Chapter 653 Refusal to Cooperate
Edmund’s a.s.sistant was shocked, too.
He didn’t expect the young master to be thrown out of the Purple Moon Entertainment Company！
“How dare they treat a guest like this?”
“Don’t they know how influential Edmund is in Hollywood? Don’t they know that they can’t afford to offend Edmund even if they don’t cooperate?”
“Are they mad?”
“Hiss!”
Just as the a.s.sistant was sighing at the inconceivable affair, he saw Xu Yong’s gaze turn to him, so he trembled with fear, and hurried out.
Five meters away from the door, Edmund was lying on the ground, dizzy.
But his anger was more intense than his pain.
“How dare they do this?” Edmund felt it was inconceivable.
“No one here would not know my ident.i.ty. Although Purple Moon Entertainment Company is compet.i.tive in Hong Kong, you are making a special effects heavy movie!”
“Don’t forget that Hollywood is in a dominant position in post special effects!”
“There is no doubt that this movie needs the support of a top-level team from Hollywood, and I have a very close relations.h.i.+p with Hollywood. In this case, how would they dare to beat me?”
“f.u.c.k!” Edmund cursed.
His a.s.sistant ran to him and helped him up.
It took 30 seconds for Edmund to return to his normal breathing. He was shaking with rage and his face darkened.
He saw Aili’s astonished expression and the other actors talking about him in the room!
“What are they talking about?”
“Are they teasing me?”
“They must be talking about what happened just now.”
Edmund was about to lose his mind. Seeing Xu Yong standing at the door with a calm expression, he pointed at the Chinese man and said angrily, “I’ll be back. You’ll pay for it.”
“Please.” Xu Yong shrugged casually.
His indifference made Edmund as sick as having swallowed a fly.
Edmund stood directly on the side of the corridor, took out his cell phone, searched for a number for a few seconds, and finally made a phone call.
“h.e.l.lo, Mr. Fan. Long time no see. I’m in Hong Kong now. Yes, it’s the audition for the Purple Moon Entertainment Company. There’s a big problem with their company. Do you know an Executive Xu here? I’m fed up of him. h.e.l.lo? h.e.l.lo? Mr. Fan? h.e.l.lo?”
Edmund was surprised. After checking his cell phone, he was sure that the phone was disconnected and that it must be a signal problem. So he dialed that number again.
“Duh, duh.” Suddenly, he heard the electronic voice, “Sorry, the number you dialed is busy…”
“Why?”
Edmund dialed again and heard that indifferent electronic voice, “Sorry, the phone you dialed is off.”
“f.u.c.k!” Edmund dialed another number.
“h.e.l.lo, Mr. Chu. I’m Edmund. I’m in trouble at Purple Moon Entertainment Company. Someone named Executive Xu… h.e.l.lo? h.e.l.lo? Mr. Chu?”
This was similar to the situation just now. However, when he dialed the number again, he heard “The phone you dialed is turned off.”
He wasn’t given a second chance.
“It doesn’t matter. I have many friends!”
Looking at Xu Yong, who was relaxed, Edmund felt so angry that his hands were shaking. He slightly narrowed his eyes and called someone again.
“Chairman Ma, I’m at Purple Moon Entertainment Company now. The Executive Xu here is very arrogant, and I want you to contact their chairman.”
Fortunately, the phone was not hung up this time.
But the other side was silent.
Edmund was nervous and thought that he would be refused again.
However…
Three seconds later, a roar rang from his cell phone, which made Edmund’s ears buzz.
“Why should I help you! You never share the benefits with me. You only come to me when you are in such trouble. Get lost!”
Edmund slightly narrowed his eyes in rage.
Listening to the busy tone on his cell phone, he almost lost his mind.
“Bang!”
He slammed his new cell phone on the wall.
He realized that Executive Xu might not be an ordinary person, but he still insisted on facing Xu Yong with a tough att.i.tude.
