novelslam Chapter 148 Setting up a nest!
Chapter 148 Setting up a nest!
Liu Jun was taken aback, then took the cigarette: "Hengzi, what does this mean?"
Gu Heng personally took out his lighter and lit it for him, saying quietly, "It doesn't mean anything. I just feel that when real capitalists come, they all have to offer you a cigarette!"
Even during breaks in the intense filming, Gu Heng didn't rest.
He didn't forget that besides filming, he also wanted to try his luck in Hollywood.
We should make money off Americans!
But if you just squeeze into Hollywood as a foreign director, you'll at best be a high-level employee working for someone else, with the lion's share going to the big players.
To make the biggest profits, you must enter the market as an investor!
After much deliberation, Gu Heng set his sights on an excellent bait: Inception.
It's the end of 08, and Nolan has just raked in a billion dollars at the global box office with "The Dark Knight," instantly becoming a legend.
But at this moment, the crazy idea about overlapping dreams in his mind is probably still just a prototype.
But Gu Heng is different; he had already registered the copyrights for every blockbuster script he could think of with the Writers Guild of America.
He logged directly into MySpace, then the largest social networking platform in the United States. Keep in mind that at this time, Facebook was still in its infancy, and MySpace was the place Hollywood filmmakers frequented.
Gu Heng created an anonymous account on the platform and began releasing concept settings for "Inception" in a piecemeal fashion.
Dreams within dreams, totems, the edge of the subconscious, dream weavers... they're all hooks that steal your soul!
The complete script was not missing a single detail.
As expected, this amazing sci-fi concept garnered four or five hundred reposts on the first day, and the comments section was filled with industry insiders frantically trying to find out which genius screenwriter had come up with this idea.
But Gu Heng pretended not to see it; it's like Jiang Taigong fishing—those who are willing will take the bait.
Even if Nolan doesn't take the bait, it's fine. I can just find another pond to bait. I have plenty of bait!
Filming in New York was progressing at breakneck speed. In just ten days, the crew filmed their final scene in the United States.
At the negotiating table, Cheng Dongqing, played by Huang Xiaoming, is dressed in a suit and tie. Facing the arrogant Americans, his eyes radiate an unprecedented confidence.
He stared intently at the person opposite him and said in his practiced, rehearsed English, "One day, when we are no longer just teachers, but representatives of the world's largest education service organization, you will give us the respect we deserve!"
"Click!"
Gu Heng, who was sitting behind the monitor, suddenly stood up and shouted through a megaphone, "Perfect! I hereby announce that filming for 'American Dreams in China' has officially wrapped!"
A thunderous cheer erupted from the crowd, and everyone breathed a long sigh of relief.
Gu Heng stepped forward, patted Xiaoming, Deng Chao, and Tong Dawei on the shoulder, and sincerely praised them, "The three of you had such great expressions in that scene! Xiaoming delivered his lines with such passion, and Chao and Dawei's expressions were absolutely amazing!"
Faced with the director's relentless output, Huang Xiaoming wiped his sweat and gave a simple, honest smile.
Deng Chao, standing next to him, scratched his head in bewilderment and coughed twice before saying, "Director Gu... actually, I didn't understand a word Xiaoming was babbling about just now."
Tong Dawei, standing to the side, nodded frantically in agreement: "Yes, yes, me too!"
Holy crap...
Gu Heng looked at these two clowns, his lips twitching. Is this what you call naturally gifted acting?
Anyway, the filming was finally completed smoothly.
For the wrap party that evening, Gu Heng didn't go through any capitalist Western food and wine fare, but instead took the whole crew to an authentic Sichuan restaurant in Chinatown.
The boss is a genuine Chengdu native.
There was no way around it; the crew's stomachs had been craving food for the past ten days or so.
The so-called Chinese food in the United States is all made to cater to American tastes, such as General Tso's Chicken and Li Hongzhang Chop Suey, which are so sweet they're cloying. It's an insult to the Chinese palate!
When those bowls of bubbling hot boiled fish, Mapo tofu, and spicy diced chicken were served, the crew's eyes lit up; they were practically ready to snatch them.
"Holy crap, this is food fit for humans!"
Uncle Liu Jun, his face flushed, held a glass in one hand and had his other hand tightly wrapped around the neck of Kevin, the foreign actor playing Bernard, insisting on teaching him to speak Shandong dialect.
"Repeat after me, I am, turtle, grandson..." Liu Jun said with a lisp.
Kevin, a tall, 1.8-meter-tall foreign woman, was squeezed so tightly that his eyes rolled back, his face clearly showing both despair and hopelessness.
Just then, Xiaoming, also quite drunk, stood up unsteadily, holding a decanter, and shouted loudly, his face flushed, "Everyone, quiet down! Well, I'd like to take this opportunity to say a few words!"
Everyone immediately fell silent, and even Kevin turned his head with a sigh of relief.
Xiaoming let out a hiccup and pointed in Gu Heng's direction: "Our Director Gu, you know, he's young, and he's always joking around..."
"Sit down." Gu Heng put down his chopsticks and uttered two words expressionlessly.
Xiaoming was about to launch into a passionate speech when he suddenly froze, raising his glass awkwardly and saying, "No, Director Gu, I'm already so emotional, I haven't finished speaking yet."
"You lose all composure when you're drunk. Sit down." Gu Heng showed him no respect whatsoever.
Xiaoming gave a pitiful "Oh" and obediently plopped back down.
Deng Chao, who had been holding back for a while, burst out laughing, slapping his thighs loudly on the table: "Holy crap... Hahahaha, Xiaoming, you've finally met your match!" Tong Dawei was also laughing on the side; the three of them together were a real clown.
After filming wrapped, the group quickly packed their bags and headed back to China.
As soon as he stepped out of the Capital Airport, Gu Heng was stunned.
Not far away, a familiar Audi was parked, and next to the car stood a fat old man smoking, Han Sanping.
Holy crap? Why is this old guy personally picking me up from the airport? The head of China Film Group is personally driving me—who can resist that kind of treatment?
Something's not right. Something's extremely wrong.
Once in the car, Gu Heng subtly used a series of subtle maneuvers and conversational exchanges to finally understand the old fox's true nature.
It turns out that Wu Baige's "Red Cliff" was all hype and no substance. Although the box office looked impressive, it couldn't withstand the heavy investment!
The two parts cost over 5 million yuan, which is a bottomless pit.
I lost money at my grandma's house!
Overseas copyright sales have also been less than satisfactory, and China Film's financial statements are probably in a terrible state.
That's why Chairman Han is desperate; he's pinning all his hopes for recovering this year's losses on Gu Heng, this living god of wealth.
Gu Heng rolled his eyes inwardly after hearing this: Good heavens, all the money that China Film Group worked so hard to earn with Vision, you guys have squandered it all in this huge pit of "Red Cliff"!
You're awesome!