I’m a Director, I’m Not Bad

Chapter 541 539. August Xiangsheng

Venice.

"Phew. Good morning, gentlemen and ladies."

The famous Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino walked into the small screening room with a bird's nest-shaped hair style.

Looking at the 5 men and 1 woman inside, he said hello in a brisk tone.

At the same time, he raised the champagne glass in his hand.

You know, it's 10 o'clock in the morning in Venice.

Although the pace of life here in Italy is notoriously unstructured...

But... regardless of whether you are holding a glass of espresso, opening champagne in the first half of this day's plan is a bit too much...

I would never give you the nickname Jiu Mengzi.

But seeing these five men and one woman is quite normal.

They all said hello to Quentin.

"Morning, Mr. Quentin."

Gulemo Arega. Mexican screenwriter, producer, director, actor.

His representative works include "Tower of Babel", which was nominated for the Oscar and Golden Globe Awards for Best Screenplay, and "The Three Funerals of Astada", which won the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes.

At the same time, he is also a leading figure after Mexican films gained momentum in the international film art market.

Invited to Venice to serve as one of the judges for this main unit film competition.

"Tarantino, is today a day worth celebrating? You didn't even drink red wine."

Arnaud de Blessing, who looked as unkempt as Quentin, with the same messy hair and a rumpled suit, laughed.

Arnaud de Blessing is a French director, screenwriter, photographer, and producer.

If Quentin, who just debuted that year, stunned the film industry with "Reservoir Dogs", then Arnold de Blessing set off a storm in Cannes with "The Sentinel".

The two are directors of the same generation, and they are also directors with very strong personal styles.

I have known Quentin for a long time, so he is more playful compared to Gulemo's rigid and restrained manner.

If you can ignore his strong French accent in English.

After hearing his words, Quentin smiled happily:

"Of course, man. It's Celestial Day! Isn't it worth celebrating?"

As he said that, he sat down in his seat, picked up the film list and took a look at it, his eyes filled with excitement:

"'Inspector Dee and the Mysterious Phantom of Fire'! Wow, it seems that my Chinese friends have brought us a fantasy work that is no less than 'Harry Potter'."

Although several people here knew that he was obsessed with Chinese culture, when he heard that a movie was compared to "Harry Potter", Jasmine Trica was sitting in her seat, sipping an iced coffee. Speechless:

"Dear BOSS, I don't think it can compare with my daughter's favorite fairy tale."

"Hahaha, then apologize for me and Xiao Aili."

Quentin was not angry either, and said with a smile:

"But its name is mysterious enough, isn't it? At least it's more interesting than this...well..."RA Side GO"."

"It's DEAD SOULS."

After Trica corrected him, Quentin waved his hand:

"NONONO, beautiful Trika. Please don't doubt my love for that country. Although the English translation is this. But I have learned about this film, and its Chinese pronunciation is called "RA Bian GO"."

Although he didn't say the correct pronunciation of "Jiabiangou".

But Trika didn't argue with him and shrugged:

"You are Tianchaotong, you are right. So, you can also speak correct Chinese for the other three movies?"

"Of course, my Chinese..."

Quentin raised the champagne proudly and made the "finger bag" gesture that Italians like to do most when talking with his other hand:

"NEWBEE~"

"..."

"..."

"..."

The remaining three judges on the side, the famous Hollywood Oscar-level composer Danny Elfman, the Italian director Luca Guadagnino, and the famous Italian academic director Gabriel Savatrice were exposed at the same time A speechless expression.

Because they have heard this word too many times in the past few days.

At first, they thought it meant New Bee, but after Quentin watched a certain movie, he would say: "Wow, the filming is very NEWBEE", and several people finally understood the meaning of this word.

What does it mean in English...

"SUPER COOL" means very cool.

But the literal translation is cow's... special organ, cow's.

A few people couldn't accept it at first. They felt that this "NEW BEE" description was really too NEW BEE.

When asked why, Quentin gave the following explanation:

"Because it looks big."

This explanation really amused the judges.

Then I gradually understood the spoken words of this director who is obsessed with Chinese culture.

Of course... it would have been better if I hadn't asked carefully about its "literal translation".

As for Quentin, after finishing speaking, he picked up the film list again:

"Hmm..."The Legend of Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen", this Chen seems to be Bruce Lee's mentor."

