Counting the previous three tis, this is Adrian’s fourth visit to the mainland. Of course, this is the first ti he’s visiting as the chairman of one of the world’s largest dia groups. So, inevitably, he has to face the swarm of reporters and say a bunch of seemingly pleasant but actually useless nonsense, while occupying the headlines of various dia’s current affairs and entertainnt sections.
After all, besides being the chairman of a dia group, he is also a legendary director. 80% of the films he’s directed have been released on the mainland, and he has a large fanbase.
However, Adrian’s formal visit to the mainland isn’t for these reasons. Although there are many business negotiations, there are professionals responsible for those. He’s just here to visit. Yes, simply put, it’s just to walk around, take a look, and have fun. Of course, it’s impossible to play around with won this ti; such a high-profile visit is bound to attract a lot of attention. If reporters capture anything they shouldn’t, it’ll be troubleso. After all, his reputation as a playboy is already well-known.
In fact, at the evening banquet, won who managed to get an invitation card were like moths to a fla, racking their brains trying to chat with him—mostly from the entertainnt industry. Lin Chi-Ling and Gao Yuanyuan’s rise to fa, and how the Double Ice duo entered Hollywood, are no longer secrets in this circle. Moreover, the Wang Brothers often use cooperation with AC dia as a signature.
So, if Adrian wants to, he can play however he wants. But if he gets caught by the reporters, it will be problematic. And it’s hard to say if any foolish woman wants to use such foolish thods to boost her fa. Although he holds shares in many dia companies on the mainland, this is not his turf, and it’s not that easy to manage.
And the reason for such a high-profile visit is partly for so business cooperation that requires formal negotiations. Moreover, in a couple of years, it will take careful consideration to visit the mainland solo and high-profile. Adrian is not Buffett; he doesn’t have the ability to raise stock values with a single sentence—this is also a kind of pass. However, he admits there’s a bit of a sense of returning in triumph, but only slightly. Aside from the above reasons, there are so minor matters he needs to personally understand.
"Without a doubt, you are creating miracles. Even here, the pri location, changes are visible every three days," Adrian said, looking out at the scenery from the floor-to-ceiling windows of the China Hotel with such admiration, "It’s hard to imagine that a few years ago, when I visited, the Fifth Ring Road was just starting to be used. Now, the Sixth Ring Road is almost complete. It looks like the Seventh Ring Road is indispensable too."
Then, he turned his head and smiled at the old man beside him: "I hope you won’t extend the ring roads all the way to the United States in the future."
"That’s a good idea." The other party laughed heartily, not minding at all, "To be honest, you are the most knowledgeable dia mogul about China that I’ve ever seen, Mr. Cowell."
After pausing for a mont, he added, "This is not a complint. Your imperial brilliance understands China better than many Chinese, like your speech at Yanjing University yesterday. I personally very much agree with the part about movies and the latter half."
"Is that so?" Adrian raised an eyebrow with so surprise.
"Of course," the other party nodded seriously, with a hint of a disdainful tone. "You’re right. If those people can’t do well within the rules, will removing the rules ensure they do well?"
"Thank you." Adrian smiled, but didn’t take it to heart. Most of his words had a rather complintary tone, and in his mind, he probably liked the last few sentences the most.
Just as all prominent figures visiting China would go to a few famous universities to give lectures, Adrian couldn’t avoid the custom. He gave a lecture yesterday at Yanjing University thed "New dia and the Public." He actually wanted to visit Tsinghua University first, although most of the country’s top officials co from Yanjing, the most influential ones still co from Tsinghua, so he wanted to take a look.
But upon careful consideration, he gave up. Although Tsinghua University also sent an invitation, their words were not sincere, more like going through the motions. In contrast, Yanjing University was more enthusiastic. To avoid sending the wrong ssage, Adrian ultimately chose the latter.
Most of the ti during the formal lecture wasn’t worth talking about. The speech was prepared in advance and shown to the school and certain individuals. The participating schools were carefully selected. However, sotis there were always a few bold individuals. When discussing the ergence of online videos potentially leading to more independent films and during the Q&A segnt, a student asked him his opinion on Chinese cinema.
"Without a doubt, Chinese cinema is trying to catch up. Although the pace is stumbling, and they sotis can’t figure out the direction, it is indeed progressing. I know the reputation of ’Hero’ wasn’t great on the mainland, but in North Arica, it was indeed a good movie." Adrian responded in fluent Chinese, conducting the entire lecture in Chinese, earning many surprised looks and denying those wanting to flaunt their English the opportunity.
Initially, he intended to say just this sentence, but the questioner seed dissatisfied with the answer, imdiately asked: "What do you think are the specific gaps between Chinese filmmaking and Hollywood, from system to structure?"
With this question posed, his response was almost certain. Those sitting near him glanced subtly at him, and so of the school officials sitting at the front turned slightly, showing discontent.
