1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Of course, a celebration banquet is not just about everyone drinking and chatting, there is still a series of processes.

After the interview session ended, the host walked onto the stage and announced the official start of the celebration banquet.

Then the representative from Columbia came on stage and said a few words, mainly announcing the performance of "The Sixth Sense".

The results they announced today are global box office of 310 million US dollars, which is slightly higher than what Bregman told Zhou Yan before. There should be an update in the next two days.

After announcing the results, the representative also made a forecast for the future, hoping that the global box office of "The Sixth Sense" could reach 500 million US dollars.

The goal set by Columbia is relatively pragmatic. Although it is a bit difficult, it is very likely to be achieved. There are still many countries and regions where the film has not been released yet, so the box office still has a lot of room for growth.

After talking about the achievements and prospects for the future, the representative gave a round of thanks on the stage, and Zhou Yan was listed last on his list of thanks.

Everyone knows what Zhou Yan represents to "The Sixth Sense".

The original version of this movie was written, directed and voiced by Zhou Yan, but in the new version, Zhou Yan is not only the music director and screenwriter, he also has a special identity, that is, investor. Twenty percent of the budget of this movie was paid by Zhou.

When the representative of Columbia, Federman, was thanking Zhou Yan on the stage, everyone in the audience turned their eyes to Zhou Yan, who greeted them with juice in his hands.

After this session, it was the turn of the main creators to come on stage and share their joy.

Zhou Yan also went on stage and said a few simple words, but they were all very plagiarized and meaningless.

Afterwards, Columbia also arranged a performance program in which a four-piece band played a medley of the soundtrack of "The Sixth Sense".

This period of time is not long, only five or six minutes in total.

When designing this segment, Bregman originally wanted to invite Zhou Yan to come on stage to perform, but Zhou Yan did not agree. After all, he was a composer, and his level of playing instruments other than the bamboo flute was average, so there was no need for him to show off on every occasion.

After the performance, the activities on stage basically ended and everyone started chatting freely.

Director Martin Brest walked up to Zhou Yan with a glass of wine in hand and said with a smile, "Y, congratulations, The Chorus is another great success."

Zhou Yan clinked his glass with juice, "Thank you. I heard you took on a new movie recently?"

"This is a movie I had been planning for a long time, but now the preparations have made some progress," Martin Brest explained.

Martin Brest was also very happy when talking about his new movie. He told Zhou Yan some details, "The inspiration for this movie comes from the 1930s movie "Death Holiday". I started planning it more than ten years ago. Over the years, I have found many screenwriters and revised the script many times. It was only recently that it was finally finalized."

"Still cooperating with Columbia?" Zhou Yan asked.

Martin Brest shook his head. "This time we are working with Universal. They are very interested in this script and are willing to invest money. The budget of this movie is not low."

"How much will it cost?" Zhou Yan asked with interest.

"At least 80 million." Martin Brest gave a rough figure.

Hearing this number, Zhou Yan couldn't help but twitch his lips. Why do all the directors he knows have higher and higher budgets for their movies? At least 80 million? Could it be a science fiction movie?
As far as Zhou Yan could remember, Martin Brest seemed to have never made a science fiction film.

In fact, Martin Brest has only made a handful of films, the most famous of which is naturally "Scent of a Woman". The other two that left a deep impression on Zhou Yan are "Midnight Run" and "The Sixth Sense".

Judging from Martin Brest's description, his new movie is most likely "The Sixth Sense", because this movie is about the god of death, and Brad Pitt plays the god of death who comes to the human world to experience life.

But does this movie need a budget of at least 80 million US dollars? Zhou Yan really doesn't understand. In his opinion, movies with this budget basically spend money on special effects. What special effects are there in "The Sixth Sense"?
“Is the filming about to start?”

"It should take some time. If everything goes well, we will start filming next spring."

Zhou Yan raised his glass and said, "Then I wish you all the best with your new movie."

"Thank you."

The two were chatting when Catherine came over with a glass of wine and asked with a smile, "Directors, what are you talking about?"

"We are talking about Mr. Brest's new movie." Zhou Yan said.

Catherine half-jokingly recommended herself, "Are you short of actresses? Director, what do you think of me?"

Martin Brest nodded very seriously, "Sure, if you have time, go for an audition. The main roles haven't been decided yet."

Catherine didn't expect that she would actually get the audition opportunity just by mentioning it casually. She said with surprise, "Of course no problem, I'm always available."

Although there are many scripts sent to Catherine now, not many of them satisfy her. Many of them are low-budget love movies, or the directors have not yet been determined. Even if the directors have been determined, they are basically unknown directors.

Now she has the opportunity to continue to star in Martin Brest's films, and she is of course very excited.

Martin Brest was already very famous in the industry. This time, due to the huge success of "The Sixth Sense", his commercial potential has reached a new level and many actors want to work with him.

