Regarding these comments from the outside world, Li Tang, who has seen the world, doesn't care at all. The ratings of "The Swordsman" are still steadily increasing amidst the criticism, but he responded: "Black and red are also red!"
After watching a few episodes, Li Tang quickly lost the desire to continue watching, because he could always find shortcomings in his performance, and it would be better to turn a blind eye to it than to make himself depressed.
Criticisms cannot always be the same. The media actually dug up the interview that Li Tang accepted by Han Binjiang and published it in the "Daily News" before the broadcast. Naturally, they criticized his remarks and even asked for interviews afterward. . This time Li Tang did not get used to this group of media, rejecting them all and accepting none of them.
On February 5th, as the 30th Rotterdam International Film Festival came to an end, good news finally came to Cheng Er from far away in Rotterdam. The script of "The Third Man" was successfully shortlisted for funding from fifteen HBF funds this year. Received US$30,000 in funding.
The HBF Fund generally grants a funding range of US$10,000 to US$50,000 to shortlisted scripts, and US$30,000 is considered a lucky draw. Of course, they are not taking advantage of you. They will not give you a check directly. Instead, they will set up projects for each project and then allocate funds according to the progress.
Cheng Er was particularly excited. Thirty thousand US dollars was equivalent to more than 200,000 yuan. Adding his own savings of more than 200,000 yuan, almost half of the funds were settled according to his budget.
Hearing Cheng Er's excited voice on the phone, to be honest, it was the first time that Li Tang heard Cheng Er say so many words in one breath, and express just a few meanings over and over again.
The first thing is nothing more than thanks to Li Tang for his help, otherwise his work would definitely be far away. It is almost like Li Tang was Bole who discovered Cheng Er, a thousand-mile horse.
Secondly, this time he went to Rotterdam to see the world and watched many excellent movies. The only shortcoming was that his English skills were poor and he couldn't understand the dialogue. Fortunately, the language of movies is universally used around the world, so he learned a lot. Quite a few things.
Third, and most importantly, he coyly hinted whether Li Tang could think of a way to resolve the other half's investment. Because if the movie cannot be launched, the $30,000 in funding will be wasted.
Li Tang felt that Cheng Er was still too young. The more careful he was about making movies, the less money he would have. "Suzhou River" was the first to take the lead. Of course, he hoped that Cheng Er was not a very talented Lou Ye, otherwise, let alone one million No, even two million dollars can’t stop it.
Originally, Li Tang planned to visit Nai'an in Hangzhou after the Lantern Festival, wish her well in her old age, and make up for her daughter's full moon gift. This time we simply did it all together, because when Cheng Er applied for the HBF fund, the production and production company used was Nai'an's Dream Work Culture and Art Company.
…
"You said you were here, why are you so polite?"
The full moon gift from Li Tang was very affordable, it was a longevity lock made of 100 grams of 999 pure gold, weighing two ounces. As long as you are Chinese, no matter how foreign it is, gift-giving should be festive and auspicious.
Naian, who had just given birth to a child, has become much richer. Her whole person looks a bit softer and more maternal, and she is no longer as aggressive and aggressive as before.
Nai'an also knew about Cheng Er's financial sponsorship from HBF at the first time. Her friends at the fund may have known the news earlier than Cheng Er who was in Rotterdam.
Li Tang told Nai'an the matter straight to the point without making any circles. The problem now is that since you have applied for the fund, you have to start it within the year. If you can't start it or if you take the early funds and it ends up being unfinished, then you will have no chance in the future.
"What did you think about it?" Nai'an asked after listening.
It is obvious that Li Tang is so enthusiastic about this matter because he is optimistic about the script of "The Third Man".
Li Tang said without hesitation: "If the company has difficulties, then I want to invest myself."
He had thought about this matter before it came up. Since he wanted to act, it was just a matter of giving it a try.
Nai'an didn't seem surprised. She took out a script and handed it over and said, "Please take a look at this script first, Lou Ye's new work."
"Really?"
Li Tang's first reaction was quite surprising. Since "Suzhou River" was banned, Lou Ye has been in retreat and concentrating on conceiving a new script. Now, almost a year later, the script has finally been released.
He quickly took the book and looked through it. The name was "Summer Palace". Li Tang subconsciously thought that this was a love story that took place in the capital. Because love is always the main theme in Lou Ye's movies, and then referring to "Suzhou River", we can naturally draw a conclusion.
The reason why he was particularly interested was because when filming "Suzhou River", he was not given a script and was fed up with the experience of paper flying every day on set. He couldn't wait to see what kind of sadomasochism was described in "The Summer Palace".
Yes, Lou Ye's love story is always sadomasochism.
