1990: Starting from Baojia Street

After hearing Xu Feng say that he wanted to read the script, Zhou Yan walked to the filing cabinet, took out three file boxes and gave them to Xu Feng.

Xu Feng took the box and felt her hands heavy. She was surprised and said, "So heavy?"

In fact, it is not particularly heavy, but compared to the script, this weight is a bit unexpected for Xu Feng.

It stands to reason that there is only a small stack of scripts, and it has only been a month or two since Zhou Yan said he wanted new ideas. It would be good if he could come up with a rough script.

Zhou Yan said with a smile, "Of these three boxes, one is the script, one is the storyboard, and the other is the score, and they are all marked."

Xu Feng looked outside the file box, and then put the box containing the music scores aside. "I won't read this one. I can't understand it. I'll listen to it later when you record it."

After saying that, she opened the file box containing the script, took out the script inside, and read it carefully.

Zhou Yan had told her before that the new movie would be related to music, so she was not surprised at all when the script started with a concert.

There are many types of scripts, which can be roughly divided into literary scripts and shooting scripts, and the one Xu Feng is holding is a literary script.

The difference between literary scripts and shooting scripts is that shooting scripts do not focus on text description, but more on the shooting aspects such as storyboarding and camera movement.

Because Zhou Yan will make a very detailed storyboard separately, his scripts are all literary scripts, and literary scripts have the advantage that they read smoothly, similar to reading a drama.

When Xu Feng reads it, it feels like reading a novel.

Lin Ai is a very well-known musician. Because his mother passed away, he returned to his hometown for funeral. In his hometown, he met his former classmate Feng Ning.

Feng Ning took out the diary of their former teacher Zhou Xuewen, and then the story switched to fifty years ago from Zhou Xuewen's perspective.

Zhou Xuewen was a talented composer, but his talent was not reused and he eventually served as the superintendent of a school in the countryside.

This school is different from ordinary schools. There are only boys with various problems here.

This is not so much a school as a prison. The description of the school in the script is also gloomy and gloomy, with high walls and few windows. Sunlight is a rare visitor here, and depression and coldness are the main themes here.

The real high wall is actually still in the hearts of faculty and students. Here, there are strict visiting hours, and parents can only see their children during fixed time periods.

The principle of action-response is emphasized here. If someone violates discipline, all teachers and students in the school will assemble immediately, and the perpetrator will be severely punished.

If the culprit is not found, everyone is locked up for six hours, taking turns, all recreational activities are cancelled, and any outside visits are prohibited until the culprit is found.

This model is very similar to a prison.

Under such circumstances, it was naturally impossible for the children here to be normal. After Zhou Xuewen came to the school, he wanted to change this situation, but found it very difficult.

No teacher supported his approach, and no student was willing to cooperate. The students were as hostile to him as they were to other teachers and challenged him.

And all changes started when Zhou Xuewen wanted to form a choir.

……

When Xu Feng first got the script, Zhou Yan made her a cup of tea, but she didn't even take a sip until the tea was cold and the tea leaves were ruined.

She suddenly understood why Zhou Yan disliked the two scripts she mentioned before. Zhou Yan's script was indeed very good, and it was particularly suitable for Zhou Yan.

Although he hasn't heard the songs mentioned in the script yet, Xu Feng can already imagine the choir singing these songs.

The main reason is Xu Feng's almost blind trust in Zhou Yan's musical talent. She knows that the music written by Zhou Yan will definitely not disappoint her.

Xu Feng also likes this script very much. She didn't want Chen Kaige to film "Feng Yue" before because she felt that it was difficult for the characters in "Feng Yue" to capture the shining point of human nature.

But "Spring of the Cowherd Class" is just the opposite. Many characters in this script shine brightly, especially the protagonist Zhou Xuewen, who is simply a role model for teachers.

Although the children were naughty before, through Zhou Xuewen's influence, not only their musical talents were discovered, but also their inner kindness.

