Huayu: Enjoy Yourself

Chapter 41 Building the Name of Ann Girl

After reading the script, Han Sanping found no problems and helped Chen An get it approved as soon as possible.

Once the review is approved, we can prepare the contract.

Just like last time, at least within the mainland, the Beijing Film Studio can completely dominate.

They also have the capability to distribute to Hong Kong Island and Taiwan, but this time Chen An plans to include South Korea and Xiao Rizi together, and do another export-to-domestic resale, making it a big deal.

As a classic romance film that swept across Asia back then, Chen An is quite confident.

After all, love is something that works all over the world.

Titanic is a prime example. It grossed $600 million in North America and held the number one spot at the North American box office for 15 consecutive weeks. It also grossed $12 billion worldwide!

It was absolutely phenomenal! Unlike the technological innovations of Jurassic Park and Avatar, it swept through the global film industry with a love story that everyone could understand!

Even by Hollywood standards, it would be considered one of the most amazing movies ever made. No superhero movie after that can compare to Avatar.

One is a fan film, and the other is a technological innovation. Compared to Titanic, which was top-notch in terms of awards, box office and word-of-mouth.

There's still a lot to go.

"I'm planning to set the production cost at ten million initially, what do you think?"

Chen An began discussing investment matters with Han Sanping, who had finished reading the script.

This time, Chen An doesn't intend to make a small-scale effort. He won't be greedy about production costs, as he plans to take advantage of the popularity of that big ship to see if he can break the 100 million mark at the box office.

Han Sanping thought for a moment and realized that he was definitely not short of funds. He had made a lot of money from the previous two films, and there was still one film that had not yet been released, which would surely earn him a lot more.

"No problem, same as before?"

"Same here, let's go big. I won't charge a director's fee this time either, since we'll make money anyway. But this time I plan to release it all over Asia."

To be honest, Chen An's target this time is not just the mainland or Hong Kong Island.

"Okay, same as before, 50/50, but this time you have to cooperate with the publicity from the very beginning of the filming project."

Han Sanping thought for a moment and agreed, but this time Chen An could not be treated the same as before.

They used to only be responsible for making movies and waiting for them to be released, but now big-budget productions start promoting themselves from the very beginning of the project's inception and filming.

"No problem, we'll even hold an interview later to make it more impressive and promote it."

Chen An also understood that this publicity campaign was very important, after all, he had big ambitions and everyone had to cooperate.

Han Sanping was quite satisfied: "That's good. I'll make the arrangements. Are you confident about that?"

"I'm still thinking, I'll talk to you about it later. The female lead definitely has to be beautiful, but the male lead doesn't have to be that handsome."

"Okay, we'll talk about it later. I'll send it up for approval as soon as possible."

"Then I won't stay. You go ahead with your work, I'm leaving."

After the two finished talking, Chen An left without lingering.

Before leaving, Chen An went to the post-production studio to check on the post-production of "Little Forest: Winter and Spring".

The rough cut is out. Chen An has taken a look at it and thinks it's not bad. It just needs some simplification.

Remove the background noise, add background music and subtitles, and then do some final editing before you can start promoting it.

It's scheduled to be released at the end of the year, and then audiences in the south will get to see the snow scenes I've carefully filmed.

It's cold and snowless in the south, so this time we'll give them a glimpse of it.

After everything was settled, Chen An walked out of the Beijing Film Studio, and as soon as he stepped outside, he felt a wave of heat.

"It's already summer, time flies."

Chen An stood at the doorway, shielding his eyes from the sun's glare.

After walking for a while, Chen An hailed a taxi and returned home.

In fact, Chen An had already considered the choice of the female lead when he was writing the script.

Both newcomers and established actresses are acceptable; after all, the original female lead in the previous version was also a newcomer, so it doesn't matter.

If you're going to choose established female stars, it's best to recruit from Hong Kong Island.

Because of their reliance on Hong Kong Island's developed entertainment industry, Hong Kong stars have a greater or lesser influence throughout Asia.

Of course, Gong Li is also very beautiful, but Chen An cannot imagine the "Empress Gong" in his mind playing such a role. He should only approach her again if there are any awards to be won.

