On 11 March, Li Qian left for the United States.

And in the plan, he will go to the United States at least three or four times this year, and the goal of so many trips is actually only one, that is, to hold talks with the American theater alliance, hoping that the other party can increase the renovation of 3D and 3D-IMAX theaters as much as possible before May and June next year.

To put it bluntly, Li Qian is a businessman who goes to promote his technology to the American theater alliance.

In terms of influence, with just a "Matrix", Li Qian already has some face on the side of the American Cinema Alliance, not to mention that he is still the behind-the-scenes boss of Colombia, so when the request for talks was put forward here, the American Cinema Alliance quickly replied and agreed.

But that's about it.

Needless to say, Li Qian himself also understands in his heart that these people he wants to meet are pure businessmen, they have nothing to do with art, they are just businessmen responsible for selling movies.

If you take a new movie and hope that they will show it, they will definitely talk to them enthusiastically about the scale of the painting, the film schedule, etc., but when they run over with a new technology, hoping that they can use the 3D technology developed by themselves to equip their theaters, they will not have any face- Even if they were to tell them that their $250 million 3D movie had been filmed and would be released worldwide in June 2007, and that the release of that movie would bring a lot of extra profits to every theater with 3D projection capabilities, it would be useless.

In fact, 3D is not a new technology, and Hollywood has not made 3D movies, but several experimental works in the past have all suffered miserably.

Therefore, Li Qian knew that no matter how fanciful he said, the effect would probably be limited. Only when they see the real benefits will they rush to pounce.

However, in order to lay the market environment and screening conditions for the film as much as possible before the release of the film, so as to release as much box office harvesting power as possible for the film, Li Qian hopes that they can make more preparations before the release.

This contradiction is simply irreconcilable.

But even so, Li Qian still had to make these trips.

Although the effect may not be too great, at least it will definitely not be like he did with the Minghu Cinema Line, just give orders and invest in the transformation, but if he can fight for one more screening room, the influence of "Avatar" will be expanded by one point - if Li Qian is not mistaken, James Cameron in that time and space also did the same. It turned out that as a bystander, when I talked about this incident, I was a joke, and I felt that the truck driver was not doing his job properly, and he actually ran to be a business salesman, but it was really his turn to sit in this position, Li Qian realized that no matter whether it was James Cameron in that time and space, or himself in this time and space, before the movie really became popular, and 3D technology was really recognized and accepted, he was actually apprehensive in his heart.

Even if you know the development prospects of 3D technology in another time and space, but in this time and space, will your 3D technology work? Even if 3D technology will be popular in the future, can your "Avatar" be successfully launched and become the starter of 3D technology?

There are so many unknowns.

Even Li Qian can only say that he is trying his best!

Because there was no other way for him.

Now that Minghu Culture has acquired Columbia Pictures, it is impossible for Li Qian to have his own theater chain in the United States according to the antitrust law of the United States.

Film production and cinema chains must be separated, and no film company is allowed to hold shares in cinemas or open cinema chains, and vice versa.

Even if Minghu Culture is a Chinese company, if it dares to build a movie theater in the United States, it will immediately face prosecution by the relevant antitrust authorities in the United States.

Therefore, the cinema operators in the United States are very unique.

Maybe when "Avatar" becomes popular, the American cinema operators who come to the door to ask for the technical authorization of the Minghu Research Institute will break the threshold of Minghu culture, but at least for now, Li Qian can only become a salesman and go to the United States to negotiate business with those people.

Of course, now that he has gone to the United States, he still has a lot of things to deal with at the same time.

So, on the same plane with him, there were not only Liao Liao, who had planned to end his vacation, but also Sun Yuting and his party who wanted to rush over to have comprehensive contact with the Colombian side.

And, of course, there is Qi Jie, who will attend an internal high-level meeting in Colombia.

However, when the plane just landed in Los Angeles, Li Qian learned a piece of news from Du Yihua, who came to pick him up, that made him stunned for a long time and couldn't come back to his senses.

While they were still flying in mid-air, the Cannes Film Festival officially sent an invitation letter to Li Qian's mailbox, inviting him to be the president of the jury of this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Hearing that Du Yihua couldn't wait to tell the news as soon as he received them, Qi Jie was surprised first and then surprised, Sun Yuting was surprised first and then ecstatic, and then looked at Li Qian with admiration.

