Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 170 Attempts to Promote Industry Reform

[Evening 1]

The meeting ended at noon.

Zhang Yan announced that there were buses parked in the courtyard downstairs, and everyone could choose to take the buses to the hotel or go to the hotel for a meal on their own.

Then he prepared to go outside and meet up with Chen Hong.

"boss Zhang."

At this moment, Liu Xiaoqing called out to him and said with a smile, "I have to thank you for your excellent script on behalf of Jiang Wen. It's something I've been trying to persuade him to do for a long time, but you managed to do it with just one script."

Zhang Yan strongly suspected that she was being sarcastic—it couldn't be that Liu Xiaoqing had been encouraging Jiang Wen to try to blackmail the old lady but failed, and then he ended up taking care of her himself, right?

"Uh~"

He said awkwardly, "Sister Xiaoqing, what you said makes me uneasy—Jiang Wen scolded me a lot because of that script."

"Haha~"

Liu Xiaoqing patted Zhang Yan on the shoulder and laughed, "I'm telling the truth. He's always wanted to try directing, but he was afraid he wouldn't do it well. When he was filming 'A Beijing Man in New York,' he called me and said that being manipulated by others was too frustrating, and he had to make his own film to vent his frustration."

So that's what happened.

Zhang Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "This is a good thing. I know a friend who's been thinking about writing and directing his own film and television work recently. It's clear that our film and television industry is getting more and more prosperous."

“Jiang Wen isn’t good at writing scripts. He asked me to pass on a message to you: if there are any scripts like ‘The Rise of a Chinese Godfather,’ keep them for him. Others might not dare to film them, but he does!”

Jiang Wen's biggest grievance about "A Native of Beijing in New York" is that the script for the Chinese Godfather was rejected, but the part about the black aunt was retained, which was just pure suffering and had no class at all.

"Haha~ There isn't one right now, but if I ever write one, I'll definitely save it for Jiang Wen!"

As they spoke, they reached the door.

"Sister Xiaoqing~"

Chen Hong quickly came forward, saying with a hint of admiration, "It's been quite a while since we last met."

When she and Liu Xiaoqing filmed the movie version of "Dream of the Red Chamber", Liu Xiaoqing was already 35 years old. Logically, she should have been on the decline, but who knew that she would have such a great career in the past few years.

"Yes, it's been a while."

Liu Xiaoqing stared at Chen Hong for a while, then shook his head and sighed, "It's so good to be young."

She was born in 50, making her eighteen years older than Chen Hong.

"Sister Xiaoqing, you're still very young!"

Chen Hong's words were not exactly flattery. "Wu Zetian" was filmed in 93, and Liu Xiaoqing genuinely portrayed a youthful character in it.

"Haha~"

Liu Xiaoqing smiled noncommittally and said, "Then I wish you all the best for the future—if you want to do gigs again in a couple of years, you'll probably have to see how you feel about fulfilling your dreams."

"No way..."

Zhang Yan tried to cover it up, but Liu Xiaoqing waved her hand and said, "I'm going downstairs first. I don't want to be late and get accused of being a diva."

Watching Liu Xiaoqing go downstairs, Chen Hong asked with some concern, "Has she already figured out our purpose?"

“It’s normal that she could tell, after all, she’s a successful businesswoman.” Zhang Yan shrugged and said, “It doesn’t matter. Anyway, this is an open strategy. Who would refuse real benefits? By the time things come to light, we’ll have already established a firm foothold.”

The overt goals are to establish industry rules, rectify industry chaos, and elevate Yuanmeng's status and prestige within the industry.

What Zhang Yan truly cared about was the future prospects of the information distribution center.

In the early stages, this was a place for people to complain and lodge grievances.

However, as long as it can operate steadily for a year or two and gradually build trust and reputation, this information distribution center can fully act as a notary for both parties.

Further development leads to a true information platform. Eventually, both organizers and performers can use this information hub to find suitable partners—this system can even extend into the internet age, and will be even more compatible with it.

Seeing that Zhang Yan was full of confidence, Chen Hong stopped worrying about it.

After learning the general outline of the meeting, she said with some regret, "Unfortunately, our strength is insufficient, and we can only concede the interests of the South..."

