novelraw Chapter 10 Director Support Program
Chapter 10 Director Support Program
"I really am Liu Dehua!" the other person emphasized.
"Okay, then sing 'Gong Xi Fa Cai' for me," Chen Zhou said.
The other side fell silent.
But she still hummed, "Congratulations on your fortune, congratulations on your wonderful life... How about that? Now you believe what I said, right?"
"You sang quite well, too bad, I'm not that easy to fool." With that, Chen Zhou hung up the phone.
"Junior brother, whose phone is it?" Liu Yifei asked.
"It was a scam call. The guy claimed to be Liu Dehua," Chen Zhou replied.
Liu Xiaoli laughed out loud: "These days, there are more and more scam calls, and they're getting more and more outrageous."
Liu Yifei also agreed that it was a scam call.
Then, Chen Zhou began explaining the lines to Liu Yifei.
But about five minutes later, his phone rang again.
The caller was his directing department head teacher, Jiang Wei.
Chen Zhou answered the phone, but before he could even speak...
Then he heard a barrage of voices from the other side: "Chen Zhou, what are you up to? You actually made Liu Dehua sing 'Wishing you prosperity' for you? Are you crazy?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Zhou was stunned: "No way, the person who just called me was really Liu Dehua himself?"
"Otherwise what! The dean called me and said that his leader called him specifically to bring up this matter, saying that you made Liu Dehua sing 'Gong Xi Fa Cai'!" Jiang Wei said.
"I thought it was a scam call," Chen Zhou explained.
"Call them back immediately. The leader said Liu Dehua wants to see you," Jiang Wei informed him.
Then, Chen Zhou went outside and called Liu Dehua back.
"Hey, Brother Hua," Chen Zhou greeted.
"Do you believe me now, kid?" Liu Dehua's tone remained as amiable as ever.
"Brother Hua, you know how many scam calls there are these days. And how could I, a nobody, possibly believe that Liu Dehua, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, would call me?" Chen Zhou said.
"I'm calling you today because I saw your employees looking at your graduation project at the company."
"I don't know if you're aware of this, but I have a director support program specifically for supporting talented directors."
"I think you meet the requirements, so I wanted to ask if you'd be interested in participating?"
Liu Dehua got straight to the point.
Upon hearing this, Chen Zhou quickly began to make plans in his mind.
He had always known about Liu Dehua's director support program; Ning Hao's film "Crazy Stone" was funded by Liu Dehua.
Moreover, he has the script for "The Unknowns" in hand, but what he lacks is investment.
Once the script is approved, the production team can be assembled quickly to begin filming.
"Yes!" Chen Zhou replied.
"I'll arrange for an employee to work with you on the rest. I'll leave it at that for now. I wish you the best of luck in the screening process," Liu Dehua said.
"Mm," Chen Zhou replied.
After hanging up the phone, Chen Zhou returned to the villa.
Seeing his beaming face, Liu Yifei asked curiously, "What good thing happened? Can you share it with me?"
Liu Xiaoli, who was reading a newspaper nearby, seemed indifferent, but she was actually listening intently.
"The person who just called me was indeed Liu Dehua himself. He invited me to participate in his director support program," Chen Zhou said.
"What? It really is Liu Dehua?!" Liu Yifei was extremely surprised.
Upon hearing this, Liu Xiaoli abruptly looked up at Chen Zhou: "You're not joking, are you?"
"Of course not," Chen Zhou replied earnestly.
"My goodness, junior brother, you've actually been valued by Liu Dehua. You'd better seize this opportunity. I believe that with your directorial talent, you will definitely become a great director one day," Liu Yifei said.
"I will," Chen Zhou said, his eyes sharp and unpretentious.
Liu Xiaoli was still very shocked at this moment.
Previously, on the set of "The Forbidden Kingdom," that foreign director praised Chen Zhou.
Even Liu Dehua, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, now favors him greatly.
