In the nearly five years since the filming of the movie "749 Bureau" was completed, actor Li Chen once thought that "this matter has changed" - which is a euphemism for the film not being released - and he even forgot He has also participated in such a movie, "Two years ago, I saw a public account writing about disappearing movies. I flipped through it and saw "749 Bureau", and then I remembered that there was such a movie."
circle and Li There are many people who have the same idea in the morning.
The director of "749 Bureau" is Lu Chuan, who has seemingly disappeared from public view in recent years. In the past few years before the film was completed, apart from "collecting debts" from the employer and looking for project cooperation, Lu Chuan rarely took the initiative to contact the outside world. "It is an original sin for the film director to not complete the film. I am ashamed of myself." If you canāt help it, you wonāt go out. ā
Since the movie ā749 Bureauā started filming in Chongqing in October 2018, Lu Chuan has fallen into an unprecedented financial crisis. He did not listen to producer Han Sanping and wait until the investment reached 85% of the budget before starting the production. Instead, he started production in Beijing when only 30% was received. At that time, their budget for the entire film was 350 million.
The movie "749 Bureau" poster
The movie was prepared by Lu Chuan since 2016. is an ambitious plan - a visual effects blockbuster with a science fiction color and Hollywood industrial standards. However, there was no precedent for domestic films at that time, and AI technology to assist film and television had not yet appeared. Lu Chuan could only realize his creative ideas through a series of extremely cumbersome processes such as drawing storyboards, previewing, and re-molding. Visualization, coupled with the continuous overthrow and reconstruction of the world view, extended the preparation time of this film to two years.
From 2016 to 2018, when the film and television industry was booming, many domestic movies with box office sales of over 1 billion, 2 billion or even 3 billion have been produced.
Lu Chuan felt that at that time, " was full of money, and big brothers were everywhere, and everything was in a good logic. " And among their six investors, 4 were listed companies, which made Lu Chuan feel at ease. Those The money that has been signed is as if it is in your own pocket.
But in the same month that Lu Chuan started filming, the State Administration of Taxation issued a notice deploying work to standardize the tax order in the film and television industry. For a time, companies were hit by thunderstorms one after another, and the capital that was once a hot wave ebbed rapidly. What has affected Lu Chuan is that the investments that were supposed to be credited to the crew's account have been slow to make any progress.
There is no turning back when the bow is drawn. Lu Chuan could only look for money while filming and streamline the team to reduce costs - the first to go was the five Hollywood giants in art, photography, props, etc. who had the most trouble to hire, with an average weekly salary of 20,000 US dollars. Later, he streamlined the filming team and The cost of food and accommodation was reduced... and at the same time, the money from myself and the company was put into the crew. In Li Chen's impression, the director at that time "never had his hair neat". By the time
was completed in July 2019, the crew size had been reduced to more than 300 people, living in hotels with an average per capita cost of 100 yuan per day.
But for the most expensive post-production visual effects part of the film, funding has not yet been secured.
At a dinner after the completion of the project in 2019, Han Sanping encouraged Lu Chuan to "take this project forward" and "rely on your own methods to secure the funding for this project." Lu Chuan said that he had advanced a lot of money, and Han Sanping said "pop" He patted Lu Chuan's thigh and said, ", this extra money counts as your investment. Only if you invest, will everyone believe in you and think you are a shareholder. " At the same time, Lu Chuan's right thigh was also hit hard by Wang Zhonglei Take a shot.
For many years after that, Lu Chuan felt that he had been deceived by these two pats on the thigh. When
takes on a movie, it means taking on all its financial problems, making up for all the financial gaps, and shouldering all the legal risks that originally belonged to the major shareholders.
was Lu Chuan's most anxious period at the time. Not only was there no money for the project, but the film's release was delayed, triggering five lawsuits involving more than 25 million in arrears.
"Our family is a family of scholars. No matter how poor the tutor is, he is not allowed to borrow money from others - he has never owed money or been in a lawsuit." Lu Chuan said that when he suddenly faced these problems, he felt particularly desperate and helpless. help.
Lu Chuan boasts that he used to be a "business idiot". His hiring logic is to hire whomever he likes and has a good relationship with. He doesn't know what things he needs to take care of as a founder. "I think professionals manage professionals." "Handling things over to the company is the biggest major."
