The Best Director

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The afternoon in Los Angeles was sunny. Looking at the high-rise building of the Chicago School of Architecture, Wang Yang encouraged himself and strode in.

A few days ago, he made all the post-editing of "Smart and Ghost Recording". The feature film was finally set at 98 minutes. In his view, this movie is definitely worthy of the word wonderful. People will definitely scare a cold sweat. Anyway, just the day after the cut, Jessica and Joshua, who came to his house together and saw them, were all scared and blushed, even though they already knew the story of the movie.

And Wang Yang himself was miserable, because he lived in the apartment where the film was made. Perhaps this is the aftereffect of shooting horror movies.

After editing the movie, Wang Yang went on to the next job, the distribution of the movie. If a movie wants to be released in a movie theater, it needs to be negotiated by the distributor and the theater, and the theater will arrange its movie theater to be released. This movie distributor is the goal of Wang Yang's contact.

In the United States, in California, there are countless film companies. The most famous are naturally the eight major companies in Hollywood history, including MGM, Paramount, Columbia, Warner Bros., Universal, United, 20th Century Fox, and Disney; of course, after so many years of evolution, with the "Paramount Case", the law determined that film companies cannot own cinemas and cinemas. With the end of the era of big studios, the power of the eight major companies has long gone. Too.

They may become part of a media group, like Paramount, which was acquired by Viacom; or they continue to work hard to support and maintain the status of an independent production company, but they will always be in huge deficits, like MGM. However, they are still the leader of the Hollywood film industry and the producer of commercial blockbusters.

Among them, there are also several companies that have subsidiaries that will distribute independent films that are not produced by their own investment. For example, Fox Searchlight, a 20th Century Fox distribution company, has distributed more than ten independent films on behalf of the company, and It has been very rewarding.

But the Fox searchlight agent's movies cost millions and more than 10 million, and they are film movies. There is no one portable DV movie in the world now. After all, DV was only a few months old.

While Wang Yang knew that a big company like Fox was unlikely to watch his movie, he called and tried it out, so there was at least one more chance, wasn't it?

On the phone, the manager of the purchasing department of Fox Searchlight heard that his movie was made with a home DV, and he did not arrange to meet, he refused with a smile. He even thought Wang Yang's phone was a prank. What jokes, portable home DVs, and movies? He knows DV, and he knows more about the quality of DV's shooting, so can it be put on the big screen? Who will see it? Wouldn't it be the child who bought a DV and made a random filming, just as if the thing he made was a movie?

Of course, more importantly, there is no need to take risks on Fox searchlights, or to make jokes. They now have a good profit, so just continue with this management policy.

This result was also expected by Wang Yang. He was not entangled, and entanglement was useless. These big companies are accustomed to big productions. The cost of ten thousand dollars is a joke in their eyes. How to make a movie for ten thousand dollars? They are not without vision. After all, DV movies are something that has never happened before. This is an initiative and a subversion. This is the case with human beings. The first person to eat crabs does not rely on vision, but courage.

So, after contacting all the major companies, Wang Yang, who had nothing to gain, began to contact some small and medium-sized companies. Some of them would produce small-cost movies themselves, and some were distribution companies mainly based on agency distribution, such as Xinxian, Dimen, etc. Wait.

They also felt unbelievable and thought that Wang Yang was playing a prank, but unlike big companies such as Fox Searchlight, they did n’t directly reject Wang Yang on the phone, as if they were “idle and idle, watching The idea of ​​"Look at it well" gave Wang Yang a time to meet.

In the past few days, Wang Yang took the DVD disc with the recording of "Spirit-Ghost Record" and went to several companies such as Xinxian and Dimen, but the result was surprisingly consistent. When the movie started showing, When they saw the picture with very poor quality and the extremely shaking lens, they shook their heads and said, "There is no need to look at it anymore."

This time Wang Yang was entangled, but no matter how hard he tried to sell, saying that shaking the lens was the style of DV movies, pseudo-documentary theory, etc., they all smiled and said "NO". The reason for their refusal is actually the same as that of the Fox searchlight. They are also not optimistic about DV movies. They feel that making movies with DV is a joke and cannot be accepted by the audience.

