The Wind of China Entertainment 2005

Chapter 695 Provocation
The night deepens and the moon hangs high in the sky.

After supper, the group walked out of the box. Under the bright yellow street lights, Lu Yuan pulled his girlfriend down from the electric pole for the seventh time.

Liu Shishi held on to the metal pillar printed with lock-opening advertisements, like a koala holding on to an eucalyptus tree.

"Brother, your waist is so thin. Hey, your abdominal muscles, how come there is only one piece left?"

Lu Yuan: "..."

"Look, there's a big plane!!" On the other side, Tang Yan pointed at the sky and talked nonsense while drunk.

Shen Jiani's condition was similar to the other two. She was relatively quiet and kept smiling foolishly.

As for Lu Jing, that girl, she was a single girl and no one cared about her. She was squatting in the corner and vomiting.

The three grown men looked at their dizzy girlfriends in their arms, then looked up at each other and laughed in tacit understanding.

Originally, the three brothers planned to have some drinks and discuss the roles they played in "The Burning Sun".

As a result, the poor student Liu Shishi suddenly suggested that everyone play idiom chain game together. It was estimated that they had discussed it beforehand, and wanted to get the three brothers drunk and watch them make a fool of themselves.

Idiom chain game was a game that Lu Yuan and his two friends played till they were old when they were in school. They knew exactly which words were difficult to chain together.

The three of them simply went with the flow and cooperated with each other tacitly.

The four people including Lu Jing were confused by idioms such as being in a dilemma, careless, one cannot do anything alone, the end of the world, and one tree cannot support the whole thing.

"So cute." Luo Jin pinched Tang Yan's nose and said sincerely.

"Mine is the cutest." Zhu Yawen rubbed Shen Jiani's head, a little dissatisfied and a little showing off.

Lu Yuan curled his lips and said nothing. He looked at Liu Shishi, whose little face was flushed, and saw three silly hairs standing up on her head.

The corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise, and he resisted the urge to rub her face hard.

The three of them waited for a while, and the cars arrived one after another.

Luo Jin and Zhu Yawen helped their girlfriends get into the car and turned their heads almost at the same time and said, "We're going back first."

"Okay, see you tomorrow." Lu Yuan nodded.

In less than five minutes, a car slowly approached. He told his girlfriend, who was wearing sunglasses and singing "Qinghai-Tibet Plateau", to stand still and not move, and turned back to pull his cousin Lu Jing.

"Mom, my brother bullied me. He replaced my boiled water with white wine. Ugh."

Lu Jing was in a daze. He held the power bank to his ear as if it were a mobile phone and complained to his mother who was far away in his hometown.

"Who told you to give me such stupid advice?" Lu Yuan grabbed her collar with disdain: "Let's go, I'll take you home."

Just after she had comforted her cousin, Liu Shishi disappeared.

He looked around and found that the girl had walked up to his Maserati, bent over, opened the window, stuck her head in, and shouted loudly.

"Oh, Lu Yuan, you bastard, you are bullying me again, let me go, I will tell your mother." She slapped the car window randomly.

What a sin. Lu Yuan slapped his forehead, speechless.

He quickly stuffed Lu Jing into the back seat, took out his cell phone to take some high-definition photos and a short video, and then rescued Liu Shishi from the car window.

Miss Liu howled for a long time, tilted her head, and suddenly felt aggrieved.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! I'm blind. I can't see."

Lu Yuan rolled his eyes and took off the big sunglasses on her face.

Liu Shishi's eyelashes fluttered, and she dazedly reached out her hand and pointed at his face: "Hey, you look like my dog, but not as good-looking as him."

Lu Yuan slapped her hand away, ignored the paparazzi's camera behind him, bent down, carried her on his shoulders, and threw her into the back seat while she whimpered.

"Ouch, my head hit."

"I want a kiss."

"boom!"

"Let's go back to the community."

The driver didn't look around and just started the car.

It was already eleven o'clock at night when we returned to the community.

Lu Yuan made a phone call and asked the old woman to come down.

Lu Jia looked at the two people who were unconscious in the back row, very puzzled: "What's going on?"

Naturally, Lu Yuan couldn't tell the truth, so he answered hesitantly.

"They both insist on drinking, and no matter how much we try to persuade them, they won't stop. Hurry up and help Xiao Jing up. It's not safe to send her back alone so late. She's in her twenties and doesn't have a boyfriend yet. Let her stay at your house for one night."

"A drinking contest, is this true or not?" Lu Jia looked doubtful.

Based on her understanding of her brother, she always felt that things were not as he said, but she still helped Lu Jing out of the car as soon as possible.

Lu Yuan carried Liu Shishi out of the car, looked at Qiqi who was following behind Lu Jia, and the golden retriever who was circling around him, and asked, "Where's Yaoyao?"

