Chapter 341: Cooperation

At the time, when Cao Yang heard that Little Steel Cannon wanted to adapt a movie based on the novel *Lawsuit*, he had asked him.

"You were a soldier; what do you think of how this novel is written?"

Little Steel Cannon replied with a smile: "It's a novel, after all; artistic license is inevitable."

"How do you plan to film it? Will you be faithful to the original work?" Cao Yang asked again.

Little Steel Cannon hadn't considered that much at the time, and without thinking, he said:

"Of course I'll be faithful to the original. I spent so much money buying the adaptation rights. If I were to spend a huge amount of time and energy checking historical records—and the key is, I wouldn't even know where to look—I’d have to be out of my mind to buy his rights."

"You are indeed out of your mind."

Cao Yang said bluntly: "CCTV's *Oriental Horizon* aired an interview program called *For That Bugle Call*. I don't quite understand why you would still buy the adaptation rights to this novel, which clearly doesn't respect the facts."

Little Steel Cannon was silent for a while, then gave a bitter laugh and said:

"Old Cao, your status is different; it's easy for you to deal with those people, but I'm different.

You might not know how overbearing they are. Do you think I don't want to adapt *For That Bugle Call*? The difficulties and complexities involved are beyond what you can imagine."

Cao Yang was silent for a moment, then said to Little Steel Cannon: "If this movie is made well, you have a chance to win some domestic awards, but if it's made poorly, you'll be scolded, and no one will care if you were faithful to the original."

Then, he looked at Little Steel Cannon and asked very seriously: "Do you want to win awards or do you want to be scolded?"

"As long as I can win an award, even if I'm scolded..."

Before Little Steel Cannon could finish, Cao Yang interrupted him: "As long as you're scolded, it's very hard to win an award."

"I spent a lot of money, and I hired Liu Heng as the screenwriter..."

"Hiring anyone is useless." Cao Yang shook his head and said:

"For a movie with this kind of subject matter, it's best to be faithful to the facts rather than engaging in artistic license that you think is reasonable. None of us lived through that desperate era; we cannot use today's rationality and logic to substitute for that time."

"Is it really that hard to win an award?"

Little Steel Cannon didn't care about what was reasonable or not. He was a pragmatic person, and his current pursuit for movies, besides box office, was awards—and awards were something he urgently needed.

For a movie classified as "main melody," who knew how the box office would turn out? Little Steel Cannon's greatest pursuit for this film was awards.

This was something he hadn't dared to tell Huayi, fearing Huayi Brothers wouldn't invest.

Cao Yang knew very well that it was this movie that "reconciled" Little Steel Cannon with the Golden Rooster Awards.

Little Steel Cannon went on a rampage at the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards with *Assembly*, and also won Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor at the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan.

However, Little Steel Cannon was not aware of this.

Moreover, this time, even if Cao Yang didn't intervene, it would be difficult for Little Steel Cannon to win any major, prestigious awards.

"You should know that I wrote a script called *Saint's Sorrow* for Old Tian. Do you think the scolded *Assembly* can compete against a movie that won a major award at the Venice Film Festival?"

Cao Yang asked.

"Damn! I f***ing..."

Little Steel Cannon got agitated, and the internationally recognized greeting almost slipped out.

Of course he knew about Cao Yang writing a script for Old Tian. He also wanted Cao Yang to write a script for him, but his relationship with Cao Yang hadn't reached that point yet.

Cao Yang's scripts were not something you could get just by spending money.

That was why he changed his approach—I can't get your script, but I can discuss my script with you, and then it would be fine to incorporate some of your ideas, right?

This was the reason he discussed *Assembly* with Cao Yang.

"Are you so sure that Old Tian can use your script to make an award-winning movie? It's not that I look down on Old Tian, but some of his ideas and thoughts are already outdated."

Little Steel Cannon said with some resentment.

"As long as Old Tian doesn't make reckless changes and follows the script, it will be very easy to win an award."

Cao Yang then said with a smile: "Besides, I've planted a mole by Old Tian's side. As long as he makes any changes, I'll know immediately."

"F***!"

Little Steel Cannon was even more resentful.

Damn it, did that big idiot Old Tian save all of humanity in his past life? Why does he have such good luck!

Little Steel Cannon suppressed the envy, jealousy, and hatred in his heart, then asked in an even more resentful tone: "With a movie from that idiot Old Tian, what's the point of my *Assembly* even if it's filmed well? How could it possibly compete against him?"

"If you film it according to the facts, as long as it's filmed well, it's still very easy to win an award. It's not like the Golden Rooster can't award a tie."

Cao Yang said with a smile.

He could tell that Little Steel Cannon had changed his mind and was definitely going to film *Assembly* seriously.

Then, Cao Yang said again: "According to the information I received, the predecessor of the regiment where Chang Menglan was stationed in the Fourth Column of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region is the 30th Regiment where Old Chang was. Go there to find your materials."

Just like that, the start of *Assembly*, which was originally planned for October or November, was postponed.

Little Steel Cannon spent a month visiting the site and checking a large amount of data, and on the premise of respecting the facts, he changed some of the settings and content of *Assembly*.

Furthermore, Little Steel Cannon sent the revised script to Cao Yang immediately.

Although Little Steel Cannon's goal was still to win an award, this version was at least respectful of the facts, rather than being artistic license through so-called "rationality."

Most importantly, this guy Little Steel Cannon was very cunning. He said the script for *Assembly* was guided by Cao Yang and adapted under Cao Yang's ideas, so Cao Yang's name should be added as a screenwriter.

Regarding this, the two main investment companies for the film, whether it was Huayi or Universe Entertainment from Hong Kong, had no objections and were extremely willing to add Cao Yang's name.

Even if it meant paying a large extra screenwriter fee, they didn't mind.

Cao Yang refused at first; a large screenwriter fee couldn't move him, and having his name attached as a screenwriter wasn't just a matter of a large fee.

Huayi's relationship with China Film Group was still very good; their rise relied on China Film Group.

Thus, Huayi persuaded China Film Group, and China Film Group brought in the Youth Film Studio, wanting to jointly invest in this *Assembly*.

Since China Film Group and the Youth Film Studio were involved, Cao Yang felt relieved.

What he feared was that after his name was attached as a screenwriter, Little Steel Cannon or those Taiwanese people working at Huayi would mess with the movie's plot again, which was not what he wanted to see.

With China Film Group and the Youth Film Studio involved, things would be handled professionally, and they would renegotiate their respective investment amounts and profit-sharing ratios.

Cao Yang was not only a credited screenwriter but also the producer of the film.

*Assembly* was delayed until January before it officially started filming.

Little Steel Cannon was very satisfied with this multi-party cooperation.

Because of the participation of the Youth Film Studio, and with Little Steel Cannon deliberately trying to build good relations, he could also get some inside information about certain matters at the Beijing Film Academy.

For example, the news that came out of the Beijing Film Academy about Cao Yang originally wanting to give the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress award to *Tuya's Marriage*.

(End of chapter)