Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 51 Two Scripts
"Didn't you buy a house?"

Chen Shou arrived late and met the person in a high-end restaurant in the capital. As soon as he entered, he heard Yang Mi say something to him.

"Not yet, I'll decide later."

Chen Shou drove all the way from the horse farm, and was stuck in traffic for a long time, which is why Yang Mi asked him that question.

"I should have chosen a restaurant closer to you; I've been waiting for you for two hours."

"I didn't expect there to be a car accident. It snowed a couple of days ago, and some cars slipped, causing a traffic jam for a while."

"What would you like to eat? This restaurant is open during the Chinese New Year. I've eaten here a few times and it's pretty good, but it's a bit pricey."

"I don't care about dietary restrictions."

"Then I'll order for you."

The two chatted back and forth when Yang Mi suddenly said, "My company has signed a new talent, just like that girl named Nazar from Tangren, she's from Xinjiang."

“That’s great. These are your little chicks. Do they want you to bring the newcomers to film TV dramas and appear on shows?” Chen Shou said with a smile.

"Don't put it so harshly, okay? I don't have any chicks."

"I have it, and you've even eaten it."

"Pfft, cough cough, I almost forgot, you're a crosstalk performer. There really aren't any good people among crosstalk performers."

"You've become so innocent now?"

"roll!"

The waiters brought in the dishes, and perhaps because they'd seen so many celebrities, they all kept their eyes straight ahead, bringing in the food and closing the door behind them.

"Try it." Yang Mi picked up a piece of lobster meat for him.

Chen Shouzhe started eating without any ceremony, as if he had only come to have a meal.

We've eaten almost everything. It's still the third day of the Lunar New Year, and Kyoto is quite lively, packed with locals and tourists.

After they finished eating, they went to digest their food for a while, and then went home separately.

Yang Mi's studio is all set up. She got rid of the other two, but it came at a considerable cost. It was a good breakup, since Jiaxing could continue operating without them. Now that Jiaxing has left Yang Mi, it's as if Jiaxing is finished.

Their jobs could be done by anyone else, but Yang Mi's job is where her value lies.

The agent who took over Jiaxing's business was another agent in the industry, introduced by the Li Baibing sisters. They were considered reliable and had considerable connections in the industry.

They only offer profit sharing; the more you work, the more you get. There's no equity struggle. If they want to grow the company, relying on Yang Mi alone is definitely not enough; she needs to cultivate more people. This is how they attract capital. If she's the only one supporting the business, her company won't last long.

Chen Shouzhe's company is different. In addition to the value of Chen Shouzhe himself, there is also the copyright income that his company owns.

With only three movies and two novels, it has already made countless people in the industry drool; these copyrights alone are enough to support a company.

The "Kung Fu" crew hasn't even started filming yet since the New Year, but the "Journey to the West" crew is already ready. They've been preparing for four whole months, with ample preparations for location scouting, costumes, props, actors, and so on. As expected of CTV, they're incredibly skilled in this area.

On the day filming began, Chen Shouzhe, as the lead screenwriter and producer, also appeared at the launch ceremony.

The first shot begins with the birth of the stone monkey, and then, because other monkeys have died, the stone monkey crosses the sea to other places.

Chen stayed with the crew for a few days to make sure there were no problems before leaving. The people at CTV were even stricter than him.

Although many plot points were changed and there were fewer metaphors, the TV series became more accessible to the public.

The actors are all professionally trained, national-level actors, and very hardworking. The filming was done in several teams, and the equipment was much better than the 86 version that Chen Shou remembered.

The only pity is that the equipment is too good now, so how the market will be after its release depends on the world's acceptance.

As a time traveler, Chen Shouzhe simply wanted to bring the culture of another world to him. Without Journey to the West and Dream of the Red Chamber, this world would lose a lot of its color.

About a month later, filming for "Kung Fu" also began. Chen Shouzhe had already set off for overseas. He had already received his share of the money from "2012". He was going there to film his graduation project.

Lu Sen helped him look after the company. He was initially a little skeptical about Chen Shou's plan to come to the United States to make a movie. He had heard it was a science fiction film and thought it was some kind of big production, but he was told that tens of thousands of US dollars would be enough.

The equipment left over from the previous company is enough for filming; all we need is to rent a house.

Luxem was both amused and exasperated, as was Colombia; they had all thought Chen Shouzhe could bring some good projects.

Roland and Walker welcomed Chen Shouzhe.

Are you sure you want the rights to this?

At the dinner table, Chen Shou wiped his mouth after finishing a steak that cost several hundred US dollars.

“Yes, Chen, I’m inviting you to join Columbia. Your talent shouldn’t stay in China. You can develop better here in the US. It’s more suitable for you, and you don’t have to shoot those sci-fi movies that only cost tens of thousands of dollars,” Walker said.

"Walker, don't underestimate me. You might be in for a surprise," Chen Shou said with a smile.

“Alright then, I’m really looking forward to your new film. Roland and I both think the film rights are perfect, and it fits the current theme perfectly. What do you think, Chen?” Walker shrugged.

"Buy out the whole thing?" Chen Shou asked.

“Yes,” Walker said. “That won’t do,” Chen Shou shook his head.

"Why? Are you going to keep it for yourself to film, Chen?!" Roland asked, puzzled.

