New Age Artists

Chapter 602 Creating a Storm!
There are many things that cannot be thought about too carefully.

There's no need to make it too complicated or involve conspiracy theories, just an analysis based on the facts.

You can discover a lot of details that you have overlooked.

Shen Santong's words were like a wake-up call to the people.

Liu Yan thought about it and realized that it was true: "Director Shen, do you mean that there is a gap in our art films?"

Shen Santong said: "They are both art films, excellent Hollywood art films, even if they are reflective, they are for the sake of unity."

"It's not that Hollywood doesn't have bad movies, of course there are some, but only when there is a sufficient base can quality movies be produced. It's that movies that have been selected by the market, time, and audiences are those that express love for the country, the times, and the family."

"Love is a kind of warm and active vitality. In our literary and artistic films, similar temperament is rarely seen. Subconscious deconstruction, subconscious tearing, cold, stereotyped, empty, and perverse emotions are mostly seen."

"I have always called for an end to the binary division between business and art, and I am still calling for this now. We should learn from the good and emulate Hollywood."

"Hollywood's art films, which are mainstream, do not fundamentally and subconsciously deny their own culture and system."

"Not only that, the original novel of Forrest Gump was a satire, but the movie was made into an inspirational story."

"We won't go into an in-depth interpretation. From a cultural perspective, this movie bridged the divide in the United States at the time. While achieving box office success, it also produced good social benefits."

"It's strange that some of us admire foreign things but are unwilling to learn good things."

Liu Yan didn't know how to respond.

She can't say what Shen Santong can say, and she still wants to stay in the circle.

In fact, she was very surprised that Shen Santong asked her to host the live broadcast.

I dressed up specially today and bought a cashmere coat that I usually don't buy. I wore a burgundy satin dress underneath, which looked both elegant and sexy.

When I got inside, I took off my coat and looked carefully, and found that everything I needed was there.

Liu Yan did not forget the original question: "Director Shen, what do you think of Director Zhang's Oscar bid?"

Shen Santong said: "I think what Director Zhang Yimou said is right. The Oscar is just an award from the United States. Director Zhang Yimou also said that we value the Oscar because the United States has the largest film market."

"Instead of chasing awards, it is better to launch our own set of standards and build our own market."

"It is more important to do our own thing first. Our focus should be to get rid of external constraints. The market is big enough to support our own film path. Even if we can't, we should not be stupid enough to do what others give us."

The meaning is self-explanatory. The so-called impact on the Oscars is to solve problems set by others.

Liu Yan asked: "So that's why you never thought about competing for an Oscar?"

Shen Santong is a very eccentric director.

Since his debut in 05, he has won most of the box office titles for domestic films and even some domestic and imported films, with only a few exceptions.

If a domestic director won the award, it was basically because of him.

Logically, after such commercial success, a director would pursue "art".

However, Shen Santong had no interest in the three major European awards, the Oscars, the Golden Horse Awards, or the Golden Image Awards, and was often too lazy to even attend award ceremonies.

Shen Santong shook his head: "My main task at the moment is to build the foundation, and the same is true for Santong Entertainment. Foreign awards and honors such as the Oscars, Cannes, Berlin, and Venice are not on the future list."

"Our generation of filmmakers should not chase after external recognition, but expand the market first. Only in this way can the next generation of filmmakers communicate or compete with the outside world with dignity."

Liu Yanpeng said: "Wow, you made a great sacrifice."

Shen Santong did not take credit for it: "We faced the criticism of thousands of people with a cold brow, and we were willing to serve as a cow for children. We were not considered to be bowing our heads, we were just cultivating our own fields."

"To build the two bombs and one satellite, many people gave up external treatment and cutting-edge academic research to do engineering and build something that was already known, and that had already been built in foreign countries."

"Before that, there were countless martyrs who shed blood, fought with others, and tied their lives to their belts. They had no hobbies or lives."

"Comparatively, we filmmakers are so much better off. We have domestic awards, we have a market, we make so much money, and we have gained enough success and material things."

