Chapter 39
However, although Qiao Yi Qiao had received so many business cards, no company had discussed investment with him in detail, and no one had taken the lead in promising a specific share of investment. At most, they had expressed an intention.
After all, those who come to the Golden Crane Award Venture Capital Conference are all very experienced investors. They are always cautious about a project and will not promise anything easily.
Qiao Yi Qiao knew that they were all still waiting and watching.
Then let them see that there is hope for them.
At eight o'clock that evening, the Golden Crane Award Venture Capital Conference award ceremony and closing ceremony officially began.
Qiao Yiqiao and his companions took their seats in the auditorium of the convention and exhibition center on time.
It was not known whether it was a special arrangement by the organizing committee, but he and Xiao He sat in the first row in the middle of the entire auditorium.
And sitting in the front row for them was Zheng Mao.
The host first introduced the guests, then said a few words about how the Golden Crane Award developed and how it grew and prospered, and then invited the chairman of the organizing committee to speak.
While the chairman was talking nonstop on the stage, Zheng Mao turned around and asked Qiao Yiqiao, "Have you received any investment intentions?"
Qiao Yiqiao replied in a low voice: "We have received interest from many companies, but we haven't discussed the details yet."
"That's good. It proves that this venture capital club is still useful," Zheng Mao nodded. "Be careful when you choose a company. You must look at the projects they have invested in the past and how they operate the projects. Do you understand? I have seen too many projects fail at the investment stage. Don't think you will be happy once you get the money."
Qiao Yiqiao nodded: "Got it, thank you Teacher Zheng."
"Also, I think your script is already very good and has attracted some attention, but you still need to work harder on its commercial appeal. For example, you need to make the earthquake scenes, heavy rain, mudslides and other such scenes well-made. Also, try to find actors with box office appeal," Zheng Mao added. "Some scripts may look gorgeous when written, but they turn out to be mediocre when filmed, which means you won't have an advantage. In addition, you can also contact the publicity company first and ask them to join the crew as soon as possible, so that it will be easier to promote the film later."
"OK."
Although it was just a few words from his senior, Qiao Yi Qiao also felt that he benefited a lot from it.
When he was creating the film, he didn't actually consider the commerciality too much, he just wanted to tell a good story. It was only after Director Zheng reminded him of this that he realized that he must ensure sufficient commerciality during filming.
I don't know how much time I spent experimenting to come up with each of these words.
"If you need anything, feel free to contact me," Zheng Mao said, handing over a business card. "Please invite me to the premiere. I'll remember you. Don't mess it up."
Qiao Yiqiao took the business card with both hands and said with a smile, "No problem, thank you Director Zheng."
"You're welcome," Director Zheng turned around and said, "When you reach my age, I hope you can do the same as me."
Qiao Yiqiao felt a warm current flowing through his heart.
Then he repeated these words to Xiao He, who was also very moved.
Then Xiao He lowered his head and continued to plan the budget.
Qiao Yiqiao knew that this was his first project of such a large scale and the pressure was considerable.
hope……
I think both he and his comrades can withstand the pressure.
The chairman on the stage finally stopped his rambling and there was perfunctory applause from the audience.
After that, we completed the process one by one and finally it was time for the award ceremony.
Qiao Yiqiao knew he should win an award, but he didn't know what award he would win.
So now I am both looking forward to it and not that much looking forward to it.
After the training at the Rotterdam Film Festival, Qiao Yiqiao thought he would no longer be nervous, but in fact, his heart was still beating very fast.
You know, although his project was well received by director Zheng Mao, the scores of the other 30 judges in the audience are also very important. Since they are all producers, they may consider commercial feasibility more, and perhaps their own project will not be so pleasing.
It would be best if I could win the final grand prize of the venture capital conference, "Venture Capital Jury Recommended Project". It would also be fine if I could win the "China Good Story Winning Project" or the "Genre Best Project Winning Project". But if I could only win the "Light of Art Winning Project" or get nothing at all, then I would be doomed.
In the investment world, saying "your film is very artistic" is roughly equivalent to saying "your film doesn't sell, so we don't want to invest."
The main reason was that Qiao Yi Qiao hadn't heard of the previous projects, so he had no idea what was going on. Xiao He had listened to them all and recorded them, but he couldn't make a judgement at the moment.
