The Wind of China Entertainment 2005

Chapter 609 Lu Xianfeng

Times Square is known as the crossroads of the world.

It sounds domineering, but this square was originally called Longacre Square. Later, it was renamed Times Square because the New York Times established its headquarters building here.

I don’t know whether it was intentional or unintentional, but Times Square was later translated into “Times Square”.

It is called a square, but in fact it is just a tiny fork in the road on a Manhattan street.

In China, we call this a crossroads.

There is a large Nasdaq screen hanging above the intersection, and at this moment the screen displays the words "Sina.com is listed on the Nasdaq in the United States."

"action!"

Directly opposite, there was a camera with Chen Kexin standing behind it.

In the camera, Huang Xiaoming was wearing a gray suit with a black briefcase slung across his body. There was an indescribable loneliness on his face. He stood alone on the street, staring ahead with empty eyes.

"Card!"

"Xiaojun, I need more ambition in your eyes. I want to see your desire for success."

"Okay!" Huang Xiaoming nodded to show his understanding.

"One more."

According to the plot, this is Meng Xiaojun's second trip to the United States. Before that, he experienced multiple setbacks such as feeding mice and doing odd jobs in the Freedom Lighthouse. He then returned to China to start a business with Cheng Dongqing.

Because of their training business, the chances of Chinese people obtaining a US visa have been greatly increased.

However, the test materials used by the cram schools have not been authorized by the U.S. ETS, posing a security risk in the future.

ETS, the abbreviation of Educational Testing Service, is the world's largest private non-profit educational testing and assessment organization.

However, when Meng Xiaojun went to the United States for the second time, he still did not get the respect he deserved. He waited for a long time but did not see anyone, and his self-esteem suffered a serious blow.

Just as he was about to leave, he witnessed the news of Sina's listing in Times Square.

I couldn't help but think of taking my new dream public.

"Pass!"

After a long time, Chen Kexin waved his hand and wiped the corners of his eyes.

The prototype of Meng Xiaojun is himself. When he revisited the old place, he couldn't help but be moved by the scene.

"Guarantee one!"

As soon as he finished speaking, assistant Zhang Chaoli approached quietly and reminded in a low voice: "Director, Teacher Lu is here."

Chen Kexin looked up and saw that it was indeed Lu Yuan, with his assistant standing behind him. He was holding a cup of coffee in his hand and walking towards them with a smile.

"Haha!" He immediately opened his arms and greeted him enthusiastically: "Teacher Lu, New World is a big hit at the box office, congratulations!"

The crew members also applauded and offered their congratulations.

"Teacher Lu, another billion-dollar masterpiece!"

Although they were in a foreign country, they were well aware of the news that "New World" dominated the Lunar New Year box office in China.

"Thank you, thank you, it's all luck."

Lu Yuan handed the coffee in his hand to Zheng Qian, then hugged Chen Kexin, and then put his hands together to greet the other crew members.

"Thank you for your hard work. I came here in a hurry and didn't have time to prepare gifts for everyone. How about this, I will treat you tonight. You can choose the place and eat as much as you want."

"Haha, okay, thank you Teacher Lu!"

"Long live Teacher Lu."

"."

The cheers of the staff attracted the attention of passers-by on both sides.

But there were quite a few people taking photos in Times Square, but the foreigners just took a quick glance and didn't pay much attention.

There were some people, either Chinese tourists or Chinese descent, who raised their phones and took photos of Lu Yuan.

Chen Kexin glanced at the coffee in Zheng Qian's hand and asked, "Do you want to take a break and adjust to the jet lag?"

Lu Yuan waved his hand and smiled, "No, although I didn't sleep very deeply on the plane, I was in a state of half asleep and half awake. It's not bad at the moment."

As soon as he finished speaking, he yawned.

Peter Chan laughed.

Lu Yuan noticed that his eyes were slightly red, pointed at the corner of his eye curiously, and asked: "What's wrong with you?"

Chen Kexin rubbed his cheeks and sighed, "That scene just now reminded me of some past events. I have lived in the United States for many years. Before I came here, my parents told me that the United States is the most fair place in the world, but after living in the United States for many years..."

He shook his head and sighed: "The so-called growth of a person is probably to constantly break your cognition and take away your possibilities."

Lu Yuan took the coffee handed to him by Zheng Qian and took a sip.

Chen Kexin has mentioned these words before, and the prototype of Meng Xiaojun is himself.

