2001 Media Godfather

Chapter 102 An unexpected surprise
Cage and Sophia obtained the true knowledge and returned home satisfied.

Next, they will be stationed in Europe with Su Manqing, inviting film and television celebrities to hold academic exchange meetings in various places.

Although Chu An also wanted to go along to broaden his horizons and give on-site command.

However, there were too many domestic matters to attend to, and he had to handle everything personally, so he really couldn't do without Chu An.

Moreover, "Heart Fire" itself tells a European story, and the original script that Chu An plagiarized was also filmed by Europeans.

Therefore, after Su Manqing and her team arrived in Europe, the film was well received by both audiences and industry professionals.

In addition, Sofia's directing skills are already quite high, and the combination of Cage and Su Manqing is flawless.

So everything went very smoothly.

In the eyes of the European film industry, it has always been European directors who go to Hollywood to make their mark, but this time it is the other way around, with a Hollywood team venturing into Europe and receiving both prestige and recognition.

They were quite polite to Sofia, a descendant of the Coppola family.

The three's first stop was also carefully chosen: the British film industry, which is already closely linked to Hollywood.

To put it simply, many Hollywood stars and directors that are well-known to the public are actually of British origin.

Like Anthony Hopkins, the male lead in "The Silence of the Lambs".

Daniel Day-Lewis, a three-time Academy Award winner for Best Actor.

Later actresses included Keira Knightley, Emma Watson, and others.

According to Chuan's plan, Sofia rented an entire century-old castle on the outskirts of London and invited her British colleagues to discuss an experimental script she had come across, including two members of the jury at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Doesn't it seem extravagant?

Bullshit! It's so cheap that Nicolas Cage is tempted to splurge and just buy the castle.

"Chu! Don't stop me! A castle covering hundreds of acres for only £100,000 is practically free! I don't think there's a better investment than this!"

During the phone call, Cage had another episode.

Chu An's head was throbbing with pain from listening to this.

Without any politeness, he said, "Cage, believe me, you have no talent for investing. Stop daydreaming."

Nicolas Cage's anger surged. "Why?"

Why else?
Chu An was speechless. "Don't you even think about it? London real estate is the most expensive place in the world, except for New York and Tokyo."

"Then why are castles that are hundreds of years old so cheap?"

"If it were truly a good investment opportunity, would you even have a chance to get a place in London where land is incredibly expensive?"

These words left Cage speechless. Thinking about it, it was true. If it was so cheap, why didn't those British people buy it themselves?

As she calmed down, she said, "You mean, there's a scam involved?"

Chu An: "It's not exactly a scam, but you only calculated the purchase cost and ignored the maintenance and tax expenses."

In fact, apart from a few famous ones, there are no expensive castles in Europe, and there are even cheaper ones.

This is essentially the same as protected buildings in China; it can't be demolished or altered, and it requires regular maintenance plus taxes. Don't be fooled by the fact that it only costs 100,000 to buy; the annual maintenance and upkeep will cost at least a million!

To put it bluntly, it's a bottomless pit.

After Chu An said that, Cage immediately lost interest. Although he was a spendthrift, he wasn't stupid.

The script discussion in the UK went very smoothly. The European film industry has always been obsessed with artistic and experimental works, maintaining the so-called taste and style of the old European aristocracy.

The script for "Love, Death & Robots" received widespread acclaim from British colleagues as soon as it was published.

The format of the short film collection, and the fact that all the short films explore the same theme, gave the Brits a bit of a mental thrill.

"This is a very pioneering attempt! Fantastic!"

The Love, Death & Robots script was just a starting point; the main goal was to make a good impression on the British and promote Firelight.

To everyone's surprise, after a friendly and heated discussion about the Love, Death & Robots script, the British colleagues brought up Firelight.

Sofia, of course, wouldn't let the opportunity slip by, and took the chance to bring out a copy of "Heartfire" for an internal screening.

The response was surprisingly positive.

Originally, the British were resistant to the idea of ​​a Chinese person playing a female teacher in Victorian England.

They believe that the differences are too great, both in appearance and culture.

Moreover, when they heard that the screenwriter of "Heartfire" was also Chinese, they felt even more unreliable.

Before seeing "Fire in My Heart," their understanding of it was that an American director made a British story written and starring Chinese people.

It's impossible for it to be reliable!
As a result, when the video finished playing...
Anthony Hopkins, one of the jury members at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, looked at Su Manqing with a serious expression.

