The King of Huayu Science Fiction

Chapter 6 Xu Wenshen

The reason why Chen Jingxing temporarily put down film editing work and came to a company without employees was for interviews.

Interview with HR manager.

Xu Wenshen, who was born in a major, graduated from the Directing Department of the Central Academy of Drama. This school and the Beijing-Tianjin Academy of Film Art are also known as the two cradles of domestic film and television and performing arts talents.

I studied directing, but I never worked as a director. I joined Donghai Satellite TV as soon as I graduated. I caught up with the rapid development of Donghai Satellite TV. It didn’t take long before I met a talent show that became popular all over the country, and was quickly accepted. Promoted, and soon served as the producer of a film and television commentary program.

Within a few years, Donghai Satellite TV changed its director, and Xu Wenshen began to step aside. Dispirited, he resigned and moved to a large-scale film and television production company, where he served as the producer of a youth love TV series. , and served as the supervisor or producer of several low-cost films and TV series, the box office and ratings are not bad.

Seeing that an industry leader was about to rise slowly, he suddenly encountered Waterloo.

A big project with an investment of 1.5 million yuan, which he was the producer of, suffered an epic box office failure. There are a lot of complaints and videos on the Internet about this disastrous film at the box office. A certain section scored 6.5, which is the highest among domestic films. In fact, it's okay, but it can't save the loss of business.

Then Xu Wenshen was kicked out.

Chen Jingxing flipped through the resume in his hand and asked, "Is "Armed Storm" a project entrusted to you by the company?"

"Armed Storm" is the name of this street blockbuster.

Xu Wenshen, who was dressed in a suit, neatly tied, and beardless, was silent for a moment: "It can't be said that, "Armed Storm" is a project promoted by Director Wang Molin and I."

Chen Jingxing understood that Wang Molin was the director of "Armed Storm".

"Is it because of the success of "Spike Fang"?"

Xu Wenshen looked at Chen Jingxing in surprise. He had specifically checked the information of DreamWorks before. The legal person was an overly young college student. He thought it was a film and television production company established by a young man who wanted to be a female star like many rich second generations. He did not expect that this young The boss knows quite a lot about the film industry, it doesn't seem like he's just playing around.

"Yes, I actually had this idea a long time ago, but the success of "Spike Fang" really gave me the courage to promote this project."

"Spike Fang" is a military-themed film changed from a special forces novel. It is considered a pioneer in the domestic film market today, filling the gap in this type of film in China.

The key is that it has also achieved commercial success, with an investment of 5000 million and a box office record of 4.5 million. What is this concept?

Last year, that is, in 2012, it ranked tenth in Huaguo's annual movie box office list.

This ranking is based on the foreign films released in China that year.

This movie can be said to have earned a lot of money, fame and fortune.

"Even if you want to follow suit, the 1.5 million investment is a bit risky, right?"

Another moment of silence.

"The 1.5 million yuan is the draft, and the actual investment is 7000 million yuan. Counting the publicity and distribution, it is about 1 million yuan."

The final box office of "Armed Storm" was 9200 million, which is a huge loss no matter how you calculate it.

Chen Jingxing nodded, no wonder it looks a little bit special effects, this movie has two first-line stars, and the production cost of 7000 million, probably at least 4000 million for the film salary alone.

In fact, Huaguo's film and television industry is not as timid as he imagined. It just stares at those themes and shoots to death. There is no shortage of people who want to expand their territories in any industry. Is it a sign of the maturity of the film industry?Who doesn't know that bad movies are rampant in the movie market now?Content supply is too poor?Which filmmaker does not yearn for the film industry on the other side of the ocean?
Knowing that is easier than doing, a small number of ventures succeed and most fail.

"What do you think is the reason for the failure of Armed Storm?"

"When the box office was dismal at the beginning, my first reaction was that the film market still didn't really accept this genre, and "Spike Fang" was just a special case."

"Of course, after slowly accepting this reality, I think it's not the audience's problem, but the movie itself. The story and narrative rhythm of this movie are indeed worse than "Spike Fang", much worse."

Chen Jingxing was still a little puzzled: "You have been in Tianrun for these years, and you have produced many successful film and television dramas, and you have made a lot of contributions to Tianrun, but you were kicked out just because of this movie? Isn't director Wang Molin still here? Where is Tianrun staying? Everyone has heard of Director Wang’s reputation, and the films directed by Wang Molin, I’m afraid you, the producer, don’t have much say in the film production process, so you can’t be blamed.”

