Chapter 32

The producer of "The Sixth Sense" is personally served by Jeffrey Katzenberg, which also shows DreamWorks' concern for him.

"I need a skilled makeup artist. Do you know someone named Greg Cannom? I also need a cinematographer who is good at shooting story films; he needs to have a keen sense of capturing scenes. I also need an assistant, who is still in China. Besides, I need to go to Philadelphia to check things out. Mr. Katzenberg, can I find a production assistant for you?"

Katzenberg tilted his head, "Who do you have in mind?"

"Someone you know, Vin Diesel. He has acted in 'Saving Private Ryan' and directed a film called 'Strays.'"

Katzenberg thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, "Alright."

The rest of the editing, music, art direction, set design, costume design, and set decoration were all handed over to Katzenberg. Chen Tian should be grateful that he chose DreamWorks; most of the pre-production matters were taken care of by Katzenberg.

As one of the three major figures at DreamWorks, his connections were evident. A few days later, Greg Cannom appeared before him. He was still unknown at the time, working as a makeup artist on various sets. It was a mystery how Chen Tian knew about him. Katzenberg reviewed his previous works and found his skills to be quite good, at least Chen Tian wasn't just randomly suggesting people.

Concerning his first work, Chen Tian acted decisively.

He made a call, "Old Kong, come to America quickly, I need your help."

"What for? I just found a director and am about to start a new project," Kong Yiji shouted loudly.

"Don't mess around. This is a $30 million deal. If you're late by a day, I'll cut you off."

Kong Yiji was startled and quickly asked what was going on. Upon learning that Chen Tian had secured a $30 million investment from DreamWorks, he was almost scared to death, even stuttering, "What... what about my Wu Shuang Film Company?"

"Your shell company, let your neck manage it for now. I'll help you out when I make it big."

Huang Bo's voice suddenly appeared on the phone, "Bro, dear bro, take me to America too. I won't apply to film school anymore."

Chen Tian was silent for a moment, "Focus on your studies for now. The most important thing is to learn English. Otherwise, with your Beijing accent, what can you do here? That's it." He hung up the phone and met Vin Diesel at the airport.

The two high-fived and went straight to the plane without saying much more. If not for Chen Tian's invitation, Vin Diesel might still be auditioning for roles. Chen Tian was so confident because Vin had said before they parted, "I'll help you find him."

The two drove around Philadelphia every day, looking for suitable churches to shoot and taking many photos. In the middle of this, a small incident occurred. Chen Tian had been in America for less than half a year, and he had jumped from being an assistant director on "Saving Private Ryan" to directing a $30 million horror film. Somehow, the media found out.

Naturally, there was no shortage of criticism and denigration, and even DreamWorks was attacked by public opinion.

This investment was called the worst investment in Hollywood this year. "The Sixth Sense" was rated as DreamWorks' first big flop even before it was shot and was included in the list of the least anticipated films of 1998.

Chen Tian only found out from Kate, breaking out in a cold sweat. "Who did I offend? I haven't even done anything yet."

He was somewhat frightened, fearing that his film would be ruined.

He thought it would just be a simple report, but then a series of news stories about "The Sixth Sense" were released, such as "DreamWorks' Three Giants Split: Spielberg Strongly Supports Filming, Katzenberg Strongly Opposes," "Philosophical Differences, DreamWorks on the Brink of Split," "The Source of DreamWorks' Split, a Chinese Man!" "Who is He, What Merit Does He Have to Make Two Giants Fall Out?"

A series of news stories left him speechless.

He thought his fate was full of twists and turns, wondering why things were so difficult. He had thought that in the future, there would be no place for him. Could his dream of making films end here?

But Jeffrey Katzenberg never mentioned a word about it to him, leaving him uncertain.

Vin Diesel, upon learning this, laughed, "Maybe he's hoping the media will stir things up. Perhaps there's even a shadow of DreamWorks pushing the wave. Just wait and see, maybe in a while, the attention will focus on the film. This is our good fortune. Indeed, a big company, a film hasn't even started shooting and has already gained so much attention. What are you worried about?"

Chen Tian was suddenly enlightened, "The Sixth Sense is only a medium to low-budget production, and the lead actor is not a well-known star. There has been no pre-production publicity. If there are no topics, who would know about it?"

