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Afternoon in Los Angeles, the sun is shining. Looking at the high-rise building in the style of the Chicago school of architecture in front of him, Wang Yang encouraged himself and strode in.

A few days ago, he did all the post-editing of "Agility - Ghost Shadow", and the feature film was finally set at 98 minutes. Anyway, on the day when it was cut, Jessica and Joshua, who went to his house to see it together, were all scared and blue after watching it, even though they already knew the plot of the movie.

And Wang Yang himself is also very miserable, because he lives in the apartment where the movie is filmed, which makes him suspicious all day long, sleeping in the middle of the night, and hearing the wind in a daze, he will wake up in fright. Maybe that's the aftermath of making horror films.

After editing the movie, Wang Yang went on to the next job, the release of the film. If a movie wants to be released in a movie theater, it needs to be negotiated between the distributor and the theater chain, and the theater chain will arrange for its cinema to be released.

In the United States, in California, there are countless film companies, the most famous of which are naturally the eight major companies in Hollywood history, including MGM, Paramount, Columbia, Warner Bros., Universal, United States, 20th Century Fox, and Disney;

They may become part of a media conglomerate, like Paramount being bought by Viacom, or they may continue to struggle and hold on to their status as an independent production company, but at any moment they will run into huge deficits, like MGM. However, they are still the bosses of the Hollywood film industry and the makers of commercial blockbusters.

Among them, there are also several companies that have subsidiaries that distribute independent films that are not produced with their own investment, such as Fox Searchlight, the distribution company of 20th Century Fox, which has distributed more than 10 independent films and has produced a lot of money.

But the movies represented by Fox Searchlight cost millions or more than 10 million, and they are film films. There hasn't been a single portable home DV movie in the world now, after all, it's only been a few months since the advent of DV.

Although Wang Yang knew that a big company like Fox was unlikely to watch his movie, he still called and gave it a try, so that at least one more chance, wouldn't it?

It was only on the phone that the manager of the buying department of Fox Searchlight laughed and refused as soon as he heard that his film was made on a home DV and that no meeting was arranged. He even thought that Wang Yang's phone call was a prank, what kind of joke, portable home DV, making movies? He knows DV, and he knows even more about the shooting quality of DV, can it be put on the big screen? Who will watch it? Could it be that a child from a family bought a DV and took a random shot, and thought that what he shot was a movie, right?

Of course, more importantly, there is no need to take risks or jokes with the Fox Searchlight, they are making good profits now, just continue with this business policy.

This result was also expected by Wang Yang, he did not entangle, and entanglement was useless. These big companies are used to big productions, and the cost of $10,000 is a joke in their eyes, how can they make a movie for $10,000? They are not without vision, after all, DV movies have never been done before, this is a kind of innovation, a kind of subversion. Human beings are like this, and the first person to eat crabs relied not on vision, but on courage.

So, after contacting all the big companies, Wang Yang, who got nothing, began to contact some small and medium-sized companies, some of which would make their own small-budget films, and some were distribution companies that mainly distributed as agents, such as New Line, Dimen, and so on.

They also felt incredulous, and also felt that Wang Yang was playing a prank, but unlike large companies such as Fox Searchlight, they did not reject Wang Yang directly on the phone, and seemed to have the idea of "idle is idle, it's good to see", and arranged a time for Wang Yang to meet.

In the past few days, Wang Yang took the DVD disc that recorded "Agility - Ghost Shadow Record", and went to several companies such as Xinxian and Dimen, but the results were surprisingly consistent, when the movie was screened at the beginning, they saw the poor picture quality, and the extremely shaky lens, they shook their heads and said, "There is no need to watch it anymore."

This time Wang Yang was entangled, but no matter how hard he tried to sell, saying that shaking the camera is the style of DV movies, pseudo-documentary theory, etc., they all smiled and said "no". The reason for their refusal is actually no different from Fox Searchlight, the same is not optimistic about DV movies, and feels that making movies with DV is a joke and cannot be accepted by the audience.

Think about it, when the sound film technology first came out, most companies were still worried that sound movies would not be accepted by the audience, and some even insisted on the idea of long live silent films. It's no surprise that now they don't give a damn about DV movies.

