Early in the morning, a small car suddenly stopped at the door of Li Qian's studio not far away.
Chengliang's bald head got out of the driver's seat, and a young man got out of the passenger's seat, holding a folder in his hand.
The bald man said to the young man, "Old Yang, it will be up to you later."
"Well, don't worry, Brother Zheng." The young man responded, but he didn't seem to be very talkative.
With this character, Xu Zheng, the bald man, shook his head secretly.
Three months ago, Xu Zheng accidentally saw the script "Nightclub" from a friend and felt that the role of the male protagonist He Sanshui was very suitable for him. After careful inquiry, he got in touch with the script creator Yang Qing.
But more than three months later, Yang Qing still has not found an investor willing to invest in this movie, even if it only costs two to three million.
Only later did he learn that Yang Qing was not like others, taking the script and planning book and actively going from house to house to persuade film companies to invest.
The script of "Nightclub" has been written for more than half a year. The only self-promotion Yang Qing did was to send the script one by one to the mailboxes of various film and television companies, as well as to the mailboxes of some producers.
Even if it is just a script, without leaving any words, it just means that investment is needed. Send the script to others and wait for a response.
Obviously, no company or producer liked this script.
It's strange for a newcomer who never pitches a script to get investment.
But Xu Zheng really liked this beauty. So in the past few months, he went back and forth to various companies to attract investment for Yang Qing.
There is probably no actor like me in this world.
Xu Zheng sighed secretly. As an actor, when he worries about film investment, he runs companies and meets more producers than directors.
With Yang Qing's aloof character, every time he introduced him to investors, there was no success, and Xu Zheng almost gave up any hope.
I hope Li Qian can be discerning this time and see the merits of this script.
Being able to invest in movies for two newcomers who have never studied directing, and both of them are box office hits, at least shows that Li Qian has an excellent vision, and as a director, what he should value most is the project itself.
I came to the studio, explained my identity and purpose, and was taken to a conference room.
There were already two people waiting inside, presumably with the same purpose as them.
As soon as they came in, the two people inside saw Xu Zheng's bald head and recognized him at a glance.
"Hello, Mr. Xu, we are screenwriters from Shengtang Studio."
Xu Zheng is somewhat famous in the industry, starring in TV series that are popular across the country, and he also has works on the big screen.
Even though they are about the same age, the young screenwriters in their small studio still have to address themselves as "teacher" when they meet.
The word teacher is very common in the entertainment industry.
Any actor who is more famous than you cannot be called by his or her name, and it is not easy to call him brother or uncle. It is most appropriate to call him teacher.
"Hello."
Xu Zheng also greeted him with a smile. That smiling face couldn't be more familiar.
However, before they could exchange a word, the door of the conference room was pushed open.
Li Qian walked in with two folders in his hands.
"Director Li."
The four people stood up quickly. This was a director who had won a box office of 100 million yuan. Even if he was younger than them, he still had to lower his profile, not to mention that they were looking for investment today.
Perhaps, it is more appropriate to ask for investment. The one who provides the money these days is dad.
"Everyone, please sit down."
Li Qian smiled and motioned for them all to sit down, and he also sat down at the top.
The four of them also introduced themselves. Xu Zheng, needless to say, if you randomly pick ten passers-by on the street, at least six or seven of them will know him.
Brother Pig eight years ago was famous all over the country.
Yang Qing, the screenwriter of "Nightclub", is a graduate of the Directing Department of the Central Academy of Drama. He has experience as a screenwriter and assistant director, although he is only an assistant director.
Shengtang Studio, the screenwriter of "People on the Road", came from the creative director Shi Chenyun, and another screenwriter Tian Yusheng who participated in the creation of the script.
One of them graduated from the Chinese Theater Director Department, and the other graduated from the Chinese Theater Literature Department.
"You are all top Chinese opera students. I have read your scripts carefully. As small-budget comedies, they all have their own merits. According to the email, "People on the Road" requires an investment of 8 million, and "Nightclub"
Is it 3 million?" Li Qian asked with a smile.
"Uh...right."
"Yes, Director Li."
Li Qian was talking about two movies at the same time, which made the four of them a little confused. They had never encountered such a thing before.
However, they all answered truthfully that the cost was enough to meet their needs.
