Chapter 388: Complete Victory and Worth the Trip

Later, there was a very famous video on a certain audio platform, in which Luo Yonghao turned Wang Ziru into an OK brother.

As a third-party mobile phone evaluation organization, it accepts sponsorship from major mobile phone manufacturers while boasting that it is an independent organization.

Luo Yonghao also criticized him for saying that since he was being kept by someone, there was no need to talk about independent personality and dignity.

So Liu Zhou felt that Wang Xiaoshuai was in the same situation at this time. He shouted for creative freedom and would rather be banned than compromise.

But now, they are crying out for support from above.

So the people above want to ask for whatever they want from you?
So Liu Zhou really can't stand such people. Even if you are really self-righteous and put art above all else, and you fight against the superiors to the end, Liu Zhou will still think highly of you.

But wanting everything and saying it in a high-sounding way will only make people look down on you.

Ning Hao, who was standing by, was delighted when he heard this. The boss was worthy of being the boss. What he said was much harsher than himself. He directly described Wang Xiaoshuai as someone seeking support.

This immediately dissipated Ning Hao's anger from being scolded by Wang Xiaoshuai.

The audience initially thought that there was nothing wrong with what Wang Xiaoshuai said about establishing an art theater chain, but after hearing what Liu Zhou said, they all felt that they had a bit of split thinking.

The media reporters were even more excited. From his debut till now, except for a verbal fight with Feng Kuzi at the beginning, Liu Zhou almost never had any verbal fights as his status became higher and higher.

So they didn't expect Liu Zhou's eloquence to be so smooth. He made Wang Xiaoshuai's face turn pale and speechless, and he was insulted so badly!

Zhang Guoli couldn't help laughing in his heart. He didn't expect Liu Zhou to be so good at talking. He was worthy of being a writer.

But this is a forum after all, and it is mainly for discussion. He couldn't help but ask Liu Zhou:
"Director Liu, what do you think should be done with art theaters?"

After hearing Zhang Guoli's question, everyone in the audience couldn't help but look at Liu Zhou, wanting to hear what he would say.

Liu Zhou pondered for a while, shook his head and said:

“I think our country is not suitable for art theaters at the moment. The conditions are not yet ripe.”

As soon as Liu Zhou finished speaking, there was a noisy discussion from below.

Zhang Guoli was also a little surprised and couldn't help but ask:

"why?"

Liu Zhou did not directly answer Zhang Guoli's question:

“Speaking of art films, there are two places that must be mentioned, one is Taiwan, and the other is France that Director Wang mentioned just now.

Starting from the mid-1980s, Taiwan introduced a film subsidy policy to strongly support art films, which led to art films becoming the mainstream of the Taiwanese film market and ultimately completely destroyed Taiwanese local films.

Although several excellent art films emerged during this period, if you look at the current Taiwanese film market, more than 80% are Hollywood films. It can be said that Taiwanese local films are dead.

Art films have not made Taiwan's film industry better, but have made it more unsustainable. Director Wei Desheng should be well aware of this.

Then we have to talk about French films. Director Wang just mentioned how good France’s support policy is for art films, but it is this kind of protection that has harmed French films.

French films have always been completely suppressed by Hollywood. More than 60% of the French box office are Hollywood films, and French local films account for only more than 30%.

This kind of support for art films has made it difficult for French commercial films to recover. At the same time, since the support funds are limited, they are basically taken away by famous directors, making it very difficult for new directors to stand out.

So even France's most famous director Luc Besson had to go to Hollywood to make movies.

On the contrary, the place where art films are most vibrant and have specialized art theaters is Hollywood, which is rejected by Director Wang.

But art theaters in North America are not supported by the government; they are the product of pure market competition.

North America's art theaters have formed an operating system that is completely different from commercial films, and this is our future development direction.

In the United States, there is an awards season that lasts for three months. During these three months, dozens of awards are presented successively, giving many art films ample exposure opportunities.

As we all know, as long as your movie is nominated for an Oscar, the box office of your movie can be increased by at least 10 million US dollars. If it wins the award, the box office can be increased by at least 30 million US dollars.

If Li An's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" hadn't won an Oscar, the box office would have been reduced by at least half.

Add to that other copyrights such as DVD and TV broadcasting, and if Hollywood art films are of good quality, they can not only get high box office, but also make a lot of money from other copyright income.

Even if you don’t win an Oscar and your box office isn’t that high, there are still many ways to monetize your film in North America, provided, of course, that your art film isn’t too rubbish.”

At this time, Liu Zhou's interest could not help but rise. Seeing that everyone on and off the stage were listening attentively, Liu Zhou took a sip of water and continued:

"Then why can't we develop art theaters now? The first point is that we lack high-quality art films in our country. Not to mention high quality, there are very few art films that can tell a clear story.

