Entertainment Era: My Good Sister Is All Over the World

Chapter 77: Veteran Employees of Beijing Film Studio Make a Scene (Seeking First Subscription)

(10,000 words today, this chapter is 3,000. There will be two or three more chapters to be updated at dawn. Please subscribe and give Han Huo some support, thank you.)

Film editing is a great power.

In particular, the final cut is the key to a producer's control over the director.

Although China doesn't have a producer-centric system like Hollywood, not just anyone is qualified to edit movies.

In this era, every state-owned enterprise has a serious problem of seniority-based promotion.

Many people may not be very capable, but because they have been working at their desks for a long time, they inexplicably gain a voice.

For example, the Beijing Film Studio employs many people who are idle and do nothing.

These people shirk their duties at work, taking pride in their seniority and thus excluding newcomers, especially capable ones.

Huang Wenbin is now working at the Beijing Film Studio, which makes him a target of resentment among these people.

Even though they had absolutely no vested interests with Huang Wenbin, they still hated him to the core and even secretly cursed him to die soon.

At this moment, a group of people crowded around and entered the office of Deputy Factory Director Xiang Jiexin.

"Deputy Director Xiang, you have to do something about this!" one of the older employees said, his expression extremely distressed. "The old factory manager is completely bewitched by that kid; he lets him have his way with everything!"

"Exactly!" someone nearby immediately chimed in. "What does a twenty-year-old know about movies? The Beijing Film Studio relies on us old folks!"

"Trying to treat a film school student like a treasure? Wang Yang is senile. Changing his script is one thing, but letting him participate in the filming is another!"

"I heard that Director Wang even recommended him to work as a planner for a film at Xi'an Film Studio. That's incredibly audacious!"

"Now they're making him edit the film? That's the director's prerogative. He's been editing for over half a month already, and he probably won't even get a decent piece of work out!"

"I heard that Old Wang from the editing team has been sidelined and turned into that kid's puppet."

"This is outrageous! That kid has absolutely no respect for us long-time employees!"

"I think this is very dangerous. The Beijing Film Studio may be ruined by this person."

"Manager Xiang, why didn't you stop it?"

"."

""

Listening to these people's complaints, Xiang Jiexin also had a headache.

He hated Huang Wenbin to the core, but after being humiliated twice for causing trouble, he had no choice but to behave himself.

"I advise you not to mess around!" Xiang Jiexin said with a cold, expressionless face. "This kid is in the newspaper; he even has a photo with the old man."

"So what?" the first older employee said dismissively, while a young man next to him shouted, "That's right, the older generation in our factory still has outstanding talents."

"Director Wang's desire to promote young people is commendable, but he must also maintain a proper balance; forcing growth is also wrong."

"Letting that young upstart be a screenwriter was already a promotion beyond the norm, and now they're making him involved in film planning and editing? How long has he been here?"

"Is the next step to replace us all and hand over the entire factory to that kid to manage?"

"This is a very serious problem, Factory Manager Xiang. You can't ignore it; we're all counting on you to make the decision!"

Xiang Jiexin wanted to explain that this kid's nature was quite different from theirs.

But he swallowed the words back and said with a smile, "You'll have to find Wang Yang about this. He's the factory director, and I'm just the deputy director. Huang Wenbin was seconded to him, and he arranged those appointments."

"Go ahead and make a scene, argue, or demand an explanation. Go find him, I don't care."

Hearing this, the people couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment.

Wang Yang still held considerable authority at the Beijing Film Studio, and no one dared to openly challenge him.

Even Xiang Xinjie only occasionally tripped up Wang Yang, and dared not really cause any big trouble.

The veteran employees knew their complaints were somewhat unreasonable, so they could only make up an excuse, saying, "Director Wang is a very opinionated person, what can we say to him?"

"If you have an idea, then talk to Director Wang!" Xiang Jiexin gave them a timely suggestion. "Some of you may have been idle for days, and some for more than half a month. Since he can arrange work for that kid, you can also ask Director Wang to arrange some. More work means more subsidies, don't you want that?"

Upon hearing this, the group exchanged glances.

"Vice President Xiang is right. Why should that kid have work to do every day and get subsidies every day!"

"His subsidy is still two yuan a day! I've been working in the factory for five years, and I only get one yuan and eighty cents!"

"Why does that kid get all the benefits? We should also increase our subsidies."

"Yes, let's go find Director Wang!"

'

,

Xiang Jiexin slowly stood up and said to them, "You can go if you want, but don't drag me into it. I still need to go to the Film Bureau to discuss the publication of the Film Weekly. I don't have time to deal with these trivial matters."

Finished talking and left.

The veteran employees looked at each other in bewilderment. Without Xiang Jiexin's backing, they really didn't dare to cause trouble.

One person, quite perceptive, shouted, "What are you afraid of? We're not trying to cause trouble, we just feel it's unfair!"

"Yes, it's unfair!"

"Let's go talk to Factory Manager Wang!"

"We're here to reason things out, what's there to be afraid of?"

This group of people numbered more than a dozen, making quite a show of force. As they marched toward Wang Yang's office, they attracted the attention of many people in the factory, who thought some kind of struggle had broken out, and they were all terrified.

