I’m a Director, I’m Not Bad

Chapter 71: 069. In the past, the mail was very slow, and I only loved one in my life

Chapter 71 069. In the past, the mail was very slow, and I only loved one person in my life

When Xu Xin entered the restaurant, Zhang Wu happened to be ordering food.

Originally, the two of them wanted to drink a bowl of wontons and eat a meatloaf, but now they must order a few dishes.

Seeing this, Xu Xin stood beside Zhang Wu and asked:

"Director Zhang, why don't we go back to the hotel and ask for a private room..."

"Why are you going to the hotel?"

Zhang Wu smiled and shook his head:

"Xiao Xu, the food in the hotel is the same. You have to find the taste of life in this small local restaurant, understand? Now you may not understand...young people, you can understand. But when you reach our age I understood when I was young. It doesn’t really matter what you eat, what matters is who you eat with…”

"It's... alright."

Xu Xin nodded half-understanding, and then Zhang Wu ordered two cold dishes, four hot dishes, and a bottle of Jinhua's local Jinhuafu rice wine, and took Xu Xin into the small private room.

"Old Shang, let's not drink too much today, the three of us just have a bottle of rice wine, drink slowly and chat slowly, okay?"

Shang Jing nodded:

"It's no problem... I really can't drink too much. I have a bad stomach these days. I still have a stomachache today... Drinking some rice wine is just good for nourishing the stomach. Speaking of which, if it wasn't for the stomachache, it would make it late to pack the luggage, I guess Xiao Xu wouldn't." I will take the wrong luggage, and we will miss it."

Taking advantage of Xu Xin's time to pour the tea, Zhang Wu laughed when he heard this:

"Haha, let Xiao Xu respect you for a while, this is the fate he contributed to."

Xu Xin smiled politely, and quickly shook his head:

"No, no, no, I was too reckless this time."

"Hey~"

Zhang Wu waved his hand:

"I've said it all, good things take time...Old Shang, let me tell you."

Pointing at Xu Xin, he said:

"Don't look at Xiao Xu as young, he has a brain. At present, we are screening the design drawings of the Olympic torch, and this kid's design has already entered the re-evaluation. Think about it, hundreds of copies, only ten can enter the re-evaluation, and he is one of them." one."

"Ho~"

Shang Jing was full of surprise:

"Okay. Is there any result?"

"not yet."

Xu Xin quickly shook his head:

"Director Shang, don't listen to Director Zhang praise me so much... In fact, Director Zhang and the others found the right idea, and I came up with it. If it wasn't for Director Zhang and his ideas, I would have come up with it myself This, that is basically impossible."

"Hahahaha~"

Zhang Wu smiled even more happily, and said to Shang Jing:

"How about it, what I just said is right, this kid can talk."

After speaking, he turned his head and looked at Xu Xin again:

"However, Xiao Xu, you can't be so polite in everything. Young people, you have to be energetic and aggressive, understand? You have to show your confidence."

"Well…"

Hearing this, Xu Xin suddenly nodded:

"Well, I'm really good!"

"...hahahahahaha~ you kid~"

Zhang Wu smiled even happier.

At this time, cold dishes were served, along with the bottle of Jinhua wine.

Xu Xin got up, studied the wine bottle, opened the lid after some fiddling, and began to pour wine for the three of them.

Three glasses of oriental whiskey quickly diffused the aroma of wine in the entire private room.

Zhang Wu took a cup by himself, and asked curiously:

"Old Shang, why did you come to Hengdian this time?"

Shang Jing did not hide it, but suddenly sighed:

"well…"

Zhang Wu was taken aback:

"what happened?"

"I'm here to attract investment."

He shook his head, pointing to the script that was put aside:

"Pull the investment in this drama."

Zhang Wu didn’t say to read the script, but he was a little confused:

"You are a national first-level director, and you still need to attract investment? Don't mention anything else, just the signboard of "The Story of the Cooking Class" is enough?"

Xu Xin heard this...

Good guy.

First-level director?

etc…

"The Story of the Cooking Class"?

Suddenly realizing who this is, Xu Xin's eyes widened.

It turned out to be him! ?

"The Story of the Cooking Class", have you read it?

I must have seen it.

Xiao Mao, Shuai Hu, Squad Leader Hong, Da Zhou, Xiao Jiang, Lao Gao...

