China Entertainment King of Science Fiction

Chapter 329 DreamWorks is special

"Director Chen, has "The Martian" been filmed?"

"It's early. We just finished shooting the Mars scene, and there are still many projects left." Chen Jingxing shook his head, being polite, and took the main seat with the courtesy of Pan Yueming and others.

Looking around, I saw that the largest round table in the hotel was actually full of people.

After hearing that Chen Jingxing came back from Western Xinjiang, Wu Yue, Pan Yueming, and Duan Yihong wanted to treat Chen Jingxing to a dinner together. When Chen Jingxing found out, he felt a little ashamed, so he simply called the creative team of "Suspect Tracking" to have a dinner together.

When it comes to "Person of Interest", he is really a hands-off boss. When this drama was filmed, Guo Fan was also filming "Edge of Tomorrow" at the same time. Chen Jingxing's main energy was still invested in "Edge of Tomorrow".

Later, he perfected the script of "The Martian", went on a wedding trip, and then worried about the promotion of "Gravity". When "Person of Interest" started to be promoted and even launched on the online platform, he was filming "The Martian" in far west Xinjiang.

He really hasn't had a dinner with the creative team of "Person of Interest", so it's really an oversight on his part.

Because Chen Jingxing doesn't like drinking, it's mainly because he doesn't drink well - others may not know that he can't drink well, but everyone has asked about Chen Jingxing's hobbies and taboos, so no one offers liquor.

Therefore, although there are many people drinking and drinking at the dinner table, the main ones are water, drinks or red wine.

Although everyone from the media to netizens have criticized Douban, the saying that Douban is not valuable enough has been widely circulated, and some even have strong opinions that Douban ratings are meaningless.

In fact, "The Signal" and "Black Mirror" set too high a level. They both started with a bang, they can be said to have started high and gone high, and they were surprises that exceeded the audience's expectations.

However, Wu Yue and Duan Yihong are not the kind of people who regard wealth as life, and they are all actors who pursue performances and works. In addition, everyone knows that DreamWorks mainly relies on movies, and the profits of TV series are compared with those of DreamWorks movies.

That's nothing but a big deal. DreamWorks will not treat a drama as its core treasure and let the actors threaten it.

Especially after "Black Mirror" came out, some people even joked that "there are three types of TV series in China, one is a star drama, one is an online drama, and the other is a DreamWorks drama."

Whether compared vertically with "Signal" and "Black Mirror" or horizontally compared with netizens' expectations, "Person of Interest" has made the audience feel that there is a gap. Some people even bluntly said that this drama disappointed them, and even DreamWorks

The title of the worst TV series.

But the unconscious comparison in his heart and the unquenched ambition still made him anxious. It can be seen that no one is born to give up on himself, it just depends on the environment he is in.

Although it is a web drama synonymous with cheap and crude production, DreamWorks is naturally different.

"What's more, after the seventh episode was aired, in just two days, the Douban score rose from 8.8 to 9.2, an increase of 0.4 points per episode." Ning Weiqiang looked like he was struggling, which made all the actors laugh in agreement.

Voice.

This reminded him of the premiere of "Mirage", when he was sitting next to Tian Xinye. Tian Xinye told him that what he enjoyed most was watching the audience's emotions in the theater being completely manipulated by him, laughing, sad, afraid and... under the guidance of the plot.

move.

When Ning Weiqiang got the first version of the script for "Pursuit of Interest", he discovered that the script was a slow-burning work with slowly increasing energy. However, when he expressed his opinions to the screenwriter, the reasons given by the screenwriter were different.

It's like "What we want is to slowly climb the slope and surprise the audience one after another, so that the audience can have the best drama-watching experience."

Just like many voices ridicule DreamWorks for being a "Douban annual user", but who doesn't want to be an annual user?

These are all normal. The film and television industry itself is a business. If you realize this, it means you have grown.

Soon after, "The Mirage" also achieved brilliant success, and Tian Xinye stepped into the ranks of film directors and even successful directors.

On this basis, hunger is also a good way to enhance the experience of watching a drama, and it can also enhance the emotional involvement of the audience. The interval should not be less than one year at least. Launching a sequel in a tight time frame may consume the enthusiasm of the audience.

Just take a look and see if a film and television work has a high rating on Douban, and whether it will indicate the Douban rating in a conspicuous position on the poster.