The three major figures at DreamWorks are heavyweights in Hollywood. Such a big-name rivalry would keep the media buzzing for months, subtly increasing the visibility of "The Sixth Sense."

But he still had some doubts.

There were definitely conflicts among the three major figures, otherwise, DreamWorks wouldn't have split up and gone their separate ways in the future. He didn't believe that the three major figures would tarnish their reputations to promote a film.

During the first casting, Chen Tian finally couldn't hold back and asked Katzenberg about his doubts.

"Tarnish their reputations? You're overthinking it. At most, it's self-entertainment," Katzenberg said with a smile. "Your profile is too low to attract major media attention in the U.S. Only by involving DreamWorks can you gain more attention. The publicity department discovered this news and decided to leverage it, focusing the attention on the film. To avoid adding pressure to your first directorial debut, no one mentioned it to you. I hope you don't mind." After reading the novel on www., enjoy high-quality romance novels! V0ioJh7SpxSZUiVy

Chen Tian wouldn't mind; he realized he was still too naive.

Even with future knowledge, practice is still needed.

Hype, a simple term often seen on the internet in the future, why didn't he think of it?

Because of DreamWorks' efforts, "The Sixth Sense" gained a certain level of fame and exposure in Hollywood even before shooting began!

At the same time, the appearance of "Chinese director" in the newspapers caught the attention of Li An, who was preparing to shoot "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and Wu Yushen, who directed "Face/Off," which was released in June and became the top-grossing film in the U.S. in July, with a budget of $100 million. They began to pay attention to a new Chinese director in Hollywood.

This person was a bit strange. He wasn't of Chinese descent but was from China. He wasn't from Hong Kong or Taiwan but directly from mainland China, and he had never been heard of in the industry before.

The National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts also began to pay attention to Chen Tian. Upon investigation, they found that he was a student in the directing department at the Central Academy of Drama, not yet 23 years old, and a complete newcomer. Yet his first script was lucky enough to be noticed by Spielberg and hired as an assistant director. In less than half a year, he had become the director of a $30 million film, which was... unbelievable.

The heated discussions in the U.S. received little attention in mainland China.

The Xinhua News Agency's U.S. office sent a report back to China confirming the news. However, the domestic media was skeptical and even went to the Central Academy of Drama to verify it, only to find that the person really existed.

When the leaders of the Central Academy of Drama saw the reporters from the People's Daily, they thought it was a big deal and dressed up to give interviews. But the reporters kept asking about a student, which left them puzzled. The leaders were even more confused; how would they know who was who?

Although Chen Tian's classmates had already graduated, his existence was eventually confirmed.

Chen Tian was still in the U.S. and had not submitted his graduation thesis. The department was planning to hold him back a year, but when the reporters came, they found out that he had already made it big in the U.S.

A $30 million film, how much is that?

The current exchange rate is 1:8.3, so the investment is over 200 million RMB.

Is it true?

The teachers and leaders of the department looked at each other in surprise.

The People's Daily also felt that this matter should not be widely reported. If Chen Tian could make a good film, it would be fine, but if it flopped, it would be embarrassing for China.

So they only mentioned it casually in a corner of the social section.

But the news spread quickly in the Central Academy of Drama, "Do you know, a senior from the directing department, the one who was famous for a while as an advertising director, Chen Tian. He's now in the U.S. directing a $30 million film."

"Wow, look up... a bull is flying."

"..."

Zhang Ziyi, Yuan Quan, and a few others were familiar with Chen Tian but hadn't been in touch for over half a year and weren't sure if the news was true.

During a class with Teacher Chang Li, the girls pouted and asked the teacher. Chang Li didn't hide it and sighed, "It's true." The story was too bizarre, and she didn't want to comment further.

But these three words were enough to spark a storm of discussion.

"No way, he hasn't even graduated and is already directing a $30 million film, and he's single-handedly making it in Hollywood?"

"He might be a mixed-race person, maybe his family is rich and he's just spending their money." Everyone turned to look at the speaker, who was Liu Ye, known for his straightforwardness.

Zhang Ziyi sneered, "If his family was really rich and could afford to spend tens of millions of dollars on him, why did he have to drink with coal bosses to raise funds and end up with a perforated stomach? You're just jealous."

Yuan Quan said, "Everyone has their own path. We shouldn't judge others' efforts, but malicious slander is never good."

Liu Ye was depressed and muttered, "What did I say? It was just a casual comment."