Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 258 Brave Heart
After the Oscars, there is an official cocktail party and cocktail parties organized by each film company.

The American company will hold a special reception tomorrow with Miramax and Lionsgate in an effort to make more allies and further increase its influence on Hollywood following Eisner's resignation.

Especially now that the "Ghost" and "Insidious" series have become huge hits, many producers and investors have become interested in the company of this Chinese director.

Wolf friend Quentin and fat man Harvey came forward and said, "Lu, there's no reason not to have a party today, right?"

"And me..." Leo walked over listlessly.

Lu Kuanqi asked, "Where's Giselle?"

"She left me alone."

Leonardo helplessly spread his hands and looked at Boss Lu with emotion: "Now I believe it."

"what?"

"I believe what Harvey said. You are a wizard who can tell fortunes."

"Gisele just broke up with me. She's going to be 25 next year. Bullshit!"

Harvey laughed out loud when he heard this. I told you he was a Taoist priest, but you didn’t believe it!
Like Li Shoucheng, he had already become a staunch ally and loyal supporter of Li Shoucheng, who was wrapped in the cloak of his talent and metaphysics.

Liu Xiaoli, holding her daughter, walked over and said goodbye to Lu Kuan: "Xiaolu, we're going back first."

"Okay, I'll let Ah Fei take you there. It's quite chaotic here at night."

Liu Yifei glanced at the three white men who were arm in arm next to her.

Quentin Tarantino, a film genius with a weird appearance and a reputation for his foot fetish;

the Jewish An Lushan, who had a ferocious appearance and a reputation for sexual immorality and cruelty;
Looks... Handsome, known for his playboy nature, Leo, the supermodel collector.

Let’s take a look at the washing machine, which already has a long history of bad deeds and countless criminal records.

Let Lu Kuan go out and have fun with these bad friends tonight. What will they do?
Concubine Liu Yi could guess it even with her own teeth!
She at least gave Boss Lu some face and pulled him a few steps away: "Didn't you say you would carry me back?"

"Well... didn't I give you the little golden man?"

"No, you have to do what you say."

Seeing that she was not going to give up, Lu Kuan made a phone call gesture to Harvey and supported her arm.

"Let's go, I'll carry you after we get out of the Kodak Theater."

Liu Xiaoli was worried that her daughter's mischief would annoy Lu Kuan, so she advised, "Xixi, Xiaolu has to go discuss business with someone. Don't waste his time."

Liu Yifei raised an eyebrow at her mother, signaling her not to interfere.

She didn't have the nerve to expose his beastly nature on the spot.

Talking about Mao’s business?
A flesh trade, huh?
Boss Lu smiled and said, "It's okay. They asked me to discuss the plans for the next movie. It will be the same later."

Later, after Harvey has arranged the beauties, go up to the third floor, same thing.

Ah Fei drove the three of them back to the hotel. Boss Lu naively thought that he could get away, but as soon as he got out of the car, he was grabbed by Liu Yifei.

"I'm hungry. I've been eating very little these days because I have to wear the dress. Take me out to eat."

The tone was unquestionable, leaving Liu Xiaoli stunned.

Did I reveal something? Why is he speaking directly to me?

Judging from the situation, Xiaolu is quite considerate of his daughter...

"Xixi, please be careful and come back before 11 o'clock."

By now the old mother has accepted her fate. Although Lu Kuan has a bad reputation, she has been very polite to her daughter for the past three or four years.

Concubine Liu Yi has a lot of her own thoughts now. Girls are no longer under the control of their mothers when they grow up, and she can't control them for long. Let them be.

Only young men and women were left standing in the lobby.

"You have to remember who you are. You're a female celebrity, okay? How can a female celebrity go out to eat at 9 o'clock at night?"

Concubine Liu Yi pouted and said coquettishly: "I was just too hungry and had no strength, so I slipped and sprained my ankle."

"Why am I so hungry? Isn't it so I can walk the red carpet with you and wear your dress?"

"Do you have a conscience when you say that?"

Okay, okay, you have learned to put the cart before the horse, right? Do you believe that if I offer a price of 100 million, there are female celebrities who will pay money to walk the Oscar red carpet?

