Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 26 As Long as You Have Confidence
"Hero" invited Li Xiaoran to audition, which role can she play?

Cao Yang thought about it quickly. It was impossible for a newly crowned Berlin Film Queen to be allowed to play a supporting role. There were only a few female roles in the whole film, and Zhang Manyu had already been selected. There was no possibility of competition.

The only role that can be competed for is that played by Zhang Ziyi.

At last year's Berlin Film Festival, the Chinese director's film "My Father and Mother" won the Grand Jury Prize. When receiving the award, Zhang Ziyi followed the Chinese director on stage wearing a red bellyband. The Chinese director was stunned at the time. It was so embarrassing.

This is the Grand Jury Prize. What are you doing here as a leading actress?
What are you doing? It’s a hot topic. Didn’t you see that the news the next day was all about red bellybands?

The national teacher must have some opinions about the international chapter.

But it is undeniable that in recent times, no domestic actress, not even Gong Li, can match the popularity of the international star Zhang Ziyi.

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" received ten nominations for the Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Original Song, Best Costume Design, and Best Foreign Language Film. "International Zhang" as one of the leading actresses truly became an international star.

"Hero" is a commercial film. Well, the national director may also feel a little ashamed to switch to a commercial film and insists that it is an industrial film.

Well, whether it is a commercial film or an industrial film, the purpose is to get box office revenue.

It should be that the producer wanted to use Zhang Ziyi's popularity, and the national teacher had a hurdle in his mind, so he also invited Li Xiaoran to audition.

"Do you know which role you're auditioning for?"

Li Xiaoran squinted her eyes, and suddenly became energetic, boasting: "I don't know, they kept it secret too strictly. But my agent used a lot of connections to find out that the one competing with me is Zhang Ziyi, hehe..."

Looking at her smug little look, she must be thinking: I never thought that I could now compete with Zhang Ziyi for roles.

Cao Yang didn't want to discourage her, so he could only say tactfully: "Your movie hasn't been released yet, and Zhang Ziyi is very popular this year."

In this day and age, if you want to make a movie with an investment of 30 million US dollars in China, given the current market, how can you focus only on the domestic market?

Even if he is the national master, even if he has a little emotion, the most he can do is, like now, send Li Xiaoran an audition invitation and cause trouble for Zhang Ziyi.

Although Li Xiaoran's status has risen, her popularity is still far behind that of Zhang Ziyi.

As long as Zhang Yimou understands the current situation and says something soft to the national teacher, Li Xiaoran will definitely have no chance.

Capital will not allow the national master to act willfully, and the national master himself will definitely compromise.

Cao Yang consoled him, "This is the first time that the national teacher has set foot in the field of commercial films. He is shooting a commercial film. If it were an art film, his first choice would definitely be you."

Li Xiaoran snorted and turned away, not forgetting to nudge Cao Yang with her butt, "I knew it, it must be your guy who is doing something bad behind my back and doesn't want to see me in the limelight."

Damn it, here I come again.

You really fell in love with this tune, didn't you?

The next day, Cao Yang returned to school and went to Lao Situ's office first.

I told Lao Situ about the idea I discussed with Lao Tian yesterday. Lao Situ nodded and said, "You can set the background in Hong Kong, but when you shoot, it's best to find a few actors from Hong Kong, so that when the movie is released and reviewed, those people will find trouble and say that you fooled them."

Cao Yang agreed with this and reminded himself that even if the filming was not in Hong Kong, every detail must be done to the best of his ability.

At that time, the police station, clothes, correctional institutions, etc. in Hong Kong should be restored as much as possible to avoid being criticized. Coming out of old Situ's office, going to class? Not happening, Cao Yang went directly to find Hou Keming.

Unexpectedly, I was turned away at Hou Keming's office because Hou was not there.

After calling, Lao Hou came in a short while and explained as he opened the door: "There is a regular meeting at Qingying Studio."

Cao Yang gave the revised script to Hou Keming and said, "There are a few plots in the script that are difficult to pass the review in China, so I changed the location to Hong Kong."

Hou Keming was surprised for a moment, and took a look at the script. The title of the script, Empty Room, didn't tell him much. So he asked as he read it, "Are you going to film in Hong Kong?"

Cao Yang finally decided not to change the name of the movie to "3-Iron". This Chinese name seems too silly, and the general public in China doesn't understand the 3-Iron joke. So it's better to call it "Empty Room". It can be called "3-Iron" abroad.

"No, it's just Hong Kong in the background, and it's still filmed in China."

"Then you'd better find two Hong Kong actors to pass the review."

Hou Keming reads it very quickly. In Hong Kong, there are fewer taboos. As long as the general principles are correct and you follow them yourself, it should not be difficult to pass the review.

"Well, I plan to give the Hong Kong people a major supporting role and a minor supporting role, and we'll talk about the others later. Anyway, I'm sure I'll find at least two more."

The original plan was to have Lao Tian play the role of the heroine's husband, a domestic violence man, but Lao Tian protested yesterday. Let's wait and see. If it doesn't work out, we'll give the role to someone from Hong Kong.

Cao Yang still prefers Lao Tian to play the role.

It took Hou Keming about half an hour to read through the script. He was a little surprised that the male and female protagonists had almost no lines?

How outrageous.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "It is indeed difficult to pass the review in China. Your idea is right. You did not make two versions, but used Hong Kong as the background."

In fact, Hou Keming didn't understand the second half of the script. How could the male protagonist become invisible? Is this a myth or a ghost?
If it was someone else, he would have started scolding him a long time ago, but this was Cao Yang, a college student who had just won two Berlin Silver Bears.

It's right to think that it's hard to understand these people who make art films. What they are doing is avant-garde art. It's easy to understand if you think this way. Who cares? As long as it can help themselves...win awards for the school, that's enough.

"Are you interested in a Hong Kong person? What kind of person are you looking for?"

Hou Keming must be clear about this before making a budget. You can't choose supporting roles that are too outrageous. The Four Heavenly Kings, Stephen Chow, and Leslie Cheung will definitely not work.

Cao Yang thought for a moment and said, "No matter how many Hong Kong people we hire, their total salary should be controlled at around 30. Any more will not be worthwhile. We don't expect them to bring in the box office, and they are not the main attraction. There is no need."

"Okay." Hou Keming made the decision.

“I want to take this movie to the Venice Film Festival this year.”

Hou Keming stood up at once, and immediately became alert. He stared at Cao Yang with burning eyes and asked only one question, "Are you sure?"

"Female stance, domestic violence, loneliness, dignity, and a bit of religious meaning... This type of film is very advantageous. As long as the school cooperates, there will be no problem in the main competition unit. As for winning the award, it is very accidental, but the chance is not small."

Hou Keming slammed the table and said, "As long as you have confidence, I will fully support you on behalf of the school. Don't worry about the script. I will personally monitor it and ensure that you get the license before you start filming."

(End of this chapter)