Huayu: From an ordinary person to a happy director

Chapter 106: Intervention in Marvel
Smith directly took out the child's favorite toy from home and smashed it outside the scene during the filming.

The child got angry and ran out of the set in a hurry. Instead of being comforted, he was blamed. Smith loudly taught him, "The actors cannot stop performing or run out of the set until the director calls out ‘Cut.’"

Shi Lei felt sympathy for the child, his heart was broken, but he had no intention of intervening. He just stayed in the director's chair and turned a deaf ear to everything.

Half an hour later, the child adjusted his state and came back to shoot again. Perhaps Smith's education was effective, the child's performance was much better.

Of course, children are children. The toy had just been damaged and they said it had been adjusted, but in fact it was not in the best condition at all. Just two seconds into the filming, Shi Lei shouted "cut" and asked the child to readjust it.

Then Smith gave her a lecture, and she finally forced herself to come back for the filming, but of course she still failed, so Smith gave her another lecture.

After three days of repetition, Shi Lei finally got the lens he wanted. This lens was just barely usable, but Shi Lei didn't want to waste time and reluctantly accepted it.

Anyway, the protagonist is Smith, and the main focus is on Smith, so the child's performance is just barely acceptable.

The shooting went smoothly and was completed after one and a half months.

After the filming was completed, the next step was editing. Since it was an award-winning film, not only Shi Lei participated in the editing, but Columbia and Smith also participated.

Although Smith didn't understand editing, he still insisted on watching it.

Shi Lei only stayed for two or three days before asking for leave as he wanted to go back to celebrate the New Year.

As his career developed, he became busier and busier, and had less and less time to spend with his parents.

Even during the Chinese New Year, he couldn't stay long. Just after the statutory holiday, Smith called him. Although he didn't ask him to go to North America immediately, those who understood would understand.

He knew that if he didn't get there quickly, the calls would become more frequent.

After two days, Shi Lei boarded a plane to North America.

As soon as he entered Columbia's editing room, Shi Lei couldn't help complaining, "This movie is going to compete for an Oscar, and it won't be released until December this year. Why are you in such a hurry?"

Smith came forward and punched Shi Lei on the shoulder. "Don't mind it, Shi. Editing also requires feeling. If the time interval is too long, you will lose the feeling and may not know how to edit."

Shi Lei dodged Smith and said confidently: "Don't worry about it. I'm a professional director. I won't have any problems with my condition after a few months of rest."

The main reason is that he has memories of the original film, and he doesn't plan to use his directing talents to make any adaptations, so he will just cut it as it is.

The original film was nominated for Best Actor. If we take the original film and apply for an Oscar in the same period of time, it will definitely be nominated.

As long as he is nominated, his mission is accomplished. As for winning the award, which director dares to guarantee that his film will win the award?
Smith would be grateful to him for any nomination.

Smith followed Shi Lei's words and said, "Of course I believe you, but my schedule is urgent. The crew is already urging me to finish the editing as soon as possible."

"Since your schedule is so tight, let's not waste time." Shi Lei ended the topic directly, and then asked casually: "Where are you at in the editing?"

"We've been having some disputes these days, and we're waiting for you to take charge of it." Smith said with an awkward smile.

The editor continued to work, gave editing suggestions, and edited a few small clips for selection, but Shi Lei was not there, and Smith was uneasy and hesitant, and he could not make a decision.

"Okay, I'll do it!" Shi Lei rolled up his sleeves and started working.

Smith invited him to be the director because of his award-winning artistic talent, so it was normal for him to be in charge of the editing.

Time passed quickly, and a month later, Shi Lei finished editing the film.

Although Smith was watching, Shi Lei was the one who made the main decision. However, sometimes Shi Lei needed to explain to Smith why the hair was cut that way.

This explanation is not difficult. As long as the editing is not too outrageous, professional directors can always make a lot of sense. This is called professionalism.

------

In the Columbia screening room, Shi Lei, Smith, and several Columbia professionals were watching the film attentively.

Two hours later, applause broke out in the screening room.

A manager of Columbia praised: "Director Shi is indeed an expert in shooting inspirational films. I was very excited and moved when I watched "The Pursuit of Happyness". It is better than "Million Dollar Baby"."

Another manager praised: "Yes! In this movie, I saw the sadness of the lower-class people. They suffered so much after losing their jobs. It is simply not a normal life.

But through Smith's interpretation, we can see the spirit of an unemployed man who never gives up.

This spirit will surely inspire many unemployed people to never give up, keep working hard and ultimately achieve success.