“Get me your chairman!” He shouted.
“Help yourself.” Xu Yong replied calmly, and then turned to the other side.
Xu Yong was relatively calm compared with Ah Hu and Zhao Feng. While the former would directly throw Edmund out of the company, the latter would beat Edmund into silence.
Zhao Feng was more efficient. Having followed Zhang Han for a long time, he disliked nonsense and was more pragmatic. Besides, Zhao Feng was the chief steward of Cold Immortal School and the company, and he always made it his first priority to get things done.
Everyone’s character was different, and Edmund was lucky to meet Xu Yong.
But he was still infuriated by Xu Yong’s att.i.tude.
“Give me your cell phone.” Edmund shouted at his a.s.sistant, “Call p.i.s.son.”
His a.s.sistant was stunned.
He hurriedly handed over his cell phone and dialed the number Edmund gave him.
“h.e.l.lo, p.i.s.son. Long time no see. I want you to check something for me. Has someone from Hong Kong Purple Moon Entertainment Company contacted your special effects production team? What do you say? They contacted your team, right? Is the price very favorable? I see. Well, let me tell you this. I don’t want you to cooperate with Purple Moon Entertainment Company very well now. You know what I mean…”
Edmund walked a few steps to the side with a sneer on his face, lit a cigarette, and spoke for five minutes. When he came back, he seemed to be a little arrogant.
“Since you threw me out, I’ll make you kneel and beg me to enter!” He laughed in silence.
He even began to think about what he would make them do before he was willing to enter.
“At the very least, I’ll recover the dignity I lost just now, such as slapping that guy in the face.”
“Or I can make that guy kneel and beg for mercy, and then I may be willing to let go of it.”
“Chairman Sun is not like a chairman at all. Shouldn’t he stand up and welcome me when he sees me?”
“Haha, I’m waiting to see how anxious you will be. Your production will die before it starts without the special effects of Hollywood’s top-level teams.”
Edmund was sure that when they got the bad news from Hollywood, they would come to him begging for mercy.
Edmund was relieved.
He was immersed in his imagination and felt his pores open.
Just at that moment, he heard “Phew!”
Chairman Xu, Chairman Sun and several senior managers all appeared at the door.
“Wow, they received the news. A group of fools.”
Edmund waited for their entreaties.
He was quite satisfied. p.i.s.son was very efficient, and these guys were like ants in a hot pot after three minutes.
But what happened next froze his expression.
“Boss.” Sun Ming smiled.
“The audition here has just begun.” Xu Yong nodded.
While speaking, they ignored Edmund and went straight to the front.
“Swis.h.!.+”
Edmund and his a.s.sistant turned around and saw a group of young people.
“Huh?”
“The man in charge is the boss of the company?”
They were shocked when they saw Zhang Han.
“How can such a young man control so large a company? Where is he from, a big family?”
“Zi Yan!”
Then they saw Zi Yan beside the young boss, her delicate face, lips, nose, and everything that was so attractive.
“h.e.l.lo.” Zhang Han nodded, “I’m here to be an interviewer.”
Edmund was not worthy of their special visit. He came for casting.
After Zhang Han replied, they all walked inside.
They ignored Edmund again.
The famous actor felt depressed.
So he took the initiative to speak, “Miss Zi. You are really beautiful, more beautiful than in any role you’ve played.”
Edmund managed to stop them.
Then he took this opportunity to say, “Nice to meet you, I’m Edmund.”
After introducing himself, Edmund looked at Zhang Han and said with a smile, “Chairman, you’ve set up an entertainment company， and I think you’ve heard of me. Chairman Sun was not very enthusiastic just now, and this Executive Xu was too much. You…”
Edmund was about to say, “If you want to work with a Hollywood production team, you have to be nice to me.”
But before he had finished speaking, Zhang Han shook his head and waved to Zhao Feng, “Throw him out.”