For example, Meng Xiaojun went to the United States to develop his career after graduation, faced the test of the visa officer, worked as a handyman in the United States, and received a $20 tip from an old lady. These are all true stories that Chen Kexin has personally experienced.

The role of Meng Xiaojun can be seen as Chen Kexin's version of Youth.

Lu Yuan smiled and said, "Director Chen, on the plane coming here, I watched the movie Love Letter directed by you."

"Really?" Chen Kexin raised his eyebrows and then said, "That was after the 96 hit "Comrades: Almost a Love Story". I was invited by Spielberg to help DreamWorks make this movie, but it didn't make any waves."

"I've always been curious, why did you choose to leave Hollywood?"

Chen Kexin squatted on the side of the road and subconsciously took out his cigarette box, but stopped because smoking is prohibited in Times Square.

He explained: "Filming in Hollywood is easier than in China, there are ready-made scripts and actors, and the work is relatively stable.

But after a long time, I felt like a robot. I had to take the bus to work at 7:6 every morning, and after get off work I could not get home until 15: at the earliest.

Work has taken up all my energy and I have no time to make dinner, exercise or meet up with friends.

He paused and continued, "All of these are actually tolerable. What hurt me the most was the preview, which is the real reason why I chose to leave."

"Preview?" Lu Yuan also squatted down.

“Yes, there is a fundamental difference between the previews on both sides. The US is pointing at you and ordering you to make changes, and you have to obey.

In China, you are advised to make changes, but it is up to you whether to change or not and how to change.

I felt that there was a lack of freedom in filming in Hollywood, and I was more inclined to express myself in the film, so I eventually chose to leave. ”

What Chen Kexin said is actually the difference between two systems, namely the producer-centered system and the director-centered system.

Hollywood movies are like commodities produced on a factory assembly line, with the producer at the center and the director merely an executor.

This ensures that each process is as efficient as possible, thereby maximizing the commercial value of the film.

China's film crews learned about the unified internal resource allocation mechanism from the Soviet Union in their early years.

Because film studios are owned by the whole people, it is impossible for the studio director to serve as producer of multiple crews.

Therefore, let the director fully assume the role of producer during the preparation process.

This is the origin of the director-centered system.

Of course, now Chinese films are no longer just director-centered, but are gradually transitioning to producer-centered and big-name actor-centered systems.

But the boundaries between the three are unclear and confusing.

However, Lu Yuan was skeptical about his words.

He believes that it is most likely due to cultural differences that Chen Kexin is unable to perform and cannot see a future.

The two chatted, and the crew finished adjusting. The assistant came over to inform: "Director, the next scene can start shooting."

"Go ahead and do your work. I'll just take a look around." Lu Yuan stood up.

"Okay!" Chen Kexin nodded.

Standing in front of the camera, he stared at Lu Yuan's back for a long time.

To be honest, he was very surprised that "New World" dominated the box office.

The fact that this drama dominated the Lunar New Year box office, surpassing "Chinese Zodiac" and "The Great Devil", the significance behind it is extraordinary.

Shing Long, Chow Yun-fat, and Hung Kam-po, these people have been the top stars in the Hong Kong film industry for decades, but they all lost to this up-and-coming star.

Peter Chan was born in Hong Kong, grew up in Thailand, and studied in the United States.

In mainland China he is a Hong Konger, in Hong Kong he is Thai, in Thailand and in the United States he is Chinese, and no language is his mother tongue.

So no matter where he is, he can always look at the world with an outsider's attitude. No matter how bad the situation is, the worst that can happen is that he can just walk away, and no matter how fierce the fire is, it can't burn him.

Therefore, he can see something more clearly than others.

For example, the mainland film and television market has really started to take off and can no longer be suppressed. In contrast, artists from Hong Kong and Taiwan have begun to enter a countdown.

He still remembers the early years, probably in the early 80s, when mainland actors filmed together with actors from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The latter's dining car was filled with rice, fish, meat, steamed buns, sausages, pickles and other dishes.

When Jet Li was filming "Shaolin North and South", all the crew members were from Hong Kong, and a handyman was paid higher than the leading actor.

A martial artist can go back to Hong Kong and buy a house after working for ten months, but Jet Li works so hard but only earns 3 dollars a day, and even after 1 months he doesn't get a fraction of that.

As an outsider, he found this differential treatment difficult to understand.

I sincerely feel that the mainland actors at that time were quite cute and naive, and some of them were indeed quite stupid.

