Huayu: King of Kung Fu

Lin Hu paid Zhang Jin 20,000 yuan, calculated on a three-month cycle, with an extra 500 yuan per day for each day of overtime.

If Zhang Jin joins the Yuen Clan as originally planned, with his abilities, earning HK$10,000 a month wouldn't be a problem.

Lin Hu didn't treat him unfairly by having him join his team.

According to the market rates in mainland China, Lin Hu's offer was relatively high.

Moreover, they get to appear on screen in movies, an opportunity many people would love but don't have.

Overall, Zhang Jin is a pretty good deal.

After Zhang Jin stayed behind, he temporarily shared a room with Wang Baoqiang, and he also wanted to learn Angquan from Lin Hu.

Winning three gold medals at the National Games, Zhang Jin can be considered a martial arts prodigy, one in a million, and he learns very quickly.

A few days later, Lin Hu finally met Han Sanping in the director's office at the Beijing Film Studio.

Han Sanping carefully examined Lin Hu and felt that this young man was somewhat different from others.

He was a big shot, but Lin Hu was neither arrogant nor servile in front of him, and showed no stage fright whatsoever.

"You won three gold medals at the National Games?"

"right!"

"Becoming a national champion at seventeen is truly remarkable!"

"I won the national wushu championship two years ago."

"Wow, so you won the national championship at sixteen? That's amazing!"

Han Sanping corrected his own words and mentally commented on Lin Hu: young and impetuous, showing off his talents.

It's normal for someone who won the national martial arts championship at the age of seventeen to be a little arrogant; it's just youthful arrogance. Han Sanping wasn't displeased by this.

Lin Hu didn't pretend to be humble just because the other party was the director of Beijing Film Studio. He thought that a young man who wasn't arrogant was not a good young man. He had been reborn and didn't want to play the fool anymore.

After chatting with Lin Hu for a few minutes, Han Sanping opened Lin Hu's movie script.

The script for Ong-Bak is a typical story of a country boy moving to the city.

The story is roughly about a person who comes to an unfamiliar city, experiences a series of events, and ultimately defeats the bad guys and wins the heart of a beautiful and wealthy woman.

Chen Long's "Rumble in the Bronx" and Pixar's "WALL-E" are both famous works that follow this formula.

As the saying goes, "Everyone can perform magic tricks, but each person has their own unique skill." How to make this simple routine stand out is up to each individual's ability.

The script that Han Sanping saw was specially modified by Lin Hu to suit the Chinese context.

Lin Hu believes that his adaptation of the script is quite reasonable.

But who exactly is Han Sanping?

He has been in the industry for twenty years, rising from a lighting technician at Emei Film Studio to the current director of Beijing Film Studio. He has produced hundreds of films and has a very discerning eye for quality.

Lin Hu set the story in Hong Kong, which Han Sanping immediately recognized as a censorship tactic.

In Han Sanping's opinion, although Lin Hu is somewhat clever, the script is just average and there are no surprises.

After reading it, his reaction was rather indifferent; he asked, "Is it that simple?"

Lin Hu was not satisfied with Han Sanping's reaction.

In the time-travel novels he used to read, even if the protagonist just took a dump, the opponents would be shocked.

Han Sanping wasn't even shocked; he really didn't give him any face.

Fortunately, Lin Hu was prepared. He said matter-of-factly, "The essence of an action movie is the action, and a simple and clear story is the best."

Han Sanping nodded, finding it somewhat reasonable, and asked, "Then how do you embody the essence of your movements?"

Lin Hu took out a videotape and said, "These are some clips that my friend and I filmed. Please take a look."

After moving to a room with a television, Lin Hu put the videotape into the projector.

In the original timeline, Lin Hu was a short video blogger who recreated famous scenes from classic action movies.

He's an expert at this, not to mention his extraordinary skills now, making the filming process incredibly smooth.

On television, Lin Hu's moves were swift and ruthless.

Scorpion tail swing, double peaks top, 720° mid-air spin kick...

