China Entertainment 1997

Haidian, a dance training studio

This is the rehearsal place for the "Thousand-Hand Guanyin" program group. Cao Xuan contacted me and offered free use.

The environment, logistics and other aspects are much better than the place the Spring Festival Gala director team and program team found themselves.

Cao Xuan, wearing a down jacket and a mask, quietly watched the rehearsal of more than 20 girls outside the dance studio window.

Different from normal dance, these deaf-mute girls cannot hear music. Without music, they do not know the rhythm. "Thousand-Hand Guanyin" is another dance that particularly tests rhythm and tacit understanding. This is a big obstacle to dance rehearsals. .

In order to better grasp the rhythm, the dancers step on the ground to feel the vibration of the instrument, and remember the rhythm bit by bit.

Then we train over and over again to become familiar with every move and every link. All the dancers eat and live together to cultivate tacit understanding and affection.

In addition, there are some other little techniques, which are all explored bit by bit over time, allowing dancers to know a certain melody node.

It can also be seen from this that this dance training is difficult. For this reason, many people even question why it is not practiced by normal dancers, as the difficulty will be greatly reduced.

But in fact, the dance "Thousand-Hand Guanyin" did not initially appear in the Spring Festival Gala. Its first important performance was at the closing ceremony of the Athens Olympics and Paralympics.

It was also because of this performance that they were discovered and recommended to the Spring Festival Gala.

Therefore, this is a program created by the Disabled Persons Art Troupe, so why should it be given to others?

Then again, let’s not talk about the purpose of the dance. Just consider the reality. Although the training of "Thousand-Hand Guanyin" is difficult, a successful program, various performances and visits can allow many dancers, musicians and related disabled staff to gain A job that pays well.

If "Avalokitesvara" is given to able-bodied dancers, these disabled dancers, musicians, and staff will lose many opportunities.

Therefore, this is not a matter of pursuing "cost-effectiveness" at all.

You think it's for the benefit of these deaf-mute girls and saves them the trouble, but in fact it deprives them of their right to pursue their dreams and live independently...

"Director Cao, what do you think?"

Cao Xuan looked at it for a while, then looked away, and the program director Zhan Xiaonan who was accompanying him asked.

"Very good. As long as we can maintain this state, rehearsals will be easy to pass. You usually focus on encouragement to keep everyone confident."

Because of physical defects, many actors are a little unconfident or have low self-esteem, so Cao Xuan and the director have always been encouraging and comforting, not reporting good news but not bad news.

"Where's Director Zhang?"

"He has something to do at home and will come back in the evening."

Cao Xuan nodded. The show "Thousand-Hand Guanyin" has two backstages. One is the special director Cao Xuan, and the other is the director Zhang Jigang.

This director Zhang is a famous dance choreographer and the first person in charge of "Thousand-Hand Guanyin". He is currently the leader of the Song and Dance Ensemble of the General Political Department.

In addition, Director Zhang was also the deputy director of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and directed several large-scale national-level ceremonies.

Before the first round of Spring Festival Gala rehearsals, the program duration of "Thousand-Hand Guanyin" submitted for review was 5 minutes and 54 seconds.

At nearly 6 minutes long, this is a relatively long program for a Spring Festival Gala song and dance program.

Therefore, the director team asked the program to be cut to less than 4 minutes. Director Zhang directly concealed the matter and asked the actors to perform a 5 minute and 54 second version on the day of rehearsal.

Of course, the stunning program effects made the Spring Festival Gala director team give up the idea of ​​downsizing and won a full house of applause.

But in fact, if someone else does this, it is likely to cause dissatisfaction among the directing team, who feel that they are not obeying the arrangements, and even the entire program will be canceled from rehearsals.

This is not an exaggeration. On such a big stage as the Spring Festival Gala, no one wants to have their time shortened. There are too many people to recruit for the military expedition, but nine times out of ten, the price will be very tragic.

"Thousand-Hand Guanyin" has a happy ending. On the one hand, the quality is outstanding, and on the other hand, Director Zhang is confident. Of course, Cao Xuan also helped and said a lot of good things.

Afterwards, Director Zhang heard about this and invited Cao Xuan to serve as a special instructor. King Cao Tian happily agreed.

After a dance in the practice room ended, Cao Xuan stepped in. When the more than 20 slightly tired deaf-mute girls saw him, their eyes suddenly lit up and they gathered around.

