"Hey, Xiao Li, didn't you go back to the set? Why didn't you leave?"
Seeing Li Tang once again appear at the Ningbo Hotel officially designated by the film festival, Mr. Ge, the favorite for Best Actor at this year's Golden Rooster Awards, couldn't help but be surprised.
"I went back to the set, but here I am again." Li Tang greeted the old man with a smile, then looked into the room and asked, "Why, you are the only one, where is Director Qi?"
"Director Qi went to attend a domestic film symposium."
"Then why don't you go?"
"It's just complaining, it's boring." Mr. Ge shook his head.
The old man has quite a character, otherwise he needs a diploma, a diploma, acting skills, and qualifications. He has been working in Shaanxi People's Art all his life, but he has never been able to get an official position.
Li Tang participated in a similar domestic film symposium at the 1999 Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival. It was nothing more than asking some famous directors and actors to talk about their respective creative processes, but it often turned into directors and actors complaining on their own. , blamed this and that, and even criticized the censorship system. In short, it was very lively.
Old Man Ge was bored by being alone, and Li Tang was bored too. The two bored people sat together drinking tea.
Originally, Jiang Qinqin received a call from his agent Li Jingping to attend the closing ceremony tomorrow. He also thought that if the two of them had time, they could hang out for a while, take a walk around the nearby Tianyi Pavilion, have a drink in the evening, and then …
Unexpectedly, Xiao Tang Fengchen came from Peach Blossom Island, and she was scolded by Li Jingping. Moreover, they have already booked a suite at Nanyuan Hotel, the only five-star hotel in Ningbo.
Because during the film festival, many big stars such as Wang Zuxian, Daniel Wu, Zhao Wenzhuo, including the biggest names Gong Li and Zhou Xingxing are said to have stayed here. When Li Tang drove Jiang Qinqin and Xiao Tang there in an off-road vehicle, many reporters gathered at the door and lobby. Seeing this scene, Li Tang didn't dare to get out of the car. He could only lower the brim of his hat and pretend to be a driver. He saw Jiang Qinqin being surrounded by reporters after getting off the car, and stepped on the accelerator before running away.
So I had no choice but to return to the Ningbo Hotel. Fortunately, when I attended the opening ceremony yesterday, the organizer arranged three rooms here for the "Escort Story" crew.
Not long after, Qi Xin came back and was surprised to see Li Tang in the living room: "Xiao Li, you didn't leave?"
"Here we go, here we go again. I don't have many roles, and it's not interesting to stay on the set, so I might as well come back and join in the fun. Besides, I have to rush over for the closing ceremony tomorrow." Li Tang stood up and smiled.
"Aren't you idle?"
Qi Xin complained and asked Li Tang to sit down again.
"Director Qi, is today's symposium lively?"
Qi Xin, who was drinking tea, glanced at him sideways: "What do you mean, kid?"
"No, I just want to hear what's going on." Li Tang said with a playful smile.
"lively?"
Qi Xin put down the tea cup, snorted slightly and said, "It was indeed quite lively. It almost became a criticism meeting for me."
Li Tang was immediately startled, quickly suppressed the smile on his face, and asked with concern: "How could this happen?"
Qi Xin sighed and said: "Someone mentioned today why there is a market for domestic films but no box office? Good guys, it's like poking a hornet's nest. The directors present began to criticize the current film distribution system, believing that domestic films have no box office to a large extent. The problem is caused by the current backward distribution system. It’s really cowardly to say that directors should be responsible for distribution.”
Qi Xin shook his head. As the person in charge of film production, distribution, screening, printing, and economic operations of the General Administration, in the final analysis, he can only provide business guidance, and his real power is limited. At present, the initiative for film distribution is still in the hands of various local film companies.
What makes Qi Xin even more depressed is that he is only a division-level leader of the General Administration, but many old directors from major studios who participated in today's symposium are not only highly respected, but also at the division-level or even bureau-level. They abound. When people complained or even pointed fingers at him, he could only listen.
"Why can't we just let the director do the distribution?"
Li Tang helped Qi Xin fight the injustice and said: "I think they are used to being superior and saying that the film distribution system needs to be reformed. Yes, the current film distribution system does need to be reformed, but as directors and producers, we also need to change our thinking. .Look at why the movies directed by Feng Xiaogang are so popular? In addition to the audience's love, what's more important is that they personally worked on it and traveled all over the country. Including this year's best-selling movie "My Brothers and Sisters", I heard that the movie is called Luo Yi’s foreign producers travel around with copies in person. It seems to me that they just can’t let go, lack subjective initiative, and won’t look for the reasons within themselves..."
