Chapter 9: Rejected
Seeing Zhang Chen nod, Director Zhang continued, "I've read the script. It's very creative, and I can see it draws elements from some Hollywood movies. It's very novel, but I'm afraid we can't invest in it."
Seeing that Zhang Chen seemed to have no reaction, Director Zhang continued, "To be frank, we don't think the horror movie genre has a high probability of success, and you're also directing for the first time..."
Director Zhang's meaning was clear: he thought Zhang Chen was too young.
A rookie director's debut, and it's a niche horror movie, so they believed the chances of it failing were very high.
The funding for support was limited, and they felt it wasn't worth wasting on Zhang Chen.
Zhang Chen wasn't surprised by this outcome at all.
In fact, yesterday he had a vague premonition that this would be the result.
In his previous life, Ning Hao's first movie, 'crazy stone,' initially approached China Film Group, but after being rejected, he then turned to Shanghai Film Group. Shanghai Film Group didn't directly invest either, but introduced him to Andy Lau's Focus Films.
Focus Films had the 'Asia New Talent Director' program, aimed at cultivating new directors, which gave Ning Hao his chance to shine.
Even then, there was a reduction; the initially promised 5 million became 3 million later, and when it wasn't enough, Ning Hao even contributed hundreds of thousands himself.
See, in reality, it's just this difficult for an inexperienced rookie to raise investment.
Speaking of experience, before 'crazy stone,' Ning Hao already had 'Green Grass' and 'incense,' so he had some experience. Yet, he was still rejected. Zhang Chen's current situation is even worse than Ning Hao's back then, so it would be a miracle if he succeeded.
Did he really think being reborn made him invincible?
So Zhang Chen was mentally prepared for this outcome. The opportunity for this meeting was likely because they wanted to give Beijing Film Academy face, and his own attitude was to try his luck regardless.
"Okay, I understand. Thank you again for giving me this meeting opportunity."
Although rejected, he had to maintain appearances. Zhang Chen prepared to leave, and Director Zhang stood up to see him off.
"Young man, a few setbacks won't hurt you. Once you gain some experience, I believe we'll still have opportunities to collaborate."
Director Zhang probably wanted to say something to comfort Zhang Chen, but this particular sentence made Zhang Chen very uncomfortable.
In his previous life, after failing, he had also encountered many rejections, and he had heard such words countless times.
It's fine if you don't think highly of him and don't invest. No one's money comes easily. It's a business, not charity.
But you talk about supporting new talent while not giving them opportunities. If you don't give new talent opportunities, where will they get experience?
Zhang Chen walked out of the China Film Group building with negative emotions. He really wanted to say, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, don't bully a young man for being poor!"
Unfortunately, this book is Chinese Entertainment, not Xuanhuan, nor cultivation~~
He also wanted to emulate Lin Nan and turn to Shanghai Film Group, snubbing China Film Group, but he didn't know anyone at Shanghai Film Group, nor did he have a good big brother named Li Yang.
But he had a good brother.
As soon as Zhang Chen walked out of the building, Cao Bingkun came up to him: "How was it? Is China Film Group willing to invest?"
Seeing Zhang Chen's bad expression, he immediately changed his tone: "Forget it, it seems China Film Group is blind. We don't even care if they invest. We'll find other avenues. Can a living person be stifled by urine?"
Before Zhang Chen could speak, Cao Bingkun put an arm around his shoulder: "Alright, don't be sad. Your brother will treat you to a meal. Didn't you want to eat at Quanjude? Your buddy is splurging today to comfort your wounded soul."
Zhang Chen really wanted to say, "Which eye of yours saw that I was sad?" But Cao Bingkun started talking like a machine gun, giving him no chance to speak.
However, his good intentions amused Zhang Chen directly: "You rascal, normally when I ask you to treat me to something good, you always make excuses like it's killing you, and now you're so generous."
"Haha, are you touched and want to offer yourself to me?"
"Get lost! I knew you coveted my perfect body, Zhang-ye. Let me tell you, give up that thought early. Zhang-ye will never be someone you can lay your hands on..."
"You little rascal, you're getting cocky. Take this kick from your Cao-ye~~"
...
They didn't eat at Quanjude for lunch. Zhang Chen didn't have the heart to kick his friend to death. They were all poor students, and his own monthly living expenses were only 600 yuan, so Cao Bingkun probably wasn't much richer.
Following the idea of sustainable development, they switched to an affordable small restaurant—Huguo Temple Snacks.
They ordered three dishes: stir-fried pork with wood ear mushrooms, stir-fried pork with green onions, and mapo tofu, and shared a bottle of Erguotou.
As students, they didn't have much money and couldn't afford good wine; it was just the most common Bai Niu Er.
Cheers~
The first sip of wine went down, and Zhang Chen felt a line of fire extending from his throat all the way down, followed by a surge of spicy air, making him cough twice.
No wonder there's a saying among university students in the capital: there are three types of wine in the world: baijiu, beer, and Erguotou.
Especially the very cheap Bai Niu Er or green flat bottles, which are too spicy and hard to drink. The key is that if you drink too much, you'll have a headache the next day.
This isn't Zhang Chen badmouthing Erguotou; in fact, Zhang Chen and Zhang's Father both liked Erguotou, but the kind that cost around a hundred yuan.
Similarly, with Xifeng and Fenjiu, they couldn't stand the 'ration wines' like the green stick and yellow cap Fen, finding them completely undrinkable. But the ones priced around a hundred yuan were all very good, not only easy to drink but also allowing them to taste the unique aromas of phoenix and clear fragrance.
However, since Cao Bingkun was treating, Zhang Chen didn't act coy and decided to accompany his friend to the bitter end.
He took a bite of the stir-fried pork with wood ear mushrooms, and the spicy feeling was relieved.
"What are you going to do next? Continue to look for Shanghai Film Group?" Cao Bingkun took a bite of a dish.
Zhang Chen shook his head: "No, I won't. It's highly likely to be the same result. These institutions definitely won't easily invest money in new directors. I'll have to think of other ways."
"If worst comes to worst, we'll put it aside and film it in our third or fourth year..."
Cao Bingkun really couldn't help with raising investment, so he could only offer such comfort.
Zhang Chen didn't think that way. He originally had an idea for raising investment, but it wasn't very foolproof.
Since the China Film Group route was a dead end, it was a good time to try it out.
They clinked glasses again, and as the liquor went down, after a few more sips, his body had adapted to the characteristics of Erguotou, and it no longer felt so spicy.
Zhang Chen picked up a piece of food: "In a couple of days, I'll have to go back to my hometown again."
"What for?"
"To find money."
"Coal boss?"
"Something like that, but before I go, I need to cast the female lead."
"Ah, are you sick?"
Cao Bingkun feigned touching Zhang Chen's forehead, which the latter slapped away.
"You haven't even secured investment yet, and you're already arranging the lead actors? What are you thinking?"
Zhang Chen chuckled, not revealing his plan: "You don't understand, the hermit has his own brilliant plan."
"Hey, still trying to fool me? Come on, hermit, fill it up and let's drink it all~"
"No, Brother Cao, this is Erguotou, have mercy~"
"I've drunk it, you decide what to do~"
"Damn, you traitor, next time I'll bring a bottle of Zhuyeqing and drink you under the table."