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

Chapter 357 Discussing Remuneration (Bonus Chapter for 314 Alliance Leaders)

To reiterate, Shen Yan has a pretty good relationship with most media outlets and entertainment reporters…

They chatted for a full twenty minutes.

"Is that enough? If not, ask some other questions... Even if you're just trying to make it up, you need to reach 2000 words!"

"We get paid per article..."

"That was meddling... By the way, I'm going to a producers' forum later, everyone is welcome to come too..."

"Ok!"

After the press conference, Shen Yan bid farewell to the cast and crew of "The Criminal".

By the way, many people wonder, 'When actors attend film festivals, besides walking the red carpet and attending a press conference, it seems like there's nothing else they do...'

Actually, no. Film festivals are an important exchange platform for the film industry. Actors can use this opportunity to conduct business negotiations with producers, directors, screenwriters, etc., and find new cooperation opportunities.

During the film festival, actors have the opportunity to network with peers and industry professionals, building or deepening their connections, which are crucial for future project collaborations and resource sharing.

Of course, for some minor celebrities or actors who don't participate in major activities...

They don't qualify for these activities either.

For them, the film festival is a time to relax and have fun; they might choose to watch movies, participate in fan events, or enjoy the local culture.

Zhu Yilong chose "Dark Shadows" and "My Week with Marilyn Monroe"...

"Dark Shadows," directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp and Eva Green, received mixed reviews, but Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have collaborated eight times, and each time they have surprised and delighted audiences!

Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sweeney Todd, and Alice in Wonderland…

However, after *Dark Shadows*, Tim Burton "set his sights" on Eva Green, and they subsequently collaborated on *Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children* and *Dumbo*...

As for "My Week with Marilyn Monroe," it was a hot film during last year's North American awards season, and Michelle Williams almost won an Oscar!
Ultimately, she lost to Meryl Streep…

None of these movies were released in mainland China!
Oh, Shen Yan told Ji Xiang to take a look at "The Method of Stealing Keys"...

Ideally, we should buy the adaptation rights!
……

The Shanghai International Film Festival... was a mess!

In a sense, the Shanghai International Film Festival's positioning is rather awkward...

This is a fact.

Since it's a film festival, what's the most important thing?
It's the main competition section, of course!
However, the main competition section of the Shanghai International Film Festival was completely unpopular with the media and audiences.

Crucially, no media outlets have reported on this matter…

Generally, top-notch directors don't bring their films to the Shanghai International Film Festival...

Why would masters like Kusturica, Jarmusch, Godard, Oliveira, and Woody Allen come to Shanghai? Why would they bring their works to the Shanghai International Film Festival? They have only one goal: Cannes!

Why? Because Cannes' attitude is: Cinema is sacred!

Therefore, the main competition section each year consists either of films from our own country or foreign films whose names we've never heard of. There are no masterpieces and no emerging filmmakers with international influence.

Celebrities and commerce are the foundation of a film festival, while masters and art are the ladder to success. Without this ladder, a film festival cannot exist!
Many filmmakers look down on this most bizarre film festival in the world; it's less of an international film festival and more of a marketplace for Chinese-language films.

Every year, dozens of press conferences, large and small, are held in hotels in Puxi.

It has gradually become a stage for Chinese-language film crews to promote their products!
As for the reporting: reporters look at celebrities, audiences look at celebrities, organizers look at celebrities…

In the main competition section... nobody paid any attention to the content of the competition films.

Even many film magazines don't publish interviews with the creators, and film reviews are few and far between, offering few surprising insights. The only noteworthy aspect is perhaps the candid remarks of a group of directors—Wang Xiaoshuai once criticized Lu Chuan and Ning Hao: "They've both grossed over 100 million yuan at the box office, but as directors, they're failures. They must envy me greatly because I can decide the direction of my own work. No matter how poor I am, I will persevere, otherwise one's beliefs will crumble. As Yu Dan said when quoting the Analects, once beliefs crumble, it's unpleasant!"
Such insane remarks...the logic is completely shattered.

Has the box office exceeded 100 million?
So you envy me?

What do you envy?
Later, at an industry summit, industry leaders made some startling remarks, including Yu Dong's outrageous claim that "film companies will all be working for BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) in the future!"

Wang Changtian also stated, "In the future, animated films will account for more than 15% of the film box office market!"

Oh, the Huang brothers from Huayi Brothers haven't said anything—they've moved away from film and into real estate…

……

The Shanghai International Film Festival is not held in one place; the opening ceremony red carpet event is held at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, while the forum event is held at the Shanghai Exhibition Center.

The distance isn't too far...

This is the only redeeming quality of the Shanghai International Film Festival.

—Any professional, large-scale film festival will concentrate its event venues.

It is roughly divided into four areas: the opening and closing ceremony venue, film screenings, a trading market, and thematic forums.

In Cannes, for example, all activities take place within a 1000-meter radius of the Lumière Cinema Palace.

Berlin, Venice, Rotterdam, Sundance, and even the Shanghai International Film Festival all have venues concentrated in one area, prioritizing convenience over grandeur.

Upon arriving at the Shanghai Exhibition Center, a large number of media reporters gathered. Shen Yan casually greeted them…

The reporter asked him, "What is Brother Shen Yan planning to talk about later?"

"I'm just a newbie, my main job is to sit in on the classes..."

"So what are your thoughts on Hollywood's dominance in the market?"

"...It's the audience's choice; they are free to choose what movies to watch!"

As Shen Yan spoke, he walked inside, and then he saw Huang Xiaoming and immediately said, "Brother Xiaoming is over there, why don't you go ask him!"

Then the media and reporters rushed over...

Xiao Ming is now known as the most handsome man in the Chinese entertainment industry. He has worked with big directors and big stars, including "The Guillotines," "The Last Tycoon," and he will even be working with Stanley Tong on "City Hunter"!
Yes, he still took on "The Guillotines," mainly because the behind-the-scenes team was too attractive: Michelle Chen as producer, Andrew Lau as director, and Ivy Lam as screenwriter. Ivy Lam is Michelle Chen's go-to screenwriter—they began collaborating after "He's a Woman, She's a Man 2," and subsequently wrote "Golden Chicken 2," "Perhaps Love," "The Warlords," and "Wu Xia"...

However, the film "The Ruffian," which he produced and invested in recently, was a box office failure...

But Xiaoming remained true to his generous nature, publicly declaring, "I will definitely continue to invest in movies in the future!"

The first forum Shen Yan attended was the New Wave Forum.

We invited Qiao Qingshan, representative of CAA China; Wen Jun, film director; Jin Yimeng, director of "Sophie's Revenge"; and Huang Xiaoming…

The topic of discussion is celebrity producers.

Shen Yan is the industry's 'highest-grossing' producer...

Every movie he works on is a box office hit!

Shen Yan initially thought they would discuss the advantages of celebrities being producers, such as the ease with which they could attract investment. However, Wen Jun immediately criticized, "It's putting the cart before the horse for celebrities to be producers. In Hong Kong, Andy Lau was a boss for decades, losing money, then becoming a boss again, and finally achieving success last year..."

"Some celebrities have a bad mentality: Since I have influence, why can't I make all the money myself? If they have this mentality, I shouldn't support them at all."

Then, without mincing words, he began to criticize celebrity salaries: "The current situation is that many people believe there are only a few truly influential stars. Because of their appeal, their salaries have skyrocketed. As producers, we often cast stars in films, and some ask for eight figures, or even more than seven figures. Eventually, we give up. How are we supposed to recoup our investment?"

(End of this chapter)