Chapter 108 New Movie

"In the battle between two beauties, Zeng Li has the last laugh!"

"Zeng Li defeated Zhang Manyu and successfully won the leading role in Zhang Yimou's blockbuster!"

"The victory of the mainland actors, congratulations to Zeng Li!"

……

With the "Hero" crew officially announcing that Zeng Li would play the role of Feixue, it not only caused a sensation in the industry, but major media also began to report on the matter.

Zhang Manyu is no small role. Up to now, she has won three Golden Horse Awards, two Hong Kong Film Awards and a Berlin Film Festival Best Actress trophy.

Although Zeng Li has become very popular recently, she has just emerged after all, and there is still some gap compared to Zhang Manyu.

Although the two had been competing fiercely before, no one had much confidence in Zeng Li. Many people in the industry and the media even felt that the competition between them was just hype by the crew.

But no one expected that in the end it was Zeng Li who had the last laugh.

This is the first time that a mainland actor has won the competition with Hong Kong actors.

Some well-informed or smart people probably realized that it was Liu Zhou behind Zeng Li who took action.

Otherwise, if Zeng Li relied on her own and had no one to support her, it would be almost impossible for her to get this role.

This also made some people look at Liu Zhou with admiration, and it seemed that his power was not as simple as it seemed.

However, Liu Zhou, who was remembered by some people at this time, was bidding farewell to Zeng Li.

Zhang Yimou attaches great importance to the movie "Hero". Since Zeng Li has been confirmed to play Feixue, she will immediately start preparing for the movie.

The first thing is to engage in two months of closed martial arts training.

Liu Zhou knew that Zeng Li would stay in the "Hero" crew for more than half a year.

Since the two of them confirmed their relationship, they have never been apart for so long. For a moment, both of them felt a little reluctant to part.

Fortunately, Zeng Li has a classmate named Zhang Ziyi in the crew. She just hopes that she won’t feel resentful because Zeng Li has surpassed her this time.

After Zeng Li left, Liu Zhou also felt that it was time for him to get down to business.

Liu Zhou drove to the residence of Zhoushan Repertory Theatre of Factory 798. The scene he saw now was completely different from what he saw last time.

The last time I came here, it felt very run-down and deserted. Now it’s bustling with people and full of greenery, giving people a sense of vitality.

First of all, the gate was completely renovated. Previously, it was just a side door of Factory 798 for easy entry and exit.

Now it has been completely expanded and a pair of large electric iron gates have been installed, making it much more impressive.

Once you enter the gate, the large open spaces have completely changed.

On the left is a planned parking lot, and on the right is grass planted with several small gardens.

A pavilion was built in the middle, with a stone table and stone benches under it for everyone to rest.

Then the three-story office building was also renovated.

The exterior walls have not been moved, and the red brick features are still maintained, and the decoration is mainly focused on the interior.

The third floor has offices for Liu Zhou, Zhong Lifang and several other senior executives, as well as a small conference room and reception room.

The second floor is where other employees of Zhoushan Cultural Studio work, and each area has been planned.

In addition to the reception, there is a large conference room, a tea lounge and a small exhibition hall on the first floor.

There is nothing much to display in this exhibition hall now, but it will be put to good use in the future when we receive more honors.

Then there is the vacant land from the office building to the original factory building, which is also planted with grass and a rockery. The road is also paved with bluestone and pebbles, giving people the feeling of being in a park.

Finally, there is the factory area. A gate was also built on the side closest to the road. As soon as you enter, you will see the factory part that was transformed into Zhoushan Theater.

This factory building has sufficient height, making it perfect for conversion into a theater.

Then connected to the backstage of the theater are the warehouse and dressing rooms for costumes and makeup. Here the factory building is divided into two floors, and above the warehouse and dressing rooms is the office of the drama troupe.

Next door is the drama troupe’s regular training venue, which is also divided into two floors and has six or seven venues of varying sizes.

This part is the space used by the drama troupe, but the area they occupy is only half of the factory.

The remaining half has also been renovated, but is now empty for future use.

In addition, a two-story building was newly built on the open space against the wall behind the drama troupe. This was a canteen that Liu Zhou specially arranged to build.

It is not easy to live in Beijing. Liu Zhou does not have the ability to help his employees solve the housing problem, but the food problem can still be solved.

Whether it is the drama troupe or the studio, not everyone has a high income, and providing three meals a day can also save some employees some expenses.

There is a cafeteria in the company, which makes it much more convenient for everyone to eat.

Now in this entire area, except for the theater which is still under construction, all other projects have been completed.

The entire project cost Liu Zhou five million yuan.

The other decorations didn't cost much, but the theater was very expensive, and Liu Zhou invested more than three million yuan in it.

