Chapter 93 A Powerful Lineup

The storm of public opinion online was blowing harder and harder.

Several film giants that hadn't been able to get a seat at the table were fanning the flames behind the scenes, and the paid posts from internet trolls had almost flooded the homepages of all the major forums.

The marketing accounts were surprisingly uniform in their narrative: a ten-billion-dollar money game for a nineteen-year-old female college student, a pseudo-sci-fi destined to flop, and an action star forcibly pushed by capital.

These glaring buzzwords hung on the hot search lists, prompting countless uninformed netizens to join in the mockery.

The public relations department at Lemon Pictures was running around in a panic.

Agent Huo Man held a tablet, her high heels clicking as she pushed open the door to the temporary office that Shanghai Film Group had specifically cleared out for Director Jiang Ning, her face livid.

"Director Jiang Ning, the opposition has entered the fray. Should we have the PR department issue lawyer letters directly? Or perhaps release a few videos of Song Shishi's action training to suppress the public opinion?" Agent Huo Man slammed the tablet onto the desk.

Director Jiang Ning was curled up in a large office chair, holding an iced Americano, her eyes fixed intently on the storyboard sketches on the screen.

Upon hearing Agent Huo Man's words, she didn't even lift her head, her fingers tapping a few shortcut keys on the keyboard to save a complex action scene.

"Suppress what?" Director Jiang Ning took a sip of her coffee. "Someone is doing pre-promotion for our film for free; think of how much that saves us in marketing costs. Let them scold."

"But the narrative is too biased; it's all questioning your directing ability and Song Shishi's acting skills!"

"Before the movie is released, all explanations are nonsense." Director Jiang Ning turned her head. "Once the first trailer is cut, and the real, hard-hitting footage is smashed into their faces, all the questioning will turn into motivation to line up for tickets. Sister Huo, you're a veteran in this industry; do I really need to teach you that infamy is still fame?"

Agent Huo Man was stunned for a moment, then took a deep breath, her tense shoulders relaxing.

She had indeed been too fixated; managing such a massive project had truly made her a bit nervous.

Shanghai Film Group had really gone all out this time.

President Ren Jianhua had not broken his word; not only did he mobilize the four most core digital soundstages at Chedun Film Studio, but he also personally stepped in to invite several legendary veterans of art and cinematography from the old Shanghai Film Studio to come out of retirement.

Friday afternoon, in the sprawling executive office.

Director Jiang Ning was looking down at a list for the post-production audiovisual seminar when Assistant Tang Ying knocked and walked in, her expression unusually carrying a hint of admiration and seriousness.

"Director Jiang Ning, the team invited by President Ren Jianhua has arrived. They are currently in the third-floor conference room, and Producer Huang Jianxin has also arrived."

Director Jiang Ning closed the folder, stood up, and adjusted her dark suit.

"Let's go, let's go meet our elders."

Pushing open the heavy mahogany double doors of the third-floor conference room, a dozen people were already sitting inside. In addition to several vice presidents of Shanghai Film Group, the most eye-catching figures were the two elderly men sitting beside Producer Huang Jianxin.

One was the nearly sixty-year-old cinematographer Gu Changwei, his hair graying but his spirit vigorous. Back in the day, he had won countless Best Cinematography awards in the international film scene for Red Sorghum and Farewell My Concubine, and his intuitive ability to tell stories through the lens was a hallmark of the heavy industry of Chinese cinema.

The other was the hall-of-fame art director from Shanghai Film Studio, Ju Qihong, who had overseen the audiovisual art construction for Red River Valley and Lover's Grief over the Yellow River, and whose research on color and space was considered authoritative in the country.

"Director Jiang Ning, I've heard so much about you." Producer Huang Jianxin was the first to stand up, smiling very warmly. "Director Zhang Yimou couldn't stop praising your short film over the phone, and as soon as I heard that, hey, I just had to come over and be the chief manager for you young lady."

"Teacher Huang, please, you're too kind." Director Jiang Ning hurried forward two steps, politely shaking hands with the elders. In front of these veterans who had truly measured the history of Chinese cinema with film, she put away all her sharpness and kept a very humble demeanor.

"Teacher Gu, Teacher Ju, I'm sorry for all the trouble this time."

Gu Changwei, wearing reading glasses, squinted at Director Jiang Ning, then flipped through the thick stack of storyboard scripts on the table, speaking unhurriedly: "It's no trouble. Hong Wei called me a couple of days ago, saying that while your theoretical foundation is like a leaky sieve, your instinct for the lens is razor-sharp. I've read your script for super brain, and it really has a ruthless edge to it."

Ju Qihong also nodded, pointing to a passage in the script: "Young lady, your script is good, but you have a major oversight regarding localization and censorship reality."

Director Jiang Ning was taken aback and immediately sat up straight: "Teacher Ju, please go ahead."

Ju Qihong flipped the script to a middle page and pointed to the scene description above: "You set all the transnational gang trades, laboratory riots, and even large-scale military and police gunfights in a second-tier city in the mainland. Under the domestic film censorship system in 2011, it is absolutely impossible to pass."

These words woke the dreamer.

Director Jiang Ning's mind buzzed. This was path dependency left over from her past life shooting low-budget web movies, and coupled with the fact that the original super brain was set in Hollywood, she had been so focused on polishing the action and sci-fi logic that she had completely forgotten the strictest red lines of domestic film censorship in 2011.

"Teacher Ju is right; it was my oversight." Director Jiang Ning did not offer any excuses and honestly admitted her mistake.

Producer Huang Jianxin, sitting in the main seat, took a sip of tea and proposed a solution: "So, President Ren Jianhua and I discussed it, and we decided to move the entire background of the story outside."

"Hong Kong?" Director Jiang Ning's eyes lit up.

"Yes, Hong Kong." Producer Huang Jianxin tapped his finger on the table. "In 2011, Hong Kong was still an internationally inclusive port in film narratives. International gangs smuggling mysterious materials here, Western pharmaceutical giants setting up underground laboratories, the police Flying Tigers engaging in high-intensity gunfights in busy streets—within the framework of genre films, this is the safest green channel for both audience acceptance and censorship by the Administration."

"Moreover, Shanghai Film Group has deep ties with the Hong Kong film circle. We can directly contact Sil-Metropole Organisation and Emperor Group. If Shanghai Film Group steps in to coordinate, it will be easy to block streets for car chases and gunfights," President Ren Jianhua added from the side.

"Alright, I'll listen to you elders. We'll change the copyright and have the legal department change the project location this afternoon." Director Jiang Ning made the decision decisively. This kind of experience, tempered by real-world practice and policy, was indeed the backbone she currently lacked most.

With the background sorted out, Producer Huang Jianxin clapped his hands, bringing the topic to the other core of today's meeting.

"The big picture is set; next is casting. super brain is absolutely a female-led film, and Song Shishi's position is secure. But there are two extremely important male roles in it."

Producer Huang Jianxin turned to the second page. "One is the villainous gang leader 'Zhang Hua', who needs to have an ingrained sinister, violent, and neurotic quality, and must be able to command the screen; the other is the neuroscience professor who helps the female lead awaken, 'Professor Chen', who needs to have an elegant, wise, but also a fanatical high-intellect aura when facing unknown science."

"Shanghai Film Group has many actors under its wing, and since word got out about our project, many well-connected talent agencies have also submitted resumes. Little Jiang, let's set these two roles in the number two rehearsal hall in a few days."