So Wang Yang's entanglement is ultimately useless, people say no, what else can you do?

But today this company is different, Wang Yang is full of confidence and hope, and he is also full of momentum, because this company is called "Yijiang Film Company", and it is it that released the DV movie "Blair the Witch" in the future, setting a record that shocked the world. If there is anyone who has the courage to eat the crab of the DV movie now, it is them.

Artisan Films, a small company specializing in independent films, does not have its own office building, but is headquartered on the twelfth floor of this commercial building.

Wang Yang came to the gate of Yijiang Film Company today, wearing a decent black leather coat and carrying a briefcase containing a movie script and a DVD copy of the movie. He looked at the artisan sign hanging on it, took a deep breath, and walked inside.

"Hello, welcome to Artisan!" said the front desk lady had a smiling face, she was a black woman in her twenties, and although she had a professional smile, she was very pleasing to the eye.

Wang Yang looked at her work card and knew that her name was Nicole Vivor, so he smiled and said, "Hello Miss Vivor, I'm Wang Yang, and I have made an appointment to meet with Mr. Thomas, the manager of your company's film purchasing department." ”

"Okay, please wait. Nicole nodded, picked up the mouse and looked it up on the computer, then looked up and smiled, "Oh, I found it." Yes, the agreed meeting time is 15:00 and it is now 14:42, so please wait a while. ”

Wang Yang smiled and nodded, "Okay." He walked to the row of chairs across from the front desk and sat down, touched his briefcase, looked around, and felt a little nervous, and couldn't help but exhale softly.

At this time, the front desk lady Nicole Vivor looked at him, a little curious, and took the initiative to ask: "Mr. Wang, you have made an appointment with Mr. Thomas to discuss the distribution of the film, are you the producer of the movie?" Wang Yang nodded and said: "Well, so to speak, I am the producer and the director." Nicole laughed incredulously, "Oh, it's surprising how young you look." ”

Wang Yang shrugged his shoulders and said with a smile: "So, my name is Yang (Young)." Nicole also laughed, and Wang Yang took the opportunity to ask her: "By the way, do people like me often come to your company to promote their movies?"

Nicole Vivol shook her head without thinking and said, "No, not much, there aren't many independent films, and there are too many studios, and people will come once in a while." She didn't know that Wang Yang's films were shot in DV, and said with a smile: "In fact, we are more often proactive, looking for good movies at various film festivals, such as this year's Sundance International Film Festival, our company also bought a few films." ”

Wang Yang nodded silently when he heard this. The Sundance International Film Festival, arguably the world's premier independent film festival, aims to encourage low-budget, independently produced films and give emerging directors the opportunity to showcase themselves. Every year in late January, the Sundance Film Festival is held in Utah cities, when a large number of independent filmmakers who are waiting for Bole will bring their films to Utah, and large and small film companies will also go to the festival to "pan for gold".

There are many other such film festivals, such as the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the Scream Horror Film Festival, which is dedicated to horror films, and so on.

These film festivals are also Wang Yang's last hope, if he can't be released in theaters, can't be released on videotapes, or even doesn't have cable TV distribution, then he will go to those film festivals. It's just that influential ones like the Sundance Film Festival and the Santa Barbara Film Festival are held in January, which means that if he wants to participate in these festivals, he will have to wait until next year.

Just as I was thinking about it, the time came to three o'clock. Nicole Vivor, the front desk lady, picked up the phone, dialed it, and asked, "Mr. Thomas, there is a Mr. Wang looking for you here, and he has made an appointment with you to discuss the release of the film." Well, okay. She smiled at Wang Yang, stood up, and said, "Mr. Wang, please come with me." ”

"Okay. Wang Yang also stood up, followed her with a briefcase, and walked into the Yijiang Film Company, there were not many people in the office, but it seemed very busy, everyone was working hard, or walking around with something, and some people were talking on the phone, and they vaguely heard saying "Hey, we need an advertisement at eight o'clock, yes, please how can it be so expensive......

Nicole Vivor led him to a private office, she knocked on the door, and there was a "come in" sound from inside, she opened the door and smiled, "Mr. Thomas, Mr. Wang is here." With that, she went back to the front desk.

