Artists under the Rebirth of the Coal Boss

Chapter 22 The feudal society set by Gao Wu.

Lin Xingzhuo thought the matter was going to fail, so he quickly lifted up the two cigarettes on the top layer.

The unique rubber smell of rubber band mixed with the smell of banknote ink hit me in the face, and three bundles of hundred-yuan bills were neatly stacked at the bottom of the paper bag.

The edges of the new banknotes still have the sharp corners of an uncirculated banknote, but the dark brown rubber band has aged and turned white, obviously an old item that has been used repeatedly.

It might be because Lin Xingzhuo had lived two lives and this was the first time he was using connections to give gifts, so he pulled it too clumsily, causing the bundle of money at the bottom to suddenly bounce halfway up.

pat!

The rubber band snapped, and dozens of hundred-yuan bills with bank seals scattered out.

…………

Cao Dun, who is considered to be well-informed in the Shanghai circle, was stunned for a moment.

Holy shit, man, no foreplay at all? Why not grab a meal, a few drinks, and find a Shanghai art student?

Just give it to me directly like that?!
Your coal-based capital is really the same as the rumors say.

Simple and crude...

However, I like it.

…………

Seeing Cao Dun sitting opposite him, he suddenly stopped talking.

Lin Xingzhuo also became nervous...

In his previous life, he just worked with his head down and was not familiar with this kind of interpersonal relationships.

Although this executive director Cao Dun looks like a guy who is involved in alcohol, sex, money and power.

But Lin Xingzhuo was still worried that this guy would suddenly act artistically aloof, so he refused Ding Ye's gift.

…………

Lin Xingzhuo said tentatively, "Director Cao, Brother Ye asked me to bring this."

Cao Dun came back to his senses, smiled, patted Lin Xingzhuo, and complained, "Oh! What a pity! Boss Shen has already contacted Dean Li of the Shanghai Theatre Academy. I will definitely see to it."

"This...this...this makes me so embarrassed."

"This will never happen again!"

"Go back and tell Brother Ding to come to Shencheng to have a drink with me."

Lin Xingzhuo said: "Then behind me..."

Cao Dun said, "Come and go through the public process tomorrow. Your company has already sent me your information."

"This is because the co-producer, Shanghai Media Group, asked them to cooperate with their weekly magazine, Shanghai Television, to pull off this open audition stunt."

…………

"Shanghai TV" Weekly is the flagship publication of Shanghai Media Group, focusing on "TV program schedule + in-depth entertainment reports".

It has revealed the details of Cao Kefan's injury during the recording of "Dancing with the Stars", and analyzed in advance the shooting highlights of popular TV series such as "Chinese Paladin III" and "My Captain, My Regiment".

This weekly magazine was the last glory of print entertainment magazines. Last year, the circulation of a single issue exceeded 50 copies.

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

The next day, Lin Xingzhuo got up early on purpose, having the experience of visiting the crew stationed in the hotel in the capital.

He went to Liu Fei's aluminum-free fried dough sticks at six in the morning and bought tiger paws and traditional fried dough sticks.

This way you can eat breakfast while waiting in line for the interview.

…………

Lin Xingzhuo wrapped the crispy fried dough sticks into rice balls and hurried to the corridor of the conference room on the third floor of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Wujiaochang.

The team has sent about ten people, who are also holding soy milk and sesame cakes, eating while waiting.

The queue lasted until around eight o'clock, when the life production assistant came with two stagehands to maintain order.

Twenty minutes later, a man in a casual shirt and light blue jeans, carrying a Starbucks and a transparent box of exquisite sandwiches, walked straight into the interview meeting room...

The local extras at the back of the team greeted the man when they saw him.

"Brother Hao!" "Brother! You're here!" "Brother Hao, can you give me a hand?" "Brother Hao, can you help me?"

Hao Ping took a sip of coffee and said with a smile, "No problem, no problem."

Hao Ping is a representative figure of actors in the Shanghai circle who "hold an iron rice bowl in one hand and reach for a golden rice bowl with the other hand."

He is a drama actor at the Shanghai Drama Art Center and has a stable job in a public institution.

At the same time, he has been making guest appearances in various crews as a big star, earning extra money from this golden rice bowl in the market.

The only regret over the years is that it never became popular...

This interview was arranged by my father-in-law, the former director of the Shanghai Film Dubbing Studio, who specifically called screenwriter Qiqi to audition for the fourth-ranked supporting actor role, which was considered a gamble.

…………

Hao Ping chatted with the assistant producer who was in charge of maintaining order, handed over a Mudan soft blue cigarette, and muttered a few words.

I could faintly hear the assistant producer of Life lighting a cigarette and saying, "Next time, I'll do it this way!"

So he led a dozen or so local Shanghai extras behind him and walked towards the interview meeting room.

Now the extras from other places who were queuing behind were all excited.

"Why are you cutting in line?"

"Yeah, everyone's been lining up since five or six in the morning. Why are you cutting in line?"

"Yeah! Line up!"

Hao Ping, holding a cup of Starbucks and a box of exquisite sandwiches, frowned as he looked at the extras from other places who were munching on fried dough sticks and pancakes and drinking soy milk.
"You're such a troublemaker! Get in line! How can a naked outsider like you be of higher quality?"

"You don't know English, and you can't understand Chinese either. Are you unfamiliar with the words 'Special Channel'?"

The Life Production Assistant, cigarette in hand, chimed in, "What are your names?! If you don't want to be interviewed, get out!"

"This time, we're not just interviewing for the supporting actor role. We're also looking for two special actors and seven supporting actors. Anyone interested in a chance should get in line..."

"If you don't want to do it, get out. There are plenty of people who will do it!"

A word from the assistant producer of Life calmed down the situation that was getting a little out of control.

There are indeed too many people.

Especially in a megacity like Shanghai, there are countless extras who have come to Shanghai to work as extras. The supply is inexhaustible...

…………

The barbarity and unreasonableness of the entertainment industry is just like the feudal society set by Gao Wu.

The extras were the victims who knelt at the gates of the aristocratic families, begging to sell themselves to bury their fathers and to become their family slaves.

Hao Ping was such a special guest that he was considered a retainer and staff member.

If you think this way, you can understand many magical realist events that seem absurd in other industries or mainstream society.
…………

Under normal circumstances, it is common for big guest actors to bring one or two friends to play supporting roles.

But this time, he suddenly cut in line with more than a dozen people, and his eating habits were really too ugly...

This life production assistant is also in the Shanghai circle, so he is half-member of the Shanghai community.

Some time ago, when they were drinking, Hao Ping gave him a 200-yuan Suning shopping card, so the assistant producer of Life turned a blind eye to it.

…………

I thought the matter was over, but at half past ten, Hao Ping came out of the interview room again, talking on the phone, and invited four extras speaking the Shanghai dialect into the room...

Facing the extras who came forward to argue, Hao Ping let his friend go in first, then paused, turned around and replied directly:
"Are you a good actor? Acting is useless! To get into the business, you need power and connections! You're just a little jerk!"

The lines of the drama actor immediately stunned the miserable extras from Shanghai.

…………

After all this trouble, Lin Xingzhuo had to wait until noon to enter the interview meeting room.

It's the last batch! Let's get started. Close the door, and line up in order. Each person will have 3 minutes for the interview!

"Just give us a couple of sentences about your basic skills, and don't talk nonsense."

"Are you all clear about the dialogue test? Poetry recitation! No restrictions on subject matter or genre!"

(End of this chapter)