Zhang Yuan lay on a recliner in the courtyard, quietly waiting for the arrival of guests.

He had just contacted Gao Hu and asked him to call Huang Bo, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

Of course, his real intention was not to meet these two. These two were just his match. The ones he really wanted to find were not just these two.

While waiting for a few people, Zhang Yuan was thinking about his next plan.

Although he has finished filming his scenes with "A World Without Thieves", the story is not over yet.

In addition to the promotional activities that he needed to attend when the film was released later, he also left a hole in the crew.

This pit was a mistake that forced Feng Xiaogang to personally apologize after the film was released.

In the film, Sha Gen, played by Wang Baoqiang, personally took his savings of 60,000 yuan with him on the train because he disliked the high postal shipping costs.

According to the film, sending 60,000 yuan requires 600 yuan in postage, which is enough to buy a donkey in my hometown!
The story also slowly unfolds from here.

It can be said that the postage issue is the fundamental cause that brings all the characters together in the whole story and causes the conflict to break out.

But a serious mistake had occurred in the foundation of all this!

These creators had no idea that the postal service would charge a percentage of the item’s price, but that there was an upper limit to the fee.

According to Sha Gen’s 60,000 yuan, the shipping fee would be at most 100 yuan, not 600 yuan!
What department is China Post?
After the group company was established in 95, it had a registered capital of 1300 billion yuan and ranked among the top in the Fortune Global . It was a department that was at the level of a favorite son of the Republic.

It is one of the three giants of the Ministry of Transport along with Air China and China Railway.

How can a national strategic-level basic service department be slandered by a "small director" like you?
Of course Zhang Yuan knew about this, and since the lines in the play were spoken by his younger brother and employee Wang Baoqiang, he would also have to face lawsuits if anything went wrong.

So he will talk about this.

But the time has not come yet.

beep, beep...

Just as I thought of this, there was a knock on the door.

Get up and open the door.

"Wow, your yard is really nice, with birds singing and flowers blooming." The tall and thin Gao Hu was the first to stick his head in.

Then the short Huang Bo also came in.

"Yes, it's nice and clean."

He and Gao Hu had just met at the audition for "The Return of the Condor Heroes" more than a month ago, and as for Huang Bo, the last time they met was during the filming of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils". Come to think of it, it has been more than a year.

Gao Hu already had a good relationship with him, and it became even better after they met in "The Return of the Condor Heroes".

Because this gave rise to a feeling of mutual understanding and brotherhood.

After all, in "Tian Long Ba Bu", one of them is Xu Zhu and the other is Murong Fu.

But when it came to auditioning for The Return of the Condor Heroes, it was always Wang Xiaoer's New Year, and each year was worse than the last.

I can only try some third or fourth-tier minor roles like Huodu, Yin Zhiping, and Yelu Qi.

"There are several rooms here. Do you live alone?" Gao Hu looked around after entering the yard. "The rent is quite expensive in this area."

"It's not cheap."

"Ah."

“So I just bought it.”

Gao Hu, Huang Bo: ...

Needless to say, Huang Bo has been doing very average in the capital so far, let alone buying a house.

Gao Hu was even more miserable. He had money to buy a house before, but after he was involved in a hit and kill incident on the crew and had to pay compensation, he could no longer afford it.

Both of them were very envious.

"Let's sit down for a while and chat. We haven't seen each other for a long time." Zhang Yuan took out a few bottles of cold beer, put them on the edge of the stone table in the yard, and opened the bottle caps.

The three of them talked while drinking.

"Ah!" After chatting for a while, Gao Hu cried out in surprise, feeling sour in his heart.

Only then did he realize that Zhang Yuan had just returned from Feng Xiaogang's crew.

He originally thought that they were brothers in distress.

Now it seems that only the difficult brother is there, while the little brother is not difficult at all!

Huang Bo was even more speechless and could only envy.

"It's good to make movies. There's a lot of money, little work, and you can become famous and get advertising endorsements." Gao Hu sighed with his eyes narrowed.

Filming TV series, especially filming TV series with bearded men, is really just a way to make a living.

Gao Hu's pay for each episode was only 3,000 yuan.

The salary for shooting a play is only around 100,000 yuan, which is really not much for an actor.

Therefore, most actors do not make a living from film pay, but from endorsements and advertisements.

The cost of an advertising film can reach millions, the endorsement fee for a domestic brand can reach several million, and the contract price for an international brand starts at at least tens of millions.