Boss Lu made an excuse: "Your feet are not convenient, right? I'll ask Harvey to contact the Michelin restaurant and have it delivered to your room, okay?"

"No."

"Do you understand? Michelin restaurants generally don't do takeout. The taste of food changes from the time it's made in the kitchen to the table, let alone such a long distance."

She was not making this up. Just like the Japanese cuisine, why were the dining tables always set up around the iron plate and workbench?

This is to reduce the taste error caused by changes in cooking time after the food is out of the pot.

The cell phone in Boss Lu's pocket vibrated violently several times. He knew without even looking that it was his wolf friends urging him.

The key point is that Liu Xiaoli was confident in herself, so she just shook her sleeves and left. She was really carefree!

“Ouch~~~ Ouch, it hurts!”

Concubine Liu Yi slightly raised her left foot and looked at him pitifully with a pout.

It was a poor performance, and Lu Laokuan could not expose it openly.

This made her unhappy. What should she do with the "Li Ziqi" video on Mytube that she is about to shoot?

"Okay! Then go upstairs and change your clothes. I'll wait for you here."

"Really?"

"More real than Sadako."

The little girl hopped over on one foot, reached into his trouser pocket without any hesitation, and took out her cell phone.

"Leave it with me and I'll return it to you later."

Lu Kuan, feeling both amused and helpless, asked for a glass of water at the bar and sat in a booth waiting for her.

Ah Fei did not follow, Boss Lu drove by himself.

In the Midwest of the United States, you can exchange your domestic driver's license for a short-term North American driver's license. This regulation is common in California and Washington State.

If Liu Yifei wanted to eat hot pot, she had to go to Chinatown.

Chinatowns in many American cities, including Los Angeles, are mostly located in the city center.

The two arrived at Chinatown near Union Station, which is also close to Broadway and Hill Street and seems to be a prime location.

This is mainly because most of the Chinese immigrants came for the gold rush and railway construction work.

After finishing work, they settled in the city center due to convenient transportation and concentrated living facilities, forming a residential community.

After stopping the car, the two men, who were already well-known in North America, were fully armed.

"Don't move, I'll jump on you."

"I see you're doing fine, aren't you?"

"Bullshit, it hurts!"

The brave ones enjoy the washing machine first. Liu Yifei jumped onto Lu Kuan and asked him to fulfill his promise and carry her on his back.

In other words, the American people were in a state of chaos, the streets were brightly lit and full of people having fun, and no one paid attention to this young man and woman.

"This is it?"

"Row."

Concubine Liu Yi took a glance and agreed.

It doesn’t matter what you eat, the key is who you eat it with.

Xiao Liu just went upstairs and changed his clothes.

She wore a baseball cap with a silver buckle, a loose and casual white long-sleeved T-shirt, and a black jacket draped over her shoulders. Her skin was as white as snow, and she looked elegant and beautiful.

Lu Kuan was flipping through the menu, and she just looked at him with a smile, her head slightly raised, her beautiful eyes rippling.

In the future era of self-media, he would definitely be known as "the most affectionate person in Beijing Film Academy".

"Look at you, like a tomboy."

Liu Yifei chuckled: "My mom asked me to wear this. She said that if I were photographed like this, I wouldn't be able to recognize it. Does it look good?"

Boss Lu glanced at her chest and said, "Nothing special."

"You have an advantage in pretending to be a little boy."

Xiao Liu didn't understand what the washing machine was doing, so he moved over and sat next to him, looking at the menu together.

“Order all the meat!”

Concubine Liu Yi's arm accidentally touched his forearm, which was cool and refreshing, and there was a faint fragrance.

Lu Kuan glanced at her sideways and said, "You smell quite nice with mint. Is that perfume?"

"Yeah, the scent of Amani's Jade Dragon Tea, doesn't it smell nice?"

Xiao Liu is proud: "The top note is a citrus scent with a touch of water, and the base note is a mint tea scent."

She moved closer to Boss Lu like a drug-sniffing dog and sniffed it, then said with satisfaction, "Not bad, there's not much of a smoke smell. The sachet I gave you is working."

While enjoying the beauty by his side, Boss Lu wrote with regret, "It's just mutton. It's a pity that I can't eat tripe, pig throat or anything like that."