So in the era of surging film and television capital, his company was managed by friends, and he invested in several entrepreneurs and young directors' projects, but he didn't see the legendary one. A hundred times the return, most of the investments did not even return a penny of the principal.
Lu Chuan suffered from insomnia for a long time because of the huge financial hole. "The small goal of was an abyss that I couldn't cross at the time. "
At the end of 2019, Lu Chuan was invited to study for an MBA. "Hitting a child on a rainy day means you are free when you are idle." So Lu Chuan became a rare director student in business schools. It was also there that Lu Chuan "heard the words KPI for the first time."
" is like a mouse falling into a rice vat, ", Lu Chuan felt that the business school courses were like opening his eyes. Lu Chuan turned on the "plug and play" mode. After the break after class on corporate human resources management, he walked out of the classroom and called the company's HR and asked the other party to fire an executive. That was his good friend in the company. I have been working for 7 years and have never signed a single contract. But Lu Chuan no longer accepts "hard work", he wants to see "credit".
Lu Chuan participated in the event
Lu Chuan was determined to rectify the company. He wanted it to fulfill its mission - to complete "749 Bureau".
Starting from 2020, film director Lu Chuan is determined to start filming commercials. This is the fastest monetization channel he can think of. " survival logic, if I can give you enough money for advertising, I can rub my back. "
Since that year, Lu Chuan has been filming advertisements everywhere with his back on his back, and he shot eleven in 2020 alone. , every month his advertisements appear in the circle of friends, "In the industry, they say that Lao Lu is crazy about grabbing money. " At that time, it was also the time when the rumors about him in the circle were at their peak. He and the movie "749 Bureau" "It often becomes a topic of discussion at other people's dinner tables. Of course, most of them are not optimistic about it."
Jia Shui is one of the few people who firmly believes that Lu Chuan can complete "749 Games". She is the chairman of the Chinese Film Group and an early investor in "749 Bureau". Later, she learned about the progress of the film from Lu Chuan's messages from time to time.
About four years ago, the two met at a film festival. Lu Chuan said to Jia Cai, "Don't worry, I will definitely finish this film. I won't make other films until it is finished." Jia Cai felt this sentence The words "have a feeling of spending a fortune". This is indeed the case. In the three most difficult years of , Lu Chuan made all the money he could earn by shooting commercials, appearing in variety shows, filming TV series and Winter Olympics documentaries, except for movies.
At the beginning of this year, a TV series filmed by Lu Chuan was completed. He repeatedly calculated the funds on hand and found that when the production fee for the TV series arrived, the money in the company's small capital pool was exactly the same as his "749 Bureau" The final budget of the film was even. At that moment, he felt that the dark cloud above his head was gone.
In March this year, Li Chen received a notice of reshooting for "749 Bureau". At the reshooting site, he met Lu Chuan again, whose hair was not even neat. The other person held an iPad and showed him the post-production of the film, which was like a treasure trove in his family. , "Look at how I made this lens, which team I hired to make it, how I made that lens, and what else needs to be done now." Then he said, "I haven't done anything in the past two years. I will make some money." I'll do it if I can make some money." Hearing this made Li Chen's nose sore.
In the past two years, especially this year when it was certain that the film would be completed, Lu Chuan no longer remained silent when he heard rumors about himself and the film. " has become very brave in the past two years. If you can't tell me, I will call you. " Shame is a trivial matter. "When you are responsible for the life and death of an organization... We are a business, you can't We slander anyone behind their backs because we donāt owe anyone anything. Others owe us. Do we have any responsibility? If any director canāt invest 1/3 of a project, can he finish it? It's not about investing. No one can say anything about these things. This is my bottom line.
html On April 22, the reshoots of "749 Bureau" were completed. Lu Chuan posted on Weibo that he had no regrets, " has been dragging this ship for eight years, and it can finally dock." "The following is dictated by Lu Chuan, compiled and published by "Houtang Research Institute" -
The account may have been 70,000 yuan
In 2014, the third master (Han Sanping) talked to me before leaving China Film and Television, saying that you should try to go To shoot something that combines authoriality and marketability, and the marketability must be highlighted. simply means that you have to make movies that make money for me. I said yes.
