Huayu started as a substitute director

Chapter 744 General Style
The stage was magnificent, and the lighting was a dreamy blue that created a very soft atmosphere.

The audience watched quietly as the principal, microphone in hand, paced back and forth on stage, recounting the history of the film and television market's changes over the past few years.

These past few years have been the fastest-growing and most turbulent years for the film and television market. Countless emerging forces have risen, and countless new directors have made their mark. With the popularization of mobile internet, a great deal of capital has poured into all aspects of the entertainment industry.

To gain control over content and the upstream of celebrities.

Nowadays, whether it's the internet or the entertainment industry, whoever controls the content controls the traffic.

Otherwise, why would all platforms start making short videos now? Even Meituan and Pinduoduo have to open short video channels in their apps.

The goal is to retain customers with short video content and not miss out on traffic.

"Our film and television industry has been very prosperous in recent years. It's so prosperous that if a film has a box office of 100 or 200 million, it's considered a flop. It's so prosperous that if a film doesn't mention that it cost 100 million, it's as if it can't be said to have been made."

I remember that in the past, a movie that grossed over ten million yuan was considered to have made a fortune, and a movie that cost over a million yuan to produce was considered to be a very good movie.

But nowadays, tens of millions are considered small investments. Is it that our film productions truly have such high costs, or is it that people are too restless and like to fool the audience with nonsense?

Fang Hong's words left everyone present speechless, while viewers in the live stream were frantically spamming the words "Principal" on the screen.

They love to hear the principal tell the truth, especially the truth, because there are so many lies around.

"I actually investigated some of the behind-the-scenes staff and compared their salary levels with those of ten years ago. I discovered a very interesting phenomenon."

The salaries of core positions such as directors, cinematographers, and art directors have increased. They are creative, and now is the time when online dramas and TV series are popular, so investors are willing to spend the money.

The salaries of senior technical workers, such as experienced lighting technicians, sound engineers, special effects artists, and post-production technicians, have also increased.

Of course, what I said above only applies to those with experience, that is, those who already have their own famous representative works. Without experience, those who are just starting out will not be able to earn such high salaries.

For example, the salaries of basic positions such as stagehands, assistants, lighting assistants, and recording assistants are not much different from those of ten years ago. By "not much different," I don't mean there's been no increase, but rather a very small increase.

Production costs have increased, but not by an outrageous amount. Where did the money go? One aspect is the performance fees paid by the stars.

In recent years, celebrity performance fees have increased several times, even more than ten times. Back then, hiring a celebrity would only cost a few hundred thousand or a million yuan, but now it costs tens of millions, even hundreds of millions, and some are close to a hundred million yuan. As one of them, I am dumbfounded and shocked.

Fang Hong described it as "shocking," but his tone was actually quite calm, though it was critical of the phenomenon.

The audience knew he was right; even 80 million was not enough for Angelababy. The combined salaries of Zhou Xun and Wallace Huo for "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" reached an astonishing 150 million!
Fan Xiaopang, Yang Mi, Sun Li, and the four top male idols are all aiming for the 100 million mark.

"The soaring salaries of celebrities are one aspect, but movies certainly won't offer such high salaries. Compared to TV series, they are definitely discounted because movies have a prestige factor, which makes many actors willing to act in movies."

My observation is that there has been an increase, but it's not that outrageous. So where did the money go? It went into marketing and promotion expenses.

The marketing and distribution costs for top-tier blockbusters are between 1 and 2 million yuan; even mid-tier ones cost tens of millions of yuan. This money is used to create buzz, generate hype, and disparage competitors, using every means possible to lure audiences to theaters to watch your terrible movies.

They're going to any lengths to change the rules, even bringing disgraced celebrities to the big screen; they're going to any lengths to distort the audience's aesthetic sense. Do you even know you're in crisis? Do you know that the credibility of the film industry is going bankrupt?

And what are you doing? You're smugly complacent, thinking that because you control resources, you can ignore the audience's feelings and aesthetics. I can't even imagine what Chinese films will be like in the future; the thought terrifies me.

When the film market truly goes bankrupt, even if you beg audiences to go to the cinema to see your movies, they won't go, because you've broken their hearts.

Fang Hong's tone was alright at first, but his later words revealed his disappointment and frustration.

Some of the filmmakers in the audience looked serious, while others whispered among themselves. They didn't know whether what the principal said was true or false, or whether he was exaggerating.