Little Sheep was founded in Inner Mongolia in 1998 and expanded into overseas markets in November 2003, with Los Angeles being its first store in the United States.

The soup base and dipping sauce have been improved, but you have to make do with it when eating abroad. It was not easy to have a hot pot in the United States at this time in 2005.

The dishes in the private room were served quickly. Concubine Liu Yi, who never had good manners when eating in front of him, started to eat excitedly.

The two of them kept eating and soon finished two plates of mutton rolls.

"Xiao Liu, do you know what your greatest strength is?"

Concubine Liu Yi stuffed her mouth with meat and looked up in a daze: "Hmm?"

"It's delicious! Eating with you always makes the food taste so good!"

"Shouldn't you say I'm a beauty that you're full of when you see me not eating?"

Boss Lu sneered: "You think more than you look."

"The road is wide. I didn't expect to be able to eat hot pot here. It's so satisfying!"

"Among Chinese restaurants, hotpot restaurants are the easiest to expand."

"why?"

Lu Kuan put down his chopsticks and handed her two pieces of paper: "Standardization."

"The staff service, food quality control, environment decoration, management 6S standards, etc., all you need to do is copy them exactly, as long as the brand is well-known."

Liu Yifei recalled the time when she had dinner at South Beauty a few years ago and heard Wang Xiaofei bragging about how many branches his company had opened. It sounded just so-so.

It’s not as good as this Xiao Fei Yang Hotpot Restaurant, which has opened branches in North America.

Suddenly, she thought, "Hey, what do you say about me opening a hot pot restaurant?"

"Not much, you don't have the brains."

Liu Yifei was not convinced: "I am just investing. If I use myself to advertise, won't anyone buy it?"

In later generations, celebrities who opened stores generally faced difficulties, and the few who were able to make money took the path of crazy expansion to earn franchise fees.

"Invest if you have any money. It's not just a matter of a few hundred million to open a branch of this thing."

"Haha, I don't have much money now, but I will have some after August."

Xiao Liu raised his eyebrows at the capitalist opposite him, his pride evident in his words.

Boss Lu's face darkened, and he suddenly had an idea: "How about I lend it to you?"

Borrowing money to invest, suffering huge losses due to failure, and then paying off the debt with one's own life, this plot is good.

"I'll think about it."

Out of kindness, Boss Lu gave her two pieces of advice: "First, don't invest. Second, invest in a standardized hot pot restaurant with good service."

"Hotpot flavors are all pretty much the same, and the domestic service industry is still stuck in the old mindset that good wine needs no bush."

"If you really want to invest and have fun, find one that provides good service and standardization."

Standardization means it is easier to open branches, easier to expand, easier to tell stories, and easier to attract venture capital.

The phone on the table suddenly rang. Boss Lu looked over and saw that it was Zhang Huijun.

It’s around four or five in the afternoon in China now, and we should be communicating about the Pan Asia Film Academy.

"Hello? Principal Zhang."

"The road is wide, congratulations first!"

The news that the film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film has spread all over China, and Wenjie has received more than 20 interviews scheduled to return to China.

"Haha, thank you, Principal. I'll contact a few Hollywood directors tomorrow to see if I can recruit some teachers for Yaying."

Zhang Huijun said in surprise, "Great, great, we're also getting the green light to get the documents approved quickly."

"By the way, I called you because I have something to tell you."

Zhang Huijun in the office nodded to the guests from Tangshan, indicating that he would tell them now and they should not be in a hurry.

"Regarding the Great Earthquake movie, Tangshan is willing to give up the controlling stake."

"It just so happens that Secretary Zhao is in Beijing for a meeting. He'd like to find time to invite you to sit down and chat. What do you think?"

Boss Lu understood what was going on. He had won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and was afraid that any further delay would mean there would be no hope, so he had to give in.

In fact, he had thought about this matter for several days, but he instinctively used the tactic of procrastination.

"Okay, after we book the return flight, let Wenjie notify the school office and we can coordinate a time, okay?"

"Okay, let's do this first."

As soon as she hung up the phone, Liu Yifei couldn't wait to ask, "What is Yaying? Are you poaching teachers?"

There was nothing to hide from her, so Lu Kuan explained, "I'm about to graduate early, and Wenjie is planning to cooperate with Beijing Film Academy to establish a film research center."

