Chapter 374 Is there something fishy going on?

"Master Huan"

"Hey, Lao Chen"

When Yang Huan heard someone shouting, he turned around and saw it was Chen Kexin, and immediately laughed.

Chen Kexin smiled bitterly and asked, "Am I old?"

"Master Huan, thank you," Chen Kexin raised his glass and said sincerely.

Yang Huan also raised his cup and clinked it with him, but he didn't drink. He smiled and asked, "What are you thanking me for?"

“Thank you for investing in my movie partner.”

Chen Kexin is not tall, so he has to slightly raise his head when talking to Yang Huan.

So, Yang Huan took in all his expressions.

“I see it as a vindication.”

Obviously, after the setbacks of The Warlords, The Siege of the City and The Legend of Chusen, Chen Kexin finally found the courage to prove himself again.

He needed a movie like this to adjust his mindset, so that he could be more devoted when filming the epic war of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and make this the best film with the highest investment in Chinese film history.

"Don't thank me, thank Miss Zhang, she supports you, I believe her, and I believe you too"

Chen Kexin nodded. He understood.

Yang Huan didn't care too much about Chen Kexin's thoughts, as it was not something he could control.

He began to focus his attention on the person next to Chen Kexin.

In addition to his girlfriend Wu Junru, there is also a fat man who is always smiling.

"Wang Jing"

"Hello, Mr. Yang Huan." Wang Jing's fat face immediately broke into a smile.

“Hello, I really like your movies.”

Yang Huan was speaking honestly, Wang Jing was also a filmmaker he admired very much.

But when Yang Huan mentioned this, Wang Jing smiled bitterly and said, "Don't mention it. I can't make it any further."

"Why?"

Wu Junru laughed at the side, "The famous director who is known as the best commercial film director in Hong Kong messed up."

Wang Jing was obviously an old friend of theirs, and he just laughed and didn't take it to heart.

Instead, it was Chen Kexin who immediately explained.

"He made money from TV dramas before, but he made no profit or loss from movies for many years. This time he was determined to go big, and even named the movie "Great Shanghai"

Yang Huan had seen this movie in his previous life. It was released at the end of 2012, but unfortunately it encountered Taigu and it was a box office failure.

This is interesting. Taigu invested in it itself, so its own people must support it.

"It's okay. Who can guarantee that every movie they make will make money?" Yang Huan was open-minded.

"Well, Yu Cui, don't look for anyone else for your next movie. I'm investing in it."

Wang Jing was dumbfounded. "Is this true?"

"No problem." Yang Huan was also generous and agreed on the spot.

It feels like investing in a movie, just like buying a toy worth dozens of dollars.

Wang Jing was also happy now, and immediately pulled Yang Huan to have two drinks.

As soon as we talked about movies, this guy got excited and even couldn't control himself.

"Actually, Master Huan, your film about the Chinese Expeditionary Force has a good theme, is not difficult to censor, and has a strong storyline, but it is not suitable for Lao Chen. He is not good at making this kind of film."

After Wang Jing said this, Chen Kexin felt a little embarrassed, but he did not object.

"Chen made The Warlords and The Besieged City to cater to the wishes of investors to some extent, but he is not good at this kind of commercial film model. He is good at sentimental and almost-sweet films. He cannot handle commercial films, especially war films."

Wang Jing is considered to be Chen Kesin's predecessor, and is also known as the Hong Kong director who is best at making commercial films. He must have his reasons for saying this, but Yang Huan also has his own considerations.

"I know that, but this time when I filmed the Chinese Expeditionary Force, the theme I focused on was sentiment."

Wang Jing is a smart man after all, he understands everything immediately.

"You mean, reflect on the war?"

At this point, Wang Jing couldn't help but sigh and said with a smile: "Master Huan, you are quite ambitious."

"What do you think?" Yang Huan asked.

When it comes to knowledge of movies, Yang Huan can't even catch up with Wang Jing.

"Master Huan, there are some things I want to say. I wonder if I can say them."

Yang Huan was stunned, then smiled and nodded, "Of course I can tell you."

Wang Jing looked at Chen Kexin again, and the latter nodded.

After several contacts with Young Master Huan, Chen Kexin still knows Yang Huan very well.

When it comes to things he doesn't understand, Yang Huan is always open to other people's opinions and suggestions.

"In fact, Love Is Not Blind is not as good as the box office suggests. In my opinion, the main reason why this movie can be a big hit in Asia and has a decent box office in North America is the appeal of the stars."

After hearing this, Yang Huan couldn't help but nodded repeatedly.

Fatty Wang’s words really hit the nail on the head.

"At its core, this movie is still telling the story of us Chinese people, the story of Beijing, so it has a high box office in China. In Asia, especially East Asia and Southeast Asia, the culture is very similar, and the stars have appeal, so the box office is also high."

"But in Europe and North America, the box office is much lower, and it can only be supported by Lin Yuner."

Yang Huan still agrees with this statement because it is very similar to the market research results conducted by Miracle Entertainment.

It can be seen that Fatty Wang is quite capable.

"If making a movie is about telling a story, then if we want this story to go abroad and be accepted by people all over the world, we have to elevate the story's perspective from the Chinese people to tell a story about all mankind."

"A Hamlet-like story was made into The Banquet in China, a dark story that even Chinese people can't stand, but in Hollywood it was made into The Lion King, a positive and sunny story that most people in the world like. This is the difference in storytelling skills."

Yang Huan nodded continuously as he listened. Fatty Wang's words really touched his heart.

He has been wondering all along, what is the biggest difference between Chinese and American films?

