Chapter 48: The Role Stolen

Movies...
Shen Yan had no particular thoughts on the matter.
That was the truth.
After all, he was a complete newcomer!
There was no way he could land a leading role.
At this stage, the only people starring in films were heavyweights!
Furthermore, actors had to start out playing supporting roles before they could work their way up to leads...
His background limited him!
Wen Zhang was extremely popular back then, but the movie he starred in, *Walkinging On*, was a television movie—produced strictly for the movie channel and never released in theaters...
Well, to take another example, Deng Chao, who possessed looks, acting chops, and good fortune, exploded right out of the gate with *The Son of Heaven*, and his romantic television dramas with his wife Sun Li, such as *Sweet Honey* and *Happiness as Flowers*, were massive hits.
His public recognition and likability were top-tier...
Armed with that kind of popularity, he took on a supporting male role in *The Assembly* and won critical acclaim.
Even so, when he appeared in blockbuster films, he was still relegated to supporting roles, including playing second fiddle to Andy Lau in *Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame*, and to Huang Xiaoming in *American Dreams in China*.
He could only secure leading roles in lower-budget films.
Such as *Paris Holiday* or *The Four*, and so on...
Compared to the two of them, Shen Yan was a nobody.
Unless he had a Taiwanese background like Mark Chao—when he came to the mainland to develop his career, roles in *Caught in the Web*, *So Young*, *Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon*, and *Chronicles of the Ghost Tribe* were handed to him immediately!
Jing Tian was much the same.
Shen Yan had no intention of starting out from supporting roles...
He had discussed it with Ji Xiang: taking on supporting roles in films would offer him virtually no career boost!
For a newcomer, the popularity boost from films paled in comparison to television dramas.
After all... at this stage, box office attendance for movies was limited...
Unless it was a film by an A-list director.
However... top-tier directors would never cast a mainland newcomer.
Therefore, even for *Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame*, Shen Yan hadn't bothered to go...
Ji Xiang had tried to fight for him, only to realize he would only be cast as an insignificant extra.
He decisively gave up!
Damn it, what was the point of a three-second cameo?
Ji Xiang wasn't the kind of manager who wanted his artists to slowly accumulate minor credits just for the sake of it; he believed Shen Yan's appearance was completely suited to playing leading roles!
Otherwise, that face would go to waste.
He had contacted several film crews on Shen Yan's behalf...
Yet the reality remained... newcomers truly had very little room to be picky!

However, there had been some encouraging progress lately...
President Xiao of DMG Media was preparing to officially venture into film production and had brought in Jingle Ma, wanting to direct a romantic light comedy similar to *Summer Holiday*, intending to cast newcomers.
The project was titled *Summer Love Love*!
He had received reliable information: the requirement for the male lead was around 20 years old!
Was there anyone more suited for the male lead than Shen Yan?
Ji Xiang was full of confidence in Shen Yan...
As long as they secured an audition opportunity, he could guarantee that Shen Yan would bag the role.
In addition, he had also helped secure an audition for another film—*A Chinese Ghost Story*...
...
In Hengdian, at the hotel.
"Regarding the publication of *Lotus Tower*, I spoke with Shen Haobo of Motie Books. He thinks it's great and offered an 11-percent royalty rate!"
"...Mm."
"I think it would be best to release the book concurrently with the release of the EP!"
"...How should we promote the EP?" Shen Yan was somewhat unfamiliar with the promotional methods for music releases...
"Chart promotion!"
"...Are there platforms for singing performances?"
"Certainly... Aside from buying chart positions, we've also contacted several music platforms to buy placement spots for you..."
"That must cost a lot of money, right?"
Ji Xiang replied: "Buying chart positions is quite expensive. I asked around, and it will cost at least 500,000 to start... Music Billboard, Top Chinese Music, and the like all require spending money!"
Shen Yan suggested: "Then let's skip buying chart rankings and just buy a few placement slots directly on the platforms instead. Who even pays attention to these charts nowadays?"
"...That's true. Nowadays, when people want to listen to songs, they basically just search for them on a few major music platforms..."
Shen Yan changed the subject: "Is that *Summer Love Love* project reliable?"
"Definitely reliable... President Xiao of DMG Media started out in advertising... It's a very powerful advertising agency!"
Ji Xiang educated him about DMG Media—DMG had swept awards across the advertising industry, including the American Summit Advertising Agency Award, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, and nominations for the London International Awards...
Its clientele had also expanded from its earliest days with Jialing Motorcycles all the way to international giants like BMW, Audi, Nike, the NBA, FAW-Volkswagen, and China Mobile.
"Then why are they suddenly thinking of making movies?"
"In the media business, everyone harbors a movie dream!" Ji Xiang continued: "They are a company founded in the 1990s. They debated for quite a while over whether to make films. Their conclusion was that Chinese cinema in the 90s was just starting out, with few theaters, few viewers, and a limited market. Most importantly: censorship was far too strict.
*Red Sorghum* was criticized for lacking sublimity and for glorifying bandits; *Raise the Red Lantern* was denounced for uglifying the nation and catering to foreigners; *To Live* was almost banned entirely; when *In the Heat of the Sun* was submitted for review, Jiang Wen was so nervous he paced the courtyard carrying a hatchet, nearly driving himself crazy.
So the founders made a pact: they would rather not be the pioneers of Chinese cinema than end up its martyrs."
Shen Yan interjected: "Did Jiang Wen really pace the courtyard with a hatchet?"
"That's what I heard!"
"...Tsk tsk."

