To be honest, compared with Diao Yinan's "Uniform" in which the company invested 500,000 yuan, Li Tang prefers Ning Hao's "Incense".

How so?

is also depicting small people, Diao Yinan's "Uniform" is more biased towards the style of Chief Jia, and the characters portrayed are more marginal. In contrast, Ning Hao's "Incense" is more universal, absurd and humorous, and more ornamental.

"The film is well shot! The post-production is more detailed, and I think I can adjust the color if necessary. ”

Whether it is Chief Jia's "Xiao Wu" or Diao Yinan's "Uniform", these depictions of the living conditions of the little people in China's lower society are generally gray. There may be a cost factor here, or it may be intentional.

It's just that Li Tang doesn't like this style very much, the same theme, Lou Ye's "Suzhou River", including the "Crying Woman" directed by Liu Bingjian that he watched at the Cannes Film Festival last year, is very colorful, but it does not affect the quality of the film itself and the connotation to be expressed.

"I'm afraid I won't have enough money if I mix colors." Ning Hao looked embarrassed, and at the same time said embarrassedly: "There is not much left of the 200,000 yuan given by the company before. ”

Compared with Diao Yinan, who has a stubborn personality, Ning Hao is obviously more tactful. To put it bluntly, Ning Hao knows very well who is the father of the gold owner, listen to persuasion.

Li Tang smiled and said, "It's okay, if you don't have enough money, you can apply to the company." ”

In fact, if he had known that "Incense" would have been able to shoot this quality, Li Tang would rather invest hundreds of thousands of dollars to make it directly into a film movie.

Ning Hao was overjoyed when he heard this, who didn't want to keep improving his work, so he hurriedly said, "Thank you, Mr. Li." ”

Li Tang smiled and patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's okay, I'm still counting on your film to be able to appear at this year's Cannes Film Festival." ”

Although Ning Hao had already learned the news from Zeng Jia's mouth, the first time he heard this from Li Tang's mouth, Ning Hao still couldn't hide his excitement and said, "Teacher Li, don't worry, I will do it well." ”

"We should also hurry up in time, and it is best to complete it by the end of next month." Li Tang took care of it again.

The annual Cannes International Film Festival basically opens in mid-May, and most of the shortlisted films are already confirmed in mid-to-late April, in addition to reviewing the films, there is also a period of time for MK2 to operate.

Seeing off the excited Ning Hao, Li Tang returned to the office and thought about it, and called Zeng Jia through the company's internal line.

"Jiajia, you come up."

"Okay, brother, I'm looking for you too."

After a while, I saw Zeng Jia walking in with a folder.

"Brother, what are you looking for me?"

Li Tang, who was sitting on the sofa, glanced up at her and pointed to the sofa opposite: "Sit down, let's talk about it first." ”

"Okay!"

Zeng Jia opened the folder and handed it over: "This is the shooting arrangement of the two advertisements, I have contacted the manufacturer and the shooting team, and it will take about two days to start shooting the first advertisement the day after tomorrow." The second ad is scheduled for next Monday, and they are mainly a little more troublesome in setting up, and the other ......"

Li Tang was confused when he heard this, and hurriedly interrupted: "Wait a while, wait a while, don't you say that it will be arranged next month!" ”

"Hee-hee, isn't it afraid that the schedule will be wrong."

Looking at Zeng Jia's smile, Li Tang understood, as soon as he agreed to consider it in the morning, Zeng Jia had already advanced all the work, and made it clear that he was ready to take on the play "Jasmine Blossom".

It seemed that he couldn't think about this matter for himself, so he had to smile bitterly: "Okay, since you've arranged it, let's do it." ”

"I'm sorry, brother." Zeng Jia playfully stuck out her tongue.

Since the establishment of the company, don't look at Zeng Jia outside, she still looks like a cold and beautiful woman, but in front of Li Tang, she seems to be more and more free of herself. Or that being happy and lively is originally her true face, and the so-called coldness is just her protective color.

"Brother, my business report is over, please tell me if you have something."

That, do you call it a report, it's clear whether the notice is good or not!

Li Tang secretly snorted, and then said: "Two things, just now I watched the rough cut version of "Incense", and I also talked to Ning Hao. The film was shot well, and after cutting the film, I suggested that he adjust the color, and other post-production work such as the soundtrack should be as detailed as possible. He didn't have enough money on his side, so I asked him to apply to the company when he needed it, and everything was OK within 100,000, if it was more than 100,000...... Well, you can do it and try to satisfy him. ”

"The second thing is also about Ning Hao, I think he is a director with a lot of ideas, you talk to him and sign him later."

"Got it." Zeng Jia nodded in response.

Since Li Tang promised to invest 200,000 yuan in Ning Hao's graduation work at the end of last year, Zeng Jia knew that his boss admired the fledgling director very much, so she was not surprised at all by the follow-up funding support and the decision to sign Ning Hao.

