"ABC wants to adapt "Sweetheart" to make a TV series?" In the dimly lit editing room, Wang Yang was sitting at the glass table eating lunch, and when he heard the news from Paul Emery, the agent on the other side of the phone, he immediately raised his eyebrows, chewed the beef rice in his mouth, and asked, "What did they say?"

Paul Emory said: "It was producer Hunter Hammons who contacted me and he said that if you agree, it will be made into a 21-episode youth drama series. It's about fighting for the dream of dance, laughter, tears, friendship, love, competition. He laughed and said, "If you want, you can join the producer, either as a director or as a screenwriter." ”

Wang Yang suddenly remembered the same invitation last year, he put down his chopsticks, picked up the water cup and took a sip of water, and said: "I'm not interested, and what's there to adapt "Sweetheart"?" Paul Emery over there laughed and said: "Young, what they need is a gimmick, it's 'Magic Young'; you know that those TV series of "Juno" have achieved very good results, and now there are people playing the idea of "Sweetheart", there is nothing strange." ”

Of course, this is not surprising, at the beginning of 2001, "Juno" caused a "Juno storm" in the whole of North America and even the world, and at the same time, there was also a boom in early pregnancy among teenagers, which not only increased the early pregnancy rate, but also made the major TV stations follow suit, NBC wanted to obtain the TV series adaptation rights of "Juno", and then did not succeed and directly ordered a new series "Growing Up with the Baby"; , CBS's "Young Moms...... And these three sets of dramas have achieved satisfactory ratings, among which "Secret Words of Youth" has refreshed a new high in the premiere ratings since the opening of ABC-Family. Now that these TV series are preparing to launch a second season, another "Sweetheart" has been released, which has achieved more than 70 million North American box office in four weeks of release, which has been widely acclaimed, and there is also a hip-hop craze among teenagers.

Although it was not as sensational as "Juno", it could only be regarded as a small wave, but it still attracted the attention of TV producers who tasted the sweetness of "Adaptation of Magical Yang", as early as when "Youth Musical" was popular, they were ready to move, but unfortunately no one dared to try it at that time and missed it, and now they don't want to let go of "Sweetheart". ABC, the biggest winner in the wave of early pregnancy dramas, is the guy who is the most enthusiastic among them.

"No, forget it, help me refuse. Wang Yang thought about it or refused, some stories are only suitable for the form of movies, "Sweetheart" is, if you have to expand its simple story into a TV series, it is not impossible, but it is necessary to add some more elements to enhance the story.

For example, intricate love, conflicts in friendship, and conspiracy of opponents...... That's not what he wants to see, just keep "Sweetheart" simple and beautiful.

"Okay, I see. Paul Emory doesn't have any opinions, and to this day, the name "Amazing Young" doesn't need to be strengthened by a TV adaptation. He said the next thing: "Entertainment Weekly would like to invite you to do an interview. ”

"No, busy. Hmm......" Wang Yang turned his chair and looked at the large flat screen on the wall in front of him, on which were all film pictures of "District 9" frame by frame, and below were computers, splicers and other tools and equipment. He rolled his eyes and thought that "District 9" needed publicity, so he changed his mind and said, "Okay, don't take pictures, arrange a phone interview in the evening, if you can, I'll have no problem." ”

Paul Emory said OK again and moved on to the next item: "There are two business events that invite you to attend. Before he could finish speaking, Wang Yang interrupted him with a smile: "You know that I will refuse, but it's all no!" Why has my popularity suddenly risen these days?" Paul over there smiled and replied, ""Sweetheart" and "Ice Age" have something to do with you. Finally, Nike is interested in inviting you to shoot an NBA sneaker commercial. ”

Many big Hollywood directors are from commercials or song MVs, which give more opportunities to young people who are just starting out than movies, and David Fincher and Michael Bay are both representatives. In addition to accumulating experience and qualifications, there is also money in filming commercials and MVs, so there are also many famous directors who will accept the filming invitations from advertisers.

