Artists under the Rebirth of the Coal Boss

Chapter 115: Early Super Evolution to Super Ultimate Form! The Third IP Series!!
Zhao Yihuan recounted the interesting stories from the filming period with great enthusiasm: "In the beginning, our crew didn't have enough money to rent a car."

"The entire crew commutes to and from the film set by bus every day, and their activities are limited to a radius of five kilometers within the reach of the bus, which results in the scenes in the drama being highly concentrated on the campus of Hebei Media College and the suburbs of Shicheng City."

"When filming the tracking scene, the actor was holding a camera and shaking it on the bus, which unexpectedly created a documentary-style shot."

"Later, the company invested in this project, and the production team still retained this style of camera language."

Lin Xingzhuo was dealing with the newly served puff pastry potato and duck pie.

He cut through the golden, crispy crust with his knife, revealing chunks of dark duck meat wrapped in a thick sauce and soft, slightly yellow mashed potatoes. The texture was incredibly delicate. As he chewed, he asked:

"After the company invested 100 million, the props for this show should be greatly improved."

Zhao Yihuan used her fork to pick up a piece of puff pastry from Lin Xingzhuo's plate and said with interest:
"Yes, it's a complete transformation!"

"When I first joined the crew, most of the production budget had already been spent. The director was using a spittoon instead of a blue-and-white porcelain vase. The entire crew was completely out of money and supplies..."

"There is also an important prop, an antique jade Pixiu, which is a carving of a flatbread dipped in chili oil."

"The lighting for the nighttime outdoor scenes relied entirely on streetlights, and the cheapest secondhand sound recording equipment was used, resulting in extremely poor quality. The volume of the dialogue fluctuated wildly, and some conversations were drowned out by ambient noise..."

"We didn't have the money to hire extras, so we had to recruit passersby on set. Even the sound engineer was forced to appear on camera. Director Li Hongchou often posted requests for cameo roles on Baidu Tieba."

Even Mao Xiaotong, a graduate of the Central Academy of Drama, was dumbfounded.

This film crew is having such a tough time!
Even if a film school directing student put together a show with school funding, departmental subsidies, and personal fundraising, it wouldn't be this shabby.

Mao Xiaotong swallowed the crab meat, grapefruit, and fennel puree in her mouth and couldn't help but ask, "Um... what was the original budget per episode for this drama?"

Zhao Yihuan stuffed a large piece of pastry into her mouth, chewing and gesturing with her hands, vaguely revealing the number five.

Mao Xiaotong said, "Fifty thousand? Or fifteen thousand? The cost is indeed quite low..."

Zhao Yihuan took a big gulp of Lipton peach iced tea and said, "500 yuan."

Mao Xiaotong: "..."

Zhao Yihuan continued, "The filming funds allocated by Tiger Shadow Star Glory, along with the rented equipment and props, were a lifesaver!"

"Let this drama undergo a complete transformation, a phoenix-like rebirth!"

"By the way! After reading the script, Brother Ye added another million!"

"The script for this drama is absolutely amazing. I read it more than a dozen times on my first day on set, and even now, thinking back on it, I'm still incredibly impressed!"

"I've never seen a suspense drama like this in any domestically produced dramas I've ever seen!"

"One of them is a Yuan Shikai silver dollar scam..."

Lin Xingzhu finished the rest of the puff pastry potato and duck pie, and listened to Zhao Yihuan's story with great relish.

…………

Compared to reviewing documents in a cold pile of old papers in my previous life, participating in real life is indeed more interesting.

The first "The Swindlers" was a masterpiece created when all that was left was the script!
Despite its extremely rough and simple visuals, costumes, and props, and the actors' awkward acting skills, the script alone made it a success and earned it legendary status!
The bean pod has a high rating of 8.7!

He is hailed as the "King of Turnarounds in Millennium Web Series"!
When the second and third seasons secured sponsorship and reached their full potential, the ratings soared to 9.2 and 9.7 respectively!
A score of 9.7 places it in the top 0.3% of the seventh art category, far exceeding the "excellent" level, making it a synonym for "classic masterpiece".

Only four domestically produced TV dramas have achieved this feat.

