Chapter 98

"Next year, the 10th Youth Singing Competition will be held. Isn't there always someone who questions the fairness of the competition? I think we can add more drama to the singer selection process, making it more intense and showing the protagonist's difficult journey. The audience will definitely enjoy it."

"Urban redevelopment is a hot topic recently. We can delve deeper into this. For example, a family receives a huge compensation for their demolished house, leading to a falling out between father and son, and brothers becoming enemies."

"The romantic subplot between the male and female leads seems a bit thin. At the end of the movie, shouldn't the male lead win the heart of the girl he's been secretly in love with all along?"

"I think we can add more plots about the protagonist bullying others and being bullied during his school days. This is a common phenomenon that can easily resonate with the audience... Why are you all looking at me? Yes, I was often bullied when I was young. Haven't you been bullied before?"

...

In the afternoon, the doors of Mengren Film and Television were tightly closed.

Everyone in the company gathered together, each proposing their own ideas and participating in the script revision. Everyone was very enthusiastic.

In the script "I Believe," one of the two male leads was a delinquent in high school who often bullied classmates, while the other was timid and was also bullied by the main antagonist.

The two leads, due to their shared love for music, eventually became good friends and performed together at the school graduation party.

However, after graduation, both of them struggled and fell into hard times, while the antagonist, who was just an average student in school, became successful in society and opened a record company.

One day, the delinquent encountered the antagonist in a minor car accident. The antagonist told him that his company, in collaboration with a TV station, was holding a singer selection competition. If he wanted to continue pursuing his music dream, he could skip the preliminary rounds and directly enter the main competition.

The delinquent was tempted and convinced his friend to participate again as a duo.

The antagonist, who had always harbored resentment over being bullied in high school, invited him to the competition to seek revenge...

The plot is simple, with the overall framework inspired by the short film "Old Boy." However, the songs were changed by Mai Xiaoyu to three songs: "My Little Apple," "My Skate Shoes," and "I Believe."

In the preliminary round, they performed "Little Apple," a catchy but shallow song, and were rejected by the judges. The antagonist, feeling unsatisfied, hinted to the judges to let them pass, giving the two leads hope so they would fall harder later.

In the semi-finals, they performed "My Skate Shoes," another shallow song, and the judges wanted to reject them again.

The antagonist was hospitalized due to a car accident and didn't have time to instruct the judges. However, the two leads, with their self-created moonwalk, received good reviews and made it to the finals.

After passing the semi-finals, the two leads were very confident and grateful to the antagonist for giving them the opportunity. They visited him in the hospital, only to overhear a conversation between the antagonist and the former school beauty, revealing the truth: no matter how well they performed, they would definitely be at the bottom in the finals and be harshly criticized by the judges.

The two leads were deeply discouraged and considered giving up. After a struggle, they decided to participate in the finals for their music dreams. Even if they failed and were harshly criticized, at least they wouldn't have any regrets.

Inspired by this, they created a shocking third song, "I Believe"...

According to the script, the entire movie doesn't require special effects. All the actors are members of Mengren, and the crew consists of Zhang Xiaoquan's former assistants and apprentices. The cost won't be too high. Including venue rental, catering, and post-production, 1.5 million should be sufficient.

All employees were actively contributing ideas, and the discussion was very lively. No one wanted to leave even when it was time to go home.

Mai Xiaoyu called everyone to have dinner first and asked Deng Chao to order food. The delivery company brought pizzas and fried chicken, and the company had ice mountain fruits and ice mountain spring water. They would continue the discussion after dinner.

In the building's restroom.

Mai Xiaoyu was smoking in the toilet when Zhang Xiaoquan came in. Seeing no one else inside, he knocked on the door and asked, "Yuer, who is the screenwriter Ahzheng?"

"A friend of mine. How's the script?"

"Damn, the script is simple, but it feels promising. During the discussion, I even thought about my childhood."

"If it feels promising, go for it! If it fails, it's on me. If it succeeds, you'll be a real director, and I won't have lied to you."

"Ha ha ha! Back then... I don't know if I was stupid or lucky to meet you and Laobang. Damn, I really wanted to kill you two back then." Zhang Xiaoquan chuckled, "Can you really handle the promotion and distribution?"

Mai Xiaoyu zipped up and flushed the toilet, then opened the door and said, "I have many friends."

"Ahzheng? Xiaoyu?" Zhang Xiaoquan looked at Mai Xiaoyu suspiciously.

"Many more, you'll know in the future."

After washing their hands, they returned to the company. The delivery had arrived, and everyone was having dinner.

Li Xue handed Mai Xiaoyu a box of pizza: "Boss Mai, the members have been asking about the movie recently."

Deng Chao handed him a box of fried chicken: "Yes. We've been talking about making a movie and preparing them, but they don't know how to prepare or what to prepare. They've been calling frequently to ask."

Mai Xiaoyu said, "No problem. Once the script is finalized, I'll send the main character requirements to the group, and they can look at it themselves."

Huang Bo handed Mai Xiaoyu and Zhang Xiaoquan two bottles of ice mountain fruit juice: "Boss Mai, what is the moonwalk in the script? We've never heard of it, and we can't find it online."

It's normal that you can't find it.

Can you find the King of Pop, Michael Jackson?

You can't, so how could you find the classic moonwalk?

Huang Bo's question was followed by others, emphasizing the importance of the moonwalk in the script.

According to the script, the two male leads passed the semi-finals because of the moonwalk. This dance move must be very special; otherwise, how could it win over the judges?

Most importantly, the audience must recognize this dance move. If they don't, they will question the movie, directly affecting the box office!

Mai Xiaoyu, with a thick skin, said, "The moonwalk was created by my friend out of boredom. No one has seen it except for him and me."

Another friend?

How many good friends do you have?

Zhang Xiaoquan asked, "Is it the screenwriter Ahzheng?"

"Yes. You can imagine, he's a shut-in who stays at home writing every day, bored to death. He created this dance move to exercise."

Li Xue thought for a moment, "Why isn't he here? It's not good to change his script without him being present."

"No problem. He hates going out, and we're childhood friends. What's his is mine. When the movie is released, we'll credit him as the screenwriter."

Huang Bo asked, "Boss Mai, who will teach me the moonwalk if he's not here?"

Mai Xiaoyu was taken aback and coughed, "Ahem. I can do it, and I'll teach you."

Deng Chao teased, "Boss Mai, why don't you show us a bit?"

"Come on, Boss Mai, show us!"

"Show us!"

Everyone quickly cleared a space, and Mai Xiaoyu didn't refuse. He walked to the center of the space and activated the human copier...