"The tentative name is Pan Asia Film Academy, which is dedicated to training a group of directors of commercial and genre films that meet the standards of the Hollywood film industry."

"Wow! That's amazing, right? So you're going to be the principal, right?"

Boss Lu laughed heartily. "That's right, just shout it out and let's hear it!"

Principal, like father and teacher, is another buff title.

"Tsk, I'm not going to school, whoever wants to call me can do it."

"What about the Tangshan thing?"

This topic really gave him a headache. It was a serious matter and he had to be careful!

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Xiao Liu pouted in dissatisfaction, misunderstanding that he was distracted and thinking about some random things again.

"Let's go? Let's go for a drive."

"Okay!"

There is a Santa Monica Beach about twenty minutes' drive from downtown Los Angeles. Mr. Lu parked his car on the side of the road. Liu Yifei put half of her body weight on him and staggered towards the beach.

The two sat down on a bench by the sea. Lu Kuan, with a heavy heart, put his coat on the little girl and watched the waves rising and falling without saying a word.

Concubine Liu Yi also noticed that something was wrong with him. He seemed to be depressed ever since Tangshan was mentioned.

Looking at the white waves within sight, Xiao Liu tried hard to find a topic to break the terrible silence.

"Tell me... the Indonesian tsunami a few months ago. How despaired must those people have felt watching the huge waves dozens of meters high crashing down on them?"

It has been just over three months since the Indonesian tsunami at the end of December 2004, and international rescue efforts are still ongoing.

The magnitude 9.3 earthquake is the third strongest earthquake ever recorded worldwide.

When this topic was brought up, Lu Kuan became even more silent.

9.3.

8.0.

512.

Numbers jumped before his eyes, and the roar of the waves not far away hammered at his heart.

"Xiao Liu."

"Ok?"

Liu Yifei turned her head to look at the man beside her, and suddenly felt that he seemed to have just walked out of the night, with clear eyes.

Lu Kuan bared his big white teeth and looked at her: "Today I met Mel Gibson, the director of Brave Heart."

"I'm reminded of a line from William Wallace in a movie."

"Every man dies, not every man really lives."

Everyone dies, but not everyone truly lives.

As if he had made up his mind, Lu Kuan took out his cell phone and sent messages to Zhang Huijun and Secretary Li from Tangshan.

He wants to make "Tangshan Earthquake" and he wants to use this movie to do something, even though he may encounter unknown consequences.

Xiao Liu was puzzled by his sudden desire to perform and just thought it was an artist's habitual madness.

The young director immediately looked up and smiled at Liu Yifei, "If one day I have nothing, what will you do?"

Concubine Liu Yi was stunned when she heard this. She couldn't keep up with his jumping thoughts, and it was impossible for her to keep up with his jumping thoughts.

She wrinkled her nose and touched her lips with her finger, as if thinking.

"Well... you can work as a waiter at the hot pot restaurant I just acquired."

"That's it?"

"Well... I'll hire you to do my laundry again, the real kind."

Boss Lu laughed: "Sure, but you have to pay extra."
-
"Leader! Leader! Happy event! Very happy event!"

Zhao Yong got off the car in front of the hotel of the Hebei Provincial Office in Beijing, and Xiao Li came out from the lobby to greet him with a cheer.

"Why are you so flustered? Speak slowly."

Secretary Li followed him closely, extremely excited: "It's agreed! Director Lu agreed!"

"real!?"

Zhao Yong had been in meetings all day and was feeling dizzy. This was the best news he'd heard recently. "Great! We've won the Berlin Golden Bear, the Venice Golden Lion, and now we've added an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film."

"I think our film will be seen by more audiences and have a greater impact!"

Secretary Li smiled and said, "Boss, don't be too happy. We have given up the controlling stake. Both parties still need to sit down and discuss how to make this movie."

"Then let's talk. As long as he's willing to take it, I'll be lenient with him in terms of personal treatment and outward support!"

Xiao Li probed, "What about Huayi..."

"Feng Xiaogang won't be available until next year at the earliest. We can't wait that long, Lu Chuan..."

"forget it."

Xiao Li nodded in agreement, respectfully sent the drunk leader back to rest, and returned to his room.

