Chapter 12 Signing a contract with a veteran actor

For the role of the hero's father, Gu Wei did not choose to have an open audition. This role is very important in the play and requires an older actor with good acting skills to handle it. The crew of "Time and Space Lovers", from the director to the actors, are generally young. Gu Wei hopes to find a veteran actor to play this role, and the first people he thought of were Chen Baoguo, Chen Daoming and others.

The TV series "The Mansion Gate", written and directed by Guo Baochang in April this year, set a record high viewership rating of 17.74 as soon as it was broadcast. The performances of Chen Baoguo, Teacher Siqin, Liu Peiqi, and Jiang Wenli in the play are still fresh in Gu Wei's memory. The original time and space started off high and continued to rise, winning the annual ratings championship.

As for Chen Daoming, he joined the crew of "Kangxi Dynasty" directed by Chen Jialin in February last year, and according to the time, it should have been completed by now.

Gu Wei asked Xingchen Film and Television to send someone to send a movie invitation to the two teachers, along with part of the script and role requirements, and then arrange a time to meet at the company based on the other party's schedule.

Gu Wei decided to set Hengdian as the filming location for Time and Space Lovers. Except for a few urban segments shot in the capital, all the rest were completed there.

On the one hand, Hengdian Film and Television City began construction in 96 and covers an area of ​​tens of thousands of acres. It is currently the largest and most complete film and television production base in China, suitable for the shooting of various types of dramas, with everything from scenes to personnel.

On the other hand, this year's Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival will be held in Zhejiang Province in October. Once the filming of "Time and Space Lovers" is completed, it will be convenient for us to go directly to the film festival.

Gu Wei plans to start filming of "Time and Space Lovers" in Hengdian in early August and end it in mid-October, with the shooting time controlled at about two and a half months.

During this period, Gu Wei returned to school and informed the school leaders of his plan to shoot a film. He also mentioned that he would participate in the domestic Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival this year. The leaders were very satisfied with his attitude and told him that if he needed anything in the filming, he could tell the school directly and the school would strongly support him.

July 7th, Xingchen Films Company.

The actors who were selected through the audition for "Time and Space Lovers" all came to the company to sign the contracts. Gu Wei sent the contracts to each artist two days ago. They also consulted lawyers to review the contracts in advance. This time, they all came with only their agents. For example, Qin Hao came by himself without even an agent, or maybe he doesn't have one.

"The crew has decided to shoot in Hengdian. We will gather at the end of July and start shooting in early August. All the actors need to be in place before the end of the month. I think you all have no problem with the time," Gu Wei asked, looking at the people in front of him.

"Director, no problem."

"Director, I can join the crew at any time. I'm almost going crazy from being idle at home," Qin Hao emphasized.

This caused everyone to laugh, and the relationship between them became a little closer.

Gu Wei looked at the people in front of him and was looking forward to the atmosphere after the crew started filming.

"Sign the contract if there is no problem. In the few days before filming begins, everyone should take a good look at the script."

.........

"Old Du, since you've already asked me, I will go and talk about this. But let me make it clear first, there may not be a role. Don't blame me if I can't arrange it well," said Xie Xiaojing from the office of the directing department of Beijing Film Academy, into the phone.

"I understand, Old Xie. It's up to you. Whether it succeeds or not, I owe you a favor. I'll go have a drink with you someday when I'm free," said a middle-aged man's voice from the other end of the line.

The two chatted for half an hour before Xie Xiaojing hung up the phone. She sat in the office and thought for a while before picking up her phone to call Gu Wei.
On July 7, Gu Wei received a call from the school. Director Xie of the Directing Department asked him to come to the office. While walking on the way to the school, he heard the dormitory manager holding a loudspeaker and shouting downstairs of each dormitory: "Lock the doors and windows, and cut off the power in the dormitory in time."

Gu Wei then realized that it was time for the annual school summer vacation. However, for the students of the Film Academy, especially the acting department, it had no effect on whether there was a vacation or not. Except for the freshman year when they spent more time in school, most of the other time they were working part-time outside and running around the crew.

"Director, I'm here," Gu Wei said after knocking on the office door.

"You kid, you've been to the directing department's office many times, and you're still polite to me. Come in quickly," the head of the directing department shook his head and said with a smile.

"Director, I am respecting my teacher."

After entering the office, Gu Wei looked up and saw that in addition to several teachers and the director, there was also a young man who did not look very young.

Seeing Gu Wei coming in, the other party stood up from the chair. Gu Wei recognized him at a glance, he was Du Chun from the 99 acting class of Beijing Film Academy. However, he did not say anything, as he had some guesses in his mind as to why the director called him over.

"Have you selected the movie roles? When will the filming start?" the director asked directly as Gu Wei sat down.

"It's basically been decided. Several main actors just signed their contracts yesterday. We expect to go to Hengdian to start filming at the end of the month," Gu Wei said after taking a sip of water in the office.

The director of the directing department waved to the boy next to him and said, "Xiao Du, this is Director Gu Wei. Haven't you wanted to meet him for a long time?"