It's just that she couldn't help but smile bitterly and shook her head: "Originally, the company set up a brokerage department to sign a few potential actors, but I didn't expect to sign a lot of directors and screenwriters now." ”

That's right, now the company has signed four screenwriters and directors, Cheng Er, Zhang Baibai, Liu Zhan and Diao Yinan, plus Ning Hao, there are already five. And except for Liu Fenfen, the other four have a common characteristic, that is, they are screenwriters and directors in one, and they all carry the label of the so-called sixth-generation director.

"Isn't that good? Cinema is the art of directing, and actors are just icing on the cake. You see that Huayi Brothers is such a big company, one Feng Xiaogang can top half of the country. Not to mention the new picture, director Zhang Yimou is all there is to this company. Cheng Er is a good guy, but you can't expect him to make a movie in a few years. Li Tang spread his hands and said.

Speaking of Cheng Er's guy, since the filming of "The Third Man", it seems that his inspiration has dried up, and he went to Yunnan a year ago to collect style, saying that he was going to write a script on the theme of anti-drugs. But Li Tang called him during the Spring Festival holiday, and wanted to ask him how the script was written by the way, and the answer was that he was not satisfied with the first draft and had been scrapped, and planned to re-conceive it.

"Brother, do you think Ning Hao is a good seedling?"

Zeng Jia knows very well that Cheng Er is the most special one among the four currently signed by the company, and it can be said that from the establishment of Li Tang Studio to the current Shengtang Film and Television Company, it is all because of the cooperation with Cheng Er. Of course, it is more accurate to say that Li Tang discovered and promoted Cheng Er, a rookie director.

The signing of Zhang Baibai, Liu Zhan and Diao Yinan can only be said to be a coincidence, and the brokerage contracts with them are relatively loose. From their point of view, they may prefer to see the company as a father who is willing to pay real money to help them realize their so-called artistic ideals.

Li Tang's attitude towards Ning Hao made Zeng Jia seem to see the shadow of the relationship between the boss and Cheng Er again.

Hearing Zeng Jia's question, Li Tang couldn't help laughing and said: "Everyone has won the Best Director Award in the DV Competition of the College Student Film Festival, how can they not be good seedlings?" ”

As he spoke, he muttered: "I just think he has a lot of ideas and knows photography, which can be regarded as a kind of talent reserve and supplement." ”

Although Ning Hao's "Incense" was filmed well, he didn't dare to compare Ning Hao and Cheng Er.

Because in his eyes, Cheng Er has a super high artistic accomplishment, and his future may be Martin. Scott or Woody. Allen, that type of director.

Ning Hao can't see clearly at present, he can vaguely see Quentin's shadow from his "Incense", I hope his future will be as whimsical as Quentin.

On the other hand, it is also because Ning Hao understands technology, otherwise people like Zhang Baibai, Diao Yinan, and Liu Zhan, who is about to move, are all born in writing scripts, and none of them understand technology.

……

Originally, he made an appointment with Hou Yong to reply for three days, but only two days later, Hou Yong took the initiative to call.

Li Tang hesitated when he saw the caller number, although he was still a little reluctant in his heart, Zeng Jiaming's secret hints in the past two days, coupled with Xiaopang's pillow wind every night, finally made him sigh secretly and connect the call.

"Hello, Mr. Hou!"

"Xiao Li, I'm sorry, something happened to the crew temporarily, I have to rush back to Shanghai immediately and say hello to you in advance, lest you have to look for me when you get it, I'm not in the capital." Hou Yong said apologetically on the phone.

"Oh, it doesn't matter, does it?"

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, it's just that there is something wrong with the technology, and I can't tell it on the phone, so I can't wait but rush back."

Although Hou Yong was saying hello on the surface, there was obviously a sense of urging in and out of his words.

Li Tang pondered for a moment and asked, "Then when are you leaving?" ”

The voice on the other end of the phone instantly became excited: "Flight at five o'clock in the afternoon." ”

Li Tang looked at the electronic clock on the desk, it was only one o'clock in the afternoon, and said, "If it's convenient for you, come to my company by the way." My company is located in the 798 factory next to the airport expressway. ”

Hou Yong said on the phone: "I know, I know." I'll be over in a moment, and we'll meet and talk again. ”

In less than half an hour, Hou Yong hurried in a taxi, carrying a suitcase with him, obviously going straight to the airport as soon as the matter was discussed.

Since Li Tang opened his mouth to ask him over, it is enough to show that he has agreed to take over this play.

After being notified by the front desk, Li Tang and Zeng Jia hurriedly went downstairs.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hou, I've kept you waiting. This is my agent and the general manager of our company, Zeng Jia. ”

"Mr. Zeng, hello!"

"Don't dare to be, Mr. Hou, hello!" Zeng Jia hurriedly stretched out his hands to shake hands with Hou Yong.