He called Wang Xiaolei.

"Boss Wang, you didn't take a break, did you?"

"Secretary Li, where are you? Do you want to come out for a drink?"

There was a lot of noise on the other end of the phone. Wang Xiaolei walked out of the private room of Shang K, feeling happy because he thought it was good news.

But after a few seconds, my heart sank: "Could you please reconsider this, Boss?"

"Secretary Li, listen to me. We have now invested in China Heng Film and Television Company and are fully capable of releasing this film overseas."

"Warner is one of the Big Six!"

"Besides, Director Lu Chuan is also very talented, too..."

I don’t know what was said on the other end of the phone. Wang Xiaolei’s voice suddenly stopped and he hung up the phone angrily.

Looking through the glass door of the private room, Wang Xiaolei didn't know what to say when he saw Taro on the sofa still hugging his little sister and singing.

"Best Foreign Language Film... I can't stop it..."

He muttered as he walked to the bathroom, where he informed Zhou Jun and his elder brother of Tangshan's decision to completely reject Huayi and Lu Chuan's film project. (Note 1)

As you can imagine, there will be chaos again.

On the evening of February 2th, Pacific Time, Marvel Studios, Lionsgate, and Miramax, which has become independent from Disney, held a cocktail party in Beverly Hills to celebrate "Alien Land" winning the Best Foreign Language Film and Best Visual Effects awards.

Liu Yifei and her daughter took the opportunity to return to Peking.

Her filming schedule for "Bad Genius" was very tight, and her goal of becoming familiar to Hollywood and raising her status was achieved after walking the Oscar red carpet.

Celebrities and big names socialized skillfully, and both actors and directors were happy to meet this oriental director who became famous for his witty humor at the Oscars.

Not to mention the huge success his "Alien Land" created in the North American market last year.

Harvey tapped the rim of his glass with his fork. "Ladies and gentlemen, please be quiet for a moment. I have an announcement to make."

“Last year, Lionsgate and Miramax partnered with our talented director Lu to make ‘Outlander’ a worldwide sensation.”

"At present, the script of 'Alien Land 2' is in preparation. We will keep the original crew, launch the project before the end of the year, and officially release it next summer!"

There was a burst of applause at the scene, only Tom Cruise looked unhappy.

But he knew in his heart that he could not escape the responsibility for the backstabbing last time, and he would not be able to play the role of producer of the sequel this time.

At that time in Cannes in 2003, because the fledgling Lu had not yet gained recognition from the North American market, he needed to find an authority in Hollywood to endorse him.

Now he can initiate this project on his own, and at most he can win over Lionsgate and Harvey and ask them to give up some of their share.

Of course, domestic allies such as Lao Han and Eagle King will also inevitably get a piece of the pie, so this obviously profitable sequel is almost a foregone conclusion.

Lu Kuan pushed Justin Lin to the front of the crowd and said, "'Alien Land 2' will be directed by Justin Lin from the industry, and I will be the producer."

"Justin, say hello to everyone."

In fact, there is no need for introduction. The popularity of the low-budget movie "Insidious" in the North American independent film market in the past two years has pushed this young Chinese director to the forefront.

Everyone was amazed at the fact that this oriental director was not only very good at training actors, but was also very good at training directors.

Boss Lu nodded to Harvey and asked Justin Lin to accept media interviews, and started a publicity campaign that was exactly the same as the previous work from the beginning of the project.

"Lu, your girlfriend's pay..."

Boss Lu didn't refute his claim about his girlfriend, but frowned and said, "We still need time to finalize the script and the German tax refund. We estimate that filming will start in November at the latest."

"When the time comes, we'll discuss Zhang Ziyi's salary with her. It's business as usual."

"OK."

Harvey glanced around and said, "Let's go. The person you want to see is here."

Boss Lu's eyes lit up, and he quickly followed his gaze and locked onto a blond man in his thirties.

Christopher Nolan.

That's right, he came to persuade this famous commercial film director to serve as an instructor at the Pan Asia Film Academy which will officially open in September next year.

In 2005, Nolan was not as great as his fanatical fans later praised him to be.

He came into the public eye in 2000 when he was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay, among other awards, through "Memento".

