Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 753 A large filming team

The Xi'an Film Studio has been facing increasing difficulties in the past two years and can barely make ends meet.

In fact, it is not just the Xi'an Film Studio. Other domestic film studios are similar to the Xi'an Film Studio. It's just that the speed of the Xi'an Film Studio's decline is so fast that it is jaw-dropping.

Of course, there is no point in talking about this matter in such an occasion. After a few complaints, everyone quickly shifted the topic to the filming collaboration with Warner Bros.

"Minghua, this is the contract we are about to sign with Warner Bros., take a look." Wu Tianmin took out two thick documents from his bag in the room, which were in Chinese and English.

Fang Minghua took it and flipped through a few pages. It detailed the rights and obligations of both parties, as well as the positions held by the creative staff of the two film companies in the play.

Producers: Michael Barnason (US), Wu Tianmin (China)

Director: Spielberg (USA) Zhang Yimou (China)

Spielberg?
This is very famous.

Fang Minghua had also seen him.

That was in 85. Fang Minghua was invited to Iowa to participate in the International Writing Program. Spielberg specifically found him and bought the film adaptation rights of the novel "The Sun".

Seeing Fang Minghua paying attention to this, Wu Tianmin took out another document and said:

"This is the list of the main members of the crew and their division of labor."

Fang Minghua took the document and read it with interest:
The producer and director are the same as in the contract, and there are more detailed positions below:
Assistant Director:
David R. Ellis (USA) Robert Legato (USA)

Photographer: Michael Seritzen (US) and Lu Le (China)

Art: Stuart Craig (US), Lee Sanders (US), John King (US)
Cao Jiuping (center)
Editing: Luke Youngblood (US), Angela Basson (US), Du Yuan (China)

There are also music, action effects, costumes, props, makeup, perspective effects, action effects... There are so many of them, and there are hundreds of people involved.

The largest number of people are from visual effects, with 20 people!
"Warner Bros. said that this is just a preliminary list and it can be expanded at any time based on filming needs," Wu Tianmin added.

Fang Minghua nodded.

The scale is indeed huge, and Warner has invested heavily this time.

We brought in the best and brightest troops, mainly from the United States, and the six people from China actually came to learn.

Fang Minghua put down the crew information, picked up the contract, looked at it and asked, "Brother Wu, have you sent it to China?"

"Of course. Mr. Song is very concerned about this matter. We have already faxed the Chinese electronic version to China two days ago."

"Okay, my wife will take a look at it." Fang Minghua immediately put the contract aside and explained with a smile: "I am really an amateur in this area. I am not as good as your brother Wu, nor as good as my wife."

To be honest, Fang Minghua came just for the formality, and another point is that he came to visit everyone on behalf of his daughter-in-law.

Putting the contract aside, everyone started chatting. Fang Minghua asked everyone if they had gotten used to the food and accommodation in the United States.
As soon as the topic of food comes up, everyone starts complaining.

"Minghua, it doesn't matter where you live. The main thing is that you can't get used to the food. That hamburger is not as delicious as our Xijing roujiamo!" The speaker this time was Lu Le, a photographer who also graduated from Yandian.

"Yes, and the noodles are even worse. They are not as delicious as the oil-splashed noodles and臊子面 in Xijing!"

"Oh, mutton soup is still delicious."

"Comrades, do you know what I want to eat?!" Du Yuan said in a loud voice.

"hot pot!"

The other men said in unison.

"When filming a movie with you, no matter where we go, we have to eat hotpot at the end, right, Yimou?" Cao Jiuping turned his head and asked Zhang Yimou with a smile.

Cao Jiuping is also from Xijing. He is about 40 years old this year. He is a student of the Oil Painting Department of Xijing Academy of Fine Arts. After graduation, he went to work at Xi'an Film Studio and has been working with Zhang Yimou for nearly ten years. From the first "Red Sorghum" to the present, Cao Jiuping has been the art director for all the films shot by Zhang Yimou!
I heard that Cao Jiuping and Du Yuan lived in the same building in the staff quarters of Xi'an Film Studio, and their doors were opposite each other, so they were very close.