After all, I have my own project, and the filter is too heavy, so it is difficult to make a judgment.
Fortunately, there were not many awards at the Golden Crane Award Venture Capital Conference, so Qiao Yiqiao and his team did not have to wait too long.
The first to be announced are the special sponsorship projects and special attention projects of the two sponsors.
The former was given to a low-budget horror film, and the latter was given to an equally low-budget love movie.
The two groups of creators went on stage to receive their awards, their expressions somewhat excited and somewhat embarrassed.
Because they know that if they win these two awards, they will basically have no chance of winning subsequent awards.
But at least it is a prize, and there is also a financial sponsorship of 300,000 yuan, which is better than nothing.
The finalists in the audience also became nervous.
After that there were the Short Film Award and the Project in Production Award, but not many people paid attention to them and Qiao Yiqiao didn’t have a very deep impression of them.
Then it was time for the “Light of Art Winning Project”.
Qiao Yiqiao's heart was in his throat, hoping it wouldn't be "When the Walls Collapse".
fortunately.
The award presenter read out a project from a minority ethnic group.
Qiao Yiqiao breathed a sigh of relief.
Next are the "Outstanding Project in Category Selection" and the "Outstanding Project in China's Best Stories".
When the award presenter announced a name, Qiao Yi Qiao became nervous for a moment.
He knew that the chances of him winning the category selection award were slim, and fortunately it wasn't him.
However, after the guest read out the title of "China's Good Stories Winning Project", the name of his own project followed immediately.
ah……
Qiao Yi Qiao's heart was broken.
He only received one award for "good story".
It’s not the most important jury prize.
There was applause from the audience, and Qiao Yi Qiao could only go up on stage to receive the award with a smile.
I forgot how to say the award speech, all I could do was to thank the organizing committee.
After stepping down, Qiao Yi Qiao couldn't help but sigh.
Among so many awards, this one has the smallest prize money, only 100,000.
Moreover, there is almost no precedent for a project to win two awards at the Golden Crane Award Venture Capital Conference.
Highlight the concept of “rain and dew are equally distributed”.
This may also mean that I will not be able to win the Grand Jury Prize.
It would be a lie to say that he wasn't sad, but although he was a little unwilling, Qiao Yi Qiao thought that there were still many investors who added his contact information.
One should not be too greedy.
What was announced next was the "Winning Project Jointly Recommended by Investors", which was given to a large commercial film submitted by an experienced director and screenwriter.
This is understandable. The project includes extreme sports and comedy elements, the production team is also very good, and it looks like it can make a lot of money.
Finally, it’s time to announce the “Venture Capital Jury Recommended Projects”.
In previous years, this award always had three works, but this year it seems to be following the example of the Rotterdam Film Festival and only has one work.
This is the best and most recommended project in the entire venture capital conference.
The award presenter was a male star who has been very popular recently, named Qi Siqi. Although Qiao Yiqiao didn't know him very well, he knew how popular he was and could often be seen in commercials.
Qi Siqi opened the envelope, smiled slightly, and leaned closer to the microphone: "The winner of the Golden Crane Award Venture Capital Conference Venture Capital Jury Recommended Project is..."
The finalists are praying.
I hope I am this lucky person.
Qi Siqi added: "'When the Walls Collapse'! Director Qiao Yiqiao, producer He Rongyao, congratulations!"
Qiao Yiqiao: “!!?”
He actually won the final grand prize!
No, he actually won two awards in one night?
This has never happened at venture capital conferences in recent years.
Could it be that the judges have changed their personalities...?
Qiao Yi Qiao was a little dazed when he walked onto the stage.
Although it’s not the first time I’ve won an award.
But as long as you win an award, it’s a good thing.
He finished his thank-you speech in a daze, and then walked off the stage in a daze again.
He couldn't even hear clearly what Qi Siqi said to him when he shook hands with him.
Qiao Yi Qiao was just holding the small trophy in his hand, excited.
That's one million.
One million, my fellow countrymen!
Moreover, this one million does not constitute an investment share, it is a direct cash reward.
Or one million after tax.
One million!!!
Qiao Yi Qiao was so nervous and excited that he didn't even hear the award speech clearly. It was Xiao He who relayed it to him later, saying that the jury was impressed by the challenging subject matter of his project and the solidity of his script, and hoped that more creators would dare to challenge more unusual subjects.
