Since I have to ask, the original inexplicable name "Harmonica" in the script cannot be used and was changed to "The Third Man".
The so-called "third person" has two meanings. The first meaning is that the murderer is neither He Wei nor the "third person" hidden by Lin Mo; the second meaning is that Lin Mo is Xiao Ke's fabrication because he likes He Wei. The "third person".
Nai'an, who is eight months pregnant, has a huge belly. During this time, she has been raising her baby in Hangzhou. It takes less than three hours for Li Tang to take a train from Shanghai South Railway Station to Hangzhou early in the morning. It takes 20 minutes to take a taxi to the door of her community, which is very convenient.
Her husband was still in the capital, and only her old mother and nanny were taking care of her at home in Hangzhou. She was embarrassed to come to the house empty-handed, so Li Tang installed a fruit basket at the entrance of the community, which contained seasonal fruits.
In fact, Li Tang had called Nai An two days ago and sent the script of "The Third Man" to her email. After seeing it, Nai'an just said it was very good and didn't make too many comments. He just asked him to come over and chat in person.
The weather was very cool in late October. The two of them sat on the balcony and made a pot of Longjing tea. The nanny also cut a fruit plate with the fruits Li Tang bought. Sitting on the balcony and looking out at the mighty Qiantang River, the view is good and the air is good.
"Are you really optimistic about this book?" Nai'an lay comfortably on a wicker chair and took a sip of tea.
The tea she drank was very weak. Only one-third of the newly brewed tea was poured into the glass, and then half of it was mixed with boiled water. It has a slight tea flavor but not too strong.
"I participated in the revision together, and I helped improve many details." Li Tang said, patting his chest.
Nai'an nodded and said straight to the point: "The script is good, but you have to think about it. This script has very high requirements for the director. If it is shot well, it will definitely be a good movie. If it is not shot well, it will probably be a bad one. piece."
Naian's implication seems to be that he is not very optimistic about this script, especially the fledgling Cheng Er.
This was not easy for Li Tang to accept. In fact, he had also thought that investing in movies was very risky, and investors generally were cautious. For example, Naian only invests in Lou Ye's movies. In the final analysis, it is trust. Of course, she couldn't invest in good film projects, such as films by Zhang Yimou and Director Chen, even if she wanted to.
Li Tang asked himself that he knew Cheng Er quite well. Through the cooperation on "Criminals", he felt that Cheng Er was a very thoughtful director.
Although "Criminal" received very good reviews and Nai An has also watched the short film, Nai An cannot be moved by a short film with good response. It is the same as when Chief Jia won the gold medal in the Hong Kong Video Short Film Competition and only received an investment of 200,000 yuan. In the final analysis, this two hundred thousand is a venture capital investment. In other words, Chief Jia, who won the short film gold medal, is worth this price. More is not enough.
According to Li Tang's conservative estimate, the investment in Cheng Er's script was at least two million, so it was reasonable for Nai'an to question it.
Seeing that Li Tang remained silent, Nai'an smiled apologetically and said, "Actually, it's my fault. I really can't help you during this time. Are you panicking because there is no filming?"
"No, no."
Li Tang quickly shook his head and said that he was not crazy enough to blame his pot-bellied manager for not being devoted to him.
Fortunately, he is mentally prepared for this. If Naian is willing to invest, that would be the best. If not, then he would like to ask Naian to help contact the HBF Fund of the Rotterdam International Film Festival. Because this fund is specifically designed to support film production in developing countries, especially the works of emerging directors. The fund provides applications twice a year and provides grants ranging from US$10,000 to US$50,000 to works according to different stages of production.
Moreover, compared with other European film funds for developing countries, such as France's Southern Fund and Germany's World Film Fund, this fund has the least conditions, the lowest threshold, and the most charitable nature. Many of the films funded by HBF funds have no marketability, are unlikely to be distributed in local theaters, and have no return on investment.
Many domestic directors, such as Wang Xiaoshuai, Zhang Yuan, Section Chief Jia, Lou Ye, etc., have received funding from the HBF Fund.
