The entertainment industry: My 99 future timelines!

Wang Jing left first to prepare for his trip to China Film Group to seek investment the next day.

Liu Yifei and Li Deyuan both showed a hint of worry on their faces.

Li Xu knew what they wanted to say, so he spoke first:

"Don't worry about the future. If we do face those undercurrents, it means we've at least achieved box office success."

"Only those who are competitive will be feared. If we fail at the box office, let alone be targeted, no one will even give us a second glance."

Shen Ao smiled and said, "We really don't need to think about the future. Thinking about it so much will only cause more trouble and won't do any good. Let's focus on getting the money from China Film Group first. If those things really come up, we have Mr. Zheng and Teacher Mu to protect us."

"Who are we? We're a legitimate branch of the Beijing Film Academy, not some amateurish director. We have powerful backers, and we're not some nobody who can screw us over."

Shen Ao has always been rough and fearless.

As a native of Beijing, he grew up at the foot of the Forbidden City and met many famous directors and stars on the set of GG Films with his photographer father when he was very young, so he was very confident.

Seeing that Li Xu and Shen Ao had both spoken up, Li Deyuan smiled awkwardly, and his expression immediately changed from worry to relief.

While Liu Yifei appeared to have let go, she was not at ease inside. She had been subjected to slander for the past two years and had an instinctive psychological wariness towards such things.

But the atmosphere was harmonious at the moment, and she didn't intend to speak. She just decided to be on guard at all times after the movie was released.

-

Stepping into the China Film Group building.

The interior of the China Film Building is not luxurious; in fact, it could be described as somewhat old-fashioned.

But precisely because of this, the air in this building seems to be filled with a scent that is quite different from other places, as if it is filled with something invisible and intangible, heavy, called "authority".

After entering the room, Li Xu remained calm.

But Wang Jing, who had been all smiles when he entered, suddenly became quite serious.

Even Shen Ao, who is usually carefree, couldn't help but exhale forcefully to calm his inner tension.

Liu Yifei walked half a step behind Li Xu. Her gaze was calm, but her body involuntarily moved a little closer to Li Xu.

The person responsible for guiding Li Xu and his group was a young female employee of China Film Group, dressed in a well-fitting skirt suit.

Her smile was standard, but her speech was very formal and rigid, giving off a typical institutional feel.

Led by the young female employee of China Film Group, Li Xu and his group were quickly led to the door of an upstairs conference room at China Film Group, which was not particularly spacious but was dignifiedly furnished.

"Director Yang, Producer Wang and Director Li have arrived."

Upon arriving at the door, the female employee announced the arrival in a low voice.

"Please come in."

The sound came from the conference room, and the female employee gently opened the door.

Li Xu stepped inside first. His gaze swept across the room and he saw that five or six people were already seated on one side of the long conference table.

The main position is empty.

But next to the head of the table, a man in his fifties with neatly combed, slicked-back hair and wearing a navy blue jacket sat upright.

Beside him stood several middle-aged men and women of varying ages.

Some had notebooks spread out in front of them, some were looking down at documents, and others had their arms crossed.

But what they had in common was that they all looked at Li Xu and his group with scrutiny.

Li Xu is widely praised as a genius director because of his film "Summer. First Love," a movie about Yili. But right now, no one in this meeting room takes Li Xu's reputation seriously.

Even Liu Yifei, a top-tier TV actress, is currently very popular.

They did not receive any special treatment in such a serious setting.

This is a subtle signal—at China Film Group, so-called genius directors are nothing special, nor are top-tier TV actresses; they don't care.

"Director Li, Mr. Zheng's influence is just the key that gets us through the gates of China Film Group, but once we're inside, we'll have to put that key away."

"Don't mind their attitude. These high-ranking officials have always been like this. Unless you are Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Feng Xiaogang, or an old artist and director like Zheng Lao who has disciples all over the world, you will be interrogated if you come here."

"But that doesn't mean we can't secure funding. This review is just a gesture."

Upon entering the conference room, seeing the solemn atmosphere, the group of people from China Film Group all wore serious expressions.

Wang Jing was afraid that Li Xu was young and impetuous and wouldn't be able to swallow his pride, so he immediately whispered words of comfort in his ear.

He nodded.

Li Xu didn't say much.

Although he is inherently proud and single-mindedly pursues the highest art of film, he is not the kind of "god" who only knows art and is detached from worldly affairs.

