Dongcheng, Beixinqiao Sanjo.
The Overseas Chinese Affairs Office and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office are all located here.
Speaking of which, Chen Qi came to this place for the first time. He entered the courtyard and entered a room. After waiting for a while, a rich old man came in with a smile. Mr. Liao had a nickname of "Fat Boy", and even more so in his later years.
Fatty, the big leader I met in Haizi, I like to call him by his nickname.
"Xiao Chen, what are you busy with during this period?"
"It makes you laugh. I'm not busy with anything, I'm just resting."
"Haha, it's good to have a rest. Your body is the capital of revolution! Something happened to you on the day you came back from Berlin. I'm afraid you haven't even gotten over the jet lag..."
Mr. Liao habitually touched the cigarettes, but found that there were no cigarettes left. He took back his hand angrily. This was also the first time he had a private chat with Chen Qi. He felt that this young man was good-looking, talented, and well-organized, but he had a bad temper.
But then again, if you don’t have a temper, do you still call yourself a young person?
When they were young, they often had bad tempers.
These days, before the official meeting to study, Mr. Liao interviewed the cultural department, film bureau, China Film and Wang Yang respectively, and gained a detailed understanding of the current film industry. Today, he called Chen Qilai to also ask questions.
"You talked a lot that day, today we have a private chat behind closed doors.
I have found many people, and they all stand on their own side, either complaining about themselves, or accusing others of being a monopoly, but in the final analysis they all point to one problem: there are many hidden dangers in the domestic film system, and I want to hear your opinion."
"Uh, you want me to be blunt?"
"Of course, just say it!"
"Okay... My opinion is that although there are many hidden dangers in the film system, the current reforms are all scraping therapy and cannot go deep."
"Oh? This statement is quite novel." Mr. Liao said with a smile.
"Take the distribution rights they are fighting for. On the surface, the studio and China Film are fighting, but who is really benefiting and making a fortune silently? It is the local film companies at all levels.
The most China Film Group earns is a distribution fee, while the film company earns only the box office.
They regard each province, city, and county as their own private territory, with serious barriers, guarding against it, and not sharing with each other.
We do not have a large national theater chain, a strict supervision system, a scientific and reasonable ticket sales model and box office statistics. They can report how much money a film makes, and there is no way to check it.
So I think the real problem is not only to break the monopoly of China Film Corporation on distribution, but also to break the monopoly of local film companies on the market. That is a system with 500,000 employees. They dare to fight for anyone who touches their cake.
Let’s put it this way, even if you give me domestic distribution rights now and ask me to split accounts, I won’t do it because I don’t have the conditions!”
In the 1980s, there was not even a serious box office statistical model in China. The data were all vague. No one knew how much a film earned.
It is always said that "Shaolin Temple" is worth over 100 million, but there is actually no empirical evidence.
Therefore, Wang Yang and those studios had a quarrel with China Film and Chen Qi never interfered with it. This was the limitation of their times. If the quarrel really broke out, the studio would be given the distribution rights for no more than two years, and they would still be in despair.
Return of power.
Because they will find that it is better for them to face the film company than to face China Film...
So when will we be able to completely reform? In the mid-1990s, the box office of domestic films was in a mire, movie theaters were closing down one after another, and film companies could not pay wages. Reform could be done then.
Reform cannot be accomplished overnight, and Chen Qi’s goal is not domestic distribution.
Mr. Liao pondered for a long time, and then thought of this, and said: "So you are aiming overseas?"
"right!"
"Do you want to develop in Hong Kong?"
"We can't talk about development. This issue is very complicated..."
Chen Qi paused and said seriously: "It is an objective fact that Hong Kong movies are more developed than mainland China, but we cannot blindly pursue them just because others are more developed.
Their entertainment culture is certainly richer than ours, but they must not be allowed to overtake the mainland. No matter in terms of resource abundance, cultural depth, or talent pool, they actually do not have the conditions. The reason for their entertainment prosperity is very accidental.
We do not want to help Hong Kong develop its film and television industry, but we want to use Hong Kong to develop our film and television industry.
If you ask me personally, I think we need to strengthen cooperation with the left, create a more relaxed creative environment, provide access convenience, and provide overseas distribution policies to allow filmmakers from both places to perform.
We must use Hong Kong as our experimental field, as a platform for us to earn commercial box office and increase our influence, as an international transfer station for us, and as a channel for external exports to go overseas and earn US dollars!
Put the outside first, then the inside, and use the outside to drive the inside, so as to innovate as soon as possible!”
"..."
Mr. Liao raised his eyebrows and looked at the young man again. He could hear a strong aggression, both internally and externally. At first, he thought that Chen Qi was on the side of the Beijing Film Studio, but now he realized that this boy was even with the Beijing Film Studio.
Everyone wants to innovate.
He understood what Chen Qi meant.
Extremely bold!
Mr. Liao laughed instead. Reform pilots are not afraid of being bold, but afraid of being timid. Otherwise, what is the point of pilot projects?
The domestic film system is like a shipwreck turning around, and a single move can affect the whole body. Chen Qi is only one person, so we can give him an opening and see what he will come up with.
This is called special handling!
Of course, he couldn't say anything now. The specific regulations still need to be studied. He smiled and said: "It seems that the elderly want to chat more with the young. Your point of view is very interesting. Okay, that's it for today..."
With that said, Mr. Liao asked someone to drive a car and take Chen Qi back.
Chen Qi thought about it in the car. He had said everything he needed to say. It is difficult to speak up in the film system. In the eyes of the big boss, it is a trivial matter. It all depends on the form in which it is implemented.
…………
The next day.
The meeting room of the Ministry of Culture.
Five units including the Ministry of Culture, Film Bureau, China Film, Beijing Film Studio, and the city's foreign affairs department gathered together. Mr. Liao attended in person on behalf of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, and was also the coordinator. This kind of occasion must have a highly respected boss in charge.
"Liao Gong!"
"Liao Gong!"
"Okay, I'm going to invite you all to a meeting today. I'm sure you all know the content. If you have other things to talk about first, I'll talk about it after we finish."
"..."
After a few seconds of silence, the representative of China Film Studio spoke. This was no longer Song Linming. It was someone else. He said: "I went to Beijing Film Studio several times and was blocked every time.
According to the usual practice, "Tai Chi" should be reported to China Film Group, which will organize viewing parties and sell copies to provincial film companies. The previous conflicts have passed. Today, I will not talk about whether there are any violations in this matter. I just want to talk to Director Wang.
Talking about the domestic release of "Tai Chi"."
"Then it must be distributed by us. You are a mess externally, but who knows what is going on internally?"
Wang Yang was immersed in the fight with China Film Group again, and was very excited, because what he had been fighting for was the domestic distribution rights.
This time, the representatives of China Film Group did not get angry or quarrel. They found that their dignity had been stripped away, and what was left was a matter of survival of the company. This was a huge matter.
When people are pushed into a hurry, they have courage.
He slowly took out a letter and put it on the table: "This is a joint letter from all our employees.
China Film is a distribution company, and we admit the mistakes we have made, but if the distribution rights are also taken away, then there is no need for China Film to exist. We might as well petition the central government ourselves and remove China Film!"
(No more...)
Chapter completed!