China Entertainment 1997.

Chapter 423 No one owns a private mansion on the third ring road of the capital...

Haidian, a dance training room

This is the rehearsal place of the "Avalokitesvara" program group. Cao Xuan contacted it and used it for free.

The environment, logistics and other aspects are much better than those found by the Spring Festival Gala director team and the program team.

Cao Xuan, wearing a down jacket and a mask, quietly watched the rehearsal of more than [-] girls outside the window of the dance studio.

Different from normal dances, these deaf-mute girls can’t hear the music, and they don’t know the rhythm without music. "Avalokitesvara" is another dance that tests rhythm and tacit understanding, which is a big obstacle to dance rehearsal .

In order to better grasp the rhythm, the dancers use their feet to feel the vibration of the musical instrument, and feel the rhythm little by little.

Then practice over and over again to get familiar with every movement and every link, and all dancers eat and live together to cultivate tacit understanding and feelings.

In addition, there are some other small skills, which are all explored bit by bit through time, so that dancers can know a certain melody node.

It can also be seen from this that the difficulty of this dance training is why many people even question why it is not necessary to practice with normal dancers, and the difficulty will be greatly reduced.

But in fact, the dance "Avalokitesvara of Thousand Hands" did not appear in the Spring Festival Gala at the beginning. It was first shown on an important occasion at the closing ceremony of the Athens Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It was also because of this performance that they were discovered and recommended to the Spring Festival Gala.

Therefore, this was originally a program produced by the Disabled People's Art Troupe, so why should they give up the program to other people.

Then again, let’s not talk about the concept of the dance, just consider the reality, although the training of "Avalokitesvara" is difficult, but a successful program, various performances and interviews can make many dancers, musicians and related disabled staff get A job that pays well.

If "Avalokitesvara" is given to those able-bodied dancers, these disabled dancers, musicians, and staff will lose many opportunities. .

Therefore, this is not a matter of pursuing "cost performance" at all.

You think it’s for the benefit of these deaf-mute girls and saves them hard work, but in fact it deprives them of the right to pursue their dreams and live independently...

"Director Cao, what do you think?"

Cao Xuan looked at it for a while, then withdrew his eyes, and the program director Zhan Xiaonan who was accompanying him asked.

"Very good, as long as you can stabilize this state, the rehearsal will be easy to pass, and you usually focus on encouragement to keep everyone confident."

Because of physical defects, many actors are a little unconfident or have low self-esteem, so Cao Xuan and the director have always focused on encouraging and comforting, reporting good news but not bad news.

"Where's Director Zhang?"

"He has something to do at home, come back tonight."

Cao Xuan nodded, "Avalokitesvara with Thousand Hands" has two backstages, one is the special director Cao Xuan, and the other is the director Zhang Jigang.

Director Zhang is a famous dance choreographer and the first person in charge of "Avalokitesvara". Currently he is the head of the Song and Dance Troupe of the General Political Department.

How great are these two positions, you can check who is taking over these two positions...

In addition, Director Zhang was also the deputy general director of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and directed several national large-scale ceremonies.

Before the first round of rehearsal for the Spring Festival Gala, the duration of "Avalokitesvara" submitted for review was 5 minutes and 54 seconds.

Nearly 6 minutes long, this is a relatively long program for a Spring Festival Gala song and dance program.

So the director team asked the program to be cut to less than 4 minutes. Director Zhang directly concealed the matter. On the day of rehearsal, the actors were asked to perform a 5-minute and 54-second version.

Of course, the stunning program effect made the director team of the Spring Festival Gala give up the idea of ​​downsizing and won a lot of applause.

But in fact, if another person does this, it is likely to cause dissatisfaction with the director team, feel that they do not obey the arrangement, and even the entire program will be canceled by the rehearsal.

This is not an exaggeration. On a stage as big as the Spring Festival Gala, no one wants to be cut short. There are too many people taking risks, but nine times out of ten the price will be very tragic.

"Avalokitesvara with Thousand Hands" has a happy ending. On the one hand, the quality is outstanding, and on the other hand, Director Zhang is full of confidence. Of course, Cao Xuan also helped to say a lot of good things.

Afterwards, Director Zhang also inquired about this matter, so he invited Cao Xuan to be a special guide, and Cao Tianwang readily agreed.