Cao Xuan said hello in sign language that he had just learned these days and was not yet proficient in it.

"Hello everyone, you did a great job just now. I brought you some food."

This group of deaf-mute girls, many of whom were his fans, happily replied in sign language. Cao Xuan couldn't understand, so he had to ask the sign language teacher next to him for help.

"They are thanking you and telling you not to buy so many delicious foods because they are afraid of getting fat."

"It's okay, this time it's all low-calorie."

After clapping his hands, Zhang Chong and several staff members came in with several large bags of snacks and fruits and placed them in the middle of the training room.

Cao Xuan asked the sign language teacher to translate: "After the third rehearsal, I will invite everyone to a big dinner."

The girls happily high-fived and then shared snacks under the leadership of the team leader. The choreographer Zhan Xiaonan next to them shook his head and laughed, then looked at Cao Xuan.

"Director Cao, I have cost you money again. You have taken care of the venue, transportation, and accommodation, and you are always bringing food for everyone. It is really troublesome for you."

"fine."

Cao Xuan waved his hand: "I can't help you with the dance. I'll just provide you with logistics and a little money. Don't worry about it."

Zhan Xiaonan thought about this person's reports. They were usually associated with tens of millions and billions. This amount of money is indeed a drop in the bucket for others.

However, thanks should be given to Zhan Xiaonan. Ever since he joined the "Thousand-Hand Guanyin" program group, he has been recording every detail of the show in front of and behind the scenes, thinking about the opportunity to publish a book.

Well, after eating the snacks and feasts of Cao Tianwang, I will say more good things about Cao Tianwang in the book later...

Cao Xuan stayed in the dance studio of "Avalokitesvara" for more than two hours before going to the dance studio next door, where Cheng Long's backup dancer was from the "Top Gun" program group.

Cheng Long had previously asked him to take care of him and invited him to serve as a special instructor. Cao Xuan simply arranged for him to be next to the "Thousand-Hand Guanyin" and come over from time to time.

However, compared to how amiable he was just now in "Avalokitesvara", Cao Xuan is a bit more strict in the "Top Gun" program group.

Of course, there should be many rewards and motivations, but Cao Xuan did not pay out of his own pocket, and planned to go back to Cheng Long to pay the debt, or take the opportunity to get some good stuff.

When he went to Cheng Long's Xiangjiang mansion as a guest, he fell in love with a piece of Moutai from the 1960s and thought of tricking Cheng Long into selling it to him.

Then leave a few bottles for Comrade Lao Cao, and give the rest to Hu Jing's father. I heard that my father-in-law is better at this...

………

After watching the dance, Cao Xuan took the time to go to the company's recording studio and watch the performance of "Tomorrow's Star".

This Spring Festival Gala, basically all the popular contestants from "Tomorrow's Star" were invited.

Champion Zhang Jie, runner-up Gu Miaomiao, top four Yao Beina, and top ten players Ping An, Wulan Yaya, Gao Jin, Zhang Jingying, and Chen Chusheng all arrived.

Only Yang Chengang and Phoenix Legend were classified as a medley of online singers. They did not participate in this show, but sang their famous songs "Mouse Loves Rice" and "Above the Moon".

But even so, there is basically a high chance that all of the top ten "Rising Stars" in the country will appear in this year's Spring Festival Gala.

Popular contestants Jin Sha, Tan Weiwei, Hao Yun, Dingdang, Huang Bo and others were also included in the program "Chasing Dreams".

In fact, at first, Cao Xuan wanted to get a solo or duet role for Zhang Jie or Gu Miaomiao.

But then there were too many star singers in "Tomorrow's Star", and the other two programs also praised Nishinomiya Empress and Daolang. If there was another solo singer, it would be too conspicuous, so it could only be arranged as a chorus of "Chasing Dreams" .

But Zhang Jie was not at a loss either. Not only did he appear on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, he also won a solo performance in the Beijing Spring Festival Gala.

Gu Miaomiao, who is more popular, is the most exaggerated. She has received invitations to three satellite TV Spring Festival Galas, and her appearance is no less than that of first-line singers.

Of course, this is also related to Gu Miaomiao's latest album. The title song "You Must Be Happy" written by Cao Xuan was one of the most popular songs at the end of 2004, and its popularity was even close to that of Cao Xuan's "I Love" .

