1978: Female educated youth, don’t want an illiterate husband

China Film Corporation’s quarterly film screenings are always very lively.

The heads of film companies across the country would arrange for people to attend each quarter's film screenings and take copies of the films they liked back for screening.

Of course, they need to spend money to buy the copies here.

Therefore, the film screenings arranged by China Film every quarter are actually internal on-site distribution meetings.

This year, the government has given film studios of all sizes across the country a target of 80 new films, which averages out to about 20 per quarter.

The heads of these local film companies will watch all 20 newly-shot films in the next few days.

Then, based on their own judgment, they determine the number of copies of a film that need to be purchased so that they can take them back and arrange for the film to be screened in their city and county cinemas.

So, there is actually a concept of schedule here. Generally, many people go to the cinema to watch movies during holidays, so there are summer schedules, National Day schedules, Spring Festival schedules, etc. which have not yet become popular.

Most of the film screenings today will definitely be for the upcoming National Day holiday, and the good films will definitely be scheduled to be released during the National Day holiday.

at the same time!

The copies from China Film Corporation are divided into three types.

One is the 35mm copy film that can be shown in large cinemas, that is, the city cinema screening copy;
One type is the 16mm copy shown in medium-sized cinemas, mostly small cinemas in local county towns, or copies shown inside a certain unit's own auditorium.

The films that Cheng Xuemin and his colleagues showed in the auditorium of Yenching University were these 16mm copies.

The last type is the 8.75mm copy that projectionists show in the countryside, which can also be called mobile film copies.

Compared to the first 35mm copy, the latter two are not very valuable, so they are basically not counted in the transcript of a certain movie screening.

In this era, the most important criterion for judging whether a movie is popular or not, and whether its production is successful or not, is the number of city-type 35mm copies sold.

Be straightforward!
For example, the "Shaolin Temple" I just mentioned caused such a huge sensation when it was released in mainland China and set so many records. In fact, the 35mm copies of "Shaolin Temple" sold in mainland China sold more than copies, a record high.

This is nearly double the record holder of 35 mm copies of "Lush Mountain Love" which was released two years before.

If we add the latter two types of liquid copy films, it would be impossible to calculate what kind of screening record "Shaolin Temple" set that year.

Anyway, according to a non-conservative estimate, the 35mm city copies alone have achieved a box office record of over million.

And these days, a movie ticket only costs a dime.

More than 100 million, what does that mean?!

If we add in the mobile screenings in rural areas or county towns where people can watch without buying tickets, it can be said that the number of moviegoers alone will not be broken by any other movie even decades later.

Even little Nezha couldn't catch up with him.

Not to mention any other weight loss stories, hello, mother of so-and-so.

and so!
Today, Wang Yang, Xie Jin and Wu Tianming from Yanying Studio came in person to attend the film screening. They were all here to watch their new movie, so they could have an idea of ​​how many copies they could sell and whether they made a profit or a loss.

After all, their production studio is only responsible for taking money and doing things, and is only responsible for filming. They have no right to interfere in the distribution of the film, that is, selling it for money.

Therefore, for a movie with a fixed investment of 700,000 yuan, how much money was actually sold, whether it was a profit or a loss, can be known from the number of copies sold at today's screening.

Making money is definitely a proud thing, and it contributes to the country's financial cause. When applying for new film projects in the future, you can also get preferential funding.

For example, this year the national quota is for the production of eighty new films, but these eighty films are not evenly distributed among large and small studios across the country!

Everyone has to use their own strength to share the pie of these 80 new films.

There is no doubt that the majority of the profits were taken by the four giants: Yanying Studio, Changchun Film Studio, Shanghai Film Studio and Bayi Film Studio.

Wu Tianming's Xi'an Film Studio has to be ranked at the back, in the second tier with Emei Film Studio.

Of course I lost money, but that’s okay.

It's only 700,000 yuan anyway. The production studio has already taken it all. Can they ask for the loss to be spitted out?
Besides, the fixed investment for a movie is 700,000 yuan. If the production studio wants to make money, it can only rack its brains to find ways to save money on this 700,000 yuan investment.

But if you want to make a good script, there is basically no profit to be made with 700,000.

For example, when Cheng Xuemin was filming "The Shepherd", several major studios were vying for it, but they all allocated 700,000 yuan to it equally. Of course, Wang Yang and his team at Yanying Studio also wanted to save as much as possible, and the more they saved, the more they earned.

But after the final calculation and summary, I can only curse the director Xie Jin for being so damn good at calculating, just right, not more, not less.

It didn't allow their Yan Film Studio to increase its investment, nor did it allow their Yan Film Studio to make a penny.

Therefore, if the production studio wants to make money from its investment, it can only reduce the investment in other scripts. The fixed fund of 700,000 yuan allocated from above may only be given to their production studio for shooting investment of 300,000 yuan, 400,000 yuan, or 500,000 yuan or 600,000 yuan.

