Chapter 977: Chapter 977: The President
For the movie "White Snake," Sheng Tang is just the lead actress.
She didn’t invest nor is she a producer, so naturally she wasn’t invited to the internal screening.
However, she was quite curious.
She made a phone call to director Fei Muzhi.
Fei Muzhi answered immediately: "Tangtang?"
"Old Fei, has Huatai Film and Television invited you for an internal screening?" Sheng Tang asked.
After collaborating on two films, Sheng Tang and Fei Muzhi had grown quite close.
Fei Muzhi felt this woman was quite exceptional, so he deliberately sought to befriend her.
Upon hearing the question, Fei Muzhi was momentarily stunned: "No. Why, did they invite you?"
Fei Muzhi is the director of "White Snake", but unfortunately, he’s not part of Huatai Film and Television, so once he completed filming, his role was finished, and he didn’t even have final cut rights.
Let alone an internal screening.
"Neither did I." Sheng Tang sighed, "I mainly want to know how the movie turned out, and I wanted to get some inside information from you as well."
"You could ask Liu Taofang, he should be able to tell you." Fei Muzhi suggested.
"I’ll have to trouble him again." Sheng Tang chuckled, "Asking him requires some favors."
She made her connections quite clear.
Fei Muzhi smiled knowingly.
"Please let me know once you’ve found out." Fei Muzhi said.
Sheng Tang promised to do so.
Fei Muzhi hung up the phone, not particularly in high spirits. To be honest, he also felt a sense of defeat.
A director having no final cut rights to his own film is quite disheartening.
Many creative ideas come from the director; they are the most qualified to be responsible for the movie. If it’s handed over to others, can they grasp his intentions?
Some films are ruined by the final editor, turning the camera work into a mess, making a good movie into something dreadful.
On the night of the 8th, Sheng Tang called Mrs. Liu.
She discreetly asked around.
Mrs. Liu actually accompanied Liu Taofang to the screening of the final cut.
"It’s really good, Tangtang, the movie has a strong rhythm, and gives the feeling of a blockbuster, I personally like it a lot! Once all the special effects are complete, it’ll look even better, right now there are a few effects still pending." Mrs. Liu said.
"What did Brother Liu say?" Sheng Tang asked.
Mrs. Liu replied, "Why don’t you ask him yourself, I’ll pass the phone to him, okay?"
Sheng Tang then started chatting with Liu Taofang.
Liu Taofang couldn’t praise the movie enough.
"...Fei Muzhi is a genius, those shots are truly beautiful." Liu Taofang said, "The entire film is excellent."
"What do the other higher-ups say?"
"Everybody appreciates it and is quite optimistic about it." Liu Taofang replied, "We plan to make it the box office champion of the Spring Festival."
"That’s wonderful." Sheng Tang smiled, "I’m really looking forward to its success."
She felt a bit more at ease.
She also relayed Liu Taofang’s words to Fei Muzhi.
Fei Muzhi, however, felt that it’s enough to trust only thirty percent of what the producer says, not needing much more.
"Did Huatai invite you to their promotional period?" Sheng Tang asked Fei Muzhi again.
Fei Muzhi nodded: "Yes, they invited me."
By this point, Sheng Tang felt everything was more or less decided, next up was the promotional period.
The promotional period is also very busy.
This year, she’s been filming and promoting, hardly taking any breaks.
The promotional period is especially exhausting.
Unlike Sheng Tang, William and Wang Chuiyang particularly enjoy the promotional period; they find it more relaxing than filming because they both can really let loose and have fun.
This time, with Wang Chuiyang and William leading the charge, Sheng Tang felt a bit of happiness while participating in variety shows.
She just hadn’t expected that, even before the fiery promotional period ended, "White Snake" ran into trouble.
This trouble was stirred up by the president of Huatai Film and Television, Tang Xun.
