Now, Xu zhēng is going to pursue her victory and shoot "Lost Harbor", which has really attracted a lot of people's attention. Along the way from an actor, what makes Xu zhēng a director who can make money?
1. The content is king, but also grounded.
In an interview, Xu zhēng once talked about a main feature of his films-grounding gas. Being good at comedy, he thinks that mainstream comedy must be secular in order to be accepted by China audience. "I just want to be a mainstream comedy, and its theme must be vulgar enough, because only the secular can cover a wide range of people and be accepted by most China audiences. This is the theme of the movie. "
Take Embarrassment in Thailand as an example. In order to get the impression of China people, Xu zhēng chose Thailand, which many people have been to, as the background. He also "hopes that there is a connection between the characters in the film and the audience, and the audience can experience his world through the protagonist of the film, which is familiar to us."
Xu Zhimo's comedies often show a kind of intelligence, cunning and gentleness. For humor, he has his own understanding: "When you need humor, you must have higher wisdom than others before you can be humorous. Why are you smiling knowingly? Because you think he is higher than your normal knowledge, you feel very humorous and you want to laugh. " It is not easy to act with wisdom, which is also the special feature of Xu zhēng's films.
Therefore, apart from being "funny", such a "wise" Xu Dao is definitely not satisfied. "To some extent," Sorry for Thailand "is a relatively unsuccessful film, because what I originally wanted to show the protagonist's midlife crisis was ignored by its entertaining appearance."
Xu zhēng's obsession with the quality of film content is not only revealed in the film "Sorry" written, directed and performed by himself, but also in the film "Hypnosis Master". Although he did not participate in the investment, Xu zhēng was involved in the project operation from the perspective of creation and operation. According to Xu zhēng, he hopes to make the film better with his passion.
2. To be a director, you have to be a producer and an investor.
Starting from an actor, Pig with Bright Spring can be said to be the first TV series to promote Xu zhēng to success. But in fact, in addition to participating in the performance, Xú Zhēng has another identity-film and television investor.
When the play was filmed, the promised investment was delayed because the early investors were not optimistic about this nonsense work. Without money, the drama could not be filmed, and the crew once faced the situation of "running out of ammunition and food". The director also shouted to the outside world that whoever invests will play the leading role. So, Xu zhēng found the director with the savings from his previous drama. "I want to play with pigs. This is all my savings. Is it enough?"
Before making this decision, Xu zhēng read the script carefully. "Although the plot is mentally retarded, Pig Bajie is really suitable for me, and there is not much investment in this drama. Even if the ratings are bleak, the pressure to recover costs is not great. " People around him thought he was crazy, but after the TV series was broadcast, the ratings exceeded everyone's expectations, and Xu zhēng's bonus was twice his salary. At the same time, he also ranks among the top comedians in China.
In 2006, Xu zhēng took a fancy to the script of Ning Hao's Crazy Stone, so he played a supporting role in the film for nothing. At that time, the crew was very poor in filming, and Xu zhēng also got the investment from Sifang Group, the head of a listed company in Hong Kong, through the relationship with Liu Yiwei. Subsequently, the film was released with great success, and Xu zhēng appeared successfully. His greater achievement was to meet the talented director Ning Hao.
In 2009, Xu zhēng hooked up with Liu Guangwei, the boss of Wuhan Huaqi Film and Television Company, who was running a low-budget film, which was later called "A Man on the Road". The film invested less than 8 million yuan, and finally gained 37 million box office. People on the Road made money, so Wuhan Huaqi Film and Television wanted to make a sequel. When Xu zhēng proposed to direct People on Embarrassed Road 2, he was kicked out for "deviating from the idea of Chinese flag".
Xu zhēng didn't want to compromise with Huaqi and left with this story. Later, he scattered and crushed the story, combined with Thai elements, and created "Thailand's embarrassment when people leave again." Next, the box office of Sorry Thailand blew out, and Xu zhēng's directing ability was also affirmed by the industry.
Although he finally got the position of "director", Xu zhēng said that he would not solidify his role. Besides being an actor and director, he can also be a producer. He thinks that what China needs most now is a professional producer and a more professional screenwriter. A producer doesn't necessarily make movies like a director, but he also knows how to make movies. At the same time, he should make clear the content, theme and type of the film, and choose who will act and who will direct it. This is the producer's job. "When I made my own film, I was a producer."
3. Long-term vision and quick action.
It's not the first time that Xu zhēng touched the net with a movie. It is precisely because of the positive influence of the internet on the film industry and the limitations of the traditional internet communication mode of film works that Xu Jin has made many attempts and innovations. For the film industry, the release of "Heart Flower Road" in cooperation with Meituan on October 4th and "Hong" in cooperation with 360 network cinema today are both practical cases of "internet plus".
In this era when movies are gradually moving towards full-process Internet marketing, Internet giants such as BAT are scrambling in the field of film and television, such as entertainment treasures, crowdfunding and video websites. There have been new ways of playing from film financing to online. As a trendsetter among filmmakers, Xu zhēng, not to be outdone, quickly got on the express train of "Internet plus movies".
No matter whether this film conference suspected of imitating Apple can eventually become Hong's high box office, Xu zhēng has indeed taken a "commendable" step on the road of further internetization of the film industry.