In the film industry on the other side of the ocean, the mainstream is the producer-centered system, but in China, it is much more flexible. The director is the director-centered system, and the actor is the actor-centered system. If neither of them is good, the producer has a greater right to speak. up.

And Wang Molin's reputation is known even to ordinary movie fans. In his films, Xu Wenshen's producer is at most just a name.

"Mr. Chen, since you know the reputation of director Wang Molin, you should also know that Wang Molin has an unusual relationship with the boss of Tianrun. Not to mention the failure of this movie, even if he loses three movies in a row, his position is still stable."

"So the pot fell on your head?"

"...It's not all because of this reason. You should have heard the news that Tianrun is planning to go public. Mr. Wu of Tianrun once promised to give me stock options, but there has been no movement. I have urged many times, but he has been making various excuses The procrastination, honestly, I think that's the main reason I got kicked out."

Chen Jingxing understood.

Three years ago, a film and television production and distribution company was successfully listed. It was a milestone event and opened a new door for the film and television industry.

It turns out that the film and television industry can only attract coal bosses to play tickets. First, the market size is not large, and second, there is no way to make a fortune.

The listing is to open up a sea of ​​money in the secondary market for all practitioners in the film and television industry.

In recent years, the highest pursuit of all film and television company executives has changed from promotion and salary increase to quickly pulling the company into the secondary market, cashing out equity, and realizing wealth freedom.

The already utilitarian film and television industry has become more utilitarian because of this. Most people in the industry don’t think about how to keep the hen that lays eggs healthy and healthy, but how to get faster. Rushing to the finish line—IPO, and then direct wealth and freedom, then of course this industry will inevitably rush downhill with the accelerator pedal, how come there is no lower limit.

This is the same as restaurants in popular tourist attractions in popular tourist cities. They don't make money from repeat customers.

After initially understanding Xu Wenshen's "tragic experience", Chen Jingxing also expressed his sympathy with empathy. If Xu Wenshen really got the stock options, and if Tianrun really went public, it might cost tens of millions or even more. With a large number, what Xu Wenshen had left was to pray for Tianrun to maintain its normal operation for three years. Once the lock-up period expired, he would be as wealthy and free as Chen Jingxing. But now the bubble like Jinshan burst suddenly, and most people couldn't bear the blow.

After a few more short conversations, Chen Jingxing passed the interview with Xu Wenshen decisively.

In fact, before the interview, he had basically confirmed that Xu Wenshen was the person he wanted, and the interview was just the last check.

The domestic film and television industry has an obvious handicraft attribute, and film itself is an industry that is difficult to industrialize, which is determined by its basic creative rules.

Xu Wenshen, a senior person who has supervised and produced many film and television dramas, has a lot of film and television drama practitioners who eat under him. If he has a project, he will have a whole team of directors, coordinators, finance, drama affairs, photography, art, recording, etc. It can be assembled without any effort.

The handicraft industry has strong technical stickiness and labor stickiness.

A well-known photographer, the assistant photographer, photography assistant, mechanic, lighting engineer, lighting assistant, etc. around him may be fellow villagers or even relatives, and they are masters and apprentices with each other in a pre-industrial society. The relationship between characteristics is not a screw gear in a mature industrial system, which can be changed and left immediately.

The same is true for the drama and even the director team. Many directors are accompanied by a fixed assistant director or executive director. Some assistant directors can pull out hundreds of extras with acting experience with a single phone call. If you change someone else, you may not have such ability. .

The interpersonal relationship in the handicraft industry is extremely sticky and exclusive. Outsiders want to get in and get a status without paying enough tuition fees. If you don’t have enough ideas about this, think about the cross talk industry.

In Huaguo in 2013 on the original plane, the transformation and reshaping of this industry by capital has not been completely completed. Perhaps in another ten years, this handicraft attribute will be reduced by more than half.

But now, Chen Jingxing wants to fill up DreamWorks as soon as possible, and fill it up relatively reliably, and pay less tuition fees. The best way is not to post a recruitment announcement, but to recruit a senior director, assistant director or producer, at least It is not difficult to form a complete crew.

Of course, the quality is another matter, but there is no rush. Many famous directors have experienced many dramas, and they have been gradually eliminated and exchanged for blood. Such a team even has chemical reactions inside, and it is definitely not a short time. formed.

(End of this chapter)