Chapter 1502 1604. Man proposes, God disposes
After the staff member of the Infinite Challenge program walked out of the company building, he didn't remember who the old man was. In addition, the gossips of his colleagues gradually attracted his attention, and soon he forgot about the old man.
He didn't know that just as they left, Nie Wei also followed him out of the office and took the initiative to greet the old man.
"Uncle Long, why don't you call me when you come to see me? I can make time to save you from waiting so long." Nie Wei shook hands with the old man enthusiastically and welcomed him into his office.
This Uncle Long is not the big brother from Hong Kong Island, but the big director Zheng Xiaolong from the mainland.
It doesn't matter if you haven't heard of his name, you must know "The Legend of Zhen Huan", which was shot by him. He also shot the movie "Gua Sha", the TV series "Golden Wedding", and many other excellent works.
At the same time, he is also a screenwriter. For example, "The Story of the Editorial Department" was created by him and Director Feng. In addition, he has his own film and television company, which has produced excellent works such as "Young Bao Qingtian" series and "Happiness is Like a Flower".
In one sentence, this person is an all-round talent in the circle.
"I don't have much, but I have a lot of time. You should chat with those kids for a while longer, so I can get a cup of hand-ground coffee made by your secretary." Director Long said with a smile.
"You want coffee? I'll ask her to make it for you now."
"I'm already here, why should I drink coffee? Everyone knows that you, Nie Wei, have a room full of good tea. Can I borrow your light today and drink a pot?"
"No problem, I'll make it for you myself." After Nie Wei invited Director Long to sit on the sofa next to the tea table, he went to the tea cabinet next to him and asked, "Uncle Long, what do you like to drink?"
"When I get old, I like to drink mellow flavors, so I'll have a pot of Dahongpao."
Nie Wei smiled and nodded, and first looked for tea utensils. It is naturally best to use a purple clay teapot to brew Dahongpao, and there has always been a saying that "one pot serves one tea" because after the purple clay is fired, it will leave many pores that are invisible to the naked eye. When brewing tea, these pores will retain the essence of the tea soup.
This is why there is a rumor that an ancient purple clay teapot can brew a pot of good tea without adding tea leaves, just adding boiling water.
Although this is a bit exaggerated, it does make sense.
And if you really want to keep a good purple clay teapot, it is best to use this teapot to brew a single type of tea. Some more meticulous and high-end players even use a teapot to brew tea produced by only one tea tree, fearing the so-called "flavor change".
Nie Wei is not so particular about it. He also thinks the so-called flavor change is quite interesting. At least he himself can't taste the change in taste. Maybe some people are gifted, but at least 99% of people are probably the same as Nie Wei.
In Nie Wei's opinion, these gimmicks are purely hyped by some teapot merchants, just like some of the original cultural relics, some wood and stones that were not worth much, were given a bunch of messy meanings by these people, and the result was that they were hyped from a dozen yuan to hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands.
Nie Wei picked a purple clay teapot, took out his collection of Dahongpao, and boiled water to brew tea himself.
A few minutes later, the two held teacups, and Director Long also told the purpose of his visit.
"I don't come here for no reason. I came here today to ask you, the God of Wealth, for a favor." Director Long put down the teacup and said with a smile: "I want to raise a new play. How about you join in?"
"Do you have a plan?" Since it was a business, Nie Wei also became serious.
"Of course." Director Long took out the plan that had been prepared long ago from the file bag and handed it to Nie Wei.
Nie Wei took the plan and read it carefully, while Director Long drank tea leisurely, and seemed to not care whether the plan would be rejected by Nie Wei. After fifteen minutes, a pot of tea basically went into Director Long's stomach, and Nie Wei also put down the plan.
"How is it?" Director Long asked.
"You call me the God of Wealth, but I think you are the Good Fortune Boy." Nie Wei pointed at the plan and said with a smile, "You are simply giving me money for free. I would be a fool not to invest in this sure-win deal."
The TV series to be filmed in this plan is the legitimate sequel to "The Legend of Zhen Huan", "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace".
Why do we need to mention the word "legitimate"? Because there was a previous "The Legend of Miyue", which was promoted as a sister film of "The Legend of Zhen Huan", but in fact it has nothing to do with it, although that "The Legend of Miyue" was also produced by Director Long's company.
