The Wind of China Entertainment 2005

Chapter 598 Your uncle

"Crack!"

The weather was not good and heavy rain fell in Tianjin.

The small roads outside the Third Cotton Mill were flooded by rain, and the car that Lu Yuan, Huang Xiaoming, Tong Dawei and others were using to go to work almost turned into a boat.

The crew members took a break from their busy schedule and said self-deprecatingly: "Damn it, even the sun is on vacation and I still have to go to work."

"Confucius said, oxen and horses rest when they see rain, but oxen and horses cannot do that."

"The director said that we will have an extra snack at noon today!" The life producer shouted at Niu Ma with a loudspeaker.

"Okay, long live the director!" Everyone scattered.

This is Tianjin Cotton Mill No. 3.

The location chosen by the film's art director Sun Li was also the place where Cheng Dongqing initially chose to set up a cram school after being expelled from school.

Empty factories, tall brick buildings, peeling walls, heavy machinery, iron-framed floor-to-ceiling windows, and mottled wooden tables and chairs.

It has retained its original appearance from the 80s, and such places are almost impossible to find in Beijing.

Peter Chan is an absolute nostalgia lover.

The style of his studio in Beijing is also very much in the style of the 1980s, and everything here is so in line with the nostalgia in his mind.

We are shooting an indoor scene today, so even though it is raining outside, it does not affect the filming of the crew at all.

Huang Xiaoming and Tong Dawei squatted at the foot of the dilapidated wall, looking at the field and talking nonsense.

Tong Dawei nudged the person next to him with his shoulder: "What brand of perfume do you use? It smells good."

"Six god!" Huang Xiaoming picked up English.

"Uh," Tong Dawei tilted his head and said confusedly, "This brand is quite rare. Is it American?"

“No, it’s made in China.”

"What brand?"

"Six Gods." Huang Xiaoming grinned.

Tong Dawei complained crazily in his heart, and said with a squinting look: "Master, that's enough, you are making too much trouble~"

Huang Xiaoming was speechless: "Why are you acting like my junior brother now? Can you let this go?"

"Hahaha." Tong Dawei laughed so hard that he couldn't stop talking. He then said, "Do you think he did it on purpose?"

"how?"

Tong Dawei nodded at Lu Yuan who was teaching a class and said, "I deliberately mentioned Zhao Yanzi in front of you, then observed your expression, paid attention to your reaction, and filled my own material library so that Cheng Dongqing's performance when facing Su Mei would be more natural."

After Lu Yuan became famous, the discussion about whether he was a methodist or an experientialist has never stopped.

Finally, we come to the conclusion that this guy is good at both and is quite proficient in both. As for the method school, he focuses on observing life and uses life experiences as performance material.

Huang Xiaoming was stunned and asked suspiciously: "No way, is he so evil?"

"Hmm." He then fell silent.

If you ask yourself, perhaps this is one of the reasons why Lu Yuan’s professional ability is far beyond the reach of his peers.

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. It seems that after the crew started filming, this guy always finds opportunities to mention Zhao. He did this before in front of the teaching building of the Industrial University.

Junior brother was not like this before. It’s abnormal, too abnormal.

"No, I have to find him!" Huang Xiaoming was angry.

I treat you as my junior brother, but you treat me as material. This is ridiculous. If I don't introduce you to some plays, this matter will never end!
Tong Dawei hurriedly grabbed his sleeve and said, "Hey, hey, hey, brother, you can look for it, but don't say it was me who suggested it."

"calm down!"

Huang Xiaoming took a step forward with a frightened face, and then he saw someone walking towards him in the rain with an umbrella.

He stopped, waited for the man to get closer, and after seeing his appearance clearly, he said in surprise: "Director Ning, how come you have time to come to the crew?"

The person who came was Ning Hao.

"This heavy rain didn't stop earlier or later." Ning Hao put away his umbrella and muttered a few words.

I shook off the raindrops on the umbrella leaves, and rubbed my sneakers, which were slightly muddy, on the steps.

At the same time, he explained to Huang Xiaoming: "Lu Yuan asked me to come."

"He'll be there for a while. The filming of this scene has just started."

"It's okay. I'll wait."

Huang Xiaoming closed the English dictionary in his hand, hesitated for a moment, and asked: "Director Ning, can you tell me more about it?"

"It's nothing serious, just a script, he wanted me to help take a look at it."

Ning Hao was also depressed. He hadn't even officially joined Yuanfang Media yet, but he was already being ordered around by these evil capitalists.

"What script is it? Am I suitable for it?" Huang Xiaoming volunteered.

Ning Hao glanced at him and shook his head slowly: "Your image is not suitable for a zombie movie. You are too handsome."

What a good reason, one that cannot be refuted. Huang Xiaoming wanted to fight for himself, but Lu Yuan finished filming and walked over.

