hollywood melon man

Gilbert Jr. continued, "Believe it or not, starting next year, the Chinese film market will explode, and the first Chinese-language film with a revenue of one billion RMB will be born."

Old Tian was a little bit unconvinced about what Gilbert Jr. said. He thought to himself: Although Gilbert Jr. is a world-renowned director and knows the film industry well enough, he doesn't know the Chinese film industry well enough.

Lao Tian has been leading the market-oriented reform of the film industry since the 1990s and knows these directors in the circle very well.

As for these directors, except for a few talented ones, the rest can honestly be described as disgusting.

It’s okay that the key is bad, the most important thing is that he has no self-awareness.

For example, the movie "The Best" which was released at the same time as "The Avengers" was directed by Gu Changwei, starring Fu Chengguo and Zhang Ziyi, and also joined by powerful actors such as Ze Ru, Tao Cun, Xi Pu and others.

But in the end, it fell apart under the impact of "Avengers", and the box office failed to exceed 5000 million RMB in ten days after its release.

If the Chinese film market also had a theater reputation survey like North America, the audience reputation of "The Best Friend" would not exceed a B+ score.

But when Gu Changwei was interviewed, he vowed that his movie was so good, how much he worked hard during the filming, how much he liked the script, and how sincere the movie was.

Along with this kind of boasting comes complaints.

For example, how hard the filming was, how hard the actors worked, and how he only slept four hours a day, for fear of not making a good movie and letting the audience down.

These complaints would be a plus if the film was good and popular with moviegoers, but if the film was so bad that the audience didn’t like it, it would become a negative.

However, recently this kind of self-torture tactic seems to be no longer effective, so directors have found a new way, which is to put the blame on the actors and accuse them of being paid too much.

The actors also have something to say: our pay is high because it is a market decision. Everything is going up in price, so why can't our pay go up?
If ordinary workers heard this, they would probably say, your pay has increased, but our salary has not increased...

Then the conflict shifted to the screenwriters, with the directors blaming them for being unable to meet the needs of the times and for still using the same old stuff.

Screenwriters also feel aggrieved, because screenwriters have little say in a film unless they are both writers and directors. Screenwriters believe that the bad atmosphere in the industry is caused by short-sighted investors.

In recent years, as the Chinese film market has become increasingly popular, it has also attracted many investors. These investors do not care about the quality of the film or the script, they just invest in whatever makes money.

The investors also have something to say. As businessmen, of course they pursue profits. The quality of the film is something that you directors should consider.

The most likely direction for this typical profit-making thinking to produce results is romance, thriller, comedy, etc. With the popularity of "You Are the Apple of My Eye", youth films have also joined this category.

These themes generally have one characteristic, which is that they are low-cost and easy to bring a return.

There is a popular saying among Hollywood's second-tier film companies: If you don't know what to shoot, invest in a comedy or a thriller!
This statement is more applicable in the Chinese film market than in Hollywood because it really makes money.

After discovering this, Chinese film investors abandoned their previously well-made costume blockbusters overnight and turned to areas that were easier to produce results.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that good movies won’t appear on these themes; it also provides opportunities for filmmakers.

When Gilbert Jr. was just starting out, he also relied on the thrillers "The Shallows" and "Final Destination" to gain a foothold in Hollywood.

However, compared with the large-scale production of bad movies, the probability of good movies appearing on these themes is obviously very small.

It is understandable that businessmen pursue profits, but this investment approach has undoubtedly affected China's film overseas strategy.

Hollywood's real move towards the world is not based on themes such as thrillers and romantic comedies, but rather on blockbusters with science fiction elements.

With the end of the era of costume blockbusters, several Chinese movie stars who made their way in Hollywood have returned to China one after another, and the veteran movie stars have grown older, and the best golden age for Chinese films to go overseas has passed.

Of course, there is still hope, because the latest memorandum of understanding includes clauses regarding the screening of Chinese-language films by North American theaters.

The terms are complicated, but to sum it up, they are determined by market performance. In other words, if "The Best Friend" can get good box office in North America, it will not be suppressed. On the contrary, the theater company will increase the number of screenings in order to make money.

But it is a bit far-fetched to expect people from different cultural groups to understand Chinese thrillers, Chinese romances and Chinese comedies.

If you want to truly go global, you must have your own characteristics that can be accepted by audiences all over the world.

In the past, it was a Chinese costume aesthetic blockbuster. In the future, it may be a science fiction movie or a Chinese anime aesthetic movie.

But little Gilbert has a different view on this matter.

"We are friends, so I would say this. In my opinion, directors from Hong Kong Island are a bad influence."

Lao Tian was stunned: "Isn't it a good shot?"

Little Gilbert shook his head and said, "Not really. You can observe the bad movies in the film market that are of poor quality but have good box office performance. They are generally shot by directors from Hong Kong.

Especially in the fields of martial arts and comedy, bad movies are flooding the market.”

The chairman of China Film Group agreed: "Indeed, many bad films are not made by mainland directors, but by those Hong Kong directors who went north."

Gilbert added: "You may think I am trying to sow discord, but I am only saying this to you as a friend.

Since the 1990s, ever since "Jurassic Park" conquered Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong filmmakers have been trapped in a vicious circle of creative stagnation and complacency.

Except for a few directors, the rest are just living off their past successes.

Even the gangster and police films they are good at are getting worse and worse. This attitude of not striving for progress has greatly affected the entire industry.

But, because of the director-centered system, directors have a lot of say.”

"You mean, we should learn from Hollywood's producer system?"

"It's not all right. What's most important is what suits you."

Gilbert Jr. paused and continued, "I heard that many actors envy the director's authority and are preparing to transform themselves into directors. Maybe they can bring some surprises."

Lao Tian obviously didn't believe it: "If even professional directors can't do it well, what can these amateur directors do?"

"That's not necessarily the case. Sometimes unconventional methods can also work wonders."

Little Gilbert thought of his past life. Although many actors, including writers who turned directors, shot films that were inexplicable, it is undeniable that there were some excellent films produced.

Typical representatives among them are Guo Fan and Jiaozi. One graduated from law school, and although he later went to Beijing Film Academy to study show business, he was still a latecomer.

Jiaozi graduated from a medical university, but perhaps considering that studying medicine could not save the spiritual world of the Chinese people, he switched to become an animation director.

The result is good, the box office has reached 150 billion RMB, which is an achievement achieved in a single market.

If it can become as popular globally as Hollywood, it is possible to compete for the box office champion in film history.

Of course, the most important thing is that these two people are not illiterate.

Moreover, he has new ideas of the new era, which is completely different from those so-called insiders with rigid thinking. (End of this chapter)