Chapter 55 Find Someone Who Understands

Chapter 55 Find Someone Who Understands

Chapter 55 Find Someone Who Understands

Huayi Brothers, Da Wang's office

My younger brother Wang Zhonglei pushed the door open and walked in: "Brother, there is news about Zhang Chen's new film. The new film is expected to start shooting in October, but it is not the sequel to "Dark Invasion", but a monster movie about sharks."

"Ah? Not Dark Raid 2? Where did you get the news?"

"Binbin told me that the heroine of the new film has been decided, and it's her."

After all, Fan Binbin is a Huayi employee. Even if Wang Jinghua and Huayi are having an unpleasant experience, the Wang brothers must know about this matter.

Wang Zhongjun didn't say anything and seemed to be thinking. Wang Zhonglei knew what he was thinking about.

They tried to recruit Zhang Chen before, but were politely rejected.

But they also mentioned investing in new films. After all, the sequel to a hit film is likely to continue to sell well, and Huayi also wants to get a piece of the pie.

At that time, Zhang Chen did not explicitly refuse.

But now the subject matter of the film has suddenly changed and turned into a monster movie, which makes people feel uneasy.

There is no guarantee that new movies will continue to sell well.

"Brother, then shall we still vote?"

"Vote, you must vote, just think of it as making friends."

This is basically the working style of all film and television companies in the circle. After all, excellent directors are a scarce resource. In order to make friends with excellent directors, you basically have to spend money.

Even if they know they will lose money, they will still smash it, just to gain favor.

This is the case with Huayi owned by the Wang brothers, Bona owned by Yu Dong, and even Emperor Entertainment Group in Hong Kong.

……

As for Zhang Chen, he asked Teacher Fu to help with the script filing this time. Generally, the review period for movie filing is about 20 working days, but it will be much faster if you have an acquaintance to say hello.

Teacher Fu is very interested in Zhang Chen’s new film. It is a monster movie about sharks. There are many such movies, but it is the first of its kind in China.

This student of his is really bold in experimenting, and the subjects he shoots every time are new in China.

The teacher from the acting department even asked him to help recommend actors, but after inquiring, he found out that the film had surprisingly few actors, with only one female lead and four supporting roles.

The candidate for the female lead has already been decided, it is Fan Binbin.

In this regard, although the teachers of the Performance Department regretted that they took action too late, they were still relieved that at least the protagonist of Zhang Chen’s new movie did not use an actor from the Central Academy of Drama.

These directors of Beijing Film Academy have this bad tradition. Although they are graduates of Beijing Film Academy, they like to use actors from rival schools, which gives the acting department of Beijing Film Academy a slap in the face.

As the old saying goes, it is easier to get things done if you have someone in the court.

Sure enough, with acquaintances, the review process is fast.

The script was approved less than a week after it was submitted, the film was successfully filed, and the script also passed review.

Then Zhang Chen’s phone was bombarded with calls. Some of the calls came from acquaintances he had known before, as well as some film and television companies he had never contacted before. He didn’t know where they got the phone number from.

"Well, the film has just been successfully registered, but the budget has not yet been made..."

"Yes, I'm Zhang Chen. We don't lack funds for the time being. I'll contact you if I need anything..."

"Hello, hello, we are still in the preparation stage..."

"Don't worry, we had a pleasant cooperation last time, and of course we will continue to cooperate this time."

"Well, sorry, the lead actor has already been decided. We will work together again next time..."

Zhang Chen was overwhelmed by the phone call. After he hung up, he realized that Teacher Fu was looking at him with a smile.

"Tsk tsk tsk, when others want to make a movie, they beg for investment, but you are just trying to give money to them, as if you are afraid that you will not accept it. This new director is different."

"Teacher, please stop making sarcastic remarks here." This was the first time in Zhang Chen's life that he had experienced such a situation and he felt overwhelmed.

Teacher Fu stopped joking with the students and prepared to give them some pointers: "Isn't it strange where they heard the news from?"

Zhang Chen's eyes lit up: "Teacher, do you know? Tell me~"

This was indeed something that puzzled him.

