Huayu: From an ordinary person to a happy director

Chapter 104: Lost on Journey Released

The title is wrong, it should be "Crazy Stone". The title of the chapter cannot be changed.

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The main reason is that Wanda became a role model of a stupid and rich person in order to support Jingtian.

In 04, Jingtian had already signed with Starry Night, but had not yet made his official debut.

The reason he knew this was because Ning Hao received an invitation from a company to shoot a MV.

Ning Hao's status and position are not high, but he is also a filmmaker who has won some awards. For a film director to shoot an MV is a demeaning thing, just like film directors rarely shoot TV series.

But Ning Hao went anyway. It can only be said that the sponsor gave too much and Ning Hao failed to keep the bottom line.

Since Ning Hao was a contracted director of Taolin Film and Television, Taolin Film and Television could also take a commission, so Taolin Film and Television did not stop it.

However, Liu Yan specifically reported this matter to him. Everyone in the company knew how much he valued Ning Hao. Ning Hao also had a movie released on December 12th.

Shi Lei acted as he thought and called Liu Yan in China directly, asking her to ask Wanda whether it had any intention of purchasing shares in Shuimitao Films.

Of course, it's just an intention and he won't sell it immediately.

The longer the time, the more expensive the stock.

In the next few days, Shi Lei dealt with some matters of Shuimitao Film and Television, and then stayed in the villa to rest.

Soon a week passed, and Shi Lei checked the preparations of the crew of "The Pursuit of Happyness" to confirm whether a series of preparations such as actors and location shooting were in place.

The examination took a week. After asking a few harmless questions to establish his authority as a director, Shi Lei flew back to China to attend the premiere of "Crazy Stone".

The reason why "Crazy Stone" was released on December 12th was, of course, to block "The Promise" (released on December 29th).

The reason why "The Promise" had a box office of 1.75 million yuan was that it occupied the entire Lunar New Year period, and it was the only movie worth watching during the entire Lunar New Year period.

In addition, the previous film "A Murder Caused by a Bun" aroused a rebellious psychology among netizens. This film was criticized so badly that they wanted to see how bad the film was, which allowed "The Promise" to recover some blood in the last half month.

There is nothing we can do about it. In the past, the movies released during the screening of "The Promise" were not very good. You can still see some special effects in "The Promise", but the other movies are really not good to watch, so I can only watch "The Promise".

Now he has released "Crazy Stone" on December 12, which will at least reduce the box office of "The Promise" by tens of millions.

The reason he was able to squeeze "Crazy Stone" in was entirely because "Crazy Stone" was a low-budget movie. Han Sanpin thought this comedy was good, but he did not think that this film would affect the box office of "The Promise".

Of course, this was before The Promise was released. After the release of The Promise, the constant stream of curses made Han Sanpin realize how bad The Promise was.

He knew that "The Promise" was bad, but he didn't know it was so bad that it was criticized by the entire Internet.

At the same time, he also realized that "Crazy Stone" might really threaten "The Promise".

So he called Shi Lei and hinted that he wanted to change the gears of "Crazy Stone".

Of course Shi Lei refused. The release of "Crazy Stone" was in accordance with the procedures and was acceptable to everyone.

"Boss Han, you can't go too far!" Shi Lei complained directly to Han Sanpin, "Maintaining a gap for a month is really too much."

Although the film industry is not a completely free economy, giving "The Promise" a one-month protection period is excessive. "The Promise" is not the main theme, so why is it given this right?

Han Sanpin was also speechless. The North American copyright of "The Promise" was not sold, and Harvey, who bought the copyright, ran away without even asking for the deposit. As a result of Harvey's escape, other North American film buyers immediately realized that "The Promise" would not do well. Until now, no one wants the North American copyright of "The Promise", and he can only rely on the domestic box office to make some money back.

But a one-month protection period was indeed too much, and even he himself felt that "The Promise" was not worthy of it.

The main reason is that he was the one who decided on the release date of "Crazy Stone", and it is not a good idea to force Shi Lei to change the release date now.

"Oh... Never mind. I don't care. Let's just keep doing what we did before!"

He can force Shi Lei to change his job this time, but the prestige of China Film will be damaged.

If it was a mainstream film, this wouldn’t be a big deal, but for “The Promise”… his tough stance might anger the public.

On December 12, the premiere of "Crazy Stone" was held at a cinema in Beijing.

Starting from Hero, no matter how big or small the film's investment is, as long as there are box office ambitions, there will be a premiere. No matter how small the premiere is, it can still get the support of a group of stars and media reports, which can be regarded as a kind of publicity.

