Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 135 [Chaotic Los Angeles, Trip to Hollywood]

Los Angeles International Airport.

Li Yishu, Amy, Huo Wenxi and Zhao Shijie, a Hong Kong lawyer who is well versed in American law, walked out of the exit and met the people sent by Morishima Hisao to pick them up.

This time when he came to the United States, Li Yishu was not only preparing to discuss cooperation with Sony Columbia, he also planned to use his share of the box office in the United States to directly invest in Hollywood or acquire a film and television company.

Hollywood's film companies are just like the restaurant downstairs from your house, opening and closing, and opening again and again. Except for the six major Hollywood film studios that remain today, most of them don't last long.

The loss from a single movie could cause these small film companies to go bankrupt.

"Director Li, welcome to the United States."

"Thank you for coming to meet me at the airport."

"This is what we should do. President Morishima knows that Director Li and the others need to rest after sitting on a plane for more than ten hours, so he made an appointment to meet you tomorrow morning."

"President Morishima is thoughtful."

After some pleasantries, the two staff members who came to pick us up said respectfully, "We have arranged a hotel for you and your team."

Li Yishu smiled and nodded to the two of them: "Thank you for your help."

After a while, Li Yishu and others got on the car. Looking at the streets of Los Angeles, Huo Wenxi, who was visiting the United States for the first time, blinked and said, "I don't think the United States is very prosperous. It looks similar to Hong Kong."

"Los Angeles is indeed not very prosperous. If you think high-rise buildings are prosperous, then New York should meet your expectations."

Amy next to him smiled and said, "I've been to Los Angeles twice, but to be honest I don't like it because it's too messy."

"Too messy?" Huo Wenxi was stunned.

Li Yishu seemed to be thinking about something, and asked, "Is it because of the Los Angeles riots last April?"

Last April, in April 1992, Los Angeles experienced a seven-day riot, during which a large number of looting, attacks, arson and murders occurred, and the estimated property damage exceeded one billion US dollars.

Later, a popular photo circulated online, "Koreans on the rooftop", was taken during this special incident.

"It's not because of what happened last year. In 1984, when I first came to the United States, my suitcase was stolen. Then in 88, when I came again, although my suitcase was not stolen, my bag was stolen."

Speaking of these two things, Amy said in a slightly unhappy tone: "So I don't find the riots last year strange, because there are too many robbers and gangsters here."

Hearing this, Li Yishu nodded slightly. Hollywood is a huge world of fame and fortune, not only for the United States, but also for most countries in the world.

Just like the later Beijing and Hengpiao, young men and women chasing the dream of becoming a star rushed to these places full of fame and fortune.

The more fame and fortune a place has, the more temptations it is often accompanied by, and naturally interests and some underground forces will arise.

Li Yishu didn't know what the situation was like in Los Angeles, but he had been in Hengdian for many years. There, as long as you have some power in casting and can recommend people to join the crew, you can really sleep with any girl you want.

Of course, the quality depends on the size of your character.

Moreover, the Hollywood red sofa is well-known. These are for those actors who can participate in the audition. There are also many extras who are not qualified to participate in the audition and can only make a face in it, and there are also many dirty things.

Huo Wenxi was a little scared and said, "Sister Amy, will we be okay coming here?"

Amy had obviously done some research before coming, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, it will be fine. The person who invited the boss this time is the president of Sony Columbia. He is from one of the six major film companies in Hollywood and has a great influence in Los Angeles."

"That's true, but during this period of time, it's better not to leave the hotel as much as possible. If you have to go out, it's best to go out with friends."

Li Yishu shook her head. Sony Columbia is very powerful, but it can only target those criminal gangs with a lot of wealth. If it's just a street thug who comes to you with a knife and a gun and asks you to borrow some money, then it will be useless.

Thinking of this, Li Yishu said, "I will talk to Hisao Morishima tomorrow and ask him to help arrange a car. If we want to go to Hollywood, it shouldn't be a big problem with his people as guides."

"Okay, boss." Huo Wenxi and Amy nodded.

It's not Li Yishu's fault for being so cautious. It's still 1992 and there are indeed big problems with public security in Los Angeles. And after the riots in April last year, it seems that the problems have subsided, but it's only been a year, so it's better to be careful.

If it weren't for Hisao Morishima's strong invitation, Li Yishu would not have wanted to come to Hollywood so hastily. He planned to hire two bodyguards for himself. When he was in China, he would be responsible for driving people in the company, and he would take them with him when he went abroad.

