Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 33: Feelings

After touring the premieres in all seven cities, the only one left was Ludong Island. Li Xiaoran returned to Beijing with the intention of going to Ludong Island with Cao Yang.

The trickling flow of spring water turns the tranquility of the mountains into the most beautiful song.

After a long time, the singing suddenly stopped.

Li Xiaoran snuggled in Cao Yang's arms and said softly, "If I had known you would start a new film so soon, I would have refused the audition for the national teacher. Now the momentum has become a bit too big, and it's hard to back down. If I can't compete with Zhang Ziyi, I will definitely be laughed at."

Now, Zhang Ziyi and Li Xiaoran are either fighting or on the way to a fight.

As the box office of "On the Beach at Night Alone" continues to rise, Li Xiaoran, who performs a one-man show, has become the center of attention.

International star Zhang Ziyi has already gone to the United States to plan for the Oscars. She may be afraid that during the period before the Oscars, only Li Xiaoran will be reported in China, so she started pushing for it again.

The domestic media were also happy about this. It was quite interesting to see two popular actresses fighting each other across the Pacific Ocean.

Cao Yang was very clear that Li Xiaoran was building up momentum, and so was Zhang Ziyi. It seemed like they were fighting, but in fact, they were tacitly trying to elevate each other's status.

Li Xiaoran thinks it is worthwhile to be associated with Zhang Ziyi, after all, she has truly entered the international market.

Zhang Ziyi also feels that she has not lost out on the international stage. Not only is Li Xiaoran the Berlin Film Queen, her domestic box office is also very good. Recently, "On the Beach at Night Alone" was shown in Europe, and it is said that the box office is good and the response is very good.

The agents on both sides wanted to tie the two of them together, to stand out from the crowd, to leave behind the other so-called three beauties, and to suppress those three.

They are all very ambitious.

"Now that you are famous, others will naturally compare you with International Zhang. Even if the national master chooses International Zhang, it doesn't matter. Everyone knows that International Zhang rose to fame thanks to the national master. They are old partners, so it's normal for the national master to favor her."

“But I still want to win.”

Li Xiaoran pulled Cao Yang's arm and said in a delicate tone, "Dear, can you talk to your wife and ask her to help me? I can call her sister and be her mistress, okay?"

Cao Yang sighed. He knew it would be like this. He really fell in love with this tune.

But why was there this hidden excitement in my heart? Why did I feel guilty?

Is this considered a disguised form of adultery?
Never mind. Just do as you like.

Ludong Island is the filming location of the movie and is also the last stop of the screening tour.

On this day, almost all the main actors came and gathered at Ludong Island. Everyone was very happy that the movie was a big hit and everyone benefited to some extent.

After attending the event, there is inevitably a dinner party in the evening.

After three rounds of drinks, Sun Honglei came over with a glass of wine to toast, "Director Cao, thank you for giving me the opportunity to act in such a classic movie. I toast you. I'll drink this glass, you can do whatever you want."

Cao Yang took a sip and said, "Hong Lei, your acting is good. I am optimistic about your future."

"Thank you, thank you Director Cao for your auspicious words. With your words, good things come in pairs. I toast you again."

Cao Yang took another sip and looked at the other party who seemed to be hesitant to speak. Was there something wrong?
Ding Jiali, who was standing next to him, pushed Sun Honglei and said directly, "What's there to be ashamed of? There are no outsiders here."

"Director Cao, I'll toast you too." Ding Jiali filled his own cup and was about to drink it when Cao Yang held his hand down.

"Sister Jiali, if you have something to say, just say it. Don't use this trick on me. You've already said that there are no outsiders here." "Okay, Director Cao, I'll just say it straight.

Director Sun Zhou is preparing a movie recently, and someone recommended Hong Lei to him. Director Sun is very satisfied, but there are a few competitors that make Director Sun hesitate. Unexpectedly, Director Sun also graduated from Beijing Film Academy, so he thought Director Cao could help pass on a message to ask. "

At this time, Liu Shan came over and whispered in Cao Yang's ear, "Director Sun is from the 84 directing department cadre training class. He has a classmate, who is the director of our Qingying Studio, Hou Keming."

Cao Yang understood it instantly. He must have known the relationship between Sun Zhou and Hou Keming, and he was also very clear that Hou Keming valued him very much and wanted to use this relationship.

It looks complicated, but it's actually very simple. They just want me to give them a ladder and say hello to Hou Keming, so that Hou Keming will take this matter to heart.

Ding Jiali is really attentive.

Cao Yang was curious about what movie it was, so he asked.

"The movie is called 'Zhou Yu's Train' and Director Sun said it might start shooting in July," Sun Honglei explained.

Huh?
Cao Yang didn't know what to say. As far as he knew, the heroine of this movie was Gong Li. Because of this movie, she had an affair with Sun Honglei, and reporters took intimate photos of the two of them.

The key point is that Gong Li was already married at that time, and Sun Honglei had a girlfriend.

It was also because of this incident that Sun Honglei left Ding Jiali, but Gong Li did not divorce...the two did not end up together.

After a moment's silence, Cao Yang sighed as he looked at Ding Jiali who was staring at him eagerly. This kind of thing could not be stopped. Even if he didn't say hello to Hou Keming, they would think of other ways and would succeed the same way.

Pity.

"I'll call Dean Hou later to talk about this."

Ding Jiali's face was full of joy. He picked up the wine glass, clinked it lightly with Cao Yang's glass, and drank it all in one gulp.

The next day, Cao Yang followed the production director Cheng Jianye to see several filming locations.

Cheng Jianye is very serious about his work. The several locations he found all met Cao Yang's requirements, and this shoot also received support from the local government.

This kind of support is not just verbal. It not only includes policy benefits, but also financial support.

Of course, financial support is conditional. For example, the amount of bonus support a movie can receive depends on what awards it wins or how much box office revenue it makes.

Cao Yang thought of another thing that he always subconsciously ignored. He was no longer an unknown person. Shooting this kind of award-winning film would be favored by some advertisers.

For example, in the movie, the protagonist uses a digital camera to take photos every time he enters a house.

Most digital cameras of this era have around 300 to 500 million pixels, and have begun to encroach on the market of traditional film cameras.

"Teacher Cheng, please contact digital camera brands such as Canon, Fuji, Olympus and Leica and ask them if they want product placement. Tell them that they can give them more shots and close-ups, and that the film will also win awards in Europe."

Cao Yang thought about it and said, "We can make a similar bet agreement, such as how much the basic advertising fee is, how much it will cost to be shortlisted for the three major European competition units, and how much it will cost to win the prize. All of these can be discussed."

"There are also the motorcycles that the male protagonist rides and the cars in the movie. You can sort them out and try out the major brands as well."

"Okay, I'll contact a few more companies and let them compete then." Cheng Jianye was ready to give a good performance.

He finally understood that Cao Yang had great ambitions. He had just been to Berlin and now wanted to go to Venice. Could it be that the Beijing Film Academy was going to produce another great director?
Who wouldn’t envy a big director’s regular team?
(End of this chapter)