He can say the names of these people as soon as he speaks.

All kinds of interesting pictures also appeared in my mind like a horse on a horse.

This movie is fun and amusing, and it is the first military-themed sitcom. Xu Xin was chasing after it.

And the director at this moment appeared in front of him?

Zhang Wu and Shang Jing didn't know the surprise in Xu Xin's heart, but Shang Jing gave a wry smile after hearing Zhang Wu's question:

"After the filming of "Urban Men and Women" and "Health Express", the results were not very good. When the investors I knew heard that I was going to create a martial arts melodrama this time, it was still the Zhanghui style... they didn't Too happy to continue to vote, and then asked me to send the script to have a look. After finding out that it was different from the kind of martial arts masters and heroes they thought, I felt that the risk was too high... After all, those two dramas... both lost money So I don’t want to vote.”

As he spoke, he put his hand on the wine glass:

"No, I asked a few more people. There is a film and television company here in Hengdian who wants to see it, so I came over."

Now Zhang Wu frowned.

In the film and television industry, investment has always been the most important part.

There is no doubt about this.

And every investment means risk, and at the same time, these risks also mean high return, or nothing.

If you want to talk about these things in detail, that would be too much.

Not to mention anything else, even Zhang Yimou's film has been rushed, let alone other people.

It can be said that every investment is a big gamble, especially in the film and television industry, which can easily cost hundreds or tens of millions of dollars. If you are not careful, it may be in vain, so a certain director in the investment industry It is actually very common to be so high-spirited, but after rushing to the street several times in a row, it becomes a situation where no one cares about it.

For ordinary people, it is not difficult to remember a director.

Just remember his famous works.

Moreover, as long as the other party's work enters his heart, the audience will have a high tolerance for this director.

As long as it’s not the kind of one that starts to frantically spend money after becoming famous, it doesn’t matter even if one or two films have a poor reputation at the box office.

After the filming, the audience will buy it.

Because I like the things the other party has shot.

But investing is different.

The investor's review of a director's investment requirements is much stricter.

They will not be like the audience, who have a very high tolerance for a certain director, and feel that it doesn't matter if one film loses two films.

Just kidding?

Tens of millions of investment go on, let you fool around with money?

impossible things.

One failure may be fine, but two failures are basically the limit of tolerance.

Three failures... As the saying goes, if you do it again and again, you won't do it three times.

In fact, it can be heard from Shang Jing's words.

Obviously he is the director of "The Story of the Cooking Class", but after the investment failure of two sitcoms, those investors who were close to him have now closed the door to him.

After hearing his words, before Zhang Wu opened his mouth, Shang Jing seemed to have opened up the conversation box, and continued:

"But I really think..."Urban Men and Women" and "Health Express" are like two propositional compositions. More and more people are filming sitcoms, and the quality is plummeting...Although last year's "Family with Children" "It's very popular, but looking at the overall industry, we can all see that this industry is about to be ruined. The value is about to be squeezed out...

Therefore, it is normal for investors not to recognize it. But in the final analysis, everyone is old friends, they don't approve of my script of "Wulin Biography", but want me to remake the second part of "The Story of Cooking Class". They can vote for that, but they won't vote for this...I'm so mad..."

Speaking of this, Shang Jing suddenly paused.

raised his head, looked at Zhang Wu with a forced smile and said:

"Haha, look at me... Today is not the right occasion to talk about these things... Come on, Lao Zhang, I haven't seen you in a few years, let's go first, and then start using chopsticks?"

"…good."

Zhang Wu nodded, understood what the old classmate meant, and also raised his cup:

"But let's talk about it first, let's just have this bottle, mainly to reminisce about the old days. It doesn't mean that I don't want to part with this wine, but your stomach is not feeling well today, and I have to get up early to go to work tomorrow..."

"It's okay, I understand. It doesn't matter how much you drink, I'm happy to meet you here, come on."

"Come, come, Xiao Xu."

"Hey, good, sir, please~"

Xu Xin picked up the cup, held it very low, touched the two of them, and took a sip of the mellow rice wine, but his eyes fell on the script that was placed on the table next to him.

After thinking about it, he tentatively said:

"Director Shang...can I read this story? Don't worry, I just read it..."

"fine."

If it was someone else, Shang Jing would definitely disagree.

But Zhang Wu's appreciation for this young man in his words just now is beyond words.

