Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 439 New Movie

Cao Yang wants to make a movie called "Like Father, Like Son," but the plot is not particularly original; in fact, it could be described as somewhat clichéd.

The story revolves around two babies born in the same hospital who were switched at birth due to a nurse's mistake. After learning that their children had been switched, the two families faced the choice of whether to exchange their biological children or continue raising the children they had raised for many years.

The film does not directly guide the audience morally, nor does it contain any didactic elements. Instead, it reveals the contradiction between expressing paternal love and social status through the different choices of the two fathers.

The protagonist is a successful social elite who believes that a successful life is equivalent to having fame, wealth, and strict family education.

The other father is a warm and interesting ordinary appliance store owner whose parenting style is relaxed and free.

When faced with the dilemma of choosing between "biological" and "parenting," the inner turmoil and pain of the two fathers are gradually revealed through observations of their daily lives.

The two fathers represent different social classes, and their understanding and choices regarding family affection are also different.

The film is titled "Like Father, Like Son" not only to showcase the father's influence on his child, but also to emphasize the value of the child's emotional re-education of the father, prompting reflection on the complex relationship between family affection, responsibility, and identity.

Actually, the old-fashioned plot of babies being switched at birth doesn't seem to be a perfect subject. If it's overdone, it can easily become melodramatic and be criticized as a bad movie.

Therefore, the best approach is to avoid preaching or moral blackmail, and instead focus on the details of daily life.

For a long time in East Asian culture, the father has been defined as someone who works hard to build a career outside the home, while the mother's role is to support her husband and raise children. The responsibility of raising and educating children is mainly borne by the mother.

In traditional Eastern thinking, blood ties are important, but kinship is equally important.

This is different from Western traditions, where blood ties are valued more.

This film can also be said to explore blood ties and kinship from the perspective of the male protagonist.

The male protagonist's father values ​​blood ties more, and the male protagonist, who has a distant relationship with his father, has always been influenced by his father, so he initially also tends to value blood ties.

In his attempt to exchange children and return to the "right path" of blood ties, the male protagonist not only completes his growth and transformation as a father, but also dissolves his years of bias and stubbornness as a son.

He finally understood: the relationship between father and son is about learning from each other, learning to compromise, and the process of raising children is also about nurturing the father's inner transformation.

The male protagonist's "growth" made him understand these things, and he no longer clung to blood ties, but valued the family affection he had cultivated over the years.

Therefore, in this respect, it conflicts with Western values ​​to some extent.

However, the problem is actually not that big.

This film was selected for the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Jury Prize.

Most of the time, the competition for award-winning films is no longer about the quality of the film itself, but rather about the director's experience, relationships with film festivals, and other off-site factors.

Sometimes, even if a film is of very high quality and the director is a close associate of the film festival, it doesn't necessarily mean that it will win a major award.

Even within the inner circle, seniority matters.

This applies universally.

Foreigners are not like what those "public intellectuals" say, who only care about ability and nothing else.

No matter where you are, seniority is extremely important.

Cao Yang made some changes when writing the script for this film.

For example, the couple who ran the small shop, besides the son they switched at birth with, also had two younger children...

However, to avoid unnecessary trouble, Cao Yang decided that the couple should also only have one son. The main reason was that they already had two six-year-old boys, and it would be too difficult to manage if there were too many children on set, making filming more complicated.

Simply modifying some plot details will not affect the main storyline of the movie.

As for the casting, Cao Yang didn't want to put in too much effort and started selecting actors based on his memory.

The "father" who runs a small shop is one of the main characters, but he doesn't have as much screen time as the other elite "father".

The role required someone who was somewhat slovenly but could also get along well with children. The first person that came to Cao Yang's mind was Huang Bo.

He's quite good at playing ordinary people; his appearance and age are both suitable.

Just like in his previous life, Huang Bo is now famous because of "Crazy Stone".

Before starring in "Crazy Racer" and "Cow", he could only be described as having high cost-effectiveness, low pay and considerable popularity, but he was far from being a hot commodity.

