1990: Starting from Baojia Street

In recent years, the cartoons imported from abroad are indeed too strong, which has greatly squeezed the space for domestic cartoons.

Nowadays, children in China watch cartoons such as "Saint Seiya", "Chibi Maruko-chan", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", etc. The "Slam Dunk" broadcast in some areas last year also received very good response. This year, more and more TV stations will broadcast it, and it should become famous throughout the country soon.

In addition to these cartoons, what children are most fascinated with now is Ultraman.

If China still has some room for survival in the field of cartoons, then in the field of special effects films, China has no experience at all, and the entire market belongs to Ultraman.

Zhou Yan remembered that in his previous life, the Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio had also started reforms in order to seek vitality, and had also spent a lot of manpower, material resources and time to produce China's fifth feature-length animated film, "The Lotus Lantern".

The production team of "The Lotus Lantern" is very strong. The director is the animation master Chang Guangxi, and the voice actors include Cui Jie, Lei Kesheng, Ma Jingwu, Ding Jiali, Jiang Wen and others. Many of the post-production work is done by veterans of feature films.

The animation took three or four years to shoot, with an investment of 12 million yuan. The final profit was quite good, with a box office of 25 million yuan.

In fact, judging from the box office, this cartoon is not losing money. After all, cartoons have a lot of other revenues besides box office.

As China's fifth animated feature, "The Lotus Lantern" must have made considerable revenue on television.

But I'm afraid we can only say that we are not losing money, but we are not making any money at all.

The current IP operations in China are not commercialized and cannot be monetized at all. In the future, they can only rely on television broadcasting income.

It can be said that this cartoon gave hope, but it was not enough. The Shanghai Animation Studio was not saved by this cartoon. In fact, after this incident, the breath of hope that had been hanging on was directly dispersed.

The reason is very simple. Although Shanghai Animation Studio wants to reform, it is still trapped in the system. What they produce cannot adapt to the current animation economic form.

The purpose of their reform was to achieve commercialization, but what they produced was not a truly commercial work.

"The Lotus Lantern" was indeed a success, but its success is almost impossible to replicate.

If it was because of the reputation of Shanghai Animation Studio, and not the gimmick of China's fifth animated feature film, why would Jiang Wen, Xu Fan, Ning Jing and other well-known actors come to dub for you? Shanghai Animation Studio has no way to offer the actors a salary that matches their fame.

And those excellent production staff can only be recruited by the Shanghai Mei Factory, and they are paid relatively low wages.

If a different producer was chosen, the production cost of "The Lotus Lantern" would probably more than double.

This is why it is said that "The Lotus Lantern" is not a commercial work at all. During the entire production process, there is not a single trace of commercialism.

Real commercialization should be that Shanghai Animation takes the script to find investors, and the investors see the commercial potential of the script and decide to invest.

Then they use the money to find people and pay each participant corresponding remuneration.

With such a process, even if the cartoon doesn’t make much money, it doesn’t really matter. As long as it doesn’t lose a lot of money, there is hope.

Because the model is easy to replicate, as long as you are willing to continue investing, there is a good chance of success next time.

The model of "The Lotus Lantern" cannot be replicated and takes a very long time, so it cannot be a good way to save Chinese animation.

Others cannot hire a group of big names without spending much money like Shangmei Factory does, and those big names cannot always work for love.

Just one "The Lotus Lantern" is enough. If there are other similar projects in the future, people may not be willing to come if they don't pay.

If we want Chinese animation to develop over the long term, we must find an "industrial assembly line" to ensure the continuous production of high-quality animations - even if we cannot guarantee high quality, we must ensure that the quality is stable.

Of course, this is just a premise. In addition to ensuring the production of excellent works, it is also necessary to ensure that these works can make money. This requires the creation of a mature commercial chain to support the realization of IP commercial value.

Zhou Yan had no intention of discussing Shangmei's situation. He just smiled and said, "I still don't know much about animated films."

Seeing that Zhou Yan was not very interested in this topic, Xu Feng nodded and stopped talking about it. Instead, he asked about the party tonight, "What programs are there tonight?"

"It's nothing more than singing and dancing."

"Is there anyone else who dances in your studio?" Xu Feng asked in surprise.

"They are students from the Central Academy of Drama. Our studio has established a school-enterprise cooperation with their school. They also had a program at this annual meeting, including dance."

