Generation Z Artists

Before Chapter 309 is released, let's dig a hole first.

"Fang Xinghe, the youngest director to win the Cannes Best Director award in history, has created a new miracle!"

"Fang Xinghe, the miracle boy, sweeps the Cannes Film Festival awards for Best Actor and Best Director!"

"A huge sensation! Screenwriter, director, and award-winning actor all come together to shake the world with their youthful love story!"

Media outlets around the world, including those in Europe, North Africa, the Far East, Central Asia, North America, and South Africa, used similar headlines to provide the first wave of overview reports.

Key point: It didn't cost any money.

Even the winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes doesn't deserve this much headline coverage. Ordinary people have little to no memory of the three major European awards from that year because the coverage was indeed not extensive.

But Fang Xinghe deserves it; whether he wins the award or not, it's news.

As the crew of "Young You" boarded a private plane to return to China, a second wave of details began to be revealed in the newspapers.

At this point, the statements from different countries became quite confusing.

The domestic version is the most comprehensive—every detail is of interest to Chinese people and worth tracking.

"Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress—an unprecedented honor. Fang Xinghe's first feature film to achieve all three awards has been widely recognized and a great success, making an outstanding contribution to the development of my country's film industry..."

The evening news program praised Fang Ge again and again, without even needing to highlight him, going straight for "outstanding" and focusing on his doting on his child.

In comparison, Jilin Daily is less objective and focuses on boasting.

"Fang Xinghe, a cultural leader in our province, is a master of both literature and martial arts, capable of capturing dragons at sea. At the age of 18, he set multiple film records, but this is not surprising, but rather expected and anticipated by all parties..."

The two neighboring provinces couldn't help but ask: Who are these parties? What did you anticipate? How come we didn't know?
King Gigi: Don't worry about it. You've never nurtured a genius like this before. You don't understand.

When Yun, Gui, and Chuan realized they couldn't outdo Fang Xinghe's family in flattery, they immediately spoke up for her.

"If the president of this year's Cannes jury hadn't been so insistent on originality in technique and narrative, director Fang Xinghe should have won the Palme d'Or again!"

"A conspiracy! The fact that 'Better Days' didn't win the Palme d'Or is the biggest conspiracy of the year!"

"The film 'Better Days' is the best feature film at this year's Cannes Film Festival. The plot is full of twists and turns, the performances are exquisite and delicate, and the ending is breathtaking. It makes the other films in the festival look like ugly ducklings, but it failed to win the Palme d'Or, which it deserved, because of discrimination. Cannes is disappointing..."

Honestly, the public opinion in the southwest corner is so outrageous that even Fang Xinghe finds it absurd.

He put down his newspaper, turned to Wang Charlie, and asked, "Has the donation been received?"

"The first batch of funds has arrived."

Wang Chali shrugged and replied meaningfully, "In other provinces, we implement a model of building the framework first and then donating once a year. We need to make subtle adjustments based on the local governance capacity, otherwise the cash flow may not be able to support it."

Wang Charlie responded in this way because there was indeed a "minor" problem with the previous donation.

In some areas of Northeast China, there have been cases of false reporting, concealment, and misappropriation of funds, which were posted on Tianya (a Chinese online forum) and caused some negative impact.

Fang Xinghe attaches great importance to public opinion supervision and discovered the issue immediately, but instead of holding the provinces accountable, he allowed it to fester.

He was well aware of the current social climate in China and had long been mentally prepared.

It is neither realistic nor necessary to expect that all donations will be used precisely for impoverished students.

It's fine as long as it's roughly the same; only speak up if it's significantly different.

Of course, Fang Xinghe did do something – when donating to the Southwest, he changed the donation model, no longer covering all donations but only supplementing them, and making donations once a year.

After the news was made public, anyone with a modicum of sense could realize that Fang Xinghe's adjustment was due to "learning from past experiences and lessons."

Even though he didn't say anything or utter a single complaint, his hometown was still thrown into disarray, and the province quickly sent people down to investigate, quietly taking down quite a few people.

But actually... it's not very useful.

Some problems cannot be solved by supervision; we can only wait for the overall development of society. Therefore, Fang Xinghe didn't bother to bring them up. He just did what he could and left the rest to time.

However, the benefits of donating once a year become apparent – ​​people are enthusiastic when you first start donating, and they are even more enthusiastic as the year draws to a close.

