Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 19 Giving Gifts

"Boss Lu, what do you do? How come..."

Lu Kuan smiled and said, "Director Li, you are more than twenty years older than me, so just call me Xiao Lu."

"I'm not a boss. I'm just an insider, an actor. But I'm more interested in directing and have some knowledge of it."

His suggestion to Li Yang to use handheld photography came from his previous study experience at the University of Southern California. It was a pseudo-documentary teaching shooting imitating "The Blair Witch Project", which required visiting several slums where black people lived.

Due to the complex and changeable shooting environment, large-scale machines are difficult to meet the flexibility requirements, and handheld photography can better demonstrate authenticity.

"To be honest, we've considered it before, but we were worried about the poor clarity. There's also too much dust under the mine, and lighting is also a problem."

Lu Kuan smiled and said, "Director Li is already in the mountains, so lighting won't be a problem."

"You mean..."

Li Yang frowned, having completely forgotten his previous contempt for this overly young investor, and spoke to him as if he were a filmmaker of the same level.

"Yes, it's a mining lamp!"

"Given the dusty environment and oppressive atmosphere, a 500mm lens with a sensitivity of only ASA16 is more suitable. Although it doesn't have the high definition of 800, it should be very suitable when paired with a searchlight from a miner's hat."

Lu Kuan described to him a dark world at the bottom of the mine, with dust everywhere.

The slightly shaky handheld camera, rough grain and dim lighting present a real and dark mining conspiracy to the audience.

Wonderful!

Li Yang clapped his thigh excitedly and looked at the investor in surprise: "Boss Lu, can you please be the producer of our film?"

He had such insights after just a quick glance at the script, and he believed that if the two of them worked together, they would be able to brainstorm better suggestions for the movie.

Lu Kuan pondered for a moment without saying anything. The filming period for this film was not long, but there were many twists and turns in the middle, and working in the mine was also somewhat dangerous.

"Director Li, I don't think I can make time for you, but you can always contact me if you need me. I'll invest 150 million in this film!"

Li Yang's silent heart became lively again because of his rejection. 150 million, this almost solved all his worries!
With the extra budget, we can be more comfortable with trial and error of film and the safety of the creative team without having to worry about the film being aborted midway.

The remaining money can also be used for promotion at the film festival. Later, Li Yang mobilized a group of old friends in Berlin to promote his love and distribute flyers in person.

"I'll transfer 40 yuan to you in the next two days. We'll sign the contract, and the subsequent funds will be in place soon based on your filming progress."

There is a special account for film shooting funds, and under Hollywood's standard industrial process, it is even monitored by investors and completion guarantee companies. The funds are not available all at once, which Li Yang understands.

He sighed heavily. Although he didn't invite this knowledgeable young man to help, at least he solved the bulk of the budget.

Lu Kuan also sighed heavily while sitting in the taxi. Where could he find the remaining money?

Just like pyramid schemes and insurance, you have to rip people off, so the remaining one million or so still needs to be negotiated with senior brothers, Sister Jiang, Brother Xun and others.

CICC offers generous benefits. My cousin joined the company in 04 after graduating from college. That year, he received a salary package of 18 yuan plus bonuses. In some years, this bonus was even higher than the annual salary.

That year, the average wage of employed urban workers nationwide was 1.6 yuan...

Later, when the sponsor system was introduced, it became common for investment banking elites to have a net worth of over one million yuan overnight, as common as drinking water. This system was also jokingly called "a production line for the middle class."

I have been working for more than four years, so it should not be a problem for me to borrow 50 yuan from my senior to make ends meet.

After finalizing the investment intention, Lu Kuan rushed to Wuxi without stopping, ready to find a good opportunity to make friends with the two good sisters.

This bald donkey can change, but I, a Taoist priest, can’t?
After getting off the plane, Lu Kuan specially found an exquisite high-end Western restaurant, so that the two actresses would not be disturbed by onlookers while eating, and it would also be convenient for them to talk.

"What is this?" Jiang Qinqin and Zhou Xun looked at each other and looked at the two elegant gift boxes on the dining table.

"It's a gift! Open it and take a look."

"Tiffny?" Jiang Qinqin opened the package in surprise, revealing a pair of diamond earrings.

The round brilliant cut diamond inlaid with platinum is of outstanding size, color and clarity, and its style is very different from the current domestic jewelry.

Zhou Xun's is Tiffany's classic Graffiti series rose gold pendant necklace from the 80s, which was still at the forefront of fashion twenty years later in 2001.

Jiang Qinqin signed a contract with a Taiwan brokerage company in her early years and has done more research on jewelry than Zhou Xun.

At this moment, she couldn't let go of the earrings and asked with a smile, "Xiaolu, where did you buy these Tiffany's? They're not fake, are they?"

Lu Kuan feigned anger and said, "How can you look down on me! This store just opened, and I queued up all night in Beijing to buy this!"

This is half true and half false.

Tiffany just opened its first store in mainland China in Wangfujing, Beijing this year, and the jewelry brand, which claims to have been passed down for a century, has officially entered the mainland market.

Saying that you have to queue up all night is pure flattery. The two pieces of jewelry that cost more than 30,000 yuan in total are not within the reach of ordinary consumers at the moment, so there is no need to queue up.

Zhou Xun had asked Jiang Qinqin to put the pendant on him, and it was quite interesting to play with the unique shape of a heart and a small arrow.

For the two actresses, these are light luxury embellishments for daily wear and cannot be matched with evening gowns in formal occasions.

"Why did you give earrings to your sister Jiang and a pendant to me?"

The young Taoist priest started to be mysterious again: "Xun'er, you are of the metal and fire element, and Sister Jiang is of the water element. This is a match made in heaven based on the five elements. It's good for your fortune!"

"Also, Sister Jiang and I were exhausted from taking care of you the day you got drunk. Her earrings were lost that night."

Two blushes appeared on Jiang Qinqin's pretty face. She glanced at him coquettishly. Thinking of the whispering in their ears that night, her body felt itchy again.

Little Taoist priest, it was clearly bitten off by you...

She calmly stretched out her jade foot from under the table and stepped lightly on Lu Kuan, telling him to stop talking nonsense. Zhou Xun was an experienced person and could easily spot clues.

Lu Kuan chuckled, and the waiter brought the appetizers. The three of them ate and chatted.

"Xiaolu, did you invest in Li Yang's movie?"

Jiang Qinqin has always been a relatively indifferent person, but for some reason she is always very concerned about the little Taoist priest's expenses.

“Well, I invested 100 million.”

Lu Kuan cut the steak skillfully and did not shy away from revealing where his spending went.

"What? Where did you get the money?"

Zhou Xun was no longer calm. In those days, coal bosses and Internet capital had not yet entered the market on a large scale, and the pay of top actors was far from as exaggerated as the later "one Shuang = 1.6 million".

Some famous domestic actors of the same period in the early 8s, such as Li Baotian who is currently filming "The Miraculous Doctor Xilaile", earn 6 per episode, Wang Zhiwen earns 6, and Ning Jing earns .

In "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", Zhou Xun and Li Yapeng received the maximum salary of 8, while Jiang Qinqin and Zhou Jie both received around 6.

This 100 million is not a lot for Zhou Xun, but it is far from something that Lu Kuan can spend easily without blinking an eye.

(End of this chapter)