Chapter 129 I didn't expect Li Qian to be such a person
At Guangxian Media, Wang Changtian summoned company executives and several managers from its subsidiary Guangxian Pictures to hold a meeting to summarize Guangxian's film business in the past year.
Last year was Guangxian's second year in the film industry. Although there were only three movies in the whole year: "The Iron Triangle", "The Fuse", and "Frequency of Life and Death", the profits were pitiful, and the first two movies even lost money.
"Frequency of Life and Death" only made more than 6 million, but money was still secondary. At the beginning, Wang Changtian didn't plan to make money. The main reason was to open up Guangxian's terrestrial distribution channels.
Releasing a movie with a box office of over 100 million gives you the capital to convince theaters and the trust of other producers.
In the movie industry, movies that can sell at the box office are the truth!
The personal connections that have been painstakingly cultivated for many years are all empty in the face of interests.
No matter how strong Bernard and Huayang's distribution capabilities are, and how good they are with theaters and theater chains, they can't compare to having Zhang Yimou in New Picture.
When it comes to Zhang Yimou's movies, theaters will definitely vote with their feet and give him priority in scheduling films, not Huayang or Bernard.
Even though Zhang Weiping has offended all the theater chains, and dozens of domestic theater chain companies wish for Zhang Weiping's death, they still have to pay for the film arrangement.
In the past two years, Guangxian has not released a single film except "Frequency of Life and Death".
However, after releasing a movie with a box office of over 100 million, the situation is completely different.
Even if "Frequency of Life and Death" is a big hit mainly because the movie is really good, it is a fact that Guangxian is the distributor.
After summarizing last year's film business, Zhang Zhao sounded much more excited when talking about this year.
"Currently, we have obtained the mainland distribution rights for three Hong Kong films: "The Bid", "Search", and "The Witness", one each from Uni Asia and Yinghuang, and one from Wharf Group and Huayang Investment, including
"Jaws 2", "127" Hours, and Li Qian's new movie, today we have at least five independently released movies, plus the co-released "Women Are Not Bad" and "Deep Sea", this year we have
The publishing business has reached half that of Bernard!”
Bernard is the largest private film distribution company in China. In the third year, Guangxian's distribution business reached half of Bernard's. This development speed is incredible.
Other executives couldn't help but smile on their faces. Guangxian had already ranked first in the private sector in the field of TV program production, and it was too difficult to break through, so he expanded his film business.
Now it seems that this decision is correct!
Wang Changtian smiled and said, "Although Bernard has released many blockbusters this year, the box office of "Beautiful Country" is estimated to be only 40 million, "Three Kingdoms Sees the Dragon Disarms" is difficult to break 100 million, "Hold the Call" is estimated to be 30 to 40 million, and "
"Red Cliff" is mainly produced by China Film and Television, distributed by Chengtian, and Xu Ke's two films "Women Are Not Bad" and "Season" are probably not much higher at the box office."
Through this period of analysis, even Wang Changtian, who doesn't know much about movies, can estimate the approximate box office of a movie.
There are no famous directors or top stars of Jet Li's level in big productions. Except for Jay Chou's "Slam Dunk", none has a box office of over 100 million.
Of course, the director of "Three Kingdoms" is not a famous director. It only stars Andy Lau and Hong Jinbao. It is estimated to be about the same as Andy Lau's "Ink Attack" the year before last, which cost about 70 to 80 million.
A Hong Kong movie like "Hold the Call" is probably about the same as "The Fuse" and "Better Days", with a salary of between 30 million and 10 million.
For a superstar of Andy Lau's level, the box office is generally 70 to 80 million, so there is a certain guarantee, but that's it.
As for Hong Kong movies starring two or three well-known Hong Kong stars, the better ones only cost about 30 million.
This pattern, looking at the box office situation in the past five years, is almost the same, except for "Dragon Tiger Gate" by Donnie Yen + Xie Tingfeng, which sold 50 million.
Numbers don't lie, and even if there are exceptions, they are only isolated cases.
Ordinary Hong Kong films no longer have much competitiveness. The film remuneration is high, the cost is high, and the box office is just that.
The cost of "The Fuse" was 60 million, and the box office was 30 million. The cost of "A Better Man" was as high as 80 million, and the box office was also 30 million.
This is a movie that has a good reputation among audiences, but other movies have even lower box office.
However, mainland movies are even worse. Among the top 50 movies at the box office last year, apart from imported movies and movies starring actors from Hong Kong, there were only "Assembly", "Frequency of Life and Death", "Call Transfer" and "The Sun Also Rises"
, "Love Call Forward", "Apple" and so on.
