Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 100: With the Prophet

After Li Qiutang achieved success, some media and fans dug into his past experiences.

I found out that this guy was a troll in school. He didn't have a bad temper, but he was a bit talkative. He would say something he didn't like or couldn't stand, even if it had nothing to do with him. His glorious achievement was when a graduate student showed her her filming assignment. He said he didn't like it after reading it, and then listed several areas he thought needed improvement. He didn't swear a single word the whole time, but he made the graduate student cry on the stage.

It is not surprising that there are many such students in film academies. It can even be said that this is a tradition of film academies. In the 1970s and 1980s, when Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige were in school, students at the film academy were very rude when watching movies. If they didn't like a movie, they would scold it back in class.

Even when Li Qiutang and her classmates went to school, the teacher kept saying "fuck" on the left and "ma'd" on the right when he was appreciating classic films.

There has never been a shortage of people with strong personalities in the film industry. Between Feng Xiaogang and Chen Kaige, which one doesn’t have “I’m the coolest” written on their faces?
Li Qiutang had a quarrel with Feng Xiaogang one moment, and then she said that "Red Cliff" was not good to watch. This kind of prickly personality is not a big deal in the film and television industry.

When you have an argument with someone, just watch it for fun and it will be over after it's over.

However, in an exclusive interview with Lei Zhenjian, Li Qiutang mentioned Wu Yusen's method of using mainland first-line stars to promote newcomers from Hong Kong and Taiwan, which attracted the attention of many film companies in the industry.

According to Li Qiutang, he was not worried at all that the Hong Kong and Taiwan capital would know that he had exposed their methods, because they had no other choice and they would definitely support their newcomers as Li Qiutang predicted.

Moreover, according to Li Qiutang's prediction, this model will not last long, because the mainland market will definitely grow bigger, and mainland capital will definitely enter the film and television industry. Compared with mainland capital, the money from Hong Kong and Taiwan will have to retreat to the second line.

Li Qiutang made a bold prediction in the interview that with the rise of the mainland market, Hong Kong and Taiwan artists will no longer have the opportunity to play the leading roles in mainland film and television works. Movies and TV series will no longer give Hong Kong and Taiwan actors opportunities, and the mainland will be the center of the entire Chinese-language film and television industry.

There is no way that Hong Kong, Taiwan, or even Singapore can become the center of Chinese-language film and television.

This is an inevitable law of industry development. Talent and capital are all in the mainland, and other regions cannot compete at all. Li Qiutang is not afraid of Hong Kong and Taiwan capital knowing about it. Even if they know about it, what can they do? They have no ability to stop the development of the mainland market.

How many new people do I graduate every year? How many do you graduate every year?

How many photos do I take every year? How many photos do you take every year?
I can kill you with just my sheer volume.

It is said that Wang Zhonglei printed out Li Qiutang's interview manuscript and read it carefully twice, and also exchanged ideas with Wang Zhongjun.

The crew of "Red Cliff" still has not responded to Li Qiutang's statement because it is not worth it.

They have their own pace and method of doing things, and don't need to be influenced by a few words from others.

However, as the box office of "Red Cliff" continued to rise, more and more doubts were voiced. Some questioned the crew's random interpretation of history, the inappropriate dialogue that caused laughter, the phrase "Meng Meng, zan up", the fact that Xiao Qiao was too coquettish, and the sex scene.

During the film's run, screenwriter Lu Wei also revealed his disagreement with director Wu Yusen on the story of Red Cliff: "I wrote one, but the director didn't adopt it in the end and abandoned it. I asked him what theme he wanted. He thought about it for a long time and said he wanted peace, which is very great. I said that the story of Red Cliff has everything, strategy, war, right? Everything, but there is no peace. Whoever talks about peace in the environment of Red Cliff will be doomed. ... He repeatedly emphasized to me that Xiao Qiao is very important, Xiao Qiao is very important, and then he told me how excellent Lin Zhiling is, and his idea is to flatter the role. I said why don't you make another movie, why do you want to make Red Cliff?"

Regarding the cute line in the film, Lu Wei revealed: "It is said that his lover wrote it."

Finally, Lu Wei lamented: "We have the funds and everything now, but we just don't have a good script. Even if a good script comes out, they can't understand it."

Lu Wei's words seemed to confirm Li Qiutang's previous judgment that he came here to support Lin Zhiling.

When the box office of "Red Cliff: Part I" exceeded 2 million, Lin Zhiling and Wu Yusen, who were in the middle of the vortex, responded to the media for the first time.

Lin Zhiling said she was "quite satisfied" with her screen debut.

Wu Yusen only chose to respond to the jokes in the film: "It is indeed flawed, but most of the plots in the movie are still sophisticated."

As for naming the newborn foal "Meng Meng", he admitted: "It was a small but cute mistake." Regarding the funny moments in the film, Wu Yusen said: "Life is already full of pressure, I hope everyone can have more sense of humor."

As for Lu Wei's comments that he didn't understand "Red Cliff", his flattery, and Li Qiutang's series of opinions, he did not respond at all.

The day after Wu Yusen responded to the controversy, President Han met with Li Qiutang in the China Film Office.

"I was away for a few days and you caused such a big mess for me." Director Han came up and started to blame.

"What trouble have I made? I've been preparing for the start of filming next month these days." Li Qiutang was unjustly scolded.

Mr. Han took out the file of the interview done by Li Qiutang and Lei Zhenjian.

"You're talking about this." Li Qiutang smiled, "China Film Group is also involved in this?"

"I have no right to control what you say." Director Han said, "Please elaborate on their method of promoting new talents."

"What I said in the interview was very clear." Li Qiutang only needed to reveal the clues. With Mr. Han's intelligence, there was no way he couldn't figure out the clues behind it.

Director Han lit a cigarette, and Li Qiutang asked rudely, "Is smoking allowed in the office?"

"I have the final say in my office." Director Han took a deep puff of cigarette. "What you said is not entirely a bad thing. We want to promote newcomers, and so do Hong Kong and Taiwan. We just use different methods. Ultimately, it is the Chinese-language films that are growing stronger." As the chairman of China Film Group, his position does not lie in the gateway between the mainland and Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Taking another deep puff of the cigarette, Li Qiutang said, "If you smoke like this, you'll get lung cancer in just two puffs."

This made Han Dongchuan so angry that he said, "I'll give you a slap in the ear!"

"They have mastered directors, especially directors of commercial genre films. Mainland directors are really no match for them in creating commercial films. That's why they can use this method to promote newcomers."

Knowing that he uses mainland first-line stars to promote newcomers from Hong Kong and Taiwan, what can he do? Mainland commercial film directors have not risen, and no one is fighting against them.

"It would be nice if there were a few more Li Qiutangs." Director Han took another puff.

"I... am I so good?" Li Qiutang was a little flattered by the sudden praise.

"You're not good, you should be quick." Director Han said with a smile, "Make three films in two years. If there are more directors like you, the number will increase and we will be able to find a few excellent films."

"Tsk, boring."

After Mr. Han finished smoking, he asked him, "Is your contract with Huayi coming to an end soon?"

"Well, the contract expired after filming The Whistleblower, and they kept asking me to renew it during this period."

"what do you think?"

"I don't want to, let's talk about it after we finish filming." Li Qiutang said she really didn't want to.

When leaving China Film Group, Li Qiutang was still wondering why President Han was so interested in his contract renewal.

(End of this chapter)