"We don't burn other people's stoves, we burn our own stoves well. It's a simple request, and it's also good for ourselves."

"If you burn other people's firewood, you will burn all your own firewood, and you will freeze to death when you turn around."

Shen Santong spoke earnestly, hoping that more people would wake up.

Santong Entertainment is just a company and it is impossible for it to accomplish everything.

Film evaluation, award standards, and overall structure require cooperation from all parties to complete.

Chasing after the Oscars and European art awards will turn yourself into something half-human, half-ghost.

Once you get into that rhythm, prepare to be eaten alive.

There is always a reason to skin the turkey, suitable for every turkey that volunteers to walk up to the altar.

"Parasite" would not have won the award if Hollywood capital had not conquered the Korean market in one swoop.

What Hollywood is doing in Korea is a repeat of what costume blockbusters are doing in Tokyo.

This has nothing to do with conspiracy theories or ideology, it is simply from the perspective of industry competition.

They have the means and already have a complete business operation model for how to capture a market.

First, support it, and then pull out the ladder, overdrawing and burning the local market.

The direction of development is distorted and heading towards self-destruction.

Finally, they pick the best and bring the most outstanding practitioners under their command and have them integrate into their rules according to stereotypes.

When top stars arrive in Hollywood, they first play stereotypical roles.

It is equivalent to a novel about ascension, where a powerful ancestor from the lower world comes to the fairyland to sweep the door and wash dishes.

One of the things the United States loved to do in its early years was to bring in outstanding talents from countries such as Japan and the United States, and then not use them and deliberately waste them.

Fortunately, Dongda Film has policy support, and the market is large enough to provide room for maneuver, allowing it to trade space for time.

If we rely entirely on immature film practitioners, we will be doomed.

Korean movies don't have this autonomy, absolutely not at all.

This is true for movies and TV series as well.

Without Netflix's efforts, how could the drama "Squidward Fever" be so popular?

Shen Santong was certain that a lot of money was spent.

It's not just a simple investment of money; we've also invested strategic resources, opened up channels that were previously closed, and made all-out efforts.

Netflix has been rewarded for its huge investment, with revenue from "Squid!" and the Korean market.

The subsequent profits of "Squid" have nothing to do with the producers, actors and directors.

When it came to the second part, the director said directly that there would be no money to be made if the second part was not filmed.

This is the horror of the industry giants in the United States.

They don't just want benefits in one aspect, they want benefits in all aspects.

We need the Korean market, we need the profits of "Squid Game", and we also need the excellent Korean production team and actors to contribute their creativity
Occupying a production ecological niche is not only about eating, but also about making the conquered market feel proud and offering their own flesh and blood.

At the same time, because of its narrative advantage, Netflix only needs to spend money in the local market and encourage the local media machine to play a role. Once the situation is opened up, people from abroad will follow suit.

Even if the spiritual core and subsequent benefits have nothing to do with South Korea, the bombardment of keywords such as "the United States attaches importance to recognition", "European and American trends", and "success in entering the United States" are still enough to easily trigger heat in South Korea.

Not only the Koreans, but also some inexplicable people from the University of Tokyo followed suit.

Some people immediately knelt down and reflected on themselves.

Why don't we have Squidward Games?
There are also Korean fan circles. In order to maintain the popularity of the Korean Wave in Europe and the United States, you use the rhetoric of self-entertainment in your own entertainment, and the people around the Korean fan circles will also stir up trouble in various ways.

Moreover, the above operations have little to do with the quality of the movies or TV series themselves.

Especially for award-winning films, everything can be explained by art.

A shot of shit can also be an attempt at artistic exploration, depending on how the loudspeaker shapes it.

It could be "Squidward Furious", "Dark Glory", "Parasite", "Veteran" or "Memories of Murder".

The key is whether to give a loophole or not.

Given, there is always a set of angles to blow.

This means that if you can do it, you can do it, and if you can't, it's okay too.

If you say no, then it’s no; if you say yes, then it’s no.