“What?” Edmund was stunned and thought he didn’t hear Zhang Han clearly.
But he soon felt his body lifted again.
He knew that what he had just heard was true.
“f.u.c.k. Is he going to throw me out?”
Edmund was so angry that he was about to shout.
“Bang!” Zhao Feng beat Edmund’s abdomen with his first.
Then he couldn’t make any sound.
His a.s.sistant was not spared this time. Zhao Feng walked into the elevator with the two of them in his hands.
The a.s.sistant was a smart man and didn’t say a word.
Smart people didn’t have to be beaten.
However, at the door of the first floor, they were inevitably thrown out seven or eight meters, and rolled another two or three meters on the ground, all covered in ash.
“f.u.c.k. You will regret it!” Edmund only left his words here.
He didn’t think about cooperation at all.
“How can people in this company work together without thinking?”
Then he dialed another number.
“p.i.s.son, I want you to terminate the cooperation with Purple Moon Entertainment Company. You also need to communicate with other companies. No cooperation is allowed. I will report this to my uncle…”
Sometimes it was like this. Edmund was so arrogant that he was thrown out. But even if he didn’t get the role, he would also contact someone to make troubles.
The relations.h.i.+p in the entertainment circle was complex, and so many people had to be considered. For ordinary companies, many actors who wanted the main roles would either rely on their own strength to fight for benefits, or depend on their supporters’ strength.
But Purple Moon Entertainment Company, a subsidiary of Mengmeng Group, could ignore all these supporters.
This showed their special status.
No one would get opportunities through other relations.h.i.+ps. Even Hong Qitao’s youngest son, Hong Li, who had a good relations.h.i.+p with Zi Yan, was playing by the rules and waiting for his turn.
He didn’t even want to ask his elders to help, which would not only embarra.s.s them, but also embarra.s.s Zi Yan.
Zi Yan chuckled, Edmond had no influence on her mood.
It was interesting that Edmund, a famous star who might get the role through normal procedures, chose to do it in other ways.
There were many Grand Masters in the Group, and anyone with bad att.i.tudes would be beaten.
“Zi Yan is coming!”
“They are all out to meet them. Is the boss at the front?”
“My G.o.d, Zi Yan is the most beautiful woman in the east. She is so charming! I really want to cooperate with her in this film!”
“…”
A lot of comments were made, and these foreign friends were not stingy in their praise.
Under everyone’s gaze, Zhang Han and Zi Yan were guided to the corridor on the right, while Chairman Sun and Chairman Xu were left to accompany them.
Inside the corridor, 15 stars were sitting in a row of chairs.
They all smiled and said h.e.l.lo to Zi Yan. Zi Yan politely nodded in response.
At the door stood the chief director Ke Zhen and his two men.
Seeing Zhang Han, he said with a smile, “Mr. Zhang, Miss purple, knowing you are coming, we have to wait for a while. The audition hasn’t started yet.”
“Chief director, I’m very flattered.” Zi Yan smiled slightly.
“Let’s start first.” Zhou Fei was experienced and wanted to start as soon as possible.
There were a row of tables and chairs and five staff members in the room. Zhang Han and others were seated aside.
“Let’s start. You can do whatever you want and we are just here to watch you.” Zhou Fei looked at the staff and said, pointing to Zhang Han again, saying, “He is the boss here and the writer of this script, so everything is based on his opinions. Of course, if he doesn’t speak, you can continue normally.”
“Okay.” The staff responded in a hurry.
“Start.” The director on the other side signaled to start.
The staff at the door opened the door and called the first actor.
“h.e.l.lo, everyone. I’m Louisette, from England…”
It was a man who was 1.85 meters tall and looked handsome. After his brief introduction, the staff members raised their questions one by one.
“Can you swim?”
“Yes.”
“Do you often go to sea?”
“I usually take a cruise and sometimes surf. Of course, surfing is one of my favorite hobbies.”
