Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 104 Let’s Set a Direction First

Cao Yang was unaware of all the exclamations and reports in the country. When he woke up the next day, he gently pushed away Gao Yuanyuan, who was hugging him like an octopus.

But the other party just kept whining and refused to let go.

After a while of moving back and forth, sparks flew, and then the humming turned into babbling.

Now he was well behaved and no longer bothered Cao Yang.

Cao Yang got up, washed up, and started calling home.

In fact, he received a lot of congratulatory text messages on his mobile phone, including from the people he wanted to call.

After all, there is a time difference, and the other party doesn’t know what’s going on on his side. In order to avoid disturbing him, he can only send text messages.

Cao Yang first called Lao Situ, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Hou Keming, Xie Xiaojing, and Mr. Han, then called Gu Changwei back, and finally called his own parents.

He first told them about the award, and then told them that he had bought a single-family house in the second phase of Ziyu Villa in Chaoyang, and that it would probably be available by the end of next year, and asked them to take care of it then.

Parents these days attach great importance to work. If you ask them to quit their jobs when they are about to retire, they will definitely not be willing to do so. You can only think of other solutions.

For example, if you spend a lot of money to buy a house with a price of 21,000 yuan per square meter, in this era when the average monthly income is less than 1,000 yuan, it is simply a sky-high price, and parents cannot help but pay attention to it.

As for whether my parents will retire or resign at that time, it’s up to them.

Cao Yang will stay in Cannes for a few more days. He will attend an official cocktail party, a private party of MK2 founder Marin Kamizi, and a cocktail party held by Sony Classics.

Having a bigger circle and more connections seems to be a good thing, but if you want to maintain it, you can't refuse the social engagements that come one after another.

Fortunately, this kind of socializing only happens during every film festival, so it is still acceptable.

These days, apart from attending cocktail parties, I have been discussing art with Gao Yuanyuan.

Don't be fooled by the girl's appearance of being soft and easy to bully, but she is always very proactive. She likes to close the door, jump up and throw herself on Cao Yang, wrap her legs around Cao Yang's waist, and let Cao Yang carry her and walk.

What bothered Cao Yang the most was that every time the girl was a little dazed by the impact, she would always shout unconsciously.

"Cao Yang, give me, I want to give birth to a child for you..."

At the Sony Classic cocktail party, Bellman found Cao Yang, apologized to a European actress who had chatted with Cao Yang, and took him to a quieter place.

He clinked his glasses with Cao Yang and said, "Congratulations, Mr. Best Director at Cannes. You have accomplished a feat that no one else can surpass, and you have won the three best actress awards in Europe."

“Thank you. This is the result of our joint efforts.”

Berman made a great contribution to the operation of this Cannes event. He even used his personal connections and probably put in a lot of favors. It is impossible to say that he had little ambition.

"What are your plans next? Are you going to Hollywood?"

Behrman asked, this was his greatest goal.

Cao Yang nodded and said with a smile: "Of course, isn't this the purpose of our cooperation?"

In fact, Cao Yang doesn't have many choices now except going to Hollywood.

The domestic commercial film market has not yet taken off, and we cannot endlessly promote people when making art films. By that time, everyone will be a movie queen, and the movie queen will no longer be worth anything.

Three is just right at this stage, and things are valuable because they are rare.

Once he gets a little more gilded in Hollywood and becomes a big director with both literary and commercial success, and then has two or three Chinese film queens, that will be enough.

"What do you think Hollywood is?"

Berman asked straight to the point that he must educate Cao Yang about Hollywood's values, which are completely different from the European literary and art circles.

Cao Yang didn't quite understand what Berman meant. This question was too broad and could be answered in all aspects.

"World Cinema Center?"

Cao Yang said tentatively, this was definitely not the answer that Berman wanted to give.

“Commercialization, globalization, mature film production model, strong market influence, and profit first, profit is above all else.”

Berman put down his glass, stretched out his hand and made a circle, then continued, "There are also countless money and beauties."

He looked at Cao Yang and said very seriously: "Artistic pursuit? No, no, no, they only talk about money and beauties there. Artistic pursuit is something that only successful people will consider.

I say this to tell you that the operating model in Hollywood is different from here. There, people are more respected for their strength and it is more naked. You have to be mentally prepared. "

Cao Yang thought about it. Berman had said so many things in a roundabout way, but they all meant one thing.

"So, my first movie must be a success?"

Berman secretly praised that it was easy to talk to smart people. He had said so many things in a roundabout way, but Cao Yang hit the point with just one sentence.

"Yes, Cao, we are friends and will be the most important partners in the future. The reason why I emphasize this again is to let you know that you must be careful in choosing your first movie. If the first one fails, the next ones will be very difficult." "Awards or box office?"

