1990: Starting from Baojia Street

After a while, Liu Hang knocked on Zhou Yan's office door with a smile.

"Teacher Zhou, you came back and didn't even take a rest, but came to work right away?"

"I came back to Yanjing just to work, so I don't have time to rest." Zhou Yan smiled and stood up, walked to the sofa, and said, "Sit down."

Liu Hang nodded and sat down opposite Zhou Yan. "In fact, we can just do the recording of Akina Nakamori's new song. You don't have to make this special trip."

"There's something else." Zhou Yan didn't explain much. "CCTV called me just now and said they hope to cooperate with us again and hold a few concerts. I asked you to come here to ask if there is any important work in the studio from now to the middle of next year so that we can avoid the time."

When Liu Hang heard that CCTV was going to cooperate with Zhou Yan to hold a concert, he couldn't help but curl his lips. He felt that this would not be of any benefit to them. After all, Zhou Yan's schedule was already very full, and he had to take time out to cooperate with CCTV to hold a concert, which would disrupt their own plans.

But Liu Hang would definitely not say this, as he doesn't have the courage to offend CCTV.

"The studio has a lot of work right now, but if we talk about the big work, it's probably the soundtrack for Titanic. And then there's your new movie, but I don't know how you plan to film it. Are you going to shoot it this year?"

Zhou Yan nodded and said, "We will start filming in the fall and try to release it before the middle of next year."

"Oh." Liu Hang suddenly understood something.

Just now when Zhou Yan asked about the work intensity in the studio, Liu Hang was wondering, because no matter how busy the studio was, it actually had little impact on Zhou Yan himself.

Most of the work their studio takes on now does not require Zhou Yan’s personal involvement, such as "Sweet Honey" and "Winner", which are all done directly by the studio.

Li Tao and his team were responsible for writing the music, which was then handed over to the studio for recording. Zhou Yan did not need to intervene in the entire process.

But now Liu Hang understood that Zhou Yan wanted to shoot the movie this year, and he probably asked him to come over to talk to him about the situation at the film studio.

There is a person in charge of the film studio, but Liu Hang is now in charge of two studios, and the person in charge there is equivalent to a department head.

"The film studio is relatively idle right now, and we can start new projects at any time. We just purchased a batch of new equipment some time ago, but it hasn't been put into use yet. If you want to start shooting a new movie, these equipment will come in handy."

Zhou Yan nodded. Liu Hang was a smart man and immediately understood what he was going to say.

"How about this, take one to two hours at noon and call the people from the film studio to have a meeting."

"Call everyone and have a full-staff meeting?"

After hearing Liu Hang's question, Zhou Yan realized that the film studio was no longer the same as before. Their studio now hired quite a few people, and including the management staff, there were about 20 to 30 people.

Although twenty or thirty people are not a lot, it is different from the previous meetings with only a few people. There is no need to invite everyone to the meeting today.

"How about this, call the department leader, and also call Jiang Mengfei, Liu Qing, and Hong Xin."

These three people are Zhou Yan’s old team members, and they are in charge of different sections, so they can basically form a shooting lineup.

"Okay, then let's set it for one o'clock in the afternoon?"

"One is too early. Let's go to half past one. Let's have dinner and rest for a while."

"Understood. I'll go and notify them right away." Liu Hang said as he was about to stand up.

Zhou Yan raised his hand, "Don't leave in a hurry, there are still some things. One of the interludes in my new movie has been decided who will sing it, and he will definitely come to the studio to record it later. You can contact Xu Xiangjie from Huanyin later. In addition, Huanyin may sign a few people in the near future, and the studio will also need some support in the future. You can communicate about this."

Liu Hang was quite happy to hear that Huanyin was going to sign a new artist. "That's great. Our studio will be really busy from now on. Anyone who comes to rent a recording studio should be more cautious. If things continue like this, we won't be able to afford it."

"Is the office space in our studio sufficient for now?"

"There is definitely enough space in the office area, and there won't be a shortage for a while. If there is a shortage, it will probably be in the functional area in a while. The music engineering department has taken on a lot of work this year, and luckily it is relatively scattered, otherwise we would be busy just doing their work. The film studio is okay, and it doesn't put too much pressure on us."