After Liu Xixi finished filming "Mulan", her salary was only 1500 million Chinese yuan, but the high-end endorsements that followed, such as LV, Bulgari, etc., plus advertisements such as the Abu Dhabi spokesperson, and the "added value" of fame brought by these works made the total value of her business contracts easily exceed million yuan.

Works are jobs, advertising is life.

Unfortunately, Gao Hu’s reputation was ruined because of the murder lawsuit, and no brand wanted to hire him.

Not to mention Huang Bo, no company would be interested in his "honor" until he becomes completely famous.

Zhang Yuan is a little better, but only some township brands will come to him, and his prices are not high.

There are also events like supporting small businesses or cutting ribbons at grand openings, which cost tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan each. This is how much he is worth now.

You should know that big stars like Zhang Bozhi and Wang Fei of the same period had their platform fees as high as one to three million, and that was only the price for one or two hours.

This is the difference!
However, if he could play the leading male role in "The Return of the Condor Heroes", his endorsement fee would definitely increase significantly.

"By the way, I recently watched a movie called "Incense", which is quite good." As he spoke, Zhang Yuan turned the topic to business.

"Do you like this movie?" Huang Bo, holding the wine bottle, straightened up.

This guy has been performing in the bar for many years and his alcohol tolerance is amazing. After all, in those days, singing was like performing a crosstalk, and you had to spin for the big brother from time to time.

"Well, it's quite literary, but it has good connotations and depth, and it can make people think."

What Zhang Yuan said can be applied to 99% of art films, and it works every time.

"Hehe, my friend would probably be very happy if he heard this." Huang Bo grinned, revealing a mouthful of crooked teeth.

"your friend?"

"Yes, the director of this film is my friend."

"Isn't it just a rat?" Gao Hu also replied.

"How can I miss a master? I need you to introduce me to him. I really want to meet him."

Huang Bo and Gao Hu looked at each other and then took out their cell phones.

Soon after, Jubaoyuan Hotpot Restaurant.

It is impossible to eat at home unless Brother Qian is here.

Zhang Yuan took the initiative to treat the two of them to a mutton hotpot restaurant.

Even though the weather is still hot, there are quite a few people in the steamy shop.

Zhang Yuan has always felt that many foods in the capital are actually meant to trick people into eating sesame paste.

Including fried tripe, shabu-shabu meat, sesame cakes... everything is covered with sauce.

"Come on, this way!"

The three were peeling pickled garlic when a man of medium build and strong build walked into the store. At Huang Bo's invitation, he came in front of Zhang Yuan.

"Hello."

Ning Hao had dark circles under his eyes and looked not in good spirits, as if he had not slept well for several days.

It's normal for him to have trouble sleeping.

After a lot of effort, accidents happened one after another, investors withdrew their money, and they raised 40 yuan to shoot the film themselves. The crew size was reduced from 60 to 11 people. The film "Green Grassland", which was completed with great difficulty, could not find a place to be released at all.

Of course, even if it finds a place to be shown, the box office of this movie is estimated to be "sad to hear and tearful to hear."

There are only two kinds of benefits that can be brought by shooting this kind of low-budget art film.

Win awards, copyright.

Just like "Blind Shaft", it won a lot of major awards and sold overseas copyrights for several million, so it's a sure profit.

But what about this one?

"Incense" and "Green Grassland", two consecutive dramas, have wiped out all the money I earned from shooting music videos for others over the years.

Ning Hao made a lot of money by shooting MVs for Tu Honggang and Pu Shu.

Later, he even shot MVs for Li Yuchun and Jing Tian, ​​and became a well-known figure in the industry.

But for the sake of his so-called "dream", he spent all his time making his own movies.

There is a saying that goes, "If a husband has a virtuous wife, he will not suffer any misfortune."

Ning Hao's wife, Xing Anna, is very virtuous. In order to support him in making movies, she never bought a house after marriage.

But precisely because his wife is so virtuous, Ning Hao feels embarrassed.

If he were alone, he could certainly pursue poetry and distant places.

But you can’t just leave all the problems in front of you to your wife!
So, he has been struggling with this recently.

Many directors were arrogant when they were young and looked down on commercial films, believing that they were selling their souls to please the audience.

But after suffering losses and going through pain, these directors will understand, how much is the soul worth?
After a few glasses of white wine, although we had just met, we started talking.

"Tell me, are you out of your mind?" Huang Bo kept hitting Ning Hao's big head with chopsticks.

Ning Hao twisted his lips. If someone else said this to him, he would definitely turn hostile on the spot, that person being Huang Bo.

Because this person is really "stupid".