After a dance in the practice room ended, Cao Xuan stepped in. More than 20 deaf-mute girls who were slightly tired saw him, their eyes lit up instantly, and they surrounded him.

Cao Xuan greeted him in the sign language that he had just learned these days and was not yet proficient.

"Hi everyone, I did a great job just now, and I brought you something to eat."

This group of deaf-mute girls, many of whom are his fans, happily replied in sign language. Cao Xuan couldn't understand, so he could only ask the sign language teacher next to him for help.

"They are thanking you and telling you not to buy so many delicious food, they are afraid of getting fat."

"It's okay, it's all low-calorie this time."

After clapping their hands, Zhang Chong and several staff members came in with several large bags of snacks and fruits and put them in the middle of the training room.

Cao Xuan asked the sign language teacher to translate again: "After the third rehearsal is over, I will invite everyone to have a big meal."

The girls clapped happily, and then distributed snacks under the leadership of the team leader. The choreographer Zhan Xiaonan next to him shook his head and laughed, and looked at Cao Xuan again.

"Director Cao, you have to spend money again. The venue, transportation, and accommodation are all taken care of by you, and you also bring food for everyone. It is too much trouble for you."

"fine."

Cao Xuan waved his hand: "I can't help you with the dance, I'll just provide logistics for everyone, a little money, don't worry about it."

Zhan Xiaonan thought about this report. He usually associates it with tens of millions and billions of dollars. This amount of money is indeed a drop in the bucket for others.

However, thanks should be given. Since Zhan Xiaonan participated in the "Avalokitesvara" program group, he has been recording bits and pieces in front of and behind the scenes, thinking about the opportunity to publish a book.

Well, after eating the snacks and big meals of Cao Tianwang, I will say more good things about Cao Tianwang in the book...

Cao Xuan stayed in the "Avalokitesvara" dance studio for more than two hours before going to the next dance room, which was Cheng Long's backup dancer "Top Gun".

Cheng Long asked him to take care of it before, and invited him to be a special instructor. Cao Xuan simply arranged to be next to "Avalokitesvara" and come to see it from time to time.

However, compared to the kindness in "Avalokitesvara" just now, Cao Xuan is stricter in the program group of "Top Gun".

Of course, there are a lot of rewards and inspirations that should be given, but Cao Xuan didn't pay out of his own pocket, and planned to go back to Cheng Long for reimbursement, or take the opportunity to knock out some good things.

Before he was a guest at Cheng Long's Xiangjiang mansion, he took a fancy to a Moutai from the 60s, thinking about tricking Cheng Long into selling it to himself.

At that time, leave a few bottles for Comrade Cao, and give the rest to Hu Jing's father. I heard that the old man is better...

.........

After watching the dance, Cao Xuan took the time to visit the company's recording studio and watched the performance of "Rising Star".

This Spring Festival Gala, basically all the contestants who are a bit popular in "Rising Star" are invited.

The champion Zhang Jie, the runner-up Gu Miaomiao, the top four Yao Beina, and the national top ten players Ping An, Wulan Tuoya, Gao Jin, Zhang Jingying, and Chen Chusheng all arrived.

Only Yang Chengang and Phoenix Legend were classified as online singers, and they did not participate in this program, but sang their famous songs "Mouse Loves Rice" and "On the Moon".

But even so, there is a high probability that all of the top ten "Rising Stars" will appear in this year's Spring Festival Gala.

The popular contestants Jin Sha, Tan Weiwei, Hao Yun, Ding Dang, Huang Bo and others were also included in the program "Chasing Dreams".

In fact, at the beginning, Cao Xuan wanted to give Zhang Jie or Gu Miaomiao a solo or duet.

But later, there were a lot of star singers in "Star of Tomorrow", and the other two programs also praised Nishinomiya Niangniang and Daolang. If there is another solo, it will be too conspicuous, so it can only be arranged as a chorus of "Dream Chaser". .

But Zhang Jie didn't lose, not only went to the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, but also won a solo in the Beijing Spring Festival Gala.

Gu Miaomiao, who is more popular, is the most exaggerated. He has received invitations from three satellite TV Spring Festival Gala, and the lineup is no less than that of first-line singers.

Of course, this is also related to Gu Miaomiao's latest album. The title song "You Must Be Happy" composed by Cao Xuan was one of the most popular songs at the end of 2004, even approaching Cao Xuan's "I Love" .