Xu Feng smiled and said, "It will be convenient for you to choose actors from now on. Just go and pick them."

"That's what I think." Zhou Yan nodded, and then said, "I'm also planning to set up a school-enterprise cooperation with the Yanjing Film Academy to produce some short film projects every year."

"No wonder the Central Academy of Drama is willing to engage in school-enterprise cooperation with you. It seems that you told them about the short film project?" Xu Feng immediately understood the crux of the problem.

"The one who knows me best is Sister Feng." Zhou Yan laughed, "This short film project is very attractive to them."

"Of course. For these students of the Central Academy of Drama, short films may be more attractive than regular feature films. If they can make a few short films as freshmen and sophomores to practice, it will be of great benefit to them. Moreover, compared with students from the acting department, the directing department will probably be more interested. But if you help others train students like this, aren't you afraid that they won't be of use to you after they've been trained?"

Zhou Yan shrugged and said, "It doesn't matter. I didn't expect to tie students to our company through school-enterprise cooperation. In fact, I don't lack those actors."

This is Zhou Yan's real thought. He is cautious about the future stars of the Central Academy of Drama because he thinks whether an actor can become famous depends not only on their own abilities, but also on opportunities.

As long as the studio can maintain the ability to produce excellent works, there is no shortage of actors. Relatively speaking, he would like to recruit excellent behind-the-scenes staff.

In Zhou Yan's opinion, no actor is irreplaceable.

"You are quite arrogant." Xu Feng smiled, "But what you said seems reasonable. You certainly don't lack these actors. On the contrary, these actors all want to film your movies."

Zhou Yan's several consecutive movies were box office hits and he was extremely popular. Not to mention the students who had not yet graduated, even the already famous actors, there were few who did not want to act in Zhou Yan's movies.

Even Gong Li, when she spoke to Zhou Yan on the phone before, said that she would like to work with Zhou Yan again if there is a chance.

It can be heard that she is not joking, but is talking about this matter very seriously.

After separating from Zhang Yimou, there are not many directors in China that Gong Li can work with.

After "Raise the Red Lantern", Gong Li took on two dramas, one was "Temptation Moon" and the other was "Chinese Box". The former was directed by Chen Kaige and the latter was directed by a foreign director.

Under the current circumstances, only domestic directors such as Zhou Yan and Chen Kaige can work with her.

It's not that Gong Li is a snob who only picks big directors, but it's just that it's hard for her to work with ordinary directors. Not to mention the level of ordinary directors, ordinary directors can't get good investment, it's hard to guarantee the production, and they can't afford Gong Li.

If she wants to go further, she must continue to cooperate with these directors who have the potential to go abroad.

So apart from these two movies, Gong Li has not taken on any other movies yet, and the frequency of filming is very different from before.

In the past few years, she basically filmed two or three movies every year, and spent most of her time on the set throughout the year.

Among the current well-known domestic directors, Gong Li most hopes to work with Zhou Yan, after all, the two have a very good relationship.

Zhou Yan also wants to work with Gong Li again, but there is no good opportunity at the moment.

The two were chatting when Yu Hua pushed Shi Tiesheng over.

"Oh, Mr. Xu is here." Yu Hua said with a smile.

Because of Zhou Yan, Xu Feng often saw Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng, and they became acquaintances of each other.

"Teacher Yu Hua, Teacher Tie Sheng, do you have any idea to perform on stage today?"

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Yu Hua laughed, "I would like to go up and make a fool of myself, but I don't have any talent at all."

Shi Tiesheng also laughed and said, "We discussed before whether we should practice a chest-breaking rock move in advance and go on stage today to cheer everyone up, but after thinking about it, I still feel that it's almost the New Year and it's not appropriate to let everyone bleed."

Normally Shi Tiesheng didn't like to joke, but today when Xu Feng heard Shi Tiesheng joking, she was immediately amused. She asked with a smile, "Then I wonder who you two were going to let lie down and who was going to swing the hammer?"

"That must be me. Tie Sheng has difficulty walking."

"Although my legs and feet are inconvenient, it doesn't hinder me from using the hammer."

"You can swing a hammer, but how can you put a rock on my chest?"

"That's okay. You can just lie down holding the stone. It saves me from carrying the stone."

