China Entertainment Mythology 2004

Chapter 191 There is no simple project in production
Most of the filming tasks of "The Martian" have to be completed in the studio in Shanghai. After completing this part of the filming tasks, the entire crew moved to the United States to continue filming. During this period, Li Mu took time to check the work of Manwu Animation Studio .

The purpose of Li Mu establishing an animation studio in the United States is to learn advanced animation film production and management experience here, and to cultivate his own animation talent team.In the long run, the headquarters of the animation studio will be transferred to China sooner or later, but this process may take as long as six or seven years.

The chief person in charge of the animation studio is a confidant sent from the head office. His surname is Zhang. He has a background in finance and is a layman in animation production.He does not participate in the specific production process of the animated film, but he must help Li Mu take charge of the money bag.

The total investment of the company's first animated film "Frozen" is expected to reach 1.5 million US dollars, which is an unprecedented figure for Chinese filmmakers.

Prior to this, the largest film invested by Huaxia Film and Television was "Inception" directed by Li Mu himself. The total investment of that film was 1.2 million US dollars.

The budget of "Frozen" is 3000 million US dollars higher than that of "Inception". With such a large investment, Li Mu has to be cautious, and dare not be careless.

The person in charge of film production is an American hired by the company at a high price. In addition, the project also has two assistants, the two talents Li Mu recruited from China——Tian Xiaopeng and Jiaozi Yang Yu.

American talents are better in terms of professionalism and experience, and Tian Xiaopeng and Yang Yu reassured Li Mu.

In this way, the director of the studio with a financial background, the ex-Pixar animation senior talents poached by the company at a high price, and the domestic professionals Tian Xiaopeng and Yang Yu formed a situation where several parties supervised and cooperated with each other.

It is worth mentioning that although Li Mu did not sit in the studio all the time and handle specific production work, he is still the undisputed chief director of the movie "Frozen".

What are the general responsibilities of an animation director?
The film "Frozen" is almost all covered by Li Mu from the idea to the script, story version, character image design, character characteristics, and later soundtrack and editing.

In addition, Li Mu has one of the most important tasks, which is to make decisions.

Almost all major matters encountered in the production process of "Frozen" have to be finalized by Li Mu, and in the production process of animated films, the person who completes these tasks is the director of this animated film!

It can even be said that Li Mu is responsible for more work than ordinary animation film directors. Therefore, although he is not based in the United States, he can add the words "Director Li Mu's work" to the opening and closing credits of the film with peace of mind.

After coming to the animation studio, Li Mu first checked the production progress of "Frozen", and the answer he got was that the production cycle of the film would take at least 3 years.

Hearing this, Li Mu became silent.

Dumpling Yang Yu and Tian Xiaopeng both guessed that Li Mu was dissatisfied with the progress, so they explained to Li Mu that the speed is actually very fast. You must know that the production cycle of a Pixar animation film is usually 5 years. About it.

Obviously, the two of them misunderstood Li Mu's meaning. Li Mu didn't think the progress was slow, but was afraid that the progress was too fast.

Even Pixar Studios needs four to five years or even longer to produce such an animated film, so why can their fledgling animation studio complete all the work in only three years?
In the previous life, the total box office of the first and second films of "Frozen" was as high as 28 billion U.S. dollars. In addition, the peripheral income of the film has earned 120 billion U.S. dollars in just six years, making it the well-deserved No. [-] princess of Disney.

Of course, Li Mu does not have the ability to develop movie peripherals as strong as Disney, but you Disney can sell 120 billion, and I, Li Mu, can sell 40 billion US dollars, right?

You sold 6 billion in 120 years, it’s amazing that I sold 10 billion in 40 years, right?
Besides, Li Mu didn't feel that the gap between himself and Disney was really that big.

The benefits here are too great, and what's even more rare is that this is a very long-term cash cow.In other words, as long as Li Mu builds this IP, basically the follow-up income will continue to flow.

How can Li Mu care about whether the production progress is so slow for a year or two for such a far-reaching work?

When they learned that Li Mu didn't think the progress was too slow, but was afraid that the progress was too fast, both Tian Xiaopeng and Jiaozi couldn't help but feel deeply moved.

The two only knew that director Li Mu had created movie miracles one after another, and even at the age of less than 30, he was on par with director James Cameron.

But for what kind of person Director Li Mu is, the two of them knew very little before.

But through this incident, the two finally realized that Li Mu's achievements today have a lot to do with his seriousness in making movies.

Then the two began to explain to Li Mu why the work efficiency of their newly established animation studio was higher than that of Pixar Animation, and the reason was all Li Mu!