Gu Miaomiao was originally the popular king of "Rising Star", her only weakness was that she didn't have her own masterpiece.

After "You Must Be Happy" was released, Gu Miaomiao's popularity and celebrity status rose rapidly. With the aftermath of "Tomorrow's Star" in the summer vacation, she was even able to reluctantly meet those Taiwanese female singers.

But what is even more worth mentioning is Legend of Phoenix. After the release of their new album "Over the Moon", they have achieved very impressive results in album sales, Internet clicks, and ringtone downloads.

"On the Moon" and Pang Long's "Two Butterflies" once tied for the top two online songs in the second half of the year, and they were considered the most popular online songs at the end of 2004.

Also because of this, Cao Xuan specially asked Phoenix Legend, the top four of "Rising Star", to give up "Dream Chasing Heart" and go to the online song mix show.

Although the duration of each song is only 1 to 2 minutes, it is a solo after all, and the number of shots and the importance are higher than the chorus of more than a dozen singers in "Dream Chasing".

Cao Xuan is a layman in dancing, and the help he can do is limited.

But in terms of singers, as a superstar who has been in the industry for several years and has performed in countless big scenes, Cao Xuan has too much to teach this group of singers who are mostly newcomers.

Apart from other things, Cao Xuan has a lot of tricks to teach them how to eliminate tension and psychological pressure and play stably.

After all, not everyone has participated in 6 Spring Festival Gala, World Cup finals, Victoria's Secret show, concert with 10 people, performance at the Grammy Awards ceremony and large-scale national celebration...

Speaking of which, Cao Xuan participated in the Spring Festival Gala many times, except for the first two times, he was basically very calm.

It wasn't until he participated behind the scenes this time that he felt the heavy pressure of the Spring Festival Gala on a deeper level, which caused his temper to become a little impatient and irritable.

There are only a few different programs, one is "Tianyao Zhonghua" by the eldest sister, Cao Xuan dare not say a fart, and behaves like a little sheep.

There are also "Avalokitesvara" and several programs featuring children as the main dancers. Cao Xuan is a person who fears the strong but does not bully the weak.

The last one is Empress Xigong. In fact, Cao Xuan can also lose his temper, but he has to be coaxed after the training.

Otherwise, it would not be possible to sleep on the sofa. The key is that this little girl will sue. When she calls Sun Lan, Cao Xuan will still be scolded on the phone like his son like...

In addition, Cao Xuan is much tougher. Even if the other party is Cheng Long or Liu Tianwang, Cao Xuan can still say what he should. Of course, considering the other party's face, he will keep it to a certain extent, or chat alone in private.

Afterwards, like the singers under Fanxing, Xiao Zhou, Cai Yilin, etc., Cao Xuan was not so polite, he trained when he needed to be trained, and said what he needed to say.

After a series of events, people don't care if they are offended or not. I really feel that the work behind the scenes of the Spring Festival Gala is too tiring, physically and mentally exhausting, and I will definitely lose my life if I work for a long time.

Cao Xuan pondered that he made an exception this time because of "New World", and next time he would at most hang up an art consultant and hold a meeting with him, saying that he would not be in charge of the specific position of the Spring Festival Gala.

.........

After being busy for a while, the third rehearsal of the Spring Festival Gala was held, and relevant leaders also came to inspect it.

The projects recommended and proposed by Cao Xuan received good feedback from the leaders and the audience, and all of them passed the rehearsal.

Afterwards, the leader even asked Cao Xuan to encourage and praise him, and expressed his intentions.

After the election of a certain bureau ended, CCTV also helped pass the call, but Cao Xuan had to inquire about the specific effect.

Cao Xuan was really touched, and it was worth his time and effort to help, he really did his job.

After the rehearsal was over, Cao Xuan found someone to test his relationship with, and talked with San Ye Han, and asked him to make an appointment, and finally got an accurate answer in early December.

""New World" can be approved for filming!"

It's not easy, Cao Xuan is very sad. According to the original plan, "New World" has been filming for more than a month now.

Now that it has been dragged on for so long, Cao Xuan endured the pressure to keep this project, and even spared time to work on the Spring Festival Gala. The company has made efforts in other areas, and finally got a good ending.

