The news that "My Father and Mother" and "That Mountain, That Man, That Dog" won awards at the Berlin Film Festival spread back to China, causing another sensation.
Xiang Nan also took the opportunity to hype up the situation and sent out a large number of press releases to praise himself and Gao Yuanyuan. Praising their looks, their acting skills, their international status...
When Chinese people who didn't know the truth saw it, they thought they had become international superstars. Naturally, they were in awe of them and then admired them endlessly.
In particular, Xiang Nan also sent the carefully edited photos of Gao Yuanyuan to the media together with the ugly photos of Zhang Ziyi, allowing Gao Yuanyuan to crush Zhang Ziyi in terms of appearance.
Comparing the two, readers naturally prefer Gao Yuanyuan, who has a better image and purer temperament. This also made Zhang Ziyi's popularity increase far less than she thought.
After Zhang Ziyi returned to China, she saw numerous reports in newspapers and magazines about Xiang Nan and Gao Yuanyuan, but there were only a few reports about herself, and most of the time she was Gao Yuanyuan's foil. She couldn't help but feel angry.
It's just that she doesn't have her own agency, let alone her own studio, and has no friendship with major media, so she has no choice but to reverse this unfavorable situation.
He could only watch helplessly as he was stepped on by Gao Yuanyuan and became someone else's stepping stone.
She went to the Berlin Film Festival in vain, but failed to become as popular in the film industry as Gong Li, which made her very unwilling.
And she also knew that Xiang Nan was probably behind this incident. Otherwise, Gao Yuanyuan, like her, has no background. How could the media be so biased towards her?
"Damn it!"
She regretted breaking up with Xiang Nan so early.
…
When Zhang Ziyi was filming "My Father and Mother", she knew that Xiang Nan was rich, famous, well-connected, and had a better future than she, a nobody with no background, no fame, and no connections, so she was happy to hug him.
Later, Miao Pu's sudden appearance made her realize that she was not the only one who wanted to hug Xiang Nan's legs. So she started to play hard to get, half pushing and half giving, to whet Xiang Nan's appetite.
This mentality lasted until she successfully passed the audition and joined the crew of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".
The subsequent development was just like Xiang Nan's guess. Zhang Ziyi, who joined the crew of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", believed that he was definitely popular and was likely to surpass Xiang Nan in the future.
First, in the 1990s, the strength, status, and capital of the Hong Kong and Taiwan film circles far exceeded that of the mainland. At that time, mainland A-list stars all liked to shoot movies in Hong Kong.
Sidan Shuangbing, Lu Yi, Huang Xiaohuan, Huang Lei, Tong Dawei, Nie Kuan, Huo Siyan, Zhang Jingchu, Gao Yuanyuan, Chen Daoming, Hu Jun... Being able to go to Xiangjiang to make movies was a sign of popularity at the time, so there were many Artists have to go to grab the head.
Secondly, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was invested by Anle Productions. Its boss is not only powerful in Hong Kong, but also has distribution channels in the United States.
In addition, Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh are already international superstars, so this movie is very likely to be released in the United States. By then, she will most likely become an international superstar with this movie.
Firstly, she has embraced the Hong Kong industry, and secondly, she is expected to become an international superstar. Naturally, she looks down on Xiang Nan, who is still working in the domestic entertainment industry.
But she now realizes that she gave up on Xiang Nan too early.
…
After the crew of "That Mountain, That Man, That Dog" returned with great success, mainland film distributors finally became interested in the film. Started discussing distribution with Xiaoxiang Film Studio.
In the end, the film sold more than 60 copies and recovered nearly 3 million yuan.
This result is considered pretty good. Feng Xiaogang's New Year's comedy has become so popular in recent years that only 345 copies of "Endless" have been sold.
"That Mountain, That Man, That Dog" won another trophy. After all, it can't compare with Feng's comedy, so Xiang Nan is already very satisfied.
Including the copyright fees for overseas distribution, he earned a total of 5.4 million yuan. Excluding the more than 2 million yuan he spent before, it is basically equivalent to making double the money, which is not bad.
Subsequently, "My Father and Mother" and "That Mountain, That Man, That Dog" were officially released nationwide. Because they won international awards and gained a certain reputation and popularity, the two films performed well at the box office after they were released.
In the end, "My Father and Mother" earned a box office of 12 million, and "The Mountain, That Man, That Dog" earned 10 million, which are both very good results.
Although the money may not seem like much, because the investment in the two movies is relatively small, they can both make money. This was not easy at the time.
Xiang Nan also used this to promote the film, touting that he, like Ge You, was one of the few actors who could make film producers money.
Although he boasted so embarrassingly and was suspected of trying to cheat Ge You, many people still bought it because he had actual results in hand.
For a time, Xiang Nan's reputation, status, and salary were all on par with Ge You's.
…
Although the mainland film industry began to reform in 1993, it is responsible for its own profits and losses and follows a commercial route.
But the vast majority of filmmakers have not woken up and still put the pursuit of film artistry first.
Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Huang Jianxin, Jia Zhangke, Lu Di, Wang Xiaoshuai, Lou Ye, Wang Quan'an and other famous directors are all like this.
The films produced are basically art films, and they are all aiming to win awards abroad. As for the box office performance of the films, no one cares at all.
But the director doesn't care, but the producers and investors can't care less.
They don't invest in making movies to help the director become famous or win awards, but to help themselves make money. Therefore, directors who only care about winning awards but do not consider box office returns are becoming increasingly unpopular with film companies.
And those filmmakers who can make money are getting more and more attention.
Although Xiang Nan only made three movies, all of them made money. Moreover, he has a good image, good acting skills, and high popularity, so he naturally becomes more and more valued by film producers.
In order to hire him to make movies, they paid him higher and higher, and their attitude became more and more enthusiastic.
…
However, Xiang Nan has not taken any roles yet.
On the one hand, his concert approval document has finally come out, and several performance companies are willing to accept his performances, so he is considering a concert tour;
On the other hand, there is a song in Wang Fei's new album that she wants the two of them to sing together. It was the song "Breaking Up with Kindness", and Xiang Nan agreed to help her with this.
Another more important reason is that none of his recent movies are good. The script is not good and the cast is not strong. They are just trying to make money by using his fame.
Xiang Nan finally gained some fame, so naturally he didn't want to squander it just like that. He told Yan Fan not to be in a hurry to take on a movie and make money, but to choose a good script and a good director.
Or maybe a good TV series would work too. At this stage, the TV drama market is comparable to the movie market. Moreover, if a drama becomes popular, it will also help to improve the national popularity. Just like Zhao Wei, he has been reaping the dividends of "Huan Zhu Ge Ge" for more than 20 years.
Wang Fei also supported his approach, "How about I introduce some Hong Kong directors to you?"
"No need." Xiang Nan waved his hand and said with a smile, "I will take care of my own affairs. Don't get involved in this gentleman's affairs."
His pretense of maturity made Wang Fei chuckle.