But the film that truly gained recognition in the field of commercial blockbusters was this year's "Batman Begins."

Nolan, 35, is also very polite to the Chinese director. After all, the Chinese director is far superior to him in terms of honors and box office.

"Lu, it's an honor to meet you."

"Haha, have you finished filming Batman?"

"It's almost done. I'll ask you to take a look and give me some suggestions after the filming."

Lu Kuan didn't know whether Nolan had the final editing rights now, and if not, it would be useless for him to make suggestions.

"My pleasure."

Including Harvey, the three of them sat by the bar and talked about business.

"Nolan, I asked Harvey to invite you to meet me because I want you to be a mentor at the film school I founded."

"what?"

He can imagine asking him to make a movie, write a script, and talk about work. What the hell is this tutor at the film academy?

Regarding the director invited from Hollywood, Lu Kuan considered many people.

Martin Scorsese, with whom he has a better relationship now, is a master, but he is not his ideal type of mentor, and he himself would not agree to it.

To put it bluntly, the current Pan Asia Film Academy is a "technical school" that teaches the entire Hollywood film industry process!
You invite a master like Martin to a technical school?
It's ridiculous.

Moreover, his film style cannot be learned or imitated, as it does not follow the path of commercial films.

Spielberg?
Even more inappropriate.

Let’s not talk about the status and treatment for now.

This truly talented director, who made Jaws at the age of 29, has become a milestone figure in film history and has surpassed the identity of a director.

From the treasure hunting adventure theme of "Indiana Jones" to the dinosaur disaster film "Jurassic Park";
From the drama "Schindler's List" to the war film "Saving Private Ryan", Spielberg has demonstrated extremely strong directing skills.

His works are among the best in the same type of films, and few later generations can surpass Spielberg in the same type, and most of them are just imitating him.

He is also a master, a master who runs his own company, works as a producer, and is a director. He is not someone you can hire or afford.

The other Hollywood blockbuster directors are James Cameron, Peter Jackson and Nolan.

There is no need to consider the first two. From the perspective of landing possibilities, Nolan is the only choice.

Of course, there is also Boss Lu’s wolf friend Quentin, who has been attracted by the invitation from Beiping Tianshang Renjia and readily agreed.

Looking at the director's type and style, first of all, Nolan has basically no literary and artistic works, and most of his works are commercial films.

Nolan makes movies mainly to make money. The few films he has tried to move closer to art films, such as "Dunkirk", are still more popular in aesthetics.

He's like the top chef of commercial films, skilled at selecting the best ingredients and transforming them into a delicious dish.

From "Oppenheimer" which helped him win the Oscar later, we can see that the film's soundtrack, camerawork, actors and editing are all top-notch commercial film standards.

Nolan just made his mark through blockbusters this year and is not yet a frequent guest of major film studios, but his commercial blockbuster techniques have already matured.

For the first batch of students at Asia Film, this level is enough to teach them until graduation.

Nolan was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and smiled: "I'm sorry, I can't agree to that. I still prefer making movies."

"Besides, I don't think I have anything to teach others right now."

Harvey had heard Lu Kuan and Quentin talking before, but he didn't know how the little oriental god found Nolan.

Could it be that he has some genius that I haven't discovered?
Harvey decided to keep an eye on how Warner Bros.' Batman Begins performs this year.

Nolan is not Bethune, and he will not travel thousands of miles to the mainland where the film industry is somewhat declining to spread the seeds of film culture.

If you want to convince him, you can only offer enough benefits.

"Can I first introduce the situation of this school?"

"The Pan-Asia Film Academy is a joint venture between China, Japan, and South Korea. Its teaching model is similar to that of the AFI in the United States."

"The current plan is for the course to be three years. The first year will focus on basic theory and short film shooting, which will take one to two months to produce one."

"The second year is a large-scale film crew internship, where I will intern on excellent commercial blockbuster crews around the world, especially Hollywood crews."

"In the third year, we will provide funding for them to make feature films, and of course the cost won't be too high."

Nolan's eyes widened. "A feature film? Isn't your school a bit too extravagant?"

“AFI doesn’t even have such courage!”

Boss Lu smiled and said, "The professors at the academy and I will review the script, and the resulting short film will be broadcast on video websites and TV stations in China and the United States."