During the summer vacation, the two little ones stayed up late every day. It was impossible for Yaoyao to sleep well at this time, unless she acted up and got beaten.

"Uncle, my sister was disobedient and was pulled by the ears by mom and made to stand on the balcony with dad as punishment." Qiqi answered loudly with glee.

Lu Yuan thought to himself, as expected, and did not ask the reason: "Being beaten every day, is this to get into Peking University?"

Lu Jia glanced at him and said, "What? With her naughty personality, she is admitted to Peking University. It would be a great honor for her Zhou family to be able to get into high school."

"Hahaha." Lu Yuan laughed.

Liu Shishi was woken up and stared at the golden hair on the ground: "Brother, why did you dye your hair yellow?"

"Pa!" Lu Yuan slapped her in annoyance. Are you blind? What kind of look is that?

……

Every city has its own temperament. Xiamen is literary, fresh, romantic, and petty bourgeoisie...

Xiamen Siming District, which integrates mountains, sea, lakes, islands, regions and industries, is the high-value core urban area of ​​Xiamen.

The most famous tourist attractions and landmark buildings in the city are all here, such as Gulangyu Island, the Golden Coastline Ring Road, and the literary fishing village Zengcuo'an...

The beautiful natural scenery makes Siming a unique "natural photography studio".

In fact, as early as the 86 TV series "Journey to the West", the beautiful scenery of Siming District appeared on the screen as a filming location.

In recent years, it has become a popular filming location that major directors are competing for.

For example, in "Crazy Racing" directed by Ning Hao, there is the classic corner where Huang Bo rides his bike.

In the film Let's Watch Meteor Shower Together, the so-called aristocratic school Elliston College that runs through the entire plot was actually filmed at Xiamen University. August 8th.

With the successful conclusion of the seven-day script reading, the crew of "Burning Sun" held a grand media meeting in Xiamen.

On that day, hundreds of reporters rushed to the venue upon hearing the news, filling the entire venue to the brim.

Since the cast and director lineup of this drama was announced, it instantly became the focus of attention in the industry.

Let’s talk about the cast first.

Currently, "My Love from the Star" is in its hot air stage. Throughout August, Lu Yuan's popularity in the mainland is unrivaled, and the second to tenth place combined cannot surpass him. Professor Chen can be said to be popular all over the Internet.

Moreover, in addition to South Korea and Thailand, "My Love from the Star" has also been circulated among young female audiences in various Asian countries through the Internet in the form of pirated copies, sparking a wave of reading fever throughout Asia.

Lu Yuan's title as an Asian superstar has appeared in media reports more than once.

Looking at the director lineup, Wen Muye and Cao Baoping, needless to say, they are a double guarantee of box office and word of mouth.

At the meeting, a male reporter with a flat head couldn't wait to ask Cao Baoping questions.

"Director Cao, you have directed mostly TV dramas since you entered the industry. Your only film works so far are "The Glorious Fury", "Li Mi's Conjecture" and the unreleased "Dog Thirteen"."

"The Burning Sun is your fourth film. What prompted you to accept the invitation to this film?"

Cao Baoping leaned closer to the microphone and answered with a smile: "TV series are my survival necessity, while movies are my personal pursuit. I chose to accept the invitation from Yuanfang Media for a simple reason, because this is a good movie. I believe that even after decades, it will still be a masterpiece worth recalling."

In fact, there was another reason in Cao Baoping's mind that he couldn't tell.

That is, Yuanfang Media is fundamentally different from traditional film and television capital in the industry.

Cao Baoping's struggle with capital has a long history, and he has experienced countless sadness and helplessness.

When "The Glory and the Fury" was released in 2007, he approached the distributor and agreed to produce 70 or 80 copies and invested 125 million to promote the film.

As a result, the partner "broke the promise" and in the end only spent 20,000 to 30,000 yuan to make two copies.

Cao Baoping was so anxious that he made two more copies himself, and finally used four copies to distribute them to theaters across the country.

When filming his second film, "Li Mi's Conjecture", Cao Baoping learned from his previous lessons.

He chose Huayi Brothers, a veteran domestic film company, as his partner, hoping to change the fate of "Glory".

But he soon discovered that playing against capital was not much easier than playing against the audit system.

Huayi Brothers interfered with the creation of the film, and 50 minutes of material was cut from "Li Mi".

Although the film eventually earned 1400 million at the box office and word of mouth spread explosively, Cao Baoping, as the creator himself, did not achieve the ideal state in terms of funding and voice.

Unlike Yuanfang Media, Lu Yuan is an actor with a unique vision and he understands movies.

After receiving the script of "The Sun Also Rises", Cao Baoping fell in love with the story at first sight and participated in the revision. When it failed the first review and was rejected, he also put forward his own opinions, which were adopted and his name was put in the screenwriter column.

