Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 91 File Transfer
Chang Jihong is a gold medal agent. Of course, his achievements are lower than Wang Jinghua. He is considered the second-ranked agent in the country.

The reason why she is not as good as Wang Jinghua is probably because she does not have many big-name artists under her.

In fact, as long as one big name is under her, she can be called a "gold medal agent". The big name under her is Jiang Wenli.

Jiang Wenli is very awesome and is currently recognized as the ratings queen in the industry.

In 99, the TV series "Hand in Hand" became a hit with a 9.2% audience rating. She won the Feitian Award for Best Actress and also won the Golden Eagle Award.

The three major television awards are Feitian Awards, Golden Eagle Awards, and Magnolia Awards.

"Holding Hands" won two at once, achieving supreme godhood.

A few years later, Jiang Wenli won the Magnolia Award for "Golden Wedding", becoming the first actress in mainland film history to win the Grand Slam.

The reason why I say she is a female actress is because the real number one is Wang Zhiwen, who is a monster, the kind that God feeds.

Especially the delivery of lines.

Among so many outstanding actors of his generation, no one dares to say that he is better than him in terms of line delivery.

Just by listening to him speak the lines, without looking at the subtitles or even the screen, you can know what he is acting.

Jiang Wenli is slightly inferior to Wang Zhiwen. Her status is similar to that of Zhang Guoli among male actors, and she is considered an "evergreen in film and television."

And he has a good vision. "Black Ice", "Chinese Divorce", "Golden Wedding", "Happiness Knocks on the Door" and "A Little Woman of Zhengyang Gate" are all hits.

Let me put it this way, to show how popular "Hand in Hand", before it, the only TV series that achieved the same level of popularity was "A Native of Beijing in New York". Of course, "Desire" doesn't count, because that was a fantastic TV series, and it had something to do with the social environment at the time.

But no one expected that the virtuous Liu Huifang would become like this.

At this stage, Jiang Wenli is a first-line star. With her and Zhao Yanzi, any TV series will definitely have good ratings as long as they have the two of them.

In addition to Jiang Wenli, Chang Jihong also has a few other subordinates, including Sun Li, She Nan, Wang Luodan, Liu Ye, Yu Na...

Although Sun Li has achieved considerable success in later life, she is still a newcomer now. "Jade Guanyin" which aired last year was her debut work.

Liu Ye's current fame is only known within a small circle within the circle. He will not become truly famous until the broadcast of "Blood Romance" in November this year. Only then will he become truly famous all over the world.

However, he is quite famous in Japan. The movie "That Mountain, That Man, That Dog" in which he played the leading role not only won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Feature Film, but also earned 6 million yen at the box office in Japan, setting a record.

As for Wang Luodan, he was an amateur before he played the role of "Mile". Chang Jihong brought Wang Luodan with him today just to show off his reputation.

"Director Zhang, I heard that the new film you are leading, "Darkness 2", has already started preparations. I brought Luo Dan here today just to get to know you. If there is a suitable role, I hope Director Zhang will give me a chance."

Perhaps the information was corrected last night. Chang Jihong no longer said that Zhang Chen was the director of "Dark Invasion 2", but only said that he was the leader.

Wang Luodan, who was standing next to him, also understood what was said and immediately raised his glass to toast.

"I also hope that Director Zhang will consider me in the future. I'm a good deal. I have good acting skills and I'm cheap."

Wang Luodan advertised herself in a small way. She was from the 01 class of the Beijing Film Academy's acting class. She was one grade older than Zhang Chen and could be considered a senior.

"Sister, you're welcome."

Of course Zhang Chen would not take advantage of the situation. Everyone raised their glasses and drank together. They talked and laughed, and the atmosphere was very good.

But he didn't think Wang Luodan was suitable because he was too thin.

But he would not offend Chang Jihong in person.

"Sister Chang, I'm not refusing, but I promised Ning Hao that he would be in charge of this play. I can recommend people, but it's up to the director to decide whether they are suitable or not in the end."

Zhang Chen indeed planned so. He is also a director and knows what the director cares about most: the casting right.

What's the point of being a director if you can't even decide the roles yourself?

He would recommend it, but whether Ning Hao would use it or not was his business, and the same went for Yang Xiaomi.

"Thank you very much. What we need is an opportunity. Whether we can win it depends on our personal ability." Chang Jihong was very generous and did not seem unhappy at all.

"But I have to point out in advance that the female lead has actually been decided. It is Juno from the previous play. This is determined by the plot. Even if Luo Dan is finally chosen, the role can only be a supporting role."

"It's okay. There's no big or small role. We're not picky."