…
The entire award ceremony and closing ceremony ended in excitement.
Qiao Yi Qiao took out some money and let his friends who came to Yanjing with him have fun, but Jiang Weiguo and the others refused. They still wanted to return to Yi Zheng campus in Heng City and did not dare to indulge themselves too much - they were afraid of causing trouble.
Qiao Yi Qiao didn't say anything else and let them go.
In the following week, Qiao Yi Qiao was not idle either. He was invited to meet with various investors every day.
At first, I met some small companies, probably because the entire investment process for small companies is faster.
But the problem that follows is that these small companies can only invest a small amount of money, probably around a million.
Qiao Yiqiao can also understand this.
Although his project won two major awards, no one could predict the audience for this subject matter. In addition, investors knew that there were many investors approaching Qiao Yiqiao, so in order to reduce their own risks, they were only willing to invest a smaller share.
They will also add leverage to sell this share to others. In short, after peeling it off layer by layer, the investment of these companies themselves is likely to be only a few hundred thousand. Even if they lose everything, it will not hurt them. If they can make a profit, they can make a lot in one go.
After Qiao Yi Qiao figured out the ins and outs of these investors, he no longer wanted to see these small companies.
On the one hand, they didn't offer much money, but it was also very difficult to negotiate. Qiao Yi Qiao and Xiao He had to explain the entire budget and shooting cycle to them again; on the other hand, these investors wanted to see his complete script. Although they all signed a confidentiality agreement, Qiao Yi Qiao didn't want to send the script to too many people, as he always felt there were some hidden dangers.
There is another reason.
After talking with these people, Qiao Yi Qiao realized that the bulk of the investment in this film was probably not the online and offline costs, nor the post-production, but the publicity and promotion costs.
According to the estimates of these companies, this film has an unconventional subject matter and a challenging topic, so it requires a lot of effort in publicity and promotion. The quote from each company is between 50 million and 100 million.
Qiao Yiqiao had good financing for the production cost of 15 million.
But the subsequent publicity and promotion costs...Qiao Yi Qiao feels a bit of a headache.
Fortunately, the publicity and promotion costs are only considered after the filming is completed and combined with the final effect of the film.
Even if we take a step back and say that the film fails, maybe even the publicity company won’t want to take it over.
The initial publicity investment cost can be covered by adding one or two million to the budget.
This is not a big problem.
After five days, Qiao Yi Qiao had basically finished talking to all these small investors. He had good conversations with a few of them and was willing to invest, but most of them refused. There was no specific reason, mainly because Qiao Yi Qiao felt uncomfortable when talking to them.
Coincidentally, several large companies also sent invitations for talks.
The first person Qiao Yi Qiao met was Liu Kevin from Huacheng Entertainment.
Huacheng Entertainment's office building is located near Yanjing's CBD. It is towering and looks very impressive. People coming in and out are all office workers in suits and ties, each holding a cup of Starbucks. Even from a distance of three meters, they exude an air of eliteness.
Huacheng Entertainment's offices are on the 18th and 19th floors of the building. Qiao Yiqiao and Xiao He arrived on time. Liu Kevin was already waiting outside the elevator door and took the two people directly into the conference room.
There were four or five people sitting in the conference room. Judging from their age and aura, they should be Liu Kaiwen's subordinates. Qiao Yi Qiao greeted them one by one and took a seat.
The three of them exchanged pleasantries for a while, talked about the weather and traffic jams in Yanjing, and then got down to business.
"We want to be the main controller," Liu Kaiwen pushed his glasses, "Do you have any investors who want to be the main controller?"
The meaning of being the main controller is to be the first producer of the entire "When the Walls Fall Down" and have the first priority in controlling the film's revenue.
Of course, these are the words written on the surface, and the hidden meaning is that I hope to control the direction of the film, and...
"Do you have any additional requests?" Qiao Yi Qiao asked.
Liu Kaiwen was not the type to beat around the bush, so he just asked, "Is it possible to have a female lead role in our movie?"
"hiss……"
Qiao Yiqiao was stunned for a moment.