Ning Hao suffers from hydrocephalus. The doctor once suggested that he undergo a craniotomy to drain the water, but he was worried about the sequelae, including memory loss and temperamental changes, so he simply gave up the operation and let the water remain.

"How can you use your own money to make a movie and lose it all?" Huang Bo was a little angry.

"Everyone is looking for investment when they make movies, so if there's a loss, it's others who are at fault."

Ning Hao sighed: "No one is willing to invest in what I shoot."

"Now both movies have lost money, and no one wants to invest in them anymore."

"So what are your plans?" Gao Hu asked.

"My old job, I'll make some money by shooting a music video." Ning Hao said this, picked up a piece of mutton with chopsticks, rinsed it and said, "Actually, I always have a notebook in my hand."

"But no one is willing to invest. If that doesn't work out, I'd better save some money and shoot it myself."

"I'm still afraid that I won't be able to survive." Huang Bo complained.

"What book?" Zhang Yuan asked knowingly.

"It's called "Diamond". I wrote it myself several years ago." Ning Hao grinned as he ate.

He was very polite to Zhang Yuan, who said he liked his movie and invited him to dinner.

"Tell us what the story is." Zhang Yuan suggested, "Don't worry, we are all family members and will not tell others about your idea."

"Hey, I'm not afraid of what you say. It's not worth anything."

After that, he started talking about the script called "Diamond".

And this "Diamond" is actually the original work of "Crazy Stone"!

Zhang Yuan and the other two all listened silently to this story that revolved around a stone.

"Isn't this still an art film?" Huang Bo said after listening.

"Yes, it's still an art film. I want to make commercial films now and make money, but I don't have the foundation."

Zhang Yuan calmly poured him a full glass of wine and then toasted him.

"Hey, actually commercial films aren't that complicated."

Zhang Yuan spoke at the right time.

"It's just a few points."

“Script, actors, investment, distribution, and publicity.”

"You call this simple!" Huang Bo glanced at him.

"Brother Bo, don't be anxious. Let me go slowly and explain one thing at a time." Zhang Yuan was very calm.

"First, the script. You already have the script, but it's not commercial enough and needs to be revised."

"The second is the actors." Zhang Yuan pointed at the people at this table: "We are all actors, you don't need anyone."

"What about the rest? Investment, distribution, and publicity, these three are the difficult parts!" Huang Bo drank a lot and said carelessly.

Ning Hao also nodded. These three things are fatal. Without investment, the film cannot be shot. Without distribution, the film cannot be shown in theaters. Without publicity, the film cannot be released. If one of them is missing, it will be like African monkeys. What a waste!
"Hahaha, I just finished filming Director Feng's movie a while ago." Zhang Yuan said with a chuckle.

"Hey, hey!" Gao Hu pointed at the wine glass in front of him: "Why are you showing off in front of us?"

"Drink a glass of wine as punishment!"

"Just listen to me first. After I finish, someone will help me drink this glass of wine." He continued slowly.

"I met Liu Dehua on the set of Director Feng... I can't tell you the details and the content of the film because we have a confidentiality agreement."

The three nodded in understanding.

"Anyway, I'm getting along OK with Brother Hua."

Ning Hao raised his eyebrows and thought to himself, although you have filmed many films, you can only be considered a newcomer. Are you being too arrogant when you say that you have a good relationship with Brother Hua?

But looking at the two good friends, Gao Hu and Huang Bo, not only did they not doubt what Zhang Yuan said, they also nodded slightly, as if they were not surprised at all.

Does he really have this ability?

"I heard from Brother Hua that he is organizing an event called Asian New Star Director. The specific content is..."

Zhang Yuan explained it in detail.

After hearing this, Ning Hao put down his chopsticks.

"I think your script actually has potential. If it is modified properly, it may be commercially viable."

"Well, you try it first and modify it towards a commercial film."

"If there is no problem, I will take you to see Brother Hua."

Ning Hao's mouth opened so wide that the hydrocephalus was about to flow out.

Today he received a call from Huang Bo, he came with the mentality of being bored and having more friends means more paths.

I didn't have any career ambitions, and even came here to relax.

But he never expected that this new friend would suddenly come as a bolt from the blue and bring him an opportunity so huge that he never dared to dream of it!
Zhang Yuan looked at his dazed look and pointed at the wine glass in front of him.

Ning Hao was stunned for a moment, then remembered what he had just said, "Someone will help me drink it," so he picked up the wine glass and drank the Niu Er in it.

[Received thanks from Ning Hao, Art Foundation +1, Photography Skills +1, Literary Skills +1! ]

...(End of chapter)