"A small number of exceptional feature films will be released according to standard procedures."

"For students who don't pass the feature film assessment, I will provide them with opportunities to shoot web series, and the finished series can be broadcast on my TV station and video websites."

Providing photo opportunities? They're just being treated like slaves.

My boss Lu never loses money.

Short films and web series can also attract traffic, provide high-quality content resources for video websites, and then recover costs through advertising.

Not only Nolan, but even Harvey, who heard such a detailed plan for the first time, was fascinated.

However, this future commercial blockbuster director still didn't have much interest.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think this project is right for me."

Boss Lu smiled and said, "I know you like making commercial blockbusters. This year's Batman Begins is your first attempt."

"Have you ever considered that if this movie doesn't do well at the box office, no one in Hollywood will invest in you anymore?"

Nolan's face looked unhappy. Weren't you good at telling jokes at the Oscars yesterday?

Why are you cursing me before the movie even comes out?

“我给你讲一个数据，2002年国内票房只有9亿，2003年是14亿，2004年超过20亿。”

"The number of screens in China is now expanding at a rapid rate of about 35% per year. If this rate continues, China will surpass the United States within ten years, not only in terms of the number of screens but also in terms of box office revenue!"

Nolan spread his hands: "But what does this have to do with me?"

"What does it have to do with you?"

Boss Lu looked at him in disbelief and started processing the CPU frantically.

"I own one of the largest film companies in the country and have many excellent commercial blockbuster scripts, no less than 'Alien Land'."

"If you work with me, you can get co-production treatment and turn excellent scripts into blockbuster films that can be released in mainland China."

"For example, your film 'Batman Begins' entered the mainland as an imported film, and the box office share was only 13%."

"But I provide the funding, you select the actors in Hollywood, it's a co-production between the two countries, and the profit share is as high as 41%. What kind of concept is this?"

Money is a very important thing, and there is no Hollywood director who is not good at budgeting, because they have to face strict scrutiny from completion bond companies and producers for a long time.

Nolan was visibly moved.

For Boss Lu, the upper limit of the development of Justin Lin and Emile in North America is just independent film craftsmen, but Nolan is a top-level commercial film master.

At the age of 35, when he has not yet become successful, establishing a cooperative relationship in this way or even investing in his private film company are both good choices.

Now Lu Kuan still has a copy of his "Inception" in his computer. The quality of the original version is guaranteed, and he can just sit back and collect money.

Let’s not talk about domestic directors. There are only so many outstanding directors, and we need to continue to cultivate and discover them.

There are so many excellent commercial film directors abroad, there is no reason not to invest in them to work for you.

Including the "Twilight" series that is about to be acquired, Huang Anna is already ready to discuss signing with the original director Catherine.

She is expected to direct the first film and build this gold mine IP first.

"Okay, but I may not have so much time, this..."

Lu Kuan dispelled his doubts: "The first month will be theoretical classes, and the rest will be filming. You only need to come to China once a month to help them with their comments and corrections."

“Routine homework can be reviewed and corrected online.”

"In the second year of the trainees, as a producer, you need to be on site to check."

Capitalist Lu paused and said, "However, such feature films will also give you instructors a share of the profits, so your work will not be in vain."

Seeing that Nolan was on the verge of "surrendering", Harvey added fuel to the fire.

"Quentin has already agreed. You can trust Lu. He never betrays his friends."

Ok. . .

An Lushan thought that being tricked by him was all a misunderstanding, and his logic was self-consistent in his mind.

"Okay! I agree!"

Boss Lu smiled and shook hands with him.

Do not!
Holding the hooves of future North American cattle and horses!

Movies like "The Prestige", "Inception", "Interstellar" and so on, just go ahead and make as many as you want!
The cocktail party ended in a pleasant atmosphere. The next day, Lu Kuan and Huang Anna received a domestic guest at Wenjie’s North American office.

Chen Tianqiao is here.

The meeting was short. Emil's Jewish banker mother, Farina, discussed with him the situation of Gunner Investment's accumulation of Xinlang shares on Nasdaq.

Chen Tianqiao had also used his connections in China to persuade Wang Zhidong to transfer his equity, on the condition that it be exchanged for Shanda's equity.

