Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 206 Raising Hope
[PS. Because many chapters have been repeatedly blocked, some book reviews will disappear because certain paragraphs have been deleted or modified. These are not deleted by the author, but can still be seen in everyone's personal comment history in the backend. Please note this.]

Tian Zhuangzhuang looked at him speechlessly and slowly exhaled the smoke.

"As long as you don't point your finger at your boss and curse him, you should be fine."

Lu Kuan laughed and then heard Tian Zhuangzhuang continue to give him instructions with a worried look on his face.

"What do you think about what I told you last time?"

It means that he will be arranged to work in Beijing Film Academy or Beijing Film Studio in the future, so that he can have an identity within the system.

"It'll take a few more years, right? I'm too young now. I have to graduate at the earliest and stay in school, right?"

Tian Zhuangzhuang knew that he was a lazy person and didn't want to be constrained by the system.

But his own background and personal experiences over the years told him that sometimes when a shell is missing, everything you have will be as illusory as a mirage.

With Boss Lu's experience in two lifetimes, he certainly understands the twists and turns here. The most direct example is Cheng Jingfei who is now drowning.

He was once a wealthy man on the Forbes list, but what about now?

A local tyrant can make him feel like he is in ecstasy.

"Teacher Tian, ​​why is this such a big deal? You're even inviting reporters to interview you? You're even preparing meeting minutes. I heard from Han Shanping that they're even going to publish editorials in the official media."

Tian Zhuangzhuang smiled and said, "It's all because of you!"

"I?"

"We were just going to have a chat behind closed doors, but Deputy Director Zhang Hongsen and Director Tong specifically mentioned you."

"It's said that last year at the Beijing Film Academy, you debated with Huang Shixian and other literary critics, proposing that we should come from the masses and go to the masses, and abandon the one-sided thinking that denies commercial films."

Tian Zhuangzhuang jokingly said, "You had a blast debating with the scholars on stage. How could the leaders not remember you?"

"This time, I want you to give these underground directors a good lecture on how to make a film that's both critically and commercially successful, and how to avoid going down the same old alley!"

Lao Tian didn't mention himself. He is also a very stubborn person and only makes obscure movies.

Boss Lu smiled bitterly: "Is this leader decent? Isn't he using me as a tool? How many people do I have to face? The entire commentary community will scold me in the future!"

"Okay, stop being so ungrateful. I don't believe you can't see the benefits of this."

Tian Zhuangzhuang knows his cheap student very well and is never willing to do anything that would put him at a disadvantage.

The General Administration is indeed using you as a gun, because you are the one who makes these underground directors speechless!
Your movies have a wide range of success and have won awards and box office success. If you come out to confront those directors who like to make banned films, who will be able to say anything?
But you have to ask him if he is willing to be the gun?
Then Boss Lu would not hesitate to accept it. After weighing the pros and cons, the benefits would definitely outweigh the others!
First of all, this is to show up in front of the head of the Film Bureau and be in line with the leader. There is no need to elaborate on the pros and cons.

Even Han Shanping from China Film Group can be so influential in the domestic entertainment industry. What if Boss Lu gets along well with his top leader?
Second, this involves the issue of cultivating hope.

Just like the noble and honest officials in ancient my country who were summoned by the imperial court several times but never came, or the great scholars who lived alone in academies and founded academic schools.

He can put forward his own flagship views on such occasions.

That is, there is no natural distinction between commercial films and art films in terms of superiority or inferiority, and the ones that can save Chinese films and make the pie bigger must be commercial films, or genre films.

He had already made this point clear when he first angrily criticized Huang Shixian, Lu Chuan and other people in the "literary and art circles" at the Beijing Film Academy.

Plant this flag on the top of your own city and be mentioned as the top commercial film director in the mainland in the future?
The road is wide.

Who was mentioned in later generations as having made insightful comments in The Darkness Before the Dawn of Chinese Cinema?
The road is wide.

Who was it that brought about a great ideological liberation in the mainland film industry, where art films dominate public opinion, and promoted industry progress and industrial upgrading?

The road is wide.

With such fame, the authorities will be more cautious when reviewing his films in the future, and the big and small devils in the system will be more polite to him and the industry.

With such a reputation, there will be much less resistance when he is appointed as the deputy director of the directing department of Beijing Film Academy or a cadre on secondment to a counterpart unit.

With such fame, the brand value of Wenjie Culture Media will also be increased due to the hype of his personal IP.