Think about it. When the sound film technology just came out, most companies were still worried that the sound film would not be accepted by the audience. Some people even insisted on the idea of ​​long live silent film. Now they are dismissive of DV movies, it is not surprising.

Therefore, Wang Yang ’s entanglement is ultimately useless, others say no, what else can you do?

But this company is different today, Wang Yang is full of confidence and hope, and full of enthusiasm, because this company is called "Artist Film Company", and it is in the future that it releases the DV movie "Witch Blair", setting a world-wide Shocking results. If anyone has the courage to eat the crab in the DV movie, it is them.

Artisan Film Company is a small company specializing in the distribution of independent films. It does not have its own office building, and its headquarters is located on the twelfth floor of this commercial building.

Wang Yang came to the entrance of the artisan film company today wearing a decent black leather jacket and carrying a briefcase with a movie script and a DVD copy of the movie. He looked at the artisan logo hanging on it, took a deep breath, and walked in.

"Hello, welcome to the artisan!" The lady at the front desk smiled and greeted people. She was a black woman in her twenties. Although she was a professional smile, she was very pleasing.

Wang Yang looked at her work card and knew that her name was Nicole Vivol, and she laughed: "Miss Vival, hello, I am Wang Yang, and I made an appointment with your company's film purchasing department. Manager Mr. Thomas meets. "

"Okay, please wait." Nicole nodded, held the mouse to check in the computer, and then looked up and smiled: "Oh, I found it. Yes, the agreed meeting time is 15:00, now It's 14:42, so please wait a moment. "

Wang Yang nodded with a smile: "Okay." He walked down to the row of chairs across the front desk and sat down. He touched his briefcase and looked around. He was a little nervous and couldn't help but exhale gently.

At this time, the front desk lady Nicole Vivol looked at him, a little curious, and actively asked: "Mr. Wang, you have an appointment with Mr. Thomas to discuss the distribution of the film. Are you the producer of the film?" Wang Yang nodded and said: "Well, it can be said that I am a producer and a director." Nicole smiled incredulously: "Oh, you look very young, it's amazing."

Wang Yang shrugged and smiled: "So, my name is Young." Nicole also laughed, and Wang Yang took the opportunity to ask her: "Yes, there are often people like me who come to your company. Sell ​​your own movie? "

Nicole Viver shook his head without thinking, saying: "No, not many, there are not many independent films, and there are too many film companies, and only occasionally someone will come." She didn't know that Wang Yang's film was DV filmed and laughed: "In fact, we often take the initiative to attack, looking for good movies at various film festivals, like this year's Sundance International Film Festival, our company also bought a few movies . "

Wang Yang nodded silently. Sundance International Film Festival is arguably the world's top independent film festival. The purpose is to encourage low-cost, independently produced films and give cutting-edge directors a chance to show themselves. Every year in late January, the Sundance Film Festival will be held in the city of Utah. At that time, a large number of independent filmmakers waiting for Bole will take their own movies and go to Utah to participate; and large and small film companies, also Will go to the film festival "Gold Rush".

There are many other film festivals of this kind, such as the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the Scream Horror Film Festival dedicated to horror movies, and so on.

These film festivals are also Wang Yang ’s last hopes. If they ca n’t distribute in theaters, videotapes, or even cable TV, he will go to those festivals. Only influential such as Sundance Film Festival and Santa Barbara Film Festival are held in January, which means that if he wants to participate in these film festivals, he will have to wait until next year.

Was thinking, the time came at three o'clock. The front desk lady Nicole Vival picked up the phone, dialed it, and asked, "Mr. Thomas, there is a Mr. Wang looking for you here. He has an appointment with you to discuss the film distribution. Well, okay." She Smiling to Wang Yang, he stood up and said, "Mr. Wang, please follow me."

"Okay." Wang Yang also stood up, followed her with a briefcase, and walked into the artisan film company. There were not many people in the office, but it seemed very busy. Everyone was working hard, or else Just walking around with something, and someone talking on the phone, vaguely heard saying, "Hey, we need an advertisement at eight o'clock, yes, why is it so expensive ..."

