Back to 80: My literary life

Chapter 258 Trip to Los Angeles

Fang Minghua immediately agreed that a large number of outstanding avant-garde works would emerge in China this year.

He said that he could start this matter after returning home.

Everyone went to the second floor of the bookstore again, which was full of poetry collections and literary works of the "Beat Generation". There were desks and round chairs placed by the window, and there were quite a few people reading.

The discussion place was on the third floor, which is where the bookstore employees work. In a conference room, everyone drank coffee and talked about literary topics casually, and spent a very pleasant afternoon.

After the visit to San Francisco, Fang Minghua and his party went straight to Los Angeles.

Instead of taking a plane to Los Angeles, we hired a minibus and took the famous California Highway 1.

"Gentlemen, please follow our minibus and enjoy the most beautiful highway in our country - California Highway 1!" Wilson said to everyone in the car with a smile.

At this time, Fang Minghua, including Zhang Xianliang and the other three foreign writers, all changed into short-sleeved floral shirts and long shorts at Wilson's suggestion, looking like they were traveling.

A group of six people set out from San Francisco in the morning and headed south to Los Angeles, thousands of miles away.

On one side, there is a vast sea and sky, turbulent waves crashing on the shore, and vast expanse of blue waves dotted with sails; on the other side, there are steep cliffs, green mountains, pastures, and herds of cattle and horses. The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful. Although after a day and night, I stayed in a small town called Treebones for one night on the way. We didn’t arrive at our destination, Los Angeles, until the afternoon of the next day.

Although the ride is a bit tiring, the scenery along the way is indeed worth seeing.

The victims also included Chinese - a female newspaper editor and a 9-year-old Chinese girl.

"It will definitely feel better if I have the opportunity to take Tangtang with me and drive along the road while playing." Fang Minghua thought to himself.

But Wilson disagreed and directly stated the reason:

"Mr. Zhang, Mr. Fang, I have to accompany three other writers, so I cannot take care of you. Although Los Angeles is a beautiful city, the public security is not very good, and I am worried about your safety."

When they arrived in Los Angeles, it was still the same arrangement as in San Francisco: sightseeing and lectures. However, Fang Minghua and Zhang Xianliang focused on sightseeing. Their time in Hollywood was limited, so they planned to go alone the next morning.

"I know Hollywood directors. I'll call them and see if they can arrange it." Fang Minghua took out his address book in the hotel and called Ridley Scott first with the attitude of giving it a try.

Now that he saw that Fang Minghua had found a guide, Wilson was not worried.

There are also Taiwanese gangs running rampant

Wilson's worry was justified. After all, the two of them were unfamiliar with each other.

The next morning, Wilson took three other writers to visit Disneyland in Los Angeles. Fang Minghua and Zhang Xianliang were waiting for Scott's assistant at the hotel.

How could it alarm Warner Bros. executives?

Fang Minghua felt baffled.

"Hello, Mr. Fang and Mr. Zhang, I am Tang Jiye, assistant to Welles, the president of Warner Bros. Pictures." The other party was gentle and spoke Mandarin with a slight Taiwanese accent.

However, what Fang Minghua didn't expect was that the person who came was not the black assistant who followed Scott to Iowa that day, but a middle-aged Asian man with black hair and yellow skin.

The call was quickly connected. When I heard that Fang Minghua had come to Los Angeles and wanted to visit Hollywood, he immediately agreed enthusiastically.

"Mr. Fang, you wrote "Solar Catastrophe" and the script "Inception", which are now produced and distributed by Warner. President Wells is very optimistic about these two scripts of yours, especially "Inception"."

"OK, no problem. Let me tell you where you are now. I will ask my assistant to come over tomorrow morning."

makes sense

In the 80s, public security in the United States was not good, especially in immigrant cities like Los Angeles. Before Fang Minghua came to this era, he had watched a movie called "Night Stalker" online, which reviewed in detail the murders of serial killers in Los Angeles in the s.