Li Tang asked Hou Yong to come over, in addition to telling him that he was willing to take over this play and play the role of Zou Jie, who he didn't like very much, there were also many questions about the characters and scripts that needed to be discussed with the director. After all, according to Hou Yong, this drama will start on March 8, and it will take less than half a month to complete the film, and the preparations are very hasty.

The script of the play "Jasmine Blossoms" is divided into three stories, namely Mo and Boss Meng, Li and Zou Jie, and Hua and Xiao Du's respective emotional experiences.

Li Tang has not been idle in the past two days, and carefully read the script several times, not only the story of Zou Jie and Li who he wants to play, but also the upper and lower stories have been read several times. Because the three stories are all connected, especially the second Li's story, which has the role of connecting the previous and the next.

And in response to the problems in the script and his own understanding, he wrote several sheets of A4 paper, including some of his preliminary portrayals of the character of Zou Jie.

Hou Yong sighed when he saw this, and in his words, there were two Jiang Wen in his crew. At the beginning, Jiang Wen was also, after reading the script, not only carefully studied the history of Shanghai Tang in the thirties, but also wrote a biography of the character of Boss Meng thicker than the script.

After answering these questions listed by Li Tang, seeing that the time had reached more than three o'clock in the afternoon, Hou Yong really couldn't sit down, so he got up and said, "Xiao Li, can you join the group a week in advance, and we will discuss it later?" ”

Li Tang looked at Zeng Jia, his schedule was also very tight during this time, and there were still two commercials to shoot.

Zeng Jia pondered for a moment and said: "Mr. Hou, it may be a bit of a problem a week in advance, we will report to the crew on March 4 at the latest, do you think it's okay?" ”

"No problem."

Hou Yong readily agreed, and then said: "In addition, for contract matters, I will ask the producer to contact you directly." ”

In the past, when Li Tang took over the play, he often contacted the director for the first time about the contract and salary, but Hou Yong was quite a bit of a shopkeeper, and his tone was a little rich.

"Okay, Mr. Hou. You are also too anxious, I asked the driver to take you to the airport. Zeng Jia, who had a flash of joy in his eyes, hurriedly said.

"Yo, that's for the best. Xiao Li, Mr. Zeng, thank you. ”

The two sent Hou Yong to the Buick business car that Li Tang used before, waved goodbye to Hou Yong, and watched the business car drive out of the company's yard.

Zeng Jia turned back to Li Tang and smiled: "Brother, this Hou Dao still seems to be a good master." ”

In addition to the profiteering Huayi of China Film and Dong Ping, the largest investment in the film "Jasmine Blossom" came from a capital investment company.

There are not many examples of domestic capital investment companies investing in movies this year, but in view of Li Tang's experience in his previous life, sometimes capital investment companies invest in films, not only to invest in movies, but also to have a deeper purpose.

Of course, new things, especially in the era of imperfect financial regulations, all kinds of barbaric growth is also reasonable.

……

There are mirrors everywhere in the studio, Li Tang is wearing a white shirt, the buttons are not open, and the strong muscles of his upper body are looming, I saw him holding a red wine glass full of ice cubes, taking out an ice cube and putting it in his mouth and chewing it, then turned his head to look at the camera, and said coolly: "Does it matter what you drink?" ”

“Cut！”

A buddy wearing a pair of half-rimmed glasses and a baby-faced face shouted to stop, and at the same time gave Li Tang a thumbs up and praised: "Teacher Li, very good!" ”

Li Tang was not very satisfied, he wrapped the down coat that his assistant Xiao Zhao put on for him in time, frowned and said to the baby-faced buddy: "Director Shen, is this shot just now a little too greasy?" ”

"Greasy?" Director Shen looked at Li Tang and didn't know why.

"It's the kind of greasy man who deliberately plays handsome and deliberately sells coquettishness."

“……”

This guy's name is Shen Yan, don't look at him with a baby face, he looks like he is only twenty-seven, eighty or thirty years old, and his actual age is almost four. The graduates of the 87th class of Nortel's directing department are only one year lower than Lou Ye and Wang Xiaoshuai, and they are classmates with Guan Yu.

It's just that when he graduated, he had few opportunities to make movies and TV series, and he went south to Guangdong to become a director who made commercials, and he made a great name in the advertising circle for more than ten years. Not long ago, I directed and filmed an advertisement for a Lilang trench coat endorsed by Mr. Chen's Daoist, and the effect was very good. This time, the manufacturer also spent a lot of money to invite him to plan and direct Li Tang Dynasty's suit advertisement.

Although Shen Yan has been very successful as a director in the advertising industry, he is still a low-level worker in the entertainment industry, although he is about to be ten years older than Li Tang, after being stunned for a while, he still humbly asked: "Mr. Li, how do you say this scene is filmed?" ”

Whisper for a guaranteed monthly pass! There are many things today, and there will be two more tomorrow!

(End of chapter)