Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 92: Turning against guests
After receiving the script meticulously edited by Yu Hua, Guan Hu became even more motivated. He dragged his father around to beg for money, and in the end, they managed to raise more than 400,000 yuan. With the money he earned from shooting commercials, the total filming budget was 500,000 yuan.

He also received a verbal promise from Beijing Film Studio that as long as the film was decent, it could be released in theaters through Beijing Film Studio's channels.

As soon as the funding was in place, Guan Hu immediately pulled Zhang Yan, the producer, to start casting auditions—Xu Fan had already been cast as the female lead, Ye Tong, but the male lead and several supporting roles were still undecided.

In fact, Guan Hu originally wanted Gao Qi from the Overload band to play the male lead, but Gao Qi thought it over and was afraid of messing it up, so he declined the offer.

After hearing about this, Zhang Yan contacted Huang Lei from the Beijing Film Academy to ask if he wanted to try out for the role.

Huang Lei came for the interview without saying a word.

Believe it or not, he's recently grown his hair long, and he does look quite like a literary youth.

Figure:

In addition, having already starred in an art film, her acting skills were not a problem at all, so she easily passed Guan Hu's test.

Next up are a few supporting characters.

The second male lead, a policeman, is played by Zhang Jiayi, a young actor who just graduated from the Beijing Film Academy and is Huang Lei's senior. Guan Hu and Zhang Jiayi entered university in the same year and are old acquaintances.

As for the second male lead's sister, someone originally recommended Ding Jiali, who won the Best Supporting Actress award at this year's Golden Rooster Awards, but she had to give up due to scheduling conflicts.

Later, through connections, he reached out to Wu Yujuan, Gong Li's classmate.

As one of the five beauties of the Central Academy of Drama's 85 class, Wu Yujuan's acting skills and looks are beyond question.

Moreover, she was also the Best Supporting Actress at last year's Hundred Flowers Awards, and this year her starring role in the co-production "The Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain" caused a sensation in Taiwan, making her a replacement for Ding Jiali.

[PS: I couldn't find the specific broadcast time for "The Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain" in mainland China, so I'll assume it will air at the end of the year.]

If it weren't for the 'special relationship' between Xu Fan and Zhang Yan, Guan Hu would actually have preferred to cast Wu Yujuan as the female lead, mainly because Wu Yujuan's 88 film "The Price of Madness" contained many explicit sex scenes.

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. If Wu Yujuan is cast as the female lead, there will be no need to be hesitant or timid during filming.

However, just as Zhang Yan was interviewing Wu Yujuan, Feng Xiaogang suddenly called to urge him to hurry up, and only then did Zhang Yan remember that he still "owed" CCTV an interview.

So he quickly contacted Wang Xiaozhen, the host, reporter and planner of "Economic Half Hour," using the number Feng Xiaogang had given him.

I heard that Zhang Yan was busy being a film producer, which is why he didn't reply in time. Instead of complaining, Wang Xiaozhen was very happy and expressed her hope to go to the scene to record some footage for use in this interview program.

Zhang Yan told Guan Hu the news, and Guan Hu was overjoyed. He even praised Brother Kuo as the crew's lucky star. Although CCTV was unlikely to do much publicity for the crew, it would still be a good thing to get some screen time.

Wu Yujuan had heard that a CCTV reporter was coming to interview them in a few days, and that the reporter was from "Economic Half Hour." Somewhat puzzled, she asked, "What does our film crew have to do with 'economics'?"

"Our film crew has nothing to do with the economy."

Guan Hu pointed at Zhang Yan and laughed, "But Brother Zhang is the screenwriter of 'Tianjin Wei,' and he's very interested in how the TV series 'Economic Half Hour' promotes Tianjin."

He was happy to flatter Zhang Yan, so he went on to recount the story of how the Guangming Flour Mill had been brought back to life, praising Zhang Yan to the skies.

Wu Yujuan initially thought Zhang Yan was a son of a leader at the Beijing Film Studio because he was so young and had become a producer, but she never expected that he was actually the recently popular "Little Wang Shuo".

So, without realizing it, I started paying more attention to Zhang Yan.

…………

at the same time.

After filming the TV series "Love in the Rainy Season", Jiang Shan has finally returned to the Beijing People's Art Theatre.

Then she heard a very puzzling rumor—Xu Fan's boyfriend, Zhang Yan, had just assembled a film crew and was preparing to produce the film himself, with Xu Fan playing the female lead.