The main purpose of this contact is to establish a relationship with Zhang Chen. Having a relationship will provide a basis for future cooperation.

As for whether or not you can get the role, that’s all incidental.

She analyzed Zhang Chen. Although Zhang Chen has only directed two works so far, and "The Shallows" has not been released yet, Zhang Chen has a characteristic: the protagonists in his movies are all women.

In "The Dark", there is only a female lead, but no male lead. "The Shallows" is even more impressive, as even the supporting roles are gone. It's just the female lead's one-man show.

No one in the circle has mentioned this characteristic of Zhang Chen yet, but she has keenly noticed it, so she is eager to establish a relationship with Zhang Chen.

If her analysis is correct, Zhang Chen's next movie might be a movie with a female lead, which is great news for her artists.

Although Jiang Wenli is invincible in the field of TV dramas, she has few works in the field of movies. If she could cooperate with Zhang Chen, it might become a good story.

The atmosphere in the private room was good, and several people were chatting and laughing. Especially Wang Luodan and Zhang Chen, both of them were from Beijing Film Academy, with only one year difference in grades, so they had a lot of common topics.

However, as they were chatting and laughing, the cell phone suddenly rang at an inopportune time.

Zhang Chen glanced at the caller ID, said sorry, and answered the call.

The call was from Director Chen from the Special Effects Production Center. As soon as I answered the phone, I heard the voice on the other end say, "Director Zhang, something has happened. Please come to the production center as soon as possible."

"What's going on? What happened?" Zhang Chen's heart suddenly tightened. Could there be some problem with the special effects production?

"It's hard to explain in a few words. Please come over here."

"Okay, wait for me, I'll be there soon."

After hanging up the phone, he said, "Sorry, Sister Chang, Luo Dan, something urgent happened here and I have to deal with it right away~"

"Director Zhang, if you have something to do, go do it first. I can tell you're in a hurry. We already know each other, and there's nothing else to do. You don't have to stay here with us."

"Okay, then I'll leave first."

Zhang Chen apologized and hurried out, wanting to take a taxi straight to the Huairou Digital Film and Television Base.

Unfortunately, things went against our wishes and the more anxious we were, the more things went wrong.

Normally the streets are full of taxis, but at this time there is not a single empty taxi.

Zhang Chen waved anxiously, but no car stopped.

Just when he was anxious, a Jetta suddenly stopped in front of him, the window rolled down, revealing Zhang Xiaobei's face inside.

"Where are you in a hurry to go? Get in the car. I'll take you there."

Zhang Chen was stunned for a moment, then got into the car, "Huairou, China Film Digital Base."

Zhang Xiaobei started the car and drove out. Only then did Zhang Chen have time to ask, "What a coincidence, I just happened to run into you here."

Zhang Xiaobei said cheerfully, "It's not a coincidence. I was following you and secretly photographing you, but I saw that you seemed to be in urgent need, so I showed up now."

Zhang Chen thought to himself that it was indeed the case. He was wondering how could such a coincidence happen.

“Did you take the photo?”

"I got it." Zhang Xiaobei excitedly patted the camera hanging around his neck. "Yesterday it was Li Xiaowan, today it's Chang Jihong, what are you trying to do?"

Zhang Chen thought to himself that you are quite shameless, so he just asked casually, and the candid photo shoot turned into an interview.

But they helped after all, and we still have to rely on them to go to Huairou, so it's understandable that they gave us some material. "It's nothing, they heard that "Darkness 2" is being prepared and wanted to audition."

"Ah, preparations for Dark Invasion 2 have begun? How come I haven't heard of it?"

"Well, the preparations have just begun, and not many people know about it yet."

Many movies will be announced to the public from the preparation stage in order to create topics and generate heat.

The one who is the best at this is Zhang Da Hu Zi.

However, Zhang Chen doesn't like to do this. He thinks there should be limits to hype.

"So what was the result of the audition?" Zhang Xiaobei was still not satisfied.

Zhang Chen glanced at him and said, "I'm not the director. Casting is the director's right. The most I can do is recommend her and give her a chance to audition."

"Ah, you're not the director of Darkness 2, so who is the director?"

"Ning Hao is the cameraman of the first film. He is also the director and has won the Most Popular Director Award at the Beijing University Student Film Festival."

Zhang Xiaobei was excited. He didn't expect that he would get a piece of explosive news just by chatting for a few minutes.

"Can you tell us what Dark Invasion 2 is about?"

"That won't work." This time Zhang Chen refused without hesitation.

The plot of the movie was top secret, so not only did he, a reporter, but even many actors could only get fragments of the script before signing the contract.

Zhang Xiaobei didn't get more information, but he was not disappointed, it was enough.