"It's like this. We have a new talent we really want to introduce. She graduated from a drama academy, has a good appearance and a good acting skill," Liu Kaiwen said, and displayed the actress's information on the projector. "We also hope that she can become a movie star, and we want to see if there is a chance for her to join your work."
Qiao Yi Qiao looked at the projection and saw that the girl was very young and pretty. Then Liu Kevin played a few more videos, all of which were recordings of boys auditioning in different crews.
To be honest, the acting looks really good.
Today's investors will not promote artists who are totally unsuitable for acting for no reason. Most of the artists they want to promote are those who have good qualities and just lack an opportunity.
"But..." Qiao Yiqiao was very embarrassed, "This is a prison drama, there really aren't many female characters."
Qiao Yi Qiao just went over it in his mind. Apart from a few prison guards' wives, there was no female character at all.
It’s not that he didn’t want to add it, even Sabri consciously wanted to include female characters, but it was indeed the subject matter that was not suitable.
"Is it not possible that the prison officers and leaders are women?" Liu Kaiwen asked again.
Qiao Yiqiao thought for a moment and said, "According to the information I found, there are no female prison guards in men's prisons as much as possible. If she is asked to play the role of a leader or a wife, her age does not seem to be appropriate."
Liu Kaiwen thought about it, but didn't insist, and just said, "Okay."
Then, he played several model cards and audition videos of young male actors: "What about the roles of prisoners and prison guards in the prison? Can we use actors from our company?"
Qiao Yiqiao smiled and said, "Just tell me, how many people do you want to join?"
"Our contract requires at least five roles," Kevin Liu said very realistically, "and each role must appear for at least one minute."
"I understand," Qiao Yiqiao nodded, "I'll take a look at the appearance and abilities of these people later to see if they can be added."
In fact, he didn't want to add it.
Because he hopes that all the actors will join the crew at least one month in advance to fully experience life in prison.
But if the investor throws 100 million at him.
Anyone can add it without affecting the main body.
Li Kevin turned off the projector: "Thank you, Director Qiao."
Xiao He asked again: "If we want to be the main controller, how much do we plan to invest?"
"I know everyone is very busy, so I won't make any empty promises," Liu Kevin held up five fingers, "Five million."
Five million...
It's impossible not to be tempted when someone is willing to invest five million in a director's first serious film or television work.
"But if we want to be the main controller, we have some additional conditions," Liu Kaiwen continued, "First, the actors, second, there are some commercial placements to be included, and finally, we have to control the main creators, schedule and publicity throughout the process. I wonder if you can accept this?"
The first two are easy to say.
But the last one...
"The so-called chief creator means that we need to assign you at least two positions, the director of photography and the art director. After all, this is your first time as a director, and these two positions can help you do your job better," Liu Kaiwen said politely, but his tone was firm. "Also, regarding the filming location, we prefer to shoot a lot of interior scenes in Yanjing."
After hearing this, Qiao Yiqiao wasn't too surprised.
Because it is an industry practice to assign experienced directors of photography and art directors to new directors.
But he still wanted to struggle: "Excuse me, Mr. Liu, if you are not the main controller, will you still have these requirements?"
Liu Kaiwen smiled and said, "Of course the requirements won't be that high, but the investment amount may not be that high either. Also, are you sure you can find an investor who is more generous than us?"
After hearing this, Qiao Yiqiao could only smile politely: "Okay, we'll think about it again."
A business meeting ended in such an "ambiguous" way.
Liu Kaiwen seemed very confident. He sent Qiao Yiqiao and the others to the online car-hailing service and said, "We look forward to your reply. Be careful on the road."
On the way back, Qiao Yi Qiao was already contacting other big companies.
In the next three days, Qiao Yi Qiao also visited all these big companies.
But unexpectedly, there were so many unexpected things.
Their investment amounts are roughly between 3 and 5 million, and they still follow the "risk diversification" approach. Moreover, the only company that wants to invest 5 million like Huacheng Entertainment even requires that all the leading actors be replaced with young and handsome actors to carry the box office.
Now there are only two paths before Qiao Yiqiao.
Either accept the contract with Huacheng Entertainment, do as they say, and give up about 70% of the director's authority; or keep looking for small investors and rely on numbers like one or two million to complete the entire package.
So, after struggling for another day, Qiao Yi Qiao finally called Liu Kevin.
"Mr. Liu, can I talk to the director of photography and art director that your company has found?"
