Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 158: The Criticism Begins – It's Not the Market That's Bad, It's You That's Bad.
Zhang Ziyi, a famous alumna of the Central Academy of Drama.

Chen Shouzhe had never communicated with her, nor had he ever worked with her.

Zhang Ziyi was greatly affected by the Taiping Ship incident this year. In addition, she got together with Wang Jianlin and they got married this year. At the beginning of the year, her agent brother caused a scene abroad.

Anyway, there are a ton of problems at home, and that agent is the kind who's really not smart; he only cares about money, not people.

Teacher Jin Xin also complained on the show that her current situation was mostly ruined by her agent.

Because of the failure of the Taiping Ship, her international fame has been almost exhausted, and coupled with her age, she is starting to have difficulty making a living.

Chen Shouzhe didn't know how she was sitting in the audience, but it didn't matter to him.

A promotional video was shown, but not the entire video, followed by an academic exchange.

Production companies are going to art-house cinemas to promote their films, partly to attract potential talent and partly to increase brand awareness.

When a brand has sufficient brand recognition and offers competitive compensation, it will naturally attract outstanding talent.

Similar to an advertisement, you might not normally buy it, but when you want something, you'll immediately think of the advertised product, and if it works well, you might use it for a lifetime.

Since it was Jiang Wen's alma mater, it was naturally Jiang Wen's home turf. She asked many questions about movies, and some actors even asked what it takes to become a director.

"You said that what an actor needs to transition into a director is that if you are ambitious, you must have a script that suits you. You can patiently spend several years polishing a script. Film scriptwriting is very time-consuming. No one can succeed in a short time, except for some people, of course, they are eccentrics and cannot be compared." Jiang Wen originally wanted to put on a grand show for a while, talking about how difficult it is to write a script and how difficult it is to be a director.

But when he turned his head, he saw Chen Shou yawning beside him, so he immediately shut his mouth.

The students from the Central Academy of Drama in the audience also noticed that what Jiang Wen described as difficult could be easily accomplished by someone on stage, and not only in filming movies in China, but also abroad, where they had made many successful films.

For a moment, no one knew what to say; Chen Shouzhe really seemed to be a strange person.

"Hey, say something, you're almost asleep," Jiang Wen said.

"What you're saying is so boring, it's making me sleepy," Chen Shou said with a laugh.

“Then you answer this student’s question,” Jiang Wen said.

"It's very popular to go from actor to director now. Many actors have transitioned into directing. In fact, it's not just actors who can become directors. Others can also become directors. For example, great directors like Zhang Yimou, Gu Changwei, and Ning Hao were all cinematographers. Another example is director Jiang, who was also an actor before. They all have directing abilities."

The director needs to control the entire set, which is different from Hollywood, where the model is producer-centric and the producer has the final say. In China, the director has a higher status and can be said to be the only voice in the crew.

Therefore, the requirements for directors are higher. In my opinion, the key to the transition from actor to director is not whether you can act or direct, but the script that Director Jiang Wen just mentioned.

The script is the foundation of a play. The status of screenwriters in China is far too low. It's one thing for directors to change the script, but it's another for actors. I would never allow someone to change the script just to give a character screen time.

"If any actor wants to change my script, even if he's an Oscar winner, he has to get out of the crew, no questions asked," Chen Shou said in a deep voice.

He had long been extremely dissatisfied with some actors in the industry who modified scripts. Scripts can be read and discussed to enrich the characters, instead of saying that my character lacks lines or screen time, and that now that I'm famous, you should give me more screen time.

Some actors have higher status than directors and receive much higher salaries, but they lack the corresponding acting skills. You can forget about it.

Only those worthless capitalists would support them; Chen Shou wouldn't tolerate it.

The people on and off the stage were stunned for a moment by Chen Shouzhe's words, and no one knew what to say. They did not expect that Chen Shouzhe would get angry about this.

However, this problem does exist; many actors act like divas and demand script revisions within the production crew.

Nowadays, actors are taking themselves too seriously, and Chen Shouzhe has heard many complaints from actors who demand script revisions.

Jiang Wen knew Chen Shouzhe's dedication to the script, so she picked up the microphone and said, "Don't even talk about whether the actors dare to modify your script. I can't change a single word of your script. We can discuss the script and have group readings, but don't make changes because of your status as an actor. Just do your job as an actor."

"Hehe." Chen Shou glanced at Jiang Wen sideways.

"What kind of look is that?" Jiang Wen said.

"I remember you once made a trashy movie and you scolded him until he cried," Chen Shou said with a smile.

The moment these words were spoken, the person on stage had a strange expression, while the people in the audience must have been filled with gossip.

Was there a piece of trash who was scolded to tears by Jiang Wen? Why did Jiang Wen scold him? Who was that person?
Jiang Wen immediately recognized who it was and laughed, "That's definitely trash. What kind of rubbish dares to compare itself to me?"

