Started as an independent producer in 1988

Chapter 167 Meat Bun beats the dog!

As the sun sets in the west, the orange-red sky is particularly gorgeous, so beautiful that people can't bear to take their eyes away.

On the backlot of Beijing Film Studio, several Ming and Qing streets were also sprinkled with a layer of red light.

The streets are full of busy workers, and it feels like fireworks on earth.

The entire crew was calling it a day with smiles on their faces.

For workers, there is nothing in the world that makes people happier than getting off work.

If so, it must be a holiday!

Chen Shiping can be considered a senior migrant worker, but he is not happy at all now.

Because he couldn't get off work yet, he didn't even have time to attend Zhang Min's invitation to dinner.

The material shot today will be reviewed in the evening. There is no producer watching over Chen Shiping, but he is the producer himself.

Therefore, as a director, he is also responsible for himself as a producer, and at the same time, he is also responsible for Xu Feng, an investor.

While Chen Shiping was packing up the materials he had finished shooting today, Wang Xiaoshuai and the others came over.

"Director, do you want us to learn this to teach us how to be directors or producers?"

Chen Shiping, who was checking today's materials behind the monitor, was almost shocked when Wang Xiaoshuai asked him. He turned to look at him and said, "Shouldn't you ask yourself this question?"

Wang Xiaoshuai and others squatted around Chen Shiping, smoking cigarettes and saying melancholy: "I don't know, that's why I asked you."

"Aren't you going to make independent films?"

Chen Shiping leaned back in his chair and said with a smile: "As an independent filmmaker, you need to know everything and be able to do everything."

Wang Xiaoshuai and others are very melancholy now. After hanging out with the crew for a day, they found that they couldn't play with a crew like Farewell My Concubine. It was difficult for them to be in charge of just one department.

Not to mention the difficulty of coordinating various departments, being busy filming and managing at the same time.

Chen Shiping said with a smile: "You have only seen my work as a director now, but you have not seen my work as a producer. Come work overtime with me tonight to see how to be a producer."

Wang Xiaoshuai and the others also had no objections. They came here just to study, and it would be best to learn more.

Although they are directors who have graduated from professional courses, they have absolutely zero experience and cannot do it without learning.

After the crew finished cleaning up in the evening, Chen Shiping returned to the factory with today's materials.

Instead of rushing to watch the movie, he went to the office with a pile of documents.

The production director of Farewell My Concubine also followed. Although Wang Xiaoshuai and the others were hungry, they had no complaints at this time and wanted to see what the producer's job was like.

After arriving at the office, the production director handed a pile of documents to Chen Shiping and began to report on the various expenses of the crew today.

Actor wages, food and accommodation, equipment loss, props and costume loss, film trial quantity, venue costs, etc.

The last item can be crossed out. The cost of the venue has been paid in the early stage, and the factory does not charge a venue usage fee.

After accounting for various expenses, Chen Shiping couldn't help but frown. Today, he spent a total of 150,000 yuan, far exceeding his budget.

In addition, the current shooting schedule has not kept up with the original plan, which means that the budget will be exceeded again.

Chen Shiping took today's detailed expenditure breakdown and compared it with the original budget plan, but he did not forget to teach Wang Xiaoshuai and the others a lesson.

"You see, this is part of the job of a producer." Chen Shiping pointed to various expenditure details and said: "Auditing progress and controlling the budget are part of the job."

"For example, today's extra actors' wages, logistics support, and film usage exceed the budget. As a producer, you need to find the problem and supervise the director to control the budget. You cannot let the director do whatever you want. The producer must be responsible to the investors."

"Now that the budget has been exceeded, the producers have to think about how to get the excess back, otherwise they can only reach out and ask for investment money."

"At the same time, we have to identify problems, communicate with the director, control his shooting costs, and urge him to catch up with the original shooting plan."

After Chen Shiping talked a lot in one breath, he put down the documents and looked at Wang Xiaoshuai and the others and said: "This is just one of the tasks of the producer during the filming process.

Early project development, project evaluation, script determination, actor selection, director selection, search for start-up funds, preparation of pre- and post-production shooting plans, and marketing and distribution after the film is completed. "

Wang Xiaoshuai and Lou Ye were confused again. They knew what many words meant, but when they were put together, they were confused, let alone how to do it.

