Super Zoo

Nangong Jian returned to the armed police detachment to report. The political commissar of the armed police detachment still had some reservations about using the armed police troops to help the zoo make a movie.

In peacetime, the so-called "community policing" tasks that the armed police detachment could undertake were quite limited, such as volunteering in orphanages and nursing homes or spreading various safety knowledge in schools. The impact of these tasks certainly couldn't compare to participating in a film production. The pretext suggested by Suming sounded quite good: not only would they be extras in the movie, but it would also serve as a promotion for Yangchuan City's tourism and support the development of local cultural enterprises.

In fact, it was quite normal for armed police and even field troops to participate in the filming of movies and TV dramas. Large-scale costume dramas and war dramas all required the support and cooperation of local troops.

The key point was how much impact the movie would have and how much box office revenue it would generate.

The troops' participation in a blockbuster film led by a top director and with a big production would truly manifest support for cultural enterprise development and count as community policing. Conversely, if the film ended up being ignored, the nature of the involvement would change; not only would there be no merit, but it could also lead to criticism of misusing public resources by those with ulterior motives.

It was common for troops to be used in the filming of blockbusters directed by Zhang Yimou, but has anyone ever seen a domestic indie film managing to enlist the troops?

Upon hearing that the investment was only ten million, the political commissar's two thick eyebrows furrowed into a frown.

"Company commander, why don't we just pull out and I'll think of another solution?" Nangong Jian himself wasn't very sure either. He had posed a difficult question to Suming, and Suming had come up with a solution, but now the ball was kicked back to his court. If he didn't accept it, he couldn't blame Suming for not helping. If he accepted, Nangong Jian had no confidence at all.

An obscure director, a small investment of ten million, and all inexperienced actors—it took only a mildly sane person to be pessimistic about the movie.

"You just said that the producer of this film is Huaxia Star from Xiangjiang?" the political commissar asked after pondering for a moment.
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"It's not Huaxia Star, but the owner of Huaxia Star in person," replied Nangong Jian. "However, I didn't see anyone from the Xiang Family on set, so it's possible that it's just a title in name."

After weighing his options for a moment, the political commissar made his decision, "We can collaborate."

"Company commander, won't you reconsider?" Nangong Jian asked.

"First, your nephew-in-law wouldn't deliberately set you up. Second, the domestic market is a big cake, and the Xiang Family certainly wouldn't tarnish their own brand. Given that the Xiang Family is willing to get involved, it means they see potential in this movie. We're laymen in filmmaking, but the Xiang Family has been in the entertainment industry for decades; they are the experts. Betting with the experts won't go wrong," the political commissar stated with certainty.

If the political commissar knew that Long Wu supported Suming largely to repay a favor owed at the Xiangjiang Jockey Club and that Long Wu himself was not optimistic about the film, I wonder what he would think or if he would feel duped.

In any case, the preliminary preparations for the shoot were finally completed: funding secured, the film crew assembled, the script revised, cast and locations confirmed.

On a windless and sunny morning, a simple kickoff and blessing ceremony was held outside the Whisperwind Pavilion. Suming, accompanied by the film's key creative personnel, lit three long incense sticks, worshipped, and made offerings. As representatives of the animal actors, five chimpanzees dressed in human suits comically held large incense sticks and bowed towards the altar.

The leading actress Chengcheng, dressed in a flowery dress, stood solemnly in the crowd next to Nangong Huang.

A big red banner read "Terror Animal City Kickoff Ceremony."

There was a half-meter long roast pig on the offering table, which made Er Shixiong drinking by the distant lakeside tremble with fear. After the offering, Suming plunged a knife into the head of the roast pig, and everyone then feasted on it.

The official filming began.

For the following month, the entire film crew and many actors devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the film's production.

The zoo remained open for most of the time and, coupled with previous promotions on Weibo, many people came to the zoo specifically to see the filming process.

In advance, the zoo had made thorough confidentiality preparations. Visitors couldn't see the core plot or even spot the actors and crew members very often.

The more secretive the process, the more it piqued people's curiosity.

As the first movie filmed in our city, local forum discussions in Yangchuan did not lag behind the Taoyuan Interest's Weibo account with a million followers.

Even if the filmmakers were unknown, the investment was meager, and the actors were unheard of, the fact that it was a locally invested film shot in Yangchuan made it, to a certain extent, Yangchuan natives' own movie.

There were even small-scale debates between local netizens in Yangchuan and out-of-towners on Taoyuan Interest.

A deputy minister from the Yangchuan Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department personally visited the film set at the zoo, offering his warm regards to the film staff and hoping that everyone would contribute to building Yangchuan's cultural enterprise.

There was just one thing that was somewhat irksome—judging by the name, "Terror Animal City" was indeed a full-fledged horror film.

For many, the first reaction upon seeing the name was that the domestic horror genre was at an absolute nadir, making this time an unwise choice to make a horror film;

Furthermore, many regular visitors to the zoo were starting to doubt—horror films mean there must be thrilling plots filled with creepy monsters, maybe even bloody scenes... In a nutshell, horror films rely on the "shock factor," which is completely different from the zoo's usual style. Why would the zoo director shoot a horror film that wouldn't earn money or benefit the zoo's promotion?

Recently, a martial arts storm had arisen in Yangchuan City Normal University Affiliated Primary School. From first to sixth grade, everyone knew that a girl from the school had gone to make a movie, stirring widespread attention, envy, and gossip among the students, as well as the teachers who discussed it during breaks in the staffroom, with eight out of ten sentences related to this, and the remaining two expressing how their own children had failed to encounter such a discerning director.

Suming didn't need to be involved in the filming process all the time. Lately, he had been distracted by three things.

Firstly, he dispatched a swarm of bees to monitor Baoye Company, the bald man, and the stout woman throughout, as mentioned to Nangong Cheng. The issue had concluded, but no goodwill had emanated from the other party. One must always guard against others, and when necessary, harbor intent to harm.

There was no movement on Baoye Company's end; all was calm.

On the first day of the shoot, that bald man did try to stir up some trouble. He brought a group of small-time thugs from the streets and bought tickets to the zoo.

The filming area in the zoo was restricted, but these thugs, using their purchased tickets as justification, insisted on barging in.