Because of my first four movies, such as " Searching for Guns" " Hoh Xil " are all literary films, but at that time the entire industry had changed. They were all making genre films, and they needed to grasp trends, talk about audience experience, and a series of new concepts.
So I made "." "Nine-Storey Demon Tower ". But I was a little embarrassed at the time. I always had to remind myself that this is a commercial film, but if you still want to have authorship, you need both authorship and entertainment. In the end, I didn't combine authorship and entertainment. Good balance. But this triggered my interest in genre films, including a lot of visual effects work to learn at that time. I think that stuff is very fascinating.
I started preparing the story of "749 Bureau" in . At that time, I really wanted to make something that showed the mature film industry. The content of was also part of my youth experience, because I once worked in the 749 Unit.
Our artist hired the artist from "Mad Max"; I hired the photographer. It's david tattersall, who filmed " star wars " 123 and "The Green Mile"; the visual effects director is also the one you've heard about in these "Avatar", and he was involved in everything, as well as props... At that time, these five The giants all came from Hollywood.
At that time, the Chinese film market was also attractive to overseas countries, and exchanges were particularly prosperous. It was completely an export-oriented state. I was able to win over people in Hollywood, and they were basically beaten.
The budget set in 2017 was 350 million, which is not that high in China. At that time, there were already many productions of 600 million, (350 million) is really very high for a film of this size. I think it can be done to save money.
At that time, the whole industry was booming, and it felt like there was money everywhere, and there was all kinds of good news, and every director's studio was acquired by which platform. Which "å" was acquired by a big boss again. Although my company's entrance is not as crowded as the industry, our film flag is indeed easier to raise, and soon we have 6 investors. , among which there are 4 listed companies. For a business novice like me, I think it is very stable.
Mr. San said that you should start the business when the money reaches 85%. At that time, our account may have reached 30%, and it is expected that there will be two more funds. It will arrive next week, next week, maybe 50%. Another company said that all the money will be paid in one month. I said these are old neighbors, and I went to their internal green light meeting, and they are all listed companies. , itās a really big platform, I donāt think itās a problem, just shoot. The result of
was just in time for the industry to come to a halt in 2018. At that time, the world was turned upside down, and many companies were suddenly hit by thunder. 35% of the investment in the company we led was shelved because of problems. We didnāt say we wouldnāt invest, so we just shelved it. . This was all a down payment at that time, and I think the 35% of was money already in my pocket. How could such a large Internet platform, a company that makes a lot of money every day, miss such a small amount of money from us? Why should I start a business later? I found that you can't rely on a third party. This can only happen if my own company becomes bigger and stronger.
A manager who was leading the investment in this company at the time and was also a friend kept urging me to wait a little longer. I said how could I wait? My Junkai contract had all been signed, because as an actor he only signed contracts these days, otherwise He was filming other scenes later, so I was stuck in the middle, and I had to turn on the camera.
couldn't stop as soon as it was turned on, and the most important action scene in the fighting arena was almost filmed at that time. There were thousands of people on the crew there, and you spent millions of dollars a day, so it was a bit nervous at that time.For example, this issue should have received 10 to 20 million, but the actual amount may be several million, but do you know how much the crew spends in a day? It may be one million or hundreds of thousands. Extra performers need cash every day to pay for their car, gas, accommodation, and many other things.
immediately began to cut costs, and Hollywood creators were the first to leave the group because they really couldn't pay them. As long as dramas can be filmed, luxury goods can only be put down first. These are all luxury goods. will then streamline some teams and vehicles, and eventually the number will be reduced to more than 300 people, and the accommodation conditions will also be reduced. In the end, it may only be 100 people with a bed, and it will be impossible to live any further. You can save money everywhere, in all kinds of ways. Even so, the crew's money was already very tight during the mid-stage filming. We once had only 70,000 yuan in our account.
Only if you invest, will everyone believe you.
