Rebirth of the courtyard, the start is 80s

What Cao Zhiqiang didn't expect was that before Cao Zhiqiang went to find Xu Qingdong, Xu Qingdong came to Cao Zhiqiang first.

Of course, since Cao Zhiqiang came to Hao Shuwen's place quietly by himself, no one else knew about it, so Xu Qingdong didn't find Hao Shuwen's place.

In fact,
After Cao Zhiqiang and Hao Shuwen finished their second exercise, they took a shower together, and then went back to the Peking Hotel together, planning to have lunch here first, and then ask Xu Qingdong to meet.

Who knew that Cao Zhiqiang and Hao Shuwen had just entered the lobby of the Peking Hotel, and before they had walked a few steps, they were stopped by Xu Qingdong.

"Director Xu?"

Seeing Xu Qingdong who suddenly appeared in front of him alone, Cao Zhiqiang was also surprised.

"Why are you here?"

Xu Qingdong looked at Cao Zhiqiang, then at Hao Shuwen who was beside him, then smiled again and said to Cao Zhiqiang: "President Cao, if you don't have anything to go to the Three Treasures Hall, I came here specially to find you."

"Come here on a special trip to see me? What's the matter?" Cao Zhiqiang said.

Xu Qingdong twitched a bit, and then said: "This, can you say it in another place?"

As soon as Cao Zhiqiang heard this, he knew that the other party wanted to talk to him in private, and he didn't want outsiders to know.

After nodding, Cao Zhiqiang said: "It's just right, I also have something to discuss with you, so let me go to my room and talk."

"Very good, very good!" Xu Qingdong smiled and nodded.

After that, the group went directly to Cao Zhiqiang's room.

Since Cao Zhiqiang has lived here for a long time, the waiters here are familiar with each other, so no one stopped Cao Zhiqiang leading people in.

So, the so-called foreign-related restaurants in this period do not allow ordinary people to enter, it is really aimed at ordinary people, and there is really no taboo for special personnel.

After that, Cao Zhiqiang walked and said, "Director Xu, have you been waiting for me for a long time?"

"It's okay." Xu Qingdong smiled, "It hasn't been long."

Cao Zhiqiang also smiled and stopped talking.

Well, Cao Zhiqiang has already figured it out, Xu Qingdong should have gone to the publishing house to find him first, and then came here to wait for him.

Because there are only a few people who know that they are here, and the only people Xu Qingdong can contact are people from the publishing house.

It's just that Cao Zhiqiang went to Hao Shuwen's side in private before, and no one informed him, so of course Xu Qingdong couldn't find him.

In other words, after Xu Qingdong came, he was told by the front desk that Cao Zhiqiang had gone out.

Then Xu Qingdong didn't have any other contact information for Cao Zhiqiang, so he could only wait in the lobby.

Seeing that Cao Zhiqiang came over to block the way just after he appeared, he must have been staring at the gate in anticipation.

From this point of view, he came to find him because the matter was quite difficult, otherwise it would not have been the case.

Not long after, Cao Zhiqiang brought Hao Shuwen and Xu Qingdong back to his suite, and invited Xu Qingdong to sit on the sofa in the reception room.

Hao Shuwen has been here many times, so she took the initiative to go to the refrigerator to get drinks.

At this time and in this environment, of course it is Coca-Cola.

"Coca-Cola?" Looking at the ice-cold glass bottle of Coca-Cola that was still emitting white smoke, Xu Qingdong was stunned, "Oh, this is a good thing. President Cao spent a lot of money." …

"There's nothing to spend on it." Cao Zhiqiang smiled, "There's plenty here, you can drink whatever you want."

Xu Qingdong took a sip from the glass and nodded, "Not bad, it still tastes the same, it's delicious."

Upon hearing this, Cao Zhiqiang knew that the other party had drunk before, and more than once.

This is also normal. Although Xu Qingdong is still a newcomer as a director, he is a high-ranking child after all. Even if he can't drink Coca-Cola often, he must have drunk it.

After taking a sip of Coca-Cola, Xu Qingdong hurriedly talked about his reason for coming.

After listening for a long time, Cao Zhiqiang finally knew why Xu Qingdong was looking for him.

It turned out that the project of "Love in Guting" was yellow.

Or strictly speaking, it was Xu Qingdong who typed up the filming application, but Beijing Film Studio rejected it.

"Why was it rejected?" Cao Zhiqiang frowned, "We don't need Beijing Film Studio to pay for it. Beijing Film Studio only provides some people and equipment. Is it so difficult?"

Xu Qingdong sighed: "It's all my fault, I didn't think carefully, and I thought things too simply."

Then, he explained the ins and outs of the matter in detail.

It turned out that the film studios in this period were all state-owned enterprises, and there were generally quotas for making movies, that is, according to the plan, it wasn’t that you could shoot whatever you wanted, even if you were to lose investment.

For example, a big factory like Beiying has already filled up its schedule, and it is impossible to open a new project for a new director like Xu Qingdong.

The limitation here is not the limitation of personnel and venue, but the limitation of equipment.

Because at this time, even a big factory like Beiying doesn't have many cameras, and everyone is scrambling to use them.