This price is not low, but for Chen Tianqiao, controlling Xinlang is the top priority.

As the second largest shareholder of Xinlang, which is about to change its ownership, the Gunner Foundation remains consistent with Chen Tianqiao under limited conditions.

In exchange for the conditions, Lu Kuan asked Chen Tianqiao to support him in restricting and weakening the development of Xinlang Blog.

The main purpose is to avoid becoming the opponent's public opinion base and repeating the mistakes of the last time.

If other aspects are allowed to develop freely, they will never catch up with Blog.com and will lag far behind.

As the mastermind behind the scenes, Lu Kuan was obviously unwilling to expose his identity in Xinlang Shares, and continued to maintain a tacit understanding with Chen Tianqiao.

How long this tacit understanding will last depends on how quickly Shanda declines.

Just this year, Shanda is about to lose its competitive advantage due to changes in its core game "Legend", and the copyright lawsuit with the Korean side has led to the loss of core technical support.

As a last resort, Chen Tianqiao instructed the game team to launch a series of paid activities that were criticized by players, such as Wolong Villa and Chuangtianguan.

These activities were considered to be excessive money-making, seriously undermining the balance and fairness of the game, and also laid the hidden dangers for the subsequent Shanda collapse.

Now that the pieces have been placed, all Lu Kuan, the chess player, has to do is wait.

Not only are we waiting for Huayi, we are also waiting for Shanda.

Two days later, Boss Lu flew to Peiping and immediately rushed to accept Zhao Yong's invitation.

No. 1, Zhuiba Hutong, Dongcheng District, is the seat of the Hebei Provincial Office in Beijing and the Qinghe Hotel.

As soon as he entered the door, the beautiful cheongsam-wearing lady recognized the internationally renowned young director.

"Hello, Guide, please follow me."

"it is good."

It looks like a third-rate hotel from the outside, but the decoration inside is quite unique, which is done to evade scrutiny.

Pushing the door, one enters an unremarkable private room. The round dining table made of fine mahogany is like a mirror, shining with a warm luster under the dazzling crystal chandelier.

The surrounding walls are covered with high-quality silk wallpaper with dark patterns and inlaid with several European classical-style oil paintings.

Whether it is the tranquil pastoral scenery or the elegant aristocratic banquet scene, all of them make people feel the rich artistic atmosphere.

After this simple glance, everyone present stood up.

A man with an extraordinary physique took the initiative to extend his hand: "Director Lu, I have heard a lot about you."

Zhang Huijun smiled and stood up: "Xiaolu, this is Secretary Zhao."

"Hey, Secretary Zhao, hello, hello."

"You come to Peking, and we at the Beijing Film Academy should be the host. Principal Zhang, how about you please come to my place?"

Zhao Yong waved his hand and said, "Hey, Director Lu, please don't be so polite. It doesn't matter where we eat. It's just that the conditions here are a bit simple. Don't mind me, will you two?"

Boss Lu sneered in his heart, your private room is almost as well decorated as the Changan Club, how can it be called simple?

“I’m not from Beijing, but I often hear gourmets in Beijing say that if you want to eat authentic cuisine from all over the country, you have to go to the provincial offices in Beijing.”

"Looks like I can get a taste of Hebei Province's cuisine today?"

Zhao Yong thought to himself that this was a good talker, and he was afraid that the discussion about the film shooting ideas would not go smoothly.

The host, Secretary Zhao, raised his glass first: "Principal Zhang, everyone, this is the first glass of wine. Let's raise our glasses together to congratulate Director Lu for winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. How about it?"

"it is good!"

"Come on, do it!"

Almost all the people at this table were of healthy physique, and with Boss Lu being a veteran in the bar, the atmosphere quickly became familiar.

After three rounds of drinks, Zhao Yong got straight to the point and talked about the movie about the earthquake.

"Director Lu, regarding the filming and operation of this movie, we accept Wenjie's request to hold a 51% stake, but regarding the filming strategy..."

Lu Kuan interrupted him.

"Secretary Zhao, I understand your thoughts very well, because countless mainstream films in the past have followed the same formula."

"I've had some half-baked ideas these past couple of days, but I can turn the main theme into a hit and let more audiences around the world see it."

"Are you interested?"

(End of this chapter)