The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 274 No Responsibility, Only Political Achievements

“If you want to express yourself, you can raise funds yourself and explain the situation clearly to investors. I told them this when we were working on the ‘Heroes’ project, and I still hold this attitude now. Taking public funds for PCs is the most shameless thing to do,” Angela added.

"Having knowledgeable producers supervise and having directors create within a predetermined framework is a method that has been used in China before. It's just that in the past, creating within a framework meant being responsible to superiors, while now it means being responsible to investors," Xu Jiuyang echoed.

“President Han should understand that investors like me are rare. If it weren’t for investing in the future, why would I go to such lengths to offer advice and even use the ‘Red Cliff’ project as a pilot project?” Angela then added.

“I roughly understand what you two mean,” Zuo Shandiao coughed. “I must say, you two are a perfect match.”

Before Xu Jiuyang could speak, Angela interrupted, "Thank you."

“But there’s still a problem,” Zuo Shandiao said immediately. “Your two methods are essentially starting from scratch, but where can we find a suitable producer? If we promote the original people, they’re all from the same circle, and they’ll inevitably cover for each other.”

Well, he's not going to hide it anymore, but unfortunately Xu Jiuyang isn't taking the bait.

"The specifics are for Chairman Han to figure out, of course. Execution and supervision have always been difficult problems," he said.

Then, with a smile, he said, "From my personal perspective, we can recruit qualified people from outside. They don't need much artistic talent; the key is that their logic must be clear enough, they won't be blinded by fancy words, and they can complete tasks according to the superiors' requirements in a strict manner. As for motivation, we can provide them with official positions, whether within China Film Group or elsewhere, and then find people from Shandong Province or the Northeast."

Zuo Shandiao's eyelids twitched as he listened, but he didn't know what to say. After all, he had only asked casually to test the waters.

Since that was the case, he changed the subject and talked to Angela about the specifics of the "Red Cliff" project.

"Regarding funding, China Film Group can only... but there are other ways..."

“South Korean funding isn’t out of the question… as for the role…”

"Is it really feasible to use a TV series to depict Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhuge Liang, and Cao Cao together...?"

After exchanging views thoroughly and having dinner at a private club, Zuo Shandiao and his men left.

"That's interesting." Sitting in the car on the way back, recalling the discussions that afternoon, Old Han couldn't help but chuckle.

"Should we draft a report, Mr. Han?" the assistant asked immediately.

"Of course, write down everything we talked about today, including what Lin Dewo said about using her identity and the reason of winning glory for the country to suppress Director Li and the others," Zuo Shandiao nodded and said.

But his real thoughts weren't on that. Although he had remained noncommittal about the other party's suggestion to copy the Hollywood big-budget film system during their previous conversations, he was actually quite supportive of it.

Putting everything else aside, if he could get his hands on those self-important directors, Zuo Shandiao would really be willing to chant "Amitabha" a few more times.

Let's not even talk about what kind of people were liberated after more than a decade of ideological liberation; he has no say in the policies from above, and besides, he himself has benefited from it.

To put it simply, Jia Zhangke's "Xiao Wu" does have problems, but is it really necessary to report it to the Film Bureau? Zhang Yimou is a top director in China, is it really necessary to do something like this? Are you so worried about your position being affected?

Despite the fact that these sixth-generation directors are no good either, each of them only knows how to take unorthodox approaches and has no normal aesthetic sense whatsoever—even so, the higher-ups are still holding meetings to discuss whether or not to recruit them.

But can't internal conflicts be resolved internally? If they could stand up for themselves, would they need to treat Hong Kong and Taiwan directors like royalty? On the television drama side, thanks to the production center, they've at least trained some directors who can compete with those from Hong Kong and Taiwan. But on the film side, there's really nothing they can do.

"It's tough for me too," Zuo Shandiao sighed inwardly.

If possible, he would certainly like to play it safe, but unfortunately, he only has Feng Xiaogang on his side who is worth mentioning, and he happens to be from Huayi Brothers, which is allied with Hong Kong and Taiwan capital.

If it weren't for Angela Lindwall, this American woman, keeping them in check, Zhang Yimou and his team would have made a terrible film. He had seen the first draft of "Hero," and even though his aesthetic sense wasn't great, he still found it quite painful to watch.

Therefore, he actually supported Lindwall's proposed large studio plan and didn't even care whether it could be done or not.

If it succeeds, that would be great. A few film-savvy producers hold a meeting, decide how to shoot the film, and only allow the director limited scope for creativity. As long as the director is obedient, they can produce a mediocre film that can make money.
Once this repeatable model is figured out and combined with the mainland market, its continuous rise will be obvious to the naked eye, and that can all be considered his political achievements.

It doesn't matter if we fail. It won't be any worse than it is now. The mainland market is bound to grow, it'll just be slower.

Most importantly, such matters necessarily require approval from higher-ups before implementation, but Lindwo could submit the proposal to higher-ups without going through him.

So what? So you bear no responsibility, yet you still get a share of the political achievements.

"I could even give it a little push," Zuo Shandiao thought to himself, a smile appearing on his lips.
-
"How is it?" Angela asked with a smile as she entered the garden, gazing at the remaining sunset on the horizon.

"Man proposes, God disposes," Xu Jiuyang shrugged. "Since he didn't mention the theaters directly, he must have tacitly agreed to it, but..."

He didn't say the last sentence aloud, but Angela added for him: "The government will eventually clean up foreign investment in the media sector, right?"

Xu Jiuyang shrugged again, with an expression that said, "You know it."

“It’s alright,” Angela chuckled. “After all, I’m investing in the future, and even if the government wants to clean up, they should make an exception for people like me.”

"Is this why you want to make 'Red Cliff' a pilot project?" Xu Jiuyang suddenly became interested.

“Part of the reason,” Angela nodded and then shook her head, “is that I think it’s an interesting project—I mean, the one you first came up with, bringing the Hollywood big studio system here.”

She seemed very interested: "If it were just me alone, I might not be able to do it all. Even if I did my best, I could only create a small circle to play around with, and it might be used as an example or a warning to others in the future Sino-US confrontation. But with the cooperation of Li Yunxin and the others, it would be much more interesting."

"Them?" Xu Jiuyang raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, let’s not even talk about Li Yunxin. Although she has her problems, to outsiders, she represents Korean capital and Samsung capital,” Angela said with a smile. “Fan Bingbing and Gao Yuanyuan represent the local forces, mainland capital, plus another force that can represent Hong Kong capital. So, on the surface we seem to be independent, but in private we cooperate with each other. Can’t we unify the mainland market?”

Then, before he could speak, she added, "Of course, of course, we won't eat all the bread. We'll always leave some crumbs for the mice, and if they're obedient enough, we'll even let them come in and have a bite."

Xu Jiuyang was silent for a moment, then looked at her and asked, "Who is that person representing Hong Kong capital?"

(End of this chapter)