I'm Not A Master, I'm A Director
Chapter 425: Sakura — You Really Are My Dear Brother
In any case, after finally settling on Mash's actress, Shinji felt a weight lift off his shoulders.
As for casting the doctor and Goetia, it wasn't much of a concern.
With Shinji's current reputation, inviting actors to participate in his film series was something most wouldn't dare refuse.
Not only would they not refuse—plenty were practically fighting their way in.
From what Shinji knew, Waver over in London had already been approached by several British actors asking for introductions. In China, quite a few actors wanted even the smallest cameo roles in FGO.
North America was even more extreme. Several actors had pulled strings to directly approach Cloris, hoping she'd put in a good word for them.
And it wasn't just actors.
There were also quite a few people looking to invest directly into the FGO series.
Originally, Shinji hadn't planned to bring in many partners for the FGO prologue.
After all, this film would be released very differently from traditional movies—it would primarily target streaming platforms.
The reason for this approach was simple: the prologue's story and pacing were somewhat awkward, not quite suited for a conventional commercial film format.
But as the opening chapter of FGO, it couldn't be skipped either.
So Shinji chose streaming—not only to promote his own platform, but also to expand FGO's audience.
After all, "streaming release = online piracy" wasn't something unique to any single country. Every part of the world had its own piracy channels.
Shinji understood this well.
Piracy could never be eradicated.
He never expected all fans to support official releases, but he could use piracy to cultivate a wave of future customers… ahem, fans—who would willingly become part of his money-making ecosystem.
To put it bluntly, in order to maximize the long-term profits of the entire FGO series, Shinji was willing to forgo making money on the prologue itself, focusing instead on spreading the film as widely as possible.
Since profit wasn't the goal, there was naturally no need for external funding.
He could afford to absorb the losses himself.
After all, he had made plenty over the past few years from Fate films. Burning through the budget of one movie was no big deal.
So in Shinji's original plan, Type-Moon would cover most of the production and marketing costs, Times Group would handle distribution channels, and the remaining minor expenses would be covered by Shinji, Cloris, and a few others.
However…
People in the industry weren't fools.
Especially after Shinji's string of successes, no one wanted to miss what clearly looked like a promising project.
Even after Shinji and Cloris explicitly stated that FGO: Prologue was expected to lose money, these people still refused to back off.
The film itself might not make money, but what about the rest of the series?
The investors made their intentions crystal clear:
They didn't care if the prologue lost money.
All they wanted was priority investment rights for the subsequent FGO films.
"Bunch of vultures. The moment they smell money, they all come flocking in."
Over the phone, Cloris complained to Shinji.
"…"
Shinji nearly burst out laughing as he imagined the goddess-like woman frowning in annoyance.
In his opinion, Cloris was showing a bit of "dragon hoarding syndrome"—unwilling to let anyone else get a share of the FGO project.
In truth, anyone who paid a little attention to Shinji's recent activities could guess that he was working on a major project, especially after he had registered a large number of films and scripts.
If they still couldn't figure it out, they deserved to be left behind by the times.
"…Sigh… Things have been going too smoothly these past few years. I almost forgot how shrewd those old foxes are."
On the other end of the line, Cloris let out a soft sigh.
"The problem is, they're willing to take the risk of losing money on this film just to get into the FGO project."
A faint smile crept into her voice.
"Looks like they have a lot of faith in you, Shinji… even though they were secretly buying negative reviews for your films not too long ago."
"Maybe they've discovered the truth of this world."
"…What truth?"
"If you can't resist it, then just enjoy—I mean, if you can't beat them, join them."
"Heh, is that so?"
Even though the first half was muttered under his breath, Cloris could guess exactly what Shinji had said without needing to hear it clearly.
"Jokes aside, do you think we should let their money in?" She got straight to the point.
"Let in a few of the ones with good reputations, those who won't stir up trouble," Shinji replied calmly. "As long as we don't lose control of the project, it's fine."
He understood this well—
Eating alone would only make everyone else turn against you.
Sure, bringing others in would mean sharing the profits from FGO.
But in return, those same people could help make the project bigger—and at the very least, ensure they wouldn't sabotage him from the sidelines.
As long as he maintained control, giving up a small slice of profit to avoid potential trouble was a worthwhile trade.
Besides, if there were people willing to play the sucker and help cover the promotional costs of the Prologue, why not take advantage of it?
Cloris understood all of this too.
Still… she couldn't help feeling a little unwilling to let go.
Calling Shinji had been her last attempt to push back.
"What a shame… they've completely seen through your money-making potential. And here I thought I was the first to invest in you…"
She puffed her cheeks slightly, clearly dissatisfied.
But deep down, she knew that from the very beginning, she had never truly held the initiative in their partnership.