He understands the official's imposing demeanor, the characteristics of the system, and the tendency to fawn over superiors and be arrogant towards subordinates.

He wouldn't do anything foolish before he had enough strength.

Upon entering, Wang Jing, the production manager of "Love Announcement," spoke first, a perfect smile on his face: "Director Yang, distinguished leaders, I am Wang Jing, the production manager of 'Love Announcement.'"

"Next to me is our director and male lead, Li Xu. The other two are our female lead, Liu Yifei, and the executive director, Shen Ao."

As he finished speaking, Wang Jing added in a very soft tone, "Director Yang, Mr. Zheng and Teacher Mu should have already told you about this matter."

Upon hearing Wang Jing speak, Director Yang, who was wearing a navy blue jacket, nodded slightly.

He lingered his gaze on Li Xu's face for half a second longer, then gave a perfectly measured official smile. Without getting up, he said in a flat tone, "Producer Wang, Director Li, welcome to our China Film Group. You must be tired from your journey. Please have a seat."

Upon hearing this, Li Xu and the others immediately sat down, facing Director Yang and the others.

After Li Xu and his group sat down, without any pleasantries, Director Yang from China Film Group got straight to the point: "Director Li Xu, Professor Zheng and Professor Mu from Beijing Film Academy have spoken to us at China Film Group, saying that Beijing Film Academy has produced a promising talent like you, and we at China Film Group are very interested. Time is precious, so why don't we just look at the materials?"

"it is good."

Li Xu took over the conversation.

This kind of situation without unnecessary chatter is exactly what he likes. He is very confident in his directing skills and acting skills, and he is not afraid of China Film Group's strictness, as long as he doesn't use bureaucratic language to deal with it.

Without looking at Wang Jing, nor consulting anyone's opinion.

Li Xu stood up and walked directly to the front of the conference room, where a laptop connected to a projector had already been prepared.

"Love Announcement" is a story I'm going to tell that's disguised as a romance between celebrity students, but at its core it's about mutual redemption.

"I'm a new director and I don't know how to introduce myself in a fancy way, but I can tell you all three reasons why our film deserves investment from China Film Group."

talking.

Li Xu turned on his computer, connected the projector, and a simple PPT presentation was projected onto the screen.

This page is a summary of the third-party data report for Yili Yogurt's "Summer First Love" GG video.

Above is a simple curve chart of Yili Yogurt sales. The beginning of the curve was relatively flat, but from a certain point at the end of March, it suddenly started to rise rapidly and has remained at a high level even now, a month later.

Next, as the PowerPoint presentation was flipped through, excerpts of positive reviews of the film "Summer First Love" from major online social media platforms such as Tianya and blogs, as well as from mainstream news and entertainment media, were displayed.

Looking at these things, Director Yang of China Film Group nodded noncommittally. "Director Li Xu, is this one of the three reasons you're going to use to convince China Film Group? Interesting, but not enough."

"GG ​​films and regular theatrical films are two different fields, I think you should know that."

"I know that your film brought good sales and brand promotion to Yili Yogurt. I believe that this achievement will definitely get you a lot of investment from the film industry, but it is not enough to convince China Film Group."

Upon hearing what Director Yang of China Film Group said, Li Xu did not refute it and immediately switched the scene.

This time, it's a dynamic storyboard preview video of key scenes from "Love Announcement".

Li Xu paid a graduate student from the Animation Department of Beijing Film Academy to create a three-minute dynamic demonstration video by adding simple music and rhythm to his hand-drawn storyboards.

From the dazzling lights and shadows of Du Minghao's concert to the loneliness of a rainy night on the street, and then to the warm yellow glow in the bookstore...

Although it's just a rough animation, the overall composition, camera movement, and pacing of the film are still clearly conveyed.

Seeing this, Director Yang of China Film Group remained silent, but a short-haired woman from the production department next to him looked at the screen with an interested expression.

Seeing this, Li Xu didn't hesitate and immediately came up with his third reason, which was also his trump card—a two-minute clip of his first meeting with Liu Yifei at the "Midnight Bookstore".

This message began playing on the conference room screen.

There is no narration, no subtitles, only visuals and sound.

Du Minghao's intrusion, Song Qing's calmness, that glass of water, that "drop," that hoarse "thank you"...

In the meticulously tuned sound system of the China Film Group conference room, the ambient sound effects in Luhe's post-production processing were clearly layered.

