Chapter 854: Suggestions for the Second Art Exam; Guaranteed Distribution?

"Following Ma Te Damon, Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio made a surprise appearance at the Capital Airport this morning. Accompanying bodyguards and assistants maintained a tight cordon, preventing media reporters from getting close."

"Lin Nan Film's General Manager, Yue Jun, met the flight at the Capital Airport and accompanied him throughout... Industry insiders boldly speculate that Leonardo was invited by Lin Dao Nan to make a cameo appearance in 'The Wandering Earth'..."

The news that two Hollywood heavyweights had successively come to China, especially that an Oscar-winning superstar like Little DiCaprio had rushed over for a cameo, instantly became the explosive highlight of all online trending news.

Countless netizens and innumerable industry filmmakers were all left gaping in awe at Lin Dao Da's extravagant spending.

And at this very moment, 'The Wandering Earth' undoubtedly became the uncrowned king among films awaiting release in the coming years. Simply because of this lineup so luxurious it broke the sky, from the director to the cameo actors!

"Lin Dao is truly f***ing awesome. Isn't this more satisfying than those domestic actors going to Hollywood just to make a cameo?"

"It is indeed satisfying, but the problem is, when will this movie actually be released?"

"That's going to be a long wait; you definitely won't see a blockbuster like this without a year or two."

"Tsk tsk tsk, it seems the pie that is 'The Wandering Earth' is really huge; the actors in the film and television circle who failed their auditions are probably dying of envy right now, hating themselves for not being good enough, haha..."

"With all this grand spectacle day after day, there's no one else like him!" Ning Hao scrolled through the news online, his mouth full of complaints, yet the strong sourness in his tone was equally exposed.

"With that envious expression on your face, you should at least hide it a little?" After teasing Dong Ping, he finally got to the point:

"Unless something unexpected happens, the script for 'The Wandering Alien' should pass review by the middle of this month, right?"

Ning Hao and Xing Aina naturally heard the subtext in Dong Ping's words—he was emphasizing that, according to the shareholder agreement, Huanxi could participate in film projects initiated and controlled by Bad Monkey.

"Mm, it should be around those days in the middle of the month, but Huanxi can only get a small portion. Because Lin Nan and Yi Fei will take up a significant share; besides the copyright, they will also add a portion of investment."

Xing Aina spoke first, emphasizing specifically. In her view, it was only due to the original founder shareholder agreement; otherwise, she really would not be willing to cede a share of 'The Wandering Alien' to Huanxi.

"Of course, as long as there is a share, that's enough." Dong Ping had no objection at all and nodded with a smile.

Moreover, he proactively raised a suggestion: "When 'The Wandering Alien' is scheduled, I suggest you best go communicate with Lin Dao."

"You're looking down on me a bit too much, aren't you? Can't I even schedule a release date myself?" Ning Hao smiled helplessly.

"It's to ask about the release date of 'The Wandering Earth', so don't schedule them together or have overlapping times, to avoid getting pounded by Lin Nan!" Xing Aina rolled her eyes impatiently.

"See, your family still needs a big screenwriter to run the show. Haha..."

"Alright, those two sentences of yours make sense; I really might not be able to beat him. One minute it's Ma Te Damon, the next it's Leonardo; just the cast alone could crush me..."

Ning Hao cursed while laughing; a big shot is a big shot wherever they are, and connections and resources are the same.

Lin Nan left Leonardo only a five-second close-up shot of the front—the engineer transport vehicle driver's close-up; he also had only one line of dialogue: Why are we returning then?

Of course, since the latter had traveled a long way, he certainly couldn't be sent off immediately for makeup and preparation to start work. At the very least, he needed to rest for one night and deal with it the next morning.

However, the film crew side was very "lively"; the outside world believed Little DiCaprio had already joined the crew, so a huge wave of entertainment reporters, paparazzi, moviegoers, and fans swarmed the Oriental Movie Metropolis.

Starting from noon, the area outside the soundstage was a sea of people, packed tightly. Consequently, Wanda's people had to urgently deploy a large number of security personnel, and even several police cars arrived.

On the set, in the monitor, Wu Jing performed a non-physical performance alone in the "Space Station" with "Artificial Intelligence Moss"; the lens effect was smooth, not abrupt at all, very good.

After a long while, under a single instruction from Lin Nan, the shooting of this scene was officially concluded, one take.