As he spoke, he nodded confidently:

"Yes, that's right, he is Bruce Lee's master. Wow! And the Chinese name of this "Reign of Assassins" is "Sword and Rain". You know, it's the sword, and the rain from the sky. It sounds very good. Romance... So today we get to see three Chinese Kung Fu films from very good directors!? Wow! Dear Trika, isn't this worth another drink?"

"..."

Trica guessed that this drunkard was really planning to vomit in the screening room today.

But she still said:

"I'm more interested in the last one than the four movies you mentioned."

"The last one..."Under the Hawthorn Tree"? It sounds boring."

Although as the boss of the jury for this year's main competition in Venice, he shouldn't have said such prejudiced words...

But after so many days, everyone also understands Quentin's character.

Speak without restraint.

It doesn't matter what he says, as long as it doesn't affect the fairness of the film selection.

But Jasmine Trica shook her head and corrected him:

"No, it's not boring at all. On the contrary, I'm very interested in it. Because the director of this film won the Camera d'Or at Cannes for his last film. And I was the judge of the Golden Camera."

"Wow, it sounds like you like him very much. This director is named Goethe Schuh. What is he like?"

"I haven't seen it. He didn't come to the scene last time. And the reason why he didn't come was because he was busy with the 2008 Olympic Games opening ceremony."

"...?"

“!“

"...???"

As soon as these words came out, several people were stunned.

Gulemo, who seemed to be the least talkative, said in surprise:

"Did you remember wrong, madam, the Olympic Games is Zhang."

"He's one of them."

Just as Trika finished speaking, Arnold de Blessing seemed to have remembered something and said:

"Is it that... after winning the award in Cannes, an actress came on stage to accept the award, and then she quoted Romain Rolland's poem, which made the French translation in Cannes a laughing stock?"

"Yes."

Trika shrugged:

"So, I'm looking forward to this movie even more."

Arnold de Blessing nodded:

"impressive."

After hearing this, Quentin immediately put down the film list:

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get started."

As he spoke, he raised his glass:

"Salute to my Chinese friends."

The champagne was held aloft and the light dimmed.

On the screen, a dragon logo slowly appeared.

…

Xu Xin doesn't know whether "Hawthorn Tree" will win the award.

However, now that I have decided to participate in the election, the Venice Film Festival is a very important signal as to when the film will be released.

After the list is announced at the end of August, if "Hawthorn Tree" can be shortlisted, then it will appear in the main competition screening of the "Venice" Film Festival, with fixed theaters and screenings.

At that time, we can get feedback from the audience more intuitively.

At that time, whether it was building momentum or public relations, in any case, being shortlisted would greatly increase the popularity of the film.

At that time, it will depend on how high it can reach to make a release plan.

And if you are not shortlisted, then strive for the screening session and then take another way of publicity.

No matter what, as long as you can get the opportunity to be screened, it can be regarded as a layer of gold.

Therefore, the studio has not made a release plan, just waiting for feedback from the Venice Film Festival.

After the feedback is good, we will schedule it for important festivals.

Such as Singles' Day.

Such as Christmas.

If the feedback is so-so... then find a time to release it when there is less competition.

Therefore, Xu Xin doesn't worry much about the release.

He has already made the movie, and the rest will be left to the factory.

In the blink of an eye, August is already halfway through.

In fact, this August is not peaceful for Xu Xin...or rather, it is really not peaceful for the entire entertainment industry.

The reason is very simple. On August 1, it was exposed that Li Hetiao, a disciple of Deyun Society, beat up a Yanjing TV reporter.

Deyunshe was suddenly thrust into the limelight.

Although Xu Xin did not think deeply about the specific reasons, and even found out about this matter after he returned to Yanjing, Guo Degang's words "Journalists all over the world are prostitutes" directly put Deyun News It was brought to a point of no return.

Yang Mi had talked with him before and said that Guo Degang loved to take advantage of others.

You can suffer losses in everything, but you cannot suffer losses in words.

Xu Xin still felt it didn't matter.

One person lives one way.

But this time, when he saw what Guo Degang said in front of so many audiences in the small theater, he knew...

Deyunshe went big this time.

It is tantamount to offending an industry.

And his first reaction was to go to Yu Xuan's house.

When I went there, it happened to be the morning of the 6th.

Then I saw Yu Xuan with a sad face...

When asked about the reason, it turned out that Guo Degang's eldest disciple and his senior brother suddenly stabbed each other in the back and withdrew from Deyun Club, completely dividing them.

Xu Xin was actually quite puzzled...

