This director needs to apologize

Chapter 386 A Small Breakthrough

Chen Yiming sat in his seat without moving a muscle. He didn't even respond to the occasional @ with his eyes and was concentrating on playing the statue game.

There's nothing to argue about here. Even if he wins the argument, he won't gain a penny. He has no reservations about his past life experiences. Whether others listen or not is their own business.

When it was his turn to speak, he remembered Ma Erye's previous instructions and did not fire a single shot. He simply shared his experience of filming in Southeast Asia and then bowed.

Even if we don't debate, we still have some useful information to talk about. Who says that we have to express our emotions when speaking?
The specifications of this meeting were slightly lower, as can be seen from the number of people sitting at the top, which was almost halfway through the year. Therefore, the process was much faster, there was basically no Q&A and discussion, and it dispersed at 3: in the afternoon.

After the meeting, Chen Yiming and Shen Ming met up for tea. The meal had been arranged long ago, and it was actually very rude of Chen Yiming to delay it until now.

On the project of "The 10th Floor", Mr. Shen was absolutely upright and honest. While cooperating vigorously in the publicity, he even returned most of the red envelopes given to the actors and only took a symbolic amount of yuan, which was the same level as the martial arts stunt doubles in the group.

The words were very nice, saying that his role was only worth this much, and any more would be disrespectful to others, leaving Chen Yiming speechless.

Chen Yiming knows his own weight. Boss Shen gives him so much face, isn't it for the future cooperation? Even though the other party doesn't say it, he must know it in his heart.

Therefore, he calculated the time and as soon as he and An Xixi returned to China, he called Shen Ming and proposed to visit him in the imperial capital.

It has been almost 10 months since Shen Ming asked him to write a story, and it is indeed time to give a formal response.

Boss Shen was still very polite and replied that there was no need to make a special trip and they could just have a meal together at the industry conference at the end of the year.

In fact, it gave Chen Yiming more time to prepare the script.

Following Shen Ming, they came to a private restaurant on the outskirts of the city. Apart from the chef and the owner, there were only two of them in the huge villa, so it was indeed quite private.

The two of them drank tea and chatted. They were not talking about movies, but the furniture and furnishings around them. Shen Ming was a native of the imperial capital, and he knew the origins of these things like the back of his hand, making Chen Yiming look like a country bumpkin.

Boss Shen advised with the tone of an experienced person, "Yiming, in our line of work, we need to know a little bit about everything. Even if it is not useful in filming, it will only benefit you in dealing with people and things.

I see that you seem to enjoy living in seclusion in the city, which is not bad in itself. You are talented and willful and use your beauty to commit crimes. Unlike me, I cannot avoid the hassles of being entertained and sent off. "

Chen Yiming nodded sincerely, "Uncle Ming is right. I really didn't think too much. I just wanted to save trouble and have fun. It's not that I don't want to change, but when the time comes, I'm still cowardly and lazy."

Shen Ming chuckled, "You're pretty good. Chinese directors are more or less literati in nature, but there are few who are as versatile as Sun Wangquan."

The topic continued like this and ultimately could not be avoided until movies. Chen Yiming had been leisurely for most of the year, and Shen Ming had only guest-starred in two TV series this year. Both of them were in a state of neglecting their professionalism, so the natural thing they could talk about was recent movies.

Compared to Chen Yiming, who turned a deaf ear to industry affairs, Shen Ming, as the chairman of the Film Association and based in the capital, was naturally full of gossip, which really opened Chen Yiming's eyes.

This year's Lunar New Year box office was jokingly called the imperial circle's counterattack. Several domestic box office bombs were all produced by the imperial circle. Even the two Hong Kong films were limited to the production team, and the investment, production, and publicity were all handled by the imperial circle companies.

Even Xu Guangtou, who was born in the Shanghai circle, actually joined the imperial circle. The investors behind "It's Not Easy 2" were three imperial circle companies, and the distribution was directly sold to Wang Yibai.

The only exception in the same period is probably Wu Lianjing. Although Wu Ge is also from the capital, he usually keeps to himself and rarely mixes with the old guns in the imperial circle.

In this respect, Wu Lianjing is very similar to Shen Ming, who was also very close to the imperial circle when he was young, but retired from the circle not long after becoming famous. The outside world, including Chen Yiming, speculated that Shen was arrogant and felt that it was a loss of face to be in the circle.

Of course Chen Yiming would not ask this question out loud, but Shen Ming himself did not shy away from it at all and took the initiative to tell him a story from the past.

Some experienced movie fans know that the Hong Kong circle moved north. In fact, before that, dating back to the end of the last century, there was another round of the imperial circle moving south.

The imperial circle is entrenched in the capital and is very sensitive to wind directions. They are considered to be among the first people in the industry to open their eyes to the world. Long before the reform, Chinese actors who became famous for winning awards abroad began to go south to Hong Kong cities to seek their fortune.

Many of the veteran actors in the entertainment industry today have had the experience of going south to shoot Hong Kong films during that period. As for the results, it can be summed up in one sentence.

Ideal is full, the reality is very skinny.