"Look, I only talked about work, but not what abilities are needed to complete these tasks." Chen Shiping spread his hands, looked at them and asked, "Do you now know how difficult it is to be an independent filmmaker?"

Wang Xiaoshuai and others nodded, looked at Chen Shiping and couldn't help but said: "But in the domestic model, there are no producers, only production directors. The production directors are just like the logistics housekeepers and don't understand these things. Wouldn't the movie be successful? ?”

Chen Shiping crossed his legs and said with a smile: "That's because the studio took on the preliminary work, and China Film's purchasing and marketing department took on the post-production work."

"In other words, our directors actually do not have these abilities? The director-centered system is not suitable for the open film market?" Lou Ye couldn't help but say.

Chen Shiping nodded and said: "The era when the state took on everything has passed. Most of our directors are not capable of fully managing a film production. What's more important is that there will definitely be bigger film productions in the future.

Can they do a good job if it's director-centric? Are a small crew that controls a million-dollar production and a large production crew that costs tens of millions the same thing? "

"So the director-centered system is not suitable for the development of commercial films. They need to hand over some rights, so that they can have more energy to create movies."

"The most important thing is, if the director doesn't know anything, do you know how much corruption will appear in each link? Even if the director knows everything, but the power is too concentrated, if he is greedy, who can stop him?"

Chen Shiping smiled and said: "Actually, corruption is not a big deal. The main problem is that most directors do not have a sense of the market, their personal qualities are not high, and they do not understand budget control. The films they produce will lose money and destroy the development of the industry. "

Over the years of film development in the Mainland, the director-centered system has indeed produced many excellent films, but it is the special national conditions that have helped them.

With unified purchasing and marketing, all filming costs are paid for by the state, so the director does not have to worry about market issues or think about cost issues.

Whatever movie you make is based on your own preferences, and the screenwriter has no status. The director can fire the screenwriter at any time and change the script beyond recognition.

If you are a good director, this model works very well and you will make excellent movies.

But the problem is that 90% of current directors are not good at it.

The director-centered system will only allow these directors who are not good enough to make a bunch of bad movies, and even develop a series of unspoken rules in the process.

I don't choose suitable actors, only good-looking ones. Anyway, suitable actors don't give room cards.

I don't care about the cost or the quality, I just mess with it casually. Anyway, I want to be a little corrupt.

I don’t care about my position or market demand, I only shoot what I like. Anyway, it’s not my money that I lose.

This will be a true portrayal of most directors. Too much concentration of power will only breed problems. How terrible it is to have no one to supervise the power. Wang Xiaoshuai and others were stunned and felt that what Chen Shiping said was too exaggerated.

"This kind of problem won't happen now, right? The film studio will supervise the director, and the budget is very tight." Lu Xuechang couldn't help but said.

"Then why does the film studio keep losing money?" Chen Shiping asked rhetorically, then looked at Lu Xuechang and said, "You came to the studio last year, right? What new people have you seen making films? Those in the director's room Did anyone supervise the director when he was filming?"

Lu Xuechang was silent. It was his turn to make a film. The seniors had already divided up the factory's budget, and indeed they were not making any money.

What Chen Shiping wants is to take away some of the rights of the director, not to completely exclude the director.

How the camera is shot, how the actors act, and how the editing is done are all the director's business. This is where the director can show his talent, and Chen Shiping will not interfere.

Looking at Wang Xiaoshuai and others who had not yet digested it, Chen Shiping did not explain that much. They were still young and inexperienced, so they would slowly understand.

Based on the current situation of major film studios, most movies are created by the director wanting to make something, then finding a screenwriter to write the script, and then asking the studio for money.

Without any investigation, without any plan, without considering return on investment, under this model, most movies lose money.

This is also the reason why in the original time and space, the Mainland film market had a ten-year cold winter. Directors were shooting what they wanted to shoot, spending money they were not responsible for, and not considering the market's preferences.

Forcefully drive the audience out of the cinema, and then cry out that the film market is not working, and we need greater support!

After the boss allocated money, I started shooting what I liked, and then lost money again, repeating this for many years.

It was not until the economy developed in 2000, living standards rose, audiences had more money, and the film market naturally recovered that mainland films began to make profits.

But was the film market saved by these directors? It’s just a bonus.

Chen Shiping doesn't want to learn the Hollywood producer model, nor does he want to copy it completely. Hollywood also has its own shortcomings.

But if we want to expand the film market, we must restrict these directors!