But Wang Yang is not short of these three things now, what he lacks is time, he held the mouse and dragged the image on the screen, and refused: "If there are 48 hours in a day, I would be happy to shoot, but now, busy." Interrupted, Paul Emery added, "Jan, the invitation wasn't really urgent. The NBA draft is coming, and Yao Ming is likely to be the champion this year, he is a signed player under Nike, and they want you to shoot an ad for Yao Ming. ”

"Oh!" Wang Yang nodded understandingly, thinking that Yao Ming was likely to be the champion this year, he was also very happy, but he felt a pity. Because the Warriors, who are at the bottom of the league this season and have the highest 22.5% chance, they didn't win the lottery and were won by the Houston Rockets with an 8.9% chance. If Yao Ming goes to the Bay Area, it will be really exciting.

He thought for a moment and said, "Anyway, I don't have time for the time being, Paul, let's talk about it later." ”

Paul Emory naturally has no objection, shooting commercials is just to make money. He continued: "There is one more thing, I don't know if you want to respond?" It turned out that as the release date of "District 9" was approaching, "Sweetheart" had already come out, but the TV series "Prison Break", one of the three plans announced last year, was missing, so some gossip media said: "What Magic Young said about "Prison Break" was probably just a momentary angry talk, right?" and some fans were also disappointed with the ticket jump.

""Prison Break"?" Wang Yang frowned and sighed, not that he wanted to skip the ticket, but that a person's time was too limited, especially when emergencies occurred one after another. Last year, the company looked for a suitable producer for "Prison Break", but when he found that the workload of "District 9" was far more than expected, and he did not have much time to be the executive producer of "Prison Break", he put the plan on hold for the time being.

However, Flame Movie's brand "Flame Family Entertainment" has produced a popular and stable family sitcom "Funny Family" for NBC, and NBC has ordered 24 episodes of the second season, and Flame is in production. As soon as "Prison Break" was announced, it aroused strong interest from various TV stations, and Flame Family Entertainment was the first to negotiate with NBC TV, and it is still like that, with "Prison Break" being chosen in the autumn and spring.

Wang Yang seriously thought about his plans after "District 9", in addition to editing "The Hangover", he also produced "MIT-21-team", which should be enough time to supervise the production of another TV series. He smiled and said to his phone: "You can respond, if someone still asks this question, just say that this is not an angry thing, "Prison Break" will probably be in the autumn next year, and everyone can see it." ”

"Okay!" Paul Emery replied, and the two of them said a few more words of business before ending the call.

When they learned that "Prison Break" would premiere in the fall of next year, many of Wang Yang's fans were very happy, thinking that "Prison Break" was miscarryed, but who knew that there would be another! They were not happy with "Prison Break" itself, who knew if that TV series was good; happy that "Prison Break" was not an angry word, if it was, it would undoubtedly be "naïve" and not cool at all.

And the amazing Yang they like is a super cool person, and the career he has done is incredible, otherwise why like him?

At this time, a shocking news suddenly broke out that made countless fans cheer and cheer, and made media reporters doping! Natalie Portman is going to work with Wonder Young again!

With the hot release of "Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones", the "national idol" Pad beauty queen Natalie has naturally become the hottest actress in recent times, and she is also surrounded by the media, countless street shots, countless interviews...... When asked by the Los Angeles Times, "Do you have any plans for the future?", she unexpectedly replied: "In the second half of the year, or next year, I will play the heroine in a new work directed by Wang Yang, which should be quite interesting." ”

Then reporter Emmett was stunned, Wang Yang's new film, Wang Yang!? I have never heard of him mentioning it! But Natalie's words could not be nonsense! This is true! He asked continuously: "What kind of movie is that? What kind of role are you playing, and is there anything similar to Juno? Is this a campus movie?"

Natalie shrugged her shoulders with a smile and said mysteriously, "I can't tell you any of this for the time being, I don't know what should be kept secret." Haha, actually, I don't know. She shook her head and laughed, "I haven't read the script yet, I just know the general idea of the story, it's very cool." Just go and ask Wang Yang, who knows what he wants to shoot, I just joined. ”

Another mysterious work by Miraculous Young! This bit of information revealed by this interview has become the most interesting part of the whole article. Movie fans are a little crazy, "Daily Entertainment" asked: "What is the magic of Jan + Natalie?" for the first time is equal to "Juno", classic, 375 million global box office, Golden Globe Award for Best Director nomination, Oscar Best Actress nomination, Juno trend, early pregnancy tide...... This is an incomparably powerful combination! When the best director of the post-80s and the best actress of the post-80s come together again, what kind of movie will they bring this time? With this combination, with Natalie agreeing without reading the script, and the phrase "very cool", fans are full of expectations for this movie that they don't even know the name.

