Chapter 690: Xu Sanguan Selling Blood

Jiang Wen's idea of ​​making a movie was just an idea at first.

His original plan was to study in the United States for two years to improve his directing skills, and then return to China to make movies.

However, his idea was flatly denied by his girlfriend Liu Xiaoqing. She said that practice can never make the difference between learning and practice. Instead of wasting time and money to study abroad to become a director, he might as well get investment and make a movie to practice.

Liu Xiaoqing had close ties with the Hong Kong film industry because of her experience shooting films such as "The Last Emperor" and "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace". She had planned to use her connections to get some investment for Jiang Wen.

But Jiang Wen's stubbornness came back and he didn't want to take any advantage of her, so he went to find Wang Shuo and successfully hooked up with Lin Weimin.

He actually turned around and got an investment of 2 million US dollars from Columbia Pictures in the United States through Lin Weimin, which really surprised Liu Xiaoqing.

After two years of hard work, "Sunny Days" was finally completed and successfully qualified to participate in the Venice Film Festival. Liu Xiaoqing heard from Jiang Wen that this was due to Lin Weimin's invitation to the Film Bureau.

Not only that, Lin Weimin even helped to say hello to the film festival judges.

When Liu Xiaoqing heard Jiang Wen's words, she thought he was daydreaming and was fooled by Lin Weimin.

What is the Venice Film Festival?

As one of the three major film festivals in Europe, the world's top film hall, it is okay for Lin Weimin to know a judge, but he has to greet the judge.

It sounded like a fantasy, and Liu Xiaoqing scoffed at it.

But after "Sunny Days" won the Silver Lion Award at the 50th Venice Film Festival as destined, Liu Xiaoqing recalled what Jiang Wen said and felt ashamed.

It turns out that it's not that others are bragging, but that I am short-sighted.

Liu Xiaoqing couldn't understand how such a big film festival could be influenced by Lin Weimin's words?

That night, Jiang Wen came back from outside drunk.

It has been a week since the Venice Film Festival ended. After returning to China, Jiang Wen has been busy accepting interviews from various media and attending various drinking parties.

After winning the Venice Silver Lion Award, Jiang Wen successfully became another seed of a famous director after Zhang Yimou and Cheng Kaige, and naturally received the attention and pursuit of the domestic film industry.

"Hey, shouldn't you go see Teacher Lin?" Liu Xiaoqing reminded.

Jiang Wen, who was half lying on the sofa, was already drowsy. When he heard her words, he was startled and the drunkenness disappeared immediately.

broken!

How could you forget about this?

I am really getting carried away!

I just offended Teacher Lin last time, and this time I won the award but didn’t report the good news. I’m really stupid.

Jiang Wen said anxiously: "Tomorrow, tomorrow morning we will go to Teacher Lin's house together."

The next morning, Jiang Wen, Liu Xiaoqing and gifts were in hand and they knocked on the gate of Lin Weimin's house.

After exchanging a few polite words, Liu Xiaoqing went to talk to Tao Huimin and entertain the children, while Jiang Wen and Lin Weimin sat on the sofa and chatted.

"How's it going? Have you been feeling very successful these days?" Lin Weimin asked jokingly.

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Jiang Wen's face, but he felt relieved in his heart. Looking at Teacher Lin's expression, he thought that he probably didn't hold a grudge against me.

"This is all thanks to your help!"

"Haha, it has nothing to do with me. It's just that your movie is so good."

Jiang Wen said, "Don't be so modest. I heard someone say after the film festival closed that if director Gianni Amelio hadn't insisted on giving Sunny Days a jury prize, I would have gone home empty-handed."

"How can we go back empty-handed? The title of Best Actor is quite important!"

"That's because the actors acted well. It has nothing to do with me as a director. So, I couldn't have made this movie without your help. I just came back to China a few days ago and I was so busy with interviews and drinking parties. I didn't even have time to thank you. Please don't mind..."

Lin Weimin waved his hand. "Let's not talk about this anymore. When is the movie going to be released? How is the copyright selling?"

When talking about this, Jiang Wen became excited.

"Before the film festival closed, we had a hard time selling the copyright. European countries were unwilling to pay even 50,000 US dollars, so we only sold the copyright for a little over 200,000 US dollars.

As a result, on the closing day, all the jury awards were given out, and everyone rushed to buy them at prices of 100,000 or 200,000 dollars each.

Didn’t you see the expression of the Columbia Company’s distribution manager? He was like a chameleon…”

Jiang Wen spoke with pride about his experience of selling copyrights at film festivals. At the Venice Film Festival, "Sunny Days" sold copyrights to 24 countries and earned 4.6 million US dollars in copyright fees.

Columbia Pictures, which invested in the film, had already made a fortune before the movie was released.

How do art films make money?

It relies on selling copyrights.

The most critical bonus in selling copyright is whether or not an award is won and the weight of the award.

There are dozens of influential film festivals and film exhibitions around the world, and hundreds of films are nominated every year. Most of them are just runners-up and don’t even get a single award.

But even so, these films eliminated by major awards have already outperformed 90% of their peers, because the fact that they can participate in the exhibition itself has already gone through a brutal competition.

When you go to a film festival or film exhibition, there is a high probability that you will be able to sell some copyrights, and you can break even or make a profit.

But the works that can really make big money are those that can win awards or even grand prizes at film festivals.

Jiang Wen's experience in selling his films is the same as that of most new directors in the film industry. When you are unknown, no one will want your film even if you give it to them for free.

After winning the award, his value instantly doubled and film companies from all over the world were scrambling to hire him.

That's the reality.

Jiang Wen talked incessantly about the interesting things that happened at the Venice Film Festival, and mentioned the recent rumors circulating in the film industry.