Gu Miaomiao was originally the most popular star of "Tomorrow's Star", but her only weakness was that she did not have a masterpiece of her own.

After the release of "You Must Be Happy", Gu Miaomiao's popularity and celebrity status increased rapidly. With the aftermath of "Tomorrow's Star" during the summer vacation, she was even able to compete with those Taiwanese female singers.

But what is more worth mentioning is Phoenix Legend. After the release of their new album "Above the Moon", it has achieved very impressive results in many fields such as album sales, Internet clicks and ringtone downloads.

"Above the Moon" and Pang Long's "Two Butterflies" once tied for the top spot on the Internet in the second half of the year, and were considered the most popular Internet songs at the end of 2004.

Because of this, Cao Xuan specifically asked Phoenix Legend, one of the top four "Stars of Tomorrow", to give up "Chasing Dreams" and join an online song mashup show.

Although the length of each song is only 1 to 2 minutes, it is a solo after all, and the number of shots and importance are higher than the chorus of more than a dozen singers in "Chasing Dreams".

Dancer Cao Xuan is a layman and can only do so much to help.

But in terms of singers, as a superstar who has been in the industry for several years and has performed on numerous big occasions, Cao Xuan has so much to teach these new singers, most of whom are new.

Apart from anything else, Cao Xuan had a lot of tips on how to eliminate tension and stabilize psychological pressure.

After all, not everyone has participated in 6 Spring Festival Galas, World Cup finals, Victoria's Secret shows, concerts with 100,000 people, Grammy Awards performances and large-scale national celebrations...

Speaking of which, Cao Xuan has participated in many Spring Festival Galas. Except for the first two, he was basically very calm.

It wasn't until he participated in the behind-the-scenes this time that he felt the heavy pressure of the Spring Festival Gala on a deeper level, which caused his temper to become a little impatient and irritable.

Only when faced with a few different programs, Cao Xuan didn't dare to say anything, and behaved like a little sheep.

There are also "Thousand-Hand Guanyin" and several programs with children as the main dancers. Cao Xuan is afraid of the strong but does not bully the weak. He even becomes soft-hearted when seeing children and disadvantaged groups with disabilities, and his attitude is more amiable.

The last one is Empress Xigong. In fact, Cao Xuan can also lose his temper, but she has to be coaxed after the training.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be sleeping on the sofa. The key is that this little girl will complain. When the phone is called to Sun Lan, Cao Xuan, no matter whether he is a superstar or a big boss with a net worth of tens of billions, is still scolded on the phone like his son. Like...

In addition, Cao Xuan is much tougher. Even if the other party is Cheng Long or Liu Tianwang, Cao Xuan will say what he needs to say. Of course, considering the other party's face, he will hold back or chat privately.

Later, Cao Xuan was not so polite to the singers from Fanxing, Xiao Zhou, Cai Yilin, etc. He would scold him when he needed to and say what he needed to say.

After a series of events, I don’t care if I offend others. I do feel that the work behind the scenes of the Spring Festival Gala is too tiring, physically and mentally exhausted, and my life span will definitely be shortened if I work for a long time.

Cao Xuan thought that just because of "New World", he would make an exception this time. Next time, he would at most be appointed as an art consultant and hold a meeting to explain why he would not be responsible for the specific position of the Spring Festival Gala.

………

After a busy period, the Spring Festival Gala held its third rehearsal, and relevant leaders also came to inspect it.

The projects that Cao Xuan mainly recommended and proposed received good feedback from leaders and on-site audiences, and all passed this rehearsal.

Afterwards, the leader even came to Cao Xuan to encourage and praise him.

Cao Xuan was so moved. His efforts to help were not in vain. He really did a good job.

After the rehearsal, Cao Xuan found someone to test the situation through his connections. He also chatted with Mr. Han and asked him for a meeting. Finally, he got an accurate answer in early December.

""New World" can be filmed!"

It's not easy, Cao Xuan is very sad. According to the original plan, "New World" has been filming for more than a month now.

Now it has been delayed for so long. Cao Xuan has kept this project despite the pressure, and even made time to work on the Spring Festival Gala. The company has also made efforts in other aspects, and finally got a good ending.

Cao Xuan also hopes that this matter will end here. Don't wait for him to finish filming and get stuck again. Then he will really go crazy...