The two of them were bickering with each other and having a great time. Xu Feng was listening to them and was enjoying himself.

Zhou Yan also smiled. It was rare to see Tie Sheng so happy.

Tie Sheng has been in a much better mood in the past two years, and his health has also improved a lot. Yu Hua often takes him to the studio to walk around, which makes him feel much more relaxed.

As they were chatting, more and more people came into the factory. Teachers from the Central Academy of Drama also came, and Zhou Yan was busy entertaining them.

Seeing that Zhou Yan was busy, Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng did not disturb him. Yu Hua pushed Shi Tiesheng towards the audience seats. He wanted to see in advance where they would sit when the performance started.

Shi Tiesheng was in a wheelchair, so in order to get in, he had to sit in the first row, but he couldn't sit inside the first row. Most of the time, he would find an empty space in the aisle to park his wheelchair.

However, when Yu Hua walked to the side of the auditorium, his eyes lit up and he pointed to a gap in the middle of the first row and said, "Hey, there happens to be a gap here where you can park your wheelchair."

Shi Tiesheng looked in the direction of Yu Hua's finger and saw a gap in the first row on the left side of the center of the auditorium. The gap was about the size of a seat and was indeed very suitable for parking a wheelchair.

Before Shi Tiesheng could speak, Yu Hua pushed his wheelchair over.

When they reached the gap, Yu Hua turned the wheelchair over and pushed it directly into the gap.

After the wheelchair is parked, there is about ten centimeters of space on each side, which can be said to be very suitable.

On the left side of the gap, there were two seats. Yu Hua walked directly to the side and sat down. From behind, it looked as if both of them were sitting in the seats.

Seeing himself trapped in the first row of gaps, Shi Tiesheng looked in the direction of Zhou Yan with a strange look in his eyes.

Of course he had guessed that this gap was left by Zhou Yan specifically for him to make it convenient for him to watch the performance.

Of course Yu Hua guessed it, but he didn't say it out loud.

This is where Yu Hua's cleverness lies. He usually never avoids topics related to Shi Tiesheng's legs. Just like when they were arguing just now, he could very naturally say that Shi Tiesheng's legs were not in good condition.

It was precisely because he was not shy about it that Shi Tiesheng felt at ease and comfortable when he was with him. On the contrary, it was the cautiousness with which other people around him looked at him that made him feel uncomfortable.

However, Yu Hua knew that he could talk about Shi Tiesheng's legs without any regard, but he didn't need to remind Shi Tiesheng of what Zhou Yan had done for him. This would not only put pressure on Shi Tiesheng, but also on Zhou Yan.

Just keep the relationship between them in your heart.

At this time, Yu Hua just smiled and said, "Next time we come to watch the show, Zhou Yan and I can be your left and right guards."

Shi Tiesheng smiled and said, "I don't know how long it will take for me to come here again in the future."

The orchestra usually rehearses in the practice room or recording studio and probably won't come here on purpose, so in Shi Tiesheng's opinion, except for such big days, there probably won't be any performances on other days.

"You are totally wrong. I heard that they have started a school-enterprise cooperation project with the Central Academy of Drama. In the future, maybe students from the Central Academy of Drama will come here to perform dramas or something like that. And the orchestra sometimes rehearses more than one program, and the orchestra and folk music band are separate. There will definitely be people coming here to rehearse."

Shi Tiesheng felt that what Yu Hua said made sense, so he nodded: "Yes, that's right."

"Of course you're right. Don't you know Zhou Yan? Although he's rich, he's not the kind of person who would waste money. Since he spent money to build this small theater, he will definitely have many opportunities to use it in the future. Maybe in addition to rehearsals, there will be formal performances."

If Zhou Yan heard Yu Hua say this, he would definitely give him a thumbs up, because that’s what Zhou Yan thought.

The small theater has been built with several hundred seats, but Zhou Yan doesn't want it to remain like this all year round.

So Zhou Yan planned to organize some activities in the future, such as holding a fan meeting for new people signed by the company like Wang Lihong, and holding concerts regularly.

Shi Tiesheng was very happy to hear Yu Hua say this. He had difficulty walking and could not travel far. Now, besides reading books and newspapers, his favorite thing was to stroll around Zhou Yan's studio.

Here, he can not only read books, but also listen to music. If he can often see other performances in the future, it will naturally be more pleasant. (End of this chapter)