Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 381 Where Did All the Money Go?

Following Li Qiutang's approach with films like "Lost in Thailand," "The Wrong Star," and "Ex-Files," he will definitely attend the premiere of any film in the Sky Tree Project to promote it.

However, Li Qiutang was absent from the premiere of the film "Beijing Love Story".

Reporters were eager to hear Li Qiutang admit to his relationship with Liu Yifei, given the uncanny resemblance in the photos he posted during the Lunar New Year.

So the reporters posed the question to director Chen Sicheng: "At today's premiere, all the guests and main cast members appeared in pairs. Director Li Qiutang didn't come. Was it because Liu Yifei was busy?"

Chen Sicheng was wary of the reporter's questions and said, "He's busy preparing for his new movie. Zhang Zhao from Autumn Pictures is here too, it's the same thing."

"Do you know the relationship between director Li Qiutang and Liu Yifei?"

Chen Sicheng feigned ignorance: "Aren't they a director and an actor? What kind of relationship do you think they have?"

"They're a couple, aren't they?"

Chen Sicheng laughed and said, "You said it, not me."

By saying this, Chen Sicheng was essentially acknowledging their relationship to the reporters.

But there were too many hints like that, and the reporters wanted the most direct and clear answer.

Li Qiutang's schedule originally included the premiere of "Beijing Love Story," but it was canceled due to unforeseen circumstances.

He is currently at the Tiangong Yicai headquarters in Yanjing with Ye Ning, watching the first phase of the 60-minute dynamic preview. The so-called dynamic preview can be simply understood as making the film in the form of animation in advance, mainly to see the actors' movements, framing, and camera angles, for the director and cinematographer to refer to before shooting.

Starting last October, Tiangong Yicai spent more than four months finally completing a 60-minute dynamic preview.

This 60-minute preview animation cost the production team nearly 500 million.

No wonder Wan Da lacks production experience. Ye Ning didn't understand the necessity of this step: "Don't you have director's storyboards and storyboards? Why do you need to spend money to make this dynamic preview?"

Ye Ning had reason to suspect that Li Qiutang was trying to burn money so that Wan Da would increase his budget.

If another producer asked the same question, Li Qiutang wouldn't answer and would think the other person was an amateur.

“Dynamic previews are very necessary. Don’t underestimate their simplicity; they can help us solve many problems in the early stages. By spending money now, we can save money during filming.” This is also the first time Li Qiutang has done such a long dynamic preview. He only did dynamic previews for key scenes in “In Time”, and most of the time he used storyboards.

He plans to make a 120-minute full preview of "Mojin: The Lost Legend," which is expected to cost 1000 million.

After watching the preview, Li Qiutang took Ye Ning to see the design drawings of the underground palace and the design and production of some key props. He needed to let Ye Ning know where the money was spent, otherwise how could he ask for more money?

The "Mojin: The Lost Legend" production team actually drew the entire Princess Augu's underground palace, including the tomb chambers, passageways, and various mechanisms. They not only provided blueprints but also created animated previews.

Not to mention the various exquisite and mysterious concept designs: Princess Augu's full burial shroud, the murals and statues in the underground palace, and the visual effects of key scenes.

This all requires real money to be invested in the art and concept design teams.

Ye Ning was stunned. Wan Da had never worked on a blockbuster before, and this was the first time he had experienced the work of the crew led by Li Qiutang up close. Li Qiutang said, "This is industrialization, this is a big production."

But Ye Ning, acting on his producer instincts, was more concerned about the start date of filming.

Wan Da had previously boasted that the film would be released during the Lunar New Year/Spring Festival season in 14, but Li Qiutang told him, "It's impossible. If we start filming this year and finish shooting, we'll be lucky if it gets released during the Lunar New Year season next year."

Ye Ning tried to put pressure on Li Qiutang by using China Film Group's "Ghost Blows Out the Light": "I heard that Lu Chuan didn't really spend the New Year. He ate a meal on New Year's Eve, stayed at home for half a day on New Year's Day, and went back to the film crew in the afternoon, trying to catch up with our schedule." Lu Chuan's preparations started much later than Li Qiutang's.

“What’s the point of comparing with him?” Ye Ning could hear the disdain in Li Qiutang’s tone. “He’s already won if he can get a 6.0 rating on Douban this time.”

This senior's previous film, "The Last Supper," received a rating of 5.8.

