Chapter 4 Daily life
During the past few days at school, every day was either in meetings or taking group photos. Gu Wei found an excuse and planned to go home. Since he had occupied the original owner's body, he should take on the responsibility of respecting his parents in the future.

The original owner's father was named Gu Jianjun, a name that was characteristic of the times, and his mother was named Zhang Ling. Both were typical intellectuals with somewhat rigid personalities.

He chose a weekend when his company was not working, left the school gate, hailed a taxi, told the address, and headed home. Along the way, the driver looked at him several times through the rearview mirror.

When he arrived at the gate of the community, he bought a newspaper that reported his award, and went upstairs carrying the trophy he had just brought back from the directing department office.

There was a knock on the door. Gu Jianjun opened the door and saw his son coming back. He smiled and then looked into the house and said loudly, "You still remember to come back. You didn't even come home for the New Year."

"Dad, I'm busy filming a movie during the New Year and don't have time to come home," Gu Wei said as he walked into the house.

After staying at home for two days, I successfully passed the test of my parents with the help of newspapers and trophies.

.........

Early Monday morning, I rushed directly to Guangxian Company. I received a call yesterday from Mr. Wang, the president of Guangxian Company, asking him to come to the company to discuss something.

The full name of Guangxian is "BJ Guangxian Media Co., Ltd.", a private film and television company established in 98. Its main businesses include TV program production and distribution, film investment, production, promotion and distribution, TV series investment and distribution, etc. Later famous animated films such as "The Monkey King: Hero is Back", "Big Fish and Begonia", "Nezha: The Devil Child Comes into the World" and "Jiang Ziya" were all distributed by Guangxian.

Coming to the light and looking at the logo on the company's gate, Gu Wei recalled in his mind.

"Director Gu, this is the first time you come to my place," Wang Changtian said as he stood up to greet him.

"I'm a student, so I never had the chance to come here before. Even if I came, you wouldn't pay any attention to me," Gu Wei complained in his heart, then stretched out his hand and shook it.

The two of them sat face to face in the office, accompanied by several department managers.

"Mr. Wang is very busy. Is there something you want me to come here for?" Gu Wei couldn't help but ask while sitting on the sofa.

"Since Director Gu asked, I'll tell you directly that the release permit for Tuya's Wedding has been approved. I asked Director Gu to come here to discuss the release of the film."

"Guangzhou is responsible for the project establishment and reporting to relevant departments for approval, including the application for the film festival, which is also arranged by Guangzhou. The release time should also be decided by you. If there is anything you need my cooperation, Mr. Wang can tell me directly."

Several people talked in the office for a long time. Wang Changtian was very satisfied with Gu Wei's way of talking. He spoke directly about his ideas and took the initiative to hand over the initiative of the film to Guangguang. Business is business. The film was invested and filmed by the company, which accounted for an eight-story proportion. They had funds and promotion channels, and they just wanted to establish a good relationship with Gu Wei.

Guangguang has no shortage of funds and channels. What it lacks is excellent and well-known directors like Gu Wei, especially since Gu Wei has just won the Golden Bear Award and is still a student at the Beijing Film Academy, which perfectly meets the requirements. Guangguang is not having a good time in the domestic film market at this stage. Several big domestic directors have their own turfs, and Guangguang cannot get close to them. At most, it can participate in investing some funds. This meeting with Gu Wei is to establish a good relationship for future cooperation, and it would be best to tie him to the Guangguang carriage.

Gu Wei could guess what Guangguang was thinking, but he didn't point it out. After a morning, Gu Wei and Wang Changtian became familiar with each other. They had lunch together at a nearby hotel at noon. Guangguang promised to give priority to future cooperation opportunities. Both the host and the guests were very happy.

Several people at the table decided on the release date of the movie, which was set at March 3th. They did not consider releasing it during the May Day holiday. On the one hand, the foreign copyright had been bought out, and if the release time was postponed too late, pirated copies would come out first, affecting the box office. On the other hand, it was related to the subject matter of the movie. Realistic art films are indeed not as competitive as other film themes in terms of box office.

Audiences buy tickets to the cinema not to come out crying. Often, for good art films, word of mouth and box office are inversely proportional. After all, a good life is more worth looking forward to than a story of suffering.

On the way back to school, Gu Wei decided to wait for the copyright fee from Guangxian to arrive. With the start-up capital, he would upgrade the studio into a company. When he makes movies later, at least it will not only account for two layers. However, at least half of the investment share must be released for each movie. After all, a movie is not just about shooting. The later publicity and promotion as well as the early application and approval account for a large proportion. Good wine needs no bush. He does not want to be like some directors who rely on a trophy to make a living.

Movies are a high-risk investment, and diversification is the right decision. In this circle, those who eat alone will not go far and will have no friends. Once something goes wrong, they will not even have a chance to turn things around. There are too many examples of this in the past.

After returning to school, he told his teacher about his plan to live out. The teacher agreed without asking any questions. Then Gu Wei rented a house nearby through an agent. The house was fully furnished and ready for immediate move-in. He moved out of the dormitory that afternoon.

