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Chapter 771: Chapter 669: Star Making (Please Subscribe!) _1
Seeing the group of people cornered by Tang Qing’s bodyguards.
Li Xizhao and the rest were utterly stunned.
Just a few words from Tang Qing and this guy owes the company $10 million. It sounded quite reasonable, they looked at Tang Qing in shock and with a touch of fear, wondering, "Does our chairman often do this?"
Ignoring the expressions and emotions of the crowd.
A warm smile appeared on Tang Qing’s face.
"Director Li, you’ve worked hard."
Regaining his senses, Li Xizhao quickly replied: "Not at all, it’s my duty." Sweat broke out on his forehead. He found his chairman quite terrifying. This style of doing things was indeed ’refreshing’.
Tang Qing smiled, "Let’s introduce our actors first."
"Yes."
After agreeing.
Li Xizhao quickly began introducing Hu Li: "Chairman, this is Hu Li. She graduated from the Shanghai Drama Academy’s acting department. She’s very talented and is the lead actress in this movie. She has always performed well."
As he praised her, he hoped that Tang Qing wouldn’t be too harsh. But judging from earlier, it seemed that Tang Qing was here to protect them.
"Hello, Chairman." Hu Li wiped her tears and respectfully greeted him. She stared at Tang Qing with gratitude in her wide eyes.
Tang Qing nodded his head.
He had an impression of this actress, having seen her in a previous life. However, he had only seen her on TV and never in movies. She appeared frequently in many spy dramas.
She was a potential actress.
But one without opportunities.
Tang Qing nodded and smiled: "Hello, Ms. Hu Li. Don’t worry about what happened just now. In life, there will always be things we can’t control. There’s nothing wrong with it. Stay strong and face it bravely.
It’s great that you’re able to shoulder your family’s debt alone. You’re doing much better than those who ignore their parent’s debts. You’re a good role model."
In order to prevent the people on the set from looking at Hu Li differently, Tang Qing said these words. For a girl, and an actress, the impact of this incident was as powerful as it would be if everyone knew she was a homewrecker.
It could possibly ruin a person’s life.
As expected.
Upon hearing Tang Qing praise Hu Li for her courage, everyone saw her in a more positive light. That’s just how the world works; people tend to follow so-called authority figures. Here, Tang Qing was that authority.
Tang Qing’s words set a noble tone for Hu Li’s debt. Whoever questioned this would be questioning Tang Qing. Who would dare question the chairman’s words if they wanted to keep their job?
"Thank you, Chairman. I’m deeply sorry for the loss my problems have caused the company." Hu Li said, deeply moved. She remembered Tang Qing’s words and felt an overwhelming sense of guilt.
Tang Qing just smiled and said nothing.
This girl was naive enough to believe his nonsense.
But Hu Li believed it. Given Tang Qing’s status, the chairman’s words must be true. She was naively adorable.
"Don’t dwell on it."
Subsequently.
Li Xizhao slowly started introducing the others in the production team, several assistant directors, lighting, photography, action - he introduced them all. Tang Qing kept shaking their hands with a smile. After all, they were all employees of his company.
Except for the actors, of course.
Upon seeing the legendary chairman and deputy chairman.
They were only surprised at first, having already heard of Tang Qing’s fame and youth.
But that didn’t stop them from knowing how rich Tang Qing was. Even if they didn’t know anything else, they knew that the Sheng Tang Group belonged to Tang Qing because Sheng Tang sponsored advertisements in the movie.
They found out unintentionally.
In an instant.
At that time, they felt they had found a big tree.
Tang Qing walked over to the green screen.
"Director Li, the film is about to wrap up. We won’t be able to attend the wrap party, so the company will treat you all to a meal tonight. We’ll celebrate in advance. Once the movie is a hit, I’ll treat you to another meal." Tang Qing said.
"We’ll follow the Chairman’s arrangements." Li Xizhao dared not object.
Tang Qing nodded: "Hmm, once filming ends, send the final part to the special effects company as soon as possible. Show it to Director Zheng once the editing is done. If there are no issues, proceed with the screening process. Be sure to produce a final sample film by the end of next month that meets the standards. This movie will be released on New Year’s Day."
Of course, the special effects are not created after filming, but concurrently with filming.
The progress was just a little speedy.
This caused Li Xizhao to always rush the production. It was his first time encountering a situation where the special effects were being produced faster than the filming. Although he was happy about this, it came with a share of pain as he had to work overtime and stay up late every day figuring out how to create scenes that didn’t need to be refilmed.
"Is it... confirmed?" Li Xizhao’s eyes lit up.
