Chapter 118

Seeing Lu Kuan looked at the teachers and students who were already impatiently raising their hands and asking to speak, and smiled: "Everyone, please be patient. Let me finish first."

"Our Beijing Film Academy's founder, Ms. Chen Bo'er, once said: Learn from the people, serve the people, and be an artist of the people!"

"If the film you make is only satisfied with self-indulgence, it pits the investors and disgusts the audience; the ultimate consequence is harming the entire industry!"

Zhang Zhang Huijun's eyes lit up when he heard this; it wasn't that he agreed with Seeing Lu Kuan's viewpoint.

It was just that throwing out Ms. Chen Bo'er's famous quote on this occasion was a very good way to counter certain guests in the audience who were relying on their seniority.

You're relying on your high seniority and old qualifications, but how do you compare to Ms. Chen Bo'er?

She was a generation of artists who had been received by the Premier and the Great Man back in the day!

This little Lu, though he looks reckless, still has plenty of experience in struggle!

The discussions in the audience grew louder; a small number of students applauded but instantly quieted down. Regardless of their expressions, the professors and teachers of the Beijing Film Academy all sat motionless.

Chen Bing walked over quietly to ask Zhang Zhang Huijun for instructions: "President, should we end it here for today?"

Zhang Zhang Huijun waved his hand with an indifferent expression, signaling for everyone to continue listening.

If one had to cover their ears while stealing a bell even when it came to the viewpoints expressed by the students of their own school, then this cradle of national film talent would be far too unworthy of the name.

Huang Huang Shixian took the microphone without hesitation.

"Film is not only a commodity, but also a literary and artistic work. It must have a leading and enlightening role. There are ordinary audiences and professional audiences. We must have a portion of art films to provide nourishment for those professional audiences; otherwise, Chinese film will one day head toward extinction."

Boss Lu felt like vomiting as he listened to his words; you're actually here dividing your bread and butter into different classes!

"Wrong, completely wrong! If you want art films not to die, you must first develop commercial films; this is a very clear logic!"

"I don't know if Professor Huang has studied the Hollywood model. Every year, Hollywood takes a portion from the box office revenue of commercial films to subsidize art house cinemas, helping them make a profit on one hand and providing ticket subsidies for the audience on the other."

"It's the same logic for the domestic art film market. Only by making this cake bigger can everyone have something to eat."

Many students and teachers in the audience had already started nodding in approval. Apart from the freshmen who were still very ignorant, the other practitioners all recognized this point.

The entire film market is so desolate; how are they going to survive after they graduate?

Chinese film is struggling just to survive; why bother with those fancy, highbrow things? Can they be eaten as food?

Lu Lu Chuan impatiently took the microphone.

"Art films absolutely have their value and significance; this is the concentrated embodiment of every film director and creator's artistic thought. But commercial films, especially the Hollywood-style commercial films you speak of, are like products on an industrial assembly line—single-minded and boring!"

Seeing Lu Kuan smiled: "Please don't misunderstand. I have never belittled art films; I am saying that at this point in time, in the current development environment of Chinese film, commercial films are absolutely an important force that cannot be ignored."

"In Venice, I exchanged ideas with a peer, and she gave me a set of data on the domestic film industry."

"Currently, there are about 40 state-owned film studios nationwide, over 30 film distribution and screening companies, 35 theater chains, and more than 300,000 practitioners, but the annual film production is only about 100!"

The audience was in an uproar. Zhang Zhang Huijun and the others obviously knew about this desolate situation, but Seeing Lu Kuan's subsequent words were even more shocking.

"In our country of 1.3 billion people, the film box office is only one-fourth that of the 47 million people in South Korea."

"And among these 100 films, those that can be normally released in theaters and make a profit, including imported films, are fewer than 40."

"And the box office share of the 20 imported films with a quota is almost equal to that of these 100 domestic films!"

The whole room was completely boiling over. There was no shortage of seniors about to graduate present today, and facing such a grim situation, it was hard not to feel distressed.

The freshmen were secretly complaining, wondering if they had entered the wrong profession.

Facing Boss Lu's science-student mindset, Lu Lu Chuan couldn't find a good rebuttal even if he wanted to.

The situation is right here; this is the result of you all obsessing over filming art films—you've almost killed Chinese film.

What else is there to say?

Boss Lu said sternly: "Students, teachers, Chinese film is already like the beginning of the national anthem—it has reached its most dangerous moment!"

"As practitioners, the only thing we can do, the only thing we should do, is to abandon the natural boundaries between commercial films and art films in our hearts, understand the audience, research the market, and film works that the common people love to see."

"Only by letting the audience spontaneously walk into the cinema and only by creating works that attract the audience can Chinese film walk out of the haze and toward brilliance!"