"I understand the student’s aning." After pausing for a few seconds, Adrian smiled and said.
This is... the tradition at Yanjing University? Saying they are "too young and too simple" isn’t wrong. Since that’s the case, he won’t be polite.
"There is such a country," he suddenly raised his voice, "Their film industry is just beginning to develop, and the dostic market is dominated by foreign films. People are very tolerant even to foreign bad films, but are very harsh on dostic films. To support the dostic film industry, the governnt had to legislate to restrict foreign films and encourage dostic filmmakers to produce more and better works. anwhile, various censorship panels were established to ensure box office success and ’clean’ movie scenes, starting to cut and ban films they deed undesirable."
At this point, Adrian laughed with a aningful expression: "Now, can any student tell which country I’m talking about?"
The auditorium at Yanjing University was silent for a while, then from sowhere ca a not loud but clear mumble: "If you’ve given such an example, it mustn’t be our country."
Suddenly, there was a burst of laughter.
Adrian also laughed: "Yes, the country I’m talking about is the United States in the first half of the last century."
A murmur ensued but quickly subdued. With the rapid developnt of the internet, the students present understood what he was talking about.
"That’s right, I’m talking about the Hays Code," Adrian continued. "As early as 1915, state governnts began preparing censorship panels, requiring films to be edited as per regulations, otherwise facing a ban. A few years later, the panels united into a national organization, and after several more years, the censorship standards were published as a code executed by the then organization head Will Hays, hence called the Hays Code. The entire code had 12 prohibitions, including cri, sex, religion, and various situations. Of course, whether it truly violated or not depended on the committee’s inspectors’ attitude. I think students here have seen ’The Aviator’ on websites, the difficulties Howard Hughes faced when filming are all real."
Low laughter echoed with a hint of embarrassnt, due to the phrase "seen on websites," rather than the Hays Code.
"I know, so students might say that the tis are different, standards are different, it’s more liberal now. I agree with that," Adrian raised his hands slightly upwards. "In fact, I completely agree. Imagination unrestricted can fly higher. Indeed, what Hays Code initially prohibited is now commonplace in Hollywood films, and the more deeply they violate, the more box office they earn."
Another bout of low laughter sounded, but the smiles on those students’ faces were all aningful, while the school officials in the front row exchanged uneasy glances.
"But I’m not bringing up the Hays Code to discuss that," Adrian shifted his tone, "What I’m trying to say is the Hays Code dominated Hollywood for nearly 40 years from its implentation to its demise, and during those 40 years, we still had ’Hells Angels’, ’Wuthering Heights’, ’Casablanca’, ’Roman Holiday’, ’Ben-Hur’, and many works that can be considered classics! I believe even decades from now, these films will still stand the test of ti."
His voice rose again, in contrast, the voices of the students in the auditorium gradually lowered.
"So," Adrian smiled aningfully, "my question is, where is your ’Hells Angels’, your ’Casablanca’, your ’Roman Holiday’?"
Without waiting for an answer, he imdiately raised his voice again, "If soone cannot make even the most basic attempt to spread their wings under relatively lenient rules, why should I believe you can fly higher and further once freed from the restriction of rules, instead of just engaging in a Brownian motion?"
A few more light chuckles, which quickly died down.
"I like China, I see great potential in China," Adrian shifted his tone once more, "I think this does not need to be proven."
Of course, it needed no proving; among the Arican entrepreneurs visiting the mainland, his Chinese was undoubtedly the best spoken.
"Although China’s film industry lags behind the United States in all aspects, I still hope China’s film industry can develop, because Hollywood needs competition, the United States needs competition, don’t dispute it, and don’t evade it, it’s a fact, in the foreseeable future, cooperation and competition between China and the United States will be everywhere." He said earnestly.
Honestly, he originally wanted to use the word "rivals," a neutral term that could better reflect the current relationship between China and the United States, but considering that others might not interpret it the way he intended, he might end up failing to please either side. Thus, he ultimately decided to use "competition" instead.
"Without competition, there is no vitality; without vitality, there is regression. Survival of the fittest is a truth that has been proven," Adrian’s voice echoed in the auditorium. "Hollywood has now reached a position where it seeks the thrill of unrivaled victory. We are invincible in the global market, conquering fortress after fortress, but precisely because of this, many producers have begun to think that as long as the special effects are done well, they can earn back any amount of investnt, then they forget the most important point, a film becos a good film because it has a good story."
He raised his hands again, and many people present showed thoughtful expressions: "I initially hoped that Europe could play this role, but unfortunately, they would rather huddle in small circles to keep warm and maintain their so-called ’art’ than take a step further. Regarding my comnts on this point, if you have watched ’The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ online, you should be able to find them, the 43rd episode of 2005."
A few embarrassed laughs echoed.