Even though Zhou Xuewen was later fired by the principal, the ending was happy. Lin Ai left the school and was admitted to the Central Conservatory of Music. However, the principal was revealed to have abused students and had to leave.

This made Xu Feng feel particularly good, warm and healing.

Especially towards the end of the story, Zhou Xuewen was fired and left the school alone, thinking that the students could disobey the order and come out to see him off, but no one came out.

Just when he felt disappointed, he found paper airplanes on the ground with farewell messages written by the students.

When Zhou Xuewen raised his head, he saw many pairs of waving hands emerging from the high wall windows, bidding him farewell.

Xu Feng almost burst into tears when she saw this paragraph. She was happy for Zhou Xuewen. The things Zhou Xuewen had done for the students before were finally rewarded.

The characters in the script are also very well portrayed, and many of the characters are impressive, including the principal, Lin Ai, Zhou Xuewen, Feng Ning...

Moreover, the relationships between people, whether it is the confrontation between faculty and students, the friendship between students, or even Zhou Xuewen's love for Lin Ai's mother, are all portrayed particularly well.

After reading the script, Xu Feng finally picked up the tea cup to drink. Zhou Yan quickly stopped him, "It's already cold, Sister Feng, let me make you another cup."

Xu Feng waved his hand cheerfully, "No, the weather is quite hot. It's good to drink something cold. If you make another cup, I won't be able to drink it for a while."

After saying that, she raised her head and drank a cup of herbal tea into her stomach. She is not a pampered lady. She has gone through ups and downs along the way, and drinking some herbal tea is nothing.

After finishing the drink, Xu Feng pressed the script with his hand and said with a smile, "Hurry up and shoot. I can't wait to see the movie."

Zhou Yan waved his hand, "If you want to take pictures, you have to solve a problem first."

"what is the problem?"

"Copyright issues, this script is actually adapted from a French movie "A Cage of Nightingales" from decades ago. This movie should not be more than fifty years old, so I still have to buy the copyright."

Even if the movie is over fifty years old, Zhou Yan still wants to buy the copyright to avoid something going wrong later.

Xu Feng was quite surprised, "It's actually an adaptation. I haven't seen this movie before."

"It's really not that famous."

"Do you know who owns the copyright?" Xu Feng asked.

Zhou Yan shook his head, "I don't know this either."

Xu Feng frowned. If she didn't know who owned the copyright, this would be a bit difficult. She had to find out who owned the copyright to the movie.

If the movie is well-known, it's not a big problem and it's easy to ask. But if the movie is unknown, it will take some time.

After pondering for a moment, she said with a smile: "It doesn't matter, leave this to me, you don't have to worry about it, just start the shooting plan normally. What are your thoughts on the casting of this movie?"

Zhou Yan didn't hesitate at all and directly stated his choice, "I want Mr. Li Xuejian to play Zhou Xuewen."

"Li Xuejian?" Xu Feng raised his eyebrows, "I remember he's not bald."

In Zhou Yan's script, Zhou Xuewen is a bald man. The students also gave him several nicknames because of his baldness, such as bald warhead and bald donkey. On the paper airplane at the back, someone wrote "bald". Donkey fighter, please don’t stop”.

Zhou Yan said with a smile, "Then I can only hope that Teacher Li Xuejian can sacrifice for art."

Zhou Yan has no psychological burden at all about this. He knows that actors like Li Xuejian don't care about image at all.

Not only does his appearance need to be transformed, Zhou Yan is also planning to ask Li Xuejian to train at Yangyin for a period of time. Although it is not necessary to have musical talent to play Zhou Xuewen, training will obviously be more effective.

Xu Feng knew that Zhou Yan had always liked Li Xuejian. When he was looking for actors for "The Sixth Sense" last time, he actually considered letting Li Xuejian to participate, but in the end after weighing it, he chose Liang Jiahui.

This time Zhou Yan wanted Li Xuejian to play Zhou Xuewen, and Xu Feng also agreed.

"Since you like Teacher Li Xuejian, then contact us as soon as possible and decide on the male lead first. These children should be chosen from which choirs, right?"

