“Shut up, all of you.” Liu Ge shot them a glare, clearly annoyed, and wasn’t in the mood to explain anything. After all, today was just a formality; even though it was an opportunity, whether they could seize it depended on them.
Thinking this, he reluctantly reminded them, “Do your best to land a role. Even if it’s not a leading role, it’s fine. If this drama becomes a hit, it will at least give you some exposure.”
“Got it,” the others replied, not being fools; after hearing that, their attitudes improved significantly. In the entertainment industry, acting is essential to gain fame.
The initial audition would screen out a portion of newcomers who lacked acting skills and uniqueness. By the second round, things would tighten up considerably.
When the announcement of auditions for this drama came, many people stayed up all night playing the associated game, trying to find some resonance with the characters. In return, the game company made quite a profit.
The second round naturally weeded out a large number of candidates, most of whom aimed for leading roles but did not fit the director’s vision.
Lin Ya did not manage the auditions closely; he entrusted this part entirely to the director. However, knowing that Su Cheng had sent some people to audition, he showed consideration by telling the director to keep an eye on them. If no suitable roles were found, he shouldn’t hesitate to cut them—after all, the project needed to meet specific standards.
In this world, the director and actor were not familiar, but in the end, he found a director who shared a similar style and outstanding abilities.
The director lived up to his expectations and ultimately found suitable actors through this audition.
Thanks to Lin Ya’s financial capabilities, the behind-the-scenes preparations for this drama progressed quickly, aiming to start filming by November.
Moreover, he specifically sought a company that specializes in special effects. By the time this drama wraps up, it would likely be better than before.
This drama didn’t require much of his attention; soon after, the company began preparations for another film, “Bronze.” This film is adapted from the work “XX Notes” by Beipai Sanshu, and the copyright had already been secured. Upcoming series films were expected to bring tremendous benefits to the company.
The prerequisite was that this drama needed to authentically recreate the scenes and characters from the book.
This aspect would require substantial investment.
So Lin Ya took out the gold, silver, and jewelry from his safe, along with some items he had collected in the system space. He auctioned everything for cash, totaling around 1 billion.
This money was fully invested into the series.
Not only was scene recreation required, but the same went for the actors. The contract signed was for ten years; as long as this series was in production within that time frame, the actors would always have roles. Of course, the conditions were stringent, but oddly, more actors competed for these roles.
The preparations took almost an entire year, not just for “Bronze,” but for all scenes depicted in the book. Massive amounts of funds, manpower, and resources were used to create the sets, with locations bought across more than a dozen regions. Even after filming, these sets wouldn’t be dismantled; instead, they would be turned into a place for fans of the book and drama to visit, offering memorable photos.
As for sets that could be utilized in real locations, everything possible was employed, and they even solicited suitable real-life sites from all book lovers on social media, offering compensation.
It can be said that this move by Huasheng Entertainment left all the fans of the work astonished at the faithful recreation. Even the author stated that this series would be difficult to replicate.
Huasheng Entertainment aimed to transport all viewers into the world of the book, allowing them to experience all the exciting adventures and the blood and tears shared by the protagonists.
The immense anticipation from the audience stemmed from the success of the previous project’s production, “Immortal Heroes.” In that show, whether it was the costumes, scenery, soundtrack, or the immersive performances by the actors, everything perfectly drew the audience into the touching world of immortal heroes.
Thus, this drama became extraordinarily popular. Not only did the lead roles explode in fame, but even the minor supporting characters gained immense popularity, one of whom was recommended by Su Cheng.
He was the only one retained and has since significantly increased his market value; the company took this opportunity to arrange numerous appearances and variety shows for him. Suddenly, everyone recognized him when he went outside, and he often had to wear masks and hats to evade his fans.
The same went for other leads.
The director selected several leading roles, most of whom were newcomers; aside from the female lead, who started as a child star, all were unpolished gems. After the drama aired, their follower counts on social media skyrocketed, and when the series concluded, the broadcasting station recorded its highest-ever viewership.
This year belonged to the immortal genre and also to Huasheng.
Most actors from this drama chose to sign contracts with Huasheng, and many famous artists began suggesting they might switch companies due to Huasheng Entertainment’s newly initiated dramas and films, including the “XX Notes” series.
Rumors spread that actors for this series would be selected from within Huasheng. Many well-known male actors began hinting that their contracts were soon due for renewal and that they could sign with Huasheng if given a role.
Of course, Huasheng would not agree to that.
Artists who had desperately wanted to leave Huasheng, even willing to pay breach-of-contract fees, were now left in regret. Those who remained with Huasheng found themselves absorbed into various projects, or at least got to sing the theme songs; now, their fame surpassed that of the ones who left.
Additionally, the contracts for Huasheng’s artists had changed; compared to before, their conditions improved significantly.
This left many of the departed artists feeling incredibly remorseful.
Some even wanted to return.
However, regardless of the breach-of-contract fees, even if there were none, Lin Ya would not agree, as Huasheng currently needed fresh faces untouched by the industry.