Chapter 130: When you meet your opponent in chess, you will meet a good talent
In the afternoon, Ning Hao came over and was led into Lin Yicheng's office by Li Yuefang.

"Senior brother, I've long heard of your name." Lin Yicheng called him "Senior brother" as soon as he opened his mouth.

It's not a random shout. Ning Hao's mentor at the Beijing Film Academy was Wang Hongwei. Wang Hongwei also saw his talent and gave him a lot of help and support.

Wang Hongwei was the producer and planner of Ning Hao’s award-winning film “Green Grassland”, and almost all of his subsequent works involved Wang Hongwei.

"I'm not that famous. No one recognizes me when I walk on the street." Ning Hao is a very casual person and not that reserved.

Ning Hao is really miserable in this life. The movie "Crazy Stone" that should have made him famous was filmed by Lin Yicheng, and now he is just a little famous in the industry.

Ning Hao currently has only two works, "Incense" and "Green Grassland", both of which are art films and have won some small awards.

Two years ago, in 05, he fell in love with Guy Ritchie's "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" while watching a movie. He watched it several times and was inspired to make a similar movie.

However, at this time he did not have a script, not even an outline, only a concept of a multi-line narrative.

If the original time and space had developed, he would have met Yue Xiaojun in the middle of the year, and with Yue Xiaojun's help, he would have completed the first version of the script.

After that, in early 2006, I completed a complete script "Big Diamond" and took this script to participate in the "Asian Rising Star Director" program.

This is also the reason why Lin Yicheng filmed "Crazy Stone" in advance without worrying about conflicts.

Many directors, after their works are released, often say "This is a work I have been working on for many years" or "This idea came up a long time ago"...

Just listen to this kind of words and don't take them seriously.

I say this just for publicity purposes, to tell the audience that this is my sincere work, not a sham, so come and see it.

Lao Lei also said that building cars has been his dream since he was a child!

……

As a result, the 600 million yuan that King Liu had promised was gone and people didn’t want to invest anymore.

Ning Hao cried and begged for help, and with the help of Uncle Han Sanye, he finally persuaded King Liu to continue investing.

The original 600 million was reduced by half to 300 million, and was jointly invested by China Film Warner Hengdian, Sifang Original, and King Liu's Yingyi Entertainment.

Ning Hao: Brother Hua, where is the 600 million you agreed on?

King Liu: I don’t have much financial resources at the moment, so I can only invest this much in you.

Ning Hao: Other people’s investment in movies starts at 500 million!

King Liu: You think it’s too little? Then just go back.

Of course Ning Hao refused to go back, but he was angry inside. He said to King Liu, "300 million is useless for diamonds. You can only buy stones!"

"Then just hit the rocks." King Liu replied.

So, the script was finally changed to "Crazy Stone".

……

In this life, just when Ning Hao was thinking about who to find to help him turn this concept into a script, "Crazy Stone" came out.

Ning Hao went to the cinema to watch it and was devastated. He felt that even if he completed the script, it would not be as good as "Crazy Stone".

Just last year, Ning Hao made a movie that had both a multi-line narrative and text content.

He likes and is interested in multi-line narratives, and he is experienced in art films.

Ning Hao thought at the time that combining these two points might produce a good chemical reaction.

As a result, the box office revenue did not exceed 100 million, causing Ning Hao to lose a lot of money, and all the wealth he had accumulated before was lost.

The reviews from those who have seen the movie are very unanimous: they don't understand it!

After all, multi-line narrative is much more complicated than other narrative methods. If this method is used to shoot an obscure art film, it would be strange if the audience can understand it. Ning Hao, who was hit by this, realized two truths.

First, multi-line narrative is not suitable for art films, otherwise it would be like adding glue to stick them together.

Second, as a director, if you are not absolutely sure, never invest in your own movie.

Before coming to Xinghe Film and Television Company, Ning Hao made a special call to Wang Hongwei to learn about Lin Yicheng's personality and habits.

……

Or can Ning Hao succeed?

In his previous life, he was able to get investment from King Liu, and when funds were insufficient, he was able to ask Liu Hua, Xu Guangtou and others to take a pay cut or perform for free.

After meeting with Lin Yicheng today, we didn’t talk about the project, but about feelings first.

Starting with Wang Hongwei, a person familiar to both parties, he mentioned the various helps and expectations that Wang Hongwei had given him.

(The relationship was instantly strengthened. We were all genuine fellow disciples, not outsiders.)
He also talked about his past works, for example, they were all art films and didn't do much at the box office, but at least they won a few awards and didn't lose money.

(Although I am not famous, I am still capable and I am not a scammer.)
Then they talked about his last flopped movie, where he got the inspiration, how it failed in the end, and what he learned from it.

(Failure is the mother of success. I have learned from my experience and the probability of success this time is very high.)
Finally, he talked about his script and told Lin Yicheng very directly that the script was inspired by South Korea's "Gas Station Attack".

(Imitation is always the most convenient and effective method. If you invest in me, you may get a return.)
Ning Hao talked incessantly for more than half an hour.

To sum it up in one sentence, I, Ning Hao, will transfer the money.

Lin Yicheng was happy. He was a good talker and a good bluffer. Today he had met his match, and a professional at that.

Why are you so polite?
Bullshit VS Bullshit!

Wang Hongwei is also my mentor. He took good care of me in school. He also helped with my debut movie and recommended it to Han Sanye.

(Since we are all from the same school and brothers, not outsiders, I don’t need to be too polite.)
I also watched your debut work. I bought the disc and watched it at home. It was shot very tastefully.

(Your movies were basically never shown in theaters, not to mention those sham awards, which don’t count for me.)
I went to the cinema to support your last movie. I could see that you wanted to express something and make certain changes, but it might be too trendy and difficult for the audience to accept.

(Don’t mention your crappy movie, it’s full of failures. You thought too much and didn’t have the ability. Don’t do that next time.)
The movie "Gas Station Attack" is really good. I watched it in a video hall when I was in high school and was deeply impressed. Later, I watched the film again and learned something from it. It was very inspiring.

(I have seen this movie, and many viewers have seen it too. It is easy to succeed if you imitate or borrow from others, but it is also easier to be criticized for plagiarism.)
After saying this, the two of them looked at each other tacitly.

When you meet an opponent in chess, you will meet a good talent.

……

Ning Hao felt a little embarrassed. He smiled awkwardly and didn't know what to say.

He understood the meaning of Lin Yicheng's words, as if the veil had been lifted.

"Brother, we are not strangers, so I will just speak directly." Lin Yicheng handed a cigarette to Ning Hao and lit one for himself. The smoke entered his lungs, mellow.

"I'm not optimistic about your book, so I can't invest in it." He raised his hand to interrupt Ning Hao who was about to speak, "But we can still cooperate."

"How to cooperate?" Ning Hao asked puzzledly.

Lin Yicheng stood up, found a document from the desk and handed it to Ning Hao.

"Brother, take a look at this book. If you are interested, you can take the photo."

Ning Hao lowered his head and opened it. There were only four words on the title page.

"Lost on Journey".

(End of this chapter)