He didn't understand why the cross talk theater... which was really one of the happiest memories of him and Yang Mi, had become so messy in the past two years.

But in front of Brother Qian'er, he didn't ask, say, or chat.

Just said:

"If you need help, just ask me. I can do as much as I can."

He was telling the truth, but it was not directed at Guo Degang, but at Yu Xuan.

He might not be able to keep Deyunshe, but he should have no problem keeping Brother Qianer.

Yu Xuan is actually in a good mood.

As for Xu Xin, he only expressed his feelings over a drink at noon.

As for whether or not I need help...

He didn't mention it either.

From Xu Xin's point of view, things may not be irreversible yet.

However, there was really a lot of news from Deyun Society in those days.

And Yang Mi did the most amazing thing.

In order to prevent Xiaobing from getting mad or being blocked by a reporter from saying something she shouldn't say, she directly pulled Shaobing to her side.

It doesn't mean taking him with you.

Instead, he enrolled him in a driving school directly.

Shaobing stayed at home for two days, and Yang Mi forced her head to chew through the subject one booklet. On the third day, she went to take the exam, and finally got a score of 85.

Yang Mi found someone who was qualified.

Then let the kid practice driving.

Don't mention anything else, just go and practice for a month.

This month you will live in the city, far away from right and wrong.

Even the student level is the highest level of one car and one instructor.

Protect this child well.

Then, on August 8, Deyunshe was ordered to close down for rectification.

Xu Xin went to Yu Xuan's place again.

From Yu Xuan's point of view, the closure of business and rectification is really far away. But from Xu Xin's perspective, as long as the business is closed for rectification, it means that there is room for relaxation.

I made several phone calls in front of Yu Xuan and asked for information.

Although he didn't say anything to death, Yu Xuan felt a lot more at ease.

He put his bag under his arm and drove in the car to find Guo Degang.

I don’t know what they are talking about, but Deyunshe has admitted all the mistakes and promised to rectify them.

But at this time Xu Xin really saw what it means to be pushed down by the wall.

Throughout the first half of August, all kinds of news, black material, and the like were flying all over the place. The Yanjing TV station couldn't wait to broadcast the dark history of Deyun Society... The two sides were completely at odds.

And the popularity of the news also buried all other news.

It was at this critical moment in mid-August that Xu Xin completed all the location visits, and the split shots were almost done.

And Lu Yang also came back from Xi'an.

Found him.

"Let me introduce you."

Pointing at Lu Yang who walked in, Xu Xin said to Guo Fan and others:

"Lu Yang, Director Lu... Sister Mo are all familiar with each other, so I won't say more. These two are one of the three assistant directors of our film "Love Is Not Blind"."

"Hello."

Lu Yang nodded politely and shook hands with eight men and one woman.

As Xu Xin's "senior brothers and sisters", they once again rushed back to Yanjing from vacations or internships all over the world and came to Shuangwei with a phone call from Teacher Yu.

Today is also the day that Xu Xin holds an internal preview of "Hawthorn Tree" within the company.

After all, he also promised to give his senior brothers and sisters a "gift".

And the work beyond this gift.

After school starts on September 1st, they will go to the training institute to register, and they will officially start filming the movie "33 Days" with Xu Xin.

Continue to accumulate qualifications.

Xu Xin will also start his first-year graduate studies.

But the preparatory work for a movie from the beginning of the project is a very tedious process.

This time Xu Xin will take these senior brothers and sisters with him.

Help teachers provide systematic "guidance".

So preparations have to start now.

"What did the film quality department say?"

After Lu Yang finished greeting them, Xu Xin asked.

"It's okay. The factory checked the dates of film festivals in various places and plans to let me go to Busan after finishing the work."

"Busan Film Festival?"

"right."

"Oh, okay, let's go then. If we can come back with a good ranking, there should be no problem in going to the cinema."

After communicating about "Cinema for the Blind", Xu Xin took them into the company's screening room.

Soon, "The Hawthorn Tree" began to be screened in the dark screening room.

For Wen Mino and others, this movie, which they have personally experienced, has too many beautiful memories in it.

But looking at those clips in the movie at this moment, they actually don’t have a strong sense of immersion.

It’s not that the movie isn’t good to watch, but because when they watched it for the first time, they found that... there was always a scene in their mind of what they were doing when they were filming these clips in the movie.

It will be very dramatic.

