Huayu: Director started with art films

The next morning.

Xi'an Film Studio.

The crew of "Song of Qin".

"It's incredible, it's incredible!"

Ge You looked at the news in the newspaper and exclaimed, "Director Li is so amazing! He is the only director who has won all four major European film festivals. He is so amazing!"

Xu Qing looked curious: "Uncle Ge, aren't there only three major film festivals in Europe? How come there is another four?"

"You don't understand this!" Ge You said with a smile, "The four major European film festivals have existed for a long time, but later the Locarno Film Festival fell into disuse, and gradually only the three major ones became famous. When Director Zhang and I went to Cannes last year, we saw the term "four major" in the newspaper."

"Uncle Ge, you are really amazing." Xu Qing gave a thumbs up and said admiringly, "The Cannes Film Festival winner is the only one for a Chinese."

"Ha ha!"

Ge You laughed and said, "I'm not that great, I'm just lucky. The real great one is Director Li, he won all the four major film festivals."

"Do you have a good relationship with Director Li?" Xu Qing asked back.

"Not bad." Ge You smiled, glanced at Xu Qing, and said, "Didn't you also graduate from Beijing Film Academy? It seems that you are from the same class as Director Li. Don't you know each other?"

"I know him, but I'm not familiar with him. Uncle Ge, could you introduce him to me later?"

Xu Qing felt annoyed. Why didn't she realize that Li Yishu had such talent when she was in school? It has only been a few years since she graduated, but she has not only won so many awards but also become an international director.

The most amazing thing is that he is also very good at doing business. He even acquired Hong Kong's Asia Television and recently acquired Jin Yong's Ming Pao. He is really rich and talented.

"Let's talk about it later. Director Li is a very busy man now. I haven't seen him for a long time."

Ge You looked at her like this. She smiled on her face, but her mind was as clear as a mirror. How could he not know what the other person was thinking?

"What are you two doing?"

Behind, Jiang Wen, dressed in ancient costume, strode over.

Ge You smiled and said, "Nothing, just talking about Director Li winning the award."

Xu Qing nodded: "Yes, Brother Jiang, Director Li won another gold medal."

"Yes, Director Li is quite amazing."

Jiang Wen touched his nose awkwardly. Li Yishu won another award and even won the gold awards at the four major film festivals. He knew about this last night.

When I think about the unpleasant argument I had with Lee Yi-su over the filming of Farewell My Concubine, even though we met again in Venice later, we were able to make peace more or less.

But Jiang Wen knew clearly that it was just superficial work.

When I think about how I broke up with Li Yishu over such a small quarrel, it would be a lie to say that I don't regret it.

But he just felt regretful. He never thought of giving up his face and asking for peace.

Seeing that the two were about to talk about Li Yishu again, Jiang Wen immediately interrupted and said, "By the way, the movie "The Emperor and the Assassin" directed by Brother Chen Kai will be released on National Day in October. Let's go and watch it together then?"

Ge You nodded and said, "Okay, I also want to see what the difference is between Director Chen's version of The King of Qin and our version of The King of Qin."

Both "The Emperor and the Assassin" and "Ode to Qin" are about Qin Shihuang, but the former focuses on the period before he conquered the six kingdoms, while the latter has already unified the six kingdoms.

8 month 18 number.

Swiss News: "The 48th Locarno International Film Festival closed successfully yesterday evening. The winner of this year's Golden Leopard Award is the Chinese director Art Li, who won the unanimous recognition of the jury with "Black Coal, Thin Ice"... After winning the Golden Leopard Award, Art Li has become the grand slam winner of the four major European gold awards!"

French Daily: "Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Locarno, once the four major European film festivals, are now combined into one in one Chinese director!"

The Mirror: "The four major awards winners are from Asia. Where are the great European directors?"

"..."

With Lee Yi-su's words at the award ceremony and the promotion of the organizers of the Locarno International Film Festival behind the scenes, topics about the four major film festivals and the four major gold award winners spread among European countries.

In particular, words such as "the only one in the world" and "Asian director" frequently appear on the headlines of newspapers in various countries.

Lee Ye-seok's name is once again resounding in Europe, and the title of Godfather of Asian films is now well-deserved.

Japan, Lee Yi-su's traditional box office home, was even more enthusiastic. The photo of Lee Yi-su meeting with a Japanese director was obtained by the Asahi Shimbun and published on the front page, and he was even crowned as the "Asian Movie Emperor".