To put it simply, when Pixar and other animation studios want to make an animated film, they not only have to repeatedly polish the animation script, constantly design and modify the characters, but also have to create animation styles and animation scene designs. Wait for a lot of work.

But the work flow of his own studio is completely different. The tedious and important work of his own has long been completed by the boss Li Mu without knowing when.

Therefore, the efficiency of the newly established animation studio at home is actually higher than that here.

Li Mu nodded after hearing this, as if he agreed with the two of them.

During the inspection work, both Tian Xiaopeng and Jiaozi paid great attention to showing their talents and potential in front of Li Mu.

It is undoubtedly an extremely rare and eye-opening opportunity for them to send two people to the United States to participate in the production of "Frozen".

The world's most cutting-edge animation film production technology, the world's top animation film investment scale, the total investment of a Chinese animation film is as high as 1.5 million US dollars, this figure has caused a great impact on the mental health of both of them.

After the impact, the hearts of both of them warmed up.

It’s okay for this movie to be directed by foreigners. Now both of them are inexperienced. If Li Mu really came up and handed over the project to them, they would definitely be able to handle it without confidence.

But the next animated film is completely different.

These two people are actually quite conceited people in essence. They believe that when they participated in the production of "Frozen", they must have the ability to lead the next animated film of this scale.

With a project worth 1.5 million US dollars and the world's most cutting-edge animation film technology, which of the two can't be envious?
There is a high probability that the person in charge of the next animated film directed by Li Mu will be one of the two. There is only one chance. Who will Director Li Mu prefer?
Neither of them is stupid, so in fact the competition between the two has already begun.

……

In China, at this time, Huashang Media's two love movies have also been launched one after another.

As the heroine of "33 Days of Broken Love", although Zhao Liying doesn't know why she was chosen by director Li Mu to play the heroine of this movie, but this does not prevent her from cherishing this opportunity very much.

Before that, she could only play some small supporting roles with little presence, most of them were little maids and followers.Although they have signed a contract with Huayi Brothers, in fact, they have no sense of presence in Huayi Brothers.

But suddenly, she was selected by director Li Mu, and she went straight to the sky as the heroine of Hua Shang's movie.

It's not even as simple as the heroine.

Although the heroine of some movies is also a heroine in name, in fact they are often vase roles in a group of men's dramas. Regardless of how popular such dramas are, the promotion of actresses is actually quite limited.

But this "33 Days of Broken Relationship" is completely different. This movie is obviously a movie with a big heroine. Once this kind of movie becomes popular, the promotion of the heroine's status will be exponential.

It is precisely because this opportunity is so rare that many actresses in the industry who have been famous for a long time are unable to ask for it. You are an unknown person and a swindler. How can you play such an important role when you come up?

Is there something inside here?
Zhao Liying, who has no fame, no background, and no background, will inevitably face the impact of some rumors and certain hostility at this time.

But there are basically few rumors about her and Li Mu.

Firstly, Li Mu has too much influence and has too many fans, the consequences of provoking Li Mu without real evidence may be very serious.

Secondly, how many top media companies in China rely on Li Mu for their food. It is no exaggeration to say that the rumors about Li Mu are making life difficult for many large domestic companies. Li Mu eliminated the influence.

That is to say, general negative information about Li Mu cannot be released easily.

In the face of those bad rumors and jealous eyes around, Zhao Liying just worked harder to play her role well.

Because she knew that as long as she firmly grasped this opportunity, all the troubles she was facing now would be solved in the future.

At this time, Jing Tian was also on the crew of "33 Days of Broken Love".

She originally wanted to compete for the heroine of this movie.

In terms of popularity, she has already starred in many film and television dramas such as "My Beautiful Boss", "The Story of the Grandson", "A Woman's Epic", "The Cry of the Python", while Zhao Liying has only played some supporting actresses before. .

In terms of connections, Zhao Liying can't compare with her at all, and she and director Li Mu are still fellow villagers.

In terms of beauty, she is confident that she can still beat this Zhao Liying.

In terms of the suitability of the role, the role of this young urban white-collar woman is simply tailor-made for her.

But she still lost to this Zhao Liying.

In addition to being puzzled, she also speculated about the relationship between the two.But since the role has already been decided and it is impossible to change it, it is useless to think about it again. It is better to play this supporting role seriously and try to leave a better impression on Director Li Mu.

As long as you leave a good impression on Director Li Mu, you are not afraid that there will be no good opportunities in the future.

Speaking of which, Director Li Mu should have a good impression of her.

Some time ago, a passage suddenly circulated on the Internet:

"If you have something to choose from, if you want to choose a girl, if you don't have a girl, choose Jingtian."

