Acting school started in 1998

Chapter 469

In this way, of the four Chinese-language films shortlisted for this year's Cannes Film Festival, only Ning Hao's "Incense" won the "Special Attention Award" in the Un Certain Regard section. This is definitely a very revolutionary thing for Shengtang Film and Television, an emerging film and television company. At the same time, for Ning Hao, he has made a name for himself.

"Just today when I was leaving the house, I received a call from a reporter from Beiqing Daily, saying that he wanted to do an exclusive interview with Director Ning." Zeng Jia said proudly.

Compared with the "Beijing News" which has not been established for a long time, "Beiqing News" can be regarded as one of the print media with the largest circulation in Beijing, and its reporting content focusing on entertainment, youth, fashion, etc. is very popular among young people. Welcome.

To sum up, in the reporting of entertainment news, "Beiqing Daily" can be regarded as a relatively high-quality paper media.

As for the reporter Zeng Jia mentioned, Li Tang had met him twice. She was the chief reporter of the culture section of the Beiqing Daily. She was a female reporter known for her shrewdness and sharpness. It is said that Wang Shuo called director Zhang Yimou a "stinky turd". ", she was the one who exposed it.

Just as Ning Hao was mentioned, Li Tang got up and went to the main room to get his laptop, opened the downloaded file, and loaded up the script of "Big Diamond".

"Look, this is Ning Hao's new script. I find it very interesting."

"Oh, really?"

Zeng Jia also showed a look of surprise. Ning Hao had just won the award and it would definitely be fermented in the media for a while. It was a good opportunity to strike while the iron was hot.

Sure enough, Zeng Jia didn't look at it for long before she sat there and laughed "Eat, eat, eat...".

"Those stupid thieves here are so interesting."

After Li Tang had breakfast, he made two cups of freshly ground coffee.

"Thank you bro!"

Zeng Jia also didn't sleep all night. It would be best to have a cup of fragrant coffee at this time, and black coffee is also beneficial to weight loss.

Li Tang took a sip of coffee and said calmly: "I'm considering letting Ning Hao start this book first. What do you think?"

Zeng Jia had already taken a rough look at it, pursed her lips and asked, "Brother, how much do you think we need to invest?"

She basically listens to Li Tang when it comes to the script, and she also thinks the script is good. It's just that the investment in this obviously commercial script is definitely not like the previous "Uniform" and "Incense" where hundreds of thousands were enough. There are more characters, more scenes, and it is still an urban drama, so the investment will naturally be more.

Li Tang pondered for a moment, roughly estimated a number in his mind and said, "Let's prepare five million first."

"So many?" Zeng Jia said in surprise.

She estimated that three million might be enough. Zhang Baibai's "Toward" was only just over three million.

Li Tang smiled and said: "Ning Hao is now a director who won an award at Cannes, so we can't be too picky. And this book is really good, keep improving!"

"Okay, I'll make arrangements later."

Zeng Jia nodded, looked at Li Tang and asked, "Brother, when do you plan to leave?"

Li Tang hesitated for a moment: "The day after tomorrow, you can book me a flight ticket for the morning of tomorrow."

When I asked for leave from the crew, I also took into consideration my schedule to attend the awards ceremony. Now that I have come back early, I can stay in the capital for two more days.

Speaking of returning from Cannes this time, he was a little less interested in the TV series "The Shadow" that he is currently filming. To put it bluntly, I watched too many high-end art films in Cannes, and suddenly found that the tacky ancient costume martial arts TV series I filmed was a bit low-key.

However, he also knows in his heart that when the domestic film market is currently weak and depressed, the only way to become famous is through TV series. After all, there is only one person as lucky as Zhang Ziyi.

It's useless if you have acting skills. There are so many drama groups in the country. If nothing else, let's talk about your old unit, the Drama Center. There are many young and middle-aged actors who are charming on the stage and their acting skills are not to mention, but no one invites them. Film and television dramas, or film and television, have very few resources. This is not a question of whether your acting skills are good or not, but that you have to be famous and you have to be able to withstand the ratings and box office. Only in this way can we get a steady stream of opportunities and make a lot of money...Hai Tui can make further progress in art.

Under the current circumstances, if you want to be famous and gain popularity among the audience, you can only rely on acting in TV series.

And you must never think that TV series are low. Even if you despise them in your heart, you can’t say it out loud. To put it bluntly, the profession of an actor is a service industry, and the audience is your bread and butter. The so-called art, the so-called spring and snow, are not suitable for the general audience.

So as a member of the service industry, you have to cater to your parents to the greatest extent possible, instead of putting on the airs of a so-called artist.

