"The author of [Stories about the Ming Dynasty] and [Kunlun] will appear on the TV series [Autumn's Concerto], as the 2nd male lead.
"Author? Screenwriter? Or actor? His identity is ever changing, the Author Bright Moon tries his hand at the silver screen!"
"He has long been an actor under Shanghai Tangren. But can this drama series live up to the hype?"
"Best selling author runs to become an actor, is this the decline of the literary world? Or the prosperity of the entertainment industry?"
...
Early the next morning, the relevant reports on [Autumn's Concerto] were placed as the headline story in the entertainment columns of the major newspapers and magazines, with Jiang Cheng's reveal being a vocal point.
Despite some clickbait headlines, the press's response to [Autumn's Concerto] and Jiang Cheng's reveal was mostly positive, with slight scepticism of course but that was to be expected.
The fact that he had published two best-selling books, regardless of the response, proved that he was a genuine and well footed author; so with him writing the script and the fact that Shanghai Tangren was willing to invest in the show, showed that the show was at least tolerable and had potential.
As for him acting, well he was gonna be playing the role of the second male lead in a TV series he had written, so he had the upper hand there. Plus he was a student of Shanghai Drama Academy. His successful entrance into the school showed that his acting skills were at least decent and he had potential to be tapped.
It had to be known that the famous actor, Du Chun, had only gotten into the Beijing Film Academy after taking the exam twice. In terms of enrollment, these domestic film and television academies were relatively strict. Du Chun had a celebrity dad, but he could only take the test for a second time, but Jiang Cheng had no one behind him. He passed the test completely on his own strength.
In fact, the professional boundaries of the entertainment industry weren't so big. Actors, screenwriters, producers, directors, photographers, music supervisors, editors... If you were really capable, sometimes one person could hold multiple jobs. Many were like Jiang Cheng, he wasn't the only writer, screenwriter and actor. Although rare, it wasn't unseen before. But if you added a "seventeen-year-old" requirement before the three occupations….now that was a different story!
So for a while, Jiang Cheng was pushed to the cusp of entertainment news. And like hounds the gossip outlets focused on him, reporting his life story:
[Jiang Cheng was born in Taipei, Taiwan. His father is a mainlander and now serves as the editor-in-chief of the Southern Weekly magazine; his mother is Taiwanese and runs a local bookstore. He lived in Taiwan with his grandfather until he was 8 years old, when he was taken back to the mainland by his parents where he lived with them.
Even from a young age, he had shown great interest in literature, reading and studying. He used to hide all day in his father's study, to the point of paying the price of myopia. Finishing high school he graduated achieving outstanding results. But besides his love of literature he fell in love with film and acting motivating him to enrol at Shanghai Drama Academy….]
With such a resume, no one could find anything to make a fuss about.
A well-known film critic, even commented on Jiang Cheng saying: "He's just like a puddle of clear water, calm without waves, plain and present."
Online Jiang Cheng's fan club [Alum] could be seen arguing and lecturing his haters. As Jiang Cheng's popularity grew, so had the number of people on both sides. Now, as soon as you logged in onto the Tianya forums, Baidu and other places, you would often find the two groups scolding each other, it was quite a phenomenon.
As reports about Jiang Cheng spread all over the country, many middle-aged and elderly people grew to know about Jiang Cheng, the talented youngster.
In this way, Jiang Cheng's name spread from online and really infiltrated into reality and actual society.
※※
"Hey, are you really not gonna do any interviews? You've had like over 30 media outlets reaching out to talk to you, do you know how sick that is? Are you really not gonna respond to any of them? " Hu Ge anxiously asked Jiang Cheng, who was concentrating on his script.
Jiang Cheng smiled lightly, and said without lifting his head: "Why would I, if the show flops, they'll be the first people to bash me and curse me, talking about how I spent too much time doing interviews instead of practising. So since I have free time I'll spend it studying the script and practicing my role."
"But this is the perfect time to gain some publicity for the show and your career! Besides, you wrote the script. You have the deepest understanding of all the characters in it. How can you fail?" Hu Ge said a little disapprovingly.
"The higher the expectation, the higher the bar is set and the further to fall." Speaking, Jiang Cheng raised his head and looked at Hu Ge and said: "It's better to keep a low profile right now, and work on perfecting our roles."
Hu Ge replied helplessly: "You're a perfectionist."
