Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 139 [Killing the chicken to scare the monkey, goodbye Monica]

1993 1 Month 22 Day.

On New Year's Eve, Li Yishu returned by plane from Kunming, Yunnan. He arrived at Sichuan Airport in the afternoon and it was already evening when he got home.

Li Jian and Zhao Xue were naturally happy that their son could come home for the New Year. They had originally planned to go back to their hometown for the New Year, but now that their son was back, they decided not to go back.

Fortunately, they had bought a lot of fruits, vegetables and meat early on.

Otherwise, during Chinese New Year, the vegetable market would not be open, and it would be difficult to buy food for the New Year’s Eve dinner.

7:30 p.m.

The TV in the living room was playing commercials, and there was still half an hour before the Spring Festival Gala.

Zhao Xue was busy cooking in the kitchen, Li Jian was helping out, and Li Yishu also wanted to go up to help, but was driven back by the old couple.

He said that his son is so busy that he is not seen all year round. Now that he finally comes back, he can sit down and have a good rest.

Li Yishu looked at his parents busy in the kitchen. The memories from decades later suddenly began to overlap with the two figures in front of him. He remembered that 20 or 30 years later, every time he went home for the New Year, the two elders were also so busy.

Speaking of which, the old couple lived a very leisurely life after retirement. Their combined monthly pension was nearly 20,000 yuan, and they lived a very comfortable life in Sichuan.

In addition, he is a senior colleague at Emei Film Studio and has a son who is a director in the circle. Many people who hope that their children will pursue a career in the entertainment industry will use their connections to find them and ask for guidance.

For this reason, in the first few years after retirement, they went to a training class that specializes in preparing people for art exams to make use of their remaining energy.

But later on, I got old and lived out my days at home. I had no worries about money and I was in good health. Now in my seventies, I would occasionally sign up for travel with my old colleagues to see the beautiful mountains and rivers of our motherland.

If there is any regret, then there is definitely some. Lee Yi-su is not at home all year round. She is either filming or shooting a movie.

However, my parents are both in the entertainment industry, so they naturally know that work is not controlled by people.

"Here we go, the last dish is spicy boiled fish."

Li Jian brought the steaming boiled fish to the table, and immediately a spicy smell came to his face. Li Yishu sniffed it and also smiled: "Mom, your cooking skills are getting better and better. Just smelling this smell, I can eat several bowls of rice."

Cooks love to be praised for their delicious food, so Zhao Xue said happily, "If you like it, eat more. I originally wanted to take the fish to your grandfather's house, but now that you are back, you can't go back. You can only go back to your hometown to see them tomorrow."

"Why don't grandpa and grandma come this year?" Li Yishu asked curiously.

Zhao Xue said, "Your uncle and his family are going home for the New Year this year. Your father and I were originally planning to go back, but now that you're back, and we have to fly abroad on New Year's Day, we have no choice but to not go back."

Father Li Jian, who brought the bowls and chopsticks, also sat at the table and asked, "Yishu, what are you doing in America?"

Li Yishu took the chopsticks, picked up a piece of steaming hot fish and put it in the bowl, saying, "Let's go make a movie."

"Going to America to make a movie? Didn't you shoot this movie in Yunnan?"

Li Jian and Zhao Xue were both stunned.

"Not the one I'm in now."

Li Yishu shook her head: "Do you know Columbia Pictures?"

Li Jian curled his lips and said, "Nonsense, as your old man, I don't know anything? Let me tell you, at the beginning..."

"Okay, stop talking nonsense. I want to listen to my son."

Zhao Xue interrupted him and looked at her son Li Yishu: "Columbia Pictures invited you to make a movie?"

“It’s strictly a collaboration.”

Li Yishu smiled and said, "After the release of "Sword Rain" in the United States, I was able to get a share of the box office revenue there, so I asked someone to set up a film company in the United States. It just so happened that the current president of Columbia was very optimistic about my directing talent, so he proposed to cooperate on a film."

"English film?"

"Yeah, an English movie."

"Yishu, you've never made an English film, will this work?"

“It’s actually not that difficult to make a film in a foreign language.”

In response to her parents' questions, Lee Yi-su said, "If you want to make a good foreign language film, the first factor is to be proficient in speaking. I went to Japan to make a Japanese language film before, and I had never made a film before, but the film was also well received by Japanese audiences."

"The meaning expressed through movies, whether it's about love, family or other types of movies, is basically the same in any country or nation around the world."

"For example, in love films, the core is the touching expression of emotions. It is impossible to say that the East and the West have different definitions of love. We can only say that the ways of expression are different. The East is gentle and implicit, while the West is romantic."

Hearing this, Zhao Xue nodded and said, "That's true. When I watched the internal reference films "Roman Holiday" and "Gone with the Wind" at the studio before, even though they were in English, I could understand the meaning of the movies by reading the subtitles."

Li Jian had a different opinion, but before he could open his mouth, Zhao Xue suppressed him directly: "Okay, let's not discuss this. My son is now going to the United States to make a movie. He will definitely become a world-class director in the future."

Hearing this, Li Jian had to hold it back. As a director himself, he knew very well that the difficulty level of making films of different themes was different, not to mention foreign language films that were even in a different language.

However, since Columbia Pictures invited Lee Yi-su, it means that they are optimistic about their son's abilities.

Eight O'clock.

The Spring Festival Gala has begun.

After the opening song, the first performance was "Three Joys on New Year's Eve".

