Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 437 Betting Animation
More than one person has said that Li Qiutang and Zhang Yimou are very similar. Both have extremely strong work enthusiasm and the ability to manage super-large film crews. The difference is that Li Qiutang's temper is not as good as Zhang Yimou's. Zhang Yimou will not swear on the set, at most he will speak in a harsh tone, but Li Qiutang is more irritable. Zhang Yimou has the personality of an old ox, working hard without complaint, but Li Qiutang will fight with investors. The biggest difference is that Li Qiutang is much richer than Zhang Yimou, and he is more willful than Zhang Yimou!
Although Li Qiutang owns a fairly successful American company, he has never actually made a film for Hollywood as a director.

In fact, even without Li Qiutang's special reminder, Zhang Yimou, who had been preparing for "The Great Wall" for so long, must have already felt the difference between himself and Hollywood.

“The communication costs for this kind of cross-border cooperation are too high.” Li Qiutang started with the details: “Take my current crew for example. There are Koreans, Americans, French, Spaniards and Mexicans. Although I have experience, the communication costs are still very high in practice because there will always be situations where I think I have expressed myself well, but you do not understand or misunderstand.”

"We must communicate tirelessly. There must be no separation between the creative and production departments. Every department must be in close communication. If I need to shoot a scene, I will let the cinematographer and the props and art department know at least three days in advance, and the order of the actors must also be adjusted in time."

"There's also a shooting schedule on the information board. This shooting schedule is detailed down to every department and every individual. It specifies what time the actors will start makeup and when they need to hand in their makeup. It also specifies what time all departments need to arrive on set. The schedule is detailed enough to show the time plan for each department. It also shows our daily shooting workload, what time we need to start filming, and how long the shots are expected to take to complete. Everyone will know their daily workload clearly. When they arrive on set, they will all know what they need to do and will do everything in the prescribed order."

"Try to avoid changing plans on set." Older generation directors especially like to make changes on the spot. Changing one or two lines of dialogue is fine, but the real problem is changing the lighting or camera positions. This would waste all the preparation work done by the crew beforehand. "So the pre-production work must be done meticulously."

Did Zhang Yimou not know what Li Qiutang was saying?

Perhaps he just needed to hear these words from an outsider.

Zhang Yimou stayed on set for "Mojin: The Lost Legend" until very late, but it didn't disrupt the filming schedule; Li Qiutang continued filming as usual.

The film crew didn't wrap up until 8 a.m.

"Everyone has worked hard. Hurry up and get some rest. We'll be filming dialogue scenes in Studio 2 this afternoon, so take it easy."

The actors were exhausted, and Liu Yifei even fell asleep while her assistant was supporting her head during makeup removal.

Li Qiutang returned to the room at 10 o'clock, lay down next to his wife, and slept until after 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

I quickly washed up, ate a little something, and went back into the shed.

It wasn't until the first Wednesday of November that Li Qiutang announced the completion of filming for all the villainous characters, including Liu Xiaoqing, Cao Cao, and Chen Kailin.

The crew then realized that their filming in China for "Mojin: The Lost Legend" was almost over.

There are still a few scenes left for the four-person group, which shouldn't be difficult to film, and we should be able to complete the domestic filming on schedule.

How's it going in Toronto?

“No problem, we can start filming anytime we’re there.” Even if there are any problems, the producer in charge in Toronto won’t say them in front of Li Qiutang.

"Okay, everyone get some rest today, there's only a little bit left."

The reduced filming workload even allowed Liu Yifei to attend the premiere of "For Love or Money".

"For Love or Money" is a movie starring her two best friends, Shu Chang and Tang Yan, so she should go and support them.

Liu Yifei didn't walk the red carpet, but instead attended in casual clothes and sat quietly in the audience. After watching the movie, she praised the actors and director as usual, and even joked with her two best friends: "I didn't expect two single people to act in a romance movie so well."

Liu Yifei's words caused laughter from both the stage and the audience.

Shu Chang retorted without any politeness: "I know you're married, so don't get cocky."

The audience laughed even harder.

Liu Yifei did not accept any interviews and slipped away right under the reporters' noses after attending the premiere screening.

Because she knew what the reporters would ask her, and she didn't want to answer any of those questions.

The actors can relax a little, but Li Qiutang can't. He still has a lot of work to do.

The company remains pessimistic about the animation market. Domestic animation has a very bad reputation, not only for its rough production, but also for the industry being full of fraudulent schemes that try to steal subsidies.

Using the guise of an animation industry base to acquire land for real estate development, or simply producing a couple of episodes to collect government subsidies and then quitting—these are the most common practices.

But Li Qiutang still defied all opposition and bet on the animation industry!
Li Qiutang rarely made decisions unilaterally within the company, but when it came to the animation project, he was almost obsessively determined to do it.

He has given the reason countless times at the executive meetings.

The reason for bringing this up again is that the production of Tian Xiaopeng's "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" is nearing completion, and Tian Xiaopeng brought a 30-minute sample clip to the company for screening.

The entire "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" was bought out by Autumn with an estimated box office of 2 million, which translates to 6580 million.

But Tian Xiaopeng did not cut corners just because he had pocketed the profits early; he still worked very diligently.

After the 30-minute short film finished, at least half of the executives in the screening room changed their minds: "This cost 6000 million?"

During his explanation, Tian Xiaopeng specifically thanked Mojing Tianhe, the special effects company wholly owned by Autumn Pictures, for their cooperation: "Without their cooperation, I wouldn't have been able to do it so quickly."

The company's investment and production management manager asked him, "When will the finished film be available? Do you have a release date planned?"

Tian Xiaopeng said, "The finished film will be available by the end of the year, and it will be completed by January at the latest."

"Yes, it can be released during next year's Spring Festival."

However, this suggestion was opposed by the publishing department: "There isn't enough time."

"How can it be too late? The promotion will start during the Lunar New Year season, and the film will be released in February. There's plenty of time. It's perfect to release an animated film during the Spring Festival. Kids will be on holiday, and they'll take the whole family to see it."

Tian Xiaopeng also wants to release the film as soon as possible and meet the audience, but he also has concerns. As a new director, and making an animated film, wouldn't it be suicidal to release it during the Spring Festival?

Li Qiutang spoke up: "I think some details still need to be adjusted."

These words gave Tian Xiaopeng a way out and also touched on what he was thinking: "Give me another six months, and I'm sure I can do even better."

"Six more months? That'll be the summer movie season by then!"

"Summer release it is then, no need to rush the release date," Li Qiutang decided personally. "Is there enough money?"

“That’s enough,” Tian Xiaopeng said. “But it would be even better if the company could give us a little more.”

Li Qiutang laughed and said, "You certainly know how to take advantage of a crisis. Go ahead and do it; money is a small matter."

Using Tian Xiaopeng's "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" as a starting point, Li Qiutang once again emphasized the necessity for the company to enter the animation industry.

"The company will be setting up a new company next year, specializing in animated films. I will be the general manager."

Autumn Pictures has been handed over to Zhang Zhao and others, and Li Qiutang is personally taking charge of the animation company, which shows how much importance he attaches to it.

(End of this chapter)