After all, one advantage of small-budget movies is that the cost is low enough.
"Okay, if there's no problem, just sign the contract."
Li Qian directly handed over the two folders without making any fuss.
Li Qian still has memories of these two movies. In fact, he was deeply impressed by domestic comedies, and he used to like this genre.
"People on the Road" tells the story of the ironic scenes that happened between the big boss and the milkmaid during the Spring Festival transportation.
As a comedy, from planes, trains to buses, ferries, and trucks, the two combinations are constantly embarrassed along the way, and it definitely achieves a funny effect.
Moreover, Xu Zheng and Wang Baoqiang, two actors with very strong comedy talents, come together, and the effect is 1+1>2, which is called a golden combination.
And along the way, the various aspects of life, the indifferent capitalist was influenced by the simple milking worker, slowly changed, found himself again, and gained a touch of warmth.
This is extremely rare in domestic comedies.
Today's comedies, especially low-budget comedies, are all in a funny style.
It's more of a comedy than a comedy.
"Nightclub" is another style of comedy, telling the story of a ridiculous robbery in a convenience store late at night.
Deliberately setting the characters into facial makeup-type personalities weakens the narrative logic and complexity, but it can highlight the conflicts between the characters.
The shrewd and practical female salesperson, the cowardly and cowardly male salesperson, the sarcastic boss lady, Dasha Tire’s stupidity... everyone has a labeling symbol.
The only slightly more complicated male protagonist, a down-and-out migrant worker who is headstrong but also has clear principles.
The simpler it is, the less effortful it is to watch and the more direct it is.
For comedy, character labeling is a creative style that mainly relies on the direct collision of characters' personalities and relationships to create jokes. This is very different from "People on the Road".
This style has the strongest funny effect, but different styles have their own advantages and disadvantages.
Movies have memories, and there is no problem in selling them at the box office, so Li Qian will be more direct.
However, the four of them were a little confused by this direct response.
Is that all?
This was different from what they imagined. They just introduced themselves and signed the contract directly without asking a single question.
A lot of prepared analysis was all in vain.
Even Yang Qing, who has an arrogant personality and is not very good at going to camps, feels strange about this.
Even if the cost is only 3 million, it is not a small amount of money. The film and television companies and producers I have seen before are as cautious as those who invest tens of millions in large-scale productions.
"Do you have any other questions?"
Seeing that they didn't sign, Li Qian asked.
It's okay to ask, but this...
Although it felt a little smooth, Li Qian took a look at the script and gave them the tens of millions.
However, I don’t know what to say. I can’t let Li Qian hesitate again and again before deciding to invest.
In the past, I wished that investors would not even think about investing in him, but some people are so happy, but they feel that something is wrong.
Li Qian looked at them and smiled, "I've read the script and the plan. Is there anything else I can add?"
This is really not the case, that is, the plan is to tell the planning case in a convincing way, to deceive... No way, so that Li Qian is willing to invest.
"Then why are you hesitating? Just be direct. There is no need to go through so many twists and turns. Just sign."
Several people thought the same thing. It was very difficult to invest these days, so they all subconsciously thought that it would take a lot of effort to attract investment. After seeing such a direct Li Qian, they were not used to it.
Yang Qing also signed his name on the contract, but Shi Chenyun, the creative director of Shengtang, did not sign. He said a little embarrassedly.
"Director Li, we are a screenwriting studio and we want to sell scripts."
This is a bit embarrassing.
"Aren't you here for investment?"
"We don't have a director, so we can't make a movie ourselves."
"My advertisement made it very clear, right? I'm looking for high-quality film projects. So what's going on with your planning and the 8 million cost you quoted me?"
"Our scripts will be accompanied by a planning plan. The cost is the cost of the movie that you stated in the email, so..."
"So you are here to sell scripts?"
"...Yes."
"Didn't you graduate from the directing department?"
"I graduated from the directing department, but I'm just a screenwriter. I can't do the job of a director."
Li Qian was also speechless. A graduate of the directing department of the best art academy in China, he could only write scripts but not make films.
Where will I go to find the director at this time and a half?
Shi Chenyun and Tian Yusheng were also a little embarrassed. They wanted a complete project, but they only had one script.
