Chapter 482 The first battle of Shanhe Film’s outward expansion
The director of "Sewing Machine Band" is Zhou Yan, who is 40 years old and is the head director of Cactus Pictures.
This person has a high status in the film industry. He has been nominated for the Golden Dragon Award [Best Director] many times, and finally won the award twice.
As mentioned before, the current film industry is very disconnected. There are very few talented people in the new generation who can carry out the work. Most of the core positions in the film industry are still controlled by the older generation of directors.
However, there is still a group of directors between the new generation of directors who have not yet emerged and the older generation of big shots who are active at the core level.
These directors do not have the fame and prestige of the older generation, nor the extraordinary talent of the emerging directors of the new generation.
Most of them have mediocre abilities, average grades, and are stuck in the middle, but these directors are responsible for half of the film market and are the backbone of the film industry.
Zhou Yan is the most ruthless among these directors.
At first, his career as a director was tepid, but he relied on his perseverance and climbed up step by step. His grades got better and better, he won the Golden Dragon Award, and finally he was able to slowly get in touch with the core of the circle.
Because of this experience, Zhou Yan is highly regarded in the film director circle, especially among ordinary film directors.
Zhang Kaigang claims to be the number one director in China, but his appeal among film directors may not be as good as Zhou Yan's.
Zhou Yan also serves as the vice chairman of the Chinese Directors Association, a member of the Chinese Film Association, and the president of the Beijing Film Association...
Apart from the older generation, he is one of the film directors who has the best success in official organizations.
At the same time, Zhou Yan is also the third shareholder of Cactus Pictures, second only to the founder of Cactus Pictures and an investment bank capital.
Coupled with his status as the head director, Zhou Yan himself can be regarded as the second-in-command of Cactus Pictures to a certain extent.
Cactus Pictures is a domestic first-tier film and television company, focusing on the film industry. In addition, because it has excellent overseas contacts and channels, it is the leader in overseas distribution in the Chinese film and television industry.
Although Shanhe has made some achievements in overseas export before, it is still far behind Cactus.
It handles almost 60 to 80% of the film and television exported by China, and Cactus also accounts for a large share of domestic films and television imported from overseas.
Shanhe's overseas connections can still be used in Asia, but if you want to make money in Western countries such as Europe and the United States, you have to find Cactus Pictures to connect them.
However, Zuo Le has no plans to enter overseas markets for the time being. China is so big that it has enough food for mountains and rivers.
As for those big-nosed people who don't have much similar culture, Zuo Le really doesn't have the time to think about their movie-watching habits. Occasionally, it's quite pleasant to eat around Asia.
Of course, although he has no intention of fighting out, Zuo Le has always been wary of these big-nosed cultural invasions.
In fact, Shanhe has really made a lot of contributions in this regard, intentionally or unintentionally.
Apart from other things, the rise of Shanhe dramas has given domestic dramas a lot of impression points, gradually attracting audiences back, and greatly squeezing the domestic market of foreign American dramas, South Korean dramas and other overseas TV dramas.
Based on this alone, it is not an exaggeration for Shanhe to lead the banner of "Pioneer in Cultural Anti-Aggression".
If you add that dramas such as "Seven Swords" have gone abroad and promoted Chinese culture in Asia, you may even be able to receive a banner of "Cultural Export Ambassador".
………
Having digressed, let’s get back to the topic.
Controlling most of the overseas distribution channels for Chinese films, Cactus Pictures has a special position in the film industry.
As the second-in-command of Cactus, although Zhou Yan is worse than Zuo Le, he can still be regarded as a big shot in the film and television industry.
Logically speaking, even though "Sewing Machine Band" is a co-production between Shanhe and Cactus, it is considered a key project, but after all, it is not a super-high-production blockbuster, and it will not require Zhou Yan to make the film himself.
However, Zhou Yan himself is a die-hard rock fan. I heard that he formed a rock band in his early years and seemed to be somewhat famous in his hometown.
The essence of "Sewing Machine Band" is to play with the feelings of rock music, which just hit Zhou Yan's heart, and then he took the initiative to take over the script and direct the film himself.
As for why Zhou Yan invited Zuo Le to play the male protagonist Cheng Gong in the movie, firstly, it was a gimmick to facilitate subsequent publicity, and secondly, Zuo Le had good acting skills, and his amazing performance in "The Richest Man in Xihong City" caught Zhou Yan's attention.
Third, and most importantly, Zhou Yan felt that Zuo Le could write such a script because he must be a frustrated rock and roll man like him who once had a musical dream but was forced to give it up.
