All-rounder Artist

Chapter 249: Chapter 233 All Staff are Tools_1

The Starlight Film Division seemed to be in a bit of collective self-denial, tinged with an unspoken sense of shame. After all, everyone had openly criticized Lin Yuan’s movie in one way or another:

“Who could have imagined…”

“In the end, we were all outdone by a novice.”

“I still don’t understand why ‘Flirting Scholar’ was so successful. I watched the movie… but my kid loved it so much. Maybe we’re just too old and out of touch.”

“Perhaps we should just let Admirable Fish run the studios and focus on online productions.”

“I just feel bad for Director Zhou… his decision to sell the movie is now backfiring. I heard he was heavily criticized in today’s high-level meeting.”

“I heard it too; it was a bloodbath.”

“It’s not a big problem; the company has begun damage control. Look how they are celebrating on the official Weibo.”

They weren’t lying about that.

01′ Zhou was indeed reprimanded.

The members of the film crew were also questioning their judgement. After all, it was a serious mishap—

Specifically, a collective case of ‘missing the mark’.

But Starlight was equally proficient at deceiving themselves.

On the company’s social media account, they have been sharing all sorts of reviews and data about ‘Flirting Scholar’.

Basically, it was brazen boasting.

They just stopped short of saying, “Did you see this movie? Cool, right? We, Starlight, made it.”

Then the unsuspecting audiences shouted praises like “666”.

Indeed, those in the industry felt sour like they’d eaten unripe grapes.

Looking at it this way, the company still managed to gain quite a bit.

As for Lin Yuan…

Lately, he spent every day huddled with his calculator, tallying up how much he had earned.

He had anticipated ‘Flirting Scholar’ to be a hit,

But the revenue this movie churned was truly staggering!

Tens of millions in profit!

And given the current trend, ‘Flirting Scholar’ would continue to attract viewers and continue to earn!

Writing novels…

Releasing new songs…

Teaching painting…

None of these could compare to the speedy earnings of making a movie.

Making a movie was pure joy!

Online movies did as well as theatrical releases!

Although, Lin Yuan wanted to correct a widespread misconception.

The production cost of ‘Flirting Scholar’ was not less than nine million Yuan.

The system props he used for the actors were exchanged for real money and they were very expensive!

But as the old saying goes…

There must be input for there to be output.

If the actors hadn’t used any props and messed up their performances, ‘Flirting Scholar’ would not have turned out so well.

The only regret was that Admirable Fish had gained too many followers.

If those followers could be transferred to Chu Kuang, that would have been perfect.

Lin Yuan even considered using Chu Kuang’s account to announce that…

The script for ‘Flirting Scholar’ was actually written by Chu Kuang?

The thought came and went quickly; in the end, Lin Yuan decided against it. That would be too risky.

After all, the company knew Admirable Fish was him, and everyone knew that he was always on set during filming…

As for the poems in the movie, they were actually from the system-provided script of ‘Flirting Scholar’.

The script was so detailed that it included such elements.

Luckily, this was not a problem.

After all, if you can write song lyrics well, you must also have a good literary foundation.

Who could deny the formidable literary skills of Fang Wenshan and other songwriters?

Given this premise, it’s understandable that Lin Yuan, under the pen name Admirable Fish, could write remarkable ancient-style poems.

This was highly reasonable and logical.

In the future, Admirable Fish could just focus on songwriting and scriptwriting.

When a movie becomes a hit, not only one person reaps the rewards.

True, the scriptwriter Admirable Fish made quite a splash.

But the director, actors, and key members of the film’s creative team also benefited tremendously!

First of all, was the male protagonist, He Sheng.

As the undisputed leading man of ‘Flirting Scholar’, He Sheng instantly shot to fame two weeks after the movie was released!

Invitations began flooding in, busting down Starlight’s doors—

After all, He Sheng was Starlight’s artist.

Previously, he was just a bit player at Starlight.

Now, he had become the hot new talent in the film industry!

This delighted the company’s chief agent, Zhao Jue. She immediately arranged for a formidable agent for He Sheng.

As part of the company’s transition, Zhao Jue now managed artists from both film and music industries.

Previously, Lin Yuan had discovered a few new singers for her…

Now, he was also helping her scout film talent!

This was horrifying!

If Lin Yuan’s success this time was not a fluke and his scriptwriting skills were reliable, then his value to the company would not be inferior to other prominent songwriters—

He actually might offer even more!

Given the company chairman’s personality, Lin Yuan would probably be untouchable at Starlight in the future!

The Little Prince?

Not quite…

When Lin Yuan wanted to make a movie, the company let him. There were rumors then that Lin Yuan was Starlight’s Little Prince-

Now, it seems the title “Little Prince” describes him better than “Maestro Junior”.

Naturally, He Sheng was over the moon.

After the company had him registered with a Tribe account, the first thing he did was follow Admirable Fish. Then, he went ahead and skimmed through all of Admirable Fish’s blog posts, liking each and every one of them…

Occasionally, he left comments, such as:

“Go, Teacher Admirable Fish!”

“Teacher Admirable Fish, you’re the best!”

“I’m Admirable Fish’s die-hard fan!”