These are the 1987 version of "Dream of the Red Chamber", "Ming Dynasty 1566", and "Towards the Republic".

There's also the third installment of the web series "The Swindlers," titled "The Swindlers: The Final Chapter"!

…………

This series has now become the third exclusive IP of Tiger Shadow Star Culture Media Co., Ltd., following "Boonie Bears" and "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf".

With no worries about funding and equipment, the filming equipment, costumes, props, and sets were all upgraded to top-tier online movie standards, and Tiger Shadow Star Brilliance also had the support of its network of resources.

It can be said that it has evolved to the super ultimate form ahead of schedule!

Like a tiger with wings! Unstoppable!

This can be considered a highly acclaimed starting point for Tiger Shadow Starlight's foray into film and television dramas outside of the animation track!
... Mao Xiaotong took the salad tongs with wide, leaf-shaped forks and scooped up a bunch of mixed salads, including stuffed avocado, king crab meat, grapefruit, and fennel puree, and put them on a plate.

As she listened to Zhao Yihuan recount the story of the script's production, her negative impression of this strangely titled web series slowly began to reverse...

When Zhao Yihuan started talking about the contents of the script, Zhang Youqian, Xiao Ma, and the others who were having dinner together stopped eating and were all captivated by the plot.

Yuan Shikai silver dollar sample coin scam, gambling revenge scam, street scam comparison, fake website forgery, lock picking, micro-expressions...

…………

Mao Xiaotong is delighted that the first film and television drama invested in by his company is of such high quality!

But I also felt a little regretful and down...

I joined Tiger Shadow Star Glory too late.

I can't believe I missed out on such an amazing script and such a youthful and energetic production team.

What a pity!

Mao Xiaotong looked at Lin Xingzhuo, who was eating the restaurant's signature hamburger.

According to Zhao Yihuan, this drama was only approved for investment by the company because Lin Xingzhuo strongly recommended it.

This man has a pleasant voice, is not interested in women, is kind-hearted, and has a high level of theoretical knowledge in acting and an eye for investing in film and television dramas.

Aside from his acting being... well, let's just say it's not great...

He's such a perfect, incredibly talented guy!!

........................

Lin Xingzhu was eating DB Burge, the signature dish of the Brussels Palace French restaurant, which is made by stuffing beef tenderloin with red wine-braised pork ribs.

Lin Xingzhu finished the last meat pie and was about to use his hands to tackle the crispy-skinned, firm-fleshed, fragrant but not greasy roasted Bresse chicken drizzled with white sauce.

My Nokia 5230 phone rang... The caller ID showed Xu Zhixia...

…………

Upon hearing Xu Zhixia's words, Lin Xingzhuo put down his fork and asked, "So, the 500ml bottle of liquor that was sent was returned? Was the middleman not powerful enough?"

Xu Zhixia replied on the phone, "President Lin, how much harder do you want it to be?"

"We've hired a scion of a powerful family to act as the middleman. The area west of Princess Tomb! The compound of the Training Directorate of the Five Military Commands!!"

Lin Xingzhuo was taken aback: "Wang Shuo and Ye Jing's courtyard? Then it's not a matter of a middleman."

Xu Zhixia said, "That's right, their circle is known for being honest and straightforward. Once they take the money, they'll definitely get things done!"

Lin Xingzhuo said, "The children of high-ranking officials are either straightforward or naive; they simply have powerful backers and are not afraid of the world."

"Having been exposed to it since childhood, they are well-versed in the logic of top-level power operations, and their family influence is deeply intertwined... Most of the top brokers in the capital come from this group."

Xu Zhixia said on the phone, "What you said makes sense."

"Now, Director Liu of the Online Audiovisual Program Management Section is resolutely refusing to accept any gifts. He won't even eat with us! It's incredibly disrespectful!"

"How about we just forget about it?"

"He's just a deputy section chief with no real power; there's no need to bother with him."

"Should we look for their Section Chief Zhang?"

“I’ve inquired about it; her department is now completely dominated by her.”

Upon hearing Zhang Ke's name, Lin Xingzhuo instantly felt a wave of nausea, as if she had traveled through time! She felt like vomiting!

This is a shadow of office trauma from a past life, a lingering effect of occupational PTSD...

(End of this chapter)