But this feeling of being in a drama slowly deepened as the plot deepened, and when I experienced Xu Xin's peaceful atmosphere created by flowing clouds and flowing water, all my thoughts began to settle, and finally turned into a kind of calmness.

And in this calm situation, the various versions of "BELLA CIAO" that would sound from time to time became the best accelerant.

The melody lingers in my mind, and I visually experience the sometimes pale and sometimes colorful shots, as well as the complete story details.

When the film, which lasted more than 100 minutes, came to an end, applause broke out unconsciously.

Even though there are not many people, the emotion in the applause is the most real.

The gap is really too big...

Looking at the dark staff list scrolling, the expressions on the faces of several people were unified.

But at this moment, the memories that caused them to have some drama at the beginning of the film have become an inducement... similar to "humbleness".

We were obviously present when these clips were shot.

I even watched the footage on the monitor up close.

But why is the final thing that appears in Xu Xin's hands so different from the one that was photographed?

That... peaceful atmosphere.

That slight sadness.

And the lingering rhyme of the song...

ah.

Knew it.

Or "Russian" songs best express this atmosphere.

It is also most suitable for that era.

And amidst this applause, soon the cast came to an end.

Suddenly, Guo Fan noticed a new line of words appearing in the staff list:

"Executive directors: Guo Fan, Wen Muye..."

"...?"

He was stunned.

Wen Muye was also stunned...

Everyone was stunned...

Looking at my name in the column of executive director...

Executive...executive director! ? ? ? ?

In an instant, the applause disappeared.

A group of people were dumbfounded.

We, in the film credits of producer Zhang Yimou and director Xu Xin, appear in the column of executive director?

8 boys and one girl, a lot of them! ?

? ? ? ?

At this moment, Xu Xin, who was sitting in the front row, smiled and pressed the pause button, turning to look at his senior brothers and sisters:

"How about it, everyone, do you like this gift?"

"..."

Everyone understands the weight of this position.

Everyone also understands that when their names appear here, what impact it will have on their career paths in the future!

This...this gift...

They never dared to hope before.

Why?

How many people are there in the crew?

As interns, we actually became "executive directors"? ? ?

Isn't this noisy...

How can you be so virtuous?

Are you feeling guilty?

Do you want face?

Can……

But they really... couldn't refuse this gift!

How to refuse?

What a glorious achievement!

That's...Zhang Yimou!

That's Xu Xin!

As an executive director in this crew, if they don't mention anything else, when they apply for jobs in other groups, as long as their professional skills are passed, an ordinary executive director can get a salary of 50,000, and they can get 100,000 or even 150,000. …

This...this gift...

Is this the advantage of Teacher Yu’s students?

Don't mention anything else, if this news gets out... Teacher Yu's postgraduate quota is not allowed, and the students from the Department of Directing and Directing will have the door frame flattened?

You see, sometimes the ecology of this circle is like this.

As a director, the gust of wind brought up by Xu Xin's casual walking is enough for some fallen leaves to take a glance at the wind and move many steps faster than others.

But for Xu Xin, all this is so simple that it can't be any easier.

Up and down.

It can be seen.

Seeing the group of people in front of him breathing like calves, Xu Xin smiled.

It seems that they like this gift very much.

Just like it.

At least this cake is given away.

Although the number given is less, there are only 9 people.

But it's still just a movie.

Ten, twenty,...or ten or twenty years from now?

What will it become?

With this thought, he stood up:

"Let's go, let's go out and have a meeting after watching it. Didn't the script of "33 Days" be sent to you? I'll convey the homework she left for Teacher Yu. In the next period of time, we have to travel to both Shanghai and Yanjing. .

The filming location was in Yanjing, and the interior scenes were shot in a studio in Huairou.

The audition was in Shanghai.

What everyone needs to do is to design the design drawings of all the interior scenes in this drama. Note, it's all. And your time...give it to me before September. "

After saying that, he turned to look at Lu Yang and Zhang Mo:

"The same goes for you two. How you arrange the interior is up to you."

Hearing this, these people didn't react that much.

Everyone has a director's dream in their hearts, and designing different scenes according to the script is a required course.

However, Wen Mino still asked:

"Director Xu, is this drama produced by... the factory?"

"Xi Film Studio, Shanghai Film Studio... If nothing else, the bank may also want to send someone over. In addition to our own company... the investment amount is not large, just a few million."

"..."

"..."

"..."

A group of people twitched their mouths...

Indeed, the amount is not large.

But the producer like you, old man, is really scary.