After talking about the contract, Zhang Gengyu asked about the business situation of the Mandarin Department.

"How's the conversation with Zhengdong about Kelly Chen going?"

"Almost. Her next Mandarin album will be handed over to us." Li Yaming replied.

Kelly Chen is a newcomer who just debuted last year, but she performed very well right after her debut. She released several albums in succession and won many awards.

She is a singer of Zhengdong Records. Her first Mandarin album was also produced by Zhengdong Records. However, Zhengdong's main business is still in Hong Kong after all, so Zhengdong hopes to let Fumao produce her second Mandarin album.

The reason why Zhengdong was willing to give Kelly Chen's second album to Fumao was because they were sister companies, and both companies were under PolyGram, which meant they were family.

"Since you're taking over, do a good job for her. By the way, how is Xiaoxuan's new album going?"

Zhang Gengyu was talking about Fan Xiaoxuan, one of the artists promoted by their company in the past two years. Although Fan Xiaoxuan is only 19 years old this year, she has been at Fumao Records for several years.

In 1991, -year-old Fan Xiaoxuan met Li Yaming while shooting a commercial, and was later brought to Fumao Records by Li Yaming.

After coming to Fumao Records, Fan Xiaoxuan has developed in many fields, including shooting commercials, hosting shows, making movies, and releasing records, and she has done very well. Last year, she won the Most Popular Female Newcomer and Top Ten Charming Female Artists awards, and this year she was also nominated for the Best Newcomer award at the Golden Melody Awards.

Fan Xiaoxuan will release albums in April, June and August of this year.

In addition to these albums, they are also planning to release another album for Fan Xiaoxuan at the end of the year. Zhang Gengyu was asking about the one that will be released at the end of the year.

"It's basically done, there are still two songs left to be finalized."

"Is there going to be any problem?"

Li Yaming smiled and waved his hands: "How could there be a problem? The reason why we haven't decided yet is because there are several alternative songs and we don't know which one to choose for now. Once we decide, it will be completed soon."

Zhang Gengyu rolled his eyes, "Yaming, do you think we should take advantage of this opportunity to poach Wang Lihong from Huanyin and build a relationship with Huanyin? Although Huanyin has signed relatively few people now, I can see that they mainly focus on the singer's creative ability. The reason they poached Wang Lihong is probably because they saw his musical skills."

Li Yaming nodded and agreed, "This may have something to do with their behind-the-scenes boss Zhou Yan."

Although the relationship between Huanyin and Zhou Yan has not been made public, people in the industry know a little about it.

It is precisely because of Zhou Yan's existence that Zhang Gengyu does not dare to underestimate Huanyin Company.

"Do you think Huanyin will mainly be a music export company in the future?"

"You mean, they don't train singers, but only train songwriters?"

"Yeah, that's what I mean."

Li Yaming smiled and said, "If we only train composers, wouldn't that be a huge loss?"

Although Li Yaming is well aware of the importance of musicians behind the scenes, he also knows that it is very difficult to make money behind the scenes. Unless you set up a company like him and Zhang Gengyu, you may not be able to support yourself just by selling songs.

A singer may become famous by singing a popular song, and the fame does not need to last too long. Two years of making money while the singer is still popular is enough to last a long time.

But it is difficult for creators. A composer may have written a dozen or even dozens of well-known songs, but few people know about them. The money he can earn is the one-time fee given by the record company. The better ones can get subsequent shares.

Singers can participate in TV shows, take on commercial performances, endorsements, and even switch to filming TV dramas with their hit songs. These are benefits that behind-the-scenes workers cannot enjoy.

Looking at the music scene in Hong Kong and Taiwan, there are a lot of famous singers, but not many of them make a living by composing music.

Therefore, Li Yaming believed that if Huanyin mainly wanted to train composers, it would be impossible to expand the company.

Moreover, this model is unnecessary. Good composers can easily get out of control. After all, for many composers, it doesn’t matter whether they are signed with a record company or not. The more famous producers all want to set up their own studios and even want to sign their own singers to maximize their profits.

"They may not only train composers, but their company will definitely promote singer-songwriters. Take this opportunity to build a good relationship with them. Maybe we can get some songs from them in the future... If we can get a few songs from Zhou Yan, it would be even better."

