Huayu: Director started with art films

the next morning.

Li Yishu led people to the venue of the Locarno Film Festival. She first contacted the organizer, and then, under the guidance of the organizer, she came to the Locarno Film Palace.

It cannot be compared with the Cannes Film Palace, as it is much smaller in area, but it is more complete, with more than 30 exhibition halls in total, and Li Yishu's is naturally the largest.

It can be said that the most famous director at this year's Locarno Film Festival is none other than Lee Ye-su.

Since the registration began in May, the organizers of the Locarno Film Festival have been using Lee Ye-seok, the three-time Golden Globes director and the godfather of Asian cinema, as a gimmick.

It really attracted quite a few filmmakers to sign up, the largest number of whom were Japanese filmmakers, as well as film producers from all over the world.

After instructing assistant director Huang Lijia to take charge of setting up the venue, Li Yishu found a deserted place to communicate with the organizer, Oger Booker.

Og Booker smiled and said, "Lee, thank you for coming to our Locarno Film Festival. Your presence has added a lot of brilliance to our film festival!"

Li Yishu said politely, "Mr. Booker is too polite. I have always believed that the Locarno Film Festival is one of the best film festivals in Europe. It has a long history and the most professional judges. I believe that the Locarno Film Festival will be glorious again sooner or later."

"Yes, I believe that the Locarno Film Festival will become glorious again sooner or later."

Og Booker nodded in agreement. The Locarno Film Festival has a long history. The first session was held as early as 1946.

It is one of the few established film festivals in Europe.

It also had a glorious period in the 6s, 70s and was known as one of the four major European film festivals along with Cannes, Berlin and Venice.

Unfortunately, after the 80s, the popularity of the Locarno Film Festival began to decline continuously.

Gradually, the outside world only talks about the three major film festivals, and Locarno is no longer mentioned.

The two chatted for a while, and then Og Booker asked about the business: "Li, last time someone from your company came to talk to me about the promotion of the Locarno Film Festival in Asia. I wonder what the specific method is?"

Li Yishu did not directly mention the specific promotion method, but asked: "Mr. Booker, what do you think is the difference between the Locarno Film Festival and Cannes, Berlin, and Venice?"

"This one……"

Og Booker frowned, he did not think his own film festival was worse than the other three, but the current situation was that everyone knew the three largest in Europe, but the only missing one was the former fourth largest film festival, Locarno!
Li Yishu didn’t keep the topic in suspense and said directly: “Asia! The weakest part of the Locarno Film Festival is Asia!”

"Asia?"

"That's right. Asia has the largest population in the world. The total population of Asia is more than 3 billion, accounting for 60% of the world's population. It is no exaggeration to say that whoever occupies the Asian film market will be the number one in the film festival!"

In 1995, there were nearly 60 billion people in the world, 6% of whom were in Asia, which can be said to be the market that European and North American filmmakers most wanted to conquer.

"Mr. Booker, why don't you think about this? In recent years, Cannes and Berlin have frequently awarded prizes to Asian filmmakers. Isn't it to seize the Asian film market and to form a habit in Asia? This habit is the best award in Europe, namely the three Cannes Film Festivals."

After Li Yishu's reminder, Og Booker also realized the important reason why Cannes, Berlin and Venice have been keen on awarding Asian filmmakers in recent years.

The winning Asian filmmakers must really like the film festivals that awarded them the awards. After they return home, whether they will actively brag about the winning film festival or not, at least the media will give it a lot of coverage.

Invisibly, it will give ordinary audiences an illusion that Cannes, Berlin and Venice, these three film festivals are so awesome and are the best film festivals in Europe.

"Li, do you mean that our Locarno Film Festival should focus on the Asian market?"

"Not bad!"

Li Yishu nodded: "Asia has billions of people, which can not only bring considerable popularity to your film festival, but it is also the most important market for international brands to compete for. If the Locarno Film Festival can make a name for itself in the Asian market."

“I believe these brands will be keen to participate in the Locarno Film Festival, which will bring in more advertising and publicity fees. At the same time, after the fame is expanded, Asian tourists will continue to come to Switzerland, bringing a huge tourism economy to Switzerland during the film festival…”

Og Booker was very happy to hear this. He was a Swiss official in charge of film festivals. The more successful the film festival was, the greater the benefit to him.

"Li, tell me your conditions!" After being excited, Og Booker asked Li Yishu what she wanted.

"It's actually very simple. I hope to obtain the exclusive television broadcasting rights for the Locarno Film Festival in Asia..."

At this point, Li Yishu smiled and said, "I have an Asian TV station in Hong Kong, covering hundreds of millions of viewers, and this number will be even higher in the future!"

Og Booker's eyes lit up.

With hundreds of millions of viewers and even more in the future, wouldn’t that bring greater exposure and popularity to the Locarno Film Festival?

"What else?" Og Booker knew that the exclusive broadcasting rights alone were definitely not worth the other party's trouble.

“I need a unique channel for Chinese applicants, as well as an Asian registration channel. I also need to ensure that I have at least one recommended film that can be directly shortlisted for the film festival each year…”

Li Yishu started to make conditions.

