Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 144 [Sword Rain Box Office Sharing, Official Registration for Cannes]

It was during the filming of "The Sixth Sense".

Yanjing on the other side of the ocean.

On Chang'an Avenue.

Art Film Company Office.

Several staff members are busy sorting out the domestic box office data of the movie "Sword Rain", and the finance department is also doing the accounting.

Although "Sword Rain" is still being shown in China, it is almost only shown in some remote cities.

The domestic film production is not low these days, but because most of the films produced are not self-sufficient, the subject matter tends to be drama films, and there are very few martial arts films such as "Sword Rain" released.

This also led to many cinemas in remote areas starting to show "Sword Rain" every day and night. Due to the long-term losses in these areas, it is not uncommon for them to withhold movie box office revenue.

The higher-ups can do nothing about it.

So even though the movie was still in theaters, the company's finance department had already begun the final box office revenue sharing with China Film (not the later China Film Group). Similarly, Xu Suo's Tang Chen Film Company and Beijing Film Studio were also involved in the accounting.

Before the film was withdrawn from theaters on a large scale, according to the box office data provided by China Film, "Sword Rain" had achieved box office data of approximately 18065 million, or 1.8 million, after its release in mainland China.

The film was released in mainland China on December 12th and after one and a half months, it earned 15 million yuan at the box office, which is a very good result. However, considering that movie theaters now like to withhold box office revenue, the box office must have exceeded 1.8 million yuan at least.

But even China Film Corporation cannot solve this kind of problem, let alone the producers. You have to know that this involves hundreds of cities in the mainland and millions of related employees. Before the large-scale layoffs come, the problem of withholding movie box office revenue is almost unsolvable.

An employee of the company saw a woman with long hair and a black woolen coat standing at the door, and walked over and asked, "Hello, what can I do for you?"

The woman smiled faintly: "Sorry to bother you. It's like this. I saw your company is recruiting for business management in the newspaper. I wonder if they are still recruiting now?"

"I'm still recruiting. Come with me."

The employee nodded and immediately invited the other party to follow him.

"Thank you."

The woman followed closely behind.

Soon they arrived at an office.

After knocking on the door, the employee said, "Mr. Xu, this person is here for a management interview."

Without even raising his head, Xu Suo said, "Well, you go out first and let the interviewer come in."

"You go in first, Mr. Xu is busy."

"Okay, thank you."

After thanking the visitor, the woman also walked into the office.

Xu Suo was looking at the account book at the moment and had no time to pay attention to the visitor. He said directly, "Please sit down first and wait for me to finish reading this."

"Okay." The woman sat down next to him.

About ten minutes later, Xu Lu closed the account book and took off his glasses. Li Yishu and Amy were not in the country, and the box office sharing issue would not work without a key person in charge at the art film company.

So they could only let Xu Lu bring her people from Tang Chen Film Company to Li Yishu’s company’s office to help deal with the matter.

Xu Su looked up at the person who came. His first impression was very good. She was a very quiet woman with a plain appearance. She didn't have any stunning features that would catch people's eyes, but she gave people a feeling of being as quiet as a chrysanthemum. Just this appearance made Xu Su nodded slightly and said, "Sorry, I'm a little busy with work."

The woman said, "It's okay, Mr. Xu. I didn't make an appointment in advance. I saw your job ad in the newspaper before, and I happened to be passing by here, so I thought of giving it a try, so I didn't bring my resume."

"Then please introduce yourself."

"Ok."

The woman paused and said, "My name is Yongmei, I'm 22 years old, and I graduated from the University of International Business and Economics. When I was in school, I studied business management. I graduated in the middle of last year, and then I went to Shenzhen Town and worked in a foreign trade company..."

"Yongmei, that's a nice name."

"Thank you, Mr. Xu. My father picked this name from the poem "Bosuanzi: Ode to the Plum Blossom". My real name is Senjidema."

"Sengjidema?"

“Yes, I am from Inner Mongolia.”

"You don't look like an Inner Mongolian."

Looking at the other person's appearance, Xu Su was a little surprised: "I thought you were from the south."

"Yes, many people say that I don't look like an Inner Mongolian."

Yongmei smiled. She certainly didn't look like an Inner Mongolian.

Xu Suo asked: "You should know that we are a Hong Kong company, right?"

Yongmei nodded: "Yes, I saw it in the newspaper."

"You have no management experience. Logically, the position of office manager is not suitable for you because we need an experienced management talent. However, I have a good impression of you..."

Xu Suo paused and continued, "I have also heard of the University of Economics and Business. It is the first higher education institution in China to train business executives. There are not many management talents like you in China now. Can you tell me why you want to come to our film company?"

"Maybe... it's because I'm also interested in movies."

Yongmei smiled faintly and said, "Actually, when I was working in Shenzhen, I occasionally worked as a model part-time."