"This also has its advantages. Since the North and South are not under each other's jurisdiction, this mechanism of mutual whistleblowing has a real deterrent effect. It's just that the addition of the Yangtze River Delta region as a center makes things a bit more complicated."

The original plan was to have one in the south and one in the north, so they wouldn't interfere with each other, but now there's an extra one in the central region...

The Yangtze River Delta is an economic powerhouse, and singers from both the south and the north can't avoid this lucrative market. They shouldn't end up benefiting others.

"Let's not talk about that now. Did you bring any hangover medicine?"

"Bring it."

Chen Hong took out a packet of medicine and handed it to Zhang Yan, saying, "It says that taking it before meals can relieve drunkenness—but all medicines have side effects, so it's best not to take it if you can avoid it."

Zhang Yan took the medicine and said helplessly, "There's no way around it. We'll definitely have to drink at this event, but the municipal government is having a meeting at 2 p.m. to discuss the establishment of the film and television base in the Economic Development Zone. I'll have to go on stage and give a speech then."

Since Zhang Yan proposed the idea of ​​entertainment facilities, the Tianjin Municipal Government, under the strong promotion of the Economic Development Zone Management Committee, has gradually changed its indifferent attitude and begun to support the establishment of the August 1st Film and Television Base in Tianjin.

At the same time, the attitude of those in the capital also changed.

Neither the municipal government nor the Beijing-Taiwan authorities, regardless of how much importance they previously attached to this matter, can accept that this project was snatched away by Tianjin.

As time went on, the competition between Beijing and Tianjin for the August 1st Film and Television Base intensified.

However, it is clear that Tianjin has the upper hand. Firstly, the land offered by the Economic and Technological Development Zone is adjacent to the urban area, while the land planned for the August First Film Studio in Beijing is near Fengtai, and the surrounding facilities are vastly different.

Secondly, in Tianjin, the television station independently invested and held shares, while in Beijing, the municipal government took the lead. Comparatively, it is definitely easier to deal with the Tianjin side.

The third reason is Zhang Yan's ongoing efforts to improve his theme park plan.

The August First Film Studio established a film and television base, mainly to meet its own filming needs. However, in this era, everything takes a backseat to the economy, and the military's funds are not abundant. If they can make a return on their investment, that would be the best outcome.

Although Beijing has promised to make similar attempts, copying others' ideas is never as appealing as originality.

This mobilization meeting hosted by the municipal government is basically the final step. Naturally, the higher-ups hope that Zhang Yan can continue his efforts and come up with more good ideas to ensure that the film and television base is located in Tianjin.

Zhang Yan had already prepared his speech.

He plans to suggest that the city take the lead in establishing a film and television technology academy, bringing together the August First Film Studio and Tianjin Film Studio.

Nowadays, there are specialized schools and training institutions for directing, cinematography, acting, and scriptwriting. It is simply unrealistic for Tianjin to challenge Beijing's position in these areas.

However, industries such as lighting, props, pyrotechnics, stage management, and stage design are basically still based on the master-apprentice system, and the practitioners are mostly within the system.

If you don't have connections within the system, like Guan Hu, a child of the Beijing Film Studio, the biggest obstacle to assembling a film crew is actually these technical jobs.

If we take this opportunity to set up a training school and rehire the veterans from the August First Film Studio and Tianjin Film Studio to train talents in these areas, it will be much easier for film crews to come and shoot films in the future; we will only need to gather the main creative personnel.

Moreover, with film and television bases having pre-established regulations, conflicts are less likely to occur.

As for whether there will be this many film crews in the future...

After Zhang Yanming becomes a representative, he will submit a proposal to open up private film and television production.

Originally, this proposal was just his personal opinion, but after the film studio and training school were established, it became a proposal from the entire Tianjin delegation.

The regulations that would have allowed private capital to enter the film and television industry were not expected to be implemented until 97, and the mandatory requirement for affiliation was not abolished until 02.

Zhang Yan didn't know if he could do it, but with the support of the entire Tianjin delegation, he could at least make some waves.

If it can open two or three years ahead of schedule, the film and television base will be able to capitalize on the first wave of popularity once it is completed.

(End of this chapter)