Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 320 331 [Ma Yun's first introduction to the Internet, Wang Zhiwen's textbook-level lines]

Two days later.

Los Angeles International Airport.

"Thank you so much, Director Li!"

Ma Yun was terrified and said, "If it weren't for you, I would have suspected that I would have been murdered by these people."

Li Yishu patted his shoulder and said, "Foreign countries are different from China. You should be more careful when you go abroad in the future."

He now knows what happened.

Last month, relying on his fame in the Hangzhou translation industry, the local government hired Ma Yun and commissioned him to go to the United States to collect highway investment funds from an investment company.

Unexpectedly, the other party turned out to be a fraudulent company, and they instigated Ma Yun to defraud money in the country.

Since Ma Yun did not agree, the other party put him under house arrest. In desperation, he could only pretend to compromise and then take the opportunity to escape. However, he was afraid of being entangled by this group of people, so he contacted Yongmei in Yanjing by fax and found Li Yishu who was still in the United States for help.

"Yes, yes, I won't dare come here alone again."

Ma Yun wiped the sweat from his forehead. He still felt a little scared.

Before coming here, Ma Yun thought that she could travel freely in North America as long as she was proficient in English. Now it seems that she was too naive.

The two got in the car and on the way back to the company, Ma Yun suddenly looked up and asked, "Director Li, do you know the Internet?"

Ok?
Li Yishu glanced at Ma Yun and nodded: "Nowadays, everyone in our company uses computers for work and knows a little about the Internet."

"Do you think it's useful, Director Li?"

"It's very easy to use. E-mail is very convenient for communication."

In today's world where phone bills are expensive, the rise of e-mail has indeed greatly facilitated ordinary people.

After all, phone bills in the United States are not cheap, but if you have an Internet connection, you only need to pay monthly fees, and you can use e-mail to communicate with friends and even overseas people every day.

Hearing this, Ma Yun's eyes sparkled and she said, "Director Li, do you think there is potential for developing Internet companies in China? When I was in Seattle, I saw people using the Internet. A random search would bring up a lot of information. It was amazing!"

Is there great potential?
It’s not just big, it’s an untapped blue ocean!

Li Yishu said: "The potential is definitely huge. The Internet in the United States is developing very fast. I learned from a local American technology magazine a few days ago that there are now more than millions of Internet users in North America. It has only been three years since the Internet was officially put into civilian use in 1991."

"Director Li, I...I want to return to China and start an Internet company!"

Ma Yun said apologetically, "I may not be able to be responsible for your company's translation business as before, but don't worry, the other translators in our Haibo Translation Agency are all excellent."

"You want to start an Internet company. What are you going to do? E-mail, or something else?"

“It’s not clear yet, but I think it might be web page construction.”

Ma Yun has also been learning some information about the Internet these days, including how to build web pages.

In this era when no one understands the Internet, Ma Yun himself doesn't know what to do, but there is one project that he thinks will definitely make money, which is to build websites for others.

This is similar to printing business cards, except that what is printed are Internet web pages.

Li Yishu smiled and said, "We also hired someone to build our company's website. This project should have a good market in China."

"Yes, I thought so too."

Ma Yun nodded, glanced at Li Yishu hesitantly, thought for a moment, and said through gritted teeth: "Director Li, I wonder if you are interested in the Internet?"

"Why, you want me to invest?" Li Yishu looked at the other party with interest.

"Yes, Director Li, the Internet should be very expensive. It requires a lot of fees. The money I have on hand may not be enough at the moment."

Ma Yun paused and continued, "Don't worry, Director Li, if you lose this money, it will be considered as a loan from me!"

"no need!"

Li Yishu waved her hand and said, "I am also interested in the Internet. Since you are interested in doing it, I can invest."

"Thank you Director Li!"

Ma Yun said excitedly: "Director Li, please rest assured that I will definitely not let you lose money. I already have some ideas in my mind. Let's start with the government. I know some friends in Hangzhou. I can definitely make money by building websites for the government."

Li Yishu laughed: "It doesn't matter whether we make money or not. The main thing is that I think the Internet will be a very good investment market in the future. The money lost now can be earned back in the future."