To paraphrase a slogan from the past, that is: the needs of the broad masses of the people are the goals we strive for!

Li Tang always used this method to cheer himself up, but it did not prevent him from staying lazy for one more day in the capital.

……

"Teacher Li, are you looking for me?"

When Ning Hao arrived, Li Tang was sitting on the sofa drinking coffee. I couldn't help it. I didn't sleep last night. I was in good spirits in the morning, but after eating at noon, I felt sleepy. However, Zeng Jia had already informed Ning Hao that he was coming in the afternoon, so he could only drink coffee.

Li Tang looked at Ning Hao who walked in from the door. He was wearing a fat and faded black crew-neck sweatshirt on the upper body and a pair of baggy beach pants on the lower body. Although he was not wearing slippers, he was wearing a pair of sandals with the back unzipped.

There was a hint of disgust in his eyes and he said, "You said you are a well-known director after all, yet you don't pack your things when you go out."

Ning Hao looked down at himself, then looked up at Li Tang, who had a clear head, stiff trousers, and no wrinkles on his shirt. He scratched the back of his head and said with a smile: "Teacher Li, look at what you said, I How can I compare with you? I'm used to this."

Li Tang glanced at him and nudged the sofa opposite him with his mouth, gesturing for him to sit down.

Ning Hao was not polite, sat down, took Li Tang's Sanwu cigarettes and lighter from the coffee table, turned around and handed one to Li Tang.

Seeing that Li Tang didn't want it, he took one in his mouth, lit it, and took a nice sip. Then he sniffed again and said with a playful smile: "The coffee smells so good! Teacher Li, give me a cup!"

He also arrived home at midnight last night. Because of the jet lag, he couldn't sleep for a while. In addition, he had to pay the public food after walking for such a long time. He worked hard for half the night and just fell asleep at almost dawn. As a result, he received Zeng Jia before noon. The phone call asked him to come to the company, but he was still a little out of his mind at the moment.

But this time he and Li Tang stayed in Cannes for less than half a month, and their relationship has improved by leaps and bounds. In front of Li Tang, he was no longer as restrained and polite as before. And this guy is very smart. Sometimes the more Li Tang doesn't give him a good look, the closer the relationship between the two is, so he will simply climb along the pole and become more and more unscrupulous.

To put it bluntly, they are just being arrogant and deliberately trying to be cute.

Of course, he still had a pretty good grasp of the dimensions. When Li Tang glared at him and just raised his buttocks to stand up to pour him coffee, this fellow stood up before Li Tang and hurriedly said: "Li Tang Teacher, I will do it by myself, I will do it by myself, how dare I trouble you!"

After saying that, he went to the coffee machine to pick up the coffee, and muttered: "Yao Yao is getting bigger and bigger now. She doesn't even come over to bring tea or water when she sees me coming." Looking tired, Li Tang didn't bother to talk nonsense with him and just threw a stack of printed scripts on the coffee table.

Ning Hao was holding a cup of coffee and looking at the big words "Big Diamond" on the cover of the printed manuscript. His expression finally became serious, and he said cautiously: "Teacher Li, isn't this book good?"

Li Tang had just finished speaking, but seeing the nervous look on his face, he temporarily changed his words: "What is the theme of your other book?"

Ning Hao's heart suddenly froze when he heard it. He swallowed and said, "The other book is about a racing driver. Well... the type is similar to Big Diamond, but I think it can be further improved."

As he said that, he pointed carefully at the printed script on the coffee table and asked tentatively: "Teacher Li, is this script not good?"

"What do you say?"

"Ugh!"

This guy's heart was completely cold, and he said with a complicated expression: "I know this book may be too commercial, then, then..."

He reached out and slowly picked up the printed copy of the script. He held it for a long time, feeling quite reluctant to part with it.

Li Tang finally couldn't hold it any longer and burst out laughing: "Okay, I won't tease you anymore. This story is very well written. It's a bit like "Two Smoking Barrels" and "Reservoir Dogs". It looks like Do you like Guy Ritchie and Quentin Quentin?"

The sudden reversal of the plot immediately put Ning Hao's heart at ease. He looked at Li Tang with a smile on his face. He originally wanted to act coquettishly, but after hearing the second half of Li Tang's words, he suddenly felt a little embarrassed and said: " Teacher Li, you can see it!"

Li Tang stopped teasing him, waved his hand and said: "It's okay. This kind of subject matter is quite new at least in China, and the story is very strong. I discussed it with Jiajia and decided to support your project. Let's talk about it, How much does it cost?"

