Chapter 340: Why Film Something Written by a Child?
Although this Director Jiang was a little strange, Director Lu believed that they could agree to these terms. “Director Jiang has a strange personality, but he keeps his word and has good judgment. Since he has agreed, he will do his best. His ability isn’t a problem, and he must be interested in the story. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have said no when someone invited him to film a project previously. He would rather scrounge a meal here and there than accept a bad offer.”
Mu Jingzhe: “Can I meet him first to talk?” Judging from his story, this guy seemed to have the temperament and aura of a famous director.
“Sure, but you might have to think of a way to get investment funds. Director Jiang won’t be able to get any investors.”
“Alright, I understand. Director Lu, other than Director Jiang, are there no other directors willing to collaborate with us?”
Director Lu paused for a moment. “Not many. I don’t trust some of their abilities. The main reason is that Little Bei can’t act in the movie either. Otherwise, there would definitely be people willing to cooperate with you.”
Although Director Lu said it tactfully, Mu Jingzhe understood what he meant. He meant that no one was willing to film a story written by a child.
Mu Jingzhe understood, but after hanging up the phone, she was still a little indignant. “Age doesn’t mean anything. It all depends on the story. In the future, people will be coming to beg us to cooperate!”
Mu Jingzhe and Director Jiang’s meeting went very smoothly. Shao Xi also went to meet them. Just as Director Lu had said, Director Jiang was actually quite good overall. Not only could he pull together his production team, but he could also work part-time as a screenwriter and even find a lighting and camera crew.
Director Jiang’s only request was that the director fees be paid in advance, and he also said they couldn’t interfere with him filming and casting the roles. He had to decide how the movie was filmed.
Of course, he also promised not to change the story randomly. If there were any changes, he would seek Shao Xi’s consent beforehand.
Both Mu Jingzhe and Shao Xi could accept this. The two parties spoke with sincerity. Shao Xi gave the complete version of the story to Director Jiang, and Director Jiang gave Mu Jingzhe and Shao Xi his previous work that hadn’t been released, as well as some scenes that he had filmed when he had been an a.s.sistant director.
Mu Jingzhe quickly started watching them. Although his last movie hadn’t been released, the overall quality was very good. She acknowledged Director Jiang’s ability.
Director Jiang also studied “Nameless” seriously. After watching it overnight, because he liked the story very much and was inspired, he wrote down the filming plan and even drew some storyboards.
When they met the next day, he didn’t mind that Shao Xi was a child and started discussing the movie with him. He shared some of his views and ideas with Shao Xi, and they hit it off.
After more than an hour, when Mu Jingzhe had no choice but to interrupt them so they would drink and eat, Director Jiang finally noticed Mu Jingzhe.
He had discussed the script with Shao Xi. To Mu Jingzhe, Director Jiang only had one thing to say: I want to film it. Pay up!
Mu Jingzhe: “…”
Seeing that Mu Jingzhe didn’t say anything, Director Jiang urged Mu Jingzhe to get the money and said that she didn’t need to keep them company.
In short, this was their creator’s forum. Since Mu Jingzhe couldn’t partic.i.p.ate, she might as well go get the money.
Very good, they had settled on the director, but this was only the beginning.
Mu Jingzhe started to inquire about investments and other matters. Although Shao Dong said that he could invest, there were also issues regarding the screening of the movie. It wasn’t just a matter of having money.
Shao Dong subsequently needed money for his business and couldn’t very well cut off his capital chain to support Shao Xi. It was fine to invest some money, but definitely not all of it. Therefore, they still had to look for investors.
However, this inquiry was particularly unsuccessful. None of the producers and production companies were willing to cooperate. Their att.i.tudes were quite uniform. Mu Jingzhe was tactfully rejected several times and given the cold shoulder.
Feeling that something was amiss, Mu Jingzhe specifically went to ask why this had happened. One of the investors who was aware of the situation kindly told her that those people weren’t willing to take a risk for a child.
Previously, Director Lu had been polite, but in reality, the rumors were even worse than before.
Many people in the directors’ circle had heard that Director Lu had helped them find a director. Overall, they just didn’t think it was a good idea and found it controversial. They felt that young Shao Xi was too proud to dare to do such a thing after just writing two books.
Even though the protagonist was a child, they felt that nameless heroes weren’t something a person of his age should be or was capable of writing about.
Shao Xi was belittled. Mu Jingzhe, who was busy helping Shao Xi pull strings, was also criticized by others. They said that she was probably addicted to grooming geniuses. In any case, it wasn’t pleasant to hear.
The directors’ att.i.tude and opinions were also the att.i.tude of most people in the movie industry, which was why Mu Jingzhe kept getting rejected.
Director Lu had also heard about the situation. “This is unavoidable. The main reason is that Shao Xi is still too young. If it really doesn’t work out, we’ll wait a little longer. Take it slow and don’t be anxious.”
However, Mu Jingzhe felt that there was actually no need to wait. Shao Xi was young, but his work was indeed mature.
When she thought of how eagerly Shao Xi and the others were waiting for news of the movie, Mu Jingzhe’s fighting spirit was ignited. If there were difficulties, she should overcome them. She couldn’t retreat every time she encountered setbacks. Gold would s.h.i.+ne eventually, and there would always be people with discerning eyes.
Mu Jingzhe ran around for two more days and didn’t give up. In the end, she really made some progress and found a film company to collaborate with. They invested in the movie and would take care of the screening of the movie later on. They also agreed not to interfere with the director’s filming and casting process.
The agreement looked negotiable, and the terms weren’t harsh. Comparatively… the investment amount wasn’t significant. Everything had to be done by Mu Jingzhe and the others.
Although this was far from what Mu Jingzhe had expected, it was the best outcome possible.
“I can invest some money.” Shao Dong made his att.i.tude clear. “I believe I can earn money from this when the movie screens. I have faith in Shao Xi.”
“Me too.” Mu Jingzhe thought of Director Jiang. “I’ll handle the expenses of Director Jiang and his team.”
Since the family was united, this could be accomplished. Shao Xi was happy and grateful, but he was actually a little unconvinced. He even thought that he would not only write books in the future but also do more things.
For example, in the future, he wanted to be able to film without needing his mother to beg for help anymore. Shao Xi had some more ideas, but he had to take it slow. First, he had to film this movie.
Mu Jingzhe didn’t know that Shao Xi had already thought of starting a film production company himself and was starting to think about money.
Mu Jingzhe’s career could be considered to be flouris.h.i.+ng everywhere now. Her hair ornaments and costume customization business earned her a stable income, but during this period, she would need a lot of money for her undergarment business. Fortunately, there was also that paper manufacturing factory.
Mu Jingzhe had made a lot of effort to build the paper mill, but compared to other things, this was very easy for her. The salespeople were of great help. Now that the market in the province had completely opened up, she had seized a large portion of it. Her method of sending the test products was very successful. After many people tried them, they felt that this was indeed much more convenient than toilet paper and switched to it.
By then, the salespeople were already very experienced and were sharpening their knives as they set off for markets outside the province.