After considering it for a while, Cao Yang felt that Huang Bo was suitable for the role, so he tentatively decided to cast Huang Bo.

The film's male protagonist, the "father" of the elite class, is the focus of most of the camera work, and has the most screen time.

This person's persona is that of an elite, taciturn, and usually very serious. Cao Yang had two candidates in mind: Duan Yihong and Wu Qihua.

Both actors have a wide range of roles, are the right age, and can play social elites.

Furthermore, both of them are Cao Yang's long-time partners and are currently top-tier figures in the film industry.

Cao Yang was unsure who to choose. Actually, anyone would be suitable, so he would just check who was available later.

This character has a transformative inner journey, which makes the performance more compelling. If played well, it has the potential to win awards. It seems that both of them lack major awards at important film festivals.

It all depends on who has better luck.

Cao Yang hesitated, wondering whether he should choose one of the four leading actresses to play the role of the wife in these two couples.

After thinking about it for a while, he decided to choose one. After all, domestic film resources are limited, good film resources are even more limited, and classic films that can touch people's hearts are even fewer.

This movie actually counts as one.

There is currently an "oversupply" of top actresses in China, and this is all Cao Yang's fault. He has promoted so many of Europe's three top actresses, making other actresses "worthless".

Therefore, playing the female lead in such a film, even if you don't win an award, is still a very good qualification and resume.

So what reason is there not to choose it?
As for having two important female roles, why not choose two leading ladies? Hehe...

Isn't the chaotic battlefield fun?
We are all people of status. It would be so embarrassing if we couldn't help but do things that are beneath our dignity.

As for the wife of the elite "father", Cao Yang first ruled out Fatty Bing and Da Tiantian. Fatty Bing was a bit too "seductive" and didn't seem like the type of wife who would take care of her husband and children.

Jing Tian is too young, that won't work either.

Gao Yuanyuan is going to film "Aftershock," so she can be ruled out. Cao Yang actually prefers Yu Feihong for the role, as she is more suitable in age.

However, she is currently living a semi-retired life, so it's unclear whether she would like to play this role.

If she doesn't want to act, then choose one of Li Xiaoran and Dong Xuan; whoever is available will be used.

For some reason, the image of Sister Hong suddenly appeared in Cao Yang's mind when talking about another female character.

The Red Sister-in-law is the right age, but otherwise... not right, not right.

Cao Yang felt he had to banish this thought. Although, according to Sister Hong, Old Chen had done some disgusting things outside, it was not a reason to...

Even if Old Chen doesn't care, it's not okay.

Let's find someone else.

Cao Yang doesn't plan to find any future celebrities or anything like that for the two boys, who are around six years old. He'll just find two ordinary people, and he can look for them in the Beijing Children's Palace or an ordinary primary school.

This needs to be done quickly and discreetly; otherwise, once the news gets out, those in the circle who have "children of school age" at home will definitely try every means to get people in.

Cao Yang wasn't afraid of that. With his current status, he didn't need to care about anyone's feelings. Whether you were from an official family, an artistic family, or a billionaire family, none of them mattered to Cao Yang.

However, there is something in this world called "human relationships," which is the most unreasonable thing.

For example, what if someone asks Old Situ for a favor? If Old Situ speaks up, can Cao Yang refuse?
Let alone Old Situ, Cao Yang would find it difficult to refuse Old Tian, ​​President Han, or Old Hou if they asked.

Moreover, what if Sister Hong spoke up for her son? She has a young son born in 00, which would be a barely suitable option.

Furthermore, what if Gu Changwei, who has always followed Cao Yang, or his wife Jiang Wenli spoke up? They have a son born in 02, so they would be more suitable in terms of age.

Could Cao Yang refuse?

Therefore, it is most appropriate to quickly confirm the two child actors.

Cao Yang called his assistant directors Liu Shan and Li Mingyi, who had been following him, and instructed them not to make a fuss. He told them to go to the local primary school or children's palace and find two boys around six years old and about the same height.

