Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 1 Hijacking an International Director

The late summer heat in Beijing in October was still in its final stages, with a gentle breeze rustling the slightly yellowing leaves.

On the campus of Beijing Film Academy, three young people walking side by side were all wearing short sleeves, showing their youthful energy.

On the left is a fat man with a round belly that makes his T-shirt bulge. Although he has black hair and black eyes, a closer look reveals that he is a foreigner.

On the right is a skinny man with a stick-like build, wearing flat-top glasses and having an ordinary appearance.

The handsome young man in the middle is Wu Yuchen, a freshman in the directing department who just enrolled this year. He is all smiles at the moment.

As a director who wasn't very successful in his previous life, how could he not be happy to be reborn back to 95 when he first entered university?!

"Hurry up, we're going to be late!" Skinny guy glanced at his watch and urged.

"Chen Erduo, don't be in such a hurry!" The fat foreigner wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Old Wu, looking at your big and strong frame, can't we adapt to local customs when we get to Beijing and speak more like men?"

Wu Yuchen patted the fat man's belly with a smile.

"Wu Yuchen, you're so annoying!" the fat guy teased in a Taiwanese accent.

"I feel like you two are escorting me back to Dragon Island, just like the fat and thin monks," Wu Yuchen joked.

"If the two of us were fat and thin monks, wouldn't you be Wei Xiaobao?"

These days, boys tend to admire heroic protagonists like Qiao Feng and Guo Jing, while Wei Xiaobao seems rather sleazy in comparison.

"What's wrong with Wei Xiaobao? He has seven wives, he's so lucky!"
"Besides, I'm way more handsome than Wei Xiaobao!" Wu Yuchen said with a hint of smugness.

The skinny guy sized up Wu Yuchen. He had sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, and was over 1.8 meters tall, which made him much taller than the two of them.

Although he knew Wu Yuchen was very handsome, even outshining all the male students in this year's performance class, he still couldn't hold back: "Old Wu, what do you mean by narcissism?"

"Show-off!" the fat foreigner replied in a Taiwanese accent, sounding perfectly in sync.

Wu Yuchen laughed and then looked at the two monks, one fat and one thin, beside him. He never expected that after his rebirth, these two people, who were well-known in the industry in his previous life, would become his roommates.

Fat Monk is of mixed American and Taiwanese descent. His Chinese name is Wu Shih-hsien, and he claims to be a descendant of Wu Zixu, a famous general from the Warring States period.

He previously studied film arts at the University of Washington, but this year, as a junior, he transferred to the directing department at Beijing Film Academy. After enrolling, he voluntarily moved out of his international student dormitory and shared a dormitory with the freshmen, just for the sake of having some fun!
By the way, in his previous life he also starred in a fairly famous movie, "Waiting Alone," starring Xia Yu and Li Lianhua, which was quite popular among young people back then.

Wu Yuchen remembered that when this guy was interviewed later, he spoke fluent Beijing dialect. He never expected that now he would speak with a strong Taiwanese accent.

As for the skinny monk to Wu Yuchen's right, his name is Chen Er. His representative works in his previous life were "The Wasted Times" and "Border Town". He may not have been that successful commercially, but he is a director with a very strong personal style and his own ideas.

Although Wu Yuchen is a reborn person, he doesn't think he's much better than others.

On the contrary, he had spent half his life in the industry in his previous life and already knew his own limitations.

In terms of filming skills and techniques, he is definitely a qualified and skilled worker, but in terms of talent and inspiration, he may not be able to compare with the fat and thin monks beside him.

For a director, without inspiration and personal ideas, you're destined for mediocrity. That's why he had long since given up on his dream of becoming a famous director in his past life, content to make a living in the industry through his skills.

Unexpectedly, fate gave him a second chance!

If I can't be Jay Chou, can't I at least be Charlotte?
Now that we have memories of decades into the future and so many films and television dramas yet to be released, if we can't fulfill our wishes from our past lives in this lifetime, then we've lived in vain!

Wu Yuchen wasn't taking the fat and thin monks to Shenlong Island this time; they were going to intercept them.

Go and steal the first pot of gold from a top international director!

……

In 95, when even the hustle and bustle of city life was still slow, unlike the internet age of later years where you can download movies online, search for movie information, and access other people's opinions and views by logging into various movie forums and websites.

These days, everyone shares what they have. When a new movie comes out, we watch it together and then get together to discuss it.

There is a film interest group at Beijing Film Academy called the Youth Film Experiment Group.

The initial purpose of the group was to exchange videotapes, but later they simply organized themselves to watch them together, discuss them, and eventually it became a regular interest group.

Just last month, after watching a domestic film, the group members were filled with indignation.

Terrible, absolutely terrible!
After a lot of criticism, the group had an idea: they should try to make a short film themselves!
These 20-plus people include literature majors, photography majors, fine arts majors, and sound recording majors; they actually form a complete film production team.

As everyone talked, they became more and more excited and finally decided that within a month, anyone with an idea could write a script, and whoever had the best script would get their film made!

Today is the day the Youth Film Experiment Group evaluates the scripts.

There were more than twenty people sitting in the classroom, all listening quietly to the person on stage reading aloud.

On stage, a simply dressed, honest-looking man was reading his script in Mandarin with a Shanxi accent.

Sitting below, Wu Yuchen secretly sighed, "Directors who can become famous are indeed quite capable."

The man standing before him was none other than Jia Zhangke, who later became a well-known figure in the industry, and was nicknamed Section Chief Jia!

Many people think his first film was "Xiao Wu", but that can only be considered his first feature film.

Lao Jia's true first short film is "Xiao Shan Goes Home," which he is currently reading aloud.

In Wu Yuchen's opinion, the script for "Xiaoshan Goes Home" is quite flat and lacks dramatic conflict, but Jia Zhangke's writing makes it feel unique.

A migrant worker in a big city who longs to go home but cannot, a stranger lost in the city, seems to leap into your mind. You can clearly feel that sense of dejection, bewilderment, and inexpressible resentment that can only be suppressed in your heart.

No wonder he was able to publish novels in "Jinxi Literature" while still in middle school, and now he can earn two thousand a month just by writing!

This is where Jia Zhangke rose to prominence. Relying on this youth film experimental group, Jia built his own team and used more than 20,000 yuan raised by everyone to shoot a 57-minute short film called "Xiaoshan Goes Home".

Then, Jia Zhangke won the Gold Award for Feature Film at the Hong Kong Independent Short Film and Video Competition with "Xiao Shan Goes Home," receiving a prize of 5 yuan, and also met the investor of "Xiao Wu." From then on, his career took off!

It can be said that without this experimental group and without the more than 20,000 yuan raised through crowdfunding, there would be no Section Chief Jia as we know him today!
But now, the money belongs to the Wu family!
New book seeking support!
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(End of this chapter)