Li Qiutang's words were truly sharp: "If he continues to lose money, which company would invest in him?"

Ye Ning couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this, and said, "You have a very open mind."

Ye Ning wasn't worried that his version of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" wouldn't be able to compete with China Film Group; he had faith in Li Qiutang's abilities. Ye Ning brought not only news of Lu Chuan, but also a film, "Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal."

"Filming will start in a couple of days. The cast is very strong, with Chen Kun and Li Bingbing starring, and Wu Ershan directing." Ye Ning was still wondering, "Why are so many fantasy action films coming in all of a sudden?"

The "Painted Skin" series was a huge hit, and now another one, "Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal," is coming. I heard that Huang Xiaoming and Fan Bingbing's "The White-Haired Witch" is also going for a fantasy martial arts style.

Not to mention "The Monkey King," which grossed 10 billion yuan during this year's Spring Festival, a true fantasy action film.

It's fair to say that domestic fantasy action films have developed exceptionally well in the past two years. The two "Ghost Blows Out the Light" films, if you're feeling a bit shameless, could also be considered fantasy-style adventure action films.

"No one watches period action films anymore," Wuxia films, including period war films, have definitely lost their appeal. "But audiences still have a demand for action and visuals, so it's not surprising that fantasy action films are on the rise."

The rise of fantasy action films benefits large companies because the costs are high enough that most companies cannot afford this genre.

As the two were talking, Chen Guofu arrived with a young actress neither of them recognized, along with her agent. He introduced her, saying, "This is Grace Chan, a young actress from Hong Kong, last year's Miss Hong Kong winner. Grace, this is our director and executive producer."

Grace Chan greeted the two men in Cantonese. TVB really knows how to promote people, putting a Miss Hong Kong winner in a supporting role. I wonder what kind of agreement TVB reached with Chan Kwok-fu.

Yoko doesn't have many lines, but she has a lot of action scenes. If she fights well, she can make a lasting impression on the audience. This role doesn't require particularly high-level acting skills; Li Qiutang and Ye Ning don't interfere, it's practically a gift to Chen Guofu.

Chen Kailin is indeed very beautiful. Li, Ye, and Chen took her to another room for a preliminary audition.

"How's your Mandarin?" Li Qiutang knew that many young people in Hong Kong these days couldn't speak Mandarin.

Chen Kailin said in broken Mandarin, "I can understand Mandarin, but I can't speak it well."

"What if I give you the lines?"

"I will try my best to memorize it." However, Ying Caihong's sidekicks are all second-generation Chinese from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and overseas, so it's understandable that they don't speak Mandarin well.

"What about action scenes? Do you exercise regularly? Since you're a newcomer, you probably don't have any prior experience. If you exercise regularly, it will be more beneficial for you when filming action scenes."

Just as Chen Kailin was about to speak, Li Qiutang said again, "Speak English, we can understand it." Li Qiutang and Ye Ning had a lot of trouble understanding Cantonese.

Switching to English, Grace Chan's expression became much more fluent. She said she could run, climb mountains, dive, and ski. Although she had no experience in action movies, she was confident that she could do well.

When the topic of diving came up, it led to Li Qiutang's area of ​​expertise. He casually asked Chen Kailin where she liked to go, what her deepest dive was, and how long she had stayed at the bottom.

Grace Chan said she often travels to Hong Kong and is still a beginner.

After listening, Li Qiutang guessed that her claim of having a love for sports was probably a lie.

But that didn't matter. Chen Guofu thought she was suitable, and she was pretty enough to be cast. Li Qiutang had no objections.

"Alright, I'm all set. Just focus on your performance. Try to speak Mandarin as clearly as possible." Li Qiutang didn't want to waste time on such a small role.

"Okay, thank you, director."

Chen Guofu wanted to treat Li Qiutang and the others to dinner, but Ye Ning smiled and said, "It's Valentine's Day today, will he have dinner with you?"

Chen Guofu laughed and said, "I didn't expect that. Shall we eat tonight?"

“Okay, let’s eat.” Ye Ning agreed.

Chen Guofu said to Chen Kailin, "We should toast President Ye a few more times later. He is the CEO of the largest film company in mainland China."

Chen Kailin smiled and said she would definitely have a few more drinks with President Ye.

Ye Ning glanced at the girl, seemingly on purpose, which Chen Guofu noticed, and she smiled and agreed.

(End of this chapter)