After confirming that the project could be approved, the crew of "New World" quickly reached full schedule.

This is also the benefit that Cao Xuan has always insisted on. Although the project is pending, preparations in all aspects have been carried out. Now that the review has been passed, the preparation progress is mostly completed.

Star Building

After entering December, early relocation has begun. Fanxing Company moved the fastest. In just a few days, 1/3 of the employees were already officially working in the building.

In the conference room, the producer reported to Cao Xuan and Han Sanye on the preliminary preparations for "New World".

"The filming will start in early January. The location will be Xiangjiang. The shooting time will be 40 to 60 days. Excluding the Spring Festival holiday, the filming should be completed in early March."

The "New World" movie doesn't have any big scenes, and the team in Xiangjiang is famous for filming quickly. 40 to 60 days is already a very conservative estimate. If everything goes well, it will probably be shot faster.

"Has the role of Ding Qing been decided yet?"

Mr. Han looked at the information in his hand and turned to ask Cao Xuan.

This time, due to the review of "New World", Cao Xuan also realized that Fanxing's family could not be protected, and it was rare for him to live alone, so he brought China Film Group in.

This time, China Film and Fanxing are responsible for the distribution of "New World".

As for film investment, Cao Xuan's Xiangjiang Company accounts for 50%, China Film Group holds 20%, Yinghuang and Cheng Long's companies and director Johnnie To's Galaxy Pictures hold 25%.

Of course, because this time Fanxing was just the lead, in terms of remuneration, Cao Xuan no longer only charged the "friendship price" like the previous two movies, but the market price -

30 million yuan + 5% dividend.

This price is not low. Except for Cheng Long and Li Lianjie, two domestic actors who have entered Hollywood, their domestic salary is nearly 10 million or more than 100 million, and many of the top domestic celebrities only earn 10 million.

Nowadays, the domestic film industry's salary for Cheng and Li is in the hundreds of millions, but sometimes it may not be possible to get it, it depends on the positioning of the film.

Those who are aiming for the international market will definitely be paid higher, but if they are in Asia or even focus on the domestic market, the salary will also be discounted.

Next to Cheng and Li are Cao Xuan and Fa Ge. The domestic salary is basically 20 to 50 million, and the salary fluctuates according to the film market.

Cao Xuan is more stable, because he is currently focusing on the Asian market, and several movies have performed well, and he rarely takes on outside roles. As a result, the salary for domestic commercial movies is basically more than 30 million.

Fa Ge's salary is unstable. Due to various reasons, the salary fluctuates high and low. The high one is 40 to 50 million, and the low one can be worth tens of millions.

Apart from these few, the current Chinese actress with the highest salary should be Gong Li. The domestic market price is 8 to 20 million yuan, and the international market is even higher, 3 to 5 million US dollars.

But to be honest, this price is difficult to get. Literary films can't easily afford it, and commercial films like Gong Li can't afford the box office.

The same is true for Maggie Cheung. Film actresses are paid worse than male actors of the same level.

Among the younger generation of actresses, the ones with the highest film salaries currently are International Chapter and Zhao Zhao, with a single film salary of more than 5 million. International Chapter who have already entered Hollywood will be paid even higher.

It is worth mentioning that the international chapter of "Memoirs of Art" claimed to have received a salary of US$5 million.

Later, it was revealed by the media that the amount was exaggerated ten times. In fact, it was only US$500,000. It was humiliating.

Of course, the above salary is only a reference value, and the specific situation may not be certain.

Literary films may be even lower, and actors may have friendly prices. Perhaps the film studio is particularly optimistic about the film and may raise the price. The actors may invest their own money, or receive dividends instead of salary, etc. The specifics still depend on the negotiation between the actor and the film company.

This is the "New World" project, and because it mainly relied on Cao Xuan to handle the box office and sell copyrights, it won 30 million + 5% dividends.

This 30 million remuneration is also half of the total investment in the film.

The investment in the entire "New World" movie is about 60 million, of which 10 million is used for the director and actors' remuneration, and the remaining 20 million is the shooting cost.

In other words, Cao Xuan paid 30 million for himself to make a movie, leaving his left hand with his right hand. Apart from paying taxes, it was equivalent to spending nothing.

However, China Film, Yinghuang and others spent 30 million to make the movie. If they lose the money, they will not lose anything, but Cao Xuan will keep more than half of the money they make.

