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

Chapter 577 What's the point of a film festival if you're not showing off? (14)

Shen Yan really likes Wan Qian…

I just like it, but I'm not obsessed with it!

Actually, her looks and opportunities are not bad.

He's released albums and participated in "Dancing with the Stars," but he's never really achieved anything significant...

As for her 'not wanting to be famous,' that's impossible—she won the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in 'Paradise in Service,' and she went on stage to accept the award wearing a dragon robe!

This includes her appearance on the popular Hunan TV show "Day Day Up" in her hometown, where she still wore a dragon robe and appeared with her Golden Horse Award trophy...

This is what you call not wanting to be famous?
With Fan Bingbing's Cannes dragon robe as a shining example, it's hard to say that Wan Qian didn't borrow from Fan Bingbing's methods of creating hype.

Having worn the imperial robes twice, is she as serene and unassuming as a chrysanthemum?

Therefore, the most easily ruined persona in the entertainment industry is one of indifference and detachment!

It can be evidence of a celebrity's "unassuming and uncompetitive" image, or it can be interpreted as an awkward cover-up of "pretending not to want what you can't have."

The so-called "not wanting to be famous" is most likely a kind of conflicted mentality.

Actually, many celebrities are just like this...

On the one hand, they hope to gain fame to expand their selection of scripts, but on the other hand, they don't want to expose their private lives to attract attention and pursue "viral fame".

He was also complaining and resentful, "Why can't someone as skilled as me break out of the industry based on my profession?"

This kind of person is actually quite cute...

Actually, Director Chen had felt this way before. He wanted to make good movies, but making movies isn't something you can just do with words. It requires money, people, influence, investors, distributors, and you have to travel all over the country to do promotion.

Moreover, even a good script may not pass censorship!

Even if it passes censorship, the audience may not be willing to accept it.

However, he eventually got used to it. If a role came along and the script was good, he would take it; if no roles came along, he would just stay put…

Of course, Wan Qian isn't at his level!
So why can't she break out of her niche?
The answer is simple: because your expertise isn't so outstanding that it's unparalleled.

She doesn't have phenomenal acting skills, nor does she have any amazing resources...

Oh, Shen Yan will definitely cast her in his next project—"Major Events in Life"!

……

Attending a film festival is definitely just a way to show off!

Otherwise, why would you come here?

Listening to someone brag?
Wow, this year's Shanghai International Film Festival is really impressive. Gong Li, Jiang Wen, and Jackie Chan are all here, and even Natalie Portman, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant, Jean-Jacques Annaud, and Japanese director Shunji Iwata...

The guest lineup is indeed impressive.

However, Shen Yan didn't stay with this group; he first gave an interview with the "Brotherhood of Blades" crew...

I helped promote it, and then I joined the forum directly.

The title of the first forum was "Chinese Stories" Challenging "Hollywood!"

Oh, 'challenging' means going beyond the domestic market and competing with Hollywood on the international stage!

Then a group of people talked about international perspective. Zhou Tiedong, the head of China Overseas Promotion, said a lot of things, such as "We can't compete with Hollywood, Hollywood occupies 90% of the global market" and "Chinese films lack universal values".

However, he said something that really struck me: 'Who wants Chinese films to go global? Who is the main force behind it? Is it an official demand or a grassroots demand? Is it a political, cultural, or commercial demand? No one has ever directly answered or addressed this question!'

Furthermore, "Of the more than 700 films produced in the US each year, only a few dozen truly become global hits. The rest are domestic films—Black films are not watched by white people, and teen films are not watched by adults."

"Actually, in recent years, the films with the largest proportion of China Film Group's overseas exports are Shen Yan's films... 'Northeast Folk Tales' has earned more than 1700 million US dollars in global copyright revenue, and 'Fish and Dragon Town' has also performed well overseas. I think we can talk to Shen Yan!"

