Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 294 Chapter 305 [Seahorse Film and Television Studio, the big boss in the Beijing circle is from Sichuan]

"Director Li, this is Zhao Baogang, and this is Guo Baochang."

As soon as they sat down, Wang Shuo began to introduce two friends around him.

Zhao Baogang was the first to stand up. He half-bent over and stretched out his hand, saying, "Hello, Director Li. I'm Zhao Baogang."

"Director Zhao is so polite. Please take a seat."

Li Yishu also stood up and shook hands. Seeing Guo Baochang standing beside him also stood up, he smiled and said, "Director Guo, don't be polite. Since everyone is Brother Wang's friend, then everyone is my, Li Yishu's, friend. There's no need to be so polite."

After hearing this, Zhao Baogang and Guo Baochang thought that Li Yishu, an internationally renowned director, was surprisingly easy to get along with.

Wang Shuo was even more proud. He had lived in Yanjing since he was a child, studied and grew up here, and he had the habits of the old Yanjing people in his bones, which was to care about face.

"Xiao Zhang, go out and tell Manager Yong to book a hotel nearby."

After the receptionist put down the tea, Li Yishu gave her a few instructions and let her go first. Then, she smiled and said to the others, "Brother Wang, it's rare for you to come here today, and he introduced me to two good friends. I have to get drunk tonight."

"Haha, okay, Director Li, we won't go home until we're drunk tonight." Wang Shuo was smiling happily. Li Yishu was such a big international director, and today he gave him enough face. He was so happy that he couldn't tell you.

There were four people, three directors and one writer + screenwriter, so the content of the conversation was naturally mainly about film and television.

The post-production of "Getting High" directed by Zhao Baogang has been completed, and Yongmei has also contacted the people in the CCTV purchasing department. The next step is to discuss the broadcast time.

Earlier this year, Guo Baochang filmed a Chinese opera TV series "Big Boss Cheng Changgeng" to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Anhui troupe's arrival in Beijing. The TV series is currently being aired on Yanjing TV.

Although these two are not very famous now, they already have a lot of directing experience. During the chat, Li Yishu was very satisfied with them and was thinking about how to invite them to join the company.

Seeing that everyone was getting familiar with each other, Wang Shuo finally spoke up, "Director Li, the main reason I came here this time is because I want to talk to you about something."

Finally, we are getting to the point!

Li Yishu waved his hand and said, "Brother Wang, what is our relationship? If you have any problem, just tell me. I will help if I can. If I can't, I will find a way to help!"

"I know Director Li is a straightforward person, so I'll make it short."

Wang Shuo chuckled, "I have a friend named Haiyan. Not long ago, he and a writer friend completed a police-themed TV script together. Originally, they wanted to produce it under the name of his company, but Haiyan's company is just an advertising company and lacks the ability. He knew that I was working with you, Director Li, so he asked me to come and talk to you."

Sea salt!
When she heard that it was this person, Li Yishu felt very strange. Her first impression of Haiyan, apart from the famous Haiyan drama, might be his special sexual orientation and the rumor in the circle that he was targeting Huang Xiaoming and Tong Dawei.

Although things in the entertainment industry are full of truth and falsehood, and no one can guarantee the truth unless they are involved, the fact that it has been spread so widely, coupled with evidence from other things, seems to have confirmed that Haiyan has serious problems with her personal orientation.

"No problem, Brother Wang, didn't I tell you before that if you want to cooperate with me in the future, just come. If I'm not here, just tell Manager Yongmei. Brother Wang's friends are my friends, Li Yishu. It's only natural for friends to help each other."

Li Yishu agreed readily.

Haiyan's creative ability is really strong. Even from the perspective of Li Yishu, who returned from thirty years later, although many of the scripts written by Haiyan are rather melodramatic, what TV dramas need is melodramatic plots in order to attract audiences.

And no matter how ridiculous it is, it is better than the future domestic TV series, such as the classic lines in a TV series: "I like the taste of cheese" and "You are really hungry"

Anyway, as she can make money, Li Yishu doesn't care whether Haiyan's sexual orientation is normal or not. What's more, if she just likes men, it is better than the dozens or hundreds of monsters of different genders in the United States in the future, right?

"No problem. I'll talk to Manager Yong about it later. But Director Li, I'm planning to start a company with a group of friends. Are you interested in investing in it?"

Wang Shuo was extremely satisfied. Although the investment in the TV series was not much, the profit or loss depended on people. Now Li Yishu didn't even ask, which showed how much trust she had in him and his friends.

Li Yishu raised an eyebrow: "Or a film and television company?"

