Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 277 Young and Handsome? Yang Jian?

Quite a few people are looking for Chen Shouzhe, and even more are looking for Zhong Lifan.

The entire company team has started operating, selecting a certain number of resumes from tens of thousands of applications.

Tens of thousands of applications were received. This open audition had a very wide scope, with many people submitting their resumes, including some who were not in the entertainment industry.

According to the company's unspoken rules for the selection process, the first tier is definitely the industry's talent agencies. Actors with agencies mean they have commercial value, and only actors with commercial value can drive box office success.

Actors and box office success are mutually reinforcing.

In crosstalk, there are performers who can save the day, and performers who can save the day.

A good and mature crosstalk routine can still be funny even if it's not performed by a famous actor. That's because the joke is guaranteed to be funny, regardless of who is on stage.

Another type is "the performer makes the comedy work live." The comedy piece itself may not be very good, but the performer's superb performance makes the audience overlook the flaws in the comedy structure, thus making the audience laugh. This is entirely due to the performer's personal charm.

This explains why Guo Degang has been telling the same few crosstalk routines in recent years, yet he still manages to make audiences laugh from the bottom of their hearts even after buying tickets.

He has reached a point where the audience can forget the content of the jokes and laugh as soon as he steps on stage.

It can also be done in movies, but it's much more difficult in movies.

No actor in the country dares to guarantee that a film will be a box office hit; even sentimentality can run out eventually.

Even Chen Shouzhe, now a commercially successful director, cannot guarantee that his films will be box office hits. A film that is successful in another world may not be successful in this world.

The best actors for the film can only be chosen from among the cast, the actors who are the most suitable for the role and the best in the eyes of the director and screenwriter.

Chen Shou did not agree to Zhou Xun, Chen Kun, and Ni Dahong because the three of them were not suitable for the kind of feeling he wanted.

He doesn't require people to be famous, but they must be suitable.

It's even less likely to be like TVB, producing shoddy works and filming random scenes without any historical basis.

Aside from police and gangster films, Hong Kong's historical films are simply appalling, lacking any knowledge of mainland culture.

Chen Shouzhe also participated in the screening, so there were bound to be omissions. Therefore, among all the names on the list, the artists from major brokerage companies were given the highest priority, and those with representative works were preferred.

Secondly, there are students who have graduated from various universities. After receiving systematic teaching from these institutions, they have a certain foundation in performance. They can't possibly be unable to cry and need to use eye drops.

Chen Shouzhe wouldn't use this kind of actress, nor could he; he didn't have the time to teach her how to act.

Even the young heartthrobs were filtered out. And you know what? All those young heartthrobs' companies submitted their applications, and they all wanted Yang Jian. Everyone knows that this character is the most handsome, and he doesn't even have hair.

Among the vast number of actors, Chen Shou felt that he couldn't choose anything too outrageous. Perhaps choosing a stereotypical character would be more effective than choosing a big star.

After a few days, "Candle in the Tomb" was taken off the screens, and its box office finally settled at 21.34 billion yuan, successfully breaking the 2 billion yuan mark.

Some small film companies breathed a sigh of relief at this successful start to 2018. With a month left until the Chinese New Year, their films could finally be released. They couldn't be expected to compete in the Spring Festival film season. The film company had already announced that two films were waiting for them during the Spring Festival: one with a production budget of 300 million yuan and the other, a sci-fi film with an even higher budget of 400 million yuan.

With two films eyeing the Lunar New Year film season covetously, some have predicted that, with wolves in front and tigers behind, those who manage to break through will undoubtedly achieve great fame and fortune. Some companies are already sharpening their knives, preparing to ascend to the throne by stepping on these two films.

"What a pity." A sigh came from the man opposite Chen Shouzhe, who was guarding the film studio.

Wuershan shook his head. He had to stop the Ghost Blows Out the Light project now. The third part was completed, and he took a break for a while, preparing to continue filming after the New Year.

Judging from the above, even if it were filmed, it could only be released online.

This will definitely be a huge blow to the film.

Movie theater tickets can cost tens of yuan, but people are reluctant to spend that much on a one-month mobile phone membership.

Not to mention watching online movies on a mobile phone.

The investment for each Ghost Blows Out the Light series film is around 200 million yuan. A film with a 200 million yuan investment needs 500 million yuan in box office revenue to break even. If it is sold on video websites, it will definitely not fetch a good price and it will be impossible to break even.

There is only one way: reduce filming costs. Whether it's equipment, filming crew, or actors, everything needs to be cut from top to bottom, and that cut must be made on the major arteries, causing massive bleeding.

The production cost of an online movie may need to be reduced to less than 20 million yuan, and then recouped through massive internet traffic.

Of course, they could also take the short drama route and attract paying users.

It would be upsetting for anyone to leave a big IP that everyone knows is sure to make money sitting idle.

Ursan, who directed three films, had already become a top-tier director with the first two, and thought he could continue to make a living from them, but he had to cancel his subsequent plans.

"There's nothing we can do about it. The higher-ups have already taken notice. The last film will be released at the end of March, and we can start promoting it after the Spring Festival. We'll receive some official documents during the summer vacation." Chen Shou sighed.

A gold mine was not approved for operation because there couldn't be too much gold.

That left us with no choice but to settle for online streaming, which benefited Tencent Video, our partner. A deal has been struck, with Chen Shou handling production on his end and Tencent Video handling the broadcast.

“I might not have much time to keep an eye on Journey to the West, why don’t you come and help me?” Chen Shou said.

"To make Journey to the West with you?" Urshan asked happily.

“Well, I might need to go over and keep an eye on the Investiture of the Gods project. Even if it's a TV series, we can't let our guard down. Plus, there are a lot of things going on at the company, and there are also overseas companies. My time on the project is limited. You can direct it with me. The sequels to Journey to the West will probably still be handled by you,” Chen Shou said.

Wuershan's eyes snapped open. He was willing to film Ghost Blows Out the Light not only for the money, but also because of his greater ambitions.

That's right, he'd had his eye on Journey to the West for a long time.

Unexpectedly, this misfortune turned into a blessing in disguise. Chen Shouzhe actually intended to hand over the Journey to the West to him. He was probably the assistant director, but it wouldn't be a bad idea for him to be Chen Shouzhe's assistant director.

There are also hierarchies in the directing circle. The highest level is definitely those older generation directors who have made contributions, followed by Zhang Yimou, Chen Da Shiren, and others who are internationally renowned.

Chen Shouzhe's current level is similar to that of Zhang Yimou, the great poet. He certainly doesn't have as many awards as them, but he has the only Oscar.

In terms of business, there was no one who could compete. Even though Wu Jing broke the domestic record, in the eyes of those who understand film, he was definitely not as good as Chen Shouzhe.

“No problem. After the havoc in Heaven, what about Gao Village? The Flowing Sand River? Or the Four Sages Testing the Mind of Zen?” Wuershan was already thinking about which episode of Journey to the West to film after the havoc in Heaven.

(End of this chapter)