Chapter 263: Twenty-five Proposals

During Chen Kaige's forty-minute "speech," many people in the conference room were listening until they were drowsy.

However, on such an important occasion, there were people in the conference room specifically recording it. It might very well be made into a documentary to be passed down through the ages, and even passed down to future generations.

Therefore, everyone had to perk up, pretend to listen with relish, smile and nod from time to time, and occasionally lower their heads to write furiously.

Cao Yang couldn't help but think, I wonder if it's really made into a documentary, will future generations watch it as a comedy?

After Chen Kaige finished expressing his Olympic views, as he stepped away, the deputy head couldn't help but ask a more "professional" question.

"Director Chen, during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics, the number of participating personnel and staff adds up to at least tens of thousands. So many big and small trivial problems, even as small as whether the temporary actors have eaten, need to be communicated by the director. Have you thought about these problems?"

The deputy head didn't ask for a specific proposal, but asked a most basic question.

It is estimated that it might be because he thought there were leaders present. In the 50-minute statement, only Cao Yang asked two or three questions. Doesn't that make the review panel seem too "incompetent"?

Since there is no proposal detail, then ask about "people's livelihood."

Old Chen was a bit surprised. This could be seen from the expression on his face.

He couldn't help but glance at the deputy head before slowly saying:

"My latest film, *The Promise*, cost more than 300 million RMB, lasted more than 1,000 days, the crew had up to 2,000 people at its peak, and there were more than 1,700 temporary actors and extras. The eating, drinking, and pooping of these people were all the responsibility of the crew."

Cao Yang originally thought Old Chen was popularizing science for the deputy head of the review panel through *The Promise*.

It meant that for such a large project as *The Promise*, with so many extras, although there might not be as many people as the Olympic opening ceremony, I still have experience in management.

Who knew Old Chen suddenly changed the subject, almost twisting Cao Yang's waist.

"I have life producers, field producers, and production producers, as well as production assistants, and also production directors and actor assistant directors specifically managing these trivial matters. They managed the crew very well. I just focus on filming the movie, why should I think about these?"

Cao Yang carefully looked at Old Chen's facial expression. His face was full of confusion and incomprehension, not like he was pretending.

Old Chen meant that in the future, I will form a team, and naturally someone will be responsible for this part. Why should I still consider these trivial matters?

Is this what a big director is? Cao Yang couldn't help but think.

Old Chen's words sounded very reasonable at first, and he cited *The Promise* as proof, which seemed irrefutable.

But upon closer inspection, I felt that this set of rhetoric was problematic.

Huh?

No, I am also a big director, a bigger director than Old Chen.

Do I also have such a problem now? Have I long since stopped worrying about the trivial matters of the crew?

Cao Yang suddenly felt that Old Chen gave him a reminder. If you don't worry about the trivial matters of the crew, will you slowly not worry about other things in the crew? Will you slowly become detached from the "masses"?

Will you not be grounded?

The deputy head was even more speechless. He always felt that Old Chen looked at him as if he were a fool, seeming very strange why he would ask such a "childish" question.

"Okay, Director Chen, thank you."

The deputy head still had to squeeze out a smile, looking very satisfied with Director Chen's answer.

After Old Chen left the conference room, it seemed that many people in the conference room breathed a sigh of relief.

"Rest for twenty minutes."

The deputy head said a word. After the camera over there was turned off, he couldn't help rubbing his temples, feeling that this group of people engaged in art is really hard to deal with, really hard to communicate with.

Two words: exhausting!

After the rest time was up, continue calling people.

It was busy until after ten o'clock in the evening, and only eight teams had made statements, which was much slower than expected.

There were five teams left, so they could only wait until tomorrow. Old Mouzi's and Xiao Gangpao's teams were among them.

Cao Yang and the entire review panel members stayed at the guest house at night and didn't go back.

The next day, continue.

The first one to come in was Xiao Gangpao.

Yesterday, Cao Yang had already looked at Xiao Gangpao's planning proposal. To be honest, it was pretty good overall. It could be seen that Xiao Gangpao had indeed tried his best, but unfortunately, the hope of being selected was not great.

It's not that the proposal was bad, but Xiao Gangpao was a commercial film director after all, and every movie would have advertisements inserted, which made it hard for people to believe whether he would "do tricks" at the opening and closing ceremonies.

You have to know that there are already companies outside shouting that as long as they can put advertisements on the Olympic opening ceremony, they are willing to pay 100 million or more.

The Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee didn't dare to gamble. If Xiao Gangpao was bold enough to "customize" an advertisement, that would not only be a disgrace to the world, but at that time, everyone sitting there would have their official careers ended.

You have to know that Xiao Gangpao's team had many people from Huayi. Given Xiao Gangpao's relationship with Huayi, it was hard to guarantee that he wouldn't be influenced by Huayi in the future.

This made them even less dare to gamble.

Therefore, no matter how good Xiao Gangpao's proposal was, the hope was slim.

The second to last to come in was Old Mouzi.

I don't know if it was a coincidence, but there were thirteen teams in the first round of bidding for the Olympic chief director, and Old Mouzi alone made thirteen alternative proposals.

The planning proposal about Old Mouzi in Cao Yang's hand added up to almost as thick as the other twelve teams, and this was just his proposal outline.

For the specific implementation details, there were thirteen proposals with thirteen details, each listed very detailed.

The staff moved from another database to the conference room. It took six people two trips to finish moving.

The proposals were indeed numerous enough and detailed enough, but they were definitely not the two truckloads of materials rumored outside.

However, just by virtue of these different planning proposals and each having implementation details, it was enough to move the people present.

Old Mouzi came up and said: "The Olympic opening ceremony is not just a performance, it is also a display of national image. Every detail cannot be ignored. Every regulation and every arrangement must be carefully considered..."

Cao Yang was a bit impressed by Old Mouzi. Even if he had received the notice in advance, being able to prepare so detailed, even making so many alternative proposals, this was not leaving others a chance at all.

This round had almost decided the outcome. The second round of selection in January next year was basically just going through the motions.

After the first round of selection ended, five groups would enter the second round, but the results would not come out so quickly. It would not be until January next year that the results would come out.

Thirteen teams, twenty-five planning proposals, Old Mouzi alone had thirteen.

After Cao Yang considered it, he didn't pull Old Mouzi's out separately, but scored all twenty-five planning proposals. As for how to calculate the quantitative score for Old Mouzi in the end, let the review panel choose.

The second round of review was actually a negotiation, not involving specific proposals, so Cao Yang didn't need to worry about it.

His journey as the chief consultant of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee also ended here. Next, he should go to be busy with *Inception*.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 264 =====