Starting from a Fake University
Chapter 1226 - 657: Robot Mobilization! (Please Subscribe)_2

Chapter 1226: Chapter 657: Robot Mobilization! (Please Subscribe)_2

To be honest, for Xu Jiuge, life without the creation of animation was a kind of torment.

Whenever she finished the production of an animated work, Xu Jiuge’s heart would feel a sense of emptiness. Of course, this feeling of emptiness was somewhat offset by the anticipation of the work’s success.

But recently, the performance of "Love, Death & Robots" had come out and was very successful. If she didn’t work on something new, her heart would feel utterly empty.

"Keep it up."

Ding Yue smiled and gave Xu Jiuge and her team a word of encouragement.

"Mhm."

Xu Jiuge nodded, then left the meeting room with the core members of Feiyue Animation Studio who attended the meeting.

Now, the people from Feiyue Animation Studio had gone, and Ding Yue, from the School of Film and Television, had instructed them to go back and put great effort into the production of "Langya List" and "The Legend of Fairy Sword."

"Director Zhu, how is Zhang Yu doing in the performance major?"

Ding Yue’s gaze fell on the head of the School of Film and Television, Director Zhu Youzhao.

This time, the School of Film and Television was handling two projects at once. If you include "Wandering Earth," which was still in production, that made it three projects.

This pretty much reached the carrying capacity of the School of Film and Television.

There was no choice; Feiyue Home streaming media platform urgently needed more works to maintain vitality and continue to develop. Next year, they hoped to produce more works so that Feiyue Home streaming media platform could develop sustainably.

Otherwise, relying solely on this wave of popularity, having attracted over five million users, what about the future?

If there wasn’t a continuous input of high-quality works, Feiyue Home streaming media platform would inevitably become obsolete sooner or later.

"Zhang Yu is working very hard and diligently. Starting from scratch is certainly not easy, but I believe in this girl,"

Director Zhu Youzhao immediately replied.

As the head of the School of Film and Television, and the person in charge of coordination, he was very concerned about the progress of "Langya List" and "The Legend of Fairy Sword."

The development of the Xianxia drama "The Legend of Fairy Sword" was closely related to one person, that student Zhang Yu.

"How’s the selection of other actors going?"

Ding Yue asked again.

"The casting for the two television projects is basically settled. I’ll ask the directors of the two projects to bring the cast list for Principal Ding to review,"

Director Zhu Youzhao answered seriously.

"Good, we’re not using any traffic-driven stars, are we? We don’t have that much money to pay traffic stars; we need to spend our money wisely, understand? Is the budget ready?"

Ding Yue nodded and then asked another important question.

This time, for the casting of "Langya List" and "The Legend of Fairy Sword," aside from Ding Yue’s intervention in having Zhang Yu play Zhao Ling’er, everything else was left to the discretion of the directors of the two projects.

Ding Yue was well aware that although he was funding these two TV dramas through the School of Film and Television, too much interference on his part would be akin to the influence of the capital, which could inhibit the directors’ creative freedom. The resulting work could end up being mediocre.

At the same time, Ding Yue inquired about the budget situation.

He felt that the budget for "Langya List" and "The Legend of Fairy Sword" would not be small, as props and such needed to be of high quality.

"Principal Ding, please rest assured about the casting. We will definitely not use traffic-driven stars lacking in acting skills. All our actors come from our project, younger actors selected from performing arts departments across the nation’s universities, as well as our own Mist City Arts and Science University. As for the other actors, we’ve chosen veteran actors,"

Director Zhu Youzhao quickly explained.

"Good, good, that’s great. For our veteran actors, try to offer a bit more for their salaries; it’s the result of their years of honing their skills, after all. And for the new actors from our performing arts department, their salaries also need to be reasonable, got it?"

Ding Yue specifically instructed about the matter of salaries.

Just so long as they avoided situations where traffic-driven stars were being paid several millions yuan for a single show.

For example, if a well-known veteran actor truly required a salary of several millions yuan, then it was necessary to pay them appropriately.

"That goes without saying," Director Zhu Youzhao said with a nod and a smile.

"As for the budget of the two TV series?" Ding Yue was still more concerned about the budget.

After all, Ding Yue had previously made it clear that Feiyue Media would not deliberately use internet-famous stars, let alone those without acting skills. Anyone with talent or the potential to act could have the opportunity to make a name for themselves under Feiyue Media.

It was the budget that Ding Yue cared about most.

The size of the budget represented how much money Ding Yue would have to invest.

"Principal Ding, as for the budget, we don’t have a result just yet. We probably need to wait a bit longer since both crews have just been assembled," Director Zhu Youzhao explained.

"Alright, once the budget is out, remember to show it to me first, and then I’ll give you the money," Ding Yue said with a smile.

"Understood, Principal Ding."

Currently, Ding Yue had prepared two hundred million yuan of funds for the production of "Langya List" and "The Legend of Fairy Sword." If that wasn’t enough, additional budget could be allocated later.

But the maximum could not exceed two hundred and fifty million yuan, because any more would be over budget—the money Ding Yue had was already planned out for various uses.

Besides,

The main expenditures for "Langya List" and "The Legend of Fairy Sword" lay in actors’ salaries, crew labor, costs incurred during filming, props, and post-production. Promotion and marketing would not be included in the budget.

Without the sky-high fees of internet-famous stars, the expenditures should not be too outrageous.

After all, there are plenty of excellent domestic TV series that made use of well-paid actors and yet still managed to produce quality work within their budgets.

"By the way, who are the directors for ’Langya List’ and ’The Legend of Fairy Sword’?" Ding Yue suddenly asked, curious.

Since he had handed these two projects over to Director Zhu Youzhao, Ding Yue hadn’t inquired further.

He didn’t even know who the directors of the two series were.

"Principal Ding, I am the right person to answer that," Director Su Yangfan said, suddenly speaking up in the meeting room.

Ding Yue immediately turned his gaze to Director Su Yangfan and asked with a smile, "What’s the matter? Couldn’t it be one of your apprentices?"

For the production of the science fiction movie "Wandering Earth," Ding Yue had specifically requested Director Su Yangfan to select a group of promising students from the directorial program at Mist City Arts and Science University. He had them work as assistant directors under him, learning and improving their directing skills—it was akin to taking on apprentices.

After they had been trained, Feiyue Media would have more directors under its wing to produce more works simultaneously.

Otherwise, relying solely on Director Su Yangfan, it would take a year or two to produce a work like "Wandering Earth," which would be far too slow.

"That’s right. For ’Langya List,’ the director is Gu Cen, and for ’The Legend of Fairy Sword,’ it’s Wu Qianjiang. They are both students I mentored this time and also the two who performed the best. Thus, I recommended them to Director Zhu to take on the important task of directing ’Langya List’ and ’The Legend of Fairy Sword,’" Director Su Yangfan said with a smile.

"So that’s how it is."

Upon hearing this, Ding Yue nodded slightly, then said, "Since they are both disciples you’re confident in, Director Su, I’m at ease."

Director Su Yangfan was one of the top directors in the country, and he did quite well with the science fiction movie "Wandering Earth," which was just waiting for post-production to finish before selecting a release date.

And if the two students from the director’s program had been recommended by Director Su Yangfan himself to direct "Langya List" and "The Legend of Fairy Sword," it meant that their abilities were already of a certain standard.

"Gu Cen, Wu Qianjiang, good. Have them stop by my office sometime; I’d like to have a good chat with them both."