Chinese Entertainment: Starting from 1996

Chapter 575: Tiny Times and Going to America
After returning from the first class, Liu Zhou took a few days to handle the affairs of several companies under his control.

If nothing unexpected happens, this time in the box office battle between "Aftershock" and "Transformers 3", China will definitely win.

It was worth it that he even used the influence he had worked so hard to build up when promoting the movie.

Last year, "Interstellar" surpassed "Avatar" in the Lunar New Year box office, and this year, "Aftershock" beat "Transformers 3" in the summer box office, and the box office of these movies all exceeded billion.

There is no need for the media to hype him up, as the industry has also unanimously acknowledged Liu Zhou's title as the king of commercial films.

To be honest, after filming "Aftershock", Liu Zhou had no idea which movie to make next in China.

Although the domestic film market will start to take off from next year, high-grossing movies will emerge in an endless stream, and even those with box office revenues of over 1 billion will appear one after another.

For Liu Zhou now, he certainly can't just turn around and shoot small-scale or trend-following movies. At the very least, the movie must have certain characteristics or meaning.

But it’s still early, and his current goal is to win an Oscar first, so he has to make the movie "Joker" well first.

On the afternoon of August 16, after finishing processing the last document, Liu Zhou couldn't help but stretch, then walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and overlooked the entire city.

At this time, the sky was full of rosy clouds, and the fiery red clouds, combined with the tall buildings, the scenery was spectacular.

I don’t know if Zhang Zhao is just good at picking the right time, but he comes to my house as soon as he has some free time.

"Mr. Liu, are you leaving for North America tomorrow?"

"That's right. There's nothing going on in China that requires me to personally intervene. The Joker hasn't even been completed yet, but Warner Bros. is already pushing for it."

"There is something that requires you to make a decision now." Zhang Zhao said with a smile.

"I knew you were here for no good reason. Something must have happened in the company again."

"These past two days, the famous youth novel writer Guo Xiaosi came to us to seek cooperation. He wants to adapt his novel into a movie."

"Isn't it up to you to decide on this matter?"

“I understand. I am quite interested in this project. He has many fans, but he wants to be the director himself. I don’t have much confidence in the quality of the film.

The movie may do well at the box office, but the word of mouth will definitely not be very good. I am worried that it will affect our Golden Harvest brand."

"So what do you think?" Liu Zhou asked

"Didn't we have a meeting before to consider setting up another label? I think we can do it now, so we can use this new label to cooperate with Guo Xiaosi."

"No problem, I'll do as you say."

Golden Harvest has grown to a very large scale now, and as its various businesses have begun to take shape, the production business will be the company's focus.

But it is impossible for every movie to be labeled with Golden Harvest’s label, otherwise the brand value that Golden Harvest has worked so hard to build will gradually decline.

Just like the "Tiny Times" that came to us for collaboration now, its reputation is terrible.

This series can be said to have opened Pandora's box in the film and television industry. Fan movies and fan economy began to become the focus of capital considerations, and then opened the door to the era of traffic.

Guo Xiaosi's crossover to become a director also greatly lowered the threshold for becoming a director. After him, people from all walks of life became directors and made a lot of bad movies.

However, it did not have any positive effect. During this period, several future leading directors of Chinese-language films emerged, such as Han Han and Chen Sicheng.

However, in the next few years, there will still be a period of chaos in the director and film circles, and the instigator Guo Xiaosi will be scolded by the media and the audience.

The "Tiny Times" series was even ridiculed as an advertisement with a hollow plot.

But movies can make money.

The four "Tiny Times" films cost 100 to 200 million yuan and grossed nearly 1.8 billion yuan.

So even though Guo Xiaosi was scolded badly at that time, he didn't say a word and just made money quietly.

Later, his movie "Jade Dynasty" flopped, and everyone scolded him again, so he came out to complain.

But this is all routine capital operations. Later, when "Operation Jiaolong" failed at the box office, Yu Dong brought his whole family out to complain about his grievances.

He also kept silent when he made a fortune by taking advantage of everyone's patriotism.

Therefore, faced with the huge profits that "Tiny Times" could bring, even Liu Zhou couldn't bear to give up.

He personally may not care about this little money, but Golden Harvest is a listed company after all. It needs to be responsible to its shareholders and investors and cannot act on its own will.

