China Entertainment: Been working as a director since 03

Chapter 612 Excellent Lecture

Li Yu is a director by profession.

But China adheres to the director-centered system.

As one of China's recognized great directors, Li Yu's popularity in the country is no less than that of the first-line stars in the circle.

This can be confirmed when Li Yu appeared on the stage.

In the program "Let's Talk", the host Xiao Sa usually comes on stage first, then gives an opening speech and then introduces today's speaker.

At this time, a VCR will appear on the screen, which is a video introduction, showing the background and achievements of the speaker.

The speaker then took the stage to deliver a keynote speech, sharing his or her stories and insights with the audience.

Only then will the speaker be invited to come on stage and the stage will be handed over to him or her.

When the VCR finished playing and Li Yu came out from the backstage, there was warm applause at the recording site.

Li Yu had been standing on the stage for more than ten seconds before the applause gradually faded away.

Li Yu finally got the chance to speak.

The recording location of "Let's Talk" is not fixed. Sometimes it is held in a famous university, and sometimes it is held abroad. The recording location is related to the identity of the invited speaker.

For example, if the speaker of this episode is the president of a university, then the recording location will most likely be at that university.

Today's recording location is inside Beijing Film Academy.

Many people in the audience are students from Beijing Film Academy and the Central Academy of Drama next door.

Of course, there will be a lot of moviegoers and fans.

After the scene quieted down, Li Yu finally spoke his first words: "I thought I had to stand on the stage for half an hour before I could speak my first words."

The people in the audience laughed after hearing Li Yu's ridicule.

When the laughter faded again, Li Yu continued, "Although the host has already introduced me, please allow me to introduce myself once. My name is Li Yu, an ordinary Chinese director."

"Shut up!"

As soon as the words "ordinary" came out, a sigh of relief was heard from the audience.

In everyone's eyes, Li Yu, the mediocre Chinese director, and Gu Tianle, who has an ordinary appearance, are of the same nature, both of which are top-notch Versailles.

“I am extremely honored to be invited by the “Let’s Talk” program team and have the opportunity to stand on this stage to share my stories and insights.

Among the students here, there should be some who are studying directing, or have some understanding of the profession of director.

Everyone should know how difficult it is to make a name for yourself as a director.

Since the founding of Beijing Film Academy, it has recruited so many new students, but I dare say that there are only a handful of people who can really make a name for themselves in the circle.

Let me tell you a story. Guo Fan is a director who has made several films. The investment scale of the film he is currently making, "The Wandering Earth", has reached 4 to 5 million yuan.

He wanted to help his junior fellow apprentice Kong Dashan, who was both his mentor and friend. He approached investors to help him raise investment, but no investor was willing to help him.

This happened last year, and to this day, investment capital is still so unfriendly to new directors.

I entered the director circle in the 2000s. At that time, the investment capital in the entertainment industry was even more unfriendly to new directors from the mainland.

At that time, directors from Hong Kong and Taiwan brought their mature production teams to the north to shoot movies, and capital was more willing to trust them because they were more experienced.

Under the impact of professional teams from Hong Kong and Taiwan, even the mainland directors who have made it big are having a hard time, let alone new directors.”

Li Yu told the story in a leisurely manner. Many people in the audience were moved by Li Yu's story.

Listening to Li Yu's story, for a new director to start his career as a director in that environment in the 2000s was a completely hellish start and it was not easy at all.

Even Xiao Sa, who was standing next to him, nodded secretly twice.

Li Yubu Versailles is still very positive when he tells the story seriously.

"Nowadays, the average investment a new director can get for his first film is less than two million yuan. In the 2000s, this number was even lower.

In that environment, even if we got two million investment, what about the actors? What about the lighting, photography, sound and other behind-the-scenes staff?
And the most important thing was the camera. At that time, renting a camera cost several thousand yuan a day.”

Li Yu said again.

After hearing this, many people in the audience felt that the job of director was not a job for humans.

In everyone's stereotype, directors are very powerful. Not only can they buy a straw hat worth one thousand yuan to cheat investors, but they can also arrange red sofas for female stars in the hotel. Their lives are so good.

It turns out that behind the glamour, the director's starting stage is so difficult.

Just when everyone thought Li Yu was going to talk about how he overcame numerous difficulties and finally achieved great success, everyone found that the familiar formula came again.

"Of course, I didn't encounter most of the situations I just mentioned. Because I had a good school, a good teacher, and a good father.

I told my teacher that I wanted to make a TV series. He fully supported me, helped me submit it for review, and found a group of seniors in the school to do the behind-the-scenes work for me.

The school also strongly supported my career and lent me the film studio's photography equipment for free.

Finally, it was my old father. When he heard that I was going to film a TV series, he called the bank without hesitation and asked them to transfer several million to my account. He also told me to ask him for more if it was not enough. Just be bold and confident. I can afford to lose several million. "

Li Yu made a 180-degree turn.

This sudden reversal surprised everyone.

Smelling the familiar formula and familiar smell, Xiao Sa used the professional qualities he had developed through years of training to barely hold back his laughter.

Li Yu’s speeches will definitely not all be top-notch Versailles.

He was being Versailles just to make the speech less boring and more interesting for everyone to listen to.

Next, he talked seriously about the various difficulties he encountered while filming his first work in his life.

For example, the funding is still insufficient, and everything has to be calculated carefully. Many of the costumes you see in the play are the actors' own private clothes.

For example, if you can’t afford famous actors to play the leading roles, how difficult it would be to sell the play.

What Li Yu wants to tell everyone is that no job is easy, happy times are short, and most of the time is painful.

For example, people generally recognize the great poet Li Bai as being very free and easy. When mentioning him, the first thing that comes to people’s mind is that when life is happy, one should enjoy it to the fullest and drink three hundred cups of wine at a party.

In fact, Li Bai said that there were more times when the journey was difficult than when it was easy.

It’s just that outsiders can usually only see the bright side of others and not the painful side.

Li Yu's speech was full of useful information and funny moments, and it was definitely an excellent speech.

When Li Yu finished speaking, there was warm applause from the audience.

When Xiao Sa returned to the stage, he also said with emotion: "It can be seen that Director Li is not only a top director, but also an excellent lecturer. If every class is so exciting, I believe there will be no students skipping classes. Even I want to attend the class."

(End of this chapter)