Chapter 127

In the following days, what awaited Cao Yang were various symposiums, large and small. Whether held by the Film Bureau or by associations, the goal was nothing more than one thing: to get a big director to shoot a commercial film to see if the market was truly warming up.

Actually, this matter was still very important to the higher-ups.

The new "Regulations on the Administration of Films" promulgated by the State Council on February 1, 2002, had been officially implemented for only ten months by the time "Hero" was released. If the market was truly warming up, it would prove the correctness of the implementation of the "Regulations on the Administration of Films."

For a policy to go from implementation to effectiveness, ten months was considered very short.

Therefore, the higher-ups were also unsure what the current situation was and whether they should increase support.

This required a big director to probe the market again, so they could more accurately understand the situation and take corresponding measures.

"Cao Dao, back from Hollywood?"

At a meeting, he ran into Xiao Gangpao, who had also come to attend, and the other party grinned at Cao Yang and asked.

"Hello, Director Feng, long time no see. I just got back two days ago."

"I saw the news a while ago; your film caused quite a stir. It seems that before it even started shooting, it was exposed by the scheduled actors? Saying something about the biographical figure being fabricated?"

Xiao Gangpao was all smiles, grinning, and it was clear he was still a bit gleeful about others' misfortune.

He also comfortingly said to Cao Yang: "Although Sean Penn's acting is okay, he is a famous bad boy. You, you're still too young and simply can't handle such an old guy. If you ask me, you shouldn't have chosen him as the male lead."

Alright, it didn't sound like comfort; it sounded more like an old senior giving pointers to a junior.

Cao Yang could tell that Xiao Gangpao was still holding a grudge about being rejected by Sony Pictures Classics last time; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so bored as to pay attention to this mess on the other side of the ocean.

"Sigh, Director Feng, you don't know the full story. It's not just Sean Penn; the other backup lead I valued, Tim Robbins, followed suit. Not only did he not fulfill the private agreement to star as the lead, but he also followed Sean Penn in exposing a large amount of information unfavorable to the film."

Cao Yang answered with a smile, but he wasn't as dejected or angry as Xiao Gangpao had imagined.

Pretend, just keep pretending.

Xiao Gangpao thought to himself: a positive figure was exposed as a scumbag, all the early preparations went up in smoke, and everything had to start from scratch. How could it be that easy?

This film hadn't been shelved, and changing course in a hurry definitely wouldn't end well.

According to Xiao Gangpao's estimation, Cao Yang's Hollywood path would probably be about the same as the great poet Chen Kaige's—his future ruined by one film.

However, Xiao Gangpao still had a tiny bit of sympathy for Cao Yang. For such a thing to happen during the film's preparation period, sigh, he deserved it!

"Cao Dao is still young; if you fail, you fail. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Treat this as an experience and a lesson. Young people experiencing more of these things can enrich their life experience."

Cao Yang nodded and still smiled, flattering him: "Director Feng is right. You understand so many great principles; one look and you can tell you have very rich life experience."

Then the two shook hands, turned, and walked toward their respective seats.

"Pah, sharp-tongued, you deserve to fail."

Xiao Gangpao thought to himself as he walked: "Luckily Sony Pictures Classics didn't choose me. Being backstabbed by two intended male leads and having the character completely overturned—this is a total disaster. It's a ghost if a film shot in a hurry can be any good. Deserved!"

It was the great poet Director Chen Kaige who, after running into Cao Yang at another meeting, patted him on the shoulder and sighed, feeling a sense of sympathy for a fellow sufferer.

"Don't mind it. You're still young. The Americans are different from us. Even if you seriously shoot the film well, if they don't approve, there's nothing you can do. In the end, they'll cut it to pieces, and a perfectly good film will become inexplicable."

Cao Yang was stunned for a moment and said with a smile: "Senior brother is right. I'm fine, thank you for your concern, senior brother."

So everyone thinks my film failed, right?

That's true; after such a big storm, a "heroic" American figure was flipped into a shameless politician that everyone wanted to beat up. According to conventional thinking, this film was definitely finished.

Cao Yang was a bit dazed. No wonder Old Situ and Old Tian had almost never mentioned this film. Perhaps in their minds, this film, which he was "biting the bullet" to continue shooting, couldn't possibly succeed.

"Those people in Hollywood only care about interests and are untrustworthy. You must learn your lesson. Next time you have an opportunity, you must not make the same mistake, and don't believe any promises made by any of them. As long as it's not in writing, their promises are worthless."

Chen Kaige added another word of comfort. This was sincere comfort; after this failure in Hollywood, Old Chen probably had deep feelings, and his words were from the bottom of his heart.

"Senior brother is right. I'll remember it and definitely learn my lesson," Cao Yang responded with a smile.

Old Chen then stopped mentioning such disappointing things and instead pulled Cao Yang into a corner where no one was paying attention, whispering instructions.

"You must have promised the teacher, right? About the matter of the higher-ups asking for a film to be shot."

"Hmm, the teacher has spoken, so I definitely have to agree. I'm preparing to shoot a commercial film to try it out."

Cao Yang knew it was about shooting a commercial film. Old Situ had spoken, and Old Chen had also agreed to shoot a big-budget commercial blockbuster.