In short, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

On November 2003, 11, a symposium for the literary and art circles was quietly held in the small auditorium of Beijing Film Academy, deliberately avoiding the serious official atmosphere.

The reason why they deliberately avoided a serious atmosphere was, firstly, that the venue was chosen to be the Beijing Film Academy campus, which has a stronger academic atmosphere, and secondly, that it was held in the form of a symposium.

Since it is an industry symposium, we must invite people from all industries to participate and discuss this issue from multiple angles.

For example, the state-owned film and television companies include Huayi Brothers, the newly established New Vision, Pony.com, Forbidden City Pictures, Shanghai Film Group, and Xi'an Film Studio.

For example, there are larger agencies in the industry such as Rong Xingda, agent Wang Jinhua, distribution company Baoli Bernardo, and Fiber Optic Media in the entertainment media industry.

Three leaders came from the Film Bureau, including the top leader Tong Gang, deputy general manager Jiang Ping, and deputy general manager Zhang Hongsen.

Among them, Jiang Ping was transferred from Shanghai Film Group this year, and Zhang Hongsen was transferred from Shandong Film Group. He was an associate professor who worked at Beijing Film Academy for a period of time.

In addition, there are Han Shanping from China Film Group and Liu Jian from China Film Group.

The latter is the former director of the Film Bureau, who just took office this year for a three-year term.

The school also recruited volunteer students from the directing and acting departments to do some service work.

Liu Yifei knew that Lu Kuan would be attending today, so she contacted Tian Zhuangzhuang to bring her in and sat her in a front row so that she could see all the excitement today.

"Ya Wen! Luo Jin!"

She looked at several familiar classmates wearing volunteer armbands making preparations on the scene, and greeted them in a low voice.

"Xixi, are you back home?"

"Xixi, how's it like filming with Director Lu?"

"Sissi, did you bring me a signed photo of Leonardo?"

A group of classmates from Class 02 quickly gathered around Liu Yifei, all of whom were brought in by the head teacher Wang Jingsong.

Long experience.

The little girl was chattering with her classmates when she saw Lu Kuan, dressed in a suit and tie, walking in from the door.

But before he had the chance to go find him, Lu Kuan was quickly caught up in busy business interactions.

"Director Lu, nice to meet you!"

Lu Kuan looked at Wang Dajun in front of him in some surprise. He didn't expect that he would be the first one to greet him.

Wang Dajun and his younger brother had completely different demeanors and temperaments, so he got straight to the point: "Mr. Lu, there was some misunderstanding earlier. Thank you for giving Bingbing the female role in "Foreign Land". In the future, our two families will communicate more and make progress together."

Yu Dong, Dong Shuangqiang and others were watching the excitement. Lu Kuan smiled and shook hands with him: "No problem, no problem."

Feng Xiaogang came over from behind and shook his hand.

"Hey, Director Lu, I've heard a lot about you. We had a little friction last time, but we're all men, so you didn't take it personally, did you?"

This was about him criticizing a certain director online for plotting against "Cell Phone."

The movie has been greatly changed now, but it was finally released in time for the Lunar New Year holiday. Seeing that Wang Dajun had called for a truce and peace, there was no need for him to be so pretentious.

Of course I'm not afraid. I just want to be friends with him on the surface. He is such a smart person.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to rise to this level from a small artist at the Beijing Film Studio.

Lukuan seems to have become a check-in attraction, with people from all walks of life coming to say hello.

On the one hand, Wenjie has indeed been too powerful this year, especially with the recent announcement of its acquisition of shares in Focus Media. Who wouldn’t be jealous of such a publicity channel?

On the other hand, it is true that Lu Kuan rarely attends these official occasions, so everyone does not have many opportunities to interact with each other.

They are all well-known big names in the industry. They wouldn't be so shameless as to approach a young man in his twenties to discuss friendship, right?
Today's occasion is more appropriate.

Concubine Liu Yi looked at him depressedly as he was surrounded by people from all walks of life, and suddenly an idea came to her.

"Luo Jin, let me wear your red vest. Sit here and take a rest!"

Wearing volunteer clothes, you can go on stage to pour water and walk around, making it easier to get close to him!

But before she could do what she wanted, Han Shanping rushed into the crowd and took Lu Kuan away, throwing down a few words lightly, and no one dared to say anything.