Zhou Yan nodded, "Well, I have contacted Yang Tuan and will visit them in a while."

Che Yongqiang helped Zhou Yan ask Yang Hongnian, and Yang Hongnian agreed. They made an appointment with Zhou Yan to visit him later.

"There are so many students here. If you look for them one by one, I'm afraid you won't be able to find them. I suggest you conduct a large-scale role selection, just like the last time you selected actors for "The Sixth Sense"."

"I will go to a few groups to check it out first. After the copyright of "A Cage of Nightingales" is confirmed, it will not be too late to conduct a large-scale casting."

Xu Feng nodded, "This is indeed safer. Let's talk about adult roles. Do you have someone in mind for this principal?"

Among the adult roles, the principal has more roles and is also a very important role. The actor for this role also needs to be carefully selected, so Xu Feng specifically mentioned it.

"I really don't have a definite candidate in mind for the principal."

Xu Feng thought for a while and said, "What do you think of Xie Xian?"

Zhou Yan shook his head, "It's not appropriate."

In fact, it is not impossible for Xie Xian to play the principal, and the acting skills are no problem, but the key point is that Zhou Yan does not want to cast Xie Xian. The salary of Xiangjiang actors is much higher than that of mainland actors, and Xie Xian is likely to be difficult to maintain. Zhou Yan does not want to invite a father to the crew.

Besides, Xie Xian doesn’t seem to be filming much anymore.

Zhou Yan thought about it for a while, and the first thing he thought of was Wang Kuirong, but then he rejected it. At this moment, Wang Kuirong's acting style was still not suitable for the role of the principal.

Xu Feng also had some difficulties and couldn't think of a suitable candidate for a while.

"Let's put this role aside for now and wait until Teacher Li Xuejian confirms it before we consider it," Zhou Yan said.

"That's okay, but we can't delay it for too long. The scene in your movie is quite difficult. The school described in the script should be difficult to find."

After pondering for a moment, Xu Feng added, "Don't worry, if you can't find a suitable one, we can build one ourselves. It won't cost much anyway."

Zhou Yan shook his head secretly. He felt that his and Xu Feng's identities were somewhat reversed.

In other people's homes, directors are obsessed with spending money, while producers are obsessed with saving money.

Fortunately for them, Zhou Yan always thinks about spending small money to do big things and how to save money. On the contrary, Xu Feng, the producer, thinks about how to spend money every day.

It does not cost much to build this school, but the problem is that once the building is built, it will be difficult to use it later.

Although it is built for a school, it is really not suitable for school use. Many people joke that schools are like prisons, but no school is really willing to operate in such a place.

"Let's look for it first, and then tell us if we can't find it."

"Ah."

Xu Feng nodded, opened the file box containing the storyboard, and took out the storyboard from inside. Seeing the "grid comics" drawn by Zhou Yan, Xu Feng joked, "Hey, I'm good at drawing. It's much better than what I drew before."

"There must always be progress."

Xu Feng flipped through the storyboard and saw Zhou Xuewen again, raised his eyebrows and said, "You have already decided that you want Li Xuejian to play Zhou Xuewen. This villain is drawn in his image."

"It seems that my painting skills have indeed improved, you can see it."

Zhou Yan is indeed drawn after Li Xuejian. To be precise, he should be drawn after Jyl played by Li Xuejian, except that Jyl's hair is made a little bald.

After roughly looking at the storyboard, Xu Feng asked again, "Who are you going to ask to be your assistant this time?"

"It's better to be Xiaoshuai, be more cautious."

"That configuration is too high. Xiao Shuai is now the best director at the Taormina Film Festival."

"Yeah, I'm also considering whether it's suitable, but I'm not worried about finding someone else. After all, we've been working together for a long time and are familiar with each other. I have some ideas, and he can understand them quickly."

"It's okay, let's work together again. I believe that as long as you invite him to be the assistant director, he will definitely be willing."