"President Xiao knows President Han, invested in *The Founding of a Republic*, and subsequently reignited his interest in the film industry..."
"How do you know him?"
"They previously looked for Sister Bingbing when shooting commercials, and I had interacted with them before..." At this point, Ji Xiang paused: "Hey, why did you stop asking?"
Shen Yan: "...I was just thinking about Director Jingle Ma... Wasn't he the director of *Mulan*?"
Ji Xiang: "That was finished long ago. Now he's returning to the genre he knows best..."
"But this *Summer Love Love*... I've honestly never heard of it..."
Ji Xiang brushed it off unconcerned: "It's completely normal that you haven't heard of it... The project is still in the initiation stage!"
Projects Shen Yan hadn't heard of either failed to make any noise or ended up unfinished...
In short, for an actor, participating in such projects amounted to an ineffective appearance!
However, seeing Ji Xiang so excited, Shen Yan didn't know what to say: "Go on..."
"President Xiao told me that in a month, we'll go meet the director... I've already asked around: the male lead needs to be around 20 years old, over 1.8 meters tall, and possess a youthful aura..."
"Is it a fair audition?"
"Definitely fair!"
"That settles it..."
While the two of them were chatting, Ji Xiang's phone rang. He checked the caller ID, and his expression shifted slightly: "Let me take this call..."
In the film and television industry, front-line personnel could generally be divided into two categories. The first category consisted of the stars, the so-called headliners. For them, the metric of whether they had work and plenty of offers came down to a single indicator: could they carry viewership ratings? Could they carry box office numbers?
Those who could carry box office and ratings were popular figures, the true headliners. Those who couldn't gradually faded into the crowd.
The other category consisted of supporting actors, commonly referred to as supporting cast members. For these people, the metric of whether they had work and plenty of offers came down to a different indicator: did you have skills? Were you difficult to deal with? Someone with solid acting skills, a reasonable price, and a pleasant personality was needed by every crew and could get along smoothly anywhere...
If Shen Yan could make his own decisions, he would have preferred to be a supporting actor, where fame didn't matter...
However, judging by Ji Xiang's vision and Shen Yan's own qualifications, he belonged to the category of leading young actors...
With looks and charisma that people loved, he was a natural headlining star!
There was no reason for him to play supporting roles!
After Ji Xiang had invested so much effort, if Shen Yan suddenly said, "I want to play a supporting role"?
Heh...
Oh, Ji Xiang hung up the phone and walked back into the room. Shen Yan noticed his expression looked wrong: "What's wrong? Why is your face so pale?"
"The role was stolen!"