Someone ran to the factory manager's office ahead of time to report: "Old factory manager, something bad has happened. Old Qin from the editing department is leading more than a dozen people this way."

"What?" Wang Yang frowned, abruptly stood up, and asked, "Are you sure you didn't see wrong?"

The man nodded vigorously: "They look aggressive and something's not right. Factory manager, why don't you hide?"

""

"What's there to hide from!" Wang Yang quickly regained his composure and said irritably, "We're all reformed and opened up now; those little tricks aren't anything to be afraid of!"

Hearing this, the man didn't dare to persuade them any further. Soon, all of them rushed to the door of the factory manager's office.

The messenger was so frightened that his legs went weak, and he quickly rolled to the side and hid.

Wang Yang remained unfazed, glancing at them indifferently: "Old Qin, what are you trying to do with so many people? Arrest me and take me for a public denunciation?"

The old man Qin, who was in charge, shook his head repeatedly: "Old factory director, you've misunderstood. We just have something to say to you! We feel that some of your recent actions have gone a bit too far."

"So what?" Wang Yang interrupted him, coldly retorting, "You brought dozens of people here to cool me down?"

""

Old Qin was clearly a seasoned veteran, and instead of responding to Wang Yang's words, he calmly said, "We've just encountered unfair treatment, and we hope you can listen to the voices of our long-time employees."

"You're all coming in to talk, dozens of you at once?" Wang Yang asked with a smile, his hands on the table. "Let's have three representatives come out and talk to me first."

Old Qin probably realized he'd gone too far, and immediately said, "Why are you all crowding around? I, Da Chun, and Jian Hua are enough. Everyone else, disperse."

Wang Yang breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that they wouldn't even want to talk, which would have been a real incident, and the Beijing Film Studio would definitely have been criticized by the Film Bureau.

Old Qin led two middle-aged men into the office.

"Close the door," Wang Yang said casually.

The two middle-aged men immediately did as instructed, but this instantly dampened their momentum.

"Speak, what do you want to talk about?" Wang Yang sat back in his chair and said in a serious tone, "What unfair treatment have you encountered this time?"

Seeing the two people beside him staring at him silently, Old Man Qin sighed and said, "Old Factory Director, I, Qin Weimin, have been working in this factory since its founding. From the previous Factory Director Tian to you becoming the factory director, it has been thirty years."

"Get to the point!" Wang Yang's patience was limited, and he didn't have time to listen to him reminisce about the bitter past.

Old Qin's imposing manner softened further, the accusatory tone gone. He said softly, "We feel that you have shown too much favoritism towards a certain young comrade, which has seriously hurt the feelings and enthusiasm of the veteran employees!"

"You mean Huang Wenbin?" Wang Yang pointed it out directly.

"Yes!" Old Qin hadn't expected Wang Yang to be so direct, so he could only nod in agreement: "How old is he? Has he been with the studio for a year? He was only seconded here. And what happened? You published several of his scripts, let him participate in the filming, made him a film planner, and even let him interfere with the projects at Xi'an Film Studio. Now you've even given him the final editing of a film. These actions have far exceeded the scope of promotion."

"We, the talented employees, have worked diligently for decades and have never had this opportunity. Some of us have never even had the chance to participate in film production."

"Don't you think this is going a bit too far? It's really hurting the feelings of us long-time employees!"

After hearing Old Man Qin's words, the other two employees also voiced their dissatisfaction.

Wang Yang listened quietly to their words, a faint smile remaining on his face throughout: "Are you finished?"

Old Qin was completely taken aback by Wang Yang's calm reaction, so he had to speak more emphatically: "This is a very serious matter. If Director Wang doesn't handle it properly, it could cause chaos and disorder within the Beijing Film Studio. We're not exaggerating. If you continue to refuse to change your ways, then we'll have no choice but to report the situation to the Film Bureau."

Wang Yang looked at them calmly and said only one sentence: "Huang Wenbin has only been at the Beijing Film Studio for three or four months. Putting aside the scripts he wrote and the films he's made, can you do the same thing as him bringing foreign exchange to the studio and the country?"

"If you can do it, then I'll let you go right now, and I'll fully support you."

The three old men, including Qin, exchanged glances and saw the astonishment in each other's eyes. How could a twenty-year-old college student actually generate foreign exchange for the country?

"Earning foreign exchange is a skill, but can he edit a good film?" Old Qin was still somewhat unconvinced. "I've been editing films in the studio for decades. Am I not as good as this young upstart?"

Wang Yang laughed, as if he had been waiting for this question: "Perfect timing, his film is finished editing, let's go take a look together and we'll know."

"What? It's finished?" Old Qin stood up in surprise. "How is that possible? He's only been cutting hair for a little over half a month!"

Actually, it wasn't just half a month; there was a rough cut around October, and Chen Huaikai cut it again more than a month later.

Huang Wenbin has templates in his mind, so it's normal that his editing efficiency is several times higher than others.

Outsiders are unaware of these details and simply believe that he cut the hair in half a month.

Wang Yang didn't bother to explain further, and simply said nonchalantly, "Whether it's possible or not, we'll find out by going and seeing."

.