Chapter 673 - The Big Shots Wants To Have Their Names Included Nominally
Chapter 673: The Big Shots Wants To Have Their Names Included Nominally
Su Yang chuckled and did not answer him directly. “I’ll introduce you to a director in the next two days. You should learn from him and see how you can tell your story.”
Guo Fan was speechless.
‘Are you trying to tell me that I’ve failed then?’
In fact, Su Yang not only felt that Guo Fan had failed, but… He did not do a good job of it at all.
‘The male and female leads’ character designs seem fake and weird. If Little Hus hadn’t told me that this project has great potential, I would even have the guts to tell Guo Fan that this script of his is a piece of trash.
‘That’s why I’m planning to have Wu Feng have a good chat with Guo Fan. Since Wu Feng is also an actor in “Wandering Planet” coincidentally, I think that it would be nice for them to meet in advance and come up with some ideas.’
With that thought in mind, Su Yang chatted with Guo Fan for a while more before leaving to call Wu Feng.
On the other hand, Wu Feng had just taken a break recently because “Wolf Warriors” had finally been taken down from the cinemas.
After being shown in cinemas for two months, the final box office for “Wolf Warriors” was fixed at 701 million yuan, just a little above 700 million yuan.
Because of this, the movie directly entered the top 20 of the box office rankings and was ranked 18th in movie history! Apart from that, the movie was ranked 8th within the domestic movie industry!
Having achieved this result, Wu Feng was considered to have achieved a satisfactory result in his battle to make a comeback.
Hence, when Wu Feng’s name was mentioned at that time, although there would still be doubts from everyone like whether he was going to be able to produce a good movie, or would it fail. Some even doubted if his success in this movie was just a fluke.
However… They have at least acknowledged Wu Feng’s talent as a director and actor, giving him the status and respect he deserved.
Therefore, after the movie got taken down from cinemas, Wu Feng had obtained a resounding success and he felt incredibly comfortable. Other than slowly working on the sequel every day, Wu Feng would be resting.
After all, whether it was the actors or directors, they were all exhausted. Hence, Wu Feng had become too tired from filming “Wolf Warriors”, so he needed some rest as well.
In the end, his plans to rest went down the drain with a phone call from Su Yang.
Wu Feng was filled with gratitude towards his good friend, Su Yang. Therefore, after Su Yang explained the situation to him, he immediately said that he would rush over that week to take a look at the movie and have a good chat with Guo Fan.
After the matter was settled, Su Yang’s worries were finally settled.
Due to the fact that he had participated in the production of “Wolf Warriors” before, he knew that the main plot of the script was actually decided by Wu Feng. Furthermore, as a director, Wu Feng had his own unique understanding of Hollywood-style popcorn movies and was also the first director to bring a Hollywood-style commercial movie into the country.
The essence of “Wandering Planet” was a sci-fi movie, full of patriotism. Hence, there was no need for depth, reflection, or even thoughts. As long as there were outstanding special effects, the amazing setting that brought the entire planet to wander in the vast universe, the greatness of the Chinese people that made the audience feel the same would be enough.
In fact, this was exactly what Wu Feng was good at.
‘After I’ve read through Guo Fan’s script, there isn’t anything wrong with the main storyline and the details. It’s just that the character design and some of the plot arrangements are a little unreasonable. That’s why I want Wu Feng to take a look and come up with some ideas.
‘Of course, I will also supervise them using Little Hus because even if the script is improved, there is a possibility that the potential of the movie might worsen. Therefore, I have to ensure that the potential of this movie will actually increase if I change the script!’
The next day, Guo Fan nervously continued to focus on preparing for “Wandering Planet”.
Then, on the third day, Wu Feng arrived and the three of them met at Su Yang’s house and had a small meeting.
Then, Su Yang… Showed Guo Fan the shark in his living room… Leaving Guo Fan shocked by Su Yang’s weird “preferences” as well.
Then, he understood why Su Yang trusted him so much to invest in him. ‘Isn’t he just a brave fool? He’s even rearing wild sharks in his house…
‘All he’s missing now is a leopard in his house and I’d definitely think that he’s a prince from Dubai.’
On the other hand, Wu Feng watched everything with a smile. As the previous victim, when he saw someone who had suffered the same shock as him, he felt strangely satisfied.
He even “considerately” patted Guo Fan’s shoulder and said, “Director Guo, you’re too timid. When I first came to Mr. Su’s house, my expression didn’t change and I wasn’t frightened by it at all.”
Su Yang glanced at Wu Feng but did not expose his lie.
‘I seem to remember that you almost had a heart attack that time.’
After that, the trio then went to the living room to discuss the movie.
After chatting for a while and everything was back on track, Su Yang got the two of them to discuss while he went out to give Mu Lei a call.
Mu Lei was the second person that Su Yang had a good impression of. He was the director of the copyrights department in National Films who was on good terms with Su Yang. In fact, it was because of him that Su Yang managed to obtain the rights to “Wandering Planet”.
The reason why Su Yang called him was because Wu Feng unknowingly mentioned that Mu Lei was in trouble and Su Yang might be able to help him.
As for what kind of trouble it was, Wu Feng did not know about it. Instead, he only heard from some people within the industry mention about it, which seemed to be related to “Wandering Planet”.
