China Entertainment: Director’s happiness is so simple

Outside the Batman set, more than a dozen Americans were gathering here, the vast majority of whom were white, one was black, and another was yellow.

The men sat quietly holding homemade signs in English.

The slogans contain clear demands: "Let Batman go," "Find a great director," and "Batman belongs in America."

Lu Pingan passed by the door with Ning Hao, Wu Jing and others in Wattsberg's car. Seeing this scene was like watching a monkey show. He was confused, angry, and of course incredulous.

When he came, Wattsberg said that the director of the reboot of "Batman" would be Chinese, which made some die-hard Batman fans very unhappy.

The United States is a place that emphasizes individuality and freedom, so there are now protesting crowds outside the set.

In the eyes of Ning Hao and Wu Jing, if this kind of thing happened in China, it would be a big deal.

So they were shocked when they heard it at first.

Everyone feels that the matter is not trivial, and I am afraid it will make international news this time!

But after Wattsberg explained it, everyone realized that this kind of thing is very common in Hollywood.

"There are always people who have nothing to do and do these things that they find meaningful."

Wattsberg described it this way, saying that he looked down upon this kind of thing.

After listening to the translation, Ning Hao found a synonym in Chinese: "You have nothing to do when you are full, you are free."

Wu Jing asked worriedly: "Is everything really okay?"

Wattsberg explained with a smile: "Hollywood has its own rules of the game, don't worry about them."

That being said, it does affect the crew's work and morale.

This kind of thing is said to be very common, but in fact it is said in a very large dimension.

This year, this month, or today, this is the only place where there are protests in Hollywood.

So Wattsberg also said: "It won't take long for reporters to come, but don't worry, the public relations team will deal with it."

While talking, the car drove into the set.

After getting out of the car, Ning Hao and others saw the huge warehouse and suddenly realized that the size of Hollywood was indeed different from that of the mainland.

When I walked in again, I saw the various props on display, and the feeling of "burning money" came over me again.

The production cost is 100 million, excluding the remuneration, there are at least 70 million in production costs, of which at least 30 million US dollars are spent on props.

30 million U.S. dollars is just a set of numbers, but when actually reflected in the materials, it is really a full warehouse, with a strong visual impact!

Ning Hao's eyes were full of stars. He shook Lu Ping'an's arm and said, "I will definitely fight such a rich battle in the future!"

"Come on, I will support you when the time comes!"

"No, I can't afford to pay for the loss."

Ning Hao said, glancing at something of interest, and then asked excitedly: "Is that also from the crew? Can I use it?"

"Of course, I'll let you play in a few days."

Lu Ping'an agreed directly.

It was a high-speed vehicle-mounted crane camera installed on a Mercedes-Benz.

This thing already exists in China, it is imported, so it is very rare.

In the past, Lu Ping'an rarely used this kind of big guy in his movies, so Ning Hao had already been greedy for it.

In addition to this, the rest of the high-tech equipment also opened everyone's eyes.

There are artificial rain and wind machines, various stabilization machines, IMAX cameras, etc.

In short, for Ning Hao and the others, it was really like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden, and everything they saw was new.

While I was visiting, the sound of an engine rumbled outside the warehouse.

Lu Pingping knew that this was the Batmobile coming.

Then, as expected, Ning Hao and Wu Jing were extremely excited.

"Good guy, this car is too handsome, isn't it?"

"What, five cars?!"

"Can you really stay by yourself after filming?"

"Sell whatever you want, I'll save money now!"

Neither of them are car enthusiasts, but they are both big boys, and they really don’t have much resistance to big sci-fi and domineering toys like the Batman tank.

Lu Ping'an calmly warned: "The bottom line is one or two million U.S. dollars."

The two of them immediately changed their faces.

Ning Hao: "Oh, what a pity. It consumes too much fuel."

Wu Jing: "It's not easy to win the card, forget it."

After the visit, the two of them claimed their jobs under the arrangement of Hu Qingquan.

Ning Hao's main task is to be Hu Qingquan's assistant. While studying, he also works as a photography assistant when needed.

Wu Jing also works as an assistant, and does action guidance, stand-in, and actor work when necessary.

They are all paid, and Lu Ping An will not treat them badly.

Lu Ping'an will officially start the final preparations with Nolan starting today.

