After asking about the folk band, Zhou Yan had nothing else to talk about, so he said to Zhang Youan, "Okay, I'll hang up now and talk later."
Zhang Youan said, "Don't worry, you can just call me Come here, I have something else to tell you.”
“Well, you say it.”
“We have already negotiated with the Stings for the movie "Fight for It". Now our company has increased its investment to 880,000 pounds. Seeing that we are willing to increase our investment, the Stings are very happy.” Zhou Yan felt strange every time he heard him say that he would fight tooth and nail.
"Eight hundred and eighty thousand pounds, the number is quite auspicious."
"It's a good fortune. I hope this investment can have good results."
Zhou Yan said with a smile , "Why, I'm worried that the money will be wasted."
"It would be a lie to say that I'm not worried, but according to my experience, this movie still has potential, if Guy Ritchie can write the script If the things shown are filmed, even if they are not brilliant, as long as there are no big mistakes, they can still make some money."
It sounds like Zhang Youan's plan for "Two Smoking Barrels" is still to make the film. Sell it.
Zhou Yan didn't say anything about this. The movie hasn't even been shot yet, so it's useless to say more.
Let’s wait until the movie is finished. If Zhang Youan and the Steen couple still want to sell the movie, it won’t be too late for him to intervene.
As long as there are no big surprises during the filming, the film still needs to be released in theaters to realize its greatest value.
If they really want to sell the film by then, Zhou Yan can also buy the film himself. In short, the fertilizer cannot flow to other people's fields.
“Guy Ritchie is a very good director and worth looking forward to.”
"Listening to what you said, I quite admire him, but it's true that you two have similar experiences. I'm talking about your initial experience in the film industry. In fact, Guy Ritchie is quite happy to know that we invested in this movie. , After all, we are much more professional than the Stings."
Zhou Yan smiled and said, "I don't think so. From a director's point of view, we don't necessarily want investors to be professional. A good investor is one who is stupid and has a lot of money. It is best to just pay and not care about anything else."
"Uh..."
Zhang Youan couldn't help what Zhou Yan said. refute.
Actually, this is also Zhou Yan’s experience. He is a director himself. If he cannot meet an investor like Xu Feng who really loves movies and has unconditional trust in the director, then it is better to meet that kind of investor. Investors who know nothing about movies, but are willing to spend money.
What I fear the most is the kind of person who, after paying the money, has to dictate the filming of the film, which greatly affects the director's creation.
The reason why Zhou Yan has always said that he will not go to Hollywood to make a movie in the short term is also due to this reason.
In Hollywood, unless you are a big director, you cannot break away from the producer-centered system. The company has to intervene in everything, and the director is completely reduced to a tool man.
He doesn’t think that he can get the treatment of a great director in Hollywood just by making a few movies.
The two briefly chatted for a few more words, then Zhou Yan hung up the phone and concentrated on writing the novel "Shutter Island".
......
For the next week, Zhou Yan’s life was relatively simple. It was two o’clock and one line every day. He would leave home early in the morning and go to the studio to have breakfast. He would practice with the orchestra for a while in the morning, and then go to the studio in the afternoon and evening. Just write "Shutter Island."
On the afternoon of July 10th, Zhou Yan was immersed in writing a novel when there was a sudden knock on the door.
Zhou Yan raised his head and responded, "Please come in."
When the door was pushed open and he saw the person coming, Zhou Yan was surprised and said, "Hey, you are a rare guest."
Chen Kaige walked into the office with a smile and looked around, "Your office has always been so simple."
Zhou Yan stood up with a smile, went to pour water for Chen Kaige, pointed to the sofa and said, "Sit down Okay."
Chen Kaige nodded, walked over and sat down, "What are you busy with now?"
"The band is going to perform soon, and they are busy rehearsing." Zhou Yan handed over the tea cup. to Chen Kaige, and then sat down opposite him, "You are also a master who never goes to the Three Treasures Hall for anything. What's the point of coming here today?"
In fact, Zhou Yan's studio is not far from the Yanjing Factory. If If Chen Kaige wanted to come over, it would be easy, but for such a long time, he rarely came over.
In addition to Xiao Can and Li Hong who worked with Zhou Yan, Han Sanping was the only one who came to the Yanjing factory. Sometimes Wang Junzheng and Senior Lu would also come.
Chen Kaige blew the hot air but did not drink. "Can't I come to your place for a visit?"
