Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 234 Agent

Chen Shou felt he couldn't make up his mind, so he thought it best to consult someone.

As he came out of the office, his assistant Xiao Fang and a manager, Xiao Xiao Meng, were showing Ning Hao and Huang Bo around the company, observing how they produced the film's post-production.

Of course, there are some projects that we definitely can't show them.

"Such a large photography studio, you use it all by yourselves?"

Ning Hao's eyes widened even more when he saw the Little Dream Photography Base.

He didn't expect that Xiaoxiaomeng had its own photography base. Photography bases are basically found in some large film and television companies, such as China Film Group's digital base.

Chen Shouzhe filmed The Martian at China Film Group's digital base.

Hengdian World Studios can handle all kinds of period dramas, and there are many other film and television bases in China.

Known as a great poet whose films can transform a city, even though his movies may not be box office hits, the economic benefits he brings are considerable.

Some local governments would love for him to film movies there, so that a film and television base can be built and become a local tourist attraction.

Labeling the artwork with tags will attract tourists to visit.

Of course, the shady dealings involved are obvious, but Director Chen's approach of creating a film and a city with each film has earned him popularity in some parts of China.

Unlike period dramas, science fiction movies can't simply replicate a futuristic city.

That's overthinking it; the skills aren't up to par.

Therefore, most of the production is done inside the greenhouses at the digital base.

The studio that Little Dream owns is actually quite small, only enough to accommodate some indoor motion capture game productions; it certainly can't handle large-scale productions like movies.

We still needed to borrow a film studio from China Film Group to shoot the movie. Guo Fan's "The Wandering Earth" was filmed in a studio at China Film Group.

"No wonder Little Dream is valued at over 10 billion. It's one of the top special effects companies in China. Does your company have many projects right now?" Ning Hao asked.

The project manager accompanying them chuckled, "It's alright. We're keeping the company running, mainly focusing on post-production for our own films."

“Your company’s films have practically dominated the domestic film market. Every month, one of your films is released. It’s hard for other companies to even compete,” Ning Hao said enviously.

When discussing the domestic film market, one can never avoid mentioning Shouzhai Film Industry. No matter the release date, there are always films produced by Shouzhai Film Industry, leaving many domestic production companies feeling hopeless.

If you can't beat them, fine, but you can't avoid it either.

Ning Hao's choice of science fiction films, besides the aforementioned support, also stems from company considerations: a large-scale production is needed to boost the company's stock price.

What makes a production a "big production"? Films that pile on special effects are the biggest.

We can't just hire some popular celebrities and pay them tens of millions in fees.

That wasn't a big production; it was a huge misfortune.

Therefore, good actors and good special effects are needed.

Ultimately, a science fiction film was chosen, with a cast of big-name actors worth over one or two billion yuan, including Huang Bo and Shen Teng, plus special effects for Xiao Xiao Meng. The film's budget was 400 million yuan, including publicity costs, and the production cost was estimated to be around 300 million yuan. The main reason was that the actors' salaries were not cheap, plus the cost of special effects shooting, which added up to a considerable expense.

The manager smiled and didn't say anything. Don't be fooled by the fact that the film studio doesn't produce much; the quality is top-notch.

“This is…” Ning Hao looked up and saw a room. Everything inside made his eyes widen, and Huang Bo’s eyes also widened.

His movie this time is actually suspected of being a piggyback ride. The alien in the movie is a monkey, and the most popular monkey in China right now is Shou Zhe Film Studio. Choosing a monkey image as the protagonist was a joint decision made by him and his team, so it can be considered as piggybacking on Journey to the West.

Everyone knows that the copyright to Journey to the West is actually held by Chen Shouzhe, since it is his own work.

Many production companies outside are trying to piggyback on this, after all, besides TV series and animation, there is a huge gap in the film industry.

Previously, someone even made a movie about Tang Xuanzang, avoiding the Journey to the West theme, and still managed to gain some popularity.

Now everyone is trying their best to avoid Journey to the West and instead film movies or TV shows related to Journey to the West.

The room in front of them now contains a large number of models, all of which are characters from Journey to the West, clearly indicating that Shougang Film Studio is about to take action on this subject.

"When is Director Chen going to develop a Journey to the West story?" Huang Bo asked. He also coveted this big IP and wondered if he could carve out a storyline for it. He really liked Journey to the West.

"I don't know either. It depends on Director Chen's arrangements." The manager smiled. He genuinely didn't know, but the company's actions did indeed reflect this idea.

Ning Hao wanted to take out his phone to take a picture. He thought it would be great if his company had this big IP; they could make money effortlessly.

The work atmosphere at Little Dream is very relaxed, and you can see many movie elements here. The most popular one is the robot WALL-E.

Looking at the current top-grossing film in China, both Ning Hao and Huang Bo felt immense pressure.

The film, with the highest investment in China, cost 700 million yuan to produce, and it's an animated film, so few people were optimistic about it at the time.

As a result, the domestic box office exceeded 4.8 billion yuan, becoming the highest-grossing film in China. Almost two years later, the record has not been broken.

Currently, only two films have grossed over 4 billion yuan at the domestic box office: The Martian and WALL-E. Both were created by Chen Shouzhe, two mountains weighing on the heads of all domestic production companies.

In addition, there are elements from movies such as A Chinese Ghost Story, Painted Skin, The Taking of Tiger Mountain, Kung Fu Hustle, and Let the Bullets Fly.

When you go to Shouzhe Film Studio, you can only see busy people working. It is only when you come here that you enter the film factory of Shouzhe Film Studio.

When Chen Shouzhe came out, they were still strolling around, and Chen Shouzhe and Zhong Lifan were on the phone.

He shared his thoughts with Zhong Lifan. Zhong Lifan had read the script and knew what Chen Shouzhe was worried about. In fact, she also preferred that Chen Shouzhe not show up or even get involved in the movie.

Just find an insignificant director to shoot it, at most put him in the title of producer or supervisor, and you can even bring in the bandit leader Zuo Shandiao.

However, without Chen Shouzhe, the company's influence will definitely be much less. The company also needs to make money, and having Chen Shouzhe with them will definitely attract a lot of attention.

If the project is approved now, it will be difficult to keep a low profile, as there are quite a few people watching it.

“I actually suggest you play it safe and let someone else do the filming. You just need to focus on the investment and management,” Zhong Lifan said.

This is also for Chen Shouzhe's own good. Who knows what the impact will be, or who he might offend? Those people have far more influence than those in the film and television industry.

“I’ve thought about this too, but who will take over this project?” Chen Shou sighed.

“We can find a new person,” Zhong Lifan said.

"Find a new agent..." Chen Shou muttered to himself.

(End of this chapter)