Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 229 Shocking News

Before everyone boarded the plane back home, President Han quietly pulled Cao Yang aside and said excitedly, "Junior brother, when we get off the plane in Beijing, there will be a small press conference and CCTV reporters will interview us. You should be prepared."

"Holding a press conference at the airport?"

Cao Yang asked with some doubt, "Is the airport willing? Don't cause a commotion then."

Generally speaking, it is common to notify some familiar reporters in advance and take photos and conduct brief interviews at the airport, but a press conference?

Brother, are you serious?

"District 9 broke domestic box office records, sold well around the world, and achieved breakthrough success at the Oscars. This movie is a co-production, and you are the director. It can be regarded as a new path and new model explored for Chinese films.

The higher-ups are taking this very seriously, and are holding a press conference with the airport as the backdrop. CCTV will film it, and they will probably capture some footage and put it on the evening news as a way of welcoming and honoring your triumphant return."

As soon as I got off the plane, there was a press conference and CCTV filming. This treatment... is almost as good as the visits of officials from some important countries. I guess the only thing missing is the red carpet and the leaders welcoming me at the airport.

Cao Yang then thought that it was already 05 and there were only a few years left until the 08 Olympics. These years were the time when the country wanted to demonstrate its international influence.

A native Chinese director with a good family background, the films he has made have never been part of the domestic "Scar" series.

Moreover, the latest movie is a science fiction film that is considered to be of very high quality by the public, and it has broken the box office record that has been held by foreign films for many years.

The key is that he won the Oscar for Best Director, became a major director with global influence, and his movies sold well all over the world. Is there any better publicity than this?
It's just in time.

That’s why there is this series of extraordinary treatments.

“It’s not just because of District 9, right?”

Cao Yang's heart moved. If it was just because "District 9" won the Oscar for Best Director, there might be an interview with CCTV, but there would be no need for a press conference at the airport.

"clever."

President Han praised him and he smiled happily. Not only Cao Yang will appear on camera, he will definitely be interviewed and appear on camera as well. How can he not be excited?

As the actual helmsman of China Film, President Han must appear on camera and be interviewed frequently, but there is still a huge difference between appearing on camera and being interviewed.

Don’t think it’s confusing. You also need to consider where you appear on camera, what platform it is broadcast on, and who’s ears it reaches…

"Junior brother, we have reached a consensus with Columbia. Inception has announced a budget of 1.82 million US dollars, which is 15 billion RMB at the current exchange rate. We will announce the news at the press conference."

"You're not going to hold a special press conference for Inception?"

Cao Yang thought that President Han would hold a special press conference after returning to China.

Even if it is based on the actual budget of 1.6 million US dollars, it is still more than 13 billion. This scale of investment budget is absolutely unprecedented in China and is something that people of this era dare not imagine.

Money is still very, very valuable nowadays.

This investment scale is almost equal to the total national movie box office in 04, and is more than the total domestic box office every year before 04.

The total box office of movies in the country in 00 was 8.6 million.

The total box office of movies in the country in 01 was 8.9 million.

The total box office of movies in the country in 02 was 9.5 million.

The total box office of movies in the country in 03 was 10.7 million.

To put it in an exaggerated way, the investment scale and influence of this kind of movie is even no less than investing in Little Fatty in Xiao Ri Days.

President Han waved his hand and said with a smile, "You don't understand. How can announcing something when you return home with honors be more shocking and influential than holding a special press conference? One plus one is sometimes much greater than two."

Well, as long as you're happy.

When they arrived at the Beijing airport, everyone was informed by the crew not to leave yet. They were led off the plane only after other passengers had gotten off.

Then, Cao Yang took back his previous words. There was indeed no red carpet, but when shaking hands with the people who greeted him, the people next to him introduced that there were senior leaders from the Radio, Film and Television Bureau, and a senior leader in charge of culture in Beijing.

Hou Keming, who was in charge of the Beijing Film Academy, also came, but he stood very far back, and was the last one to shake hands with Cao Yang.

"Very good, Nortel is proud of you."

Old Hou didn't say much on this occasion. He just patted Cao Yang's hand and said this.

