Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 302 Waiting for the Flight
After more than twenty minutes, the photovoltaic bus finally arrived at the airport and began unloading people in droves.

The three quotas for realizing the dream were specially approved by Leader Lin, while the eight major film studios each had five quotas, which together amounted to forty people.

Add to that the seven or eight people from the optoelectronics department and the six or seven people from the film bureau, and you have a deck of cards.

Chen Hong was following Zhang Yan, watching him exchange pleasantries with Leader Lin and Director Teng of the Film Bureau, when suddenly someone called out from the side, "Are you Chen Hong? Sigh, with your actions, our work will be even more difficult from now on!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Hong looked in the direction of the voice and saw a middle-aged man with a commanding presence. She quickly bowed and asked, "Are you from the Shanghai Film Studio...?"

Someone immediately introduced, "This is our newly appointed Factory Director Zhu."

"Haha~"

Director Zhu switched to Mandarin and laughed heartily: "I heard that you went back to the Shanghai Theatre Academy a few days ago to recruit people, and the whole school was in an uproar—sigh, even our Shanghai Film Studio probably doesn't have that kind of appeal."

"Director Zhu, you're joking."

Chen Hong smiled and flattered, "If I had been able to get into Shanghai Film Studio back then, I would never have gone to Beijing. The fact that this year's campus recruitment was able to proceed smoothly is entirely thanks to Shanghai Film Studio's leniency in not competing with us."

As they were talking, Han Sanping suddenly interjected in surprise, "President Chen, why is Gong Li here too? Has she joined your Dream Come True team as well?!"

"That's not true."

Gong Li walked over gracefully and explained, "I was just hitchhiking."

"Then you and General Manager Zhang, General Manager Chen..."

"Everyone!"

As they were talking, everyone had gotten off the bus. Leader Lin gave Secretary Hu some instructions, and Secretary Hu called out loudly, "Everyone, go into the waiting room and finish your formalities before you talk. Don't block the way here and affect other passengers."

The group quickly stopped exchanging pleasantries and led their respective teams inside.

Because it was an official exchange trip abroad, staff members greeted the delegation upon entering the hall, helped them complete the registration process in advance, and then led them to the VIP channel.

Zhang Jing, of course, did not receive this treatment and could only remain alone in the waiting hall.

Because Zhang Yan was called to talk to Leader Lin, Chen Hong could only chat idly with Gong Li.

Gong Li glanced at the small groups around her and whispered, "Have all eight major film studios changed their leadership?"

"Commercialization reforms definitely require a group of people who are willing to fight and take risks." Chen Hong said unsurprisedly, "I heard from Zhang Yan that the eight major film studios may all be transformed into film companies by next year at the latest, learning from Hong Kong Island's self-financing model."

"Not everything in Hong Kong is good."

Gong Li sincerely lamented that her recent conflict with Zhang Yimou stemmed not only from marital issues but also from setbacks she had recently experienced in her career.

The film she co-starred in with Brigitte Lin and Sharla Cheung, "The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils: The Legend of the Heavenly Mountain," flopped at the box office after its release in early March.

While a large part of the reason was the competition with the box office hit "Fong Sai-yuk", many Hong Kong media outlets attributed the box office failure to Gong Li.

Some believe that her acting style is always out of place in Hong Kong dramas, such as in "Flirting Scholar" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

There were even gossip magazines that reported rumors of a fierce rivalry between her and Brigitte Lin on set, vying for top billing, to the point that the production company was overwhelmed.

While there was certainly some truth to the fact that she didn't adapt well to the local environment, the main reasons were a struggle for interests and a rejection of mainland actors.

As 97 approached, sentiments on the island towards the mainland became increasingly complex. On the one hand, there was a tendency to fawn over and appease the higher-ups, while on the other hand, the rejection and resistance towards new immigrants intensified.

The film and television industry is no exception.

Most mainland actors who haven't fully integrated into the Hong Kong entertainment circle can only choose to tolerate this situation and try to downplay their mainland background.