Later, Hong Kong's economy declined, and directors went north to seek development. At that time, Nicholas Tse and Dicky Cheung beat up Wang Bozhao, which first triggered the confrontation between the mainland and Hong Kong entertainment circles.

And now, it’s been less than ten years.

Lu Yuan, alone, defeated two veteran superstars, Shing Long and Chow Yun-fat, in one movie.

Who would have dared to think of this ten years ago?

It's simply a fantasy!!
Not to mention ten years ago, before 2010, mainland actors were still vying to play supporting roles for Hong Kong and Taiwan actors.

In order to prevent mainland actors from coming to the fore, directors from Hong Kong and Taiwan have teamed up to suppress them more than once, forcing the most promising new generation from the mainland to play supporting roles for the 18th-tier Hong Kong and Taiwan stars.

Then they issued a press release to elevate the star to a first-tier celebrity.

If we say that in recent years, many mainland film and television companies such as Huayi and Guangxian have entered the A-share market.

This marks the official rise of mainland entertainment capital, and with the help of the powerful force of the secondary market, it has achieved a comprehensive crushing of Hong Kong and Taiwan capital.

In this Lunar New Year box office battle, Lu Yuan is the pioneer, like a sharp spear, completely lifting the shaky fig leaf of the Hong Kong circle.

The old-school superstars who were once so glorious have now faded into obscurity and have been defeated by the new generation in mainland China.

If the box office performance of "Chinese Zodiac" could barely save some face for Cheng Long, the dismal performance of "The Great Devil" completely humiliated Chow Yun-fat.

With an investment of over 5000 million, the box office only reached million after one week of release, not even a fraction of the box office of "New World", and it was a huge loss.

No wonder Lu Yuan’s fans mocked him on Weibo, but he was powerless to fight back.

All this is too dreamy.

The rise of the mainland entertainment industry is unstoppable, and the former glory of the Hong Kong circle has become a thing of the past.

If you keep putting on airs, you'll be courting death!
The filming location of "Chinese Partners" in the United States.

It is mainly concentrated in landmark buildings such as Times Square, Columbia University, Fifth Avenue, and the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street.

The day after Lu Yuan arrived in New York.

After the crew finished filming in Times Square, they immediately moved to Columbia University.

In the vanity car, Huang Xiaoming boasted: "With my current English level, if I can pass the IELTS or TOEFL, I will be a real thief!"

Lu Yuan was still a little sleepy due to the jet lag. He half-closed his eyes and joked skillfully: "Brother, come on, learn from me, how to do Tai Tiao~"

"Pfft." The makeup artists in the car were all laughing.

"Not at all!" Huang Xiaoming had obviously become desensitized and glanced at him sideways.

"Don't always look at others with old eyes. I have been practicing speaking every day for the past two months. Now I am very strong. Ok! What's wrong with Du Youang?"

"Oh, I see." Lu Yuan nodded slightly and then opened his eyes.

"Okay! Then let me ask you a question. How do you translate this sentence into English? "

"This is simple." Huang Xiaoming was suddenly stuck. After thinking for a while, he turned to Tong Dawei on his left for help: "Dawei, can you do it?"

"No." Tong Dawei shook his head bluntly: "I haven't learned it. This question is beyond the syllabus."

Huang Xiaoming held his chin and cast a suspicious look: "You can do it."

Lu Yuan chuckled, kept the question in suspense, and slowly stood up.

The man in the mirror, wearing a neat suit, is no longer the country boy, but has transformed into a business tycoon, Cheng Dongqing.

He adjusted his tie slightly, turned around and was about to get off the car.

"Hey, tell me quickly, do you know how to do it?" Huang Xiaoming kept chasing.

Lu Yuan stood at the car door, paused, turned his head and said with a smile: "Little tick-tick, little rice, little clatter, little rice!"

"Hahaha."

"Fuck, you're cold!"

Lu Yuan ignored the laughter behind him and walked straight towards Chen Kexin.

The scene filmed today tells the story of Meng Xiaojun's second trip to the United States, but his failure to meet anyone from ETS.

After New Dreams grew bigger, the American ETS accused them of stealing internal company information, suspected of copyright infringement, and helping Chinese students gain an unfair advantage in exams.

So the three brothers went to the United States to negotiate together.

It was this experience that made Cheng Dongqing understand why Meng Xiaojun was obsessed with going public.

Cheng Dongqing tried to restore his good brother's self-esteem.

In the laboratory where Meng Xiaojun fed mice and was driven away when he first went to the United States, a laboratory was donated in the other party's name.

