Chapter 132

Over the next few days, Cao Yang began socializing again: the official Cannes cocktail party, the party hosted by mk2, and several private gatherings.

At the Sony Pictures Classics celebration party, Ehrmann asked Cao Yang: "What are your plans next? Shall we make another film?"

Cao Yang smiled and shook his head, clinked glasses with Ehrmann, and said: "I'm going back to China to film a commercial movie. As for Hollywood, let's wait until you've conquered the Oscars and see how things go."

After thinking for a moment, Cao Yang said again: "I actually feel now that there's no need for us to film movies in Hollywood; there are too many constraints. It would be better to change our approach."

Ehrmann was stunned for a moment and asked: "Change your approach? For example?"

"For example, I register a company in the United States, and you help me manage the copyrights, how about that?"

"What?"

Ehrmann thought he had misheard. Manage copyrights? What did that mean?

"I've registered five scripts with the U. S. Copyright Office. I'm sure you know that I've already expanded these scripts into short stories, ready for publication, and I've given them the title 'Cao Yang's Fantasy Journey'."

"I'm also planning to use my spare time to write more of these short stories and put them all into this collection. How about you help me manage them?"

"When someone takes a fancy to one, you act as the producer, the company invests some, we pull in some more investment, and we maintain control ourselves, just following the Hollywood model."

"Of course, there are a few among them that I intend to film myself in the future, so I'll just keep a few."

Ehrmann frowned and began to think. After finishing 'Milk', they held a press conference, and he still remembered Cao Yang saying at the press conference that all sorts of strange and bizarre thoughts would always appear in his mind, and he would write them all down.

Could this be true, and not just Cao Yang talking nonsense?

"My dear director, I'd like to know, how many such stories do you intend to include in 'Cao Yang's Fantasy Journey'? Can all these stories be adapted into scripts?"

Cao Yang smiled; he knew Ehrmann was tempted.

"Many, very many. I can guarantee that even if you act as the lead producer once a year, you won't be thinking about retiring within twenty years."

Cao Yang clinked glasses with Ehrmann and said with a smile: "Ehrmann, you're my friend, which is why I thought of you first. How about it, are you in?"

"I'm in!"

Cao Yang had already made his plans, intending to take movies with some fame in Hollywood, as long as there were no copyright issues, and write them into short stories whenever he had time, publishing them in 'Cao Yang's Fantasy Journey'.

Even if they were only a few thousand words, it would be enough to stake a claim on the story.

After finishing all the socializing in Cannes, Cao Yang bought a plane ticket and returned to China.

Because he knew Cao Yang's flight in advance, Hou Ke-ming ran to the airport to pick him up again. This time, the airport hadn't arranged for reporters, so it was quite quiet.

Hou Ke-ming explained in the car: "We didn't notify the reporters to come to the airport this time. You go back and get a good rest for two days. Next Monday, the school is going to hold a press conference. There will be TV reporters and print media reporters, so prepare yourself."

"Dean Hou, why such a big production all of a sudden?"

"Haha, isn't it because you won the Palme d'Or? We definitely have to hold a press conference. Besides, the process for your distinguished professorship has also been completed, so we'll announce it together that day."

Hou Ke-ming felt a bit regretful because, due to his illness, the process hadn't been completed before the Cannes Film Festival was held. Otherwise, if the distinguished professorship had been awarded first and then Cao Yang won the Palme d'Or, it would have shown the school's sincerity even more.

Unlike now, where it made it look like he was only given the distinguished professorship because Cao Yang won the Palme d'Or again, which seemed a bit petty.

"What's the scale of the press conference? What do I need to prepare?" Cao Yang calculated; today was Thursday, so there were still a few days until the press conference.

"Haha, don't worry about how big the scale is; you just need to know that there will be CCTV reporters, and they might cut a few segments to put on the news."

When Hou Ke-ming said this, Cao Yang suddenly felt that there was indeed no need to worry about the scale of the press conference. Having CCTV reporters there was enough.

Cao Yang thought for a moment and suddenly felt that this seemed to be building momentum for him. Could it be because he won the Palme d'Or and agreed to film a commercial movie?

After resting for a night, Cao Yang still went to Old Situ's office the next day.

Ever since Cao Yang won the Palme d'Or, Old Situ had been coming to the office every day these past few days, and he would often go to Xie Fei, Zheng Dongtian, and the others to visit.

Sometimes he couldn't help but sigh: "Why is the Cannes Palme d'Or a leaf? It's not good-looking at all. If you don't believe me, when Cao Yang comes back, I'll have him bring the Palme d'Or, and you'll know I'm not lying. If that really doesn't work, I'll have Kaige bring his too, and you'll know once you compare them..."

This made Xie Fei quite angry. So only your student has a Palme d'Or, right?

Later, when he thought about it, there were only two in the entire Chinese circle, and whether it was Chen Kaige or Cao Yang, they were both his students, so he became even angrier.