Of course, the lower the threshold, the more intense the competition. Li Tang asked Nai'an for help because it was Nai'an who took care of it when Lou Ye received funding from this fund. Later, Lou Ye's "Suzhou River" won the Rotterdam International Film Festival. When it comes to the Golden Tiger Awards, Nai An has connections in this area.
After hearing this, Nai'an muttered: "I can help you apply for HBF, but the time for applying this year has passed and you have to wait until January next year. The procedure is also simple, and an English version of the script will be ready by then. That's fine. But don't get your hopes up too much. There are hundreds of scripts that apply for funding every year, and there are only fifteen places. Don't forget, Lou Ye was able to get funding because his debut film "Weekend Lover" has already been released. Won the Best Director Award at the Heidelberg International Film Festival in Mannheim, Germany.”
Li Tang nodded and said: "I know this, I just want to try my luck."
He said with a smile: "It will be a lot of money if it succeeds."
Fifty thousand US dollars, equivalent to more than 400,000 RMB. Cheng Er has a savings of 200,000 yuan, which he earned from shooting commercials and MVs from college to now. In addition, Li Tang plans to use his remuneration to invest. If he can't, he will invest more by himself. If he can find a way to get more from elsewhere, he will probably be able to get it together.
Nai'an smiled, then changed the subject and said, "Lao Zhang has already started preparations for "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". Do you have any ideas?"
Li Tang was stunned when he heard this. Although there were rumors during the filming of "The Swordsman" that CCTV not only won the copyright of "The Swordsman" this time, but also won the copyright of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". But it's still under wraps. Moreover, he had just had a phone call with Zhang Dashu a few days ago to talk about the book "Smile, Smile, and Proud 365" that was still being written, and he had never heard him talk about it.
He couldn't help but said: "Isn't Teacher Zhang currently preparing to film "Father Goes to Town"?"
That's right, after finishing the filming of "Swordsman", Lao Zhang has started preparing for a period TV series called "Father Goes to Town" while taking care of the post-production of "Swordsman".
Sun Haiying, who has always been waiting for him and is particularly good at getting things done, finally came forward. This time, he was appointed by Lao Zhang to play the male lead in "Father Goes to Town". The female lead is a former popular actress who has now entered the middle school. Lu Liping.
"Yes, but this does not hinder the preliminary preparation work. Casting may start after the new year. If everything goes well, the filming will start in the middle of next year."
"Uh... let me think about this first."
Since Nai'an said this, the news must be accurate. Don't forget that Lao Zhang's live-in girlfriend Xinman is her best friend. But now his mind is filled with the character He Wei, and compared to Linghu Chong in "The Swordsman", Guo Jing in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" is not that attractive to him. Of course, if it was Yang Guo or Wei Xiaobao, that would be a different matter.
Nai'an didn't seem surprised by Li Tang's answer, and continued: "Actually, Lao Zhang also feels that your image is not suitable for Guo Jing, but you can try the role of Yang Kang."
Why is it said that he is not suitable for the role of Guo Jing? To put it bluntly, he doesn't look stupid enough and is a bit too smart. Moreover, after playing Linghu Chong and then playing Guo Jing, these two characters are completely different from each other, and the contrast between them will make the audience laugh. Unless the previous performance of Linghu Chong was unsuccessful and looked silly.
As for Yang Kang, the second male lead, unless Lao Zhang takes the initiative to invite him, otherwise this kind of demotion will be a bit outweighed by the gain.
Li Tang could only say: "Let's talk about this later."
Maybe Nai'an had the same idea as him, or maybe Nai'an, who was now eight months pregnant, had become a Buddhist, so she just nodded and didn't say much.
After Li Tang had a meal for pregnant women at Nai'an's house, he stood up and left knowingly. After all, pregnant women need more rest and should not be disturbed for a long time.
Nai'an insisted on sending him downstairs in the community, saying that she needed to move more in her current situation.
When leaving, Naian said: "I will try my best to help you apply for HBF funding. If you fail to apply, don't worry. We will work out a solution together then."
"Sister An, I'm sorry to bother you," Li Tang said with a hint of apology.
The first application date next year will be during the Rotterdam International Film Festival in January. At that time, Naian may have just given birth, and it is really embarrassing to bother others.
The second update is a bit late and I’m too hungry.
(End of chapter)
