Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 53 Film Selection
Before Wu Yuchen could speak, Grandpa He, who had spoken earlier, said:
"That is indeed an opportunity, but I expect there will be competition!"

Another veteran comrade spoke up:

"Young people should have the spirit of courage and progress, and not be afraid of competition! Xiao Wu, I think you should think about this carefully."

Wu Yuchen nodded. He knew there would definitely be competition after hearing the news.

He estimated that at least 200 million of the 100 million yuan budget for 3-5 films would be reserved by the Beijing Film Studio. There was nothing he could do; they were local bigwigs, and they had a partnership with the Movie Channel, having helped them during its establishment.

The only thing he can fight for is probably the remaining 100 million, and even that 100 million might be divided into several parts.

At this moment, the old lady also smiled and said:
"Xiao Wu, if you want to give it a try, you might as well give me this videotape first, and I'll take it to show it to someone. But at most, I can only ask around for you; this might not work out. I'll let you know if there's any news."

Wu Yuchen naturally understood that showing people the videotape was to prove his directing ability; otherwise, how could anyone believe in the ability of an unknown person to direct a film?

Wu Yuchen clasped his hands together and respectfully said to the old lady:

"Teacher Ruan, I'm already incredibly grateful that you told me this news and even went to inquire on my behalf. Whether it works out or not, I'll always remember your kindness! Thank you so much this time!"

Grandma Ruan accepted his bow, then smiled and said:
"I'm also curious about what kind of feature film you can make~"

After spending more than a month together, she had a pretty good impression of Wu Yuchen. He was not only talented, but also very hardworking. He could also get along with the older folks, unlike her grandchildren who would get impatient after a few words.

After watching Wu Yuchen's "Car 44," she was shocked and felt that such a talented young man should be nurtured. She thought it would be good to help him get a chance and see if he could seize it.

On the way back from Prince Gong's Mansion, Wu Yuchen was still thinking about what had happened that day, which was full of surprises.

First, Tu Honggang gave him a large red envelope of 20,000 yuan, and then Grandma Ruan introduced him to an opportunity to make a self-produced film on the movie channel.

Wu Yuchen looked at the soles of his shoes; he hadn't stepped in dog poop.

He then shook his head, pondering the opportunity presented by the movie channel.

To be honest, if the movie channel dared to give him all 200 million yuan, he wouldn't mind giving them a surprise: one of their most popular movies, "Hands Up!"

The subject matter of this movie is absolutely censorable, there won't be any problems, and it's very popular with the public.

Many people may think that this movie didn't win any awards or do much at the box office, but that doesn't stop people from really enjoying watching it!
The movie is full of laughs, and Uncle Pan's portrayal of the bow-legged Japanese soldier is hilarious.

"Raise Your Hands!" has repeatedly won the highest annual viewership rating for the movie channel. Without any promotion or support from mainstream urban cinemas, it has been the number one film in terms of the number of preview screenings in rural cinemas across China for nine consecutive years, with a total of over 1 million screenings in rural cinemas! Its significance to the movie channel is similar to that of "Princess Pearl" to Hunan TV.

Many people criticized this movie as terrible, portraying the Japanese soldiers as idiots. But Wu Yuchen wants to say something: Is it acceptable for "Escape from the Tiger's Mouth" to depict German soldiers as low-IQ, good-for-nothings and be considered a classic, but my "Hands Up!" with the same formula is considered a bad movie? That's such a double standard!

However, the movie channel was unlikely to give him 200 million, even if he saw the script for "Hands Up!", so he stopped thinking about it.

As for films by sixth-generation directors like "Blind Shaft," "Blind Mountain," and "Xiao Wu," none of them would even be considered. The scripts would be rejected outright after just one reading.

The movie channel invests in you to produce a film that can be shown on television to a wide audience, not to produce banned films.

Wu Yuchen's primary criterion for selecting films this time is naturally that they must pass censorship; otherwise, nothing else matters. Secondly, they need to be low-budget, the kind that can be made for 100 million or even 50 yuan.

At the same time, Wu Yuchen's personal ambitions must be taken into account. He shouldn't expect this film to be released in domestic theaters, because the investors, the movie channel, want it to be broadcast on television. Therefore, for Wu Yuchen, the only way for this film to bring in profits is to win awards at international film festivals and make money.

When it comes to low-budget, high-return movies, the first two science fiction films that come to mind are the ones that have been hyped up by marketing accounts: "The Man from Earth" and "The Night the Comet Came".

"The Man from Earth" cost a little over $10,000 to make, but everyone online is saying it grossed 300 million. 300 million my foot! This movie wasn't even released in theaters!
There's also "Coherence," which cost $50,000 to make but was touted as grossing over $100 million, though it only grossed $140,000.

Of course, Wu Yuchen does not deny the excellence of these two films, and they must have made a fortune through DVD releases and online revenue. If they were shown at a science fiction film festival, they would surely attract discerning film dealers.

The low-budget films that truly achieved huge box office returns were *The Blair Witch Project* and *Paranormal Activity*, with production costs of $6 and $1.5 respectively, both grossing over $2 million worldwide. However, the former relied on marketing, and the latter was a horror film, neither of which met Princess Six's requirements.

"The Man from Earth" is out of the question; localizing the story would be too difficult, and it might even run into legal issues.

"The Night the Comet Came" is still worth considering. Maybe Princess Six likes science fiction at this time? It could be used as a surprise. With a budget of 10 or so, this film should be able to be made.

After devising some unconventional ideas, we also need to consider more conventional ones. Conventional ones, in this context, refer to films whose content aligns with positive social values ​​and the mainstream ideology, such as those with revolutionary themes or those that celebrate genuine human emotions.

Wu Yuchen doesn't consider films with revolutionary themes because they wouldn't sell overseas. He prefers films that celebrate genuine human emotions, like "Postmen in the Mountains" starring Liu Ye, which tells the story of mutual understanding between two generations of fathers and sons.

"Postmen in the Mountains" was incredibly popular in Japan, accumulating a box office of 8 million yen. Unfortunately, the production company sold the overseas rights for only $6.

Wu Yuchen sighed as he thought of this, "I don't have enough money!"
The original filming cost of "Postmen in the Mountains" was over 200 million yuan. The novel's copyright was easy to negotiate, but filming would have to be done in the mountains, which would cost at least another 100 million yuan.

Most truly low-budget films are shot in very simple locations; anything more complex will increase the cost.

(End of this chapter)