Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 517 The wind direction has changed
Every year, a large number of domestic filmmakers go to various international film festivals.

Cannes, Berlin and Venice are the top choices.

The routines of the three major ones are actually the same. They circle a group of directors and then award them awards, which is equivalent to cultivating them as their own people.

Then these directors will give back to the film festival after they have new works, forming a positive cycle.

However, Venice has fallen behind in the past two years because there were problems with its film trading market.

The main reason is that it is too close to the Toronto Film Festival, just a few days away, and the Toronto Film Festival became famous for film transactions.

Many filmmakers who participated in Venice ended up closing deals in Toronto, and over time, Venice became less popular.

Film is both art and business.

Only a few people can win awards at a film festival, and most filmmakers used to win awards just to sell or buy films.

One good thing about film festivals is that many films are shown for the first time.

In other words, you can find bargains here, which is why many small film producers are keen on film festivals.

The Weinstein brothers made their fortune by picking up bargains.

The Busan Film Festival is a second-tier film festival, and it has a clear positioning, which is to serve the Asian market.

Unlike the Shanghai Film Festival, which positioned itself as an international film festival from the start.

And then~
Awkward group~
When Zhang Chen arrived in Busan, Zheng Changsheng personally picked him up at the airport and brought a woman with him - Girls' Generation's Yoona.

"This is Miss Yuner. She's a fan of yours, Director Zhang. When she heard that you were coming to the film festival, she insisted on asking me to meet her..."

"Hello, Director Zhang Chen, I'm Lin Yuner, please give me your guidance~"

"Hello, Miss Yoona, you're welcome~"

After the introduction, Yoona Lin hugged Zhang Chen's arm obediently.

Zheng Changsheng squinted his eyes, meaning: "Brother, I'll give you some support."

Awesome! Awesome!

Before coming, Zheng Changsheng asked him if he had any female celebrities he particularly liked.

Zhang Chen directly reported Angelina Jolie's name.

Zheng Changsheng: "I asked you to say your name, not to make a wish. Say it again~"

“The whole of Korea?”

This time, Zheng Changsheng was more cautious. He was afraid that Zhang Chen would give him another impossible task, so he simply limited the scope: "Inside Girls' Generation~"

This time Zhang Chen mentioned Lin Yuna's name.

Don't say you haven't had any sexual fantasies~
A group like Girls' Generation is positioned as an object of sexual fantasy.

Don't deny it.

There are actually similar styles in Europe and the United States, such as Megan Fox in "Transformers", who all have a sexy style.

The culture in Asia is introverted, so when it was packaged, it was changed to a cute girl, but the essence is actually the same.

Zhang Chen was once a loser, and of course he also paid attention to Girls' Generation.

Many people like Seohyun, but he thinks Yoona is his type.

Sure enough, the food was served as soon as we got off the plane.

The group got into a stretched Lincoln. Zheng Changsheng arranged for Lin Yuna to sit in the passenger seat, while he and Zhang Chen sat in the back.

After the car started, the middle partition rose.

"She can't hear anything we say now~"

Zheng Changsheng smiled proudly.

"She will accompany you during your stay in Korea. You can ask her for anything..."

"any?"

"Anything. If you get tired of her, you can tell me and I'll arrange someone else for you."

Zhang Chen smiled: "I've heard that the status of Korean actresses is low, this is too low~"

Zheng Changsheng smiled even more: "SM company doesn't have any connections in the entertainment industry, and it wants to enter the entertainment industry, how can it be that easy?
This is an interview for them. If they perform well, I will give them a chance to appear in the Korean version of "Extreme Job". If they perform poorly, the door to the entertainment industry will be closed to them."

Although Korean idols are very popular in the country, SM company is not even a mainstream company in Korea.

They don't have any connections and can't get any decent resources. If they want to enter the entertainment industry, they can only use girl groups to pave the way.

What's more, they have no bargaining power in front of a giant like CJ Entertainment.

"Tomorrow's red carpet session, you will walk the red carpet with the crew of 'New World'. If you don't have a female companion, Miss Yoona is a good choice..."

Zhang Chen nodded, thinking that this was probably a sweet treat for the other party.

After arriving at the hotel and settling Zhang Chen down, Zheng Changsheng prepared to leave: "Ms. Yuner, Director Zhang's life for the next two days is now in your hands. By the way, Director Zhang has already agreed that you will be his female companion on tomorrow's red carpet..."

