This celebrity is overly enthusiastic!

Chapter 215 Super TV Series

After negotiating the relevant contracts and supplementary terms with Columbia Pictures, Chen Yuan accepted Han Sanpin's invitation to have hot pot together.

"Sigh, Chen Yuan, do you really think that the fifth and sixth generation of directors that our country trained before are no longer keeping up with the times?"
Even Old Chen suffered such a huge setback; not only is his reputation ruined, but his family relationships are also in complete disarray. Good heavens, you've already eaten seven plates of mutton, how can you still eat?!

"Haha, I'm going to America soon, and I won't be able to eat this old-fashioned hot pot in the capital for a while, so I'll eat more to satisfy my craving."

Chen Yuan glanced at Han Sanpin, who was frowning, and thought to himself that since China Film Group controls the theaters and distribution, the money collected will be allocated to China Film Group first. "The Promise" won't lose money to China Film Group!

He dipped a large mouthful of tender, savory meat, freshly picked from the copper pot, in sesame sauce, and chewed it while wiping his mouth with a napkin. Only after swallowing did he slowly say:

"Brother Chen is talented, but he's too self-conscious and has too much of an idol image to recognize that after the reform of film and television, movies are not only works of art, but also commodities."

I've always felt that directors in China wield too much power, often unable to control their urge to express themselves.

It's not just domestic directors; the same applies to directors from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

For example, Tsui Hark's "The Legend of Zu" also suffered a major setback in the market because it went too far with its own ideas.
After things finally calmed down, Sister Nansheng kept a close eye on "The Book and the Sword," and we finished filming it obediently. After making money, we got carried away again.

Tsui Hark's current project, "Seven Swords," has no shortage of investment, but Metaverse has neither invested in nor managed it.

Sister Nansheng has complained to me several times about how the management of the "Seven Swords" project is chaotic.

I still have a lot of faith in her judgment, so I don't think the prospects for "Seven Swords" are very good.

Han Sanpin accidentally dropped a piece of tripe into the pot while he was holding it. After trying to retrieve it a few times without success, he simply put his chopsticks on the bowl and began to think about what Chen Yuan had just said.

China Film Group didn't invest in "Seven Swords," but he still paid close attention to the film.

This is a rare 'blockbuster' in the Chinese film market, with a production cost far exceeding the average level of domestic films of the same period.

Not only does it feature big stars from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong such as Donnie Yen, Li Min, An Zhijie, and Sun Honglei, but it also puts a lot of effort into props and special effects.

If Chen Yuan doesn't have high hopes for a film like this, then there's a very high probability that it's truly doomed to fail.

It's not that Han Sanpin is blindly devoted to Chen Yuan, but rather that this talented young man is not only an excellent commercial film director, but also has an extremely deep understanding of the entire domestic entertainment industry.

Otherwise, the metaverse wouldn't have achieved such remarkable success in movies, TV series, and variety shows under his leadership.

"Sigh, directors are hard to manage, it's a real problem. Excellent commercial directors are even rarer, and only you, Yuan Universe, would be so dismissive of directors."

Han Sanpin looked at Chen Yuan with amusement. "My Robot Girlfriend" had grossed over 6000 million at the box office and would be introduced to several Southeast Asian countries later.

The remarkable success of this low-to-medium budget film not only boosted the fame of Fan Binbin and Wang Baoqiang, but also made the film's director, Zhao Jian, a household name.

Zhao Jian, 35, was once just a wedding photographer. After joining Yuan Universe in 01, he grew rapidly through continuous learning and experience in various projects.
Ultimately, he won the position of director of "My Robot Girlfriend" through internal competition.

The directors in the metaverse are completely different from the directors of other film and television companies; they are subject to much stronger constraints and governance.

We are currently in an era of rampant development in the film and television industry. After the success of "My Robot Girlfriend," Zhao Jian became famous, and many other film and television companies came to poach this rising star director.

Zhao Jian was also a person with his own ideas. He didn't want to be controlled anymore and believed that there was a wider world waiting for him to explore outside the metaverse, so he chose to leave the metaverse.

Chen Yuan's "Oxytocin Body" is not a brainless halo. Although it can make it easier to gain the trust of others, how can mere trust compare to the money and fame right in front of you?

Chen Yuan approved Zhao Jian's resignation without hesitation, without even trying to persuade him to stay, and without even granting Zhao Jian's request to meet with him.

Fearing that others might accuse him of being narrow-minded and seeking personal revenge, Chen Yuan stated in a recent interview that he wanted to part ways amicably and wished Zhao Jian continued success.

Zhao Jian is indeed talented, hardworking, and willing to learn; he can be considered a capable person.
But he didn't know that the reason Chen Yuan chose him to direct "My Robot Girlfriend" was because he was just an ordinary talent in the Yuan Universe's talent pool, capable of completing the tasks assigned to him well.

The talents that Chen Yuan truly values ​​in the metaverse are either like Ning Hao, who is tasked with correcting system-rewarded films with obvious structural problems, or those who are put in charge of completely original projects.

As for "My Robot Girlfriend," although Chen Yuan received the version starring Bao Beier, it had significant problems.

However, these problems are basically all caused by the awkward localization. The overall tone and structure of the film are fine. Thanks to the localization master Bao Beier!
Therefore, Zhao Jian's excellent cinematography and the many beautiful and poetic shots he designed contributed greatly to the success of the movie "My Robot Girlfriend".
However, Chen Yuan and the top executives of Yuan Universe unanimously believe that the greatest credit goes to the screenwriter for creating such an excellent script, as well as Fan Binbin's unparalleled personal appeal.

