Chapter 328 Film Industry System and Meeting Gift
As the experience sharing and exchange meeting came to an end, the participants left one after another.

However, some people stayed, such as Ning Hao, who immediately stood up and walked quickly in the direction Liu Zhou left.

Some other people looked at Ning Hao's departing back, and a hint of envy flashed in their eyes.

Liu Zhou is no longer an ordinary figure. His current identity and status have already created a huge gap between him and most people in the circle.

Even some film and television company bosses or other big shots in the circle may not be able to meet him.

But as a contracted director under Golden Harvest, Ning Hao was able to meet Liu Zhou often.

Just like now, no one else dares to step forward rashly, but Ning Hao can go straight to them.

And needless to say, if Ning Hao wants to go to Hollywood, there will definitely be a spot for him.

Of course, the younger generation of directors envy Ning Hao not only for this, but also for his smooth directorial career.

Ning Hao joined Liu Zhou's previous studio very early and was taken seriously as soon as he joined.

Not only did they invest in him to make art films, but they also took care of everything for him except filming. Ning Hao only needed to focus on making movies.

Then he has grown into the second youngest billion-dollar director in mainland China.

The youngest is Liu Zhou, who was born in 1977. He is one year younger than Ning Hao.

It has been smooth sailing all the way. Compared with the hardship faced by the sixth generation directors and today's young directors, Ning Hao is really enviable to them.

Therefore, not only celebrities in the circle, but also many directors also want to join Golden Harvest.

However, in recent years, apart from recruiting Xu Ke, Golden Harvest Group has not signed any other directors, which makes these people quite regretful.

On the other hand, Ning Hao did go to find Liu Zhou, and he did want to go to Hollywood to see the world, but there was one thing that was different from what those people thought.

That is, although Ning Hao is a contracted director of Golden Harvest, he rarely meets Liu Zhou.

Liu Zhou is either busy with the affairs of his companies or making movies, and rarely manages the specific affairs of the Golden Harvest Group.

So it was not easy for Ning Hao to meet Liu Zhou.

After Ning Hao chased out, he saw not only Liu Zhou but also Han Shanping and director Zhang Yimou in the corridor.

Although Ning Hao was not very familiar with the other two, he had had many dealings with them in some public events.

After all, Ning Hao is no longer an unknown person.

So Ning Hao walked straight forward and greeted a few people.

"Director Ning, you are not here to ask Liu Zhou for a spot to go to Hollywood, are you?" Han Shanping said with a smile.

Han Shanping is quite optimistic about Ning Hao. If Ning Hao had not been trained by Golden Harvest, he would have wanted to recruit him to China Film.

Facts have proved that he was right about him. If it weren't for the freak Liu Zhou, Ning Hao would be the youngest billion-dollar director in the mainland.

And he also watched his stuck movie "No Man's Land", which is indeed a very good movie.

Han Shanping thinks that the movie should not be called "No Man's Land" but "Madness of Human Nature". The dark allegorical expression is vividly reflected in this movie.

Maybe everyone sees things from a different perspective, and the judges may think that everyone in "No Man's Land" is a villain, with no good person.

But what he saw was a deep understanding and sympathy for human nature. The violent scenes in the film were not meant to reflect evil, but more to express people's struggles and choices when faced with difficult situations.

Although Han Shanping hasn't made a movie for a long time, he still has some appreciation for movies.

Ning Hao's film language is concise and full of tension. Through in-depth exploration of the characters, the film "No Man's Land" has a strong artistic appeal.

Han Shanping thought this was a good movie, and even if Liu Zhou hadn't asked him to do so, he would have lent a hand if he had discovered it.

"Yes, I really want to go out and take a look. Now that Mr. Liu has given me such a good opportunity, of course I have to seize it." Ning Hao also replied with a smile.

"Yes, you are still young, so you should get in touch with more new things. In the future, Chinese-language films will still need young people like you."

"Boss Han, Boss Liu, and Director Zhang are still here. They can still make movies for at least another 20 years. Chinese-language movies will definitely rely on them."

"Haha, you're quite good at talking." Han Shanping then turned to Liu Zhou and said with a smile, "Look, the people have already caught up with us, so just give them some clarity."

"Are you really going to try to make a science fiction film?"

"Yes, I want to try."