Liu Kaiwen seemed to have guessed that Qiao Yiqiao would come back to find him, and replied with a smile: "Of course, I have already made an appointment with two senior teachers. You can meet tomorrow. I will send you the location."
"OK."
…
The next day, Qiao Yi Qiao met with the director of photography in a private room of a teahouse.
The director of photography’s surname is Zhao. He is quite famous in the industry and has been used by many big directors. He previously mainly shot police and gangster-themed films.
"Hello, hello," Director Zhao shook the hand that Qiao Yiqiao extended to him, "I read your script, it's very good, and it made my blood boil."
Qiao Yiqiao smiled politely: "As long as you like it."
In the next hour, one person briefly talked about the concept of the entire movie.
Qiao Yiqiao hopes to highlight the documentary sense in his photography style, but he does not want too many handheld shots, so as to avoid the overall effect being too shaky and affecting the viewing experience.
Moreover, the photography style has to change at several levels. For example, the feeling of crampedness when the prisoners first enter the prison highlights the horror of losing their freedom. Then they are managed and gradually adapt to prison life. After the prison system is reformed, the sense of redemption should be highlighted, and the picture may be brighter. After the earthquake in the middle, it is hasty and chaotic. After that, various rainstorms and mudslides should also reflect their inner hearts...
Qiao Yiqiao has actually thought of all these things very thoroughly.
Coach Zhao nodded repeatedly as he listened: "It's similar to what I thought, but I have some other ideas..."
Afterwards, Coach Zhao expressed his thoughts.
Qiao Yiqiao felt okay with what he heard at first, but gradually, he found that he did not agree with some of what Director Zhao said, such as he wanted to use more close-ups, blur the background, and highlight the struggle of the actors, for example, he wanted the earthquake to be all CG, and use camera shaking instead of overall shaking, etc.
And the most uncomfortable thing is that every time Qiao Yiqiao said he didn't want a certain effect, Director Zhao would nod and say, "I understand your idea."
Then, he would continue to insist on his own ideas and use a long speech to explain why his ideas are good and what should be done in this way...
After all, what Director Zhao wanted to do was to do a job, and he was very experienced in this area. However, he also felt that Qiao Yiqiao was a new director after all, and this was his first serious big-screen work, so he should shoot it according to his instructions and try to make it more commercial.
However, since his debut, Qiao Yiqiao has been labeled as having "obvious personal style".
It's not impossible to shoot according to what Director Zhao said, and it would become a very normal work, but Qiao Yiqiao just felt uncomfortable and suffocated.
When Coach Zhao saw Qiao Yiqiao's expression darken, he pulled out a large notebook from his backpack.
"Director Qiao, take a look. This is the storyboard I drew these days. However, due to time constraints, I only drew up to the fifth scene."
"Storyboard?"
Qiao Yi Qiao opened the book in disbelief, and saw that the frames were indeed storyboards drawn according to his script.
He asked uncertainly, "Shouldn't the director draw the storyboard himself?"
"Well, now many directors have given this job to the director of photography. I also like to do this," Director Zhao smiled. "Do you think my drawing is okay?"
All right. Qiao Yiqiao looked at it square by square.
Director Zhao drew the picture very carefully, and it was not a crudely made stick figure.
But just in the first scene, the camera arrangement was completely different from what Qiao Yiqiao had expected.
Qiao Yi Qiao couldn't tell whose idea was good or bad at the moment, but he knew that if he shot according to Director Zhao's storyboard, he would find this project boring.
Conceiving shots should be the director's job.
Just because this is the trend in the industry, Qiao Yi Qiao should not become like that.
So Qiao Yiqiao shook his head: "I'm not that kind of director."
He was not born to be that kind of director, and he never will be.
Director Zhao was obviously a little surprised, but then he understood and put away the storyboard: "It's okay, you can design it yourself, we can revise it together later."
Qiao Yiqiao lost interest and said calmly, "Okay."
"Then let's not talk about creation today, let's talk about price," Director Zhao saw that Qiao Yiqiao was no longer willing to talk, "My salary is 600,000 yuan a month, and it can't be reduced anymore, otherwise I won't be able to do it."
Six hundred thousand.