And the premiere of Crazy Stone was huge.

The producer and screenwriter of "Crazy Stone" is Shi Lei. With Shi Lei's support, all the artists from Shuimitao Film and Television came, including those from the music and film and television circles. Artists and directors who have a good relationship with Shuimitao Film and Television also came, as well as CEOs of major film and television companies.

Ning Hao was flattered by such a grand premiere.

"Boss, I'm so nervous when I do this!"

It was just a comedy film with a budget of several million, but he was still shocked by the fact that the company had spent five million on publicity.

Now that so many people from the circle have been invited to the premiere, he feels like a huge burden is on his shoulders.

Shi Lei patted Ning Hao on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Do a good job!"

After saying that, he turned around and walked in. Now he was not the director, he didn't need to greet others outside, he just came here to stand on the platform.

As for words of encouragement, he didn't need to say much. Ning Hao could become a great director, so this was nothing to him.

Not long after he sat down, famous domestic directors such as Zhang Yimou came over.

Zhang Yimou sat directly next to Shi Lei and said, "Director Shi, you take Crazy Stone very seriously! You even took time out from abroad to attend the premiere."

Shi Lei was not surprised that Zhang Yimou knew his itinerary. This time he did not hide his itinerary and told people in the circle directly that he would only be back for one day and would fly to North America the next day. He is not only a big director, but also the boss of a big company. If he did not disclose his itinerary, a lot of people would probably make reservations.

"'Crazy Stone' was well made, and I hope its box office is in line with its quality, but Ning Hao is not famous enough, so I had no choice but to come back."

"Oh, you said the quality is good, so it must be good." Zhang Yimou nodded.

The publicity for "Crazy Stone" can be said to be overwhelming. Posters are posted everywhere, and it has even been pushed to the top of the hot searches on Feixun. Anyone who likes to visit Feixun Weibo knows that "Crazy Stone" will be released on December 12th.

Even if you don’t use Fexun Weibo, you will still see promotional pop-ups on Fexun Video Network and Fexun Chat.

He also visited Feixun Video Network and often received pop-up ads from Feixun Video Network. "When will Director Zhang's "A Thousand Miles Alone" be released? I will go to see it then." Face is given by both parties. Now that he invited Zhang Yimou to come, he naturally has to go to Zhang Yimou's premiere.

"That's not necessary. 'A Solo Journey' is an art film, not a commercial film, so it doesn't need a big fanfare. But Director Shi must come to the premiere of his next commercial film."

Shi Lei recalled that Zhang Yimou's next commercial film was "Curse of the Golden Flower". This film lost money, but the box office figures looked good. There was no problem for him to go to the stage, so he nodded and said, "No problem, I will definitely go."

"Curse of the Golden Flower" has very grand scenes, and Zhang Yimou's performance is above average, but the North American box office, which was highly anticipated, was disappointing.

Zhang Yimou's "Hero" grossed 5371 million U.S. dollars in North America, and "House of Flying Daggers" grossed 1105 million U.S. dollars in North America. Perhaps he felt that "House of Flying Daggers" failed because the scene was not big enough, so he created a grand scene in "Curse of the Golden Flower" where the army with golden armor and the army with silver armor fought.

In fact, the fundamental reason is that the popularity of Chinese-language films in North America has passed.

Once the hype wore off, even Cheng Long and Jet Li were affected, not to mention domestic Chinese-language films.

Of course, Shi Lei would not tell Zhang Yimou this. He had memories of his past life and knew some of the trends in Hollywood in North America, but that didn't mean he could tell them.

It is a big taboo to communicate superficially and deeply.

'An international director does not need the guidance of another director.'

Shi Lei talked to Zhang Yimou in a low voice, and the others arrived one after another, and the premiere began as scheduled.

Ning Hao brought the main creative team to the stage to speak. Ning Hao knew the importance of himself and the main creative team, so he didn't say much and started watching the movie.

Shi Lei also watched the film seriously. Although he had seen it several times in his previous life, it did not stop him from watching it again.

"Switching one thing for another", "getting something without any effort", "exchanging the fake for the real", "returning the jade intact to Zhao", the story revolves around the priceless stone jade, and the plot is gripping.

In the end, Mr. Feng, played by Xu Zheng, and his manager Qin died one after another.

Bao Shihong, played by Guo Tao, was commended for his bravery in capturing a thief, while Dao Ge and his brothers fled for their lives and died...

