Chapter 18: Investment

Lin Nan began attending classes with his classmates, and they would ask him this and that, most frequently about life on a film set.

The most direct question was how to secure investment; this question was very blunt, and for students with no background, it was the most difficult one.

And so, at school, Lin Nan spotted a senior who had graduated long ago: Ning Hao.

It was said that the film he poured his heart and soul into, *Incense*, had lost money to the point of bankruptcy.

Come to think of it, the Heavenly King Liu's "Focus: First Cuts" project wouldn't happen until next year. In that case, Ning Hao would probably have to do odd jobs for a while; *Crazy Stone* was still two years away.

"Wait a minute, why wait two years? To wait for Heavenly King Liu? Am I stupid? I should cut in and steal his thunder."

Lin Nan thought to himself with delight. Ning Hao was in a gap period; he could provide him with the script, provide him with the funding, and have him work for him.

Without a big cast, without promotion, and not even in a good release window, *Crazy Stone* had still been a dark horse that stunned everyone.

If Lin Nan were to invest in it, with the original cast, wouldn't he make a fortune?

No sooner said than done, Lin Nan took a trip to the Cinematography Department. "You want Ning Hao's contact information?"

"That's right. I have a script I want to shoot but I'm too lazy to do it myself. I just wrapped up a film, after all," Lin Nan said with a straight face.

The teacher opposite him nodded. Ning Hao was his student, and the failure of *Incense* had a significant impact on him. He had come back to see him during this time to see if there were any film crews he could recommend.

Now there was an opportunity right in front of him. Although it was offered by a student from the Directing Department, this student had already succeeded, hadn't he? He was also a film company boss who co-produced with the Shanghai Film Group and the China Film Group.

"I'll help you call him over. What time should we set?"

"Six o'clock this afternoon. We can have a meal while we're at it."

Lin Nan set the time quite decisively; he would have to skip class in the afternoon to get the script ready.

"Teacher, please tell him that I can handle the crew and the funding. I've seen his *Thursday, Wednesday*, and it's quite good."

Lin Nan added that extra bit to give the other party a reason; he couldn't just ask him to be a director for no reason.

In the afternoon, Lin Nan didn't skip class; he asked for leave instead. He sat in his dorm and clattered away at his keyboard to knock out the script—at the very least, the outline was very complete.

At a quarter past five, Lin Nan came out of the printing room, clutching a stack of the first draft.

He chose the same place where he had eaten with Director Li Yang last time; although the place was small, he was hoping for good luck.

Ning Hao was from the '99 Cinematography class. One had to admit that people from the Film Academy's Cinematography Department really had long legs. One after another, they would jump straight into the directing circle without changing majors, and they were all big names. Representative figures included: Zhang Yimou, Gu Changwei, Zhang Li...

Born in '77, Ning Hao was seven years older than Lin Nan. He brought his wife, Xing Aina, who was also a senior from the Film Academy.

Lin Nan felt a bit nervous. He, a fake, had run into the real deal; the original script for *Crazy Stone* had been written by this very senior.

Lin Nan felt fortunate. Now, nearly two years early, this script was his.

"This script is truly great. Black comedy, a farce."

Xing Aina said as she flipped through the script.

Ning Hao looked at Lin Nan, feeling a sense of emotion. He was still struggling, while this junior at school already had a representative work—and a high-grossing one at that.

"I heard you just wrapped up a film recently?"

"Yes, it wrapped just over a week ago."

"You're much better than me," Ning Hao said with self-deprecation.

"After this film, Senior Ning won't be like this anymore. Investors will come looking for you on their own."

Lin Nan said it very firmly, and Ning Hao was a bit skeptical.

"It was at this very table that I confirmed the investment for *Blind Shaft* with Director Li Yang, and I was certain he would win an award."

"Oh?"

Ning Hao and his girlfriend were somewhat moved.

"I've written my actor recommendations at the back of the script. Senior, you can take a look."

Xing Aina flipped to the last page. The biggest star was Guo Tao, but he didn't have any films he carried on his own, so he shouldn't be expensive.

"What about the production cost?" Ning Hao asked.

"Eight million. I won't interfere with anything else; Senior, you can have complete control over the crew."

"Really?" Ning Hao asked, very excited.

"Yes. Try to keep these people; I think they're very suitable. As for the timing, this film probably won't take long to shoot, so let's not release it this year. Next year at the earliest."

The main thing was that the second half of this year was too competitive.

Ning Hao and Xing Aina discussed it for a while and agreed on the spot. "We can sign the contract at my company tomorrow or the day after. The money will arrive within a week, and I won't interfere with the rest. As for distribution and such, China Film, Shanghai Film, or Enlight Media are all fine."

Lin Nan wanted to cover the entire investment.

Having settled the cooperation, the three of them happily had dinner and agreed to sign the contract the day after tomorrow, as they had to arrange things at their company tomorrow.

This so-called company was just like Lin Nan's studio back then, still in the fledgling stage—"Bad Monkey," right?

The signing went very smoothly. Ning Hao had already started booking the actors' schedules, and they set the start of filming for early next year. Lin Nan transferred half the funds first, and the film project application was also submitted.

A few days later, Lin Nan ran into a future Best Actor in school, Huang Bo, who was in the same grade as him. At first glance, he didn't recognize him and thought he was some parent who had come looking for someone.

"Hello, Director Lin. I'm Huang Bo from the dubbing class, '02 vocational..."

It seemed Ning Hao was moving fast and was already booking people. "No need to thank me. I've seen your *Get in, Let's Go*, and I think you're quite suitable for this film," Lin Nan started spouting nonsense.

He hadn't even recognized the person at first, so how could he know if he was suitable or not?