Mr. Smith is a blessing to them!"

Shi Lei almost vomited after hearing this flattery. This flattery was simply outrageous and completely ignored the facts.

North America is very concerned about the unemployment problem, but never solves it. They are only worried about the social unrest that may be caused by rising unemployment rates. As for lowering the unemployment rate, the country rarely considers it.

Otherwise there wouldn’t be so many homeless people.

"The Pursuit of Happyness" is useless except for making capitalists shed a few fake tears.

Whether it is the three major international film festivals or the Oscars, they all like this kind of film about struggling and finding joy in adversity.

In order to win awards abroad, early Chinese-language films had to depict the various sufferings in China and show a backward and chaotic China. This was the only way to win awards.

Of course he knows it. If he makes a living in this industry, he has to abide by its rules. He also has to make money in North America, so he won't say anything to complain.

As for the manager's flattery, he smiled and nodded in agreement.

As long as it can make him money, he doesn't mind a little cooperation.

Although Smith knew that the manager was exaggerating, everyone likes to hear good words, so he had no intention of refuting, and even without being modest, he directly agreed, "I hope the audience can learn the protagonist Chris's spirit of hard work. No hardship can defeat us. As long as we persevere, we will succeed in the end."

After a pause, he turned to Shi Lei and thanked him: "Thank you, Shi, you presented a perfect story."

Shi Lei waved his hand and said modestly: "Thank you for the compliment. I hope the film will be a success."

"It will definitely succeed." Smith said confidently.

"necessary."

After a few people finished praising each other, the next thing was a professional discussion. In the end, only some minor adjustments were made and the whole film was put into storage, waiting to be brought out at the end of December to compete for awards.

The work on "The Pursuit of Happyness" was completely completed, and Shi Lei went to see Warner to see the progress of the special effects of "300 Spartans".

After confirming that the special effects style has not changed and the special effects progress is normal, I left with satisfaction and returned to Shuimitao Film and Television.

After checking the latest news of Shuimitao Films, I found out that Wan Zairen's "The Conjuring" has been completed and the special effects are being worked on. The cost of "The Conjuring" is 2000 million US dollars. Both the quality and the special effects are much higher than those of the "Saw" series.

Wen Zairen took it very seriously and personally supervised the special effects production. Shi Lei just took a casual look and didn't offer any comments.

He continued to check the progress of other films. Series such as "Saw 3", "The Purge 2", and "Insidious 2" had already been filmed and some finished films had even been produced. He was now negotiating distribution fees with Warner and Columbia.

Since they are all series and there are competitors, Warner and Columbia have reduced their distribution fees to 11%. Shi Lei is quite satisfied that Shuimitao makes more money.

A few months passed, and the overseas profits from last year's film were received one by one. There was more money in the account. In addition, together with the tens of millions of dollars reserved for "Iron Man" last year, there was already 1.8 million US dollars in the account. If it were not for taxes and bonuses to employees and directors, the amount would definitely be more than 2 million US dollars.

Of course, he only dared to think about it. If he dared not to pay taxes in North America, he would be unable to move forward.

With money in the account, Shi Lei's ambition also grew.

He has his sights set on Iron Man and The Twilight Saga.

The original novel of "Twilight" came out in 2003, and the copyright is in the hands of Shuimi Tao Films. In 05, "Twilight" was the most talked-about bestseller. Within just a few weeks of its release, the book's sales skyrocketed, ranking fifth on the New York Times bestseller list.

According to his memory, the book then remained on the New York Times bestseller list for 56 weeks, including five weeks at number one.

But isn’t it a bit too hasty to make a movie now?

The books after Twilight haven't been completed yet, and the number of readers of Twilight hasn't reached its peak yet, so it would be a pity to shoot it now.

It also takes time for a novel to be adapted into a movie!
You need to wait a few years.

Suddenly, Shi Lei had an idea. He called Shui Mi Tao's manager in, handed him the outlines of "Maze Runner" and "The Hunger Games", and said, "Please ask the right writers to write these two stories."

"Find a professional editor to review the manuscript, and then give me the final draft. I will publish it after I make my final decision."

After that, he gave a worried reminder: "Hire better writers, preferably young writers, money is not a problem."

This is how it is in the novel world. With the same outline, different writers of different ages can produce different results. He decided to ask a suitable writer to write it first.

No, we can only wait until the original author reaches old enough to let them write.

Of course, he hopes that the writers he invites are capable and can write works that suit his style according to the outline, so that he can accumulate fans a few years in advance and make fan movies.

