A great director who grew up happily

Chapter 396: Film Circle

Chen Jinnian was not very clear about the progress of Qiao Weidong's strategy, but the filming of the crew was progressing unexpectedly smoothly, and it was completed by late May.

Everyone was safe and sound during the period, and no one suffered serious injuries, with only minor bumps and bruises at most.

This also made the Hong Kong martial arts actors who had been worried for nearly two months breathe a sigh of relief. It was because Chen Jinnian did not follow the routine and there was no opening ceremony, which made them extremely uncomfortable.

However, just because their crew filmed smoothly doesn't mean the same is true for others.

According to the plan, The Wandering Earth should have started filming, but Chen Jinnian had not received any information yet. If he did not have confidence in Guo Xing, he would have suspected that the crew had run away.

If other crews were to face a gap of tens of millions in publicity and promotion funds, they would have collapsed one day, but for the crew of The Wandering Earth, it was just a drop in the bucket.

Although Chen Jinnian was somewhat puzzled by the delay in starting work, he did not ask too many questions, because he had another more important project on hand, which was "Bad Genius" which was about to be released.

The fact that a movie about cheating in exams was released on the day after the college entrance examination made it a hot topic in itself. After three months of continuous investment and dissemination, the current anticipation level for it is second only to "The Founding of an Army" in the entire summer vacation.

As for "Wolf Warrior 2", I'm sorry, the industry is not pessimistic about this movie, but they just think that the box office ceiling of this movie will not be too high. Moreover, when it was released around the same time as "The Founding of an Army", the latter's big names and popular actors joined forces to crush "Wolf Warrior 2" to the ground.

Wu Jing himself thought the same.

It's not that Wu Jing hasn't thought about changing the release date, but with "Despicable Me 3", "The Monkey King" and "Knife of the Assassin 2" eyeing him from the front, and super IPs "Eternal Love" and "SPL 3" chasing him from the back, according to the box office forecasts of previous summer seasons, the end of July is already the best release date for him.

So Wu Jing has recently used up all the resources he can find, including various media variety show interviews. In short, he accepts everything he can. As for the effect, it is not as good as the episode of "Flowers and Youth" in which Chen Jinnian and Wu Jing participated.

After the latest episode of "Flowers and Youth" was broadcast, the crew of "Wolf Warrior" was on the hot search for the first time, and Chen Jinnian became famous, so much so that he had to urgently clarify the rumors.

He doesn't know kung fu, and he was able to knock down the black guy in one go only because of the other party's own efforts. If he had jumped lower, he wouldn't have been able to push him three or four meters horizontally.

However, Chen Jinnian's murderous remarks not only failed to put out the fire, but continued to ferment. By the way, it also led to a surge in the ratings and playback volume of "Flowers in the Sky". The director of the show was so happy that his mouth was crooked with smiles.

Since Chen Jinnian debuted, he has recorded two variety shows and been a guest twice, but both times were very popular, so much so that the variety shows that were currently being filmed have invited Chen Jinnian, including some top variety shows.

But after watching it, Chen Jinnian put it back as it was. The movie was about to be released, and the variety show announcement had just arrived. What was the point of recording it? If it was just for the fame and labor, he had no interest.

On this day, Chen Jinnian distributed Dragon Boat Festival gift boxes to everyone in the company, and by the way, he argued with Wang Yidi about whether sweet or salty rice dumplings were more delicious.

For a serious northerner like him, putting egg yolks, pork belly and ham in rice dumplings was obviously beyond his acceptance.

"What's wrong with putting meat in rice dumplings? Don't we put meat in mooncakes too?" Wang Yidi said righteously.

But after hearing this, Chen Jinnian stopped handing out gift boxes and said, "Putting meat in mooncakes, what's the difference between that and meat pies?"

"There's a huge difference. They're not even the same thing." Wang Yidi said angrily, as if his ideals had been tarnished. "Didn't I give you this to try when I was in high school? It was the one that I heated up in the microwave. I specially packed it from the restaurant."

"Ah, that thing is a mooncake. I thought it was a Cantonese dim sum."

Chen Jinnian said in surprise that the mooncakes Wang Yidi gave him were not packaged, but packed in a plastic lunch box, which contained fresh meat and ham. When his family ate them, no one thought about the mooncakes.

"Do you think it tastes good?" Wang Yidi asked hurriedly.

Chen Jinnian thought about it and recalled the scene at that time, "My dad didn't like it, but my mom thought it was delicious. As for me, I've kind of forgotten what it tasted like."

Last year they spent the Mid-Autumn Festival in the military training base. They couldn’t even get enough food, let alone mooncakes. So the last time Wang Yidi brought him mooncakes was really many years ago, probably when he was in his second year of high school.

"Hmph, a dog chewing a peony." Wang Yidi said.

Chen Jinnian wanted to make a few more excuses, but his cell phone rang, so he could only hand over the work to Liu Tingting and walked aside to answer the call.

This was his personal cell phone number, and those who could call were all his friends. He looked down and saw that it was indeed the long-missing Guo Xun.

"Brother Meng, you finally remembered to call me?"

"There have been so many things going on recently that I'm almost dizzy from being so busy. I want to ask, is Maizi with you?" Guo Xun asked.

"No, I sent her home and I'm trying to catch up on my homework right now."

"Oh, I see." After Guo Xing finished speaking, his phone went silent. He must have gone to give instructions on work. After a while, he continued, "Are you free tonight? I'll treat you to dinner."

"What bureau? If it's the Business Bureau or the Leadership Bureau, then I won't participate. I don't have time to serve those masters." Chen Jinnian said without hesitation.

There are too many such drinking parties in the entertainment industry. There are countless leaders and financiers everywhere. If you throw a bottle on the table, it is likely to hurt a certain general manager or supervisor.

In the past, he would still go to social events, but now, he is too lazy to go.

"Don't worry, they are just a few friends in the circle. We just meet to chat. You are a director, you can't always work in isolation. You should get to know people in our circle." Guo Meng said.

In his opinion, Chen Jinnian's development was too smooth. He didn't rely on the company, investment, or agent. He just worked hard and succeeded. There was really no way to complain.

Chen Jinnian is now somewhat out of tune with the mainstream film industry. If he works hard for a few more years, he may enter a new film circle.

There are actually clear boundaries within the film industry. For example, the Beijing circle is known for its xenophobia and completely dominated the film and television industry in the early years. However, with the collapse of the relationship network built by those children from the big courtyards, it has now become a grasshopper in the autumn. 13 years later, it was replaced by the new Beijing circle.

The Northwest Circle was given by the outside world, and mainly includes Zhang Yimou, Ning Hao, Jia Kechang, Liu Cixin, etc. They have won the most awards. At the same time, they have a distinctive feature, which is the fixed combination of director + actor. The core characters are all old team members, and newcomers are used only for marginal characters.

In the Northeast circle, one company dominates the market, and the entire circle is composed of one faction.

The Shanghai circle is a combination of Shanghai Theatre Academy and capital. It is notoriously disunited and only talks about interests rather than friendship. It is an insignificant role in the film industry.

As for the Hong Kong circle, it is declining. The only one holding the fort is Principal Gu. Stars who are more famous than him have all embraced the mainland market.

So in Guo Xun's opinion, Chen Jinnian had no connection with any circles. He should have entered the Beijing circle naturally, but because he did not follow the usual path and went to study at Communication University of China, he lost contact.