Millennium director

Chapter 193 The young director who is inspired by the news, "Love" is competing for the Oscars!

In a relatively dilapidated alley in Xicheng, Beijing, several courtyard houses have been cut into many single rooms and rented out by the owners.

In one of the small single rooms, which only covers an area of ​​seven or eight square meters, a young man in thin clothes was constantly talking on the phone.

"Mr. Li, my script is really good. As long as you invest money, I will definitely be able to film it well!"

"Stop talking nonsense, you didn't graduate from Nortel, and you didn't graduate from Chinese opera, or even Shanghai opera."

"A student from some crappy radio, film and television school still wants to make movies?"

"Do you believe that if I take the money and shout at the door of Nortel, there will be dozens of students from Nortel's directing department rushing to help me make a movie?"

"Do I need you?"

"Stop harassing me with phone calls!"

Listening to the abuse on the other end of the phone, Li Ruijun's expression did not change at all, and he just bit his lower lip.

It wasn't until there was a blind hang-up tone on the other end of the phone that he sighed and pulled out another cell phone number to call.

"Hey, Ganjun, let's assemble the crew as soon as possible."

"What?" A thick voice came from the other end of the phone, "Did you get investment?"

"No." Li Ruijun shook his head and said firmly: "I plan to go back to my hometown and sell the wedding house my parents prepared for me in the city!"

"With these hundreds of thousands, it's enough to make this movie."

Li Ruijun knew very well that as a little-known director from a small media college who was not even ranked first in the province, it would be difficult for him to attract investment by just talking.

I don’t know how many directors who graduated from the top three universities had to sell their houses and cars to get enough investment to make their debut films.

Not to mention him?

He can do this kind of thing even if it means burning a boat down the drain!

"Hey, Ruijun, don't be impulsive." On the other end of the phone, Li Ruijun's good friend Liu Qianjun, who was also his scheduled chief cameraman, repeatedly advised, "Don't sell the house yet."

"Have you seen the QQ group?"

"During the Light and Shadow era of director Wu Yuan, they established a support program for young directors. Directors under the age of 40 could submit scripts to their work email addresses."

“If the script passes the preliminary review, there will be an offline interview. If this interview also passes, it is possible to receive support from Light and Shadow Times.

"According to their promotional poster, Light and Shadow Times has prepared 30 million yuan this time and plans to support 5-6 directors. On average, each director can receive an investment of 5 to 6 million yuan!"

“Isn’t this more than what you got from selling your house?”

"If you are really confident in your script, then go to Light and Shadow Era and give it a try!"

"Those investors' vision is not good, but Director Wu's vision is always good, right?"

"If Director Wu thinks the script is not good, I think you really don't need to be tied to this movie and just make a new script."

"Is this happening?" Li Ruijun asked blankly, "Why didn't I know?"

"It just came out today."

"As long as posters of this youth support program are being circulated in film-related forums, forums, and QQ groups, it should be true."

Li Ruijun hung up the phone directly, picked up the most valuable thing in the room, an ASUS laptop, and quickly logged into his QQ.

Sure enough, among his college classmates, they were all chatting intensely about the youth support program of the Light and Shadow Era.

Continuously scrolling through the chat history, Li Ruijun soon found the promotional poster that had been spread all over the Internet.

"The Era of Light and Shadow—Young Director Support Program!"

The title is very simple, but the content is really exciting!

Just the 30 million yuan in real money and the qualification that only young directors under the age of 40 can apply for made Li Ruijun's heart beat fast.

He undoubtedly meets this condition!

Quickly, he packaged and sent his resume and his original movie script "Summer Solstice" to the work email address posted on the poster.

"I hope I can be selected," Li Ruijun muttered to himself as he looked at the successful sending interface on the screen.

It's not just him.

Although there are no social platforms such as Weibo in this era, the speed of spreading information on the Internet is still very fast.

In the office of the literature department teacher at Beijing Film Academy, an undergraduate teacher was staring at the poster on the computer. In her hand was a movie script that she had written for many years and had not yet been completed.

On the cover of the script, there are four big characters written by her: Ocean Paradise.

Also in the capital, in an office building not far from Huairou Film and Television Base, Cheng Er also looked at the poster on the computer and thought silently.

He is a graduate of the 1996 Directing Department of Beijing Film Academy and is Wu Yuan's direct senior brother.

Cheng Er rose to prominence with a number of experimental short films when he was a student.

In 1999, the year Cheng Er graduated, his graduation short film "Criminal" participated in the short film competition of six or seven film festivals and independent film exhibitions.

Although he didn't win any awards in the end, being shortlisted to participate is already something to be proud of for a new director who has just graduated.

However, the saying that graduation means unemployment really hit him.

From 1999 to 2005, Cheng Er never had the opportunity to independently direct a feature-length film.

He has prepared a script for a feature-length movie, but the dark thriller theme has caused him to be turned away by investors despite repeated attempts to invest.

It’s true that no one is optimistic about Chinese-language noir thrillers and feel that there is no market for such films in the mainland.

Faced with this dilemma, Cheng Er was also a little helpless.

Until, his classmates sent him the Youth Director Support Program of the Light and Shadow Era.

Logically speaking, as Wu Yuan's direct senior brother, he should have no face to accept financial support from his junior brother.

But Cheng Er looked at the poster on the screen tangledly. After hesitating for a long time, he still clicked on the mailbox.

As long as you can make your first feature-length film, what does it matter if you lose a little bit?