The script is not long, only about 50,000 to 60,000 words. The main reason is that many of the dialogues only have a general meaning and are not developed. It is probably the same as the on-site flying paper. However, the descriptions of some scenes are quite detailed, such as the love scene between the male protagonist Zhou Wei and the female protagonist Yu Hong.
But after he finished reading it, the excitement at the beginning was completely gone, replaced by deep worry.
He hesitated for a moment, then said frankly: "Sister An, you will definitely not be able to pass this book."
"I know, but Lou Ye wants to take pictures."
Nai'an's words suddenly made Li Tang feel deeply jealous of Lou Ye. For such a script that contained particularly sensitive content in the late 1980s and was obviously not going to pass, Nai'an would risk everything to submit it.
Could this be the legendary true love?
Of course, the so-called true love is just a joke. Apart from Lou Ye's talent, it doesn't matter if it is more likely to be banned. No one cares about literary films in China. The biggest market is overseas, especially such sensitive subjects are more likely to attract foreigners. favor.
"What about the character Zhou Wei?"
"The writing is quite good." Li Tang nodded.
In terms of roles, Zhou Weizheng's character is definitely better than He Wei in "The Third Man". Because this character spans a long time, he has two completely different mental journeys in foreign and domestic environments. To put it simply, it is more malleable and full of inner drama.
To be honest, this kind of role is very tempting for an aspiring actor.
But Li Tang didn't like this character very much. To be more precise, he didn't like the script because it was too pretentious and the whole story was filled with a strong sense of intellectual self-impression.
In the 1980s, Li Tang's original self had become sensible. He witnessed with his own eyes the difficult life of Lao Li and most of the people around him. As international students who were able to study abroad at that time, they were undoubtedly the luckiest people of that era. It is not an exaggeration at all to use the metaphor of a Jinshi in ancient times rising to the top in one step. Compared to ordinary people, I really don’t understand why they are still suffering and why they still express all kinds of dissatisfaction.
Moreover, Li Tang's parents in his previous life were similar to people like Zhou Wei and Yu Hong. Water flows to lower places, and people move to higher places. There is nothing wrong with pursuing a better life. But when many compatriots are still struggling to meet the food and clothing problems and are still struggling on the poverty line, you can go abroad and are qualified to pursue a better life. Please stop moaning unnecessarily.
Li Tang roughly understood what Nai An meant. He just told him that the company currently had projects, and at the same time, in order to appease him, he gave him the role of Zhou Wei as compensation.
Maybe Naianba is not as realistic as he imagined, but it certainly has this meaning.
So he nodded and said: "Sister An, I understand. But I still hope that the company can give us some help."
Filmmaking is a systematic project. It does not mean that you can make a film just by having a director and actors. First, you must have a behind-the-scenes creative team with rich experience and strength, including photography, props, art, makeup, recording, and even dry work. Miscellaneous drama management and external relations, as well as life production and so on.
Secondly, after the filming of the film is completed, there is still post-production, review submission, publicity, distribution, etc. This involves all aspects of the relationship, and Li Tang and Cheng Er alone will definitely not be able to complete it.
Finally, and the most important thing is how to participate in film festivals and promote them to overseas markets. This is the key to determining whether the film will ultimately be profitable.
All of these are inseparable from Nai'an's help.
Nai'an smiled and said: "There must be no problem with this. Then I will be a nominal producer. If you need anything, just tell Zeng Jia directly. I am not in the company during this period, so I will let her be responsible for the connection between the crew and the company. .”
As she said that, she joked: "Anyway, Zeng Jia, that girl will listen to you in everything."
It sounded like Naian had a misunderstanding, but Li Tang didn't explain too much. After pondering for a while, he added: "If conditions permit, I would like to wait for Cheng Er to come back and start the preparation work as soon as possible. If it is late, I am afraid that the schedule will conflict with Teacher Zhang's arrangements."
Although the adaptation work of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" was temporarily suspended, when Li Tang went to pay Zhang Bearded New Year's greetings before the Spring Festival, Lao Zhang swept away his previous decline and became complacent again. It is estimated that he got some hint or promise from the leadership of CCTV that the adaptation and preparation of "The Condor" will not be affected by "The Swordsman".
Although "The Swordsman" has been widely criticized, in the final analysis, ratings determine everything. The higher the ratings, the higher the advertising fees. The economic base determines the superstructure!
During the New Year's greetings, Lao Zhang specially greeted him and hoped that he could play the role of Yang Kang in "The Condor".
Li Tang originally wasn't very interested in the role of Yang Kang, but since Lao Zhang spoke up in person, he had to accept it. In any case, Lao Zhang is now his boss. He will definitely not be able to do things like demolition across the river and being ungrateful. What's more, there are lessons learned from Shao Bin.
Second update!
(End of chapter)