Old Chen looked around and whispered: "Agreeing is one thing, but at meetings like this, just muddle through if you can. Never promise anything on the spot. You have the school and the teacher behind you; you definitely need to ask for more support. You don't need to come forward for these things."

"Alright, senior brother, I'll remember that," Cao Yang nodded and said.

Although Old Chen was a bit arrogant, he truly treated Cao Yang as one of his own. Hmm, a little junior brother who needed his care in all aspects.

"Hmm, remember one thing: listen more, watch more, and just go along with it. Speak less, and don't come up with any unique insights. Just follow the crowd."

Before leaving, Old Chen didn't forget to instruct him.

In the following period, these kinds of meetings disappeared one after another. The epidemic harassed Jingcheng, and measures began to be taken.

Cao Yang stayed in the residential compound with Dong Xuan, not going anywhere. It was only mid-February, and they might stay here until May.

So he took advantage of this time to prepare to write all five scripts registered in Hollywood into short stories. Once published, even if others wanted to shoot similar films, they wouldn't be able to.

Cao Yang thought about naming the book "Cao Yang's Fantasy Journey," making it a collection, divided into one, two, three... and then writing all the good films that would appear in Hollywood later into short stories in advance and putting them into this collection.

It was estimated that the sales shouldn't be too bad. When he eventually chose one of them to shoot as a film, as long as the box office was good, the sales of the novel would definitely skyrocket.

It was truly a good thing that killed several birds with one stone.

In addition, after thinking during this period, as well as the requirements from the higher-ups, he had new ideas about which commercial film to shoot.

!

Actually, thinking about it, this was a bit like a required essay; simply summarized, it was a short time and a heavy task.

First, the film's preparation period couldn't be too long. If it were too long, it would lose the purpose of probing the market; the higher-ups wanted timely feedback.

Second, the film's investment couldn't be too small; if it were too small, it would also lose its meaning.

But because the preparation period was short and it had to be finished and released in a short time, there was no way to do special effects and props that took too long, which limited the possibility of investing too much; 50 million to 100 million was about right.

Finally, to achieve the goal, the simplest method was: big director plus big stars.

Actually, this was also the model for Director Zhang's second commercial blockbuster, "House of Flying Daggers."

The story of "House of Flying Daggers" was actually quite simple and quite ridiculous. The female lead, Xiao Mei, originally liked Constable Liu, but as the plot developed, she also developed feelings for Constable Jin, and finally realized she loved Constable Jin the most.

Constable Liu, out of love and hatred, wanted to kill Constable Jin...

A typical love triangle, plus a Flying Dagger Sect rebelling against the imperial court interspersed within it.

One had to say, Director Zhang's ability to tell a story was truly weak.

But one also had to say, Director Zhang's color palette was truly beautiful.

The film made extensive use of bright colors like green, yellow, and red, giving a strong sensory impact visually.

The essence of the magnificent landscape was moved to the screen, with the beautiful dance of the beauty in the qipao, the emerald green bamboo sea, the Chinese drums, the galloping horses...

These, combined with the meticulously produced Chinese-style background music, were simply a feast of beauty. The beautiful scenery, the beautiful woman, and the beautiful music made one feast their eyes.

During this time, Cao Yang was white, and before going to bed at night, he would perfect the script. The rest of the time, he interacted with Dong Xuan. The big director demonstrated in person, deepening their understanding through simple and easy-to-understand methods, so as to better coach her acting.

Dong Xuan learned very quickly, especially knowing that the art-house freak Depp performed very well in Cao Yang's new film and had several scenes interacting very well with the female lead, so she also decided to learn new knowledge.

So Cao Yang also guided her in some new movements and new knowledge.

Everything else was fine, and Dong Xuan liked it too, except for the part where her temper was very high. Dong Xuan expressed that it wasn't fun, it was too long, she wanted to vomit, and couldn't catch her breath.

Cao Yang didn't force her; he had always despised this slightly perverted practice. How could this thing be as fun as twin ponytails?

Until April, news suddenly came from the internet that the Cannes Film Festival had announced the films entering the main competition section.

At first, everyone's focus was on Chinese-language films. Seeing Lou Ye's "Purple Butterfly" enter the main competition section, and then checking the information, this film was actually starred by International Zhang and Liu Ye, and also had the acting powerhouse Feng Yuanzheng.

Moreover, "Purple Butterfly" was the only Chinese-language film to enter the Cannes main competition section.

Everyone couldn't help but have very high expectations for this film.

Then, someone suddenly posted: There was an American film called "Milk," directed by Cao Yang, which was also selected for the Cannes main competition section.

Although those who saw it were quite surprised, the impact was just like that. It was a critical moment, and people outside were in a panic; who had the mood to pay attention to the Cannes Film Festival?

There was only a little heated discussion on the internet. Later, someone mentioned: Isn't this the biographical film that caused such a huge stir last year regarding the director selection event, and finally chose Cao Yang to go to Hollywood to shoot?

Regarding Cao Yang's ability, no one questioned it anymore, so they all looked forward to what achievements this film could have at Cannes.

(End of chapter)