Chapter 151 – Let’s Make A Bet
Mo Fei’s response made Yang Yi relieved.
“Old gentleman, you may not know, but I am not a person in the entertainment industry, so I don’t know much about how TV series are made, but I hope my book can be made into a classic TV series. Not a bad one.” Yang Yi said with a smile.
Chen Fengchen raised his eyebrows, and said displeased, “Are you saying that I am a director who makes bad TV shows?”
“Director Chen is still very authoritative in the field of TV series.” Mo Fei whispered to Yang Yi.
Yang Yi gently patted Mo Fei on the leg. Although separated by a layer of cloth, the summer clothing was as thin as a cicada’s wings. The plump elasticity still got obvious feedback in his hand.
“No! I don’t know!1Yang Yi is answering Director Chen’s question here, I think. No. (He’s not saying he is a director who make bad TV shows). I don’t know (meaning he has no idea if he is a good or bad director.)So, a few days ago, I looked for TV series that the old gentleman made before and watched them.”
“I’ve made a lot of military TV series!”
“Yes, I can see that you are very good at shooting war scenes and character dialogue scenes. You can shoot the rhythm just right. The feelings of the characters are all depicted in great detail.” Yang Yi nodded, “The only thing is that it has flaws…”
Chen Fengchen did not expect that a youngster2Raw (小子 xiǎo zǐ) – literal translation is youngster. other translation for this is ‘young fellow’, which, I think, is the more correct translation in this case as this is the term of address used by the older generation.would dare to say that his TV series was flawed. He was a little upset in his heart, but he still smiled and said, “Really? Tell me about it.”
“The war scenes are too fake! There are dozens of extras running back and forth. The so-called hail of bullets looks like several strings of firecrackers that has been buried in the ground and was blown up. They are holding their guns as if the trigger is pulled. And there are times that you can’t hear any sound.” Yang Yi pointed it out without hesitation.
In his previous life, people called it the “Fifty Cent Special Effect”!
Chen Fengchen was stupefied for a moment, and his old face turned red. Yang Yi was right. When he makes a TV show, he is more willing to capture the details and facial close-ups of the characters than to invest in the effects.
That was, the legendary heart does not walk the kidney – it was difficult to make people’s adrenaline surge.3So, it is a “legendary” Chinese saying which I have no clue how to explain it. I guess it lacks realism. But basically, Yang Yi is saying that the TV show he makes doesn’t grab people into the story. Although it’s a war film, it doesn’t make people’s blood boils. Good shows are shows that makes you forget that what you are watching is not real. One that you get immerse in, but once you saw something that’s fake, that immersion is broken. Overall, I’m clueless with this one.
“’Soldier’s Assault’ and ‘Drawing Sword’, if there are not enough grand war scenes, you can’t get a feeling at all!” Yang Yi continued.
Chen Fengchen really wanted to say that he was only going to make “Soldier assault” and didn’t want to make “Drawing Sword”. But how could he give up “Drawing Sword”? Thinking of the scene of fighting the devils, his blood still boils with indignation even at his age.
Of course, “Soldier assault” was also to his taste. As long as the shooting was done mindfully, the TV series wouldn’t be so bad!
Of course, it was impossible for him to shoot two TV series at the same time, but he didn’t want to give up “Drawing Sword” to others, so he could only buy them at the same time and shoot one a year.
But the question was, how could he meet Yang Yi’s requirements?
“Special effects cost a lot of money, and we’re just making a TV series.” Chen Fengchen was trying to pour out his own bitterness, but by this time, he had already fallen into a disadvantage position without knowing it.
“No matter how much money you burn, you have to make a classic. If you can’t find a suitable place to shoot in Beijing, or you can’t find enough excellent extras, or you lack supply of materials, I can give you a suggestion. Come to Jiangcheng to shoot. In the Jiangnan Military Region. Their general personally promised that if “Drawing Sword” and “Soldier Assault” was going to be shot, they will give their full support if necessary!” Yang Yi smiled and said, “With the support of a large military region, are you still afraid that you won’t be able to find a special effect master?”