It really wasn't Lin Nan's fault; the two were ten years apart, and in this Film Academy full of handsome men and beautiful women, the contrast was even sharper.

Living up to his reputation as a high-EQ Best Actor, the originally awkward Lin Nan found the conversation opening up after just a few sentences.

"Have you signed?"

"Already signed. We start filming early next year."

Huang Bo had taken the vocational dubbing class route as a roundabout way to enter this circle and become an actor.

Now that a director was offering him a role, he naturally cherished it. Especially after hearing that the producer was Lin Nan, he had another thought—this was how connections were made.

Lin Nan suggested not talking about this outside for now to avoid trouble. Bao Shihong and Brother Dao were both from next door, and if the teachers found out, they would start grumbling again.

The school was going to hold a screening. The great director Zhang Yimou was returning to his alma mater to promote *House of Flying Daggers*. Lin Nan also received an invitation, and for the front rows at that—a great honor.

The headache was for the school. As a signature alumnus, the actresses Zhang Yimou promoted were all from next door. Thinking about holding a promotion at the Film Academy while the leads being interviewed were from next door, the school leaders probably wouldn't look too happy.

Cannes in May had nothing to do with the mainland, except for a Golden Camera award given to a domestic director whose film couldn't be released in the mainland.

The *House of Flying Daggers* screening was held at the academy as scheduled. Director Zhang was indeed a big production; the cast spanned all three regions.

Zhang Ziyi's face was truly born for the big screen. This year could be called the Year of Zhang Ziyi; last year was the Year of Zhao Yanzi.

*House of Flying Daggers* was confirmed to be released in North America following *Hero*. Coupled with Director Lou Ye's *Purple Butterfly*, she had three films being released there this year. "International Zhang" was not far off.

The second year was coming to an end. For students at the Film Academy, it was a matter of course to run to film sets after the second year; the school next door had only just started to loosen up.

From last year until now, the box office record for a pure mainland film was held by Director Feng Xiaogang.

*Cell Phone* had 53 million in box office; this was the official data. *Hero* was too much of a beast, with too much foreign capital and a global release, so it wasn't included in the comparison.

No sooner had the promotion for *House of Flying Daggers* finished than *A World Without Thieves* began. It was said that Zhou Xingchi was already preparing for university lectures for *Kung Fu*.

This year was very special; the mainland market was about to see its own 100-million-yuan box office commercial film.

Lin Nan was lying dead in his dorm. His villa dream had to be pushed back again; besides the four million left for Ning Hao, the company account only had enough money to maintain daily expenses.

"Forget it, I won't buy it. The dorm is fine."

"Visiting the set?"

Lin Nan hesitated. There had been too many things at school lately, and he was busy catching up on classes; he had fallen too far behind.

Liu Yifei invited her classmates to visit the set, mainly the ones she got along with. *Chinese Paladin* was about to wrap up, and "Big Beardy" Zhang was marketing it like crazy; fake news was flying all over newspapers and websites.

*The Return of the Condor Heroes* hadn't even started filming yet, but the hype had already reached the sky.

Little Liu's mother and godfather had likely used their "money power," and it was already a done deal, though it was still being rumored wildly outside. The male lead, however, hadn't been decided yet.

Huang Xiaoming and Nie Yuan, two popular young actors, were both competing for it, and Li Yapeng was also a hot candidate.

Tieba was now a gathering place for young people, and fans were already spontaneously building momentum for their favorite actors.

"Alright, alright."

Lin Nan received an invitation from Cai Yinong.

They couldn't reach the top-tier international directors, so someone like him, who was above second-tier, became their first choice. Lin Nan didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

One *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind* couldn't fully prove his value yet; it all depended on the box office of the second film. Whether he could become a top-tier commercial film director in the country depended on it.

It was mainly because of Little Liu; otherwise, Lin Nan wouldn't want to visit the set. He didn't want to have too much contact with Cai Yinong; it was obvious she was driven by utilitarian motives.

However, this Boss Cai was very eager to sign Liu Yifei, but Liu's mother wasn't willing. Huayi had approached them several times, but Liu's mother still didn't agree.

She only wanted the benefits and wasn't willing to give up "ownership" of her daughter.

Lin Nan hoped that the little bit of knowledge in his head could help him pass the exams.

He stayed at school for ten days and then prepared to set off to visit the set. Traveling with him were a few acquaintances from the Acting Department who were going there to join the crew.

There were many talent agencies in the capital now, and quite a few film companies as well. Huayi was a giant in both aspects.

They had directors if they wanted directors, and actors if they wanted actors. Not long ago, they had even tried to recruit Lin Nan, but he had politely declined.

What would he go there for? To be a background prop for Director Feng?

However, Mango's *Super Girl* had started. Recently, Lin Nan had even seen the promotional slogan: "Sing if you want to sing!"

The first, and also the most successful, large-scale interactive star-making event in the country was about to begin.

When they arrived at Hengdian, *Chinese Paladin* was really about to wrap up. Li Xiaoyao and Zhao Linger's child had been born for a long time, and they were about to go teach others what love was.

They were well-prepared this time; there were even reporters. Lin Nan could already imagine one of the entertainment headlines in a few days.

"Director Lin Nan visits the *Chinese Paladin* set after wrapping up *Return to Youth*."

If this news were placed after the release of *Return to Youth*, it would be equivalent to saying Lin Nan was working for Cai Yinong.

Liu's mother was also at the dinner table. Watching Lin Nan chatting and laughing with her daughter and the boss and actors of Tang Ren—especially the attitude of the latter—she couldn't quite understand it. Had such a kid really risen to power? He had only directed one film, hadn't he!