Living in the dormitory is indeed inconvenient. Gu Wei and his roommates all feel uncomfortable. It is also the result of changes in identity and status. It is a common problem among Chinese people to flatter the powerful and bully the weak. It will only be more obvious and more realistic in the film industry.

The next day, I received a notice from the school that the film presentation date was set for March 3th. Time needed to be set aside to invite leaders of relevant departments and several colleges. Some directors were filming on the set and needed to be notified in advance to ensure that they could be present on the day. The school attached great importance to this presentation, after all, it was a political achievement. I took a look at the news. All major media on domestic portals were reporting on the release date of "Tuya's Wedding". The light was moving quite fast. Some netizens commented below that they were looking forward to the release of the Golden Bear Award-winning movie.

In March, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" received ten Oscar nominations and was reported crazily by various domestic news media. All major directors were blocked by reporters and asked about their opinions on director Ang Lee's Oscar bid. Gu Wei did not run away and just said some congratulatory words and perfunctorily dealt with the matter.

Domestic directors and media have a special fondness for Oscars. In 1983, the fourth-generation director Wu Yigong's "A Little Reunion" was selected as the Oscar-winning film of that year, which officially opened the road for Chinese-language films to compete for Oscars. Then Wu Tianming's "Life" and Xie Jin's "Furong Town" followed, until "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" won four awards including the Best Foreign Language Film at the 73rd Academy Awards. As for the fifth-generation directors, Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and others are even more obsessed with Oscar awards.

Gu Wei had also paid attention to this movie in his previous life. The online reputation of this movie was polarized, with netizens commenting that it was a Western story dressed up as an Eastern martial arts movie.

However, the success of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in its Oscar bid still has a great impact on the domestic market. Starting from next year, Zhang Yimou's "Hero", Jiang Wen's "Heroes of Heaven and Earth", including the later "House of Flying Daggers" and "The Promise" are all imitating the Oscar-bidding journey of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". The subsequent "Oscar-bidding films" are almost all costume action blockbusters with "Chinese martial arts" elements, which also opens the era of Chinese-language commercial blockbusters.

"China Film Group missed out on Golden Bear Award-winning film investment," an inconspicuous small media outlet published this news. Gu Wei glanced at it and didn't take it seriously.

The next day, Gu Wei received a call from the school asking him to go there.

In the director's office, in addition to the deputy director and several teachers, there was also a man with wrinkles on his face and who looked like a farmer sitting in the office. He looked a little out of place with the people next to him.

"Gu Wei, this is director Tian Zhuangzhuang. He comes here specially to meet you, the Golden Bear director," said the head of the directing department.

"Hello, Director Tian," Gu Wei greeted respectfully. This director is a core figure of the fifth generation of directors.

Several people chatted in the office for a long time. Tian Zhuangzhuang also wanted to come to see Gu Wei this time. As the Golden Bear Award gradually fermented, Gu Wei's name also appeared in the ears of other domestic directors. After all, in China, as long as you have achieved something, there will always be people coming to make friends with you.

Tian Zhuangzhuang came to the Beijing Film Academy this time after being invited several times by school leaders in order to take up a position at the school next year. Counting from the ten-year "ban on filming" in 92, the ban will be lifted next year. After coming here, he heard that Gu Wei, who recently won the Golden Bear Award, is a freshman in the directing department and lives in BJ, so he wanted to meet him.

At noon, the group came to the Beijing Film Academy cafeteria and had a meal in the cafeteria's private room. Not much was said at the table. They just mentioned Gu Wei's film presentation in a few days and asked him to prepare well. The people coming this time were leaders of various departments and well-known directors, so he should not embarrass the school. Gu Wei also smiled and said that he would prepare well.

After the dinner, the group escorted Director Tian Zhuangzhuang out of the school. Then the Head of the Directing Department took Gu Wei to his office. With a serious expression on his face, he told him that there would be a dinner tomorrow, organized by China Film Group. He asked him to go with him and would introduce him to a few people.

Then he said to him earnestly: You are still young, and you should have good relationships with leaders of various departments in the future, especially state-owned enterprises. The director industry attaches great importance to "circles". You are a native of the capital, and you will inevitably have to deal with them in the future. I also heard about the film investment matter last time. If there are any matters related to film investment and shooting in the future, you can also say hello to China Film and the school in advance.

He talked about a lot of things, from his attitude towards people to the later cooperation on the film.

Gu Wei listened carefully and nodded from time to time to show that he had taken it in. He also knew that the director was doing this for his own good. Since he had entered the circle of directors, it was impossible for him to "play alone". As a native of the capital, he was naturally in the "Beijing circle".

"Don't just nod, kid. Remember what I say. It will be good for you." Seeing Gu Wei nodding all the time, the director of the directing department pointed at him and said.

"Don't worry, Director, I will definitely remember what you said," Gu Wei replied.

"Director, I hardly attended any classes this semester, so I'm sure I won't pass the final exam. Why don't you talk to our teacher when you have time and ask him to exempt me from the exam?" Gu Wei said arrogantly.

The director angrily kicked him out, but also said that he would tell other teachers about the matter and told him to focus on preparing for the report meeting. Other things were not important and the school would help him deal with them.

.........

　Seeking recommendations!

(End of this chapter)