Sure enough, Lin Yoona looked delighted and kept bowing to express her gratitude.

"Okay, Director Zhang, I have something else to do, so I'll leave first. I'll send a car to pick you up before the opening ceremony tomorrow."

Zheng Changsheng's enthusiasm reminded him of the past, which was actually almost the same.

Eagle King treated him to seafood before, and this time Zheng Changsheng treated him to seaweed rice rolls, but he didn't know if the seaweed was fresh.

The entertainment industry is said to be a circle, but it is actually quite closed.

It is very difficult for an actress, who has no one to rely on, to enter this circle without anyone to guide her.

Without certain connections, you won’t even be able to find a way to follow the unspoken rules.

Zhang Chen thought of what Wang Jing had told him. When a new actress joins the crew, there will definitely be people who will have some ideas.

Generally they will test you first, appeal to your emotions, explain the benefits to you, and see your attitude.

If that's what you mean, then it's easy.

Just give you a little hint and the goods will be delivered to your door.

You don't have to take any responsibility after the job is done.

……

The night Zhang Chen first arrived in Busan, he ate seaweed rice rolls all night.

Work at night and make up for the sleep during the day.

Then he was woken up by a call from Zheng Changsheng.

"Brother, are you satisfied?"

“Five-star review!”

"Haha, thank you for your like, brother. But it's getting late now. Pack up and go pick up your car in a while."

An hour later, Zhang Chen arrived at the film festival.

The Busan Film Festival was previously held in Nampo-dong, but in 2004 it was moved to the Cinema Center in Haeundae. When Zhang Chen arrived, a 50-meter-long red carpet was laid at the entrance.

What part of the film festival is the most attractive?
In addition to the award ceremony, there is also the red carpet walk.

The film festival can increase its attention, the media and reporters can get materials, the stars can get exposure, and the sponsors can promote their products.

Win-win!

Zhang Chen walked the red carpet with the crew of "New World". He is the screenwriter and investor.

As soon as the crew appeared, the surroundings went crazy:

"Ah~ Oppa! Oppa!"

"Lee Jung-jae! Lee Jung-jae~"

"Hwang Jung Min, I love you~"

"Choi Min-sik, Choi Oppa~"

As soon as the "New World" team appeared on the stage, fans on both sides of the red carpet cheered, and some even wanted to break through the blockade.

Zhang Chen was a little surprised. He had participated in red carpet ceremonies in China, but he had never seen anything this crazy. He could not help but glance at Zheng Changsheng next to him and asked, "Did you arrange this?"

The latter smiled and shook his head: "Of course not, Zhengmin and his friends are very popular. You are a foreigner and don't understand. Let Yuner explain it to you~"

After Lin Yuner's explanation, Zhang Chen finally understood. Korea is actually similar to China, and there is a clear hierarchy in the entertainment industry.

Movie actors have the highest status, followed by TV actors, singers, idols, and finally comedians.

But unlike in China, there is very little cross-border development.

Actors are actors, singers are singers, everyone is running on their own track, and rarely crosses over.

The reason is that they can have enough food to eat on their own track.

The reason for domestic cross-border activities is that singers often do not make any money at all. If they want to make money, they can only transform into more advanced actors.

Although Korean actors do not need to cross borders, if they want to stay in the industry for a long time, they must constantly improve their acting skills.

So they have a lot of good actors.

This model is actually the same as Hollywood and is considered a mature business model.

Zhang Chen is quite envious of the male actors here.

Korean male actors are real box office draws.

"New World" grossed 1100 million viewers in South Korea, nearly 1000 billion won, equivalent to 6.1 million yuan, and was shortlisted for the New Wave section of the Busan Film Festival.

In the end, it is very likely that he will win both box office and awards. No wonder Zheng Changsheng is so proud of himself and even specially invited him to come.

I'm afraid CJ Entertainment made a fortune this time, so they want to continue cooperating with "Extreme Job".

As the group walked down the red carpet, the cheers from the back became even louder.

Korean local stars such as Lee Byung-hun, Choi Si-won, and Moon Geun-young appeared in the show and have many fans.

Along the way, not many people greeted Zhang Chen, and Lin Yoona was even less visible.

But even so, she was excited enough.

During the interview after the red carpet, someone finally asked him a question.

“What is Director Zhang Chen’s impression of the Busan Film Festival?”

The question was asked by a South Korean media.

Of course Zhang Chen had to say something nice: "Full of energy and vitality."