There are also many fans who lament that Magic Yang is really energetic, "The Ninth District" is still being edited in the post-production and is about to be released; and it took three months to quickly complete the preparation and filming of "The Hangover", which has not yet been edited, but it will be released this Christmas; "Prison Break" will be broadcast next fall, and now another movie has surfaced, which can only be said to be crazy, he is like a bull that keeps sprinting.

But this kind of high-speed and high-production is not necessarily a good thing, after all, the first movie he directed himself after being imprisoned has not yet been released. Will he be able to stay magical and cool?

"Man, do you think I'm not busy enough?" On the balcony at night, Wang Yang leaned on the guardrail helplessly and said to Natalie on the other side of the phone: "You make me seem to have written a lot of empty checks." Natalie laughed triumphantly and said, "Who told you not to call me? Wang Yang covered his forehead and said, "Is this because of this?"

"Not all. Natalie hummed a few words and whistled, "At that time, I just thought I could help you, so I said it." Now I'm so popular, and your "District 9" is about to be released. When I say that, Star Wars fans, and a lot of people, will know about it. ”

Wang Yang suddenly laughed, he wasn't really angry before, because this matter was insignificant, he didn't tell Natalie not to reveal it, she was also reasonable, he smiled: "Okay, thank you very much." Natalie hummed and asked, "Would you like to have a drink?" Wang Yang looked at the faint moon and said, "No, I'll go to bed right away, cut the film all day, and I'm sleepy." ”

"Really?" Natalie's tone was rather indifferent, and she pretended to be concerned, "Don't spend too much energy on your sexy sweetheart, it hurts your body, you know?"

Wang Yang frowned strangely, and said with a smirk: "Hahaha, the weather is very good today! Let's leave it at that, I have to go to the company tomorrow for a meeting and prepare materials." Natalie casually asked, "What meeting? Wouldn't it be another movie project?" Wang Yang smiled: "Guessed right! Bye-bye." ”

Rustling – On a hot summer day, Santa Monica's beaches come alive with people in all kinds of swimsuits swimming in the sun and laughing and laughing. Not far from the beach, at the Flame Film headquarters, the hard work of the staff continues, and in the spacious and bright conference room, a meeting is taking place about another CG film project of Blue Sky Studios.

At the long conference table, Wang Yang sat at the chief of the chairman, CEO Mark Slent, Peter Wilkes, investment director of Flame Films, Chris Welch, CEO of Blue Sky Studios, and Carlos Sardhanha, animation director, and several others sat on either side.

At this point, the conference had been a long time underway, and Chris Waich had the initial idea of making an adventure story about a group of robots, and he thought that the images of the robots could be used to the imagination, and Carlos Sardanha also proposed a "tourist animation" The concept, just like a romance movie always goes to Paris, cartoons can also take the audience to enjoy the scenery and cultural customs of a place, and he himself is a native of Rio de Rillo, Brazil, so the enthusiastic and unrestrained Rio de Rio is highly recommended.

"Guys, look at this. Wang Yang snapped his fingers crisply, and saw a slideshow of an animal on the conference tablet screen above, with fat and black limbs, ears, eye circles, and a white neck and body...... Wang Yang glanced at everyone and asked with a smile, "Everyone knows what this is, right?"

Everyone laughed a few times, how could they not know? Mark Sloan spread his hands and smiled: "Of course, pandas! My daughter likes pandas the most, they are very cute." It's a pity that Los Angeles doesn't, and I'm going to take her to San Diego to see, 'High High' and 'White Clouds'. Wang Yang was not surprised, because although there are only a few pandas in the whole United States, it is very popular, and he laughs: "Pandas are very cute, honest and interesting...... Born to likable, it is really a gift from the Creator to China. ”

Looking at the changing pictures, Chris Witch had no difficulty in thinking of the intention and asked, "You mean to make a cartoon about pandas?" Wang Yang grinned and said to everyone, "Why not?"

