Since they are reborn, they must be supported by the school beauties.

Chapter 254 The Unpredictable Prophet
When Zhang Yimou came out of the concert hall, the melody of "A Song of Ice and Fire" kept repeating in his mind.

As a renowned director with master-level skills, he understands the emotions behind music and the aura contained in the melody better than the average musician.

When he heard this piece of music, he felt as if he could see thousands of troops arrayed in front of him, ready to fight the enemy to the death.

At that moment, what came to his mind were clips from his own movies.

For a moment, he had a thought: if this piece could be used as the soundtrack for "Hero," that would be perfect. He felt that such music would be more suitable for such a grand scene.

However, there is a serious problem: all the film copies have already been made, and they have even started to be shown in mainland China one after another, so there is simply no time to make adjustments.

Currently, movie screenings rely on rolls of film. These copies are very expensive to produce, and once sealed, it is very difficult to modify the content unless hundreds or thousands of copies are adjusted individually.

Even the North American version has already entered the packaging stage, so changing the background music at this point would be too costly and troublesome.

After much deliberation, he gave up on the idea.

However, just as she had dismissed the idea, Chen Cheng suddenly said something that rekindled her thoughts.

He felt that even this young man, who was not yet twenty years old, would think of his movie when he heard that piece of music, which proved that the music was indeed suitable for his movie "Hero"!
So he said to Chen Cheng with some regret, "Young man, you are right. The opening piece of tonight's concert is indeed very much in line with the style of 'Hero'."

Tan Dun, sitting next to him, agreed, saying, "The piece that opened tonight was indeed very grand, and the melody was also very good. It was very suitable as background music for ancient war movies. I personally feel that it also fits very well with 'Hero,' and the melody feels more in line with international standards. If it is combined with our original Chinese classical style background music, it will feel more three-dimensional and comprehensive."

Hearing this, Zhang Yimou felt even more regretful and shook his head helplessly, saying, "It's just that we heard it too late. The domestic version has already been made, and we're not responsible for making the subtitled version for the US. It's probably not easy to add a piece of background music at this point! Making a new copy would cost a lot of money, and it would take a long time."

Chen Cheng feigned curiosity and asked, "Director Zhang, when will your new film be released in North America?"

Zhang Yimou said, "It depends on how the distribution company arranges it, but it should be soon, most likely at the beginning of next year, which is within the next month or two."

Chen Cheng nodded and said, "If there's no opportunity to make background music, perhaps we can use it as background music for promotional videos, which would be much simpler."

Zhang Yimou's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, "That's a great idea! I'll first talk to the Philharmonic Orchestra about the copyright issue. If they confirm that they can grant me the rights, then I'll contact the distributor in the US and ask the Philharmonic Orchestra to send me an audio recording so that people in the US can hear it. I think as long as they approve of the piece, given their ruthless approach to things, making a batch of copies is no problem. If they really don't want to go through all that trouble, then we'll give them the copyright to use for promotional videos. When I heard it live today, I felt that the piece was only a little over two minutes long, which was just right. Just imagine the progressively building music, coupled with some brilliant shots and dialogue—the effect would be absolutely amazing!"

The cost of printing copies is high, but only relatively speaking. Replacing all the copies could cost millions of dollars in the United States, but if you have enough confidence in the box office, it's nothing.

Even if we take a step back, at least the music in the promotional video serves some purpose.

Chen Cheng realized that his intentional suggestion had touched on Zhang Yimou's sore spot, and that this piece of music might actually have a chance to be released in the United States as part of the film's soundtrack.

At this moment, Tan Dun reminded Zhang Yimou, "I think you'd better call and ask right now. There's a time difference in the US, and it's almost time for work. Also, have them look for CCTV. I heard that CCTV is recording live tonight. Hurry up and make a sample and send it to the US."

Zhang Yimou looked at Tan Dun, gave him a thumbs up and said, "Master Tan really thought of everything. I'll contact them right away."
-
Liu Shiyu was attending the orchestra's celebration banquet at that moment.

Tonight's performance, as the band's closing performance of the year, was arguably the most important one, and the performance was very successful, exceeding everyone's expectations.

The orchestra leader had already arranged a hotel near the concert hall, and even the CCTV leaders in charge of the orchestra came to celebrate the orchestra members' success.

Whether it was the band members or the leaders in charge, everyone could see that the most outstanding piece tonight was the opening piece played by Liu Shiyu. When the main melody of "A Song of Ice and Fire" was played, everyone in the audience was deeply attracted.

