Zhang Ye came back to the studio with the project in high spirits. "Everyone, gather around. We have work to do!"
Everyone was startled and pleasantly surprised.
"There's work?"
"So quickly?"
"I thought you went to look for your wife?"
"So what big job is it?"
Zhang Ye placed the documents down and said, "Have a look."
When the studio's staff saw the project details that Zhang Ye had brought back, many of them were dumbfounded.
Ha Qiqi said dumbfoundedly, "An anti-corruption drama?"
Tong Fu exclaimed, "What the hell!"
Wu Yi said anxiously, "Director Zhang, calm down! Don't rush into it!"
Little Wang said in a panic, "Although we aren't exactly in the best of situations, we cannot take any job that is offered to us. Th-This project mustn't be taken!"
Zhang Ye laughed and said, "Why can't we take it?"
"This sort of project is a trap!" Tong Fu was sweating. "A political drama isn't going to be easy to shoot. Even up to a few years ago, no one would dare to take on such a drama. The topic is too serious, and there's too strong a political inclination. The public definitely won't accept it. Furthermore, what era are we in now? It's the age of commercial productions. To surpass 1% in the viewership ratings, only a commercially motivated drama or an idol show could do it. Nothing else can achieve that. We cannot jump into a pit like this. What if the viewership does not meet the requirements of the Central Publicity Department after we film it? Who is going to take responsibility for that? That kind of pressure is too great!"
Ha Qiqi gasped and said, "There will only be an investment of 30 million RMB?"
Zhang Ye smiled. "That's all that they have."
Ha Qiqi still understood the market. She said, "To throw 30 million yuan into a TV series, that should only be enough to cover the shooting costs, right? Which TV series these days don't have an investment of a 100 or 200 million yuan? There's even a TV series with a budget of 500 million yuan. This is indeed not a good project to take."
Zhang Ye smiled. "I know that."
Zhang Zuo wiped his sweat away. "And we even have to assemble the production crew ourselves?"
"Isn't there already a production crew?" Zhang Ye said.
Zhang Zuo was taken aback. "Where are you getting that from? It's not like the Central Publicity Department will be providing us with one, right?"
Zhang Ye said calmly, "Isn't our forte exactly in filming things? What's wrong? Have you all thrown away all your skills after so many years away?"
Everyone was floored!
Turning the studio into a production crew?
Little Wang was horrified. She said, "We have only shot variety shows in the past!"
Tong Fu said, "At most, we dabbled in documentary filmmaking!"
Zhang Ye sighed and remarked, "Isn't that more or less the same?"
More or less the same?
It's way too different, alright!
This is an entirely unrelated subject!
This is two entirely different skill sets!
Ha Qiqi gave a wry smile. "Director Zhang, aren't there any better options than this?"
Zhang Ye spread his hands with a smile. "This is the best option we have in our situation, a 30 million RMB anti-corruption drama. I'll be the director and the project manager. From the casting, allocation of funds, filming, and editing, all of that will be decided by us alone. There won't be anyone else getting involved, and we will have absolute autonomy over the project."
Ha Qiqi gave it some thought before saying, "Then let's do it."
Little Wang said, "Director Zhang, Sister Ha…but!"
Ha Qiqi laughed and said, "There's indeed no better option than this."
Everyone sighed.
Tong Fu asked, "So it's gonna be a TV drama then?"
Wu Yi asked, "We're crossing over again?"
Little Wang said, "It feels like we've been crossing over all our lives."
Zhang Zuo said, "For a celebrity's comeback, instead of restarting in a familiar field, we're taking on a totally new trade. We're truly the only ones who dare risk it all and do something like this in the entire industry. But alright, the general trend in the entertainment industry these days is slowly moving towards TV dramas anyway. It is the same be it locally or abroad, so we definitely have to dip our hands into doing them from now on if we wish to advance further. It's not something that we can avoid, so this is a good time for us to try it out. Hai, it's just that this feels really stressful."
Zhang Ye snapped his fingers and said, "Alright, then our production crew has been officially set up."
Since Director Zhang had had made his decision, everyone went along with it.
Ha Qiqi said, "Please delegate the tasks."
Zhang Ye said, "Old Ha, you've been involved in directing for these few years too, so you definitely have to be my assistant director. I'll let you be responsible for the filming."
"OK." Ha Qiqi responded.
Zhang Ye said, "Brother Zuo, you will also be appointed as an assistant director. I'll leave all internal matters and affairs to you."
Zhang Zuo said, "Understood."
Zhang Ye said, "Old Wu, get in contact with the Central Publicity Department and have them get the equipment and funds ready."
Wu Yi said, "OK, I'll get it done."
One by one, the tasks were laid out.
Ha Qiqi asked, "What about the script?"
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "I'll write it myself."
Finally, Zhang Ye returned to his own office.
There had never been a change in the order of popularity for a celebrity in the entire entertainment circle before.
#1: Film and television stars.
#2: Singers.
#3: Variety stars.
#4: Hosts.
#5: All other artists.
From the 2nd to 5th places, they might vary a little due to certain factors surrounding the celebrities themselves, but it was always the film and television stars who were in first place. Their status in the industry was virtually unshakable. Be it in China or Asia, or even the world, a film and television star always ranked first in their orders of magnitude. This was a long-recognized phenomenon in the industry.
Many years ago, a lot of experts and media personalities had evaluated Zhang Ye as someone who walked the celebrity path with only one leg. If a celebrity wanted to develop a long-term career in the entertainment circle, how could they not get involved in film and television? The film and television field was a much bigger one than the music scene, so a lot of people were not that optimistic about Zhang Ye's chances in the entertainment circle. But today, Zhang Ye was finally getting involved in a television project. He was going to make an attempt, and it was also an opportunity for him. Having journeyed with only one leg so far, he had managed to get to the top of both the Chinese and Asian entertainment circles. And now, Zhang Ye was finally going to walk without anything holding him back. As for how far he could go on this path and how well he could walk it, no one knew yet.
Only Zhang Ye was very much looking forward to it. He smiled and booted up his computer.
A script?
Let it be that one then.
He didn't even think of a second option.
An hour.
Three hours.
Five hours.
Night had fallen, but Zhang Ye's office door did not open all this while. Only the sound of tapping away at keys could be heard coming from inside. They couldn't create a grand setting with a 30 million yuan investment, nor could they afford to hire any hot, young guys. In the understanding of this world's people and industry insiders, even if this sort of television drama could be shot well, it wouldn't garner much viewership. Because no matter which angle you looked at it from, it didn't have any qualities that would suggest the drama would be explosive. That was an absolutely impossible outcome.
Perhaps only Zhang Ye knew.
Perhaps only the people of Zhang Ye's previous world had witnessed it before.
Without any hot, young men.
Without any huge investments.
An anti-corruption drama could become so explosively popular that its own mother would not recognize it!
Zhang Ye could already see the dumbfounded expressions of this world's people!
Come on out, In the Name of the People!
This is going to be this bro's first project since my comeback. I'll be depending on you!https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Name_of_the_People_(2017)
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