Stephen Thomas, a middle-aged white man in his forties, with a slightly bald forehead, wears a gray suit and a black tie. He was sitting behind his desk writing something, and when he saw them, he put down his pen, got up with a smile, walked over, stretched out his hand, and said, "Hello, Mr. Wang." ”

"Hello, Mr. Thomas. Wang Yang shook his hand with a smile and said politely, "I'm glad you gave me this opportunity." ”

"Hehe, nothing, it's my job. Have a seat. Thomas smiled and stretched out the chair in front of the desk, walked back to the desk and sat down, looked at Wang Yang who was seated, and asked, "Mr. Wang, you look very young." How old are you?"

Wang Yang smiled, he knew that Thomas asked this, meaning to let him introduce himself, or give a resume directly, but he deliberately did not bring a resume, because a film company had read his resume before, learned that he had studied at USC, and then learned the reason why he was fired, and that the company didn't watch his movie, so let him leave.

Without a resume, you can hide as much as you can. Wang Yang replied with a smile: "Well, I was born in 1980, so I should be quite young now." ”

Thomas couldn't help frowning a little stunned, but instead smiled "wow", looked at Wang Yang, and said, "That's a very young, 18-year-old director? ”

The campus is coming...... Wang Yang's heart suddenly became vigilant, laughed, shrugged his shoulders, and avoided talking: "You know, some people's paths are different. And I want to watch a movie that depends on the film itself, not the age of the director. ”

"Yes, that's right. Thomas smiled, and to Wang Yang's relief, he finally got to the point and said, "Then let me see your movie script." I hope it's not a farce. He rolled his eyes and spread his hands: "I don't mean anything else, just a DV movie, an 18-year-old director...... I've never seen anything like that. ”

"Nothing, I understand. Wang Yang took out a script from his briefcase, this script was rewritten, and it was all complete and final film content, he handed the script to Thomas opposite, and said, "Please see." ”

Thomas took the script, leaned back in his chair, flipped through the script for a while, nodded and said, "The story of the movie is very simple, but this is a formal script, not like a spoof." He stood up, glanced at Wang Yang, walked outside the office, and said, "Well, let's go to the screening room and see your movie." Coming to the big office outside, he shouted among the busy company employees, "Hey, Sam, come with me, go to a movie." ”

I saw a white man in his thirties answer, he put down the work at hand, walked over and shook Wang Yang's hand with a smile, and said, "I'm Sam Paul." ”

"Hello Mr. Paul. Wang Yang also gave him a smile.

Thomas took them to the screening room, and on the way, he smiled and introduced: "Sam is the best marketer we have here, he has a very vicious eye, and he has written several of the company's money-making films, oh, this guy is about to steal my place." Sam laughed, "Come on, Stephen!" Wang Yang smiled and did not speak.

Coming to the screening room, Wang Yang took out the DVD with the movie and handed it to Sam, who put the disc into the player, and the three of them sat down in a chair and looked at the small screen in front of them.

Thomas pressed the start of the remote control, and saw a black picture light up on the small screen, and then immediately flashed, a man taking a selfie at the camera appeared, it was Zachary. He smiled at the camera and squeezed his eyebrows, and said with a smile: "Hello everyone, I'm Kevin! This is our new home!" Then, he walked around the apartment with a DV camera, patting the kitchen, bedroom and other places, and introduced with a smile, and the camera turned around, shaking very much, coupled with the roughness of the picture quality, between shaking, many places on the screen were confused, and it was not clear to see.

"Wow, this ......" Thomas pressed the pause, looked at Wang Yang, and asked: "Mr. Wang, are you sure this is not a short life film, but a movie?"

The new line company, after reading the opening paragraph, also shouted to stop, and then said "no". Wang Yang was suddenly a little nervous in his heart, and said the rhetoric he had thought of a long time ago, and said: "Of course, I call it a first-person film, also called a pseudo-documentary, that is, the concept of 'the whole movie is shot by the protagonist himself', simulating the documentary form." He said seriously: "Mr. Thomas, believe me, this is a movie, please keep watching." ”

“ok。 Thomas nodded thoughtfully and pressed to continue playing.

