Chapter 216: The Professor and the Director
Professor Zhao knew what Tan Mo wanted to request. He had already heard about it.
“Come on, let’s talk about it.” He waved toward Director Liu and Tan Mo.
“Tan Mo is still a young girl. You’ve said you would help her out if you could. If anyone else hears about this, even Tan Mo won’t be able to explain the entire situation.”
Director Liu was someone who had been around and took hints easily.
At this time, they were close to the studio, with many fans and loyal lapdogs hovering.
And, right now, Shen Jingyi and Yuan Qishan were sitting at the next table.
Those two worried him to no end.
If their situation had become completely hopeless and ended up horribly, who knows? They might also try to drag him down along with them.
Director Liu laughed and sat down at the new table that Professor Zhao had directed him to.
Tan Mo let out a sigh of relief and followed them to the new table.
Behind them, Yuan Qishan’s jealousy and bitterness were getting harder and harder to hide.
Director Liu had always considered her as a top-notch scriptwriter, but now it seemed as if he was bowing down to Tan Mo.
Had he really thought about whether Tan Mo could handle all of this?
However, she realized that if Director Liu had already outwardly shown this much appreciation for her work, it was clear that Tan Mo would be the one to bring the script forward.
Director Liu really had this much faith in Tan Mo.
Yuan Qishan had now finally come to the realization that she didn’t have a chance anymore.
In actuality, if Yuan Qishan didn’t have a chance, then neither did Shen Jingyi.
Tan Mo excelled in the subject of History. Why and where would she need to discuss anything with any experts or do any research at all?
Expert consultant and scriptwriter… Tan Mo herself clearly could handle both jobs single-handedly.
With one person doing both of these tasks, Director Liu would be able to save at least half his costs.
“What condition would you like to discuss with me?” Director Liu came right out and asked her.
“As you know, my brother is hoping to be a director and is studying under Director Hou’s guidance right now. In addition, he’s also helping you out as an a.s.sistant director. I do believe that in the near future my brother will be ready to direct his own movie,” Tan Mo said.
“I understand that all newcomers in the industry must go through this beginning phase. I’m sure even Director Liu himself must have experienced it. New directors have it extremely hard. When you try to find a well-known cast, they rarely agree to work with you since you haven’t done any productions with which to prove your worth. Even if you do manage to hire a great cast through a social network, they will still look down upon you and not listen to you. There are many other difficulties other than this too, I’m sure. You all have to get through this process, and produce a masterpiece of a wonderful performance before getting recognized. Then you won’t have to beg for recognition. Naturally, after a success, other critics and producers would contact you.
“What I was wondering was if my brother were to direct a solo film for the first time, it would be nice if people could give him some praise or just support him in some way…” Tan Mo’s voice got quieter as she gradually went on with her hands crossed in front of her, looking at Director Liu eagerly.
Professor Zhao sighed to himself.
He just knew it. What other requests could Tan Mo have had for Director Liu?
This young lady never had any desires or requests for herself, ever.
The only thing she wanted to ask Director Liu had to be about her big brother.
He wondered what her three brothers had done in their past lives to earn such respect from Tan Mo.
In this life, they had really earned her care and attention to every little minor detail. Her three brothers… Older brothers…
“Ha, ha, ha, ha!” Director Liu laughed. “I thought it was going to be something huge, since you didn’t even wish to get paid.
“However, as a scriptwriter, you must be paid nonetheless,” Director Liu said as he continued to chuckle.
“And as the expert consultant…” Professor Zhao added.
Director Liu didn’t say anything.
He just knew that as long as Professor Zhao was around, he wouldn’t let Tan Mo get away without getting what she deserved.
“I was originally planning to be your expert consultant, but now that you’ve got Tan Mo as your scriptwriter, then this role automatically falls onto her shoulders. You don’t need me. Even if you found someone else who was higher in the profession than she is, they might not compare to her at all,” Professor Zhao said.
Director Liu really wouldn’t have thought that professionally, Professor Zhao would actually have such high praise for Tan Mo.
He hadn’t even bothered bringing up Shen Jingyi or any other students to compare with her.
Instead, he had in fact brought up people who were higher up in the profession to compare to Tan Mo.
Director Liu wasn’t sure if Professor Zhao really believed this or if he was just trying to sell his student.
But he was fairly certain that it was the former, based on the professor’s personality.
He wouldn’t raise anyone’s worth blindly, just so they could achieve what they wanted.
If he did that, Shen Jingyi wouldn’t have fallen behind so far as she had now.
“As she can work as both a scriptwriter and a consultant, she saves you time from long discussions. Her work is efficient. You’ve got to pay her for the consultant role too,” Professor Zhao stated. “I know that you are serious about this script and wanted to find an actual official consultant in order to research the proper traditional etiquette and manners. It was more like a publicity stunt, wasn’t it, finding a consultant with a good reputation?”
Director Liu lowered his head and smiled. “I really can’t hide anything from you, can I?” He admitted the truth of the Professor’s supposition.
Professor Zhao smiled and waved his hand. He didn’t mind these little things.
Director Liu’s thinking was completely normal.
“It was my student’s fault that the timing has now been tightened up to this extent. I was supposed to make up for that. But, honestly, now that Tan Mo is here, she really is up for the job. You have no use for me,” Professor Zhao explained.
“I believe you,” Director Liu said. “If for no other reason, you’ve still got to head back to Beijing University to give lectures. I can’t keep you here for long.
“I can’t have you running back and forth either. That’s way too exhausting.” The Professor was getting old too. There was no way Director Liu could have him running back and forth like that.
“I am not trying to walk away like this.” Professor Zhao smiled. “With Tan Mo as your expert consultant, you won’t miss out on anything. If Tan Mo doesn’t mind, you could always write down my name as the consultant, rather than hers. But her name must also still be included nonetheless. It’s not like she didn’t help at all. In fact, she’s doing all the work. Writing my name would benefit you, but that wouldn’t be doing the right thing. That would be equivalent to me taking credit for all her work.”
“Professor, don’t say that.” Tan Mo knew that he was just trying to help her out.
If not, the credits could just casually include Professor Zhao’s name.
If it weren’t for her, he wouldn’t bother with such a matter.
Director Liu was startled and surprised.
With Professor Zhao’s name, this could be the drama’s greatest selling point!
Once the audience sees that, everyone will know just how great the show will be.
Professor Zhao has a gold-plated reputation.
If the drama wasn’t good, would he become their consultant?
And with Professor Zhao as their consultant, this would also mean that the drama is extremely factual and reliable.
Director Liu immediately replied, “I actually hadn’t managed to finish my train of thought just now. How could I not pay Tan Mo’s salary for her role as consultant?”
Director Liu’s words were thoughtful.
They were full of care for Tan Mo, exactly how Professor Zhao always treated Tan Mo.
As long as he maintained a good relations.h.i.+p with Tan Mo, then that would mean getting on Professor Zhao’s good side.