1979: The child's mother is a celestial being.

Chapter 253 Three Moves (Please Subscribe!)

"Honey, could you hand me our daughter's doll for a moment...honey?"

"what?"

"I said, hand over the doll."

"Oh, here you go."

Liu Xiaoli put away her daughter and son's toys, then lifted the covers and got into bed herself.

The next second she snuggled into her husband's arms, looked up and asked:

"Are you troubled by something tonight?"

Smelling the scent of shampoo emanating from his wife, Chen Fusheng first kissed her red lips before answering—no, rather, asking a question instead of answering:
"Honey, if you had a hundred million, how would you spend it?"

"Tonight won't work, my period is coming, and we just handed in our grain yesterday."

Seeing his wife's misunderstood look, Chen Fusheng explained helplessly:

"I did not mean that."

"Then what do you mean?"

“Our company’s assets are about to exceed 100 million yuan. This afternoon, Director Shi asked me how we should spend this money, and I realized that this problem is a bit serious. I was just lost in thought about this.”

Liu Xiaoli was slightly taken aback, then exclaimed in surprise: "Is your company that rich?"

"The main reason is that the box office revenue from 'Die Hard' alone is at least 80 to 90 million."

"Huh? You don't need to hand over the money you earn to the government?"

"The company's money also belongs to the country."

“…Oh, right.” Liu Xiaoli took a moment to process what she was thinking, but instead of answering her husband’s question, she threw it back at him: “So how do you plan to spend it?”

Chen Fusheng actually had some ideas.

Seeing his wife throw the question back at him, he thought for a moment and then said:

"First of all, I plan to build two buildings. Our company's current building is the old teaching building of Beijing Film Academy, which is quite old. Since the company has money, we should build two new buildings."

"How much does it cost to build a building?" Liu Xiaoli asked curiously.

"A few million."

"So this doesn't cost you much money, does it?"

"So my second plan is to build a film and television city."

"Movie City?"

"Yes, the United States has Hollywood Studios, and neighboring Japan has Akira Kurosawa Studios. As for China, we currently only have the Ming and Qing Dynasty Street at Beijing Film Studio. However, in terms of scale, it can't even compare to Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers Studio. But with the development of my country's entertainment industry, developing film studios is bound to be a trend in the future. Since that's the case, my Oriental Company is rich, so why not start planning early? What do you say, my wife?"

Liu Xiaoli had no idea whether film studios would become a trend in the future, but seeing her husband speak so confidently, she nodded in agreement.

However, what she was concerned about was how much it would cost to build a film studio.

"It's hard to say. First of all, it depends on whether the country supports it. After all, building a film and television city isn't just about having money; you also need land."

How much land is needed?

"It must be at least ten square kilometers." "Huh? That big?"

"A film and television city is, after all, a city built from scratch."

Liu Xiaoli took a moment to process this, then asked uncertainly, "If we're going to build a city, then your company probably won't have enough money, right?"

“Take it slow. Just like the Great Wall wasn’t built in a day, right? As long as the country agrees to let me build it, it shouldn’t be a problem for our company to invest 30 to 50 million yuan in the early stages.”

"That's a huge project!" Liu Xiaoli exclaimed.

“That’s right.” Chen Fusheng thought for a moment, then continued, “Finally, I would also like to import a batch of advanced post-production equipment from the United States and Western countries…”

……

"Importing advanced post-treatment equipment from the United States?"

The next morning, Chen Fusheng brought his ideas to the company meeting to discuss them with everyone.

The company's editors had all traveled to the United States with him and broadened their horizons, which is why they all looked troubled when they heard this.
"Director Chen, but we don't know how to use those advanced devices at all."

"That's right, and each machine is ridiculously expensive. We're not afraid to try, even if we break it."

"..."

After listening to the concerns of the editors, Chen Fusheng nodded and said:

"Comrades, I understand your concerns, such as not knowing how to use it or being afraid of damaging it. These are very real problems, but it is precisely because of these difficulties that we must do it."

He paused for a moment, picked up the cup in front of him, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and then continued:
"Why? There are three reasons."

"First, it's about 'catching up.' We saw firsthand their editing system and special effects compositing technology in the United States, and their efficiency was more than twice that of ours. If we continue to be satisfied with manual editing and rudimentary special effects, then our filmmaking technology will forever be left in the dust. Therefore, importing equipment is the most direct way to narrow the gap."

He then extended his second finger:
"Secondly, it's for 'learning.' Equipment is inanimate, but people are alive. If we don't know how to use it, we can invite foreign experts to train us... It's not terrible if the machine breaks down; what's terrible is being afraid to use it because we're afraid of it breaking. Technology is mastered through constant exploration and even through making mistakes. If we're worried about a machine today, we might miss the opportunity to cultivate a group of top-notch technical talents tomorrow."

At this point, Chen Fusheng noticed that Han Sanping was taking notes, but he didn't stop talking:
"Thirdly, and most fundamentally, it is about 'competing.' China's film and television industry is just starting out and is already lagging behind the US and the West. If we don't compete, how can we expect future generations to compete? As he said, 'If you fall behind, you will be beaten.' This principle applies to our film and entertainment industries as well. So if we don't compete, we will always be behind others."

"Therefore, importing equipment may seem like spending money to buy machines, but in reality we are buying time, or rather, buying a ticket to the future competition in the film industry. There will definitely be difficulties in the early stages, but our Oriental Company must take this step. Once we take this step, the Chinese film industry will have a certain foundation. This is the role of going from zero to one."

Chen Fusheng concluded his remarks with a burst of enthusiastic applause in the conference room.

After the applause stopped, Chen Fusheng noticed that Han Sanping had something to say and said, "Old Han, you go ahead."

"it is good."

Han Sanping nodded to him, glanced down at the draft he had made on the paper, then looked around at everyone and said, "When Director Chen was talking about training, it suddenly occurred to me that perhaps we could take the initiative to develop in-depth cooperation with art schools like the Beijing Film Academy and the Central Academy of Drama..."

When Han Sanping mentioned cooperating with the school, Chen Fusheng's eyes lit up.

Yes, college students are the best talent pool.

Besides, these are college students of this era. They are young, eager to learn, able to endure hardship, and can stay up all night.

Chen Fusheng originally planned to recruit and train a group of young post-production talents from major film studios.

It now seems that art school students are also a good option.

Let's take a two-pronged approach. After all, cultivating a group of advanced post-production talents won't yield results in a short period of time...

(End of this chapter)