Speaking of which, Zhou Yan is Wang Xiaoshuai's best friend.

Although the movie "Winter and Spring Days" was invested by Tomson, it actually had little to do with Xu Feng. At that time, Xu Feng was willing to invest solely because of Zhou Yan.

Wang Xiaoshuai is not an ungrateful person, so he is very grateful to Zhou Yan. Not to mention Zhou Yan letting him be the assistant director again, even if he is asked to do odd jobs on the set, he will not say no.

But Zhou Yan also knew that it was up to him to decide what he wanted. If he kept dragging Wang Xiaoshuai to be the assistant director, it would be too humiliating.

"This time I plan to find one more assistant director, and then two assistant directors, which will ease our work. If they are trained, I will have another assistant director by the time I make my next movie."

"No one believes it. You're almost in a director's training class."

"This is not a director training class, but they already have talents. At most, I just build a platform for them."

"You are still……"

Before Xu Feng finished speaking, there was a knock on the door. The two turned around and saw Wang Zuxian standing at the door with a smile on his face.

"Sister Feng, you're here." Wang Zuxian took the initiative to say hello.

Seeing Wang Zuxian, Xu Feng was also very happy and waved quickly, "Xiaoxian is here, come and sit down."

Wang Zuxian and Xu Feng are fellow villagers, and they had known each other before. Later, because of "The Sixth Sense", the relationship took a step further.

Tomorrow is the celebration party for "The Sixth Sense". As the heroine, Joey Wang will naturally come over.

Originally, Zhou Yan was going to pick up Wang Zuxian today, but Xu Feng came and he couldn't leave.

Wang Zuxian saw the storyboard on the coffee table and asked curiously, "Is this the third brother's new movie?"

"Well, take a look." Xu Feng said.

Wang Zuxian nodded and picked up the storyboard to look at it.

Wang Zuxian has long known that Zhou Yan is going to make a new movie. The two of them basically talk on the phone every one or two days. She knows more about this new movie than Xu Feng.

After listening to this story, Wang Zuxian lamented that the story was very good, but also very regretful that there was no role that she could play in this movie.

When Wang Zuxian was reading the storyboard, Xu Feng also said: "It's a pity that this new movie does not have a role that you can play Xiaoxian. After "The Sixth Sense", you should have received a lot of scripts, right?"

"I have received some scripts."

The box office of "The Sixth Sense" was so good that it also raised the status of the male and female protagonists. Now several movies offer Wang Zuxian upwards of two million, which is already the highest salary among actresses. 's existence.

However, Joey Wong didn't accept any of them. After "Green Snake", she said she wanted to take a break. If Zhou Yan hadn't approached her, she probably wouldn't have filmed even one movie in the past two years.

In fact, after "The Sixth Sense", Hu Ke should be the one who has the greatest influence. In the past two months, Hu Ke has received many invitations from the crew.

However, Hu Ke didn't accept the call either. His father believed that Hu Ke was still studying and should focus on his studies and take his time in filming.

After Wang Zuxian arrived, Xu Feng sat in Zhou Yan's office for more than half an hour and then left. She had just come to Yanjing today and still had a lot to do.

After Xu Feng left, Zhou Yan closed the office door, and when he turned around, Wang Zuxian hugged him.

"Third brother, do you miss me?"

Zhou Yan didn't say anything, lowered his head and kissed Wang Zuxian directly. As their breathing gradually became heavier, his hands became less cautious.

Wang Zuxian wore a short skirt today. Zhou Yan reached down and touched her long legs.

The separation between the two was better than the wedding. The passion they had accumulated during this period also exploded at this moment. Wang Zuxian put his arms around Zhou Yan's neck and took the initiative.

Just as Zhou Yan's hand continued to explore inside, a phone rang, interrupting his next move.

Wang Zuxian also regained his senses, pushed Zhou Yan away, arranged his clothes, and said with an angry smile, "Third brother, go answer the phone quickly."

Zhou Yan bent over, adjusted his trouser legs, and then walked over to pick up the phone.