It’s no wonder that Zhang Chen is so awesome. You can really make money by filming him.

The group soon arrived at the China Film Digital Production Base. Zhang Chen got off the car, and Zhang Xiaobei asked, "Should I wait for you? You have to go back to the city."

Zhang Chen thought for a moment and said, "That's fine. Then you just wait for me."

"Okay." Zhang Xiaobei was happy and wanted to follow him in, but was stopped by Zhang Chen: "Just wait for me in the car. This is China Film Academy. You can't get in."

After saying that, Zhang Chen walked into the China Film Building, leaving the latter with a look of disappointment.

After entering the China Film Building, Zhang Chen went straight to the floor of the Digital Production Center. As soon as he entered the door, he asked hurriedly: "Director Chen, what happened? You didn't tell me when I asked you over the phone..."

Director Chen was sitting in the middle of the room with a worried look on his face, and other people in charge of special effects production were also there.

Hearing Zhang Chen's words, Director Chen raised his head and was about to say something when he suddenly burst out laughing.

Following his laugh, everyone else also laughed, and for a while the sound of haha ​​was endless.

Zhang Chen was a little confused by this scene.

Director Chen waved his hands in self-mockery: "Blame me, blame me, I really couldn't help it, or my acting skills are not up to standard."

Seeing Zhang Chen looking at him in confusion, Director Chen smiled and said, "Director Zhang, it's okay. I just want to give you a surprise."

"surprise?"

"Well, I have good news for you. We have finished the special effects for The Shallows."

?

Zhang Chen's forehead was dark. Finished? When I came here two days ago, didn't you say it would be finished by the end of November?
How come it was finished in the blink of an eye?

Seeing Zhang Chen like this, Director Chen continued to explain: "Recently, Hollywood has released a special effects software specifically for skin, which is very compatible with ours, so we bought it. We have made some upgrades to the software. With this software, the difficulty of shark special effects production can be reduced by 70%, so the original production time of more than a month has been shortened to one week."

"Are you really done?"

"It's done, you can see the effect."

Zhang Chen sat in front of the computer half-believing and half-doubting, and then the staff began to show him the results of their work.

Half an hour later, Zhang Chen let out a long sigh.

It was actually done.

Then he thought of a question, now that the special effects were done, could he move up the schedule?

The release time span of February is already quite long, but special effects production has always been a slow and meticulous process, so there is nothing we can do about it.

Now suddenly all the special effects have been completed at the end of September, so should I advance the release date?

1月22日过年，贺岁档从12月开始，但12月已经有两部大作上映，分别是《天下无贼》12月9号和《功夫》12月23号。

Both of these movies have grossed over 100 million yuan, so there's no need for Zhang Chen to try so hard to earn a share of the Lunar New Year box office.

That would be a waste of effort. Currently, there are too few screens in China, less than 3000 yuan, which is simply not enough to support three films competing on the same screen.

Then it can only be advanced or postponed.

October and November are not good periods, you can see it from watching the movies.

But at least there is a long National Day holiday in October, and the seven-day holiday will still have a certain promoting effect on the box office.

"Kekexili" was chosen to be released on October 10st.

Although "2046" and "New Police Story" will be released in September, they will also span the National Day holiday.

Unfortunately, "The Shallows" could not catch up with this window.

There are only two days left until the National Day holiday, and even preheating the film is not enough, let alone applying for the Dragon Mark.

Postponed to January.

That's even colder.

According to the general habits, people probably won’t watch movies for a long time after the Spring Festival.

Forget it, let’s just do it in November.

It’s mainly about money. Zhang Chen has no money left.

He is waiting for "The Shallows" to make up for his losses. He wants it to be released sooner so that he can see the return of money sooner, so that he can prepare for his third work.

Of course he can also use other people's money, but that is equivalent to giving his own money to others.

As for loans? Impossible. Loans for film projects are different from loans for other industries.

A movie is just a few rolls of film, unlike products produced on a production line, which have physical objects that can be used as collateral.

Before the film is made, no one can predict how it will perform at the box office.

For a movie, as long as it is not completed, it has no value. Even if it is completed, it is hard to say how much it is worth. The same movie will have different box office results when released in different time periods.

If the application for the Dragon Mark fails or is banned, it will become a blank piece of paper in a moment.

Therefore, banks usually do not provide loans for film projects unless they are well-known large companies or directors in the industry.

Huayi Brothers borrowed 5000 million yuan to make "Assembly" and million yuan to make "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate", but those were Tsui Hark and Feng Xiaogang. Zhang Chen was just a new director who had made one movie. No one would lend him money.

……

The company is working overtime, that's all for today.
(End of this chapter)