King of Hollywood

This is Adrian's fourth visit to the continent, taking into account the previous three, and, of course, his first official visit in his capacity as chairman of one of the world's largest media groups. So, you have to face the crowd of journalists and talk about a bunch of bullshit that seems useless, and you have to take the headlines of the current affairs and entertainment segments of the media.

After all, in addition to being chairman of the media group, he is also a legendary director, with 80 per cent of films directed on the mainland and a large number of fans.

Adrian's official visit to the continent, however, was not intended for these purposes, although there were many commercial negotiations, but all he had to do was visit those professionals who were responsible. That's right, just to be simpler, come and take a walk and have fun. Of course, it's impossible to play with women this time. Such a high profile will surely attract a lot of attention. If a reporter gets something that shouldn't be shot, then it's a little troublesome. His playboy name is already famous.

In fact, at that evening's wine party, the women who easily got an invitation card were like flickering moths, wanting to chat with him - mostly in the entertainment industry, Lin Zhizheng, Lady Gao, how they became famous, and how big and small pairs of ice were squeezed into Hollywood. It's no secret in this circle, not to mention the fact that the Wang brothers often sign in cooperation with AC Media.

So whatever Adrian wants, no problem. It's just troublesome to get caught by a journalist, and it's hard to say if some stupid woman wants to raise her reputation in this stupid way, even though he owns a lot of media companies on the mainland. But after all, this is not your territory, and it cannot be as easy as an arm to make a finger.

And the reason for this is that, yes, some commercial cooperation does need to be negotiated formally, and in the next two years, if you want a separate, high-profile visit to the continent, you need to think carefully. Adrian is not Buffett, and without a word, he's capable of upgrading the stock market —— this is also a pass. However, he also admitted that it meant a little bit of homecoming, but it was just a little bit, except for the reasons mentioned above. There are a few small things that he needs to come to understand.

“You are undoubtedly working on a miracle, even here, the prime place, is still like three days.” Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass window at the Grand Hotel of China, Adrian looked at the view and exclaimed, "It's hard to imagine that when I came here a few years ago, the Five Rings Road had just begun to operate. But now the six loops are almost finished, it seems. The Seventh Circle Road is certainly indispensable. ”

And then he turned around and laughed at the old man: "Hopefully you won't be fixing Circle Road to America in the future. ”

“That's a good idea.” The other party laughed and didn't care at all, "to be honest, you are the most knowledgeable Chinese media tycoon I've ever met, Mr. Corwell. ”

After a pause, he added: "This is not a compliment. Your sacrament is more familiar with China than many Chinese people, such as yesterday's speech at Yanjing University. I personally agree with the film and the rest of it. ”

“Really?” Adrian picked his eyebrows by accident.

“Of course," the other person nodded seriously, with a slightly disdainful tone, "you're right, those people who can't do well within the rules, if they cancel the rules, they must do well? ”

“Thank you." Adrian laughed. But he didn't pay much attention to it. He praised the separation, and in his heart, the last few words were probably his favorite.

Just as all the big characters come to China, they always go to several prestigious universities to give lectures. Adrian was also inescapable, so yesterday he gave a lecture at Yanjing University on the theme "New media and the public”. He actually wanted to go to Shui Wood University at first, and although most of the country's top executives come from Yanjing, the most important ones come from Shui Wood all the time, so he really wanted to see them.

But think about it and give up. Mizuki University has also sent an invitation, but the words are not sincere, more like coping, but Yanjing University is more enthusiastic. In order to avoid sending the wrong signal, Adrian eventually chose the latter.

For the most part, there was nothing to say about the presentations, which were prepared in advance and presented to the school and to some people, and the schools that came to attend were selected. Sometimes, however, there are so many bold guys who ask him what he thinks about Chinese films when he talks about the appearance of online videos that could lead to more people's films and then allow him to ask questions.

“There is no doubt that Chinese films are trying to catch up, and although the pace is shaky and sometimes unclear, it is indeed moving forward. I know Heroes doesn't have a very good reputation on the continent, but in North America, it's a really good movie.” Adrian replied in a fluent Chinese language, saying that the entire speech was delivered in Chinese, which gave him a lot of surprise and gave those who were preparing to play English a chance.