"Hey?"

"Boss, Shizuka Kudo wants to record a song in the near future. Ogi Production asked when it can be done." Jiang Xia's voice came from the other end of the phone.

Zhou Yan sighed secretly, "Just contact Liu Hang about this. I'm not the producer of her album. Just confirm the recording studio for them."

"Ogi Production should still hope that you can give some guidance during the album recording."

"What should be guided has already been done before. If you encounter any problems during the recording process, let's talk about it."

"Well, then I understand. I'll give a reply to Ogi Production now."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yan wanted to go to Wang Zuxian to continue, but Wang Zuxian had already packed his clothes and sat on the sofa.

"Who wants to record an album?" Wang Zuxian asked curiously.

"Shizuka Kudo, she is going to release a Chinese album and record it in our studio."

When he heard that it was Kudo Shizuka, Wang Zuxian curled his lips and said, "It seems that she really likes you."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Why, you're jealous."

"No, if I want to be jealous, I will be soaked in a vinegar vat every day."

In fact, Wang Zuxian is also tough-talking. Of course she wouldn't be jealous when an ordinary girl is around Zhou Yan, but Shizuka Kudo is obviously a strong rival, making her feel threatened.

She didn't feel the scandals between Zhou Yan and Zhang Manyu in the entertainment news before, because she knew the relationship between Zhang Manyu and Zhou Yan, and Zhang Manyu didn't covet Zhou Yan.

But Shizuka Kudo was different. She seemed to be very aggressive and even chased her to China.

Zhou Yan sat down next to Wang Zuxian, held her hand and said, "If you are worried, you can watch from the side when she comes to record."

Wang Zuxian said with a smile, "You want to keep me in Yanjing for a while."

"Of course, it's going to be cold in Yanjing soon, and the bed will be cold, so someone needs to warm the bed."

Wang Zuxian pretended to be angry and said, "Ha, it turns out you want me to warm the bed. Then go buy some hot water bottles."

"A hot water bottle isn't as warm as you."

Wang Zuxian rested his head on Zhou Yan's shoulder, "It will take some time. I have recently taken a fancy to several properties in Xiangjiang and want to see if I can get them."

After she stopped filming, Wang Zuxian began to think about financial management. She didn't know much about financial management, just buying a house.

She has bought several houses in the past few years.

Of course, she didn't buy it blindly. She had to analyze each house carefully and treat it as a career.

Zhou Yan knew that there was a high probability that he would not lose money by investing in real estate, so he just let her go.

However, Zhou Yan has no interest in the real estate business. Otherwise, he would not have spent millions on a studio and would have spent it on buying a house.

In fact, the Zhou family's property includes real estate, but the scale is small and it is a small business. It is completely incomparable with Tomson.

"You don't have to be too persistent when it comes to making money, don't you have me?"

"That won't work. I don't want to just keep it as a vase at home. When my property appreciates in value, I'll invest in making a movie for you."

"Okay, then I will rely on you from now on. I will retire in a few years, and you will support me."

"I promise to keep you fat and white."

……

The next day, the celebration banquet went very smoothly.

At the celebration banquet, everyone's face was full of smiles. This movie made them all famous and wealthy.

Not to mention the main creative staff, other behind-the-scenes staff also received bonuses.

Xu Feng is a boss who is very willing to spend money. The celebration banquet not only treats everyone to a meal, but also gives bonuses to everyone from top to bottom of the crew.

It can range from tens of thousands to thousands.

This money is just a drop of money to Xu Feng, but to ordinary employees, a bonus of more than 1,000 yuan is equivalent to several months of their salary.

As a director's assistant, Li Hong directly received more than 10,000 yuan, which is also the largest amount of money he has received so far in the industry.

The bustling world is all for profit, and the world is bustling for profit. All ideals are illusory. Only real money can win people's hearts most directly and effectively.

Now some people heard that Zhou Yan might have a new movie to shoot, and they started to inquire. Everyone wanted to participate in the production of the new movie. (End of chapter)