Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 733 Symposium

Knowing that Liu Yifei had gone home, her colleagues at the company and on set tacitly refrained from bothering Director Li with work-related matters for the next few days.

The couple hadn't seen each other for months; they should have had some time to be affectionate.

These past few days, Liu Xiaoli has been taking good care of her daughter and son-in-law, and she goes back to her room to rest before 9 p.m. every night, leaving the couple with their time and space.

In the morning, they don't rush the two of them to get up and eat breakfast; they can stay in bed until noon if they want.

As for Liu Yifei, in the past six months, she finished filming Disney's "Mulan" and won the international Best Actress award she had always dreamed of. She was too tired and needed to rest, so she turned down all her work.

I'm not reading new scripts anymore, not participating in events, and not contacting any new endorsements.

In her words, "I want to be a good-for-nothing and take a long vacation."

Li Qiutang had no objections and even wanted to be a good-for-nothing with his wife.

But Director Li's wish did not come true. Just ten minutes after he decided to become a useless person with his wife, he received a call asking him to attend an expert seminar on "Dying to Survive" to be held in Beijing the next day.

Li Qiutang wanted to refuse, since he was just a producer doing some auxiliary work: "The director, screenwriter and lead actor can go, I'll just be there to make up the numbers."

"They specifically asked you to go."

This seminar was guided by the Film Association, hosted by the Film Art Center of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and organized by the Film Art magazine. These three organizations had no binding force on Li Qiutang. Given Li Qiutang's current industry status, refusing to participate would not have caused her any loss. However, since they had specifically requested her participation, she couldn't refuse them, so she agreed: "Should I speak?"

"want."

Do they review the manuscript?

"No need to review it. You've attended many seminars, and you've reviewed manuscripts on several occasions."

"Okay, I'll go tomorrow."

As soon as she hung up the phone, Liu Yifei came over.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing to do? Are you afraid I'll eat you up?"

"Is not it?"

"You're so annoying." Liu Yifei punched her husband. These past few days, she had indeed been clinging to her husband like an impulsive, lustful woman, but it was understandable.

"I have to start work tomorrow, you can play by yourself." After telling her about the seminar, Li Qiutang got up and went to the study to write her speech for tomorrow, muttering to herself, "You're only telling me now, I don't even have time to write the speech."

The next morning, Li Qiutang arrived at the seminar venue on time to wait for the start of the session.

These seminars are actually quite boring and don't offer any real substance, but the creators have to go through this process.

In particular, in recent years, there has been a call to create excellent works with realistic themes. The emergence of "Dying to Survive" is exactly what the department wants, so there were bound to be some abstract discussions.

Director Wen Muye and screenwriter Han Jianu were discussing the creation of realistic themes. In fact, everyone present knew that if the script for "Dying to Survive" had not been written by Han Jianu, it would have been difficult to even pass the censorship.

But the result was good, and successful experiences can certainly be shared.

The male lead, Guo Tao, talked about his understanding of the character and his creative process.

Producer Li Qiutang continued to discuss the issue of supporting newcomers. Wen Muye and Han Jianu are both newcomers to film, and "Dying to Survive" is a typical example, so there is a lot to talk about.

At the meeting, one of the chairpersons called on the film industry to pay more attention to realistic themes, provide more funding for them, and explore a completely new path by combining realistic themes with genre-specific creations. The real substance of the seminar was revealed in the private post-meeting discussions.

Li Qiutang has the insight to know that some things cannot be said publicly at seminars.

After the meeting, he told Director Zhang frankly: "Realistic themes naturally carry criticism and satire. To be honest, the degree of 'scale' involved is not something that even veteran directors and producers, let alone young filmmakers like us, can accurately grasp."

Let's not talk official stuff in private. The bureau is well aware of the difficulties in creating realistic works. It's true that if you control it too much, it dies; if you let it go, it becomes chaotic.

Of course, the praise and glorification type also belongs to realism, but to be honest, unless it's a special period, the higher-ups don't really want praise and glorification works. If the lower-ups keep singing praises, people will get tired of it.

Director Zhang, smoking a cigarette, nodded in acknowledgment: "That's why we're holding a seminar for 'Dying to Survive' and inviting you all to share your experiences. If it's too sharp, there will be too much resistance, so it's necessary to package it in a more genre-specific way."

Director Zhang gestured with his hand: "I know what you're trying to say. After being packaged into a genre, the critical edge of the subject matter will be weakened, it won't be sharp enough, and it won't be realistic enough. But packaging into a genre is at least a viable path, and it's better than risking being rejected."

He also cited patriotic films as an example: "In the past, audiences didn't like watching patriotic films, thinking that singing praises was boring. But in recent years, patriotic films have been successfully packaged into commercial genres. Our core spirit of patriotic films remains unchanged, but they are packaged for the audience with thrilling and exciting visual experiences."

Knowing that Li Qiutang was conceiving a realistic story about a female investigative journalist, Director Zhang asked with concern, "Are you really planning to do it, or are you just talking about it?"

"Even if I'm really planning to do it, I still need to see if I can actually do it. I'm not interested in small cases, and I'm worried that I won't be able to film big ones."

Director Zhang laughed: "You're incredibly audacious. And you're worried about not being able to complete a case? Tell me, and I'll give you some advice."

"I recently saw the story of CCTV reporter Liu Wei. I was very inspired by her investigation into a case of accidental death of a newborn."

This case happened in 09 and caused quite a stir at the time. Director Zhang obviously knew about it. Li Qiutang then said, "Do you think Tianjin would let me film this?"

Director Zhang had nothing to say. This case was clearly exposing the wounds of Tianjin's health department, and there would definitely be objections from the local authorities in Tianjin.

Filming this kind of subject matter isn't a matter of being bold or daring, or having connections or influence.

Li Qiutang added, "I also wanted to film the Baiyin serial murder case, but it's not my turn to handle that case."

It's such a waste that this case ended up in Lu Chuan's hands!

Lu Chuan is a novice, and the Beijing elite circle has declined, but its political connections remain. These kinds of cases still circulate within the Beijing elite circle. Li Qiutang doesn't belong to that circle, so naturally she can't get these cases.

Director Zhang could easily detect the jealousy in Li Qiutang's words, and said, "With so many cases, why are you eyeing what's on someone else's plate?"

“Everyone wants to work on a good case,” Li Qiutang said with a smile.

The seminar lasted for two hours, but the discussion afterward took quite a while.

There was a film studies professor or some other expert, whom Li Qiutang had never met before, who immediately criticized Li Qiutang for making science fiction films.

"Science fiction is a niche genre, and the conditions in China are not mature enough. Spending so much money to make this film is not only a waste of money, but also unlikely to recoup the investment. It would be better to invest that money in a drama film like 'Dying to Survive,' which has great real-world significance."

Li Qiutang was confused by what he said and said, "I didn't delay the progress of 'Dying to Survive' even though I was filming a science fiction movie."

The old professor wasn't happy to hear that. He glared at Li Qiutang, said he had short-sighted views, and then left.

Li Qiutang was completely bewildered; why was she being scolded for no reason?

"Forget it, forget it. He's spent his whole life sitting in his study working on theories, and he's probably only been to the film set less than ten times. Just do your own thing and don't worry about him," someone advised Li Qiutang.

(End of this chapter)