Feature Shows Extravaganza - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Who’s Going to Play Prince Fun?

Translator: Henyee Translations

Editor: Henyee Translations

Once the production budget of Balala the Fairies was determined, the next thing on the list was to ask for money from the parent company.

Mr. Old Meng was very generous. He even gave Meng Lang an extra 10 million, fearing that the 20 million wouldn’t be enough to cover the production as well as the PR.

With the 30 million in his pocket, Meng Lang was very confident!

“I’m a rich man now!”

This was going to be a major production of 30 million!

How attractive that sounded!

When the news of Pengda Pictures setting out to make Balala the Fairies got out, many acting agencies sent their congratulations. While they were at it, they all tactfully asked about the show to consider who their agences for the leading role of the show would be.

Only so many TV works were made each year and a handful of them might have had a production cost of over 10 million. A project like Balala the Fairies was doubtlessly a show of quality.

Since Pengda Pictures had no contracted actors or actresses of its own, the company could only find them elsewhere.

The news of the leading and supporting roles opening for auditions became sensational right away.

The show required child actresses.

And there would be two leading female roles.

And it was by the company that had made Blazing Teens.

And it was going to be a fantasy feature series that targeted teenage audiences.

Those working in the TV industry were all intrigued when they heard those elements.

Was the company going to replicate the success of Blazing Teens? Apart from the theme and the leading roles, this show seemed to have the same pattern as Blazing Teens!

“If something like this can become a hit show, I’ll eat sh*t on screen! Live!”

A certain famous director, who had been face-slapped by the miraculous viewing rate of Blazing Teens, made an announcement again.

He said that the audience might try a piece of sh*t out of the need of hunting for novelty, but once they had done that, they would never repeat it again.

He believed that Pengda Pictures would be dreaming if they tried to replicate the success of Blazing Teens.

This new show might have been more promising if Blazing Teens had received widely spread public praise, for with a previous similar work that had been well-received, the audience would more or less have some expectations for the new one.

However, the opinion on Blazing Teens was…

On Sprout, the largest movie and TV rating website, over a million people had rated Blazing Teens and the average point was 4.1!

That was 4.1 out of 10!

That director admitted that he had been mistaken about Blazing Teens’s reception, but he stuck to his opinion that Blazing Teens was a crappy show. The ratings on Sprout only reassured him.

The show had been rated by a million people and only got 4.1 out of 10. What else could it be if not a crappy show?

He was convinced that this crappy show had succeeded because it was a first of its kind. People had been intrigued and were curious to find out what a “yo-yo” was.

However, once the audience had been tricked once, he believed that they wouldn’t fall for it a second time.

During an interview with some reporters, the director said with remarkable voice and expression that he trusted the audience could tell a good show from a crappy one.

He claimed that one could tell that Balala the Fairies was Blazing Teens in a different version! “If a show like that can become a hit, I’ll retire right away, because if that happens, it means that the audience are voting with their feet. That in turn proves that directors like me, who’s putting in all my effort in my works, can no longer survive in the market. If that’s true, what else can I do apart from retiring?”

Once that interview was out, it went sensational over the internet.

One had to admit that this Director Feng had become Meng Lang’s “patron”. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Meng Lang didn’t know this Director Feng at all, he would begin to suspect that the latter was some free-lance member of Pengda Pictures.

Back when Blazing Teens was about to be aired, it lacked exposure because of the absence of PR.

What happened then was that Director Feng had made a veiled abuse at Blazing Teens, which had not been broadcasted yet. He insulted the show, calling it “pigwash”.

The result of all that noise was that the exposure Director Feng brought to himself also raised the profile of Blazing Teens the same way a 10-million PR campaign would!

The same thing happened again this time. Balala the Fairies hadn’t even started shooting yet, but the news of casting alone had attracted the attention of this “volunteer publicist”, who then gave the show a free advertisement again.

After everything he said, at least 10 million people in the country knew about Balala the Fairies!

What on earth had Penda Pictures ever done to him?

He was a movie director, specializing in Spring Festival themed movies. Why wouldn’t he leave this show alone? They didn’t even belong to the same circle!

Moreover, his ranting meant that Pengda Pictures had had a promotion campaign without spending a dime!

Meng Lang almost wanted to send that director a silk banner that said “Good Samaritan”.

What a helpful guy!

If only he wasn’t so foul-mouthed.

But that didn’t matter. He had been advertising the show for free and Meng Lang couldn’t care less about his politeness.

As for calling the show “crappy”, Meng Lang was in peace with that comment. So what if some people found the show hot mess? It had never been for them.

The ratings on Sprout?

What the hell was that?

Was Pengda Pictures getting extra income for higher ratings or could it be converted to viewing rates?

For those who went on and on about the 4.1 Blazing Teens got, they had forgotten about one thing.

Of the 1 million or so users, how many of them were the target audience of Blazing Teens?

A bunch of people, who had graduated from primary school at least a decade ago, were rating Blazing Teens? Didn’t they find it a joke? What was the point of those ratings anyway?

Meng Lang had learned to turn a blind eye on that director’s comment.

He would never clear things up in public, for there was nothing to clear up. As subjective as that director’s comment was, his analysis wasn’t wrong, from an adult’s perspective.

Balala the Fairies was indeed Blazing Teens in a different outfit and was equally crudely made.

“But unless you’re buying the toys, shut up already!”

…

Thanks to the attention a certain director brought, Balala the Fairies was hyped up even before it was broadcasted.

At least that was the case on Weibo.

From Pengda Pictures’ perspective, it was a good thing. At the end of the day, the showbiz was a vanity fair. No attention was bad attention.

The casting went smoothly.

Although the show was said to be a crappy-show-to-be, with its “big budget” of 30 million and its attractive salaries, more than enough actors and actresses were willing to join the crew.

Ling Meiqi and Ling Meixue, the sisters and leading roles of the show, went to two child stars. Meng Lang had seen their pictures in costumes. They looked the part and both could act well.

The only downside was that they were quite expensive.

Apart from Meiqi and Meixue, the actresses playing Blue Fairy and Moon Fairy had also been decided.

Meng Lang picked a girl named Lin Xue himself for the role Yan Lili.

Lin Xue had also started off as a child star, but went back to school after working on two TV series. After Meng Lang saw her in person, he went to great lengths to persuade Lin Xue’s parents to let her act again.

The fairy queen and other supporting roles were all given to extras from Hengdian.

Once they found the right people for those roles, Prince Fun was the only one left unfilled.

Because Prince Fun wore a mask in most of his scenes and the fact that he didn’t have many scenes to begin with, not many actors were interested in the role.

But Meng Lang didn’t feel confident enough to give it an extra.

After all, it was an important role with some “meme” factor in him. An extra might not have been able to translate it well…

Meng Lang was still hesitating when Wang Kui suggested. “Director Meng, how about you play the role as a guest star?”

“Me? Prince Fun?” Meng Lang was surprised.

It sounded doable!