"There's something wrong with you. Why do you say you don't like it? Even if you don't like it in your heart, don't say it. How embarrassing!"
As soon as the press conference ended, Xiaopang said with a tigerish face.
Nai'an also looked worried and said: "Bingbing is right, Li Tang, what happened to you today?"
In fact, Li Tang felt a little regretful at this time. After all, in the circle, what matters is that you are good, I am good, everyone is good, and we praise each other to improve each other. When he said this, he was breaking up with Cheng Guo.
Maybe Zhou Xun will be implicated for this. After all, the movie is here. Even if it cannot be released in the mainland, with pirated DVDs so rampant now, there will always be people who see it and understand what the movie expresses, and then it will be hard to say... …
Maybe someone will make a big fuss out of what he said today.
But the words have already been spoken. I have never seen such a reporter from the Hong Kong media feel like a treasure after hearing his words, and he kept asking questions. Fortunately, Nai An said hello to the host and did not answer the question. "Three People" has nothing to do with it.
Li Tang shook his head and said regretfully: "It must have been impulsive, so I just blurted it out."
"Forget it, it's a blessing in disguise. Maybe the controversy is a good thing. It will attract a lot of attention when the movie is released in Hong Kong." Nai An finally comforted him.
Yes, she was still working on the release of "The Third Man" in Hong Kong during this period. After being banned in the mainland, "Suzhou River" was finally released in Hong Kong. Although the box office was not ideal, it still made some money. Moreover, it was after watching "Suzhou River" that Cheng Guo fell in love with Zhou Xun.
Nai'an felt that perhaps this method could also allow Li Tang to open up a new situation in Hong Kong. After all, mainland actors these days are proud to set foot in Hong Kong.
But now Li Tang has openly criticized Cheng Guo's film at the Venice Film Festival, which is equivalent to cutting off his own path to develop in Hong Kong. After all, the Hong Kong circle is famous for cliques. And they definitely know why Li Tang criticized and what he criticized, and then the values are inconsistent.
There was no red carpet for the premiere of "The Third Man", and there was no film festival chairman to support it. On the one hand, it was a matter of lack of money, and on the other hand, it was determined by the positioning of the film itself. After all, it was shortlisted for a second-level competition unit.
As for being able to arrange a medium-sized screening hall that can accommodate nearly 500 people, that was the result of Nai'an Public Relations.
Fortunately, the suspense concept of "The Third Man" has attracted many movie fans. After all, watching too many so-called art films with a strong literary taste can easily cause physical discomfort. It is good to change the taste occasionally.
The movie hadn't started yet, but almost two-thirds of the audience was already in the auditorium, which made Li Tang and Nai'an sigh in relief.
Li Tang believes that while it can attract audiences, it can also attract the attention of film producers. After all, it has not made a penny so far.
As for Naian, she arranged a hall as a favor. If there were only two or three kittens in the empty screening hall for the premiere, it would be really embarrassing, and at the same time, there might not be a next time.
"Mr. Huber!"
Suddenly Zeng Jia saw an "old man" with white hair and rushed to meet him.
"I didn't expect you to come."
The "old man" also spoke English with a clear German accent and chatted with Zeng Jia for a few words with a smile.
"Brother Li, this is Mr. Huber from the German AG Company."
Taking a closer look, Mr. Huber is actually not very old, but his white hair makes people subconsciously think that he is an "old man".
"Mr. Huber, this is Mr. Li Tang, the producer and star of this film."
Zeng Jia introduced the two of them in fluent English.
Through these few days of training at the film market, her English speaking skills have been greatly improved.
"Mr. Huber, it's an honor to meet you!"
Although Li Tang had never heard of AG Company, there was no doubt that this was a film producer. Since he was a film producer, he was a potential customer. Li Tang quickly greeted him with a smile, and at the same time showed off his foreign language proficiency again and said hello directly in German.
Just because Li Tang doesn't know about AG Company doesn't mean that Nai An doesn't know about it. When he just heard Zeng Jia's introduction, Nai'an's eyes lit up.
Although the largest art theater chain in Germany is the famous "Arsenal" cinema, Hamburg-based AG Cinemas cannot be underestimated. It is said that this company has nearly 200 art theaters in Germany alone. Its size is second only to the "Arsenal", which is known as the pride of German culture.
She couldn't help but ask Zeng Jia in a low voice: "How do you know this Mr. Huber?"
Zeng Jiadao: "It was at the film market. I saw him watching the trailer several times, so I chatted with him a little more. He even gave me a business card and said he would come to see the premiere. I thought he was being polite. As for the words, I didn’t expect them to actually come.”
Nai An was moved in her heart and asked quickly: "How many business cards have you received in the trading market during this period?"
Zeng Jia thought for a moment and said, "Not many, just a dozen or so."
"Does the business card match the face?"
