Rebirth of Siheyuan starts in the 1980s

Chapter 380 In order to eat that jealousy, you have to make dumplings first

Unlike Xu Qingdong's excitement, Cao Zhiqiang was not at all excited after hearing the proposal to make the country's first independent film.

"Don't be stupid." Cao Zhiqiang shook his head calmly. "Director Xu, why are you more naive than me?

Making independent films without finding a studio? What are you thinking? This is not a foreign country!

Don’t you know that in our country, only film studios can make movies, and private individuals are not allowed to make movies?”

Indeed, it is no wonder that Cao Zhiqiang is so cynical. In fact, in China at this time, individuals simply cannot make movies.

Because during this period, the country basically had a planned economy, and the same was true for movies.

If you want to make a movie, it can only be made by a film studio. If a film studio wants to make a movie, the leaders at the top will make a plan and then set up the project. After the project is set up, they will ask for funds. Once the funds are obtained, they will calculate it. After the calculation is completed, the funds will be allocated.

, then prepare the film crew and officially start shooting.

The whole process is so cumbersome that many movies may have been approved long ago, but by the time they are officially shot, one, two or even three to five years may have passed.

Even if the film is finished, it will be reviewed by the film bureau. After review, it will be handed over to China Film to purchase your film. China Film will then make copies of the film and distribute them to various local projection units according to administrative regions, that is, various cinemas.

This review and issuance process is also very cumbersome. If there is a problem anywhere, it may last for several years.

In other words, even if Cao Zhiqiang raises his own funds to write, write, and direct his own scripts, and even provides his own photography equipment, if he wants to make a movie, he must at least find a film studio to be affiliated with him.

Moreover, after you have made a movie, if you want it to be released and distributed, you have to ask the affiliated film studio to come forward and submit it for review. After review, it will be acquired by China Film, and China Film will arrange for the release of your film according to its own plan.

But when it will be released, it is still not you who has the final say, but the leaders of China Film and Television.

Of course, if you have great connections and background, and can directly find the leaders of the Film Bureau or even China Film, then everything will be easy to talk about.

The Film Bureau is now under the Ministry of Culture. If we can find a more powerful leader of the Ministry of Culture, we can also talk easily.

For example, it's okay to sneak in and play at a good time in advance.

It can be said that if you want to make a movie and distribute it in China, what matters is not whether you have money, but whether you have connections.

If you have connections, even if you don’t have money, your employer will take care of it.

For example, this Xu Qingdong, how did he know Cao Zhiqiang?

Xu Qingdong wanted to make the first musical film in China and was short of money, so he asked Director Liu, his old boss at the Arts Bureau of the Ministry of Culture, for help.

Director Liu wanted to make progress, and for the sake of Xu Qingdong's parents, he wanted to help Xu Qingdong and gain a good impression, so he recruited Cao Zhiqiang, a rising star in Beijing circles, to invest?

Of course, Director Liu is not a free man. When he seeks investment from Cao Zhiqiang, he also has to do things for others.

Arranging jobs for Cao Zhiqiang's so-called friends is Director Liu's reward.

Therefore, we can see from Xu Qingdong that if you want to make a movie during this period, the key is to have connections.

This relationship can be established from scratch by yourself, such as those famous directors; or it can be based on the relationship between your parents, such as Xu Qingdong.

Anyway, no matter what, in China at this time, if you want to make movies freely, you must first have connections, otherwise, you will have to slowly gain qualifications.

Independent films are actually personal films, which is exactly the situation that is simply impossible to happen in China at this time.

"Who said private individuals can't make movies?" Xu Qingdong suddenly laughed, "Which law or regulation says that private individuals are not allowed to make movies?"

"Huh?" Cao Zhiqiang was stunned.

"Obviously, right?

Doesn’t the Film Bureau have some film management regulations that stipulate that only film studios can make movies, and before making a movie, don’t they have to obtain a film production license before they can make a movie?”

Xu Qingdong frowned, then laughed: "I don't know where you heard all this nonsense.

Film management regulations? I’ve never heard of the film bureau having such a thing, but each film studio has its own regulations.

As for the film production license, this is a matter of no avail.

In our country, each studio decides on its own what movies to make, and then submits them for review. If they are not submitted for review, they are not allowed to be released. No license is required at all.

Therefore, we can make movies in our own name, and then submit the movie for review after it is shot.

I have a pretty good relationship with Director Liu of the Ministry of Culture, so I’ll find someone else soon. There won’t be much of a problem with this film’s censorship.

As long as it passes the review, it will be purchased and distributed by China Film Group Corporation, so if it is a film studio's work, what's the problem?"

Speaking of this, Xu Qingdong rubbed his hands: "Furthermore, reform is being talked about everywhere now, and many of the original regulations can be relaxed.

As long as our movie is good, then we can find a relationship together and it will be no problem!"

