During my years at China Entertainment

Chapter 658 Academic Exchange between Two Top Talents

In the film market, "The Maze of Heart" was taken off the screen early before it could complete its one-month release period, with the final box office revenue reported at 1.86 million yuan.

The production cost of this play was only six million yuan. Even if the publicity and promotion costs were included, the total investment did not exceed twenty-five million yuan. The box office revenue alone brought at least about 5000 million yuan in net profit to Shanhe Media.

Combined with the US$130 million in overseas copyrights previously traded at the Busan Film Festival, as well as miscellaneous income from patch ads, product placements, network copyrights, DVD copyrights, etc., the net profit of "Labyrinth of the Heart" is almost over million.

With a return of more than 10 times, it is definitely a classic example of making a small investment for a big return.

There are all kinds of flattery in the circle, praising Boss Wei for his unique vision and ability to turn stones into gold.

Even many frustrated directors are thinking about taking their scripts to ask Boss Wei for some advice.

He staged another story of "The Thousand-Li Horse and the Horse Trainer" and completely broke into the flashy world of the entertainment industry.

In this regard, Shanhe Media also welcomes all offers.

According to Zhong Lifang's report, the number of directors coming to the company to seek investment has increased significantly during this period.

"Have you seen any outstanding scripts?"

"Not yet, most of it is just a matter of luck."

"It's ok."

Wei Jin was not surprised by Zhong Lifang's reply. If you make friends with time, you will always discover good talents.

"As for the celebration banquet, you can arrange it. I won't be attending. Also, give Jin Yukun and the main creative team a red envelope of one million each."

When this movie was first made, the budget was very low, and everyone from the actors to the director did not receive high pay.

Now that the movie is a hit, Wei Jin will naturally not be stingy. He always believes that profit is the best way to stabilize cooperation.

"clear."

After joining Shanhe Media for a few months, Zhong Lifang has understood Wei Jin's habits and his concise way of speaking.

"By the way, Mr. Wei, Jin Yukun wants to sign a contract with the company, what do you think?"

"Um"

Wei Jin hesitated for a moment and nodded, "Then sign it. I'll treat you like an ordinary director."

Although Jin Yukun has made certain achievements, the current success of this drama is more due to the support brought by Shanhe Media.

If it were him playing the role, the box office revenue would have been at most tens of millions.

Moreover, according to the unwritten rules in the industry, one needs at least two or three films to secure a place in the club of billion-dollar directors.

Therefore, this condition of Wei and Jin was not considered too harsh on Jin Yukun.

Zhong Lifang obviously agreed with it, so she nodded and said, "Okay, Mr. Wei, I will finalize the contract as soon as possible."

"Ah."

Just as Wei Jin said, Ali began to contact production companies and even major directors in the circle.

Shanhe Media is a top production company in the industry, and Ali was very serious about it, sending Zhang Qiang, the head of the entertainment business group.

But Wei Jin was not interested in this group of people and directly handed the role over to Chen Zhiming, while he himself was busy auditioning for "The Vanishing Lover".

Because it is an invitation-only system, not many people came to audition this time, and the audition process was very simple.

In just half a day, Wei Jin and Chen Xi finalized their roles.

The competition for the most important leading male role - the role of a loser + a philandering scumbag - is actually not fierce, because there are not many people who meet the temperament requirements in the domestic entertainment industry.

Among Lei Jiayin, Guo Jinfei, Qin Hao and others, Wei Jin finally chose the former.

In fact, purely in terms of acting skills, Qin Hao is better, but his temperament is not honest enough, and he has a bit of villain temperament, which is somewhat different from the role positioning.

Compared with Guo Jinfei, Lei Jiayin is both an artist of the company and has worked with Gao Yuanyuan before, so he is obviously more suitable.

Of course, Wei Jin did not let Guo Jinfei make the trip in vain, as the cameo role of the ex-ex-boyfriend was given to him.

It is worth mentioning that Lei Jiayin has been living a very comfortable life in the company over the years, but he has actually gained some weight recently. Wei Jin gave him a strict order that he must lose weight before starting the filming.

In response to this, Lei Jiayin patted his chest and said that he would guarantee to complete the task.

What a joke! He hasn’t played the leading role in a Wei and Jin movie for 7 years.

If he fails because of his body shape, wouldn't he just hit himself to death with a piece of tofu?

The second male lead, a rich second-generation with ordinary looks and a bit neurotic, was eventually won over by Zhang Luyi, who had worked with Guo Fan in "Ex Machina".