The domestic entertainment industry’s “self-production and self-sales” of movies and TV series is child’s play in foreign countries.

What Europe and the United States do is a self-circulating cycle.

People are not allowed to grow crops on their own lawns. How can such an outrageous rule be enforced?

Capital operation has entered a highly monopolistic stage.

The University of Tokyo has a pre-explosion drama, so doesn’t the Citigroup have one?
It’s just that Hollywood movies and American TV series used to be filtered in Tokyo University, and no one questioned it.

Without the filter, the low common sense characteristics of Hollywood movies are clearly revealed.

Shen Santong really hopes that film practitioners can have a basic understanding and a basic sense of the overall situation.

"Director Shen, a question about the Spring Festival schedule." Liu Yan found a question about this year's Spring Festival schedule from the comments of netizens.

It is also one of the interview tasks, to build momentum for Santong Entertainment’s Spring Festival schedule.

In the two dramas "Lost on Journey 4" and "Zhao Zilong", Shen Santong was neither the director nor the producer, and he was not listed as the producer in name only. However, as these are key dramas, he is confident about the general direction.

Just chatting for almost an hour.

Shen Santong simply went to check out the comments from netizens himself.

In terms of live streaming, it is not as good as in later generations where you can just use a mobile phone, you have to use a computer, but it is also very similar to later generations.

This live broadcast was linked to a large screen projection.

Shen Santong looked at the real-time speeches on the screen and inexplicably felt a sense of déjà vu.

Netizens’ comments were all kinds of strange, some were about movies, some were related to the company, and some were greetings, happy new year, etc.

They basically remain friendly, not because the netizens have high quality, but because those with low quality cannot speak.

Restrictions have been made so that only those who have been following for a certain period of time can speak.

Shen Santong looked for questions about Oscar, "The Flowers of War", and Zhang Yimou.

I just left something to say but it’s not finished yet. Now that the live broadcast is coming to an end, I can talk about it now.

Not hard to find.

Shen Santong criticized "The Flowers of War" at a tea party at the Film Bureau. The public did not make it public, but among the attendees, there was an arty director who had a grudge against Shen Santong and posted a blog post about it. People who follow the film industry can find out if they want to.

In addition, Shen Santong had just talked about the Oscars and did not directly respond to "The Flowers of War", which made many netizens even more curious.

"Everyone, please stop making trouble and stop spreading rumors. Director Zhang Yimou is a senior whom I respect. When I was in college, when Hero was released, I argued with many teachers and classmates. I thought Hero was a film that would go down in film history, and I still think so now."

It would have been fine if he hadn't mentioned it, but as soon as he did, the topic in the live broadcast room shifted to Zhang Yimou.

Shen Santong saw that someone had already posted "but".

"No buts. I respect Director Zhang a lot. I won't comment on The Flowers of War. I can't say anything about Oscars. Everyone has their own way. The Oscars are not run by my family. I just need to cultivate my own field."

When Shen Santong saw people saying that he was smooth and had changed, he just smiled and said nothing.

"Let's not talk about The Flowers of War. I want to talk about why our art films lack love and beautiful elements, and discuss it with you all."

"From the tone of director Zhang Yimou's films, he has entered the field of commercial films and has made a breakthrough in the field of art films. From his series of works, we can get a glimpse of art films."

"Why is director Zhang Yimou so popular in international awards? Of course, his films are better than many of his second-generation disciples, but most importantly, they fit into the Western liberal narrative framework."

"That is, tradition and modernity replace our own narratives to tell our stories."

"This narrative framework has advantages. By placing the West in a modern context, it will have an advantage in awards and the like."

"It meets the needs of the West, proving that they are naturally superior to us who are in a 'traditional' position, so they are qualified to act as teachers."

"We are 'traditional', so we need to move towards modernity. By modernity, we mean following the Western model."

"Red Sorghum, director Zhang Yimou's debut film, has this historical perspective from the original work to the film."