Liao Liao couldn't help but hug him, kissed him directly, and said, "Yes, good news!"

However, Li Qian was confused.

He couldn't help but ask, "How is that possible? Why me?"

Du Yihua shrugged, "How do I know!"

When everyone got into the car, the group went to Liao Liao's villa, and slowly, Li Qian probably understood the meaning of the organizers of the Cannes Film Festival.

There are hundreds of registered film festivals in the world, and although the three major European film festivals have always had great influence in the world because of their high banner of art films, the competition between the three major film festivals and other film festivals, and even the competition between the three major film festivals, has always existed - and this competition is all-round and comprehensive competition.

The competition for new directors, the competition for good movies, and even the competition for stars, the respective efforts for publicity and exposure, and so on.

And all of this, in the end, comes down to one thing, and that is the influence of the film festival.

In today's world-wide expansion of the influence of the Oscars in the United States, how to survive and continue to expand their influence is an urgent problem even for the three major European film festivals - far from it, ten years ago, they would never have considered inviting a filmmaker like themselves to be the chairman of their jury.

This is not absolutely related to age, or even to qualifications, and even less to do with ability and talent, mainly because although he also made a "Red Sorghum" and won a grand slam in Berlin, in the final analysis, he has always insisted on taking the route of commercial films.

However, for the three major European film festivals at that time, which were in the twilight of their lives and their influence was not as good as a year, the global popularity and influence they gained because of commercial films was exactly what they desperately needed.

And I am young enough and junior enough to make myself the president of the jury of the Cannes Film Festival, which in itself will be full of controversy!

It is no exaggeration to say that once the news is announced, it will immediately attract countless attention from all over the world.

And Cannes can also give a reasonable reason for this, because "Red Sorghum" once won a grand slam in Berlin and has a considerable popularity and reputation in Europe, and it is obviously untenable to say that he is not qualified to judge art films.

I have to say that in this regard, the changes made by the three major European film festivals according to the reality are much happier than those in China - even today, Li Qian, whether it is art films or commercial films, has proven himself on a global scale, but the recognition of awards in China is still limited.

At the beginning of 2004, Li Qian and Lu Lingxi, Qin Jingjing, Zhu Qiang, and Han Shunzhang made an appointment to go to the old principal's house to pay New Year's greetings, and the old principal said that the Yangcheng Film Festival invited him to be the chairman of the jury this year, but he resigned, and strongly recommended Li Qian, saying that these young and talented young people should be allowed to dominate the aesthetic taste of domestic film festivals, but in the end, this proposal was denied.

It's not that it's not enough, the reason is that Li Qian is still too young, and he will talk about it a few years later.

Speaking of this, the old man looked regretful and helpless.

Of course, Li Qian felt that it didn't matter, anyway, at the Yangcheng Film Festival, Li Qian's own films were too lazy to send them to participate, and the chairman of the jury, whether he did it or not, was not very interesting.

In fact, in addition to the original "Red Sorghum" to participate in the Berlin exhibition, and Jin Han was once persistent in pursuing the award recognition of art films, including Li Qian, but also the entire Minghu culture, from the beginning of the film and television department's business, has always been firmly on the road of commercial films.

Because in Li Qian's view, food and clothing are enough to know honor and disgrace, such a large film market in China, if you can't make a movie that the audience likes, but let go of the big market and let Hollywood occupy it, you just bury your head in the pursuit of what so-called film art, then it is really a sacrifice.

First occupy the film market, cultivate the film market, and cultivate Chinese-language films, and when the market is bigger, the audience's aesthetic taste has begun to break away from the excitement of simply liking to watch commercial productions, and is willing to pay money to appreciate and support some niche films with unique aesthetics.

Before that, it was useless to say anything else.

Even if "Red Sorghum" swept Berlin and returned to China and had a high box office, it was just an example, not enough for reference and not enough to follow.

Therefore, for a long time, from Li Qian, to the directors of Minghu Culture, and even the actors, they have not paid as much attention to film awards as the domestic atmosphere.

Not to mention the domestic, in fact, Li Qian doesn't care much about the six nominations for the Oscars for "The Matrix", as well as the best editing and best soundtrack that he finally got his hands on.