I saw that on the screen, Kevin walked around his home, turned the camera at himself, and said with a smile: "Haha, I bought a DV, it feels so good!" At this time, there was a faint sound of the door opening, and he smiled energetically: "Wow, my girlfriend Meier is back!"

Then the camera pans down and Kevin is heard saying, "Welcome home, honey." Look at this...... What is it!?"

As soon as the screen flickered, there was a Mel played by Rachel, who was holding a bag, looking at the camera very surprised, and said dumbfoundedly: "What, did you really buy a DV and come back? Oh my! How can you do that, it's out of our budget!"

At this time, Sam, who was holding his chest with one hand and his chin with the other, turned his head and smiled at Wang Yang: "The heroine is very beautiful." ”

"I think so, too. Wang Yang smiled, looking at Rachel on the screen, he couldn't help but miss a little in his heart. After Rachel returned to Toronto, he only called her after editing the movie, told her that he had sent the DVD, and that he was concerned about her mother's situation, and in order to save phone bills, he hung up after a while, and he didn't have an Internet connection at home, and he hadn't been on MSN for a long time.

As the movie unfolds, Thomas and Sam have fewer and fewer digressions, and gradually look seriously, but seeing the middle segment, Kevin and Meier tracking the ghost in the middle of the night, the camera shakes strongly again, coupled with the tension created by psychological horror, Thomas becomes more and more dizzy the more he watches, his chest is stuffy for a while, his scalp is numb, and a strong feeling of vomiting comes up, and he has to stop the movie.

"Oh my God...... Oh......" Thomas couldn't help but retch, and Sam next to him was also uncomfortable, and he was also forced to vomit. It took a while for Thomas to recover, and he shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Oh, sorry, that's rude." ”

Wang Yang didn't know how to answer, so he had to smile and said, "It's nothing, it's nothing, it's just a normal human reaction." ”

"Mr. Wang, your movie...... How to say it. Thomas frowned, brewing, which also made Wang Yang nervous, Thomas said: "It's very surprising, it's eye-catching, and it's hard to adapt." He smiled self-deprecatingly and continued, "I've never seen this style of cinema. Sam nodded in agreement, "Yes, it's a crazy style." ”

Of course, they haven't seen it, and the portable DV camera has only been on the market for a few months, and the history page of DV movies is still blank.

Wang Yang couldn't figure out what they meant, and the movie was only halfway over, and the scary ones were all behind, so he said: "Mr. Thomas, maybe we can continue to watch? The back of the movie is more exciting." ”

"No, no, no. If I look at it any longer, I'm afraid I can't help it. Thomas shook his head with a smile and said, "It's enough, after watching this, I already know what kind of movie it is." He thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Wang, your movie is indeed a movie, and many places are very scary, but ......"

Wang Yang knew that something bad was going to happen as soon as he heard the "but", and sure enough, Thomas spread his hands and said: "This movie is too innovative, although it is the pseudo-documentary concept you said, but such a blurry and rough picture quality, often shaking strongly, these are not suitable for the big screen, to be honest, I have no idea." He looked at Sam next to him and said, "Sam, what do you think?"

Sam also shook his head with a smile, with an expression of "I don't have an idea", and said: "I don't know, I can't judge the market prospect of this movie, I have never seen such a movie, I can't analyze it." After a pause, he added: "Personally, I'm interested in this film, but I don't represent the market. You know, a lot of my personal favorite movies, they don't recoup their costs, personal favorites are one thing, the market is another. ”

Wang Yang's heart sank, although the artisan company was the company with the best attitude towards him at the moment, he couldn't be happy at all, because the artisan company was probably going to decline. He looked at Thomas and Sam and suggested, "I know, the market is always elusive. Maybe we can release it in a limited number of theaters first, and try it in dozens of theaters, no, a dozen or so, and see how the market reacts?"

As long as it can be released, with the kind of publicity of "Blair the Witch", he is confident that the limited release will become a large-scale release, from a dozen theaters to thousands of theaters!

Thomas hesitated for a moment, whispered something to Sam next to him, exchanged opinions, and finally nodded, looked at Wang Yang, and was about to say something.