Zhang Yimou nodded: "I give up. Why does this girl like hot pot so much?"

"It's a pity that in Burbank, let alone hotpot, you can't even find a Chinese restaurant." Du Yuan complained.

"It's a small town with a population of less than 100,000, even smaller than the population of a county town in China. What can you expect?" Tao Jing took over the conversation.

Tao Jing was admitted to the Recording Department of Yenching Film Academy in 1978. He now works at Tianjin Film Studio and is the only person in Zhang Yimou's team who is not from Xi'an Film Studio.

This is true.
Seeing everyone complaining about the food, Fang Minghua said, "How about I treat everyone to a hot pot?"

"Where is the hot pot here?" Du Yuan asked.

"We don't have it here, but we have it in Chinatown in Los Angeles. Let's go to Chinatown in Los Angeles to eat!" Fang Minghua said with a smile.

"Okay, let's go now!" Du Yuan was the most enthusiastic, and the others also hurried to join in the fun.

But Wu Tianmin was a little hesitant.

"Minghua, it's still an hour's train ride to downtown Los Angeles, the round trip."

"Don't worry, if you miss the train, we can take a taxi back and I'll cover the round-trip fare, so that your President Song won't be accused of going to Los Angeles just to eat a hotpot." Fang Minghua joked.

Wu Tianmin laughed: "If you don't tell your wife, how will she know? Besides, Mr. Song is not such a stingy person. I am just worried about everyone's safety. In this case, everyone should go, and call the translator and the two foreigners as well!"

"Don't worry, I'll put my luggage down first. I'm just talking to you. I don't have my own room yet." Fang Minghua said.

Half an hour later, all the staff gathered in the lobby. They went out and took three taxis straight to the train station, then took the train to Los Angeles Union Station, changed to the subway, and finally arrived in Chinatown.

Los Angeles' Chinatown is connected to the Old Town District and is one of the largest Chinese settlements on the west coast of the United States.

Standing at the street corner, there is an ancient Chinese archway at the gate.

"Wow, this is Chinatown? It's just like our country." Du Yuan came here for the first time and couldn't help but sigh when she saw the scene.

"It's more like Hong Kong, with all traditional Chinese characters," said Zhang Yimou.

He has been to Hong Kong and has a deeper understanding of the situation.

"Let's go in quickly and find some hot pot!" Wu Tianmin urged.

The group looked around as they walked, and soon found a Chinese restaurant called "Chongqing Yaomei Hotpot".

This store name makes people feel very familiar.

There was no need to look for it anymore, everyone went into the store immediately, it had a traditional Chinese flavor and atmosphere. Although it was still some time before dinner time, there were already diners in the hot pot restaurant, not only yellow-skinned Chinese, but also blond-haired and blue-eyed foreigners.

But looking at the red hot pot with bubbling oil, aren’t they afraid of the spiciness?

Everyone gathered around the table, and the traditional Chongqing nine-square grid was served. Looking at the red pot bottom with bubbles of oil and smelling the fragrant aroma, even Fang Minghua, who usually didn't eat hot pot at home, was drooling.

Duck blood, duck intestines, beef rolls, tenderloin slices, tripe, enoki mushrooms, tribute vegetables, bean curd skin... They ordered a lot of everything and everyone started eating and drinking.

The more you eat this thing, the more delicious it becomes, especially in winter. People who eat it will sweat all over, and it feels really good if you drink some beer.

The two foreigners also wanted to try this flavor, which gets hotter the better, but unfortunately they couldn't stand it after two bites. They asked for two bottles of Coke and drank them in one breath, gasping for breath. In the end, I gave them another tomato pot and asked them to eat it themselves at the table next to them.

As we ate and talked, we naturally talked about the filming of this movie.

"Brother Wu, I see the crew has basically been decided. Have you found the actors?" Fang Minghua asked after taking a sip of beer.

(End of this chapter)