Nobody knows movies better than me

Chapter 62 The Sixth Generation of Directors

Ning Hao quickly made preparations. Since China Film Group did not participate in the investment, "Crazy Stone" was invested by Guanzhi Pictures, which contributed three million yuan.

Including Zhang Jun's personal director studio, the investment was one million.

Whether Ning Hao was shrewd or foolish, or perhaps repaying Zhang Jun's trust, he refused Zhang Jun's offer of payment, insisting that it be put into the investment.

But if the film is successful, then his choice today will be the right one.

The investment is all set, now we need to find actors. Four million isn't even enough to buy the leg of a big-name Hong Kong or Taiwanese actor. But it's more than enough to hire some minor actors from mainland China.

Zhang Jun personally served as the producer, but he rarely inquired about the preparation of "Crazy Stone," only offering many suggestions for revision during the script stage.

So Ning Hao added Zhang Jun's name to the scriptwriting credits, and "Crazy Stone" became a collaborative work between the two.

The casting process was also very quick. Guo Tao, who has experience in many film and television dramas, was selected to play Bao Shihong, the head of the security department, while Liu Hua, whose name sounds similar to Liu Ye's but is actually pronounced differently, played Dao Ge.

It's worth mentioning that Huang Bo and Xu Zheng participated in the film.

By this time, Huang Bo already had acting experience. He had previously played minor roles, but later he played a supporting role with a decent amount of screen time in the TV series "The Migrant Workers" directed by Guan Hu.

Huang Bo was recommended to Ning Hao by Zhang Jun, who said he was impressed by Huang Bo's acting after watching "The Migrant Workers" and thought he was suitable for the role of Hei Pi.

Ning Hao immediately agreed; since it was Zhang Jun who recommended it, there shouldn't be any major problems.

Xu Zheng took the initiative to apply for the role because Ning Hao initially wanted to hire Xu Zheng's wife, Tao Hong. However, Xu Zheng saw the script and found it very interesting.

He had a meal with Ning Hao, and the two had a very pleasant conversation. Xu Zheng immediately decided to play the role of the unscrupulous real estate tycoon, Chairman Feng.

After all the main actors were present, Zhang Jun also met with the other actors, except for Xu Zheng, who were now relatively unknown.

Huang Bo knew that Zhang Jun had recommended him, and he was very excited to express his gratitude to Zhang Jun. He also prepared local specialties from his hometown to give to Zhang Jun.

"Hey Huang Bo, you're just going to give these things to Director Zhang?"

After several exchanges, Ning Hao and Huang Bo became quite familiar with each other.

Fearing that Zhang Jun would get angry over these things, he took the initiative to smooth things over, so that Zhang Jun could calm down.

Huang Bo smiled rather憨厚ly, and said embarrassedly, "My family is poor and doesn't have much to offer, so I can only express my gratitude with these local specialties."

Zhang Jun instructed his assistant, Gao Yan, to accept the local specialties, and said with a smile, "I think they're quite nice. If you were to give me antiques, calligraphy, paintings, or rare treasures, I wouldn't dare accept them."

He then said seriously, "I am the producer of this film, and I personally have high hopes for the script. I hope everyone can have a smooth filming process."

After that, Ning Hao took the crew to Chongqing to begin the long filming process.

Zhang Jun didn't delay either, and flew to Cannes with Hou Yu and Ye Xiaoyi to attend the Cannes Film Festival.

This year's Cannes Film Festival has a pretty strong lineup of Chinese-language films, with Hou Hsiao-hsien's "The Best of Times" from Taiwan and Du Qifeng's "Election" from Hong Kong.

In mainland China, there is Wang Xiaoshuai's "Shanghai Dreams," a film starring Gao Yuanyuan, Li Bin, Qin Hao, and others.

Li Bin had met Zhang Jun before at the Beijing College Student Film Festival. Gao Yuanyuan, needless to say, is the female lead in his new movie.