When Qiao Yi Qiao was making the budget before, he asked Qin Duo about it. Qin Duo told him that the top cinematographers in the industry usually earn around $500,000 a month.
As soon as Coach Zhao arrived, he offered a price of 600,000 yuan, which was either a bit bullying, or he also needed to pay Huacheng Entertainment an introduction fee.
Whatever the reason, Qiao Yi Qiao was unwilling to accept it.
So, Qiao Yiqiao shook his head firmly this time: "Thank you for your efforts, I will think about it again."
Coach Zhao didn't show any expression, and sighed: "Then you should think about it carefully."
After Director Zhao left, the art director also arrived.
He is also a very experienced art director in the industry and has won the Golden Crane Award.
But the conversation was even less pleasant than that with Coach Zhao.
The prison he wanted to build was a bit too artistic and stylized, completely different from the realistic prison that Qiao Yi Qiao wanted.
Neither of them convinced the other, and the art director also gave him a quote, which was also 600,000 per month.
As usual, it is also one hundred thousand more than the normal standard in the market.
Qiao Yi Qiao has roughly understood that Huacheng Entertainment must have its own little tricks.
Although he only had a limited glimpse of the whole picture, he seemed to understand what kind of company Huacheng Entertainment was.
It's okay to cooperate with such companies in investment, but if they are allowed to take control, I'm afraid a lot of the budget will go back into their own pockets.
Not to mention the commercial placements. Xiao He read the contract carefully. The income from the commercial placements was split at an outrageous 180% between them and Huacheng Entertainment Studio. This meant that not only would it affect his creations, but he would not get much money.
After bidding farewell to the two instructors, Qiao Yi Qiao suddenly felt a little confused.
Is this the case in this circle? The waters of film and television investment are really deep.
…
Qiao Yi Qiao was not in a hurry to negotiate with Huacheng Entertainment, but first held a meeting with Tu Yu and Mr. Qian.
Tu Yu and Mr. Qian also wanted to invest. After all, they had the successful collaboration on "Chaotic Campus" before, so there was no reason not to continue the collaboration.
However, Tu Yu was very frank: "I can only invest one million at most. We have other projects to run and we are a bit short of cash flow."
Mr. Qian did not hide it: "I don't have much to give, only three million. Film and television are not our main business. We were able to apply for this money because of the good revenue of "Chaos School". I really can't take out more."
Qiao Yiqiao was actually very grateful for the five million.
After all, they were people who had been working together for a long time and they knew each other well. Qiao Yi Qiao knew that they would not lie to him and that the five million was indeed all they could come up with.
Xiao He contacted Kevin Liu and asked him indirectly that if the other party did not take the lead, he would probably only be able to come up with an investment of 3.5 to 4 million.
But this is still higher than Tu Yu and Qian Zong’s shares.
This means that even if they pay less, they are still in control.
It would be better to take the five million.
But if they reject Huacheng Entertainment, they will have to find at least three or four companies to invest.
In this way, everyone's investment share is more equal, which means that all investors, as long as the number exceeds three million, can make demands for his film.
Either all of those demands are met, or none of them are met.
Otherwise, you'll end up pleasing no one and losing one thing at a time.
In this industry, every penny you earn is not free.
Every payment has its own price.
The three people in the conference room also fell silent.
The main reason is that Qiao Yi Qiao is a new director. Even though he won awards and first place in venture capital, investors still lack confidence based on the subject matter alone.
If he were Wang Yige, he could just wave his hand and tens of millions of investments would be waiting in line. Even if some people wanted to insert actors or commercial products, they would never interfere with Wang Yige's camera language.
This world is so realistic.
Just when the three of them fell silent, Xiao He suddenly asked.
"Director Qiao, should we invest some money ourselves?"
Qiao Yiqiao raised his head.
Yes, he could also invest some money.
He had no investment in "Chaos School" and only took the director's share. As a result, although "Chaos School" had good box office and subsequent clicks on Netflix were also very good, the profits for him and Yi Zheng Entertainment were actually not high.
But he wants to invest...
Qiao Yi Qiao quickly called Chu Feng. After talking for a while, they decided that what they could finally take out was the prize money from the two awards they received at the Golden Crane Venture Capital Conference, totaling 1.1 million.
Among all investors, he is still a mediocre one.
Still no say.
