You were supposed to have a fake marriage with the diva, so how did you become her father?

Chapter 56 Starry Night Extras Recruitment

Xingyao Entertainment, the office of the short drama department, which is now also called the No. 8 long drama department.

Tan Yuxing rushed over excitedly: "Brother Lu! My dad read the outline for The Return of the Condor Heroes and approved it immediately! He said he'll talk to President Li Mo and assure us to go ahead with it. The initial budget is 50 million, and we can add more later if needed!"

Lu Ran clicked his tongue, wondering how fifty million could be as easily spent as five thousand in his mouth.

"However," Tan Yu scratched his head, "my dad also said that if we're going to do it, we should do a high-quality one. As for the director, he wants to invite director Chen Ke to take the helm."

Lu Ran nodded. He knew Director Chen Ke; he was one of the top directors at Xingyao Entertainment, a master of historical and martial arts dramas, and much higher than Director Zhang, whose name hadn't even been mentioned before.

However, this Director Chen is said to have a rather eccentric temper and is very selective about scripts.

In recent years, due to the lack of good scripts, he has been in a semi-retired state.

"Put the script together and show it to Director Chen," Lu Ran said confidently. "He'll definitely accept it after he's read it."

Just kidding, this is a book written by a titan of martial arts fiction from a previous life. Any one of these books would cause an earthquake in the martial arts world if it were in this one. I bet you wouldn't like it.

"Okay, Brother Lu, but there's something else." Tan Yu is now like Lu Ran's assistant, reporting his daily work schedule to him in detail. Although he occasionally gets emotional, he's no longer the spoiled brat he once was.

Lu Ran was very satisfied with the changes in the group of people recently, especially Tan Yu. Since he directed the short drama "The Return of the God of War", he has become more mature and steady.

He is, after all, a young master from a prominent family; he certainly has a certain level of refinement.

"What is it? Tell me," Lu Ran asked, taking over from Tan Yu.

"Well, our company previously announced that we were expanding our pool of actors, and these auditioning actors are coming for their auditions this afternoon," Tan Yu replied calmly. "Our long-running drama is about to start filming, and I was thinking we should go check it out too."

Lu Ran knew about what Tan Yu was talking about.

Not only today, but Star Shine Entertainment recruits actors every month.

These actors will be affiliated with Xingyao Entertainment. Although they are not official employees of Xingyao Entertainment, they will be given priority consideration when Xingyao Entertainment is filming new dramas. It is one of the shortcuts for many grassroots actors who want to become famous. Therefore, every time they recruit, many extras and other actors will come to apply.

Generally, actor recruitment is handled by a specific department, but other departments can also participate and sign actors they like to their own department.

The last time we recruited was before the short drama department was established, so we missed the opportunity.

Lu Ran thought for a moment. Since the script was already in his mind, it wouldn't hurt to go and see the actors.

After all, Lu Ran didn't want this work to be wasted by some actors who didn't meet his expectations.

At 1 p.m., many extras arrived at the audition hall of Xingyao Entertainment.

At the very top of the hall, there were nine tables.

Apart from the department originally responsible for finding people, the remaining departments are for one to eight long-running dramas.

Departments that would never normally come to join in the fun actually gathered this time.

It's clear that this mission has put immense pressure on all departments.

Lu Ran's department was at the very back. Behind a table sat Lu Ran, Tan Yu, and three others, making it feel quite crowded.

As the head of the human resources department gave the order, the extras and background actors selected for the audition entered the venue one after another.

Each actor, whether showcasing their talents or performing special skills, gave their all in their performances.

For extras, such opportunities may only come once a month. Many of them have applied several times, only to be rejected each time, but they still persevere.

Several actors who looked promising were called away by other departments first.

Halfway through the project, they still hadn't recruited a single person for the eight long-running dramas, which made Tan Yu, who was standing to the side, very anxious.

"Brother Lu, why aren't you making a move? Half of the actors have already been recruited. Don't let other departments snatch up all the good actors." Tan Yu was genuinely worried that there wouldn't be any suitable actors left.

Because this drama is an ensemble period drama, it requires a large cast, with several important roles that demand high standards from the actors.

"It's okay, don't worry," Lu Ran comforted Tan Yu.

Lu Ran knew clearly that he already had general requirements for the casting of this drama. For a period martial arts drama, the first thing needed was that kind of temperament.

To date, Lu Ran has not seen many actors who fit the roles in his mind.

Most of the extras applying were for urban dramas, and their special skills were mostly simple tricks like magic and ventriloquism, which Lu Ran was not very satisfied with.

However, Lu Ran wasn't in a hurry, but someone else was.

The heads of the other departments couldn't help but feel a little smug when they saw that half the time had passed and Lu Ran still hadn't selected anyone.

Zhang Dehai, the person in charge of the seventh production team of the long-running drama, was the first to start making sarcastic remarks: "Oh, Minister Lu hasn't found a suitable candidate yet? The project is already more than halfway done."

Wang Wei, the head of the sixth department of the long-running drama, chimed in, "Perhaps Minister Lu has high standards and doesn't think much of these actors. But what can you do? Minister Lu has the ability and connections."

The two started singing in unison.

The two voices were neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for Lu Ran's table and several nearby departments to hear clearly.

The sourness in his words was almost overflowing.

Tan Yu's face immediately darkened.

He's always had the temperament of a young master, and although he's become much more composed lately, he can't stand it when someone makes sarcastic remarks about Lu Ran and the department he's in front of him.

It seems we need to teach them a lesson, or they won't know who Xingyao is!

He stood up abruptly, the chair legs scraping against the floor with a screeching sound.

"Tan Yu." Lu Ran's voice rang out calmly, not loud, but with an undeniable force.

He reached out and placed his hand on Tan Yu's arm, gently pulling him back to his seat.

Lu Ran didn't even look at Zhang Dehai and Wang Wei; his gaze remained fixed on the empty performance area in front of him, as if those words from before were just irrelevant background noise.

Lu Ran felt that it wasn't worth it for two unrelated clowns to do this in front of such a large audience.

He turned to Tan Yu and whispered, "Sit down. The dog barks at you twice. Are you going to lie down and bark back at it? That's a waste of time."

Lu Ran wasn't afraid of trouble, but he felt that at this moment, it wouldn't just affect him personally, but the entire company.

Because of his father-in-law, Lu Ran now feels a sense of belonging to the company and wants to make it even better.

Just then, the head of the human resources department called out the next number.

"Next up, number 37, Xu Manxue."

...