1990: Starting from Baojia Street

The men in the conference room were originally talking about other things, but after the movie started, they all focused on the TV.

This is a 34-inch Sony color TV with a price of over 10,000 yuan.

A 34-inch screen is already very large in this era. Not to mention the size, many people don’t even have a black and white TV at home.

Not to mention the video recorder, which costs at least several thousand yuan. This set of equipment is equivalent to a house in most places across the country, and is simply not something ordinary families can afford.

A dozen or so people are watching a TV, and everyone is very serious. Such scenes are very common now, but it may be difficult to see them in thirty years. At that time, everyone should be holding a mobile phone and TV most of the time. Acts as an ambient sound presence.

Zhou Yan actually likes this kind of atmosphere. Everyone is watching TV and not talking, so you can only focus on the movie. In this case, watching TV is a kind of enjoyment.

Thirty years later, it is very easy for a person to fall into a boring situation when watching TV alone, especially when you have a remote control in your hand and you will always change channels or fast forward.

People who watch TV always want to see the subsequent plot as quickly as possible. When they have the option of fast forwarding, they will take advantage of it and find it difficult to calm down.

The hostesses who were busy in the kitchen also stretched their heads to take a look outside from time to time.

Especially when Zhou Yan comes on stage, there will be no one in the kitchen, and they will all come out to enjoy Zhou Yan's performance with everyone.

Although they don't think much of movie stars, it is very interesting to see their relatives appear in movies.

When the movie was over and the food was on the table, grandma invited everyone to eat.

When pouring wine, the eldest brother Zhou Yu also poured a glass for Zhou Yan, The third child also has a drink today.

Zhou Yan did not refuse and took the wine glass with a smile.

Seeing Zhou Yan holding the wine glass, the old man Zhou Minnong was also very happy and said with a smile, The younger generation are gradually growing up. From now on, your world will be at the wine table.

Zhou Yaohua asked, Xiaoyan, are you drinking at school?

Rarely drink.

That means it's better to drink. Zhou Yaozu smiled, You will graduate in one semester, so you can start drinking.

Isn't it more than one semester? Their major is a five-year program. They have taken another year off, so there should be another year and a half left. Zhou Yaohua said.

Zhou Yan said with a smile, Uncle San is right. I will graduate in one semester. The school has approved my application for early graduation. Next year I will graduate with my classmates from grade 1987.

Hearing that Zhou Yan graduated early, his family was very happy, but Zhou Yaohua was also concerned about his allocation, What about the unit allocation? Is there a suitable unit to accept him?

The distribution of Yangyin's composition department is not a big problem. The key lies in Xiaoyan's own consideration, whether to stay in Yanjing or return to Jinling. Yanjing is too far away, and our family is not close to it. If you If we go back to Jinling, it will be easier to arrange. Zhou Yaozu said.

The Zhou family has taken root in Jinling over the years, and is still able to speak locally. In ordinary units, it can only be said in one sentence.

You can also continue your studies, study as a graduate student at our school, or go abroad. Zhou Minnong said.

The old man has a relatively open mind and thinks it is a good thing for young people to go abroad to see the world, as long as they know where they are.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, Grandpa, I have decided to stay in school and teach. The process is going on and should be completed after the new year.

When they heard that Zhou Yan decided to stay in school, they all nodded.

In fact, from the perspective of the Zhou family, staying in school to teach was not a particularly good choice. Zhou Yan had other better options.

If Zhou Yan is willing, the Zhou family can arrange for him to join some orchestras or theater troupes in Jinling, stay there for a few years, and then transfer to a management position and pursue an official career.

This is their training path for Zhou Yu. Although Zhou Yu is currently working at Yangtze Evening News, he should be transferred to Jinling Daily in a few years.

You don’t have to be at the top of the Jinling Daily. You can become a deputy editor. You can be transferred to a county or district and join the leadership team within a few years.

If everything goes well, Zhou Yu will be able to join the leadership team of a prefecture-level city before he is forty years old.

With the ability of the Zhou family, this is completely possible, but further down the line, it mainly depends on Zhou Yu's own ability.

Zhou Yan has lived relatively little time in the Zhou family since he was a child, and he is not the eldest grandson, so the elders have no special requirements for him. They all support his choice.

Everyone else was concerned about Zhou Yan's work assignment, but Zhou Yu was more concerned about Zhou Yan's acting career.

Lao San, when will the movie you shot in the summer be released?

Zhou Yan smiled and shook his head, The release date has not been determined yet, it will be at least half a year.

So slow. Zhou Yu pouted, and then smiled, You have to film more, and even if you don't come back often, our whole family can go to the cinema to see you.

Zhao Lan rolled her eyes at her son, What are you talking about? Can't you hope that your third brother will come back more often? Besides, Xiaoyan is about to graduate now and has to start thinking about personal issues. Xiaoyan, are you there? Are there any girls at school that I get along with?