The nature of the music engineering department is completely different from that of a film studio. The former is open to business and they will take on any film crew that comes to them, because they do not serve Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan composed the music for all his films himself, and set up a music engineering department in order to take on work for other films.

Although the film studio nominally serves more than just Zhou Yan, at this stage it is mainly responsible for handling Zhou Yan's business. Several directors signed by the studio, such as Wang Xiaoshuai and Huo Jianqi, have fewer and smaller jobs, and they basically cooperate with Yanjing Film Studio.

After hearing what Liu Hang said, Zhou Yan also began to think about the future development of their studio.

Although the electronics factory is very good, it has too many limitations. One warehouse and one office building cannot meet the subsequent expansion of the studio.

He had thought about finding another place to build a few new buildings before, but it was not easy to find a suitable place, and the funds required for construction were not cheap.

Seeing Zhou Yan frowning in thought, Liu Hang suddenly said, "Teacher Zhou, Director Li has come to my place several times during this period."

Zhou Yan looked up at Liu Hang and raised his eyebrows, "Li Xiuhai?"

"Ah."

"What did he want from you?"

"He didn't say anything, he just came to my office for tea, but he came too often, which was not right. The electronics factory is not doing well now, and he must be very worried. We rented the warehouse and Building No. 3. Although the annual rent solved their urgent needs at the time, the hole in the factory is getting bigger and bigger now, and this rent is probably a drop in the bucket."

Zhou Yan fell silent, after all, they were in the same industrial park, he had dealt with Li Xiuhai quite a lot, and he knew Li Xiuhai's character.

Li Xiuhai took over the electronics factory only a few years ago. At that time, there were already many problems in the factory. Li Xiuhai was not the kind of person who could carry out drastic reforms, so the electronics factory could only die a slow death in his hands.

Actually, this matter cannot be blamed on Li Xuhai. The power of the times is something that ordinary people cannot resist.
Moreover, standing in the tide of the times, no one knows what is right or wrong.

Zhou Yan traveled from the future and knew that they were slowly dying and the end was certain. But they didn't know that maybe if they could hold on for a while longer, there would be a new hope.
Different experts say different things, who should ordinary people believe?
Even those who are surfers have been killed by the waves.

Therefore, Li Xiuhai's approach seems to be understandable.

If Zhou Yan had not taken over the warehouse and Building No. 3, the electronics factory would have had a much harder time in the past two years.

It now seems that the electronics factory can no longer hold on.

However, this also gave Zhou Yan some ideas. Although the electronics factory was very old, it was in a good location and the place was large enough. If he could take over the factory in its entirety, he wouldn't have to worry about the subsequent expansion of the studio.

But this matter involves many things, and it’s not enough to just have money, so Zhou Yan needs to plan it carefully.

He would find time to talk to Huo Siqi. The Huo family had extensive connections and deep roots in Yanjing, so it would be much easier for them to do these things than for him.

He didn't tell Liu Hang about these. He just asked Liu Hang about the situation in the electronics factory and then let Liu Hang go to work.

After Liu Hang left, Zhou Yan called Han Sanping again, wanting to ask him to borrow two people.

In fact, Han Sanping had called Zhou Yan during the time when Zhou Yan was not in Yanjing. He also happened to call Han Sanping back to ask him what was the matter.

After the call was connected, Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Third brother, good morning."

Hearing that it was Zhou Yan, Han Sanping said happily, "You are back in Yanjing."

"Well, I just got back. I heard you called me, so I called back to ask if you have any instructions."

"Don't give me that shit. I called you because I saw on the news that you were going to shoot a new movie. You didn't even tell me about the new movie."

Han Sanping's tone was a little resentful, because he had told Zhou Yan more than once before that if he had plans for a new movie, he must tell him. However, he only found out about Zhou Yan's new movie after reading the news.

Zhou Yan explained with a smile, "It was also a spur-of-the-moment idea. The scripts were all written in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and I didn't have time to tell you."