Li Yaming smiled, he knew that Zhang Gengyu was not targeting Huanyin, but Zhou Yan.

It would be great if I could get the song from Zhou Yan, but it is too difficult.

Everyone knows that Zhou Yan has produced a lot of instrumental music, but he writes very few pop songs. It is unlikely to find a song of his.

However, Zhang Gengyu had a good idea. Since he was destined to sell Wang Lihong to Huanyin, he might as well be open and honest. He could also take this opportunity to make a good relationship with him.

"No matter what, it is necessary to maintain a good relationship. Huanyin will definitely not be able to help with Xiaoxuan's album, but it is possible for Kelly Chen to help with her next album."

"Yes, I think so too." Zhang Gengyu laughed, "Xu Xiangjie will come over tomorrow, and I will have a good chat with him."

"When he comes over tomorrow, I'll go see him too."

"no problem."

……

On the day of Kudo Shizuka's concert, Zhou Yan didn't have much else to do and focused his main energy on polishing the script of "Time Traveler".

At about ten o'clock, he received a call from Xu Feng.

As soon as Zhou Yan received Xu Feng's call, he smiled and said, "Sister Feng, I was just saying I'll find time to call you this afternoon."

Xu Feng smiled and said, "About the new movie?"

"Well, we have to speed up the shooting of the new movie."

"Why do we suddenly need to speed up the process?" Xu Feng asked in surprise.

Of course Xu Feng knew about Zhou Yan's new movie. When she was in Hong Kong, she had talked to Zhou Yan about it. However, the script had not been completed at that time, and Zhou Yan did not tell her what the specific story was.

Until now, she has not seen the script.

"Is such that……"

Zhou Yan briefly told Xu Feng about Han Sanping's visit to him.

After listening, Xu Feng pondered and said, "It's a good thing, but also a bad thing. Director Han is a man of honor, and he will definitely spare no effort to help with the new movie. But the time is so tight, can you handle it?"

Xu Feng also knew that Zhou Yan was efficient and it wouldn't take him too long to shoot a movie, but the key was that Zhou Yan did more than just make movies. In addition to that, he had a lot of other things to do.

Moreover, Xu Feng hasn’t seen the script yet, so he doesn’t know how difficult it will be to shoot this movie.

"I estimated it myself, and it should be no problem in terms of time, but the preparation time will need to be shortened."

"As long as you know it." Xu Feng smiled.

Compared with Chen Kaige, Zhou Yan is much less troublesome. Generally speaking, whatever Zhou Yan says is basically certain and there are rarely any accidents.

Since he said it's okay, then it's probably okay.

"What kind of story is this? I haven't even seen the script yet. Director Han is faster than me."

"I'll have someone send you a copy of the script in the next couple of days. Now let me briefly tell you the outline of the story."

Then Zhou Yan spent another ten minutes or so narrating "Time Traveler" to Xu Feng.

In ten minutes or so, only the outline of the story could be told, and the details could not be reflected. However, just by listening to Zhou Yan's narration, Xu Feng was already interested.

"It's good to make a romantic movie. After all, you are only in your twenties. Try it while you feel like it. Don't wait until you are older and can't make such a movie. Also, try new themes at this stage. It doesn't matter if you make mistakes."

Although Xu Feng spoke in a joking tone, he was speaking from the heart.

Zhou Yan is still young and can try any subject matter.

Directors are different from actors in that they have very long careers. Although male actors generally have longer careers than female actors, it is basically difficult for them to get a role as the leading role after the age of 35.

Except for a few special male actors, other male actors basically have to retreat to the second line and play supporting roles at this time.

But it’s different for directors. Thirty-five is often the age when a director’s career really starts to move forward.

Directors of this age have more experience than newcomers and more energy than veterans. This is the best period for creation, and this state can often last for more than ten years.

After the age of fifty, although my energy has declined, I have more experience. As long as I slow down the frequency of making movies, I can still maintain the quality of my creations and even continue to improve.

Many film masters only created their own classic works after they were over 50 years old.