This left Li Qian looking for a director, Qi Yukun and Guo Fan going to school, and Su Lun busy with "Cohabitation in Time and Space".
It's not that easy to find a capable director, and it's not easy to find a director.
Li Qian doesn't know who directed the original version, otherwise it would be simple.
Even now, we don’t even have a clue as to who produced high-level commercial war movies such as "The Wandering Earth", a domestically produced science fiction film, the "Wolf Warrior" series, and "Operation Red Sea".
These domestic directors have made guesses all over the place, but they can't figure out who can make this new type of blockbuster.
There is no information about the movie in the memories in my mind. I don’t know the names of the director and actors. If I don’t know many of the actors, I don’t know who they are.
But it was indeed a good film, so Li Qian was still willing to accept it, and bought it for 100,000 yuan.
A movie script by an unknown domestic screenwriter costs between RMB 10,000 and RMB 50,000, but the price of such a film produced by a studio is a little higher than that of a single wild screenwriter.
There is nothing to say about twenty or thirty thousand yuan, so I just quoted the round figure of one hundred thousand yuan.
Shi Chenyun and Tian Yusheng are also very satisfied with the price, which has exceeded their expectations.
Moreover, selling to Li Qian is much better than selling to other companies. The two previous movies by Qi Yukun and Guo Fan were box office hits. If "The Journey" can also be a hit this time, it will be very good for their studio's reputation.
The improvement is huge.
After signing the contract, they left, and preparations for "Nightclub" could officially begin.
For the film "The Road to Misfortune", Li Qian had to find a director, which was really troublesome.
But there is no rush. The movie involves the Spring Festival travel season, so it will be released just in time for the Spring Festival, which is still a year and a half away.
...
Time passes day by day, and the vigorous summer season is over. "Jaws: The Revenge" ended with a box office of 130 million, while the total box office of "127 Hours" was fixed at 34 million.
The impact of the Olympic Games on the film market is still great, and "Red Cliff" barely exceeded 300 million.
Come September, all the post-production of "Moon" has been completed, and the samples are sent to photoelectric review.
In the middle of the year, the confusing Lunar New Year schedule has gradually become clearer. First, "If You Are the One" is scheduled for December 28, "Mei Lanfang" is scheduled for December 5, "Red Cliff" is scheduled for January 1 next year, and "Crazy Racing"
It is scheduled to be released on January 20th.
Three famous directors and one potential new star have all confirmed their schedules. They are all separated by at least ten days and a half, so they have a good understanding of each other.
Then there are not many choices left for Li Qian. In January, "Red Cliff" and "Crazy Racing" will be released in the middle of the month, which is definitely not a good day.
"Mei Lanfang" and "If You Are the One" occupy the beginning and end of December, with a gap of 23 days.
If it were to be released in the middle, two blockbusters would be released within ten days.
In particular, "Ip Man" is also scheduled to be released on December 12th, and Xu Ke's "Women Are Not Bad" is scheduled to be released on December 11th.
The director of "Women Are Not Bad" is Xu Ke, but "Ip Man" is not simple. Li Qian remembers that this film is not just an action movie. It only involves national hatred, which will easily arouse the resonance of the audience.
If it were also placed in early December, we would have to face the siege of these three movies first, and then face "If You Are the One" 20 days later, which would be too stressful.
It's not that I'm afraid of these two movies. The market for action movies has reached 100 million, and "Mei Lanfang" is probably about the same.
However, "Mei Lanfang" is a major project of the Ministry of Culture, and China Film Group will certainly give its full support in arranging the film.
After much thought, I decided to release it on Thursday, November 27th, one week earlier than "Mei Lanfang", two weeks earlier than "Ip Man", and one month earlier than "If You Are the One".
Someone once said that strategically, you should despise the enemy, but tactically, you should still pay attention to every opponent!
As the last heavyweight film in the Lunar New Year festival, "Moon" is scheduled to be released and a press conference will be held.
It can also be regarded as the first press conference since the filming of the movie. It is a warm-up in advance and also announces to the industry that Li Qian will participate in the Lunar New Year film.
The mysterious sci-fi movie "Moon" is finally going to have a press conference. After receiving the news, the media immediately sent out their best troops to unveil the mystery of the movie and see what kind of movie it is.
The industry is also paying attention to when this last heavyweight movie will be released!