That's what he was going to say, but the person asking the question didn't seem satisfied with the answer, and immediately asked: "You think there are specific gaps between China's filmmaking and Hollywood, from the system to the system. ”

After that sentence came out, what he wanted to say was basically certain, not only did the students sitting nearby take their eyes off him, but some of the school leaders sitting in front of him turned their heads slightly to reveal their unsafe appearance.

“I think I know what the classmate means.” After a few seconds of pause, Adrian smiled and said.

Is this a tradition of Yanjing University? It's all right to say they tooyoungtoosimple, then he's welcome.

“In one country,” he suddenly raised his voice, "their film industry has just begun, and the domestic market is dominated by foreign films, and people are very tolerant of films in other countries, even rotten ones, but very harsh on their own films. In order to support the country's film industry, the Government had to legislate to restrict foreign films and encourage its filmmakers to produce more and better works. At the same time, however, they set up censorship boards and began to cut and ban films that they did not consider good, in order to ensure the cinema box office and the 'purity' of the films. ”

Speaking of which, Adrian smiled with a profound expression: "Now, can anyone tell me which country I'm talking about? ”

The auditorium at Yanjing University was silent for a while, and then I didn't know where it was coming from, but it was very clear grunting: “By your example, that's definitely not our country. ”

I laughed.

And Adrian laughed, “Yes, the country I'm talking about. America in the first half of the last century. ”

A buzzing sound sounded, but it quickly grew low and fast, and the students here wouldn't know what he was talking about.

“Yes, I am talking about the Hayes Code,” Adrian continued, "and as early as 1915, state governments prepared review boards to rigorously require films to be edited as required. Otherwise, there will be the consequences of a ban. A few years later, the cantonal councils came together to become national organizations. Years later, the standard code was published by the then head of the agency, Will? Hayes executes, so it's called the Hayes Code. There are 12 prohibitions throughout the Code, which cover a wide variety of circumstances, including crime, sex, religion, etc., and of course, whether they are violated depends on the attitude of the Commission's examiners. I thought I saw" The Flying Man "on the stand. About Howard? Hughes' film suffered. I assure you, those details are true. ”

A low laugh sounded, with a slightly awkward smell, not because of the Hayes Code, which I saw on my feet. "

“I know, there must be some classmates who say that times are different. The standards are different, and it should be freer now, and I agree," Adrian lifted his hands up. “In fact, I totally agree that the imagination without restraint can fly higher, and in fact, what was banned by the Haas Code is now prevalent in Hollywood movies, and the deeper the violation, the more the box office. ”

It was another low laugh, except that the students' smiles were deep, and those in charge of the front row all had a somewhat uneasy exchange of eyes.

“But I'm not going to say this with the example of the Haas Code,” Adrian turned it around, "and I'm going to say that the Haas Code has ruled Hollywood for almost 40 years, and of those 40 years, we still have Hell Angels, Wuthering Hills, Casablanca, Roman Holidays, Binnon, and many more that can be called classics! And I'm sure even in a few decades' time we'll be watching these movies. ”

His voice rose again and, in contrast, the students' voices in the auditorium slowed down.

“So," Adrian laughed deeply, "my question is, where are your Hell Angels, your Casablanca, your Roman Holidays? ”

Without waiting to answer, he immediately shouted, "What makes me believe that you can fly higher and farther after breaking away from the rules, rather than doing the Brown movement, if a person is unable to make the most elementary action of relaxing his wings without being under less stringent rules? ”

A few more smiles and then quickly went down.

“I like China, I like China's potential,” Adrian said once again, “I don't think I need to prove that. ”

Of course, it is not necessary to prove that his Chinese is definitely the best of the American entrepreneurs who visit the mainland.

“Although China's film industry is lagging behind the United States in all its aspects, I still hope that China's film industry will grow, because Hollywood needs competition, the United States needs competition, don't argue, and don't hide, which is the fact that cooperation and competition will be ubiquitous between China and the United States for a long time to come.” He said very seriously.

Honestly, he would have preferred to use the word "opponent”, a neutral word that better reflects the current relationship between China and the United States, but considering that other people may not necessarily interpret it in his way, then both sides may not like it, so he eventually replaced it with "competition”.