As the iconic scenes from Ong-Bak were presented one by one, Han Sanping was finally shocked!

However, although he was shocked inside, he remained calm on the surface.

After watching the short film, Han Sanping asked, "Did you film all of this yourself? Did you hire a martial arts choreographer?"

"This was all directed and acted by me; I was the martial arts instructor myself."

Han Sanping was even more surprised. Lin Hu was a martial arts champion, so it was not unusual for him to make such a move.

What's remarkable is his skillful use of the camera, something a novice couldn't achieve.

Despite this, Han Sanping remained unmoved and asked, "You want our Beijing Film Studio to invest in your film?"

"yes!"

How much investment is needed?

Lin Hu had never directed a feature film in his previous life, and he was unaware of the current market rates in Hong Kong. He estimated and said, "Three million."

It is said that Donnie Yen's film "Kill, Kill, Dance" had an investment of three million.

Three million yuan is not a large sum for Beijing Film Studio.

Last year, Beijing Film Studio invested four million yuan in Feng Xiaogang's "The Dream Factory," creating the first Lunar New Year film in mainland film history.

The film "The Dream Factory" grossed 3000 million RMB at the box office, making Beijing Film Studio a fortune.

Han Sanping thought for a moment and said, "Three million is not much. Your script is not bad, and the action design is also good."

But nowadays, unless the action movies are starring Chen Long and Li Lianjie, other people's movies can't sell at the box office.

The film "The Blade," co-starring Xu Ke and Zhao Wenzhuo a couple of years ago, was very well made, but it was a box office flop.

However, you have no professional experience and are not formally trained.

Our Beijing Film Studio is a state-owned enterprise, and we have to account to the state for many things.

It's impossible to invest such a large sum of money in an action movie for a newcomer.

Lin Hu asked, "Is there any other way?"

Han Sanping shook his head and said, "No!"

Lin Hu nodded, indicating that he understood, and said, "Then, could you help me lead a team to Hong Kong to film a movie?"

Han Sanping was taken aback, then said, "You could try contacting a co-production company..."

Han Sanping explained that it turns out that when overseas companies come to China to film, or when Chinese film crews go overseas to film, they all need to go through a "China Film Co-production Company" to handle the process.

Founded in 1979, this company, known as the Co-production Company, specializes in collaborating with overseas film companies to produce movies and earn foreign exchange.

Although Hong Kong has returned to China, it is still an overseas territory. Lin Hu is not a member of a state-owned film studio. If he wants to go to Hong Kong to shoot a film, he must be contacted by a Hong Kong film company and given an invitation before he can go.

Otherwise, what if we let him lead a group of people out of the pass and run away?

Han Sanping explained it again, and Lin Hu said he understood, "Thank you!"

Then I said goodbye!

Han Sanping was a little stunned that Lin Hu left so suddenly!

Lin Hu asked him if there were any other ways, and he said no, but actually there were.

If Lin Hu had handed over the leadership of Beijing Film Studio to produce "Ong-Bak," then Han Sanping might have been able to persuade the studio's leadership to make the film.

The script for "Ong-Bak" was written by Lin Hu, who is also a national martial arts champion. Han Sanping can still guarantee him a leading role.

However, Han Sanping couldn't say this directly, because it would be tantamount to him, the director of the Beijing Film Studio, coveting Lin Hu's project, so he refused directly.

If Lin Hu were smart, he should have taken the initiative to submit the script to the Beijing Film Studio.

You should know that an investment of three million is no small amount.

Due to the impact of the Asian financial crisis, the entire Asian film and television industry has fallen into a winter of decline, with a significant reduction in film and television projects on the market, and action films almost disappearing altogether.

Lin Hu wanted to make an action film, so besides turning to the Beijing Film Studio, who else could he turn to?

Unexpectedly, Lin Hu was completely oblivious; he actually left!

Watching Lin Hu's retreating figure, Han Sanping couldn't help but mutter, "Young and impetuous!"