The influence of the European Film Festival is still quite well-known even after thirty years.

It’s not that European film festivals are superior to others, the actual situation is that foreign monks are better at chanting.

This is actually the same all over the world.

In Hollywood, there are also many art film directors who are keen on participating in European film festivals.

In the commercial film sector, it will be difficult for Li Yishu's Art and Entertainment Group to monopolize the market in the future, but the situation is different for art films.

Even though the art film market will be terribly depressed in the future, if we expand the market to the whole world, there are still quite a lot of art film fans.

Li Yishu does not have high aspirations in Europe and the United States, but if he wants to become the true "Godfather of Asian Film" in Asia, he must monopolize art films.

It doesn't mean that he participates in the investment of all art films, but that whoever he wants to become famous or win an award will definitely become famous and win an award.

The Locarno Film Festival is somewhat famous in Europe, and it is not completely unknown in Asia, otherwise Chen Kai would not have registered and Japanese filmmakers would not have come.

It can only be said that it is not as good as the three major European ones.

But there is still a certain market.

What Li Yishu wants is to win an award in Europe and an award in Asia.

After listening to Li Yishu's words, Og ​​Booker pondered for a moment and said, "These conditions are not harsh, but I have to go back and discuss them with the organizing association."

"no problem."

Li Yishu smiled and said, "By the way, Mr. Booker, I hope to be able to invest in Switzerland. Could you introduce me to some officials in this field?"

"Investment? Li, what industry are you going to invest in? Movies?"

"Yes, in addition to the film industry, I am also planning to invest in the tourism industry in Switzerland."

Switzerland claims to be a permanent neutral country. Although it was later proved that there has never been a so-called neutral country, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world and its tourism industry is now developing rapidly.

Ever since Lee Yi-su wanted to work closely with the Locarno Film Festival, she felt that she could invest in Switzerland.

"no problem!"

Og Booker smiled and said, "We in Switzerland welcome people from all over the world to invest! I will help you contact the officials in this regard."

"Haha, don't worry, Mr. Booker. Let's wait until the film festival is over. I will arrange a professional team to come and inspect it later."

Li Yishu smiled cheerfully and said, "I think the most important thing for us now is to discuss cooperation with the film festival."

"I don't think that should be a problem."

Og Booker thought about the conditions proposed by Li Yishu: the qualification of having one film nominated every year, the only registration channel in China, and one of the registration channels in Asia. These were not a problem.

What may really cause controversy is the exclusive live and rebroadcast rights in Asia for 10 years. The Asian market is huge, there is no doubt about that. Although the film festival is not well-known now, and no one wants to do live or rebroadcast, no one can say whether the Locarno Film Festival will rise in the future!
If we give up the exclusive rights for 10 years early, for free, wouldn't that be a huge loss?
If Lee Yi-su knew what the other person was thinking, she would probably laugh out loud. Not to mention 10 years, just 5 years later, the Locarno Film Festival would have fallen to the point where almost no one cared about it.

After the first decade of the millennium, the reputation of the three major European film festivals plummeted, commercial films became popular, and the art film market further slumped.

For this reason, the three major European film festivals had to compromise and allow Hollywood commercial films to participate in the award competition.

The Cannes Film Festival can’t survive, so how can the Locarno Film Festival survive?
If Lee Yi-su had not been confident that he could make money from this and increase his influence in Asia at the same time, he would not have spent so much energy on these things.

That afternoon.

After Og Booker returned, he convened an internal meeting of the film festival as the chairman of the organizer.

The topic of discussion was naturally the conditions proposed by Li Yishu and the help he agreed to do.

"The Asian region is developing very fast now, and it is indeed a good opportunity to open up new markets."

"The conditions are not too harsh, so it doesn't matter if I agree to it. As long as the film festival becomes more famous, more brands will come to us for sponsorship in the future."

"..."

A group of people were chattering away, and most of them were approving.

The Locarno Film Festival, although known as an international A-class film festival, does not have the reputation of an A-class film festival at all.

Everyone hopes that the film festival will be as famous as possible, which will not only be a political achievement for them as the organizers, but also a steady source of sponsorship fees in the future.

The Swiss Tourism Department will also certainly be grateful to the film festival.

Suddenly, someone said, "Since we know the importance of the Asian market, why can't we get rid of this Li? There is more than one film master in Asia!"

"I object!"

An old man on the opposite side shook his head and said, "Li is the most famous director in Asia and has won the gold medal at the three major film festivals. I've seen his movies this year and they are very well made. Once he wins the Golden Leopard Award, we can restore the slogan of the four major film festivals!"

Another person nodded, "That's right. Nowadays, people only talk about the three major European film festivals, but forget about our Locarno Film Festival. I think this year's Golden Leopard Award must be given to Li, because this way we can let the media shout the slogan of the Grand Slam Director of the Four Major Film Festivals!"

