Chapter 78 Returning to Beijing
Director Xie was the chief producer of this film. He stayed in the crew at the beginning. Later, when he saw that Liu Zhou could command the crew members with ease, he felt relieved and rarely came after that.

Now that the film has finished shooting, Director Xie appeared on the set again. Seeing that everyone had been busy for a while, he said loudly:
"Everyone, pack up your things and go back to the factory as soon as possible, then go home and take a good bath. We will have the wrap-up banquet at Baiyun Hotel tonight!"

After hearing what Director Xie said, everyone became even more excited.

Many of them are old employees of Zhujiang Film Studio, and this is the first time they have seen a wrap party held in a five-star hotel.

In fact, this was not Director Xie’s own decision, but the result of a discussion between him and Liu Zhou.

Because the filming of the movie was shorter than Liu Zhou had planned, it started more than half a month earlier, and because of the coordination of Zhujiang Factory in Yangcheng, Liu Zhou saved a lot of trouble.

So when the film was almost finished, Liu Zhou discovered that there was still more than 500,000 yuan left.

Liu Zhou discussed it with Director Xie and decided that in addition to the 500,000 yuan reserved for promotion before the movie was released, he would take out tens of thousands of yuan to treat everyone to a good meal.

In the evening, everyone came to this old five-star hotel in Guangzhou with a relaxed look on their faces.

Director Xie booked a banquet hall and set up six tables, which was just enough to accommodate the dozens of people in the crew.

Except for Liu Zhou, Zeng Li and Zhang Guorong, almost all the other members of the crew were employees of the Pearl River Film Studio, so everyone came to the wrap-up party.

The only regret is that my brother Zhang Guorong is not here. He returned to Hong Kong after finishing his part. The filming of Zhang Zhiliang's "Meteor Shower" produced by the Hong Kong Creative Alliance is about to start, so he has to rush back.

Liu Zhou had no choice but to let him leave first. He could only treat him to the meal he owed him later.

After nearly two months of getting along, the two had a very good relationship. During this period, Liu Zhou felt that Zhang Guorong had a very cheerful personality. He didn't know what happened to him in the next two or three years that caused him to suffer from depression and go to extremes.

"Cheers!" everyone shouted.

At Director Xie's suggestion, everyone stood up and toasted to celebrate the successful completion of the film.

"Come on, everyone, eat. You've all worked hard over the past two months. Seeing such delicious food, you don't even start eating. Are you still missing the boxed lunches from the crew?" Liu Zhou put down his wine glass and invited everyone to eat.

"Who would miss boxed lunches when we have such delicious meals? No matter how delicious the boxed lunches are, you'll get tired of them after two months." said a member of the crew.

"Then everyone, eat as much as you can, drink as much as you can, and don't leave until you are drunk!"

"Okay, how about we all give a toast to Director Liu?" Director Xie said with a smile.

Liu Zhou felt like he had shot himself in the foot. After listening to Director Xie's words, many people gathered around him and wanted to toast Liu Zhou.

Of course Liu Zhou didn't dare to refuse everyone, but he couldn't refuse the heads of the behind-the-scenes teams such as photography, lighting, and costumes. They were the people he dealt with a lot during the filming, and he couldn't refuse their wine.

Finally, Director Xie came over and had another drink with Liu Zhou. After just a few drinks, Liu Zhou's face was already red and he was almost drunk.

Liu Zhou's uncle knew how much Liu Zhou could drink, and when he saw someone trying to force him to drink, he quickly came over to help him block the wine.

But even with his uncle blocking his way from drinking, by the time the wrap-up banquet was over, Liu Zhou was already too drunk to stand steadily.

Liu Zhou was indeed very happy today and indulged himself for a rare time.

Uncle Liu Zhou originally wanted to call Liu Zhou's father to take Liu Zhou back, but when he saw Zeng Li still supporting him, he took a taxi back by himself.

The next day, Liu Zhou was awakened by thirst and felt a splitting headache after waking up.

"Are you awake? Come and have some strong tea."

After drinking a large cup of strong tea, Liu Zhou felt his throat felt a little better.

He rubbed his eyes and saw that he was in the hotel room where Zeng Li was staying.

"I will never drink so much again. I feel so uncomfortable now." Liu Zhou said a little weakly.

"It's good that you feel uncomfortable. If it wasn't for your uncle blocking the wine for you, you would have passed out long ago." "I was too happy yesterday. By the way, do you want to meet my parents later?"

Zeng Li had been filming in Yangcheng for two months, and her family already knew that she was Liu Zhou's girlfriend.

Liu Zhou's mother has always asked him to bring Zeng Li back home, but Zeng Li has not been ready yet, so it has been delayed until now.

Now that the filming has been completed, Liu Zhou also wants to ask Zeng Li what she thinks.

"Zhou Zhou, why don't we wait until after graduation next year? It feels a bit too fast to meet your parents while you're still in school."

"Okay, then let's wait until next year when we graduate."

Liu Zhou rested in the hotel for a day before he felt a little better.

Now that the film has been completed, Liu Zhou is also preparing to take a good rest for a few days.

There was nothing interesting to see in Guangzhou, and since it was winter, Liu Zhou took Zeng Li to Sanya for a week.

Afterwards, Zeng Li went straight back to Beijing, while Liu Zhou returned to Guangzhou to prepare to start the post-production work on the film.

When Liu Zhou came back, the editors at the Pearl River Studio had already finished the rough cut of the film and were able to proceed directly to the fine editing.

Because this time was not as rushed as the last short film, Liu Zhou was very meticulous in the fine editing work, and it took him nearly two weeks to complete it.

The subsequent work such as sound effects, music and subtitles was simpler. Zhujiang Studio had no shortage of talent in this area, so it took about a week to complete all the work.

Liu Zhou checked it and found no problem, then he took the copy to find Director Xie.

"Liu Zhou, has the post-production of the film been completed?" Director Xie asked when he saw Liu Zhou coming over.

"Yes, it has been completely completed. This is a copy. Director Xie, would you like to take a look at the finished film first?"

"We'll watch the finished film when we have time. Let's discuss the release."

"You are an expert in this area. I would like to hear your thoughts first."

Director Xie hesitated for a while and said:
“Although our Zhujiang Factory has some foundation in distribution, it is mainly concentrated in our province and surrounding provinces. Our distribution capabilities are very weak after crossing the Yangtze River.

This time the investment in this film is so huge that it is far from enough to rely solely on Zhujiang Film Studio to distribute it. It is almost impossible to recover the cost, so we must find another company to jointly distribute it. "

"Director Xie, are you looking for China Film Group?"

"That's right. China Film Group has nationwide distribution capabilities. Cooperating with them is undoubtedly the best choice. I used to work at the Beijing Film Studio, so I have some connections there. I can also negotiate a distribution fee that is ideal for us."

Liu Zhou didn't expect that Director Xie had worked at the Beijing Film Studio before. He didn't know whether he was squeezed out on the eve of the establishment of China Film or promoted here.

But looking at his confident expression, the latter is more likely.

It's better to have this relationship. Liu Zhou originally wanted to ask China Film Group to co-distribute the film. After all, Zhujiang Film Studio has been in decline for too long and no longer has the distribution capability.

"Okay, I'll listen to you. I'll leave the negotiation with China Film Group to you."

"Haha, don't worry. We will discuss the specific release date with China Film Group later."

After leaving the Pearl River Studio, Liu Zhou finally breathed a sigh of relief, as his first film was about to be released.

After resting at home for a few days, Liu Zhou also returned to the capital.

(End of this chapter)