China Entertainment’s rescue plan is hard to come by

Chapter 733: A new martial arts film? A sci-fi mecha film?

The new "Asian Rising Star Director Promotion and Support Program" organized by Star Image is different from any previous domestic director support program.

In the past, they were all single companies. For example, China Film Group had a similar director support program called the "China Film Young Filmmaker" assistance project, or industry veterans like Liu Dehua independently organized it with their own connections and passion for movies.

This time, the scale of Starry Sky is not only larger, but also covers a wider range.

With Starry Sky Images as the main promotional body, it is jointly organized by China Film Group, Shanghai Film Group, Bona Film Group, Pony.com, as well as Hong Kong's Huana Group and Yingyi Entertainment.

On the day of the forum, Chairman Han Sanping, representatives from Shanghai Film Group, Yu Dong and Li Ming of Xiaoma Pentium were all present.

Not only that, Star Sky has also sent invitations to major domestic film and television associations and related art colleges.

Jia Zhangke, president of the Chinese Directors Association, Gu Tianle, president of the Hong Kong Artists Association, and old man Tian, ​​who often glared at Sun Yi, all attended the event.

"We need to hold more forums like this and try to make it a regular format so that we can hold one every year to train film talents for China."

"You are now famous, and you have no shortage of people and resources. It's time to contribute more and consider the development of the entire industry."

It had to be Old Tiantou. As soon as the first day of the forum ended, he couldn't wait to give Sun Yi a lesson.

The promotion forum held by Starry Sky lasted for three days. The first day was mainly to introduce the process of the entire promotion plan to everyone.

Starry Sky Image will take the lead in setting up an investment of 1 million yuan, and jointly establish a 2 million yuan film support fund with several companies including China Film, Shanghai Film, Bona, Xiaoma, Huanya, and Yingyi, aiming to help young directors and outstanding young filmmakers under the age of 35 who have talent but have no opportunity to realize their talents.

Any qualified director, producer or editor can apply to the fund. After passing the review, the support fund will adopt a series of assistance plans including but not limited to investment, production, distribution, platform promotion, etc. to help everyone realize their dreams, so as to achieve the goal of discovering fresh blood for the Chinese film and television industry.

Sun Yi originally wanted to work on it together with his own company, Starry Sky, and Liu Dehua's Yingyi Entertainment, but this was discovered by Mr. Han from China Film.

He tried his best to persuade Sun Yi that it would be better to take this opportunity to expand the support plan, and China Film Corporation would also participate and provide more help and support.

In fact, China Film Group itself has a similar assistance program, which has been established for many years.

But to be honest, apart from the appearance of director Ning Hao, the effect is not that great.

Of course, if we must attribute Sun Yi’s success to the support of China Film, then the achievements of this program are very impressive.

But in fact, anyone with a discerning eye knows that with Sun Yi's ability, even without China Film, he would only be one or two years late in becoming successful.

The role of China Film Group in this is, at best, just icing on the cake.

At that time, Sun Yi had already made his mark through the two films "Send You a Little Red Flower" and "Those Years".

Rather than saying it was the support from China Film Group, it was more like Han Sanping's own sharp vision. At that time, he took a fancy to Sun Yi and began to support him wholeheartedly.

The same is true for Ning Hao. He was only noticed by China Film after "Crazy Stone" achieved initial success.

It's very realistic, but there's nothing we can do about it.

There are many issues involved here.

China Film Corporation's original intention is certainly good, and it is indeed for the development of China's film industry. However, it is, after all, a large state-owned enterprise composed of multiple units. It has deep roots and is involved in too many aspects, making it difficult to actually discover industry talents in a targeted manner.

After all, no matter how many resources China Film has, it has to focus on internal personnel first.

And its huge group of “insiders” have already eaten up most of the cake.

Even if Han Sanping is the chairman, he cannot act on his own and use all internal resources for external purposes. Therefore, he really wants to take this opportunity to let Sun Yi's Starry Sky take the lead.

Of course, this matter is also of great benefit to Sun Yi. With the endorsement of China Film Group, the image of Star Sky, the "leader" of private film and television companies, will once again be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

The benefits brought invisibly are limitless.

This is why there is this youth filmmaker support program of an unprecedented scale.

But even so, Teacher Tian seemed a little dissatisfied.

"Teacher, this is 200 million yuan. I can't afford it if I do it once a year."

"Your movie grossed over 1 billion yuan. How come you can't even come up with million yuan every year?"

Tian Zhuang glared at Sun Yi. In his mouth, 1 million yuan seemed as common as a meal at Donglaishun for yuan.