"No, but it is also related to the film and television industry. I'm a screenwriter."

Wang Shuo paused and said, "Director Li, a few years ago, a group of friends and I established a film and television creation group of the nature of a literary salon, named Haima Film and Television Creation Center."

"I've heard of it. It seems that the Seahorse Dance Hall that aired last year was created by Brother Wang and others. I've seen the TV series, and it's very interesting."

Li Yishu's eyes lit up. There were many great people among the members of the Seahorse Film and Television Creation Studio, including Mo Yan, who later won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The domestic TV drama market has not yet been completely liberalized, but Li Yishu knows that by the end of this year, the authorities will begin to fully liberalize TV drama production and completely privatize it. In the future, TV stations will no longer be deeply involved in TV drama production, and a true separation of production and broadcasting will be implemented.

This is also the reason why he has been paying attention to the company's film and television department over the past six months. Once the production and broadcasting separation system is introduced, the demand for TV dramas by TV stations of all sizes across the country, whether they are satellite TV stations, provincial TV stations, or local TV stations, will increase rapidly.

"Yes, the Seahorse Dance Hall was built by a group of us."

Wang Shuo nodded and said, "Everyone has ideas this year, thinking about how to expand the scale of the company, from the previous makeshift team to gradually develop into a formal company. Everyone knows that I have a good relationship with Director Li, so they want me to ask Director Li if he is interested."

"Of course I'm interested. Brother Wang asked me to do it, so I'm interested even if I'm not interested."

Li Yishu laughed. Haima Film and Television was a very popular creative team in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Mo Yan, Haiyan, Wang Shuo, Liu Zhenyun and others are all members, all of whom are industry seniors that Li Yishu could not reach in his previous life.

Now that there is hope to win people over, even if it is just a partial share of the shares, it is a good thing for Li Yishu. At least in the future, he can directly take over the scripts of the members of the Haima Film and Television Creation Team. "Haha, okay, since Director Li is interested, I will let him inform everyone tomorrow and meet at Jingdong Huadu Hotel later."

At this point, Wang Shuo realized that Li Yishu didn't understand, and quickly explained: "Jingdong Huadu Hotel is where our Haima Film and Television Creation Team usually gathers. We have booked room 1154 for a long time, and everyone will try to get together once a week."

Li Yishu readily agreed: "No problem, Brother Wang, please make your own arrangements. We can contact each other directly by phone when the time comes. However, I have to go back to my hometown the day after tomorrow."

"Then I'll organize a party when you come back from your hometown."

Wang Shuo was extremely happy, he didn't expect that he had only met Li Yishu once and the other party would give him such face. Not only did he not say anything about "Brother Wang", but the other party also agreed to the two things he proposed without hesitation.

This is indeed the open-minded person of our old Yanjing!
Wang Shuo was happy, and after he finished talking about his own affairs, he did not forget Guo Baochang beside him. He wanted to help speak, but he remembered that he had just talked about two things, so it was inconvenient to speak again, so he said: "Old Guo, you have always had a wish, don't hide it now that you are in front of Director Li."

Hearing this, Li Yishu looked at Guo Baochang. He roughly knew what was going on.

"The Grand Mansion Gate" is not only a TV series, but also a biography, but it has been artistically processed. Secretary Li Yi remembers that when "The Grand Mansion Gate" was popular, Guo Baochang participated in several talk shows, in which he talked about his story with the Grand Mansion Gate.

"The Mansion Gate" is actually the story of Guo Baochang's own family. The Bai family in the play actually has a prototype, which is Yanjing Tongrentang!
However, Guo Baochang did not enjoy this generous "ancestral blessing" because he was not the legitimate son of the Le family of Tongrentang, but was sold to this mansion when he was young, and his adoptive mother was a concubine. Naturally, he would not live a very comfortable life in this big mansion.

Guo Baochang lived in the "Big Mansion" for 26 years. The bigger the mansion, the more stories there are. Although they are just trivial matters of family life, they often involve swordplay.

This is a real house fight!

This is why Guo Baochang has always wanted to use the camera to record the story of "The Grand Mansion Gate", but was always unable to complete it due to various reasons. Now that the domestic television market is gradually opening up, the works of one of his good friends, Wang Shuo, have been broadcast on TV stations, which also aroused the idea of ​​filming "The Grand Mansion Gate".

After Guo Baochang told the story and reason behind his creation, as well as the knot in his heart that had not been able to film a TV series for so many years, he stood up with red eyes and said, "Director Li, I can do it without any fee, I just ask you to do this one favor."