Ning Hao applauded excitedly.

Liu Liu Yifei stood up and applauded.

And there was also Zhang Zhang Songwen, who had returned to school today specifically to support his boss.

As the president, Zhang Zhang Huijun was the first to stand up and applaud in the face of such a magnificent speech by a student of his own school, and in the face of his commitment to taking the banner and burden of Chinese film as his own responsibility.

Regardless of who was right or wrong, who won or lost in today's debate, Seeing Lu Kuan's vision and breadth of mind were worth encouraging!

Following him was Zhang Zhang Yimou, the first director among the fifth generation to change course and attempt big-budget commercial films.

Although he hadn't had a chance to speak today, he undoubtedly agreed very much with Seeing Lu Kuan's viewpoint.

Tian Tian Zhuangzhuang, Zheng Zheng Dongtian, Xie Xie Xiaojin, and the teachers of the Beijing Film Academy all offered encouragement to the talented director from their own school, followed by the loud cheers of the students.

Boss Lu bowed on stage and then left quietly.

Today's act of showing off was rounded off, and he had successfully established his banner as a commercial film director.

I believe it won't be long—just after the release of *Hero* in three months—that everyone present today, and everyone who sees this video footage after it spreads, will know how correct his prediction was!

"Little Lu! Wait for me!"

Liu Liu Yifei ran to catch up with Boss Lu, who wanted to run away after showing off, and stared at him with a grin.

"What's wrong? Do you think I was especially dashing up there just now?"

Even if she thought so in her heart, she wouldn't let him off the hook with her words.

"Hey, the masters are among the people, and the clowns are in the halls!"

Boss Lu looked at her in surprise: "Whoa! Where did you learn that? Your verbal skills are improving!"

"Hehe, I learned it from chatting with my classmates just now!"

"Little Lu, let me hitch a ride in your car; I've already asked for leave!"

Boss Lu took her out of the school gate: "I'm going to look at a house, and later I have to go talk about distribution; you'll just be in the way."

"My mom is right there at the house; you can just give me a ride."

"What? You guys bought one too?"

"Yeah, in the same alley. The location is really good, and it's not far from the Beijing Film Academy. Once it's renovated, I won't go back to live in Changping."

Boss Lu was somewhat speechless.

What a waste; in two years, won't it just be your mom left there!

"Let's go, let's go, hurry up."

Liu Liu Yifei looked at the dark green Toyota LC120: "Wow, did you just buy this?"

Seeing Lu Kuan hadn't even finished bragging before he was hit with a blow.

"It's so ugly, like a mechanical giant frog."

Liu Liu Yifei seemed to be in a particularly good mood today, chattering away; she had never treated herself as an outsider in front of Seeing Lu Kuan.

An outsider? I'm your savior!

But today she met another of Boss Lu's saviors.

"Hello, are you the person who kicked over the thug that day?"

A Fei glanced at her through the rearview mirror, and upon hearing Seeing Lu Kuan say to go to the courtyard, he started the car and set off without a word.

"Stop chatting with people. Let me ask you, how is the song recording going?"

Liu Liu Yifei instantly changed from an extrovert to an introvert.

Singing was really the death of her.

Seeing Lu Kuan switched to his identity as a shareholder of Red Star Dock, arranging work for the little girl of the party and state he had personally cultivated.

"*Whiplash* is going to be distributed this month. Except for first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, you don't need to go anywhere else."

"Zhang Jizhong's *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils* has already started filming in Shidu. I've told him that your scenes must be finished before the end of the year."

Liu Liu Yifei's eyes lit up: "Is it to leave time for your next movie?"

They say that meeting Yang Guo ruins one's life; it's best not to meet someone too stunning when you're young, otherwise, they will occupy a period of your youth.

It was the same for Liu Liu Yifei; having experienced the rhythm and scale of the big screen, and having experienced the red carpet and enthusiasm of film festivals.

It was hard for her to return to TV dramas or enter the singer industry.

Having experienced the feeling of being at the top of the food chain, and watching Seeing Lu Kuan talk about million-dollar deals with others, how could she face ordinary TV dramas anymore!

It's just that her acting skills were still far from reaching the requirements; it was already this difficult for a role with only a few minutes of screen time in *Whiplash*, so forcing more film resources on her would only harm her.

Boss Lu decided to let her complete the filming of a few classic roles step by step.

"Don't think about movies for now. *Chinese Paladin* will be launched before the end of the year; you need to hurry up and finish filming Wang Wang Yuyan's scenes."

Now, she already had some fans in communities like Blog. com and Tianya, but they were all visual fans who came for that stunning photo of her in the purple pleated skirt on the film festival red carpet.