"Director Tong wants to see you. Let's go over and talk." Lu Kuan apologized to everyone and followed Han Shanping to the backstage as if he was familiar with the place.

Zhang Huijun sat at the top, and next to him was Director Tong of the Film Bureau.

"Hello, Director Tong. Nice to meet you. I'm Lu Kuan."

"Good, good, good! Heroes emerge from the youth. The path is very good!"

Zhang Huijun laughed and said, "This kid can't help but praise you. Don't push yourself too hard. Young people will make mistakes if they are proud."

Leading cadres of this level would not talk nonsense. This was Zhang Huijun's advance greeting to Tong Gang, telling him not to mind if Lu Kuan really "spoke out loud" later.

Young people should be given opportunities to make mistakes.

Lu Kuan is a sophomore in the directing department of Beijing Film Academy. As the principal, what Zhang Huijun said is not at all inappropriate. This is the benefit of having an organization.

"Haha, no, I think he can handle the pressure."

Tong Gang even said something with a hidden meaning: "Director Xiaolu, everyone can speak freely at today's symposium, but you have a heavy responsibility!"

If there weren't various intangible benefits, he would never be willing to be the first to take action. Wouldn't it be better for him to make a fortune quietly?
It's just that his efforts in the film industry are getting bigger and bigger. Just this one movie "Alien Land" has already made countless senior executives look at him with scrutiny, so his statement now is very important.

Do you want to be an underground rat like some directors of the Sixth Generation, or actively embrace the official and follow the trend of the times?

Lu Kuan had no choice because his views were consistent with those of the official authorities.

His base is in the film industry. The bigger the domestic film industry is, the greater his profit.

In 2003, the national box office was only 10 billion, but in this life, the existence of Lu Kuan has added tens of millions of yuan, which is a very insignificant amount.

But even in such a small market, he had to release the company's "Stone" and "Thief" at different times because the audience was really too small.

In such an industry situation, the more energetic and confident people are, the more likely they will actively promote the integration and expansion of the big pie.

Because they are sure that they can get a share of the pie.

Faced with Tong Gang's hint, Boss Lu responded neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"Director Tong, I'm also a film industry practitioner. Today I'll explain my views from my own perspective. I'm always happy to hear criticism, so please feel free to criticize and correct me."

Jiang Ping started observing him as soon as he entered the door, and had heard many anecdotes about him from Zhao Yanzi, Ren Zhonglun and others.

Zhang Hongsen smiled and said, "Director Tong has set the tone for today's symposium: let bygones be bygones, and let everyone speak freely. This, of course, includes you, Director Xiaolu, haha."

Xie Xiaojin, the director of the directing department at Beijing Film Academy, knocked on the door and came in: "Ladies and gentlemen, get ready to begin."

Tong Gang put down his teacup: "Let's go!"

The crowd rushed out.

Tong Gang and other leaders took their seats and applause broke out.

Since it is a symposium, the directors who have been released from ban and are invited today are naturally among them.

Other important figures in the industry, directors, actors, and industry associations sat in the middle area of ​​the venue, with the outer areas being the audience seats.

From the angle where Liu Yifei was standing now, Lu Kuan, who was a little too young, was indeed quite conspicuous among a group of leaders who were uncles and grandfathers.

It's no wonder that Han Shanping suggested that he grow a beard to make himself look older.

She and other volunteers poured water for the guests. However, she had been spoiled since she was a child, so she was able to perform martial arts scenes such as boxing and kicking.

When pouring water for Boss Lu, some water splashed and scalded him, but he just smiled awkwardly and ran away.

The official from the Film Bureau opened the event first, announcing the lifting of the ban on directors such as Jia Kechang, Wang Xiaoshuai, and Lu Xuechang, foreshadowing that these underground directors could come out and shoot films openly.

There was a constant buzz of discussion throughout the venue. Even though everyone was mentally prepared, they were still a little surprised when they actually heard this earth-shattering news.

When will you admit your mistakes and correct them?
Director Tong cleared his throat and said, "To make a long story short, I want to give this time to everyone today, to the elites and practitioners in the film industry, especially the comrades in the director ranks."

"As everyone knows, with China's accession to the WTO, the quota for imported films has been raised to 20 per year. Given the quality and quantity of our current domestic films, it's clear that we can't compete."

He glanced at several representatives from the Beijing Film Studio and the Xi'an Film Studio and said, "Especially since the opening of unified purchase and sales, the major film studios have been facing the impact of marketization and have found it difficult to continue in recent years."