All signs indicate that Chen Zhou may indeed be extraordinary.
Without saying anything else, Chen Zhou continued to help Liu Yifei practice her lines.
Later that evening, he left Liu Yifei's house.
Shortly afterward, Liu Dehua's team contacted Chen Zhou.
The specific details of the invitation were explained.
First, like many directors, Chen Zhou was among the initial candidates selected for the support program.
Only those that pass the subsequent screening process will be officially activated.
There are several cooperation models.
If a director is successfully selected but does not have a script, then he/she needs to wait for the company to assign a script for filming.
In this case, they can only receive a fixed director's fee, and new directors won't get much.
If the director brings their own script, a profit-sharing agreement can be negotiated based on their ability and the quality of the script, allowing them to share in the film's revenue.
Chen Zhou informed the other party that he had the script for "The Nameless" and sent it over.
Next, we just need to wait for their review and evaluation.
After all, investing is no small matter, and the other party will be very strict in their screening.
Three days later, on the morning.
Chen Zhou received a notification about the support program.
He not only passed the screening as a director, but his script was also rated as "extremely excellent" by a professional team.
As for why it's so fast, there's no need to even think about the reasons.
Liu Dehua has already personally called Chen Zhou, so his subordinates will definitely prioritize Chen Zhou in the selection process.
In subsequent contract negotiations, Chen Zhou finally agreed on the condition that he would serve as director and provide the script.
He can get 15% of the film's profits!
So right now, the most important thing for Chen Zhou is to wait for the script to pass the review.
In this way, the investment can be secured.
Time flies by.
April 7st morning.
Chen Zhou received the news that the script had passed the review smoothly.
Immediately, Chen Zhou relayed the news to Liu Dehua's people.
After confirming the details, the people there were very decisive and met with Chen Zhou that same day.
After signing the cooperation agreement, the 300 million yuan investment was given to Chen Zhou.
Now that he has secured funding, Chen Zhou needs to think about the casting for "The Nameless".
First, there's the character Ma Xianyong.
In the story, this character is a criminal police officer who caused the death of his wife and the paraplegia of his sister due to drunk driving, and was also dismissed from his job and turned into a security guard.
But he always wanted to make a contribution, solve the case, and return to the police station.
The female lead, Ma Jiaqi, is confined to a wheelchair after the car accident.
He has a fierce and sharp-tongued personality, and is filled with despair and anger towards life.
The next important character is Hu Guangsheng.
A robber from the countryside accidentally stumbled into Ma Jiaqi's home after robbing a mobile phone store.
Another important character is Lee Hae-geun.
He was Hu Guangsheng's accomplice, honest and loyal, and his only goal in making money was to marry the girl he loved.
The character is Gao Ming, a real estate tycoon who absconds with huge debts due to a broken capital chain.
The character Zhenzhen is the object of Li Haigen's affections; she is a nightclub girl.
There is a prerequisite before selecting these actors: their salaries cannot be too high.
The total investment is only 300 million, which is indeed very tight.
Chen Zhou thought for a moment and realized that for a role like Ma Xianyong, he had to find a mature actor.
Because of his age, he also lacks a relevant social circle.
Therefore, he plans to go directly to his teacher, Jiang Wei, and ask him to help recommend someone.
The female lead, Ma Jiaqi, is yet to be determined.
Right now, the only thing Chen Zhou can be certain of is the actor who will play Hu Guangsheng.
This actor is very skilled!
In the afternoon, Chen Zhou arrived at the playground.
Not long after, Zhu Yilong walked over.
"Senior brother, you were looking for me?"
"Hey, I have a question for you," Chen Zhou said.
"Senior brother, please speak." Zhu Yilong stopped.
"Would you like to act in a movie during the summer vacation?" Chen Zhou asked.
"Of course I want to! I dream of acting in movies. You know I'm a movie fanatic, I love movies to death!" Zhu Yilong said with great enthusiasm.