Zhou Yan shrugged and said, "Of course, you can come over at any time. I welcome you."< br>
Chen Kaige smiled and put down the tea cup, "I won't follow you in circles anymore. Now I am preparing for my next movie, and I want to invite you to give me the soundtrack."
"Next Movie? Or is it invested by Sister Feng?”
Chen Kaige shook his head unnaturally, "Not sure yet."
Looking at his expression, Zhou Yan knew that his cooperation with Xu Feng was not particularly smooth.
At this time, if Zhou Yan’s memory is correct, Chen Kaige should be filming "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin".
This is a movie with polarizing reviews. People who like it think it is high-end, people who don't like it think it is trash, and few are in the middle.
However, Zhou Yan is one of the few in the middle. "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin" is the film in which Chen Kaige truly launched his "playing with flowers" artistic career. He especially wanted to express his art in this film aesthetic.
In fact, he was successful, at least partially. The movie did well in some aspects and was somewhat experimental.
But overall, it will definitely not be a likable movie. First of all, Chen Kaige must have been out of touch with the aesthetic needs of the public, and secondly, he also ignored the consideration of the story structure.
If you take out some individual clips of this movie, the audience will find that the movie is actually very good. At least in terms of visual expression, Chen Kaige has made some breakthroughs.
But when these fragments are put together to form a story, it always feels a bit fragmented. Even if it is viewed as an alternate history, sometimes it is unbearable.
In Zhou Yan's opinion, "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin" is not a bad movie, but it is definitely not a divine movie as some people say. However, the film aesthetic must be inclusive.
"What is the theme of the new movie?" Zhou Yan asked.
"It has something to do with Jing Ke's assassination of Qin."
Zhou Yan nodded. It seemed that he remembered it correctly. This is Chen Kaige's new movie.
“Has the script been written?” Zhou Yan asked again.
Chen Kaige shook his head, "Not yet, Wang Peigong is writing."
Zhou Yan laughed, "The script is still being written, so you asked me to give you the music. Isn't it a bit too early?" Chen Kaige curled his lips and said, "It's not possible before. Every time I approached you before, I couldn't keep up with your schedule. . Isn’t this a trap for me in advance?”
“The problem is that you don’t know what the trap is. The script has not been written yet, so the start of filming has not yet been confirmed. It’s time.”
“That’s for sure. I’ve written two versions of the script, but I’m still not very satisfied. I’m currently communicating with Wang Peigong and trying to finalize the script by the end of this year. I asked Wang Peigong to write the script a long time ago, right after the filming of "Farewell My Concubine" was completed, but it has not been completed until today."
"It means you originally wanted to continue filming this. , but because the script was not written well, did you shoot "Feng Yue" first?"
"That's pretty much what it means, but I didn't expect that the script hasn't been finished yet. If it doesn't get done, I will have to do it myself."
After hearing Chen Kaige say that he wanted to do it himself, Zhou Yan I twitched the corner of my mouth and said to myself that I'd better let Teacher Wang Peigong write it himself. You can make the movie well honestly.
Neither Chen Kaige nor Zhang Yimou actually have the ability to write their own scripts.
If there is a good script and the two of them are willing to shoot it honestly, there will definitely be no problem with the production.
However, it is very difficult for Chen Kaige to make movies honestly.
"Farewell My Concubine" made Chen Kaige famous and became an internationally renowned director. However, fame is a double-edged sword. Since "Farewell My Concubine", Chen Kaige has been drifting a lot, and he is always thinking about making breakthroughs.
Once a director is obsessed with breakthroughs, it is easy for him to have problems.
Although "Feng Yue" was not successful, it is not particularly bad. It's just that people always like to compare "Feng Yue" with "Farewell My Concubine". Chen Kaige himself is obsessed with it and will also compare it with "Farewell My Concubine". Compare your own movie with "Farewell My Concubine".
Now that he is filming "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin", the situation is actually very wrong.
Of course, Zhou Yan would not say these words to Chen Kaige, because he knew Chen Kaige too well. This guy was just a docile donkey. It was difficult for him to listen to anything other than complimentary words.
After thinking about it, Zhou Yan said, "If you can confirm the time for your movie now, I can agree to it immediately, but in this state, it's hard to say. Do you think this will work? No matter what, the soundtrack of this movie, Our studio has accepted it."
Chen Kaige raised his eyebrows and said, "Do you want to take it in the name of the studio? Does it mean that if you don't have time, let Li Tao take over?"
Zhou Yan waved his hand. , said, "If I don't have time, I will ask my senior brother Zhao Jiping to take over. The theme of your new movie is not suitable for Li Tao, but my senior brother is more suitable."
