Chapter 48 - Getting On The Bandwagon
Stephen was staggered at the sight, "What a display! King Guan is frigging awesome! I can't believe I'm qualified to come here today for the auditions!"
"Is that all you aim for! Come on, let's be a bit more ambitious. With three thousand people, it will surely be our turn to get a piece of the action!" Chow Mingrun was still quite confident.
"But the three of us haven't been in any films, can we really do it?" Waylon asked doubtfully.
Chow Mingrun said complacently, "True, YOU haven't been in any films, but your director Yuan Ge has and your boss Chow Mingrun have!"
"What? Boss, didn't you used to be a singer? How come you've made films too?" Chestnut looked incredulous.
Chow Mingrun laughed, "Little Chestnut, you underestimated your boss! I was also one of the lead actors in our company's debut film, which won an award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.. Although the film was not released in domestic cinemas, it is still internationally renowned, okay?" Speaking of his achievements, Chow Mingrun was very proud of himself and continued to brag, "So you guys have to be grateful to your director Yuan Ge and your boss, me, for the opportunity you have today! …"
Before Chow Mingrun could finish his words, a well-known girl group had appeared on the red carpet at the entrance of the mansion, its upbeat rhythm and hot dance moves immediately attracting the attention of all the media.
"Boss, I've heard that this movie is a big production of a historical costume drama. It's rumoured that King Guan likes tough action dramas, not chick flicks, so how come they've got a girl group here to do the singing and dancing?" Waylon asked.
"It's all a marketing ploy." Yuan Ge replied on the sidelines.
"That's right. This film is the first big production Arthur Guan has led since his return to China. With huge investment and a top-notch production team, it has to be a blockbuster, the king of hits and traffic. Even if you can't be an actor in it, appearing in this film as a singer or a dancer could still help you become an A-lister, or even be picked up by a sponsor for a commercial that could also make you a hit! So don't think that singers will just pass up such a great opportunity. Look how hard these girls are twirling their bodies!" Chow Mingrun whistled towards the girls on the red carpet. As a former boy band singer, he knew how to liven up the atmosphere in such situations. Unsurprisingly, the girls danced even more vigorously on the red carpet and got more photo opportunities from the media.
"Remember, never be coy or timid when facing an occasion like this. Learn from these people. Fake it until you make it! If you can put on a brave face, you've already won half the battle! As long as there's exposure, there's no need to care about whose stage it really is. Remember, all publicities are good publicities! A national audition like The Voice of China, that's a lot bigger than this, so there's nothing to be afraid of. We're going to do everything we can to get on King Guan's bandwagon." Chow Mingrun looked at his rookies worriedly and instructed them like a mother hen.
"That's right. Once the news of the auditions came out, the share price of King Guan Entertainment had almost doubled in just two days! What a pity though, this pig brain of mine was way too conservative and I bought too few shares!" Du Jinghai has always had a keen interest in the stock market.
"Old Dude, when you make money this time, you must treat everyone to hot pot!" Chow Mingrun did not forget to tease him.
As the group walked towards the main gate, they saw a tall and majestic stone lion towering to each side of the imposing vermillion gate. Pointing to the stone lion, Yuan Ge smiled at Chestnut and said, "Chestnut, if you are interested, you can count the curly hair bumps on the tops of the heads of those two lions. There must be twelve rows of them, indicating it's a prince's residence."
Hearing this, Chestnut did go up and count the curly hair bumps on top of one of the lions. Afterwards, she looked at Yuan Ge with wide eyes, in total amazement.
King Guan's staff were rigorously checking the entry qualifications at the gate. After looking at the golden invitation card handed over by Chow Mingrun, they still insisted that the number of entrants must be strictly in accordance with the size of the company, and since DDP only had three actors for the audition, only one team lead and one instructor were allowed to accompany them. Chow Mingrun had no choice but to let Amélie Jiang and Du Jinghai stay behind.
"Sorry guys, you'll have to wait for our good news."
"Fat Chow, you guys go right in, don't worry about us! We'll just wait outside. Call us as soon as there's any news!" Du Jinghai didn't want to go in to suffer the boring wait in the first place, and now he could justifiably not to suffer it any more. He was only too happy to take Amélie to the Shichahai Park to enjoy some culinary delights.
"Something fishy going on!" Seeing those two leave leisurely, Chow Mingrun made a face.
Du Jinghai's pursuit of Amélie was the worst kept secret at Dragon Dreams. The three young actors have been with the company for some time now, and they all smiled knowingly when they saw this.