"Well...it's hard to say. Foreigners all look the same. It's Mr. Huber who is particularly easy to recognize because of his white hair."
Nai'an felt a little regretful. After thinking about the opening of the film festival, the traffic in the trading market was still good. It was really difficult to get Zeng Jiaquan to remember it, so he had to say: "Then try to pay attention."
"Sister An, don't worry, I know it well." Zeng Jia nodded.
While Nai'an and Zeng Jia were whispering to each other, Mr. Huber was surprised to hear Li Tang greet him in fluent German with a Bavarian accent. Very few Asians speak fluent German.
He quickly shook hands with Li Tangbin, and at the same time switched to German and said: "Mr. Li Tang, it's an honor to meet you. In fact, I have known you for a long time, Mom...hit!"
Li Tang didn't react when he heard the last Chinese pronunciation, which was extremely difficult to pronounce.
Fortunately, Cheng Er beside him immediately reminded: "Motor!"
Li Tang suddenly realized it at this time, and he didn't care about complaining. He quickly smiled and said: "That is a very beautiful movie, isn't it?"
With that said, he quickly introduced Naian to the German guy, emphasizing that this lady was the producer of "Suzhou River" and one of the producers of "The Third Man" which premiered today. one.
After all, there are potential customers, and Naian still needs to negotiate the business.
Watching Li Tang chatting and laughing with Huber in fluent German, he also acted as a translator for the communication between Huber and Naian. Cheng Er's eyes grew hot when he saw it, and he sighed to Fan Xiaopang in a low voice: "I feel that Brother Li is really a foreign expert. He seems to be able to say anything, and he can say it so well."
Fan Xiaopang also couldn't understand how Li Tang knew so many foreign languages. English was already difficult for her. Now she could only remember a few common words she learned in junior high school. be thrown off balance.
But that didn't stop her from expressing her disdain for Teacher Li's showoff: "Shit, he doesn't know how to speak the local Italian."
Cheng Er glanced at her and said nothing. He secretly complained in his heart: "This is probably the so-called spoiling. It is true that only women and villains are difficult to raise."
As the movie screening time approached, several film producers came one after another. Unfortunately, Zeng Jia didn't recognize the people who had left their business cards, but that didn't stop her from enthusiastically coming up to say hello and introduce the film's creators.
Due to time constraints, everyone simply shook hands and then took their seats in the front row.
Regarding the movie "The Third Man", Li Tang has watched it countless times starting from the rough cut version, and has already memorized it by heart. So during the screening, most of the time was spent observing the reactions of the audience and the few producers in the front row.
It should be said that Cheng Er does have something. From the beginning, the film did not achieve its goal by setting up layers of question marks and using music to enhance the atmosphere like ordinary suspense films. Most of the time, the film is almost carried out quietly without background music, which makes people feel the slightest change in their hearts.
In fact, to put it bluntly, this is a helpless move. After all, music also costs money, and there is not such a big budget.
At the same time, flashback and montage techniques are used to exaggerate the psychological changes caused by unexpected twists and turns, and finally lead to a surprising ending.
Other photographic techniques, such as using unconventional and subversive long shots or seemingly boring lens language to describe the complex inner thoughts and chaotic life conditions of urbanites, are not surprising to European audiences because these are inherently It's what the Europeans have left.
But overall, the final effect was good. After two hours of watching the movie, no one left early. The film producers in the front row all watched it carefully. Huber, in particular, communicated directly with Naian in English. Although he did not make a decision on the spot, he also made an appointment for the time and place of the next negotiation.
It's not clear how well "The Third Man" was filmed. After all, the screening only gave it a score of 2.6 after its premiere, which ranked it only in the middle of the pack among the shortlisted films that have been released.
However, the refreshing editing techniques and unique themes still attracted many viewers. In the second show, there were people queuing up to buy tickets, which made everyone excited.
"Any news?"
As soon as Zeng Jia came back, Li Tang couldn't wait to ask.
Currently, in addition to Huber's German AG company, Naian is also contacting the French veteran MK2. After all, this largest art theater company in France has previously cooperated with Lou Ye on two films, including "Suzhou River" The meeting was very pleasant, and Li Tang was not a strange face in their eyes.
But it is precisely this kind of company that is bigger, more established, and has a higher market share, which is more difficult to crack. For example, the German guy Huber was very polite on the surface, but he only offered $100,000 to buy out the distribution rights in Germany, including theaters, DVDs and new media.
Nai'an negotiated with him for two rounds, and finally raised the price to 120,000 yuan, but refused to raise the price any more.
The MK2 is even more awesome and there has been no response so far.
However, Zeng Jia contacted a local Italian distribution company and had a good deal. They also bought out the distribution rights in Italy for US$100,000.
Given the gap between Italy and Germany, this price tag is completely acceptable. But Zeng Jia was not satisfied yet and hired an international student translator to hold many negotiations with the film producers.
Second update!
(End of chapter)