Since "Tiny Times" can bring in revenue, we cannot give it up even if its reputation is bad. What's more, the other party came to us on their own initiative, which is equivalent to giving money to Golden Harvest.

There will definitely be a lot of such movies in the future, and some low-budget movies should not use the Golden Harvest label.

Therefore, it is also necessary to establish a new film label.

Among the seven major Hollywood studios, each has several small labels under its umbrella.

"By the way, is it just Guo Xiaosi who came here to seek cooperation?"

"No, he also brought Cai Zhiping, a famous producer from Taiwan." Zhang Zhao replied.

"The one that produced Meteor Garden?"

"Yes, she is also one of the investors, and she is in charge of the entire project and is responsible for determining the style and team of the film."

"Why did Guo Xiaosi suddenly hook up with her?"

Cai Zhiping is not a simple person. She is known as the godmother of Taiwanese idol dramas, but her influence is not limited to idol dramas. She has a huge influence in the entire Taiwanese entertainment industry.

She is also a representative figure of Wanwan Film and Television Capital, and later had a close cooperative relationship with Penguin Video, and has a great influence in the circle.

"It was Cai Zhiping who took the initiative to find Guo Xiaosi. She was also the one who initiated the Tiny Times project."

"Can you kick her out?"

Liu Zhou is not prejudiced against her, but he just doesn't like Wanwan Film and Television Capital.

Not to mention that they like to insert their own opinions, they also like to use Taiwanese artists and mainland artists to promote their status, which in turn is used to hype up Taiwanese artists.

In "Tiny Times", Cai Zhiping squeezed in four or five Taiwanese actors at once.

It would be fine if it was clean, but they also brought in Ko Ching-teng. After he was banned, all the movies were taken off the shelves.

Taking the movie off the shelves is a small matter. The key is not to give bad artists any chance, especially those like him who take things.

The original time and space "Tiny Times" was also invested and produced by Zhang Zhao. LeTV had no actors, so the selection of actors was all decided by Cai Zhiping.

It’s different at Golden Harvest now. There are plenty of artists. Those who are already famous may not think highly of this movie, but Zeng Jia has also started signing new people recently.

"Tiny Times" is quite good for promoting newcomers. Movies don't need the appeal of actors anyway. The box office mainly depends on Guo Xiaosi's fans and fans of the novel.

"I'm afraid it's impossible to kick her out. Cai Zhiping and Guo Xiaosi are already deeply bound together."

"That's fine, but please try to use people from our company as the leading actors in the movie, especially the two male protagonists. We must get them."

Cai Zhiping is quite important to the project of "Tiny Times". Without her as producer, Guo Xiaosi might not even look at the monitor.

As for the movie being criticized, to be honest it doesn’t matter. Guo Xiaosi doesn’t care and the producers don’t care even more.

For capital, movies are a commodity, and what needs to be done is to satisfy the potential audience of this commodity. The main potential audience is Guo Xiaosi's fans and his book fans. If this point is abandoned and other audiences are catered to, in case neither side is pleased in the end, then all efforts will be in vain.

Of course, the movie is really bad.

However, the movie still has its merits. It is not like the rich second generations in "Meteor Garden" and "Let's Watch Meteor Shower Together". How can it be like the rich second generations?

"Tiny Times" shows the real luxury. A cup costs 5000 yuan, a piece of clothing costs 50 yuan, and the dress worn by Yang Mi costs several million yuan.

They are all custom-made, which is at least better than many other films.

Therefore, Cai Zhiping is still indispensable to Guo Xiaosi for the time being.

Liu Zhou didn’t want Cai Zhiping to share the profits, but he mainly didn’t want to get involved with potential bad artists.

"Mr. Liu, the artists in our company may not be interested in this project." Zhang Zhao said with a smile.

"Leave the casting to Zeng Jia, she knows how to arrange it."

"Okay, it shouldn't be a problem to get a few roles. The film distribution still depends on us."

"Okay, you go and arrange this."

"Mr. Liu, what should we name the new label?"

This was the main purpose of his coming to find Liu Zhou. Otherwise, why would a small project need to be reported to Liu Zhou?

Although the establishment of a new label was something that had been agreed upon before, it has to be implemented now, and the name of the new company must be chosen by the big boss.

Liu Zhou may not care about the naming rights, but he cannot be ignorant.

