Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 39 Leading the troops to Sanlitun

Following the Hollywood-style commercial film script structure directed by Lu Kuan, Ning Hao worked tirelessly for a whole day and night to revise it, and finally came up with a draft that was quite similar to the later "Crazy Stone".

With Ning Hao's support, Boss Lu's transformation into Director Lu continues to accelerate, and he can also start considering the production of his first film.

The first film he planned was Whiplash for three reasons.

First of all, 90% of the shooting scenes are indoors, so we can just rent a venue on a university campus, which is relatively low cost.

Secondly, after the release of "Hero", a wave of domestic commercial films emerged. At that time, the fast-paced "Whiplash" was released with this tailwind, and the profit prospects were bright.

Finally, for the first movie, he must obtain some resources from Anita Mui. The male lead plans to find Nicholas Tse, who had received favors from Anita Mui when he debuted, so he has to sell these few bits of face.

The only remaining issue is funding. The original work had an investment of approximately 2014 million yuan in 2000, and that was within the strict Hollywood film industry system, with various union clauses restricting filming time and minimum wages.

As of now in 2002, with Boss Lu's various impressive operations, it would not be a big problem to reduce the cost to less than 700 million.

The filming team used the cheap labor of Qingying Studio, and could also borrow their factory logo and filming quota to solve the license problem.

The photographer asked Ning Hao to make a guest appearance, and there would be no problem under his on-site guidance.

The post-production work only requires editing and music composition. You can find enthusiastic seniors and juniors from the Beijing Film Academy to express your love and write the theme song yourself.

When Boss Lu thought of the theme song, he realized that he had stood up Fan Bingbing for a long time. He had said before the festival that he would introduce her to music producers such as Zhang Yadong, but he had been putting it off until now.

After a few phone calls, Zhou Xun and Fan Bingbing made an appointment to meet at Bar 88 in Sanlitun.

Peking is a divided city, half of which is inhabited by nobles and half by common people. Sanlitun is the intersection of the two.

The dazzling light bulbs and staggering price tags are a constant reminder of the class divide.

The same hysteria and drunkenness seem to be telling you that all beings are equal.

"Xun'er, what have you been busy with lately? Want to drink something today?"

The two have successfully developed into drinking buddies. Boss Lu is handsome and speaks well, and Zhou Xun likes him very much.

"Sure, I just came out of the recording studio."

Then he said viciously: "I listened to your advice this time, but it made me exhausted. If there is no result, you will be in trouble!"

Zhou Xun doesn't like to hear the little Taoist priest calculate her feelings, but she doesn't mind him calculating her career.

Especially after hearing about Lu Kuan's deeds in Hong Kong, people in a small circle of the domestic entertainment industry were very interested in his consulting company.

With outsiders present, Fan Bingbing managed to restrain her gentleness, but was still surprised at the weight of Lu Kuan's words in front of a popular actress like Zhou Xun.

Could it be that Zhou Xun’s first album disclosed by the media was also planned by Lu Kuan?

Although Fan Bingbing's current status in the domestic entertainment industry is far from comparable to hers, they are all friends, and Zhou Xun and Lu Kuan did not forget her when they chatted.

"Bingbing, I heard from Xiaolu that you also want to try to release an album or something, right?"

"Yes, Sister Xun."

Artists of this era all focus on being active in film, television, and music. This is also a trend that came from Hong Kong and Taiwan, and Zhou Xun is not surprised by this.

"There's a traffic jam on Yadong Road, we should be there soon." Zhou Xun looked at his watch.

"You guys talk to him later. I suggest you release two songs first and try to release them as singles. Making an album is too tiring." Lu Kuan nodded. "Xun Ge'er is signed to Warner Records, and the album was planned by director Song Ke himself. You're just starting out, so it's okay to try singles first."

Fan Bingbing nodded obediently, as if ready to be picked...

No, it's according to your orders.

"Don't worry, Brother Xun. Although your voice is rather unique, your popularity and appeal are there, so this album will do well."

Later, Zhou Xun's album "Summer" achieved sales of 2003 copies during the 28 boiling point period, which was on par with professional singers Liu Huan and Yu Quan of the same period, which was quite impressive.

Zhou Xun drank a glass with him and said with a smile: "Thank you for your good wishes."

Soon Zhang Yadong and Gao Yuanyuan also arrived. They walked over sweetly, leaning against each other, no longer needing to avoid suspicion.

Two years ago, Zhang Yadong divorced Dou Wei's sister and officially fell in love with Da Meiyuan.

Zhou Xun introduced everyone. Gao Yuanyuan looked at the handsome Lu Kuan in surprise: "Zhou Xun, the little immortal you mentioned who can make his words come true is so young!"

Zhang Yadong is a rather dull person, and upon hearing this he looked Lu Kuan up and down.

Lu Kuan laughed and said, "What little immortal? That's just nonsense. I just finished the Beijing Film Academy art exam today."

Fortunately, Li Yapeng and Wang Fei were not here today, otherwise Lu Kuan would have insisted on taking a group photo, which would have become a famous scene in three years!
Zhou Xun's current boyfriend is Li Yapeng, and Li Yapeng's ex-girlfriend is Qu Ying. Qu Ying fell in love with Zhang Yadong in 2005. Zhang Yadong is Wang Fei's exclusive producer, and Wang Fei married Li Yapeng in 2005.

It’s such a mess!

Turning to business, when discussing Fan Bingbing's musical journey, Zhang Yadong felt a bit embarrassed: "Wang Fei just signed with Sony Music and asked me to write a song for him, and there's also Pu Shu's 'Born Like Summer Flowers'. I really don't have the energy for the moment."

This is not an excuse. He has been busy composing the music for the movie "Subway to Spring" for his current girlfriend Gao Yuanyuan and his next girlfriend Xu Jinglei.

Boss Lu expressed his envy. In his previous life, he spent money on women. He was not as high-end as Zhang Yadong, who could harvest women at will with his talent alone.

The key point is that after they broke up, not a single female star said anything bad about him...

Fan Bingbing was a little discouraged. He had finally found the most popular musical talent in the industry through Lu Kuan's connections, but he was unexpectedly rejected again.

"How about this, Yadong? I'll write a few songs for Bingbing, and you can give them some feedback and help polish them."

He was going to copy the theme song for "Whiplash" anyway, so it didn't matter how much he copied.

It’s just that Boss Lu himself doesn’t have much musical talent, so he probably can’t completely replicate and perform the songs that have been passed down through the ages.

For example, he can sing and hum some of Jay Chou's traditional Chinese songs, but he knows nothing about the combination of various instruments in the melody, the breathing rhythm of the switching between the main chorus and the like.

This is the meaning of professional music producers.

Zhou Xun and the others looked at him in surprise, and a few people in the booths behind him suddenly sneered:

"Fuck it, now anyone dares to get involved in the entertainment industry, and they're not afraid of being laughed at!"

Zhou Xun's face turned ugly, and he was about to scold when he saw a fat, middle-aged man with a crew cut stand up and look at Fan Bingbing with a lustful look on his face.

"Bingbing, if you want to sing, come find me. Why are you arguing with this pretty boy?"

　The last book mentioned problems with Whiplash, so I'll start from there and fulfill my wish.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)