"Director Zhang, do you have a work that has been shortlisted this time?"

"Yes, I am the screenwriter of The New World and one of the investors. It was nominated for New Wave. At the same time, my new work Pacific Rim is also the opening film of this film festival. You will see it soon..."

He came here today to promote the movie, so of course he had to mention Pacific Rim.

“How did you come up with the story of “New World”?”

"New World" was released not long ago and has a huge influence in South Korea.

The leading actors Hwang Jung-min and Lee Jung-jae directly raised their status thanks to this movie.

"I have always been fascinated by Korean gangster culture, and I happened to watch "Infernal Affairs" during that time, so I came up with this idea..."

Zhang Chen is talking nonsense.

"'New World' is a co-production between China and South Korea. What do you think of co-productions?"

"South Korea and China are both in Asia, and there are still many similarities in culture. This is an advantage. I think it may be easier for China-South Korea co-production to find common ground than China-US co-production..."

Since it was just nice things to say, Zhang Chen just chose to say the nice things.

People have listed you as the opening film, so it has to mean something.

Zhang Chen answered all the questions in the affirmative, which made the Korean media very happy.

Even though Zhang Chen is not Korean, his status is there.

He is China's number one director and has directed such god-level works as "Taken".

"Taken" also had a high ratings in South Korea and had a huge influence.

After the red carpet, there is the opening ceremony, one of the parts of which is the playing of the opening film.

Some film festivals stipulate that the opening film can only be shown once, such as Cannes;

Some film festivals do not have such restrictions and films can still be shown during the screening process, but due to resource constraints, most films will not be shown too many times.

Like Cannes, the Busan Film Festival’s opening film can only be shown once.

Once is enough.

Zhang Chen believes that with the popularity of "Pacific Rim", it will definitely attract the attention of the media.

……

Domestic
Early in the morning, there was a knock on Dong Jianqiang's office, followed by a voice: "Manager Dong, the recent market reaction to Whiplash is a bit strange..."

"The reaction to Whiplash isn't right? Show it to me~"

Dong Jianqiang took the report and realized that what was wrong was not the box office but the public opinion.

After spending a minute reading the report, Dong Jianqiang's face became increasingly heavy.

"Leave the report to me. I'll send it back to Director Zhang and let him make the final decision. You should keep a close eye on it..."

Not long after, Zhang Chen received the report via email.

It's all about Whiplash.

In general, domestic audiences have a positive attitude towards this movie. They think it is an inspirational film.

But foreign media generally believe that this is a tragedy because the male protagonist in the play has lost himself.

This is actually easy to understand.

It’s mainly a problem of concept.

In Asia, people generally believe that strict teachers produce excellent students.

When children born in the 80s and 90s went to school, parents of boys would usually tell the teachers that if the children did not obey, they would be beaten to death.

The teacher does the same.

Corporal punishment is not a thing at all.

As long as the starting intention is good, beating is love and scolding is love.

There was a saying in that era that goes like this: beating is love, scolding is care, and if you can't love enough, kick.

Everyone can accept teachers corporally punishing students.

The teachers in the movies just verbally bully students and put some pressure on them.

This is not a big deal to them.

But this is not the case in Europe and the United States.

If you, a teacher, dare to treat students like this, you are a typical villain and you will be sent to jail in minutes.

Of course, in some schools, you might be shot directly by students.

Zhang Chen felt that this was at most a conflict of ideas and not a big deal.

The public opinion team of Xingchen Entertainment actually thinks so too. What they really think is serious is another point - the evaluation of "Whiplash" by the domestic literary and art circles.

Many literary magazines are actually discussing "Whiplash".

Some academic filmmakers even wrote articles titled "Ning Hao is finally back on the right track."

Zhang Chen was puzzled, and then he continued reading, and found a lot of analysis about "Whiplash".

"Whiplash" is a short story that carries a big theme.

It is better to live without madness;
It’s also good to break through yourself;

It’s fine to sacrifice oneself for art;
In fact, they are all showing the dark side beneath the halo of success, and the humanity that is gradually lost for the sake of success.

Whether you are right or not, you are right!

There is nothing wrong with analyzing from an artistic perspective.

But why did Zhang Chen always feel like he smelled a conspiracy? On the surface, these people seemed to be sincerely happy that Ning Hao had returned to art films, but their words and actions seemed to be trying to put Ning Hao on a pedestal.

(End of this chapter)