Cao Xuan also hopes that this matter will end here, and he will not get stuck after the filming of his film, then he will really lose his temper...

After confirming that the project can be approved, the progress of the crew of "New World" is quickly full.

This is also the benefit that Cao Xuan has always insisted on. Although the project is pending, the preparations in all aspects have been going on. Now that the review has passed, the preparation progress is more than half completed.

Star Building
After entering December, the early relocation has already begun, and Fanxing Company moved the fastest. In just a few days, 12/1 of the employees have officially worked in the building.

In the conference room, the producer reported to Cao Xuan and Han Sanye on the preparatory work of "New World".

"It will be launched in early January, and the location will be Xiangjiang. The shooting time will be 1-40 days, excluding the Spring Festival holiday, and it should be finished in early March."

The "New World" movie doesn't have any big scenes, and the team at Xiangjiang is famous for its fast shooting. 40~60 days is a very conservative estimate. If it goes well, it is likely to be shot faster.

"Has Ding Qing's role been decided yet?"

Sanye Han looked at the information in his hand, then turned to ask Cao Xuan.

This time because of the review of "New World", Cao Xuan also realized that Fanxing's family couldn't be covered, and it was rare for him not to eat alone, so he brought China Film Group in.

This time, China Film and Fanxing are responsible for the distribution of "New World" [-]/[-].

As for the film investment, Cao Xuan's Xiangjiang Company accounted for 50% of the share, China Film Group took 20%, Yinghuang and Chenglong Company and director Du Qifeng Galaxy Image took 25%.

Of course, because Fanxing is only leading this time, in terms of remuneration, Cao Xuan did not only charge "friendship price" like the previous two films, but took the market price——

3000 million RMB + 5% dividend.

This price is not low, except for Cheng Long and Li Lianjie, who have entered Hollywood with domestic salaries of nearly [-] million or over [-] million, and many top domestic stars are only in the tens of millions.

At present, the remuneration of the domestic film industry, Cheng and Li, are all in the [-] million level, but sometimes they may not be able to get it, it depends on the positioning of the film.

Those who focus on the international market will definitely be high, but if they focus on the Asian market or even the domestic market, the salary will be discounted.

Below Cheng and Li are Cao Xuan and Fa Ge. Domestic film salaries are basically 2000-5000 million.

Cao Xuan is more stable, because he is currently focusing on the Asian market, and several films have performed well, and he rarely accepts outside plays, resulting in domestic commercial film salaries basically being more than 3000 million.

Fa Ge's salary is not stable, due to various reasons, the salary fluctuates from high to low, ranging from 4000 million to 5000 million yuan, and the low one can be won by tens of millions.

Apart from these few, Gong Li is currently the highest paid Chinese actress. The domestic market price is 800-2000 million RMB, and the international market is even higher, 300-500 million US dollars.

But to be honest, this price tag is very difficult to get. Literary films can't easily afford it, and commercial films Gong Li can't afford the box office.

The same is true for Maggie Cheung. Movie actresses are paid worse than male actors of the same level.

For the younger generation of actresses, currently the highest paid movies are International Zhang and Zhao Zhao, with a single film salary of more than 500 million, and the international chapter that has entered Hollywood will be even higher.

It is worth mentioning that the international chapter of "Memoirs of Arts and Skills" claimed to have received a salary of 500 million US dollars.

Later, it was picked up by the media, and the amount was exaggerated ten times. In fact, it was only 50 US dollars, and I was completely ashamed.

Of course, the above remuneration is only a reference value, and the specific situation is not certain.

Literary films may be lower, and there are actors who will have a friendly price. Maybe the film studio is particularly optimistic and may raise the price. There are also actors investing themselves, dividends instead of film wages, etc. The details still depend on the negotiations between the actors and the film studio.

This is the "New World" project, and it was also because Cao Xuan mainly relied on box office and selling copyrights that he won 3000 million + 5% dividends.

And this 3000 million remuneration is also half of the film's total investment.

The investment of the entire "New World" movie is about 6000 million, of which 1000 million is used as the remuneration of the director and actors, and the remaining 2000 million is the shooting cost.

In other words, Cao Xuan spent 3000 million yuan to make a movie by himself, and he was left handed and right handed. Apart from paying taxes, it was equivalent to spending no money.