"Unless the director and screenwriter are truly incompetent, I advise actors to focus on their job. Modifying scripts easily attracts criticism. Just give them the script and the role, and perform well. If your acting is good, the quality of the film or TV series is irrelevant to you. There are media friends here; please pass on my words. If a movie is bad, and the problem lies with the actors' performances, then criticize the actors. If the actors' performances are fine, but the movie itself is bad, don't criticize the actors; criticize the director. If the problem lies with the plot, then criticize the screenwriter. Don't blame everyone on the people on screen for every problem; don't blame whoever makes the mistake."

Movies are, in essence, art, but also commodities. Investors give us money, so we have to make a good product; that's what a director should do.

If a movie doesn't do well at the box office, but blames the audience, I think he should reflect on that. What kind of movie do the audience want to see? It's not that you think it's art and therefore it should be worth a certain amount of money. It's that the audience thinks it's worth it, and that's what makes you worth it. Movies aren't necessities, so why should they pay for your whims?
I'll say it again: if you want to go from actor to director, you either need to win awards or make money.

If you're rich, then disregard what I said; you can do whatever you want, but you'll be the one losing money anyway.

Directors must feel pressure; if a film is bad, they should take responsibility, not just walk away.

After Chen Shou finished speaking, he cursed several directors at once. Lu Taro, Feng Kuzi, and Wu Baige were the names of three famous directors that could be heard from his words. The rest of his words would probably resonate with many people.

Jiang Wen didn't expect Chen Shouzhe to launch such a fierce attack, cursing quite a few people.

"Take it easy, this is my movie launch event," Jiang Wen said with a smile, snapping out of her daze.

Chen Shouzhe cursed, but he didn't name names. If anyone got angry, they would just have to come out and admit it.

Lu Taro collaborated with Jiang Wen on a film back then, but later his stance turned sour that he was scolded to tears on set. Feng Kuzi, on the other hand, said that the audience was not good when his film was released a few years ago. Wu Baige received 400 million yuan in investment, made two terrible blockbusters, and then fled back to her hometown. She didn't even dare to admit that her films were bad when promoting them, and just kept pretending to be dead.

Chen Shouzhe didn't name names, but everyone in the circle knew who he was talking about.

It's not that the film market is bad; it's that the film market is too good, yet all the audiences get to see are terrible films. How good can the film market really be then?

Nobody knows where their money comes from. Are they really that rich?
"I have to speak out. Everyone hopes that the domestic film market will be good, but we always overlook one question: how did the film market come about? The film market can only be called a film market if there are excellent films."

If there are no vegetables in a vegetable market, the same goes for a movie market. Can it still be called a movie market? Can anyone actually go into a market to buy anything? You need to get the logic right.

Then there will only be one market left, full of imported goods at low prices. You'll see who the audience will buy from then on.

The audience's thinking is simple: whoever's is cheaper and better, I'll choose that one; I'll compare prices from three different vendors.

It's impossible for you to support me just because I have a sign saying I'm made in China. That's impossible. Can those who say that actually do it?

We shouldn't choose to be cowards or frogs in a well just because we're not good enough. We should see what the outside world is like.

To achieve true cultural confidence, we must showcase our best offerings. Can our 5,000 years of civilization be inferior to something from abroad that's only a few hundred years old?

After Chen Shouzhe finished speaking, the audience applauded. They were still students and ordinary people, so they understood the meaning of Chen Shouzhe's words even better.

However, Jiang Wen and the others knew that Chen Shouzhe would definitely be scolded.

He understood Chen Shouzhe; he was a staunch patriot, even an extremist.

After leaving the Central Academy of Drama, Chen Shou went to drink with Jiang Wen. Zhang Ziyi, who was originally going to treat them, left after saying goodbye.

As expected, Chen Shouzhe's words spread online and went viral on major video websites.

"Who is Chen Shouzhe referring to?"

"If you're easy to criticize and your products aren't good, who will buy them?"

"It's not that the domestic film market is bad, it's that it's too good, which is why it produces a lot of garbage."

"So here's the question: why can they keep making films even though they're all garbage? Where does their money come from? Are there really that many brainless investors?"

"The trash who was scolded to tears by Jiang Wen? Goodness, she directly called him out and started scolding him. But Lu Taro is indeed trash."

"If you don't understand, just ask. Who is Lu Taro? It seems like Chen Shou has a lot of people he's cursing."

"Lu Taro is the director who made films that whitewashed the Japanese. His father was in charge of censorship. He was the old man who made sarcastic remarks about Chen Shouzhe on Weibo and was rebuffed by Chen Shouzhe."

"It's Feng Xiaogang who calls the audience trash. He can't criticize the market, and he can't criticize the audience."

"I apologize to Wu Baige, the producer, for making the terrible film 'The Pacification Ship' and then running back to Hong Kong to hide. Other directors in Hong Kong are the same; they took the money and made a bunch of garbage."

"That was satisfying to yell at. By the way, will Chen Shouzhe be in trouble?"

(End of this chapter)