Chapter 288 Berlin Film Festival Shortlist

The box office performance of "The Chorus" is so strong that Yanjing Film Studio, as a co-producer, naturally stands out.

Han Sanping is a leader who pays great attention to performance. Since he took office, he has held a meeting every two or three days.

Other leaders may not have much content in their meetings and drag their feet, but Han Sanping is not like that. He must get substantive content every time he holds a meeting, and most of his meetings are about making money and projects.

Almost every month, Han Sanping personally leads a team to go out and make money in various places.

Anyway, after Han Sanping took office, the atmosphere in the factory has always been tense.

Privately, many people in the factory joked that their factory does not seem to be making movies, but more like the counters in those big shopping malls, which have to attract business every day.

The most frequently appearing word in the film factory every day is not "movie", but "money". Under Director Han, everything else does not matter, and making money is the kingly way.

As long as anyone can get investment, they will be valued by Director Han.

Moreover, Director Han announced that now the projects in the factory are not limited to certain groups of people, regardless of their qualifications, as long as they can attract investment, they can establish projects.

In other words, whoever can get money can make movies, it is so simple and crude.

However, this has nothing to do with most people in the factory, because few people have the connections to attract money.

And everyone is also waiting and watching what Han Sanping said, not daring to move easily.

Now that the film reform is underway, no one knows which direction the wind is blowing, and everyone in the factory is trembling, fearing that they will be blown by a tornado.

However, after the release of "The Chorus", Han Sanping's mood has improved a lot, and he always smiles when he walks in the factory.

He is in a good mood, and the atmosphere of the whole factory is also relaxed.

On January 16, after it was basically confirmed that the box office of "The Chorus" exceeded "Sunny Days", Han Sanping personally went to Zhou Yan's studio.

Arriving at Zhou Yan's office, Han Sanping sat down without hesitation, lit a cigarette, and said with a smile, "Third brother, make me a pot of tea."

Zhou Yan was revising the score of "Xu Sanguan". Seeing Han Sanping sitting on the sofa, he put down his pen, walked over and made him a cup of tea with a smile.

"Third brother, you are in a good mood today."

Han Sanping took the teacup and laughed, "I am not in a good mood today, but I have been in a good mood recently."

Before "The Chorus" was released, Han Sanping's expectations were not so high. After all, he also knew that this was a literary film.

Never expected that the movie would give him such a big surprise after it was released.

In fact, this year's mainland box office market has surprised Han Sanping once.

He is very familiar with the current policy changes and knows that the imported blockbusters will impact mainland movies in the future. Therefore, he is not surprised that imported blockbusters such as "True Lies" can get such a high box office.

On the contrary, he was surprised that "Sunny Days" could get a box office of 50 million.

From this point of view, the introduction of blockbusters will not leave mainland films with no chance of survival. "Sunny Days" and "The Chorus" are good proof of this.

This also proves that there is nothing wrong with the policy reform.

The introduction of foreign films is to stimulate the mainland market and film industry, but what everyone was most worried about before was that the impact was too strong and the survival space of mainland films was completely squeezed out.

Now it seems that this worry is actually unnecessary.

On the one hand, the mainland can make good movies. Although it cannot completely compete with imported blockbusters, it is not completely powerless to fight back. On the other hand, domestic audiences do not have to watch blockbusters. "The Chorus" and "Sunny Days" can also be favored by the audience.

The success of these two movies at the box office also provides a new path for Chinese films. Chinese films do not necessarily have to learn from those imported blockbusters.

"In fact, I am also quite surprised that the movie can get such a good box office in China." Zhou Yan said.

Han Sanping looked Zhou Yan up and down, and said with a smile, "But I don't think you look particularly excited."

"I was secretly happy."

Han Sanping pursed his lips. Zhou Yan was like the second son of the Zhou family, neither of them showed their emotions. However, the second son of the Zhou family had a wooden face, and basically no expression could be seen, but the third son was different, and he smiled to everyone he met.

"What are your plans for the future?"

"Plans? The New Year is coming soon, and I don't have any special plans. There will be a concert tour with more shows next year, so I may be a little busy then."

"That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking what plans you have for your next movie."

Zhou Yan laughed, "Brother San, you're here to urge me to make my next movie. To be honest, I really don't have any plans for my next movie. Didn't The Chorus just hit the screens in mainland China? I still have a lot of things to do."

"I'm not urging you, I'm just concerned. But let me put it aside. No matter what movie you make next, our Yanjing Film Studio will definitely support you unconditionally."

Zhou Yan smiled. This Third Brother Han was very skillful in speaking. He clearly wanted to continue cooperating with him, but he said that Yanjing Film Studio supported him unconditionally.

But for Zhou Yan, cooperating with Yanjing Film Studio was not a bad thing, or rather, cooperating with Han Sanping was not a bad thing.

This is the situation in China. With the help of Han Sanping, the road will definitely be easier.

As long as Han Sanping does not hinder him, he is willing to continue to cooperate with Han Sanping.

And in this regard, Han Sanping did very well. He was able to put himself in the right position and not interfere with the specific production of the film.