Of course, the meaning and concept of winning and chasing awards by yourself is obviously not the same thing as going to a world-renowned film event like the Cannes Film Festival to be the president of the jury, responsible for judging awards and awarding awards to others.

If Li Qian remembers correctly, so far, among the domestic filmmakers, Qin Wei, who is currently the most powerful, has served as a member of the jury of the Venice Film Festival, a member of the jury of the Cannes Film Festival, and the chairman of the jury of the Tokyo Film Festival once - this is the position of a recognized film master by Chinese filmmakers up to now.

It is no exaggeration to say that once Li Qian becomes the chairman of the jury of the Cannes Film Festival, his status in the global film industry, his status in the domestic film industry, and his subsequent appeal and influence will be qualitatively improved on the basis of the original.

From then on, even in a country where seniority is important, no one is qualified to set up any obstacles to him in terms of public opinion or awards.

This is obviously of great benefit to Li Qian himself and to the future development of Minghu culture in China.

So, Qi Jie couldn't help but say: "Go ahead! Anyway, you don't have to worry about the company, in the later stage of "Avatar", if you leave for a month, you won't be affected too much." ”

However, Li Qian was a little hesitant.

It's not that he's worried that this promise will put him at the center of the controversy, and he doesn't care if others question him at all, but the problem is that he is particularly unhappy to watch movies that seem esoteric but are made in the clouds, but as the president of the jury, he has to watch many of those films every day!

Of course, there will be good art films, and good art films give people a very high-level artistic enjoyment, Li Qian very much hopes to see those good films that are particularly good and thoughtful.

However, he prefers to see the good films that have been selected rather than to be the one in charge of the selection – especially since the rules of the Festival de Cannes he probably knows, the jury is said to be in retreat more than a month before the festival opens, watching all sorts of beautiful and tragic and bizarre films sent to the exhibition from all over the world.

For more than a month, he didn't do anything, just watched the film over and over again, Li Qian felt that his current concentration and patience were not up to that level.

So, in the face of Qi Jie and Sun Yuting's expectant eyes, Li Qian hesitated again and again, but still said: "I'll personally reply to the letter over there when I go back!

Everyone looked disappointed.

But Li Qian just smiled and said, "It's okay to be the chairman of the jury, but I think it's not time yet." ”

This time, it was Sun Yuting who couldn't help but say: "Everyone thinks you can do it, what are you modest? This doesn't look like you! What are you afraid of, go on! This is the honor of the entire Chinese literary and artistic film! In the three major European film festivals, we Chinese filmmakers have never been the chairman of the jury!"

Li Qian said: "Wait a minute, I still have two films to shoot, and when I shoot them, I will strive to go to the two film festivals of Cannes and Venice respectively, and win all the awards that should be won, and it's not too late to think about this!"

Everyone was amazed.

Qi Jie quickly thought about it, just nodded and said nothing more.

After Sun Yuting was surprised, she couldn't help but ask again with some excitement, "You will still make literary movies in the future, right? like "Red Sorghum"?"

Li Qian smiled and said, "It must be different from "Red Sorghum", if it is the same, what will I do with it? If you want to shoot it, shoot something different!"

So Sun Yuting said at the time: "Then say it in advance, assistant director, I booked!"

Li Qian couldn't help laughing when he heard this, but he still nodded and said, "Okay!"

…………

The next day, Li Qian personally replied to the email to the organizer of the Cannes Film Festival, politely declining the other party's invitation, and the reason he used was exactly what he talked to Qi Jie and Sun Yuting about-

"I haven't won the Grand Prix at Cannes yet, and I'm going to do it in the future!

This reply is a bit domineering.

However, after receiving the reply email, the organizers of the Cannes Film Festival still expressed regret but did not insist on the invitation. Instead, they repeatedly replied, "I'm looking forward to the day your new film comes to Cannes!"

Again, the film festival is certainly the place where many directors become famous, but good directors and good works can in turn add points to the film festival.

For directors like Li Qian, who have "Red Sorghum" in art and "The Matrix" commercially, the Cannes Film Festival is of course very happy to woo them.

…………

After Qi Jie went to attend a high-level meeting in Colombia, Li Qian quickly took Sun Yuting to the office building in Colombia, where the three producers and financial personnel sent by Colombia had preliminary contact with Sun Yuting- Because Du Yihua is also one of the two producers sent by Colombia, and her appearance can also communicate things well, so after participating in this meeting, Li Qian was a lot more relieved.

