Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 16 New Film Project

Judging from her appearance, she was probably in her early thirties. Her looks were comparable to those of movie stars. She spoke with a distinct southern accent, had medium-length hair, and wore a business suit, which made her appear poised, elegant, and intellectual—a true career woman.

"Good evening, Ms. Huo!" Master Han recognized the woman at a glance. Perhaps noticing Chen Shou's confusion, he introduced her, "This is Ms. Huo from Hong Kong Emperor Company."

"Oh, so it's Ms. Huo. I almost went to Hong Kong to ask Emperor Entertainment for help back then," Chen Shou said, raising his wine glass.

"Ok?"

Upon hearing this, everyone present looked at Chen Shouzhe. Even Huo Wenxi, who had just approached, was stunned for a moment, his outstretched hand stopping in mid-air.

Chen Shouzhe shook hands with her before realizing what was happening and asked, "Director Chen contacted Emperor Entertainment?"

"I originally planned to visit you, but I didn't go because I had enough funds," Chen Shou said with a smile.

“Then we at Emperor Entertainment have truly missed out. We hope we can cooperate again in the future,” Huo Wenxi said sincerely.

"There will be an opportunity." Chen Shou let go of her hand and nodded.

Emperor Entertainment Group has considerable influence in Hong Kong and maintains close ties with the mainland. They could potentially collaborate on some films in the future, which is why Chan Sau-cheung approached them in the first place.

In addition, there is another reason: Emperor Entertainment is now actively embracing the mainland market, making it relatively easy to obtain their investment.

Perhaps because Chen Shouzhe was quite enthusiastic, Huo Wenxi and Chen Shouzhe got along very well, and Huo even invited Chen Shouzhe to visit Hong Kong when he had time.

The investment of 20 million and the box office return of 1.5 billion caused quite a stir in Hong Kong. Many Hong Kong film companies and directors were extremely envious and wanted to move north.

Huo Wenxi naturally wanted to win over Chen Shouzhe, this newly minted big director, but he kept a low profile in front of Master Han, only having a brief conversation before finding an excuse to leave.

"You really want to cooperate with Emperor Entertainment?" Master Han asked with a smile.

“Some films might be a bit difficult to shoot in mainland China, while it’s relatively easier in Hong Kong,” Chen Shou said truthfully, oblivious to Han Sanye’s expression.

"Oh~"

Han Sanye responded but didn't say anything. After all, he knew very well what the environment was like on the mainland. Some directors went abroad to win awards and were even banned for several years without caring.

After the celebration banquet ended, with the Chinese New Year approaching, Chen Shou was still preparing materials for his postgraduate studies next year. The school leaders were very happy that he could return to school to continue his studies, after all, he was the first director in China to have a single film gross over 1 billion yuan. They hadn't paid much attention to him before, but now they treasured him and gave him the green light all the way. His advisor was also ready.

"Teacher Wong."

Chen Shouzhe returned to Beijing Film Academy and met his next master's thesis advisor, Wang Hongwei, an associate professor at Beijing Film Academy and also the deputy director of the department. With Professor Hou's introduction, Chen Shouzhe formally became his student.

"The guard is here, come in quickly." Wang Hongwei saw Chen Shouzhe come in and hurriedly waved him in.

Chen Shou was also sizing up his mentor, who was wearing a hat and black-rimmed glasses. He was serious and rarely smiled. His face was similar to that of his master, Yu Qian, with chubby cheeks.

Although he teaches directing, his main job is screenwriting. He rarely directs films; he writes screenplays more often. His name can be seen in the works of many famous directors.

"Teacher, I didn't know what you liked, so I brought you tea." Chen Shou said with a smile.

Wang Hongwei laughed and said, "Don't do that again. It seems you and your master Yu Qian taught you that."

"Master told me to bring it, so it must be the right thing to do," Chen Shou said, scratching his head.

"You still have a lot to learn. I can only teach you about movies. In terms of life, you have a good mentor. He has much more life experience than I do. It's good that you have someone to discuss things with when you encounter problems in the future. As for your godfather's personality, you should learn less from him. He has no friends. He can be like that in the crosstalk circle, but in this circle, you must learn to hide yourself."

Chen Shouzhe listened attentively. The knowledge and interpersonal skills accumulated by each senior were very important. "Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure." Chen Shouzhe was very fortunate to have had several seniors who helped him in his life.

The start date for school has been finalized. Chen Shouzhe will return to school next year after the New Year. During the school year, it will not affect his filming, and he will have a lot of free time.

It's more like he's gilding himself, adding a layer of academic qualifications to his resume. Of course, he knows what CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) is.

Returning home for the Chinese New Year, the house was quite lively this year, with many relatives visiting, many of whom Chen Shouzhe couldn't even name.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, a distant relative came to our house early in the morning, bringing her daughter with her. She said that her daughter was so beautiful that she was suitable for making movies, and insisted that Chen Shou make her daughter the leading actress.

Chen Shouzhe was really someone you couldn't afford to offend. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, he rushed to his maternal grandmother's house at noon, and on the third day, he immediately flew back from the Northwest. This made Xi'an Film Studio very upset. They were still waiting to visit Chen Shouzhe's house, but they didn't expect him to run away so quickly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I really have something to attend to. I'll visit Xi'an Film Studio next time I come back." Chen Shou apologized repeatedly to the director of the marketing department of Xi'an Film Studio on the other end of the phone after getting off the plane.

He felt bad that they had made a wasted trip and brought so many gifts. There were just too many relatives visiting, all trying to sell their children, saying they could become big stars and asking him to take them along when he made movies, etc.