"These people are just jealous and envious. I have a noble person like you to help me, who can blame them for not having that kind of luck?"

Jiang Wen openly flattered Lin Weimin.

"Stop talking nonsense."

Lin Weimin interrupted his disgusting flattery and asked, "What are your plans next?"

"Next, we will prepare for the release of the film. Columbia Pictures has reserved the distribution rights for several key countries, and I will be responsible for the domestic arrangements.

By the way, I haven’t congratulated you yet, Farewell My Concubine has really made a big splash this time! I heard from people in Columbia that even the news in the United States reported it, with a box office of 200 million!”

Jiang Wen exclaimed in amazement.

"It's less than 200 million, more than 10 million short."

"Farewell My Concubine" was released for more than two months and just ended in early September. The box office revenue stopped at 186 million yuan, creating an unprecedented box office record for Chinese films.

"Rounded off, it's 200 million. When I talked to the people in Columbia, they were all shocked. An art film sold over 20 million US dollars, which is rare even in the United States. Director Cheng will win many awards this year with this film, right?"

"There are no prestigious awards now. The highlight is still the Hollywood awards season after December. Both Xu Feng and Mike want to compete for the Golden Globe and Oscar awards."

Jiang Wen sighed when he heard this. He had just won the award and was very proud of himself.

But compared with works like "Farewell My Concubine" that actually won major awards, it is still incomparable.

At least Michael Phillips, who is also the producer of both films, has not talked to him about hoping that "Sunny Days" will compete for the Golden Globe Awards.

At the end of the conversation, Lin Weimin asked Jiang Wen if he was willing to take "Sunny Days" to the Shanghai International Film Festival.

"What do you think?" Lin Weimin asked Jiang Wen.

"No problem, I will definitely participate, and I can also do a favor with the organizing committee, so why not?" Jiang Wen said with a smile.

Regarding the matter of bringing the film to the film festival, the Shanghai Film Festival Organizing Committee actually contacted Cheng Kaige.

Unfortunately, Farewell My Concubine had just won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and was anxious to be released. Cheng Kaige also didn't think highly of the influence of the Shanghai Film Festival, so he simply refused.

At that time, Teng Jinxian had not yet asked Lin Weimin to be a judge, otherwise maybe they could have discussed it.

Most international film festivals require that participating films must be premiered.

However, because the Shanghai International Film Festival is a new establishment, the quality and quantity of films cannot be compared with those long-established film festivals, so naturally some requirements have to be lowered, requiring only that the participating films must be the premieres in the Chinese-speaking world.

It was confirmed that Jiang Wen would take part in the Shanghai International Film Festival with "Sunny Days", and Lin Weimin called the organizing committee to tell them the good news.

Wu Yigong was overjoyed to hear the news. "Sunny Days" had just won the Silver Lion Award in Venice. Although it might seem like plagiarism, the Shanghai International Film Festival was still in its infancy. If this film could participate in the Shanghai International Film Festival, it would undoubtedly boost the festival's momentum.

Wu Yigong thanked Lin Weimin profusely on the phone, and then contacted Jiang Wen according to the contact information given by Lin Weimin.

In late September, Yu Hua's baby was one month old, and Lin Weimin took time out to take Tao Huimin and Xiao Doubao to attend the full-month banquet.

Yu Hua and Cheng Hong have basically no relatives in Yanjing. Those who came were all friends and colleagues, many of whom were acquaintances, and the atmosphere was warm and harmonious.

The little bun has just learned to walk and talk. He is curious about everything he sees, especially the little one in Cheng Hong's arms. He is even more interested and follows Cheng Hong all the time.

"Aunt, look at my brother!"

Cheng Hong squatted down and opened the swaddling clothes with a smile, "Take a look."

Xiaodou surrounded the little one and just looked at him for a few seconds, the little one started to cry loudly, and scared the little bean so much that he hid in Tao Huimin's arms.

"Mom, my brother is crying!"

"Yeah, maybe I'm hungry. Aren't you the same?"

"Beanbag didn't cry."

"You cried last night because I didn't give you milk."

Xiao Doubao tilted her head. This conversation was a little complicated for her. She didn't understand, so she crawled into Tao Huimin's arms and said coquettishly, "Mom!"

While Cheng Hong was feeding her baby, Yu Hua was accompanying many guests.

He was in high spirits today, and whispered to Lin Weimin, "Teacher Lin, I have finished writing the novel I showed you before."

Lin Weimin nodded when he heard this. "So fast? That's pretty efficient!"

"I'm learning all this from you!" Yu Hua said proudly.

The novel was completed and his son was born. Yu Hua was very proud and he couldn't wait to show it off to Lin Weimin.

"Xu Sanguan Selling Blood".

The inspiration came from a stroll that Yu Hua, Lin Weimin and Shi Tiesheng took in Nanlishi Road Park.

That year, Yu Hua was still studying at the National Academy of Arts, and Lin Weimin invited him and Shi Tiesheng to go to Kaorouwan to eat barbecue.

After coming out of the barbecue area, the few people ate too much and walked into the Nanlishi Road Park.

There are many shabby tents scattered around the park. They are the parents who come to the Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University to accompany their children for medical treatment.

They were reluctant to stay in the guesthouse, so they had to live in tents.

The tents in the 1980s were not as colorful as the camping tents of later generations. They were all military green. As the color faded, the military green became mottled, shabby, and had a sense of fragmentation.

Yu Hua squatted there and chatted with the sad-looking man at the entrance of the tent for a long time.

Now, he has finally written down the emotions he felt back then into a book, and he couldn’t be more satisfied with this new work.

(End of this chapter)