I have to say that Li Tang's words touched Qi Xin's heart and she was very touched. Of course, there are also distribution issues. The current domestic distribution model still follows the sales of copies during the planned economy period. Moreover, there is a serious case of omission and underreporting of box office sales in theaters in various places.
The issue of distribution was raised at the symposium this time. In fact, it was not caused by Qi Xin saying that someone at the meeting happened to mention that there was a market for domestic films but no box office. In the final analysis, it was because of the "crying wolf."
Just last month, China's negotiations to join the WTO were successful and China will officially join the WTO in December this year. Among the fifty-four commitments regarding my country's accession to the WTO, one is about movies. Starting next year, at least 20 imported films will be introduced in the form of separate accounts.
There is no doubt that these 20 movies must be Hollywood blockbusters. This will undoubtedly worsen the situation of domestic movies that are already in a worrying situation at the box office. Everyone is worried that no one will watch the movies they make.
Therefore, this is a deep-seated problem that cannot be solved by a division-level cadre like Qi Xin. So even though he was very worried, he still shook his head, changed the topic and asked: "By the way, Xiao Li, how much is the box office of your movie "The Third Man" now?"
"Just over eight million."
"Oh, yes, it's even better than our "Escort Story"." Mr. Ge was the first to say in surprise upon hearing this.
Qi Xin is also very excited, because he helped coordinate the release and schedule of "The Third Man". From a work perspective, the good sales of "The Third Man" can be regarded as a political achievement for him.
"Can it break through 10 million?"
Li Tang pondered, shook his head and said, "I guess there's not much hope. There are already high-definition pirated discs on the market."
When Qi Xin heard this, he immediately showed disappointment. The release of the high-definition pirated disc is undoubtedly a death sentence for the movie currently being released.
In fact, the luck of "The Third Man" is quite good. When it was first released, the target of piracy was concentrated on a few blockbusters. After all, piracy also requires costs. Some literary and artistic films that no one watched were pirated in large quantities. many. It wasn't until the first week's box office results of "The Third Man" came out and a medium-sized satellite was released that it attracted the attention of piracy, so a high-definition version has been released in the past few days.
There is no way to do this. In fact, the cost of piracy these days is too low and the profits are too high. As long as people collude with theaters, they can easily obtain high-definition versions of resources.
At present, Li Tang estimates that "The Third Man" can last for a week at most, and it would be good to have a box office of 9 million in the end.
Of course, such box office results are due to the quality of the movie, but more importantly, they did a promotional roadshow together when the movie was released.
"Can the cost be recovered?"
Qi Xin knew that this movie was personally invested by Li Tang. The little brother was a nice guy, loyal and well-spoken, so he naturally wanted to care about it.
Li Tang shook his head and said with a wry smile: "It's definitely not enough. Not only the production cost, but also the cost of publicity and distribution. It is estimated that two-thirds of it can be recovered."
According to the current box office share ratio, the share ratio between the producer and the distributor is 33%. Although Li Tang and the others are responsible for both promotion and distribution, the distributor is Shanghai Film Studio. Including the studio's fee, it is estimated that only 30% will actually fall into Li Tang's hands. In other words, if the box office is 9 million, The 2.7 million yuan can be enough to cover the production costs, but the total cost of printing, publicity, and road shows is still less than 1 million.
"What about your overseas earnings?" Qi Xin asked again.
"The details of the agency contract we signed will not be known until the settlement at the end of the year."
Li Tang was careless here. In fact, according to the current feedback from MK2, almost 400,000 US dollars can be divided, which is enough to recover the cost, and there is already an objective profit.
Qi Xin glanced at him and said thoughtfully: "In this case, I will help you contact the movie channel later and simply take over the TV rights of your film."
Li Tang's eyes suddenly lit up and he asked hurriedly: "Director Qi, how much can it probably be sold for?"
Qi Xin smiled and said, "Half a million shouldn't be a problem."
Li Tang had already had this idea, because he had heard before that the nearly 7 million box office of "The Escort Story" plus the copyright income from the sale to the movie channel were enough to cover the production costs. Against the background of generally losing money when making movies, this is also something Qi Xin is very proud of as his first director.
Although movie channels have targets for acquiring film and television copyrights every year, they still rely on connections. Qi Xin has a very good relationship with the movie channel. It is basically a certainty that he will be the matchmaker. Otherwise, with his cautious character, he would not give such a definite answer. Five hundred thousand is more or less.
