Huayu started by playing Lao Ai

Chapter 161 Which one to shoot?
At 9 o'clock in the morning, Zheng Jing brought a breakfast to today's secretary Chen.

After seeing Chen had eaten his fill, Zheng Jing felt very satisfied and leaned back in his office chair comfortably.

Chen wiped his mouth and said, "Your breakfast is too rich, much more than before."

Since acquiring the talent of "energetic", Zheng Jing basically no longer has to worry about running out of ammunition.

Not only that, his energy is also of high quality and has a slightly nourishing effect.

"For you, I exercise every day." Zheng Jing said with a smile: "You have to understand my hard work."

Chen heard this and said unhappily: "What do you mean by understanding? Understanding your hard work, and then helping you find more women?"

Ever since his ally Zhang Xun was poached by Gao Yuanyuan, Chen temporarily gave up the idea of looking for allies.

She has been successfully admitted to graduate school and will stay in school when school starts again in September. She will study for her master's degree and work as a counselor at the same time.

The path to becoming a teacher is very steady.

Zheng Jing was about to speak when his assistant knocked on the door and walked in, saying, "Boss Zheng, someone outside sent a document that they said was what you wanted."

"Put it on the table."

Chen straightened his clothes and said, "I'll be leaving first. Are you free tonight?"

"The day after tomorrow. I'm busy these two days."

Chen made an OK gesture and left with a smile.

Zheng Jing picked up the documents on the table, tore open the file bag and started reading.

This is the information he asked Gu Genshuo to collect about Zhang Yimou, Zhang Weiping and New Picture Pictures.

Since establishing the Lao Ai Studio, Gu Genshuo has been doing very well.

Not only did he quickly resolve Hu Bin's issue, but he also collected a lot of celebrity gossip.

Gu Geun-suk earns a lot of money by selling gossip to the media.

Lao Ai Studio is completely capable of operating independently. Apart from Du Wei, Zheng Hui and others, the outside world does not know the relationship between Gu Genshuo and Zheng Jing.

Zheng Jing attached great importance to the filming of the movie "Burning the Cauldrons".

His first choice of director is, of course, Zhang Yi.

When it comes to shooting and directing large-scale scenes, Zhang Yi can be said to be the best in the world.

Zheng Jing not only took the initiative to call and invite Zhang Yi to have tea, but also asked Gu Genshuo to check the information.

After all, only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you win every battle.

“…The rumors about Zhang Yimou and Wang Haizhen are both true and false.

The true part is that the two people did have sex; the false part is that they just had a one-night stand and were not a couple.

Behind Wang Haizhen is Deng Jianguo, the boss of Guangzhou Superstar Pictures, who deliberately hyped up the scandal between Wang Haizhen and Zhang Yi to increase Wang Haizhen's popularity.

Next, Wang Haizhen will be the host.

…Influenced by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Zhang Weiping has successfully encouraged Zhang Yi to make a martial arts commercial blockbuster, with an estimated investment of no less than 1.5 million yuan.

Zhang Weiping did not have that much money. In addition to using Zhang Yi's fame to contact investors in Hong Kong, he also planned to raise the investment amount through international bank loans.

Borrowing from an international bank is beneficial to Zhang Weiping, as he only needs to pay the fixed principal and interest.

If Zhang Yimou's commercial blockbuster is a big success, Zhang Weiping can make more extra profits.

Of course, there are downsides. If the movie fails, Zhang Weiping will be burdened with a large debt.

In addition, commercial bank loans are guaranteed by insurance companies. This purely commercial financing structure requires that films must follow strict market rules from production to distribution, which imposes considerable restrictions on Zhang Yi's creativity.

...In terms of personal relationship, Zhang Yi and Zhang Weiping have a very good relationship, and both parties are in the honeymoon period of cooperation..."

After reading the information, Zheng Jing nodded. Gu Genshuo is indeed the ace scout of the army with extremely high comprehensive qualities.