Moreover, she is now moving closer to the Hong Kong entertainment industry and developing her career there.

Chen An didn't want to use Hong Kong's influence; in this day and age, using it would only give Hong Kong's influence an advantage.

People from the mainland are all focused on getting into Hong Kong Island, let alone using Hong Kong's entertainment circle.

Unless Chen An goes to Hollywood to gain experience as the "Holy Son of the Mainland" and becomes an internationally renowned director, all his efforts will be in vain.

Moreover, I didn't think that much about the last movie, but I'm determined to sign the actors for this one.

The male and female leads will definitely be played by our own people; the others don't matter. In particular, we must sign the female lead; she's too valuable.

The leading lady from my past life became an instant sensation across Asia with just this one movie, so I have to make the most of her.

So Chen An still believes that if you're going to use newcomers, you should be a director like his senior, someone who promotes talent!

The title of "Ang Lee Girl" is also quite good, she's doing quite well, and she can't be "kidnapped" by actors like Zhang Yimou.

I'll make one film and then change it, so you'll know that the real genius is still me, the director.

"Then let's have an audition. We'll choose between the Beijing Film Academy and the Central Academy of Drama, and audition them together. Whoever is good enough will get the part, leaving the acting professors with nothing to say."

After thinking for a long time, Chen An finally decided to conduct interviews, casting a wide net to make it easier to select candidates.

She wouldn't consider the already famous actress Chen An; she wanted to follow Zhang Yimou's path and choose a student to be like Gong Li.

He became famous overnight, becoming a highly sought-after director.

Yu Jinghong serves as a cautionary tale, and this time Chen An is determined to make the "An Girl" name a household name!

As for the male lead, it's much easier; anyone can do it, as long as he can portray the submissive character in the movie and bring some comedic effect.

We can interview together then. Let's see if Duan Long, who I've worked with on two movies, is suitable. If he is, then I'll take him.

Originally, Chen An had his eye on Zhang Yi the most, as he was quite skilled at playing those kinds of roles.

Unfortunately, we still don't know where they are.

After thinking for a long time, Chen An finally decided to interview all of them and then decide who to hire.

After making the decision, Chen An called Han Sanping: "Brother Han, I plan to audition for the female lead, choosing between Beijing Film Academy and Central Academy of Drama. I'll audition for the male lead as well, and then we'll see who's suitable."

"Are the female lead roles only being chosen from students at the Central Academy of Drama and the Beijing Film Academy?"

Han Sanping on the other end of the phone asked a question, unable to understand Chen An's reason for doing so.

"Yes, I plan to use newcomers, and I want to keep the talent within the family, so I'll choose from Beijing Film Academy and CCTV Drama."

"Why? Brother Chen, tell me the reason. Didn't you find anyone you like? If you need a Hong Kong star, I can get you one, I can also get you some connections."

Han Sanping didn't care about the small investment in the previous film "Little Forest," but this time, with a huge investment of ten million and the use of newcomers, he wanted to know the reason and have a better understanding of the situation.

"I just didn't want to use Hong Kong stars, so I decided to choose newcomers instead. I also wanted to learn from my senior and create an Ang Lee girl. Don't worry, I have confidence in this movie."

Chen An explained the reason and reassured Han Sanping, letting him know that he was confident and wouldn't mess things up.

Now that Chen An has won awards and achieved box office success, in order to further amplify his reputation, in addition to producing other excellent works, he also needs to demonstrate his ability to promote other talents.

That's what makes actors and those who want to promote actors flock to them.

Upon hearing Chen An's reply, Han Sanping on the other end of the phone could only helplessly respond:

"Alright then, I trust you, bro. I'll do as you say. We'll pick a location and go to the interview together."

"I'll just have the interview at the Beijing Film Academy, so the school teachers won't say I didn't take care of them. I get a headache every time I hear that."

"Hahaha, this is a tradition of your Beijing Film Academy directors, we can't let it go."

After hearing about the interview location, Han Sanping found Chen An's complaints amusing, since it's a long-standing tradition for directors from Beijing Film Academy and Central Academy of Drama to select actors.

People usually don't take those directors' comments seriously, but Chen An is still a student, so it's hard for him not to listen.

A newbie author seeking everything~

(End of this chapter)