Old man, you haven't made a movie in a long time. Do you know that the production costs and actors' salaries are rising rapidly?

There are also special effects costs and technical aspects.

1 million, it's that simple~
Sun Yi complained in his heart, but on the surface he nodded and looked like he accepted it humbly.

Tian Zhuang has been away from the front line for many years and has been teaching in school. It is understandable that he has not felt the changes in the circle clearly. After all, he has a good heart.

However, Sun Yi was also speechless.

I am only 25 years old this year, why should I consider the development of the industry? Isn't this something that should be done when I retire?
"Haha, Lao Tian, ​​this fund amount is already very considerable. Although our film market is booming now, costs in all aspects are also rising. New directors must also learn to control project costs. Our foundation cannot just invest money casually."

Han Sanping just laughed it off and saved the situation for Sun Yi.

In his opinion, Tian Zhuang had been in school for too long and his mind had become a bit rigid.

Who would have thought that after hearing this, Tian Zhuang nodded immediately as if he had expected it, indicating his agreement. He then replied, "Well, Mr. Han is right. We need to discover talents, but we cannot bring in bad habits." As he spoke, he turned to look at Sun Yi.

"Sun Yi, since you are the leader, you must be responsible for this matter to the end. At the same time, you must set an example. You must personally inquire about the mobilization of funds and the review of relevant qualifications. You must spend the money wisely and conscientiously find a few good seedlings."

"Okay, teacher, I will be responsible."

Hearing this, Sun Yi remained calm and modest, but he was already thanking Teacher Tian in his heart.

Only then did he realize that Teacher Tian's words were obviously meant for Mr. Han to hear.

The purpose is to let Sun Yi take charge of the review of the support fund.

Even though Tian Zhuang hasn't been involved in front-line filming for many years, as a veteran, he is still well aware of all the tricks in the industry.

These words were obviously spoken for Sun Yi, in order to preserve the independence of Starry Sky in the support fund.

Han Sanping was stunned for a moment, then smiled and shook his head.

He also understood.

This old guy is quite cunning.

On the surface, he was talking about his apprentice, but in fact he was guarding against Chinese Film Corporation's interference.

I'm going to retire next year, so why would I bother fighting for this thing?

Han Sanping is indeed a person with a strong desire for control.

If it were in the past, he would definitely want to keep this foundation in the hands of China Film.

Don’t worry about who pays more. Whenever it comes to movies, as long as China Film is involved, it must speak first.

But at this moment, he has really lost interest in this regard. This time, he really wants to discover some talents for the Chinese film industry through Sun Yi's vision and Starry Sky, a diversified and high-level film and television platform.

The three-day forum ended quickly, but the results achieved were amazing.

In China's film and television circles, it is very rare to see such a high-level, large-scale, real money support plan.

Which company doesn't focus on its own piece of land? They can let their own people invest in any resources and projects. The industry's overall view of Starry Sky has been raised to a higher level.

In the words of Han Sanping, from now on, the focus of the starry sky can no longer be on points, but on surfaces.

As for Xingkong himself, although he took out 1 million yuan this time, it seems that he gave it away for free. But in fact, it is not true. Xingkong’s support fund is not taken for free, it accounts for the investment quota, and Xingkong provides the relevant shooting, venues and special effects, which are not free.

It is equivalent to taking money from the left hand and earning a good reputation at the same time.

If this can bring both fame and fortune, then why didn't other film and television companies do it earlier, so that it was now the turn of Star Sky, which was established only a few years ago, to take the lead?

The reason also lies in the high risk of film and television investment.

No matter how good a script is, even if all the big names think it is a good script, there are many cases where the movie made is not well received by the audience.

No one dares to say that his or her film project will definitely make money, so no one dares to give money to others to play like this.

But Sun Yi is different. His control over the project is far beyond ordinary people.

Not to mention that he himself is a bug, there are some memories of successful movies in later generations, even if he has not seen them, but relying on Starry Sky Image's current full industrial chain model, as long as the cost is strictly controlled, the loss will not be much.

All are within the acceptable range.

What's more, the young filmmakers or teams who submitted applications for this forum will all achieve great things in the future.

One of them is Wanhe Tianyi Studio.

All in one.

This is the miracle of grassroots rise in China’s Internet film and television era.

The founder Yi Xiaoxing, also known as "Jiaoshou", was originally just a personal video blogger who posted game commentaries and complaints on Tudou.com. He was even too embarrassed to show his face at the beginning. When recording videos, he had to wear a mask made of A4 paper with a big "Beast" written on it, and not showing his face.

