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

Chapter 945 Views on Wealth (13)

Thanks to Jia Zhangke… no, mainly thanks to Huayi Brothers!

"Ash Is Purest White," produced, distributed, and promoted by Huayi Brothers...

That definitely needs to be hyped up!
Thus, headlines such as "Pride of Chinese Cinema: Jia Zhangke's New Film Enters the Main Competition at the Cannes Film Festival!", "Jia Zhangke's New Film 'Ash Is Purest White' Selected for the Main Competition at the Cannes Film Festival!", "The First Chinese to Reach Cannes!", and "Jia Zhangke's 'Ash Is Purest White' Becomes the Only Chinese Film to Represent China!" were trending.

They're definitely going to hype this up...

The guest cast has also been revealed: Feng Xiaogang, Xu Zheng, Diao Yinan, Zhang Yibai, Zhang Yi, Dong Zijian…

They even issued a press release: Jia Zhangke is making his fifth appearance at Cannes, aiming for the Palme d'Or!
Then… a lot of people noticed Parasite…

I also noticed that Shen Yan is the director!
Many people don't understand why it's an English film...

Shen Yan frankly said: "Parasite is more like a fable-like stage play... It's quite explicit, and the expression of the gap between the rich and the poor is very straightforward... If it were made into a Chinese-language film, I feel it would be very difficult to pass censorship... Even if it could pass censorship, I estimate that a lot of things would have to be cut and modified, so I simply made it into an English-language film!"

Zhang Han smiled and said, "I heard the production cost was as high as 6500 million US dollars?"

“Yes,” Shen Yan nodded, “I have high expectations for the box office, so I used an all-star lineup. Even if you use celebrities, it’s still quite expensive!”

"What are the odds of winning the prize?"

“It’s hard to say,” Shen Yan picked up his cup, took a sip, and then said, “Parasite is a genre film, and Cannes hasn’t given awards to genre films for decades… The better the genre film, the harder it is to win the favor of European awards that emphasize auteurship and artistry.”

"Then why did you take the photos?"

“I like it…” Shen Yan said earnestly, “All the movies I make are ones I like. If I don’t even feel it myself, how can I move the audience?”

"Do you have any complaints that Parasite wasn't made into a Chinese-language film?"

"What's the big deal? The biggest market for Chinese-language films is in mainland China. If you want to enter this market, you have to abide by the rules. All filmmakers are treated equally!"

Zhang Han waved his hand: "That's not necessarily true. Jackie Chan's 'Railroad Tigers' didn't follow the rules!"

"After all, he's the eldest brother!"

"What's your opinion on this matter?"

Shen Yan laughed: "How can you judge? You can only say they're awesome!"

The Railroad Tigers thing is disgusting... You set the rules yourself, and then you broke them...

Rules should be rules!

If you don't follow it yourself, why make this thing?

Not only "Railroad Tigers," but also "New Police Story" back then—it was clearly not a co-production, but they insisted on making it a co-production and importing it…

Co-productions stipulate that one of the lead actors must be a mainland Chinese actor!

Which lead actor in "New Police Story" is from mainland China?

Next, Zhang Han brought up the topic of Maoyan's IPO, to which Shen Yan bluntly replied, "I know nothing about these things, and I don't care about capital operations or anything like that..."

"Then why did you acquire Maoyan in the first place?"

“I’m missing a distribution channel…” Shen Yan said frankly, “Back then, we basically handed over our films to Enlight Media for distribution. Enlight Media took a 12% cut, which was already lower than the industry average, but I was still quite unhappy about it… Moreover, although the film industry has become market-driven, it is possible that one day, channel competition will lead to higher concentration and a possible monopoly.”

We had just collaborated with Maoyan twice, and I felt they had great potential, so I decided to buy their services... We'll also entrust them with the production of some films in the future... If we can't get into the upstream film industry chain, we simply can't make money just by selling movie tickets!"

"monopoly?"

"Wanda was so domineering a few years ago... Currently, my country's films do not have a segmented distribution system; the screening rights belong to the cinemas themselves..."

...The so-called segmented release means that a film will be released in different theaters, theater chains, regions, and series, etc.

This means the film will not be shown in all theaters simultaneously, but only in select cities or cinemas, and the release dates may vary...

The benefits of releasing films in different formats include, but are not limited to: 1. Meeting the diverse needs of audiences for films; 2. Providing more opportunities for smaller films; 3. Promoting differentiated operations for cinemas.

The challenges faced include: the need for refined marketing; training of cinema-related personnel; and the selection and cultivation of film audiences.

In the original timeline, in 2023, the long-awaited phased distribution officially began, historically known as the "Year One of Phased Distribution"...

Then a bunch of movies joined the ranks of those released in multiple distribution channels…

It was supposed to be a good thing, but many blockbuster films are vying for screen time, especially during the Spring Festival season, and some are threatening to cut off screenings, drawing a lot of criticism.

Film studios are not charities; commercial films are all about making money.

Therefore, they naturally want to use their influence to secure more screenings for themselves.

The poster for "Mr. Red Carpet" from back then:

The practice of releasing films in multiple theaters in separate releases has become a tool for many blockbusters to dominate cinemas, which has completely changed the original intention of this method…

Ultimately, the so-called segmented distribution was completely cancelled...

Returning to the previous full-line release model…

……

Zhang Han talked about Shen Yan's wealth...

"What are your thoughts after you found out your net worth is as high as 200 billion?"

"I don't have any particular thoughts," Shen Yan said honestly. "I've never been short of money... I just want to thank the previous investors!"

"Making movies is actually a very risky investment... Many investors often tend to interfere excessively, which is understandable. They may worry that producers will embezzle funds, misuse money, or monopolize power, so they try to intervene in every aspect of decision-making... But the investors I've encountered have trusted me a lot. For example, when I was making 'The Martian,' with 400 million yuan in funding, the project took more than four years from initiation to release, and they didn't interfere at all..."

So what are your views on money?

"Money can easily corrupt content creators!"

"Do you feel it?"

Shen Yan nodded: "The protagonists in film and television works are mostly ordinary people, but after they achieve fame and success, they are obviously far removed from the lives of ordinary people. It is difficult for them to have any way to contact and feel the joys and sorrows of ordinary people... In recent years, with the crazy influx of hot money, many people in the entertainment industry can easily make a fortune and become extremely wealthy... They can easily seize huge sums of money that most ordinary people cannot earn in their entire lives, spending money lavishly, indulging in a life of luxury, with luxury cars and mansions, and everything else they could want."

Even worse, many big stars have gained the privilege of fraternizing with the wealthy, traveling together, and even sharing lavish banquets, luxury cars, and supermodels. They naturally consider themselves social elites, mingling with learned scholars and associating only with the uncultured… Naturally, they disregard or even despise the opinions of the general public… But films and television shows are made for ordinary people, and this kind of mentality cannot produce good works!

After a pause, Shen Yan added, "I rarely make friends with rich people..."

"I heard you refused to meet with Ma Yun twice?"

Shen Yan nodded: "I'm a filmmaker, I don't need to know rich people!"

"Do you do charity work?"

Shen Yan nodded: "I donate a lot of supplies every year..."

"Not donating money?"

"I won't donate money... I don't have much confidence in domestic charitable organizations!"

(End of this chapter)