It felt like a long time on the set at that time, and I was anxious about the money every day.
html We will slow down the front in 2019. Because our film is a sci-fi film, there are a lot of scenes to be set. The process of setting the scenes takes 3 to 5 months. It is usually pre-set and then shot in 20 days. But we donāt have money to preset , so we can only spend time in one scene. We donāt dare to finish shooting this scene completely. We have to wait for money to shoot outdoor scenes, exchanging time for space. waits until a sum of money is set aside for everyone to eat, drink, poop, and sleep, and then quickly give it these two scenes. That would be too painful. The industrialization process ofis to wait for the crew to go to the scene after all the scenes have been built, or I will do three first, and when I shoot these three, I will do two more, and then I will shoot these two. This is a normal logic. But we can't do , because we are always short of money, so we can only eat one meal and look for the next one later, just like the logic of breaking out while fighting a war.
Poster of the movie "749 Bureau"
Later, an old friend of mine went to Chongqing to visit the class. He said, Chuan'er, I really can't vote for 35%, but I can have the final say on 10% within my scope of authority. I will vote directly. you. He saved me. This sum of 35 million is the fund to support my completion.
To be honest, it is not easy for investors like me. It is too difficult in the industry. I have a boss buddy who called me and said, I only have 8 million in my account, I will give you 5 million, and I will live on 3 million. But I canāt invest the money later. I could feel the camaraderie. Five million was received on Monday. A big reason why I work hard today is because I can't live up to their trust. After
was finalized, I began to pay attention to industry reports or read some financial news. I began to care about these shareholders and how their companies were doing, and whether they could still invest funds. This sounds a bit like a thief.
Starting in July 2019, I suddenly discovered that this matter was serious, and I felt a very crisis. For example, the day before, I was asking for money from a certain shareholder and having dinner with him. It was normal. The next day I saw a piece of news about what a certain company was doing. Only then did I realize how much he was carrying. Being an entrepreneur is not easy.
Frankly speaking, I am not the kind of creator who has the strong ability to attract metal in any era or cycle. , as a person floating in a large industry, will inevitably be affected by this wave.
At that time, we had no money in our account, and the capital invested a total of about 200 million. The entire post-production period was completely idle. In addition to supporting the company, we also maintained a post-production team of more than 20 people. I was still a creator at the time. I just put money in little by little and wanted to finish the film. At that time,
successively advanced millions of dollars. Thinking that investorsā money would come in, we withdrew the advance funds. Anyway, Beijing kids will just take advantage of their parents no matter what. Anyway, my dad has a lot of houses and has always been richer than me.
In fact, I went to a business school at that time. There were many young and wealthy classmates in the class who were listed on the stock market. When I asked how much the annual output value would be, I thought to myself, should I let them invest some money in me? But I still had a little face, so I never opened my mouth to them. But luckily he didn't say anything, because the epidemic came right after and knocked everyone down.I saw with my own eyes that my classmates were massacred in various ways. They closed many stores overnight, took on huge debts, and finally sold their assets. I thought to myself that I was lucky that no one was in trouble.
Later one day, Zhong Lei, Mr. Han Sanping, and a few others had dinner together. Then Mr. San said, "Chuan'er, you see everyone is having a hard time. If you take this project on, you may have wealth and freedom." I said, how can I afford so much money? He said that you should learn from (two names of directors). They have already become a production company, and you are still working part-time. You go ahead and see if you can use your methods to secure the funds for this project. Bar? "Pop" slapped my thigh.
749 Han Sanping on the reshoot set
I said that I had advanced the money. The third master said that the advanced money is considered an investment by you. Only if you invest, will everyone believe in you and think that you are a shareholder. At the same time, Wang Zhonglei patted my right thigh to show encouragement.
I was slapped on both thighs by both of them, which put me into this situation.
I felt like I was being fooled for several years. I never thought about voting for any movie. But now if I canāt vote for my own movie, why shouldnāt I vote for it? I believe in myself and I will be more serious and cautious.
In the past, the director was essentially a surrogate role in the entire industry. When the task was completed, the child was picked up. Then whatever the price is, it belongs to others, and you never have the chance to have anything to do with it. When you go to a film festival, you have to ask others if you can borrow a copy.
Now I think that after the epidemic, the industry should have new industrial logic. For example, if you say the IP must be my own, we developed this IP, why should we sell it? Why can't we let it settle in our own company? Since we want to build this company, it should have a longer life. Its value is actually the value of IP. It is not the cycle of my life, it is the cycle of IP. So the movies Iām developing now wonāt work if I donāt vote for them.