"Lin Dao, the crowd outside hasn't decreased at all; we told them Leonardo isn't on the set, but no one is seen leaving." After handing over a bottle of water, the assistant reported immediately.

"Then just ignore it; since they have this kind of energy, let them waste it." Wu Jing walked over jokingly, preparing to watch his own footage just now.

"This shows it too; Ma Te's influence compared to Leonardo's is indeed still a big gap."

After making a teasing remark, Lin Nan finally noticed Zhao Zhao Jinmai doing homework nearby; he was momentarily stunned.

After a while, he couldn't help but shake his head with a smile. He almost forgot that Zhao Zhao Jinmai was still a ninth-grade student!

"Good heavens, it's a math mock exam? You're taking the high school entrance exam?" Li Li Guangjie glanced over and asked with delayed realization, laughing.

Zhao Zhao Jinmai looked up, pouting and frowning, and nodded heavily, "Late next month."

"Oh my, then in three years you'll have to take the art exam again! Do you want to curry favor with Lin Dao first? Lin Dao is a professor at the Film Academy. Things like the art exam are small matters; you could get recommended admission. Or even have the admission score line lowered, just like the 'Mou Girl' Zhou..."

Zhang Zhang Ruoyun's joking voice drifted in from a distance, but when he mentioned that last name, it stopped abruptly because several people were shaking their heads at him.

"To be a good actor, Central Academy of Drama is still the first choice." Facing Zhao Zhao Jinmai's pair of bright, shining eyes, Lin Nan said this sentence for the second time with a smile.

"Sigh, right, listen to Lin Dao. Go be my junior sister in three years." Li Li Guangjie smiled, sharing in the glory.

"Okay, then I'll take the exam at Central Academy of Drama!" At this moment, Zhao Zhao Jinmai nodded vigorously, her laughter mixed with a serious tone.

"Lin Dao, this is forgetting your roots; we are people of Beijing Film Academy." Zhang Zhang Ruoyun wore a bitter expression; he was truly startled by Lin Nan's words; if this got back to the school, it would be a disaster.

"Eh, actors from Central Academy of Drama acting in a big director's film from Beijing Film Academy; we can't lose that fine tradition."

"Then what should I say about my Sports University?"

Ignoring the four people's chatter, Lin Nan lay down lazily on the director's chair with a smile; let's take a nap for a while. Because the welcome banquet tonight would definitely involve drinking... eating and drinking until very late.

The next day, morning.

In the film market, 'Ip Man 4' was still leading the pack, and 'The Sorrows of the Warlord' had indeed chosen to ride the wave and capitalize on the heat, because the male lead was the same actor.

The industry did not despise Bona's behavior; instead, everyone praised it. Because everyone is a businessman, they can only sigh that Bona has good luck, and sincerely hope their own companies will have such good luck later!

Online, the various film and entertainment news items were merely appetizers.

The hottest news today was undoubtedly the matter of LeEco—internal employees exposed the current lawsuit situation LeEco. com was carrying on its back.

As expected, since being officially delisted on the 17th of last month, in just three weeks, LeEco. com, its founders, and senior executives had been sued by dozens to nearly a hundred individuals and companies, almost all major creditors.

And this data was still increasing at a rate of two or three per day... Even many creditors had begun to submit requests to the court to restrict Boss Jia's "personal freedom" and freeze his private and family assets.

"That person is no fool, such a sharp individual... who knows, he might already be plotting to run away right now? As long as he is not on the mainland, many problems can be dragged on indefinitely!"

Zhang Zhang Qiang's words carried hidden meanings as he commented mockingly. However, the next second, his face turned sour again. Because he thought of the matters on his own side; he was still wiping someone else's butt.

"How is it? How many companies have given feedback?" A few seconds later, Zhang Zhang Qiang changed the subject and asked the assistant.

Regarding the profitability of the film version of 'Eternal Love', Alibaba proposed two plans.

One was to distribute and share the box office themselves; the other was to sell the distribution rights at a high guaranteed price.

The former takes a bit of time, while the latter is a one-time bulk sale; compared to the former, the latter plan, although saving trouble, would likely sacrifice some profit to the buyer.

"Light Chaser, Huayi, Wanda, Bona—they all have feedback; they all have intentions to buy out the distribution! But they all have objections to the 2 billion guaranteed box office, thinking it is a bit too high and the risk is too great."