During the filming of "The Chorus", except for not paying, Han Sanping agreed to everything Zhou Yan needed, and he would not interfere with other projects in the factory.

Moreover, when filming on site, even if he went to the site, he was just observing and never made any comments.

Han Sanping himself was a director, so he naturally knew that no director liked others to point fingers at him when filming, and Zhou Yan's past resume was so successful that he had no reason to point fingers.

Not only did he not point fingers, but he also escorted Zhou Yan and prevented others from interfering with Zhou Yan's creation. Together with Xu Feng, he provided Zhou Yan with a very good filming environment.

With Han Sanping and Xu Feng, Zhou Yan only had to make the movie well and didn't have to worry about other things.

In addition, Han Sanping could also help him with other things.

For example, Han Sanping helped settle Liu Qing and Jiang Mengfei, and Yanjing Factory had already borrowed these people from Chang'an Factory.

Now Liu Qing and others are under Yanjing Factory, but their offices are all in Zhou Yan's studio.

This operation solved many of Zhou Yan's problems. In the future, whenever Zhou Yan wants to recruit people, he can go to Han Sanping and ask him to borrow them to Yanjing Factory.

And this is not a loss for Yanjing Factory, because it does not need to pay anything, just the basic salary of a few people, and even when recruiting people in the future, Zhou Yan can pay the salary.

"Then I would like to thank you, brother San. I will definitely rely on your support in the future."

"We are all brothers, it's awkward to say these things." Han Sanping smiled and waved his hand, and then asked, "By the way, how is the box office of "Sense and Sensibility"? I heard it was pretty good before, but I didn't hear any news later."

"It's pretty good, it's over 60 million US dollars."

"Hiss." Han Sanping took a breath.

The box office of "Sense and Sensibility" is so good, and this is only the box office in North America. If it is released in other places in the future, it will definitely exceed 100 million US dollars.

In this way, Zhou Yan has also participated in a project with a box office of over 100 million US dollars.

This is just the beginning. Han Sanping knows that as long as the response to "Sense and Sensibility" is good, more Hollywood movies will definitely ask Zhou Yan to compose the music.

With this, Zhou Yan can successfully enter the overseas market.

If there are a few more movies like "Sense and Sensibility" in the future, maybe Zhou Yan can establish his status as a world-class music master.

Zhou Yan's step by step is really steady.

"Then the soundtrack of this movie should sell well."

"Not necessarily, because the soundtrack of the album "Raining Bells" "Sense and Sensibility" will have an impact."

"Raining Bells" includes several soundtracks from "Sense and Sensibility", and the most essential parts are included. Music fans and movie fans will definitely consider it when buying.

No one's money comes from the wind. The two albums have repeated several songs, and many ordinary music and movie fans are unwilling to pay for them.

"Well, wouldn't it be better if everyone bought "Raining Bells"?" Han Sanping laughed.

Zhou Yan shrugged and said indifferently, "For me, there is not much difference. The money I can earn from the two tapes is not much different."

Han Sanping smiled and shook his head, "Why do I feel a little bit like you deserve a beating when you say that?"

...

On January 17, the first rehearsal of the Spring Festival Gala began, and Zhou Yan went to Studio 1 with the folk music group.

Because it was a rehearsal, the studio was very lively today, with people everywhere, and many of them were familiar faces.

Many of the performers in the singing and dancing area graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music, and some of them knew Zhou Yan, such as baritone Yuan Chengye and Chen Jun, the erhu player of "Unforgettable Spring Night", who were only two years older than Zhou Yan.

They knew Zhou Yan when they were in school.

Although it was just a party, people didn't interact much, but they still formed some small circles.

There are many conditions for forming circles, and the school where people graduated is one of the most important ones. People who graduated from the same school can easily get together because they don't need to look for people deliberately, and they have many common topics.

Although Zhou Yan didn't do it deliberately, he was quickly pulled together by several alumni of the Central Conservatory of Music.

Among a group of alumni, Zhou Yan is the youngest and the youngest in the class, but others dare not neglect him, and even implicitly regard him as the center when chatting.

In addition to Zhou Yan's current fame, it is also because Zhou Yan graduated from the composition department. At the Central Conservatory of Music, students who compose and conduct are more precious.

Besides, Zhou Yan is now teaching at the school, and he is also the assistant to the principal. From a certain level, he also represents the school.

In addition to Zhou Yan, the most well-known person at the scene should be Cheng Fangyuan.

Cheng Fangyuan is the same as Tan Dun and others. She is from the class of 1977, but she studied erhu at school. She will sing "Childhood" on the stage of this Spring Festival Gala.

It was the first time Zhou Yan and Cheng Fangyuan met. Cheng Fangyuan was quite curious about her junior brother who was famous overseas. After greeting him, she smiled and said, "I just heard from them that you also have a program this year."

"I put together a program with the folk music band."

"You played your own music, right?"

Zhou Yan nodded, "Yes, "Memory of the Forbidden City."