On the one hand, this actor who graduated from the Central Academy of Drama has really good acting skills; on the other hand, Wei Jin can be regarded as compensation for his loss of missing out on "The Suspect".

As for the actresses, although they play supporting roles to Gao Yuanyuan, the competition is much more intense.

In addition to the designated "student mistress" Bao Tianqi, there are two other characters with more outstanding roles.

One is the hero’s sister, and the other is the female police officer who appears throughout the story.

The former is basically the second female lead in the movie. Wei Jin chose Reyiza, who was a student of the Beijing Film Academy's vocational class, among many actresses who auditioned.

This actress's acting skills are outstanding. Wei Jin expressed his admiration for her when she auditioned for "Time Traveler".

Unfortunately, although the movie was a big hit, Reyiza had too few roles and she didn’t get any benefit from it at all, and she remains lukewarm in the circle.

Chen Xi, who met Reyiza for the first time, also expressed satisfaction after watching her audition performance.

So Wei Jin and Chen Xi made the decision and settled it on the spot.

So much so that Reyiza, who has been in the industry for nearly 10 years and is already 28 years old, almost cried.

After all, this is a script from the Wei and Jin dynasties. It’s really not easy!

For the role of a female police officer, Wei Jin chose the talented actress Yan Bingyan.

Yan Bingyan was born in 72 in Beijing. His ancestral home is Qufu, Shandong. He is said to be a descendant of Yan Hui, one of Confucius' four great disciples.

Although she is not a professional, she is quite strong.

In the movie "Thousand Arrows Piercing the Heart" co-starring with Li Xian two years ago, she played a desperate mother in the play. Her performance was amazing and she won many awards at home and abroad.

Wei Jin only hoped that when they were acting together on the set, Da Meiyuan wouldn't be overwhelmed too much.

It is worth mentioning that Da Meiyu specially invited Yu Feihong to play a guest role this time.

But in the script, Yu Feihong's character will beat up Da Meiyuan, and Wei Jin doesn't know what's going on.

As for the other roles, none of them had many scenes, so Wei Jin handed them over to Chen Xi and the casting director. Not long after Wei Jin returned to the office after leaving the audition meeting room, Lao Chen came in to report on his communication with Ali.

"These Internet companies are really too arrogant."

Lao Chen looked annoyed: "In their words, not only us, but also all the well-known production companies and directors in the industry have to be contacted one by one.

In the future, for new films that are launched in the industry, especially blockbusters, Yulebao will account for at least 50%.

Tsk tsk tsk, listening to their tone, if you don’t know, you would think that Ali is already the leader of the film and television industry, hahahaha.”

"hehe."

Wei Jin also laughed. It was true that like boss, like subordinates.

This style is indeed inherited from the past!

"Then how did you reply?"

"Shanhe Media has sufficient funds, an excellent production team, and excellent scripts. From the upstream production of the industry, to the midstream post-production special effects and even publicity and distribution, as well as the downstream theaters, and even the subsequent peripheral and network platforms, a perfect closed loop can be formed.
Honestly, I think I've made myself clear enough. It's not good to slap Ahri in the face and say that he's not qualified, right?
In the end, this person really acted like he didn’t understand and asked me to think about it. His tone was as if he wanted to support and take care of us. It really opened my eyes.”

Chen Zhiming laughed as he spoke, and Wei Jin and the young assistant couldn't help laughing as well.

"Old Chen, you are just too tactful. If it were me, I would really slap you in the face. You act like you are worth two and a half million every day. What the hell is that?"

Chen Zhiming couldn't respond to this. Wei Jin could be willful, but as the president of the group, he had to remain restrained.

All the preparatory work for "The Vanishing Lover" has been completed, and the cast has been confirmed. Shanhe Media announced it directly the next day.

The media and the film and television circles paid attention to it at the first time. The movie that everyone has been curious about for so long finally has news.

You Don’t Understand the Loneliness of the Night: “Written and directed by Wei Jin, this is Da Meiyuan’s new film, it’s worth looking forward to!”

Beyond the Sky: "This is the third time that Gao Yuanyuan and Lei Jiayin have worked together. It brings back memories of Passengers and Time Travelers. I am looking forward to it!"

The magic whirlwind spun in circles: "It seems that all of them are talented this time. Is Da Meiyuan really going to win a prize?"

rexm: "That should be the case. She is the only one among the girls who won the Jin Awards who has no awards."

The Sorrow of Ending the War 168: "According to the time estimate, Wei Jin is most likely going to the Berlin Film Festival, the place where the dragon rises!"