"Director Guo, please don't be like this."

Li Yishu stood up quickly. Guo Baochang is a veteran in the industry. He had previously worked with Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou and others in "Yellow Earth". He didn't want people to think that he was disrespectful to his predecessors.

After soothing him for a few times, Li Yishu saw that the other party's emotions were gradually stabilizing, and then he said, "Director Guo, I am still very interested in the story you just told. There are currently no film and television works with similar themes in China. I believe that the public will be happy to watch them if they are made. Our company has invested in your script, and we can start anytime!"

"Thank you Director Li for your support, but I don't have a complete script yet. But give me half a year, and I will definitely write a good script that will satisfy you in half a year!"

Guo Baochang looked excited. He started writing the story of "The Mansion Gate" twenty years ago, but the original manuscript was burned by his ex-wife in early 1980 due to a quarrel. Although he rewrote it, the plot was still closer to the novel. If it was to be made into a TV series, it would definitely have to be greatly changed.

Wang Shuo next to him also nodded slightly. Li Yishu is a really easy to get along with person. It seems that he needs to have more contact with her in the future.

Zhao Baogang and Guo Baochang are old acquaintances, so they naturally know that the other has always had a dream of filming "The Mansion Gate".

Now that Guo Baochang has finally got what he wanted, Zhao Baogang is happy for his friend and at the same time has gained confidence in his next plan to attract investment for a new TV series.

"Don't be in a hurry, Director Guo. I just heard you briefly tell me about this story. I think it can be made into a long series."

Li Yishu smiled and said, "The right and wrong in the Grand Mansion cannot be told in a dozen or twenty episodes. I suggest Director Guo make it into a series. We at Art Entertainment will fully support you in filming the Grand Mansion in your mind."

Bai Jingqi from "The Mansion Gate" is a household name. Li Yishu followed the series from beginning to end. It's a pity that Guo Baochang did not seem to plan a sequel to the series at the beginning, which led to many mistakes in the subsequent filming of "The Mansion Gate 1912".

Moreover, the story spans a very fast pace. If it is filmed slowly, it can be made into a series similar to "The Secret Visits of Kangxi". After all, Bai Jingqi's character is still very charming, and there are many "side plots" that can be unfolded.

Guo Baochang's face lit up with joy: "That's great, Director Li. The story of The Mansion Gate is really long. I was still thinking about how to cut it down. Now we can take our time to shoot."

He has lived in Tong Ren Tang for more than 20 years, and heard countless stories from his adoptive mother about Tong Ren Tang in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.

A TV series of twenty or thirty episodes simply cannot be finished. Now that Li Yishu said so, he must shoot it slowly to produce the "Grand Mansion Gate" that Guo Baochang has always dreamed of.

"Haha, our company doesn't have anything else, but we have enough funds!"

Li Yishu is wealthy and powerful. There is only one element to doing business these days, and that is to demonstrate strength. Having a lot of money is a symbol of strength. He believes that this time he has invested in Guo Baochang's "The Mansion Gate". Before long, there will definitely be many directors and screenwriters who will come to recommend themselves.

There is no need to go around film studios to recruit people as before. You can just open the door and wait for those directors and screenwriters with dreams and unwillingness to give up to come to you.

Thinking of this, Li Yishu looked at Zhao Baogang: "Director Zhao, do you have anything you want to tell me?"

Wang Shuo and Guo Baochang both had something to ask her, but Li Yishu didn't think that Zhao Baogang really came to see her just for the sake of it.

As if his thoughts were hit home, Zhao Baogang smiled a little embarrassedly and said, "I still can't hide it from Director Li's keen eyes. The post-production of "Over the Hook" has been completed, and we are just waiting for Manager Yong to contact the TV station to broadcast it. During this period of time when I was idle at home, I read a book and had an idea for a new TV series..."

"I understand, Director Zhao. You can just get the script ready and find Manager Yong later."

Without waiting for the other party to finish, Li Yishu readily agreed again, and then turned to look at Wang Shuo:
"Brother Wang, next time I'm not around, you can contact Yongmei directly. As long as the friends you introduced are here, they must be industry talents like Director Zhao and Director Guo. If they want to attract investment, it's just a matter of a word. Just make a phone call and it will be done."

Wang Shuo is a face-loving person, or rather, everyone in Yanjing is face-loving. Li Yishu has given him enough face, so naturally everything is easy to discuss.

Now that the Beijing circle is gradually taking shape, Li Yishu doesn't mind being a big boss and rich man behind the scenes in the Beijing circle, even though he is from Sichuan.

(End of this chapter)