At the Hurricane Plaza Cinema in Hangzhou, after Yang Dongxu and Chen Xin came out of a small restaurant, they walked hand in hand towards the computer cinema. Wu Sheng and others were walking around, not wearing suits or ties. Instead, he looked like an ordinary passerby and didn't attract too many people's attention.
The man is tall and handsome, and the woman is mature and graceful. The two of them are like a loving couple, with a lot of dog food sprinkled along the way. It makes many singles envious and jealous.
"I heard that you also invested in this movie?" Chen Xin held a drink in his hand with a smile on his face.
There is no seriousness at all in the company, just like a little girl in love, the look of happiness on her face is almost overflowing.
"To be precise, I wanted to invest but the other party was not willing. I invested in Spider-Man, but this investment failed." Yang Dongxu said with a smile.
Heiner has been making constant moves in Hollywood in recent years, but his progress in movies has been somewhat lagging behind. Haina's overseas distribution revenue is driven by the sales of variety shows and singer records.
But whether it is variety shows or records, the main subjects are still European and American artists. It is extremely difficult for Asian artists to open up the European and American markets, and most of their achievements are still in some advertising models.
As for movies, even if there are no Asian faces, you just want to invest in them. The Republic of China, which has always flaunted itself as its own democracy, has set up various obstacles in the face of this very formal investment capital. Even Hollywood film companies have an unspoken rule not to accept capital investment from China.
Of course, if it is a big production, even the film company will feel unsure. When other investors don't have the confidence to invest, these film companies will tacitly want to lure China Capital into a trap.
Therefore, if it is the first movie, Yang Dongxu still has the possibility of investing. For someone who has not participated before, the first film is a hit, and the second film is expected by the market, such good things are basically not his turn.
"Isn't it that Jet Li and Fang Long are very popular in the United States and have a certain box office appeal?" Chen Xin obviously knows something about the situation in the United States. After all, she is responsible for many overseas investments.
"It's just these few people, and haven't you noticed that those who can gain a foothold in Hollywood are basically martial arts stars?
This is actually the foundation left by Bruce Lee, who allowed foreigners to see what Chinese Kung Fu is. So foreigners are full of curiosity and yearning for Kung Fu. Coupled with the cool processing of action in the movie, Jet Li and Fang Long have a market in Hollywood.
As for other aspects, domestic celebrities are basically blank for the time being. Even when it comes to models, Europeans and Americans’ perception of Asian beauty always feels like they are not in the same world as us. "
"Then the only fruits of your busy work these years are variety shows and promoting singers with Heiner's strong record creation?"
"It's not easy to do these two things, why do you still look disgusted?" Yang Dongxu looked at Chen Xin speechlessly.
Chen Xin gave him a look that you can understand yourself. It made Yang Dongxu want to hug this beautiful face and kiss her hard in public.
"Actually, it's more than that. Don't you feel that there are more Chinese elements in American movies or TV series in recent years?" Yang Dongxu said with a smile.
"Has it increased?" Chen Xin raised her eyebrows and recalled the American blockbusters she had watched in the past few years. After a moment, she shook her head: "I don't think so, but Japanese animation seems to have a market in Europe and the United States. After all, there are cartoons in the United States. Wei, Europeans and Americans are happy to accept this."
"Yes, it's just that you haven't noticed it. For example, when passing through Chinatown in some movies, you will see that there is a lion dance in Chinatown to celebrate a certain festival.
For example, in the battle scenes of "The Lord of the Rings", in addition to the ancient European and American armors that feel very bulky. Cool-looking and powerful armors occasionally appeared in ancient China.
Also, in some Western fantasy movies, in addition to the magic that Westerners are familiar with, Eastern monks also appear in the scene, but they are all smooth without special rendering, so they are not very eye-catching. "
"It's really inconspicuous. I didn't even notice it. Does this have any special significance?" Chen Xin turned her head and looked at Yang Dongxu curiously.
"Of course, I have always felt that Eastern fantasy is much better than Western magic. Western magic just has a few gods, a few monsters, and a few legends that are boring to death.
There are so many fantasy stories in China that the Light Goddess can't even cover them all in one book, and they have to be introduced in several eras. There have been several Jade Emperors in Heaven. In Western mythology, apart from God and Satan, it is almost destroyed.
But no matter how good your stuff is, others don’t recognize it, and they don’t even know what face is. This is embarrassing. Therefore, when these elements are added to European and American blockbusters, they can subtly help these people gradually understand Eastern mythology.