“Listen to me, Roland. The script is excellent. I don’t think anyone can direct it better than you. Everyone knows it’s excellent and that it can make money. I also hope to earn more than I can sell it to you for a fixed price. I also have my own film company, Roland. Please understand me. If I were a writer or a screenwriter, that would be okay, I would definitely sell it to you. But I am a director and the owner of a film company. You should be able to understand me,” Chen Shou explained patiently.

“Okay, Chen, if it weren’t for the excellence of your script, I would have turned around and left.” Roland shrugged.

"2012" made him and his company money, and they couldn't wait to make the next one. Coincidentally, Chen Shouzhe's company had just made such a good disaster film.

“We can’t co-produce this time,” Walker said.

"Fine, you all know you can't give profitable business opportunities to others," Chen Shou said irritably.

The two men gave an awkward smile and did not refute Chen Shouzhe's argument. They said that if they could earn more, why should they share with others? Co-productions were only needed for rubbish projects that were trying to scam funds from other countries.

Many directors do this: they raise funds by using their own names for mediocre or even terrible projects.

Many people who don't understand scripts will rush to pay money as soon as they hear that a certain director and a certain actor are in the cast, only to find out that it's a pile of crap.

This situation has harmed many people, especially Han Sanye, who was the most severely affected. If it weren't for "2012" giving him a much-needed reprieve, he probably would have ruined his reputation in his later years.

Why should we let others benefit when we can make money? Co-productions are out of the question, but Chen Shou can invest and contribute his script as equity.

They knew Chen Shouzhe couldn't invest much money, so giving him a little something was no problem.

Chen Shouzhe pulled Lu Sen, the company representative in the US, out of his office and they started working.

Lu Sen thought he was just a housekeeper for Chen, but he never expected to start working and connect with Columbia to shoot a new disaster movie.

Chen Shouzhe's company in the US is called Bluestar, which translates to Blue Star.

The script that Columbia Pictures has its eye on is titled "The Day After Tomorrow".

The production cost was as high as $1.2, which was about the same amount in Chen Shouzhe's memory. Thanks to the reduced cost of special effects, the cost was reduced a little, but not by much.

Chen Shouzhe paid two thousand US dollars, equivalent to about 1.3 million yuan, and at the same time, the script was acquired as copyright. Blue Star Company will have a share in future copyright sales.

This income is considered an investment abroad, but the taxes here are a real pain. Fortunately, the service company where Luxen works provides tax avoidance services, so they handle everything and take care of the statistics.

The two sides quickly reached a cooperation agreement. Colombia needed to make some preparations, while Chen Shouzhe began preparing for his film.

Recruitment information was released through the Screen Actors Guild.

The movie he made this time is said to be a science fiction movie, but the scene is very simple, just inside a house, and the actors are also very simple.

In his memory, the film cost $20,000 to make. Chen Shouzhe spent a little more, about $50,000, which was far less than the more than $100,000 that was publicly stated.

The cast consisted of a dozen or so actors, each playing a scientist from a different field, and all of them were very inexpensive.

The most important part of this film is not the director, but the screenwriter.

The actors were found, the set was built, and the actors were stunned for a long time when they saw the script.

Chen Shouzhe and the others had never heard of him before. When they met him, they all thought he was just playing around, the kind of student that wealthy Chinese people would do to make movies and fool around.

With the idea of ​​making movies for rich young men, the dozen or so actors didn't say anything.

"Chen, do you really know how to make movies? Just from the dialogue, this is a sci-fi film? This is too sci-fi!" one of the actors said with a laugh.

“Don’t underestimate Chen. He’s the screenwriter and assistant director of ‘2012,’ and he’s also a big director in China. His first film sold for 300 million… dollars!” The cinematographer, a photographer from Columbia Pictures, explained with a smile when he heard the actors’ question.

“My God, the assistant director and screenwriter of '2012,' are you Shouzhuo Chen?” one of the actors exclaimed.

“It’s me, nice to meet you.” Chen Shouzhe extended his hand and shook hands with him.

"No wonder you could write such a brilliant script, a screenwriter with 1.3 billion US dollars in box office revenue. I'm sorry, please forgive my ignorance," the actor who had spoken earlier apologized.

"Alright guys, who I am doesn't matter. I'm a director now. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to test you. You are now experts and professors. Please put yourselves into your roles. This is my graduate thesis project," Chen Shou said, clapping his hands.

"We really need to work hard so you can graduate. If we can get in your big movie in the future, we'll be big stars!" said David, the lead actor, happily.

A science fiction film shot in a small house, so simple it's hard to understand.

Even Walker and Roland didn't believe it. The two even came to visit the set, wanting to see how Chen Shouzhe's sci-fi movie, which had no sci-fi scenes at all, was filmed.

When they saw Chen holding the script, they were both dumbfounded.

It's all dialogue.

There's absolutely no science fiction element to it.

The story is about a man who has lived for 14000 years. After working for ten years, he chose to resign. His colleagues came to visit him, and in a simple house, various experts and scholars held a discussion.

The protagonist casually cites the history of human civilization as if he had witnessed it firsthand.

The movie is called "The Man From Earth".
　The actual box office figures for the movie "The Man from Earth" are unclear. It's just a novel with artistic merit, so don't get too hung up on it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)