Shen Ming said with emotion, "At that time, I didn't know how high the sky was and how deep the earth was. I really thought I could make a name for myself. Now I think it's just nonsense. No matter if you are a director or an actor, unless you can become a boss, you can't escape becoming a bargaining chip in the transaction.

Yiming, there is a tradition in our industry that is hard to say whether it is good or bad. We like to play on the line. It seems that if we don’t make some breakthroughs, we will suffer a loss and the film will be shot in vain.

The creative process is like this, and so are other processes. You can't say that they are not following the rules, because there are gray areas everywhere. I admire you because you make movies for the sake of making movies, and never try to provoke the bottom line of official positions and public consciousness. Occasionally, you know when to stop when you are innovative, instead of pushing the envelope and taking advantage of everything.

The industry is indeed in a good momentum right now, but bad signs have already emerged. Everything you said at the annual meeting last year has come true this year. You may not know that the company behind the comedy directed and acted by Deng Chao this month simply gave money to the cinemas, and the film took 40% of the screening schedule without earning a cent in the first week box office.

Chen Yiming could only smile bitterly after hearing this. What a guy, he really knows how to play. This is even more "innovative" than the examples he gave, and more radical than Hollywood's advanced experience. Does this count as setting a precedent in the industry?

Shen Ming sighed, "I don't understand these operations, but I instinctively feel that there is a problem here, and the problem is not small. If we continue like this, sooner or later there will be a big mess."

Chen Yiming nodded in agreement, but in his heart he was thinking about the big change in the domestic entertainment industry in his previous life, which was really a mess.

I have to say that the big guys are really big guys. Their intuition is real. Even without any formula derivation, their predicted results are still pretty close to the mark.

Looking at the time, it was not long before dinner, so Chen Yiming opened his schoolbag, took out two folders and handed them to Shen Ming.

There is no point in talking too much about industry matters. To be honest, they can't change anything, one is an actor and the other is a director. It would be better for them to focus on their profession.

Shen Ming's eyes lit up, and he took it without saying a word and just buried his head in reading the words, ignoring everyone else. A script to an actor is like delicious food to a gourmet.

Shen Ming read very carefully. After reading it once, he read it carefully for a second time. Then, after pondering for a while, he read it for a third time at a slightly faster speed.

The folder was very thin because Chen Yiming only wrote the story outline and character settings, skipping the plot and lines. Even so, Shen Ming took a full three quarters of an hour to read it.

It was not until the boss and chef came over and invited the two to take their seats that Shen Ming put down the documents in his hand and resumed his cheerful and talkative state. As they walked, he explained to Chen Yiming the origins of this private restaurant in the palace.

It was nothing more than jokes about the ancestors being imperial chefs, but Shen Ming's stories were full of twists and turns, and were still very interesting to listen to.

A small round table, four plates and five bowls, each of them exquisite, not large in quantity but complete in all aspects, looks appetizing.

After sitting down and tasting each dish, Shen Ming asked the boss to heat up some old wine, and the two of them chatted while drinking.

"Yiming, I can see that these two books of yours were tailor-made for me. The creative ability of young people is really amazing.

The stories are all good, but the roles are quite different from my previous roles. Did you arrange them this way intentionally? "

Chen Yiming nodded and said, "Differentiation is indeed a consideration, but I mainly think that Uncle Ming's acting skills can handle such a small breakthrough.

Uncle Ming, I have read all your past works. Intellectual, wise, and profound are the main labels on your works. You can handle the role well no matter whether it is a high position or a commoner.

But you have to admit that these three words are distant from the lives of ordinary people, and it is difficult to bridge the gap. Except for a few early works, I have hardly seen you lose your temper or do anything stupid on the screen.

The fate is to play tricks on people, and such subjective feelings are not conducive to narrowing the distance with the public psychology. It is neither friendly nor interesting.

As Uncle Ming grows older, this impression continues to strengthen in the minds of the audience, invisibly compressing your acting range and weakening your potential."

Shen Ming frowned and lowered his eyelids, tapping the table with his hands. After a long while, he looked up and said, "Go on, why did you stop?"

Chen Yiming asked with a smile, "Uncle Ming, you won't feel offended by me, right?"

Shen Ming laughed and shook his head, "How could that be? I think what you said makes sense. I know I am better at portraying intellectual roles, but I certainly don't want to be fixed in this ecological niche. Old scholar and pretentious person are not good titles.

Yiming, can you tell me more about these two books? I personally like the first one, "The Old Gangster in the Capital", which is very groundbreaking and challenging, but I think you might prefer me to choose the second one, "The Widowed Psychology Teacher."

Chen Yiming smiled and applauded, "Indeed, the reason is very simple. The first script is difficult to find children to act with you, and the controllability is low, so the final effect is not easy to guarantee.

The second script is about saving a genius boy, so there are more choices of suitable actors, and the character of the psychology teacher is also close to your usual acting style.

More importantly, this book has a certain level of professionalism in it, and the fields it targets have a strong social impact, which is more conducive to expanding the circle.

I know that Uncle Ming doesn't care about box office and awards, he just wants to enjoy his performance, but a good process does not hinder the pursuit of good results. The recognition of the audience and experts is enough to explain a lot of problems, isn't it? "

(End of this chapter)