The face of old classmates must be given.

What's more... He also thinks this young man is quite real.

So after handing over the script, came a sentence:

"Look, we're chatting."

"well, thanks."

Xu Xin took it with both hands politely, and opened the first page of the script.

"The first round: Guo Nvxia smashed Tongfu store angrily, shopkeeper Tong is wonderful and lost people."…

…

"It's not easy to do in the industry now. Lao Zhang."

In the smoky box, Shang Jing lit a cigarette and sighed:

"I don't know what's wrong, but the remuneration of some well-known actors is outrageously high. Think about it, how much is the investment in "Story of the Cooking Class"? One million! 30 episodes of TV series, only one million investment It came down...Although it is inseparable from the support of our army, I actually filmed it for only one million. In 2002, one million. And now? It’s only been a few years? After I got the script , I asked someone to make an estimate... including the rent, costumes, props, etc., including the salaries of the actors I selected, the calculation is tens of thousands, don't you think it's scary?"

"The "Cooking Class" was equipment provided by the army at that time, and you must have spent less."

"But my "Urban" and "Health" are only a few million. Now I ask... the cost of any indoor studio is ridiculously high... That's it, let me tell you, Sha Yi and the others The pay for each film is very low...They also understand my difficulties, if it is based on the normal market price, and no one else mentions it, I have to give Sha Yi at least 4,000 to 5,000 for an episode. They want 2,000..."

Actually, many people here have a misunderstanding, thinking that the reason why making movies and TV shows is so expensive is mainly because of actors’ remuneration.

is not actually accurate.

Why is the production of a film and television work called "burning money"? The main reason is that as long as the crew is turned on, its costs will continue to be generated.

It costs money to set up the scenery, make props, make up and bags, and rent the venue is a huge expense.

Adding the crew's eating and drinking... Let me give you the simplest example.

Filming martial arts scenes.

Regardless of the actor's salary, he came to the set alone and put on makeup first.

The price of makeup artists is the most common and the most common, one hundred and five to two hundred and one days, and this is still the lowest-level makeup artist.

There are one thousand, two thousand, or even tens of thousands of high-profile ones a day.

After finishing the makeup, I started to dress.

A piece of ordinary ancient clothes, the most common kind of clothes worn by group performers cost one or two hundred pieces, and clothes with a little bit of characteristics can easily cost thousands of pieces.

Then there are props such as weapons that actors need.

Ordinary swords are fine and can be rented. But the ones that are made alone cost thousands of dollars next to each other.

That is to say, the actor came to the crew and hasn't done anything yet. Fu Huadao may have already spent thousands or thousands of dollars for these three things.

And the money is just one person.

What about the extras?

A group of eighty, do you want the main character to walk on the street? Do you want some guards, servants and maids in the mansion?

There may not be any specific pictures in the camera, and even the audience will not care, but they are real people.

Just count.

One person even rents a lunch box and clothing plus a bonus salary, at least one hundred and fifty yuan is gone.

Ten people are fifteen thousand.

One thousand and five thousand, one scene, plus the things on the actors, this is two or three thousand and it may be gone.

What if the scenery is added?

For example, in a tavern scene, a table may cost five or six hundred yuan, and a wine jar, a few props and fake dishes can be rented for a set of one hundred and ten yuan.

If it is not a ready-made set, if it is built, it will cost more.

Building requires workers, materials, and decoration...Even in rural areas, it costs tens of thousands of yuan to get a new house.

In addition to the layout and the like, it may cost tens of thousands before going out.

So, at the first glance of the movie, you can't think of where the money is spent, but when you pay attention carefully, every minute and every second in the shot is the taste of money.

This is what Shang Jing can't adapt to now.

It’s not that the money is too much, but after he rolled out the script of the martial arts melodrama that Xu Xin had read for a long time, he found that he wanted to set up the background, and the construction cost of an inn with a solid wood main structure was an astronomical figure.

Then convince yourself, the salary of the people in the team, the salary of the actors, the rental of the venue, the wear and tear of lighting, equipment...and the estimated shooting time...

Inside and out, the budget was eight figures all of a sudden, which made him, a director who made a sitcom with one million dollars, somewhat unacceptable.

In addition, people didn't approve of taking this investment out. Apart from reminiscing about the old days at the beginning of his meal, when he turned to the internal affairs of the industry again, he couldn't hold back his bitterness.