Although he is the chairman of the board of directors and has direct decision-making power, if everything is "I have the final say", how can a company work together? How can others be serious about doing things? Any decision must be made for reason, and it must be able to persuade others to agree at the very least, and everyone in the conference room is in the role of investors, and he must tell everyone from a business perspective that this is feasible.

"First of all, I think the idea of robots is good, but compared to science fiction, we have more experience in making animals, and our technology is also in this aspect. With Wang Yang's slow words, Chris Weiqi and everyone nodded, in the process of developing "Ice Age", there is also the research and development of the I&B department's money + talents, and now Blue Sky has animal hair, skin and bones and other technologies, which can be said to be one of the top in the industry.

After sharing with the image engine technology, other CG technologies have also made great breakthroughs, whether it is the engine, renderer, modeling texture, etc., it is enough to make a delicate and realistic picture with full texture. The blue sky that was once rough is gone.

"Carlos' 'Tourist Animation' is also a great idea, the unique charm of a city can be turned into the charm of that movie, coupled with the witty and interesting story and characters, there is no reason not to be successful. Wang Yang looked at Carlos Sardanha, who had an approving smile on his face, and said, "We must make a movie like that in the future, just Rio de Janeiro." But now, I love this panda!"

He turned his head to look at the panda on the flat screen, which was as fat as a round ball, and said with a smile: "This big guy has never appeared on the market, and it obviously has a lot of potential, because it is fat, and fat represents cuteness and funny." ”

Everyone smiled, and it made sense. Of course, there is no dispute at this point, pandas are indeed cute and a great animated element. Peter Wilkes looked at the screen with a thoughtful look on his face and asked, "Young, what kind of movie do you mean to make? a family comedy like Ice Age?"

"Yes, blue sky style!" Wang Yang smiled and said, "No matter what the story is, we have to find a balance between exploring the theme and being funny, and discuss it interestingly." Listening to his words, Chris Witch and Carlos Sardanha both agreed, and he added: "It's always pleasant to have laughter, as long as the cartoon is full of laughter, it will be suitable for the whole family to watch together, and it is also suitable for young people to go on a date and watch it alone, and then it will be successful." ”

This is also the initial style of Blue Sky Studio, and it will continue on this path in the future. At the beginning, Blue Sky didn't have any style, but with the production and big sale of "Ice Age", everyone has this consensus and has experience in this area, and all the truths that I want to tell the audience are tried to be done in a relaxed and interesting way, all in order to serve the story.

"But this time it's not Ice Age, it's a bit like Carlos's idea. Wang Yang did a few warm-up stretches, looked at Carlos, who was a little puzzled, and said with a smile: "The city is a part of culture, and in this panda movie, we will add this element to it." ”

Before the words fell, he suddenly threw a quick punch forward, which made the air "Huohuo" sound, and everyone was suddenly a little stunned, boxing? Mark Snent's eyes lit up and said, "Kung Fu?" Wei Qi and Carlos also followed: "Kung Fu?" Wang Yang waved his right fist again, nodded and smiled: "Kung Fu!" ”

"Kung Fu Panda?" As soon as everyone heard this combination of elements, they didn't have to think about it to understand what he meant, a kung fu panda! This is an action cartoon. And what do kung fu and pandas represent?Carlos Sardanha smiled very understandingly, this is packaging to promote his own culture, he laughed: "This should be a story that happened in a Chinese city, right?" Peter Wilkes asked, "Shanghai?Beijing?"

Wang Yang shook his head, and while operating the computer to change the slides, he explained: "It can be said that it happened in China, with Chengdu as a template, but it should be said that it is an ancient fantasy world constructed by Chinese culture. ”

At this time, the tablet screen shows some classical buildings with cornices and corners, blue tiles and pink walls, as well as some quiet landscapes, red lanterns, bamboo cage buns and other things. After looking at these pictures, everyone has a general impression, and they also understand that this is not just one or two Chinese elements, but the world of the whole movie is ancient China, which is an overall style.