This project is currently scheduled to be filmed for four seasons. The first season is currently so popular on the Internet that there will naturally be no surprises in the second season. It will just wait until next year to start filming. On the one hand, the script of the second season still needs to be polished.

The direction of the story for several seasons has not yet been decided.

And now he understands.

Isn't the reason why Ning Weiqiang took the risk of offending his old club Tianrun and took an olive branch from DreamWorks just to have room for advancement?

"...The average number of views per episode now seems to be about the same as that of "The Signal"?"

Ning Weiqiang considers himself a mature director, but he unexpectedly became childish again.

But the objective fact is that Douban is still the relatively fairest evaluation system for domestic film and television dramas, and it also has a strong reference value for many viewers.

Judging from the number of views, it is naturally extremely popular. It is mainly due to the trailer, which piques the curiosity of the audience. However, the first few episodes are indeed a bit dull. Fans and viewers who have been spoiled by DreamWorks feel that

There is indeed some distance between the actual taste and the appetite that was aroused before going online.

As the senior of Tian Xinye and Guo Fan, Ning Weiqiang is also under a lot of pressure. The response to "Purpose Track" after it was first aired was indeed unsatisfactory.

This made Ning Weiqiang feel excited and had some absurd and black humorous emotions.

The praise and exclamation of the audience, the endless discussion and analysis by netizens, and the quarrels and debates over the development of the TV series' story, these things can really bring him a sense of satisfaction.

But in China's film and television ecosystem, whether it's a movie or a TV series, the director is the first person in charge. At least this is the standard in the industry.

"Person of Interest" is the first major production to give him a leading role in several years.

In fact, the publicity and distribution work for "The Matrix" has already begun, after all, there are only twenty days until the film's premiere.

If Ning Weiqiang produces a drama in Tianrun that is popular on the Internet and has a Douban score of 8.8, he will naturally not have any pressure at all. It’s just that DreamWorks has always focused on high-quality dramas and has not released any crotch-pushing movies.

For each work, quality and reputation are essential requirements.

At that time, Ning Weiqiang thought that Tian Xinye was too young and still had the childishness and innocence of a fledgling. But now, he is really immersed in the admiring comments on the Internet, and he is tirelessly praised by netizens for his shots and pictures.

Get excited about doing in-depth interpretations.

DreamWorks is the special one.

However, Chen Jingxing was not very involved in the previous publicity work and was instead filming "The Martian" in Western Xinjiang.

In a company that doesn't talk about profits, but actually every work is profitable, reputation is like air to DreamWorks. If the boss does not exert commercial pressure, ensuring reputation and quality becomes everyone's subtle obligation and responsibility.

.

Ning Weiqiang is a new "transfer member" of DreamWorks. From a resume point of view, his qualifications in Tianrun Pictures are outstanding. His status in the world is much higher than that of Tian Xinye. In fact, Guo Fan may not be able to compare with him.

, but this is considered an old almanac.

Therefore, the audience will inevitably feel that your trailer is so exciting, so the beginning of the TV series should not be so high-energy?

It can be said that "Person of Interest" is an important step that gave Pan Yueming's career a new lease of life. I am very grateful to DreamWorks for extending an olive branch to him when his career was at the lowest point. If it were not for Chen Jingxing's polite refusal, he would have wanted to work with him.

DreamWorks signed a bundled contract for subsequent seasons.

But Ning Weiqiang is still under great psychological pressure. Although the audience who watched "Person of Interest" came either for Chen Jingxing - he is the creative idea of ​​the script, or for the DreamWorks brand, or for the actors.

Yes, basically not for the director.

He now suddenly understood why the people at DreamWorks had once been so naive and stubborn in his eyes.

As for Chen Jingxing, naturally no one compares with him. Even someone like Ning Weiqiang, who belongs to the weakest ranks among TV drama directors, has no idea of ​​comparing with Chen Jingxing. Everyone agrees that Chen Jingxing is special and in a separate line.

Chen Jingxing learned a lesson from the "little composition" controversy caused by "The Walking Dead". "The Matrix" signed a bundled contract with the leading actor. That's because the interests involved in this series of works are too great, and the TV series is not worthy of it. What if it happens in the future?

Disputes can easily be based on facts and affect the brand image of DreamWorks.

Therefore, things like Hollywood sequels where actors form an offensive and defensive alliance and ask for exorbitant prices will not happen.

Of course, these comments and evaluations are based on DreamWorks' past works, otherwise the Douban score would not reach 8.8.