"Afterwards, I also examined Japan, South Korea, and...India, and unfortunately, their markets are too closed off. For example, India, which always likes to add so song and dance to their films, so I finally set my sights on China," Adrian finally slowed his pace, smilingly said, "You have already created many miracles, and you will continue to create miracles. So, why can’t you create miracles in this area as well? Although you still have a long way to go, although your filmmakers still have not properly positioned themselves, although there are many restrictions above you, and although your market has a scale but is still not mature and systematic enough, I believe in you. Therefore, I wait, I wait for you to adjust your attitudes, I wait for you to break free of the rules, I wait for you to mature further, I wait—For your challenge."
Loud applause broke out.
The next day, various voices appeared in the mainland dia, but they all barely stood at a neutral position. So southern newspapers turned a blind eye to supporting the words of a certain bureau and instead highly praised Adrian’s broadmindedness. Who lets him be one of the super tycoons of the United States? Although so sixth-generation directors protested, arguing that so of the rhetoric was offensive, unfortunately, no one cared, because Adrian is also a super director, from the Pal d’Or to the Oscars, all being his stage, no one’s body of work is more diverse than his, not even Kubrick. As for Chinese directors who can criticize him in this aspect...basically none.
Added to that, the full text of this speech was posted online and resonated with many young people, who believed that this Arican tycoon and director, fluent in Chinese, truly had good intentions towards China. Under such circumstances, the directors who jumped out eager to gain attention or hype up, naturally failed to please any side, except for a few particularly thick-skinned individuals, most quickly pulled back.
Alright, enough of this, no matter how big of a stir the speech at Yanjing University caused in the mainland, Adrian had already put it out of his mind. As for inside the United States, everything had been communicated through Crow, so there would be no problems. The real issue was the nearly 60-year-old man in front of him; the more complintary he was, the more troubleso the matter ahead was going to be.
"To receive such praise from you, Mr. Ren, a titan of Mainland’s electronics industry, is a great honor for as well," Adrian said a few polite words, then changed the subject: "Alright, let’s talk about the specifics of the matter."
"Of course..." Despite Mr. Ren’s smile, that trace of embarrassnt still caught Adrian’s eye; what could it exactly be?
"I’ll be frank, Mr. Cowell," after hesitating for two seconds, Mr. Ren spoke directly, "Have you considered selling your shares in Bona?"
Adrian blinked and within a few seconds, he connected the dots among the causes and effects; then spent a few more seconds to think things through more thoroughly—he indeed was not unprepared against the mainland governnt, as he had gathered quite a lot of information. When Mr. Ren, whose business had almost nothing to do with Adrian’s interests, expressed a wish for a private conversation, Adrian prepared extensively and it wasn’t hard to guess what they wanted.
"I think, I haven’t done anything non-compliant, right, Mr. Ren? Compared to Murdoch, I am quite a rule-abiding person." Adrian said with a hint of a smile.
Mr. Ren couldn’t help but cough dryly, with the embarrassnt feeling more apparent, and bringing with it a trace of frustration, evidently not willing to take on this task gladly; he also needed to save face.
"You know, generally...the governnt doesn’t allow..." He chuckled bitterly, ultimately speaking frankly, "To put it simply, you have too many controlled industries."
"But I haven’t crossed the line you’ve drawn, have I?" Adrian seed sowhat aggressive, "I am a very rule-abiding person, as long as the other party follows the rules too."
On the surface, it appeared to be due to Bona, because the Poly Group, which acquired most of Bona’s shares, was a military domain, and they clearly didn’t want to share with foreign capital, especially not with a dia group as significant as AC dia. That was also why Mr. Ren was chosen as an interdiary; he too had a military background and was considered a standout among mainland business figures, with AC dia having so ties due to its Apple holdings, making him the suitable person to transmit ssages—Wang Brothers just weren’t suitable.
But from Adrian’s perspective and looking further into it, it would beco clear that this was actually a asure born from a hidden concern within the mainland governnt, because he held stakes in too many mainland dia enterprises.
Huayi, Bona, Hairun, Golden Harvest, basically anything that could count among notable mainland dia enterprises, he had a piece in it. As for those known IT companies, video, community, search, instant ssaging...he pretty much missed nothing. Despite always strictly adhering to the limits they set, always remaining the second or third-largest shareholder, from a quantity standpoint, it was indeed too much.
For a mainland governnt that could tolerate other corporate giants but couldn’t allow a massive dia group, this was unacceptable. But Adrian always behaved himself, never doing anything overly challenging their limits, and even appeared quite pro-China, wasn’t there more than one Chinese woman by his side? They couldn’t find any good excuse ultimately, so they could only have Old Ren relay so ssages to test things a bit. (To be continued. If you like this work, welco to vote for recomndation on Qidian, your support is my greatest motivation.)
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