Chapter 295 It’s so expensive
On August 27, Zhang Chen and his party set off for Venice.
The Venice Film Festival, one of the three largest in Europe, has actually declined.
In fact, it’s not just Venice, Cannes and Berlin are also similar. Now the whole world is being conquered by Hollywood. The market for art films is being divided up, and everyone is having a hard time.
After more than ten hours of flight, everyone arrived at Venice Marco Polo Airport.
This is the first time Zhang Chen has come here in his life. It is truly a water city. There is not a single car in the whole city. The main means of transportation is boats. You can see the pier when you walk out of the airport.
It’s really full of exotic customs.
"Let's go and take a boat at the pier..."
Just as I finished speaking, I saw a familiar figure at the pier. The other person was also searching among the crowd and saw them. He immediately ran over with a smile.
“Jing Tian?”
"Hehe, it's me, Director Zhang, why did you arrive so late?"
Among the crowd, Jing Tian came up to them excitedly and greeted everyone one by one. Next to him was Lu Zheng, whose aunt was smiling.
"Uncle Liang, Sister Qing, Brother Jin, Sister Chen Xi..."
Jing Tian hugged them one by one, but Zhang Chen was still confused: "Wait a minute, what did you say? What, I mean, why are you here?"
"I heard that "Hurricane Rescue" is coming to Venice, so I came here to wait for you. Don't worry, I will pay for it myself, and I will. If you are familiar with this place, I can be your guide for free..."
Seeing Jing Tian's look, Zhang Chen could only shrug, he couldn't control this young lady.
“I didn’t expect your family to be reunited in Venice.”
Zhang Jin joked next to him, and several others laughed, right? Liang Jiahui, Xu Qing, and Jing Tian were in the movie Isn’t this just a family?
"How come you are familiar with this place?" Chen Xi and Jing Tian have a good relationship. At this moment, the two of them were already hugging each other.
“I’ve been here a few times before, especially after watching “The Last Day” last year, so I came again, but in fact, the real Venice is completely different from the one in the movie.”
"Of course it's not the same. Every day in Hong Kong movies there is either a robbery of a cash transport truck or a shootout between police and criminals. In fact, the city, which is known as the safest in Asia, has very few shootings."
Zhang Chen laughed at Jing. Tian, in fact, he is the same. All his impressions of Venice come from movies, such as "Surprise", "007", "Mission: Impossible"...
Because of the special geographical environment of this city, it is easy to It gives people a refreshing feeling and is indeed suitable for appearing in movies.
“Mr. Lu~”
“Hello, Director Zhang~”
At this time, Zhang Chencai shook hands with Lu Zheng, and Lu Zheng also smiled and nodded to everyone.
“Have your accommodation been arranged?”
“Not yet, I came here in advance just to settle in early. None of us have been to the Venice Film Festival, so we can only take a step and watch it. "
Liang Jiahui couldn't help but complain: "Speaking of this, I have to complain about the organizers of the Venice Film Festival. They are really stingy. They are only responsible for the crew of the shortlisted films. The director has to pay for his own air tickets and accommodation, and everyone else has to take care of themselves. Cannes and Berlin at least pay for the male and female lead..."
This is what makes Liang Jiahui most unhappy, because he is not only the male protagonist of "Hurricane Rescue", but also the male protagonist of "Song of Everlasting Regret".
"Song of Everlasting Regret" is a film by Kwan Jinpeng, and it was shortlisted for the main competition, but the organizer didn't even care about the accommodation. It was totally Grandet.
"Okay, don't feel unbalanced. I have to take care of myself. "The Rescue" is a screening, not a finalist for the main competition."
That's pretty much what everyone said. , Lu Zhengcai, who had not spoken much, said: "If you don't have any arrangements, then come with me. The film festival is about to start. It is difficult to book a hotel here. Fortunately, I have reserved three rooms for you in advance..."
< br>“That’s great.”
Everyone came to the pier to take a boat. The Venice Film Festival was not held on the main island of Venice, but on Lido Island in the southeast.
Lido Island is not far from the main island. It is a long and narrow island. The length of the entire island is 18 kilometers and there is only one main road.
There are usually no people here, but every year in September it becomes crowded with big names.
As soon as the ship docked at the pier, it was surrounded by a dense crowd of reporters.
The film festival is just a few days away, and various celebrities are arriving one after another.
Especially in the past two years, Venice has begun to imitate Cannes and invite Hollywood movies to participate in the exhibition. Gradually, Hollywood stars will also come here, and reporters will interview them.
Zhang Chen also saw many Asian faces inside, and he didn’t know if there were domestic reporters among them.
If you have never been to Venice, you will be conquered by its unique charm immediately after entering the island.
There are various stone roads, surrounded by crisscrossing waterways, but the smell is not very good.
It’s normal if you think about it. Tens of thousands of people are eating, drinking and eating here. It’s strange that the water quality has improved.
Everyone came to the place where they stayed. It was really expensive. A room cost 2,000 US dollars a night. It was not a high-end hotel, just a little better than an economical hotel.
