Chapter 2: Make money and start the film project In mid-March 2002, in the cafeteria of Beijing Film Academy, Shi Lei was eating lunch quietly. Zhang Songwen took his plate and sat opposite Shi Lei, saying, "Hey, Leizi, I heard that there is a celestial being among the students who signed up for the undergraduate performance department this year. She is taking the exam now. Shall we go over and take a look?" Shi Lei looked up and saw that the person coming was Zhang Songwen, one of his good friends in this life. "No, I have saved enough money, the script has been approved, and the filming permit has been issued. I am going to start preparing the crew." Shi Lei shook his head and refused. He knew who Zhang Songwen was talking about. The one who applied for the Beijing Film Academy in 02 and was called a fairy, must be Liu Yifei. Now he has only one idea, to become famous first. Liu Yifei was one of his favorite stars in his previous life, and he had liked her since he was a child. In his second life, he also thought about winning over Liu Yifei, but to win over Liu Yifei, he had to conquer her mother first. Given her mother's temper, he would never be able to have Liu Yifei unless he made her an international star. It was too much trouble, he didn't want to take the initiative. The reputation of the little fairy in the previous life has been ruined. She came back to this life to be a bootlicker, and the one she licks is an aunt-level figure. It is impossible, absolutely impossible! There is no way he would be a bootlicker in this life. If he were to be a bootlicker in his next life, it would be a disgrace to the time traveler.
Moreover, he had been in love several times in his previous life, and he was in pure love with Liu Yifei. He was really being hypocritical. It would be better for him to show his true nature and live freely. He has traveled through time, so can't he do whatever he wants? More than a month later, his album has been released, and the sales of the album he released in this life were not bad, which made him a small profit. Now he has 300 million in his card, and there are still several million in the balance that has not been received. It was worth it for him to spend a month recording the album sentence by sentence. In fact, the money from selling albums is a small part of the profit. Album piracy is too serious, and it is impossible to make much money in the later period. However, ringtones are earned through cooperation with telecommunications operators, which is more formal, and the money earned from ringtones is the big part of the profit. Zhang Songwen heard this and thought of the song "The First Snow of 2002" in the streets and alleys. He asked curiously, "How did your song become so popular?" "Which big star on the list are you?" "Did you ask her to help you?" He has listened to "The First Snow of 2002" many times and thinks it is very nice, but! Nowadays, even good wine will not sell if it is not well known. Without help from someone important, it is useless even if the song is nice. It will still not sell. Shi Lei rolled his eyes and shouted angrily: "Damn it, even if I'm handsome, you shouldn't slander me out of thin air! Can't I just be strong?" "And am I the kind of person who would sell it?" "It's almost the same as others selling me!" Zhang Songwen was shocked. He looked at Shi Lei in astonishment and said, "How did you do that? I sold myself to you, gave you money, and helped you." As soon as he said this, he felt something was wrong. This was another way of saying "keeping someone as your mistress"... "Fuck! I didn't sell it to anyone else, and no one sold it to me, okay! Forget it, I won’t talk to you anymore, I have to find some connections to set up a crew and recruit actors.” Continuing to talk about this topic would only make Zhang Songwen more and more excited, so Shi Lei simply left. "Hey! Wait a minute! I was just joking. Is there a role suitable for me in your play? I... can do it for free." Zhang Songwen saw Shi Lei leave directly and hurriedly chased after him. Shi Lei turned around and looked at Zhang Songwen carefully, recalled Zhang Songwen's experience, nodded and said: "This is an art film, and you are suitable for the male lead." For his debut film, Shi Lei had to choose between a commercial film and an art film, but he chose the art film.