In the 90s, the whole world could be described as "chaotic". Of course, this chaos was not truly disorderly, but public security was really bad.

Now he is more or less a wealthy man with a net worth of over 100 million RMB, so he has to pay more attention to his own safety. After sitting on a plane for more than ten hours and rushing all the way from Jinan, Li Yishu was exhausted. After arriving at the hotel, he had a quick meal with Huo Wenxi and others, and then he made an international call to Jinan to report his safety, and then he went back to his room and fell asleep.

Silent all night.

The next morning.

Under the arrangement of the staff, Li Yishu took several people to the Columbia headquarters in Hollywood.

In the reception room, Hisao Morishima extended his hand enthusiastically and said, "Director Li, welcome. It's really rude to call you here suddenly."

Li Yishu politely shook hands with the other party and said with a smile, "President Morishima, you are too polite. I have always wanted to come to the United States. It doesn't matter if I come earlier or later."

Hearing this, Hisao Morishima smiled slightly, then asked a few people to sit down, "Director Li, I've seen your film "Sword Rain", it's really well made, and it also did very well at the box office in the United States, with a total box office of 2700 million US dollars, which can be said to be the best box office for Chinese-language films at the moment."

"The best box office?" Li Yishu raised his eyebrows. He remembered that Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon" also had a high box office in the United States.

"Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon grossed $2500 million before, and this time it was broken by Director Lee's film."

Hearing this, Li Yishu smiled but said nothing. It seemed like it cost more than 200 million US dollars, but it took nearly 20 years.

After a brief exchange of greetings, Hisao Morishima also explained the purpose of inviting Li Yishu to Hollywood: "Director Li, this time I invited you to Hollywood mainly because I wanted to work with you. To be honest, my current situation in the company is not very good. The films that one of my old rivals participated in investing in last year all achieved good results, and Sony headquarters is very optimistic about him..."

Although Li Yishu knew a little bit before, it was not as detailed as this time. After listening, he couldn't help but frowned and said, "President Morishima, I definitely hope to cooperate with your company once, but is your company confident in investing in me?"

“It’s totally possible to make a movie for less than $2000 million.”

Hisao Morishima was also speaking business, and said directly: "Although I personally recognize your talent in making films, Director Li, there is a complete audit process in Hollywood, so the maximum investment Director Li can make is only 20 million US dollars."

Twenty million US dollars was actually not a low amount. It was still the 90s, and the production costs had not yet reached the level of over million as they would later.

Nowadays, any movie that can sell $2.1 million at the global box office is considered a hit. Francis Ford Coppola, the famous director of "The Godfather", directed and filmed "Bram Stoker's Dracula" last year, which only had a global box office of $ million.

The film made a lot of money at the box office, but Columbia Pictures didn't make much money because the investment cost was very high.

Li Yishu frowned and said, "President Morishima, I said before I came here that I need to participate in direct investment in the film."

"No problem at all."

Hisao Morishima smiled and said, "I welcome Director Li to invest, because this way Director Li will do his best to make a good movie. After all, this is also your investment."

"Then there's no problem on my end."

Li Yishu nodded and continued, "Just before this, I wrote a script that I was going to shoot in Hong Kong, but I thought if I made some changes, it would be suitable for the Hollywood market."

Hisao Morishima's eyes lit up: "What kind of film is it? How much was the investment?"

“A supernatural film.”

Li Yishu's eyes flickered. When he was flying to the United States, he was thinking about making that movie.

"Saw", "Final Destination", "The Purge", "The Sixth Sense"...

They are all horror and supernatural films.

The reason why he chose this type of subject matter is mainly because there are audiences and fans of this type of subject matter in North America. Secondly, he is a newcomer, and if he wants to make some achievements in Hollywood and add a layer of gilding to his international journey, he must make a film that is guaranteed to be a box office hit.

The investment costs of these horror films are generally not high, including the movie "The Sixth Sense", which seems to have an investment of 4000 million US dollars, but in fact the main costs are on actors and publicity.

The male lead, Bruce Willis, was a very famous action movie actor in the 90s. The "Die Hard" series had an influence on Hong Kong. Later, Hong Kong made a "Die Hard", and it is not difficult to see that it borrowed elements from this movie.

The costs of several other films were even lower, including Saw and Final Destination, the cheapest of which was only over 100 million U.S. dollars. That was after the millennium. If converted to 1992, it would probably only cost a few hundred thousand dollars.

"A supernatural film?"

Hisao Morishima frowned.

(End of this chapter)