This is also the origin of his nickname.

At the end of 2010, Yi Xiaoxing, who wanted to be a serious director, resigned from his job and came to Beijing from Changsha to pursue his dream of starting a business despite his family's opposition.

Together with Fan Jun and Bai Zhongchun from Tudou, he founded the film and television studio Wanhe Tianyi.

However, the ideal is full, but the reality is skinny.

Having just entered the film and television industry, they had no resources, no connections, and the funds were barely enough for the daily expenses of a small studio.

They had to rely on posting videos on major video websites in exchange for a little advertising fee to make ends meet.

It was not until the beginning of the year that Star Video launched the sitcom "Diaosi Man", which became popular on the Internet in a short period of time.

Inspired by this, they found their direction.

Making videos is what we are best at.

You can totally make a mini skit in the style of "Diaosi Man".

Then they didn't realize one thing, that a mini-series, no matter how mini it is, is still a form of film or television drama, and is very different from just posting a video.

I applied to several video websites, but was rejected every time because my work was too shoddy.

You can post videos however you want, but you cannot ask our website to pay you to define it as a drama.

It even failed the review by Star Video.

After all, compared with the production level of "Diaosi Nanzi", even if it is lowered a few levels, Yi Xiaoxing and others' mini-series is really too eye-catching.

Just when they felt they had nowhere to go, the "Asian Rising Star Director" and Young Filmmakers Support Forum organized by Star Image was launched.

They submitted the manuscript with a try-it-out attitude.

I don’t know if the goddess of fate really favors them.

Their mini-series was actually seen by Sun Yi among thousands of unsolicited projects and scripts.

If nothing unexpected happens, the phenomenal mini-series "Never Expected" that will even change the ecology of Internet film and television will soon be released.

However, because it is a web mini-series, other companies have little intention of getting involved.

They don’t have a video website, and investing in it won’t bring immediate benefits, so they don’t get involved too much.

Then Star Sky could only take advantage of the situation again. It directly took out 200 million yuan and invested in Yi Xiaoxing's Wanhe Tianyi Studio, and provided him with special shooting guidance, preparing to take over immediately after the first season of "Diaosi Nanzi" ends this year.

The other person is the young director Lu Yang recommended by Tian Zhuang.

Lu Yang is Sun Yi's senior. He was born and raised in Beijing and graduated from the directing department of Beijing Film Academy two years earlier than Sun Yi.

Because Sun Yi transferred to the directing department midway through his studies, the two of them really had little interaction during their school years.

This promotion forum was the first time the two met.

The script he took out was the famous "The Blade of the Assassin".

By the way, Lu Yang was already a formal director during this period, and his first theatrical film "Blind Cinema" was also widely acclaimed.

Logically speaking, there should be no shortage of film and television companies willing to invest in him.

But there's nothing he can do about it, since he wanted to make a martial arts film.

Martial arts movies have a long history in China, but in recent years, they have completely lost the market for moviegoers.

From the fact that the movie "Sword Rain" which was full of big stars at the end of last year only made 6490 million at the box office, and lost all its money, it can be seen that people are not very interested in this kind of martial arts movies.

No matter how good the quality and reputation of the movie are, the final box office results are so disappointing.

Therefore, many film and television companies dare not invest in Lu Yang.

After all, he can be considered a new director and has just made a pretty good movie.

But in Sun Yi's eyes, that was not the case.

This is "The Blade of the Assassin", a landmark film for later commercial martial arts films.

Although it also didn't make much at the box office when it was first released, just over 9000 million, which barely broke back its investment, but it rekindled moviegoers' love for martial arts movies through its excellent "clothing", "words", "Taoism", rigorous script and solid action scenes.

From this point of view, "The Blade of the Assassin" is definitely an excellent martial arts film.

With Sun Yi's approval, it would be obviously different from Lu Yang trying to attract investment on his own.

Several companies participated enthusiastically, and before the forum was over, the film's investment shares had already been divided up.

This time, Sun Yi is also using this filmmaker support fund to make money with various companies. Once the profits are in their hands, he will let them be completely tied to the chariot of Starry Sky.

That’s not enough. A small accident also occurred at this forum.

On the day the forum ended, Gu Tianle actually came to find Sun Yi with a RB light novel.

"Gu Zai, what do you mean?"

"I like this novel very much. I wonder if it is suitable for adaptation into a movie?"

"You like it? Don't tell me it's the mecha type."

"Yes, it's a mecha!"

(End of this chapter)