“Without competition, without vitality, without vitality, with degradation, victory and defeat, is the proven truth,” Adrian's voice echoes in the auditorium, "Hollywood is now in a position of solitude for defeat. We're a little overwhelmed in global markets, but that's why so many producers are starting to think that as long as the special effects are done well, more investment can be made back, and then they forget the most important thing, that a movie can be a good movie because it has a good story. ”

He lifted his hands again, and many of those present showed a sense of contemplation: “I had hoped that Europe would play this role in the first place, but unfortunately they preferred to keep warm in small circles and maintain what they called ‘art’ rather than go any further. If you read" The Allen Show "in my correspondence on this point, you should be able to find it, issue 43, 05. ”

Another few embarrassing laughs.

“I also visited Japan, South Korea and… India, and unfortunately their markets were too closed, like India, where they always liked to add song and dance to their films, so I eventually looked at China.” Adrian finally slowed down and smiled. “You have made many miracles, and you will continue to make miracles, so why can't you also make miracles on them? Though you still have a lot of way to go, although your filmmakers are still not in the right place, and although you have a lot of limitations on your head, although your market is already big enough, it's not mature enough and systematic enough, but I like you. So I waited. Waiting for you to adjust your attitude, waiting for you to get away from the rules, waiting for you to become more mature, waiting - your challenge. ”

A warm round of applause sounded.

The next day, the mainland media naturally had all sorts of voices on them, but they were reluctantly neutral, and some newspapers in the South turned a blind eye to defending a situation. And Adrian was so generous, who made him one of America's super-rich people? Although some six-generation directors protested that some of the statements were suspected of insulting, unfortunately nobody cared. Because Adrian is also a super director, from Golden Palm to Oscar, it's his stage, no one has a richer type of work than him, and Kubrick can't, can blame his Chinese director in this regard... basically not.

This, together with the resonance of many young people, has led to the belief that this legendary rich man and director from the United States, who speaks Chinese fluently, is quite good, and this is the one who is really good for China. In this case, the directors who jumped out in a hurry to show their presence or want to make a speculation are naturally disliked by several sides, unless the individual with a particularly thick face basically quickly buzzed the flag.

All right, let's not talk about it. No matter how much wave the speech at Yanjing University caused on the mainland, Adrian has already run behind his head. As for the US, there is no problem with Claude already passing through. What we really have to face is this old guy, who is almost 60 years old, the more complimentary he is, the more troublesome the next thing is.

“It is also an honor to receive praise from a continental electronic giant like you, Mr. Ren.” Adrian said two words of hospitality and then turned around: "Well, let's talk about something specific. ”

“Of course…” Despite Mr. Ren laughing, that awkwardness fell into Adrian's eyes, what could it be?

“Let me get this straight, Mr. Corwell," hesitated for two seconds before Mr. Successor said directly: "Your stake in Bonner... have you thought about selling it? ”

Adrian blinked, connecting the causes and consequences in just a few seconds, and then took a few seconds to think more clearly - he wasn't unprepared for the mainland government, he collected enough information, and after Mr. Ren said he wanted to talk to his industry in private, he spent a lot of time preparing and wondering what they wanted.

“I guess I didn't do anything wrong, did I, Mr. Ren? I'm pretty much following the rules compared to Murdoch.” Adrian said with a smile.

Mr. Ren was forced to dry cough, and the feeling of embarrassment became more obvious. At the same time, he was a little annoyed. Obviously, he was reluctant to take up the task. He also had to face it.

“You know, in general… the government doesn't allow it…” He laughed bitterly, eventually bluntly saying: “Simply put, you control too many industries. ”

“But I didn't cross your line, did I?” Adrian seems a little aggressive, "I am a very disciplined person, as long as the other person follows the rules. ”

On the face of it, it seems to be Bonner's fault that Paulie Groups, which acquired most of Bonner's equity interests, are military territory and apparently do not want to share foreign investment, especially with leading media groups around the world, such as AC Media. That's why Mr. Ren is a messenger. He also has a military background. It's sort of a distortion in the mainland official business. There's also a little connection between the company and the ac media holding Apple. It's appropriate for him to send the message - the Wang brothers are not qualified.

But going deeper from Adrian's point of view, it turns out that this is actually a measure of concern on the part of the mainland government, because he already has too many mainland media companies.

Huayi, Bonner, Hairun, Orange Sky, etc., as long as they are the top-ranked continental media companies, they are basically plugged in. As for the well-known IT companies, videos, communities, searches, instant messaging… basically one, although he has been adhering to the bottom line they have drawn, always being the second or third largest shareholder, is too exaggerated in quantitative terms.