Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 712 Big News

"Director Gu, the vice presidents of Universal and Legendary did not accept the invitation. They replied that they only wanted to meet with you privately and did not want to appear in front of the media..."

After returning to the villa, Song Ge called.

Gu Wei thought it was normal that the vice presidents of the two companies did not accept his invitation. After all, sending the invitation letters was just a try.

If it really succeeds, it will increase the publicity of "Despicable Me 3". If it fails, then forget it. Think about it, Legendary and Universal will definitely not come to support a movie produced by DreamWorks without prior communication.

However, it seems that Universal and Legendary attach great importance to "The Great Wall". They started discussing serious matters as soon as they arrived in China, and La Peikang's original promise to attend the movie premiere was also cancelled.

"Have someone reply to them and we'll talk about it after the premiere."

"understood."

After hanging up the phone, Gu Wei looked at Liu Yifei who was calling Su Chang and asking him to come to her house tomorrow to put on makeup and attend the premiere. After thinking for a while, he picked up his phone and called Zhang Yimou.

La Peikang asked Gu Wei to persuade Zhang Yimou to take over "The Great Wall". Now that the vice presidents of Legendary and Universal have arrived in China, the other party called him again in the evening to urge him to take over.

"Brother, how is the situation?"

"Not very optimistic." Zhang Yimou's voice sounded.

"What's wrong?" Gu Wei asked curiously.

"LeTV communicated with me again. Universal and Legendary attach great importance to this movie. It is estimated that it will be shot and produced in the Hollywood style..."

After Zhang Yimou finished speaking, Gu Wei already understood that the so-called Hollywood model is the producer-centered system. The director is just a tool for filming, and the producer is responsible for the script and post-production editing, just like "Jurassic World".

Actually, there are examples of "director-centered system" in Hollywood, but those are all international directors such as Nolan, Cameron, Spielberg and others.

But even so, these directors only have the greatest say, not the absolute power of China's "director-centered system"!

Even Gu Wei could not adapt this point. For example, when he knew about "The Day After Tomorrow", because Warner was the main investor, Gu Wei did not have much say in the post-production editing.

When it came to movies like "2012" and "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", because Tomorrow's Star Pictures was the major investor, Gu Wei also served as the producer, which allowed him to have the final say.

Therefore, whether to adopt the producer-centered system or the director-centered system depends on whether China Film and LeTV or Legendary and Universal Studios dominate the co-production.

"Then what are you going to do?" Gu Wei currently doesn't know that this movie has a huge investment, so it's hard for him to jump to conclusions.

"I plan to take a look at the script first, and give up if it's not suitable." Zhang Yimou is not in a hurry at all. He is living a more comfortable life now than in the original time and space. Once "Jurassic World" is released and sells well, he will be a big director with no shortage of awards and box office.

Zhang Yimou has thought it through in the past two days. If he doesn't have the leading role, he would rather not take this movie, so as to avoid making a bad movie in the end.

"That's fine. How about this? Brother, you can come to the premiere tomorrow and spread some news about the possibility of directing The Wandering Earth 2. What do you think?"

Gu Wei has also been thinking about this these days. It is really difficult to find a director for the co-production film "The Great Wall".

In Hollywood, Spielberg is busy with "Jurassic World" and Nolan is in charge of "The Martian". Cameron is unlikely to take on such a co-production.

In China, Brother Chen Kai is busy with "The Taoist Goes Down the Mountain" and Jiang Wen's "One Step Away" is about to be released. It is estimated that Feng Xiaogang will not be taken seriously.

Legendary and Universal wanted to talk to me privately, most likely to invite me. If Zhang Yimou didn't agree, the project might be delayed.

This is the most fatal point for Hollywood companies that value time.

Hearing this, Zhang Yimou on the other end of the phone was stunned, feeling that he owed Gu Wei more and more.

"Trouble." After a moment of silence, Zhang Yimou slowly opened his mouth and emphasized these words.

"One family does not speak two languages."

.........

industry.

No matter how strict the documents issued by the General Administration are, there are still a large number of projects and variety shows being launched in the entertainment industry every day.

The success of "Running Man" has made Jiangsu and Zhejiang Satellite TV earn a lot of money recently. The advertising fees alone have made them rich, not to mention the bonus for the TV series broadcast by the satellite TV station.

Among them, Dragon TV is the most active one, and this important task falls on Yan Min, Ren Jing and others who graduated from Shanghai Theatre Academy.

Yan Min was not sure whether he could shoot a good variety show.

