Chapter 533 The polarity reversal
April of each year is considered the off-season for the mainland film market. It is an off-season for movie box office, but it is indeed a busy season for the film and television industry.

Because this month, there is the annual director commendation conference in the middle of the month and the Capital University Student Film Festival at the end of the month, it is extremely lively.

At this year's Directors Guild Awards Ceremony, the smoke of war was filled with the battle between "Lost in Thailand" directed by Xu Zheng and "1942" directed by Feng Xiaogang. The competition between the two films also became one of the focuses of this year's Directors Guild Awards Ceremony.

But just as everyone thought before, the director industry also values ​​seniority and status. Compared with Feng Xiaogang, any discerning person in the circle can see that Xu Zheng has little chance.

As expected, Xu Zheng was disappointed again this time.

Tonight's annual Directors Guild Awards Ceremony's Director of the Year and Director of the Year awards were indeed given to Feng Xiaogang and the film "1942" with Xu Zheng.

In fact, the outcome has already been determined.

This conference also divided the pork, but the operation was not so obvious.

In the end, there was only one consolation prize, and Xu Zheng and "Lost in Thailand" won the annual special commendation from the jury.

I don't know what the significance of setting up this award is. What is it for special recognition?

Huang Bo won the Actor of the Year award. Huang Bo starred in quite a few movies last year, so it is reasonable for him to win this award.

.........

The film "So Young" directed by Zhao Yanzi and released by Guangxian is currently being promoted.

With the support of Guangguang, which started out as a broadcasting company, and with the unremitting promotion by teachers and school leaders of Beijing Film Academy, the popularity of this movie has skyrocketed.

Even the box office of "Seattle" successfully exceeded 400 million, but it was unable to suppress the other party.

Even when Song Ge called Gu Wei to report on his recent work, he couldn't help but mention a few more words. After all, in Song Ge's opinion, this kind of subject matter does not require a large investment, but with good publicity, it does have the potential to be a big hit at the box office.

Even though he had previously ridiculed this youth-themed movie, saying that it was a collection of all kinds of melodramatic plots mixed together to sell sentimentality.

But when he saw that the other party had the potential to win high box office, he forgot about it. It can only be said that men are mostly eating from the bowl and looking at the pot.

"Forget it. No one in the company is good at this kind of subject matter. Even if there is a script, it will be a problem to find someone to shoot it."

In Gu Wei's impression, there is nothing much to talk about in terms of story deconstruction, character creation, and emotional logic. Its greatest "contribution" to Chinese-language films is that it used a box office of 7 million yuan to bring about a large number of Chinese-language youth films.

In the following years, Chinese youth films grew wildly, appearing in large numbers on the screen, flooding the screen, playing routines, and spreading melodrama. Such careless operations naturally gradually consumed the audience's patience.

Chinese youth films also went from being very popular at first to being ignored in the end.

Afterwards, Song Ge mentioned that Ning Hao's "Partners" is about to be completed, and Wu Ershan's "Painted Skin 3" is undergoing script review.

Gu Wei nodded, indicating that Song Ge would be responsible for everything, as he was abroad and couldn't take care of it.

In response, Song Ge happily agreed.

As the two chatted, Song Geduo mentioned that Wang Changtian had previously asked Song Ge whether Gu Wei had time to attend the premiere of "So Young".

Hearing this, Gu Wei chuckled. He had time to go out and play, and make movies, but of course he didn't have time for this!

The reason why Wang Changtian invited Gu Wei through Song Ge was because he saw news reports that photos of Gu Wei and Liu Yifei traveling abroad were released by the media.

So, Big Wang thought he should invite them as well, in case Gu Wei had to return to the capital to attend the closing ceremony of the "Capital University Student Film Festival" on the evening of April 4. He would also be able to catch the premiere of "So Young", which was scheduled for April 20.

.........

Although April is not even halfway through, there is only one domestic film that can be called a name.

"Produced by Xingchen Films and directed by Xue Xiaolu, Seattle has already grossed over 5 million yuan, and the current daily box office has dropped to around 600 million yuan."

"Imported films such as Die Hard 5, Upside Down, and The Iron Lady have all grossed over million yuan in just half a month since their release."

"Hollywood blockbusters such as Resident Evil 5, Oz the Great and Powerful, and Giant Slayer will be officially released in the middle and late part of this month."

All major film and television companies in the industry can see that with the lively Spring Festival season over, it is time for domestic films to struggle again.

But people in the circle had no time to pay attention to this, because many people found that it was not until almost a month after "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" was taken off the screen that Huayi Company announced that it would hold a celebration banquet.

You should know that this movie not only represents high box office, but has now become synonymous with co-productions between the mainland and Hong Kong.

After "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" was successfully released, the group of people in Hong Kong said directly that they should follow the model of this movie.

Mainland film and television companies provide funding, marketing, and are responsible for publicity and promotion, while they should be the ones to direct and cast.