It is said that Director Li Mu said it himself. When the media interviewed Director Li Mu, he did not explicitly deny it.

From this sentence, it can be seen that Director Li Mu has a very good impression of himself, so as long as his acting skills are not bad, there should be many opportunities in the follow-up.

Jing Tian couldn't hold back when he mentioned the sixteen-character formula that Director Li said casually.

She has also starred in so many film and television works, but in the end, none of them are as easy to use as Li Mu's words.

At present, this sentence has been spread throughout the entire Huaxia Internet, and after reading it, countless netizens are asking: "Liu Yifei is Li Mu's official girlfriend, and Gao Yuanyuan has appeared in many Li Mu's works. We all know this, but where is this Jingtian?" sacred?"

Just like that, her Jingtian suddenly became popular!
Not because of the character's popularity, but because of someone else's casual jingle, Jing Tian was a little bit dumbfounded about it.

……

"Beijing Meets Seattle" starts later than "33 Days of Broken Relationship". Zhang Jiayi is an important supporting role in "33 Days of Broken Love". We have to wait for his role there to finish the movie here Only then can it be officially launched.

As the heroine of this play, Gao Yuanyuan certainly attaches great importance to this hard-won opportunity.

As an old actor who has debuted for more than ten years, Gao Yuanyuan at this time already knows that her acting talent is actually quite limited.Generally speaking, she will feel quite strenuous to act in heavy stories and roles.

On the contrary, she is very handy in playing this kind of urban female role.

Director Li Mu's main focus is on sci-fi blockbusters, and the urban films invested by Huashang Media are mostly male dramas. Urban romantic dramas like "Seattle" with a heroine are hard to find.

So she must seize this opportunity no matter what.

At the same time, getting this role also made her more confident than before.

I heard that director Li Mu once said such a catchphrase during the casting:

"If you have something to choose from, if you want to choose a girl, if you don't have a girl, choose Jingtian."

It seems that I have a good position in Director Li Mu's heart, so when there is a similar suitable opportunity in the future, Director Li Mu should still think of her.

……

During the same period of time, Huashang Media's new TV series "Scary Step by Step" will be officially launched.

In addition to the heroine Liu Shishi and the male protagonist Nie Yuan, this drama also involves many male and female roles. At this time, there is no need to copy the casting of these supporting actors from previous lives.

There are actually a lot of actors in China who can play this kind of supporting role. After several leading actors are confirmed, these supporting actors can be chosen at will.Huashang Media's dramas naturally give priority to Huashang's people.

Over the years, Huashang Media has still signed some potential newcomers, but Liu Siying is responsible for these matters, and Li Mu usually doesn't ask much. Even Li Mu, who is now Huashang Media, has signed a number of artists who are not very clear.

In short, some new actors from Huashang Media have been used in the supporting roles of "Scary Step by Step" this time.

The launch date of "Gong Suo Xin Jade" may be about a month later than "Scary Step by Step".

Now Yang Mi and Tong Liya are both filming in the crew of "Beijing Love Story", and they are the female one and the second female in the new drama "Gong Suo Xin Jade", which means that "Beijing Love Story" will not finish for a day, " "Gongsuo Xinyu" is difficult to start in one day.

In this regard, Li Mu is very happy to see the results.

In his previous life, Yu Zheng tried every means to let his "Gong Suo Xin Yu" be released before "Bu Bu Jing Xin", in this life Li Mu just wanted to let "Bu Bu Jing Xin" meet the audience first.

During the filming of "The Martian" in the United States, Li Mu also met with Tom Hanks. The other party was naturally here for the "Revenant" project.

Now Tom Hanks is the only actor in the history of the American Oscars to win the crown of best actor three times, and "The Revenant" is likely to make him an even more unprecedented four-time best actor in the history of Oscars!

Even if you can't get the best actor, it's good to get nominated.

Such a good script is really rare.

In the end, Li Mu promised that the other party would officially launch the project next year.

In fact, the filming of "The Revenant" next year is already in Li Mu's plan.

The reason why it is not this year is that he has just won Oscars for best picture, best director and other unprecedented awards for Chinese people. He feels that it is unlikely that the Oscar committee will award the award to the same director's work for two consecutive years. This movie is a pure American movie except for the director.

The second is that next year's Oscars will definitely be dominated by "The King's Speech". If this year's filming starts next year, Li Mu feels that "The Revenant" has almost no chance of winning against "The King's Speech".

On the contrary, if the filming starts next year and the awards are judged next year, there may be a glimmer of life.

(End of this chapter)