But they themselves did not feel that kind of crisis!

Years later, when filmmakers have ruined their reputations and are crying out about a "film winter" with audiences turning away from theaters, it is people like Hendrik Willem Van Loon and Zhang Yimou who are urging audiences to go to the cinema.

You can tell how insightful and forward-thinking the principal's words were today.

But at that time, they were powerless to change things. Audiences would rather give their box office to an animated film than to them, and even the main theme had completely failed.

It's easy to imagine how deeply the audience was hurt.

"Of course, people are inherently selfish. For their sons, for their own freedom, such people are selfish, as I have said before. They completely disregard how serious the consequences of breaking the rules are. Expecting human nature to be self-disciplined is wishful thinking."

Forcing the audience to accept your aesthetics—if such people actually succeed, making money would be too easy. Just make a few films, spend a little more on advertising, and the box office will be a huge success.

Then they find dozens of stupid celebrities to endorse it, saying they like watching it and what kind of art it is. Who do you audience members think you are? To put it bluntly, this is rape! Raping the audience.

Fang Hong then resorted to profanity, making those celebrities who had supported Wong Kar-wai and those colleagues who had defended Little House feel quite embarrassed.

The main point is that this was a live broadcast, and every word the principal said was recorded on video. Previous interviews didn't have recordings, only text. This time, however, the entire entertainment industry's secrets were exposed in front of tens of millions of viewers.

Most importantly, their support for Wong Kar-wai and their attempts to defend Little House were all exposed by netizens.

Meanwhile, the viewers of the live stream kept spamming "Principal" and "Well done, Principal!"

Millions more people immediately flooded into the live stream to watch his speech, though it's unclear whether any celebrities were among them.

Even if they don't watch it, the public opinion will still reach their ears.

"Of course you don't feel the crisis, after all, you're making a lot of money. What's wrong with the film industry? Right?"

But I want you to ask yourselves honestly, are your professional skills worth that much money? It's fortunate that there are so many Chinese people, and fortunate that the government is in charge, that you have a good environment to make money. Go to South Korea and see how tough it is for celebrities there.

Even so, some people still complain every day about finding loopholes, saying this is bad, that is bad, and that they need to continue to relax. Let me tell you, if you relax any further, you will really become playthings. Do you think you are important people now? If this circle is ruined, you will all be ruined.

In the eyes of us investors, you're just commodities. You know what a commodity is? Something that can be manufactured and discarded at any time. If you don't work out, just manufacture another commodity.

Fang Hong's words were very blunt, making the faces of the celebrities present very ugly. They looked at each other and could only lower their heads in silence.

They came to the Macau Film Festival with good intentions, but unexpectedly, the principal criticized them like this. I still prefer the days when the principal led them in rallying against the fashion industry; those victories certainly made them arrogant.

However, only the principal dared to say such a thing; no one else would have dared to say it.

What they said is true. Even if they don't reach the level of a principal, they could all be paid a price, even if they are at the level of the two Wangs of Huayi.

This is even with higher authorities overseeing it!

Of course, if you don't want to be controlled like this, you either have to fight back and break free on your own, like Liu Tianxian and Li Bailian.

Yang Mi is another example. Although she once said that it was normal to sleep with directors, she still resisted it after she started her own company. Although she was later kicked out, that's another story.

Even Fan Xiaopang doesn't count. A few months ago, before the release of "Skiptrace", during the promotion in Cannes, she and Hendrik Willem Van Loon were seen hugging and embracing in public.

It was Fan Xiaopang who took the initiative. Those who know what kind of person Fang Long is, they'd rather take advantage of a free lunch. Besides, this was during the hottest period of Fan Xiaopang and Da Hei Niu's relationship, so the two of them had no scruples.

I don't know what Li Chen (Da Hei Niu) is thinking, but if you're going to have fun, you might as well do it, since Fan Xiaopang (Fan Xiaopang) is still quite well-off.

If you don't want to be subjected to unspoken rules in this industry, you either have to quietly quit. Quitting this industry is easy; as long as you don't talk too much, no one will do anything to you.

You're just an ordinary person now. If you don't want to become famous, you can try to piggyback on the fame of any public figure, and public opinion will definitely be on your side.

Vulnerable groups have a natural advantage.