Although those border provinces have extremely poor public opinion due to poverty, having more friends means having fewer enemies.

At this moment, those financial media outlets are still trying to belittle Fang Xinghe, but the public opinion environment in China is no longer something they can control.

For example, regarding the difficulty, he still wrote sourly: "It was expected that 'Better Days' wouldn't win the Palme d'Or. Its overly commercial structure is far removed from the essence of art. Cannes is a temple of art, and giving it the Best Director award is already a huge benefit from its age. Encouraging him to make a mediocre youth film at such an age, blah blah blah..."

Then it was immediately attacked by newspapers from major border provinces.

Even those from Xinjiang and Tibet, who are almost entirely outside the system, chimed in with their own voices. Although these local newspapers have virtually no circulation outside their provinces, their sincerity and loyalty are commendable.

Outsiders may not be able to see it, but the people of their own province can.

Therefore, Brother Fang's reputation in those poor provinces has become increasingly positive, even triggering a sharp division and confrontation in public opinion.

Generally speaking, it's like this—

Those economically strong provinces that didn't benefit from the media boom were already the main audience for mainstream media and newspapers. The more economically developed a province is, the more people like to read mainstream media and Sina.com.

In remote and impoverished areas, the sales of local media are very low, and young people don't go online much, so their only information channels are provincial TV stations and newspapers.

On one hand, people are relentlessly slandering Fang Xinghe from every angle, while on the other hand, they only speak well of him and report good things. People of the same generation have increasingly polarized impressions of him.

Ultimately, this led to a divide based on the level of economic development.

This matter may seem unimportant, but it actually surprised and intrigued Fang Xinghe.

To be honest, he doesn't understand contemporary China well enough, so he hasn't figured out what to make his next film or television project.

But now, as the stark contrast between rich and poor becomes more apparent in him personally, his decision-making logic is beginning to emerge.

It seems it's time to go deeper into the grassroots...

……

The crew of the TV series "Young You" received a warm welcome as the plane landed at Beijing Capital International Airport.

Fang Ge was used to this enthusiasm and remained unfazed. Nen Xian was also poised and graceful. Only Xiao Mi was as excited as a monkey.

In fact, Fang Xinghe's mistress was not annoying at all when she was young. She was lively, cheerful and witty, so he abandoned her to the media and ran away.

Yang Mi: Huh? Is this something I can handle?!

It's not a big problem; the young fairy will take on more responsibility.

After winning the Best Actress award at Cannes, this girl rose to fame and became the most mysterious "international movie star" in China.

The media would love to kidnap her back to the TV station and keep her there for an overnight interview.

But... Ms. Liu Yifei, the maverick of the interviewing world, is not afraid at all.

"The director told me not to talk about this."

Why can't I say it?

"Maybe they're worried you won't come to the press conference?"

"No way, we're definitely going!"

"Oh, that's perfect. You can ask the director directly when the time comes."

"???"

After Nenxian also left, the media looked at each other in bewilderment, feeling a sense of unease—were all the people associated with Fang Xinghe this eccentric?
But this did not stop them from writing extensively about it.

A 16-year-old Cannes Best Actress winner, who else can compare?
Taking a photo is enough to get the job done, making up a story is enough to get people to buy it, so just write it.

……

Warmest congratulations to Fang Xinghe, an undergraduate student from the Directing Department of our school, for winning Best Director and Best Actor at Cannes! He returns home with honors!

Warmest congratulations to Fang Xinghe, an undergraduate student in the Directing Department of our school, on the sweeping success of his classic film "Better Days" at Cannes, bringing glory to our country!

"warm……"

Fang Xinghe went back to school, and looking at the various banners and posters all over the campus, he felt a familiar sense of déjà vu...

The school administration is outrageous, but the students are even more outrageous.

Since he couldn't bring bodyguards back to school, he was surrounded by people. The guys from the literature and photography departments were quite arrogant; they didn't want autographs and instead asked all sorts of questions.

Girls in the performing arts department are the best; they only know how to sweetly call their younger brothers "little brother."

By the time Lao Xie and his men rescued him, he had already been touched by the demon at least seven or eight times, getting all the benefits he deserved.

"clang!"

When the trophy was placed on the desk, Lao Xie's eyes widened in amazement.

For the school, having a Cannes Best Director among its students is a unique achievement. Lao Xie immediately asked to borrow the trophy, saying he wanted to make a copy to display in the exhibition hall.