Hearing this, the leaders of the state-owned factory who were present at the meeting all lowered their heads silently, avoiding looking at him.

"Today, let's talk behind closed doors. To help you more intuitively understand the disparity between quality and quantity I just mentioned, I'm not afraid to expose my shortcomings and provide you with some data!"

"As of last year, there were more than 40 state-owned film studios, more than 30 film distribution and exhibition companies, 35 cinema chains, and more than 30 employees in China, but the annual output of films was only about 100."

“作为13亿人口的国家，我们的电影票房只有4700万人口的韩国的1/4，在这100部电影里能够正常上院线获得利润的，加上进口片也不到40部。”

"And the box office share of the 20 imported films is almost equal to that of these 100 domestic films!"

The road is wide, eyes look at the nose, nose look at the mouth, take a pen and write and draw on paper.

Otherwise, the domestic elites are concentrated in the system, so how can they not be afraid of exposing their shortcomings?
This person was just promoted to full-time position this year from deputy, and the data he reported was from 2002.

The director concluded by saying, "Comrades, the Pomegranate Congress concluded last year formally proposed that the cultural industry be clearly incorporated into the macro-pattern of the national development strategy. Our film industry is undoubtedly a first-tier and core industry branch."

"Today, I hope everyone will speak freely, express their opinions, and contribute ideas and suggestions for the prosperity of the domestic film industry and cultural industry. Thank you!"

Warm applause broke out, and Boss Lu glanced at Old Han with ill intent.

This is the first time I see him being so fawning, it's kind of funny.

The protagonists at the scene today were undoubtedly the Seven Gentlemen who were officially released from the ban. Section Chief Jia, Wang Xiaoshuai and others looked at each other, and the atmosphere was a little cold for a while.

Han Shanping called on his name: "Chief Jia, you go first."

Section Chief Jia felt helpless and a little sad.

"Economic changes accelerated in 97. That year, Lou Ye began preparing for the filming of 'Suzhou River,' Xiao Shuai released 'Extreme Cold,' Zhang Yuan was preparing for 'Going Home for the New Year,' and Zhang Ming had just finished 'Clouds and Rain at Wushan.'"

"This year, I started filming 'Xiao Wu'. I am honored to be called the sixth generation."

"Under heavy pressure, our generation of directors has split today and moved into different fields. In this relatively short film career, each of us has revealed the shortcomings of our daily lives and the weaknesses of our filmmaking abilities."

"But it's comforting to know that most of us choose films that are related to reality and truth. These films complement and connect with each other, vaguely outlining a visual thread of the changing times."

He paused, and suddenly became excited!
"Back then, I was just a 21-year-old young man from Shanxi Province. I had read a few novels and had some basic knowledge of art. I was a follower of film art and devoted my life to it."

"But one day, the government will treat me as one of the incredible people, an ignorant Don Quixote, and a monster out of place in this era!"

"I'm at a loss."

Director Jia's words were sincere and earnest, and not only the other six directors, but also the older directors present felt a little sad.

Among them are Lao Tian and Jiang Wen.

Of course, the latter still seemed to be trying to distance himself from the sixth generation. He just felt that he also felt the same confusion.

The conversation started, and Senior Lu was the second to speak. He didn't care that the leader's previous topic was how to make good domestic films, but just expressed his grief with anger!

"In 1992, I bought a newspaper at the newsstand in front of Beijing Film Academy. It was run by Old Li, the man who broke his leg in Laoshan. Any of you Beijing Film Academy students here today should know him. I saw him this morning."

Zhu Yawen, Luo Jin and others nodded silently.

"I was deeply impressed. There is a description in that newspaper that I still remember."

"It describes how Director Xiao Shuai, in order to film 'Winter and Spring Days,' rode a coal train to Baoding, where coal was produced, to buy cheap Kodak black-and-white film."

"I often imagine that Xiao Shuai, who is now plump, must have been young and agile back then. It turns out that on the countless trains crisscrossing the land of Yanzhao, there once was a young man's dream of film!"

"But is this a good dream or a nightmare?"

Senior Lu is a sentimental person. He choked up as he spoke, which made everyone feel even more sad.

The original topic was deviated and the leaders were not happy about it.

We just untied these guys, so we can't scold them right now when they are expressing their emotions, right?

Old Han quietly muttered about the width of the road next to him.

Boss Lu: Fuck!

(End of this chapter)