As for the so-called film industry, now is the era of globalization. If you can't make it yourself, you can't ask someone else to make it for you. We are a big country in China. We don't have anything else but a lot of money.

Now that Fatty Wang said this, Yang Huan felt as if he had suddenly realized something.

The vision of storytelling is something you can't buy no matter how much money you have.

"It's actually easy to realize this, but it's difficult to do it," Wang Jing said with a sigh.

"Why?" Yang Huan was puzzled.

Yes, since you realize this, I'm sure many filmmakers also realize this.

Why is no one doing it?

“The censorship system is like a sword of Damocles hanging over our heads, but this is not the most frightening thing. The truly frightening thing is that the pressure of censorship piles up layer by layer, and in the end, it turns into self-censorship, and investors become the biggest obstacle.”

"Investors?" Yang Huan was surprised.

"Yes, investors, because making a movie is a commercial activity, and the purpose of investors is to make money. If a movie is made but cannot be released because it cannot pass the censorship, then the investors will lose a lot. Therefore, before submitting it for review, investors will often self-censor and delete some points that may cause sensitive disputes. As a result, before it is submitted for review, the entire movie has been changed beyond recognition and turned into a big bad movie."

Yang Huan finally understood everything now.

It turns out that this is how some really bad movies come about. No wonder many commercial films that seem to be big productions are so bad.

After all, how many people who invest in movies actually understand movies?

The investors decide to cut, the result is predictable

Looking at it from another angle, when Yang Huan invested in Deng Huatao to film Love Is Not Blind, didn't he also give him some conditions, such as product placement, inserting Yoona and Psy, etc.

This is already considered open-minded. If you encounter some investors who have a strong desire for control and pretend to know everything, wouldn’t that be the end of you?

After all, censorship systems exist all over the world, but it is the lack of regulation in the domestic film market that has caused all sorts of problems.

It would also be inappropriate to blame all the problems on investors.

Because investors want to make money.

"I see"

Yang Huan nodded continuously. Fatty Wang's words made him see through a layer of fog.

"Old Chen, don't worry. Just focus on making a good movie, writing a good script, and broadening your horizons. We want to film a story about all mankind. As for the box office pressure, don't worry about it. There won't be many problems with the censorship. At most, I will intervene when the time comes."

"In short, you can shoot this movie however you want."

Yang Huan's words not only stunned Chen Kexin, but Wang Jing was also completely dumbfounded.

That's hundreds of millions. Even though it's RMB, can we just do whatever we want?

Could it be that this Young Master Huan doesn't care about money at all?

If he knew that Young Master Huan earned 100 million a day, he would understand why he didn't feel bad.

Now that everything has been revealed, Chen Kexin has nothing to hide.

"Then I thought, let's go to the United States and ask an assistant director to help. He is the best at shooting war themes in Hollywood."

"Okay, you decide." Yang Huan nodded without hesitation.

He didn't even ask about the money.

Because Yang Huan has always believed that everyone has their own expertise, so if you are not good at something, you should leave it to someone who is good at it.

"By the way, are you familiar with Xu Ke?"

"Old Monster Xu?" Wang Jing immediately laughed.

Chen Kexin couldn't help but smile. They were all Hong Kong filmmakers, so how could they not be familiar with each other?

"Are you planning to invite Old Monster Xu to film Ghost Blows Out the Light?"

Yang Huan couldn't help but sigh that Wang Jing was indeed a smart man who understood things immediately.

Indeed, he did plan to invite Xu Ke to film Ghost Blows Out the Light.

"Oriental fantasy themes such as Ghost Blowing Out the Light are indeed very good and are the most promising route to internationalization because there are not too many value barriers and at the same time they can promote traditional Chinese culture, so they have considerable potential."

Yang Huan thought so too.

"I think that among all the Chinese directors, Xu is the one who can best exude that flavor."

Wang Jing also agreed with Yang Huan's point of view.

"One is a ghost, the other is a monster. It would be strange if they don't match."

After listening to it, Yang Huan thought it was quite rhyming and couldn't help laughing.

"I just saw Old Monster Xu over there. I'll give him a call and ask him to come over." Chen Kexin said with a smile.

Wang Jing also nodded and said, "I met Xu before and told him about this. He was also very interested. However, he is preparing for another movie recently. It seems that he is going to shoot Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy."

"Really?" Yang Huan was stunned for a moment, then filled with surprise.

This was a movie he had been looking forward to very much before he traveled through time in 2014. He didn't expect that Xu Ke had already started planning it now.

"Okay, then you can find him and tell him that I will invest in him to make Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy."

This time Wang Jing was not so shocked. He was just stunned for a moment and then looked at Chen Kexin. They both understood each other tacitly.

Another movie

Rich people are so cool, they invest without blinking an eye

While Chen Kexin was calling Xu Ke, Yang Huan also talked with Wang Jing about the preparations for the Chinese Expeditionary Force.

Wang Jing also agreed and would definitely provide advice and assistance to Chen Kesin on commercial elements.

Not to mention, Fatty Wang has a lot of movie plots in his mind. He knows almost every movie, both domestic and foreign.

When it came to filming the Chinese Expeditionary Force, he immediately came up with several very wonderful plots, which made Yang Huan praise him endlessly.

He is indeed the best director in Hong Kong at making commercial films.

Just as the two were chatting animatedly, someone passed by them and cursed angrily.

"Damn it, no matter who you vote for later, you must not vote for that terrible movie Love Is Not Blind. I will never vote for it."

Yang Huan was stunned when he heard this.

Could it be that there is something shady going on at this film awards ceremony?