Seeing that Catherine's self-recommendation was effective, Zhou Yan smiled. Perhaps this is the significance of such cocktail parties.

Not long after Catherine came over, a lot of people quickly gathered around them. At today's celebration banquet, Zhou Yan and Martin Brest would definitely be the focus of attention.

With the introduction of Bregman and others, Zhou Yan also met many people in the industry. When they chatted with Zhou Yan, they almost all asked the same question, that is, whether Zhou Yan was interested in developing in Hollywood.

Zhou Yan has answered this question many times, but he has to answer it again every time.

Some people want to invest in Zhou Yan's movies, and some others want to get some investment from Zhou Yan. Many of the guests who can come to the scene today know that Zhou Yan invested in "The Sixth Sense". In their eyes, Zhou Yan is a rich sponsor.

The cocktail party lasted for a long time. Zhou Yan didn't eat anything and was full just by drinking juice.

When the cocktail party was almost over, Zhou Yan went to the bathroom.

As soon as he came out of the bathroom, he saw Jack Williams, the operations director of New Balance. He thought Williams was also here to use the bathroom, so he smiled and nodded to him, then walked towards the center of the venue.

Jack Williams stopped him, "Mr. Y, please stay."

Zhou Yan turned around and looked at Jack Williams with a puzzled look on his face. "Mr. Williams, do you have something to talk to me about?"

Williams smiled and took a few steps closer, "Actually, I want to talk to you about working together."

"Cooperation?" Zhou Yan narrowed his eyes. "You, New Balance, also want to invest in making a movie?"

Too many people came to him tonight to talk about making a movie, so when Williams mentioned collaboration, this was the first thing he thought of.

"Of course not." Williams smiled and shook his head. "We only do what we are professional at. This year is the 90th anniversary of our brand. For this reason, we will release a new shoe in the fall, and we also want to shoot a new advertisement."

Zhou Yan’s first reaction was that the other party was looking for him to shoot a commercial, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he waited for Williams to continue.

"We wanted a special theme song for this ad, so..."

Zhou Yan immediately understood that they didn't want him to shoot a commercial, but wanted him to help write a theme song.

New Balance probably came up with this idea because they saw that "yellow" performed very well.

Zhou Yan did not immediately express his opinion on Williams' invitation, but asked, "What is the theme of your advertisement this time?"

"Youth, vitality, and fashion." Williams mentioned a few key words.

New Balance has always focused on the jogging shoe market. Although not all of its customers are young people, they are mainly young people. Especially after the launch of the classic series 574, they are very popular among young people.

"Why do you want to find me? Is it because we just happened to meet this time?" Zhou Yan asked again.

This question has no purpose, it's just out of curiosity.

Williams shook his head. "That's not the case. In fact, we wanted to find the Backstreet Boys to endorse our brand from the beginning. The original idea was to hope that you could collaborate with the Backstreet Boys on a song. It was just that I came across it this time, so I brought it up."

Zhou Yan wasn't sure whether what Williams said was true or not, but according to the themes he mentioned, Backstreet Boys was indeed the most suitable.

Backstreet Boys has developed very well in the past year and gained a large number of fans among young people. The fan base of their group has a high degree of overlap with New Balance's customer base.

Zhou Yan thought about it and said, "Let me think about this. I'm really busy recently."

Williams was unwilling to let go of such a good opportunity. "If you have any conditions, please feel free to mention them. I can basically make the decision. Writing a theme song may be difficult for others, but I believe that with your talent, it must be much easier. We are really sincere and hope you can seriously consider it."

Facing Williams who was still fighting for the contract, Zhou Yan said with a smile, "I will definitely consider it seriously. Besides, you have our contact information, so you can call us anytime."

After hearing what Zhou Yan said, Williams didn't know what to say. He could only nod and said, "Then I'll wait for your news. I'll be in Los Angeles during this period. If you have any ideas, you can contact me at any time."

Zhou Yan said readily, "No problem."

Then Zhou Yan nodded to Williams and said goodbye to go find Bregman and the others.

……

After the celebratory dinner, Zhou Yan returned to the hotel. As soon as he sat down, the doorbell rang.

He got up and walked to the door. He saw Catherine standing outside through the peephole. He couldn't help but show a puzzled expression. Why did Catherine come here so late?
Although he was doubtful, he still opened the door.

"Catherine, do you want to talk to me?"

Catherine wore a red dress today, which clearly outlined her graceful curves. She was the most eye-catching person at the entire dinner party.

She must have drunk a lot of wine that night, her cheeks looked flushed and her eyes were a little blurry.

"Won't you invite me in and sit down?" Catherine tilted her head and smiled.

Seeing her expression, Zhou Yan didn't dare to let her into the house.

The world is dangerous, and he and Catherine are not very familiar with each other, so who knows if there will be any problems. Even if Catherine has no bad intentions, it will be difficult to explain if others see it.

