This director needs to apologize

Chapter 401: Far Away
Mortgage the house, borrow props, withdraw investment, science fiction film, all the elements are combined to make Chen Yiming think of a small broken ball in his previous life.

No way? There is no Liu Cixin in this time and space. When I created a new folder on the computer screen, someone did some research and found that the field of science fiction in China is a saline-alkali land with no seedlings.

Writes science fiction and reads children's literature.

Chen Yiming just traveled through time and space without any plug-ins. He really couldn't reproduce the original text, nor did he want to waste the effort. In addition, hard science fiction themes have very demanding special effects, so he never thought of copying Liu Cixin's masterpieces from the beginning.

But then he thought again, Li Jun's friend was just borrowing the spaceship, not necessarily to make a sci-fi blockbuster. "The 13th Floor" is also a sci-fi theme, isn't it? How much did it cost?

Thinking of this, he became a little interested and asked, "Lao Li, what project is your friend organizing? Do you know the details?"

When Li Jun heard that there was a way, he immediately perked up and began to introduce it from the beginning without getting tired of it.

"Director Chen, look at what you said. If I didn't understand, would I dare to ask that? I actually helped a lot with that project.

My friend's name is Luo Xiao. He was a classmate of mine in the art exam cram school. However, I was admitted to the directing department of the Imperial Capital Film Academy, while he was admitted to the animation department of the Communication University of China.

After graduation, he worked as an animation director for half a year and won the Penguin Video's annual animation award. Then he switched to the live-action field and worked as an assistant director in Hengcheng like me, but he met a noble person earlier than me, and he was pulled in to direct movies in less than two years.

Two years ago, there was a low-budget youth film called "Old Times" that grossed over 3 million yuan at the box office. It was his debut film."

Chen Yiming searched his memory and he had some impression of this movie. It was a model of small-scale success in the film industry at that time. The cost was just over 2000 million, and its return on investment was even higher than that of "Mulan".

Seeing Chen Yiming nod in approval, Li Jun continued to introduce, "Lao Luo was tricked by his previous benefactor this time. Old Times made a lot of money, and the investor's appetite also grew. He patted his chest and promised Lao Luo that he could tell him what he wanted to shoot, and he would cover it all.

Lao Luo believed it and took out the project he had been planning for many years, which is this science fiction film.

When I was in cram school with him, I heard him talk about it and read the draft. Later, when we were in Hengcheng together, I also helped him think about the plot and lines. If we count from the first version of the setting, it has been almost ten years now. "

When Chen Yiming heard this, he exclaimed, "Wow!" Isn't this Director Guo from a parallel universe? He's even more stubborn than Director Guo, and he's working on his own without any original work.

Li Jun sighed and changed the subject, "The investor invested 800 million in start-up capital in advance. Luo Xiao took the project book, the setting draft and the script to solicit investment everywhere, and finally found Wang Yibai and Han Sanye.

Director Chen, you also know that if you want to invest in this kind of special effects movie, you need to conduct prior verification. The same is true for Diquan. Luo Xiao cooperated with the special effects studio when he made animations before and made a CG with a duration of one and a half minutes. He convinced Diquan to invest, and the project was launched.

At this point, with all the overt and covert investments, the 800 million had been almost spent. When the team was about to be established, the earliest investor withdrew his investment and decided not to continue.

The calculations over there were very shrewd. Knowing that Lao Luo was reluctant to abandon the project halfway, they expressed their willingness to transfer the project investment rights to him, and the premium was not much, only 10 million.

That’s how Lao Luo got his house by mortgaging it.”

Chen Yiming listened to the whole thing and knew that Li Jun's friend had been tricked. Such investors are very common in the film industry, and they target those budding directors who have just entered the industry and are full of artistic aspirations.

Relatively speaking, the investors Luo Xiao met were relatively "honest" and they really put out real money to bet. If they were veterans in setting up the scheme, they would definitely let Luo Xiao advance the money to start the business and give you a "loan" out of thin air.

Chen Yiming thought that he must have had the original intention to start the project, but later he saw that the business was too big and scaled it back, so he only made some "hard-earned money".

Otherwise, you can't let go of it at a premium of 200 million, you can't even make up for the bank interest.

Thinking of the key words in Li Jun's words, Chen Yiming interrupted and asked, "Xiao Mei objects, is it because your friend's project has investment from Diquan?"

Li Jun replied a little uncomfortably, "That's right. I'm not in a position to ask about the specific details of the project. Wang Yibai's company and Diying did have a stake in it, but Luo Xiao also said that the majority of the money was not from Diquan, but from outside funds that he brought in through his connections."

Chen Yiming understood when he heard this. Since Diquan’s investment did not account for the majority, Luo Xiao’s idea was naturally to borrow their publicity and promotion channels.

But for Xiaomei, Luo Xiao's project is obviously the sphere of influence of the Diquan. If Platinum Duke intervenes in it, it will only bring trouble to himself. There will be no benefit and it will easily cause trouble. It is natural to stay away from it.