"No wonder I think your temperament and manners are so good."

“I have learned some knowledge in this area.”

Hearing this, Xu Suo thought for a moment and said, "I am not the boss of this company. I am just one of its partners. So whether or not to choose you is not something I can decide. However, you can come here for internship during this period. Regardless of whether you succeed or not, your salary, wages, and compensation will still be paid as usual."

Yongmei's face lit up: "Thank you, I believe I should be able to do this job and satisfy the boss of the company."

"Okay, it's good to be confident." Xu Su nodded, "Leave me your contact information and I'll have someone contact you later."

"Ok."

Yongmei borrowed a pen, wrote down her home phone number, and then turned and left.

After everyone left, Xu Lu put the note with the phone number into the drawer, then picked up her phone and called the Beijing Film Studio. She wanted to ask whether the copy of "Farewell My Concubine" had been sent to the Cannes Film Festival.

The Cannes International Film Festival is held every May, so copies have to be sent there in January and February.

Originally, Xu Lu wanted to use the name of her Tang Chen Film Company, but considering that the Beijing Film Studio had a wider influence and would also be valued by the organizers of the Cannes Film Festival, she asked the Beijing Film Studio to send the film to the exhibition in their name.

Time flies.

One week after the filming of "The Sixth Sense" started.

The filming progressed very quickly, and thanks to the fact that Li Yishu had a template to copy, he was able to waste less than one-fifth of the film after the filming and editing.

As for the fact that his memory had improved significantly, Lee Yi-su also responded to it when he was filming "Farewell My Concubine" later. For many things, including movies, as long as he thought about them carefully, he could basically remember most of them.

The movie "The Sixth Sense" was released in 1999, which happened to be the year when Lee Yi-su decided to move north to develop her career.

However, he actually watched this movie in 2001, and it was a pirated disc. He still remembers that he watched this movie with his roommate in a dim rental house.

"Cole, your cocoa puffs are all soft, eat them quickly."

Monica, who plays the boy's mother, is also wearing work clothes and walks to the kitchen counter to pour water.

When the little boy James, wearing his school uniform, slowly sat down at the dining table, Monica came over again, took a look at the boy's clothes, frowned and said, "Oh, dear, your tie is dirty. Raise your head and I'll help you wash it."

"..."

"Crack!"

As the plot progressed, Li Yishu suddenly shouted, walked over to look at the young actor James and said, "James, you have to act scared because you saw something you didn't want to see."

"But... I'm not afraid."

"There's a ghost here."

"But I didn't see it."

Hearing this, Li Yishu realized that it would take a while to explain it clearly, so she turned to the mother of the young actor James and said, "Ellie, do you know what James is afraid of?"

Ellie quickly said, "Bugs!"

"OK, someone go find me a bug."

Lee Ye-seo jokingly said, “I’m going to start scaring our little boy!”

The young actor James immediately said in fear: "No, no, don't take the bug, I know how to act."

"That's right James, that's the expression you just had that I wanted."

Li Yishu nodded in satisfaction, then asked someone to rearrange the scene and resume filming later.

After walking out of the room, Li Yishu also took a deep breath.

Monica Bellucci came over at this time: "What's wrong, Li? I see you look very unhappy?"

"No, I just feel too tired."

Li Yishu forced a smile and said, "Monica, I swear, I will never make any movies related to children again. This is too torturous."

"Haha."

Monica Bellucci couldn't help laughing out loud: "James is actually very cute!"

"Yes, I know James is cute, but it was really torturous when filming."

Li Yishu couldn't help but think of the young actor Ye Jin. The two were only three years apart in age, but Ye Jin was always able to present the performance he wanted very well. Although most of the time the performance was not good enough, Ye Jin worked very hard.

James, on the other hand, seemed to think he was just playing.

But come to think of it, this is James' first time making a movie, but Ye Jin is already a mature child star.

Just then, Amy suddenly came over.

Monica Bellucci seemed to see that the assistant was busy, so she smiled and said, "I'm going to touch up my makeup."

After everyone left, Amy said, "Boss, the call from Hong Kong is from Wenxi."

Hearing this, Li Yishu also took the phone: "What's wrong, Wenxi!"

Huo Wenxi on the other end of the phone said, "Boss, Sister Xu called and said that a copy of Farewell My Concubine has been sent to the Cannes Film Festival."

It was finally delivered!
Li Yishu's eyes lit up. In three months, it would be time to reveal the grand prize.

Xi'an Film Studio.

Ni Ping, who had hurried back from Beijing, asked, "Has the film been submitted?"

"Yes, it has been reported."

Chen Kai smiled faintly: "I have a feeling that I will definitely win an award this time, and it will be the Palme d'Or!"

"I believe you can do it."

Looking at the confident Brother Chen Kai, Ni Ping's eyes were full of him.

(End of this chapter)