In other words, the cameras of Beijing Film Studio have already been divided, and there is no share left for Xu Qingdong at all.

Xu Qingdong can also shoot if he wants to, so let's line up.

But if you have to queue up, even if you can get ahead with self-financing, you will have to empty a camera at the end of the year at the earliest.

In this case, it’s already winter, and the feeling of summer can’t be photographed at all.

Of course, if it’s just like this, it’s fine, it’s a big deal not to shoot.

But the problem is, Cao Zhiqiang sent all the money, but Beijing Film Studio couldn't return the money to Cao Zhiqiang immediately.

Because that money has been embezzled.

According to the relevant leaders of Beijing Film Studio, this project has been approved and has not been cancelled, but just entered the queue.

To put it simply, this movie cannot be made in the short term, but because the project is still there, the money will not be refunded.

Unless the project is withdrawn.

However, Xu Qingdong has no say in whether or not the film project can be cancelled. Beijing Film Studio and the investor Huaxia Audiovisual Company have the final say.

In other words, in the case that Beijing Film Studio does not take the initiative to cancel the project, unless the investor, that is, the Huaxia Audio-Visual Company under the jurisdiction of Cao Zhiqiang, voluntarily applies for the cancellation of the project, the two parties can only cancel the project after research and discussion. Shooting items.

But as soon as you hear it, you know that this argument will take a long time.

Under normal circumstances, even if everything is normal and all the arguments are passed quickly, Beijing Film Studio will not be able to refund until the end of the year at the earliest.

Therefore, if Cao Zhiqiang wants to forcibly withdraw his capital, not to mention the super troublesome coming and going, he will have to wait until the end of the year at the earliest to get the 10 yuan investment. …

It's clear that it's a scam.

To put it bluntly, it is the big shop bullying customers.

Who told us that it is the 80s now, and it is not the era when investors are the sky.

Because of this, Xu Qingdong was very embarrassed, so he hurried over to apologize to Cao Zhiqiang himself.

"Don't worry." Xu Qingdong said hastily, "This project is not obsolete, it's just that we have to queue up.

There is no other way, our factory has a lot of movies being shot now, and the equipment is limited, so we really can’t get out the camera. "

Cao Zhiqiang frowned and said, "If it's just a lack of cameras, can't we borrow a camera from other units?"

Xu Qingdong sighed: "It's not that easy, I'm not familiar with other film companies, so I can't borrow it."

Cao Zhiqiang touched his chin: "Then if I can borrow it, can I shoot it?"

"Of course!" Xu Qingdong nodded quickly.

Cao Zhiqiang said: "In such a big capital city, it is impossible to borrow a camera? For example, Beijing Film Academy, doesn't it have a youth film studio? Is it okay to borrow a camera from them, or have a cooperation?"

Xu Qingdong smiled bitterly and said: "Youth Film Factory, I asked, but the equipment there is also full, and Bayi Factory is the same, all equipment is full, unless you go to other areas to borrow. "

Cao Zhiqiang asked again: "Aren't you very familiar with Director Liu of the Ministry of Culture? Ask him to help."

Xu Qingdong smiled wryly again: "No matter how capable Director Liu is, he only has one-third of an acre of land in this capital city, and he doesn't even count expensive things like cameras."

When Cao Zhiqiang heard this, he immediately curled his lips.

I thought to myself, what is said does not count, is it because the face is not enough, and the money is not in place?

No matter how expensive and scarce a camera is, as long as you have enough face and money in place, you can't believe that you can't borrow it.

Even if Beijing Film Studio has a big temper, it really can't be borrowed.

But now there are a lot of film studios in China, and not all film studios have sufficient funds, and they don't bend their waists for five buckets of rice.

It shouldn't be difficult to find a small factory and borrow a camera from the other party in the name of cooperative shooting.

Leaving aside, let’s talk about the Youth Film Studio. As long as you give enough money, they are not afraid that they will not lend the camera.

Just kidding, at this time, the youth film studio is almost a grass-roots team, with no funds at all, it is just an internship site for the students of the Beijing Film Academy to practice, and there is not much money to make movies at all.

If it is a joint shooting with the other party, and give some benefits to the person in charge, it must not be difficult.

The so-called difficulty is only for Xu Qingdong, but for Cao Zhiqiang, who is rich and powerful and knows many leaders, he really doesn't think it is a problem.

"Let's do this." Cao Zhiqiang said, "I'll take care of the camera issue, but let me also state first, if the camera is taken care of, will I be able to shoot?"

"Of course!" Xu Qingdong nodded, "As long as you can get me a video camera, the kind for filming, other problems will be easy to solve.

After all, we are self-financed for filming, and we don't need Beiying to pay for it, so it's no problem. "

"Wait!" Cao Zhiqiang waved his hand suddenly.

"What's the matter?" Xu Qingdong asked.

Cao Zhiqiang frowned: "I suddenly remembered something and forgot to ask you, how will the bill be divided after the filming is finished?" …

"What split?" Xu Qingdong was taken aback.

"How to divide the box office?" Cao Zhiqiang asked, "For example, if we make a movie and then release it, how will the box office be divided? How much box office revenue can we share when we make a movie?"