Upon hearing this, Cao Zhiqiang shook his head: "Forget it, it's too risky to make an independent film by yourself, so I'd better not do it."

"Oh, what a pity." Xu Qingdong sighed, "This could very well be history. It would be a pity not to do it."

Cao Zhiqiang smiled slightly: "I'm not you. My family has a great business and I can't afford to take this risk."

Speaking of this, Cao Zhiqiang suddenly rolled his eyes: "Wait a minute, tell me, if we set up a film studio ourselves and make films under the name of our own film studio, would it be possible?"

"Establish your own film studio?" Xu Qingdong was stunned, "This, this..."

It's obvious that he can't keep up with Cao Zhiqiang's thinking.

"That's right." Cao Zhiqiang nodded, "Let's set up a new film studio first, and then use the name of this film studio to make my movie. Wouldn't that be enough?"

Xu Qingdong shook his head: "It's possible, but it's not that easy to set up a film studio."

"It all depends on people." Cao Zhiqiang smiled, "My publishing house is also a state-owned enterprise. I am applying to open a film studio in the name of the publishing house. Do you think it is okay?"

"I'm afraid not." Xu Qingdong shook his head, "There are many indicators for setting up a film studio. At your level as a publishing house, it may be difficult to open a film studio. After all, you are an enterprise, and film studios are all public institutions."

"That's not necessarily true." Cao Zhiqiang said, "Not all are public institutions. Look at the Bayi Factory, isn't it?"

"The Bayi Factory is a special situation." Xu Qingdong said, "And even state-owned enterprises can set up film studios, but your other indicators cannot.

It’s not easy to set up a film studio. It doesn’t just require equipment. The most important thing is that you have to have enough film practitioners.”

"That's it." Cao Zhiqiang touched his chin, "Yes!"

After finishing speaking, Cao Zhiqiang raised his head: "My publishing house is too small to be successful, but I am still a member of Hongguang Machinery Factory.

Our Hongguang Machinery Factory is a unit directly under the Ministry of Metallurgy. In terms of level and qualifications, we are definitely qualified.

Moreover, the tertiary industry of our Hongguang Machinery Factory is very large, with its own cinema and film team, as well as its own art troupe.

Although our factory's cinema and film team have not many employees, only more than a hundred people, our art troupe has enough employees.

The Hongguang Art Troupe of our Hongguang Machinery Factory includes more than 300 people including vocal group, performance group, logistics group, etc.

Strictly speaking, these people have something to do with filmmaking.

It should be no problem to integrate these people and form a film studio affiliated with Hongguang Machinery Factory, right?

Yes, definitely no problem!

Hahaha, I am such a genius!

Just a random idea can accomplish multiple things with one stone, hahaha!"

"This..." Xu Qingdong frowned, "President Cao, although your idea is good, when will it take until you establish the film studio? Why don't we shoot the film first and then think about it slowly?

"

Cao Zhiqiang looked at Xu Qingdong: "You mean, kill first and then report?"

"That's right!" Xu Qingdong touched the Panavision camera again, "With this, no matter how rich and scripted you are, you don't have to worry about making movies.

As for other problems, I will ask my old friends for help and they should be able to solve them.

While it's summer, let's shoot this movie first, and after the shooting is completed, it won't be too late to slowly think about the ownership of the movie."

Cao Zhiqiang frowned and began to think about the possibility of this matter.

Indeed, if there is no so-called film shooting license at this time, then we can really start filming first.

And it seems that there is no precedent for this kind of personal filmmaking in China's history.

Because he suddenly remembered that there was a movie in his previous life, which was shot in the 1980s, and it was a movie shot by himself, not through a movie studio.

The name of that movie is "Father and Son". It is a comedy movie starring Chen Qiang and his son.

The reason why I have an impression is that this movie is not only the only one-person film in the 1980s, but also the only one-person movie in domestic history that can be officially released in theaters without a factory logo.

When Chen Qiang made this movie, he initially approached Xiying. Unfortunately, Xiying was not interested in his comedy and refused to invest in the film.

Chen Qiang later applied to many film companies, but was declined by all of them.

In the end, Chen Qiang was also the boss. The film company didn't want to film it, so he relied on his old face to find a private company to invest. Then, without any film studio, he prepared a film crew and filmed it by himself.

It is said that while Chen Qiang was making this movie, the film bureau warned him that he was not allowed to make movies privately and that he would be better off affiliated with a film studio.

In fact, they had good intentions. After all, with Chen Qiang's popularity at the time, it was very easy to find a movie affiliation.

But Mr. Chen just refused to do it. He insisted on filming it himself, but he was not affiliated with it. He even went to the film office himself to slap the table and glare at others, arguing with others.

In the end, there may be no clear laws and regulations prohibiting private filmmaking, and Mr. Chen is famous and well-connected, so in the end the matter was dropped.