"Huh? Uh...I haven't thought about it yet."

The speed of this reversal was so fast that this guy could hardly react.

Originally, he thought that since the story was good, he should at least talk about the script, listen to the creative ideas, and improve it. After all, he knew very well that this script was different from the previous "Incense"...

how to say?

Maybe in his mind "Big Diamond" is a real movie script!

"If you haven't done the math, then do it carefully. The filming location is also very important. I think it should be a more distinctive city, a big city, but not too developed..."

The reason why Li Tang considered it this way was because it also involved real estate. Real estate must be in a big city to be profitable. But it is definitely not a developed first-tier city like Beijing and Shanghai. This is determined by the characteristics of the characters and the direction of the plot in the story.

Li Tang shared with Ning Hao some of his big-picture insights, and finally said: "Of course, what I said is just a reference. You are the director, and in the end you still need to make your own decisions... Forget it. , let me tell you clearly, Jiajia and I have discussed it and decided to invest five million for you. The specific team formation and the shooting company will not interfere, you can do whatever you want!"

"Five million?" Ning Hao was obviously surprised.

The figure of five million can only be regarded as a medium investment for the amount of money invested in a movie, but Li Tang considered it broadly. At this time, seeing Ning Hao's surprised look, he said somewhat proudly: "Yes, five million!"

As he said this, he emphasized: "You can use half a million of them freely."

The so-called non-interference is only in the shooting. As the director, Ning Hao can make the decision in one word, and the company will still send producers and financers. This 500,000 yuan is not subject to financial or producer supervision and is a flexible expense for the director.

It’s even okay if you can put it directly in your own pocket, but the prerequisite is that you have to make a good movie and get the company to approve it.

With a smile on his face, Li Tang picked up the cup and took a sip of coffee, his ears perked up, ready to receive Ning Hao's surprise gratitude and flattery.

After waiting for a long time, there was no movement. I couldn't help but look up and saw this guy frowning with a confused look on his face: "Teacher Li, what if it's not enough?"

Oh, five million is not enough!

Li Tang's original good mood was poured out of water, and his face immediately collapsed and he said: "It's not enough to solve it by yourself. The production cost is only so much anyway. You go back and calculate it yourself!"

……

Yinchuan, Hedong Airport.

The silky drizzle fell from the sky. The raindrops were so small and the rain curtains were so dense, covering the Helan Mountain in the distance with white gauze like cicada wings.

The plane parked slowly on the wet runway. Li Tang looked out through the window of the plane. The mist-like drizzle was lingering incessantly, making his mood a little more melancholy. .

When we set out in the morning, the sky was still clear in Beijing. Unexpectedly, it started to rain in Yinchuan, which is located in the hinterland of the northwest. It rarely rains here, and the annual rainfall is said to be only one to two hundred millimeters. To be exaggerated, the rain here in a year may not be as good as a heavy rain in Shanghai during the typhoon season.

As soon as he stepped out of the plane door, the cool wind wrapped in rain suddenly filled his whole body. Li Tang was so excited that he quickly quickened his pace and jogged down the gangway, and got into the shuttle bus in one stride.

At the end of May, the highest daytime temperature in Beijing has soared to around 30 degrees, while the lowest temperature is around 20 degrees. But here it was estimated that it would only be around 15 degrees at most, and it happened to be raining.

He had no checked luggage and carried a large backpack with him. After checking the tickets and leaving the gate, I didn't see any crew members picking me up.

"what happened?"

Li Tang muttered, secretly complaining that the crew was too unreliable. Didn't they arrange for someone to pick him up at the airport or something?

He took out his cell phone, turned it on, and was about to call the producer of the show, but he hesitated for a moment and instead of dialing, he put the phone in his trouser pocket and walked quickly out of the airport.

Because the company was temporarily busy, Zeng Jia needed Zhao Luoyao's help for a few days, so she did not come with him this time and flew over to join him after two days.

From frugality to luxury is easy, from luxury to frugality.

In the past, he was used to Zhao Luoyao arranging everything for him. For example, before boarding the plane, he would confirm with him again the pick-up arrangements and hotel room arrangements and other matters.

It's rare that Xiao Zhao is not around, but he is not used to it.

He didn't want to trouble others, and it was also a sign of frustration, so he decided to take a taxi back.

Just when he came to the airport exit and was about to line up to get into a taxi, he suddenly heard: "Brother Li!"

　It was a festival, I was a little tipsy, I hurriedly and slowly finished coding one chapter. It’s a new year, it’s a new month, so shamelessly ask for a guaranteed monthly pass!

　　

　

(End of this chapter)