The world is so vast that it is difficult to find a close friend.
Zhou Yan really wants to have a vigorous "rock" with Zuo Le, his confidant, and make an excellent rock music-themed movie.
Facing Zhou Yan's sincere invitation, Zuo Le hesitated for a while, but politely declined.
It's not that she's afraid of Tian Yan's failure, or that the popular little girl doesn't look good, but that she really doesn't have the time and energy.
"The Legend of Zhen Huan" has 76 episodes, and because it is a palace battle theme, with so many characters, a wide range of plots, and an accumulation of various details, it has been the heaviest filming task for Zuo Le since his debut.
Even "Wulin Gaiden" with 80 episodes can't compare.
Not to mention, Zuo Le not only has to be a director, but also has to play a male protagonist with a lot of roles, which adds another weight to the already heavy workload.
Now, he almost regretted it to death. Why did he suddenly want to play the male lead? If he was just a director and not acting, Zuo Le could at least be 30% easier.
However, the news that Zuo Le will play the male lead has been released. Zuo Le is thinking about regretting the choice, but it is really inappropriate, so he can only grit his teeth and hold on.
"The Legend of Zhen Huan" is of huge scale. The crew will start shooting in late February shortly after the Spring Festival. It is expected that the whole crew will finish filming, which is estimated to have to wait until July or August. If the filming is slow, it may have to be postponed.
"The Shameful Iron Fist" will start filming in May or June, and Zuo Le will definitely not be able to act in it by then.
Even if Zhou Yan postpones the filming for a few months, he is willing to wait until Zuo Le finishes filming "The Legend of Zhen Huan" to free up his schedule.
But after four or five consecutive months of intense work, Zuo Le also wanted to take a break.
Even if he doesn't take a break, there are a lot of things going on up and down the country, and there are so many new projects waiting to be developed. Zuo Le doesn't have the energy to go to "The Sewing Machine Band" to play the male lead.
The schedule is tight, so only by directing and acting can Zuo Le have the energy to play an important role.
In other productions that are not directed by him, Zuo Le usually appears as a guest star, playing a small supporting role with only a few scenes.
…………
Zuo Le explained the reason, and Zhou Yan was not an unreasonable person. Although he was disappointed, he still accepted Zuo Le's refusal.
Soon after, Zhou Yan chose the actor who played the male protagonist Cheng Gong in "Sewing Machine Band", namely Shanhe artist Guo Jinfei.
There is no problem with Guo Jinfei's acting skills. In fact, the role of Cheng Gong is not too complicated. The only difficulty is the singing at the end. Guo Jinfei also came from a major and his basic singing ability is not bad. If it is not good enough, he will need to repair the sound in the later stage.
The heroine Ding Jianguo is the long-legged goddess Guna who was previously cast. This is a popular little girl that Cactus Pictures strongly supports, and she is also the first actor confirmed by the crew.
Thinking of the kiss scene that Zuo Le regretted missing, he even had a special chat with Zhou Yan and asked Guna if she wanted to make a cameo in "The Legend of Zhen Huan".
As a director and screenwriter, he can arrange a noble role for Guna and have a sex scene with the male emperor...
"Sewing Machine Band" tells the story of a band of "old, weak, sick and disabled". The most important protagonists are actually the band members. In addition to the male and female protagonists, there are four other characters.
Hu Liang, the lead singer of the band and the comedic actor in the movie, is considered to be the second male lead, but in fact he and Cheng Gong almost form a double male lead situation.
This role is so exciting that Shanhe wanted to cast Lei Jiayin, but Zhou Yan found comedian Qi Bin instead.
This man, known as the father of the Great Sword, is extremely popular online and is one of the most developing comedians at the moment.
If Shen Teng takes action, he will definitely be able to suppress the opponent, but currently Lei Jiayin, although he is equally famous, his performance in comedy is indeed slightly inferior.
Zhou Yan was very optimistic about Qi Bin, and even Zuo Le felt that Qi Bin was more suitable than Lei Jiayin.
The affirmation of the two bosses finally allowed Qi Bin to win this most important role.
Dynamite, the drummer of a band, a cool-looking but sultry trendy guy on the inside. Apart from knowing how to play drums, he didn't have many hard requirements, so he was captured by a little fresh guy from Cactus.
Xixi, the band's piano player, is set to be a cute and cute little girl who is proficient in the electronic keyboard. It may be difficult to find such a child from other families.
But for Shanhe, who has the largest group of child stars in the industry because of the "Family with Children" series, this is simply drizzle.
In less than two days, the information of a qualified little girl from outside China was sent to director Zhou Yan's desk. After Zhou Yan completed the interview, the role was decided.
