Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 160 Give Chinese Science Fiction a Chance

Every director, or in other words, every creator has his or her own favorite subject matter.

Some focus on big scenes, some like to do literature and art; some stick to realistic themes, some specialize in the dirty tricks and shit and fart.

This persistence is both a constraint for the creators and their personal style.

Like Meng Bai, before the rise of the online drama market, the "suspense" theme was actually a niche, so he had been wandering around for a long time without any success.

But as long as he seizes the opportunity and does it, it will immediately become his own "moat".

Just like now, whenever the "suspense" theme is mentioned, ArcLight Pictures will be the first name to come to mind, whether it is among the audience or the industry.

The same goes for Guo Fan. His favorite subject is "science fiction" and his ideal is to make a "domestic science fiction blockbuster."

All I can say is that for the domestic audience of science fiction, the idea of making a "science fiction masterpiece" itself is quite "science fiction".

He initially studied law in college, then switched to art design, and finally, in order to pursue his dream, he took the entrance exam for a master's degree in management at Beijing Film Academy.

The first official movie he shot was Meng Bai's "The Adventures of Li Xianji".

Unfortunately, due to the blind operations of the investors and producers, the project suffered a reputation failure and also suffered a huge loss at the box office.

The film and television industry is a circle that places great emphasis on "successful experience".

If you have been awesome before, the investors will believe that you will continue to be awesome. If you have failed before, sorry, it is difficult for anyone to give you a second chance.

The film failed as a success, so naturally all the creators involved were having a hard time.

Meng Bai, needless to say, was banned and no such person was found. Guo Fan was not much better, and he had not received any new projects for more than two years.

Fortunately, he signed the director agency contract with Shiba Culture two years ago, which is the company of Wang Jinghua, who is known as the "No. 1 agent in mainland China."

Wang Jinghua is considered to have quite a lot of resources in the Beijing circle. Coincidentally, a high-ranking official from the Beijing circle wanted to make a movie, so the project fell into Guo Fan's hands.

Objectively speaking, the plot and production quality of this movie are quite average. But it hit the vent of youth films and became a huge success.

Just like the success of Meng Bai's "Soul Ferry", it immediately became a "platform attractor", and various video websites waved generous conditions and wanted to cooperate with Arc Light Films.

The same goes for Guo Fan. With a 20-fold return on investment for a movie, he instantly transformed himself into a "capital succubus" and became a hot new director.

At this time, the best choice is naturally to take advantage of the fact that the popularity of youth films has not yet passed and quickly shoot another work on the same theme based on previous experience.

With the popularity and attention paid to the previous film, you can make a lot of money.

With these two commercially successful works as a foundation, his future path as a director will be smooth.

That's why Meng Bai asked him if he planned to continue making youth films.

Hearing this, Guo Fan was silent for a few seconds, and then smiled with emotion: "Don't laugh at what I said, I still want to make a science fiction movie."

Meng Bai naturally didn't laugh, and didn't even feel strange.

As early as the premiere of "My Deskmate", when he saw the news transition shot that was forcibly inserted into the plot of the movie and had an obvious "science fiction flavor", he guessed that this guy had not given up his idea of sci-fi at all.

Making youth films is for survival, while making science fiction is the ideal.

but……

"For science fiction, the most difficult things are funding and the script." Meng Bai said, "We can find a way to get funding, but I'm afraid it's really hard to find a script."

Even Science Fiction World ceased publication two years ago, so where else can we find science fiction creators?

Speaking of this, Guo Fan became excited.

He looked at Meng Bai and asked, "Xiao Meng, have you heard of Liu Cixin?" "Yes." Meng Bai nodded, "But to be honest, I've only read The Three-Body Problem and a few of his short stories."

"Of course, your science fiction reading volume is already above average." Gongger said from the side.

After saying that, the three of them laughed.

After the laughter ended, Meng Bai said, "So, you are planning to film Liu Cixin's works? I remember that his film and television copyrights have all been sold, right?"

"Indeed, they have all been sold." Guo Fan said, "But the copyrights are basically in the hands of China Film Group now."

Meng Bai touched his chin and said, "I remember your 'China-US Director Exchange Program' seems to be a project led by China Film Group."

"Indeed." Guo Fan nodded, his eyes sparkling with brilliance as he said, "In fact, after the exchange, there is another follow-up plan, which is a domestic science fiction film project."

The "China-US Directors Exchange Program" can be divided into two parts.

One is to "recognize the gap", and it is not difficult to see the significant effect from Guo Fan's admiration for Hollywood.

The other is "brave development", which involves all aspects of the entire domestic film industry, naturally including the creation of "science fiction" works.

Guo Fan introduced to Meng Bai that the copyrights currently held by China Film include "The Wandering Earth", "Micro Era", "Supernova Era", "Rural Teachers" and many other projects.

What they mean is that they want to find a team, select one from among them, and shoot it.

This plan actually came about as early as 2012, and China Film Group contacted Hollywood directors including James Cameron, Alfonso Cuarón, Spielberg, and even Luc Besson.

Unfortunately, these directors have no interest in coming to China to shoot science fiction. Domestic directors are also well aware of the pitfalls of science fiction, and no one is willing to jump into the pit with open eyes.

So now, China Film Group can only place its hopes on a group of young directors.

So after the "Exchange Program" ended, China Film took out the copyrights of these IPs and let these young directors choose for themselves.

This was exactly what Guo Fan wanted. After considering for a long time, he chose the novella "The Wandering Earth".

Of course, China Film Group does not just use whoever it chooses. It has to first come up with some real stuff to look at before making a decision.

Guo Fan gritted his teeth and asked his good friend Gongger to help him, planning to first come up with a complete set of architecture books, background chronicles and design drawings, and then use these practical things to impress China Film.

Although it seems to be just some data settings, when you actually do it you will find that the cost is not small.

For example, the equipment needed for various model making and 3D image rendering, including personnel salary costs, are not small numbers.

Up to now, Guo Fan and his team have invested more than 50 yuan, and this part was all paid out of his and Gongger's own pockets.

One of them took out all his previous director's salary and savings, and the other sold his car.

But even so, the preparation part is only in its initial stage and there are still many details to be filled in.

If it goes any further, I’ll probably have to mortgage my house.

"Alas, funding is a big problem now."

Guo Fan sighed, and Gongger beside him also sighed.

Meng Bai smacked his lips, looked at the two people who seemed to want to say something but hesitated, and slowly came to his senses.

"No, brothers, I was wondering why you were so eager to treat me to a meal." Meng Bai said with a smile, "It turns out that today's meal is a 'Hongmen Banquet'."

"Oh, that's an exaggeration." Guo Fan said quickly, "We were just chatting, don't think too much about it."

After that, he changed the subject: "Of course, we do hope that more people will join us and give domestic science fiction a chance in the future."

(End of this chapter)