"Director Ning." Lu Yuan nodded and went straight to the point: "What do you think of the script?"

A few days ago, Wu Lang reported to him that the Star Project had received a script outline and the director was from Hong Kong.

Not only that, Lu Yuan himself also received a call from Emperor Entertainment Group that day. The other party said that this was his nephew's script and wanted him to give some advice to see if it had any prospects.

Lu Yuan was a little puzzled at first as to why Emperor Entertainment Group did not invest on its own. It was only after reading the script that he realized what was going on.

A zombie film that is destined to not be released in mainland theaters and will most likely lose money.

After establishing the company, he naturally would not solve everything by himself, as that would be too tiring.

First, he notified Chen Zhixi and others to judge the quality of the script and make comprehensive considerations to decide whether it was worth investing in. Then he called Ning Hao.

Ning Hao happened to live not far from Tianjin, and upon hearing the news, he came over to visit the set today.

"I think I can try it."

Ning Hao first stated his point of view and then explained the reasons.

"Since Lin Zhenying passed away, apart from My Date with a Vampire, there have been no other impressive zombie movies in the past decade. Restricted by the censorship mechanism, zombie movies have gradually withdrawn from the film and television industry.

Mak Junlong's "Seven Days of Rebirth" looks quite interesting, combining Japanese horror and Hong Kong zombies. The twin female ghosts have souls but no spirits, while the zombies have spirits but no souls. When the two meet, they will become extremely powerful flying zombies. It is very creative."

Lu Yuan nodded, looked at the raindrops outside the house, and recalled the contents of the script.

"Seven Days Back" tells the story of a down-and-out actor who used to play in zombie movies and whose career plummeted due to the decline of zombie movies.

After his wife and children left him, he planned to hang himself in the housing estate, but was rescued in time by Ayou, who lived in seclusion in the city. A series of strange events happened afterwards.

Emperor Entertainment Group's Yang revealed on the phone that Junlong Mak plans to invite Takashi Shimizu to produce the drama.

Most people probably don’t know who Takashi Shimizu is, but the Japanese "Ju-Grudge" series, which left psychological trauma on countless people, was filmed by him.

Huang Xiaoming listened for a while but couldn't get a word in, so his assistant called him to prepare for the next scene.

Ning Hao waited for him to leave before saying, "As for the fact that it can't be shown in theaters, it can be broadcast on PPS. Most Chinese people are afraid of horror movies, but they also want to watch them. The standards for online movies and web series are very lenient. This drama complements your plan for the development of PPS."

Domestic streaming media is currently in its early stages of development, and the distribution range of various dramas is relatively limited.

LeTV is currently filming a web drama adapted from the online novel "Dad, I'm Pregnant with Your Child". It focuses on the love story between an uncle and a lolita.

The scale is astonishingly large.

Because it is mainly broadcast on online platforms and has a relatively specific audience, the relevant regulations and review standards have not yet been perfected.

Although the General Administration has introduced relevant policies on self-made online videos, requiring that self-made online dramas be subject to review like traditional film and television dramas.

But in fact, the current documents simply require websites to conduct self-examination of their own dramas, and the review standards are set by the General Administration.

Well, self-examination. In other words, you can handle it yourself and let it go. If there is a problem or someone reports it, we can talk about it later.

What’s more, one of PPS’s shareholders is Tietouwawa Modou SMG, which is why Lu Yuan dared to let PPS shoot "Soul Ferry".

When he thought of this, Lu Yuan said so.

"Lao Ning, since you are so optimistic about "Seven Days of Rebirth", why don't you take charge of this project, and the funds will come from the Star Project."

Ning Hao: "."

You called me Director Ning just now, and now you call me Old Ning. I guess this was your plan from the beginning.

"Row!"

On November 11, "29" and "The Banquet" were released at the same time, officially launching the prelude to the Lunar New Year holiday.

The Lunar New Year holiday is recognized as the most important period, but this time the two blockbusters that opened the season do not seem so commercial.

"1942" reflects the great famine during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, while "The Banquet" attempts to analyze the inner thoughts of historical figures such as Liu Bang, Xiang Yu, and Han Xin.

One director is a veteran box office maker, the other is a young controversial figure.
Netizens are confused about it, okay, it’s fake.

On the day of the release, a large number of film reviews appeared.

Most audiences gave positive reviews to "1942".

He said that Feng Xiaogang did not disappoint, the film was shocking and the overall standard was very good.

"Feng Xiaogang's 1942 made me respect him. A man surrounded by glory actually shed his glory and ventured into the darkness to seek. His wisdom and courage are commendable."

"I came here to support after seeing Lu Yuan's review. How should I put it? It's too depressing. At the end of the year, I still hope to watch something lighthearted and happy. But I can see that director Feng Xiaogang really put his heart into it."