"What kind of story is this going to be? Now you have it figured out?" asked Chris Weech with interest, as Mark Snrant and Peter Wilkes both thought hard about analyzing the market for this style, and for that point, it makes no difference what the story is.

Wang Yang changed the picture on the screen again, this time it was some martial arts CG, and said: "Have you read martial arts novels? I don't think there should be, it's not surprising." In fact, the story is still the same old-fashioned, an ordinary panda who wants to become a kung fu master, finally has the opportunity to practice martial arts, and then it really becomes a master, defeats a villain, and achieves its dream and mission. This can be a hilarious and touching inspirational story. ”

"Well, I can hear some feelings. Carlos Sardanha winked at him and smiled: "This should be a gift for Chinese fans, right?" Wang Yang couldn't help but laugh and said, "You can say that." ”

For his idea of "Kung Fu Panda", everyone in the conference room was not surprised, he was a Chinese who grew up in Chinatown, a kung fu master who practiced martial arts since childhood, and he also loves Chinese culture very much, so what is strange about wanting Blue Sky to make a Chinese-style cartoon?

This is the reason why Wang Yang wants to launch "Kung Fu Panda", it is very simple, he likes Chinese culture and kung fu. It would be a very happy thing to be able to let more people and children like it, understand and learn from it. He doesn't know if it's money, technology, or what, anyway, China's own films don't do a good job in this aspect, except for martial arts and kung fu, completely wasting a lot of other culture and appearance worth promoting. Also like Carlos said, it's a gift.

"I want a movie where everything is Chinese, the scenes, the costumes, the music, the animals, the kung fu ......" Wang Yang counted his fingers and listed everything, and said seriously: "Everything is made to make that kind of taste, and only in this way will the audience appreciate it." If it's nondescript and so-so, you know that no market will like it. ”

Glancing at Mark Snaunt and Peter Wilkes with pensive faces, Wang Yang smiled and said, "I know what you're worried about. Peter Wilkes shrugged his shoulders slightly and said, "Young, there is no doubt that the combination of panda and kung fu is very innovative, and the inspirational, comedic story genre is also very attractive...... But it's hard not to ask, is it okay to do such a theme?"

"Of course!" Wang Yang looked around at everyone and analyzed: "First of all, China's box office market will get bigger and bigger, and its share is growing rapidly every year, so I don't need to say more." He spread his hands and said: ""Kung Fu Panda" will be done for at least three years, and if it is released in 05, God knows how big the market will become at that time?"

That being said, in fact, this proportion is not very large, because China's box office share ratio is very low, less than 30%, and if you count the exchange rate, the number obtained will be very small; So the pure Chinese market can't support a $100 million movie.

Everyone knows this, Wang Yang said: "But the North American market will also like it, kung fu is already very popular, and martial arts and Chinese style, think about "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", it also received 128 million, that is a Chinese live-action movie." ”

"And we're cartoons, what's the problem? Guys, believe me!" Wang Yang slammed the table and said decisively: "As long as the story is good enough, as long as it's a good movie! And we're going to find something in common between East and West, where all the audience loves laughter, doesn't it?"

As he spoke, he frowned and said loudly: "There is any movie, any attempt is risky, if you always think about the damn risk, will anyone still make a movie?" He said excitedly: "Movies are inherently high-risk, if you are afraid, why don't you go and help Nike sell shoes!"

Everyone immediately smiled and looked at each other, and Mark Slunt took the lead in raising his right hand and said with a smile: "I have no objection, I totally agree!" Peter Wilkes also said: "I don't think the market will be so fragile." Carlos Shaldanha nodded and smiled: "Wow, kung fu panda? cool!" Chris Weiqi had already agreed with this idea, and said with a smile: "It's exciting, but I can't do this, I don't know much about Chinese culture." ”

Seeing that everyone had thrown away those worries, Wang Yang was full of joy and said with a smile: "You guys should prepare first! I think there are too many things that need to be prepared, and the director will look for them slowly." ”

"Kung Fu Panda? haha!" Mark Slunt laughed, "Will my daughter want to learn Kung Fu when she sees it in the future?" Wang Yang smiled again and quickly swung his fist, and said, "I can't say, maybe." ”

(To be continued)