Chen Shouzhe wasn't trying to belittle them, but looking at those oddballs who hadn't studied acting, he'd be crazy to choose them as the leads.

Back at the horse farm, it was much quieter, with many employees staying to celebrate the Lunar New Year and take care of the animals.

Chen Shouzhe now has his own social media account. The last time he milked a cow, it made headlines and was widely reported by various media outlets for sensationalism.

Chen Shouzhe really enjoys spending time with animals at the horse farm. He prefers animals to people. If you treat animals well, they will treat you well in return. But if you treat some people well, they might bite you at a crucial moment.

Looking at the fluffy white fox in front of him, Chen Shouzhe suddenly remembered something. "A white fox, we could make a movie about it!" Chen Shouzhe was suddenly inspired, and without saying a word, he ran back to his dormitory, turned on his computer, and started writing.

A week later, he finished writing two scripts. Chen Shou looked at the scripts in front of him and thought about the special effects. If the two movies were filmed together, it would save a lot of costs, especially in terms of special effects. The estimated budget was around 200 million, but of course, it would need to be evaluated by professionals.

The studio currently lacks production staff, and Chen Shouzhe will need these people if he wants to start his own film and television company.

"Let's discuss it with our master first."

It was the eighth day of the Lunar New Year when the show started, and Chen Shou missed the closing ceremony. He didn't have a partner when the show started and didn't plan to go on stage. He went backstage early with his master.

"Do you still go to the bookstore to tell stories?" Guo Degang asked.

"Go when you have time," Chen Shou nodded.

"I guess I won't have much time, I have to go to school," Yu Qian said, smoking a cigarette.

“There’s always time if you squeeze it in. Master, Godfather, I’ve written a new script. Could you two please give me your feedback?” Chen Shou handed the prepared script to the elderly couple.

The two were surprised that Chen Shouzhe had prepared another script. Of course, if they knew that Chen Shouzhe had prepared a whole bunch of scripts, I wonder what their expressions would be.

Without saying a word, the two took the script and began to read it. The only sound was the turning of pages; the backstage area was very quiet.

"A demon wearing human skin..." Guo Degang is good at these legends of spirits and monsters, and his stand-up comedy is a masterpiece.

When the two saw the storyboard Chen Shou was drawing, the tension of the torn-off face skin was palpable, and the elderly couple showed a struggling expression on their faces, clearly shocked by the scene.

"Master and Godfather, it's time for you to go on stage." Meng Hetang stood at the entrance and, seeing that the performance was almost over, hurriedly called out.

The two reluctantly put down their scripts and prepared to go on stage.

Chen kept the script under control and continued reading it after the two finished.

"One core, two parts?" Guo Degang asked in surprise as he looked around.

“Yes, it’s two parts. I’ve decided to film them together and get all the special effects and content sorted out,” Chen Shouzhe said.

"But if the story is not coherent, it is unnecessary to make two movies. If you say that the two movies are related and have a plot connection, then you can make two movies. If there is no relationship between them, the audience will definitely not be able to accept making two movies at the same time."

“Your godfather is right. Although the female lead is the same person, the story is set five hundred years apart. Besides the fact that the female lead is separated by too much time, why don’t you film the first part first and then decide whether to film the second part based on how it is done?” Yu Qian said.

Chen Shouzhe thought it made sense. Although there were two scripts, the timelines were different, so it wasn't appropriate to film them together. Adding them together would create some special effects, so it was better to do it step by step.

"Let's shoot one first and see how it performs at the box office. If it's good, then we'll shoot a second one," Chen Shou said in a low voice.

“That works. This movie is a fantasy blockbuster, and the investment is quite large,” Guo Degang said.

“My budget is around 100 million,” Chen Shou nodded.

"One hundred million?" Old Guo shrank back upon hearing this. Although "Goodbye Mr. Loser" had made him a lot of money, the problem was that the investment in this movie was too large, and he was a little hesitant to gamble. How much did he earn from a single screening?

Even Yu Qian hesitated this time. A few million was possible, but an investment of hundreds of millions was something neither he nor Lao Guo could afford.

The two prepared to go on stage again, exchanged a few words at the entrance, and continued their performance without being affected in the slightest.

After resting for a while after the last performance, Chen Shouzhe was called back onto the stage.

"Come, come, let me introduce you all. This is Teacher Yu's apprentice, and also my godson, Chen Shouzhe, the director of last year's hit movie 'Goodbye Mr. Loser'."

"it is good!!!"

The audience erupted in cheers.

Chen Shou bowed and sang "A Spray of Plum Blossoms," adding some laughter to the encore.

On the way back, Chen Shou sat in the front, Meng Hetang drove, and Yu Qian closed his eyes and said, "Your godfather and I discussed it and decided not to go this time. You are already famous and don't lack investment. Your godfather and I are not in the film business. We can come up with a few million, but tens or hundreds of millions of investment is too much for us."

"I understand, Master. I want to thank you all for your help. This time, I didn't think things through. It's alright, I have some money myself. China Film Group and Enlight Media have plenty of money. This time, we won't be short of money like last time," Chen Shou nodded.

He could understand the old couple's difficulties and would never complain about them. They had put in a lot of effort for his first film; one had helped him at the beginning, and the other had covered for him. If he had any emotions, what difference would he be from an animal?

If he knew they could definitely make money, he would definitely bring them along. The problem is, he doesn't know if they can make money. He can't guarantee it. The script from another world might not be suitable for this world.

They didn't dare gamble with the money they had worked so hard to earn, so they went to those film and television companies instead.

“I can submit the script first, and once it passes review, those companies will naturally come knocking on my door,” Chen Shou said confidently.

(End of this chapter)