1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Zhou Yan took the script and roughly flipped through it. It was a script that was very in line with the times. It mainly told the story of how a twelve-year-old boy dropped out of school and went to the city to work, and how he became a thief at the age of seventeen and was eventually caught.

To be honest, Xiao Can's writing ability is average. The story seems good, but the script is not well written, including the design of some lines, which feel a bit lackluster.

Of course, the script cannot fully reflect what the final film will be like. Xiao Can's practical ability is definitely stronger than his writing ability, and what is filmed may be better than what is reflected in the script.

Movie scripts are different from literary scripts. Movie scripts only need to consider the ability to be filmed, unlike literary scripts which also have to consider literary quality.

After reading the script, Zhou Yan nodded, "It's really good, but isn't the budget of 800,000 a bit too little?"

If we go back a few years, it was already very good for a film studio to invest 800,000 yuan to make a movie. But the current situation is completely different from that of previous years. Everything is rising in price, and the price increase in the film and television industry is even more severe.

So if you want to make a movie now, 800,000 is simply not enough.

Zhou Yan also noticed that Xiao Can might have been affected by the budget, and the script was written in a very restrained and unrestrained way.

There are obviously better ways to deal with things in many places, but Xiao Can did not choose them because they are probably too expensive.

Han Sanping smiled and said, "Of course I want to give Xiao Can more support, but the studio has just taken a breather and the funds are not very sufficient. Moreover, there are so many directors in the studio, and many people may be dissatisfied with me giving the quota to Xiao Can. If I increase the investment, they will be even more dissatisfied. Moreover, this budget was applied for by Xiao Can himself."

Zhou Yan nodded, what Han Sanping said made sense.

Although Xiao Can has been in Yanjing Film Studio for many years, there are many people in the factory who are better than him in terms of seniority, and many senior directors have no movies to shoot now.

Han Sanping gave the quota to Xiao Can, and someone must have been scolding him for nepotism behind his back.

When Chen Zhigu was in charge, he gave a lot of indicators to Xia Gang, and was also scolded privately.

Besides, Xiao Can only wants 800,000 yuan, so Han Sanping would never raise the price for him.

"How about this, don't touch the 800,000 in the factory, and Tomson and my studio will contribute another 1.2 million, a total of 2 million."

"If you say so, I have no objection, but this is Xiao Can's first time directing independently. Isn't two million a bit too much?"

Zhou Yan shook his head, "Not much."

Han Sanping said with a smile, "Indeed, it's not much compared to you. Your first movie had a budget of 6 or 7 million, right?"

"No, the budget for my first film was only tens of thousands of dollars."

Han Sanping was stunned for a moment and said, "You are talking about "Ants". Don't count the short film in it. If you say so, then you haven't even been an assistant director, but a direct director."

Zhou Yan's path to becoming a director is different from that of most people. Before he shot his first feature film, he had only made a short film of a few minutes.

Moreover, he became a director in one step. He had never been an assistant director or an assistant director, let alone a script supervisor.

Looking around the world, Zhou Yan is unique.

However, Zhou Yan received a lot of training in the crew of "Raise the Red Lantern". For a period of time, Zhou Yan basically played the role of deputy director in the crew, so he was able to get the hang of it so quickly when filming "The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly" later.

Of course, the success of "The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly" is largely due to the contribution of photographer Zhao Fei. When filming that movie, Zhou Yan often asked Zhao Fei for advice.

“Although Director Xiao has never directed a feature film independently, he has solid basic skills, is a calm person, and has experienced some big projects. He should be able to handle this kind of small project.”

"In that case, I'll ask Xiao Can to come over and tell him about the matter. We can also talk about the script as well."

Zhou Yan nodded, "Okay."

Han Sanping then called the director's office and asked them to call Xiao Can over.

About three or four minutes later, Xiao Can came to the factory director's office.

"Director, you're looking for... Director Zhou is here too."

Han Sanping pointed at the chair and said with a smile, "Director Xiao, sit down. I told Director Zhou about your movie. He read the script and thought it was pretty good."

Xiao Can only mentioned the new movie to Zhou Yan once. The reason why he didn't mention it again was because he was worried that Zhou Yan would misunderstand that he was trying to take a backdoor.