In terms of funding and voice, Lu Yuan gave him full satisfaction and support.

The reporter sensed the confidence in his words, nodded, and turned his gaze to the leading actor and investor.

"Lu Yuan, some experts recently criticized My Love from the Star for being shallow and meaningless, and simply catering to the preferences of young female audiences. They also questioned your quality as a professional actor. I would like to ask if you chose to star in the realistic film The Sun Also Rises to restore your personal reputation?"

"boom!"

The scene instantly became lively, with reporters from all over the country whispering and discussing the matter.

The competition between iQiyi's "The Heirs" and PPS's "My Love from the Star" ended quickly.

Since PPS released its battle report, iQiyi's voice on social media has gradually weakened, especially when it was revealed that the data was fake during a subsequent data release, it became completely silent.

In this confrontation, PPS undoubtedly won a complete victory.

It is understandable that iQiyi is unwilling to accept this, but raising such a sharp question at the press conference of "The Sun Also Rises" is undoubtedly a direct provocation to Lu Yuan. Isn't it a bit petty to point the finger at Lu Yuan instead of attacking PPS?
Lu Yuan gently pressed down his hands, and when the place calmed down, he smiled.

"My friend, the reporter from iQiyi, first of all, I want to remind you that today is the media meeting for "The Burning Sun". I hope that the following questions will be as relevant to this drama as possible. Of course, I can answer your previous question."

"The essence of film and television dramas is to bring joy and pleasure to the audience. On this basis, creators can appropriately add their own views and reflect some social phenomena, which is what you call connotation."

"I have always believed that in literary creation, we need both high-brow works like the best to elevate the aesthetic level, and popular works like the most popular to meet the spiritual and cultural needs of the people."

"The opinions of a small number of people cannot deprive the majority of people of their preferences. Most of the time, viewers watch movies and TV shows simply to relax. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"Things that conform to the rules must be verified by history. American TV series "House of Cards" and "Game of Thrones" are popular among young people, and "My Love from the Star" also has a huge fan base in Asia."

"The market is changing rapidly and the audience is huge. As creators, we need to keep pace with the times, meet the needs of different audiences, and not look at problems one-sidedly. I feel honored that this idol drama, which you say has no connotation, has successfully entered the eyes of young people in other countries with Chinese food, eating habits, traditional costumes, etc."

The reporter from iQiyi was speechless because of the facts stated by Lu Yuan.

While "My Love from the Star" became a huge hit, it also led to a cultural spread. Many things that appeared in the drama were sought after by young women in neighboring countries.

He decided to attack from another angle: "It is said that the script of "The Burning Sun" was reviewed many times, and "New World" was also reported. Are you keen on provoking the review and getting high box office in this way?"

Lu Yuan frowned and was about to answer when Cao Baoping at the side took over the conversation.

"Auditing is a very normal thing. It is not terrible. Our censorship system is not as inhumane as you think."

Cao Baoping is very familiar with how to answer such questions.

Each of the three films he has made to date has run into issues with censorship.

Not to mention "Glorious Fury", "Li Mi's Conjecture" has also been revised many times.

In the story, Li Mi, played by Zhou Xun, desperately searches for her boyfriend Fang Wen who has been missing for four years. In the end, it turns out that Fang Wen changed his name and has been selling drugs for many years.

When the script was submitted for review, it was stopped because the reason was: "How can you write a story about a girl falling in love with a drug dealer?"

These past encounters have taught Cao Baoping how to strike a witty tone with reporters.

"The Burning Sun" is a story that falls on the censorship "blacklist". It involves crimes committed by auxiliary police officers, homosexuality, and even direct descriptions of death by injection. What's more, in this story, there is also a girl who falls in love with a "criminal".

These contents are currently kept confidential and unknown to the outside world. All we know is that the play was sent back for revisions many times.

"I think the censorship department is gradually becoming more humane."

Cao Baoping thought for a moment and continued, "We have discussed this many times, and they understand that removing some plots will break the entire narrative chain, and they will not make a complete and rough deletion. As long as you are not deliberately using such gimmicks to attract attention, but as long as it is an indispensable part of your plot, they will make appropriate modifications that can be accommodated."

He paused and said, "As for the high box office you mentioned through this method, why haven't I heard of any large-scale movie box office exceeding 1 billion before?"

The other reporters present all laughed. The success of "New World" was partly due to the script, but Lu Yuan's appeal was equally important.

Cao Baoping glanced at Lu Yuan imperceptibly and continued, "To borrow a phrase from Mr. Lu just now, things that conform to the law must have been verified by history."

"That" the iQiyi reporter was unwilling to accept.

"Next person!"

(End of this chapter)