The unprecedented style of black humor was presented to the guests, bringing bursts of laughter.

At the end of the film, warm applause broke out.

The premiere is a public appearance and press conference before a film is released.

After the movie ended, the interview session began. The reporter wanted to ask Shi Lei first, but he pushed it to Ning Hao.

"I just provided the script and the fees, and I didn't even go to visit the set. Everything else was done by Director Ning Hao."

As a producer, he just put his name on the project and did not interfere in the entire process, from crew preparation, actor selection to final editing.

Ning Hao took the microphone and said:
"When I first saw the script, I was very happy because I had an idea to make a comedy a long time ago, and the script of Crazy Stone completely fits my inner thoughts."

"So I want to thank Director Shi first. It was he who gave me this script and fulfilled my desire to shoot a comedy."

"So how did Director Ning decide on the actors when selecting them?" a reporter asked about the casting.

Ning Hao answered directly: "First of all, everyone can see that the main creative team are all talented actors. Brother Liu Hua and Brother Guo Tao both graduated from the Central Academy of Drama and have a long time of acting experience. Xu Zheng is also from the Shanghai Theatre Academy and has won the Magnolia Award. He has both acting skills and is not expensive.

……

Finally, let’s talk about Wang Xun and Huang Bo. One of them is a comedian from the southwest region, and the other is a student from the Film Academy. Both of them have a solid foundation.

These are some of the reasons, the main reason is: their pay is cheap.

The production costs can be used to the greatest extent possible on the production of the film itself.”

The reporter interviewed several leading actors and guests present in turn, and the responses he received were all generous praise. Everyone was optimistic about "Crazy Stone".

Reporters are also very optimistic about "Crazy Stone". If it can make the guests present laugh like this, the box office of "Crazy Stone" will not be too bad.

After the interview, there was a dinner. Shi Lei found a corner to stay in, but he wanted to be alone, but others would not allow it. After greeting Ning Hao, everyone came to him.

Most people just said hello and left, but some people didn't leave after saying hello.

"Brother Lei, these grapes are good and delicious." Yang Mi handed a peeled grape to Shi Lei's mouth.

On the other side, Zhao Liying's eyes widened in shock as she saw Yang Mi feeding her so intimately.

She was forced by her agent to stay with Shi Lei. Last time, Liu Yan told her that she didn't need to go to North America because Shi Lei had plans for her, so she didn't go.

My agent blamed me for this decision for a long time and mentioned it from time to time.

During the premiere in the daytime, her agent asked her to go talk to Shi Lei, but Shi Lei was chatting with big directors like Zhang Yimou, so she didn't have a chance to go up to him.

When the dinner came, her agent strongly asked her to stay by Shi Lei's side until the end of the dinner.

Yes, this dinner did gather many directors and CEOs. If you build good relationships, you might be able to get some resources, but the person who has the most resources in the entire dinner is Shi Lei.

Not to mention the TV series of Taolin Film and Television, it has produced several TV series with high ratings, and also made a popular fantasy drama that has been rebroadcast for half a year. In terms of movies, it is one of the leaders in domestic films, and it even has a Hollywood film company overseas.

It is a recognized common sense in the Chinese entertainment circle that Shi Lei has mastered the top resources for TV dramas and movies. When it comes to TV dramas, Shi Lei really dares to spend money. He can shoot a 6000 million fairy tale drama at will. When it comes to movies, Shi Lei is stingy, but Shi Lei's commercial movies can earn over million!
Now that she has become popular thanks to a TV series, she should film another drama to reach a higher level. However, the female lead of "Chinese Paladin III" has been given to Yang Mi, which has made her agent and assistants quite dissatisfied.

We must fight, we must fight, we must fight with Yang Mi.

So she had to stay here tonight.

But Yang Mi's action of feeding Shi Lei grapes really shocked her.

This is a public place!
Everyone in the circle knows that Yang Mi is Shi Lei’s man, but ordinary people don’t know!
Not long after she entered the industry, her agent told her about the impact of dating on artists.

You can fall in love, but you have to hide it.

Now that she and Yang Mi's acting careers have just started, falling in love will ruin their popularity. She estimated that the paparazzi had already taken photos of Yang Mi feeding Shi Lei grapes...

Shi Lei was stunned for a moment when Yang Mi fed him, then he opened his mouth to accept the food.

As for the consequences, Yang Mi will mainly bear them. Yang Mi was a bad guy in his previous life. With his support in this life, he should be able to withstand it.

(End of this chapter)