It is almost impossible for domestic Internet companies to make money now, and the chances of making money were also very small in the millennium. Only by developing in the direction of online games can they start to make profits.

Otherwise, why did Penguin, which had tens of millions of users, almost go bankrupt?

Although Li Yishu has no experience in the Internet industry, he is very clear about which companies and people are worth investing in in the future.

Ma Yun is one of them!

"Director Li is really so optimistic about the Internet?" Ma Yun was a little surprised. He didn't expect Li Yishu to be so optimistic.

"It is certainly promising, but no one knows how big it will grow to."

Li Yishu smiled and said, "Teacher Ma, if you start an Internet company after you return to China this time, the first business I will give you is to help our company build a website in China."

"No problem, Director Li. I will do my best!"

Ma Yun nodded repeatedly. He was now full of confidence in the future.

Li Yishu is much higher than him in terms of social status and the people he comes into contact with. The fact that they are optimistic about the Internet and investing in him shows that this industry is really promising.

Arts Entertainment Group.

"Maria, show Jack Ma around."

When they arrived at the company, Li Yishu arranged for a company clerk to take Ma Yun around, while he himself went to Monica's office.

Monica stood up with a smile and said, "Honey, why are you here?"

"I'm going back to China the day after tomorrow, so I'll naturally come to visit the company."

Li Yishu came to Monica's side, sat down, and began to type in the website on the big-headed computer. When he was sure, he looked up and said, "Do you know the Internet?"

"Of course, I am not someone who is out of date. Nowadays, everyone knows the Internet."

Monica smiled and said, "I also have an e-mail account. When you return to China, if you have Internet access, you can email me at any time."

With the introduction of the first web browser concept by WWW, email services also became widely popular in North America along with the Internet.

Seeing that Monica knew about the Internet, Li Yishu thought for a moment and said, "You probably don't have any production business on hand right now, right?"

"Not yet, what's wrong?"

"Monica, you studied law in college, and I want to ask you to do me a favor."

"No problem, I'm willing to help you no matter what it is."

"It's very simple. Help me register an offshore capital company, and then contact this company. If possible, I can invest appropriately in the other party and get a certain share of the shares."

Monica glanced at the computer screen after hearing this, "Yahoo? I know it. Whatever information I need to look up, I can search on Yahoo!"

“Yes, I think this is a promising company.”

On the way back, chatting with Ma Yun reminded Li Yishu of Yahoo, which was hailed as the world's number one Internet company in the 1990s.

To be honest, Li Yishu doesn't know much about Yahoo's past and present. The main reason is that Yahoo has hardly developed any business in China, and it only flourished for a few years before declining.

It is far less influential than the three BTA companies in China.

But it is undeniable that Yahoo did lead an era. Even Li Yishu, who had never been exposed to the Yahoo website, had heard of the company's name.

Now that the other party is still in the early stages of development, Li Yishu will naturally not miss the opportunity to invest.

Even if his shares are diluted in the future due to multi-party financing, as long as he sells them before the global Internet bubble appears, it will definitely bring Li Yishu a hundred or even a thousand times return.

"No problem, leave it to me. I don't have any production business during this period."

Monica nodded and readily agreed to this.

Li Yishu reminded him, "Try to get as many shares as possible. If possible, it would be best to ask for shares that will never be diluted, even if it's only 1%."

Monica was surprised and asked, "Are you optimistic about this company?"

"It's OK. There is no such thing as a 100% certainty in investment."

Li Yishu smiled slightly and did not explain in detail about Yahoo's future achievements.

In the past, Li Yishu only wanted to develop steadily in the film and television industry, but as he had more and more funds at hand, had the experience of investing in VCD, and the miracle of investing in Yahoo, he gradually came up with the idea of ​​setting up a venture capital company.

For example, the current Yahoo, the future BTA, including some Internet companies and physical companies, can all be invested in the name of venture capital.

There is no need to participate in the management of the company, as long as you hold a certain amount of shares. After all, in memory, the reason why these large companies and enterprises can grow and develop is largely due to the contributions of their founders.

Li Yishu's eyes were burning. He had previously considered letting Monica serve as the temporary head of this venture capital firm, but he felt that it was still inappropriate because Monica had no intention of going into business.

