Chapter 71 Lack of Money
The late emperor died before he could complete his career!

Li Qing held a lollipop in his mouth to replenish the missing sugar.

Ever since getting the list of actors recommended by Zhang Liang, Li Qing has been calling their agents non-stop, hoping that they can come for an audition.

Yes, although our investment is not much, we have many requirements.

Naturally, after learning that "Blind Heart" had only one million yuan invested, most celebrity agents cursed Li Qing and blocked his phone number. The rest also chose to block him after learning about the plot and the pay they could get.

Therefore, up to now, Li Qing has been able to meet very few celebrity actors in real life, and many of them gave up directly at the first stage.

He was not even willing to give her a chance to meet. It was obviously impossible, so Li Qing would not keep pestering her.

It is a clean and neat choice to give up, and it is not a compulsory question.

Both parties have choices, that is, the actors choose the script and the director, and the director also chooses the actors according to the script.

Li Qing also has an advantage. He has a very high degree of autonomy. He can decide the crew arrangements of "Blind Heart" by himself. Unlike some other well-known directors, he does not need to be forced by investors to change the script, add roles, etc.

Chu Qingcheng gave a lot of freedom, and it was written into the contract.

So Li Qing can choose actors according to his own ideas. His idea is to make the film as close to the previous life's "Blind Mountain" as possible.

The casting was largely based on the actors in Blind Mountain.

Although the selection may be a bit narrow, it is better than crossing the river blindly.

In fact, the male lead of "Blind Heart" Huang Degui is easy to choose, as there is already a veteran actor willing to take over.

Li Qing was quite satisfied with his audition. After all, the actor was a veteran actor. Although he was not very famous, he could be said to have been acting for more than ten years.

Moreover, Huang Degui’s image is similar to the roles that the veteran actor has played before, so it should not be difficult to play.

Of course, more importantly, the old actor’s asking price was not high and was within Li Qing’s bottom line.

It’s okay – this is important!
The actor also told Li Qing the reason why he took the role, saying that he was getting older and couldn't keep up with the trend.

There are fewer and fewer roles he can take on, let alone the core male lead role. Even such roles are not his turn.

People often comment that he looks like a farmer and has a simple and honest look, especially as he gets older.

The current mainstream is youth campus comedy, which tends to tell the story of love, hatred and vengeance among teenagers. He, an uncle, can only play the role of a supporting parent or even a passerby, and no matter how well he acts, it will be of no avail.

Who cares about a few seconds of footage of a passerby?

Wouldn’t it be nice to spend this time watching more young and beautiful male and female protagonists to feast your eyes?
The veteran actor even said frankly that one of the reasons why he chose to take a lower pay to act in Li Qing's "Blind Heart" was that he planned to try his hand at a more serious film.

The intention is to jump from one track to another to see if he can continue to make a living in the entertainment industry.

Otherwise, in a few years, you will be even older.

He had no choice but to retire and change his career to find another way to make a living.

This is also the inevitable path for many old actors who have lost public attention and have no fame or popularity.

In this regard, Li Qing said.

It’s a good try. This is also the first time for our crew to try it. You are welcome to try more!

It's not a loss anyway, the pay the veteran actor asked for is appropriate, and his acting skills are above the passing line.

How could Li Qing be dissatisfied? He decided on the spot to give the role of Huang Degui, the male lead of "Blind Heart", to the veteran actor.

Yes, Li Qing chose to directly copy the character names from his previous life's "Blind Mountain". Since the main storyline is the same as "Blind Mountain", the names would naturally be the same.

The truth is that he was too lazy to think about it, and he even considered changing the name back to "Blind Mountain" as a tribute to the main character.

But after thinking about it, Lin Xiaoyu had already submitted "Blind Heart" and he had also modified and added some other things, so he didn't act on his own.

But at least one problem was solved, and the actor for the male lead Huang Degui in "Blind Heart" was successfully decided. Now the only remaining main actors are the female lead Bai Xuemei and Huang Degui's parents who were a bit difficult to find.

The reasons of the heroine Bai Xuemei have been mentioned before.

As for the reason why Huang Degui’s parents were difficult to find, it was naturally because of their age; they were too old.

It was a bit troublesome to find a suitable actor, but it was easier than choosing the heroine Bai Xuemei.

Li Qing thinks so.

As expected, art films still have to use old traditions...

Our art films...we prefer (and can only afford) amateur actors!
Okay, just kidding.

Li Qing now understood why the leading actors of art films in his previous life liked to find newly debuted amateur actors. It turned out that they had no money and could only afford the cheapest amateur actors. They wanted to take a chance and see if they could turn a bicycle into a motorcycle.

Most art films are loss-making businesses, and no one dares to spend large sums of money to hire expensive and popular actors, so they can only find cheaper amateur actors.

Li Qing also gave up looking for an actor with some fame, because even if he found one, the crew of "Blind Heart" could not afford to hire him.

Recently, Li Qing also went to check the prices of filming equipment, and found that many of them were ridiculously expensive, making him question the level of his life.

You still want to make a movie? Just wash your face and go home to sleep!

It’s better to just look around and see if there are any newcomers with good acting skills.

He was even thinking about whether he should find an opportunity to talk to Chu Qingcheng about the follow-up funding.

Sorry, I admit I spoke a little loudly earlier.

But Chu Qingcheng probably can't give much, judging from her previous appearance.

Maybe one or two million...

Alas, I didn’t want to use that trick... Li Qing bit the lollipop into pieces and walked into the film and television city again.

Where else can you find so many actors?

The answer is of course the western suburbs, where film crews shoot movies or commercials every day.

The basic level of the actors are very low, suitable for Li Qing to recruit.

Li Qing had a work badge sponsored by Zhang Liang, so he could enter and exit some crews freely, which greatly facilitated his observation of the actors' acting skills.

In fact, as long as Li Qing doesn't make obvious moves like taking secret photos, no one will pay attention to him.

Li Qing found a recording studio he had never been to before. After entering, he quietly walked to a corner and stayed there.

Try not to disturb the staff's shooting progress.

"Alright, alright, it's time for the substitute to come on stage. Quick, quick, quick!"

At this moment, by coincidence...

The crew was shooting an indoor scene, and now it was the stand-in's turn.

She was wearing a white off-shoulder dress, shoulder-length black hair, and a nonchalant look in her eyes...

She came onto the stage belatedly.

(End of this chapter)