If I didn't care, there wouldn't be so many producers who would personally tear up Douban because their ratings were too low.

It's not about filming other scenes in "The Martian", but it's about participating in the promotion of "The Matrix".

Chen Jingxing didn't know that Ning Weiqiang had gained such a great understanding. He was talking to the main creative staff about the follow-up shooting plan of "Purpose Tracking".

Tian Xinye, the online drama director who was not in his eyes two years ago, is now an outstanding young filmmaker with a box office of 1 billion, not to mention Guo Fan.

Even if "Person of Interest" made a profit after selling the online copyright, and the subsequent on-demand revenue sharing and advertising revenue sharing were just a matter of earning more or less, no one would have any blame for Ning Weiqiang.

Movie-watching experience and drama-watching experience are words that DreamWorks screenwriters and other employees often talk about, just like other business considerations. Ratings or playback numbers are not worth mentioning, as if DreamWorks is a non-profit organization.

, this was once difficult for Ning Weiqiang to understand.

It is the young man in front of me. He established DreamWorks not only to create dreams for the audience in the usual interpretation, but also to build a greenhouse for the screenwriters, directors and other creators of DreamWorks, so that they can also live in dreams. This

This was the fundamental source of the pride that many DreamWorks people he came into contact with.

Of course, when Pan Yue was offered a film contract, DreamWorks was not yet so famous in the field of TV dramas, but its status in the film industry was already extraordinary, and its first star-rated drama "The Signal" also caused a phenomenon-level sensation.

heat.

After Chen Jingxing explained the shooting plan of "Purpose of Persons" and appeased all the actors, he returned to the company without stopping to prepare for DreamWorks, which is his most important next work.

In particular, Pan Yueming was quiet in the entertainment industry for a while due to the car accident and divorce. He could only receive some small productions that were close to independent films, let alone star dramas. Later, he even thought about quitting the industry.

Thoughts, it’s true that I haven’t accepted any works for two years.

Several leading actors have signed long-term contracts, which of course are not bundled contracts. The salaries for each season will be renegotiated. After all, if the show becomes popular, the actors' salaries will naturally increase as well.

Even actors or directors in the industry may not say it openly, but they all attach great importance to Douban ratings. Maybe the degree of emphasis is different, but none of them don't care. They don't care just because they can't get it.

These pressures were released by the high-energy twist of "Person of Interest". Obviously, the audience and the media exclaimed and praised him, and the discussion among netizens was a compliment that relieved him of the pressure.

Originally, these things had weight when he first entered this industry, but after more than ten years of experience in the industry, the praise and praise of the audience have lost their magic for him. Even if he cares about the ratings of his works, it is not enough.

Based on business and profit considerations.

More importantly, Chen Jingxing needs the market to stay hungry for "Person of Interest" because the first season of "Person of Interest" dug a lot of holes in the end and left a very intriguing suspense. Chen Jingxing is not worried about the audience's reaction to this show.

The story is forgotten or the fever subsides.

After the exchange of emotional topics, the topic naturally turned to the popular "Person of Interest", which is currently airing. Director Ning Weiqiang seemed to have a lot of pressure on his heart, and the conversation was endless.

Ning Weiqiang was just invited by DreamWorks to shoot "Person of Interest", and soon after the Spring Festival release "Mekong" became famous, Guo Fan became a commercial film director in one step, and he is one of the rare directors in China who can control industrial films.

It just so happens that the Mars part of "The Martian" has been filmed, which means that the more difficult scenes in the filming of this movie are basically over. The remaining scenes cannot be filmed in more than 20 days. The star of "The Matrix"

There are really not enough celebrities to watch, but there are no well-known celebrities like Lei Jiayin, Hu Ge, and Luo Chen to shoulder the heavy responsibility of publicity.

In the movie "The Matrix", Chen Jingxing himself is the biggest star and the biggest brand. If he wants to sit back and wait for the movie to be released as a hands-off shopkeeper, it is impossible for Xu Wenshen to agree.

Moreover, Chen Jingxing also attaches great importance to "The Matrix". This film is not like "Gravity", which has the double buff of being the most expensive movie in Chinese history and the first space science fiction. Whether it is theaters or external media and

The importance of "The Matrix" in the hearts of ordinary netizens is completely inferior to that of "Gravity", which can be seen from the investment cost.

Chen Jingxing would naturally not ignore this.

(End of chapter)