Li Tang suddenly burst into tears of gratitude and said: "Director Qi, I cannot thank you enough for your kindness! Please give me a favor and let's have a seafood dinner!"
Before Qi Xin opened her mouth, Lao Ge immediately answered: "This relationship is good, everyone says that Ningbo Seafood is enough, I am thinking about this bite!"
Li Tang knew that Lao Ge was trying to help him, and looked at the old man gratefully.
Sure enough, Qi Xin smiled cheerfully and said: "Teacher Ge has spoken, let's set off!"
…
"What are you doing? Your phone keeps turning off when you call me."
Li Tang was a little dizzy from drinking tonight, but there was no way that Lao Ge was too good at drinking. A bottle of Wuliangye was like playing, and he drank it without blushing or heartbeat. Fortunately, the old man had some control, otherwise Li Tang would have sacrificed his life to accompany the gentleman.
When I returned to the room and took out my phone, I found that it was out of battery and turned off. I just plugged in the charger and turned on the phone when a call came from Xiaopang.
"The phone is out of battery."
"Where are you?"
"I just returned to the hotel. I went drinking with Director Qi and Mr. Ge in the evening."
"Hey, didn't you say you would return to the set after attending the opening ceremony?"
Due to the environment in which he grew up in his previous life, Li Tang was most annoyed by Xiaopang's behavior of tracking his whereabouts. This was personal privacy. In addition, he drank some more wine, so he said impatiently: "Do you understand that the plan cannot keep up with the changes? Do you still have to ask for instructions early and report later?"
Xiaopang was very smart. Hearing his unkind tone, he immediately changed his tone and said with a smile: "Hehe, as long as you are willing, of course I am fine!"
Hearing her tone of voice softening, Li Tang naturally didn't want to get angry. He hummed twice, sat on the sofa, and said calmly: "How was the filming?"
"That's it. It's still in the running-in stage after it was started."
Li Tang heard that Xiaopang was obviously not very interested, so he asked: "What, is there something wrong?"
"It's not that there's any problem, it's just that I don't get along with He Rundong." Xiaopang said.
"Why are you not in tune? Tell me."
"Oh, that's him. How should I put it? He's not distracted at all. When we were filming the opposite scene, we didn't have any eye contact. This was really uncomfortable..."
Xiaopang complained a lot on the phone.
It should be said that she put a lot of effort into the role of An Xin. Not only did she lose more than ten pounds, but she also understood the script thoroughly. She didn't even need to bring the script with her on set, she just spoke her lines.
The character An Anxin has a lot of inner drama, especially in her interactions with three men. Because of He Rundong's tight schedule, the scenes between the two had to be filmed first. But the other party was obviously not prepared enough, or the performance was routine. Laugh when you are happy, yell when you are angry, just show off and don’t take your heart seriously.
This is almost the same as Xiaopang himself when he first debuted. To put it bluntly, he has no acting skills and relies on imagination to perform. Now, under the guidance and training of Teacher Li, she has gradually embarked on the path of experientialism.
Experiencers need to be immersed in the characters and communicate with their opponents. Without communication, they are not only uncomfortable but also extremely painful. At this time, she probably understood why Zhou Jie was out of tune with their group at that time. Maybe the situation was exactly the same as what she was facing at this time. To put it bluntly, the performance was not on the same level at all.
After hearing Xiaopang's complaint, Li Tang thought for a while and asked, "What did the director say?"
"The director didn't say anything. If it doesn't work, just do it over and over again."
The director of "Jade Goddess of Mercy", Ding Xiaohei, is a contracted director of Hai Run. He is not a professional. He had previously filmed a film called "Fatal Encounter" and it received a good response, so he was able to take over the directorship of "Jade Goddess of Mercy".
To put it bluntly, the director does not have enough authority to control big stars like He Rundong.
Li Tang thought for a while and said: "Since you have no communication with him, don't communicate with him. You just perform at your own pace. Whether the other party can keep up with your rhythm is their business."
Xiaopang didn't expect that Mr. Li, who had always been wise and wise, would actually give such advice. He couldn't help but said: "Uh... you used to say that performance requires coordination. Is this okay?"
"It's okay, just act at your own pace. The director understands, and as long as he doesn't say anything, everything will be fine!"
There is no way, there are so many things in the past two days, I can only code at night. It is too late today, so I will post it first and change it later.
(End of chapter)
