Chapter 359 Another Path After Xu Kun finished speaking, there was another uproar on and off the stage. The person who reacted the biggest on the stage was naturally Jia Zhangke. The art theater chain he had placed his hopes on for a long time was denounced as foreign garbage by Xu Kun, which hit him in two sore spots. "What nonsense!" He stood up suddenly, his face flushed as red as a burning coal. Lu Chuan, Wang Xiaoshuai, Lou Ye, Zhang Yuan, Wang Quanan... All the sixth-generation directors also stood up, although quite a few of them felt that their films could achieve good results even in a normal market. But art theaters can not only add icing on the cake, but also provide everyone with a way out - anyway, you don’t have to pay for it yourself. How can Xu Kun deny such a good thing that can be obtained for free with empty words? Therefore, everyone angrily accused Xu Kun of talking nonsense and making false statements. Lu Chuan felt that he had caught something wrong and brought up his "henchmen and puppets" theory again. After all, the authorities have been denying art theaters in recent years.
Many teachers and students in the audience disagreed with Xu Kun's criticism and were even furious. After all, most of the people who come here to listen to the symposium are people who have a certain sense of identification with the Sixth Generation directors. “How come art theaters are considered foreign garbage? They are clearly running very well in Europe!” "So what is considered progressive and advanced? Is it to trick those brainless fans into booking out the theaters for you and boost the box office?!" "How many awards has your movie won? How dare you make such a boast?!" “Art theaters are the conscience of a city!” Of course, there are also people who agree with Xu Kun's statement and deny the value of art theaters from an economic perspective. But most people don’t care about the economic value of art theaters at all. After all, they don’t pay for it, so they won’t be the ones to bear the losses. Some people even argued: "The government wastes so much money every year. It's better to use some of it to build art theaters than to let it be embezzled for no apparent reason!" This statement resonated with many people, who shouted out "Art is priceless." At this time, Xu Kun paused for a moment and said loudly again: "Everyone, let me make it clear that I will not use any cost or profit to deny art theaters today, because these words have been said countless times before, and there is no point in saying it again." As soon as these words were spoken, the slogans from the audience became much quieter. The dozen or so directors on the stage looked at each other in bewilderment. Only Ning Hao vaguely guessed something and subconsciously reached for the big gold chain on his chest, but missed. Jia Zhangke's face turned from red to blue. He took a deep breath and gritted his teeth and said, "I want to see what great truth you can come up with!" Although "Still Life" failed in China, Jia Zhangke still had ambitions to make it a box office hit, so he did not want to completely break off relations with Xu Kun, the official representative, unless it was absolutely necessary. And he really wanted to hear, apart from the old topic of cost-benefit, how Xu Kun, a young director born in the 80s, was going to deny art theaters. Xu Kun asked, "I would like to ask everyone in the audience, especially young people like me who were born in the 80s, in the past two or three years, have you watched more art films online or offline?" The answer is obvious. In recent years, various "resources" have been most abundant on the Internet. Coupled with the regular capital forces such as Tudou, Youku, and PP, the problem of the vast majority of people is not that there are fewer offline than online movies, but that they have never watched movies offline at all. But some people think that Xu Kun is confusing cause and effect.