"I've actually always wanted Director Zhou to help review it, but Director Zhou is really too busy. I'm afraid Director Zhou doesn't have the time."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Old Xiao, you are too polite. I have read the script. The story is very good, and the theme hits the current social situation. Is this script original?"

"Yes, I wrote it myself." Xiao Can nodded. "In fact, I came up with the idea of ​​writing this script because of The Chorus. When I was filming The Chorus, I also read a lot of materials related to children's education, many of which were about child labor."

When filming "The Chorus", many of the child actors were child laborers, such as Li Haining and Xia Guobao, who had previously worked in restaurants.

In addition to reading a lot of information, Xiao Can also talked with Li Haining and others many times and learned a lot about child labor.

In the script he wrote this time, some of the stories were based on stories told by Li Haining and others.

"The factory is ready to approve your project application." Han Sanping said.

Xiao Can's eyes lit up, "Thank you, Director."

"Don't thank me yet. Although the factory is ready to approve your project, there may be some problems with the budget."

Budget... Xiao Can's heart sank. The budget requested in the application he submitted was 800,000.

He considered this number for a long time before deciding on it.

According to his idea, it would be difficult to shoot this movie with 800,000 yuan, but if the price was higher, he was worried that the factory would not approve it.

So he took into account the situation in the factory and the filming of the movie and determined the number of 800,000.

If it's lower, it doesn't mean that the movie can't be made, but Xiao Can doesn't have the confidence to make a movie that will satisfy him.

After a moment's silence, Xiao Can gritted his teeth and said, "Director, it will take at least 500,000... 400,000 yuan, otherwise we really can't shoot it."

Han Sanping knew that Xiao Can had misunderstood, but he still decided to tease Xiao Can, "Is it 500,000 or 400,000?"

"Four hundred thousand."

"Then I'll give you 400,000."

"Okay." Xiao Can breathed a sigh of relief. At least the project was confirmed.

However, the cost was reduced to 400,000 yuan, which gave him a headache for the subsequent filming, and he had to rewrite his previous plans.

Zhou Yan laughed and said, "Director Han, please stop teasing Lao Xiao."

Han Sanping also laughed, "Haha, Director Xiao, I was just teasing you. This is what happened. In addition to the 800,000 yuan from the factory, Director Zhou and Tomson have decided to invest 1.2 million yuan together, a total of 2 million yuan."

Xiao Can was stunned for a moment. One second ago, he was still worrying about how to shoot a movie with the budget reduced to 400,000 yuan. The next second, Han Sanping told him that not only would the budget not be reduced by 800,000 yuan, but it would be increased by 1.2 million yuan, more than doubling the budget. The sudden ups and downs made him a little dazed.

"Really? Director Zhou?" Xiao Can looked at Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan nodded. "Well, now you have to think about how to spend the extra 1.2 million. With this extra money, is there anything that can be improved in the script? I see that there are relatively few characters in your script, and the scenes are relatively simple. Is it because of budget constraints?"

"Yes, the budget is limited, so we try not to use too many extras. Fewer scenes can also greatly reduce the investment."

"Now you can make some appropriate changes. The protagonist's classmates appear very rarely in the script, which is not conducive to the shaping of his student identity. In addition, all perspectives cannot be focused on the protagonist alone. It is actually a common phenomenon for children to drop out of school, and there should be many of his classmates in similar situations. If you film the protagonist's experience as a typical one, it loses its meaning." Zhou Yan said.

Xiao Can nodded, "I've made a note of this. I'll make some adjustments to this."

Zhou Yan thought for a moment and then said, "Old Xiao, do you want me to find someone to help you?"

"Can you find an assistant director for me?"

"No, I'm going to find a producer for you."

Many directors don't like having producers because they will restrict the director's performance. However, Xiao Can knows the role of producers in the crew, so he nodded and said, "Of course, Director Zhou, who are you going to ask to be the producer of this movie?"

"Huo Jianqi." Zhou Yan said a name.

Xiao Can thought about it and nodded, "I think it's okay."

He and Huo Jianqi are old acquaintances. They knew each other before and later followed Zhou Yan to film "The Chorus" together. They have a very good relationship.

Therefore, he was aware of Huo Jianqi's abilities.