After hearing Zhou Yan's explanation, Han Sanping felt much better. "I don't mean to blame you. You are not obliged to report to me when you make a movie. But you also know your brother's current situation. Yanjing Film Studio needs to follow the reform policy of the Radio, Film and Television. I have some ideas to realize, and I still need the support of my brothers. To put it in a bigger picture, you are now a representative figure of our Chinese film. Naturally, this film reform also needs your contribution."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Third brother, please don't put me on a pedestal."

Han Sanping laughed, "It's not me who puts you on a pedestal, it's you who flies high. How about it, do you have time today? Would it be convenient for you to take me to see the script of your new movie?"

"It's definitely okay if you want to read the script, just come over, but I'm very busy today, I'm afraid I don't have time to accompany you."

"Well, why do I need you to accompany me to read a script? Um... let's put it this way, I have something else to do, I'll come over when I'm done, it'll probably take about an hour." "No problem, you can come over anytime, my script is in my office."

"Okay, that's all. See you later."

"Don't worry, Third Brother, I'm calling you to trouble you with something."

"Well, you said."

"I want to borrow Li Hong and Xiao Can and ask them to come over for a meeting at noon."

"I thought it was something serious. Why do you need to tell me this? You can just call Li Hong and Xiao Can. I've told you before that Yanjing Factory is half your home. You can treat it as your own home. Just call whoever you want. If you can't get them to do it, I'll help you. If there's any problem, I'll take responsibility for it."

Han Sanping is like this. When you interact with him, you can often feel his oppressive power, which sometimes makes you feel uncomfortable, but he is also very loyal and reassuring at critical moments.

Of course, Han Sanping's loyalty is not to everyone. The reason he is so unreserved towards Zhou Yan is not only because of Zhou Yan's status in the film and music industry, but also because of Zhou Yan's family background.

"It's better to ask for instructions. I don't care. Third brother, you are the factory director. If you are too casual, you will inevitably be criticized."

"Well, I don't care about that. But I'm also very happy that you think so. How about this, you don't have to call Li Hong and the others. When I go over there later, I'll call them along. It's noon, so the three of us can go to your cafeteria and have a free meal together."

"Welcome to come."

……

Not long after talking to Han Sanping on the phone, Akina Nakamori and Seiko Iida came to Zhou Yan's office.

Zhou Yan put down his work and took Akina Nakamori to the recording studio.

During the entire process, Zhou Yan did not say anything about how to improve the Chinese version of "Snow Flower". Akina Nakamori wanted to ask, but she never asked.

The main reason was that she was still a little unfamiliar with Zhou Yan, and although Zhou Yan was younger than her, in front of Zhou Yan, she always felt like a student. This feeling made her always at a loss as to how to take the initiative to talk to Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan didn't know what Akina Nakamori was thinking, but even if he knew, he wouldn't care. He just wanted to record "Snow Flower" as soon as possible and had no intention of getting along well with Akina Nakamori.

Xiao Liu was still in the recording studio yesterday, and Zhou Yan was in charge of supervising the studio.

Recording a song is not an easy task. Even though Akina Nakamori has performed very well, Zhou Yan still has to pay attention to some details in order to make the finished product more perfect.

Even if there are no problems with the details, Zhou Yan will try his best to let Akina Nakamori sing it a few more times to see if there is anything better that can be discovered.

The recording starts at 9:30 and ends at 12 o'clock, with a two and a half hour break at noon, and then starts again at 2:30 in the afternoon.

There was naturally no problem with Akina Nakamori's performance. If Zhou Yan wanted to save trouble, he could basically finalize the final version, but he did not do so and gave Akina Nakamori more time.

In addition to wanting to make the Japanese version more perfect, Zhou Yan also wants to listen to Akina Nakamori singing more so as to find ways to solve the problems with the Chinese version.

After leaving the recording studio, Zhou Yan asked Akina Nakamori and the others to go for dinner, while he went back to his office. Han Sanping was still in his office.

When we arrived at his office, Han Sanping was still sitting on the sofa, holding the script, reading it, but he had already read the last few pages.

Zhou Yan didn't disturb him but sat on the other side.

Han Sanping glanced at Zhou Yan, then turned his attention back to the script.

About seven or eight minutes later, Han Sanping finished reading the last page of the script and then let out a long sigh of relief.

