China Entertainment 1997

Dashizuo Hutong

Seeing Wangcai Laifu flying towards him, Cao Xuan took a rare opportunity to stroke the dog's head and decided to add a piece of ham to them in the evening.

"Happy New Year, Sister Jiang."

"happy New Year."

Jiang Yue handed the key to the courtyard in her hand to Cao Xuan: "After you called me the day before yesterday, I asked someone to clean up the house and just move in. By the way, when will Zhang Chong come back."

"Let's take the train today and tomorrow. He should go slower."

Cao Xuan responded casually and took out two packages of specialties from his luggage: "Take them back to Mr. Han to try, so that he won't suspect me every day of abducting his wife."

"Who asked you to play Ximen Qing, let your wife be with you, the gentlemen in the family can rest assured."

Jiang Yue rolled her eyes at him, opened the package and looked at it: "What is it and how do you eat it?"

"The big ones are red dates, which you can eat to nourish your blood and nourish your skin. The smaller ones are dog meat, which will nourish Mr. Han's kidneys and strengthen your yang. Look, I'm thinking more about you two. You two are so picky about me behind my back, how can you rest on your conscience?"

"screw you."

Jiang Yue spat, but her hands quickly stuffed the package into her bag. It was obvious that Cao Xuan was particularly happy with this gift.

After chatting for a while, Jiang Yue got to the point.

"Not long after you left during the Chinese New Year, two script offers came from the studio."

"What book?"

"The first one is the crew from Xiangjiang, called "Feng Yue Shui Margin"."

"Why does this name sound a bit like a serious movie?"

Cao Xuan was a little confused, and Jiang Yue couldn't help but smile: "Because the other party is an unorthodox crew. The director is called Zuo Le, who specializes in making restricted films. His nickname is Xianshi Le."

After Jiang Yue's narration, Cao Xuan learned the inside story behind the matter.

In the 1980s and 1990s, compared with Hong Kong and Taiwan, the development of film and television in the mainland was slower. Basically, the mainland introduced Hong Kong and Taiwan films, and few mainland films counterattacked Hong Kong and Taiwan.

However, the CCTV version of the Four Great Classics is an exception.

From the 1986 version of "Journey to the West" to the 1987 version of "A Dream of Red Mansions" to the 1994 version of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", each TV series has been welcomed by a large number of audiences in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Now that "Water Margin" is popular in mainland China, Xiangjiang is also preparing to introduce it.

Considering the popularity of the first three famous TV series in Hong Kong and Taiwan, some people have focused on Cao Xuan, a high-ranking official.

The other party offered a sky-high price of 1.5 million, intending to use the money to get Cao Xuan to star in a restricted movie.

Cao Xuan was extremely speechless at the news. In a restricted movie, clothes are easy to take off but not easy to put on.

There is still a chance for Xiangjiang actors to make a comeback in R-rated movies, but mainland actors will just wait to be hidden away after they film this stuff.

I have a bright future, not to mention a mere 1.5 million, but 15 million, 150 million, 1.5 billion...

Uh, the other party really wants to spend 1.5 billion.

Cao Xuan felt that he couldn't sacrifice himself for art. At worst, he would change his career, but the heroine must be Li Lizhen, and Weng Hong would be fine too.

………

There is no way that Cao Xuan will play a restricted-rated role, and Jiang Yue is not a short-sighted person. She just wanted to tease him.

However, leaving this crew aside, the second crew is more formal.

"Yongzheng Dynasty" the fourteenth elder brother Yinzhen.

Cao Xuan came to the spirit, and many people simply classified "Yongzheng Dynasty" into the scope of Qing palace drama, which is actually not completely correct.

This drama is actually a political drama. It tells the story of a prince's seizure of heirs and the implementation of reforms. It depicts the various abbreviations of ancient Chinese officialdom. Its depth and level are among the best among domestic dramas.

Cao Xuan personally believes that "Yongzheng Dynasty" can be ranked among the top five domestic dramas in terms of the level of plotting alone, and even the top three if it is radical.

Unfortunately, the filming schedule of "Yongzheng Dynasty" coincided with Cao Xuan's preparation for a new album.

If it were the role of Thirteenth Brother, Cao Xuan might even consider postponing the album work.

But for the supporting role of Fourteen, who is not even ranked among the top five male actors, shelving the long-prepared new album is not worth the gain, and Cao Xuan can only regret missing it.