Although her superiors and colleagues congratulated her, Liu Shiyu kept thinking about Chen Cheng. She felt a little regretful that she hadn't had a chance to say hello to him today. Moreover, Chen Cheng was leaving tomorrow, and they might not have time to have a meal together.

I don't know why, but lately, whenever I'm not practicing the piano, all I can think about is Chen Cheng. I can't stop thinking about him. I've been to many performances before, big and small, and I've never felt nervous before. But today, when I saw Chen Cheng sitting in the audience, my heart was racing faster than it does after a workout. It's like this guy has some kind of magic that I can't escape.

While everyone was toasting and drinking at the banquet, the group leader received a call from Zhang Yimou. After running outside to answer it, he returned with a look of excitement and anticipation.

As soon as he returned, he went straight to the table where Liu Shiyu was, excitedly telling her, "Shiyu, I have amazing news!" All their colleagues were drawn in and eagerly asked, "What's the good news, Team Leader?"

The troupe leader steadied himself, swallowed hard, and then excitedly said, "Director Zhang Yimou just called me and said he wants to buy the film score rights to 'Game of Thrones'! His film 'Hero' is about to be released in North America, and he hopes to include this piece in the North American version of the film, as well as the trailers!"

The crowd immediately erupted in uproar.

I knew this piece was very good, but I never expected that its first performance would attract a top domestic director like Zhang Yimou.

Moreover, since everyone works in Beijing, they are quite familiar with the trends in the entertainment industry and know that "Hero" is an unprecedented mega-production in the history of Chinese commercial films, costing two or three hundred million yuan. This film is destined to make history for Chinese commercial films.

For this piece of music to be appreciated by him and chosen by him as the soundtrack for this movie was truly a meteoric rise.

In this era, it's incredibly difficult for instrumental music to gain recognition.

The music enlightenment of Chinese people came from Hong Kong and Taiwan pop music, where vocals were the most important and catchy tunes were highly sought after. That's why catchy songs like "Mice Love Rice" could become popular all over the country overnight.

However, in the next twenty years, there will be almost no major hits in domestic instrumental music. Even if there are hits, they will only be within a specific small circle.

If you were to conduct a survey now, out of a hundred people, eighty would have heard of "Mice Love Rice," but if you asked them if they had heard of Tandon's works, those eighty would first ask, "Who is Tandon?"

The greatest expectation for "A Song of Ice and Fire" is that it can become the signature opening piece of the National Philharmonic Orchestra, so that colleagues across the country and people who love listening to symphonies can know and love this piece.

But no one dared to hope that this piece of music would become well-known and recognized by the public.

If this piece of music can really ride the wave of popularity of "Hero," it will not only become a nationwide hit, but it may even become a worldwide hit.

For a moment, everyone was incredibly excited. Although they envied or even were jealous of Liu Shiyu, the piece was played by everyone together, and since everyone participated, there was naturally a sense of collective honor.

The orchestra leader looked at Liu Shiyu expectantly: "Shiyu, ask your composer friend if he can authorize the copyright. If he can, our orchestra will not take a penny of the copyright fee; it will all go to him. I only have one request: that our Philharmonic Orchestra perform the official recording of this piece!"

The copyright of a piece of music belongs entirely to the composer.

Just like this song "A Song of Ice and Fire," Zhang Yimou likes it and wants to buy it, but he can only use it if the original author agrees.

The copyright of the music was given to Zhang Yimou, who can designate the performance team, as can the original composer.

If the original composer says that he hopes the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra will perform this piece, and then the copyright of the finished product is licensed to Zhang Yimou, then the National Philharmonic Orchestra will not be qualified to participate. If the piece becomes popular in the future, the list of performers will have nothing to do with the National Philharmonic Orchestra.

Therefore, the band leader must fight for this performance right.

Liu Shiyu was also a little stunned.

She never expected that Chen Cheng's seemingly joking remark would actually come true.

She thought to herself, "Could Chen Cheng possibly be clairvoyant? How did he know that Zhang Yimou would be interested in this piece of music?"

Seeing that she was still somewhat lost in thought, the group leader quickly asked again, "Shiyu, do you think this is feasible? Why don't you make a phone call and ask?"

Liu Shiyu snapped out of her reverie and said, "As for the copyright... my friend said that if someone wants to buy it for making a movie score, the copyright can be sold, but the price is a bit high..."

"High price? How high?"

The group leader tentatively asked, while also mentally preparing himself: "Since they've said that, it must be a few hundred thousand, right?"
(End of this chapter)