Wang Yang's heart suddenly lifted, his hands were secretly clenched, and fine sweat broke out in his palms.

"Mr. Wang. Thomas looked at him and said slowly: "The market is the first thing we consider, although your film cost is low, and the publicity budget can be as low as possible, but we can't afford any loss; more importantly, we can't let the company's credibility suffer, we are a small company, most of the market is supported by die-hard fans, they definitely don't want to see our company release a bad movie, anger them, they will abandon us." ”

Wang Yang nodded silently, although he felt uncomfortable, he couldn't say anything.

"I mean, it's not that your movie is bad, just launching a DV movie, it's a big adventure and we can't just decide. Thomas stood up and said, "In this case, Mr. Wang, we will discuss the feasibility internally." If there are any plans for the release, would you like to contact you again?" he said, holding out his hand.

Wang Yang could only stand up, shook hands with him, and nodded, "Okay, I'm looking forward to your good news." ”

Leaving the Yijiang Film Company, Wang Yang walked down the street in a lost place, the sound of vehicles on the street made him feel more and more irritated, he looked up at the clear blue sky, exhaled deeply, and gritted his teeth. Now even the artisan company that released the first DV movie "Blair the Witch" has rejected him, although he did not refuse to the end, but he also knows that there is little hope, because Thomas did not watch the movie, their attitude is very clear, they do not want to disappoint fans, do not want to take risks.

How many film companies are left? Wang Yang sighed, although he had long known that it would be difficult to seek distribution, but now that he is really facing it, he still inevitably feels a little frustrated. But he clenched his fist and shook it, so I won't give up! You can kill me, but you can't beat me!

This company is not successful, there is the next one, even if all the film companies reject him, there are companies that specialize in distributing DVDs, even if they can't even enter the DVD market, there are still cable TV on demand...... As long as you keep going, there will always be opportunities.

He swept away all the gloom in his heart, but he also had an urge to speak for his friend, so he took out his mobile phone, called Jessica, and said with a smile: "Hi, Jessica, I failed again." The craftsman company asked me to go home and wait for news, but I look at their appearance and won't give me news. ”

"Oh, God......" Jessica couldn't help but sigh, her voice full of disappointment and worry, but she immediately comforted Wang Yang gently, "Yang, it's nothing. Trust me, this is just the beginning, you're just getting started. ”

Wang Yang smiled: "Well, I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me, Jessica, thank you." He said in a teasing tone: "You don't know, just now, the manager of the artisan company watched my movie, and almost vomited, haha! Is my movie so bad?"

"No, it's not rotten at all. Jessica also laughed, and the nice laughter made Wang Yang's mood brighter, and she smiled again, "Where are you now, can you go to dinner together?" I'm going to go to the cinema to watch a movie in the evening. ”

"Thank you, but no. Wang Yang smiled and refused Jessica's invitation, continued to walk to the nearby bus stop, and explained: "Jessica, I got a part-time job at a McDonald's in the evening, so I'm in a hurry now, I'm sorry I can't accompany you." ”

Jessica on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment and said, "Okay, Jan, but don't tire yourself. She added, "Yes, well...... You know, it's my birthday in two days, and I'm going to have a little party at home to celebrate me that night, Jan, can you come then?"

Oh, it seems so, Jessica's birthday is the 28th, and it's almost here...... Wang Yang didn't have to think about it, so he agreed: "Of course." Your birthday party, wow, I'm glad you invited me to go, I'll just take a leave of absence then. After a pause, he smiled and said, "It's just that the gift may be very shabby, haha!"

"Hah, don't bother with any gifts. Jessica smiled happily when she heard him agree, and she added, "My agent, Ms. Miranda, will come too." Jan, she knows very famous directors and film company executives, I will introduce you to you when the time comes, I hope she can help you......"

"Thank you, Jessica. Wang Yang smiled: "Then I have one more reason to look forward to it." He wasn't counting on that Lady Miranda, but it was another chance, wasn't it?

The two said a few more words, and Wang Yang, who came to the bus stop, hung up, exhaled, got on a bus, and went to McDonald's, where he worked part-time.