Nicole Viver took him to an independent office, she knocked on the door, and there was a voice of "in", she opened the door and smiled: "Mr. Thomas, Mr. Wang is here." Then, she went back to the front desk.

Stephen Thomas, a middle-aged white man in his forties, with a bare forehead, wearing a gray suit and a black tie. He was sitting behind his desk writing something. When he saw them, he put down his pen, got up smilingly, and walked over, extending his hand, "Mr. Wang, hello."

"Hello Mr. Thomas." Wang Yang smiled and shook his hand, politely saying: "I'm glad you gave me this opportunity."

"Oh, nothing, this is my job. Please sit down." Thomas smiled and stretched the chair in front of his desk. He walked back to the table and sat down, looking at Wang Yang who was seated, and asked, "Mr. Wang, you It looks very young. Asking boldly, how old are you? "

Wang Yang smiled. He knew that Thomas asked this question, which means letting him introduce himself or give a resume directly, but he deliberately did not bring his resume because the previous film company read his resume and learned that he had I studied at the University of South Carolina, and then learned the reason why he was expelled. That company did not watch his movie, so he let him go.

Without a resume, you can hide from the sky as much as possible. Wang Yang replied with a smile: "Well, I was born in 1980, and I should be fairly young now."

Thomas frowned a little in amazement, turned to wow, and looked at Wang Yang, saying: "That's a very young, 18-year-old director? Wow! You should be on campus now."

Campus? Here comes ... Wang Yang suddenly became alert and laughed, shrugged his shoulders, and avoided talking authentically: "You know, some people's way is different. And I want to watch a movie The quality depends on the movie itself, not the age of the director. "

"Yes, you are right." Thomas smiled and let Wang Yangsong breathe, he finally said the topic, "Then let me see your movie script. I hope this is not a farce." He rolled his eyes and said, "I don't mean anything else, it's just a DV movie, an 18-year-old director ... I've never seen this happen before."

"It's nothing, I understand." Wang Yang took a script from his briefcase. This script was rewritten, and it was full of final movie content. He handed the script to Thomas opposite, saying: " Please see. "

Thomas took the script, leaned on the back of the chair, flipped through the script for a while, and nodded: "The story of the movie is simple, but this is a regular script, not like a spoof." He stood up. Showed his eyes to Wang Yang and walked out of the office, said: "Well, let's go to the projection room to see your movie." When he came to the big office outside, he lived and shouted from the busy company employees: "Hi, Sam , Come with me and go to a movie. "

Saw a white man in his thirties answer, he put down the job at hand, came over to smile and shook hands with Wang Yang, said: "I am Sam Paul."

"Hello Mr. Paul." Wang Yang also gave him a smile.

Thomas took them to the screening room and on the road, he smiled and introduced: "Sam is our best marketer here. His vision is very venomous. The company's several profitable films are all his handwriting, oh, This guy is about to take my place. "Sam laughed." Come on, Stephen! "Wang Yang smiled and said nothing.

Came to the screening room, Wang Yang took out the DVD disc with the movie and gave it to Sam. Sam put the disc into the player, and the three of them sat down on the chairs and looked at the small screen in front together.

Thomas pressed the start of the remote control, and saw a black screen lit up on the small screen, then immediately flashed, and a man taking a selfie against the camera appeared, it was Zachary. He smiled at the camera and squeezed his eyebrows, laughing: "Hello everyone, this is Kevin! This is our new home!" Then, he walked around the apartment with the DV machine, patting the kitchen, bedroom, etc. The place is introduced with a smile, and the lens is turned around and shaken very badly, coupled with the roughness of the picture quality, between the shakes, many places on the screen are glued together and can not be seen clearly.

"Wow, this ..." Thomas pressed the pause and looked at Wang Yang, questioning: "Mr. Wang, are you sure this is not a short film of life, but a movie?"

New Line Company, after reading the opening paragraph, also shouted to stop, and then said "NO". Wang Yang felt a little nervous in his heart, and said what he had thought up long ago, saying: "Of course, I call it a first-person movie, also called a pseudo documentary, which is the concept of" the whole movie is filmed by the protagonist himself ". Documentary format. "He said seriously:" Mr. Thomas, believe me, this is a movie, please continue to watch it. "

"OK." Thomas nodded thoughtfully and pressed to continue playing.

