Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 237 247 [One movie, one city, fight for the Golden Bear! ]

Beijing Film Studio.

In Han Sanping's office.

When Li Yishu heard that Chen Kai had approached Han Sanping, hoping that Beijing Film Studio would invest in his new film, The Emperor and the Assassin, he immediately laughed and said, "Uncle San, you didn't agree to it, did you?"

Han Sanping shook his head. "Not yet, but I held a meeting with the leaders in the studio and also talked to the higher-ups. If nothing unexpected happens, the money will be invested. I guess the August 1st Film Studio will also get involved. After all, Chen Kai's film about Qin Shi Huang will probably involve a lot of soldiers, so it's impossible for the August 1st Film Studio not to get involved."

Han Sanping knew that there was a conflict between Li Yishu and Brother Chen Kai. When "Farewell My Concubine" was being filmed, the original photographer was Gu Changwei, but Brother Chen Kai snatched him away.

It would be fine if it hadn't been decided, after all, it was Gu Changwei's decision as to which film to take. But it had already been decided, and Brother Chen Kai was trying to snatch the girl away again. Anyone would probably be unhappy.

Seeing that Li Yishu looked unhappy, Han Sanping began to explain: "Art, actually I don't want to invest in Chen Kai either. He has never made a commercial film before, let alone such a big-budget movie. But we can't let a Japanese company fully fund the filming of our country's historical figures, right?"

"It's fine to film about any other historical figure, but this is Qin Shi Huang, the founder of a unified dynasty in Chinese history. If we don't invest in it, it won't sound good when the media reports it later."

Upon hearing this, although Li Yishu had a strange expression on his face, he could understand what Han Sanping meant. If he didn't invest, when the promotion started, someone would probably leak the news. Given the current trend of worshipping foreign things in China, a lot of people would probably criticize him again.

There are not too many sheepdogs in the country these days, especially many writers in newspapers, who all want to be Americans.

"So, Uncle San, how much are you going to invest?" Li Yishu asked curiously.

Han Sanping said with a pained face: "I have talked to Director Wang of Bayi Film Studio. Since you don't want us to invest, then each of us can invest 2500 million, pool 5000 million, and make a big production of 2 million."

Then I'm afraid I'll have to pay a huge loss!

Li Yishu doesn’t look down on Brother Chen Kai, nor does she think that Brother Chen Kai is incompetent, but she thinks that he is too capable!

A movie like "The Emperor and the Assassin" can be made into a Shakespearean-style stage play.

If it were just that, it would be fine, but the main point is that it distorts history!!

"Red Cliff" was originally intended to be filmed according to the novel, so some unreasonable parts are highly acceptable to the public. For ordinary people, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is the official history, so "Records of the Three Kingdoms" should not try to copy it.

Zhao Yun was the one who went in and out of Changbanpo seven times, and the one who killed Hua Xiong with warm wine was Guan Erye.

But Brother Chen Kai filmed the film based on history. Whether Qin Shihuang was a tyrant or not is a matter of opinion, but at least he was definitely not a madman. For an emperor who was able to unify the six kingdoms and lay the foundation for China's two thousand years of unification, words like "the greatest emperor of all time" and "a man of great talent and strategy" are definitely more than enough to describe him.

In addition to the random changes, the most fatal thing is that the movie is not good to look at. "Hero" was criticized, but at least some of the big scenes were good, and there were various special effects.

Brother Chen Kai has never directed such a big-budget movie, nor has he shot historical dramas or war dramas. This time, the Japanese Kadokawa Group will probably suffer a huge loss, and the Beijing Film Studio and the August 1st Film Studio will probably also suffer losses.

Han Sanping saw Li Yishu's pessimistic look and asked, "You don't think highly of the movie made by Brother Chen Kai?"

Li Yishu said playfully, "Uncle San, are you okay with it?"

Although Li Yishu has never filmed such a large-scale movie with tens of thousands of extras, she is at least smarter than Chen Kai. She knows her own shortcomings and has contacted many big domestic directors in this field.

It would be difficult for Brother Chen Kai to independently make a good movie about the unification of Qin Shihuang as you mentioned.

Hearing this, Han Sanping frowned. In fact, he had been worried about this matter.

Lee Yi-su, a big director who has made a name for himself internationally and earned hundreds of millions of dollars at the global box office, also filmed "Red Cliff" with a learning attitude and brought together a group of directors with rich experience in this field to co-create and direct.

