Director’s Legend

Christopher Nolan, British director, screenwriter, cinematographer and producer. In 2000, he was nominated for the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Screenplay with the super cult film "Memento." In 2005, he became the top director in Hollywood with "Batman Begins", the first heroic epic film.

"The Prestige" released last year was also well received. This year, Nolan announced that he would continue filming "The Dark Knight."

Nolan is a director that Shao Shuaijun admires very much. His strange narrative techniques and visual style that hides his artistic accomplishment all make his films fascinating. Especially "Memory" is a masterpiece in Shao Shuaijun's mind. He has watched it countless times in his previous life to refine the plot.

After contacting Nolan, we met on a Warner Bros. set. Nolan has already begun setting up Batman scenes on set.

"Hello Nolan."

"Hello, Shao."

Because he was not familiar with Nolan, Shao Shuaijun didn't have any polite words and directly stated the reason why he came: "It's like this. I heard that you have a story about dreams. I want to know if you have written it into a script or something." .You know, "The Nighthawks" was not a success, and I wanted to try a new theme."

Nolan spread his hands: "Shao, I'm sorry, I don't know where you heard it from, but I don't have any ideas about dreams. Maybe I will try it in the future, but I really can't do anything now."

"That's really a pity." Shao Shuaijun secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that Nolan had no idea for "Inception". This saves much trouble.

"It is indeed a pity. By the way, Shao, I also have many questions to ask you, about IMAX. You know that I plan to use IMAX cameras to shoot in "The Dark Knight", and I watched your "Nighthawks" , many ideas are too implicit and not expressed. But the images shot with the imax lens are so cool and the texture is very shocking. Can you tell me some of your thoughts on imax shooting?" Nolan put aside the script and started talking about imax.

In fact. IMAX's commercial debut should belong to Nolan. It was just that Shao Shuaijun was ahead of schedule. Therefore, Shao Shuaijun started chatting with Nolan about imax with an apologetic mood. Nolan is a staunch anti-digital and anti-3D director, insisting on shooting on film. The rise of digital movies and 3D movies. This made Nolan very distressed for a while. Fortunately, "The Night Watcher" came out. Let him find hope from imax.

Shao Shuaijun asked: "Have you rented an imax camera?"

"Of course, we rented two."

"I can share my experience with you on the spot."

"That's great, thank you. Shao."

"You're welcome."

On the Batman set, Shao Shuaijun spent half a day imparting his knowledge of IMAX to Nolan. He is not a self-respecting director, and it is a very enjoyable feeling to be able to direct an international director. Moreover, multiple friends and multiple paths will definitely help his future directing career.

Furthermore, the promotion of imax requires the joint efforts of more directors. All directors who have enjoyed imax are impressed by its charm. This kind of projection system and this kind of movie are real movies, closer to the real world, worthy of the world woven by the director, allowing more swim together.

When the topic of imax was finished and they shared their movie experiences, Shao Shuaijun said goodbye and left. If the conversation continued, Nolan would instill in him the argument that movies should only be made on film. Nolan is very stubborn in his opposition to digital movies and 3D movies, but Shao Shuaijun doesn't care. As long as it is helpful to movies, it is a technology worth encouraging and trying.

His idol Cameron is currently producing a cross-generational 3D movie "Avatar", which will take the world by storm in the future, so Shao Shuaijun never denies that 3D has its uniqueness.

After returning to China, Shao Shuaijun still avoided reporters.

This time, he learned his lesson and carefully wrote the script for "Inception". He compared it with the original movie in his memory and wrote a detailed outline. Then I took this outline and started calculating the cost of each shot and each scene, and finally came to the conclusion of $120 million.

120 million U.S. dollars, which is about 1 billion yuan, is higher than the cost of "The Nighthawks".

When Shao Shuaijun brought his new movie to the meeting, the company executives were in an uproar. Just now, "The Night Watcher" had severely damaged their vitality, and now there is another more ambitious "Inception".

"Mr. Shao, can this plan be postponed? Should we proceed more steadily now? We all admire Mr. Shao's talent, but the company is still in its infancy after all..."

"Yes, Mr. Liu is right. If Mr. Shao is interested, he can shoot several low-budget romance films in the United States. With Mr. Shao's talent, he will definitely be able to create the miracle of "Love Is Not Blind"."

"It makes sense. The risks of large-scale production are too great. For the company's sake, Mr. Shao should shoot some movies like "Twilight", which will have a small cost and a big return."

As Shao Shuaijun expected, when the script was proposed, there was a lot of opposition.