Xie Fei was fine; he had won the Berlin Golden Bear, so he could still fight back a little.

Zheng Dongtian had no way; this old guy was too infuriating. As a fourth-generation director, he hadn't won any major awards with real weight, so he could only comfort himself in his heart: "I'm a feature film director; I won't lower myself to the level of a documentary director..."

Consequently, he became even angrier. A shitty documentary director brought out a whole bunch of feature film directors famous throughout China, and even produced two directors who had won the Cannes Palme d'Or. Is there any justice?

Pfft, the old guy just got lucky!

When Cao Yang arrived at Old Situ's office, he heard Old Situ beating out a rhythm with his hand, singing some unknown opera, very much enjoying himself.

"Teacher."

Cao Yang called out. Old Situ was clearly very happy to see it was Cao Yang and waved his hand, signaling Cao Yang to come in.

Cao Yang sat there for a while, then said goodbye to Old Situ and went to sit with Old Tian for a bit.

In the evening, Cao Yang drove to the residential complex where Gao Yuanyuan lived.

Gao Yuanyuan had been in Beijing for a while, and the two hadn't seen each other for a while, so they missed each other.

No matter how intimate people are, if they haven't seen each other for a long time, there will be a little bit of estrangement when they first meet. In fact, there are many ways to eliminate it, and Cao Yang adopted the simplest and most direct one.

The distance between the two suddenly became negative, and all estrangement disappeared.

"We haven't seen each other for so long; did you miss me?"

Gao Yuanyuan held Cao Yang's face, kissed him on the lips, and asked softly.

"Of course I did. Don't we talk on the phone often?"

"Cao Yang, I want to have a..."

!

Cao Yang directly blocked Gao Yuanyuan. He knew very well what Gao Yuanyuan would shout at the critical moment, so he simply sealed the words she wanted to say in advance.

After a long time, Gao Yuanyuan gently bit Cao Yang and asked: "Are you still going to develop in Hollywood?"

"Not for the time being; that place is boring."

Afterward, he gently flicked Gao Yuanyuan's forehead with his hand, stopping her: "Don't make trouble."

Gao Yuanyuan bared her teeth, stopped her provocative behavior, chuckled, and said: "It's fine if you don't go to Hollywood, so I don't have to wait so long just to see you. What are the great director's plans next?"

"I might film a commercial movie; I estimate it won't be long before it's officially launched."

"A commercial movie? Are you crazy? Why are you..."

Perhaps thinking of Old Mouzi's 250 million box office 'Hero', Gao Yuanyuan hesitated for a moment, feeling that if he could get a high box office, it would be fine for Cao Yang to turn to filming commercial movies, right?

In this era, art film directors stand at the top of the contempt chain and naturally look down on commercial film directors. This is also the reason why Xiao Gangpao has always wanted to win awards to prove himself.

But if the box office of a commercial film is high to a certain extent, like Old Mouzi's, many people would probably hesitate, right?

"It's just filming a commercial movie; there's nothing worth making a fuss about." Cao Yang smiled and patted Gao Yuanyuan's head.

"Didn't Old Mouzi also film 'Hero'? From now on, commercial movies are going to rise."

"Really?"

Gao Yuanyuan didn't want to think about the dispute between art films and commercial films anymore; she just needed to listen to Cao Yang.

"Where is it really big?" Cao Yang asked.

Gao Yuanyuan giggled.

The next day, Cao Yang took the finished script to find Hou Ke-ming.

Hou Ke-ming didn't expect Cao Yang to have already finished the script, thinking he would have to wait for a while.

Flipping through it casually, Hou Ke-ming raised his head and asked with some surprise: "'Painted Skin'? 'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio'?"

"Not exactly. I just read a few of the short stories in it, and I thought they were quite interesting, so I used 'Painted Skin' as the framework to write this script. It's not an adaptation of 'Strange Tales'; I can only say it's inspired by it."

"Don't use the name of an adaptation at that time, and don't lean on 'Strange Tales', so as not to be criticized. The preparation cycle for this film isn't long, and the investment isn't as exaggerated as 'Hero', so it's quite suitable."

Cao Yang explained.

Hou Ke-ming didn't continue reading. Having worked with Cao Yang for so many years, he believed Cao Yang wouldn't shoot without a target, and passing the review would definitely be no problem.

Besides, the higher-ups were now in a hurry to have Cao Yang take action, so even if there were some places that were usually not easy to pass, no one would dare to block it this time.

"Roughly how much investment is needed? How long will the preparation cycle and filming cycle be?" Hou Ke-ming asked the key question; this was what the higher-ups wanted to know most.

"If we don't hire those international superstars, it will probably need an investment between 70 million and 80 million."

Cao Yang had already made a rough budget, and he had also made estimates for the preparation cycle and filming cycle.

"A preparation cycle of more than two months is about enough. As for the filming cycle, it shouldn't exceed three months."

(End of chapter)