Brother Chen Kai has the ability to be a director, but he has never filmed a movie before. It is impossible that Brother Chen Kai has the innate military physique of Huo Qubing, and can shoot a world-shaking historical blockbuster in his first time directing such a subject, right?

Han Sanping felt a headache: "At worst, I can go to his crew more often and help him keep an eye on it."

"This is not a question of whether to keep an eye on it or not, but a question of whether Brother Chen Kai has the ability. By the time the funds, projects, and crew are all in place, it will probably be difficult for you to withdraw your investment even if you want to."

Li Yishu shook her head. Han Sanping still hadn't been badly cheated. If he knew he had been badly cheated, he would probably be honest.

In the previous life, although Wu Yusen's "Red Cliff" suffered huge losses at the domestic box office, it at least recovered its investment and made a profit in Japan, so all in all, the "Red Cliff" project made money for China Film Group.

The subsequent "The Crossing" was really not so peaceful. It still followed the old routine of being divided into two parts, but the box office loss was so great that even Han Sanping was about to vomit blood.

This movie also completely made Wu Yusen lose the domestic market, and even the basic base in Hong Kong and Taiwan was gone, and no one dared to use him. Although a few years later, a movie version of "The Chase" was produced, it was just a lingering survival.

"Oh, there's nothing I can do!" Han Sanping was really helpless. He wanted to change people, but the Japanese side must have invested because they liked Brother Chen Kai. He had no reason to change people.

Moreover, the reason for investing in this film was not just to prevent the Japanese investors from investing solely in the film, but mainly because Han Sanping wanted to make progress.

Han Sanping himself advocates big-budget films, which can be seen after he came to power. Now it is just that the conditions are not met that make it impossible to make big-budget films.

But Li Yishu brought him hope. The big production with a budget of 5 million RMB was definitely a blockbuster that shocked the country, and the big production with a budget of 2 million RMB from Brother Chen Kai was equally as impressive.

Li Yishu thought for a while and said with a smile: "Of course, Director Chen is still capable. Maybe I judge others by my own standards. I doubt others because I am not capable myself. Anyway, we will know whether it is a mule or a horse when the movie comes out."

He just suddenly remembered something. Although the timeline of Brother Chen Kai's "The Emperor and the Assassin" was pushed forward several years, there should be one point that remains unchanged, that is, "the Qin Palace."

To be honest, Brother Chen Kai's aesthetic taste is still very good. Whether it is this Qin Wang movie, or the later "The Promise", "The Orphan of Zhao", "The Taoist Goes Down the Mountain", "Legend of the Demon Cat", etc., it can be said that the plot is poor, but it cannot be said that the pictures and art are not beautiful enough.

One movie, one city. It cost 12 billion to build the Qin Palace and 16 billion to build the Tang City...

Li Yishu has already made up his mind. After the Qin Palace is built and Chen Kai's movie becomes a box office hit, he can invest in buying the Qin Palace, which will help the three parties get some money back.

But the price will definitely be cut.

Brother Chen Kai takes the blame while he makes a fortune in silence, isn't that good?

Li Yishu said with a blazing gaze, "Uncle San, you just said that Director Chen wants to build a 1:1 replica of the Qin Palace in this movie. Do you think it is possible to combine this project with my Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff and build them together in Hengdian?"

Han Sanping was stunned for a moment, then reacted, thought about it, and nodded: "This shouldn't be a big problem. I will help him recommend the construction of the Qin Palace in Hengdian."

"Then I'll trouble you, Uncle San. I also need to talk to the representative sent by Hengdian Group this afternoon." Li Yishu was very happy. He had traveled to the Qin Palace and filmed an online movie there. To be honest, the overall architectural shape is very beautiful and majestic.

When it comes to aesthetics, Brother Chen Kai is really good.

"By the way, I forgot to congratulate you, Yishu, for winning the Best Foreign Language Film Award at the American Golden Globe Awards."

Han Sanping smiled and congratulated him, "You have broken the record of being the first domestic film to win the Best Foreign Language Film at the American Golden Globe Awards. In a while, it will be the day for the Academy Awards. Can you win another Best Foreign Language Film Award?"

"It's just a Best Foreign Language Film Award. If it was Best Director or Best Picture, it would be worth congratulating."

Li Yishu shook his head. It was not that he looked down on the Best Foreign Language Film Award, but that the award was too easy to implement.

Before he returned to China, he had told Amy to wait until the Oscar list was announced and then find a public relations company to start working on the "Best Foreign Language Film Award".