The requirements aren't many: not too outgoing, not too shy, and ideally, not camera-shy.

This film, "Like Father, Like Son," was primarily invested in by Qingdao Film Studio and China Film Group.

All of Cao Yang's fees for directing and screenwriting were factored into the profit sharing. Otherwise, Cao Yang's directing fees alone would be more than the asking prices quoted by Jackie Chan or Li Lianjie, not even including the higher profit sharing.

That means Qingdao Film Studio and China Film Group. Cao Yang won't calculate based on Hollywood prices.

If another investment is brought in, Cao Yang's salary will become international. Even for an art film that seems to lack grand scenes and has a simple structure, the production cost alone is terrifying.

Old Chen is currently struggling with the issue of "Mei Lanfang".

According to the plan, post-production will definitely be completed this month.

However, for well-known reasons, all of Gillian Chung's scenes as the young Fu Zhifang had to be deleted, which undoubtedly caused trouble for post-production.

Old Chen's "Mei Lanfang" is divided into three major sections: "Death Separation", "Separation in Life", and "Reunion and Separation".

Gillian Chung's scenes are all concentrated in the "Death" segment, which tells the story of young Mei Lanfang competing against "Thirteen Swallow" and ultimately replacing Thirteen Swallow to become the first international superstar in Chinese history.

In Lao Chen's opinion, Gillian Chung's scenes are very important, and cutting them would affect the film's structure and plot.

Old Chen had no choice but to keep the young Ajiao out of the movie, but he still wanted to retain her screen time. So he used lighting and editing techniques to transition between the young Fu Zhifang and the adult Fu Zhifang played by Sister Hong.

This is a very difficult process of making choices.

So Lao Chen has been very annoyed lately.

Just as he was feeling incredibly troubled every day, he received a call from Sister Hong.

"Say what's wrong quickly, I'm very busy, I have a lot of things waiting for me to deal with."

Old Chen's tone was a bit harsh and he seemed somewhat impatient.

Sister Hong pursed her lips and remained silent for a moment before saying, "I heard Cao Yang is back and might be making a new movie. He needs child actors for it. Do you think Arthur could..."

"You can handle it yourself. Why are you asking me about such a small matter? You know Cao Yang, why don't you just go and ask him?"

While pondering how to make the plot transitions smoother, Old Chen absentmindedly said, "That's fine. I still have to work on the plot and think about adjusting the lighting and colors. Don't call unless it's important. Just handle it yourself."

Sister Hong had gotten used to it. Whenever Old Chen got busy, he would get quite irritable because he always found it difficult to choose which shots to shoot, and he would hesitate and his mood was usually not very good.

Just as I was about to hang up, I thought I misheard, but I seemed to hear Old Chen say softly on the other end, "Chris, what do you think is the best way to handle this part..."

Chris…

Sister Hong took a deep breath and quickly hung up the phone.

She is afraid!
Chris is short for Christopher, and also a nickname; it's the English name of a very famous photographer...

Sister Hong forced herself not to think about it, comforting herself that she must have misheard.

Old Chen is currently doing post-production work in Tokyo, where there are some of the most advanced post-production studios in Asia, as well as more advanced color grading rooms. "Mei Lanfang" was produced there.

In Tokyo, a city known for its laid-back lifestyle, it's perfectly normal to have a foreigner or a local named Chris. Yeah, that's how it is.

Sister Hong is now hesitant, but she's made up her mind and really wants to go to Tokyo.

what!
She laughed self-deprecatingly. So what?

Therefore, women still need to have a career!

At that moment, Sister Hong decided that she needed to change. What could an actor influence?
I need to switch careers and become a producer. Only by becoming a successful producer can I have an influence on Lao Chen and make him think twice!

Cao Yang...

Since Old Chen told me to make the decision and to go find Cao Yang, I, being such an obedient person, would definitely go find Cao Yang and ask about the situation.

(End of this chapter)