So just based on this point, art theaters cannot be established unless the state intervenes and provides financial support.

The second point is that we lack an awards season like the United States, nor do we have authoritative film awards like the Oscars.

This means that art films lack sufficient exposure and also lack sufficient monetization channels.

Since its restructuring, the authority of the Hong Kong Film Awards has been greatly enhanced, and it has now become the undisputed number one Chinese-language film award.

However, there is still some way to go before the Hong Kong Film Awards can be comparable to the Oscars, but I think it is at least a good start.

The third point is that our current Chinese film market is too small.

Although our Chinese film market has continued to grow in recent years, it is still relatively small.

Last year, our total box office was less than 5 billion yuan. I haven’t counted how much of the revenue came from art films, but it would not have been more than 50 million.

If the total box office of our Chinese films is 100 billion, then art films can account for at least 20 to 30 billion.

With a share of 20 to 30 billion, this piece of cake is already not small. By then, there will be no need for Director Wang to make an appeal, as film and television companies, distribution companies and theater companies will all actively participate.

Therefore, only when the film industry market matures to a certain degree, will there be segmentation of film genres and perfect art theaters.”

At this point, Liu Zhou couldn't help but look at Wang Xiaoshuai and said with a smile:

“So Director Wang, don’t you want to save art films?
Then make a commercial film with us!

Only when the Chinese film market matures and the cake becomes bigger, will the art film market grow bigger, and more people and capital will participate in it, so that art films can be saved and even develop well.

Director Wang feels that he has the mission to save Chinese films and Chinese art films, so why not put aside your pride and make a commercial film with us? "

The audience and even the reporters were all moved by what they heard. No one had ever explained the relationship between art films and the market so thoroughly before.

Before, all we heard was how difficult art films were. We didn’t even know when art films became synonymous with elegance, and obscure and mysterious things also became so-called art.

Now after listening to Liu Zhou's talk, everyone feels much clearer. Just listening to Liu Zhou's story is worth the trip.

Ning Hao also looked at Liu Zhou with some admiration. He used to think that Liu Zhou was good at making movies and running a company, but he didn't expect that his understanding of movies was also so profound.

No wonder my boss has been advocating the industrialization of films and commercial films. It turns out that it is not just as simple as making money.

At this time, Ning Hao couldn't help but look at Wang Xiaoshuai, wanting to see his reaction.

However, people like Wang Xiaoshuai cannot be convinced with just a few words. You can never wake up someone who is pretending to be asleep.

He was slightly startled, and he obviously didn't expect Liu Zhou to say that. Then he slowly shook his head and said:
“I still want to make art films. In my opinion, commercial films all give me the same feeling. When I see the same thing all around me, I get bored.

Moreover, the art film industry in China is in such a difficult situation now, and someone must stick to it. I will stick to art films to the end, and I am willing to be the one who carries the firewood for art films."

Liu Zhou was also expecting Wang Xiaoshuai's answer. He never thought that his words just now would be such a wake-up call for the other party, and then make him wake up and change his mind.

In fact, people like Wang Xiaoshuai are similar to those people in the current film industry who talk about Chinese films all day long.

These people are always criticizing Chinese films, saying that domestic blockbusters are of poor quality, that film and television productions are poor, and that filmmakers are making money. It seems that they are worried about Chinese-language films.

But they are actually sophisticated egoists. They don't want Chinese films to become bigger and stronger at all. Instead, they hope that the country can draw a circle to protect them so that they can make money safely.

These people only care about themselves. Expecting them to contribute to Chinese films is pure dreaming!
Liu Zhou was too lazy to waste words on them, so he might as well say something more meaningful:
"I respect Director Wang's persistence in art films, but I respect and admire Director Zhang Yimou even more for someone who gave up his past glory and persistence and devoted himself to commercial films without hesitation.

The sudden emergence of "Hero" brought audiences back to the cinema and made an outstanding contribution to the resurgence of Chinese films.

Mr. Lu Xun said that since ancient times, we have had people who work hard, people who work desperately, people who plead for the people, and people who sacrifice their lives for the law. These people have made great contributions in their respective fields and have become the backbone of Chinese history.

I think people like Director Zhang Yimou are the backbone of Chinese films.

Hollywood is very powerful and has almost occupied the entire world's film market, but I think Hollywood blockbusters will never be able to capture our film market.

Because I believe that there are many filmmakers in our country who are working silently for Chinese films like Director Zhang Yimou. "

As soon as Liu Zhou finished speaking, there was warm applause from the audience.

(End of this chapter)