I saw that on the screen, Kevin strolled around his home and turned the camera towards himself, and smiled: "Haha, I bought a DV, it feels so good!" At this time, there was a faint sound of opening, and his spirit Zhendi smiled and said, "Wow, my girlfriend Mel is back!" As he said, he rushed out with the DV, the camera was shaken again, and the rapid scene change made people dizzy.

Then the camera looked down and heard Kevin say: "Dear, welcome home. Look at this ... what is it !?"

As soon as the picture shook, there appeared Meier played by Rachel. She was holding a bag and looked at the camera in amazement. She said dumbly: "What, did you really buy a DV back? Oh, my God! How are you? It ’s beyond our budget to do so! "

At this time, Sam, with his chest in one hand and his chin on the other, turned his head and smiled at Wang Yang: "The heroine is pretty."

"I think so too." Wang Yang smiled and looked at Rachel on the screen. After Rachel returned to Toronto, he only called her after editing the movie, telling her that she had sent a DVD, and caring about her mother ’s situation. In order to save money, she said a while. He hung up; he did n’t install the Internet at home, and he had n’t been on MSN for a long time.

As the movie unfolded, Thomas and Sam had fewer and fewer off-topics and gradually looked seriously, but after seeing the middle section, Kevin and May trace ghosts in the middle of the night, the camera shakes strongly again, and the tension created by psychological horror Thomas became dizzy as he watched, his chest felt dull, his scalp tingled, and a strong vomiting rushed up, and he had to stop the movie.

"Oh, my God ... Oh ..." Thomas couldn't help but vomited a few times, and Sam next to him was uncomfortable, and he could not help feeling vomiting. It took a while for Thomas to recover, he shook his head bitterly and said, "Oh, sorry, it's rude."

Wang Yang didn't know how to answer, so he smiled and said: "Nothing, nothing, this is just a normal human reaction."

"Mr. Wang, your movie ... how to say it." Thomas frowned, brewing, and also made Wang Yang nervous. Thomas said: "It's amazing, it makes people shine, and it's hard to adapt. "He smiled self-deprecatingly, and continued:" I have never seen this movie style. "Sam nodded in agreement with the authenticity:" Yes, this is a crazy style. "

Of course they have n’t watched it. Only a few months after the portable DV camera was introduced to the market, the history page of DV movies is still blank.

It shines right now, but it is difficult to adapt? Wang Yang couldn't figure out what they meant, and the movie was only halfway through, and the scary ones were behind, and he said: "Mr. Thomas, maybe we can continue watching? The back of the movie is more exciting."

"No, no, no. If you look at it again, I'm afraid I can't help it." Thomas smiled and shook his head, saying: "It's enough, after watching these, I already know what kind of movie it is. "He thought about it and said," Mr. Wang, your movie is indeed a movie, and many places are scary, but ... "

Wang Yang knew bad things when he heard "but", and sure enough, Thomas spread his hand: "This movie is too innovative. Although it is a pseudo documentary concept you said, but such blurry and rough picture quality, often strongly shaken shots, these Fit or not fit on the big screen. Seriously, I have no idea. "He looked at Sam next to him and said," Sam, what do you think? "

Sam also smiled and shook his head, with an expression of "I have no idea", said: "I don't know, I can't judge the market prospect of this movie. I have never watched such a movie, and I cannot analyze it. "He paused and added:" Personally, I am very interested in this movie, but I can't represent the market. You know, many of my personal favorite movies, they can't charge back, Personal love is one thing, and the market is another. "

Wang Yang sank in his heart. Although the artisan company is the company with the best attitude towards him at present, he is not happy at all because the artisan company has to refuse. He looked at Thomas and Sam and suggested: "I know that the market is always elusive. Maybe we can release it first, and test it in dozens of theaters, no, a dozen or so, just look at the market's response?" "

As long as it can be released, with the propaganda method of "The Witch Blair", he is confident that the limited release will become a large-scale release, from a dozen theaters to thousands of theaters!

Thomas hesitated, and whispered something with Sam next to him, exchanged opinions, and finally nodded, looking at Wang Yang, he would say something.