Even in today’s domestic environment, many directors only have a chance to come to the fore when they are in their forties or fifties, because they have to gain seniority within the system. There is only so much food, and even the old folks can’t get a share, so how can there be any for the young people?
Only factories with relatively abundant resources like Yanjing Factory and Chang'an Factory can train more new people. Factories in other places with less abundant resources only have one target per year, so it would be strange if they could train new people.

Zhou Yan is only 26 years old now, and there is still a long way to go. It’s always a good idea to try more new themes.

Moreover, Xu Feng always felt that Zhou Yan's career was going too smoothly. Sometimes when she was alone and free, she would even feel anxious when thinking about Zhou Yan's affairs. She didn't know how long Zhou Yan's current state could last. Maybe he would fail in the next movie.

In fact, Xu Feng didn't think there was anything wrong with failing once or twice, as Tomson could bear the loss with Zhou Yan.

What Xu Feng was afraid of was that Zhou Yan was so young, and if he encountered failure, it would affect his mentality.

It would be bad if we follow Chen Kaige's old path again.

The second half of her sentence was also a warning to Zhou Yan, telling him not to worry about failure.

Zhou Yan did not respond to Xu Feng's statement, but smiled and said, "The male and female protagonists have been decided, and the rest is to decide on the other roles."

"Have the male and female protagonists been decided?"

Zhou Yan had never told Xu Feng about the actors before, so she was so surprised.

Originally, Zhou Yan was not in such a hurry to shoot, so he did not tell Xu Feng about this matter right away.

"The leading actress is Joey Wong."

"Oh, that's good. It seems that your reputation is still quite useful with Zu Xian. It's not easy to find her to make a movie now. I heard that she rejected several movies, including "All's Well, Ends Well 97" and "Storm Warriors". "

Although Xu Feng usually does not hang out in the Hong Kong film industry, she is quite familiar with the situation there. She knows that in the past two years, Joey Wong has rejected many invitations, including those from Shaw Brothers.

Although Joey Wong still has a film contract with Shaw Brothers, they will not force her to film. And even if they force her, it will be meaningless. The worst that can happen is that she will have to pay some liquidated damages.

"Where is the male lead?" Xu Feng asked again.

"I."

Xu Feng heard the word "I" and thought it was just the beginning and there was more to come, but after the word "I", there was no movement. She asked in confusion, "Are you still there? Is the signal bad?"

"No, I've already said it. I'm going to play the leading actor in this new movie."

Xu Feng was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Good, good, this role is also suitable for you. But this way, you may be a little tired, after all, it is not easy to direct and act by yourself."

Zhou Yan not only directed and acted in the film, he also wrote and dubbed the screenplay. He did all the major work in a film.

"Fortunately, the assistant directors this time are Xiao Can and Li Hong. The team is full of veterans. Everyone is familiar with me and has strong execution capabilities."

The good thing about a mature team is that for many things, Zhou Yan just needs to give an idea, and Xiao Can and Li Hong will naturally know what to do. Especially Li Hong, he knows Zhou Yan too well, sometimes he knows what to do with just a glance from Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan has worked with so many assistant directors, including Wang Xiaoshuai, Lu Xuechang, and Huo Jianqi, many of whom later became famous directors, but none of them was as easy to use as Li Hong.

The others were more of a complement to Zhou Yan, helping him with ideas, and Zhou Yan would even learn from them sometimes.

Li Hong is different. He is more like a whip in Zhou Yan's hand, an extension of Zhou Yan, enabling Zhou Yan to strengthen his control over the crew.

"Okay, I trust you to do the job." Xu Feng smiled. "It's been several years since you last acted in a movie. And by the way, is this your first time playing the leading role?"

In Xu Feng's eyes, Xu Xian in "Green Snake" is not the male protagonist at all, he is just a male character with more scenes.

"I guess so." Zhou Yan nodded and talked about other roles. "I'm going to let Chen Derong try the role of the male protagonist's sister."

"Chen Derong...is she willing to come?"

Xu Feng is from Taiwan, so he naturally knows that Chen Derong is quite famous in Taiwan nowadays.

Nowadays, Chen Derong is Qiong Yao's favorite heroine and a first-line actress of the new generation.

"Let her try. If she doesn't work, forget it."

"That's fine, but you have to be careful. Although Chen Derong is more popular in TV dramas, she may not be good in movies."