California Highway 1 faces the Pacific Ocean with the Rocky Mountains in the background. It connects western towns and scenic spots such as Santa Barbara and Hearst Castle.

"I heard that you are coming to Los Angeles, so I have been sent to express a warm welcome to you on behalf of Warner. At the same time, I will accompany you on your trip to Hollywood."

That's it!

In this case, Fang Minghua was not polite and made his own request: in addition to visiting famous attractions such as the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Chinese Grand Theater, the most important thing is to visit the filming base. " "OK, no problem!" "

Tang Jiye agreed immediately.

The two followed Tang Jiye out of the hotel and saw a black Mercedes-Benz parked at the entrance of the lobby.

When the doorman saw them coming out, he immediately went over and helpfully opened the door.

A pleasant trip to Los Angeles has begun.

First, I visited the Walk of Fame: it stretches from Gower Street in the east of Hollywood to La Brea Avenue in the west and then along Vine Street between Yucca Street and Sunset Boulevard. There are more than 2000 stars with the names of Hollywood celebrities on it. Medals commemorating their contributions to the entertainment industry.

Fang Minghua and Zhang Xianliang, under the leadership of Tang Jiye, found the names of two Chinese movie stars: Huang Liushuang and Bruce Lee.

Bruce Lee was familiar to Fang Minghua, but Anna Wong was not so familiar. Finally, after Tang Jiye introduced him, we found out that he was the first Chinese-American Hollywood movie star.

She made her screen debut in the film "Red Lights", and later starred in important roles in "Shame", "Disaster at Sea", "Thunder Dawn" and other films.

Later, we visited the very famous Chinese Grand Theater, named after the appearance of the Chinese-style building. The bronze roof reaches into the sky. The interior of the theater is also designed with the concept of Chinese art.

However, Fang Minghua stood at the gate and looked at it. He felt that it was different from the Chinese construction style, but somewhat similar to the Tibetan Buddhist architectural style.

No wonder, according to Tang Jiye, the designer is an American. What’s interesting is that he has never been to China. He designed this theater based on his imagination and the information he could collect.

The focus of the visit is the Hollywood filming base.

However, in the Hollywood filming base in the 1980s, there were no shooting scenes for famous movies such as Jurassic Park and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

The next morning, Tang Jiye took them by car to visit the vast Agoura Paramount Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains.

In this ranch, there is a very famous western town, and Zhang Xianliang is very interested in it.

"Mr. Fang, Mr. Zhang, this was purchased by Paramount Pictures in 1927 and has been used as a wilderness location shooting location since then. The first 3D movie was filmed here - "African Adventure", which used the ranch in Malibu Mountains as backdrop for African jungle shots.

The three of them were walking in the town, and Tang Jiye introduced him as they walked to pay New Year greetings. The TV series "Female Doctor" and "Witch Doctor" were also filmed here, and they were all shot here. "

"Is this town built gradually?" Zhang Xianliang asked.

"Yes, after many movies were shot here, some buildings will be left behind, and it will slowly gather into the shape of this famous western town, and at the same time it will attract more movies to be shot here."

Tang Jiye explained patiently.

"Is this shooting base independently operated?" Zhang Xianliang asked again.

"As far as I know, yes, it is a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures and operates independently and is self-financed."

"Can we make money?" Zhang Xianliang asked again.

"Of course you won't make much money just by collecting venue fees for making movies. You mainly rely on tourism. If more good movies are shot here, tourists will naturally come here, and it will also drive local catering, accommodation, entertainment, etc. ."

"Actually, looking at film and television bases in various countries, the rental income of shooting venues only accounts for a small part of them, and most of them rely on tourism income, because it is an attraction in itself."

Tang Jiye talked eloquently, and Zhang Xianliang listened with great interest.

"Mr. Zhang, Mr. Fang." Tang Jiye suddenly stopped and smiled at the two of them and said: "As far as I know, you don't have a film and television base in the mainland, right? With the vigorous development of the mainland's film and television industry, it is necessary to establish a film and television base. base."

(End of this chapter)