In contrast, Zhang Wu, who uses state resources to shoot, doesn't have so much to worry about.

The things he arranges are all approved by the state, and the people he invites are also handled by the above. As a director, he only needs to go and shoot.

He has been in the system all his life, so although he is comforting and worrying about the distress of his old classmates, he can't actually feel and empathize with them.

Want to help, but can't.

After all, he doesn’t have 10 million…

In the end, there was only a bowl of wontons and a meatloaf.

After drinking all the wine, together with Xu Xin, who had returned the script to Shang Jing, the three of them finished their meals, were full, and walked back at the same time.

Along the way, Xu Xin replayed the plots of the few episodes he had just seen over and over again in his mind.

The more I look at it, the more I like it.

But he didn't have any self-recommendation, such as "I want to play" and other ideas.

First, he is a director, not an actor.

Second, the Olympics are obviously more important than a TV series.

And the final result is that the two people who were slightly drunk went to the same room.

Obviously, the reminiscence among classmates is not over yet.

After Xu Xin returned to his room, he sent Yang Mi a message:

"Back to the hotel?"

Ten minutes ago, Yang Mi sent him a message, telling him "It's over! I didn't eat tonight, and I'm very hungry.".

So, when she came out of the restaurant, Xu Xin packed two Nanma meatloaf for her.

It's hot, right in front of him now.

…

On the minibus.

The girl who hadn't had time to remove her makeup looked tired.

He rested his head on the glass of the minibus, even though his head followed the buzzing vibration of the glass, he yawned quite a bit instead.

She is very tired.

My knees are sore.

Still very hungry.

I probably won’t be able to eat millet porridge tonight.

Because she just wants to go back to the hotel quickly, cook some seafood batter, and then go to sleep.

I have long lost the energy I had when I had dinner at night.

At this time, she felt the vibration of the phone in her pocket, took it out and took a look...

If it was someone else, she might not reply.

After discovering that it was Xu Xin, his mood recovered a bit.

"Ha~~uh."

covered her mouth and yawned again. After seeing this message, she typed and replied:

"Well, in the car. Are you free today?"

After sending, she put down her phone and yawned lazily.

She likes to chat with Xu Xin.

It doesn’t mean that the other party has so much money and wants to cling to the other party, or what.

But purely a feeling.

One kind of chatting with the other party, you will feel very relaxed and comfortable. The kind of feeling I especially like.

First of all, the other party is of the opposite sex, so there is no such thing as a defensive move to steal the role.

Secondly, the other party has money, so they don't want to do anything to themselves.

Besides...he's handsome.

Who stipulated that only men can like beautiful women, but women can't like handsome guys?

Just didn't find out before.

In the past, she really thought that Xu Xin was quite rustic, but since the other party changed to the simplest short hair, she found that clean appearance very pleasing to the eye.

If you are pleasing to the eye, the relationship will be close.

After coming to Hengdian, people are unfamiliar with the place, and this is especially true when their hearts need a sustenance.

And, most importantly…

She thinks Xu Xin is a person with his own ideas.

She can get a lot of inspiration from each other.

For example, the current comprehension of the role of Guo Xiang...Didn't Guo Degang say, what...People are good and good, and they are proud.

probably means this.

To have such a friend who is extremely comfortable to get along with and who can get a lot of inspiration from each other... Isn't it normal to keep in touch with each other every day.

right?

So, she likes chatting with each other very much.

Even if the two call each other just once or twice...the text messages are often answered after a long time.

But Yang Mi felt that it was precisely this way of communicating that would only reply after a while. After gradually getting used to it, she suddenly fell in love with this way.

When she was in junior high school, she saw a poem from a classmate’s girls’ books.

was written by a poet named "Mu Xin".

It is called "Once Upon a Time Slow".

There is a paragraph in it that she particularly likes:

"Once upon a time the sun grew slow,

Cars, horses, and mail are all slow,

Life is only enough to love one person. "

At that time, she was fascinated by the emotion revealed between the lines of the poet.

I also imitated it myself.

Audition’s ID “ㄟщμ Slowly Love” was also taken because of this poem.

Even, she tried to develop pen pals in high school.

Unfortunately...the writing in the other party's letter is too ugly.

Not having a "slowly" letter and pen pal became a regrettable thing in her youth.