Seven Killings: "What dragon's rise place? This is the place where Wei Jin and Gao Yuanyuan fell in love! Don't say, this bastard is a playboy, but he is quite romantic."

The old times left at my fingertips: "If Gao Yuanyuan can really be made the best actress in Berlin, I will unilaterally agree to their marriage"

I have to say that sometimes netizens’ train of thought is really weird. The movie hasn’t even started shooting yet, but it has already been booked for the Berlin Film Festival.

In comparison, artists in the circle focus more on the main creative lineup.

The several actresses who were fortunate enough to participate in the show have become the envy of the industry, especially Bao Tianqi and Reyiza.

The former is still okay, after all, she is Wei Jin's assistant and it is reasonable for her to be praised; but the latter really broke the hearts of many actresses.

The second female role was given to such an unknown little actress?
Could it be that Boss Wei likes this kind of exotic style? Or is Reyiza really that big?
It is mid-April and several imported films, such as "Captain America 2" and "Rio 2", have been released in the film market.

This is not a good thing for domestic films.

The first to be affected is "Lost and Love".

The movie has only been released for two weeks and the box office has closed at 2.79 million yuan, but the single-day box office has fallen below million.

According to the current situation, there will be no problem in breaking 3 million at the box office, but 4 million is almost impossible.

As for the rest of the domestic films, they were beaten so hard that they had no power to fight back and all became cannon fodder.

In view of this, the movies scheduled for the May Day holiday are stepping up their publicity, because this three-day holiday is bound to be a scene filled with smoke of war.

The promotions for several movies such as "Rebirth: Frozen Gate", "You Are the Apple of My Eye", "Hypnotist", and "The Raid 2" have entered a white-hot stage.

However, in terms of publicity effect and attention, "The Return", which is scheduled to be released in mid-May, is more powerful.

Because just today, the Cannes Film Festival announced that "The Return" was shortlisted for the screening unit.

And there was a rumor that came out of nowhere that the film was forced to not participate in the main competition unit because it had too many "projections".

The credibility of this news is very high, because netizens will definitely not think that a lineup including Zhang Yimou, Gong Li, and Venice Film Festival Best Actor Chen Daoming does not have the strength to be shortlisted for the main competition unit.

Therefore, being shortlisted for the screening unit has magnified the publicity effect of the film by more than ten times - because everyone wants to see what kind of movie will receive such great "favorable treatment"!
Perhaps just as the name of the movie suggests, Zhang Yimou and Gong Li will collaborate again and return with "Coming Home"!
And at this time, after nearly four months of filming, "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy" was completed.

That evening, Wei Jin held a wrap-up banquet for the crew in the capital.

The scale was not large, but the specifications were very high. Even most of the actors who had already finished filming attended the event as long as they had time.

After all, the big boss has participated, wouldn’t it be a lack of respect if I don’t come?

Of course, Chen Xiao is not among them. After finishing his scenes in Northeast China, this guy has already joined the crew of "Joy of Life 2".

During the dinner, Xu Ke and Wei Jin shared the bitterness of filming in Northeast China, which was indeed very difficult.

We have to endure temperatures of minus ten degrees Celsius every day and dress like dumplings.

Because of his limited mobility, Xu even fell down during the command and dispatch process and had to sit in a wheelchair for several days.

Fortunately, the filming of the big drama he had been dreaming of was finally completed.

However, Wei Jin had to admit that Xu Zheng was indeed very energetic. He did not plan to rest for long and would start the post-production work of the film in a few days.

In his words, the original "The Empire Strikes Back" was struggling to survive during the Lunar New Year holiday;

Although the 11 "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" made a big splash during the Lunar New Year holiday, it was ultimately unable to dominate the box office due to the existence of "Mojin: The Last Dragon", which is a bit regrettable!

Therefore, he hopes that this time, "The Taking of Tiger Mountain" will be a big hit in the Lunar New Year box office and he can be crowned the king!

Wei Jin did not comment on this.

After all, if we say now that "Charlotte's Troubles" will be the biggest winner, perhaps no one will believe it.

However, with "Operation Mekong" having already made the main theme popular in advance, I think the situation of "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy" should be better.

After the lively dinner, Song Yi, who had not tasted meat for four months, started to pester Wei Jin again.

Of course Wei Jin would not refuse this, and even brought his assistant Chen Yuqi along.

Wei Jin had long wanted to taste these two beauties with superb physiques at the same time and carefully distinguish the difference between them.

Therefore, surrounded by two people with superb physiques, Wei Jin had to be on his guard.

As a result, this meticulous and rigorous academic exchange lasted nearly half a night.
(End of this chapter)