"Sister Jiang, we will focus on releasing the album in the first half of the year. If there is a script, we will push it forward. If there is a script for the second half of the year, let me see it."

"Understood."

Jiang Yue wrote down Cao Xuan's words in her notepad: "If I don't accept the role, then according to the original plan, I will contact the director and prepare to shoot the MV."

Cao Xuan thought about the two calls he made yesterday and nodded: "You can prepare. The heroine will arrive in a day or two."

The two chatted about the relevant details again. Jiang Yue left and Cao Xuan got some sleep at home. When Zhang Chong came back in the evening, Cao Xuan began to take him around to pay New Year greetings.

First, it was at the house of old lady Li Mingqi. Cao Xuan gave some of the specialties he brought from home to Jiang Yue, kept some for himself, and gave the rest to the old lady.

It's not easy for the old lady these days.

Ximen Qing was hated, but Wang Po was even more hated than him. According to the old lady, sometimes when she went out to buy groceries, people would point her nose in and scold her to death.

But for now, this is considered minor. When "Huan Zhu Ge Ge" becomes popular in the second half of the year, Grandma Rong will be truly "reviled by the whole people."

Speaking of which, the old lady didn't know whether it was good luck or bad luck. She got caught up in the two most popular dramas in 1998, but the roles she played were not likable, and could even be said to be annoying.

Cao Xuan didn't know how to avoid it, so he could only keep it in mind and make time to come home to see the old lady a few more times.

After leaving the old lady's house, Cao Xuan went to the homes of Er Zhang, Kang Honglei, Liu Huan, Zang Jinsheng, Zhang Yibai, and Ding Haifeng.

After thinking about it, I went to Li Xuejian's house again.

During the filming of "Water Margin", Cao Xuan and Li Xuejian hardly met each other, and they were not familiar with him.

Later, the crew of "Water Margin" got together twice before the premiere of "Water Margin" in Beijing. Coupled with the fact that they are fellow villagers and had a "trench relationship" that was reviled by the audience, the two became much closer.

Cao Xuan admired Li Xuejian very much.

Not only has outstanding professional ability, but also has almost no dirty information, and his character is generally recognized as good. He is one of the few clean ones who can remain uncontaminated in the entertainment industry.

Cao Xuan is willing to get along with such people. He doesn't have to worry about whether they are plotting against you. He is relaxed and comfortable.

………

After going around in a circle and consolidating the connections, Cao Xuan officially devoted himself to the production of the new album.

Carrying a mortgage of more than 1 million yuan, Cao Xuan has not yet been able to live freely.

Before the Spring Festival, after Cao Xuan's continuous rush to produce, the 10 accompaniment arrangements for the new album have been basically completed. During the MV shooting, he will start recording songs one after another.

If everything goes well, the finished product should be almost ready in April, and then the promotion can begin.

Previously, Cao Xuan planned to cooperate with Sony, but was later interfered by [Warner UFO].

The predecessor of Warner UFO was the Taiwanese record company [UFO Records], which was later acquired by [Warner Records] in 1996. The group became Warner UFO, specializing in the Chinese music market.

However, due to personnel changes and poor management, a large number of former UFO Records contracted singers left.

So much so that in mid-to-late 1997, Warner UFO once had only two big-name singers, Sammi Cheng and King Guo.

On New Year's Day of 1998, Warner UFO took over as a new head. While reorganizing its business in Hong Kong and Taiwan, it also turned its attention to the mainland.

However, Warner still cannot spare too many resources to invest in the mainland, and it is difficult to attract top mainland brands, so it turned to Cao Xuan, a newcomer who rose to fame last year.

As mentioned before, when an independent singer cooperates with a record company, the sales profit share is usually 30-70, and the copyright is separately discussed.

In order to win Cao Xuan's new album, Warner adopted a 40-60 split model, giving up 10% of the profits, and proactively stated that it did not want the copyright for the new album, but hoped that the copyright management could be handed over to them.

This superior contract terms finally impressed Cao Xuan.

It is true that Warner's resources in the mainland are not particularly good, but Sony, which has just entered the mainland market, is not much better.

What's more, Sony has already recruited a number of mainland singers, while Warner currently only promotes Cao Xuan in the mainland.

As the saying goes, it is better to have a chicken head than an ox tail.

Therefore, Cao Xuan did not hesitate to choose the one with more money...