Huayu: King of Kung Fu

Lin Hu had read a book in the original timeline.

That's Ang Lee's autobiography, "Ten Years of Film Dreams".

In his book, Ang Lee mentions that he graduated from New York University in 1984 with a master's degree.

In 1985, his graduation film, The Boundary, won the New York University Wasserman Award for Best Director and Best Film.

That very evening, an agent from William Morris Agency, one of the three major brokerage firms in the United States, was about to sign a contract with Ang Lee on the spot.

Ang Lee originally planned to return to Taiwan because he is Chinese and the chances of becoming a director in the United States were too slim.

The agent, however, said that he had opportunities in the United States and wanted him to stay and give it a try.

Ang Lee believed him, signed the contract, and stayed, but ended up sitting on the sidelines for six years.

I was involved in countless projects during this period, but none of them came to fruition.

In the 1990s, two Americans, James and Ted, partnered to establish an independent production company called Good Machine.

Good Machines is dedicated to discovering talented filmmakers and promising film projects, helping them realize their film dreams, and thus generating profits.

After watching Ang Lee's student film "The Dividing Line," they took a liking to Ang Lee and contacted his agent to ask if they could talk to him.

But Ang Lee's agent told them, "Ang Lee is very busy!" and made up an excuse to decline the offer.

Because his agent positioned Ang Lee's first film as a feature film with a budget of over two million US dollars, while the production cost of a good machine was less than six hundred thousand US dollars.

The agent thought this was too simplistic.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Central Motion Picture Corporation is holding a script competition open to Chinese people worldwide.

Ang Lee wrote a screenplay called "Pushing Hands" and sent it to Taiwan for a competition, along with his previously completed screenplay "The Wedding Banquet".

As a result, "Pushing Hands" won first prize, and "The Wedding Banquet" won second prize.

Ang Lee got the opportunity to make a movie, but the Central Motion Picture Corporation gave him NT$1200 million to make "Pushing Hands".

This amount of money is equivalent to approximately US$45.

With such a small amount of money, trying to make a movie in New York is simply a pipe dream.

Ang Lee was at his wits' end when he suddenly remembered the good machinery company that had once approached him.

After they got in touch, James and Ted asked him, "Why did you change your mind?"

Ang Lee said, "I brought so much money from Taiwan, I don't know if I can make a movie in the United States."

Then I told them the story of "Pushing Hands".

Upon hearing this, the two replied, "We're independent filmmakers in New York, not just the kings of low-budget films, but the kings of no-budget films. I can make a movie with $20,000, and you have $450,000? That's incredibly extravagant!"

With the help of good equipment, Ang Lee was able to successfully film "Pushing Hands".

"Pushing Hands" was nominated for nine Golden Horse Awards, grossed NT$1800 million in Taiwan, and sold many overseas rights, achieving great success.

Good equipment continued to support Ang Lee, allowing him to make "The Wedding Banquet" with a budget of $75.

As a result, "The Wedding Banquet" won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and grossed $3200 million worldwide, making it the highest-return-on-investment film of that year.

Ang Lee rose to international fame as a director, and Good Machine also gained renown, becoming a well-known independent production company in Hollywood.

Later, Good Machine embarked on an unstoppable path of independent filmmaking, and even achieved the boasts it had made.

In 1995, Good Machine supported a director named Edward Burns to make a film called The McMullen Brothers for $2.5.

As a result, the film grossed over ten million US dollars worldwide and became a model of independent filmmaking.

……

Lin Hu wants to film "Ong-Bak 2" in New York, but he needs the support of Hollywood companies; otherwise, it's simply impossible.

Just like when he went to Hong Kong to film "Ong-Bak," without the support of Oriental Film Company, he wouldn't have been able to film it so smoothly.

After missing the Sundance Film Festival, he originally planned to go to the United States in a while to see if he could find an opportunity.

Seeing Ang Lee and James at a banquet hosted by China Film Group today immediately made me think that perhaps we could ask Good Machine Company for help.

Lin Hu apologized to the people around him and then went up to them.

After the establishment of China Film Group, Han Sanping served as the vice chairman. When he saw Lin Hu coming, he took the initiative to introduce him to Ang Lee and James.

"This is Lin Hu, whose self-directed and self-acted film 'Ong-Bak' caused a sensation in Asia last year!"

Lin Hu smiled and shook hands with them: "Director Ang Lee, Mr. James, hello!"

James's eyes lit up when he saw Lin Hu, and he said, "You're Lin Hu? I've been looking for you!"

Lin Hu was taken aback, thinking to himself, "I was just looking for you, why are you looking for me too?"

……

Lin Hu, Li An, and James found a place to sit down and started chatting.