“What do you know about pirates?”
“They are a group of mercenaries…”
There were various problems, all around several core intentions. After asking, the staff comforted him and asked him to wait for the result.
Next came the second actor.
These actors had different answers to the same questions, and Zhang Han and others had been watching them. Some actors left a good impression on the interviewer and would be asked to recite lines from the script for an on-the-spot performance. During this period, interviewers would record all kinds of information so that they could compare the different actors.
All the 15 people in the first group soon finished the audition.
Now Zhang Han understood the specific process and knew which kind of actor he wanted.
Before the staff members were ready to call the second group, Zhang Han stopped them.
“Xiaofeng, please call in the two actors from seat 25 and 26 in row 9 first.” He said.
“Okay.” Zhao Feng went out directly. The chief director waved his hand and suspended the interview.
Zhao Feng came to the meeting room and called the two men under the gaze of many people. The other actors began to guess the reason.
“It should be good news to be called at this time!”
In fact, it was.
The presence of these two men surprised Zhang Han, who used his soul sense and found them the cla.s.sic supporting roles of Pirates of the Caribbean.
In Zhang Han’s memory, the two played the clown duo of the Royal Navy, bullied by the protagonist, and finally joined the pirates. They survived until the last film in the series, attracting the attention of the audience.
In the movie, one of them was Pintel with a fake eye, and the other was Ragetti, a fat Mediterranean man.
Soon, they were brought in by Zhao Feng.
They were a little nervous and said “h.e.l.lo everyone” when they entered the room.
They soon calmed down because of the company of their partner.
When an interviewer was about to say something…
The man next to him kicked him in the foot to stop him.
Then he heard Zhang Han asking, “How do you two understand the sea?”
Zhang Han asked casually and was ready to listen to them.
The two man were confused, and one of them replied with not very fluent Chinese, “Sorry, I do not understand what you said.”
“Okay.” Zhang Han repeated his question in English.
Hearing Zhang Han’s fluent English, they thought he was an interviewer, so they said, “We grew up by the sea.”
When they were ready for the second question after giving a simple answer to the first one, they saw Zhang Han beckoning.
“You two are hired.” Zhang Han said, “Your roles are Pintel and Ragetti. Director, please guide them to read the script later.”
“What happened?” The chief director was confused.
“Is it so easy to choose actors?”
He didn’t know it was just the beginning.
Zhang Han said to Zhao Feng again, “Go call those in seat 17, row 3, seat 8, row 2 and seat…”
He mentioned eight people this time.
All these actors came in one by one.
The first one was Gibbs in the film, the old man who liked to drink rum, the chief mate of the protagonist and the former captain of the Navy, who had known the protagonist’s father for many years. Gibbs was also a main supporting role in the film.
After he finished introducing himself, Zhang Han said, “You’re hired. The role of Gibbs.”
“This way, please.” While wiping the cold sweat on his forehead, the director asked someone to take him to another room to wait.
The next one to come in was Katan, a mute person in the film. Zhang Han also hired him directly.
Next came Barbossa, one of the protagonist’s rivals. This steady and famous star was quickly hired.
As one actor after another was hired, the interviewers around looked at each other in confusion.
“Is this still an interview?”
What was more interesting was that one of the selected actors was actually a star’s a.s.sistant. He was shocked that he had done what his employer had failed to do.
Gradually, after Zhang Han selected all the actors he could identify, he was in trouble.
So far, he hadn’t found the core characters Jack and Turner, who appeared in the opening.
Before this problem was solved, another problem arose.
“Knock, knock, knock!”
There was knocking on the door.
With the director’s consent, a staff member in a suit came in sweating and said, “Bad news. The production team that reached an agreement with us refused to cooperate with us. The reason given is that we are not friendly to the stars they know, and the production teams of several other companies have refused to cooperate with us, as well!”
“Why?” Zhou Fei jumped up from her chair.