As for the final role of the old man Yang Shuangshu, the band's guitarist, Zhou Yan specially invited an experienced actor to play the role.
This veteran actor was a member of a well-known band back then, and later entered the entertainment industry as a singer, and he did well. This time he played the highly skilled guitarist Lao Dang Yizhuang, which was tailor-made for him.
And because of the connections between this veteran actor and Zhou Yan, "Sewing Machine Band" contacted many rock celebrities to make guest appearances in the film.
Zhou Yan even announced that he would turn this movie into a feast for the rock circle.
Zuo Le heard what Zhou Yan said and felt that the director really made the right choice. I'm afraid that if he had made the film himself, he might not be as good as Zhou Yan.
With Zuo Le's ability, "The Sewing Machine Band" could be turned into a good commercial music movie, but Zhou Yan is different. He loves rock and roll, so he can not only make the plot well, but also inspire the hidden soul of the movie.
It may be a bit mysterious to say this, but it can be understood in another way.
The movie "The Sewing Machine Band" is superficially a comedy, but it actually takes an emotional route.
As for Zuo Le's grasp of rock and roll emotions, he is not as good as Zhou Yan, so he feels that Zhou Yan is more suitable for these two movies than him.
………
Don't look at the big fanfare of Shanhe to form alliances and cooperation with outside film companies, and spend a lot of money to invest in outside movies.
But in the minds of Zuo Le and Shanhe's senior executives, these are minor projects, and the most important purpose of the investment is to open up Shanhe's presence in the film industry.
It is naturally better to make a fortune, but Zuo Le doesn't care if he makes no money or even loses money. What he really values is the film project dominated by Shanhe.
The two films "Shameful Iron Fist" and "Sewing Machine Band" were Shanhe Film's first overseas expansion efforts.
If it succeeds, in the future, Zuo Le will not have to bear all the hardships of Shanhe Film by himself.
At the same time, this will also allow Sunward to explore a feasible film production model, which will greatly promote Sunward's future development in the film industry.
It can be said that as long as these two movies are successful, even if all other investment projects are lost, Zuo Le will not feel distressed at all.
After completing the film cooperation negotiations, Zuo Le returned to the crew of "The Legend of Zhen Huan".
But despite my busy schedule, I have to take some time from time to time to communicate with directors Yan Mo and Zhou Yan to check on the progress.
When the movie starts shooting in the future, Zuo Le will probably have to visit the two crews to inspect the specific work.
It can be seen from this that the importance of the two movies "Shameful Iron Fist" and "Sewing Machine Band" to Shanhe is almost held in Zuo Le's heart...
After talking about the movie, let’s briefly talk about the Shanhe drama.
This year's Spring Festival, "The Richest Man in Xihong City" was a hit in the Lunar New Year season, and "Family with Children 7" also performed well.
After seven years of accumulation, "Family with Children" has evolved into a national series. With a large group of die-hard fans, it has become the dominant TV series in the Spring Festival.
In recent years, unless a hit drama appears, "Family with Children" will firmly occupy the C position among TV dramas during the Spring Festival.
This year "Family with Children 7" is lucky. There are no strong TV series during the same period. The only threat is CCTV's new year drama.
Unfortunately, it failed to defeat "Family with Children 7" in the end and ranked in the top spot with a slight disadvantage.
This is the first time that the "Family with Children" series has won the Spring Festival championship. Both the crew and the outside audience have become accustomed to it.
Instead of worrying about this, let's imagine next year's "Family with Children 8".
In "Family with Children 7", Zuo Yangyang, who has just begun to fall in love, has a crush on Xiaoxue.
Can these two childhood sweethearts, who are regarded as the CPs of [Yangchun Baixue] by countless drama fans, finally come together?
With his sharp mind and sports skills, Liu Xing was spotted by a teacher at the police academy and was deliberately recruited.
Of course this little skinny monkey will become a people's policeman?
After seven soy sauces, Xiao Yu finally broke out and was valued by a well-known painter. He was accepted as a disciple and went to Italy to study for half a year.
What will happen when Xiaoyu comes back from studying?
Now in the "Family with Children" series, the plot has developed and become less important. The audience has already developed feelings for the characters. As long as it is still the story of the five members of the Xia family, they are willing to keep following it.
Zuo Le's idea back then has now passed the most difficult moment, and countless viewers have accumulated deep feelings for the "Family with Children" series.
Even if the quality of the plot drops in the future, there will still be a large number of die-hard viewers willing to support it.
Five generations living under one roof may really be more than just a joke...