If you fight hard, you have to survive on this front.
But at that time, the company had little money, and the project had little money. It was normal for me to take money from home to pay the company.
When I was reducing the crew during filming, I was also reducing the number of people in the company. Our company went from a maximum of more than 70 people to more than 40 people when I came back from the filming. Afterwards, we held a closed-door meeting and 18 more people from the high school and senior management were gone. .
When we said goodbye to the team being iterated, we said, sorry, we canāt take so many people with us; I said that the people who stay will not live a good life, and the people you leave are not necessarily wrong. Because I have to lead a group of people to break out of the siege, and the only task of those of us left behind is to make this movie survive, but look at the gap in the movie now.
I didnāt want to put too much energy into managing the company. I also wanted to make movies. As a founder, I donāt know what things I have to take care of. I think it is the most professional thing to hand over this matter.
went to MBA, and I found that almost all the knowledge about business in my mind was wrong.
At that time, we raised some money and have been investing in entrepreneurial people and young directors. Do you think we made the right investment? Nothing wrong with it either. In fact, the risk is quite high. I donāt understand what people are saying about this. At that time, some of the team members were our shareholders, and they were all financial professionals. People said that the income in the future might be 10 times, 20 times, or 100 times. Why not invest.
really didnāt understand that at that time. He was a business veteran. It turns out that I hired people based on the logic of friends. I would use whomever I liked and had a good relationship with. Later, I heard the words KPI for the first time in business school.
Lu Chuan was filming
but not a penny of the money he invested came back. How could he withdraw from the project?
He has already lost money, so you are too embarrassed to chase him to his home and just make friends.
I just do what I know right now.
At that time, the logic of survival was to do whatever I had to do. If I could get advertising money for back rubbing, I could do it. Unfortunately, I didnāt have the skills, but shooting commercials was my specialty.
Someone was looking for me (to shoot an advertisement). I was really picky. At that time, I was a bit aloof. I didnāt have the time, or I was in a bad mood, or I felt that the brand didnāt match me. I couldnāt shoot, right?
But in 20 years, I sent a team to look for advertisements. After all, we shot well and offered low prices, so the job came immediately. Then take on a reality show.
You found that advertising is the fastest, with a short cycle and can be shot in two or three days, but it takes two months from the meeting to the completion of the film. I always have to sit there and laugh, which is quite painful. As a film director, I was not willing to accept this in the past, but now I am very good at this kind of professional laughter.
is really hard work. I shot more than a dozen advertisements that year, and there will be advertisements in Moments almost every month. People in the industry say that Lao Lu is crazy about grabbing money. We wanted to create a brand and survive on this front. At that time, we didnāt know what else we could do.
's advertising campaign first saved the company's team and the core post-production team. What's important is that the company began to have positive liquidity.
I soon discovered that it (advertising) trains you. Advertising process management is very strict, because all profits are based on the cycle. If you exceed the cycle by a little, it is considered voluntary labor. So after shooting these 20 or 30 commercials, our company's internal cost management process has been consolidated. Whatever we shoot now, first of all, we must not exceed the budget, and secondly, we must not exceed the cycle. Long-term repeated use of commercial projects has greatly helped our team and company management and internal control, including the establishment of the oa system.
However, although advertising is fast, it costs less. Our visual effects team has more than 20 people all year round, and the little money we earn is really not enough. And the more you shoot, the more desperate you become. Your heart is to sell white rice noodles, but in the end, what you make is a cabbage that is not bad in quality. The fast-selling "boom" is pushed to the market, and you feel very sad inside. Painful, especially looking forward to returning to the movies.
And the advertisements are all directed at me. I said it would be impossible for other directors to film them and for me to produce them. This is a problem that prevents me from developing in the advertising industry. This year we will forcefully recommend co-directors. The client must acknowledge this matter. If they donāt acknowledge it, we would rather release it first. Otherwise, we will not be able to move forward with this matter.
Lu Chuanās team during filming
My friends in the industry advised me that if you, a film director, keep shooting commercials, your brand value will be depleted. In fact, I also have some obstacles in my heart, because not being able to finish the movie is an original sin for the film director, and I feel ashamed myself. So at that time I simply had no contact with the outside world.