These words were really raised by Grandfather Qiu Weiguo and the other on their own initiative, and General Lu Pengju gave the nod to this.
“You still have such a deep relationship with the military?” Chen Fengchen couldn’t help but glanced at Yang Yi and felt that Yang Yi’s background was a little enigmatic.
He “married” a big star as his wife, and he also has relationship with the generals of the military region. So, Chen Fengchen couldn’t help but misunderstand.
Yang Yi knew this, but he didn’t point it out. He smiled and said vaguely, “After all, I was a soldier.”
“Since I have the support of the Jiangnan military region, I will also give up this old life to make a war TV series with big scenes for you!” Chen Fengchen said through gritted teeth.
“Not only that, I hope Director Chen will choose the right actor. It doesn’t matter whether he is famous or not. He must have absolute enthusiasm for filming, and he must also be able to capture the character characteristics of the character, such as Xu Sanduo’s foolishness, Li Yunlong’s cunningness and roughness!” Yang Yi said.
Chen Fengchen was quite distainful of Yang Yi’s request. He raised his head and said, “Little Brother Yang seems to underestimate me, Chen Fengchen. I, Chen Fengchen, is famous for being a stubborn donkey in the industry. No matter who the actor is, as long as they can’t enter my eyes, I will not use them!”
“It’s true. Director Chen has a good reputation in selecting actors and training new actors.” Mo Fei said to Yang Yi from the side.
“Well, then, old gentleman, please make an offer! If it is appropriate and satisfies the two requirements I mentioned earlier, it doesn’t matter if I give you the copyright of these two books!” Yang Yi said with a smile, “Of course, I hope the old gentleman can shoot it as soon as possible. Four years. If it hasn’t been shot after this time limit, I have the right to take back the copyright.”
Chen Fengchen didn’t care much about this problem. He originally wanted to buy it as soon as possible and make arrangements for shooting.
However, just a moment ago he was the one who asked Yang Yi about the price. Now, the ball has been kicked back by Yang Yi. He had to think it over before mentioning it.
“5 million! 5 million per book, plus 6% of the revenue share.” Chen Fengchen said.
5 million for a film and television copyright wasn’t bad. It could be regarded as above the average standard in the industry, and the revenue share was 6%, which needed to be considered. After all, the normal was 5% to 18%! 6% was just a little higher than the minimum standard set by the Copyright Association.
Yang Yi didn’t expect to get 18%, unless his work was good enough and do the work of the screenwriter at the same time. But where could Yang Yi have time to accompany Chen Fengchen to make the script?
“5 million only includes TV series copyright, and I want 15% of the revenue share!” Yang Yi said firmly.
“How could that be possible!” Chen Fengchen jumped up excitedly. “Liu Shuping doesn’t even dare to ask for a 15% share. You’re a newcomer writer. How can 15% be possible?”
Liu Shuping was a world-renowned traditional literature writer. His works have been adapted into several popular TV series. It could be said that he was already getting the highest share a writer could get. He has become a benchmark in the industry.
However, Chen Fengchen said he couldn’t get 15%. Yang Yi had reservations. Who know if this old man was lying? Liu Shuping also didn’t disclose the details of his contract.
“It turns out that the old gentleman is not very confidence in my work! Well, why don’t we sign a betting agreement?” Yang Yi showed his “sincere” smile again.
If Chen Yijie was there, he would have told Chen Fengchen that he had suffered a big loss, and not to bet with Yang Yi even if he was killed.4Just a reminder, Chen Yijie was the Hong Kong top tier singer. He was the one who bought Yang Yi’s song “Long Time No See”. He also signed a betting agreement with Yang Yi at that time. The big loss here is referring to him losing to Yang Yi with their bet. He actually gained a lot with the song.
However, no one persuaded Chen Fengchen, and he was also interested: “Betting agreement? All right, tell me!”
TN: If you like my translations support me in ko-fi: Here.
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