The selection process is not worth elaborating on. Essentially, these judges meticulously selected individuals with good acting skills, strong capabilities, and upright characters before the list was finalized.
Huang He glanced at it, crossed out a few people he had a bad impression of from his past life, and added a few more. In the end, a total of twelve artists signed contracts with Tangren.
They were Tong Dawei, Liu Nianli, Yan Kuan, Yang Rong, Zhu Zhen, Zhang Duo, Song Jia, Tong Lei, Wang Yajie, Sun Yuyang, Hu Haifeng, and Xuan Lianhua.
Among these people were, of course, many familiar names from his past life, as well as quite a few he had never heard of. However, Huang He had seen their performances and felt that their overall conditions were excellent. They hadn't become famous in his past life, likely due to bad luck, but as long as they truly had talent, Boss Huang signed them all.
From this moment on, their destinies were completely altered.
“But where is Hu Ge?” To Huang He’s great regret, he didn’t see Hu Ge’s name among them, nor had the man come for an audition.
After all, Hu Ge would become the pillar of Tangren Film and Television in the future. If his interference caused them to lose Hu Ge, it would be like picking up sesame seeds while losing the watermelon.
However, the judges had already been selecting for a full day, and including Li Youbin, everyone was extremely tired. Thus, Huang He didn't say much more. As everyone prepared to leave the teaching building,
They suddenly noticed a group of students gathered at the entrance, with two teachers desperately trying to explain things to them.
“Why can the older students audition, but we can’t? Give us a chance too!” It turned out these were all first and second-year students. They had probably heard from somewhere that a film crew was coming to scout actors and ran over to try their luck, only to be blocked at the entrance by teachers.
The teachers were explaining to them at the entrance that this was not a film crew selecting actors, but a company coming to sign actors, and once signed, they would be chosen by the company in advance.
Third and fourth-year students were about to graduate, so giving them a chance was normal. However, first and second-year students were still studying, and the school would not allow them to sign with a company!
After much persuasion, the students slowly dispersed.
Huang He, with his sharp eyes, immediately recognized the exceptionally spirited young man in the group of students… Well, although describing a man like this seemed a bit odd, the person indeed exuded a natural charisma.
“Sister Chen, I think that guy is good. Go find him and sign him too!” Huang He said quietly. “But do it discreetly from the school, don't let the school know. Tell him that after signing, he can still attend classes at school until the school allows him to film.”
“Such good treatment!” Chen Li glanced at Boss Huang with some surprise. Did this big boss have any peculiar hobbies? However, she didn't say much, as it wasn’t her money being spent on the contract. Thus, Chen Li quietly left the group.
Afterward, Huang He treated Li Youbin at a nearby hotel, and the two began discussing specific matters related to Liang Jian.
Li Youbin was indeed very serious about this TV series. He had only roughly read the novel on the plane, yet he was already able to start dissecting many roles and selecting suitable talent.
“I won’t say much about others; that’s the director’s job. However, there are a few roles in there that I think have particularly suitable people!” Li Youbin said with a smile. “For example, Commissar Zhao, I think my old partner He Zhengjun is very suitable. This isn't a personal recommendation; it’s because Old He and Commissar Zhao are practically carved from the same mold.”
“And Tian Yu, I think the young girl named Tong Lei who auditioned earlier is quite good!” Li Youbin said with a smile.
“Tong Lei… Isn’t this girl too young? She’s still at school!” Director Li chuckled.
“Hey, didn’t the novel say that Tian Yu was an 18-year-old girl back then, even younger than this Tong Lei!” Li Youbin said.
“I say, Old Li, are you smitten with the young girl?” Director Li teased.
“Haha, you’re actually right. I, Old Li, am indeed smitten with this young girl. Think about it, in this TV series, if Li Yunlong could cause trouble in the hospital, forget his ex-wife, and insist on marrying this girl more than 20 years his junior, wouldn’t that mean he genuinely likes her?”
“When we act it out, we have to portray it like this. So, you need to find a girl I like, otherwise, we won’t be able to act out true emotions!” Li Youbin said with a smile.
“Old Li, you’re not planning to make a mistake, are you?”
“Go tell that to my wife, see if she believes that I, Old Li, am the type of person to make mistakes. I truly think this young girl is quite suitable!” Li Youbin said.
“Then it’s this Tong Lei!” Huang He said with a smile, “Actually, my first thought was the same as Teacher Li’s. This Tong Lei is the best Tian Yu. As for He Zhengjun, although I don’t know him very well, I have seen some of his films, and his demeanor is quite similar to Commissar Zhao. He can be chosen!”
