A great director who grew up happily

In the leisure area on the first floor, Chen Jinnian was telling them a brief account of the story of "The Beginning". With the added bonus of the titles of "Innate Chatterbox" and "Shameless Old Driver", the three people were quickly attracted to the story.

Following the protagonist of the script, you will begin to understand the story that has been circulated during this period and feel the joys and sorrows of that virtual time.

After hearing the story, Liu Zheng was impressed by Chen Jinnian. "Honestly, this is a really good story." He then picked up the script and flipped through it. "But I feel like it might have been better if the ending wasn't a happy one."

Chen Jinnian shook his head. "The male lead is Xiao Heyun, and the female lead is Li Shiqing. The poem goes: 'A crane flies above the clouds in the clear sky, leading the poetic sentiment to the blue sky.' The true ending was actually hinted at from the beginning."

For this kind of time-loop movie, no matter how you change the ending, there are actually only a few directions. But whether it is a happy ending or cruel to the end, or leaves suspense, some people like it and some people hate it.

But these do not affect the overall evaluation of the series.

Moreover, in this domestic environment, film and television works cannot be edited at will, especially those of the supernatural and suspense genres. If you are not careful, you will be thrown into the black room and will not even have the chance to be released online.

Therefore, so many domestic horror films focus on selling erotic content or creating a horror atmosphere. Even if the ending is a melodramatic scene where the protagonist wakes up and attributes everything that happened to a dream, they dare not show supernatural scenes.

The purpose is to ensure safety and to be able to pass the review and go online.

As for whether or not I will be scolded after going online, it doesn’t matter. The audience will just scold me a few times at most, but the official will really ban me.

"It's really poetic. I think this ending is good." Liu Jing said with a smile. She did not agree with her brother's opinion. Perhaps it was because she was getting middle-aged and she was increasingly disliking tragic endings.

"Well, I was just saying it casually." Seeing his sister speak, Liu Zheng quickly explained, and then he asked Chen Jinnian, "What is the budget for your project?"

"Well, I don't plan to hire any celebrities. Instead, I'll spend as much money as possible on production. It will probably cost around 8 to 10 million," he said after a moment's thought.

"Not looking for celebrities? Then the production cost is very high." Liu Zheng nodded. He also talked to his friends about film and television production in the past few days.

Ever since the hot money of capital entered the entertainment industry, the salaries of celebrities have taken off like a rocket. The budget of a single episode of a TV series has quickly risen from a ceiling of one million to five million, and is approaching eight million.

More than 95% of the fees are taken away by the stars, and the cost left for the crew to produce a single episode may be only or yuan. This is why the project investment is huge, but the final product is a mess.

"Yes, to make a high-quality web drama, you have to be willing to spend money on production. However, compared to those traffic stars, I still believe more in the quality of the script." Chen Jinnian replied.

"How much do you want me to invest?" Liu Zheng asked.

"About three million." Chen Jinnian estimated a number. "My movie hasn't been released yet, and the money I invested can't be recovered for the time being, so this is just a rough estimate."

Liu Zheng nodded, then asked about other related plans, and finally agreed to a verbal commitment that if the script was approved, he would provide 30% of the total investment.

As to whether this promise can take effect, we still have to wait and see the quality of Chen Jinnian’s film.

However, he felt it was good to be able to reach a preliminary agreement. There was too much uncertainty in film and television projects, so it was a good thing to be able to share the risks.

Ji Shengli, who was sitting next to him, was also quite surprised when he saw Chen Jinnian talking so eloquently. He seemed much more mature than his age. An ordinary student would not be able to work on a project worth hundreds of millions.

"Such a large investment is too risky. I think your parents should also understand it." Ji Shengli reminded.

"Uncle Ji, there's actually no risk for me. If I can't fool you enough... no, if I can get a few more investors, then I don't have to pay a penny and I'll still get my share of the profits." Chen Jinnian smiled slightly. "That's called taking other people's money and doing your own thing."

"Kid, I'm still here." Liu Zheng was unhappy when he saw him making up stories about him. "I'm just such a sucker, and you're still trying to trick me. Tell me the truth, how many people have you fooled?"

Seeing that Liu Zheng wanted to hit him, Chen Jinnian quickly hid back, "Hey, you're the only one who didn't agree."

"So you're calling me stupid, you're such a smart guy! We haven't even signed the contract yet, be careful or I'll withdraw my investment."

"No, I was just kidding."

"Okay, okay, Liu Zheng, you are so old, why are you still like a child?" Looking at the two people circling around the sofa, Liu Jing quickly stopped them.

Seeing his sister speak, Liu Zheng stopped, but still glared at him fiercely.

Chen Jinnian took advantage of the situation and sat next to Liu Jing, looking like a good boy.

Liu Jing straightened his clothes that were pulled askew by Liu Zheng and said gently, "You just mentioned there was another movie. What's going on?"

"I put together a crew during the summer vacation, and I directed and starred in a movie. It has been completed and you can watch it on Penguin Video around next month." Chen Jinnian explained.

"That's amazing. Come and add Auntie on WeChat. Be sure to notify me when the time comes. Yangyang and I will go to see it." Liu Jing said.

Seeing that the two of them were adding each other on WeChat, Ji Shengli asked, "You also found other people to invest in your film. It's what you just said: using other people's money to do your own thing."

"No, I asked my parents for it," Chen Jinnian said. "In fact, most directors save up their own money for their first film, or use money from their families. They wait until the finished product is appreciated and then they will get outside investment."

Ji Shengli quickly asked, "What about your college entrance exam next year? Are you going to take the directing major?"

"It's not certain yet. My dad and I have an agreement that if the film does well, I'll follow my decision and apply to the Beijing Film Academy. If the film fails, I'll follow his decision and apply to Peking University or Tsinghua University." Chen Jinnian said casually, not taking the agreement to heart.

Because Chen Ming is only in the first layer, while he is in the atmosphere, so he will definitely not lose this time.

Beijing Film Academy, Peking University and Tsinghua University.

Hearing these four words, Ji Shengli and Liu Jing looked at each other in surprise. They thought Chen Jinnian was joking. They were not close to each other. One was an art school and the other was a top university. The scores were also very different.

Liu Zheng, who was flipping through a script at the time, caught a glimpse of their expressions and began to explain, "Jinnian has good grades, is in the top ten in the grade, and if he works hard he can get into Peking University or Tsinghua University."

After hearing this, Liu Jing quickly grabbed Chen Jinnian's hand and said earnestly, "You're a good student and you're Yangyang's friend. Is there any way you can help him? We're both worried about Ji Yangyang's grades right now."