It's just that it's very difficult to advance in this industry. If you want to make money, you have to accept all kinds of control and be prepared to treat yourself as a commodity. But once you have fame, making money is really easy.

This is unimaginable in other countries, especially neighboring ones. Once you're in, you can't possibly leave; you have to keep going until you die.

"I don't know when the entertainment industry and film industry became like this. Maybe it has always been like this. It's just that information was not readily available in the past, and people had difficulty receiving information, so the entertainment industry and the older generation of filmmakers were romanticized," Fang Hong said.

Well, the fire has spread to the older generation of filmmakers again, but it's true that those people aren't any cleaner than the younger generation.

They all had a lot of dirty deeds to their name, but times were different back then, and many of them have managed to clean up their act and go straight. If their deeds were done on any young actor today, they would be condemned and even blacklisted.

"I spent seven years trying to prove that times have changed and it's no longer the era controlled by the older generation of filmmakers, but some people still can't see the reality."

I've tried everything to resist the invasion of internet capital and stand up against the fashion industry so that you can stand up and be respectable, but there are still people who want to grovel.

The entertainment industry is a place to entertain the public and promote correct values, not a place to pander to old-timers for money. I hope everyone recognizes their responsibilities and understands their place.

Fang Hong stopped there, put down the microphone, and walked off the stage.

Even if people in the entertainment industry don't want to, they still have to clap their hands. Even if they are scolded or criticized, they still have to clap. This shows their weakness.

The viewers in the live stream, however, were very excited, repeatedly typing the word "principal".

One netizen commented, "The principal's speech is enough to make him a legend!"

"Even if the principal does nothing, his courage to speak out is enough to make him better than most people!"

"These celebrities in the entertainment industry are too weak. They only know how to please capital and those old directors, completely ignoring the rise of young directors. There are a bunch of new directors making movies, such as Wen Muye, Guo Fan, Lu Yang, Zhang Yibai, Wang Ran, and Shen Ao."

"That's right. The principal invested billions in the entire production process, which boosted the popularity of online dramas. All of this was achieved by breaking free from the intervention of traditional capital and emerging capital."

"There's nothing we can do. The principal is changing, but his deep-seated flaws can't be changed. It's like the braid has been cut off, but the braid in his heart hasn't been cut off."

".."

Netizens were having a lively discussion, analyzing international affairs and unpredictable conflicts with great insight, so analyzing the situation in the entertainment industry was naturally no problem for them.

In the banquet hall, the Macau Film Festival was still ongoing. Sa Beining went on stage and said, "Thank you for the wonderful speech, Principal. I think that the Principal said these words for the sustainable development of the film market, so that every artist can play their role and stay popular for a longer time."

Otherwise, I wouldn't have said those things. These words are like what my father told me: honest advice is hard to hear, but it's beneficial!

Sa Beining made amends for the principal, and his few words eased the atmosphere, making the previously tense atmosphere more relaxed.

Those present were also bewildered by the principal's behavior.

Fang Hong sat back down in his seat, and Commander Cui took the initiative to shake his hand, saying, "The principal spoke well! This is to set the record straight for the arts."

"I don't deserve such praise. I was just saying what was on my mind. It's hard to keep it bottled up," Fang Hong said.

"It's better to say some things out loud; saying them can create a sense of crisis in others," Commander Cui said.

"I hope so." Fang Hong didn't know if he could create a sense of crisis or make those people want to change; this was all he could do.

Some things are beyond human control. The tide of history moves forward. Even if others have already fallen into some pitfalls, we still have to fall into them once. For example, in version T0, everyone says that Japan is the pioneer server!
The other officials and celebrities all turned to look at the principal, their expressions varying—some admiring, some pleased, and some indifferent.

Liu Tianxian turned to look at her man, and just watched him quietly.

"Why are you looking at me? Do I have flowers on my face?" Fang Hong touched his face.

"No, I just think you're very handsome, with that kind of... general's demeanor." Liu Tianxian moved a little closer.

"Really? This is the first time someone has said that about me. Usually, people say I'm insidious and ruthless," Fang Hong said with a smile.

“That’s strategic resolve, that’s foresight, they simply don’t understand,” Liu Tianxian said.

"My wife understands me best." Fang Hong put his arm around her shoulder.

Liu Tianxian smiled sweetly and leaned her head towards him!

(End of this chapter)