Not only can you find information, but you can also give appropriate analysis and judgment, highlighting a profession.

Zheng Jing put the documents in the drawer and made some tea in the office, and then Zhang Yi arrived.

With him were Li Jinsong and Wang Bin.

“Mr. Zheng, this is Li Jinsong, a well-known author, and this is Wang Bin, a famous screenwriter in the industry.

They are all your fans, Mr. Zheng. They know I am coming to have tea with you, so they want to come along and take advantage of you.”

Zhang Yi introduced his two friends and praised Zheng Jing.

The four of them exchanged a few words and then sat down.

While Zheng Jing was making tea, he said, “Everyone in the circle knows that I like to be straightforward.

So I won’t beat around the bush and just say it directly.

The reason we invited Director Zhang to come here this time is because our company is going to shoot a commercial blockbuster with an investment amount of no less than 1 million yuan.

I want you to direct it."

Hearing Zheng Jing's words, Zhang Yi was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that Zheng Jing had taken the initiative before he even invited him.

Zhang Yimou did not first say that he was preparing for "Hero", but asked: "I don't know what kind of blockbuster it is. Do you have a script?"

Zheng Jing said: "It's a war action movie called "Burning the Boats".

The protagonist is Xiang Yu, and the story outline is about Xiang Yu's rise from raising an army to becoming a general among the princes.

As for the script, it is already being written.”

Hearing about Xiang Yu, Zhang Yi was silent for a moment and said, “Actually, I am also planning a movie, tentatively titled Hero.

How about we work together and film heroes?"

Zheng Jing asked back: "You don't seem to like Xiang Yu?"

Zhang Yi nodded and explained: "Although Xiang Yu was a great overlord, he was tyrannical and cruel, and he didn't understand the people of the world.

I want to create a hero who cares about the world and is willing to give everything, even his own life, for world peace.”

Even though it is a commercial film, Zhang Yi still hopes to express himself.

Zheng Jing poured tea for Zhang Yimou and the other two and said with a smile, "The hero you want to create is too idealistic and will appear false and empty.

A true hero is like Xiang Yu, who has many advantages but also shortcomings.

These are heroes of flesh and blood.”

Zhang Yi took a sip of tea and said nothing.

On the contrary, Li Jinsong said: "Although Xiang Yu is very controversial, there has never been a king higher than Xiang since ancient times. His experience is very legendary and he is indeed a very good protagonist."

Zheng Jing also took a sip of tea and said slowly: "Xiang Yu's brutality is certainly worthy of criticism. But his brutality was inevitable.

Take the massacre in the Qin Dynasty as an example. It was unavoidable.

First of all, the Qin Dynasty’s tyrannical rule caused resentment throughout the country, especially among the people of Chu.

Xiang Yu followed Xiang Liang in the uprising under the banner of revenge.

The Chu army under Xiang Yu's command had a deep hatred towards the Qin Dynasty.

This hatred supports them to win with fewer troops and create miracles, but it also makes them lose their minds after winning.

Under such circumstances, even if Xiang Yu did not agree to massacre the city, it would be difficult for the Chu army to control it.

What's more, Xiang Yu also agreed to the massacre of the city subjectively.

This is the second reason for the massacre. There are benefits to the massacre.

It can intimidate princes, plunder resources, and weaken the enemy's vitality.

This is the cruelty of war.

Liu Bang also massacred the city, but it was downplayed in history books.

If you want to call this tyranny, I have no objection, but I prefer to call it war and revenge.

Although Chu has three households, if Qin is destroyed, Chu will definitely die.

This is not just an empty slogan, but a deep-seated feud.

Under what circumstances would the Chu people say that even if we only have three households left?
Think about it carefully. "

Seeing Zhang Yimou thinking, Zheng Jing continued, “Revenge is a very common and tried-and-tested cliché in Western dramas.