But Xiao He smiled and said, "The boss invested 1.1 million, Mr. Tu invested 1 million, and Mr. Qian invested 3 million. Doesn't the total amount to 6.1 million?"
Tu Yu frowned: "Although that's what I said, but..."
She suddenly understood what Xiao He meant.
"Let's set up another film and television company," Xiao He leaned back in his chair, "Wouldn't it be possible to have real control over the company? Other investors will definitely not interfere anymore."
yes!
The three people's eyes lit up.
"We can also use this company to handle the accounts," Xiao He added. "It will be more convenient to use this company to handle the money for the filming of When the Walls Fall, so as not to mix it up with the accounts of our three companies and make it hard to explain it later. Isn't this the best of both worlds?"
That’s a great idea indeed!
Qiao Yi Qiao immediately went to Zhou Rong and Qin Duo to inquire about it, and one of them said that many film and television projects are now operated in this way.
It’s all because they have no experience in investing in film and television projects, and they didn’t even think of this idea!
…
They acted immediately and a company named "Huayang Film and Television Entertainment Co., Ltd." was soon registered in Heng City. Sunshine City, Huarui and Yizheng Entertainment also quickly transferred the money to the company's account.
Qiao Yiqiao is rich now.
With this large investment, Qiao Yi Qiao has the confidence to negotiate with investment companies of all sizes.
Finally, Huacheng Entertainment invested four million, but only implanted a few business units and cast two actors. The other small investors did not have any special requirements, and only requested that they have the right to watch the film and make suggestions after the film was completed.
Everything is on track.
And Qiao Yi Qiao can start the next step of work.
In fact, what Huacheng Entertainment said before is not unreasonable. He is indeed a new director and still needs a reliable team.
So Xiao He has already gone to help find a suitable director of photography and art director, as these two are the most critical components of the team.
The first thing Qiao Yi Qiao has to do recently is to check out all the actors that Huacheng Entertainment wants to squeeze in.
After all, although the roles of the prisoners are now available, the roles of the three main prison guards are still vacant.
Qiao Yi Qiao had designed these three prison guards before, wanting to cover three generations.
And there also needs to be a transformation in these roles.
Considering what director Zheng Mao had mentioned to him before, that he should consider more commercial aspects, Qiao Yiqiao was also wondering whether he should include one or two actors with box office appeal.
But it has box office appeal and is not expensive...
Qiao Yi Qiao couldn't remember who it was for a moment.
Perhaps Qin Duo would be willing to play the prison guard who is nearly 60 years old, but the specific details are still under discussion. In fact, although Qin Duo is quite popular among the people, he is not very good at the box office because he has played too many homogeneous roles.
Then the two younger prison guards became the top priority of the selection.
Qiao Yi Qiao first arranged for two actors promoted by Huacheng Entertainment to audition.
Both of them have played the third and fourth male roles in some big hit dramas before and have accumulated a certain popularity. To some extent, they can also be regarded as the main force carrying the box office.
But when Qiao Yi Qiao saw someone, he was a little disappointed.
They both look so exquisite.
It’s not that this kind of refinement is bad, but it may not be suitable for the role of a young prison guard and does not match the overall atmosphere.
When the young prison guard first entered the prison, he was very fierce because he was afraid that he could not control the prisoners under his command who would kill and burn people at will. But as he got along with the prisoners more and more, he gradually developed compassion. After the earthquake, he was willing to carry food for the prisoners and hold the ropes of their tents in the heavy rain.
And all these changes happened only because this prison guard was also a person who had suffered.
So, after everyone sat down, Qiao Yiqiao first observed their faces, imagining what they would look like after being dressed as prison guards, and then asked, "Can you accept having your hair cut short?"
They both had elaborate hairstyles, looked at each other, and nodded, "It's acceptable."
"The shooting period is about four months, but I hope you can join the crew one or two months in advance," Qiao Yiqiao asked again, "Is this acceptable?"
One of them nodded, while the other shook his head: "Excuse me, is it possible not to join the crew in advance? I have another TV series to shoot this year."
Qiao Yiqiao insisted, "If I don't join the crew early, I might not have a major role."
The man nodded: "Sure, I'm not a good actor anyway, so I might not be able to handle a role that's too important."
"Okay." Seeing that he was so frank, Qiao Yi Qiao didn't say anything else.
