Chapter 598 Vertical and Horizontal (Two chapters combined) There is an old saying: If the route is wrong, the regime will collapse, and no matter how many people there are, it will be of no use.
A correct goal is a prerequisite for success. If the goal is wrong, for example, if a smart person wants to prove that the sun is actually square, even if it takes a million years, it will be a futile effort.
Shang Yechu twirled his pen, staring at the paper in deep thought.
What is her goal? To change the entertainment industry. But why does she want to change the entertainment industry? Because she wants screenwriters like Wu Hua Rou to no longer be oppressed, actors like Teacher Qi to have more choices, and... most importantly, she wants to have more and better choices for herself, so she doesn't have to search for scripts like looking for a needle in a haystack.
An actor who will be remembered for generations may make many bad movies, but an actor who only makes bad movies will never be remembered for generations. Good scripts and good works are the foundation of a great actor.
Does she lack scripts? No, she does. Qingping Entertainment has a plethora of scripts for historical romance, modern romance, and fantasy romance, but she rarely gets offers for film scripts. Even when she does, they are often poorly made, with melodramatic and ridiculous stories.
She wants to create good stories, good movies, and good dramas. To increase her own choices, and also the choices of those she loves. To ensure that actresses of all ages, including herself, Yang Huanyi, and Qi Ming, have a wide variety of roles to play; to make screenwriters like Jian Xiaojun central to film and television production, rather than marginalized; and to provide more support for talented directors like Luo Yao.
But is this her ultimate goal?
Shang Yechu had never actively considered this question until yesterday.
Shang Yechu suddenly thought: What if that actress was Su Ge?
The answer to the question suddenly became clear: Shang Yechu had no intention of fighting for an actress like Su Ge. Even if one day Su Ge fell on hard times and had to rely entirely on Shang Yechu for help, Shang Yechu would never put her in his film crew to make a living; instead, he would find her other ways to make a living.
Once the floodgates of thought are opened, they burst forth immediately. Shang Yechu then thought of a second problem: screenwriters become the core of film and television production, holding the power of life and death over them. This is certainly beneficial to creation, but what if that screenwriter is an idiot who is out of touch with reality?
Earning 3,000 yuan a month to rent a 120-square-meter apartment in Haicheng, burning opium to destroy it; in films and television dramas about the war of aggression, instead of depicting the suffering of the invaded people, they portray the "pain," "humanity," and "reflection" of the invaders... There are quite a few screenwriters like this in the literary and artistic circles. If the first two are merely clear-headed stupidity due to a lack of common sense, the latter is utter malice and spinelessness.
As for the director-centric system, its drawbacks have long been apparent. Countless on-set tyrants and unspoken rules prove this point; the red sofa in Hollywood has become synonymous with these unspoken rules. The phenomenon of bad directors tearing apart good scripts is also countless.
If one path is clear, then all paths will be clear. Shang Yechu suddenly realized that his real purpose in wanting to improve the situation of these people was actually to create more good works.
What if the situation were reversed: Qi Ming was a seasoned actor, Yang Huanyi was still juggling multiple projects and being unprofessional while filming "Anna Doriya," Jian Xiaojun wrote a bunch of mediocre garbage, and Luo Yao chose to include some inexplicable pornographic scenes in "Anna Doriya" to grab attention; under these circumstances, if Shang Yechu still wanted to support their development in the entertainment industry, wouldn't he be presenting a bunch of entertainment garbage to the audience? How is this any different from Meta Pictures' forceful promotion of Su Ge?
Thinking about it this way, Shang Yechu understood.
Today's dedicated actor may be tomorrow's actor juggling multiple projects to climb the career ladder; today's respectful actor may be tomorrow's actor who can't resist adding scenes because other artists have changed the script; today's fair director may be tomorrow's director who makes the film look like he's drunk because he discriminates against comedians.
If she wants to accomplish something, her fundamental goal should not be centered on any one person or small group of people, because people are ever-changing beings. She cannot base her ideals on trust in the humanity of others.
Rather than supporting a group of "good actors, good screenwriters, and good directors" in her mind, letting them climb up and control the entertainment industry, and then, due to the fickleness of people, becoming a new generation of factions and cliques, it would be better to create a mechanism that forces everyone—whether a good actor or a seasoned actor, a good screenwriter or a stupid screenwriter, a tyrannical director on set or a cowardly director—to abide by certain rules and regulations and not dare to act arbitrarily.
Rather than hoping that others will refrain from doing something because of morality and emotion, it is better to prevent them from doing something because of rules and regulations.
Thinking of this, Shang Yechu suddenly thought of four words:
The film industry.
The so-called film industry treats films as industrial products, producing them using modern, standardized industrial processes. Filmmakers in this process are positioned like assembly line workers; since they are assembly line workers, nothing is irreplaceable. Once they lose their uniqueness, the probability of them causing trouble decreases significantly, since if they don't do it, plenty of others will.
As early as the 1970s, a book titled "Foreign Film Industry Materials" was published in China, and on the title page, it quoted a rather bold statement: "We must catch up with and surpass the world's advanced level in the near future."
Nearly fifty years have passed in the blink of an eye. Today, China's modern film industry is developing slowly, but the "industry" of domestic TV dramas has regressed significantly.
Terrible dramas abound, utterly illogical. Idol dramas are all about romance, with the same few faces carrying every script. Green screen editing and photo editing are considered minor flaws; body doubles are everywhere, from action scenes to dramatic scenes. Investors cram in actors, adding extra scenes is rampant; actors bring their own screenwriters to the set, contacting them to revise and add scenes before even studying the script. The themes are severely homogenized, and the plots are highly rigid. Despite being incredibly bad, they are heavily promoted and marketed, tricking audiences into watching stale food.
The domestic drama market is currently showing signs of decline, but thanks to a number of dramas like "Tianban," "Hu Ji Zhuan," "Fei Hua Zhu Yue Ling Ping Sheng," and "Yun Qing Ji," it still appears to be thriving at first glance. However, at most only one or two such dramas are produced each year now, which is nothing compared to the grand spectacle of a galaxy of talent in domestic dramas in earlier years.
Shang Yechu recalls that a few years later, short dramas emerged, while domestically produced long dramas remained in the same slump. The long drama market was thus shattered, lying in a state of limbo. Even then, domestic long drama producers refused to reflect on their own actions, not only failing to acknowledge that their own self-destructive practices had led to the demise of long dramas, but also blaming short dramas for seizing market share from them…
Bringing good works to the audience includes not only movies, but also TV series.
The film industry has long been established, and Shang Yechu has joined it, working alongside his partners to drive its development. But this isn't enough; television dramas are equally important to the entertainment market. Good dramas can attract a wider audience and inject new talent into the film market. Ironically, domestic entertainment capital is fixated on the fan economy, preferring to cultivate behemoths within fan circles rather than produce truly high-quality works that break through to a wider audience. Ultimately, this only produces traffic-driven celebrities who exploit fans, not box office stars.
Most importantly, the industrialization of film requires a massive amount of real money, and both Qingping Entertainment and Shang Yechu can only participate at this point, not "support" it. However, television series production is much smaller in scale, and Shang Yechu and Qingping Entertainment have the capability to take the lead, and they can do so now!
Shang Yechu stared at the line of words on the paper.
Who are our friends? Who are our enemies?
Once the true goal was established, this question could finally be answered.
Shang Yechu picked up his pen, crossed out all the names of director, screenwriter, and actors who had their scenes added, and wrote on the paper:
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