"Then Teacher Zhao can be sure. Have time?”
“Not sure”
"..."
Seeing Chen Kaige's speechless expression, Zhou Yan smiled and said, "If Senior Brother Zhao doesn't have time, I will ask Senior Brother Wang to do it for you."
Chen Kaige said blankly, " Who is your senior brother Wang?"
"Wang Liping, our senior brother in the composition field, he is the one who played "Dream of Red Mansions" in 1987. Are you satisfied with this?"
Chen Kaige said with a surprised look on his face? , "Mr. Wang is also in your studio?"
Zhou Yan said with a smile: "Is there anything strange? Wang Liping is my senior brother, and my teacher Shi Wanchun also taught him."
Shi Wanchun graduated from the composition department in 1961 and then stayed at the school to teach, while Wang Liping is Entered the composition department in 1960.
The two overlapped for a year when they were students. Later, Shi Wanchun stayed at the school and took Wang Liping's class for one year. The relationship was certainly not simple.
Zhou Yan’s staff has signed many people, including Wang Liping, Zhao Jiping and Xu Jingqing. Of course, the contracts they signed with the studio are different from those of Li Tao and Zhao Gao, and they are considered “foreign aid”.
If the studio receives a job and it suits them, they will contact them to do it.
In addition to being responsible for liaison work, the studio will also provide some necessary conditions, such as music production venues and tools. Wang Liping and the others only need to sit back and complete their creations.
The interest disputes in this model are actually not big, and both parties are very relaxed.
Chen Kaige exclaimed, "Your circle... is so innocent."
He actually wanted to say that the circle is really small. Many famous people in this industry are related to Yangyin. This Senior brother, that senior sister’s.
The main reason is that the alumni of the same school seem to be quite united. As long as they are from the same school, they all help each other. This is very different from their film school.
With so many directors coming out of Yanjing Film Academy, there are some who work together, but they are definitely not as obvious as those from Yangyin. Not to mention, there are still many things they don't deal with among their classmates.
Take him and Zhang Yimou as an example. Normally, they were from the same school and their relationship should be very good, but this is not the case.
Zhou Yan also roughly understood what Chen Kaige meant. He smiled and said, "The barriers to our profession should be stronger."
With the development of the times, the professional barriers between directors and actors are becoming more and more important. Weak, now more and more non-professionals are entering this industry, and their performance is not bad.
The barriers between majors in Chen Kaige's school are also very weak. Actors can be directors, photographers can be directors, and screenwriters can be directors. Anyone from their school can become a director.
But in Zhou Yan's major, there are few people who can enter across majors. If you don't study music since childhood, it will be difficult to enter this field later.
In addition to professional barriers, there are also industry levels.
Not to mention other majors, just in the field of composition, Yangyin is the best in the country, and those who compose at Yangyin are basically the best.
Chen Kaige also agrees with Zhou Yan’s statement. Nowadays, more and more people who have graduated from non-directing majors are indeed becoming directors, and their grades are very good. Let’s not talk about it far, just because of “Sunny Days” "The popular director Jiang Wen graduated from the Chinese Opera Department.
Chen Kaige did not dwell too much on this issue. He nodded and said, "Since you can guarantee this, I will leave the film soundtrack to you with peace of mind."
"Brother Ming has settled the score. I can provide the soundtrack for your movie, but the money must not be less."
Chen Kaige immediately sat up, "Didn't you say before that as long as you have a schedule, you won't get a dime for my movie?" Is it okay to take it?”
When the Oscars came out before, Zhou Yan did tell Chen Kaige that if he had a schedule, he would not take a dime. Chen Kaige remembered this.
Zhou Yan said with a smile, "I don't have to accept it, are you embarrassed not to give it?"
"Then I'm not embarrassed... I will definitely give you the remuneration, but you can do it Be gentle. You are getting a lot of big jobs in Hollywood, and the salaries there are sky-high. I’m afraid you are looking too high.”
Zhou Yan waved his hand and said, "Hey, it's not like that. I'll just accept one or two million as a token fee for your movie."
Chen Kaige was startled, "Hey, one or two million, how can you be so generous? You're talking."
"What are you excited about? I'm talking about RMB, not U.S. dollars."
"It's a shame that you're talking about RMB. If it were U.S. dollars, my movie's budget would be too much. You got it."
Zhou Yan laughed and said, "I'm just kidding you. Let's talk about the remuneration after you start filming." (End of this chapter)