Of course, Toho Corporation is behind this. They are working with Lee Yi-su on a blockbuster movie with an investment of up to 6200 million US dollars.

The more famous Lee Ye-su becomes, the higher the box office will be in Japan in the future. In addition, Lee Ye-su is already very famous in Japan. Combined with the two factors, Lee Ye-su's nickname of the Movie Emperor has spread among Japanese movie fans.

The happiest person is of course Izumi Sakai. She had finally begged Lee Yi-su to let her complete some of the work she had previously taken on. Now she has finally finished the autograph session, promotional programs, etc. She can have a good rest for a while and then go to China.

Just saw the news about Li Yishu in the newspaper, how could Sakai Izumi not be happy?

What made Izumi Sakai most happy was that after Takeshi Kitano contacted Li Yishu who was in Switzerland, and learned that Director Li wanted him to bring Izumi Sakai with him to Venice with the crew, Izumi Sakai was so happy that she went crazy.

It's not like she hasn't been to Europe before, but this time she went with Li Yishu, and they could spend some time together alone. Sakai Izumi was naturally very happy.

When Lee Yi-su was making waves in Eurasia.

Harvey in North America is not to be outdone and has launched a new round of publicity, mainly targeting next year's Oscars!
After more than two months of screening, "Chicago" successfully won a box office of 8220 million US dollars. It has not yet been released in countries other than North America, in order to wait for next year's Oscars!

Although it is not as popular as the world-famous "Forrest Gump", the box office revenue of 8000 million U.S. dollars not only made the film recoup its costs, but also the subsequent sales of videotapes, VCDs and other peripheral products in North America were extremely popular.

Now that Li Yishu has won the four major European gold awards, her fame has soared again. Harvey naturally wants to strike while the iron is hot so that the peripheral videotapes can sell better and make some preparations for next year's Oscars in advance.

As for the box office in Europe, Harvey is no longer worried. Li Yishu is so famous in Europe now. After the Oscars next year, if she can successfully publicize an Oscar for Best Picture, the box office in Europe will definitely not be less than 5000 million US dollars, or even more.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, Lee Yi-su spent three days at the Locarno Film Festival.

He mainly spent these three days negotiating copyright transactions.

The European art film market has always been very interested in suspense and crime themes, especially those that dissect human nature.

Although the copyright fees for Chinese art films in Europe have started to decline since last year, Lee Yi-su can be said to be unique among Asian directors. Now, with her status as the "winner of the gold medals at the four major film festivals," she has once again set off a wave of European public opinion.

With such great popularity, naturally many fans want to watch this work which won Lee Ye-seok her fourth gold award.

All the film producers from Europe, whether they have cooperated before or not, came.

This forced Li Yishu, who originally wanted to leave the copyright transaction to the group's employees, to stay and participate in the negotiations for the copyright transaction. Only halfway through the discussion, I.M. Pei contacted Li Yishu and said that they had organized a delegation and were preparing to come to the mainland for inspection on August 8.

This was something that had been decided a long time ago. Li Yishu didn't expect them to come so soon. He thought it would be September. In desperation, he had to hurriedly bring the crew back to China.

The copyright transaction was still handed over to the person arranged by the group.

Fortunately, the approximate amount has been agreed upon: US$2000 million for all European copyrights. A major French film producer, together with an Italian film producer, bought it out in one go.

It was equally divided among 45 European countries and Russia, with each country receiving less than $50.

This price is higher than the previous "Nobody", and the reason is very simple. Li Yishu is now very famous, and it is good enough for some small countries to break even. The main focus is on the major countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany.

Fortunately, Li Yishu is quite famous in these countries, especially France, Italy and Germany, where she has won gold medals at film festivals in each country.

Now it has won its fourth Golden Leopard Award at the Locarno International Film Festival and bought the copyright for 2000 million. As long as it is managed properly, it is easy to make money.

8 month 22 number.

Yanjing International Airport.

Li Yishu came with official people.

The visit of the 100-person group to the mainland for inspection had been reported in advance through the Chinese Embassy in the United States.

The leaders above naturally agreed readily, considering the influence of these people in North America, and even arranged a very high-level reception for them.

Because the representatives of this Hundred People's Forum were mostly people from the cultural, business and industrial circles, comrades from the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Culture were arranged to receive them.