The soft "tap" of the glass at the bottom, combined with Li Xu's world-class acting skills, seemed to truly resonate in the hearts of everyone in the audience.

The atmosphere in the conference room was exceptionally quiet, with only the sound of a relaxing video playing.

The quiet in the meeting room was only broken by murmurs after the two-minute short film finished playing.

The people at China Film Group responsible for reviewing investment funds couldn't help but exchange glances and opinions after turning their attention away from the screen.

Director Yang, who was the chief auditor for China Film Investment Funds, looked at Li Xu with a serious expression for the first time.

"cough."

He cleared his throat.

After the two-minute sample video finished playing, Li Xu didn't speak immediately. Director Yang from China Film Group broke the silence first:

"Director Li, I have to say, not only are your stats impressive, but your storyboard ideas are stylish, your directing skills are superb, and you also have a lot of talent in acting."

"Before this, I had strong reservations about your self-directed and self-acted film. After all, this approach is too frivolous, and there have been very few theatrical films that have achieved success by doing this."

"But now, I've changed my mind a bit. It's a real shame that someone with your top-notch acting skills isn't playing the male lead in this movie."

Director Yang from China Film Group gave Li Xu a very high evaluation, but the more he did so, the more tense Wang Jing became in the audience.

Based on his past experience dealing with official institutions like China Film Group, he knew that behind such high praise, there would often be a "but".

Sure enough, just as Wang Jing was on edge, Director Yang from China Film Group changed the subject, saying, "However, the money from China Film Group is not venture capital, nor is it sponsorship for artists to realize their personal dreams. We are responsible for the funds invested by the state, and we are also responsible for the market."

"Director Li Xu, your project has several obvious risks."

Extending his fingers, Director Yang of China Film Group counted them one by one.

"First, you are a new director who has never made a film that was released in theaters before, or even a formal film. This is undoubtedly the biggest uncertainty."

"Secondly, you directed and starred in the show yourself, which is a rare success story in China and will be a huge test of your energy and project control."

"Third, your film has an artistic feel and commercial appeal, but it's not enough. Even if Ms. Liu Yifei has some box office appeal, it's still not a sure thing."

With each word Director Yang spoke, the atmosphere in the meeting room grew more tense.

Liu Yifei and Shen Ao's expressions gradually became tense.

Wang Jing was slightly better, but his expression was still serious. He couldn't help but wonder if he hadn't delivered the small gift he gave a couple of days ago properly, or if Zheng Dongtian's influence wasn't enough.

Li Xu's expression remained completely calm; he simply listened quietly, his mind racing.

"If China Film Group can't get involved, then we'll have to ask the coal mine owners for more money. Professor Mu told me the other day that there are a few suitable coal mine owners who can handle the project, but they all need to include some people... Finding a balance is a troublesome matter."

However, just as the atmosphere was remaining silent, Director Yang suddenly burst out laughing:

"But these problems, haha, aren't really big problems."

"China Film Group has always been very willing to support outstanding young directors like you, Director Li Xu, especially with Mr. Zheng's recommendation."

"Director Li Xu, I think our China Film Group's young director support program can invest in your project. As for the amount, it's tentatively set at three million, but the specific details will depend on how Chairman Han approves it."

We've invested!

And it's three million!

The sudden laughter and words of agreement from Director Yang of China Film Group made Wang Jing and the others' hearts skip a beat. This was exactly the amount of funding they had anticipated and urgently needed!

But before they could even be happy...

Director Yang's next words from China Film Group made their hearts, which had just settled down, jump again.

"Oh, right, I haven't finished yet. Our three million investment from China Film Group comes with conditions."

"I heard the total investment for your movie is a little over ten million. To break even, if we only consider the domestic market, you'll need at least thirty million in box office revenue."

"So we have to sign an agreement. If China Film Group invests three million, we require that your film have a minimum guaranteed box office of thirty million."

"If we don't reach that target, then China Film Group will have the highest priority in the subsequent box office profit sharing. We, China Film Group, will recover the three million investment cost first, and the rest will be distributed normally by you."

"However, if you are willing to transfer the overseas rights to this film to China Film Group, I can agree to reduce the minimum guarantee for this contract to 20 million, and the profit sharing will not be the top priority, but will be distributed normally according to the investment ratio."

Upon hearing what Director Yang of China Film Group said...

The other executives from China Film Group remained calm; they frequently made such demands and were used to it.

But the expressions on Li Xu and his group's faces became extremely complicated.