After hearing Zhang Zhao's words, Liu Zhou pondered for a while and said:

"Let's call it Happy Pictures. It sounds more festive."

He had no talent for naming and was too lazy to think about it, so he just copied the name of a company that appeared in later generations. It was just a sub-brand anyway.

It just so happened that the name Huanxi Media founded by Xu Zheng in later generations sounded quite catchy, so Liu Zhou simply took this name.

But it definitely can’t be called a media company anymore, it should be changed to Huanxi Pictures.

"Huanxi Films, it sounds quite festive, so let's register it with this name."

After talking about this, the two went downstairs together. While taking the elevator, Liu Zhou couldn't help but ask:

"Have you had a physical examination recently?"

"I went there once after the Chinese New Year and I feel healthy and have no problems."

To be honest, Zhang Zhao was quite touched by Liu Zhou's concern for his health.

He is not concerned about this just now, but Liu Zhou has been concerned about his physical condition since he joined the company.

“That’s good, but you can’t relax. You still need to check regularly. You are the president of the group, and the entire company rests on your shoulders.

If you get tired or sick, it will be a huge loss for Jiahe, and it will be difficult for me to find another group president as good as you."

"Mr. Liu, you are too kind, but don't worry, I will definitely not take care of my body. Jiahe is also my career, and I certainly hope to continue to lead the company."

"As long as you understand."

Zhang Zhao is indeed an excellent company helmsman. His role is indispensable in the rapid and stable development of Jiahe Group, and Liu Zhou also feels very comfortable working with him.

Liu Zhou didn't want him to die young due to illness like in the original time and space.

The next morning, Liu Zhou flew to Los Angeles on a private plane with his assistants, bodyguards and others.

Warner Vice President Kevin Chandler even came to the airport in person to pick him up.

"Liu, you're finally here."

Kevin Channer was as enthusiastic as ever. As soon as he saw Liu Zhou, he opened his arms and wanted to hug him.

However, Liu Zhou couldn't stand the strong smell of perfume on the foreigner, so he hurried forward and held his hand.

"We are old friends, no need to be so polite."

"You haven't been back for so long, I thought you had forgotten the movie Joker."

"How is that possible? I put a lot of effort into Joker, and I hope this movie can win something at the Oscars next year."

"But it's been almost three months since I went back in June."

"Kevin, you know, Aftershock is also my movie. It's my hard work. I have to go back and take charge of it myself."

"I went to the cinema to watch Aftershock. It was really well made, at least much better than Hollywood disaster films, and its expression of the theme was comparable to Schindler's List."

"Haha, even though your compliment was a little stiff, I am still very happy to accept it."

Although Liu Zhou knew that Kevin Channer had ulterior motives behind his enthusiasm for him, he felt really comfortable interacting with him.

After "Joker" becomes a box office hit, I'm afraid Warner will be even more enthusiastic about me.

Kevin Channer dropped Liu Zhou off at his house in Malibu and left.

Liu Zhou bought this seaside villa two years ago so that he would have a place to stay after coming to Hollywood.

Although staying in a hotel is very convenient, if you stay for a long time, it is more comfortable to stay in your own house.

After adjusting to the time difference and resting for a day, Liu Zhou went to Warner's headquarters.

As a major Hollywood studio, Warner produces twenty to thirty films every year, and has dedicated studios for all post-production stages of the films.

After greeting the president of Warner, Liu Zhou started to work.

Although Liu Zhou holds the final editing rights of "Joker", he does not act arbitrarily. After all, this movie is aiming for an Oscar.

After all, "Joker" is a story with a Western core, and Liu Zhou, as a Chinese, will definitely have some barriers, so he needs a local editor to assist.

In order to ensure the authenticity of the film, Liu Zhou was particularly careful when editing.

Liu Zhou's version of "Joker" is definitely not the same as the original, but he also hopes that his imprint will not affect the Oscar judges' views on the film.

So the rough cut took almost a week, and then the streamlining took almost two weeks.

By the time the film editing was completed, a month had passed.

Then comes other work like music and subtitles, which are relatively easier.

Editing can be regarded as the secondary creation of a film and is the most critical link in the post-production stage.

Like the Oscar for Best Editing, it is often an indicator of the best film.

While Liu Zhou was busy with post-production work in Hollywood, the domestic film and television industry was also in turmoil.

(End of this chapter)