But don't think that others feel that they are at a disadvantage. Several companies only paid 30 million to hire Cao Xuan to make movies "for free" and received nearly half of the dividends. It was also a huge profit for them.

Therefore, when looking at a problem, don’t be too simplistic. Change your perspective and suddenly become enlightened...

"Personally, I prefer Sun Honglei to play Ding Qing, and Tony Leung Ka Fai to play Inspector Gou (the villain's boss). However, I have to go through it with Director To. If it doesn't work out, I will just play Liang. Inspector Gou will be played by Simon Yam."

"Sun Honglei?"

Mr. Han thought about it for a moment: "Is it the Liu Huaqiang from "Conquer"?"

"it's him."

"Isn't it too fierce looking? Also, if Ding Qing lets a mainland actor play a story about Xiangjiang, will it feel deprived?"

"Ding Qing is originally a gang leader with a youthful and Dangerous background. He is vicious in nature and his image is no problem.

As for the Mainland actors not fitting the roles, you may not have read the script carefully. Ding Qing and Li Zicheng, who I played, both have Mainland backgrounds. He smuggled across the country on his own, while I followed my parents when I was a child.

This is why the two characters are closer to the mainland. They are essentially their own people and have a strong sense of belonging. "

"...Are you trying to connotate something?"

After hearing Cao Xuan's explanation, Third Master Han asked hesitantly. Cao Xuan shook his head repeatedly: "No, absolutely not."

If he wanted to have real meaning, he would add a paragraph about Ding Qing being caught smuggling, shouting about thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi, blah blah blah...

Mr. Han was persuaded by Cao Xuan. From the bottom of his heart, he also hoped that more mainland actors would appear in such commercial blockbusters.

As of now, the only mainland movie actors who can really compete with the big names from Hong Kong and Taiwan in terms of box office are Uncle Ge and Cao Xuan, and Jiang Wen can barely count.

Cao Xuan is the only one who has the confidence to win the battle.

Now, Cao Xuan intends to praise some newcomers, and Han Sanye will naturally not stop him. Although he is very powerful, he is just afraid that Cao Xuan will suffer a loss and damage his confidence.

The discussion lasted for more than an hour. Mr. Han basically listened and did not offer many opinions.

In fact, China Film Group did not participate much in this film. Apart from paying for and distributing the film, it also endorsed it to facilitate review. Han Sanye knew this well, so naturally he rarely spoke.

After the meeting, Cao Xuan invited Mr. Han to sit in his office.

Although the whole picture was not visible, Han Sanye was still shocked by the nearly 200-square-meter office area.

"It's too big. It covers several offices in our company."

"Who makes our company have less people and more space? As you saw just now, each workstation is bigger than the other. In order not to waste my time and feel distressed, I can only bite the bullet and be extravagant."

Cao Xuan showed off slightly and took Mr. Han to the quiet room to drink tea. During the process, he passed by the bedroom, cloakroom, fitness room, study and other places. Mr. Han's eyelids jumped when he saw them, and he was crazy.

To be honest, Mr. Han has seen a lot of mansions since he reached this point, but such a luxurious office is rare.

The uncertainty within the system will certainly not be so high-profile, and outside the system, not everyone can own a private building in the Third Ring Road of Beijing, and the extremely high rents of office buildings do not allow most bosses to pretend to be fat.

Even if many rich people have money, they will give priority to building their own luxury homes instead of building flashy offices.

Only Cao Xuan is like this. He has too many houses to worry about, but he has his own mansion, so he can do whatever he wants.

Not to mention 500 square meters, he occupied the top floor himself and built an office of nearly 10,000 square meters, and no one outside could control it...

Mr. Han was used to being casual with Cao Xuan before, but today he suddenly realized that the young man in front of him was an invincible rich man.

Although Mr. Han did not curry favor with Cao Xuan because of this, he restrained himself somewhat and expressed his respect for wealth.

He doesn't care about money now, but he won't necessarily retire in the future, and he still has children...

"By the way, I was optimistic about a project before, and I originally wanted to get you to invest in it. Now that I think about it, if you are interested, just do it yourself."

"What project?"

"It's a small-budget movie, quite interesting."

"Okay, now that Mr. San has spoken, I'll vote. What's the name of the movie?"

""Crazy Stone"..."