The film was finished, but China Film Group did not dare to accept it because the film was shot by myself without the participation of a studio.

As a result, the old man once again went to China Film Company to slap the table and make a fuss, and asked China Film Company to agree to the acquisition, but the price was very low. It was basically a cost price acquisition, and it was completely inconsistent with conventional acquisition practices.

In this way, "Fathers and Sons" was released by China Film Company, becoming the only commercial film that year and the only one in China that could be publicly released in theaters but did not have a studio label.

It is said that this movie was a milestone event. Since then, the independent producer system of movies has begun to arouse discussion and become a historical benchmark.

It is said that in the subsequent reform of the film system, this film will always be used as an argument.

In this era, Mr. Chen also exists and is still famous, but he hasn't thought of doing that yet.

After all, strictly speaking, Mr. Chen's ability to do this is also characteristic of the times.

Because when he filmed "Fathers and Sons", it was already 1986, and the country's reforms had already deepened at that time.

Among other things, at least during that period, individuals were allowed to open private companies, and private individuals were also allowed to open film production companies.

However, there were not many individuals who actually established private film companies back then, and most of them were short-lived and gradually disappeared after the 1990s.

However, it is now 1983, and it is not even allowed to open a private company, let alone a private film company.

Moreover, today's film studios are basically public institutions affiliated with various cultural bureaus, and they are not transformed into state-owned enterprises like later.

The large-scale separation of government and enterprises only happened after October 1984.

However, Cao Zhiqiang has an advantage, that is, he is an employee of a state-owned enterprise and is a leader who can make decisions.

Not to mention the three state-owned companies directly controlled by Cao Zhiqiang: Hongguang Publishing House, Huaxia Audio and Video Company, and Hongguang Department Store.

Let's take the Hongguang Machinery Factory, the headquarters of these three companies. Although Cao Zhiqiang's superficial position there is not high, he is just the deputy director of the Third Industry Office, but he is a person who can really make decisions.

At the same time, he is now still the main person in charge of the tertiary industry department of the Machinery Factory.

Hongguang Machinery Factory has many tertiary industry employees, more than 5,000.

Among them, in addition to the Security Department and Transportation Department, which have the largest number of people, the Hongguang Art Troupe has the third largest number of people.

Due to its special nature, Hongguang Cultural Troupe itself is a department-level unit, at the same level as the Publicity Department, and is not a subordinate unit of the Publicity Department.

In its heyday, the Hongguang Art Troupe was said to have more than a thousand members. Even now, there are still more than 300 people. In terms of numbers, it is not inferior to some art troupes of large factories and large units.

Nowadays, various units are laying off redundant employees, with cultural troupes and the like being the first to be laid off.

If nothing unexpected happens, once Hongguang Machinery Factory is annexed and rectified, this kind of art troupe will definitely be the first department to be abolished, just like the army art troupe where Hao Shuwen once worked.

Although Cao Zhiqiang has launched a convenience kiosk project before, and this project is in full swing.

However, this project is targeted at those logistics support personnel in the tertiary industry, such as warehouse managers, and the actual number of people it can absorb is very limited.

In other words, before the convenience kiosk project is officially fully promoted, judging from the current experimental promotion, the number of people attracted is quite limited.

And even if it can be fully promoted, those in the cultural troupe may not be willing to work as salespeople at convenience kiosks.

But if there is no annexation, there is no excuse to directly abolish it. If it is not abolished, these people will have to find a job.

Now it seems that applying to establish a film studio on the pretext of finding a way out for these people should not be a big problem.

Although the large-scale transfer of film studios from government to enterprise occurred only after 1984, it was not impossible to do so in 1983.

After all, as Xu Qingdong said, today is an era of change, and everything is possible.

Thinking of this, Cao Zhiqiang suddenly laughed.

He thought of his original intention of establishing Hongguang Publishing House.

At first, he just didn’t want the publishing house to take the lion’s share of the work he created, which was destined to be a best-seller, but he had no say at all.

That's why he wanted to set up a publishing house where he at least had the final say, so that he could give himself a high royalty share.

This is exactly what happened.

After he finally founded Hongguang Publishing House in the name of a machinery factory, the first thing he did was to publish his own book "Jiang Hu Xing", and by publishing this book, he directly entered the millionaire club level.

When he later came up with the idea of ​​recording, he first set up a Huaxia Audio and Video Company, and then used the company's name to produce records for himself, and also gave his own work a very high commission.

Just imagine, if he was not a talker in these two companies, no matter how talented he was and how best-selling his works were, he would not be able to get a high sales share and could only be bought out at a low price.

In the same way, now that he wants to make his own movies, he has to find a way to open a movie studio first.

It's true, in order to eat that jealousy, you have to make dumplings first.

Thinking of this, Cao Zhiqiang suddenly sighed.

"It turns out that this is the tail end of those passionate years, and this is the prosperous 1980s!"

(End of chapter)