"Ah, you said this." Xu Qingdong chuckled, "You don't have to worry about this, we don't have to divide the box office, we just buy out, so as long as the cost does not exceed 90, there will definitely be some profit."

"What? Buy out? 90?" Cao Zhiqiang was stunned, "What do you mean?"

"You don't know?" Xu Qingdong frowned.

"I asked you because I didn't know!" Cao Zhiqiang said.

Xu Qingdong frowned again, and then began to explain to Cao Zhiqiang.

It turned out that at this time the domestic film system was implementing a unified purchase and sales policy.

That is to say, all film studios are only responsible for making movies. After the movies are made, as long as they pass the review, they will be handed over to China Film Corporation to buy out and distribute them.

As for China Film Corporation, if they want to distribute your movie, they will buy it at a fixed price of 90 yuan.

In other words, after the movie is released, whether the box office is good or bad, it has nothing to do with your film company.

The box office was sluggish, less than 90, and that was due to China Film Corporation.

The box office is super good, and China Film Corporation is also making money.

For example, "The Wrangler", which was popular all over the country, earned nearly 1.3 million at the box office in the era of a dime movie ticket.

But don't look at that movie's popularity. As the production company of the movie, Shanghai Film still only took 80 yuan from China Film Corporation, and China Film Corporation earned most of it.

In 1983, the purchase price of this China Film Company increased to 90.

In other words, as long as China Film Corporation agrees to distribute the movie to you, no matter how much your movie costs, their purchase price will be uniformly 90.

For this reason, this period is also called the buy-it-yourself era.

From this perspective, if you want to make a movie to make money at this time, you must control the cost, and it must be within 90.

Generally speaking, modern feature films have the lowest cost. As long as they are made well, the income is quite considerable. It is still possible to earn 10,000+ or ​​even hundreds of thousands for a film.

Just like Cao Zhiqiang's movie, if it can be shot for 10 yuan, then the purchase price of 90 yuan will have a gross profit of 80 yuan, which is quite a bargain.

In particular, this movie is exclusively sponsored and invested by Huaxia Audio-Video Company. If Beijing Film Studio only produces people and equipment, and if it also produces signs, Na Lilan usually gets [-]% and [-]%. to make.

If Beijing Film Studio didn't produce equipment or people, but only produced a signboard, then Li Lan could talk about [-] points, and it would be difficult to lower it.

When he heard that it was this kind of buyout method, Cao Zhiqiang immediately became furious.

"Mo Dan, it's too deceitful not to share! Isn't this a money grab?"

Seeing that Cao Zhiqiang was suddenly angry, Xu Qingdong was taken aback for a moment, and then quickly persuaded him, "How can this be money grabbing? It's like this now!"

"Everything is like this, but Xiangjiang is not like that!"

"But we are not Xiangjiang, we have our own national conditions here!"

Hearing Xu Qingdong's words, Cao Zhiqiang choked up: "I..."

Xu Qingdong hurriedly persuaded with an apologetic smile: "President Cao, calm down first.

In fact, everything has pros and cons.

As for our system, think about the benefits, at least we don’t have box office pressure.

Regardless of whether the movie is a blockbuster or not, as long as we control the cost of shooting, we will not lose money.

Therefore, we can shoot what we want, and we don’t have to shoot according to the market trend like Xiangjiang. We actually shoot some vulgar stuff, which has no artistic quality at all, just some commercial junk films. "

Cao Zhiqiang pouted.

That's right, in the case of a buyout, the director can indeed shoot what he wants, and he doesn't have to cater to the mainstream or the market at all, but this is not what he wants.

Just kidding, Cao Zhiqiang put in a lot of effort, even thinking of using his stage name to increase traffic for this movie.

Then you told me that after the movie is released, whether the box office is good or bad has nothing to do with me?My movie was bought out at a buyout price?

Then I'm still playing balls!
It's screwed up, it's completely screwed up!
"No more filming, no more filming!" Cao Zhi slapped the table violently, "Axi, Lady Gan Lin! I will stop jumping into such a big pit of filmmaking! Get your money back, hurry up!"

Seeing Cao Zhiqiang suddenly become like this, Xu Qingdong was embarrassed: "Well, well, then you can apply to our factory in the name of Huaxia Audio-Visual Company, and then, you have to hold a meeting to discuss, even if everything goes well..."

"Then I have to refund the money!" Cao Zhiqiang said angrily, "If you refund the money, at least you can get the money, but if you continue to make movies, it will be a big pitfall."

"Why is this a big hole?" Xu Qingdong urged quickly.

"This movie is so good, China Film will definitely want it, as long as they agree to buy it, it will cost 90 yuan!

Let's control the cost. I don't think it will cost 20 yuan, but at most 30 yuan can be photographed.

Compress it, 10 yuan is not impossible.

So, this movie is still very interesting! "

Cao Zhiqiang squinted at Xu Qingdong:
"What do you know? I want to participate in this movie myself, my time is not money?

Meow, do you know how precious my time is?Do you know how much money I can make a day?
I... In short, I won't make this movie anymore, I love whoever! "