As Pei and his team got off the plane, they shook hands and talked with the leaders one by one. Soon they came to Li Yishu. Pei smiled and said, "Director Li, thank you for coming all the way from Switzerland."

Li Yishu smiled and said, "Mr. Bei, you are too polite. We agreed that you would come to the mainland for an inspection and I would be your tour guide. I can't go back on my word."

"Director Li, congratulations!"

Yang Xuelan came over and stretched out her hand, saying, "You are the only one in the world to win one of the four major European gold medals. This really boosts the prestige of Chinese people. When I was in North America, I saw your name on the headlines of newspapers every day."

"I can only say that I'm lucky!"

Li Yishu said with a smile: "The Locarno International Film Festival itself is not very famous in Europe nowadays. The reputation of the four major film festivals is also a thing of the past. Few international directors will go to this film festival. I just wanted to give it a try, but I didn't expect to win it!"

Yo-Yo Ma came over and said with a smile: "Luck is also a part of strength. Besides, you have to win the gold medals of the three major film festivals before you can win the Golden Leopard Award."

Anyone who knows a little bit about it will know how low the value of the Locarno International Film Festival is now.

Fortunately, it still has the title of one of the four major film festivals.

A few people exchanged greetings, but because the occasion was not right, they didn't talk much. They got into the car one by one and headed for the State Guesthouse.

The reception was of a high standard, with two deputy ministers attending.

The inspection teams from the Committee of 100 are also of high quality.

Not to mention I.M. Pei, the Chinese architectural master, Xuelan Yang is now the vice president of General Motors, and Yo-Yo Ma is also a well-known Chinese musician in North America... In addition, there are many Chinese and Chinese Americans in the North American business and cultural circles.

State Guest House.

A Western-style banquet was held in the evening.

Li Yishu watched I.M. Pei and others talking with the leaders but did not participate. He had learned from Yang Xuelan on the bus before that she was actively promoting General Motors to participate in a joint venture to build a factory in mainland China.

Naturally, Li Yishu couldn't get involved in such a big thing, nor did she have the interest to get involved.

"Director Li?!"

Just as Li Yishu was standing at the dining table with a wine glass in his hand, getting some food, someone suddenly called him from behind. He turned around and saw a man in a suit staring at him with a smile.

"Hello Director Li, my name is Huang Renxun, and I'm a fan of yours. The movie Chicago you directed in North America this year was really great."

Huang Renxun?
This name and this appearance made Li Yishu think of the future founder of NVIDIA.

"You're welcome, Mr. Huang." Li Yishu smiled and said, "Filmmaking is a collective art. To be able to make such a work is not just the credit of the director alone."

Huang Renxun nodded and said, "Director Li is right. Everything depends on the collective strength, and the same is true for our company."

Li Yishu pretended to be curious and asked, "I don't know what industry Mr. Huang is in?"

"Look at my brain. I'm really sorry, Director Li. Let me introduce myself again. My name is Huang Renxun, and I'm the current chairman of NVIDIA! Our company mainly makes graphics chips."

Huang Renxun took out the Chinese business card he had prepared in advance.

Li Yishu took it and saw that it was indeed NVIDIA. He remembered that this person seemed to have briefly become the world's richest man. Thinking of this, he looked at the other party with fiery eyes: "What is a graphics chip?"

Many people have only a limited understanding of technology products these days. Huang Renxun put it simply: "To put it simply, it is a video game console or a computer that can display the parts needed for the screen."

"high-tech products?"

“It’s not high-tech, but it is indeed a technological product.”

"It seems that Mr. Huang has done a great job in his career." Li Yishu smiled and said, "Come to think of it, I also invested in a high-tech Internet company in the United States."

Huang Renxun became interested: "Oh? Which company did Director Li invest in?"

He just thought that Li Yishu knew nothing about technology, but he didn't expect that she even invested in an Internet company.

"Yahoo, do you know?"

“Yahoo!!”

Huang Renxun couldn't help but exclaimed, attracting the attention of the people around him. After he noticed it, he immediately whispered: "Director Li, did you really invest in Yahoo?"

"Yes, we invested last year and spent tens of millions of dollars. I heard that the market share is quite high. Mr. Huang also knows Yahoo?"

"Not only do I know it, I've heard of it like thunder!"

The Internet industry is now in full swing in North America, and Yahoo is probably the most popular among investors.

Because Yahoo has a clear profit model and 90% of the North American market share. (End of this chapter)