However, China Film, Yinghuang and others paid 3000 million yuan to make a movie, and they have nothing to lose when they lose money. Cao Xuan has to share more than half of the money they make.

But don't think that people feel that they are at a disadvantage. A few companies can hire Cao Xuan to make a movie "for free" with only 3000 million yuan, and get nearly half of the dividends, which is also a huge profit for them.

Therefore, don't be too stubborn when looking at the problem, change the angle, and suddenly see the light...

"Personally, I prefer Sun Honglei to play Ding Qing, and Leung Ka Fai to play Inspector Gou (the villain's boss), but I have to go to Director Du again.

"Sun Honglei?"

Han Sanye thought about it for a while: "Is it Liu Huaqiang from "Conquer"?"

"it's him."

"Is it too fierce looking? Also, in a Xiangjiang story, if Ding Qing is cast by a mainland actor, will there be a sense of detachment?"

"Ding Qing was originally a gang leader who was born as a young and Dangerous boy, his viciousness is his essence, and his image is no problem.

As for mainland actors who don't fit the role, you may not have read the script carefully. Ding Qing and Li Zicheng, who I played, both came from the mainland.

This is why the two characters are more towards the mainland, they are essentially their own people, and they have a strong sense of belonging. "

"...Do you want to connotate something?"

After listening to Cao Xuan's explanation, Sanye Han asked hesitantly, Cao Xuan shook his head again and again: "No, absolutely not."

If he wanted to have real connotations, he added a section of Ding Qing who was caught smuggling, shouting about 30 years in Hedong, 30 years in Hexi, health code, 10 blah blah...

Han Sanye was persuaded by Cao Xuan. From the bottom of his heart, he also hoped that more mainland actors would show their faces in this kind of commercial blockbuster.

Up to now, only Uncle Ge and Cao Xuan, Jiang Wen, are the mainland film actors who can really compete with those big names in Hong Kong and Taiwan in terms of box office.

Cao Xuan is the only one who has the confidence to win the battle.

Now, Cao Xuan intends to favor some newcomers, Sanye Han will naturally not stop him, he is very powerful, but he is just afraid that Cao Xuan will suffer a loss rashly, and his confidence will be hit.

The discussion lasted for more than an hour, and Han Sanye basically focused on listening and didn't raise much opinions.

In fact, China Film Group did not participate much in this film. Apart from paying for it and distributing it, it was more of an endorsement for the convenience of review. Han Sanye knew it well, so naturally he rarely spoke.

After the meeting, Cao Xuan invited Mr. Han to sit in his office.

Although the whole picture has not been seen, the office area of ​​nearly 200 square meters still surprised Mr. Han.

"It's too big, it's catching up with several offices in our company."

"Who made our company so small and big? You saw it just now. The positions are getting bigger and bigger. In order not to waste my heart, I can only grit my teeth and spend a little extravagantly."

Cao Xuan showed off a bit, and took Sanye Han to the quiet room to drink tea. During the period, he passed by bedrooms, cloakrooms, fitness rooms, study rooms and other places, and Sanye Han's eyelids twitched, madly chasing lemons.

To be honest, I have seen a lot of mansions when Mr. Han is at this level, but such a luxurious office is rare.

Those within the system may not be so high-profile, and those outside the system, not everyone can own a private building in the third ring road of the capital, and the super high rent of office buildings does not allow most bosses to swell their faces to pretend to be fat.

Even if many rich people have money, they will give priority to tinkering with their luxury houses instead of building flashy offices.

Only Cao Xuan is like this, he has too many houses to worry about, and he has his own mansion, so he can do whatever he wants.

Not to mention 500 square meters, he occupied the top floor by himself, and set up an office of nearly [-] square meters, and the outside is out of control...

Sanye Han was used to being casual with Cao Xuan before, but today he suddenly realized that the young man in front of him is a super rich man.

Although Sanye Han would not be able to curry favor with Cao Xuan because of this, he restrained himself somewhat, expressing his respect for wealth.

He doesn't care about money now, but he may retire in the future, and he has children...

"By the way, I was optimistic about a project before, and I wanted to pull you to vote together. Now think about it, if you are interested, just do it yourself."

"What project?"

"A small-budget movie, quite interesting."

"Okay, since the third master asked, I voted. What's the name of the movie?"

""Crazy Stone"..."

(End of this chapter)