Shen Yan chimed in: "I've read a lot of reports that say Chinese films need to go global, but I think we should first meet the needs of our Chinese audiences. This kind of rhetoric reflects a sense of inferiority and weakness in our culture. What's wrong with me not going global? If I make a Chinese film that Chinese audiences love but foreigners don't, there's nothing shameful about that!"

"Is the concept of 'going global' merely pandering or an overabundance? I always feel that our media's attitude towards foreign countries is one of looking up to them..."

"Folk tales... are actually ghost stories, but our policies don't allow the filming of ghost stories, so we made rural ghost stories, which overseas Chinese might be interested in!"

Are you interested in co-productions?

"I have no interest in co-productions. I feel that once you choose a co-production, you inevitably have to abandon local aesthetics and cater to overseas aesthetics. Then you can't choose many stories anymore, and the only choices are disaster films and monster films..."

Zhou Tiedong interjected: "DreamWorks will co-produce 'Tibetan Code' with China Film Group, and Luc Besson will join the cast of 'Wolf Totem.' In addition, Hollywood producer Tom DeSanto came to China in 2012 with plans to develop a 'Investiture of the Gods' trilogy, investing 10 billion yuan, and it's still under development..."

Tom DeSanto is a top Hollywood producer who has produced numerous Hollywood blockbusters, including "X-Men," "The Lord of the Rings," and "Transformers."

In 2012, Tom DeSanto came to China and officially announced the project "Fengshen Tianxia"—a film trilogy based on the Chinese mythology "Fengshen Bang".

The invitation was extended by Yishang Media, but the project was unsuccessful because, according to Tom DeSanto's vision, *Fengshen Tianxia* was a foreign-language film, and foreigners were cast as the main actors…

In other words, this is a film funded by Chinese capital but produced by a foreign team.

Is this still a Chinese film?

At that time, Yishang Media even established a company called Fengshen Cultural Industry Group, intending to use it specifically to operate "Fengshen Tianxia"...

Most importantly, they didn't raise enough funds!
You want to make big-budget productions when you don't have the money?

However, Wu Ershan learned from his mistakes and also produced the "Fengshen Trilogy." He also hired the producer of "The Lord of the Rings," but instead of Tom DeSanto, he hired Barry M. Osborne...

Shen Yan shrugged and asked directly, "But if 'Tibetan Code' casts a foreigner as the lead actor, would that movie be considered a Chinese film or an American film?"

"It's considered a co-production..."

"Back then, Hollywood companies were interested in 'Ghost Blows Out the Light,' but the author didn't sell the rights. He felt that if he had to cast foreigners in the good story of 'Ghost Blows Out the Light,' it would be better not to do it at all!"

So, what are your thoughts?

"I just feel that we don't need to cater to so-called universal values. We should just create works that align with the Chinese Dream and promote the great unity of people around the world..."

"Where can you find such a work?"

Shen Yan spread his hands: "The Martian is about people all over the world uniting together to save the male protagonist who was stranded on Mars. It's just one person's life, but it highlights the cornerstone of the value of human civilization!"

"Hollywood movies, especially big-budget ones, have been filled with spectacle films like superhero movies... I enjoy watching them, but sometimes I want to watch something different!"

"What advice do you have for Chinese films going global?"

Shen Yan thought for a moment, then said, "Part of the reason for film consumption is cultural confidence, and cultural confidence comes from military strength and overall national power. In other words, soft power needs the support of hard power! To put it bluntly, when our comprehensive national power surpasses that of the United States, or to put it even more bluntly, when our number of aircraft carriers catches up with that of the United States, it will be much easier for us to talk about exporting our films overseas!"

"I disagree, Korean movies..."

Shen Yan waved his hand: "When a country becomes so powerful that it is number one in the world, it becomes the benchmark for values, aesthetics, art trends and other aspects that the world admires. Second place is meaningless! Don't argue with me, this is common sense!"

(End of this chapter)