"Cannes, Berlin, and Venice are developing too fast in Asia! It is said that after Lee won the three gold medals, the influence of these three film festivals in Asia has soared. Every year, a large number of Asian filmmakers go to these film festivals to register and even participate in the exhibition, so we must cooperate with Lee!"

The man paused after he finished speaking, and continued, "Lee is the Godfather of Asian Cinema. Didn't you read today's newspaper? The Godfather of Asia met with his most loyal godsons, and even the Japanese directors who came to register, all showed him great respect. This is enough to prove that Lee is truly the Godfather of Asian Cinema!"

After a heated discussion, everyone finally came to a conclusion, which was to agree to Li Yishu's conditions.

However, they have some reservations regarding the broadcasting rights. They have 10 years of broadcasting rights for the Chinese market, but are only willing to give 5 years for the Asian market.

Similarly, the live broadcast fees or rebroadcasting fees should not be reduced in any way and should be paid according to the prices of that year.

Seeing that everyone agreed, Og Booker said, "In that case, I will meet with Li later to discuss in detail. Now I have an idea. Since our film festival will focus on the Asian market in the future, should we create an award, such as the Asian Special Award?"

"can!"

Vice Chairman Yann David nodded and said, "But we can't use this name. I think we can use Lee as a topic. How about the Asian Film Promotion Award? This will recognize Lee's contribution to Asian films."

"Yes, this is a good name!"

"That's the name!"

“The Asian Film Promotion Award is great. This award can be used as a long-term award specifically focusing on Asian filmmakers!”

"..."

After the decision was finalized, Og Booker immediately called Li Yishu and explained to him the conditions for the changes made by the film festival organizers.

"no problem!"

Li Yishu readily agreed, "Let's follow your change. Except for 10 years in China, the rest of Asia will have 5 years, but I must have priority in renewal."

Li Yishu doesn't care about 10 or 5 years. At least in the next ten years, the influence of the Locarno Film Festival is not expected to increase much even with his presence.

This decade happened to be the last glorious period for domestic independent filmmakers.

This can confirm Lee Ye-su's godfather-level status in the art film market.

Harvey is good at Oscar public relations, but not 100%. However, Li Yishu is 100% confident that he can help a filmmaker win the Golden Leopard Award at the Locarno Film Festival in the future!
the other side.

It is night in China now.

Inside the conference room of Yanjing Beijing Film Studio.

“I have to attend the Cannes Film Festival next year!”

Brother Chen Kai looked at the representative sent by Japan's Kadokawa Books with a determined gaze.

When the representative of the publishing company heard these firm words, he immediately got a headache. The president, Kadokawa Leyihiko, issued a death order, requiring Chen Kai to release "The Emperor and the Assassin" as soon as possible to alleviate Kadokawa Publishing's investment losses in the Chinese market.

But he didn't expect Brother Chen Kai to be so stubborn.

Seeing that they couldn't get their way, the representative of the publishing company said firmly: "Since Director Chen doesn't want to, then there is nothing to say. We, Kadokawa Publishing, are the investors and have the right to make comments on the distribution and release of the film. We will promote it in Japan soon, and we also ask the Beijing Film Studio to prepare for the promotion of the film in the Chinese market!"

"You! Well, just wait, you're going to ruin the movie!"

Brother Chen Kai didn't expect that they would not give him any face at all. He was so angry that he just waved his hands and left.

"Director Chen, Director Chen..."

Seeing Brother Chen Kai leave in anger, producer Li Shaowei sighed.

The representative of the book club asked, "Producer Li, I wonder what your Beijing Film Studio means?"

"We certainly respect the opinions of investors. Since you have requested that the film be prepared for distribution and release, our Beijing Film Studio will naturally cooperate actively."

Li Shaowei handled his business impartially. The other party was an investor, so the film could be released whenever he wanted.

If this is rejected, at the very least, it will mean a break-up with the other party, and at the most, it will make future overseas film investors afraid to invest.

Brother Chen Kai cursed as he walked. He was full of confidence in his movie and dreamed of winning the Palme d'Or, but it was all ruined by those Japanese devils who were greedy for profit and only cared about the immediate benefits.

After returning home, he continued to curse. Fortunately, Ni Ping helped to comfort him and Brother Chen Kai finally calmed down.

Brother Chen Kai sighed: "The Japanese are so short-sighted. If this movie wins the Palme d'Or, the box office will definitely be higher and it may even be a global hit!"

"Yes, the Japs are like this, greedy for money and forgetful of morality."

Ni Ping joined in the cursing, and actually, she felt that this was not a bad thing.

She has watched "The Emperor and the Assassin". From the perspective of a veteran host and audience, she found the movie confusing.

She doesn’t know whether she can win an award, but she is afraid that the box office will be bleak.

Now that Japanese investors have interfered, if the box office is high, it will be thanks to Brother Chen Kai. If the box office is low, can this be used as an excuse?

I have to say that Ni Ping's many years of experience as a host is really great, and she can grasp both the good and the bad.

It was Li Yishu who didn't know, otherwise she would definitely sigh: Brother Chen Kai succeeded in passing on the blame again! (End of this chapter)