Cao Yang looked up and saw someone with the CCTV logo holding a camera and filming not far away. There were nearly a few dozen reporters waiting nearby. No reporters were arguing or shouting for the news. Everything was stable and not chaotic.

It’s really a big scene.

After the welcome ceremony, several senior leaders gave up their seats and the formal interview began.

First, a reporter from CCTV stood out from the crowd and said:
"Congratulations to Director Cao for winning the Oscar for Best Director, and congratulations to District 4.68 for breaking domestic box office records and selling $ million worldwide. This is a remarkable achievement."

"Thank you."

"Director Cao, as a director with global influence, what do you think of the current development trend of domestic films?"

This topic is a bit broad and seems easy to answer, but due to its influence, it is difficult to give a formulaic answer. I must have something to say.

Cao Yang thought about it and briefly stated a few points.

“The development of domestic films is generally positive, and the market potential is huge.

More than 04 films were shot in 200, 03% more than in 50, and the box office also exceeded 50%. This is a good phenomenon. As policies promote market-oriented transformation, there will be more and more films in the future, and the box office will continue to rise.

Of course, in addition to opportunities, there are also challenges and problems.

In the future, imported blockbusters will seize market share, so everyone should be mentally prepared that this is only temporary.

After all, we are just starting out, and we cannot compare with Hollywood, which has a mature system. But things will get better slowly. The rise of Chinese-language films is only a matter of time.

At this stage, we are still facing the problem of regional imbalance. Box office is concentrated in large cities, and the construction of cinemas in third- and fourth-tier cities is lagging behind. This is a problem that needs to be solved."

The other reporters asked a few more formulaic questions, and then it was the CCTV reporter's turn to ask, "Director Cao, what plans or ideas do you have for your next creation? Can you tell us about it?"

coming.

“I have two projects to work on in the next year.

One is an art film. Everyone knows that I am an art director. If I have a good idea, I will definitely try my best to shoot it, so as not to only shoot experimental films and become rusty. "

After saying this, the reporters below and the CCTV reporters all laughed politely. "The other project is also a co-production. China Film, Qingdao Film Studio and Columbia are working together again to create a super science fiction blockbuster."

Cao Yang looked around and found that the reporters below were looking at him expectantly, without much surprise, and it seemed that they didn't know the inside story yet.

"This movie is called Inception, and the budget is... 15 billion!"

With a loud "boom", the scene that was stable and uncluttered just now instantly turned into a vegetable market.

Reporters rushed to hand over the microphone, shouting words that Cao Yang could not hear clearly.

The CCTV reporter was also stunned for a moment, and then started shouting too. Cao Yang couldn't hear what he said clearly.

Not to mention the reporters, except for a few leaders who knew the inside story in advance, everyone else was also confused, and some even suspected that they had heard it wrong.

Fortunately, this was an officially organized press conference. Under the instructions of the leader, the confused staff reacted first and quickly maintained order.

Otherwise, there’s no telling how long this noisy scene will last.

It took the staff nearly five minutes to calm the scene down.

Under the eager and expectant eyes of other peers, the CCTV reporter asked again: "Director Cao, you just said that this new movie called "Inception" cost 15 billion yuan?"

"Yes, we have already prepared all the budgets. It will cost about 1.82 million US dollars, or 15 billion RMB. For more information, you can interview the film's producer, Mr. Han from China Film Group."

Cao Yang stepped back and pushed President Han out.

It is obvious that President Han enjoys this kind of "stage".

Cao Yang watched him talking nonstop during the reporter's interview. He was very passionate and made gestures from time to time, as if describing a beautiful future.

"Director Cao, can you tell me what the real budget of this movie is?"

A senior leader of the Film Bureau asked quietly.

As an insider, he is very clear that there is still some gap between the external announcement and the actual budget. Everyone is doing this, so it depends on how much "water" there is in the middle.

He had even seen a movie with an investment of more than 10 million yuan, but it was publicly announced to be more than 30 million yuan, and it more than doubled.

In fact, given his status, he shouldn't have asked these questions, but the investment in this movie was so staggering, no, it was so scary that even he couldn't resist his curiosity.

Cao Yang did not hide it from him and said directly: "1.6 million US dollars, 13.2 billion RMB. If it is not enough, we will add more."