Although his idea is to make commercial films to make money, the current perception in the industry is that art films are superior to commercial films, and he needs art films to improve his status. As a director of ordinary origin, he needs to build relationships with people in the circle. As long as he wins an award with an art film, he can catch the eyes of others. After some thought, Shi Lei chose the Korean art film "Empty Room". This film won the Silver Lion Award for Best Director in the main competition unit of the 04st Venice International Film Festival in 61. In later generations, there is a category called watching an entire movie just for a clip, and "Empty Room" is one of them. The male lead eats the male second's food, lives with the male second, and is affectionate with the female lead when the male second hugs her, which is quite explosive; in the cell, he perfectly avoids the sight of the prison guards and plays a silent disappearing trick with the prison guards, which is also quite eye-catching. Zhang Songwen's eyes sparkled and he said in surprise: "Really?" "Of course you have to. We are such close friends. I have to give you this opportunity." Shi Lei used a newcomer as the male protagonist in the original novel. The requirements for the male protagonist were not high, and he had confidence in Zhang Songwen's acting skills. Zhang Songwen is from the 00 vocational class of the Beijing Film Academy. In his previous life, Zhang Songwen ranked first in graduation results, which shows that his acting skills are okay, but it’s just that the resources are poor. Anyway, they are using newcomers, so it doesn’t matter who they are used? Gold will always shine. He became famous in his previous life because of "Kuang Da". With his support in this life, he is expected to become a powerful actor at the level of Zhang Yi. Although he has only studied for two years, the original male protagonist of "Empty Room" is a newcomer himself, so Zhang Songwen can do it. The main thing is that he knows what effect he wants and can guide Zhang Songwen. The most troublesome thing about making a movie is not that the actors are not good, but that the director himself does not know how he wants the actors to act. Xu Ke was able to direct Baby so well even when filming "Detective Dee: The Mystery of the Phantom Flame". "You are indeed my good brother." Zhang Songwen was quite excited. "Okay, I'm leaving first. I need to ask the director for help." Shi Lei waved his hand and left. In the office of the director of the directing department of Beijing Film Academy, Hua Shihong carefully read the script and the storyboard. He frowned and said to Shi Lei, "Your script is good, but the male and female protagonists have no lines, and the requirements for both actors and directors are very high." "My advice is to wait a few years." Shi Lei said sincerely: "Director, I want to shoot it. You just need to find me an assistant director to help me." It was his first time making a movie, so he was still very nervous and needed some guidance. "Some of the plots in the script are risky and may not pass the review." "Director, the script has been approved and the filming permit has been obtained. All that's left is to form a crew and start shooting." Shi Lei replied quickly. "You are very well prepared." Hua Shihong sighed and asked, "When did you pass the trial?" Shi Lei said seriously: "I submitted it for review in 00, and it passed at the end of last year." In order to pass the review, he made some modifications to the script. Hua Shihong looked at Shi Lei's serious expression, sighed, and said, "Forget it, I'll be frank! It's not difficult to find an assistant director to guide you, but it's hard to find investment! Art films are hard to find investment, and it's even harder to get investment for you, the male and female protagonists, who don't have any lines. Not everyone can see the hidden meaning of the male and female protagonists' lack of lines. Normal people will only think this is a bad script? The male and female protagonists don't have any lines, what are the audience watching?" "Director, I released an album at the beginning of the year and made some money, so I can invest it on my own," Shi Lei explained. "Well, you made money?" Hua Shihong looked at Shi Lei in surprise. When Shi Lei asked him for connections, he criticized and educated Shi Lei. What kind of album is it for a junior student in the directing department who hasn't even learned the major well? "Well, I made a little money, enough to invest in movies." Shi Lei nodded in response. "You'd better use the money to buy an apartment in Beijing. It's not a good idea to invest your own money in making a movie." Hua Shihong still persuaded. There are many directors who invest their own money in making movies, but most of them lose a lot of money. "Director, don't worry. My album is still selling, and there will be ringtones later. Even if the movie loses money, I have enough money to buy a house." Shi Lei dispelled the director's concerns. "Uh...what's the name of your album?" Hua Shihong asked curiously.
"'The First Snow of 2002', Director, please don't tell anyone that I don't plan to be a singer." There are many things in the circle that cannot be concealed, but they can be concealed as long as possible. Shi Lei hopes that others will remember him as a director, not a singer. "Ah???" Hua Shihong opened his mouth so wide that an egg could fit in it, and asked in disbelief, "Is this photo of "The First Snow of 2002" yours?" "It's mine." Shi Lei gave an affirmative answer. "You..." Hua Shihong pointed at Shi Lei, not knowing what to say. In the past month, "The First Snow of 2002" has been playing in the streets and alleys. This song is extremely popular. Thinking of his previous criticism of Shi Lei, he just felt a little hot. After a while, he gathered himself and said, "Congratulations on the album's success." "Thank you, Director." Shi Lei replied. "Since you have the song 'The First Snow of 2002', I will stop trying to persuade you. I will call and find a director who is willing to assist you." (End of this chapter)