Is it not shameful to be a grandson in front of investors if you beg your grandfather to sue your grandmother to find investors?

On the other side, Han Yan, who graduated from China Drama Theater, also saw the poster released by Light and Shadow Era on the Internet.

Compared with Cheng Er who was unemployed after graduation, Han Yan's development was undoubtedly much smoother.

In 2002, he directed his first film "Five Good, Bad and One Good". After that, he made several short films one after another, and won the Best Short Film Director Award at the University Student Film Festival.

He has also served as an executive director for other feature films, so he has a bright future.

However, he also had some thoughts after seeing the Youth Director Support Program of the Light and Shadow Era.

He recently wanted to make a movie that uses nine short films with different characteristics to form a complete story. He just found a few investors, but they were not very optimistic and were reluctant to invest money.

Some investors even pessimistically believe that such a movie will not even reach theaters.

Now that there is an opportunity to attract investment, Han Yan will definitely give it a try!

In this way, whether they are frustrated or proud young directors, or film practitioners who are trying to develop into directors, they are all ready to take action after seeing the young director support plan issued by the Light and Shadow Era.

Last year, Andy Lau launched an Asia Rising Stars Mentoring Program, but there was only one spot in the mainland, which was completely overwhelming.

Now that the Light and Shadow Era has released 5-6 support places, everyone feels in their hearts that it must be my turn this time, right?

Nearly a hundred movie scripts and director resumes were sent to the work mailbox of Light and Shadow Times.

The staff responsible for sending and receiving mailboxes quickly classified and sorted these emails, waiting for the leadership's review.

And what is the leader who should review these scripts the most, Wu Yuan himself, doing right now?

Of course we will pick you up at the airport!

On March 2, 2006, Wu Yuan and Liu Yifei received the "Love" crew from China at Los Angeles International Airport.

Not many main creators came to attend the 78th Academy Awards with Wu Yuan this time, only You Benchang, Wu Yanshu, and Gong Li.

Including Liu Yifei and Wu Yuan, there are only five people.

After all, this time it was only shortlisted for the best foreign language film and not for any technical awards. Of course, none of the creators behind the crew were used.

There are not many people, so it is naturally easy to arrange.

Wu Yuan regarded himself as half a landlord and invited the three leading actors back to his mansion in Beverly Hills.

There are plenty of reasons. If you don’t live in your own house, why waste money on staying in a hotel?

And living in this hotel may not be as comfortable as Wu Yuan's mansion.

After hearing that Liu Yifei, who had arrived early, had already moved in, You Benchang and the others did not show any pretense and also agreed to Wu Yuan's invitation.

The next day, a new guest arrived at Wu Yuan's home, arriving at the International Chapter in Los Angeles with the crew of "Memoirs of a Geisha".

This year is the most exciting year for the International Chapter.

At the just-concluded Golden Globe Awards, International Zhang became the first Chinese actress to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for "Memoirs of a Geisha".

Although she was not nominated for Best Actress at this Oscar, "Memoirs of a Geisha" was also nominated for some marginal awards.

Of course she is also going to attend this Oscar.

In any case, after walking on the red carpet of this Oscar, her reputation as an "International Chapter" is completely confirmed.

But the international chapter still knows who the big and small kings are.

After arriving in Los Angeles and learning Wu Yuan's address through Gong Li (the two collaborated on "Memoirs of a Geisha"), International Chapter immediately came to visit him.

"Director Wu, congratulations!"

As soon as they met, Jiji Zhang warmly hugged Wu Yuan and even gave her a kiss, making Liu Yifei, who came to greet her, puff her mouth.

"I hope that "Love" will win the Best Foreign Language Film Award at this Oscar and realize the regret of us Chinese filmmakers." She expressed her sincere blessing.

Wu Yuan also smiled and nodded: "Then I'll lend you your good words. I also hope to get this award."

When "Heroes" was shortlisted for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, but unfortunately missed out on this award, domestic filmmakers and fans became a little obsessed.

Before "Heroes", most movie fans actually didn't know about the Oscars or the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

But it was because of the crazy hype for this award at the time of "Hero" that this award became so well-known in the country.

As a result, Zhang Weiping hyped it up for a long time, but did not actually do any public relations for "Hero". In the end, he did not win the award and returned to China in despair.

Now, the expectations of domestic movie fans have been raised to the extreme, but you tell me that I didn’t win the award?

Since then, the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film has become the obsession of many mainland filmmakers, and has gradually become more and more famous among the people, even more famous than the three major European films.

This all depends on Zhang Weiping!

His hype has forced this award to a position where it does not belong.

Especially when several major directors later failed to compete for the Olympics, it cast a veil of awesomeness over this award.

In fact, the Oscar Foreign Language Film Award is really just a less important award, similar to the Best Asian Film Award at the Hong Kong Island Film Awards.

Will the consolation prize awarded to a foreign film in a North American regional award be remembered by hundreds of millions of domestic movie fans?

Wu Yuan came to the Olympics with "Love" this time, hoping to break the obsession of domestic movie fans with the Oscar for foreign language films!

Let the attention of this award in China return to its rightful place!

The previous chapter has been revised. You can refresh and read it again.

Basically, Wu Yuan did not return to China and stayed in the United States with Liu Yifei, waiting for the Oscar Awards ceremony to start.

I don’t know what’s going on, but my brain twitched and I wrote Wu Yuan back to China.

I haven’t attended Oscar yet.