All film festivals around the world are like this, taking advantage of your illness to kill you.
In the past few days for the film festival, the cost of accommodation can be dozens of times higher than usual, and it is hard to find a room. If Lu Zheng hadn’t reserved a room for them, they would have really struggled to find a suitable one now. It's easy. You'll most likely have to stay at a hotel that costs 70,000 to 8000 a night.
"Let's make do with it. Let's show it for a few days to see the effect. If it doesn't work, leave..."
The purpose of Zhang Chen's visit this time is to sell films, but in fact he has no interest in the Venice Film Festival. Don't have high hopes.
Unlike Cannes, the Venice Film Festival does not have an official trading market.
Why?
Because this place is too small.
His later generations once watched the construction process of Venice on Douyin, a city built on a swamp.
Driving hard pine wood into the mud to make a foundation, then laying wooden boards and slates on top, and then building a house.
In fact, speaking of it, the living environment is quite harsh. Later TikTok shows that some places have been submerged due to foundation settlement and rising sea levels.
Pedestrians were shopping, and the sea water was up to their ankles.
It is estimated that Venice will be gone in a few decades.
As a northerner, Zhang Chen felt that these people lived on the water every day and must have a lot of moisture. If they were cupped, they would all be dark.
According to the information he collected, the number of film transactions at each Venice Film Festival was actually not large, so Zhang Chen didn't hold out much hope.
The focus of his trip is actually the Toronto Film Festival in the United States.
The Toronto Film Festival opens one week later than Venice, and it is backed by the American film market. Many film dealers who want to buy films may not come to Venice, but they will definitely go to Toronto.
The reason why Zhang Chen came to Venice was just to take advantage of the screening opportunity and maybe gain some popularity.
With the popularity, even if it doesn’t sell in Venice, it will be better in Toronto.
During dinner, everyone chatted: "Who are the judges this year?"
"The chairman of the jury is Dante Ferretti..."
"Do you know him?"
< br>Everyone shook their heads. Anyone who could be the chairman of the jury must be an awesome person, but Zhang Chen never made art films and had almost zero common sense in this area.
“It is said that there is a Chinese judge among the judges this time...”
"Who?"
"My name is Acheng, he seems to be a writer..."
"Yes, I still don't recognize him."
In the past two years, Chinese-language films have participated in the Venice Film Festival. There are more and more films coming. Today, for example, there are more than ten films, which is a record high.
Chinese-language films have become an important part of Venice.
"Then we are going to visit?"
Hearing Chen Xi's suggestion, Zhang Chen shook his head: "Forget it, we haven't entered the main competition, we are just here to sell movies, so we don't have to put in that effort. "
"What about "Song of Everlasting Sorrow"? "
"Well, this is Brother Hui's work, so I have to support it. If it's someone else's, forget it..."
General At foreign film festivals, domestic filmmakers will support each other. When your movie is released, other domestic crews will come over.
But Zhang Chen didn't want to have more contact with them, they were all making literary films.
"Well, there's something I think I should let you know..."
"What?"
""Seven Swords" is the opening film of this film festival . ”
“Don’t worry about it. We are competitors in China, but that’s not the case when we come here. He sells his, and I sell mine. We don’t mess with each other.”
...
The next day, Zhang Chen started running for the screening.
The screening is not just about showing the movie, it has to be promoted.
In a film festival, so many films are released at the same time. If there is no publicity, there will be no attention at all.
Ning Hao once said that when he was attending a film festival, he found that he had flown thousands of kilometers just to show a Chinese film to a dozen foreign audiences without knowing whether they would watch it or not. Understandable.
At that moment, he suddenly understood, and then he gave up literary films and switched to commercial films.
At this time, Zhang Chen was getting angry.
The Venice Film Festival, your uncle, is really dark.
I don’t know if I don’t come, but I will be shocked when I come.
That’s really trying every possible way to get you to spend money.
Yesterday I had a casual meal of several hundred euros. Today I asked about the promotion. In the last issue, the advertising price on the cover and back cover was 20,000 euros per issue.
Other posters and various promotional methods for water taxis are very expensive.
In short, it’s just a sentence, pay for it~
They are very confident, do you want to buy it?
If not in later generations so many countries and regions would be keen on holding film festivals, it would be really profitable.
If it doesn't open for a year, it will eat for one year if it opens.
The annual GDP depends on these half months.
Of course, the most direct and effective way is to hold a party, but the price of the party is even more staggering!
Starting from $300,000!
It’s just robbery.
As a result, Zhang Chen was no longer in the mood to appreciate the beautiful scenery.
What about the gondola and the Bridge of Sighs? I originally thought of coming here to have a good tour, but after looking at the prices, I didn’t dare to move.
If we follow Venice's method of robbing the rich and giving to the poor, I don't know if "Hurricane Rescue" can be sold if the whole package is implemented. The profit of "Wulin Gaiden" will have to be lost.
(End of this chapter)