However, he had served as the deputy director of "Voice of Asia" and knew that since it was a reality show, it was necessary to highlight the characteristics of a reality show. Therefore, Yan Min planned not to give a specific script and let the participating guests perform on their own.

But after the program outline is finalized, inviting those people to participate becomes the most critical issue.

"I think there should be all three generations, both wandering stars and actors with great acting skills." The speaker is Ren Jing, deputy director of Dragon TV.

"Since our name is "Go Fighting", the content is quite bold. I think older people are not suitable for it. If something unexpected happens, it will be a big trouble." Shi Jianing has served as the director of Dragon TV's variety show "China's Got Talent". This time he was ordered to prepare for this variety show, and his subconscious thinking was more cautious.

"Then let's set a scope, use celebrity artists with good acting skills to lead the new generation of artists, and select all men as the personnel. Everyone will go and invite guests separately." Yan Min finally made the decision.

Afterwards, Yan Min and others refined the program flow while looking for sponsorship.

Not long after, Tudou Video came to us and expressed the hope for exclusive sponsorship.

Variety shows, especially those that have not proven themselves, will always lack investment.

There are not many shows in the domestic entertainment industry that are naturally endowed with strong capital, like "Running Man".

But recently "Running Man" has also encountered trouble, that is, the copyright of this program comes from South Korea. Because Star Film and Television Company took the lead in banning South Korea, there was a big conflict with the South Korean entertainment industry.

The original agreement was only for three years, and now it will expire next year.

The person in charge of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Satellite TV talked to Song Ge and was concerned about the copyright issue of "Running Man". Although South Korea did not explicitly state that it would not authorize the program after the expiration, it privately hinted that if it wanted to obtain the copyright, it would have to lift the restrictions on Korean Wave.

How could Gu Wei agree? Even if Jiangsu and Zhejiang Satellite TV said it could imitate the other party and change the name, Gu Wei still felt that he would give up this variety show if he could not renew the contract. Anyway, with the influence of Xingchen Film and Television Company in the domestic entertainment industry, it would only take a few minutes to start a new variety show that would surpass "Running Man".

So finding programs of the same type became Zhong Lifang's responsibility. It just so happened that Yan Min was soliciting investments everywhere at that time. Zhong Lifang kept this in mind and reported it to Gu Wei.

After careful consideration, Gu Wei felt that it was a bit of a waste to have Xingchen Film and Television Company sponsor the show. After all, apart from promoting celebrities, the biggest benefit of a variety show is publicity.

However, Xingchen Films had nothing that needed to be promoted, so Wang Wei from Tudou received a call from Gu Wei. After the two discussed, they decided that Tudou would come forward and promote Tudou and its software apps at the same time!

.........

"Produced jointly by Rising Star Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures, with Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Neve Scharrell, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gay and others as the lead voice actors, and with a production cost of over 3 million US dollars, Despicable Me will hold its premiere in China in the near future..."

"Yesterday morning, the vice president of DreamWorks and the main voice actors of Despicable Me 3 appeared at the Capital Airport and arrived in China."

"After the Legendary and Universal vice presidents arrived in China, they met with Chairman La Peikang at the China Film Group. The two sides negotiated for two hours and it is suspected that they reached a new cooperation..."

"It is reported that Director Gu Wei has signed a contract with DreamWorks, and his artists may serve as voice actors for the "Minions Series"..."

"The animated film 'Frozen 1.3', jointly produced by Rising Star Pictures and Disney with an investment of up to 2 million US dollars, will soon start a global promotional tour..." Early the next morning, a series of news appeared on the Internet and Weibo.

The "top big cake" that China Film Group Corporation cooperated with a big Hollywood company was once again dangling in front of countless actresses in the film and television industry, making everyone feel uncomfortable.

Although many people know that they may not have the chance to eat a piece, they still can't help but envy and hope that if they are chosen, they can join this feast.

Gu Wei's subsequent collaboration with DreamWorks made people in the circle jealous. She dubbed a Hollywood animated film. The last person to have this treatment was Liu Yifei.

Therefore, joining Shiba Culture Company became the goal of many people in the circle. After all, being able to get close to Gu Wei is equivalent to getting a ticket to Hollywood.

Just like that, Gu Wei used only a piece of news, whether true or false, to make the celebrities who were originally hostile to Xingchen Film and Television Company surrender one after another.

...

In the villa.

Miss Liu was sitting in front of the dressing table putting on makeup. There was a makeup artist and a stylist, and sitting next to her were Liu Xiaoli and Su Chang.

After filming "Red Sorghum", Su Chang had not received any scripts. Thanks to Liu Yifei's advice, she successfully got the role of the second female lead in the next movie from Gu Wei.