The movie "Transformers", because of the huge investment, and the first time that Colombia has participated in the investment of a 3D film, and the director is a director who can no longer be recognized within Colombia, so Glen Char's statement on behalf of Colombia is also quite cautious.

Li Qian, and John Dyce, who is Li Qian's representative, have also become one of the producers of the crew, and together with the three producers led by Du Yihua on the Colombian side, they constitute the producer meeting of the "Transformers" crew, and it is also the existence of this crew that really has the final decision.

And Sun Yuting, the director, is really just a director who gets a salary.

has no ability to decide the script, no ability to decide the actors, and it is impossible to get the right to final cut.

However, she looked very excited.

In fact, from the beginning of the crew to organize the writing of the script, Li Qian was the main one, and under Li Qian's strong push, the work progress of the entire crew advanced quite quickly.

So, when Li Qian ended a round of lobbying for the American Cinema Alliance, and only got a few empty promises, he could basically declare that this time the lobbying had no results, but the preparation and advancement of "Transformers" was gratifying.

The script was the first to be approved by the producers' meeting, and then Li Qian decided to return to China.

Sun Yuting will stay as his representative to participate in the subsequent filming preparations and auditions for the actors.

The purpose of this is to let Sun Yuting barely gain a little producer power - in fact, since October last year, several producers on the Colombian side, including Du Yihua, have begun to make preliminary preparations for this film, and even when Li Qian and them came over, even some basic robot models needed for filming have been produced in several versions for future directors to choose. Therefore, Sun Yuting, the director and acting producer, can participate, in addition to script writing, mainly according to the scene construction of the script and the selection of film actors.

And after returning to China, Li Qian was also not easy.

Because Liu Chengzhang's "Painted Skin" has already completed the script, and even has begun to make preliminary preparations. This film, he plans to officially start filming in May.

Barring any incidents, the film will be filmed in October, after which it will move to post-production.

At this time, it is getting closer and closer to the expiration of the contract between Minghu Culture and Zhou Baoshan.

It is no exaggeration to say that Zhou Baoshan's next place and possible destination is definitely one thing that everyone in the industry is staring at.

And the competition between major companies in the industry for the "Zhou Baoshan Studio" that will almost inevitably appear in the future has also completely entered a white-hot state.

But after participating in the opening ceremony of "Journey to the West: Mrs. White Bones", Li Qian just stared at the later stage of "Avatar" while watching all this coldly.

At the end of April, he even decided to record a few songs.

It was an idea that came out of nowhere.

Then, he went to record it.

As a result, after hearing the news, in addition to Liao Liaoyuan who couldn't come back in the United States, Zhou Yan, He Runqing, Xie Bing, and even the musicians and singers up and down the company all came over to "visit the class", and everyone looked curious and full of expectations.

Because Li Qian hasn't recorded a new song for a long time.

Writing songs is still being written, but he himself hasn't even opened his voice for more than two years.

So everyone is curious about what kind of song he is going to record.

Of course, they were not disappointed.

After arranging the music, the musicians rehearsed, and he went to the company's recording studio intermittently for a week and recorded three songs one after another.

Hearing these three songs, many people's expressions were first dumbfounded, and then they shook their heads, sighed, sighed, and worshipped.

And half a month later, when this song was uploaded to the Internet by Li Qian one after another, it soon caused a major earthquake in the entire Chinese pop music scene.

The first song is called "Blue and White Porcelain".

The second song, called "Locked-Out-Of-Heaven", is an English song.

The third song, called "Thinking-Out-Loud", is still an English song.

After the three songs, a sentence is attached: The album will not be released first, download it and listen to it!

Three days later, when these three songs became popular in China, they were also reposted on many music websites in Europe and the United States, and then frequently played on many European and American music radio stations.

Within a week, through the Internet, but also through music stations around the world.

These three songs became popular all over China.

Two of the English songs became popular all over the world.

***

This chapter is a bit long, and it is estimated that many people will complain that it is too expensive.

Friends who are watching should also be able to feel that the plot is accelerating. That's right, it's really coming to an end, and there is still one last bridge section left.

I can't give up!