"This movie may seem bold and upbeat on the surface, but the underlying history is actually stagnant. China in the 1930s was no different from China five hundred years ago or one thousand years ago."

"The book symbolizes 'modernity', we represent 'tradition', and what is 'Brother Luohan' who represents light and victory? Anyone who has seen it will know."

“I think director Zhang Yimou unintentionally satisfied a certain need in the West.”

"It implies that we must be baptized by Western civilization and move from the static sorghum fields to the flowing blue of vitality, otherwise there is no hope."

"The West liked this, so they gave it the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. It became the first Asian film to win this honor, and it established Director Zhang's artistic status, which has remained unshakable to this day."

"Since then, from "Ju Dou", "Raise the Red Lantern", "Qiu Ju Goes to Court", and even in commercial films such as "House of Flying Daggers" and "Curse of the Golden Flower", there are more or less traces of this."

"The history in his films is static, and the ancient times are vague, with no clear specific dynasties. Hero has relatively clear periods, but a lot of it is fictional, and Curse of the Golden Flower is even more so."

“When it comes to The Flowers of War, although the subject matter has changed a lot, the historical narrative has not changed much.”

Shen Santong spoke well of the person.

In fact, if you think about it carefully, the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games also has traditional costumes that are very vague, with no trace of any specific dynasty. They are still static and unchanging.

Zhang Yimou's approach is to abstract non-Western nations as women and the West as strong and powerful men.

It caters to the Western people's sense of racial superiority and need for dominance.

As a result, he has won numerous awards at various Western film festivals, and became the first domestic film director to "export and sell domestically."

But it's still the same problem. Times have changed, and the image of women today does not conform to Western interests.

The current situation of Oumeng is that it has not only failed to develop after 08, but has also stagnated and even regressed.

I no longer have the mood or sense of superiority to look down on the East.

He was laughing while watching the fun, but when he looked back he found that his own house was on fire.

It would be strange if I could laugh.

The United States needs to abstract the University of Tokyo into a contradictory image that is destructive, but also impossible to be destructive.

These are not what "The Flowers of War" can give you.

The live broadcast room exploded.

Shen Santong did not comment on "The Flowers of War", but he has already commented on it in its entirety.

It's not just about evaluating "The Flowers of War", nor is it just about Zhang Yimou.

Many people suddenly realized: "So that's how it is, no wonder I always feel that art films are awkward in every way."

Some people did not accept this, as Shen Santong's analysis was beyond their usual thinking.

Many young intellectuals shouted that this was unacceptable.

Shen Santong saw that the live broadcast room was so popular that he couldn't even see the comments clearly. He scrolled through many comments in one second and explained, "Don't think that director Zhang Yimou is bad. I just want to discuss art films with you and see where the problems are."

"In fact, director Zhang Yimou is very good, and his film Sorghum Field was also progressive."

Shen Santong was not being polite, it was indeed true.

Zhang Yimou only hints and uses the language of the camera to make people understand.

Books like Wolf Totem are simply blatantly selling racial superiority.

The sixth generation of directors are generally crawling on the ground.

Compared with other Five Generations films, such as Tian Zhuangzhuang's, and those influenced by the avant-garde European film theories that do not speak human language, Zhang Yimou's plays are at least understandable to people.

Liu Yan on the side was stunned.

The more I explain, the more frustrated I become.

This is Zhang Yimou!
This is Zhang Yimou!
Shen Santong is not slandering Zhang Yimou, nor is he making up stories. Instead, he uses his experience to showcase the underlying tone of the art film.

Liu Yan had an inexplicable sense of déjà vu and suddenly realized something.

I remembered.

Four years ago, there was also a live broadcast of Li An's "Lust, Caution". At that time it was still a picture chat room, and he was the host.

Liu Yan looked at Shen Santong sitting in front of the computer and couldn't help but look away.

sharp!

Sharp!

Of course, Shen Santong's words were just polite. He was openly criticizing "The Flowers of War" and Zhang Yimou.

"Lust, Caution" and "The Flowers of War" are like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Hero".

