The room instantly fell silent. No one dared to interrupt again.
Chi Ying’s point had been perfectly clear. Respect other people’s right to speak. What, just because you’re older, young people don’t even deserve a chance to voice their opinions?
“First of all, everyone knows that film is an art form. There’s no question about that. Ever since the Lumière brothers publicly screened Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory in 1895, countless filmmakers have devoted themselves to this art, helping it flourish. That includes generations of Chinese filmmakers who poured their hearts and souls into its development.”
“But…”
The opening remarks were all familiar talking points. The real issue always came after the word but.
“Film is also an industry.”
“And if it’s an industry, then we have to talk about the market. We have to talk about investment and returns.”
“Every filmmaker in China should have been shaken by what happened this year. In April alone, Titanic took more than 300 million yuan at our domestic box office.”
“One film. Three hundred million!”
“Our total domestic box office for all of 1997 was only 800 million yuan!”
“And that was with imported blockbusters already in the market, including heavy hitters like Jurassic Park. Just think about how fierce the competition already is.”
“What’s even more frightening is that we haven’t fully entered the global market yet. Every year people keep shouting, ‘The wolves are coming!’ But the wolves haven’t truly arrived. We still haven’t completely opened our market to the outside world. Right now, we’re only allowing ten imported films a year.”
“But fully opening our market is an irreversible trend. Once we officially join the WTO and fully open our domestic theatrical market, what kind of impact are we going to face?”
“We can’t simply issue administrative orders forcing theaters to screen our films. That wouldn’t comply with the rules governing WTO membership.”
“To put it bluntly, we’re still making movies like little handcrafted workshops. How are we supposed to compete with Hollywood’s fully industrialized assembly-line production?”
“How are we supposed to survive in waves this overwhelming?”
“How are we supposed to defend our own place?”
“We have to survive first!”
“France is the birthplace of cinema, yet last year even France only produced two films anyone could really name. France’s most celebrated young genius director, Luc Besson, has already abandoned the domestic market and gone to Hollywood.”
“And what slogan did he put forward?”
“‘Save French cinema.'”
“How do you save it?”
“By making films that sell tickets. By making sure cinema survives. By making sure filmmakers survive.”
Chi Ying unleashed her arguments in one rapid burst.
The entire room fell silent.
Because what she had said laid bare the most pressing crisis facing the industry. With the brutal box office numbers staring everyone in the face, everyone present knew those figures were real and indisputable.
People could criticize an individual film.
But they couldn’t criticize China’s policy of joining the WTO.
Nor could they deny the reality everyone had deliberately ignored. Domestic films simply couldn’t compete against imported blockbusters at the box office.
After a long silence, someone in a corner finally spoke up.
“We’re a socialist country. We can’t reduce everything to commercial interests…”
Chi Ying let out a cold laugh inwardly.
So now we’re elevating this into a political issue?
Perfect. I’ve been waiting for someone to say exactly that.
“Very well. Since this respected senior has brought politics into the discussion, then let’s carefully examine our own position and way of thinking.”
“Decades ago, Chairman Mao called upon filmmakers to become artists of the people. That was why, in the early years after the founding of the People’s Republic, so many beloved films emerged that truly resonated with ordinary people.”
“The older generation of filmmakers went deep into villages and fields. They pointed their cameras at real, living people and captured the spirit of their era.”
“It is precisely because we are a socialist country that we filmmakers have an even greater responsibility to serve the people wholeheartedly.”
“We’ve always talked about coming from the masses and returning to the masses. The films we should be making are the ones ordinary people want to watch, enjoy watching, and are willing to sit through.”
“The very least we should do is bring audiences back into movie theaters. Only after that can we talk about anything else.”
“So why have we become incapable of bending down, listening to ordinary people, and understanding what they actually like?”
“I graduated from the Film Academy too. I also dream of making profound artistic films that challenge people’s souls. I also want to leave my own bold mark on film history. That’s the ultimate aspiration of every artist.”
“But we also have to be realistic.”
“We can’t satisfy only our own desire for self-expression while forgetting what the people actually need.”
“Whether a film or television production succeeds is easy to measure. Television audiences vote with their remote controls. Movie audiences vote with their feet.”
“Seniors, colleagues, a pioneer of cinema once said, ‘For that beam of light, I would gladly die.'”
“Our works are the foundation of our existence. But before we ever reach that light, the first thing we have to do is survive through our own efforts.”
“Excellent!”
Lei Dongming was the first to applaud.
The others seated on the stage immediately followed, breaking into enthusiastic applause.
Lei Dongmin had genuinely never expected Chi Ying to be such a formidable speaker. She had practically become his perfect spokesperson, and every argument she made left those old conservatives with nowhere to attack.
They didn’t want to discuss the market or box office?
Then she talked about national policy, global trends, and the future.
They wanted to raise the discussion to the level of political ideology?
Then she talked about serving the people.
The vice minister then spoke confidently.
“Comrade Xiao Chi has made an excellent speech. She addressed the core issues and identified the key points. Going forward, our work must center on ‘serving the people’ by producing films that ordinary audiences genuinely want to watch and enjoy…”
The rest of the meeting was rather uneventful.