And this time, "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" is related to "The Legend of Zhen Huan" in terms of the story, although not much, but at least it is about the same dynasty.
In the current market environment, even a fool knows that investing in this drama will definitely make money. Director Long only needs to spread the word, and there will be a lot of people waving checks and crying and begging Director Long to let them get involved, and there will also be countless TV stations waving checks to buy the broadcasting rights.
That's why Nie Wei said Director Long was a good boy.
"Director Long, tell me how many points you give me, and I'll invest in that many points." Nie Wei asked with a smile.
"Fifty million, ten points."
"Uncle Long is generous." Nie Wei gave a thumbs up and praised. Ten points was really not a small amount. As for the total investment of the film, Nie Wei would not be stupid enough to ask. He just needed to know that he would definitely make money with the ten points he got from the fifty million.
Nie Wei readily agreed, and Director Long was also very happy.
Of course, he also knew that his film would definitely make money, but in this circle, few people who eat alone have a good end. They either eat themselves to death or get sacked and beaten.
And he really couldn't afford all the production costs, so finding a partner was an inevitable choice.
Director Long was also particular about choosing a partner. It's not that you come to me with a check and I'll take it. Director Long's plays are not short of investors, so this partner also has conditions.
On the one hand, you have to have money. For those who only take a few million, either you are the leading actor or you get out. Director Long is afraid of the trouble when settling accounts.
And too many partners are also troublesome. After all, the process of cooperation is a personal relationship. Too many partners will definitely cause a lot of trivial things. This year you want to put your adopted sister into the crew, and tomorrow someone will put his company's newcomer in. If you agree to this one, it will be difficult for the other one to refuse. With this back and forth, he, the director, will become helpless.
So you don't need many partners, but you must have money.
On the other hand, this partner must have enough influence in the entertainment industry and be able to contribute at critical moments.
A TV series will encounter many problems from filming to being broadcast on satellite TV and then sold overseas. Having a strong partner in the industry will undoubtedly clear many obstacles.
The above two points are met by Fanxing Group.
Of course, if it is just about investment cooperation, Director Long does not need to come to the door in person. After all, he is almost 70 years old and will not do it so much in person no matter how free he is.
He sent someone to Fanxing to talk. For such a door-to-door business that is clearly profitable, can Fanxing refuse it?
The reason why Director Long personally visited Nie Wei today was to ask for other things.
"Nie Wei, I have another thing to ask you." Director Long said.
"You say."
"I want to choose Brother Xun for the heroine of this TV series. How about you help pass on a message?" Director Long asked.
Whose contact information can a big director and senior like Director Long not get in the industry? So Nie Wei understood that this message was not just for him to pass on a message, but to ask him to help persuade Master Xun.
The reason is very simple. Xun Gongzi is a movie star and has not filmed a TV series for more than ten years.
There is a rule for actors in this circle, that is, if you can film a movie, don't film a TV series. For the older generation, if you can film a movie, wouldn't it be cheap to film a TV series?
Secondly, filming a movie is more artistic than filming a TV series. For actors, there is more room to show their acting skills. Of course, to a certain extent, it is easier than filming a TV series and makes more money.
However, this trend has improved a lot in recent years, and many movie stars have also lowered their status to film TV series.
However, for a top actress like Xun Gongzi, it is a bit difficult to find her to film a TV series.
Other actors film TV series because they value the hot TV series market and can quickly gather popularity for themselves, but Xun Gongzi doesn't care about this at all.
A person is weak and has no desires. Even if Director Long's TV series is good, what can he do?
So Director Long thought it would be better to play the favor card. It just so happened that Nie Wei and Master Xun had a good relationship, so he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to attract investment and ask Nie Wei to help invite Master Xun to come out.
"Uncle Long, you are going to play big, but how did you find me to invite Brother Xun? Shouldn't you find Mr. Wang from Huayi?" Nie Wei did not agree at once, but evaded.
"What's the use of finding Mr. Wang? He doesn't have the final say." Director Long waved his hand. When he mentioned Boss Wang, he looked disgusted, but when he looked at Nie Wei again, he couldn't help but admire him.