The money for this renovation was not paid by Liu Zhou, he used all his money for investment.

The five or six million yuan was all Zeng Li's money, all earned from her hard work in filming commercials and participating in events. Liu Zhou suddenly felt that it was so good to be a freeloader. No wonder so many people in the future wanted to have the opportunity to say, "Sister, I don't want to work hard anymore!"

Liu Zhou walked around his territory and felt very satisfied.

People from the drama troupe have already moved in, and there are a lot of them, so it's quite lively.

That small office building is the studio's location. Although Zhong Lifang has filled all the studio's departments with staff over the past month, it is still relatively deserted.

Liu Zhou came to his large office on the third floor facing north and south. There was also a small room inside that could be used for rest.

Liu Zhou looked around and before he sat down, Zhong Lifang came over with a pile of documents.

"Boss Liu, these are the studio's recruitment materials and the detailed expenditures for the previous month. Please take a look. Some of them require your signature."

Liu Zhou didn't expect that he would be dealing with paperwork as soon as he arrived, but this is what one must do when running a company and being the boss, so he patiently processed the documents.

Liu Zhougang put down his pen and smiled at Zhong Lifang:
"Have you adapted to working in the capital?"

"Of course I did. You gave me the entire studio, I recruited all the staff, I bought all the office supplies myself, and I decorated the office. I don't feel uncomfortable at all when working here.

Besides, the working environment here is so good, and it is very comfortable to work here.”

When Zhong Lifang first arrived here, she was indeed shocked by the office location.

Not only is the place large, but it is also designed like a garden. How could there be such a superior working environment in Hong Kong where every inch of land is valuable?

"It's good that you can adapt. I didn't have time to come here before, and I was worried that you wouldn't be able to adapt to the capital."

"Mr. Liu, you have time to come here now. Are you planning to start a new project?"

Zhoushan Cultural Studio is currently working around Liu Zhou. After building the basic framework of the studio, Zhong Lifang is now free.

Expanding business into other areas will not happen overnight, and the only thing Liu Zhou can do to keep himself busy is working on new projects.

"That's right. After all those investments, I only have about 2 million left. I'm a little panicked."

Although Zhong Lifang felt that Liu Zhou was pretending to be cool, she didn't know where to start.

"Can you make a movie with that two million?"

"Of course, I'm not going to make a big production like Director Zhang Yimou, and I'm not going to invite big stars this time, so the cost can be controlled."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Please be my producer!"

"That's exactly what I meant. As the general manager of a film and television company, it would be inappropriate for me to know nothing about the production process. I want to learn it." Zhong Lifang said with a smile.

"It's not easy being a producer. You're going to be very busy."

"I'm not afraid of this. What should I do next?"

"My uncle will come over tomorrow. I'll let him take care of you first. Then you'll know what to do."

The preparation of a movie can be said to be extremely cumbersome. Not only does one have to form a good crew and determine the actors, but one also has to determine the shooting location.

Although Liu Zhou has filmed two films, he does not have his own fixed team, and all these jobs need to be done from beginning to end.

For this new movie, Liu Zhou plans to keep the profits to himself and will not introduce other investors.

Firstly, this movie was a low-budget one and the profits were hard to divide; secondly, Liu Zhou was short of money and wanted to recoup some funds through this movie.

So it was not easy for him to go to China Film or Pearl River Film Studio to borrow people.

Liu Zhou also wanted to take this opportunity to slowly build his own team and allow his studio to independently complete the production of a film.

It is impossible for Liu Zhou to rely on China Film or Pearl River Film Studio all the time, and it is impossible for him to cooperate with them every time.

In addition, when the company grows larger and carries out multiple projects at the same time, if you do not have independent production capabilities, you will be controlled by others in every way.

"Mr. Liu, I'm a little curious, are you still planning to shoot a love movie this time?"

"no!"

Although Liu Zhou created a youth trilogy of novels, he never thought of creating a love trilogy of movies.

This will not only cause the audience to feel aesthetic fatigue, but will also label himself, which will be detrimental to his future transformation. Liu Zhouke has never thought of always making love movies.

"What type is that?"

"You should know the name of my new movie, it's called The Tuner."

"The Tuner? You want to make a feature film of The Tuner?"

Of course Zhong Lifang had heard of this movie. This short film was Liu Zhou's famous work.

The only honorary trophy in the exhibition hall on the first floor below is the Cannes Short Film Jury Award won by "The Tuner".

"Yes, I'm still going to let Qin Hao be the male lead this time, and I'll hire some low-key and capable actors for the other roles. The cost won't be too high."

For this movie, Liu Zhou didn't expect them to carry the box office. He, Liu Zhou, and the wonderful story of the movie are the biggest selling points.

(End of this chapter)