Only by enlarging the market and allowing investors to get returns will we be able to support more directors.

While the Six Generations were meditating, Chen Shiping had already completed the new shooting plan and brought back the excess budget.

Chen Shiping put down his pen and looked at them and said, "Let's go eat, go back and watch the movie. I'll teach you as a producer how to prevent the director from making blind shots with private goods. The producer understands movies better than the director."

After saying that, Chen Shiping took them to dinner, and then went to the screening room to watch today's material, and inevitably had to teach them.

But this kind of thing is quite fulfilling, these sixth generations are very talented.

If you train them well, you will be able to do many things for him whether you become an independent filmmaker or a director under him.

Chen Shiping still hopes that the Sixth Generation can become his own directors, so that he can use them to charge into battle.

However, talented people are always arrogant. It is not that simple to conquer them. Take your time.

When Chen Shiping got home at night, it was already past ten o'clock. Tao Huimin had gone to bed. There was a glass of milk and a hard-boiled egg on the dining table.

After drinking the milk, Chen Shiping took a shower and went to bed.

The next day he got up early and went to the studio. Now he was extremely busy, and he was giving lessons to Wang Xiaoshuai and others while filming.

Not only are they teaching the sixth generation, but there is also Zhang Min, a girl who comes over from time to time to make soy sauce.

"Have you read all the teaching materials on Chinese opera?" Chen Shiping looked at Zhang Min and said with a smile: "Now you should observe Gong Li and see how she prepares a role, and then reflect on the problems with the roles you played before. .”

Zhang Min said helplessly: "I haven't finished reading the book yet, and I don't understand any good parts. I just wanted to ask you."

"What don't you understand?" Chen Shiping was taking a break now and didn't want to teach Wang Xiaoshuai and those ugly men all the time, so he came close to Zhang Min to teach her.

The perfume on Zhang Min's body smelled quite good, so it was quite relaxing to teach her, and the time slipped away just by talking and laughing.

However, Chen Shiping felt that Zhang Min was not very attentive, and some of the questions he asked were relatively simple. He always felt that she felt a little guilty when facing him.

Chen Shiping felt that there seemed to be something wrong here. If he remembered correctly, Zhang Min must have a boyfriend now.

When work was done in the evening, Zhang Min invited Chen Shiping to have dinner with him again, and also brought Zhang Guorong with him.

Chen Shiping, who had doubts in his heart, rejected Zhang Min directly. He felt that she had an ulterior motive and was definitely not impressed by his charm and wanted to throw herself into her arms.

Chen Shiping didn't think that his charm could make a woman fall in love with him after seeing him a few times.

Zhang Min was a little disappointed after being rejected, but she also breathed a sigh of relief. After returning to the hotel in the evening, she went to find Shi Nansheng.

"Sister Sheng, I tried it, but it didn't work." Zhang Min looked at her and said, "Party A and Party B are about to wrap up, and I have to go back to Xiangjiang."

Shi Nansheng was quite disappointed. He looked at Zhang Min and said, "You have to keep this in mind. Go back after filming."

Zhang Min breathed a sigh of relief. She deliberately approached Chen Shiping, and then created some "accidents" to manipulate Chen Shiping.

She quite liked Chen Shiping. If Shi Nansheng hadn't contacted Xiangjiang and forced her to go, she wouldn't have done such a thing.

Fortunately, Chen Shiping was busy now and didn't seem to have that kind of intention towards her, otherwise she would still feel guilty.

Shi Nansheng didn't have much hope for this matter. Chen Shiping's identity was sensitive and could not be affected by Xiangjiang. Even some methods were not available, so he could only try this method.

She was really helpless, Guan Zhilin was unwilling to cooperate with her, and Zhang Min failed again.

The last struggle failed, and it seemed that the only way to go was to bow down and accept fate.

Chen Shiping was sitting in the office, looking at the number in the phone book, thinking for a while and then dialing it. Soon, Zhang Min's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Hello, who is it?"

"Chen Shiping, do you have time? I'll treat you to a midnight snack."

"Uh"

Zhang Min hesitated, was he taking the bait? But the time and place are not set by oneself, it is easy for a meat bun to beat a dog!

Why did you suddenly ask yourself for a late-night snack? Wouldn't it be possible for someone as smart as Chen Shiping to have discovered this? !

To go or not to go! Zhang Min felt a little numb.

(End of this chapter)