With the participation of Leonardo DiCaprio, even if it is just a cameo, the global attention brought to the film will definitely increase a lot.

Therefore, Columbia said that it might increase the promotion and marketing budget depending on the situation.

The leader of the Film Bureau opened his mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment. He was really a little scared.

The difference between 13 billion and 15 billion seems to be million, which seems to be a lot, but based on such a large base, it does not seem to be a deliberate exaggeration of the investment budget.

After a long while, the head of the Film Bureau smacked his lips, patted Cao Yang's arm, and whispered, "Very good, not bad..."

In fact, the reporters on the scene were no longer thinking about this. With such earth-shattering news, they all wanted to go back quickly and publish it as soon as possible.

The press conference, which was originally scheduled to last for forty minutes, lasted only thirty minutes. Seeing that everyone's attention was not focused on it, President Han simply ended the press conference early.

As the group was on their way back, news had already started to appear on the Internet, and now everyone was competing for timeliness.

Bridegroom Entertainment: "Shocking news, director Cao Yang's new film "Inception" has an investment of 15 billion RMB and is preparing to create a sci-fi blockbuster beyond imagination..."

At that time, the three major portals were open to comments on the news without too many restrictions. Some hot news stories even had tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of comments, which was incomparable and unimaginable later.

The groom also deliberately pushed more news. As long as you open the portal website, this news will appear in front of you.

So, after this news came out, the number of comments below increased rapidly.

"Stupid editor, you just want to attract attention every day without checking it carefully. I'm afraid you forgot something. The investment budget should be 1.5 million, right?"

"It's so funny. With an investment of 1.5 million, they say they're going to create a sci-fi blockbuster beyond imagination. I'm really ignorant. Cao Yang's previous film District 5 had an investment of more than 6 million, nearly million, which is a sci-fi blockbuster."

"I guess the editor made a mistake and wrote an extra 1. It should be 5 million yuan. How could a big director like Cao Yang, who won the Oscar for Best Director, only invest 1.5 million yuan in a science fiction movie?"

"What the above person said makes sense. I guess it should be a 5 million investment."

"Everyone, let me say this timidly. Go check out Sohu and Wangyi. There are related news, all of which say that they invested 15 billion. Different websites shouldn't make the same mistake, right? But 15 billion? It feels a bit fake."

"You can check out People's Daily Online and Xinhua News Agency, which was just launched last year. They are all official media, and they also reported this news... Anyway, I still can't believe it."

A single stone can cause a thousand ripples, and everyone initially doubted the accuracy of the news.

However, authoritative official media such as People's Daily Online, sponsored by People's Daily, and Xinhua News Agency, sponsored by Xinhua News Agency, all reported the news at the first time, and all said that the investment was 15 billion yuan, so everyone could not help but believe it.

But that’s 15 billion!
In 04, the average house price in Beijing was just over 4000 yuan, and the average monthly salary in Beijing was just 2362 yuan.

Does it cost 15 billion to shoot a movie?
Many people have disputes about this, saying that 15 billion is too much and a bit beyond imagination.

Then, someone shared some scientific information under the news.

“15 billion seems like a lot, but converted into US dollars, it’s just over 1.8 million US dollars.

You may not have an accurate positioning of Cao Yang's position in Hollywood. Let's put it this way, it may be controversial to say that he is one of the top five directors in Hollywood, but he is definitely in the top ten.

Hollywood investment of more than $1.5 million is definitely considered a mega-production, but every year there are a few films where the top ten directors plan to shoot films with an investment budget of $1.8 million, so this is normal, right? "

Gradually, everyone began to accept it, and everyone was itching to watch it, and they were looking forward to this kind of movie with such a "sky-high" investment.

Everyone who knows the news is looking forward to it. This movie has become popular even before it was filmed.

Then, in the film and television industry, a piece of news that was considered super shocking to the actors spread: "Inception" needed two Chinese actors, and their roles were very important.

For a moment, actors who had some connections showed off their talents and began to anxiously inquire what kind of actors Director Cao needed.

It seems like I am the kind of actor that Director Cao needs.

Whatever Director Cao needs, I have it...

(End of this chapter)