To outsiders, they might look like the classic "rich patron and pretty boy" pairing.
But aside from providing funding, she had practically followed Shinji's lead in everything.
"…Well~"
Thinking about Shinji's plans and the way he handled things, a playful, anticipatory smile appeared on her lips.
"I can't wait to see those old foxes get played in the palm of your hand. When that happens, I'm definitely carving their expressions into three big watermelons."
"Achoo! Which beautiful lady is thinking about me now?"
Unaware of the expectations his "sugar mommy" had placed on him, Shinji's thoughts were entirely focused on the FGO project itself.
As for the investors and partners?
He had already handed all of that over to his CEO big sister.
Who to let in, how much each would invest, and how the profits would be distributed—those details had never been Shinji's concern.
He, Shinji Matou, was both the initiator and the executor of the project.
That alone gave him a natural advantage, especially since he held the roles of producer, director, and screenwriter all at once.
Looking across the entire film industry—whether before or after his transmigration—anyone who held those three positions simultaneously was essentially the absolute ruler of the project.
Calling them the "emperor" of the production wouldn't be an exaggeration.
On top of that, his team already included a complete behind-the-scenes crew and most of the main cast.
So to any investor thinking of taking over the project, Shinji could arrogantly throw out a single line:
"The judges and referees are all on my side. What exactly are you planning to compete with?"
In short, bringing in more big-name investors wouldn't cause him much trouble.
Compared to that, the one person who truly gave him a headache was his "cute and lovable" little sister.
Because… Sakura's acting skills were… honestly not great.
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This wasn't Sakura's first time appearing in one of Shinji's works.
It wasn't even her first time playing a leading role.
But the level of difficulty in FGO was higher than anything she had done before.
Acting was a skill that demanded constant practice, if you didn't improve, you regressed.
After spending four years in university, Sakura realized that most of her acting ability had reduced to atom.
At first, she didn't think much of it when she accepted the role.
But after performing a few scenes in front of the camera, the pressure began to build.
Even if her skills had declined, her sense of judgment hadn't.
She could tell very clearly whether her performance was good or not.
Because of this, for once, Sakura rarely went out of her way to bother Shinji on set or nag him endlessly.
Instead, she focused her attention entirely on her acting.
However, what surprised her was that this time, Shinji didn't guide her like he used to.
He didn't walk her through the scenes or tell her how to portray Mash.
He simply left her alone… and told her to figure it out herself based on the script.
Most of the time, Shinji simply sat behind the monitor with his legs crossed, watching the footage while repeatedly calling out:
"Cut, good."
"Cut, not good."
"Cut, do it again."
"Onii-sama… don't tell me my acting is so bad that you don't even feel like commenting anymore?"
Smack
Shinji flicked Sakura on the forehead without hesitation as a response to her complaint.
"I've already written how this character should be portrayed in the script," he said, glancing sideways at her as she rubbed her forehead. "You're not illiterate, and you don't have a reading disorder. Figure out how to act it yourself… my dear Mash."
"Ugh…"
Sakura let out a dissatisfied sound.
This was the second reason why filming had become so stressful for her.
According to Shinji's instructions, whether on or off camera—as long as she was on set, she had to be called "Mash Kyrielight."
From the moment she entered the production… until the very end of filming.
And that wasn't all.
During the entire shoot, she wasn't allowed to fully remove her makeup. She had to constantly maintain Mash's appearance.
Not just for this film, either.
For all future FGO projects, she would be treated the same way.
"Isn't this a bit too much? On set, I'm basically not even myself anymore!" Sakura protested, hands on her hips.
Shinji shrugged casually.
"It's necessary to fully construct the existence of 'Mash Kyrielight' as a Heroic Spirit, so her Noble Phantasm can manifest through magecraft."
Sakura shot back immediately, "Wait, but Mash's Noble Phantasm belongs to Galahad, right? And besides, couldn't you just recreate it using visual magecraft? Do we really have to go this far?"
"That's because the Shielder class is special, especially when it comes to the Noble Phantasm's effect."
Shinji shook his finger as he explained.
"If we're just talking about recreating the appearance, then sure, visual magecraft would be easy. But the effect—that layered, absolute defensive property when the shield is struck—that's not something you can replicate so simply."
As he spoke, a rather punchable grin appeared on his face.
"Well~ there are other methods, but turning you into Mash Kyrielight is the most efficient option. Lowest cost, too~"
He paused, then added teasingly:
"Oh, and you should say 'my Noble Phantasm,' Mash."
"Tch! You really are my dear brother!" Sakura spat the words at him, clearly irritated.
Whether she was angry at his shameless cost-cutting, or at the way he kept treating her like some obedient little underclassman—even she wasn't entirely sure.