So instead of inviting Catherine into the house, he walked out himself and stood in the corridor with Catherine, so that even if someone saw them, it would not be a big deal.

"What do you want to talk to me about? You drank quite a lot tonight?"

When Catherine saw that Zhou Yan didn't let her in, she curled her lips and thought that this man was really too cautious. She, a woman, was not afraid, but he, a man, was so cautious.

She was a little drunk at the moment, so she took a step to the side and leaned against the door frame, but her upper body leaned forward, revealing her proud cleavage.

Zhou Yan took a glance and then looked away, feeling in his heart that he had underestimated Catherine before.

Catherine is tall and slender, the type who bears great fruit on a small branch.

The high heels she wore today were not low, and she was basically as tall as Zhou Yan with the shoes on.

Zhou Yan quickly withdrew his gaze but did not escape Catherine's eyes. She smiled secretly, at least the man standing in front of her was a normal man.

"I'm a little thirsty, do you have any water in your room?"

Zhou Yan shook his head. "No, I'm looking for some water myself."

"Is it?"

Seeing that Catherine wanted to push the door to her room, Zhou Yan quickly stood in front of her and said, "Catherine, it's getting late. I have to rest. How about I call the front desk to bring you some water?"

Catherine stared at Zhou Yan's face for a long time, then suddenly laughed, "Y, you are very different... Since there is no water in your room, I'd better go back."

After Catherine left, Zhou Yan breathed a sigh of relief. There were too many temptations in this world.

He knew that if he had really put Catherine in there, something would definitely happen between them. Catherine couldn't have come here so late just to ask for a drink of water.

He was also a hot-blooded man, and faced with such temptation just now, he really couldn't bear it.

Just as he was calming his surging blood, the phone in the house rang, so he ran back to the room and answered it.

After the call was connected, Kudo Shizuka's voice rang out from the other end, "You're back so early? Didn't you drink?"

Hearing Kudo Shizuka's voice, Zhou Yan lay down on the sofa next to him, then replied with a smile, "No, I drank some juice at night. Are you here to check on me?"

"I just woke up, so I called you to remind you not to drink too much. Are there a lot of pretty girls at the party?"

Zhou Yan smiled. This girl called just to check on him and was being stubborn.

He couldn't help but tease Kudo Shizuka, "Yeah, there are so many beautiful girls, my eyes are dazzled."

Kudo Shizuka said angrily, "Be careful or you'll get stye."

Her Chinese is getting better and better, and she can even say words like "styes". Zhou Yan said with a smile, "I'm kidding, there are no pretty girls, they are just old men who come to drink with me."

"From your tone, you sound disappointed that you didn't see any pretty girls."

"I am indeed disappointed. Since I saw you, other girls no longer seem pretty to me."

"Pah, you are so slick."

Although Kudo Shizuka said this, she felt quite pleased in her heart. She said proudly, "Then I'll have to inconvenience you."

"Well, next time I go on a long trip, I will definitely bring a photo of you. If you want to see a pretty girl, just take out the photo and look at it."

"Where did you learn these words when you went to America? They are so corny."

"It comes naturally."

"Okay, I won't talk to you anymore. I'm going to have breakfast. It's getting late there, too. Go to bed."

"Well, I'll take a shower and go to bed."

After he hung up the phone with Kudo Shizuka, the phone rang again after a while. This time it was from Joey Wong.

Hearing Wang Zuxian's voice, Zhou Yan couldn't help but touch his forehead. Fortunately, he didn't let Catherine in just now, otherwise it would be easy to go wrong.

……

The next morning, Zhou Yangang had just finished breakfast and returned to his room when Zhang Youan went to find him.

The first thing Zhang Youan said when he saw Zhou Yan was, "Did New Balance invite you to sing a song?"

When Zhou Yan heard this, he knew that Jack Williams was looking for Zhang Youan and the others, so he nodded, "Well, they looked for you too?"

"Yes, their operations director contacted me and said that he had already told you about this and you were considering it, so I came to ask you what's going on."

"It was when I was having dinner with Chris and the others that I met Jack Williams. Then yesterday at the celebration party, he brought up this matter and I told him to think about it." Zhou Yan roughly recounted the entire story.

Zhang Youan nodded and asked, "What do you think specifically? Do you want to write for them? New Balance is a well-known brand, and it's not bad to cooperate with them. Of course, this kind of thing still depends on your own wishes."

Zhou Yan waved his hand and said, "Let's put it aside for now until we finish what we have on hand. Don't we have two shows to participate in today?"

"Well, let's finish the things at hand first, and then take care of New Balance's affairs. Have you read the information about the two programs today?"

Zhou Yan nodded, "Yes, I have seen it."

Both of the radio programs he will participate in today are not long, about half an hour each.

Radio programs are much simpler than TV programs. Zhou Yan basically doesn't need to prepare anything, and there aren't many things to pay attention to on the spot. (End of this chapter)