Berman really wanted to talk about the box office, but he knew that if he wanted box office, investors would not be able to fully trust an art film director, and if it was a small production, without a lot of money for publicity, the possibility of getting a high box office was almost zero.

As for awards, investors would definitely be more willing to believe in a director who has won all three major European awards, especially one who has won the Golden Lion and produced three of the three major European film actress awards.

"The award should be at least one of the three major European awards. If you can win an Oscar, you can gain a foothold in Hollywood."

Cao Yang nodded, thought for a moment, and asked, "Berman, do you think it is better to promote male stars or female stars?"

"My dear director, I know you are good at female-themed works. To be realistic, in Hollywood, although it boasts of various freedoms and equality, there is no doubt that male stars always stand at the top of the pyramid and are the center of power."

Bellman said without hesitation.

"Okay Bellman, I understand. As for investment..."

"Don't worry about that. With your current status and the fact that you're shooting an art film, there are still many investors and companies willing to follow up on a project worth 10 or 20 million. At that time, as long as there are big stars willing to join, the production cost will increase according to the star's value."

Cao Yang said he understood, and then said to Bellman: "Let me come up with a rough framework first. Let's set up the project first. You and I will both be producers. You can go to Hollywood to explore other things first."

Berman picked up his glass and clinked it with Cao Yang's again, saying, "No problem. I'll go back and spread the word so that everyone who's interested knows about this, and then try to contact the major film studios. When will you come over?"

"About a month. I should be very busy next. I have to write a script, write a thesis, and defend it."

Bellman was stunned for a moment. "You are still a student? Haven't graduated yet?"

"Yes, undergraduate, senior year."

Berman suddenly uttered very polite interjections to express his shock.

He had always thought that Cao Yang was a young teacher at Beijing Film Academy.

In fact, Cao Yang had thought about it very seriously. He wanted to invest in and shoot a low-budget Hollywood movie as he had done before. That way, he would not be constrained or interfered with, and then he could win an Oscar.

But no matter how I thought about it later, I felt that my idea was too naive. You want to win an Oscar. As an outsider, do you think Hollywood is Europe?

Not to mention winning an award, Hollywood studios won't even give it a chance and will never let a movie that they haven't invested in get nominated for an Oscar.

There are countless studios in Hollywood in name, but in essence, the seven major studios have the final say. Other small and medium-sized studios all have close ties with the seven major studios.

Moreover, Hollywood is extremely hostile to foreign capital, and even Wall Street capital is ruthlessly deceived. How can you, an outsider, think of making a comeback in Hollywood?
If you don't cooperate and don't give them benefits, how can they allow you to go to their territory to make money and gain fame?

When he got home in the evening, Cao Yang took some time to look at the garbage system to see how much reputation Cannes could increase for him.

Host: Cao Yang

Current reputation: 1396785
Available reputation: 696785
Play experience: +0
Filming: No
Before filming "Secret Sunshine", the available reputation was more than 700,000. Three immersion experiences were used to give Gao Yuanyuan, and one was used by Wu Qihua, so 400,000 of the available reputation was used up in one go.

The two awards at Cannes this time should have added two hundred thousand to my reputation.

The extra 100,000 or so available reputation is probably brought by the box office after the release of "Empty Room". In addition, Li Xiaoran won the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress, and the increase is estimated to be similar to that of the Golden Rooster Award, which is only about 20,000.

In short, there are still about seven immersion experiences that can be redeemed, which has restored the previous reserve, so I can go to Hollywood with confidence.

After staying in Cannes for another three days and attending various social events, Cao Yang boarded the plane back to Beijing.

After getting off the plane, I gave a brief interview at the airport before returning to school.

This time, Hou Keming came to the airport to pick him up in person. Cao Yang could feel that the school was paying more and more attention to him.

"Mr. Hou, since we didn't win the top prize this time, I'm sorry to bother you to come here in person."

On the way back, Cao Yang joked.

This is how people are. Sometimes if you can joke with him, he will feel that the relationship between you two is very close.

"What are you talking about? You are being unreasonable. What award or no award? Look at what you said. You are a valuable talent of the school. When you come back from abroad, shouldn't I welcome you on behalf of the school?"

Then, Hou Keming pretended to be casual and said, "Cao Yang, you are about to graduate without realizing it. Time flies. Have you ever thought about what will happen after graduation?"

After graduation? Don't I still need to go to graduate school?

It seems that Hou Keming definitely did not mean this.

Cao Yang's mind moved, and he recalled what Lao Tian had said before. Did he want him to stay in school?

"Why, Dean Hou wants to assign me a job? Let me make it clear first, I don't want to do ordinary jobs."

After hearing what Cao Yang said, Hou Keming understood and laughed, "If it's an ordinary job, I wouldn't dare to assign a Golden Lion director to do it."

(End of this chapter)