But then I got over it. One day I was having dinner with a buddy. At that time, I had already shot more than 20 commercials. He said that people in the industry have been saying that you shoot commercials recently. You look crazy. But at that time, it was a thing that you could shoot commercials every day during the epidemic, so everyoneās initial surprise quickly turned to envy. I told him that day, brother, I stopped filming commercials and started filming dramas.
Rush in and become a barbarian in the drama industry
When we were making strategy at the beginning of 2021, I said we must make dramas.
First, the income from the advertising business is not enough to support the expenses of the film business. Second, after attending the MBA, I realized that a single product line is actually very dangerous for the development of the company, and the most competitive aspect of our company is obviously content research and development. , so we have to make a drama. Compared with movies, the market for drama series is more commercial.
This ship is bigger, we must get on that ship.
We quickly built a theater industry team. I proposed that the project should be launched that year, so I put forward the slogan "Open the factory to serve the industry."
htmlBefore 2019, we were based on our own research and development projects, but the cycle was long and the results were slow, and the children were relatively young. It was difficult for you to gather so many experts in a team and you couldnāt afford to hire them.I said we must rush in. We must become barbarians in this industry, just like advertising.
Lu Chuan in the photo
We are not qualified to do copyright and have no money, but content capabilities are our strength, so we will use this to enter the market.I rushed out on my own and found a project from a brother company. They bought "Good Doctor" from South Korea, but they couldn't implement it. I said let's work together. I'll help you develop the platform and I'll help you find the platform, and then we can earn this commitment. Production fee. Then there was "Extraordinary Doctor."
But this process was not smooth sailing, and it was rejected by some platforms because there were many rumors about the problem of "749 Bureau". In the end, the Mango Channel that we collaborated with did not say until before the film was broadcast that the Sichuan director really had too many people. You advise us not to cooperate with you, why? First, you are currently short of money in "749 Bureau" and you said that we want to cooperate with you. Will you transfer the money from drama production to "749 Bureau"? The second thing is that as a film director, you will not shoot it yourself, and you will not pay attention to it, because you have a movie to make.
But in the end, she said that firstly, she did not expect me to write the entire script myself; secondly, the finances were very transparent and we did not misappropriate anything; thirdly, I filmed on location every day from the start of filming to completion.
Immediately afterwards, we collaborated with another brother company on "Born by Life". They also had problems with development. I said to bring it over. It was not just about writing a script, so I helped them find a screenwriter to write the script, and then We looked for a platform together and entered the Mist Theater.
On February 4 this year, "Born by Life" was completed. Neither of these two dramas ran over schedule or over budget. Start on time and finish on time.
Episode After these two battles, we are basically stable. has trained the team, cleared the management process, completed the work, and rebuilt the reputation. More importantly, because of the production of the series, new investors saw the value of our company and attracted new investors for the "749 Bureau" movie.
When I was working on a TV series, many people thought, "If you have a movie, you won't give it your all." That's wrong. When I was working on a series, I gave it 100% to the series. I have to live on the track of the series. Next, I have to use the series to support the movie, so I have to do the best I can in this matter. But in addition to my 100% investment, I also devote 20% to the movie when I should sleep or take a break, because I still have to have a meeting with dneg (a famous British visual effects company called Double Negative).
dneg is a giant British visual effects company. They only go to the UK to produce movies such as "Dune", "Avatar", "Prometheus"... and they only go to the UK to produce nearly 1,000 of our shots. No matter how much we save elsewhere, we cannot save on production. I hope that if we leave this work, some people will see it.
At first they quoted me a very high price. Once I finished watching it, the price they quoted was higher than the cost of my entire movie. But Iām itching. If you donāt cooperate with such a top visual effects company, how can you get the truth? After
was completed, we caught up with the epidemic. I guess they were also idle, so we started chatting. We would meet once a week, such as cutting scenes and how to design this? I think the whole industry thinks this movie is dead. Only my visual effects companies never think so because I always have meetings with them. After talking about
for a year, the production cost was reduced by about half, but I still can't reach it. Finally, I boldly and shamelessly mentioned it and asked if you could support me a little bit. Now I feel so shameless that they actually said they would consider it. They also liked the movie, so they said they would spend half of the production fee as an investment, and they would not use it domestically, but overseas. This saved me again.