“Oh, so a few of the main roles for this series are settled… No, Chu Yunfei is still not decided!” Director Li said.
“I’ve already thought about this!” Huang He clapped his thigh. “How about we invite Lu Bu?”
——————————
The group stayed at the restaurant until 10:00 PM and managed to finalize most of the cast for the TV series, but the director for this show remained undecided.
Li Guoli clearly stated that he had no experience directing war-themed TV series and lacked the confidence to film it well. As a result, this director issue dragged on for over a month, and the crew was almost fully assembled, yet the director was still not set.
Later, Dou Liang, the original author of Liang Jian, recommended someone named Zhang Jian. He said Zhang Jian had been pestering him, wanting to film Liang Jian, and had watched Liang Jian dozens of times, asking if Chen Jian could join the crew.
Of course, Dou Liang only recommended Chen Jian to work as a production assistant or similar roles in the crew. However, after talking with Zhang Jian for a whole day, Li Guoli actually recommended Zhang Jian to Huang He as the director for this series.
This was a very baffling decision because Zhang Jian had not directed any TV series before. He had always worked as a production assistant or an extra in various crews. Yet, Li Guoli actually recommended him as the director.
Even more remarkably, Huang He clapped his thigh and agreed, even specifically assigning an experienced assistant director from the company to be Zhang Jian’s assistant, to help him resolve practical issues encountered during filming.
Afterward, many of the actors who had signed contracts went to the Liang Jian crew to film. However, apart from Tong Lei having the leading role, the others were basically extras.
Tong Dawei had the most significant role, playing the traitor who betrayed the Eighth Route Army and led the Japanese to Zhaojiayu. But even though these students hadn’t graduated, they had officially appeared in a TV series and participated in filming.
Later, Li Guoli and others went to Beijing Film Academy, Central Academy of Drama, and over a dozen other famous art institutions nationwide to recruit new actors. However, students from Beiying and Central Academy of Drama were very proud, and two-thirds were unwilling to sign such contracts. In the other dozen art schools, good talents were very scarce.
In the end, they only signed 8 people. Along with the previous 12, they became the 20 actors signed by Tangren Group in 2002. These 20 people were later humorously referred to as Tangren’s “Twenty Seniors” because Tangren would pick a batch of such students from art institutions nationwide every year, resulting in a year-by-year progression similar to the schools. Tangren also acquired the nickname “China Tangren Graduate Institute of Drama.”
This implied that university students would later come here for their postgraduate studies.
However, someone later pointed out that it wasn’t “Twenty Seniors” but “Twenty-one Seniors,” because there was also Hu Ge, who was mistakenly counted in 2004, but his contract actually started in 2002.
These are matters for the future. For now, after concluding the actor selection work, Huang He went to inspect his flagship store.
It was still the same flagship store by the Huangpu River, as massive as a blind box machine, and just as crowded with people queuing as it was when it first opened, even more so, with over three hundred people.
“Chairman, do you know? Everyone is saying that there used to be 8 major attractions along the Huangpu River, but now there are 9. This extra attraction is our flagship store!” Liu Xiangjiang explained with a smile.
“Oh, is the design of this flagship store so eye-catching?” Huang He asked with a touch of pride.
“Not exactly!” Liu Xiangjiang chuckled. “While the exterior of our flagship store is indeed eye-catching, it’s not enough to become an attraction on its own. What truly makes it an attraction is these people queuing up!”
“These people queuing up?” Huang He was surprised!
“Yes. Even the locals in Shanghai say that they have lived by the Huangpu River their whole lives and have never seen a shop where people are constantly queuing from before opening until closing time at night.”
“As long as tourists come here, they see people queuing, so these people who are constantly queuing have become the 9th major attraction along the Huangpu River!” Liu Xiangjiang said gleefully.
“So many people queue up every day?” Huang He really hadn’t anticipated this.
“Yes, actually, the number of people specifically queuing up had decreased significantly after the store had been open for over a month. But too many tourists passing by saw people queuing here, so they joined the queue. Many people who entered the store didn’t even know what we were selling.”
“Later on, as the reputation of our ninth major attraction spread, more and more people joined the queue, following the trend. Last month, more than half of the customers queuing were trend-following tourists. They didn’t even know what was inside the blind boxes, yet they vaguely spent hundreds of yuan, which made us extremely happy!” Liu Xiangjiang was indeed overjoyed. After all, he was responsible for managing this store and could directly draw a commission from its sales revenue.
Although the commission was only 5%, the store’s turnover was astonishing. In a single month, Liu Xiangjiang earned over 100,000 yuan from this store alone.