"This song is good." Cheng Fangyuan gave a thumbs up, then smiled and said to the people next to him, "You don't know how popular Junior Brother Zhou Yan is in the United States now, and his music can be heard everywhere."

Cheng Fangyuan went to the United States for further study this year and stayed in the United States for a while, so he knew a little bit about it.

Tang Feng said with a smile, "Sister, even if you don't tell us, we already know that an American pop singer sang Zhou Yan's song some time ago."

"Not only that, but now the movie "Sense and Sensibility" has been released in the United States. The box office is very good, and the music in it has also attracted a lot of attention. So his new album "Yulin Ring" also sold very well, and I also bought a copy. ”

"The movie he made himself, "Spring in the Cowherd Class," is also very popular in China. My family and I went to watch it." After that, Tang Feng patted Zhou Yan on the shoulder and joked, "Junior brother , remember to reimburse the movie tickets later.”

"No problem, I'll treat you to a big dinner later."

"That's good."

…

A group of their alumni chatted together for a while, and people kept coming over to say hello.

Zhou Yan found that there seemed to be a barrier between the singing and dancing performers and the language performers, and they did not communicate much with each other.

In general, small circles, no matter which school they are from, basically have contact. For example, the folk band has people from various schools.

Even if they are not familiar with each other, they will come up to say hello and chat for a few words.

But most language program performers stayed far away from Zhou Yan and the others, and at most they nodded when they met.

In fact, the performers of language programs also have a circle. The relationship between Yanjin and Tianjin is obviously better, and the actors from Northeast China are in their own way.

Initially, Zhou Yan had no intention of saying hello to anyone else, but then he met Ni Ping and Zhu Shimao. Ni Ping was very enthusiastic and introduced many people to Zhou Yan, forcing him to increase his network of contacts.

But today's platoon tasks are very tight, and I don't have much time to make friends.

This is the first time Zhou Yan has participated in the Spring Festival Gala, and it is also the first time he has felt the pressure of preparing for a live broadcast.

Although this is the first time to perform a joint rehearsal, the director team is already very strict.

Being able to participate in the Spring Festival Gala, everyone must have taken it very seriously, but there were still many problems during the platoon.

Of course, the problem is mainly concentrated in language programs, performance programs like Zhou Yan and others, and some opera programs, because they are all "old work", basically there will be no problems.

Therefore, Zhou Yan and the others were relatively relaxed. Although they were rehearsing together, apart from having to wait for others, it was not much different from usual rehearsals.

…

The day after the first rehearsal of the Spring Festival Gala ended, Zhou Yan received a call from Xu Feng.

Xu Feng excitedly shared the good news with Zhou Yan. The shortlist for the Berlin Film Festival had been announced, and "Spring of the Cowherd" also appeared on the shortlist as expected.

"I knew it, no problem." Xu Feng said with a smile.

Zhou Yan smiled. There must be no problem in being shortlisted. This time, the Berlin Film Festival took the initiative to find Tomson, hoping that "Spring of the Cowherd Class" would participate in the exhibition. It would not be funny if he was not even given a shortlisted spot. Play?

"What other movies are shortlisted this time?" Zhou Yan asked with concern.

"Haha, I was just about to tell you that in addition to "Springtime of the Cowherd Class" being shortlisted, there is also good news, that is, "Sense and Sensibility" is also shortlisted."

"That's good." This is what Zhou Yan cares about, and he is very happy that An Li can be shortlisted.

"Chinese directors are very popular at the Berlin Film Festival this time. In addition to you and An Li, there are three Chinese directors whose films have been shortlisted."

"Oh, really? Who else?"

""Sunlight Canyon" by He Ping, "The Sun Has Ears" by Yan Hao and "Mahjong" by Edward Yang."

Zhou Yan has also seen the previous two movies, "Sunlight Canyon" starring Wang Xueqi and Zhang Fengyi, and "The Sun Has Ears" is adapted from Mo Yan's novel "Auntie in Red Silk".

No wonder Xu Feng said that Chinese directors are very popular this time. There were only about 20 films shortlisted for the Berlin Film Festival, and there were five films directed by Chinese directors, accounting for more than 20%.

In fact, at the last Berlin Film Festival, there were quite a few films shortlisted by Chinese directors, including four, which was only one less than this year.

It's just that all the films at last year's Berlin Film Festival combined were not as popular as this year's two films by Zhou Yan and An Li.

Let's not talk about "Sense and Sensibility". It was originally an adaptation of a classic, and now it has received more than 60 million U.S. dollars at the box office. The box office will continue to increase in the future, and it is likely to exceed 100 million U.S. dollars.

Although the box office of "Springtime of the Cowherd" is completely different from that of "Sense and Sensibility", it still grossed more than 50 million yuan at the box office in mainland China without any awards. It is not a film shortlisted for ordinary film festivals. Comparable.

In the past, many movies were recognized by the audience only after winning awards at film festivals, and then achieved very good box office results.

But this year is different. These two films have already been recognized by the market even before they were exhibited at the exhibition.

This is good news for the Berlin Film Festival. With these two films nominated, the popularity of this year’s film festival awards ceremony will certainly not be low. (End of chapter)