"Hello, Director Gu, I'm Du Chun from the 99 acting class of our school. Nice to meet you," Du Chun, who had just sat down, stood up quickly and said after hearing the director's words.

"Hello," Gu Wei replied simply.

Half an hour later, Gu Wei walked out of the office. It was just as he guessed. They called him over to fill the crew.
According to the director, he should follow Gu Wei to the crew and arrange a suitable position for him. He can decide the role and treat it as a summer vacation training. "If someone else arranges it like this, Gu Wei will not agree. This time, I will just treat it as a school teacher and arrange a small supporting role for him later," Gu Wei thought to himself as he looked back at the office door.

He doesn't care about Du Chun, nor does he have a good impression of him. Even his father Du Zhiguo, although a veteran actor, has no influence on Gu Wei. However, he still has to give face to Xie Xiaojing, the director of the directing department. Gu Wei remembers that Xie Xiaojing has been the vice president of Beijing Film Academy since 04 and will not step down until 14.

.........

Gu Wei arrived at the company early on the 15th. He had made an appointment with Chen Baoguo yesterday to meet and talk at the company this morning.

Gu Wei looked at Chen Baoguo sitting in front of him, and classic characters such as Master Bai Qi in The Mansion Gate, Master Cha Liu in Xiaojing Hutong, and Emperor Wu of Han flashed through his mind.

"Hello, Teacher Chen, thank you for your hard work and for bothering you to come here in person," Gu Wei stretched out his hand and shook hands with him in the office.

"Director Gu, you're too polite," Chen Baoguo said with a smile.

"Teacher Chen, you should have read part of the script. The role requirements were also sent to your assistant a few days ago. What do you think about this role?" Gu Wei said straight to the point.

"Director Gu, I have a request. I wonder if it's convenient for me to tell you."

"Teacher Chen, if you have anything to say, just tell me."

Gu Wei said with a serious expression on his face.

"I want to see the complete script first before making a decision," Chen Baoguo said directly.

In the office, the only sound was the flipping of books. Gu Wei sat on the sofa drinking tea, watching Chen Baoguo across from him slowly flipping through the script, nodding from time to time.

Half an hour later, Chen Baoguo finished reading the script, looked up and commented: "The subject matter is very novel, and the story is also very good. Although the role of the male protagonist's father does not have many scenes, it is a test of his acting skills."

"Oh, it seems that Teacher Chen agrees to play this role," Gu Wei asked after adjusting his mood.

"I've accepted the role, but I don't know how to arrange my time on set."

It can be seen that Chen Baoguo is very optimistic about this role and his words are full of confidence, which is the confidence that only veteran actors have.

Then the two chatted for a while. Gu Wei asked the employees to prepare the contract for signing. Chen Baoguo took it and signed it without even looking at it carefully. Suddenly, Gu Wei felt trusted.

Gu Wei personally escorted Chen Baoguo and his agent out the door. As soon as he returned to the office, his employees reported to him that Chen Daoming had replied, saying that he was busy with the post-production and dubbing of "Kangxi Dynasty" and had turned down the role invitation. Hearing this, Gu Wei was relieved. There was no need to explain.

After deciding on the candidate for the role of the male protagonist's father, Gu Wei walked out of the office and prepared to leave the company. Just as he reached the door, he received a call from Chen Daoming, who said that he admired the role very much and thanked Gu Wei for the invitation, but he really couldn't spare the time. He said a few polite words and finally expressed his hope to have the opportunity to work with Gu Wei in the future.

As expected, this circle is full of human relationships. Even if you refuse, the courtesy will leave you speechless, Gu Wei sighed after hanging up the phone.

In the evening of the next day, Gu Wei received a call from a company employee, saying that the funds from China Film, Guangguang and Huayi had all arrived in the company account and all the contracts had been signed.

.........

Since getting the leading role in Gu Wei's movie, Qin Hao has hardly left his room in the past few days. He wrote several pages of character biography alone, and gave a detailed interpretation of everything from the script to the role.

Not to mention Liu Ye and Zhang Ziyi in the class, even compared with Hu Jing, Mei Ting, Qin Hailu and others, he is completely beaten in terms of fame or the movies and TV series he has participated in.

From leaving with the script on the audition day to being later revealed by the media that he would be the leading actor in Gu Wei's new movie, he experienced the feeling of becoming famous before the filming even started, and he cherishes this opportunity very much.

In the past few days, he has received text messages and phone calls from classmates, all of which congratulated him. Even his homeroom teacher, Mr. Chang, called him to encourage him to act well and said that actors from the Central Academy of Drama are no worse than others.

The relationship between the classmates of Class 96 of the Central Academy of Drama is indeed good. It can be seen from the fact that other classmates in the previous life praised Zeng Li to each other. This kind of atmosphere is rare in the circle.

"The camera team, lighting team, and other personnel have already arrived in Hengdian. The crew has also completed the registration and filing there, and China Film Group has also notified us in advance." Everything is proceeding in an orderly manner.

China Film Corporation was in charge of most of the matters before the start of filming. At the end of the month, Gu Wei met up with the main creative staff of the crew at the company and rushed to Hengdian together.

(End of this chapter)