"What's so strange about this? Any film and television company of a certain size has spies in the censorship agency. The specific content of the movie script sent for review may not be leaked, but they will definitely know the name and subject matter. You may not even know that your movie has passed the review, but they have already received the news. The same is true for the review before the movie is released, that is, the application for the Dragon Mark. Whether the movie is good or not, and what the quality is like, someone will pass the news to the bosses of various film companies. Otherwise, how can they schedule the film and how can they avoid those possible competitors? That's all money."

After Teacher Fu said this, Zhang Chen finally understood the whole thing.

It seems that the underworld is not only between drug dealers and police, but also involves people from all walks of life.

In his previous life, he knew that the two giants in the electrical appliance retail industry, Gome and Suning, had undercover agents in each other's ranks.

Whenever Gome plans to hold an event, Suning will know about it as soon as the plan is made.

It’s similar on Suning’s side, with both sides focusing on two-way transparency.

"Then teacher, what do you think I should do now?" Zhang Chen asked humbly.

"What are you struggling with?"

“All the big guys at the celebration party are willing to invest in the sequel to The Darkness, but I don’t want to give away too much of the share. The Shallows is also a low-budget film, which I can fully afford.

For his debut film "Dark Invasion", Zhang Chen only got 40% of the profits, but still received more than 1000 million.

For the second film, “The Shallows”, he definitely wants to have the whole thing to himself.

Isn't he crazy to give away the money that is sure to be earned?

Now he suddenly understood Zhang Weiping a little bit, otherwise why would Zhang Weiping like to eat alone so much? It must be delicious.

"Well, I'll set up a party tomorrow and find someone who understands to talk to you properly."

"That's great."

"Donglaishun, please reserve a table. The person I'm looking for loves to eat shabu-shabu."

The next day, Wangfujing, Donglaishun Main Store
There is a big sign at the entrance, which says "Donlaishun Restaurant", and below it is a line of small characters, "A time-honored Chinese brand, founded in 1903".

"One guest~~"

There was a shout at the door, the old Beijing restaurant was full of this style, someone called out the name. Dong Jianqiang walked in, Teacher Fu and Zhang Chen smiled and stood up to greet him.

Only then did Zhang Chen realize that Dong Jianqiang was the wise man that Teacher Fu had mentioned. This guy had been promoted and was now the head of the distribution department of Enlight Pictures. It seemed that Teacher Fu had a good relationship with him and knew that he liked to eat at Donglaishun.

The three of them exchanged greetings and sat down.

Donglaishun’s copper hotpot was prepared in advance, and the food was served shortly after they placed the order.

The old Beijing copper hotpot requires lubricating the pot first. Mr. Fu is from Beijing and is very skilled in making it.

Pour the sheep tail oil into the pot to lubricate it. Under the impact of high temperature, the aroma of the oil diffused. Zhang Chen brought a bottle of Erguotou and filled it for the two of them, and raised his glass first.

"Brother Dong, today's meal is to celebrate your promotion to director. I wish you great success in your work in the future..."

"Director Zhang, you're too polite. Actually, I have to thank you. If your film "The Dark Invasion" hadn't been a big hit, I wouldn't have gotten the position of director."

"That's because you have a good vision, Brother Dong. We can achieve mutual success."

"Come on, let's go together~"

"Let's go~"

"Cheers~"

The three of them raised their glasses and drank together. As the wine went down their throats, their faces turned red with excitement and they became more interested in talking.

No one gets straight to the point when discussing things, so the three of them just started talking about local customs and other things.

People who work in publishing have traveled far and wide and have broad knowledge. Teacher Fu is also a talkative person with a wide range of friends. Zhang Chen has lived two lives and has some knowledge. The three of them talk nonsense about everything under the sun, which is not boring at all.

After the lamb tail oil had almost moistened the pot, the three of them started eating.

Tofu, cabbage, and hand-cut meat, the three standard ingredients of a copper hotpot, were put into the pot one by one, topped with prepared sesame paste and chili oil. The three people ate while sweating.

Donglaishun’s hand-cut meat is very unique. After diners place an order, they can see the chef using a big knife to cut the meat. This is a technical job that ordinary people simply cannot do.

After three rounds of drinks, the atmosphere was almost right and it was time to talk about business.

(End of this chapter)