You film heroes and promote universal love, but Westerners won’t understand.

But if you film Xiang Yu's revenge, then Westerners can understand it.

Moreover, Xiang Yu was a nobleman, and he admired the aristocratic spirit of the time.

As an old aristocrat seeking revenge for his family, Westerners can empathize with Xiang Yu.

We often invest hundreds of millions of yuan in a blockbuster film, and it is definitely not enough to rely solely on the domestic film market.

We must be like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and make money from Americans.

So we had to take American preferences into consideration before we started filming.”

Seeing that Zhang Yi was still silent, Wang Bin said, "Mr. Zheng, you really like Xiang Yu."

Zheng Jing said: "Of course I like it, Yu's bravery is unparalleled in the history.

If Breaking the Cauldrons does well at the box office, I will also shoot a sequel, Besieged on All Sides, to fully showcase Xiang Yu’s success and failure.”

The character of Xiang Yu certainly had many shortcomings. He was superstitious about the use of force and aristocratic spirit, and his political level was insufficient.

But he is not a reckless man.

In Zheng Jing's opinion, Sima Qian meant well but ended up with a bad result. In order to praise Xiang Yu, he kept strengthening his heroic martial arts, thereby weakening Xiang Yu's extraordinary strength in using troops, especially in commanding on the battlefield.

Moreover, politically, Xiang Yu's weakness was only compared with Liu Bang, his own level was still okay.

The main reason he lost to Liu Bang was that he was too young and had a shallow foundation.

Xiang Yu was so awesome that many people overlooked the fact that before the Battle of Julu, he was just a military general, or a thug.

Xiang Yu's uncle Xiang Liang was the commander-in-chief, and the puppet King Huai of Chu, who was found by Xiang Liang, was the nominal prince.

After Xiang Liang's death, almost all the core members of the Xiang family died out.

This is also why Xiang Yu did not trust Fan Zeng, because Xiang Yu had no one to trust.

If he is not careful, power will be taken away from him.

In contrast, Liu Bang was surrounded by a group of old friends who knew him well.

Liu Bang also did not trust Han Xin, but he trusted Xiao He.

Liu Bang had a strong foundation, so he could always regroup no matter how defeated he was.

Xiang Yu didn't have the capital, he would be defeated if he lost once.

His failure was inevitable.

In the words of Xiang Yu, "I have the strength to move mountains and the courage to conquer the world, but the time is not right and my horse will not move."

After hearing Zheng Jing say there might be a sequel, Zhang Yi finally spoke up and said, "Mr. Zheng, this is not a small matter, I still need to discuss it with Zhang Weiping.

Please give me a few more days to think about it carefully."

Zheng Jing nodded and said, “No problem, I will look for Columbia and Century Heroes to cooperate with me.

If you want a portion of the investment share, we can discuss it.

The project of "Burning the Boats" has sufficient funds and a very good team.

In comparison, heroes are much worse.

Apart from anything else, funding is a problem and borrowing is inevitable.

There will be more restrictions on you then.

If you work with me, you will not only be able to produce better works, but also make more money.

It's you I'm interested in, not Zhang Weiping.

Your current situation is not very good.

What I am best at is helping the director.

Zhou Xiaowen filmed Lüshi Chunqiu with me, and now he is enjoying a second spring in his career.

Cheng Kaige worked with me on Lu Bu and Diao Chan. Now Lu Bu and Diao Chan is very popular in Japan, and he has become a guest of honor for Japanese capital.

I hope Director Zhang can make the right choice."

Zhang Yi said with a smile: "Thank you, Mr. Zheng, for your consideration. I will consider it carefully and give you a reply within a week."

Zheng Jing smiled and said calmly: "I will wait for you for three days at most. Within three days, I will not look for other directors.

This pie won’t wait for you forever.”

Hearing this, Zhang Yi felt a tightness in his heart.

He nodded and agreed.

(End of this chapter)