It would be best if there are classmates you like. They have common topics and have a good relationship foundation. Third Aunt Li Guangqin said with a smile.

Zhou Yan shook his head, I don't have any ideas in this area yet. I'll consider it when my job is stable.

As a man, it's good to put your career first, Zhou Yaozu said.

Zhou Qian, who was sitting opposite, saw that her third brother was being urged to get married, and quickly brought the topic back to the movie, The third brother was the director of the movie that was filmed in the summer. He didn't appear in the movie. We can't see him in the cinema.

That's so boring. Zhou Yu curled his lips, It's better to show your face more, otherwise how can you become a big star?

Zhou Yan smiled and said, I am mainly doing behind-the-scenes work now. As for acting, it depends on the opportunity. I will accept good roles when I encounter them.

I don't think there's anything wrong with working behind the scenes. Another movie scored by my third brother will be released soon. I even made an appointment with my classmates to watch it. Zhou Qian added.

The old man Zhou Minnong smiled and said, Yeah, what movie?

It's called Heaven Replies and it will be released on the 28th of the twelfth lunar month.

Zhou Minnong nodded, The 28th of the twelfth lunar month is good. My second brother and the others should be home by then. Let's go to the cinema to watch it as a family.

Zhou Yu immediately said, Okay, I'll get the movie tickets.

…

In the next few days, Zhou Yan went to his grandparents' house in the morning and returned to his own home in the afternoon.

On the morning of the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, not long after Zhou Yan got up, he was sitting on the sofa reading a book when someone knocked on the door outside.

Zhou Yan went over to open the door, and his brother Zhou Hong was standing outside.

Seeing Zhou Hong, Zhou Yan smiled and said, He's back.

Well, I arrived last night.

Zhou Hong nodded. After entering the door, he first offered incense to his mother. Then he sat on the sofa and said, A factory opened at home some time ago, so it has been quite busy recently. I heard from my eldest brother that you will go there every day after you come back. Where is Yuhua?

Well, if you don't come, I'll be there soon.

Zhou Hong looked at the altar table again. He knew that Zhou Yan would also go there this year, but he wanted to come to see his mother and chat with his brother alone.

They haven't seen each other for a few days, and although they talked on the phone once, they didn't talk much.

Is the movie we went to see in the afternoon the one you shot in the summer?

Zhou Yan laughed and said, How can it be so fast? The movie I shot has not yet been released. The movie I went to watch in the afternoon was made by Yanjing Studio itself, and I served as the soundtrack director.

Zhou Hong nodded. He had never talked about movies with Zhou Yan before, so he didn't know these situations.

After thinking about it, Zhou Hong asked again, How much can you get for scoring movies?

Zhou Yan didn't know why Zhou Hong asked this, but he answered truthfully, A thousand or so yuan.

Zhou Hong frowned when he heard that it was only about a thousand yuan. He didn't expect it to be so little.

Zhou Hong didn't know the market situation, but he just saw in the news that some movies could earn tens of millions at the box office, so he thought that the job of directing soundtracks was also very important, and he should be able to earn a lot of money.

Then how much money can you get for the movie you direct? Zhou Hong asked again.

Fifty thousand dollars.

In fact, it's more than 50,000. This 50,000 is the basic salary. If the movie wins awards later, Zhou Yan can get a reward for different levels of awards.

Of course, he will definitely not have a share in the box office share. And there shouldn’t be many rewards. The awards a movie can win are very limited, and the rewards for low-level awards are not many.

The money is definitely not that much, but for a new director, it is actually not that little.

However, in Zhou Hong's view, the money was pitiful and the soundtrack could not be paid much. He did not expect that even the director could only get this little.

How much does it cost to make a movie?

Zhou Yan smiled and said, It depends on what kind of movie you are making. It can be done with as little as tens of thousands, and it is normal to make more than tens of millions.

“How about something like Raise the Red Lantern?”

A few million.

Zhou Yan only knew a rough idea, but he didn't know the exact number of millions.

That's not much.

Zhou Yan looked at Zhou Hong with interest, Brother, why do you ask this? Do you want to invest in a movie?

I'm just curious and asked...where is the profit in this industry? Is it just based on box office?

That's not entirely true. You can also sell copyrights and video tapes. Europe and the United States have a more mature industry in this area, and there are more ways to make money. It's a little worse in China, and there are quotas for making movies in China, right? You can make whatever you want, like the one I made, which was co-produced with Yanjing Film Studio.

It seems there are more roads. Zhou Hong nodded, then stood up, Let's go, don't ride the bike, take my car.

Of course Zhou Yan didn't want to ride a bike in the middle of winter, so he smiled and nodded, Okay.