At the end of 1997, Kirin Pictures released its first Lunar New Year film, the romantic comedy "See You or Separate" directed by Feng Xiaogang and starring Ge You and Xu Fan.
Mainland China's Lunar New Year movie was launched by Jackie Chan in 1995 with "Red Zone". Prior to this, the concept of Lunar New Year stalls did not exist in the mainland.
The reason why Xiang Nan set "See You or Separate" as a Lunar New Year film was because he hoped it would achieve better box office results.
Sure enough, the movie's box office results did not disappoint Xiang Nan. After "See You or Die" was released during the Lunar New Year, it quickly gained a good reputation with its solid script and realistic interpretation.
In particular, this is the first Chinese-language film shot entirely abroad, allowing Chinese people to see the love life of overseas Chinese, and it is not as sad as "Yenjing Man in New York", so the audience likes it more.
In the end, the movie achieved a box office of 43 million yuan, which is a very good result.
Coupled with the income from publishing DVDs, TV broadcast rights, and advertising placement, Kirin Pictures' net profit is 15 million, which is very good.
Winning the box office championship for two consecutive years also made Feng Xiaogang very proud.
However, despite the good results at the box office, he has yet to win any awards for movies except for TV series. This makes him feel a little regretful.
"Master Cheng, why don't you help me write a very deep script? I'll go back to filming and go to film festivals abroad." Feng Xiaogang said to Xiang Nan with a smile.
"I can't force myself to win the prize." Upon hearing this, Xiang Nan waved his hands and said, "Besides, the best time has passed."
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the main reason why mainland films repeatedly won awards abroad was because of the word "fresh".
At that time, the mainland had just reformed and opened up, and the West was full of curiosity about China. Therefore, Chinese movies easily attracted attention and favored foreign countries.
But now that China has opened its doors to the world for nearly 20 years, the West has a considerable understanding of China, and they no longer find Chinese films novel and interesting. Instead, they have begun to find faults, which makes it no longer easy to win awards.
The year before last, Zhang Yimou's "Let's Talk" was definitely a masterpiece, but it only received one nomination at the Venice Film Festival and didn't win a single award. This speaks volumes.
Moreover, most of the movies Feng Xiaogang has made are commercial films, and they are all comedies.
As we all know, comedies are not favored by film festivals. Stephen Chow's acting skills are so good, it wasn't until "Shaolin Soccer" that he finally won the recognition of the Academy Award.
Therefore, it is really difficult for Feng Xiaogang to win the award.
"Actually, Director Feng, you don't have to think so much. Now that you have money, fame, and status, just enjoy it all." Xiang Nan said with a smile, "With or without awards, is it that important? My movie is in Hollywood's box office is so high, but I haven't won a single Oscar for Best Screenplay. Do you think I care?"
When Feng Xiaogang heard what he said, he nodded and held back his breath for the time being.
…
Entering 1998, "Kangxi's Private Interviews in Private Service" was officially released on eight CCTV channels.
This anti-corruption drama dressed in ancient costume became very popular as soon as it was released.
On the one hand, fighting corruption and promoting integrity is the general trend of the country and the aspiration of all people, so this type of TV series is naturally popular;
On the one hand, the plot of this drama is also very exciting. Emperor Kangxi paid private visits in disguise, pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger, punishing corrupt officials and evildoers, and there were always romantic encounters, which naturally made the audience happy to watch.
Therefore, "Kangxi Private Interviews in Private" became a hit and got off to a good start.
Subsequently, "Never Close Eyes" was aired successively and continued to make the audience unable to stop watching.
Different from the original starring lineup, in this version of "Never Rest", the male lead was changed from Lu Yi to Huang Xiaoming. Huang Xiaoming has good acting skills and handsome appearance, so he is actually very suitable to play Xiao Tong.
The second female lead Ouyang Lanlan in the original version was played by Yuan Li, but in this version she was played by Zhang Ziyi. With Zhang Ziyi's acting skills, playing the infatuated and cruel Ouyang Lanlan is a piece of cake.
However, the original heroine, Xiang Nan, has not been replaced. Because when he watched this drama, like Xiao Tong in the drama, he was fascinated by this mature, dignified and majestic beauty.
Therefore, even though Xu Jinglei and Yu Feihong were both suitable for this role, Xiang Nan still recommended Su Jin to Zhao Baogang and established a close relationship with her before the filming of the TV series started.
The plot of "Never Close Eyes" is ups and downs, confusing, the love is passionate and sincere, and full of tension. Coupled with the excellent acting skills of several leading actors, the characters played are vivid and vivid, which also adds a lot of color to the series.
Therefore, this TV series is also very popular, even more popular than "Kangxi Private Interview".
Because of this, both Su Jin and Zhang Ziyi became instant celebrities, and their popularity was as close as that of Qin Hailu and Jiang Qinqin, who became popular after filming "Huan Zhu Ge Ge". And Huang Xiaoming naturally added to the fire, becoming the most popular niche student in the Mainland.
Even Sun Honglei, who is not even the third male lead, became famous because of his small role in this film.
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In the spring of 1998, Kirin Pictures continued to go all out.
Zhao Baogang has started filming "My Fair Princess 2", Kong Sheng has started filming "The Great Dyestuff", Gao Xixi has started filming "Yongzheng Dynasty", Zhang Guoli has started filming "The God of Wealth", Kang Honglei has started filming "Railway Guerrilla", Mao Weining has started filming "Plum Blossom Files", and Ouyang Fenqiang has started filming "Youth's Incomprehensible Style"...
These TV series include costume comedies, fantasy dramas, historical dramas, suspense detective dramas, romance dramas, war dramas, business war dramas... It can be said that the themes are rich and colorful, enough to satisfy the appetite of most viewers.
…
In 1998, the government promulgated the "Trial Measures", which completely paved the way for private capital to enter the film and television market.
Prior to this, if private film and television companies wanted to make movies, they were not eligible to apply for a separate license and needed to purchase a license from an affiliated state-owned film studio.
In this case, you will have to pay a large amount of money, and you will also be easily controlled.
Now that the new measures have been promulgated, private film and television companies can apply for filming permits independently without having to rely on others. In this way, it is natural that the sea is wide enough for fish to leap, and the sky is high enough for birds to fly.
After that, private capital entered the film and television market in a big way. Private film and television companies have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, bringing huge vitality to the market.
Of course, it also brought a certain amount of confusion.
First, private film and television companies lack regulations and control, and act more recklessly. It's not uncommon for people to poach people, grab time slots, and steal scripts, and there are even scammers.
Secondly, private capital has just entered this industry and lacks relevant experience and talents, so it will cause a lot of troubles. Fortunately, Qilin Pictures has Xiang Nan in charge, and ordinary people don't dare to provoke him, so it's okay for the time being.