Let Zhao Jian leave. If he can find more good scripts, he might be able to continue his success.
Without a good script and a good team, Chen Yuan doesn't actually have high hopes for his career in the film industry.

But to outsiders, Chen Yuan appears arrogant and conceited, unable to retain truly talented individuals. Many of Chen Yuan's fans also constantly criticize Zhao Jian for being heartless and treacherous.

"The director isn't really the most important person in the metaverse. As long as the screenwriter and production team are there, I can start another project anytime." Han Sanpin knew that the internal atmosphere and culture of the metaverse were very strange. It seemed that Chen Yuan really didn't value Zhao Jian, who had left. After picking up another piece of tripe, swishing it around in the broth, he sighed:
"Learning from American teams has indeed significantly improved China's film and television technology and project management capabilities."

However, there are still too few directors or producers who can integrate these forces.

"Chen Yuan, are there really no directors from Hong Kong who can be used?"

Chen Yuan knew what Han Sanpin was struggling with; it was still about the domestic blockbuster.

Last year, China Film Group released a film with a production cost of over 5000 million yuan, which involved a large number of people who had worked with Chen Yuan on the "The Edge Walker" project.

The film's production quality has indeed improved, but the plot is still a period martial arts story with many flaws, and the final box office barely exceeded 100 million yuan, resulting in a small loss.

China Film Group wanted to produce a truly big-budget film to be shown in the 08 Olympic year, to showcase the strength of Chinese cinema to the world.

But I've been struggling to find a reliable director.

"Have someone from Hong Kong contacted you, Third Master?"

"Wu Baige, he wanted to bring China Film Group into the 'Battle of Red Cliff' project he was working on with Poly Theatre last year. What do you think?"

Chen Yuan laughed out loud. "The Battle of Red Cliffs, isn't that just the later terrible movie 'Red Cliffs'?"

"If Wu Baige were to make a gunfight movie or a modern action movie, my entire universe would support him."

But historical films, especially epic historical films like Red Cliff, are utter garbage!

It's not that I have any prejudice against Hong Kong people, but think about it yourself, how many watchable historical films have Hong Kong produced in all these years of film development?

You really need to think this through! Don't wait until Wu Baige's underwear is exposed before you regret it, hehehehehe.

Looking at Chen Yuan, who was smiling happily, Han Sanpin was filled with emotion.

When "Kung Fu Panda" was released in 01, Chen Yuan was compared to Wu Baige and Li An by the media, which drew a lot of ridicule.

Now, Wu Baige has become a down-on-his-luck director who caused MGM to be acquired by Sony and can no longer find a place in Hollywood.

Meanwhile, Chen Yuan has already built the most successful film and entertainment company in China, which is highly sought after by Hollywood.

It's common in the industry for Hong Kong people to look down on mainlanders; many film crews have suffered from the rudeness of Hong Kong people.

However, only in the Metaverse project, the Hong Kong people in the Metaverse crew were truly honest and polite, which shows Chen Yuan's current influence in the entire Chinese entertainment industry.

"You dare to invest tens of millions in variety shows, and you dare to throw 1 million into a TV series, but how come all your movies are low- to mid-budget projects? Why don't you make any big-budget films in the metaverse?"

"Who says there aren't any blockbusters? Isn't Kung Fu Panda 2 a blockbuster?"
"I've lost count of how much money I've poured into making this movie, including government subsidies," Chen Yuan retorted, clearly unconvinced.

"Also, the production budget for 'A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality' was not 100 million, but 200 million."

Han Sanpin was taken aback, and his small, single-eyelid eyes widened involuntarily upon hearing Chen Yuan's revised data!
"What's going on with 'A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality'? A TV series costing 200 million? Are you crazy?!"
How can I break even?
Are you trying to make a TV series like a movie? Is it really necessary to go to such lengths, like the entire metaverse?
I've heard that you've brought together a large portion of the people you worked with on the "The Edge Walker" project into this TV series.
"You put so much effort into TV dramas, why don't you put more effort into movies?"

The TV series "A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality," a project that was initiated and discussed in the second half of last year, was officially launched at the beginning of this year after the initial discussion phase.

Because Chen Yuan attached great importance to this project, he deployed his best personnel.

Such a large-scale project naturally couldn't escape the eyes of its peers, who are now constantly watching every move of the Metaverse.
Rumors are circulating within the industry that Metaverse is producing another 'super TV series'.

Even in today's diverse and vibrant domestic TV drama market, "The Legend of Seven Swords" and "The Legend of the Healer" still stand out as dazzling and eye-catching.

Gradually, some of Chen Yuan's fans began to use the simple and unpretentious term "super TV series" to distinguish it from other TV series.

Later, it's unclear which media outlet first spread the self-deprecating nickname used by the fan group.

With the popularity of "The Healer" in many countries, we hear news every now and then about how TV dramas, as well as other Chinese cuisine and traditional Chinese medicine, are becoming popular with foreigners.
The concept of a 'super TV series' in the metaverse is being accepted by more and more people.

Even "The World's Number One," which was already completed and was just waiting to be broadcast during the summer vacation, a prime time for TV dramas, has been dubbed a "super TV drama" in advance.

Now that Chen Yuan has made such a big splash by producing a TV series, what else could it be but a 'super TV series'?

(End of this chapter)