Anyway, you have to make money no matter how much.

Of course, film studios have their own way of making money, and saving money is a big part of it, but they can't relax in terms of increasing revenue.

This so-called open source means grabbing the quota of new films set by the authorities every year. If you can grab the right to shoot one more new film, it means an additional 700,000 yuan in funding.

Since it’s a robbery, we have to speak with strength!
The number of copies of a film sold is the best expression of your strength. If your studio's new film makes money at the box office for the country, then it will be easier to get funding for the next one.

Your studio's new films are causing the country to lose money, and every one of them is a loss. You're too embarrassed to just stand aside and go wherever is cooler.

The only way to judge whether it is making a loss or not is to count the number of copies sold at the China Film Group’s quarterly film screenings.

This is the only standard.

Because there is really no such thing as box office when it comes to movies nowadays.

The film companies below basically never report to the higher-ups how many screenings they have held or how much money they have earned.

All levels belong to the government at all levels.

The provincial level is the provincial level, the municipal level is the municipal level, and the county level is the county level. They all fight on their own and make huge profits quietly. Not to mention the production studios can only watch, even the China Film Group, which is responsible for distribution, has to watch.

After all, selling copies means buying out the screening rights, which is a one-time deal.

How much box office revenue they make later on has absolutely nothing to do with your production studio or distribution company.

so what!

Wang Yang came here this time to see how many copies of "The Horse Wrangler", which has attracted much attention from the outside world, can be sold, and whether it can break the previous record of 200.

If they can break this record, the share of new films produced by Yanying Studio next year will be very good.

Wu Tianming of Xi'an Film Studio must have the same idea, and he is equally confident about their "Loess Plateau".

After all, the original scripts were written by Cheng Xuemin, so we must have absolute confidence in this pioneer of reform and opening up.

immediately!

Cheng Xuemin and his friends, all with their own concerns, were welcomed into a small auditorium with a large screen hanging above. The movie being shown was "The Horse Shepherd", which had been played countless times.

no way!
It's really because Yanying Studio's movie "The Shepherd" was so damn popular. If Yanying Studio wasn't in a good position, everyone would have wanted to shoot this movie.

It is the pioneering debut work of the Reform and Opening-up Movement, and to date, it is also the manuscript with the greatest influence on the audience.

Every studio wants to shoot it.

Unfortunately, the copyright was finally obtained by Yanying Studio because of its proximity.

to this end.

In order to get involved in the filming of "The Shepherd", the old rival Shanghai Film Studio reluctantly gave up its key player Xie Jin and seconded him to Yanying Studio to direct the filming of "The Shepherd".

In this way, once "The Shepherd" achieves success, it can be regarded as a co-production between Yanying Studio and Shanghai Film Studio, and everyone can get half of the credit.

That is because both Yan Film Studio and Shanghai Film Studio were optimistic about it and wanted to make it together. Therefore, the local film companies came to the scene and specifically asked to see the finished film of The Shepherd first.

Watch it once when a wave comes, and organize it again when a wave comes.

Before the actual movie screening, I had already lost count of how many times I had been raped.

And judging from the situation, we will have to do it a few more times.

After Cheng Xuemin and his group came in, many people must have known Chen Wen, which caused a lot of surprise, and they began to come forward to greet him.

The protagonist once again became director Chen Wenda from Hong Kong.

But the protagonist didn't even have time to warm up for a few minutes. When they were led to the front row, to Mr. Wu's side, the focus returned to Cheng Xuemin again.

At this time, the heads of film companies and production studios from all over the country exclaimed that this unremarkable young man who came with Old Wang from Yanying Studio was actually the pioneer of reform and opening up!
"When did you go to shoot?"

"I didn't know anything about this old man. Today, he really gave me a big surprise!"

Old Wu was sitting in the main seat at the front. When he saw Wang Yang and the others coming, he nodded and greeted Chen Wen who came from Hong Kong.

Finally, his eyes fell on Cheng Xuemin, and he couldn't help but point at the little guy and sighed.

"Wu Laohao, it was the month after the college entrance examination that I went to Director Xie's crew to stay for a while!!"

Cheng Xuemin smiled shyly and explained to Mr. Wu.

"Why didn't you tell me, an old man, about this when you came back?" Old Wu scolded with a smile and motioned Cheng Xuemin to sit next to him.

This honor instantly made Chen Wen, who came from Hong Kong, look at him sideways, and he valued the young man's judgment even more.

"Old Wang and the others should have told you, right?"

After Cheng Xuemin sat next to him, Mr. Wu did not focus entirely on the film. Instead, he secretly nodded towards Chen Wen and asked in a low voice.

"I heard a little bit. It was said that it was a task assigned by Mr. Liao." Cheng Xuemin nodded, knowing that Mr. Wu was probably asking about the filming of Shaolin Temple.