With the success of "The Martian", there shouldn't be many directors who don't want to try this genre.

"Okay, but you don't have to rush. You are from Golden Harvest and can go to Hollywood anytime you want. But I think you can help out on the set of Director Zhang's "Moon" first.

It just so happens that your film No Man's Land hasn't been released yet, so finish filming Moon with Director Zhang first. By then, No Man's Land should be released, and then you can go to Hollywood."

"Okay, I'll follow Mr. Liu's arrangements." Ning Hao replied with a smile.

It is obvious that this is a key training for me, and only a fool would not agree to it.

"Your arrangement is very clear, haha!"

"Ning Hao is not only young but also very talented. He must be trained well. President Han, how are things going over there? When will No Man's Land be released?"

Hearing Liu Zhou's words, Ning Hao also looked at Han Shanping with anticipation. After all, the movie "No Man's Land" took up the most of his effort, and he couldn't possibly not take it seriously.

"Don't worry, it will definitely pass the review after the new year."

"That's good. I'm already preparing for No Man's Land to be released during the summer of next year."

A few people walked towards Han Shanping's office while chatting. Ning Hao saw that they had no intention of letting him leave, so he followed them happily.

After the four of them sat down, Han Shanping threw a cigarette to each of them, then lit one for himself, took a deep breath, and then said slowly:
"Liu Zhou, please continue to talk about how to establish a film industry system."

Liu Zhou organized his words and said:

"Mr. Han, the industrial system is first and foremost about the professionalization of film production, but we are still in the state of handicraft."

"Wait, handicraft?"

As soon as Liu Zhou opened his mouth, Han Shanping couldn't help but speak out.

As the head of China Film Group, he started as a clerk in Emei Film Studio, worked his way up to become a film director and finally the studio director. He was then transferred to Beijing Film Studio as the director, and now he is the head of China Film Group.

After all, he is a veteran filmmaker.

How come Chinese films have become a handicraft?

Liu Zhou explained:
“I am just making an analogy. The difference between handicrafts and modern industry lies in the division of labor, and the same is true for the film industry.

Especially for large-scale productions with a large number of people, the gap is even more obvious. Take Director Zhang’s "Hero" as an example. We at Golden Harvest have conducted detailed research on this film.

The behind-the-scenes team of "Hero" has 30 or 40 fewer jobs than Hollywood's A-grade ancient historical war blockbusters. "30 or 40 fewer jobs, is there such a big difference?"

This time, not only Han Shanping, but even Zhang Yimou was slightly stunned.

He directed "Hero", but he had never compared it with other Hollywood movies of the same type in such detail.

After all, not many people in China care about this thing, and no one has counted it.

But since Liu Zhou dared to say it, it couldn't be a fabrication.

But he still felt it was too outrageous that thirty or forty types of jobs were missing, as making a movie is a delicate job.

Facing the inquiring eyes of Han Shanping and Zhang Yimou, Liu Zhou continued:

“That’s right. Domestic crews either don’t have many transfer and coordination positions or they are assigned to other types of workers. One person has to take on multiple roles, and the division of labor is unclear, which can easily lead to chaos.

But in our country, directors are basically in charge of everything and cannot take care of so many things.

A play has lost 30 or 40 types of work, and it is clear what this means, the level of detail is completely different.”

Of course, the two of them also understood what Liu Zhou meant. The more detailed the production of a movie, especially a large-scale one, the better it would be.

Han Shanping couldn't help but sigh and said:

"We always want to learn this and that, but we didn't expect that we couldn't even do the most basic things well."

“In fact, it’s mainly because of the different national conditions. The film industry in Hollywood is highly commercialized, while we are just beginning to commercialize.

The director-centered system in the mainland has been in use for decades, and almost everything on the crew is in charge. It will definitely not be possible to change this situation in a short period of time."

In fact, in addition to the unclear division of labor, another very important reason is the lack of professional producers in the mainland, especially those who can restrain directors, who are almost rare.

Except for a few producers such as Chen Guofu of Golden Harvest and Huang Jianxin of China Film, other producers have no control over the directors at all.

After all, famous directors have no shortage of investment and they have box office appeal, so how can we restrict them?
Or there are not many professional producers in China who are not restricted and can even assist the director and help with everything except filming.