Wang Yang lifted a heart suddenly, his hands clenched secretly, his palms were sweating.

"Mr. Wang." Thomas looked at him and slowly said: "The market is our first consideration. Although your film cost is low and the promotion budget can be as low as possible, we can't afford any losses; More importantly, we cannot let the company ’s credibility be affected. We are a small-scale company, and most of the market is supported by **** fans. They absolutely do n’t want to see our company launch a bad film, which is annoying They will abandon us. "

Wang Yang nodded silently. Although he was uncomfortable in his heart, he could not say anything.

"I mean, it's not that your movie is bad. It's just a DV movie. It's a big adventure. We can't just decide." Thomas stood up and said, "So, Mr. Wang, we Discuss the feasibility internally. If there is any release plan, would you please contact you again? "Then, he held out his hand.

Wang Yang could only stand up, shook hands with him, and nodded, "Well, I look forward to your good news."

Left the artisan film company, Wang Yang was walking down the street, and the car on the street made him feel more upset. He looked up at the blue sky, exhaled deeply, and gritted his teeth. Now even the artisan company that released the first DV movie "The Witch Blair" refused him. Although he did not refuse it, he also knew that there was little hope, because Thomas did not watch the film, their attitude was very clear, they did not want to Disappoint fans, do not want to take risks.

How many movie companies are left? Wang Yang sighed. Although he had long known that it would be difficult to find an issue, but now he is really faced with it, and he still feels some frustration. However, he shook his fist, and I would not give up! You can kill me, but you can't beat me!

This company is unsuccessful, there is the next one; even if all the movie companies reject him, there are companies that specialize in the distribution of DVDs; even if the DVD market ca n’t enter, there is cable TV on demand ... as long as you go on, opportunities will always be Have.

He swept away all the haze in his heart, but there was also an urge to tell a friend, so he took out his phone, called Jessica, and smiled after connecting: "Hi, Jessica, I failed again. The artisan company asked me to go home and wait for the news, but I do n’t know how to look at them. "

"Oh, God ..." Jessica could not help but sigh, her voice full of disappointment and worry, but she immediately warmly comforted Wang Yang and said: "Yang, nothing. Believe me, this is just the beginning, you Just started on the road. "

Wang Yang smiled and said: "Well, I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me, Jessica, thank you." He said again with a tone of fun: "You don't know, the manager of the artisan company just now, watch my movie, watch I almost vomited out, ha ha! Is my movie so bad? "

"Haha! No, UU reading www.uukanshu.com is not bad at all." Jessica also laughed. The pleasant laughter made Wang Yang's mood more clear, and she laughed again. "Where are you now, Would you like to have dinner together? I am going to the cinema to watch a movie at night. "

"Thank you, but no." Wang Yang smiled and refused Jessica's invitation, and continued to walk to the nearby bus station, explaining: "Jessica, I have a part-time job at a McDonald's in the evening, so I am now Hurry up, sorry I can't accompany you. "

Jessica on the phone was silent for a while and said: "Okay, Yang, but you don't need to be tired yourself." She said again: "Yes, uh ... you know, it's my birthday in two days, That night my family will have a small party to celebrate, Yang, can you come by then? "

Oh, that seems to be the case. Jessica ’s birthday is the 28th. It ’s almost coming ... Wang Yang did n’t have to think about it and promised: "Of course. Your birthday party, wow, you invited me to go. I ’m very happy, I arrived. It ’s enough to ask for leave. ”After a pause, he smiled:“ Just the gift may be very cold, haha! ”

"Hah, don't care about any gifts." Jessica smiled happily when he promised to come, and she said again: "My agent, Ms. Miranda, she will also come. Young, she knows a very famous director. With the senior executives of the film company, I will introduce you to you and I hope she can help you ... "

"Thank you, Jessica." Wang Yang smiled: "Then I have one more reason to look forward to." Although he didn't expect the Miranda lady very much in his heart, after all, there was another chance, right? And Jessica's kindness made him feel warm.

The two said a few more words. Wang Yang who came to the bus station hung up, took a breath, and got on a bus to McDonald's where he worked part-time.