"Yes! We will co-produce the film, and they will be responsible for writing the script and filming!" Old Wu continued to say to Cheng Xuemin in a low voice, "Originally, I wanted you to participate in the script creation!"

"However, the other party doesn't quite recognize you as a pioneer, and seems to take the script very seriously, and doesn't want us to interfere too much."

“So I’m a little worried that they won’t be able to take good pictures!”

"In other words, it may not be possible to achieve what Mr. Liao wants... a complete film!"

After hearing Mr. Wu's concerns, Cheng Xuemin really wanted to give him a thumbs up and praised him, "Mr. Wu, you are truly a god, and you really can predict the future."

This really made Mr. Wu worried.

Chen Wen's version of "Shaolin Temple" has huge problems both in terms of shooting effects and the script itself.

In the end, they had to scrap everything, rewrite the script and reshoot, wasting the 500,000 Hong Kong dollars that had already been invested.

To know!
The entire filming budget for "Shaolin Temple" was only 1.2 million Hong Kong dollars.

This was the first co-production between the two places, which was decided by Mr. Wu and made with huge investment, and it was precious foreign exchange funds.

At this time, the Hong Kong dollar is definitely also a foreign exchange and a kind of foreign exchange earning task.

After all, the Hong Kong dollar is much more recognized internationally than our RMB.

Therefore, if I fail to produce results, I will not be able to report to Mr. Liao.

So Mr. Wu was under a lot of pressure. That was 1.2 million Hong Kong dollars in foreign currency. If the project was not well shot and the money was wasted, all the people responsible for the project from top to bottom would be criticized.

But then again!

Mr. Wu actually asked Cheng Xuemin to participate in the script writing of "Shaolin Temple". This can be said to be a wise vision and a good move.

As long as Cheng Xuemin participates in the script writing, he can be regarded as one of the screenwriters. During the filming process of "Shaolin Temple", he has more or less some say, that is, participation.

At the very least, there won't be many detours on the most basic script.

Unfortunately, the left-wing New United Company in Hong Kong is so arbitrary and doesn’t like us to get involved.

There's no way to get in and you can only wait for the other party to complete the game.

Fortunately, Hong Kong was able to make drastic measures and remedy the situation in time. They overturned the first version and remade the second version, which achieved sensational results and gave Mr. Wu a good report.

But that was three years later.

Three years!
The filming of "Shaolin Temple" was dragged on for three years. This is another example of Hong Kong's perfunctory attitude towards this political task.

It is also a question of attitude towards us.

Now Mr. Wu is already worried about this, but I don’t know what the old man’s plan is.

Since he asked Cheng Xuemin to come this time and took the initiative to mention this matter to him, he must have some ideas.

"Forget it, why am I telling you this!"

But before Cheng Xuemin could respond, Mr. Wu took the initiative to wave his hand, shook his head and said, "Xuemin, your focus now should be on earning foreign exchange!"

"You have to know that the foreign exchange earning task of our cultural outlet is not ordinary!"

"Although I have your 300,000 yuan in rice and gold to fill the gap, there is still a big gap, so Xuemin, your focus still needs to be on earning foreign exchange!"

"We old guys can't keep up with the international situation and we really can't get foreign exchange from them!"

"The film industry is a minor issue after all, so let Hong Kong handle it on its own!"

Mr. Wu did have some thoughts about Cheng Xuemin.

We thought that even if Hong Kong didn't allow us to get involved in the creation of the script, we could just let Cheng Xuemin start his own business and write another script for "Shaolin Temple".

At that time, both scripts will be sent to Mr. Liao for comparison. We will use the one that is better written.

But consider that there is no comparison!
After all, Cheng Xuemin is one of us. If he writes well, people in Hong Kong will say he is biased and will definitely not accept it.

Even if Cheng Xuemin's script is confirmed by then, people will not devote their whole heart to the filming, which will be detrimental to the united front work in Hong Kong.

Maybe in the end we will have to use the script from Hong Kong, no matter whether it is good or bad.

Since we already know the final result, we might as well not waste our energy on these thankless tasks which may also affect Hong Kong's united front work.

Say it again!

Movies are just a sideshow after all, and they can’t be used to generate real foreign exchange (US dollars).

It would be better to let Cheng Xuemin focus all his energy on earning foreign exchange. The important task of earning foreign exchange for their cultural sector should be completely handed over to this young man.

It would definitely not be cost-effective to ask him to make some movies or something like that.

When Mr. Wu thought about all this, he simply waved his hand and shook his head without waiting for Cheng Xuemin to express his thoughts, pretending that he had not mentioned this matter today.

But what Mr. Wu didn't expect was that Cheng Xuemin next to him said:

"Mr. Wu, if you want to earn foreign exchange through cultural channels, the film industry is actually the most profitable!"

...(End of chapter)