The explosive growth of Liu Liu Yifei's true fan base would only start with *The Story of a Noble Family*, which began airing in 2003.

Without a role, who would remember you? You can't just keep saying: "That woman who walked the red carpet at the film festival!"

The marketing strategy Boss Lu formulated for her was also very simple.

The red carpet at the film festival made her go viral, putting her on the stage.

The casting hype for *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils* and the publicity for Wang Wang Yuyan's makeup photos established her image as a costume beauty.

After *The Story of a Noble Family* aired, it would cooperate with the release of her EP to launch the first shot of her three-pronged career.

Then, taking advantage of this momentum, she would participate in *Chinese Paladin*.

By the time *Chinese Paladin* exploded in popularity, he believed her traffic would already be in the first tier of the domestic entertainment industry.

Of course, in this process, Boss Lu would continue to put pressure on her to improve her acting skills, otherwise, she would just be wearing new shoes and walking the old path.

Fortunately, the little girl in this life had experienced the shock brought to her by Mei Mei Yanfang and had worked with acting fanatics like Feng Feng Yuanzheng, so her attitude toward acting was still very upright.

In other words, if she could choose for herself, perhaps she would choose without hesitation to study at the Film Academy or go to a professional drama troupe to support her dream of being an actress.

The car stopped outside Gongjian Gongjian Hutong, and Seeing Lu Kuan and Liu Liu Yifei entered the Ice Cellar Prince's Mansion along the crowded alley.

Nearly four months had passed, and this place already had a sense of "great changes."

"Director Lu, you're here!"

Xu Kaitong wore a hard hat, his face full of exhaustion.

The financier had arrived, and it was a financier who had just won a major international film festival award; he couldn't help but be respectful.

Even for a layman like him, he didn't quite know the gold content of the Venice Golden Lion.

But he knew the gold content of someone who could spend a huge sum of money to buy three courtyards and then spend a huge sum to renovate them without blinking, right?

"The progress is okay, I see!"

Boss Lu inspected the surroundings with great satisfaction.

Gray antique floor tiles, almost all raw materials, simple and textured.

The corridor walls used waterproof latex paint, with antique wall lamps for embellishment, achieving both practicality and aesthetics.

"Wow! Little Lu, is the light in your house motion-sensitive? Why does it turn on as soon as someone walks by!"

Boss Lu mocked: "What a Granny Liu, you don't understand this, do you? This is called smart lighting."

"These two wall lamps have two trigger devices: one is the tactile switch under our feet, and the other is volume control."

Liu Liu Yifei suddenly shouted "Ah ah ah!" and played around tirelessly.

She was determined to copy this design; it was really trendy!

Liu Liu Xiaoli: Where did you go just now, Sister Xixi?

Liu Yifei: I went to Hu Dekuan's house and copied a trendy design!

Xu Kaitong smiled: "If Director Lu hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known that this technology existed now."

Actually, Seeing Lu Kuan just mentioned it casually; he didn't expect that this technology really existed these days.

Xu Kaitong bought the product from a company in Shenzhen; as early as 2000, Shenzhen had already built the first smart avenue in the country.

Boss Lu then inspected the huge bedroom and the extremely luxurious bathroom one after another.

"What is this?"

The little girl pointed to a wooden box on the bedroom cabinet.

Seeing Lu Kuan smiled: "This is an incense box. Sometimes I write scripts and draw storyboards at night, and I need something to refresh my mind."

He opened the incense box to look at the ash inside, preparing to take it out and dump it.

"This was taken from an old Daoist temple; it doesn't work very well anymore."

Liu Liu Yifei nodded silently, the image of Seeing Lu Kuan working late into the night appearing in her mind.

So that's how a story like *Whiplash* was born.

She silently estimated the area of the bedroom in her heart, secretly cursing Seeing Lu Kuan for being shameless, and the three of them turned to the glass flower room on the second-floor terrace.

Obviously, Liu Liu Yifei was captivated again!

This place was the most special structure of the original Ice Cellar Prince's Mansion, because in the early years, Wang Wang Deshan shouldered the heavy responsibility of taking ice for Empress Dowager Cixi. In order to monitor the eunuchs and workers under him to take ice seriously, he specially built this terrace for himself to look into the distance.

Now it had become a glass flower room where Boss Lu could drink tea and rest in winter.

Paired with a confidante or two to add fragrance, wouldn't that be beautiful!

Except for the current self-built Chinese-style villas, old courtyards almost never had a second floor; if they did, they were mansion-level residences.

"Seeing Lu Kuan, you've made a profit. If you set up a telescope here, you can peek at a lot of people's houses!"

Boss Lu looked at her speechlessly.

Why is the little girl's heart so dirty now!

(End of chapter)