Although these remarks were immediately ridiculed by netizens, the Film Bureau seemed to take it very seriously, and many leaders spoke out, affirming this model.

Firstly, the people above wanted to take this opportunity to repair the relationship between mainland and Hong Kong filmmakers. After all, if a family always quarrels, it will be easy for "outsiders" to laugh at them. Secondly, due to the rapid economic development of China, it was naturally suppressed by the Americans, and China naturally did not want to be exploited by them in the cultural field.

It is for this reason that the celebration banquet held by Huayi Company was unusually high-profile.

I don’t know how the two Wangs fooled Zhou Xingchi, but almost all the investors, directors and actors were present at the celebration party.

Several state-owned enterprises and large companies in the industry, including Wang Changtian of Guangxian, Yu Dong of Bonanza, Qin Hong of Stellar, were all present.

Song Ge naturally went there on behalf of Xingchen Film and Television, and was treated quite well.

After the "leaders" of the Film Bureau finished speaking to the two Wangs and the Wang family, and the celebration banquet was over, Song Ge was pulled over by Wang Changtian, Yu Dong, Ye Ning and others, under the pretext of starting the next show.

After the box office of "Seattle" exceeded 500 million, the total box office of this movie has exceeded "Love Is Not Blind" from two years ago, once again setting a box office record for domestic romance films.

Many companies even held special seminars to study why "Love Is Not Blind" and "Seattle", which had such small investments, became such successive hits.

"Boss Song, this time we sincerely want to learn from you!"

Compared to other filmmakers who have to do their own research, these three are more direct. Since Gu Wei is not in the country, they just invite Song Ge out for dinner and ask for his advice and experience.

After much discussion, they decided to just invite the other party's person in charge. The three of them knew that Gu Wei had hardly any involvement in this movie. From the script to the decision to invest, including the subsequent casting, Song Ge was almost the only one who handled it.

"Seattle", which was invested with 3000 million, has grossed over million at the box office, and it may even reach million. Naturally, everyone is envious of the profits.

Moreover, this movie is different from "Lost in Thailand". Everyone knows "Lost in Thailand". Gu Wei provided the script and served as the producer, which created a celebrity effect. In addition, Chinese people like comedies, so the high box office will only make people envious, but not surprised.

But there have been quite a few romance films in China over the years.

According to statistics, in 2012, a total of 231 domestic films were released in theaters, of which only 37 were romance films, accounting for about 16% of the total, and there was only one pure romance film, "Love", with a box office of over million yuan.

Song Ge took a bite of the dish and did not hide it. There was nothing to hide. After all, he had talked about it with Gu Wei in private. So he spoke decisively and started to show off.

"Everyone, have you ever counted the movies that have a romantic element and are big hits at the box office in recent years?"

"Of course we have statistics. I want to hear your opinion, Mr. Song."

Wang Changtian poured the wine at the right time.

“Actually, these films all have one thing in common.”

Wang Changtian, Ye Ning and Yu Dong listened attentively.

"That's because the male and female protagonists have a huge contrast in personality and appearance, and the bigger the difference, the easier it is to sell. Although handsome men and beautiful women are enviable in real life, the audience watches movies for excitement!"

To be honest, this "contrast" is first reflected in appearance, and this feature is most obvious in the "If You Are the One" series directed by Feng Xiaogang. The male protagonist is the bald "Uncle Ge" Ge You, who can almost be Shu Qi's father in terms of age, and in terms of appearance, he is definitely the opposite of a handsome guy.

But it was this combination that brought a sense of freshness to the audience, and the box office of both films exceeded 300 million.

Just like the domineering president novels, when they first became popular, the audience just wanted to show off, get slapped in the face, and have excitement!
Song Ge's words reminded everyone of the movies that have been box office hits in recent years.

"If you think about it carefully, it seems to be true."

For a moment, it seemed as if several people had discovered a new world, and several plans and strategies already appeared in their minds.

...

In the outside world, the celebration party for "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" has ended.

Media reporters kept reporting on the event with words like "grand scene" and "crowded with guests", which led to a significant increase in the share price of Huayi Company.

But within two days, the news of Huayi Company and Zhou Xingchi going to court once again set off a storm in the entire entertainment industry.

Sina Entertainment, Sohu Entertainment, Penguin Entertainment, including NetEase, Southern Metropolis, China Entertainment News and other film and television entertainment headlines, all have the same title:

"Hong Kong director Zhou Xingchi sued Huayi Films, demanding a share of 80 million in box office revenue."

This is really big news in the industry, because Zhou Xingchi and Huayi both hold a pivotal position in the film industry.

What excites netizens and filmmakers in the industry the most is that the two sides have directly torn their faces apart, without any regard for the reputations of big directors and big film and television companies.

They just started to argue with each other online.

On the one hand, he asked for dividends, and on the other hand, he made naked ridicule.

.........

(End of this chapter)