Back to 17, My Brother is the Cult Leader

"The Night of the Comet" explores choices in parallel worlds;

"The Man from Earth" explores the meaning of immortality itself;

Buried is a social satire disguised as a thriller.

A coffin and a cell phone connect the protagonist to the outside world—

And every phone call told him the same thing:

You are an isolated individual; no one truly cares whether you live or die.

These three films are textbook examples of "low-budget, high-concept" movies.

The budget is extremely low (ranging from $5 to $300 million).

The filming period is extremely short (e.g., only 5 days for "Coherence" and about 18 days for "Buried").

It has received extremely high praise (it has become a classic masterpiece with a Douban score of around 8.5, and its influence far exceeds its production cost).

The film achieved phenomenal box office success (earning approximately $1.5 million through piracy).

Ellie wasn't flipping through the pages quickly.

It took a full hour to finish reading all four scripts.

The English version has approximately 1 to 2 words per script.

"My God! Fang, you're a genius!"

Ellie was a little incoherent, her eyes shining as she looked at Fang Yuan.

"Oh my God! Fang, you are my God!"

Fang Yuan started sweating; what a jumble of nonsense he was spouting.

After Ellie calmed down for a while, Fang Yuan continued:

"Ellie, my idea is that you should start working on the publication and distribution of 'Flying Colors' after you go back."

I believe you are almost ready.

Then they started helping me apply to set up a studio.

At the same time, these four scripts were registered and their copyrights were acquired by the Writers Guild.

Can you help me sell the script for "Flying Colors"?

With the copyright fees you received, you started looking for someone to film "The Night the Comet Came".

The cost is very low, controlled between $5 and $10.

Then, submit it for awards and release it as quickly as possible.

After receiving your share of the box office revenue, if it's not too much, you can then find someone else to make "The Man from Earth".

In short, I will go there next August to find someone to film "Buried Alive".

Before that, you need to help me prepare enough funds.

About $300 million should be enough.

"You'll be fully responsible for everything from project approval and filming to awards and release."

Ellie's eyes widened, and she was speechless.

It took me a while to recover.

"Furthermore," Fang Yuan continued.

"When I go there next year, I might bring one or two of my English novels with me."

It took Ellie a long time to calm herself down.

In one day, they quickly signed various agreements, contracts, and other documents with Fang Yuan.

Having taken the relevant information about Fang Yuan, I flew back to the United States the next day.

Later, in Chen Xia's words,

Fang Yuan learned what crazy things Ellie had done that winter.

The first thing Ellie did upon returning to America was to go to the magazine office to handle the relevant publishing and distribution matters.

After receiving the advance royalties, I went to the screenwriters' association to register and register the copyrights for Fang Yuan's four scripts.

He then contacted one of his suitors, a vice president at Warner Bros. Pictures.

After a friendly and cordial exchange, the vice president agreed to all her unreasonable requests.

This includes renting a small film crew and an editor;

This includes Warner Bros.' help in registering the film for the Berlin Film Festival;

This includes subsequent promotion and theatrical release.

The commitment made was that, under the same conditions, Warner Bros. would be given priority in acquiring the rights to "Flying Colors".

Next, Ellie posted job openings at the Screen Actors Guild and Directors Guild.

The production team was formed in three days.

With a well-developed script, the filming and editing took a total of 10 days.

The cost was $7.

That's much more than the $2 in my previous life.

The shooting effect is incomparable.

In mid-November, Warner Bros. completed the registration process just before the Berlin Film Festival's registration deadline.

After finishing these tasks, Ellie turned her attention to setting up her studio and promoting the publishing house.

After Fang Yuan receives the copyright certificate for the script and various supporting documents from the studio,

These matters have been settled.

Filming for "Lost in Thailand" began in early November.

The filming is planned to be completed in one and a half months, during which time the two lead actors will also participate in the Spring Festival Gala rehearsals.

Fang Yuan was driven to the film set by Wang Jinghua early Saturday morning to visit the crew.

The filming location was a long-distance bus station in the suburbs of Beijing.

When Mr. Zhang saw him on set, he handed him a cup of hot water.

Why didn't you come to the opening ceremony?

"The teacher doesn't give leave for classes."

Do you think I'd believe that?

"meeting."

The film set wasn't big.

A dilapidated long-distance bus was parked in the yard, and several staff members were adjusting the lights.

The lead actors, Teacher Feng and Teacher Niu, were relatively young at that time.

Looking at them, Fang Yuan still felt somewhat complicated.

The man in front of me is tall, and when he smiles, his eyes narrow into slits. He doesn't look like he's forty-one years old.

He was wearing a suit and holding a mobile phone.

The other one was a little shorter, dressed in a cotton hat, cotton shoes, and cotton coat, looking like a migrant worker.

These two are now household names.

Thieves Company, Auction, Idea Company—I used to be able to memorize long passages of their lines.

He had never seen a real person in his previous life, and now he never expected to meet one in a film crew.

"Hello, Teacher Feng and Teacher Niu."

"Don't call me teacher, call me brother."

These two people can perform like a comedy duo the moment they open their mouths; they don't need to rehearse.

Fang Yuan watched from the sidelines while filming.

One scene took six takes before the director approved it.

Teacher Feng always comes up with a different way of saying it each time, which makes the staff on site laugh.

Teacher Niu handled it well, reacted quickly, and the two worked together seamlessly.

I ate boxed lunches on set at noon.

Fang Yuan squatted on the steps with a boxed lunch in his hand. Huang Xiaoming walked over, dressed in a security guard uniform.

"How is it?" Fang Yuan asked.

Huang Xiaoming looked down at his uniform:

"I'm just one character in this show, at security."

"Isn't it a bit early for you to join the crew at this time?"

"The director called for it. He said it was just a rehearsal to get familiar with the atmosphere."

After finishing work in the afternoon, Fang Yuan went to see General Manager Zhang.

Zhang Heping and the director are watching the monitor playback in a temporary office.

Fang Yuan knocked on the door and went in. Zhang Heping pointed to the chair next to him.

"sit."

Fang Yuan sat down and said, "Mr. Zhang, have you finalized the publicity plans?"

Zhang Heping leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment.

"Trailers, posters, roadshows—everything you need is there. You're the screenwriter; you'll be going to a few of those events."

Fang Yuan nodded.

"The audience really appreciates the combination of teachers Feng and Niu."

Both of them are familiar faces from the Spring Festival Gala, and they are extremely popular across all age groups.

This is the main selling point during the promotional campaign.

The arrangements for the Spring Festival Gala program have also been discussed.

It was already dark when I came out of the office.

The film set was still shooting night scenes, and the lights illuminated the courtyard brightly.

The two lead actors were rehearsing their lines on the bus when the director yelled "Action!" They both stopped laughing and got into character.

Fang Yuan stood by and watched for a while.

Huang Xiaoming changed his clothes, picked up his bag, and came out.

"Let's go back to school. I'll hitch a ride with you."