You can learn a little about it from a movie, then you can learn about the powerful gods in Chinese mythology or what magic monks know from TV series. Slowly, when they have a cognitive foundation, Chinese culture will have a market in Europe and the United States. "
"Is this the reason why you have been translating domestic monsters into multiple languages over the years and then selling them at almost a loss?" Chen Xin looked suddenly enlightened.
"However, some parts of the translation of domestic gods and monsters have changed some Western magical elements. This is like a foreign Chinese restaurant, if it cannot cater to the appetite of the locals, it changes to American-style Chinese food.
So the most authentic Chinese food locals will only try it occasionally, and will not regard restaurants as a place where they can have three meals a day.
Maintaining the characteristics of Chinese food is something that big hotels can do. After all, this aspect can be used as a signboard. This is the route that Yang Jiayan is taking now.
However, while insisting on Chinese food, Yang Jiayan also launched Western food with Chinese characteristics. This is also a change in localization.
But such things can maintain their characteristics at the top level of catering, but small restaurants need to cater to the public if they want to survive.
The upper echelons of European and American society actually have a higher understanding of China than the ordinary people at the bottom of society who are influenced by newspapers and media.
So they don't need to make these preparations. Our main target is still the huge number of ordinary people. Therefore, the Yang Family Banquet route will not work, and the only option is the localized small restaurant route. "
The two people walked into the cinema after saying this. The movie they came to watch today was "Shrek 2". The filming of the first part of this movie was actually not very smooth.
During the filming process, additional investments were made several times, which was undoubtedly a harbinger of losses for investors. Therefore, all kinds of wrangling continued during the filming process.
Yang Dongxu, who learned the news, originally wanted to get a piece of the pie. After all, other investors didn't have confidence but he knew that the movie would be a hit, and the feeling of picking up the slack was addictive, even though he often picked up the slack.
It's a pity that the other party didn't give him this opportunity, especially after learning that he was the active promoter behind Japanese animation. He is even regarded as the main opponent who wants to destroy American Marvel.
In this way, Yang Dongxu could only miss such an excellent cartoon. However, although there is no investment, there is participation in it. There is no way to make animations. Even if you hire someone to serve as a model to shoot something, most of the production still requires a computer.
In terms of various special effects and graphics, Weta Digital, which has the reputation and capabilities in the industry based on the "Lord of the Rings Trilogy", is the absolute number one.
It can be said that DreamWorks has spent all its efforts on this cartoon. If it does not succeed, DreamWorks is likely to suffer a financial crisis, and the result is likely to be a package sale or bankruptcy liquidation.
So even though we know that Yang Dongxu, a Chinese, has a close relationship with Weta Digital, after all, he is one of the major investors in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. All the special effects in the trilogy were redone by Weta Digital.
But DreamWorks can refuse Yang Dongxu's investment, but it can't refuse Weta Digital to join in and make the cartoons better. They will sell more money to reduce the risk of waterloo in this investment.
Therefore, DreamWorks seems to have forgotten that Weta Digital has a relationship with Yang Dongxu, a Chinese, and spent a lot of money to invite Weta Digital to participate in the production of this cartoon.
Therefore, although Yang Dongxu did not succeed in investing in Shrek, he still got a piece of the pie. Because at his insistence, Weta Digital asked for a small production fee, but added a box office share clause.
And it’s not the first one, but as long as there is a sequel after the success of this one, Weta Digital will have priority to participate. It can be said that it took a severe bite out of DreamWorks.
The staff in the theater turned off the lights. The darkness made people feel briefly uneasy, but there was also a brief moment of excitement, especially for the couple sitting together holding hands.
The big screen in front lit up, startling some excited people, and then the movie started.
To be honest, "Shrek" is indeed a very good animated film, and it has also opened up new areas for the animation market. After all, in people’s concept of spreading qigong, isn’t animation just what children watched when they were young? How could it be possible to make a movie?
The success of "Shrek" is to tell these doubters that anything is possible.
However, although "Shrek" is a successful animated film, it still has not broken out of a strange circle of movies, that is, the sequels are often far less good-looking than the first film.
This does not mean that the sequel is not good enough, but after experiencing the surprise of the first part, people have high expectations for the follow-up. Even if the second part is as good as the first, without the sudden surprises, it still feels a little bit different to the senses.
Not to mention the huge follow-up of the third and fourth parts, which were slightly disappointing with the second part and even more anticipated. In short, it is not easy to make a blockbuster movie, and it is even more difficult to continue to be a hit after making a blockbuster movie.
For example, the movie "Shrek 2" I'm watching now feels really good for people who are watching an animated movie for the first time. But for people like Yang Dongxu who have watched the first movie, it just feels okay without the surprises. Bar.