If it doesn’t taste right, you can only wait a few more years.

The manager was stunned by Shi Lei's request, but he quickly reacted and took the two documents and said, "Boss, I know what to do."

"But the results of asking a writer to write a novel may not meet your expectations. Why don't we just buy the copyright of a famous novel?"

Shi Lei nodded and said, "We can do it simultaneously. Don't be afraid of spending money."

He did not hold out much hope for purchasing the copyright to a famous novel, unless he bought it before he became famous, otherwise the competition would be very fierce, as Hollywood film and television companies all had the habit of hoarding novel copyrights.

He could only work on some unpublished and unknown novels.

However, although he cannot compete abroad, he is confident in his domestic field.

In 05, when Shanda was preparing to acquire a certain company, his Taolin Film and Television also got involved.

Taolin Film and Television has launched an IP incubation plan, providing a one-stop incubation service from novels to comics, TV series, movies, animation, and games.

It was this plan that made someone waver between Shanda and Taolin Film and Television.

By accepting Shanda's acquisition, Taolin Film and Television can obtain traffic through Shanda and increase the number of readers; although Taolin Film and Television's plan is attractive, what it needs now is readers.

Originally, Moudian was ready to be acquired by Shanda, but Feixun rose by relying on celebrity traffic, with the number of users increasing rapidly and the number of daily active users showing a trend of surpassing Penguin.

At some point, we began to be inclined to accept the acquisition by Taolin Film and Television.

Finally, Shi Lei dropped a bombshell by purchasing the film and television rights to "Zhu Xian" and promising to produce a TV series within three years, creating a fairy tale drama similar to "Legend of Sword and Fairy 1".

As soon as these words were spoken, I made a decision instantly and began to negotiate the acquisition with Taolin Film and Television.

With the successful case of "Legend of Sword and Fairy 1", Moudian is very confident about the TV series "Zhu Xian".

The acquisition process has entered its final stages.

After the successful acquisition of a certain point, the remaining sectors are comics and games.

After returning to China, I have to set up a comics company and at the same time let Feixun set up a gaming department.

Thinking of this, Shi Lei couldn't help but smile.

The manager of Shui Mi Tao Films looked at the boss who suddenly laughed, and said nothing more to disturb his mood. He picked up two documents and prepared to leave. Suddenly he stopped and reminded, "Boss, Kevin Feige from Marvel came to ask for a meeting a few days ago. Do you want to make an appointment?"

"Oh? So urgent? You even come to my house?" Shi Lei was surprised. Kevin Feige had asked him out several times, but he always refused due to being busy with work. Now that he is done with his work, he was planning to make an appointment in a few days, but he didn't expect Kevin Feige to find the company.

Although Marvel filed for bankruptcy once in 96 and its revenue has not been very good in recent years, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. Marvel is still a large company with a market value of more than one billion US dollars (before the success of the Marvel Universe). Although Kevin Feige is not the president, he is now also an executive. He went to Peach Film and Television without an appointment, and his attitude was very humble!

He just released a piece of news, why are you so nervous?

"I'll be in the company these days, please ask him to come over." Shi Lei ordered directly.

"Okay." The manager responded and turned to leave.

On the third day, Kevin Feige arrived at Peach Films.

In CEO Shuimitao's office, Shi Lei chatted with Kevin Feige about all sorts of things, but he didn't ask Kevin Feige the purpose of meeting him.

Finally, Kevin Feige couldn't help but ask directly: "I heard that Director Shi is going to shoot "Iron Man"?"

Shi Lei quickly shook his head: "Wrong, it's Peach Films that is going to shoot Iron Man, and I'm not going to be the director."

Kevin Feige was shocked and no longer had any hope for Shuimi Films' "Iron Man".

He got straight to the point and said, "Director Shi, I have a plan in mind. I plan to use the Avengers as a starting point to build the Marvel Cinematic Universe step by step. Iron Man is also one of the heroes in the Avengers. My plan is this..."

Shi Lei asked questions while listening to Kevin Feige's Marvel Universe plan.

Kevin Feige became even more excited when he saw Shi Lei was interested.

Two hours later, Kevin Feige's mouth was dry and his throat was almost smoking.

Shi Lei saw that the time was right and directly stated his conditions: "I am very interested in your cosmic plan. I can increase the investment in "Iron Man" and also invest in "The Incredible Hulk" and "Captain America".

My condition is that Peach Films must have half of the investment rights for all Marvel Universe movies, and I will invest 50% in all Marvel Universe movies in the future."

(End of this chapter)