What is all this mess?

Jiang Shan was never the type to keep things to herself, so she immediately went to Xu Fan to ask him what was going on.

"It's all your fault."

Faced with her questioning, Xu Fan calmly turned the tables and said, "You insisted that he say he was looking for me, which led to Hu Jun and He Bing misunderstanding."

"Then you can explain it to them!"

Jiang Shan said with dissatisfaction, "This matter is all over the news at the Beijing People's Art Theatre. You're not going to tell me you haven't heard about it, are you?"

“I explained it, but they didn’t believe me.”

Xu Fan spread his hands and said, "I explained what happened with Director Tian back then, but did you see anyone believe me? Hehe, the first person who didn't believe me was our Teacher Wang!"

Seeing that she brought up her own heartbreak, Jiang Shan's momentum weakened, but she couldn't just let things slide like that.

Then he frowned and asked, "And what about the movie-making thing?"

"That's a scare troll movie."

Xu Fan shifted the blame again: "He invited me to play the female lead, and Zhang Yan was also asked by him to become the producer of this drama." These words were all true, but he concealed part of the truth, so Jiang Shan couldn't find fault with them for a while, but she instinctively felt that something was wrong.

She stared at Xu Fan for a while, then suddenly turned and walked away.

Xu Fan hurriedly chased after him and asked, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find Zhang Yan and ask him what's going on!"

Seeing Jiang Shan walk downstairs without looking back, Xu Fan hesitated for a moment, then ignored her and went back to his dormitory to continue reading the latest version of the script.

Anyway, she didn't lie, and she hadn't even had a chance to make a move against Zhang Yan yet, so she could practically say she had a clear conscience.

the other side.

Jiang Shan stormed downstairs and bumped right into He Bing. Jiang Shan didn't intend to talk to him, but He Bing blocked her way.

"what?"

Jiang Shan glared at He Bing with an unfriendly expression.

"Did you eat gunpowder?"

He Bing was a little confused, but still lowered his voice and said, "If you have the chance, remind Xu Fan that Zhang Yan seems to already have someone. Don't let her become a third party without realizing it."

"Of course he's taken!"

Jiang Shan subconsciously replied, but then she thought about it again and realized that the "master" He Bing was referring to was definitely not herself, but that vixen who had offended her.

"You know about this?"

He Bing said, "Then I'm relieved. Just be tactful when you say it, don't expose it all at once."

Jiang Shan rolled her eyes at him again, then walked past him and continued towards the gatehouse. However, the further she walked, the more hesitant and unsure she became.

Yes, Zhang Yan is taken now, and he explained this to me on the phone. So what right or reason do I have to question him?

After hesitating for a while at the gatehouse entrance, she finally gritted her teeth and went inside. She told the gatekeeper what she was doing and then picked up the phone to dial a number.

However, she didn't dial Zhang Yan's pager number, but Guan Hu's pager.

After Guan Hu returned.

Jiang Shan cut to the chase and asked, "Is your film crew still short of people?"

"Uh~"

Guan was stunned for a moment before asking, "Who are you?"

"You can't even recognize your great-aunt's voice? I'm Jiang Shan!"

"Oh, oh, Jiang Shan."

Guan Hu hesitated and said, "It's quite a coincidence. We just finalized the second female lead, and now we only have a third female lead with a small role left, and this girl is also a mistress."

"It's her!"

Jiang Shan said decisively, "I'll take this role!"

"This……"

"What, I can't even play a supporting role?"

"Alright, alright, actually... never mind, you can act if you want." Guan Hu had a bit of a headache because Wu Yujuan had also said she wanted to recommend someone, but after thinking it over, she still felt closer to Jiang Shan.

After the roles were finalized.

Jiang Shan stormed back into the dormitory, grabbed Xu Fan, and asked seriously, "Aren't we best friends?"

"of course."

Xu Fan felt a little guilty, but after reviewing the situation, he couldn't find anything wrong with himself, so he cautiously asked, "What's wrong with you now?"

"I just got a role from Guan Hu. Since we're good sisters, don't forget to play matchmaker for me. This time, I'm determined to win over Zhang Yan and make him fall head over heels in my arms!"

Seeing Jiang Shan confidently raising her fist, Xu Fan's mood plummeted.

She hadn't expected this move.

If Jiang Shan were to go to the film set and take over, wouldn't all my recent plans be in vain?

(End of this chapter)