A female teacher in the front row stood up and said, "That's because profound art films can't be shown in theaters at all, so people watch them online. The establishment of specialized art theaters is to solve this problem!" Jia Zhangke also took the opportunity to say: "Establishing a dedicated art theater chain is also to attract more young people who are interested in art films, and then encourage the public to pay more attention and care to those in need in marginalized areas!" After they finished interacting on and off the stage, Xu Kun shook his head and said, "I have never denied the benefits of art theaters. I just think they are old, decadent, and outdated foreign garbage. There is a fundamental difference between the two. With the popularization and speed-up of the Internet, and the gradual improvement of the online payment system, I believe that establishing a special section for literary and artistic films on video websites is the right path that the sixth generation of directors should pursue! There are many benefits to doing this. First, online operation costs are lower and coverage is wider, which is more in line with the demand for low-cost long-term broadcasting of literary and artistic films; second, watching is more private and immersive; third, it avoids the trouble of transportation; fourth, online comments and exchanges are more convenient, making it easier to find like-minded people..." Xu Kun was talking when someone suddenly shouted, "You've said so much, but how can you guarantee the box office?! If it's free, then isn't it the same as watching pirated movies now? If it's free...how can you guarantee that people won't watch pirated movies?!" Although he was interrupted, Xu Kun was not annoyed at all. Instead, he pointed at the man and said, "This student has hit the point. So I think that instead of focusing on foreign garbage, we should unite and call for a crackdown on online piracy! The existence of online piracy is a hazard to all filmmakers, but once supervision is in place, all practitioners will benefit from it. Art films that do not rely on special effects and sensory stimulation, but focus more on plot and camera sense, will undoubtedly be the biggest beneficiaries..." "You are talking nonsense." This time, someone on the stage interrupted: "But what about those banned movies?" Which idiot is this?! Xu Kun glanced back, but couldn't tell who said that, so he sneered at everyone and said, "If any of you can ensure that after the art theater is built, you can play banned films every day in it, or the original films without any cuts, then I will apologize to you now, kneel down and apologize!" There was laughter from the audience. But some people also murmured quietly: "If you can't watch banned films, you might as well watch pirated ones." But similar opinions are so small as to be negligible compared to the ones just now supporting art theaters - after all, most of those present are people who want to make a living from this, and with so many vested interests at stake, how many people would be willing to support piracy? After confronting the brainless person on the stage, Xu Kun began to paint a big picture: "Some friends may know that in addition to being a director and actor, I am also a shareholder of LeTV Video Network. LeTV has always been known for supporting genuine products. Here I can promise you that we at LeTV will set up a special section for art films as soon as possible, support art films to the best of our ability, and create a better viewing experience for everyone. At the same time, I also made a commitment on behalf of the company that once the network environment improves, we will comply with the requirements of the film companies and take the lead in launching the paid viewing business for art films. The path of online authentic art films may not be able to match the market share of commercial theaters in the future, but it is definitely more universal than any art theaters and more in line with my country's actual situation. In order to prevent some good films from being unpopular, we can proactively push movies to suitable users based on their viewing habits, or bundle unpopular good films with popular ones for sale, or offer them for free for a limited time to attract more users to watch them..." After writing a bunch of blank checks, Xu Kun stopped and glanced at the audience again, ready to face a new round of questions. As expected, someone soon jumped out to question: "Offline piracy has not been dealt with for so many years, can online piracy be completely banned?!" "A complete ban is of course impossible." Xu Kun first gave a negative answer, and then explained: "But the biggest difference between the Internet and reality is that the channels are more concentrated. Most people search for film and television resources online through search tools such as Baidu, or through some professional software. As long as we can control these main channels and make the cost of searching for resources for most people rise sharply, we will definitely be able to convert some people into genuine users. Of course, many potential audiences will be lost in this process, but compared with the current status of art films, I think this loss is acceptable and tolerable.” After a pause, he added: “And I think the difficulty of fighting piracy on the Internet is at least less than the resistance to establishing art theaters. The latter only satisfies the interests of some people, but requires real financial support from the national and local governments. The former is the common interest of the entire industry, and even many foreign counterparts are also advocating for their own interests. So I think that whether for our own benefit or for the benefit of the entire industry, we should abandon the backward art theaters and launch online anti-piracy actions, and ultimately seek to establish a real art film market online! " After finishing speaking, Xu Kun looked at the audience again. But this time, after waiting for a long time, no one spoke up to refute, but applause suddenly broke out on the stage. Xu Kun looked back and saw that it was Ning Hao who was putting on the big gold chain again and clapping.
Ning Hao took the lead, and Yang Mi, who was hiding in the corner and staring at Xu Kun with shining eyes, immediately followed suit. Then the applause from the two of them quickly spread to the audience and gradually became one. Although the applause was not as intense as the expected dog-eat-dog fight, it was enough to prove that Xu Kun's remarks had conquered most of the audience. To put it bluntly, the head is determined by the butt. Most of the people in the audience were born in the 80s and are members of the Internet generation. They have no doubt about the advanced nature of the Internet, so they are more receptive to Xu Kun's conclusion. On the contrary, most of the sixth-generation directors on the stage were still in a state of half-belief and half-doubt. But anyone with a sound mind knows that opposing online piracy is definitely more appealing than demanding the establishment of art theaters, and is more likely to be accepted by the higher-ups. more importantly…… Doing so will also gain recognition and appreciation from many Western friends. So even though Jia Zhangke was slapped in the face in public, he ultimately did not jump out to oppose Xu Kun. (End of this chapter)