Horrible.
However, Guangxian has Li Qian, and the box office of "Frequency of Life and Death" has exceeded 100 million. Wang Changtian's minimum goal for his second movie has naturally been raised to 100 million!
In the past few years, directors whose box office has exceeded 100 million, except for those like "Fearless" who mainly relied on the performance of their actors, have never had a second film with a box office less than 100 million!
Ma Xiaogang, Zhang Yimou, and Zhou Xingchi all have higher box office than the previous one. As for whether Cheng Kai will be an exception, it depends on this year's Lunar New Year release.
The box office appeal of directors who make blockbuster movies is no less powerful than that of superstars.
This is Li Qian's second movie with a box office of over 100 million. "Jaws: The Revenge" is as popular as the first one. Even if I don't believe in the new director, I still expect it to be 50 million.
Together with the other three independently released Hong Kong films, this year's Guangxian Media's independently released movies will also have a guaranteed box office of 200 million!
This result is enough for Guangxian to enter the top five private film and television companies!
The future is bright and the meeting ended happily.
After the meeting ended, Wang Changtian called Zhang to stop and gave him a few more instructions.
"Old Zhang, you can go to Li Qian's studio later and ask him about the details of his movie. Also, remind him when the contract will be signed."
Wang Changtian was completely confused about the title "Moon". Although he said not to interfere, he couldn't know everything.
"I see."
Zhang Zhao nodded and took a few people to Li Qian's studio. On today's audition day, Li Qian asked him to bring some makeup artists to help.
A group of people arrived at Li Qian's studio. The door was open and people were sent to the two crews. There was no one in the studio.
However, after entering, Zhang Zhao suddenly found a young girl with short hair playing with a camera there.
I've never seen this person before.
"Who are you?"
Hearing the sound, the short-haired girl looked back, holding a small brush in her hand.
"This is Mr. Zhang, Director Li is in the office. I'm Su Lun, Director Li's new executive director."
Is Li Qian looking for execution?
Zhang Zhao was slightly stunned. Didn't Li Qian ask him to send out a recruitment announcement more than a week ago? He selected more than 20 people for Li Qian to choose from. In the end, none of them liked him. Why did he suddenly recruit another executive?
Is it possible?
Unexpectedly, Li Qian was not exempt from the vulgarity.
When he thought of this, Zhang Zhao took a closer look at the girl. She had flat shoes, loose casual pants, and a sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up. She had no jewelry on her body, and she didn't have much makeup on her face.
A short hair.
Tsk tsk...
I didn't expect Li Qian to be so good at this. I didn't expect... I didn't expect it.
As a man, Zhang Zhao knew what was going on without even using his brain to think.
It's true that Li Qian lacked an executive director. His previous executive, Qi Yukun, went to film "Jaws: The Revenge." Here, Guang Xian was asked to find an executive, and he secretly found another girl to bring to the crew.
I understand, after all, filming is such a boring thing, and a filming lasts at least a month or two, so there is a need.
However, there are a lot of beautiful actresses out there. Although this girl is pretty good-looking, her dress and makeup are too casual, and she has short hair.
short hair?
Do you just like this one?
With these random thoughts in his mind, Zhang Zhao came to Li Qian's office, knocked on the door and went in, showing an ambiguous smile.
"Director Li is doing well recently."
"Mr. Zhang is here."
Li Qian smiled and asked him to sit down.
But why do you laugh so cheaply?
"Director Li, that one outside?" Zhang Zhao asked tentatively.
"Her name is Su Lun. She is a third-year student in the Department of Directing at the Chinese Theater Academy. The studio is short of people."
Seeing his appearance, as a man, Li Qian didn't know what he was thinking.
"I have a girlfriend, Mr. Zhang doesn't know about it, and I still prefer long hair."
Zhang Zhao smiled and looked like he understood.
You know a hammer!
Li Qian didn't explain anything. Successful directors are like this. Whenever a young girl who is not ugly appears around her, there will always be people who are suspicious.
Zhang Zhao didn't mention this again. It was all a private matter. He got down to business and asked Li Qian about the details of his new film.
Li Qian said, "I was about to tell Mr. Zhang that it is a science fiction film, but it has a single scene, a single cast, and the cost is not high. It can be shot directly at the Huairou Film and Television Base. There are only a few scenes in the exterior. It is estimated that if it is officially shot, one
We should be able to finish filming in the early months of the month, but the early preparation and post-production special effects will take some time. After all, it is a science fiction film, so it needs to be a little more rigorous."