These were the types of comments he generally left, demonstrating his incredibly sincere attitude.

Sharing similar sentiments to him was Yi Chenggong!

It was clear that the bigwig of “Flirting Scholar” was Admirable Fish, the screenwriter.

This film was indeed a textbook example of a “screenwriter-centric” production.

However, Yi Chenggong was the director after all!

Even if the screenwriter shined the brightest, the director would certainly be one of the top three contributors to the film’s success!

Previously, Yi Chenggong had been somewhat disappointed that “Flirting Scholar” hadn’t made it to the big screens.

But looking at it now, who cared about the big screens!

Earning internet streaming revenue, wasn’t that delightful?

Leaving an iconic workpiece behind for online films, wasn’t that cool?

Furthermore…

With the prestige gained from this film, if Yi Chenggong wanted the company to fund a big-screen film for him now, they would likely not refuse.

Because after all, one only needed to succeed once to build credentials!

People previously said that Admirable Fish was talking nonsense.

Now it seemed, the company would likely beseech Mr. Lin to produce another film like “Flirting Scholar”, wouldn’t it?

Speaking of which.

Though Yi Chenggong was the one who believed in “Flirting Scholar” the most aside from Admirable Fish, the overwhelming success of the film was equally startling to him.

Yi Chenggong knew the film had potential, but he didn’t expect it to explode like this!

Of course.

If the director and the lead male actor gained benefits, the lead female actress naturally wouldn’t be left out.

Flirting Scholar…

The one being flirted with, was Yu Xilu’s Qiuxiang!

As the female lead of the film, Yu Xilu realized for the first time that being a vase character wasn’t too bad!

Others were in charge of the comedy, and she just had to look charming as support…

However, compared to the excited Yi Chenggong and He Sheng, Yu Xilu thought a bit more about it.

Being more seasoned in the industry, she had a better understanding of the importance of alliance-building:

“When is Mr. Lin shooting his next film?”

“Should I beg him for a part?”

“I’m sure Mr. Lin wouldn’t mind my vase character…”

“Though I have numerous offers now, if Mr. Lin needs my time, I will definitely reserve it for him…”

Some people might think “Flirting Scholar” was purely a stroke of luck, but Yu Xilu didn’t see it that way.

There were times when she almost laughed herself breathless during the shooting of this film!

She had also seen how Mr. Lin turned He Sheng into a comedy master with her own eyes!

This assured Yu Xilu that Mr. Lin truly had talent!

In fact…

Yu Xilu had tried to make conversation with Mr. Lin during the shoot.

Didn’t they say men love beautiful women? She was so attractive, many male crew members would steal glances at her. Maybe Mr. Lin would show some interest?

Unfortunately, Mr. Lin didn’t spare her much attention.

In fact, Mr. Lin paid more attention to He Sheng and Yi Chenggong than to her…

It seemed her charm didn’t work on Mr. Lin.

Yu Xilu wasn’t disappointed. After all, she was just trying out.

And she wasn’t trying to use this to climb up the ladder, she simply had a genuine desire to align herself with Mr. Lin.

If the big boss was Yi Chenggong, Yu Xilu wouldn’t have had any thoughts whatsoever.

She would rather never make it in the industry than be involved with Yi Chenggong!

“I suppose other actresses in the company will soon have their eyes on Mr.

Lin… But whether or not Mr. Lin chooses me as the female lead, I must maintain a good relationship with him…”

In the entertainment circle these days, which female actor doesn’t have some tricks up their sleeves.

Similar cunning was shared by He Sheng, Yi Chenggong, and many others involved in the film.

But others’ responses were somewhat slower than Yu Xilu’s…

But no one would forget who made “Flirting Scholar” a success.

In fact…

Following the film’s success, almost everyone was thinking about how to quickly align themselves with Mr. Lin in their own ways.

Following, liking and commenting on his Tribe posts were just basic interactions.

The film’s producer, Shen Qing, was the only one feeling a bit awkward lately…

Many people around him began to congratulate Shen Qing, praising how good “Flirting Scholar” was.

Being the main producer, he naturally reaped many benefits.

But the more he was congratulated, the more awkward Shen Qing felt…

Could he tell everyone that he actually had no hope for “Flirting Scholar” at all?

Okay, he didn’t dare to say it.

Shen Qing still had a sense of propriety.

What he feels most relieved about now is his work attitude. He didn’t neglect his duties just because he didn’t think highly of this film.

When Mr. Lin asked him for help with the web film negotiations, he duly complied.

From this perspective, though he didn’t earn Mr. Lin’s favor, at least Mr. Lin wouldn’t detest him, would he?

But estimating, Mr. Lin wouldn’t go for his cooperation next time…

After all, for this film crew, including himself and the director, they were tools to execute Mr. Lin’s vision.

Yes, tools.

If Mr. Lin had greater ambitions in the future, he wouldn’t be satisfied with such a crew of tools.

PS: It can’t be denied that I owe you more updates, this is the second bonus chapter from the White Silver Alliance by fantasy feather bigwig, time to call it a day. Inevitably the content becomes diluted with increased word counts, especially in a single day where I wrote over 10,000 words, I hope for your understanding. It would be even better if you don’t rip on my monthly work rate…