter of readjustment.
A week later.
Beijing, Dongshan Film and Television City.
All the crew members of "The Vanishing Man" gathered in front of the incense table to hold the opening ceremony.
It was a very simple opening ceremony, with only the crew's own main creators and staff present.
Originally, according to Yang Rongfa's previous idea, the launch ceremony of their project would be a very large project launch conference, inviting all the media and friends in the circle, big and small, to create momentum.
But considering the current reputation of their series on the Internet, forget it. Let’s not promote it for now. Otherwise, he is afraid that the more he promotes it, the fewer platforms will buy it.
When Zhou Yu was invited before, the promotion was also based on the marketing of hot topics such as the fact that all the actors have great acting skills and that it is the first drama work of big screen director Wang Ren.
Now this publicity strategy has to be changed. If you continue to praise the acting skills of all the cast members, people will directly put animated pictures of Wu Mu’s previous film and television dramas on their faces.
The opening ceremony started with burning incense and worshipping the gods, and then the heads of the crew gave speeches.
Yang Rongfa took the stage first and expressed his confidence that the project had experienced many twists and turns, but had finally come to a ray of hope, had overcome the difficulties, and would be smooth sailing and continue to be successful.
Then Wang Ren came on stage.
Director Wang Ren is truly worthy of being the one who can make art films that Wu Mu cannot understand at all. This fits the public's stereotype of artists who are oblivious to the world outside.
In this series of events, he might be the calmest person, even calmer than Wu Mu.
No matter when Li Hu was splashed with wine at the creative meeting, or when he was arrested later and the project lost investment, he did not seem panicked at all, as if he had no idea that he would lose more money if the project failed.
Along the way, Yang Rongfa was basically the one who handled all the external matters.
It was the same at the opening ceremony. He did not change his taciturn appearance at all. After saying two very simple sentences, he went straight off the stage.
The third person to come on stage was the investor Wu Mu.
Yang Rongfa gave a lot of face to him, the biggest investor, and as soon as he came on stage, he led the people to applaud.
How could he not give him face? Wu Mu's current investment share accounts for more than 60%. If he is more powerful, he can directly turn the crew into a one-man show. As long as Yang Rongfa does not want the project to continue to fail, and as long as his demands are not too excessive, Yang Rongfa will probably agree to them with a pinch of his nose.
There was thunderous applause.
But Wu Mu, who was standing on the stage, clearly noticed that many people in the audience had strange expressions on their faces.
It can even be said that some people even look a little disapproving.
(End of this chapter)