"Yes, it’s settled. The company’s marketing channels will also follow up immediately. Once you finish the shooting, the road show begins, first domestically then globally. We had originally planned a global synchrony for the release, but for the Spring Festival release, screening domestically in advance would also be good," Tang Qing said.
"That’s great." Li Xizhao was extremely excited.
The Spring Festival is a slot that holds considerable influence in the Huaxia film industry, not every film can secure a share of it.
However, since seeing the results from the special effects company, he had no more worries. A film like this would definitely not disgrace the prestige of the Spring Festival slot. If it succeeds this time and the film sells worldwide, his name would go down in the history of Huaxian cinema.
"Alright, carry on. I want to see how movies are made. Hu Li was emotionally unstable today, let her rest for a while. She should be fine by tomorrow," Tang Qing believed that solving Hu Li’s family debt would not affect her performance.
"Okay, all departments prepare to start." As soon as Li Xizhao’s loudspeaker rang, the crew got busy. Li Xizhao walked over to Hu Li and said, "Hu Li, rest this afternoon and we’ll shoot tomorrow."
"I can do it." Hu Li quickly stood up.
"This is from the chairman, just rest and don’t stress. The chairman is easy to talk to, he’s not blaming you," Li Xizhao comforted.
"Alright then."
Since this was Tang Qing’s instruction, Hu Li had to agree.
She went over to Tang Qing.
"Thank you, Mr. Chairman," Hu Li thanked him.
"You’re welcome. By the way, would you be interested in signing a contract with Comet Entertainment?" Tang Qing asked with a smile.
"Huh?" Hu Li was confused. It seemd Comet Entertainment didn’t have agency services.
Pu Chaodong quickly explained, "The board of directors of the company decided to establish an agency to train artists. It’s not yet established." Since Tang Qing was inviting, Hu Li joining the company was a must.
"I’d like that."
Once this was clarified, Hu Li happily agreed.
Previously, Hu Li didn’t want an agency to take a cut and also, she didn’t have many films to act in. But now that Comet Entertainment wanted to sign her, she was very willing. She didn’t know why, but after the encouragement she just received, it felt wrong to refuse the chairman’s proposal.
"Great. Pu, once the company is established, sign the contract. As long as we do it, we’ll do it well. We also need our own star," Tang Qing suddenly felt that having a stable actor was nice.
"Yes," answered Pu Chaodong.
Noticing Lin Jiaxue curiously looking around and Hu Li had no more scenes to shoot, Tang Qing said, "Jiaxue, why don’t you and Ms. Hu go have a look around? She can tell you about movie production. Hu Li, this is my fiancée, she’s quite curious about filming."
"Okay," Hu Li quickly agreed. She had long noticed the beautiful girl besides Tang Qing, and surprisingly, she was Tang Qing’s fiancee. They were indeed a perfect match.
Jiaxue nodded and followed Hu Li.
After the two left,
"Little Tang, what should we do about those guys? Are you sure you can deal with them? Or should we call Shen Yi to call the police?" Zheng Lin’s question was naturally about men who had finished their call and were now waiting for a judgement.
Shen Yi hurriedly said, "Exactly. Boss Tang, their boss is not a good guy. We should call the police to be safe."
Tang Qing waved his hand.
"No need, we’re not here to fight, just to talk about Hu Li’s debt issue."
"Do you know their boss?" asked Zheng Lin curiously.
"I know of him, but haven’t met him. Don’t worry, it’s a minor issue," curbed Tang Qing.
Chu Wang was just a high-interest moneylender. Although he was a local bully here and a robust one at that, a snake could never match a dragon in might.
Seeing Tang Qing’s confidence,
They all felt at ease.
The group watched the shooting of the film with Tang Qing. Zheng Lin was not really interested as he had seen it all before. He was just accompanying Tang Qing. In other words, Tang Qing was the only one relishing the process.
The thought in his mind,
Should he cameo as Pedestrian A?
However, most of the movie had already been shot. The large crowd scenes were all done and they did not need him to play Pedestrian A. Tang Qing was a bit disappointed and thought that he could try again next time.
... 𝒏𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝙗.𝙘𝒐𝙢
On the other side,
Chu Wang was also stunned by the news on the phone.
He had just asked for debt repayment and a debt of ten million dollars was being discussed. That.. was simply extortion.
He knew that other people knew him, but he couldn’t think of knowing anyone from Comet Entertainment. However, he had to resolve this issue today. Cursing under his breath, he took his men and went towards the studio.
As for the ransom,
He wouldn’t give it.
But he knew that they were civilized people. Bringing more people would be useless, so he just took two cars, drove towards the studio, and simultaneously called to inquire about the background of Comet Entertainment.
He could only react to the situation on the spot.