"Row."

Brother Fang was very generous and then made his request.

"But next time there's a meeting, you'll have to go in my place. I'm too lazy to deal with them."

Fang Xinghe was referring to the Film Bureau, which had already notified him that there would be another meeting for "Young You".

This film isn't as big as "Hero," since it hasn't been released yet and we don't know if it will do well overseas.

Old Xie was very concerned about this: "What do you think the global box office of 'Les Young' will be like?"

"It's impossible for it to surpass 'Hero,' so don't even think about it."

Fang Xinghe's words shattered the school's illusions.

"You've all seen the finished film, haven't you? Although it's a teen romance film with relatively low cultural barriers, skin color has already set a limit. The estimated box office in Europe is 8000 million." "Euros?"

"Dollar."

"So they're offering you a buyout fee of 5000 million?"

"Earn it slowly, the important thing is to buy out the copyright."

Box office revenue of 8000 million, DVD sales of 8000 million, copyright operation of 6000 million, and long-term revenue of 2.2 million over 5 years are not even the main point.

The fundamental reason they offered a buyout price of 5000 million is that they used a good product for financial and tax operations.

Movies of this caliber are rare, maybe one every few years. Anyone who tries to make money off box office revenue is a fool.

The school was still not satisfied: "What about the North American market?"

"Sony and Universal's current estimate is 1.2 million."

"Why is there so little?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, Asian actors starring in youth romance films, are there few?"

Fang Xinghe felt that they were really getting arrogant. "I'm not even getting cocky, and you guys are already so arrogant?"
"Cough, cough, cough!"

Director Xie's face turned red, he coughed a few times, and muttered, "What's the difference between your film and 'Titanic'...?"

absurd!

The difference is huge. They both have elements of romance, so can they be compared to a large ship?
Fang Xinghe's guard immediately tightened, and he pressed, "What exactly are you expecting?"

"not me!"

Old Xie hurriedly tried to explain, but he didn't really clear his name.

"Mainly, the school and the bureau, all the leaders at all levels in our line of work hope that you can achieve even greater success. You haven't seen the buzz in China these past few days; some people are even shouting the slogan of 5 million yuan in domestic box office revenue..."

Fang Xinghe knew about this. It was Cheng Yizhong's doing. He said in a sarcastic tone that "Young You" could easily reach 4 million out of 5 million.

The domestic low-level fans are really good at creating a buzz, and the mood in the official fan cafe is all optimistic.

"Awesome! You guys are even more daring than me."

Fang Xinghe laughed in exasperation and gave a thumbs up.

The tactic of praising someone to death didn't work on him, but he couldn't resist the people around him who loved to be fooled. From the school to the authorities to the "Full Sky of Stars" (a nickname for a group of people), everyone was eager to cooperate. It's unbelievable how he managed to do it.

However, there is some truth to what Lao Xie said.

"You're at the peak of your career right now, with your fame and status unmatched in the industry. Everyone's expectations for you are at their highest, so the box office performance of 'You Are My Destiny' is crucial. People can accept it not being as good as 'Hero,' but they definitely can't accept it being too bad. Otherwise, the sheer drop in performance could have a very negative impact..."

"Ah."

Fang Xinghe nodded, a sense of urgency rising in his heart.

He embodies so much hope; he doesn't live for those hopes, but he won't shirk the responsibilities he willingly takes on.

"I'm going to talk to Lao Han. We need to finalize the domestic release details so I can leave. The overseas release is the main event."

"Go ahead." Old Xie winked. "President Han has prepared a surprise for you."

……

The so-called surprise is the domestic film protection month.

Once the door was closed, Han Sanping was incredibly blunt: "What date are you planning to release it? I'll clear out the theaters for the first half of the month, and for the next month, only domestic films will be shown. We're going to make it a resounding success!"

Alright, what else is there to say?
"It will be released globally in June, but I need to check with the North American market for the exact date."

What should Japan and South Korea do?

"Let the local brokerage team handle the coordination. I really don't have time. I can only go and make some trips myself in about half a month."

"Will that work? Those are two such important markets..."

“Other movies may not work, but the subject matter of this film, ‘Less Than You’, is so compelling that we don’t need to put in any effort; they’ll come to us with their own resources.”

