China Entertainment: Director’s happiness is so simple

The day after the celebration banquet, Han Sanpin came to Lu Ping'an's Star Film and Television.

This was the first time Han Sanpin came to his company, and Lu Ping'an took him around.

There is not much to visit. It is more than 600 square meters and there are about ten people. It is very empty. Fortunately, it is well-equipped. A few days ago, Lu Ping'an built a post-production editing room and a recording room. He spent more than 2 million to deal with the film's post-production period. Basically enough.

This time "Time and Space Crime" will be edited by itself, and there is no need to continue to trouble Beijing Film Studio. Star Film and Television needs to grow independently.

Of course, Zhang Yifan, a great master, and several later masters in art, music, etc. were also invited by him, either as affiliates or directly as employees so that he could learn, as well as behind-the-scenes makeup and lighting. Excellent talents are also here, adding a lot of foundation to the company.

After looking around, the two returned to Lu Ping'an's office, invited tea, and got down to business.

Han Sanpin asked: "Ping An, what are your plans for your next movie? Do you want a big one?"

Lu Ping'an nodded, took out the script he had prepared long ago from the drawer and handed it over: "There is a movie plan, please read the script first."

Han Sanpin took over the script,

Then, he opened the script and was suddenly surprised: "Is it still science fiction?"

"Yes, science fiction, but the cost will be a bit high."

Han Sanpin's interest also increased greatly at this moment. He stopped talking and focused on reading the script.

Lu Pingan drank tea silently, waiting for his reaction.

Soon, Han Sanpin finished reading the script, and the first thing he liked was to give it a thumbs up.

"Not bad, not bad, it's still your style."

After liking it, he added, "It's okay to set the world background in the future, which can avoid some problems, but the military background still needs to be blurred. It's best not to have the city name appear, and it should be blurred..."

Han Sanpin mentioned several things that needed to be changed, and Lu Pingan wrote them down one by one.

After correcting him, Han Sanpin asked again: "A lot of special effects will be added this time?"

Lu Pingan answered with a smile: "Yes, but not too much. If I have to do it, I will make it the best. The special effects are not a problem. I am fully confident."

Han Sanpin asked again: "Is that Aix yours?"

Hearing this, Lu Ping An was not surprised. He could find out if he was willing to do some research. Lu Ping An didn't intend to hide it. His quotation was on the same level as Hollywood's. Even if the quality was the same, it was much cheaper than theirs.

So even if some people think that Lu Ping'an is left-handed and right-handed, they can't say anything. Anyway, you get what you pay for. If they really want to find a substitute, it will only be more expensive. In addition, at the company level, Xiang Guoqiang has already done this. After all my efforts, I couldn't find anything fishy.

So he admitted generously: "It's mine, but the technology hasn't been fully developed yet. In the end, I still have to go to the United States to do it later."

Han Sanpin nodded. He knew that special effects were expensive. The special effects of "Hero" were made by Americans. They were very expensive, but you still had to hold your nose to recognize them.

After all, there is no decent special effects team in China. If you want high-quality, you have to find it in Hong Kong, Taiwan or Hollywood. Now Lupin is planning to introduce Hollywood special effects to localize them. This is a good thing and we can support it if necessary in the future.

Han Sanpin asked: "How big are you planning to do this time?"

Lu Ping An reported a figure: "It may cost around 15 to 20 million, which is a bit big and the market may not be able to bear it, so I am still hesitating now. I think it may be better to wait a few years."

This number seems big, but it depends on who is competing with whom.

It's naturally not comparable to "Hero", it's ten times the difference.

But it's high enough compared to ordinary movies.

Moreover, Lu Pingan always spends a small amount of money to achieve big things. Han Sanpin believes that this film has good potential. Of course, if more is added, the effect will be even better.

Just hearing Lu Ping'an talk about his worries, Han Sanpin showed a confident smile.

He smiled and said: "Don't worry, domestic theater chains will be approved in June. There are 30 theater lines in total. It is estimated that there will be 1,700 to 1,800 big screens by the end of the year. If you need to arrange movies, I will help you negotiate!"

"Is the cinema really coming out?"

Lu Ping'an looked surprised. After all, he was just a student. How could he know what would happen in the future.

"right..."

Han Sanpin then began to explain the advantages of dividing theaters between theater chains and traditional administrative regions, as well as their future significance to the domestic film industry.

Lu Pingan naturally knew this, but he still listened with an open mind.

The summary of Han Sanpin's words is that as long as it gets the full support of theater chains and theaters, it can exceed 100 million! Of course, the premise is that the film must be attractive enough, such as a "blockbuster".

To ordinary people, these words may sound like they are mostly deception, just whispering in your ears to make you spend a lot of money to increase his political achievements.

But Lu Ping'an, who actually knew what happened later, would naturally not think so.

What Han Sanpin said now has come true in the future, and it is far beyond his imagination.

Even this year, Han Sanpin was a little conservative about the results with the full support of theater chains and theaters.

Judging from the current situation, can the box office of a film exceed 100 million with the full support of theaters?

This is actually completely possible, as was the case with 2000's "Life and Death", which directly earned more than 100 million.

It’s just that this film is a bit special, and everyone understands it.

By the time of "Heroes", theaters were on the scene, and commercialization began to officially come to the forefront.

The first domestically produced blockbuster film, many super celebrities have joined the film. Once the investment of 30 million US dollars came out, the roles of the film studio and the theater studio were reversed.

Since you are a blockbuster, it is reasonable to schedule more films, and even to increase movie ticket prices is reasonable.

Didn’t Zhang Weiping later say that if he doesn’t increase the ticket price and the subsidy, the movie will not be shown to you!

In addition, the number of big screens has also increased a lot, and the audience's enthusiasm for watching movies has been widely activated. Finally, the postponement key was added, and the most important thing is the strong support from the top, that is, China Film.