"It's a very novel setting, but the development of the story is very close to life." Pursing his lips, Han Sanping sighed again, "Your movies always give people a very special feeling."

The special feeling he mentioned refers to the fact that this film is different from other films. This difference is not only reflected in the setting and structure, but also in the handling of details.

Some people say that Zhou Yan's films are more Westernized, but in Han Sanping's opinion, Zhou Yan's films are quite different from Western films.

Another mysterious point is that even if the story does not seem to be commercial enough, Zhou Yan can still attract a large number of audiences when he films it.

Take "The Chorus" for example. Although the box office of this movie is not as good as "The Sixth Sense", it has also been very popular, especially in France. It is said that it has carved out a niche among a number of comedy movies and squeezed into the top three of the box office list.

France's box office is not that large, so it is not particularly surprising that the film ranked among the top three in France. However, the subject matter of "The Chorus" is not very popular in France.

Just look at the top few French films every year and you will find that they are basically comedies. Even if they are not pure comedies, they contain many comedy elements.

Therefore, it surprised many people that "The Chorus" achieved such success in France.

Not only in France, "The Chorus" has performed well in many countries and received high praise.

France 2 previously conducted a questionnaire survey, and "The Chorus" received an extremely high score of 4.9.

Later, Channel 2 conducted another survey, and the score did not drop at all, still maintaining at 4.9 points.

This is also the only movie that scored 4.9 points among all the movies surveyed by France 2 in the past six years, except for "Léon: The Professional". It is also the only foreign-language movie that scored such a high score in this survey.

From this point, we can see how much the French like "The Chorus".

It is worth mentioning that Channel 2 also investigated "The Sixth Sense" and it also scored very high, at 4.6 points.

"Third brother, you are too kind. It's getting late. Let's go to the cafeteria to eat."

Han Sanping waved his hand. "There's no rush to eat. I still want to talk to you about this movie. When are you going to start filming?"

"If all goes well, filming should start in the fall."

"Autumn... September or October?"

"It's basically impossible to do it in September, it will have to be at least October. Now the team has not been formed and the actors have not been selected."

Han Sanping pondered, "If we start shooting in October, we should be able to finish it in November, right?"

"It's hard to say. This movie was shot in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. It will definitely take some time."

"I see..." After thinking for a while, Han Sanping said, "I won't beat around the bush. If possible, I hope the movie can be completed before December, because I want it to be released in late December or early January."

Although Han Sanping did not explain in detail, Zhou Yan already knew what he wanted to do.

At this point in time, it should be the Lunar New Year holiday.

When Han Sanping wanted to make a Lunar New Year movie, the first person he thought of was Zhou Yan, because the biggest feature of Lunar New Year movies is that they have box office appeal and can attract audiences to the cinema.

Zhou Yan's films have this quality.

Before reading the script, Han Sanping had already made up his mind to ask Zhou Yan to release the movie during the Lunar New Year holiday. Now that he has read the script, he feels more reassured.

Zhou Yan also pondered and decided that it was not impossible to release the film at the end of December.

Even though he just told Han Sanping that the movie had many filming locations, it was not very difficult to shoot. It was not a big movie, so the props and scenery were relatively simple.

If he works harder, the filming could even start at the end of September, and then be finished in October, and the post-production of the film could be completed before the end of November.

But the problem is, he has other work to do. For example, he has to compose the soundtrack for Titanic. Even if he doesn't need to pay too much attention to it in the early stages, he must go to the scene once. As a result, he is very busy.

But before Zhou Yan could speak, Han Sanping looked at him sincerely and said, "Brother, this matter is very important. If you can help, I hope you can help. If it were someone else, I wouldn't mention it, but I know how efficient you are. You always work fast and get things done fast. It won't take you too much time to shoot this movie."

"Besides, your current team is so stable, the efficiency will only be higher. I will also spare no effort to help you clear the obstacles. If you need people, I will give you people. If you need money, I will also give you money. If you need policies, I will fight for them for you..."

As Han Sanping became more and more excited, Zhou Yan quickly said, "Brother San, stop talking. I promise you this."

Han Sanping's face suddenly brightened up, and he patted Zhou Yan's shoulder vigorously, "My brothers are still reliable." (End of this chapter)