In her words: "It's been a long time since I filmed with Xixi. I definitely can't miss this time."

"Is it done?" Gu Wei asked helplessly after waiting downstairs for a long time.

"Don't worry, it will be ready soon." Su Chang replied with a smile.

Gu Wei knew very well about the woman's speed.

More than an hour passed before the group got in the car and drove to the premiere.

at the same time.

The entrance of Dadi Cinemas Chaoyang store was already filled with media reporters.

After all, "Despicable Me 3" is a Hollywood movie. I can't go to the Great Hall of the People or the CPPCC Auditorium. If I choose the Olympic Sports Center, there won't be so many audiences watching the movie at the same time.

After much deliberation, the company decided to hold the event in a cinema and booked the hotel next door, and also held a cocktail party after the movie.

At 5:30 in the afternoon, the arrival of Gu Wei, Liu Yifei and others brought the event to a climax.

The hosts are artists under Shiba Culture Company, namely Ling Xiaosu and Ke Lan.

When I saw my boss and his wife arrived, I greeted them and started a brief interview.

There were only a few questions in the interview before the movie. After that, Gu Wei and Liu Yifei walked into the cinema hand in hand.

...

the other side.

The negotiations between China Film, Legendary and Universal Pictures have also entered a critical period.

The two sides have reached a consensus on the general direction, but have differences on many "minor details".

The most prominent issue is the "director-centered system" and "producer-centered system" that Gu Wei and Zhang Yimou talked about.

Both sides have their reasons, and there is only one question now, which one to choose?
Legendary and Universal insisted on using the "producer-centered system". The reason given was that the film would be released worldwide, and Hollywood had a complete set of processes for editing and post-production, which had been tested through years of practice.

China Film Group Corporation is considering adapting to local conditions and plans to use the director-centered system. The reason is very simple. It involves the integration of Eastern and Western cultures. La Peikang believes that the regulations cannot be too rigid and need to be more flexible.

Take "The Forbidden Kingdom" as an example. Although this movie made some money, its reputation was average.

The two sides continued to negotiate back and forth, and finally at around five o'clock in the afternoon, China Film, Legendary and Universal Pictures preliminarily finalized all the terms of cooperation.

Next, people from the two major Hollywood studios will be stationed in the mainland to follow up on the "Great Wall" project.

The project was agreed.

Sitting in the office, La Peikang let out a long sigh of relief. The big framework was finally settled, and only the selection of people was left, which was the most critical link.

"La Dong, the people from Legend and Universal have left, but the group of media reporters outside are still waiting. They want to know what happened today."

Hearing this, La Peikang couldn't help but smile.

He looked at the secretary and said in a pleasant tone: "Go and notify them, and contact other media by the way.

A press conference will be held at China Film the day after tomorrow morning. It is time to let the industry know about The Great Wall, a Sino-US co-production, a rare big production in recent years!"

The secretary only responded for a second and then nodded immediately, "La Dong, I'll do it right away."

As La Peikang's secretary, how could he not understand his boss's thoughts? He was going to follow Mr. Han's old path and pretend to be cool.

La Peikang was in a good mood at the moment. After dinner, it was already past eight o'clock in the evening, so he casually asked, "How is Gu Wei doing?"

"The premiere has ended, and the question-and-answer session has topped the trending search list," the secretary answered honestly.

The general information can be obtained from the Internet, after all, the reports are updated simultaneously.

"At the premiere, Director Gu predicted that Despicable Me 3 would earn a minimum of million yuan at the box office..."

"It is reported that at the premiere of Despicable Me 3 held by Xingchen Films, Director Gu Wei revealed that the next movie has been confirmed, and the film is expected to have an investment of up to million US dollars..."

"Director Gu Wei's latest work is confirmed to be a military science fiction blockbuster, and will invite top domestic and foreign celebrities to join..."

"It is reported that Director Gu's new film will cooperate with domestic and overseas companies such as China Film, Golden Shield, Navy, and Warner..."

La Peikang looked at his phone, which was full of explosive news, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

"You go and keep a close eye on Director Gu, and report to me if anything happens." Although La Peikang did not go to the scene, he already knew what was going to happen next.

"Okay, La Dong."

...

In the hotel lobby, the atmosphere has reached its peak at this time.

Previously, reporters had interviewed the vice president of DreamWorks and the main creative staff of "Despicable Me 3", but the answers from this group of people were nothing more than how much the movie has grossed at the box office so far and how much it has earned overseas. There was nothing new about it.

Unlike Gu Wei who is sitting on the stage now, big news is breaking one after another...

.........

(End of this chapter)