"The work is heavy. I hope you will work harder and strive to start construction smoothly before March."

Lu Ping'an delivered his first speech within the crew.

A total of 136 Chinese and foreign teams agreed in unison.

Preparations for "Batman 1" have also entered the final sprint stage.

The entire Batman studio is far more than just Los Angeles, there are a total of 6 places in China, London, Chicago, etc., including two set studios. It is really a huge and ambitious project.

The pressure brought by this is also huge. For such a large project, if anything goes wrong, it will affect the whole body, so no one dares to neglect it.

In addition to internal progress pressure, there is also external pressure from public opinion, such as those idle protesters outside.

Since the first day, there seemed to be more and more protesters. By mid-February, there were actually more than 30 protesters outside. Therefore, local TV stations also began to report on it, although this kind of thing still needs no attention. , after all, the reason for the protest was a regular fan activity, but this also had some impact on the crew.

For Lu Ping An, the impact does not end there.

On February 15th, the Berlin Film Festival held its closing ceremony.

Because Lu Pingan had a film shortlisted this time, and because Lu Pingan was busy with movies in Hollywood, it was naturally difficult for him to be the short film judge he was originally invited to be.

If the road is safe, then Jiang Wen will lead the team at the Berlin Film Festival, and Xiang Guoqiang will assist with copyright matters.

On the 14th, Xiang Guoqiang called and said that the copyright transaction price of "Hungry Platform" could basically reach about US$1.8 million, which was less than the cost of US$400,000, which was a huge profit.

Jiang Wen also called and said that the screening results of "Hungry Platform" were pretty good, but the hope of winning the award might be a little slim, because some senior filmmakers he knew felt that there was little hope.

Lu Ping'an has already been mentally prepared for this.

There are only a few major awards in the main competition unit, including the Golden Bear, Jury, Best Director, Best Actor and Actor, Best Music, and a consolation prize: Outstanding Artistic Contribution.

It is difficult to win awards among the three major movies in Europe. With 7 awards and a total of 23 film points, the probability of not winning is a high probability.

In the end, on the night of the 14th, the organizer did not call the crew to invite them to the awards ceremony.

So "Hunger Platform" finally took home only US$1.96 million in copyright fees.

This was an expected event and nothing surprising. After all, apart from Ping An Lu, only Sylvia Chang's "20 30 40" was shortlisted for this year's Berlin Film Festival, and her film did not win the award in the end.

However, some domestic media expressed a very disappointed attitude towards Lu Ping An.

He said, "The short film Lu Ping An is fine, but the feature film lacks artistry."

"Lu Ping'an still has a long way to go before he can become a real director."

When Yan Danchen from China called and reported the situation, he said: "Actually, there are not many reports like this, but it makes people angry when they see it. How could they do this? They make you feel like it is a sin not to win the award."

"The media is just pissed off."

Lu Ping'an didn't care too much, because the actual situation was the same as what Yan Danchen said. Not many media reported in this way, and the follow-up was quickly suppressed.

Because Jiang Wen is his teacher, how can a teacher just watch his students suffer?

Feng Ke also gave information, saying that Jiang Wen went to a media company in person. He didn't know exactly what he did there. Anyway, the media didn't report it later.

Feng Ke also said that Jiang Wen also went to New Picture, and he still didn’t know what he did there. Anyway, there were no deliberately disparaging reports later.

Later, Jiang Wen called Lu Ping'an and encouraged him: "Keep up the good work and strive to win a big prize in the future. Don't feel pressure. Even if you have it, you should turn it into motivation."

"Looking at you!"

Lu Ping'an didn't mention clearly that he knew Jiang Wen helped him, but he was silently grateful.

On the Batman crew, Wu Jingninghao, Hu Qingquan and teachers from Nortel in China also knew that Lu Pingan was being ridiculed by the domestic media, and they all told Lu Pingan not to be stressed.

Lu Pingan told them with a smile: "Only artists have pressure. Now, I am a businessman. Pressure is what drives a businessman. Don't worry, everyone, I'm fine."

After saying that, Lu Pingan called Wattsberg.

First of all, the first pressure he has to deal with is those die-hard fans outside!

Let’s start with two chapters. I’m going to watch “Thirty Thousand Miles from Chang’an” today. Hey, I’ve made an appointment with a girl and I can’t turn it down~