Zhang Jun and Gao Yuanyuan met again at the Cannes Film Festival.

"You haven't come to see me all this time, so you've been attending the Cannes Film Festival," Zhang Jun said.

The two strolled along the seaside road in Cannes, where bikinis were everywhere on the distant beach, and the enthusiastic women were showing off their figures.

Every now and then you can see a few familiar directors or actors, all of whom are here to attend this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Gao Yuanyuan gently smoothed her hair, looking at Zhang Jun's well-defined profile, and thought he was very handsome.

"I never expected to run into you at the Cannes Film Festival. Just a few days ago, director Wang Xiaoshuai praised you, saying that your film 'Andhadhun' was a great short film, after he learned that I had worked with you."

Zhang Jun neither confirmed nor denied: "There's praise and criticism, he must have scolded me too."

Gao Yuanyuan asked in surprise, "How did you know? He did criticize your 'Little Miss Sunshine' for lacking artistic depth."

He said you should delve deeper into why Xiaoguo's family turned out the way they did in the first place—was it due to social changes, or the dark side of human nature, or something like that?

"snort!"

Zhang Jun sneered: "These so-called sixth-generation directors, that's probably all they've got."

Gao Yuanyuan asked curiously, "You don't seem to agree with what Director Wang Xiaoshuai said. Is he wrong?"

From his perspective, whatever he says is right.

But if it had been filmed the way he did, "Little Miss Sunshine" would never have been released in China, let alone grossed over 40 million yuan at the box office.

Zhang Jun patiently explained a few things to Gao Yuanyuan.

"Wang Xiaoshuai, like Bi Gan and Lou Ye, lives only in his own spiritual world, indulging in self-admiration, but refusing to come out and see the changes in the world."

My advice to you is to minimize your contact with these people. Just enjoy their awards. If you really see them as a stepping stone to becoming a top star, you'll be disappointed.

Although she didn't understand why Zhang Jun said those things about Bi Gan, Lou Ye, and others, Gao Yuanyuan still had a good impression of Zhang Jun.

She smiled sweetly: "I still have you, so you have to support me!"

"Then we'll see how you perform!" Zhang Jun pointed to his arm.

Gao Yuanyuan immediately took Zhang Jun's arm, and the two continued to walk slowly into the distance, bathed in the evening sunset of Cannes.

Hou Yu didn't sit idle after arriving at the Cannes Film Festival.

Although it is not a Nobel Prize, both he and the Academy of Fine Arts of Tsinghua University attach great importance to it as professors of art history and theory at the university.

Therefore, Hou Yu utilized a significant amount of resources from Tsinghua University to strive for awards at the Cannes Film Festival.

This is understandable; after all, Tsinghua University is just a name. The school is made up of individuals, and different people have different needs.

It's normal that other departments at Tsinghua University place more emphasis on scientific awards, while the Academy of Fine Arts at Tsinghua University naturally places more emphasis on art awards.

Zhang Jun remembered a considerable incident at the Academy of Fine Arts of Tsinghua University in his previous life, but that had nothing to do with him. He was in the Department of Astronomy, not the Academy of Fine Arts of Tsinghua University.

He couldn't tell the art academy that their thinking was problematic and needed to be corrected, because most people would think he was crazy.

Therefore, the Academy of Fine Arts needs to represent the school to win awards, and winning awards also aligns with Zhang Jun's interests and needs. He can cooperate with the Academy of Fine Arts, that's all.

Hou Yu's public relations efforts went smoothly. I don't know how good he is as a professor of art history and theory, but his public relations skills are better than many public relations experts.

He brought good news to Zhang Junhuan and Ye Xiaoyi: "I talked with Director Wu, and many judges expressed their support for us to win the award after watching 'The Tuner'."

Zhang Jun and Ye Xiaoyi exchanged a glance, both seeing joy in each other's eyes.

"That's a good thing!"

Zhang Jun said, "If we can secure the award, we can say that we haven't let the school down."