"Isn't this the female singer who sang 'Little Backpack'? I think she was on stage last year, too?"

"Yes, that's her. She sings very beautifully."

"What's your name?"

"Song Zuying."

"Is there Cheng Long this year?"

"Cai Guoqing is out!"

"Yang Liping's dance is still so beautiful." "I love Mao Ning's "The Sound of Waves Remains Still" so much."

"This "Spring Congratulations" Peng..."

Seeing her mother was about to say it, Li Yishu quickly said, "Hey, Mom, just watch the show carefully, don't name people like you're naming dishes."

Hearing this, Zhao Xue glared at him, but didn't say anything else. She watched the show seriously.

Today's entertainment options are too monotonous. It is rare to have a program like the Spring Festival Gala that brings together a large number of songs, dances, crosstalk, dramas, sketches... It can be said that it is looked forward to by countless people.

We watched it until about 10pm, and the whole family turned off the TV and went to bed early.

Li Yishu has to catch a morning flight to Shenzhen tomorrow. This year, it is rare that she does not stay up all night to celebrate the New Year. In previous years, she would stay up until midnight before going to bed.

Two days later.

United States.

Los Angeles.

Audition location for the cast of "The Sixth Sense".

Early in the morning, a group of beautiful women came to get numbers and line up for interviews. They were young girls who came here from all over the United States or all over the world to pursue their dreams.

Although American films have not yet taken the world by storm as they did later, they have already begun to show their potential. With series of films such as "Star Wars" and "Jurassic Park" becoming popular all over the world, Hollywood blockbusters have become unstoppable, overlooking the global film market.

Especially after the collapse of Big Brother, the US government has decided to use culture as its strategy, producing a large number of American films, conquering film markets around the world, and subtly influencing overseas audiences.

This is also what attracts a large number of people from all over the world who are pursuing their dreams of becoming stars.

In addition to this group of beautiful girls, there was also a group of parents who came with their children. They squatted down one by one and explained things to their children who were around ten years old.

This movie is a production with an investment of 3000 million US dollars. Although the investment amount is nothing in the ever-increasing Hollywood, it has definitely reached the pinnacle of B-level productions.

And the most important thing is that the little actor is the second male lead and has a lot of scenes. Who wouldn’t want their child to become an overnight sensation with this movie!

You should know that with the huge sales of "Home Alone" all over the world, the male lead Macaulay Culkin has become the most popular child star in the United States.

For last year's "Home Alone 2", his salary was as high as 500 million US dollars, almost as good as those of first-line male actors. When the third part was filmed in 94, his salary was even 800 million US dollars, which was beyond the first-line salary.

Such high pay was announced, which naturally greatly stimulated parents with children.

Especially those parents who like to pursue fame and fortune, they wish their children could become the second "Macaulay Culkin" and become a child star pursued by the whole United States.

Just like some celebrities who later often brought their children to TV shows, because they had tasted the speed of making money and the prestige brought by fame and fortune in the entertainment industry, they naturally hoped that their children would follow in their footsteps.

Audition room.

Li Yishu was looking at the actress. He just glanced at her appearance and shook his head: "Next."

The woman was visibly stunned: "But I haven't performed yet."

Lee Ye-seo smiled and said, “Sorry, our movie needs a mature wife character, not a little girl.”

"I can be mature, I can put on makeup..."

The girl obviously wanted to try to save her chance, but the staff member next to her came up and said, “I’m sorry, ma’am.”

The girl glanced at the man next to Li Yishu, and seeing him shaking his head, she had no choice but to walk out.

Li Yishu looked coldly at the casting director beside him and said, "Mike, can you screen well? I remember I told you that I want a mature and intellectual woman, not a girl. I also warn you that I have the final say in this crew! You can leave now!"

"What do you mean?"

Mike's face changed: "You let me go?"

"Yes, you're fired!"

"Fuck, how dare you fire me? I didn't do anything wrong. I'm going to file a complaint against you. You're not professional at all..."

Before Mike could finish, Li Yishu narrowed her eyes and said, "You are welcome to complain, but I think you should know that in this crew, even the producer can't control me!"

Hearing this, Mike held back his swear words. The whole crew knew that Columbia Pictures' President Morishima was very supportive of this Chinese director from China. He not only arranged for his confidant to be the producer of this film, but also gave him considerable support.

In the end, Mike left angrily.

Li Yishu didn't care about this small role. He did this deliberately to make an example of him, so that the crew would not go against their promises during the next filming.

He said to the stagehand Jack, "Jack, go check outside. I hope that the actresses who will be interviewed next are those who meet my requirements."

"Okay, director." Jack left in a hurry.

Li Yishu's move of killing the chicken to scare the monkey was very effective. After Mike was fired from the crew, some other guys who looked down on this Chinese director also shut up and got to work after learning about the situation.

Hollywood produces thousands of films every year, but as the saying goes, there are too many people and too little meat.

There are too many people in the related industry, and no one wants to be squeezed out of this $3000 million B-level production. Resumes are also very popular in the United States. What crew you have worked in, what position and what role you have played will often determine your next job opportunity.

"咚咚-"

"Come in."

The door opened and a plump and beautiful woman walked in.

“Lee…Yeshu Lee?”

The woman looked in surprise at the Asian man sitting in the middle seat with a director's sign in front of him.

"Monica? Long time no see."

Li Yishu was also surprised to meet the other person in this occasion.

(End of this chapter)