A low-budget science fiction film, all interior drama.
Zhang Zhao also had an idea and said with a smile, "I'm afraid only Director Li can make science fiction films in China. In the future, we will have our own domestic science fiction films, and the domestic film market will have a new genre."
Li Qian shook his head, "The big scenes of a small-budget science fiction film are definitely not comparable to those of Hollywood blockbusters."
After chatting for a while, Li Qian also left the office and saw Su Lun still cleaning the camera.
"Have you finished cleaning up?"
"It's ready." Su Lun said and quickly put down the small brush.
"After loading the film, check to see if the lock is tight. Be careful with this old model of film machine, or put a piece of tape on it. Also check the film for scratches when loading it."
"I understand, Director Li."
Su Lun responded, trotted to the warehouse, and took out a plate of film.
Li Qian didn't check whether she knew how to do it. He read Su Lun's resume in the morning. Not to mention, although he was only a junior student, he had a lot of experience.
I was a freshman at Agricultural University in 2001. That year, "Big Shot" was filming near Agricultural University, and I got the opportunity to work on the crew, but the school refused to approve my three-month leave.
This girl was 17 years old at the time, so she dropped out of school and went to work on the set of "Big Shot" for three months.
During those three years, I have been working in Ma Xiaogang's studio, working in almost all the grassroots positions on the crew, and even served as an assistant to the actors on the crew.
Moreover, he also joined a band as a bassist and performed around the capital to earn living expenses.
There are quite a lot of musicians in the film and television industry. In the past, Huang Bo and Zhou Xun were not always bar residents.
In 2005, I was admitted to the Department of Directing of Chinese Drama. In 2006, I was filming music videos while studying. In the second semester of my junior year this year, I am in the same year as Li Qian, both born in 1984.
This experience was much more exciting than that of Li Qian, who spent a year filming in his junior year and went to Hengdian for a year in his senior year.
Li Qian dared to drop out of school at the age of 17 when he was just a freshman in college. Li Qian didn't dare to do this. His parents would be so angry that they would have a heart attack and their legs would be broken even if they went back.
...
It didn't take long before the actors for today's audition arrived on time.
Chen Kun, Liu Ye, Duan Yihong, Fu Dalong, Pan Yueming, Zhu Feng, Liao Fan, Huang Bo
There are only eight actors today. To be honest, it is difficult to choose because the roles in the movie do not have a specific position. The most important thing is the effect of one person playing two roles in the camera.
Eight actors arrived at about the same time, plus their managers, and crowded into the studio conference room. You looked at me, I looked at you, all trying to get some other information from each other's eyes.
Li Qian just sent an email inviting him to audition, and there was no other information.
Generally, the director has to audition in person, and the first character to be auditioned is mostly the male lead, so everyone knows what the role is.
Li Qian smiled and said hello, "It's quite early for everyone to arrive."
"Hello, Director Li." Everyone said quickly.
"Then let's stop talking nonsense. This is your script. Read it first. When it's over, prepare to put on makeup."
Li Qian handed them an A4 piece of paper. He didn't give them a complete script, just a rough character analysis, clones No. 5 and 6, and a short plot of the two clones sharing the same screen.
This audition is not mainly about acting skills, there is no shortage of these things.
As long as the makeup is used to play two characters with different personalities and temperaments but the same appearance, the effect in the camera can satisfy Li Qian.
As for how to be considered satisfied, that depends on it. Li Qian doesn’t know what the specific standard is yet.
They are all professional actors, and they are all over thirty years old. As long as the roles are suitable, there is no need to worry about acting skills.
Unlike Li Qian who has many movies and TV dramas in his mind, not to mention others, he doesn't even have the most basic acting skills of an actor.
For an actor, acting skills are the most basic thing, even if you don't have to be an actor.
Have you ever seen a chef who doesn’t know how to cook?
Even Fan Binbin, who is in the spotlight all day long, and Xie Tingfeng, who is criticized for being cool, their acting skills are actually not bad.
As for the movies in my memory, I remember there was a science fiction movie where Shu Qi was reciting her lines the whole time. Her acting skills were not visible at all, and I don’t know how she got to that point.
The same goes for the male protagonist. If you want to give a score, it can only be 0 points.
In such a big-budget science fiction film, the leading actors and actresses are acting like idiots. I don’t know what the investors and director think.
Even if he is a relative of the investor, he cannot afford to lose like this with hundreds of millions of dollars.
Or did the audience's tastes change by then and this kind of performance was enough?