In front of a laboratory at Columbia University.

Chen Kexin looked at the laboratory with Meng Xiaojun's name on it and said, "I didn't want to design this plot because I think this way of revenge is a bit rustic and stupid. It was the laboratory that expelled Meng Xiaojun, but in the end, Meng Xiaojun still had to donate money to them."

Lu Yuan glanced at him. As expected, he grew up abroad. There were cultural differences and some things he just couldn't understand.

"Director Chen, there is an old Chinese saying that goes, 'If you don't return home when you are rich and powerful, you will be like a walk in the night in fine clothes.' To put it bluntly, when you are rich and powerful, you want to show off, want to slap people in the face, and want to make those who looked down on you regret it!"

"Haha!" Chen Kexin clapped his hands and said happily, "You are right. When I was writing the script, I specifically asked Wang Shi for reference, and he said the same thing. He said that all private entrepreneurs in China would do such stupid things."

As the two were chatting, Zheng Qian came running over and took out a teacup he often used from his bag.

"Give!"

Lu Yuan thought that he didn't say he wanted to drink tea, so he took it subconsciously and found some wolfberries in it.

Chen Kexin stared at the guy's kidneys with a teasing look.

Lu Yuan rolled his eyes and asked his assistant, "Why did you suddenly put this thing there?"

Zheng Qian asked in confusion, "Boss, isn't this what you wanted? I was just filling it with water, and Brother Xiao Ming said you wanted wolfberries. I was just wondering where to buy them, and he asked his assistant to get some for me."

Lu Yuan was confused. What was going on? When did he ever say that?

At this time, Huang Xiaoming came over, patted him on the shoulder, and said seriously: "Junior brother, you are almost thirty, you are not young anymore, drink more wolfberries."

"Oh, right." He paused and asked, "Do you know how to say drink more wolfberries in English?"

Without waiting for Lu Yuan to answer, he said to himself: "Drink many dog ​​up!"

Damn it. Lu Yuan almost couldn't help but want to kick him. This guy is crazy.

"Brother, you were born in 77 and are almost years old. Are you sure drinking wolfberry will help? If it doesn't work, let's find a Chinese doctor to treat you."

Huang Xiaoming: "."

After chatting for a while, we officially started today's shooting.

"Action!"

Following the director's order, Lu Yuan, Huang Xiaoming and Tong Dawei walked into the laboratory corridor.

Huang Xiaoming walked in the middle, looking a little confused.

A foreign extra in a white robe suddenly appeared, making Huang Xiaoming even more confused.

Lu Yuan pushed him gently and motioned him to come forward.

"Teacher, it's an honor to meet you." The foreign guy extended his hand politely.

"Hello." Huang Xiaoming shook hands with him in a daze, seeming a little at a loss.

The foreign guy stepped aside to make way. At the end of the corridor, Meng Xiaojun's name was clearly written on the doorplate of a laboratory.

It is marked below: “Donated by——Meng Xiao Jun”.

Huang Xiaoming was stunned for a moment, his eyes fixed on the doorplate, as if he was frozen.

Lu Yuan put his hands in his pockets and said, "Xiaojun, this laboratory is now named after you. I made a donation in your name."

"Shit!" Huang Xiaoming suppressed his inner excitement and lowered his eyes.

Lu Yuan smiled and continued, "I didn't like the gift I gave you last time. What do you think of this one?"

Meng Xiaojun is proud. He strives for his new dream. What he pursues is never success, but the dignity that he lost in the United States.

Previously, Cheng Dongqing rejected his plan to go public and bought a villa for him, but he remained indifferent.

But when he set foot on American soil again, stood in the place where he once fed mice, and saw the laboratory named after him on the doorplate.

The lost dignity seemed to be regained in an instant.

Huang Xiaoming stared at his name on the sign, his eyes gradually turning red. After a long while, he cursed, "Country bumpkin!"

"Cut!" Chen Kexin was not very satisfied with this shot.

He made a request: "Xiaojun should be more restrained in his expression and not be so exposed."

"it is good!"

The crew adjusted and continued filming. Although it was only a simple scene, it was shot from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon.

Chen Kexin always felt that he was not perfect enough.

After finally finishing the filming, Lu Yuan discovered that there was a person standing behind the camera.

He has a fat head, big ears, squinty eyes, and a striking black mole in the middle of his nose.

"Teacher Lu." Chen Kexin pulled him and said, "Let me introduce you. This is Director Wu Yusen."

(End of this chapter)