It mainly consisted of the officials on the stage expressing their positions and conveying the leadership’s guiding principles.
In truth, that had always been the real purpose of the meeting.
The only reason everything had spiraled out of control at the beginning was because the leadership had been dazzled by the thirty-million-yuan box office figure and had misjudged the situation entirely.
None of that had anything to do with Chi Ying anymore.
She quietly returned to being the model student, sitting obediently in her seat, taking notes, applauding, applauding some more, and then heading home after the meeting ended.
The only unexpected reward came as she walked downstairs.
Lei Dongming’s car was parked by the curb outside.
As she approached, the rear window rolled down.
“Xiao Chi, tomorrow morning come to my office with Director Han. When you get back to the Planning Center, immediately communicate the spirit of today’s meeting.
“Get moving!”
“…?”
Chi Ying suddenly felt uneasy.
With butterflies in her stomach, she returned to the Planning Center.
Within the organizational hierarchy, the Planning Center and Huaying Group were departments of the same rank. Although Lei Dongming was a veteran and held a position half a rank higher than Director Han, who had only recently taken charge of the Planning Center, the way General Manager Lei had spoken sounded as though he were directly assigning work to Director Han.
Chi Ying worried Director Han might take offense.
By the time she returned, the workday was almost over. Nearly everyone on the floor had already left.
Fortunately, Director Han had just come back as well and was tidying up her desk.
Choosing her words carefully, Chi Ying explained what had happened.
She discreetly observed her expression.
To her surprise, she showed no sign of displeasure. Instead, she smiled enthusiastically.
“Oh? General Manager Lei wants us to come over? Wait a moment. Let me see what’s going on.”
She picked up the office phone and dialed a number.
“General Manager Lei! How did today’s meeting go? Did our Xiao Chi do all right?… Mm-hmm… Mm-hmm… That’s great… I understand, I understand… I already conveyed the leadership’s directives to her when she first reported for duty… Right… Right… All right. I’ll bring her over tomorrow. I’ll make sure everything is communicated properly.”
After hanging up, Director Han beamed at Chi Ying.
“You performed very well today. General Manager Lei said you fully grasped the leadership’s intentions, and your speech was excellent and highly original. He’d also like you to write a more detailed report and see whether it can be published in our magazine.”
“General Manager Lei used to be my superior. He wants me to bring you over tomorrow so you can become acquainted. Of course you know where his office is, but it’s better if I take you personally.”
“Ever since the Planning Center was established, we really haven’t accomplished anything particularly substantial. General Manager Lei wants us to develop a project and see if we can make this year’s New Year release season a livelier and more festive one.”
“If you’ve got any ideas, start preparing right away.”
“But remember, it has to be a commercial film. Just like you said yourself, it has to be the kind of movie ordinary people actually want to watch.”
“Go home tonight and think it over. At the very least, come up with an outline. Tomorrow we’ll go meet General Manager Lei together.”
Chi Ying froze.
She had never imagined that volunteering to stand out this afternoon and presenting her “pledge of allegiance” would pay off so quickly.
She had originally assumed she’d have to keep her head down for several more years before getting a chance to make a film.
Yet now…
The opportunity had landed right in front of her.
As for a project…
That was the easy part.
Over the past while, she had already been organizing many of the ideas she’d developed in her previous life.
She owed all of that to her past experiences.
Chi Ying truly loved cinema from the bottom of her heart.
Even during the darkest and most painful periods of her previous life, she had never stopped creating. Instead, writing became her emotional refuge.
She had written numerous film scripts.
She had also conducted detailed analyses of blockbuster films from different eras.
By then, China’s film industry had already entered a period of rapid commercial development.
She had therefore spent a great deal of time studying box office performance, production costs, return on investment, market positioning, and the entire commercial side of filmmaking.
Why did one film suddenly become a massive hit?
What was its selling point?
How had the studio marketed it?
Was its success a lucky accident or an inevitable result?
Could its methods be replicated?
Now, all of that knowledge finally had a place to be put to use.
As for New Year films, she already had an excellent concept.
Over the past several weeks, she had even turned it into both a written screenplay and storyboards.
It seemed that opportunities truly favored those who came prepared.
Suppressing her excitement, she sincerely thanked Director Han.
“Director, I actually do have a script. I’ll polish it a bit more tonight and do my best to bring everything with me tomorrow when we meet General Manager Lei.”
“Really? That’s wonderful! I knew from the first time I met you that you’re someone who keeps her feet on the ground. Go prepare well. Don’t stay up too late tonight. Even a rough draft is enough. We’re already ahead of the other departments.”
After seeing her director off, Chi Ying hurried to the cafeteria, wolfed down a few bites of dinner, then rushed back to her office, shut the door, and threw herself into work.
In truth, everything was already finished.
She had completed both the literary screenplay and the shooting script.
All she wanted now was to check for any overlooked details.
And more importantly…
Figure out how to convince General Manager Lei to invest.
Money.
That was the single most important prerequisite for getting a film into production and onto the screen.
…
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