"Su, I apologize for my previous judgment!"

"Your performance was amazing; you completely abandoned the gentleness and restraint of the East."

This version of "Firelight" is very different from Sophie Marceau's version, firstly because the directorial styles are completely different.

Sofia specializes in photographing women, and her style is delicate and poetic.

Su Manqing was originally playing a character of different races, and she deliberately highlighted the personality and free spirit of the female lead, Elizabeth.

The resulting film is more flamboyant and expressive than the original.

Su Manqing smiled faintly at Hopkins' praise, "It is my honor to receive your recognition!"

Anthony Hopkins certainly approves of "Firelight" and even more so of the combination of Sofia, Cage, and Su Manqing.

Let's be honest.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was Sofia's mole planted in Cannes.

Because Anthony stopped developing his career in Europe much in the early 1990s, and focused his work in Hollywood.

He certainly hoped that the Hollywood team could achieve something in Cannes.

Moreover, before attending the script discussion meeting, Sofia's famous father, Mr. Francisco Pola, had specially invited him to his home for dinner, the purpose of which was self-evident.

Upon returning from the discussion, Hopkins gave an exclusive interview to The Times.

He explained that the purpose of his special trip back to China was to attend an experimental script workshop hosted by Sofia and Cage. He praised Sofia, saying, "Sofia is an extremely talented female director, and that script called 'Love, Death & Robots' really amazed me; it's incredibly imaginative!"

The conversation naturally turned to "Heartfire".

"I have to admit, 'Heartfire' exceeded my expectations!"

"Perhaps Ms. Su Manqing has truly presented Cannes with a difficult problem; her performance deserves the honor of being named Best Actress at Cannes!"

The London seminar yielded more than just praise from British film peers.

Sophia also had an unexpected bonus, something that seemed insignificant to her, but made Chu An's heart race.

Just as the discussion ended and Sofia and the others personally saw the guests off from the castle.

A young British colleague, in his early thirties, lagged behind the group and waited until everyone had left before approaching Sofia.

"Ms. Sofia Coppola, may we speak privately?"

Sofia frowned; she had no recollection of the young Englishman.

He seemed to speak very little, even during the two-day event.

Okay! Sofia didn't even know who invited him.

Although somewhat embarrassed, Sophia felt it best not to appear too hypocritical. "You are..." At this moment, Cage and Su Manqing, having seen Hopkins off, saw her talking to someone and came to her rescue.

"Oh! Mr. Nolan."

Cage quickly stepped forward to greet him, "We hope our hospitality has satisfied you."

Su Manqing then took the opportunity to explain the man's background to Sophia.

He whispered, "Christopher Nolan!"

Sophia was taken aback, thinking to herself, "Is he Christopher?"
It's no exaggeration to say that Nolan is the greatest film director in Hollywood since the beginning of the 21st century.

Moreover, this person reached their peak right from their debut.

In 98, at the age of 28, Nolan wrote and directed his debut film, "Following," with a budget of $6000. Using this as a springboard, he directed "Memento," pioneering the non-linear narrative film genre and creating this suspense masterpiece.

This earned him an Oscar nomination, officially placing him among Hollywood's top directors.

Sofia had only heard of the name; the director's career was even more glamorous than hers, but she had never actually met him in person.

"Mr. Nolan, we hope our hospitality has satisfied you."

Sofia quickly got into the swing of things and, with Cage's help, started chatting with Nolan.

Nolan stayed behind specifically to see Sofia, not for pleasantries, nor to delve into the topic of "Firelight".

To get straight to the point, "Sophia, I have a presumptuous request."

"Could you introduce me to the screenwriter of 'Love, Death & Robots'? I'm very interested in his writing style!"

"."

Sophia was stunned, and couldn't help but exchange glances with Cage and Su Manqing, thinking to herself.
So you were looking for Chu?

"What the hell?" Chu An, who was in China and attending classes at the Central Academy of Drama, was stunned when he received Su Manqing's call.

"Someone named Christopher Nolan wants to see me?"

Chu Anxin thought, "Is there really such a good thing?"
"What does he want from me?"

Su Manqing: "Nolan thinks that you did a great job of blending philosophical thinking with commercial filmmaking in Love, Death & Robots."

"And right now, he's facing a problem with a film project, lacking experience in this area, so he needs your help."

Chu An's eyes widened, and he blurted out, "The movie project he's talking about, it wouldn't be Warner Bros.' Batman, would it?"