Lu Chuan and Wang Junkai told me on the day of signing the contract on the set
dneg that this was the only movie they had invested in in Asia in history. Why invest in a company that earns production fees? The visual effects company that had to pay countless wages every day when I opened my eyes voted for my "749 Games". I think it's something to be proud of.
The most important thing about dneg is that we only signed the big contract in two days. They have already made many shots for us in the past six months without signing the contract. It is very humane.
After the epidemic, we did an equity financing in June last year, and we successively raised 21 million. At that time, we told people that if the money came in, we would make "749 Bureau". I immediately opened all the production gates. Now there are 16 companies around the world. Supplier teams from several countries are doing post-production special effects for our movie.
I donāt have any particular fears.
I didnāt know until this year that the movie would be completed.
html On February 4th, the series of "Born by Life" was finished. I was there to collect the money in my hand. I reviewed the budget and found that after the director's fee and production fee for this drama arrived, the money would go to our small As soon as I put it into a small pool of funds, my final film budget was even. I felt so awesome that I started walking sideways and fell in love with whoever I wanted. I knew the movie could be finished.In the past two years, especially starting from this year, the rumors about "749 Bureau" have significantly decreased. In the past, when it was not clear that I could save the film, I didn't want to say, "Who made your movie not come out? This is the original sin."
In addition, life has been difficult for everyone in the past few years. I always say that the funds are not available. Will it make others worse? So I kept my mouth shut.
I have become very brave in the past two years. Who can tell me that it is not good? I called and I said that I heard you said that my movie was not good at a wine shop. I asked why did you say that? I made three similar calls. You can feel the other person panic immediately. He said I didnāt say it. I said someone heard it and told me. I think it was you who said it because you would say this. You actually know the truth. Why did you say that? I would confront him face to face.
At this time, you will find that the world is afraid of sunlight. When you face him directly and say these things, you will never hear these words again.
spent a long time before making the first call. As a scholar, how could I quarrel with him? But after the first phone call, I felt free immediately.
When you are responsible for the life and death of an organization, these things are trivial, and your face is not important. , We are a business. You cannot smear people behind your back, because we do not owe anyone any money. Others owe us, do we have any responsibility? If any director canāt invest 1/3 of a project, can he complete it? And we are doing this with advance funds, not investment. No one can say these things, this is my bottom line.
In the past two or three years, I have dealt with all the messy and unfinished things in the company. In 2022, when the last lawsuit was settled, I felt that the sky was clearing up. We did a round of equity (financing) last year. When they came in, they asked if you had any debts. I said firstly, there were no debts, and secondly, there were no lawsuits. I was very proud of it.
I enjoy everything now. From the Spring Festival to now, I sleep three or four hours a day. The driver couldn't bear it anymore, so I changed three drivers - but I enjoy it very much, and I am finally with the movie.
This is what I am most eager to express at this time. Rough and refined are the Lu Chuan of me at this stage. I think it is good, and it is done. These brothers threw money at me, and I have to give them an explanation. I ran the last one for five years. Although it was a little longer, I had an obligation to myself, my employer, and all my friends. I towed the ship to the port.
I feel like I have let go of a lot of things. For me, this is growth. I am not as anxious as when other films were released. It doesnāt matter to me now. I have nothing to be particularly afraid of. Both criticism and praise for this film are normal. It has been 5 years since it was finalized. During these 5 years, I have reviewed it countless times. If it is not reliable, if it is not strong enough, if it is not a viable child, I will definitely turn around and leave.
Now for me, "749 Bureau" is just like Chen Guilin's (character in the movie "Zhou Chu Abates Three Evils") words "I want the world to see me." There is no sense of gain or loss in , as long as the movie comes out, I will win even if it costs one dollar, because it is really difficult, but we will not sell it for one dollar. Anyway, I lost money and I am the largest investor. I stand with all you shareholders.
(The picture of the article is provided by the interviewee)
This article comes from the WeChat public account "Houlang Research Institute" (id: youth36kr) , author: Barry, Weiweizi, 36 Krypton is published with authorization.
