Chapter 1428 1430【CAA】
In February of 1988, Chen Xiaoxu, Ouyang Fenqiang, Yuan Mei and others took the art test and were preparing for the university entrance exam.
According to them, their test scores are not bad, and their rankings are quite high.
…
In April 1988, "Red Sorghum" finally started shooting after half a year of preparation.
Before filming started, Zhang Yimou specially invited dozens of farmers to plant more than 200 mu of sorghum on the Loess Plateau.
However, because farmers cannot afford fertilizers, and the lack of water, the sorghum seedlings are short and thin. Zhang Yimou asked Xiang Nan to bring two truckloads of nitrogen fertilizer and put them on the sorghum field.
Specially hired a fire truck, flooded with water, so that the sorghum grew thick and strong, which met the requirements of filming.
Before filming started, Shi Ke was also arranged by Zhang Yimou to go to the rural areas of northern Shaanxi to experience life so that she could be more like a villager. This made Shi Ke suffer a lot, and wrote many times to complain to Gong Li, Jin Lili, Wu Yujuan and the others.
Said that he might as well not be selected, in that case, he would not have to suffer this foreign crime.
But in Gong Li's view, she is clearly showing off.
"If she really doesn't want to do it, she can just run back to Beijing. Doesn't Zhang Yimou dare to kidnap people?" She said to Xiang Nan.
"Okay, don't be jealous of her. You have me here, I won't let you suffer." Xiang Nan comforted with a smile.
Gong Li nodded when he heard this.
The nationwide hit of "Desire" has made Xiang Nan almost the hottest screenwriter in the film and television industry. He said that if he can make himself popular, he will definitely be popular. She firmly believes in this.
…
But Xiang Nan said so, but it is not so easy to keep his promise.
The reason is that in the 1980s, the film industry was still firmly in the hands of the state-owned film studios, and private individuals were not allowed to make films at all, and even if they were filmed, they would not be released.
Because the current movies are all purchased and sold, and the state is responsible for purchase and distribution. Therefore, there is no channel for privately shot movies to be released.
If Xiang Nan wants to praise Gong Li, he can only arrange her to play the heroine through his relationship. Naturally, it is no better than investing in movies by yourself.
Besides, among the current directors, there are very few directors who are as capable as Zhang Yimou. Xiang Nan didn't want to throw out a good script and good actors casually.
In this way, not only wasting his own script, but also delaying Gong Li. So Xiang Nan was also worried about how to make her popular.
Fortunately, Gong Li still has one year to graduate from college. Moreover, she is also very confident in herself, and she doesn't press every now and then, so generally speaking, Xiang Nan's life is relatively carefree.
…
In the same month, "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo" officially started filming, starring Li Baotian, Zhang Guoli, Wang Gang, and Deng Jie.
Li Baotian made his debut in the 1980s and won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Supporting Actor; Zhang Guoli was originally an actor of the Tianfu Repertory Troupe, but came to Beijing to develop in 1987, and starred with Ge You and Liang Tian in the film "Stubborn Lord" adapted from Wang Yi's novel; Wang Gang was originally the host of the announcer, and the lecture "Harbin Under the Night" was a smash hit. In the mid-1980s, he began to host the Spring Festival Gala again...
These leading actors were also recommended by Xiang Nan. Unlike Zhang Yimou's refusal, TV Arts Center attaches great importance to Xiang Nan's opinion. After research, he decided to adopt his opinion, and the starring lineup was officially finalized.
It can be considered that each has his own job, which is a good thing for them.
…
In July 1988, the college entrance examination officially began.
Xiang Nan didn't pay too much attention, but just wished Yuan Mei, Chen Xiaoxu, and Ouyang Fenqiang good grades in the exam.
Because he is also busy with his own affairs.
In July, Xiang Nan released "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", which became a big hit again.
Today, the "Harry Potter" series has become a well-known IP in the field of European and American fantasy novels. In terms of popularity, it is not worse than "The Lord of the Rings", "The Legend of Earthsea", and "The Chronicles of Narnia".
After all, these three books were all written decades ago, and it is difficult for young readers to read them. In comparison, the "Harry Potter" series is much easier to understand, so it is more popular.
And seeing that it is so popular, other companies have tried to find ways to catch the heat.
For example, some game companies hope to adapt it into a video game, some card companies hope to produce a tabletop game, some comic companies hope to change it into a manga, and some animation companies hope to change it into an animation...
What moved Xiang Nan the most was that the six major Hollywood film companies also extended an olive branch to Xiang Nan, hoping to turn "Harry Potter" into a movie.
However, the price they offered was not very good. Because in the 1980s, the life of the major Hollywood film companies was not very good.
For example, Columbia was on the verge of bankruptcy, so that it was acquired by Sony; Universal Pictures was also acquired by Panasonic in 1990; Fox Films was acquired by News Corporation in 1985; Acquired by Viacom in...
So don't look at the big names in Hollywood, but in fact, most of them are embroidered pillows now. The cash that can be given out is not even as much as Xiang Nan.
Because of this, Xiang Nan was not in a hurry to give them the right to adapt the novel for film and television. Without decent special effects, the fantasy and magnificent magical world of "Harry Potter" cannot be filmed. Crude movies will do more damage to the IP value of "Harry Potter".
So after thinking about it, Xiang Nan decided to wait a few more years.
However, he agreed to the requests of game companies, comic companies, and animation companies one by one, and not only received a huge licensing fee of millions. And you can get a certain share in the future. It can be said that it is very good.
And this is thanks to Guan Xiaoguan.
It was she who went back to the United States, helped Xiang Nan find a brokerage company, and helped him negotiate, which led to such a good result. Otherwise, even if Xiang Nan could get the money, it would waste a lot of energy.
It is worth mentioning that Xiang Nan's agency is the famous CAA.
CAA was founded in 1975 by five unlucky ghosts who were fired from the William Morris agency. At the beginning, the start-up capital was less than 10,000 yuan, and the only valuable thing was a second-hand car.
And they started from acting as an agent for the author's novel copyright. Because there were a lot of depressed writers on the west coast of the United States at that time, their novels were not read, and their scripts could not be sold. Naturally, no economic company was willing to deal with them.
So CAA saw the business opportunity and signed all these writers, and took the opportunity to master the film and television adaptation rights of their works.
Then they use their professional vision to select suitable works and recommend them to major film and television companies. And took the opportunity to recommend his own artists to participate in the performance.
In this way, CAA's business gradually expanded, and eventually became the most influential agency in Hollywood.
They also took a fancy to the influence of Xiang Nan's novels, so they signed him under their command.
(end of this chapter)