But Gong Li chose to do the opposite. Since the Hong Kong film industry was known for its sycophancy and bullying, she decided to infiltrate the inspection team and show them her 'connections at the top.' The plan was perfect, but she ran into trouble at the very first step—Zhang Yimou refused to help. For her to get Xi'an Film Studio or Beijing Film Studio to give up their spots was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Fortunately, there was Yuanmeng Company as a backup option; otherwise, Gong Li would have had no choice but to give up on the idea.

But said the other side.

Although Leader Lin and Zhang Yan appeared to be chatting and laughing, their words actually revealed a rather unpleasant atmosphere.

"A couple of days ago, they suddenly said that there was no equivalent department to connect with us and suggested that we cancel the inspection. We argued on our behalf and the inspection team was retained, but the level of official reception will be downgraded."

This is clearly a show of force—humph, the British may have lost the negotiations, but they're still not giving up! Besides the economic and legal issues, they probably won't easily relinquish their position in the media.

That's for sure. The 2017 that Zhang Yan first dreamed of was precisely when the cockroaches were causing the most trouble.

He seized the opportunity to spread rumors, saying, "Therefore, the development of film and television in the mainland must be based on our own efforts. We can use and learn from Hong Kong's methods, but we must never let them take over and become the masters."

Leader Lin shook his head slightly and said, "What you said is correct, but it cannot be publicized. Moreover, some people at the top hope to use Hong Kong films as the backbone to carry the banner of Dongda Film."

After all, the influence of Hong Kong films and television dramas has far surpassed that of mainland China in recent years—even your production of "The New Dragon and the Phoenix" bears some resemblance to Hong Kong and Taiwanese films and television dramas.

"That's why I said I should learn it."

Zhang Yan spread his hands and said, "In the early stages, we will learn from Hong Kong, and in the middle stages, we will learn from Hollywood. It will probably be twenty or thirty years before we achieve independence and self-reliance."

"Twenty or thirty years from now."

Leader Lin said with a mix of anticipation and regret: "I'm afraid I might not be able to see it, but you definitely will."

After a pause, Leader Lin keenly noticed another key point: "You said you'd learn from Hollywood in the mid-term. Does that mean you think Hollywood movies are better than Hong Kong movies?"

"Of course, and the gap will only widen."

Zhang Yan nodded and said, "I don't know if you've noticed, but last year, for the first time, the box office champion in Hong Kong was a Hollywood movie."

“Jurassic Park, huh? I know about that.” Leader Lin said, “The things the Americans make are indeed quite impressive. Such a huge dinosaur on the screen, it’s just like it’s real.”

"That's the power of industrial films."

Zhang Yandao said: "Hong Kong films should have a few more good days ahead, but as Hollywood's new technologies gradually mature and push up film and television costs, Hong Kong films, which emphasize high returns on small investments, will eventually decline and eventually collapse."

After all, with TV screens getting bigger and bigger, there's not much difference between watching a feature film on TV and watching it in a movie theater. Only big-budget Hollywood movies are worth going to the cinema to see.

Of course, family-friendly comedies are a big selling point, but Hong Kong comedies often contain some vulgar content, which makes them unsuitable for broadcast in mainland China...

Leader Lin nodded slightly as he listened, and his opinion of Zhang Yan grew even more. This kid always had the ability to see the big picture from small details and understand the bigger picture from a single leaf.

After "Jurassic Park" dominated Hong Kong last year, there were analyses of this phenomenon in mainland China, but no one dared to be as certain as Zhang Yan in asserting that Hong Kong films were about to decline.

at the same time.

Upon witnessing this scene, the directors of various film studios secretly increased their attention to Zhang Yan.

In fact, apart from Han Sanping, several film studios were quite dismissive of Yuan Meng's inclusion in the inspection team, feeling that a self-employed individual was not qualified to participate.

But when they saw that when Leader Lin was waiting to board the plane, he didn't forget to call Zhang Yan over and whisper to him, they had to be careful even if they looked down on Zhang Yan, who was a self-employed individual.

After all, he's clearly a trusted confidant and favorite of the leader.

Although Lin was mainly responsible for the integration and cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong film circles and did not have direct jurisdiction over the eight major film studios, who did not know that 97 was a top priority?
If you offend Leader Lin, he could easily find a pretext to accuse you of obstructing the integration of the inner and outer harbors, and you'd probably have nowhere to seek justice.

(End of this chapter)