But now I suddenly found that feeling.

I send you a letter, you may not reply immediately because you are busy.

But you are done, as long as you read my letter, you will definitely reply.

Chariots and horses are slow, letters are slow, it doesn’t matter.

The important thing is that no matter how slow he is, he will reply.

enough.

Why must it be fast?

Can't you take your time?

So, the anticipation before the other party replies has become a very beautiful anticipation and adjustment in work and life.

She is happy.

And the occasional continuous chat is like that friend from far away suddenly came to visit your home.

Speaking freely, but not worried about being ashamed to say something, or being trusted by leaking secrets, she has an invisible sense of security.

I like it more and more.

"Om."

At this moment, the vibration interrupted her thoughts.

"Very free."

"Are you done with work?"

"No, take a break... Shall I tell you a secret?"

In an instant, the girl came to the spirit:

"What secret? Tell me!"

"Actually, I'm in Hengdian, right at the gate of the China World Trade Center, and I'm waiting to deliver red dates and millet porridge to your room."

"???? Do you take me for a fool?"

The girl couldn't help laughing out loud.

Still in Hengdian?

Are you flying?

Then I saw the reply from the other party:

"No, I'm really in Hengdian International Trade Center."

"Brother, that's called China World Trade Center. If you were at the entrance of my hotel, would you misread that word?"

"Oh yes, it is the China World Trade Center."

"Oh, I'm so touched~ Are you here to express my condolences after seeing my hard work?"

"Yes, I made porridge for you and prepared food for you."

"That's over, I just got off the plane to Yanjing."

"...Are you fooling the ghost? At six o'clock, you still said that you were on the set, and you returned to Yanjing by Sky Monkey?"

"Then why are you fooling a fool? You said you were working during the day, but now you tell me that you are in Hengdian? If I don't tell you the name of the hotel, you might not even be able to tell me where I live!"

"..."

Seeing the row of "dots" that the other party replied, Yang Mi was even happier.

"I'm in Yanjing, what should I do? Why don't you pick me up at the airport."

"You think I'll believe you're at the airport?"

"Then you think I will believe that you are in Hengdian?"

"I'm really in Hengdian."

"Then I am really in Yanjing."

"I'm on the steps next to the sentry box at the entrance of the Guomao Hotel, holding the millet porridge I cooked for you, and two meatloaf waiting for you."

"Hahaha, tell me, where does the gate of the sentry box open?"

"...I just arrived here, and I can't tell the difference between south, east and north. How do I know which direction to drive? Drive outward!"

"Hahahahaha~ Yes, yes, yes, it is open outward. Then you wait for me, I will be there soon. Let's meet and talk later. Hahahaha~"

"Okay, keep your eyes brighter, don't miss me, you'll miss me."

"Don't worry, our eyes add up to 3.0. Hahahaha~"

After replying to this message, Xu Xin didn't reply to her again.

And looking at the prosperity of the urban area, the girl is also very happy. Although he knew that the other party would lie to him again, it was very comfortable to use these happiness to drive away the fatigue at night.

Well, it's decided.

I won't eat instant noodles for a while.

Get off the car and go buy two meatloaf!

Looking at the hotel getting closer, the girl swallowed.

I'm so hungry...

"咕咕咕咕~"

Hungry until my stomach growls.

Pass through the penultimate intersection of traffic lights.

"咕咕咕咕咕~"

Be patient, be patient... Well, I will buy some fried skewers later.

Pass the last intersection.

The minibus slowed down.

Arrived at the hotel entrance.

Didn’t turn in, this was originally the shuttle bus for the production crew, and now the other crew members in it have also returned, so the minibus may not be easy to get out after entering.

I'm talking, I'm not a big-name actor, why should I put you on the welcome desk of the hotel?

At the door, get off.

Yang Mi got out of the car following the crew members who also looked tired.

Then rush across the road.

But just as she was about to leave, she glanced at the guard box in the hotel.

I don't know if it was because of Xu Xin's text message, or something else...

But after taking a look, suddenly, she stopped.

"...?"

When he saw clearly the man sitting on the steps with a stew pot in one hand and a plastic bag in the other, an idea suddenly popped into his mind.

This person...why does he look so familiar?

Then he met a pair of extremely familiar eyes.

The eyes were full of narrow smiles, as if some prank had been successfully played.