Chapter 14: Ma Yili

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Well, task dramas aren’t short on funding…
And large-scale embezzlement is unlikely…
These funds are earmarked specifically.
This means the production team has plenty of money to hire featured actors and extras.
This point is crucial—one gets what one pays for. A featured actor paid 300 yuan is in a completely different league than one paid 500!
It’s like fast food: different prices mean different experiences.
Ahem…
For task dramas like “The National Anthem,” and with an experienced director like Gong Ruofei, who is meticulous about details…
It’s rare to see any continuity errors.
As Zhang Wuchou said, in the following days, Shen Yan didn’t land any visible roles…
So he could only take home the base pay…
Visible roles earn an extra 300 yuan a day, no visibility means just the base pay of 150 yuan…
Unlike “The Road to Human Destiny,” in “The National Anthem,” Shen Yan didn’t get a role that ran throughout the series…
That’s already pretty good!
Meals and accommodations included, base salary 4,500 yuan.
Anyway, Shen Yan wasn’t relying on acting to make money.
The script fee for “Lotus Pavilion” would arrive this month—usually, magazines pay script fees only after the article is published…
Not all at once; it’s generally paid monthly based on the number of words serialized, at a rate of 300 yuan per thousand words…
And…
Anything less than a thousand words is discarded…
Shen Yan had some complaints but he wasn’t Lu Xun!
Back in the day, when Lu Xun submitted articles to newspapers and found the payment wasn’t right, he questioned them. The paper said, “Punctuation marks don’t count toward the fee!” After hearing this, Lu Xun came up with a plan. He submitted articles with no punctuation and no paragraphs, with every page densely packed with characters, a solid black mass.
The newspaper had no choice but to write him, “Please divide your articles into chapters and paragraphs and add punctuation.”
Lu Xun replied, “Is punctuation really necessary? Why wouldn’t it count toward the fee then?”
Thus, the editors reluctantly paid for the punctuation.
…
Actually, being an extra is quite boring…
Most of the time is spent waiting, and the pay isn’t much!
If you’re not attached to a production and just run around as an extra, survival is even tougher.
Especially in Beijing—just rent alone costs several hundred yuan, plus daily expenses…
So most extras go to Hengdian!

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On one hand, Hengdian offers more opportunities, with a dozen or so crews starting filming daily; on the other, the cost of living in Hengdian is significantly lower than in Beijing…
Production teams also prefer shooting in Hengdian. The most important reason is the comprehensive support—it can meet any need in one place, sometimes all you need to bring is the script.
Elsewhere, you might even have to buy your own boxed lunch for the crew.
After another week or so, Shen Yan began to feel restless!
How to put it…
He developed a carnal desire.
It’s very normal—he was around twenty, in the prime of his life, with boundless energy…
There were women on the crew, usually the makeup artists were female, and there were girls among the featured and extras…
With that face of his, Shen Yan was often flirted with…
He could manage to restrain himself.
Suddenly he understood why there were so many couples on sets—most likely the “suspension bridge effect.”
The set is like a small, isolated society…
You film together for three to five months, fall in love during filming, then break up when it wraps!
In fact, any project that satisfies these three conditions—multiple people, semi-closed environment, long duration—tends to produce temporary couples!
Also, he found himself a little cunning…
Many extras and actors who follow crews often slack off…
Including Zhang Wuchou!
It’s understandable; time is life’s greatest test…
Over a long period, your ambition and original intentions get slowly eroded by the director and others on the crew…
Realizing this, Shen Yan decided to spend his waiting time reading in the resting room!
Besides “An Actor’s Self-Cultivation,” he also bought “Six Lectures on Acting,” “The Art of Performance,” as well as “Save the Cat” and “The Script”…
The assistant to the actor Wen Zhang liked him quite a bit.
Sometimes gave him lots of advice, like now: “You could try out for ‘Happy Boys’!”
Shen Yan waved his hand: “…I’m no good at singing!”
“Idol shows are mostly about looks… I remember Ma Tianyu from ‘My Style, My Show,’ he was tone-deaf but relied on pitch correction. Now he acts and is quite popular!”
Shen Yan interrupted: “…I think Ma Tianyu debuted from ‘Go! Good Guys’?”
“Doesn’t matter where they debuted, he’s not short of roles now. Society is very pragmatic—fame leads to money!”
“…But those shows mainly judge singing skill and background… I have neither.”
“…You look perfect for the traditional leading man type. Find an agency to sign you…”
Shen Yan shook his head: “No, I have my own plans…”
“I was even thinking of recommending you to Brother Xiao Ma!”

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“Brother Xiao Ma?”
“Ma Yili… we all call her Brother Xiao Ma!”
“…Because of her bold personality?”
“Something like that… keep reading a bit, Brother Xiao Ma should be coming soon…”
“…Should I leave then?”
“No need, Brother Xiao Ma is quite interested in you…”
“Ah?”
…
Ma Yili…
Her agent is Wang Jinghua.
But her current status owes more to herself than to her agent!
In her junior year of university, she dated Guan Hu, a six-year relationship.
She was quite lucky.
She caught the right era and met influential figures when they were still unknown.
She witnessed the transformation of the film and television industry—from state-run production by a few major studios to a flourishing, diverse market dominated by private enterprises. She also saw how the fifth and sixth generation of directors, producers, and screenwriters gradually rose to prominence.
Early on, she learned about the capital operations behind films and TV shows, script selection and revision, assembling crews, and networking behind the scenes.
Guan Hu, Teng Huatao, Jiang Ping, Xia Gang, to Liu Haibo, Zhang Li, Jiang Shan, Liu Zi—all are her industry friends.
Guan Hu and Teng Huatao are second-generation filmmakers from the Beijing Film Studio;
Jiang Ping worked in the Shanghai Film Studio early on, later served as deputy director of the Film Bureau, and then as vice chairman and general manager of the China Film Group.
Jiang Ping even wrote an article titled “Ma Yili of Jiangbei” to endorse Ma Yili.
Xia Gang, Liu Haibo, and Zhang Li are heavyweights in TV directing!
So, Wen Zhang’s rise was definitely helped by Ma Yili.
His two realistic TV dramas, “Dwelling Narrowness” and “Naked Marriage Era,” were directed by Teng Huatao, a close friend of Ma Yili.
His first film “Wait and See” was directed by Li Dawei, Ma Yili’s close male friend.
His breakout hit on the big screen “Love Is Not Blind” and his first TV drama “Little Daddy” were both supported by Teng Huatao and Ma Yili—Teng directed the former and was producer on the latter, with Ma Yili as executive producer, ensuring his success.
Unfortunately, they later parted ways amicably and moved on with their lives!
But Ma Yili is interested in Shen Yan?
...