“Du… Du… Du… Du…”
The call was picked up in a few seconds. On the other end of the phone, Mu Lei was smiling brightly. “Brother Su, you seem to be free to be able to call me. Haven’t you been busy with your movie lately?”
Because they were partners and National Films was the investor of “Wandering Planet”, Su Yang had been talking to Mu Lei about his progress recently. He had even sent a few demos to Mu Lei. Therefore, even though Mu Lei was far away in Beijing, he still had some understanding of the progress of the project.
Mu Lei was a straightforward person, so Su Yang did not beat around the bush. “Yes, I’ve been busy. But Brother Mu, I heard some rumors that something happened on your side, so I called to ask you about it.”
When Mu Lei heard that, he laughed and said directly, “Actually, it’s not really a problem. Instead, it’s just a little stressful.”
Su Yang then asked, “Is it related to “Wandering Planet”?”
Mu Lei replied, “Yes.”
Then, he told Su Yang the reason.
It turned out that “Wandering Planet” had always been a relatively important project in National Films. Although its priority was not as high as “Four Bodies”, it was still highly regarded. Therefore, even though Su Yang was in charge of the project, National Films had been paying close attention to it.
On the other hand, Mu Lei would occasionally be summoned by the chairman and general manager to ask about the progress of the project.
Initially, the progress was not obvious, so it was fine.
However, after Su Yang gave the demo to Mu Lei, Mu Lei was stunned by what he saw. Hence, he also showed the demo to the bosses during his next report.
Even though the big shots working in National Films had a bureaucratic air about them, they were all professionals, so everyone could see the standard of Su Yang’s special effects.
With one look, both the chairman and the general manager’s interests were piqued.
Initially, they did not have much confidence in “Wandering Planet”, so they just wanted to give it a try.
However, now that they had seen the project plan and the special effects, they would be a fool if they still could not tell that this movie would become popular and a milestone within the country.
When Su Yang heard this, he frowned and asked, “So, are they planning to regain control of this movie?”
Mu Lei chuckled. “Brother Su, I see that you’ve forgotten what I told you previously.
“National Films is a state-owned enterprise, so how much money we earn doesn’t really matter to us. What we want is influence, results that we can use to show the higher-ups.
“Furthermore, we also know that without your team, this movie would not have such an effect. Therefore, other than increasing the internal rating of “Wandering Planet” and increasing the resources provided, National Films has no intention of taking back this project.”
Su Yang asked, “Then, they…”
Mu Lei did not beat around the bush. “They intend to have their names included nominally.”
Su Yang was confused. “Nominally?”
Mu Lei then explained, “They want to have their names included as the producer, director and so on.”
Su Yang asked, “Will they be interfering with the movie then?”
Mu Lei said confidently, “No! They wouldn’t have the time to do so, not when they’re busy attending meetings everyday.”
Then, Mu Lei said, “Let me do a quick count and see how many big shots are interested in your movie.
“There’s the chairman of National Films, the vice-chairman, the general manager, the vice-president and the general manager of the company’s subsidy which is a production company.
“Just think about who they are, do you think they would possibly have the time to interfere with your movie?”
Su Yang understood the situation after listening to Mu Lei’s explanation.
‘To put it bluntly, those big shots want credibility. Now that they realized that my movie is going to become famous, they’ve become tempted and have pressured Mu Lei.’
Su Yang shared his thoughts and Mu Lei smiled.
Then, he said, “However, Brother Su, you don’t have to worry. If you don’t think it’s a good idea to have their names included nominally, I’ll fight back the pressure. All you have to do is to make a good movie.”
Su Yang pondered for a moment and felt… ‘This doesn’t seem to be a bad thing though, is it?
‘A bunch of big shots within the industry are having high expectations of his movie and want to make a name out of it, how’s that a bad thing?
‘In fact, there are some people who want to have their names included nominally, but failed.
‘After all, if this group of big shots gets included, it would be easier for me to go through all kinds of approval processes easily. Which of the production companies and the cinema chains would be courageous enough to not show them respect? So, these are all real benefits.
‘What do I have to lose then…?
‘Hmm… I don’t think there’s any though, is there?’
Hence, Su Yang agreed immediately.
Then, the two talked about the positions that they were going to give to these big shots.
The two chatted for a long time before they finally confirmed that the director of National Films was to be the chief publisher.
Then, the vice chairman and general manager would be the lead directors, the assistant manager would be the lead producer.
Apart from that, the general manager of the production company would be the chief producer.
Actually, they were all pretty titles, such as the chief producer…
What is a chief producer?
They’re the person in charge of managing all the movies that the company is working on. His subordinates would be the producers of each movie, who are the ones with authority over their movies.
As for the chief producer himself, to put it bluntly… It’s just a title and they’re basically useless.
However, this happened to fit the requirements of these big shots, so this matter was settled perfectly.
After chatting with Mu Lei for a while longer and confirming the details, Su Yang hung up the phone.
After hanging up the phone, Su Yang wanted to go back and talk to Wu Feng about this matter. At the same time, he wanted to take a look at Wu Feng’s script.
Suddenly, he heard a notification.
[Ding. Through self-learning, your Bronze Ability’s level has been increased.]
Su Yang was stunned instantly.
‘What’s happened?
‘I’m even able to improve my Bronze Abilities through a phone call?’