It turns out that Ang Lee was preparing to film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". He and James came to mainland China to scout locations and discuss co-production with Beijing Film Studio.

The desert scenes in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" were filmed on location in Urumqi, but the cave scene for the interior was built at the Beijing Film Studio.

Coinciding with the establishment of China Film Group, they were invited to attend the ceremony as heavyweight overseas guests.

But then James said, "Mr. Lin, I watched your film 'Jungle Tiger' a few days ago. It was excellent. Our Good Machine Company would like to acquire the film rights for your movie in Europe and America."

James spoke in English, and Ang Lee acted as his translator, but Lin Hu waved his hand, indicating that he understood.

It turns out that after achieving success through independent film production, Good Machine transformed itself into a well-known international sales agent, specializing in helping films without connections to sell their copyrights globally.

This time, James came to China with Ang Lee to film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." He heard that Lin Hu's "Ong-Bak" had created a box office miracle in Asia.

After watching the movie, James immediately had the idea of ​​acquiring the European and American rights to Ong-Bak.

After James proposed to represent the rights to "Ong-Bak", Ang Lee also spoke up for his partner.

He smiled and said to Lin Hu, "Their partners are all talented and original young people, and they've got their eye on you!"

Lin Hu asked James, "How do you plan to act as the agent?"

"You authorize our Good Machine Company to negotiate copyrights in various countries, and we will take a 20% commission."

Lin Hu thought to himself, "This is not bad. Although the commission is a bit high, it saves me a lot of trouble."

At least you don't have to travel all over the world to film festivals, which is time-consuming and exhausting. Besides, since you know nothing about the European and American markets, you have no idea how much a film should sell for in a particular market.

Lin Hu thought about it and decided that selling the copyright was secondary; the important thing was to film "Ong-Bak 2" in the United States.

He said, "If I give the rights to 'Ong-Bak' to Good Machine Entertainment, will you support me in making 'Ong-Bak 2'?"

James was quite surprised: "So there's a sequel planned for this movie? What kind of movie is it?"

Lin Hu gave a brief account of the story: it's about a young Chinese man who goes to America, fights, and kills his way through the country.

Lin Hu waved his fist: "This story is similar to the first one, the highlights are all in the action. I have more ideas that I didn't use in the first one."

Of the two owners of Good Machine, James is a marketing talent with a wide network of contacts. He has a background in British literature and film aesthetics.

He taught at the film department at Columbia University in New York and also ran a magazine, so he had a wide range of contacts.

He understands the audience's tastes and has a keen sense of the market.

The other boss, Ted, graduated from the film department of New York University. He started from the bottom and is very familiar with the business of independent film production.

In other words, James was in charge of marketing, and Ted was in charge of production.

Lin Hu wanted to make a movie in New York and found the right equipment; he'd found the right person.

James was responsible for reviewing his project, and after he went to the United States, Ted helped him with the filming.

After hearing Lin Hu's plan, James happily said, "OK, let's cooperate!"

Both parties reached a cooperation agreement and then began negotiations and consultations.

Two days later, Lin Hu handed over the copyright of "Ong-Bak" to Good Machine as its agent, and at the same time assembled a crew, planning to go to New York to film "Ong-Bak 2" with the help of Good Machine.

During the several days of negotiations, Ang Lee kept staring at Lin Hu, making Lin Hu feel a little uneasy.

Does this damn Ang Lee have some kind of peculiar fetish?

Damn, that's disgusting!

But then Ang Lee said, "I think you have a wild quality that would be perfect for the role of Luo Xiaohu in my film 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.' Would you be interested in auditioning?"

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is a global blockbuster and holds the record for the highest-grossing Chinese-language film overseas. To be honest, Lin Hu is a little tempted.

Lin Hu wasn't particularly interested in plays with queues (braided hairstyles), but Luo Xiaohu was a desert bandit who didn't need to shave his head, and his scenes were quite enjoyable, almost entirely consisting of sex scenes.

If Lin Hu were to film this, he would do almost only one thing throughout the entire film: shoot Zhang Ziyi.

He slept with Zhang Ziyi in the desert, he slept with Zhang Ziyi in the cave, he slept with Zhang Ziyi in the palace, he slept with Zhang Ziyi on Wudang Mountain...

Unfortunately, despite the film's title, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," Luo Xiaohu was only a supporting character.

I'm already this awesome, why would I be a supporting character?

I won't do it!

Lin Hu asked, "When will you start filming?"

"May!"

"I'm busy in May, I'm going to New York!"

"That's a real shame!"

A big thing will happen in May.

After that incident, Lin Hu will probably make another fortune through patriotism!