But Huo Wenxi is different. She has ideas in this regard, and Pioneer Home Appliances is doing well.

Now that Pioneer Home Appliances is becoming increasingly famous in China and Huo Wenxi's talents are gradually revealed, it's time to consider giving her more responsibilities.

It’s not too late to change after finding a more suitable professional manager.

Two days later, after saying goodbye to Qingxia, Zhao Xue and others, Li Yishu flew back to Yanjing.

He originally wanted to go directly to Japan to shoot "Fireworks", and Takeshi Kitano had already set up a crew with the people in his company.

Just thinking of the collaboration with Yu Feihong on "Black Coal, Thin Ice", Li Yishu decided to return to China first.

Let's finalize the crew first, then select a group of actors, and then it won't be too late to go to Japan for filming. It will not matter what the filming period is in the next few days.

This morning.

There was already a long queue in front of the Art Film Company on Chang'an Avenue in Yanjing. There were hundreds of people inside and outside, and this was the result after two rounds of preliminary screening.

There is no other way. Who asked Lee Ye-seok, a director who has won three major European awards and is known as the godfather of Asian films, to select actors for his new movie?

This really made many actors in Yanjing excited.

You should know that in the past, Lee Yi-su almost never auditioned for external roles in her movies.

The only exception is "Red Cliff of the Three Kingdoms", because the film needed so many actors that it had to hold open auditions everywhere.

In the temporary interview room, Li Yishu, Yu Feihong, assistant director Zhao Fei, Huang Lijia and others were sitting there chatting.

This time, Li Yishu promoted Zhao Fei to be the deputy director of the crew in order to give him the opportunity to produce independently in the future.

Zhao Fei's personal ability is unquestionable. As his personal photographer, Zhao Fei's English is not good and he cannot participate in the creation of overseas films. However, Li Yishu does not want Zhao Fei to go to other crews to film when she needs him.

So after talking with Zhao Fei privately, he decided to promote him to be an assistant director, to let him try being an assistant director first, and then become a director himself and start a crew.

As for the assistant director Huang Lijia, he was introduced by director Chen Jialin. They had co-directed "Tang Minghuang". Li Yishu was going to Northeast China to film this time, so he had to find a director who was familiar with the characteristics and culture of Northeast China, and Director Huang was very suitable.

After auditioning everyone, several people began to discuss who was suitable and who was not.

Zhao Fei spoke first, "I think Wang Zhiwen is pretty good. I've seen his performances in "The Imperial City" and "The Addiction." He performed very well in both. He also has great dialogue skills. He has grasped the essence of the dialogue in just a few minutes."

This was his first time serving as assistant director, and Li Yishu gave him a lot of authority. Not only was he the director of photography, he would also serve as the casting director. He also worked with director Huang Lijia in the post-production preparations.

"Wang Zhiwen!"

Huang Lijia glanced at the file in his hand, recalled the other party's acting skills, and nodded: "It's pretty good. I was also impressed by his lines. With a slight adjustment in his image, he is somewhat similar to Zhang Zili in the script."

"What about you?"

Li Yishu looked at Yu Feihong and asked, "Who do you think is more suitable for the male lead?"

Although Yu Feihong is not a director, she is a teacher in the acting class of Beijing Film Academy after all. She can still distinguish good and bad acting skills. What's more, she has been studying this script for more than half a year and has a portrayal of all the characters in her mind.

Yu Feihong thought for a moment and said, "This He Bing is not bad. He is an actor from the People's Art Theatre, but his performances have obvious traces of stage plays. I'm afraid it won't be easy for him to adjust."

What a fool!
Li Yishu found He Bing's file and when she saw his face, she was reminded of the popular TV series "Love in Courtyard" on the Internet. When He Bing was young, he had the same face as Liao Fan, with a short face.

"Then let's go with Wang Zhiwen!"

He thought about it and decided that Wang Zhiwen’s acting skills and lines were better.

"The Way of Heaven" was filmed so well that Lee Yi-su really wanted to work with her once to experience what textbook-level dialogue skills are like.

It’s a pity that the male lead in “Black Coal, Thin Ice” doesn’t have many lines.

(End of this chapter)