Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 562 Press Conference

What shocked the business owners in the audience even more was what was to come.

After accepting the invitation to go on stage, Guo Fan made some boastful remarks, such as saying that he had watched Disney since he was a child and that it was an honor for him to direct a Disney movie.

It must be said that Guo Fan is quite adept at speaking to people in a way that suits them.

After saying this, Robert Iger returned to the stage to announce that he would hire Ms. Chen Zhixi, Vice President of Production at Fall Pictures, as the executive producer of "Mulan" to assist the Disney team and the "Mulan" crew in completing resource and cultural adaptation work in China.

If Guo Fan is selected as a Disney director, it can be said to be due to luck. Film company bosses can deceive themselves into thinking that Qiu Tian did not play a role in it.

After all, it's hard to believe that someone could be put into directing at Disney. Besides, although Guo Fan is an autumn director, he doesn't necessarily rely on autumn for everything. Maybe he got this film himself.

But Chen Zhixi's appearance on stage indicates that Autumn Pictures was behind the whole thing.

Of course, none of the bosses present felt that this film belonged to Autumn. Autumn was at most the Chinese co-production partner of "Mulan," which was ultimately Disney. No matter how capable Autumn was, it could never gain the upper hand from Disney.

But then again, the director was supported by Qiu Tian, ​​and the executive producer is the vice president of Qiu Tian Pictures, so to some extent, isn't this film Qiu Tian's work?

Robert Iger also announced at the press conference that the movie "Mulan" will launch a global casting call to find the most suitable Mulan.

The Disney Princess series is the biggest opportunity in the global film industry, especially for actresses. Regardless of the film's success or failure, it's an excellent chance to gain global exposure.

After the press conference, Robert Iger, in an interview with Chinese media, specifically addressed the reasons for choosing Guo Fan:
“We auditioned for more than 20 directors worldwide, but only Guo Fan came to see us with his assistant and two large boxes of preparation materials. I saw his thorough preparation and confidence.”

“New directors bring fresh perspectives and interpretations. Newcomers often represent innovation, and Disney supports innovation. I don’t think this will be an obstacle.”

Disney's official announcement of "Mulan" at the Shanghai International Film Festival has given the festival international exposure and dropped a bombshell on the Chinese film industry.

It's said to be a global casting call, but insiders generally assume Disney will be casting domestically. And since the director and producer are both from the same company, it's clear who's in charge.

But things are not that simple.

Autumn is too weak in front of Disney. The casting of "Mulan" is handled by Disney's global team. Guo Fan and Chen Zhixi will certainly be involved, but it is still unknown how much say they will have.

This is a major challenge for Guo Fan and Chen Zhixi, and it is also a challenge for Qiu Tian.

In interviews, Li Qiutang, Zhang Zhao, and Chen Zhixi all reported good news and avoided mentioning bad news, saying that the collaboration with Disney was a great learning process, allowing them to learn about global production experience, how to work with international teams, and Hollywood's advanced management experience.

They made no mention of the potential team integration issues that might arise from collaborating with Disney.

The morning after Disney's press conference, Fall Pictures also held its own film slate announcement.

The press conference was originally scheduled to be held in a medium-sized hall in the hotel, but since yesterday's Disney press conference, Autumn Pictures has received countless inquiries from people who want to attend today's press conference.

Autumn Film Studio, in conjunction with the hotel, urgently moved to a larger hall.

Even so, seats are still in short supply, but there's nothing we can do. This is the largest banquet hall that could be arranged in such a short time this autumn, and we can only apologize to the guests who cannot come in.

The press conference was hosted by Xu Lin, Vice President of Distribution at Autumn Pictures. Xu Lin reviewed Autumn Pictures' outstanding achievements over the past year. The guests in the audience were probably more familiar with these achievements than Xu Lin himself; everyone knew that Autumn Pictures had made a big splash last year, winning big with a touch of arrogance.

Tell me your plans for this year, and let's see if there are any opportunities for collaboration.

But Xu Lin wanted to whet the guests' appetites, so he first announced the animated film section, which no one was particularly interested in.

We need to take advantage of the audience's high enthusiasm and talk about the animation first, otherwise, if we leave it for later, even fewer people will listen.

"As everyone knows, our animation company is called Almond Films. Last year, 'Monkey King: Hero Is Back' created a miracle in domestic animated films. This summer, we will release 'Big Fish & Begonia,' an animated film that once caused a great sensation online. This year, it will finally meet everyone."

"In addition, we have also started a new animated film project this year called 'Jiang Ziya,' and the film has already begun pre-production. Here, I would like to appeal to all the bosses in the audience that you can really invest more in animated films; this industry desperately needs money."

"Big Fish & Begonia will be released in August. In July, we will release Mirage. I know that everyone has been looking forward to this movie for a long time. Director Li Qiutang wrote the script himself. He originally planned to direct it himself, but due to time constraints, he handed the script over to Xin Yukun. Xin Yukun is a new director, but please believe me. We have already seen this movie internally, and it is very good. It is in no way inferior to The Invisible Guest. Please give it your support."

Xu Lin told the guests about the films that are scheduled to be released this fall.

Domestically, in addition to the aforementioned films, Bao Qiang's "Buddies in India" has started filming; Wu Jing's "Wolf Warrior 2" is about to start filming; "Brotherhood of Blades 2" has started filming; and "Be With You" has started filming.

None of these four movies will be released this year.

The films that are going to be released include the movie version of "Love O8O" co-produced with Huace Media, scheduled for August; "Operation Mekong" co-produced with Berna Media, scheduled for the National Day holiday; and "The Love Saint," which is mainly produced by the company and has already finished filming, with the aim of releasing it later this year.

In terms of international collaborations, the fall season wasn't particularly extravagant, with only two films released: Pacific Rim 2 and The Meg.

The former is still in post-production, while the latter has not yet started filming.

Finally, Xu Lin slowly took out "The Butterfly Lovers".

Films directed by Li Qiutang

"Director Li originally didn't want to include this film because 'The Butterfly Lovers' is not like other films; it doesn't have a definite schedule and is still in the script stage. However, our colleagues persuaded him to include it. This is Director Li's first art film, which is of great significance, and we're including it here so that everyone can see it in advance."

Xu Lin said that it's really worth looking at here, even though he didn't even give a brief synopsis of the movie.

Actually, if we were to schedule the films, we could release more than a dozen in the fall, but Li Qiutang said he wanted to leave some room for competitors, and that it wasn't good for him to boast about 20 or 30 films a year.

"The Wandering Earth," "Detective Chinatown 2," and "Dying to Survive" are all in preparation; otherwise, it would be quite impressive to have them listed here.

"The Butterfly Lovers" was the least discussed topic at the entire press conference, but it received many inquiries afterward.

The plan was very clear: since the outside world was not optimistic about Li Qiutang making art films, would offering help in her time of need win Li Qiutang's favor?
How much can an art film cost? It's a long-term strategy. At worst, we might lose three to five million, but we can make it back later on.

This was something Li Qiutang hadn't expected. She was planning to cover all the costs of making an art film herself, but she never thought someone would be willing to invest.

(End of this chapter)