As a result, the theaters were operating at full capacity, and the film studio even managed to get the movie ticket price to increase by several yuan, and the theaters' share increased from 38% to 40%. In the end, the box office reached 250 million, which was a quarter of the total box office that year. .

The industry was shocked beyond measure, and the era of blockbusters and commercial films officially began.

So full support from above is really important.

This is also the purpose of Lu Pingan taking out this script today and pretending to be hesitant.

If you want me to make a blockbuster, I can do it, but you can't let me do it for nothing. You have to give me support beyond my expectations. I have to make money!

Investors flock to whatever film they like, and whatever movie fans are optimistic about, advertisers come to whatever film they like.

It's no use.

The key is to look at the above!

Well now, I have the attitude of a mountain eagle. Although it is just a verbal promise, if the quality of the film is guaranteed, it can be fulfilled. This means that the foundation of the "blockbuster" has been solid for most of it, and maybe it can reward you beyond your expectations. result.

Lu Ping'an felt basically at ease.

However, he still behaves conservatively: "If this film is really made, I can't even think of breaking over 100 million yuan. It would be a great success if it could make back the money."

Han Sanpin laughed after hearing this: "Ping'an, be more confident. Your script plus your signature is worth at least 40 million at the box office. This is under normal release."

This number is similar to what Lu Pingan thought. His two movies were previously said to be "released nationwide." In fact, less than 60% of the 1,500 big screens nationwide can be used. The same is true for other movies. Feng Dapao may have more. But now, after all, it is a vassal system. Many theaters do not like movies like yours. Many of them have commissioned movies.

So in this case, around 40 million is considered the limit for domestic films.

This is also the reason why Lu Pingan chose the current script.

Now with this script, with a box office of 40 million, Lu Ping An can already make a lot of money.

Because this film was said to cost 15 to 20 million, but he actually produced it himself. If there were no high-paid stars to join the film, he would not have used the 5 million. The rest of the money was all for special effects. He quoted a high price just to make it look more reasonable.

In other words, if the film is released according to the normal model and gets 30 to 40 million, he will lose money on paper, but in fact he has already made a huge profit.

And it would be even worse to think about giving full support.

Now it seems that there will be support, and Lu Ping'an has a good idea.

But he couldn't agree so quickly, so Lu Ping'an said: "Uncle Han, I'll think about it again."

Han Sanpin was not surprised by this. After all, this was the first time for domestic film and television production, and the cost was tens of millions. It was reasonable to think more.

He continued to suggest: "If you are really worried about the difficulty of getting your money back, my suggestion is that you find a few big names, from Hong Kong and Taiwan, who have box office appeal."

Han Sanpin went on to talk about the benefits of finding big names.

To put it simply: the value of big names lies not only in their box office appeal, but also in their ability to attract investment.

The former is easy to understand.

The big names of this era have great box office appeal.

In particular, Hong Kong's top stars have really strong box office appeal at the moment, and even bad movies can do well at the box office.

With them joining, although the production cost will be much higher, the advantage is that in addition to adding a gimmick in the mainland and attracting audiences who currently have little movie-going habit to enter the cinema, it can also open up more overseas markets, such as East Asia. Southeast Asia and so on.

For example, whoever among the Four Heavenly Kings joins a movie will not only have an extra gimmick in the mainland market, but will also be able to sell high box office in their original advantageous market, and they can also negotiate for splitting the revenue.

In addition, big names also have the ability to attract metal, which is the ability to attract investment.

When a movie is joined by big names, the most sensitive people are actually advertisers.

It has almost the same meaning as the later traffic stars.

Why do so many people like to find traffic stars? It’s because they have the traffic behind them.

With them joining, there is really no shortage of money. The production cost of several hundred million looks scary. In reality, the film crew can't hold back their smiles. Of course, the prerequisite is not to collapse the house. . .

At present, Lu Ping An's own brand has certain investment potential. If big-name stars are added to it, a lot of production costs may be recovered before the film is completed.

In addition, the production cost of the film itself is fictitious, and the quality will be excellent. If a big name is found to join the film, the financial prospects of this film may exceed expectations again.

Of course, not every big name has this kind of appeal, and there are many box-office poisons.

And not everyone can afford to hire top celebrities. After all, this is the early development stage of mainland movies.

None of the coal bosses have entered the market, and there is not much hot money in the market.

The whole country is counting on their fingers, and those who can hire big names are all big directors, and big names also have to pick people.

In other words, if Lu Pingan can attract big names to join, he will also be a big director to a certain extent. . .

In this regard, Lu Ping'an's attitude is actually relatively calm.

Any title of "great director" is false in his opinion.

Ensuring the quality of the movie and not losing money at the same time are actually enough to ensure these two points.

Above all, it depends on the situation.

For example, now, Han Sanpin has given great support and made some moves. The right time, right place, right people and the right people are basically in place.

The next step is to see how big of a problem you want to cause.

Anyway, the cost is only 5 million. If you add a star, the cost will be several million more at most.

The total is 10 million, and he can make a profit if the box office exceeds 35 million. This figure has already broken his own box office record.

As for whether the box office can exceed 35 million, Lu Ping'an has full confidence in the film at hand under normal release conditions, let alone now.

So Lu Ping'an nodded and said, "Okay, I'll look around first. If I can find a suitable star, I'll tell you."

"Think about it and tell me, you can do it boldly and make the film well. I will fully support the distribution. If China Film cannot do it alone, we can cooperate with other distribution companies. The significance of blockbusters is extraordinary. We won’t put up barriers.”

Lu Pingan smiled and said: "Okay, Uncle Han, I will think about it carefully."

Thanks to the leader of "Brother Mavericks" for the reward, thank you very much! ! !