Fang Xinghe's confident smile dazzled Han Sanping. He still had concerns in his heart, but everything that happened in reality soon proved Fang Xinghe's foresight.

……

On his first day as the Cannes Best Actor winner, everything in Japan and South Korea was as usual, with reports focusing on the honor.

The next day, the usual procedures continued, with the world focusing on Fang Xinghe's performance.

On the third day, the performance reached its peak, giving rise to the first climax.

Keywords such as Fang's actor training method, performing arts master, cruel drama concept, and ultimate dedication are flying around everywhere.

But by the fourth day, public opinion in Japan and South Korea began to diverge from that elsewhere.

Does school bullying exist in China?

The keyword trended on social media... Oh, there's no such thing as trending topics now, but the meaning is similar; this is what people are generally discussing.

After two more days of discussion online, print media began to follow suit.

Gallup launched a survey specifically on the topic: Have you ever been bullied at school?
The investigators deliberately avoided primary schools, limiting their interviews to middle and high school students, and then arrived at a statistic that was both sensational and not really surprising.

In South Korean schools, 79% of respondents believed they had been bullied, and 17% admitted to bullying others.

As for the 4% difference in the middle... there is actually no difference.

Because in South Korean schools, there is no clear dividing line between the bullies and the perpetrators. Many people have a dual identity: they are both the bullies and the bullies who have bullied weaker targets.

The existence and strictness of the seniority system make this situation seem natural.

Therefore, the actual number of bullies may exceed 50%, but most respondents are unwilling to admit it and have chosen to beautify their own position.

In Japan, however, the figure is not so alarming, with the bullying rate just over 50%.

Okay, actually it's pretty scary.

This is mainly because Japanese students generally have a submissive mentality. They are used to situations like being ostracized, isolated, or subjected to mild mockery, so the data looks relatively good.

In terms of truly targeted bullying, South Korea is about 10 percentage points higher than Japan.

In cases of campus extortion, confinement, molestation, and forced drug trafficking that border on crime, Japan's rate is 10 percentage points higher than South Korea's.

The American school shootings that Generation Z is particularly familiar with are actually just cases where the level of violence is too extreme, and the actual bullying rate is "less than" 35%.

As for the place with the most severe school bullying in the world, India... sorry, that's not bullying. How can punishing livestock be called bullying? Even the people on trial didn't admit it.

Gallup's Japan and South Korea survey report did not cause any stir worldwide; this stuff doesn't get out of the country.

However, within their own country, the anticipation for "You Are My Destiny" among teenage viewers has indeed reached its peak.

A topic in the official fan cafe of Baby's Breath has been manually pinned to the top with a long-term number of replies.

"I want to see how Fang Xinghe deals with school bullying."

The replies below were varied and lively.

"Idiot, your wording is wrong. What do you mean by 'face'? Fang Shen doesn't need to face anything."

"How could anyone possibly bully him?"

"Yes, what we want to see is how he films bullying, or rather, how he views these issues."

"Hopefully it'll be a thrilling movie, and we'll get those bastards killed!"

"Yes, given Fang Xinghe's personality, he will definitely not let us down!"

"I can't wait! I hope he can change something!"

"Relying on one movie? Come on, South Korea is beyond saving."

Even if nothing can be changed, I hope to draw strength from him.

The popularity of "One More Time" has skyrocketed among teenagers in Japan and South Korea.

No one discussed acting skills, very few people discussed the romance elements, a small number of people discussed appearance, and most people focused on the theme itself.

This level of focus is unparalleled anywhere else in the world, and this focus allowed Kim Jae-hee to secure a 15% distribution fee from CJ.

"You don't need to publicize this at all."

That's how she started.

"This is a special movie that would be a huge hit if it were released on any random date. Doing so little work and getting 15% of the profits, what more could you ask for? Lucky ones!"

Kim Jae-hee's strong performance convinced them—or rather, the strong performance of "Les Young" itself convinced them.

Therefore, the issuance fee for South Korea was set at 15%, while Japan's was slightly higher, at 18%.

Starry Sky Films was able to take around 37% to 40% of the total box office revenue, while CJ and Sony took over the business of bullying theaters.

How much will the box office in Japan and South Korea explode?
This is a problem, but not one that needs to be worried about.

The real problem was the North American distribution. Fang Xinghe had to go to great lengths to create a trap for Universal and Sony.

They're just waiting for them to step in.

(End of this chapter)