"Heh, isn't this just haggling? Business is nothing more than bargaining—they want to take a bigger bite, we want to grab more. But we've also gotten accurate information, haven't we? They're all tempted…"

"Director Zhang, then how should we negotiate with those companies next?"

"Still negotiate by haggling around the 2-billion box-office guarantee floor, but we also need to get their first-round bottom price… Besides, whether we ultimately close the deal as a guaranteed distribution, we haven't decided yet!"

Zhang Zhang Qiang spoke with an air of being in full command of the situation—Lin Nan's words, "I can guarantee at least 1.5 billion at the box office is no problem, 2 billion or even higher isn't impossible," were still vivid in his memory to this day!

……

The midday sun was lovely. While Leonardo was getting his makeup done, Lin Nan and the others were all out in the sun soaking up the rays. Right behind them stood the largest soundstage at Oriental Movie Metropolis—tens of meters tall and covering ten thousand square meters.

"I saw in the news a while back that he was still looking a bit pudgy. Who'd have thought he'd slim down again in the blink of an eye? That's taking it way too far!"

"Most domestic actors, whether they're filming or not, go to extremes to stay skinny. Actually, this 'pale, thin, young' aesthetic is really bad—it's quite pathological.

Normally, it should be: when a role demands it, control your shape in advance; once you're out of the crew, live healthily and eat healthily… then adjust reasonably before joining a new crew…"

Lin Nan didn't answer Zhao Zhao Jinmai directly, but instead brought up the current state of the mainland film and TV industry.

Leonardo hadn't been the least bit lax just because it was only a few seconds of a cameo—Lin Dao was quite satisfied.

"True, seems like it's only been the last few years, right? Actors and artists, for the sake of looking good on camera, their aesthetic direction has started to go a bit off. Yeah, it came over from South Korea!"

There he goes again—Wu Jing has started up. But what he said isn't wrong. And not only that, there's also a mainland 'good habit' at play:

Namely, taking this aesthetic trend and carrying it to even greater extremes, ultimately causing the aesthetic of the whole society to change… After all, aren't celebrities the objects of public aesthetic imitation under the spotlight?

"Lin Dao, his makeup is done." The assistant hurried over to Lin Nan's side—he was also a fan of little Leo's.

"Then let's go, get ready to roll."

When the group returned to the soundstage shooting area, Leonardo had already put on the "exoskeleton protective suit" and was standing by at any moment.

"Lin, let's do it. After we wrap, this afternoon I have to fly back and continue my vacation.

Oh right, there's one thing I forgot to tell you. The Academy's membership admission system was reformed last year, right? Recently it seems they're already reviewing new candidates, and there are quite a few filmmakers from your country among them. The results should probably be announced next month…"

The moment Leonardo's tangent began, sparks of gossip immediately lit up in the eyes of quite a few people on set.

Little Leo truly lived up to being an actor—he only cared about which Chinese directors were on the list—Jiang Wen, Chen Chen Kexin…

"All departments, prepare…"

As the crew of "The Wandering Earth" officially began filming Leonardo's cameo, over in the capital, Miss Liu had already walked into the General Administration's grand conference hall in a women's casual suit.

It was her first time representing Lin Nan at a major film and TV industry conference—she had been specifically named, otherwise the one coming should have been Yue Jun.

Fortunately, there were plenty of familiar faces around. In front were Ren Ren Zhonglun, Wang Yong and others; to the left was Wang Wang Changtian… Otherwise, given her "newcomer" state, she would most likely have been very unaccustomed to it all and felt out of place among strangers.

"Liu Yifei, don't overthink it—just sit and listen." Wang Wang Changtian said with a smile, and was immediately drawn his attention away by the leader's speech above.

Liu Liu Yifei nodded and smiled, then also furrowed her brow, all because of what was being said up there…

She couldn't help muttering to herself: "Didn't Lin Nan say by the end of next month? How has it been pulled forward by over a month—starting now?"

At this moment, what was being publicly announced in the grand conference hall was also being mentioned to the outside world for the first time:

Namely, the solicitation and consultation of handling opinions targeting paparazzi, entertainment reporters, and big-Vs who attach themselves to the film and entertainment industry, using the means of guiding public opinion and sentiment, stirring up social conflicts, and disrupting industry order to achieve profit-making purposes for individuals or studios…

A chorus of voices calling for their heads rose in unison.

Liu Liu Yifei cast a supporting vote along with Wang Wang Changtian, because this was the trend of the times… Lin Nan had also told her about it a few days earlier, during a phone call.

……