"Everyone in the circle knows that you have a good relationship with Brother Xun. If you come forward, it will definitely be more effective than ten Boss Wangs."
"You flatter me too much, and friendship is friendship, business is business, how can I interfere in the business of other companies." Nie Wei smiled and said, "But if you are looking for a heroine, I can recommend one to you."
"Shu Chang? Shu Chang is also OK!" Upon hearing this, Director Long's eyes lit up.
There is a very important reason why she wants to find Xun Gongzi to play the heroine, which is because Sun Li was used in "The Legend of Zhen Huan" and "The Legend of Miyue".
Now this palace drama has reached the third part, and Sun Li's response is mediocre, and Director Long actually doesn't want to use Sun Li in his heart. After all, the audience will be aesthetically fatigued if the same heroine is used in three consecutive works.
Since neither party has the idea of cooperation, then a new heroine must be found.
Director Long is ambitious. Since he wants to find a new heroine, she must not be worse than Sun Li in terms of fame or strength. He set the goal so high, and the scope is naturally narrowed down a lot.
Female artists in the circle who are better than Sun Li can really be described by the idiom "can be counted on one's fingers", and the fact that her age meets this requirement makes this already poor number even worse.
All in all, there are not enough actresses in China who meet the requirements.
Miss Lin looks too European and American, which is not suitable for the role. Gong Huang is too old, and it is too difficult to invite him. Director Long feels that he does not have enough face.
The remaining ones are Xun Gongzi, Zhang Ziyi and Shu Chang.
The latter two of the three do not lack resources at all, so he thinks Xun Gongzi is the easiest to invite, especially since Huayi has been in a slump recently, and the resources given to Xun Gongzi seem to be a little behind, so he wants to give it a try.
If Shu Chang is available for him to choose now, Director Long will definitely choose Shu Chang.
Apart from other things, Shu Chang is much more suitable than Xun Gongzi just because of the age advantage.
The role of Ruyi spans a wide range from young to old. It is obviously a bit contrary to ask Mr. Xun, who is in his forties, to play the role of a daughter who is less than twenty years old.
It's different when it's Shu Chang. Shu Chang is thirteen years younger than Young Master Xun. With proper maintenance, he looks no different from a girl in her twenties. In addition, she has been pampered all these years and has a noble aura about her body. The temperament is also particularly suitable for the role's positioning.
And Shu Chang is also the only one among the actresses born in the 1980s who can beat Sun Li by half.
After all, Shu Chang is the Best Actress Grand Slam and has won three Golden Horse Awards. This gold content is better than Sun Li's Best Actress Grand Slam.
When Nie Wei heard what Director Long said, he knew that he would be wrong.
If Shu Chang didn't have a baby now, Nie Wei would have liked her to take on the drama. But now that Shu Chang has a baby, and it's almost four months old, it's naturally impossible for her to film anymore.
The person he wants to recommend is actually Zhang Ziyi.
"My wife has just finished filming a TV series and is going to take a break recently. Uncle Long is so kind and has no choice but to decline."
"No, your wife's drama was finished at the end of last year. These three months are not enough rest?" Director Long asked in surprise, but he could hear Nie Wei's evasion, so he didn't force it, but just a little bit He sighed regretfully: "I really don't understand how you young people today are so willful."
Shu Chang's new drama is a big hit. Logically speaking, it's time to take advantage of the victory. Taking a break at this time is undoubtedly an abnormal behavior. In short, Director Long can't understand it.
"Uncle Long, don't sigh. My wife can't act. How about I introduce Zi Yi to you?" Nie Wei said with a smile.
"Really?" Director Long's eyes lit up and he laughed and said, "Don't fool me. I'm almost seventy years old, and my heart can't stand the hope and disappointment."
"Uncle Long, I don't dare to vouch for this. I will tell you for you, but whether Zi Yi is willing to act depends on herself."
Top actresses like Zhang Ziyi and Zhou Xun are strategic entities for film and television companies. How they are used is no longer decided by the company, but also depends on the actors themselves.
So Nie Wei couldn't guarantee this.
Director Long naturally knew this. So he said: "Everything depends on people and God decides on it. I will prepare more information. When the time comes, I will be the host and invite you to dinner and we will talk in person."