Life in the Light and Shadow of Chinese Entertainment

The filming location for "Journey to the West: The Love Story of a Fallen City" was in Shunyi District, and most of the actors recruited had homes in Beijing.

Wu Yang insisted on the 8 am to 5 pm filming schedule, so many people chose to go home after filming.

Of course, there are also students like those from the Beijing Film Academy who, because they don't want the hassle of traveling back and forth, stay in hotels booked by the film crew.

Today, because it was a farewell party for Li Youbin, and it was a men's gathering, Liu Yifei went home after filming.

By the time Wu Yang's party ended, it was already 10 p.m. Even though he hadn't drunk much, Wu Yang was already about 60% drunk.

In addition, as a director, I have to manage the entire crew, and I also have to shoot and give acting instructions to the actors every day. Although my body is not very tired, my mind is very tired. Now, after drinking a little alcohol, I feel dizzy and don't want to do anything anymore.

So after calling to ask for permission and getting Liu Yifei's consent, Wu Yang planned to rest in the room reserved at the hotel.

Wu Yang had just finished washing up and lay down when he heard a knock on the door.

Wu Yang got up somewhat irritably, but instead of opening the door immediately, he dressed himself first.

On our way back with Wu Jing, we ran into several actors from film crews in the lobby.

As for the other four, they all have houses and families in the capital and had already taken a car home when they parted ways.

Although Wu Jing is a native of the capital, he is currently single and is pursuing Xie Nan relentlessly, so he can stay anywhere.

The young people in the crew are energetic and wouldn't go to bed so early, so they learned that Wu Yang hadn't gone home.

Since Liu Yifei isn't around, she might have some ulterior motives.

Although a month has passed since filming began, Wu Yang has witnessed firsthand how these actresses used various excuses to seduce him.

Even with Liu Yifei by his side, there were all sorts of subtle hints that he was fearless.

Besides, Liu Yifei isn't here tonight, and Wu Yang has been drinking. If she opens the door without any clothes on, it won't sound good!

It's not good to keep the door closed, in case there's an emergency!

Fortunately, when Wu Yang looked through the peephole, he saw Wu Jing outside with a flushed face.

"What's up so late? Let me make it clear first, I'm head over heels for my Feifei, and my orientation is normal!"

Upon opening the door and seeing that it was Wu Jing alone, he smiled and stepped aside.

After spending more than a month together and attending several drinking parties, the two now have a pretty good relationship.

Wu Jing is an honest and straightforward person, with no ulterior motives. He's talkative, cheerful, and not a blabbermouth. It's reassuring to have him as a friend.

Moreover, Wu Jing is well-versed in all sorts of secrets within the entertainment industry across mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

I often give Wu Yang science lessons, which helps him sort out a lot of complicated interpersonal relationships and also allows him to have some gossip in his spare time.

"Get lost, I need to talk to you about serious business!"

Wu Jing laughed and cursed, then closed the door and walked in, sitting down casually in a chair.

Since becoming acquainted with Wu Yang, Wu Jing has also learned about Wu Yang's two states in work and life through daily contact.

In life, Wu Yang is unconventional, loves to joke, and is not particular about details. He can chat with anyone.

It's difficult to truly connect with someone, after all, society is too complex, and people's hearts are even more unpredictable.

Fortunately, Wu Jing's intentions were simple; he wanted to make more friends by befriending Wu Yang and didn't have any ulterior motives.

As a director, Wu Yang is strict but not harsh in his work, and he doesn't get angry or lose his temper even when faced with multiple consecutive takes.

He uses simple and easy-to-understand language to explain the scenes to the actors in great detail, and he always requires a rehearsal before each shoot.

Filming will only begin once rehearsals are complete, so even though it's only been a month since filming started, one-third of the shooting schedule has already been completed.

Despite being a big-budget fantasy film, the main plot is quite cliché: it revolves around a fox princess who travels to the human world in pursuit of true love.

However, the way it is presented belongs to the most cutting-edge special effects industry film. The film content revolves around this old-fashioned love story, thus showcasing extraordinary creativity and imagination.

After all, the verb "love" is timeless, something that all of humanity yearns for and needs, without barriers of language, race, age, or gender.

Looking at Hollywood's special effects blockbusters, it's easy to see that the plots are very simple, and some are even quite childish.

However, when paired with realistic special effects, it can attract audiences worldwide to buy tickets.

In the US today, Wu Yang is considered a well-known international director, having helped Leonardo DiCaprio win the Golden Horse Award and realize his dream.

I wouldn't dare say how much box office appeal it will have, but I'm quite confident it will be released throughout the United States.

If you want to gain empathy or resonance from Americans by relying on traditional Chinese values, you can't use overly complicated storylines.

After all, the Americans have a short history and lack cultural depth; they don't understand classical Chinese or anything like that.

Only the simplest, most genuine, and most sincere love can move them and resonate with them.

So people will pay for tickets to go to the cinema, but if they don't open up channels in the US and thus expand their global distribution, they won't be able to do so.

Wu Yang also lacked the confidence to negotiate revenue sharing with cinemas, while Zhang Yimou relied on the era's dividends to break Chinese records multiple times.

This gave Zhang Weiping the confidence to negotiate with the cinemas to increase the revenue sharing ratio.

With the increasing self-confidence of the Chinese people, and especially with China's economy taking off, it's no longer feasible to follow the path of Zhang Yimou.

Wu Yang's advantage lies in his title as an Oscar-winning director and his international fame in helping Leonardo DiCaprio achieve his dream of winning the award.

Most importantly, all the films that Wu Yang has directed and released have been profitable to date; he has never lost money.

This special effects movie also doesn't have any issues with its form, and it revolves around the theme of eternal "love".

This naturally laid the foundation for a global release. Before returning to China this time, Wu Yang had made an agreement with William.

William will send publicity personnel to follow the release of "Manchester by the Sea" throughout its run, thereby connecting with theaters worldwide through global publishing channels to achieve the goal of cooperation.

Once Wu Yang's film is completed, William will strive for a global release, which is also an attempt by WMN Company.

When WMN was founded, it was just a brokerage company. After many years of development, it has fallen into a development bottleneck.

Previously, I collaborated with Wu Yang on the adaptation of a screenplay into a novel for publication. I also planned to collaborate with Wu Yang on investing in and making a film. This time, I took over the film distribution work for Wu Yang and gave him a large share of the profits.

The goal was to explore a new development path and see if they could break the global distribution monopoly of the six major Hollywood studios.

Leveraging existing global publishing channels, we will explore alternative pathways to global film distribution.

If successful, it will not only open up a new path to wealth but also boost the company's development.

It can also attract many directors to join, along with existing contracted star actors, thus transforming into a film and television giant, or even becoming the seventh largest in Hollywood!

Because of Leonardo DiCaprio's connections, Wu Yang had already found out that, given his qualifications, he wanted to negotiate distribution revenue with the six major Hollywood studios.

The highest percentage you can get is 4%, and you still have to worry about being scammed. This time, the revenue sharing with WMN is as high as 6%.

As the first film in this collaboration, and with a simultaneous global release, even if it's just to build a good reputation, it's unlikely they would do anything to harm Wu Yang.

This will actually allow Wu Yang to earn more, which will attract more production companies.

In addition, with professional audits tracking the entire process, most of the risks of being scammed are avoided.

As long as WMN succeeds, it doesn't matter whether it's to seize market share or to compete for excellent film resources.

When the six major Hollywood studios contacted Wu Yang again, they were no longer so arrogant and prejudiced.