However, there are also some dissenting voices, nitpicking and arguing that the film lacks depth and spiritual sublimation. "It is a relatively realistic documentary, telling the story of the Henan famine, but it is too one-sided and has a too narrow understanding of the Kuomintang..."

Compared to the mostly positive reviews for "1942", the reputation of "The Banquet" was polarized.

Very few people applauded the film, most of them said that the film had style and reflected reality.

"I called this movie The King's Leftovers before, but after watching it, I realized that I was wrong about Lu Chuan. This is not a movie that can be widely accepted in the market. It is an art film with a strong stage play style and a flashback narrative method. It has a strong Kurosawa Akira film imprint. It is very flavorful."

The majority of people were pessimistic about the film. After "Nanjing Nanjing", Lu Chuan's reputation had become bad, and the audience generally believed that the film was pretentious and the story was not well told.

"It does smell like a bad movie, you know."

“It’s a scam!”

"He talks to himself and doesn't consider the audience's feelings at all. I admit that he has his own ideas, but it is disappointing that a movie with such a large investment is so fragmented that it can hardly be called a complete story."

"I watched a group of people talking to themselves in a gloomy manner in a scene that looked like a mental hospital for less than an hour. I had no idea what they were talking about, so I went out to chat with my friends."

The next day, the first day box office was released.

The performance of "2" was far below industry expectations. The production cost was 300 million yuan, and the box office of the midnight preview was just over 2600 million yuan. The total box office of the premiere only recorded million yuan.

"The Banquet" is even worse, with an investment of 1 million yuan, but the box office on the first day was only 819 million. Such an opening result is obviously inconsistent with its identity as a costume blockbuster, and the prospects are not optimistic.

Huayi, the conference room was filled with smoke.

Non-smokers held back their coughs and dared not make any sound. The air seemed stagnant at this moment.

"Boom boom boom!"

After a while, Wang Zhonglei knocked on the table with his finger bones, his eyes bloodshot: "Everyone, the company's stock price has reached the limit today!"

Everyone turned their eyes to Feng Xiaogang at the same time.

In recent years, Feng Xiaogang has been seen as a barometer of Huayi's stock price.

When his movie was released, the stock price soared; when he wanted to retire, the stock price plummeted. The "Tangshan Aftershock" that year verified this statement.

On the left side of the conference table, Feng Xiaogang put down his phone with a heavy heart.

He just forwarded some viewers' positive comments on "1942".

Wang Zhonglei said: "Director Feng, you said you wanted to make this film and pursue your ideals. The company did its best to support you, but now it is in this situation."

"Haven't we already discussed this before? With word of mouth and good reviews online, 1942 still has a chance." Feng Xiaogang is optimistic about the subsequent box office performance.

He looked at the other people in the room, paused for a few seconds, and then continued: "If the final box office does not meet the target and the company's market value evaporates, I will make another If You Are the One."

"Just your words are enough." Wang Zhonglei breathed a sigh of relief. Movies are commercial products, and he was worried that Feng Xiaogang would go astray for the sake of art.

In comparison, Lu Chuan's situation was much more miserable.

Xingmei was badly cheated by him, but let’s not talk about that for now.

A sharp film review of "The Banquet" titled "A Psycho Tells a Ghost Story" was forwarded over 10,000 times in a very short time.

The curse was so earth-shattering.

The situation was so stalemate that Lu Chuan posted a Weibo with grievance.

"I really want to be like Director Feng and proudly repost one or two posts praising me for being so great, but I dare not because the netizens scolded me too much."

The netizen replied: "Nonsense, you are worthy of being compared with Feng Xiaogang, don't you know what kind of rubbish you shot?"

Lu Chuan deleted this post, pretending it never existed, and continued to defend herself.

"Many viewers don't understand that this is not just an ordinary movie where you sit there and eat popcorn. It is something valuable. I understand that this movie will definitely have good and bad reviews.

But as long as it can arouse reactions and emotions from the audience, even if it is hatred, the film has its merits, at least it will not make people feel indifferent after watching it.”

The netizen wanted to criticize again, but found out he was banned from posting.

In Tianjin, from the crew of "Chinese Partners", Qin Hong came to inspect the work with a worried look on his face.

Chen Kexin was filming and had no time to pay attention to him.

Qin Hong had no choice but to stay behind the monitor and watch Lu Yuan, Huang Xiaoming, and Tong Dawei perform silently.

This scene was shot when Wang Yang got married. At the wedding banquet, maybe he spoke the truth after drinking, maybe he was too tired to have fun, or maybe he couldn't hold it any longer and had to come clean.

The accumulated conflicts among the three men broke out completely and they started fighting on the ground.

Tong Dawei was lying on the ground. Lu Yuan was wearing a wrinkled suit, his tie was half-untied, his shoulders were drooping, and he looked extremely decadent and a little at a loss.