If Hollywood's clear division of labor and producer-centered system for making movies is industrialized production, then China's director-centered system, where everyone is in charge of all matters big and small in the crew, is a small workshop model.

As for how to change this small workshop model, it is too difficult given the current situation in the mainland.

To be honest, Liu Zhou didn't have a good solution either.

What he can do now is to gradually move the film shooting model within Golden Harvest closer to that of Hollywood.

Now, Golden Harvest has been training professional producers, and fortunately, Chen Guofu is very familiar with the processes in Hollywood.

He also felt that the Hollywood model of film production was more efficient, so Chen Guofu had always been in charge of promoting this matter.

However, Liu Zhou also knew that taking too big a step could easily lead to problems, so he did not force the issue immediately. Instead, he changed it slowly, bit by bit, gradually increasing the power of the producer.

When Golden Harvest has gradually matured this model and is able to produce films more efficiently, Golden Harvest will increase its output and simply and crudely use professionally produced films to destroy the current small workshop model.

As long as other companies see that Golden Harvest is making profits by doing this, I believe they will choose to follow suit without anyone saying anything.

Just like now seeing that making science fiction movies is profitable, other companies are also planning to make science fiction movies.

"It seems that during my term of office, I will not be able to see the establishment of a mainland film industry system."

"Boss Han, this matter cannot be rushed, but I believe that with the foundation you have laid, you will be able to see it one day."

Liu Zhou said so, but this is not something that can be accomplished overnight.

In fact, in addition to specialization, there are many other aspects. The Hollywood film industry system has gradually formed after decades of exploration.

"Forget it, let's not talk about these things. There will always be successors for such long-term things. I just need to do what I think I should do."

Then, Han Shanping turned to Zhang Yimou and said:
"Director Zhang, is your movie 'Moon' ready? When will it start shooting?"

"We are still preparing. If we want to start filming, we plan to do it after the Spring Festival, which should be in March."

"Has the actor for the leading role been decided?" Liu Zhou suddenly asked.

The movie "Moon" is similar to "The Martian", and it is almost entirely a one-man show for the male protagonist, so the choice of the male protagonist is crucial.

Zhang Yimou shook his head and said:
“Not yet. Originally, Qin Hao was quite suitable, but he played the role in The Martian, which is too popular.

If I let him star in "Moon" again, I'm worried that the audience will be confused about the show, so I ruled him out. I don't know who to choose for the moment. I plan to hold an open audition in a while."

"Director, how about I recommend someone to you?"

Hearing Liu Zhou's words, Zhang Yimou couldn't help but become serious.

Although Liu Zhou spoke politely, he is, after all, the screenwriter and producer of "Moon" and also an investor in the film.

The relationship between the two is good, but we cannot simply assume that Liu Zhou is just recommending him. Even if Liu Zhou is recommending him, he has to take it seriously.

"Oh, who can catch your eye?" Zhang Yimou said with a smile.

"Liu Ye! What does the director think?"

"Liu Ye?"

Zhang Yimou was a little confused. He thought Liu Zhou would recommend his own people. After all, Liu Zhou was famous for preferring to use his own people.

But Liu Ye seemed to be Liu Zhou's classmate and good friend in college, so it seemed reasonable to recommend Liu Ye.

"I have to let him audition first to see if he's suitable."

"Of course, I'm just recommending him. It's up to you, the director, to decide whether to use him or not and who to use in the end."

"Then make an appointment with him."

"Okay, I'll let him contact the director then."

This is the entertainment industry. Some of the top resources have been divided up before they are announced to the public. If you don’t have connections, you won’t be able to access them at all.

Although Liu Ye still needs to audition, with Liu Zhou's recommendation, if he is not really unsuitable, Zhang Yimou will definitely choose him to be the male lead.

Since Liu Zhou recommended Liu Ye, he must be suitable, after all, he wrote the script of this movie.

There is definitely no problem with Liu Ye's acting skills. His professional ability and plasticity are even better than Huang Xiaoming.

The only flaw is that his fame is a little lower now, but with Zhang Yimou around, and the gimmick of being the second science fiction film in China, his fame is not needed to increase the popularity of the film.

So Liu Ye was almost confirmed to be the male lead in "Moon".

This can be considered as Liu Zhou's gift to this guy when he joins Jiahe.

(End of this chapter)