Huo Jianqi is a person who has the ability to coordinate the crew and knows when to stop. The second point is very important. If the producer doesn't know when to stop and wants to intervene in everything, the director will feel very uncomfortable.

In addition, Huo Jianqi's qualifications and relationship with Zhou Yan Studio make him very suitable to be the producer of this film.

"In that case, let's have a meeting today. I'll call Huo Jianqi over now and we'll have a meeting together."

"I have no problem."

……

Huo Jianqi was at the studio at the moment. After Zhou Yan called him, he arrived soon.

Han Sanping did not participate in the subsequent discussion. Zhou Yan and the other two found a separate office.

When he learned that Zhou Yan wanted him to be Xiao Can's producer, he was very happy. Although he had never been a producer, he was not worried at all.

Since making his first feature film, he has become more and more confident.

The key is that he has Zhou Yan Studio behind him, so being a producer is very easy.

Being a producer for Xiao Can can also increase his experience in filming.

The three chatted for a while, and Huo Jianqi asked, "Old Xiao, do you have any ideas for the actors?"

Xiao Can shook his head. “Director Han just told me today that he would approve this project. I didn’t even dare to think about the actors before.”

"Don't you want to think about it now?"

"We have to find these students from outside. As for the main adult roles, let's see if there are any suitable ones in the factory first."

"Well, let's see if there's anything suitable inside the factory. If not, we can go look next door."

The next door that Huo Jianqi mentioned refers to the Yanjing Film Academy.

Yenching Film Academy is very close to their factory, and they like to go there for a visit when they have nothing to do.

"There are many good talents from the next few years. The 94 class includes Jin Qiaoqiao, Jiang Qinqin, Chen Zihan, and Fu Dalong. The 95 class includes Zuo Xiaoqing, Sun Li, and He Shengming. There are also many people from the 96 class, including Zhao Wei, Chen Kun, Guo Xiaodong, and Yan Danchen..."

Zhou Yan looked at Huo Jianqi in surprise, "How come you are so familiar with these students? You even know the new students this year by heart."

Huo Jianqi smiled and said, "I go there whenever I have nothing to do. If I see someone I like, I will ask them. Maybe I can use them when I'm filming a movie later."

"You really have some free time." Zhou Yan exclaimed.

"I'm still not free enough, otherwise I would definitely know about the Central Academy of Drama."

In fact, the Central Academy of Drama is not very far from them, but it is still not as far away as the Yenching Film Academy which is just a short walk away.

Zhou Yan used to go to Yenching Film Academy frequently, but later he went there less frequently.

"When we have time, let's go to the Central Academy of Drama and Yandian University together." Zhou Yan said.

He suddenly remembered that there were many outstanding students in the 96 Central Academy of Drama class, and thought of observing them, hoping that he could seize the opportunity and sign them to Zhou's.

"How about we go and take a look today?" Xiao Can suddenly said.

Zhou Yan was a little surprised to hear Xiao Can say this, because Xiao Can is not the kind of person who means what he says.

Even Huo Jianqi was surprised.

Being stared at by Zhou Yan and Huo Jianqi, Xiao Can smiled sheepishly and said, "I just thought about it and felt that there are not many suitable actors in the factory, so I'd better go and see those students early."

The reason why Xiao Can suddenly made this suggestion was because he wanted to take Zhou Yan with him while Zhou Yan was free today.

The main reason was that he believed in Zhou Yan's vision and wanted Zhou Yan to help him with advice.

If he missed today, he would be embarrassed to ask Zhou Yan for help next time. He also knew that Zhou Yan was usually very busy.

Zhou Yan really didn't have anything to do today. The manuscript had been sent to the magazine, and Joey Wong also returned to Taiwan yesterday. He was originally planning to take a rest these few days.

"Okay, let's go there after we finish eating."

It was almost time for dinner, so Zhou Yan thought about having a meal at the Yanjing Factory first, and then taking a walk there.

Huo Jianqi said, "It's better to go during mealtime. Most students will be able to see it. Senior Lu has meal tickets for their school cafeteria. I'll go get some."

Zhou Yan was surprised and asked, "Why does the senior have a meal ticket from Yandian?"

"Hey, I have it with him."

Zhou Yan rolled his eyes. Huo Jianqi was really good at getting by. He even had a meal ticket from Yandian. (End of this chapter)