Shao Shuaijun smiled and said, "I'll go outside for a drink of water while you continue the discussion." Then he glanced at Li Xiuxiu, opened the door of the conference room, and walked out. Dream Chaser Entertainment is owned by him personally and holds 100% of the shares. However, once it is reorganized into a group company, it is bound to reorganize the shares of the branches and the head office to absorb more shareholders.

He needs to respect the opinions of his subordinate bosses.

I don’t know how Li Xiuxiu persuaded everyone. Two hours later, she opened the door and told Shao Shuaijun: “Everyone has accepted the facts, but they hope to find partners to jointly develop this film and share risks. "

"I'm going to make appointments with the bosses of various film companies." Shao Shuaijun nodded.

He could rely on power to let Chai Meng follow his path and invest exclusively in movies, but in this case, the company's cohesion would be dispersed. Because now Shao Shuaijun doesn't have enough reasons to tell them how wise his decision is and how profitable the movie will be.

His cornerstone lies in the company and these talents. It is enough trust to be able to convince them to support the filming of a big production again. He doesn't want this trust to turn into resentment. The road to pursuing dreams is long, and only a harmonious and stable atmosphere can keep pursuing dreams.

The first person Shao Shuaijun fought was Wang Zhonglei from Huayi Brothers.

"Hey, Brother Lei, I'm Shao Shuaijun. I'm sorry about "The Nighthawks", which caused everyone to lose money, but I now have a new plan, a very cool science fiction movie. The total investment is about 120 million US dollars. I hope we Able to work together again.”

On the other end of the phone, Wang Zhonglei hesitated for a while before saying: "In business, there are profits and losses. Before a movie is released, it is difficult to tell whether it will make money or lose money. "The Night Watcher" is all over. But , Junzi, let me be honest, you invested 50 million and got back less than 20 million. This is a big blow to our Huayi Brothers. You are also one of the shareholders of Huayi Brothers and you should know our finances. If we do it again, we will I can’t stand it anymore.”

"Brother Lei, I know that out of responsibility for Huayi Brothers and my share of the shares, I dare to say that this time the movie will not be compensated..."

"Junzi, I believe you, but the risk is too great. Huayi Brothers is not mine. We can no longer accept such a risky investment plan. If you open a movie worth 100 or 200 million yuan, I will do it without saying a word." Get involved, but this time…sorry.”

After hanging up the phone, Shao Shuaijun shook his head helplessly and called Yu Dong again to explain his intention.

Yu Dong immediately complained on the other end of the phone: "Mr. Shao, it's another big deal of more than 100 million yuan. How can I say this? Polybona is not a bank. One participation has already messed up our finances... No matter what, I will definitely not invest in Hollywood movies again this time. Mr. Shao, I also advise you to lay a solid foundation in China first, and then break into Hollywood."

After several phone calls, the other party didn't even ask about the script and immediately rejected it as soon as they heard the cost.

It seems that "Nighthawks" scared these bosses quite a bit.

"I can't give away money even if I want to. Is this a tragedy or a blessing for me?" Shao Shuaijun let out a long breath and did not force it. Back when he was making a lot of money making movies, these people would come to him as if they were something, but now that he has lost money, he immediately avoids them like a plague.

Fate is so cruel. It gives you a blow when you are most proud, and lurks opportunities when you are most frustrated. A stick is easy to bear, and opportunities will always slip away inadvertently. Therefore, most of the stories end in tragedy.

Shao Shuaijun has given them a chance to make up for their losses. Whether they can seize it or not is irrelevant.

If cooperation fails, then choose to go it alone.

Dream Chaser Entertainment, which owns two film and television companies, Dream Chaser Golden Harvest and Summit Entertainment, can still squeeze out more than 100 million US dollars for filming by using capital as collateral and borrowing from banks. Of course, this requires convincing its managers first.

Summit Entertainment is easy to say. Although "Nighthawks" lost money, "Twilight" lived up to expectations and won three consecutive North American box office titles. It is still popular. It is expected to not only close the loss, but also make an additional surplus. Coupled with the rising ratings of "The Big Bang Theory", high-priced screening rights for the sequel are extremely popular.

Coupled with the plans to make money from the sequels of "Twilight" and "So You Think You Can Dance", the company is developing well. Currently, approximately US$30 million in funds can be allocated to support filming. Twilight Entertainment is seeking to merge with Summit Entertainment, but although the company's book profits are not much due to several milkings, it can still provide about US$20 million.

The North American branch has settled US$50 million, and the remaining US$70 million needs to be settled from the mainland.

Leaving this complicated matter to Li Xiuxiu, Shao Shuaijun began to immerse himself in writing the script.

A classic movie that made him make a comeback! (To be continued...)

ps: The fourth update is over today, please give me monthly votes and recommendation votes.