In fact, Chen Yiming is not so concerned about the so-called divisions within circles. Although he has been tripped up and schemed against by the imperial circle forces many times, those are all normal market competition in the same period. Not to mention anything else, are there fewer internal fights within Moying?
But Xiaomei’s concerns are not unreasonable. In the project of "Her Memories", Platinum’s investment does not account for the majority. Strictly speaking, this is a project of Qi Laoer’s company, and the money mainly burned is from Xiaoqi’s family.

What Li Jun did was simply to be generous to others.

Why?
You said it won't be exposed, so it won't be exposed? If it is exposed and causes losses, can you, Li Jun, be responsible?

Not to mention Li Jun, Chen Yiming cannot be held responsible either. He, Chen, was only listed as a planner and did not pay a penny.

Li Jun was still talking endlessly about how difficult it was for Luo Xiao, how he had risked his entire fortune and life on the project, and that if the project failed, he would be left with nothing.

He did not try to impress Chen Yiming with the grand setting of the project. Perhaps he knew that saying these things in front of Chen Yiming would be like showing off one's knowledge in front of an expert, and if the retelling was not done well, it would have a negative effect.

From Li Jun’s eager attitude, it can be seen that Luo Xiao has a good relationship with him, and he really wants to help his old friend.

Although given Li Jun's personality, he would not fail to realize how presumptuous this request was.

After thinking for a long time, Chen Yiming raised his hand to interrupt Li Jun’s Nth confession.

"Old Li, this is not the way you ask for help. You shouldn't have come to me for this matter, and I'm not the one who is responsible.

Lao Qi doesn't bother to take care of the project because he trusts me and Mr. Ma. I don't bother to take care of it because I trust you and Xiaomei, but this is not a reason for you and me to interfere in other people's affairs.

You and Luo Xiao are old friends and you think you can convince me because we are both directors and you can empathize with me, but Lao Qi is not moved in this way, so there is no need and no need to do so.

Well, I have an idea for you. Go and find out about Xiaoqi's schedule. If the two of you can fit in, get her to play a role in Luo Xiao's group.

This is not called bringing money into the crew, it's just a normal invitation and normal audition. As long as the acting skills are up to par, anyone can play the role, right?
First pull her into the team and make her one of your own, then it will be easier to talk to her. Xiaoqi is beautiful, rich and white, and maybe once she gets familiar with the situation, she will lend a hand without you even asking.

Besides, it doesn’t sound that exaggerated to me that they used a spaceship. They just used the interior of the spaceship to shoot a few shots. They had to make a second modification before filming, right?”

If Li Jun still couldn't understand what Chen Yiming meant, he would be a complete fool. He nodded hurriedly, "Of course, it will be completely different from the spaceship in "Her Memories"."

Chen Yiming nodded and said, "That's fine. Da Zhuang has already negotiated with the film and television base. All the props will be donated to the exhibition hall of the film and television city after the filming. Before donating them, support the project in which your sister is participating. I believe Lao Qi will definitely not mind."

Li Jun was so excited after receiving Chen Yiming's guidance that he took out his phone and called Luo Xiao, instructing him to come over immediately to thank him in person, and preferably treat him to an all-in-one package including dinner, singing, massage and bathing.

Chen Yiming was so amused that he quickly interrupted Lao Li's combo. Just as he said that he had no way to ask for help, he fell into his old habit again.

Xiaoqi and Xiangrui are close friends, and Xiangrui and Anxixi are good friends. You, Lao Li, dragged me to Xiangrui's base camp Qindao to sing and dance rap. When Anxixi hears about it, will it be considered a good thing for you?

In fact, Lao Li and the other three are still a little distant from Xiangrui. This kind of matter is more suitable to be handled through Xiangrui as best friends. As both are fair, wealthy and beautiful, Xiaoqi can obviously get along better with Xiangrui.

Compared to persuading the old man Chen Yiming, it was much easier for Director Luo to impress Xiangrui with his hard work. After the best friends passed the message to each other, Xiaoqi agreed readily because she was emotional and didn't even need to give up the role.

Although he declined the hospitality arrangement, Chen Yiming did not stop Luo Xiao from coming. He was still quite interested in this "Director Guo's counterpart."

There's nothing wrong with meeting and chatting, just make friends.

The absence of Liu Cixin does not necessarily mean that there will be no science fiction blockbusters. China's film market has developed to its current scale, and the emergence of so-called heavy industry blockbusters is a natural thing. Even if there is no Luo Xiao, there will be Li Xiao and Lu Xiao.

Chen Yiming himself did not have this idea because he was lazy. Not everyone can work non-stop for several years 24 hours a day.

And if there really is a "warrior" who is determined to do this, Chen Yiming will definitely admire him and be willing to help him to the best of his ability.

The opening ceremony lasted until about 4 p.m., and at the end of the ceremony, the guests took a group photo with the camera covered with a red cloth. Li Jun arranged a green screen play at the right time, creating the gimmick of a "science fiction blockbuster", and finally made Lao Qi's friends, Qindao's bosses, the heads of the film and television city, and various media go to the dinner scene with satisfaction.

Chen Yiming, who was the last one to arrive, also got to meet Luo Xiao.

This person's image is far from the handsome "Director Guo". He has a small head, a thick neck, and a big belly. He is not tall but occupies a large area. His body shape does not look like that of a director who hangs out on the set.

(End of this chapter)