"This film studio has convenient transport, fully equipped facilities, and spans an enormous amount of land," Lan Zihuang explained as they walked, "When we were audited, we received a substantial preference policy. The municipal government has put a lot of effort into supporting the entertainment industry. Have you seen this Imperial City Avenue?" Lan Zihuang pointed at the broad road, "This avenue is nearly thirty meters wide, and at the end of the road is a man-made Imperial City wall. Just this area alone covers more than a thousand mu, and the surrounding courtyard houses, restaurants, and teahouses are too many to count. Nearly all of the ancient costume dramas in the Heavenly People’s Republic are shot here, if the scenes are set within the city walls."
"Indeed, it’s huge!" Wang Hao exclaimed while looking around, feeling quite like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Gardens: "Such a vast area of construction, that must have cost a fortune..."
"At that time, it was said to be an investment of twenty billion," Lan Zihuang, who was genuinely an industry insider, had a level of detail and understanding far beyond that of an outsider like Wang Hao, "To be exact, it was twenty-two billion six hundred and eighty million. Since this film studio was established, pretty much all the drama crews in the Heavenly People’s Republic that shoot ancient costume dramas would come here. Actually, the domestic entertainment industry’s environment isn’t too bad, it’s just the screenwriting that sucks; the scripts they produce are almost unwatchable."
Ah, I can understand that, when I first crossed over, that Domestic Agent script...
Ah, let’s not talk about that; adapt slowly, adapt slowly.
"By the way, who is the male lead in our drama crew?" After walking for a while, Wang Hao remembered he still didn’t know who the male lead was.
"No way, Brother-in-Law!" As soon as Lan Qinglong heard this, he suddenly exclaimed, "You don’t even know who the male lead is?! That’s Wang Yinghui! He’s a top star in our country, a definite A-lister!"
Wang Yinghui? Who’s that?
Honestly, although Wang Hao had been in this world for over half a year, he didn’t know much about the big stars in the entertainment industry.
He was familiar with only a few, like Ice Princess Bai Yaning and Lan Zihuang.
As for this Wang Yinghui, Wang Hao really didn’t know much—he was difficult enough to spot on set, and Wang Yinghui was even more elusive; Wang Hao had never seen him appear!
"Wang Yinghui?" Wang Hao rubbed his chin, "Why don’t I know about him?"
"Dear heavens," Lan Qinglong covered his forehead in exasperation, "Are you really a part of the entertainment industry? You don’t know such an awesome guy?!"
"Is he that impressive?" Wang Hao asked curiously, "Even more impressive than Little Huanghuang?"
"Little Huanghuang!" Initially, Wang Hao was only asking about Wang Yinghui, but Lan Qinglong got excited upon hearing this comment: "You dare say you’re not my Brother-in-Law when you call my sister that way? Brother Hao, Little Huanghuang~~" Especially when he mentioned Little Huanghuang, Lan Qinglong was so shrill and squeaky that Wang Hao really wanted to kick him back into the womb for a do-over!
"Quit your nonsense!" Lan Zihuang’s pretty face blushed red with embarrassment, pinching him hard, she said, "Brother Hao and I met through a novel! The hottest book right now, Break the Heavens, is a book written by Brother Hao. You, a little kid who knows nothing better, don’t talk nonsense; our relationship is a purely innocent one between a writer and a reader, got it?"
"Got it, got it," Lan Qinglong said with a grin, "I understand, yeah, Little Huanghuang~~~"
Kids these days, if you don’t spank them for three days, they’ll climb to the roof and tear off tiles!
"Alright, alright, let’s not talk about that," Wang Hao cleared his throat, quickly changing the topic, "So is this Wang Yinghui really that impressive?"
"Indeed, he’s a very impressive male star," Lan Zihuang nodded, "How should I put it, his popularity should be roughly on par with mine, ranking quite high among male stars."
To be on the same level of popularity as Lan Zihuang?!
"That impressive," Wang Hao expressed his surprise, "It seems the drama crew has really spent a lot on this. Sister Tong is quite capable to invite such a person!"
"Of course," Lan Zihuang nodded, smiling, "Actually, our drama crew as a whole is considered to have quite a high standard. What we lacked before was just the script, but now after you’ve worked on it, it’s nearly perfect. With such quality in the script, the actors naturally rise along with the tide. Mr. Ren has said that we must shoot this film well, and we must use top-notch people, otherwise it would be a waste of such a good script."
Oh, you compliment me so much, how can I be modest?
Soon the three of them arrived at a corner of the ancient costume film area, and from a distance, Wang Hao saw crew members bustling about, with two cameras in operation and rails laid out for smooth camera movement. There was also a guy sweating profusely holding a reflector board, which was to ensure more effective light refraction, preventing color differences in the footage.
What a lively and thriving scene!
"Director Yang, I’m here!" Wang Hao and the others approached, waving and smiling, "How’s the shooting progress today?"
Brothers, please vote for a recommendation ticket early in the morning!