"I know my limits. I will personally manage the audition and will not lower my standards for her just because of her fame."

"Well, I trust you."

"Right now I am focusing on the hero's father, which is a difficult role to choose."

"The protagonist's father... around fifty years old, a gentle and refined actor. What do you think of Jiao Huang and Du Yulu?"

Hearing the candidates recommended by Xu Feng, Zhou Yan couldn't help but laugh. Sister Feng really likes these two actors. When he was filming "The Sixth Sense" before, these two were among the candidates for the male lead recommended by Xu Feng from the older generation.

However, Xu Feng's recommendation is still quite reliable. The images of Jiao Huang and Du Yulu are indeed quite consistent with the male protagonist's father.

"And Xu Huanshan, what do you think?" Xu Feng added another person.

When Zhou Yan heard the name Xu Huanshan, he thought of Wen Zhong and Confucius, both of whom played roles in his later years.

As for his early roles, Zhou Yan doesn't know much.

"Well, I've made note of these three actors. I'll invite them to try out later."

It’s no use for them to think about whether it’s suitable or not. They’ll have to wait and see on the stage.

"Okay, I'll wait for you to give me some time and the company will invite them. You can also make a list of the other roles and we can solve them together when the time comes."

"No problem. I'll think about it during this time and then give you the list. I'll organize the auditions when I come back from the United States."

"Okay, I'll wait for your list." Xu Feng smiled and said, "Up to now, you haven't told me how much this movie will cost."

"I estimated it myself, about 20 to 30 million, the company needs to calculate the exact amount."

Estimating the cost of a movie is actually a very complicated matter. For example, in the system in Hollywood, when determining the movie budget, it requires professionals to perform careful calculations.

Usually the cost of a movie is divided into two major parts: production and promotion.

Production costs are divided into direct costs and indirect costs. Direct costs include shooting costs and post-production costs, while indirect costs include site rental, equipment rental, staff costs, etc.

Advertising costs also include many aspects, and the calculation is no simpler than production costs.

However, cost calculations for domestic film productions are usually not so complicated.

Ordinary unknown directors have no choice at all. They cook according to the amount of money they are paid.

If the script of "Time Traveler" is given to a new director, it can be filmed for one or two million, or even less.

First of all, a lot of money must be saved on the actors. For Zhou Yan's "Time Traveler", the total salary of all the actors would have to be several million. If a new director came to shoot the film, it would probably only take a few students from the film academy to get the job done. If they are easy to fool, they can just give them a basic salary.

For a selective director, calculating the budget by himself is not complicated. Based on past experience, he can first calculate the film remuneration and make a rough estimate of the production costs. As for the publicity costs, he can just calculate them according to a fixed percentage.

Even if Tang Chen Company did the calculation, it wouldn't be much more complicated than Zhou Yan doing it himself.

"Let's set a target of 30 million first, and spend it as you wish."

Xu Feng knew clearly that no matter how carefully they calculated the costs, it would ultimately depend on how Zhou Yan spent the money. If the budget was not enough, they would still have to make up for it.

The main reason is that Zhou Yan is not a person who spends money recklessly, so Xu Feng is not worried that giving too much money will be wasted.

Zhou Yan also knew this situation. He smiled and said, "That's fine."

……

The day after Shizuka Kudo's concert, Zhou Yan flew to New York, USA.

When he arrived in New York, it was the afternoon of the 30th local time. He did not go to the hotel but went directly to Radio City Music Hall.

When Zhou Yan walked into the lobby of Radio City Music Hall, he was also shocked.

Apart from anything else, this hall is really big and there are a lot of seats.

With more than 6,000 seats, the hall is the largest indoor theater in the world. A performance here sells three times as many tickets as a normal concert.

Radio City Music Hall does not mainly host concerts, but more movie premieres, Christmas shows, indoor concerts, and various award ceremonies, such as the Grammy Awards and the Tony Awards.

The reason is very simple. Few symphony orchestras can accommodate such a large hall.

An orchestra with low fame cannot guarantee attendance at all.

The Piano Youth Orchestra did not have such worries. A total of 12,000 tickets were released for the two concerts, and they were all sold out two days ago. (End of this chapter)

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