At present, this award is not taken seriously or cared about in China. Li Yishu can find someone to do some public relations and get the award in advance.

Otherwise, when Hollywood blockbusters sweep the world and the proportion of the Oscars in China begins to increase, it will not be so easy to win them.

Han Sanping said: "I believe you will win the Best Director and Best Picture awards sooner or later."

"Then I'll take your advice, Uncle San. But now I want to win the Golden Bear Award more."

Li Yishu's eyes flickered. He didn't have much confidence before whether he could win the Golden Bear Award.

It’s not that I have no confidence in the quality of the film, but I don’t have that much confidence in the nature of the Berlin Film Festival.

The three major European film festivals seem to be in competition with each other, but in fact they are in a cooperative relationship of sharing what they have and working together to hype up the status of the three major film festivals. After all, the three of them are not held at the same time.

The three time periods of the beginning of the year, the middle of the year, and the end of the year just divide the golden time period of the year.

This Berlin Film Festival is the best opportunity for Li Yishu, because most domestic filmmakers now admire the three major film festivals.

No matter how many Chinese directors are awarded the Golden Bear by the Berlin Film Festival in the future, the significance of awarding the Golden Bear to Lee Yi-su is much more valuable than awarding ten Chinese directors in the future.

Because once it is released, it means that Lee Ye-seok will become the fourth director in the world to win the three major awards, and the first director in Asia to win the three major awards. The gold content is very, very high.

We must try our best to win the Golden Bear!
After returning from the United States, Li Yishu has gained more confidence and believes that she still has a great chance of winning.

After leaving the Beijing Film Studio, Li Yishu drove to the company on Chang'an Avenue.

As the New Year approaches, the streets of Yanjing are crowded with people, and many families are shopping in groups on Chang'an Avenue.

This street is still like the one that later had the billboards of shops along the street removed. There are shops of all sizes, and their billboards are more eye-catching than each other. The level of commercial prosperity is no less than that of Wangfujing and Xidan Street.

In a few years, most of the street shops here will be demolished and replaced by high-rise buildings.

Arts Entertainment Group.

When Li Yishu arrived at the company, Yongmei, who had been waiting for a long time, came over and said, "Boss, Director Liu is here."

"He came alone?"

"No, I brought one more."

"Who?"

"Wang Shuo."

he?
Li Yishu raised her eyebrows. She didn't expect Liu Yi to bring Wang Shuo with him.

But this is also a good thing. Li Yishu will not comment on what kind of person Wang Shuo is, but the adaptations of his works are really popular. Not to mention that Feng Kuzi became a big commercial film director with the scripts provided by Wang Shuo, there are several domestic film and television adaptations of Wang Shuo's works in the past few years alone.

Last year, Liu Yibo directed "Seahorse Ballroom". It was Wang Shuo who first wrote the script, and then famous figures such as Mo Yan, Ma Modu, Haiyan and others participated in the screenwriting.

If Li Yishu wants to make her company in the mainland bigger and stronger, she will definitely need excellent screenwriters and excellent directors. The scripts written by Wang Shuo are still quite popular these days.

"Party A and Party B" created Feng Kuazi, "Sunny Days" created Jiang Wen, and "Getting High"...

Thinking of this, Li Yishu also had the idea of ​​luring Wang Shuo to the company. Although Wang Shuo has a lot of creative ideas in his mind, the company's development cannot rely on him alone.

We can provide some ideas appropriately, but the shooting cycle of a TV series is long, and in the final analysis we still need to recruit more professional screenwriters and directors.

"Let's go over and have a look."

Li Yishu took the lead and walked in front, while Yongmei and her assistant followed closely behind.

She has grown up in the past year. Last year, she participated deeply in the filming of "Princess Xinyue" with Qiong Yao's daughter-in-law He Xiuqiong, and gained a deep understanding of being a TV drama producer.

This year, Li Yishu proposed that the company should shoot two TV series on its own to test the waters. Yongmei also recruited external personnel in the name of the group company. Liu Yizhen was one of the directors who came to recommend himself and had works.

His show "Seahorse Ballroom" performed quite well after its premiere on Yanjing TV last year.

In the reception room.

Liu Yi was chatting with Wang Shuo when they suddenly heard the door open. They looked up and saw a strange yet familiar face walking in.

Li Yishu walked in with a smile: "Sorry, you two, something delayed me."

Liu Yi quickly stood up and said, "No, no, we are also early for the agreed time."

(End of this chapter)