Su Manqing on the other end was surprised, "How did you know?"

Nolan has already had in-depth discussions with the three men; it's Warner Bros.' plan to reboot the superhero Batman. And Nolan has taken over this project.

On the other end of the phone, Chu An was secretly overjoyed.

He thought to himself, "He not only knows about it, but he also knows about Nolan's Batman trilogy."

It can be said that he made himself successful, and he also made Warner successful.

However, it also caused Warner a lot of trouble.

If you hire a master director to helm a popcorn movie or a superhero film, he'll definitely make one that's both profound and commercially successful.

But here's the problem: what happens next? The other works in the DC Universe are completely different from what Nolan made.

Warner Bros. tried to emulate Nolan's style, but ended up with a hodgepodge. It received neither critical acclaim nor box office success, leaving them to watch Marvel rake in huge profits while their own project was repeatedly rebooted.

There's no way around it, the tone was set too high.

At that moment, Su Manqing's question came from the other end of the line, "So, are you going to see her or not?"

Chu An snapped out of his reverie and stopped overthinking. "I'll see you! Of course I'll see you!"

Others might not know what level Nolan is at, but how could Chu An not know?
After thinking for a moment, he added, "However, not now."

"Tell him I'm busy, let's wait until July or August!"

Su Manqing, “.”

Chu An added, "If he trusts me, he can mail the script over first, and I'll try to revise it."

Chu An knew that Nolan's screenwriting ability was also exceptional, one could say it was extremely strong.

I guess he's just lacking inspiration and is resorting to any means necessary.

Then there's no need to meet. Just mail him his first draft of the script as a formality, and Chu An will copy a later version for him. That'll do!
Wow, this job came too easily.

Su Manqing felt that Chu An's request was a bit excessive, but to her surprise, Nolan actually agreed.

I really love how well business elements and philosophical thinking are combined in the game.

Nolan believes that such talented screenwriters are hard to find even in Hollywood. Moreover, he himself was facing a creative block and had no clue where to start, so he decided to give this Chinese screenwriter a try.

The script was sent to Chu An in April. At that time, Su Manqing and the other two were in France repeating the operations they had done in England.

Chu An, on the other hand, was a well-behaved student at the Central Academy of Drama.

Honestly, this freshman is a bit too much. He skipped classes for the entire semester right from the start, and it's almost the end of his freshman year before he remembered he was a student at the Central Academy of Drama.

In addition, the department head already had a prejudice against him, so it was necessary for him to behave himself for a while.

The script was mailed directly to the school.

Just then, Wang Zhan saw a package from the United States, and the mailing address was surprisingly that of Warner Bros. in Hollywood.

Old Wang didn't take it too seriously at first, and even criticized Chu An a few times, "Little Chu, I know you're quite capable outside! But this is the Central Academy of Drama. Dragons coil up for me, tigers lie low for me! Here, there are plenty of people more capable than you!"

Don't let trivial matters ruin your future!

Chu An dismissed it as nonsense. He didn't care about department heads or anything like that; it might work for someone else, but it wouldn't work for Chu An.

He turned around and went to find Ma Liangchen, the deputy director who interviewed him and used connections to get "Hit, Hit a Big Watermelon" into the College Student Film Festival.

When Chu An arrived at Ma Liangchen's office, he didn't even knock and just went straight in.

Ma Liangchen was busy when the door was pushed open. Before he could even knock, he was about to frown and scold. But when he saw it was Chu An, he just rolled his eyes and pushed the empty teacup across the table.

While skillfully pouring tea for Old Ma, Chu An also complained.

"Old Wang is giving me a hard time again! Uncle Ma, I don't think I can stay in the directing department anymore. Maybe I should switch to the acting class? I really can't afford to mess with him!"

Ma Liangchen laughed. "Get lost!! Don't try to intimidate me with your words. Aren't I protecting you enough?"

Having been back at school for over a month, even a seasoned veteran like Chu An, who was already at odds with his boss, would have wasted his life if he didn't manage to get rid of a deputy director.

Chu An chuckled at Lao Ma's mocking remarks, sat down opposite him, and began unpacking the package.

Ma Liangchen naturally turned his attention to the package. "What's this?"

Chu An casually replied, "A terrible script!"

Ma Liangchen, "You wrote this?"

Chu An said, "You underestimate me too much! You want me to revise a script by a Hollywood director."

Ma Liangchen, “.”

Damn it! You've blown this big enough to burst!

.

(End of this chapter)