At worst, I can just arrange a marginal role for him as a prison guard, and he just needs to appear on the screen for one minute.
Then, he carefully observed the person who was willing to join the group early.
This man's name is Yuan Chen. Qiao Yiqiao has read his resume. He previously played the third male lead in a hit TV series and his acting skills are pretty good.
But the previous drama was about fairy tales, and he had long hair at the time, which made him look ethereal and very fitting. But now he looks a little too good-looking.
"Yuan Chen, if I make you darker, at least bronze, and you also need to work on your body shape, at least your body fat percentage needs to be reduced and your muscle content needs to be increased, is that acceptable?"
Yuan Chen nodded seriously: "As long as the role requires it, I can do it."
"Okay," with this premise, Qiao Yiqiao felt a little relieved, so he asked the first serious question, "What is the most painful experience you have ever had in your life?"
Yuan Chen was stunned.
He squinted his eyes, thought for a long time, shook his head and said: "I think I'm very lucky in my life, everything has been going pretty smoothly... If I had to say the only difficulty I encountered, it might be the art exam."
Qiao Yiqiao nodded: "Tell me about it."
"I was in the first year of high school at that time, and my academic performance was mediocre. If I relied on academic performance, I would not be able to go to a good school," Yuan Chen recalled. "So my parents found an art exam teacher for me, and I followed him to learn art exams. It was quite hard at that time. I had to get up at 7 o'clock in the morning to practice martial arts and go to bed at 11 o'clock at night, but fortunately I was admitted to the Film Academy in the end."
"Oh," Qiao Yiqiao thought for a moment, "So the painful point is...?"
"It was just that the training was very hard. My toes were all worn out," Yuan Chen said. "There was nothing else."
"All right."
Qiao Yiqiao fell into deep thought.
"Then try this scene."
As he spoke, Qiao Yi Qiao handed over the script of a play.
This scene takes place after the young prison guard has a heart-to-heart with a prisoner serving a life sentence. He discovers that the prisoner has had the same experience as him. The prisoner then walks out of the cell, looks at "The East is Red", and feels mixed emotions.
He had almost made a mistake, and just a slightly different choice from the prisoner serving a life sentence led to two completely different destinies.
Yuan Chen read it several times and then started performing.
To be fair, his acting was very steady and you could tell at first glance that he had received professional training at a film academy and followed that system.
Qiao Yiqiao couldn't tell whether he was satisfied or not, he just nodded: "Okay."
Yuan Chen smiled politely, still with a delicate expression: "Then I will wait for Director Qiao's news."
After saying that, one person left.
Qiao Yi Qiao was in the hotel room, thinking for a long time.
He felt that he probably still wouldn't choose Yuan Chen.
Qiao Yiqiao has always known that he is not the kind of director who is suitable for making genre films and looking for stable actors.
He wants his actors to be unique—just like his brothers—and then he discovers those qualities and amplifies them.
He did this in "Needle Walker", "Red Balloon" and "Campus Chaos".
He is not afraid of actors not having acting skills, he is only worried that the actors are not special enough and that what they perform are all clichés that fail to arouse his interest.
But who can act?
Although Yuan Chen's performance was not outstanding, it was still acceptable.
The most important thing is that from a commercial perspective, he can indeed bring in certain box office revenue.
Not to mention whether other young actors can carry the box office, it is hard to say whether they can devote five or six months to filming.
Qiao Yi Qiao was caught in a dilemma again.
“Ding-ling-ling——”
The phone suddenly rang.
It's an unfamiliar number.
Qiao Yiqiao answered the phone with confusion: "Hello? Who is this?"
The other party's voice sounded familiar, and he asked, "Hello, are you Director Qiao Yiqiao?"
Qiao Yiqiao: "Yes, it's me."
"Ah, Director Qiao, are you dissatisfied with me in some way? Why didn't you contact me? I asked many people before I got your phone number from Teacher Qin."
There was actually a hint of blame in the tone.
He started by blaming him.
It's quite wild.
Qiao Yiqiao laughed angrily and asked directly, "Who are you?"
"I'm Qi Siqi!" The other party answered immediately, "At the award ceremony, I asked you if I could perform in your work, but you ignored me. Now such a long time has passed, and you still haven't contacted me. What's wrong with me?"!
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