Huang Xiaoming stood aside, stretched out his hand to push him, and asked: "Do you know what I am doing in the United States?"

Lu Yuan was pushed back repeatedly, pretending to be calm and spreading his hands. He stumbled and almost fell, and seemed to be unconcerned: "How should I know?"

"I'm not even a waiter, I'm a handyman, a handyman who is not eligible for tips!"

"I can't make it anymore, I'm back!!"

"I don't have any friends, you two are my only friends!!!"

"."

Huang Xiaoming read the lines very quickly, with each sentence becoming higher in pitch.

He vented his anger, picked up the suit on the ground, put it on hastily, and walked out without looking back: "I'm going to Shenyang tomorrow. There's someone who wants to open an English school there."

Lu Yuan put his hands on his hips and tapped the ground with his toes nervously, trying not to look at the other person, but his eyes were already wet.

Tong Dawei got up from the ground in a panic, picked up a napkin, and blew his nose fiercely: "I've been tired every day for so many years. I'm like this for the two of you."

He sighed, indicating his withdrawal from the new dream, and shook his head in frustration: "I've had enough. I don't want to play anymore."

As he turned around, he patted Lu Yuan on the shoulder and told him to take care of himself.

In an instant, only one of the three brothers was left.

Lu Yuan faced the empty wedding hall alone, and loneliness and helplessness instantly hit him.

The stubborn look on his face disappeared, his lips trembled, and he cried out loudly. His voice was not loud, but he cried so hard that he couldn't straighten his back.

"call!"

Behind the monitor, Qin Hong wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.

He had no intuitive concept of acting, but he knew one thing: a good actor with good acting skills had the ability to elicit empathy from the audience.

When Lu Yuan stood there alone, he was just a spectator, but he seemed to resonate with Cheng Dongqing.

Compared with Wang Yang and Meng Xiaojun, Cheng Dongqing comes from a poor family and is rustic, poor, inferior and sensitive.

Even though he became the actual helmsman of the new dream, he still kept a low profile and would unconsciously try to please Wang Yang and Meng Xiaojun when getting along with them.

Even so, the friendship he had carefully nurtured for nearly twenty years completely collapsed.

Cheng Dongqing found it hard to accept this fact, and Lu Yuan acted out his inferiority complex, sensitivity, and slightly neurotic attitude after drinking to perfection.

It's really great, absolutely top acting skills!

This drama will definitely make money and make up for all the losses of "The Banquet".

Damn it, Lu Chuan, you are such an idiot!

He couldn't help but curse in his heart.

"Cut." Chen Kexin held the little bee.

"Clap clap clap!"

The crew members all applauded the three people's performance.

Wait for Lu Yuan, Huang Xiaoming and Tong Dawei to approach.

Qin Hong sniffed and found that the latter two people were full of alcohol, except Lu Yuan. It can't be said that there was no smell of alcohol at all, but it was very faint, almost imperceptible.

This means that Huang Xiaoming and Tong Dawei really drank and performed under the influence of intoxication, but the other one did not need to do so at all.

There is quite a big difference between the three leading actors and he made his judgment after comparison.

While Huang Xiaoming and Tong Dawei were adjusting their status, he walked up to Lu Yuan and gave him a thumbs up: "Mr. Lu, no, Mr. Lu, I admire you."

Lu Yuan was still emotional, and he forced a smile: "Mr. Qin, why are you here today?"

"Don't mention it." Qin Hong complained.

He found a chair and sat down, complaining, "I really regret it, my face hurts!"

"In an interview last year, I told the media that I admired Lu Chuan's talent and that he was a young director with great artistic pursuits and persistence among Chinese filmmakers today. I also said that The Banquet would be made into a work of excellence and quality."

"The entire crew fully cooperated with his work. He wanted his girlfriend Qin Lan to play the role of Empress Lu. I knew he had selfish motives, but I didn't say a word."

"In the end, this is how he rewarded me. The box office on the first day was 800 million, and after four days of release, the box office was less than 4000 million. The total investment was nearly 13 million, and the preparation period was months. There were three groups of art teams doing the design, and the plans were repeatedly overturned.

Looking back now, his work attitude during this drama is incomparable to the previous ones. In the original script, Yu Ji was the absolute number one female character. But he changed Empress Lü to the number one female character just to promote his girlfriend. He didn’t follow the script at all. I will never invest in him again.”

Lu Yuan has heard too many accusations against Lu Chuan in the past two days, and this guy has been scolded bitterly on the Internet.

After listening to it too much, I feel a little impatient.

Just when I was trying to find an excuse to leave, the phone rang.

Qin Hong took out his cell phone, answered the call, his expression froze, and he swore, which was unusual for him.

"Lu Chuan, your uncle!!"

PS: The previous chapter was blocked. I found out when I was typing at night. It hasn’t been unlocked yet. It will probably be unlocked tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)