"Hero" follows the trend of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". It has some problems but they are not big.

"The Flowers of War" appears to be deformed and full of problems.

Even though he knew the other party would not succeed, Shen Santong still stood up and expressed his opposition.

Because he believes in the audience.

"The Flowers of War" dispels serious themes. With a reported investment of 600 million yuan, it only has a few minutes of war scenes.

It's all hype, and inappropriate hype at the right time. The audience is not brainless fools and will feel something is wrong.

It may not be apparent now, but one day the audience will understand.

A resolute struggle must be waged.

The live broadcast directly sparked discussions on major websites and created a storm in the industry.

There was no other reason. The person who spoke was Shen Santong.

Shen Santong has many identities, including writer, singer, director, investor and businessman.

Now there are basically only two labels, director and the helmsman of Santong Entertainment.

China's total box office in 11 was 252 billion yuan, up 46% from the previous year. Among them, domestic films accounted for 132 billion yuan, up 18%, while imported films accounted for 120 billion yuan, up 96.6%. Imported films almost doubled.

There are three main reasons for such exaggerated results.

The construction of the First Cinema Chain is in full swing, with more than 05 screens. The annual increase is nearly twice the number of screens in 08. The total number in is so terrifying.

Second, ticket subsidies. The war among group buying websites is in full swing. The scale of e-commerce ticket subsidies has reached 5 million yuan, and this trend is still continuing. The Internet is serious about burning money.

The third is the entry of Hollywood. In 11, nearly 40 Hollywood films were introduced throughout the year. In addition to the original quota of 20, 19 more films, including special films and bought films, were introduced. Among them, 30 had box office revenues of over 95 million yuan. The box office revenue of Hollywood films accounted for more than % of the box office revenue of all imported films.

The efforts to introduce Hollywood films are unprecedented.

After 12 years of negotiations in the previous life, there were only 34 films, 14 of which had technical requirements. This time, Hollywood got to reap the benefits first.

The result was as expected, when Hollywood came, domestic films had almost no ability to resist!

In addition to Tee Link Entertainment!
The number of Hollywood imported films has increased, with two to three blockbusters coming out every month.

From January to June, there are more than three films every month, and only the key projects of Santong Entertainment can be touched.

If Santong Entertainment fails to produce key films, the Japanese crown will only fall from one Hollywood imported film to the second Hollywood imported film. Only Santong Entertainment can compete with Hollywood imported films.

Dramas like "Wolf Tooth" and "Li Shimin" can even outshine Hollywood imported films during the summer season.

That’s all, domestic films are still on the defensive.

The release date was adjusted during the Lunar New Year holiday.

"Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol" and "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" have been moved to next year to make way for "The Flowers of War" and "Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate".

The box office of domestic films exceeded that of imported films, which is exactly the same as the box office of the two films before New Year's Day.

Even though Santong Entertainment has the home field advantage, only a few dramas can touch it, and most of the time it still has to avoid it.

That’s enough!
With such a large introduction effort, we can still ensure that the box office share remains above half, which is enough!
One can imagine Shen Santong’s status!

Typed out!

As the CEO of Santong Entertainment, domestic films account for more than 60% of the market share, and this is not based on forced monopoly, but a real victory of content.

As a director, most of the films have to explore the ceiling of the box office. "Wolf Tooth", "Inception" and the "Lost on Journey" series involve multiple categories and create multiple themes.

Zhang Wei commented that Big Mouth has been restrained again and again, not because he has a good mentality, but because he has to. The existence of Shen Santong makes many people feel suffocated.

"This is too much! You should take your diploma back if you betray your teacher and ancestors!"

Tian Zhuangzhuang let out a roar.

"Too much!"

Zhang Weiping's eyes flashed with ferocity and he was angry for a moment.

Shen Santong's public criticism of Zhang Yimou, even if he used a roundabout way of speaking, was enough to stir up a stir.

A great discussion about film art is no longer limited to a small circle, but has spread to the mass level.

(End of this chapter)