Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 336 The Dinner Party (Bonus Chapter for 214 Alliance Leaders)

Oh, Shen Yan didn't say anything...

When the topic turned to "The Telephone," he said, "Currently, we're still quite far behind Hollywood. They have large-scale, industrialized productions. If I were to make 'The Martian,' the pre-production special effects modeling would take eight months... Including set construction, props, and costumes, all require a long period of preparation. Filming is estimated to be delayed until the end of next year, and post-production will take more than a year... But in Hollywood, everything would be completed in six months at most..."

"They've already established a streamlined, industrialized production model, something we really can't compare to..."

"So we should start by making other types of films. Thrillers and teen films have very low costs and decent box office potential. If we have a good budget and some marketing, we can still make a profit!"

"The Telephone... was indeed inspired by films like Frequency and The Butterfly Effect... The setting is also very simple, just renting a villa..."

Lu Chuan remarked, "It has absolutely no artistic merit..."

"Commercial films shouldn't be too artistic!" Shen Yan smiled. "Besides, I think some directors' so-called highly artistic previews aren't really that artistic. They're at the level of cheap, low-brow literature... That's it. They still have the nerve to show off everywhere. No wonder, they only scored a little over 300 on their college entrance exam. If you ask someone with a score of 300 to talk to you about depth, history, or humanity, you'd probably think they're unreliable... That's called a half-baked expert waving around!"

Lu Chuan was getting impatient and was about to speak when the host interrupted, "...Ahem, let's talk about something else!"

Yan Ge also shut up...

I felt like his "sweeping range" was a bit too wide...

The directors present were all graduates of professional film schools; in other words, they were all academically weak...

……

After the meeting, Ning Hao and Guan Hu treated Shen Yan to dinner…

Shen Yan has no problem with it...

Anyway, he's going to Nanjing tomorrow to participate in the "I Am a Singer" tour, so he has plenty of time!

I found a restaurant that seemed pretty upscale, called XX Private Cuisine…

After ordering, the three of them went into the private room.

Ning Hao said, "I'm not drinking anymore... I have to do a promotional event later!"

Guan Hu: "I'm not drinking anymore either, I've been getting dizzy from drinking lately..."

Shen Yan then ordered a pot of tea: "Let's have some tea..."

The staff brewed a pot of Longjing tea, poured a cup for each person, and then left the room.

Ning Hao smiled and said, "I've always wanted to get to know you, and now I finally have the chance!"

Shen Yan smiled and said, "I've known you for a long time, both of us..."

Guan Hu said, "...I watched 'The Telephone.' At the beginning, I thought they were finding a friend from another time to help escape the clutches of a stepmother; but it turned out to be a psychopathic killer from another time. I really didn't expect that..."

"If it's a thriller and there can't be ghosts, then it has to be a psychopathic killer..."

Ning Hao then asked, "You've chosen new directors for several of your films... How did you select them?"

"I've seen their short films, and their narrative pacing is well-suited for this type of movie..."

"...He only chooses new directors? I remember his first film was directed by Yau Nai-hoi, wasn't it?"

“Yau Tat-chi, not Yau Nai-hoi…” Shen Yan explained: “Hong Kong directors are naturally disconnected from the mainland. They don’t understand the mainland, and subjectively, I feel they don’t care to understand it!”

Yau Tat-chi and Yau Nai-hoi, two directors from Milkyway Image… Yau Tat-chi is the director, while Yau Nai-hoi is the screenwriter—the Milkyway Image screenwriting team is mainly composed of Yau Nai-hoi and others: *Election*, *Mad Detective*, *The Longest Nite*, *The Mission*…

Okay, he wrote the screenplay for most of Johnnie To's films!
Including "Needing You..." and "Love on a Diet"—these two films respectively took first and second place at the Hong Kong box office that year…

This is also why Johnnie To can speak loudly in Hong Kong – that's how the Hong Kong film market works; if you're not Wong Kar-wai, you won't get box office success, and even dogs won't listen to you!
Ning Hao nodded: "Hong Kong films in recent years are still following the same old formula, clichéd and unwatchable..."

Guan Hu: "These days, no one wants to watch those so-called period dramas!"

“The main audience has changed. The current mainstream movie-watching group is mostly people born in the 85s and 90s, and these people don’t have that so-called Hong Kong film obsession,” Shen Yan continued. “But everyone likes to watch Hollywood blockbusters! I was browsing online forums before, and what they said was, ‘Ticket prices are so expensive, it feels like we’re getting ripped off watching domestic films!’”

"Browsing Tieba?"

"Yeah... browsing forums and a bunch of online communities... knowing what everyone is interested in... otherwise, we'll drift further and further away from the audience, and they definitely won't like the movies we make!"

"...I always say your movies are huge hits!"

Shen Yan smiled and said, "Many netizens on Tianya are discussing the 1990s and reminiscing about their youth... That's why 'Our Times' is a big hit!"

"And what about 'The Telephone'?"

"For 'The Telephone,' I cast Liu Shishi and Yang Mi. These two are currently the most popular young actresses... Their fan base alone is enough to guarantee a box office hit." Shen Yan added, "Of course, the film itself also needs to be up to par!"

"So what kind of movie do you think would be considered passable?"

Shen Yan thought for a moment, then said, "If the story is interesting, the logic is clear, and the pacing is smooth, it won't be something only the director can understand, but also the average viewer... That would make it a passable commercial film. If you can add some contemporary features or reflections on human nature to a commercial film, then it would be an excellent film!"

Guan Hu was silent for a moment, then asked, "So, you never thought about winning an award?"

Shen Yan didn't answer directly, but said, "Commercial films earn money from audience ticket sales; they need the audience to pay for them... Winning awards only requires considering the judges' aesthetics... I feel that making commercial films is more difficult!"

"I'm curious, how did you get approved?"

"Haha, this year is a special case!" Shen Yan laughed: "The share of imported films has doubled... We need to maintain the 50% red line... So, the censorship will be a bit more relaxed... Moreover, I've only been releasing films during less popular periods. I haven't released any films during the really big periods, like the National Day or New Year's Day holidays!"

"Don't you have a movie called 'The Big Shot' coming out for the National Day holiday this year?"

"That's because Golden Shield Film and Television is politically endorsed... The Film Bureau can't do anything about it!"

"Very large scale?"

Shen Yan thought for a moment and said, "Actually, it's not so bad... It's just the story of Chen Jiaju arresting a rich second-generation... It's based on Li Tianyi's case..."

Guan Hu exclaimed in surprise: "Huh? This is so explicit!"

"...No way... The person sitting next to you has a movie that's been shelved for three years!"

Ning Hao didn't speak, only gave a bitter smile...

It's called "No Man's Land"!

It's said that Ning Hao and Xiaoma Benteng had a mismatch in their personalities. After joining Xiaoma's first film, "No Man's Land," he was shelved for three years. Then, he thought of making a film called "The Golden Era" to earn some money, partly to prove his abilities, and partly to give Xiaoma an explanation—Xiaoma Benteng was the main investor in "No Man's Land"!
Considering the poor box office and critical reception of "The Golden Era," barely breaking even...

Then, after leaving Xiao Ma, he made a fortune with the movie "Breakup Buddies"!
　It took a little while...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)