"That's better than regretting after failure. By the way, how's learning your lines going? Don't blame me for not reminding you!" Jiang Cheng said seriously to Hu Ge .
"Wow, am I that kind of person?" Hu Ge said. "Rest assured, I've been learning my lines, I'm nearly done."
"Good."
…..
After the launch conference for [Autumn's Concerto], the crew started production. Since it was a modern drama, the crew didn't need to prepare too many things. After a few days of doing a simple script read through, they began filming, the progress was extremely fast.
But to everyone's surprise, the most outstanding performance wasn't from the male or female lead Vic Chou or Barbie Hsu, nor the big-name supporting actors invited, but the absolute "newcomer" Jiang Cheng!
Whenever director Zhang Da called out "Action!". He seemed to become Hua Tuoya in a blink of an eye, showing Hua Tuoya's bravery, loyalty, courage, and righteousness. In the past few days, the amount of mistakes he made was amongst the smallest. His humble and unassuming attitude also won Zhang Da's approval. He was gentle and polite when talking with everyone and he was always happy to help out the crew.
Zhang Da was originally worried that Jiang Cheng would be proud and wouldn't be easy to manage, but now he found that the young man was one of the most sensible and reassuring people on set.
As long as he told him his requirements, Jiang Cheng would take meticulous efforts to meet them. And when he got into disputes with others, he never showed any anger or frustration. He always presented his ideas and opinions based on evidence, which convinced others. Zhang Da had changed several lines in the script just for him.
And so far all the sections he had proposed to modify had all achieved better results than their original counterparts, it was indeed great to have a screenwriter on set. Their relationship and chemistry had developed so well that when Zhang Da had any hesitations, he would consult Jiang Cheng to discuss and come up with ideas.
This was all seen by the other actors in the crew, while admiring him, there was also some dissatisfaction in their heart. In particular, Vic Chou and Barbie Hsu who were the two protagonists of the show.
After the success of [Meteor Garden], they had been bathing in glory but now the limelight had been snatched by Jiang Cheng, a "newcomer".
So the two of them also worked hard and started acting wholeheartedly, and began to "steal the show" alongside Jiang Cheng. And when Dee Hsu and Hu Ge saw Jiang Cheng and the other two begin to show off, how could the two be reconciled? So the two of them also took it seriously, especially Hu Ge, who was also a newcomer with Jiang Cheng. He had more years of acting experience than Jiang Cheng so how could he allow Jiang Cheng to show him up.
He thought to himself: I can't compare to you in writing but acting…acting I can do!
And Hu Ge was an acting genius through and through. So once he put all his effort into it, his acting skills showed, it was clear for everyone to see and his performance even eclipsed Jiang Cheng's.
The five of them were all young actors and actresses and their acting chemistry was clear to see. They had created a good shooting atmosphere on the set, and the competitive nature drove the whole crew. Pressured by the five, some of the seniors in the crew had to grow serious. If they were surpassed by a few juniors, where would their face go?
But it wasn't the old guys who were the first to stand out, but the little guy You Haoran. He really was an acting genius. He was a lively and honest child and his presence had the studio full of smiles and laughter.
With the full cooperation of the crew, filming progress for [Autumn's Concerto] was faster than expected, in just half a month, they had progressed one-third of the way through, leaving Zhang Da more than pleased.
His original position at Shanghai Tangren was very embarrassing, he couldn't compete. Li Guoli was the absolute number one at the company, and no one could shake his position. Shanghai Tangren's filming schedule had always been limited. Only making one or two films a year with Li Guoli always as the main director. So he could only be an assistant director. But there could be several assistant directors on a TV series/ film. It had taken him several years to get to the position of first assistant director. This time, if it weren't for Li Guoli's schedule being full with filming [Legendary Fighter: Yang's Heroine], it wouldn't be his turn to direct [Autumn's Concerto].
But now he felt unprecedented confidence. After many years of practice, his vision was clear.
An exciting plot, touching emotional entanglements, and the performances of the actors going all out investing their heart and soul, all pushed this drama to the road of success. He believed that, as far as the current situation was concerned, as soon as the drama was aired, it would surely trigger a viewing frenzy. At that time, no one could underestimate him. In the future, even if he couldn't be tied with Li Guoli, he would definitely be the second main director at the company.
However, just as the performance of the whole crew was high and the shooting progress was being completed at an alarming rate, a major event suddenly occurred in the crew- Jiang Cheng got into a quarrel over the soundtrack!