The desert is solitary, the sun is setting over the long river!
Among the thousands of yellow sands, a lonely inn stands there.
Wherever there are people, there are rivers and lakes, even if the rivers and lakes are just a small inn!
Wu Jianye's thoughts have completely returned to the movie he once remembered. If the so-called Hollywood has its own western cowboy movies, then this "New Dragon Gate Inn" is a Chinese western martial arts movie!
He couldn't remember how many times he had watched this movie. The elegant yet heroic Zhou Huaian, the restrained yet heroic Qiu Moyan, the cunning yet charming Jin Xiangyu, even the one sitting on the top of the mountain,
The sinister and sinister Cao Shaoqing...
These people are like real people, living in Wu Jianye's mind.
However, it is precisely because he is so familiar with this movie that Wu Jianye knows every detail in the movie, but just like this, Wu Jianye doesn't know how to write!
Wu Jianye once thought that he would just copy all the plots of the previous life, but Wu Jianye had his own ideas, and he wanted to incorporate his own ideas into this movie...
It was exactly like this, until the morning sun outside the house had risen, and the rays of light poured into the room. There were countless scrapped drafts in the wastebasket, but the paper spread on the table still only had the words "New Longmen Inn"!
Wu Jianye, who was a little irritable, wanted to light up a cigarette out of habit, but found that the cigarette box was already empty. He opened the drawer and wanted to take out a new box, but found that there was no more in the drawer.
, only a pack of white rabbits were left, lying there quietly.
Wu Jianye opened the window, and a gust of cool breeze blew in, sobering up his somewhat groggy head.
Let me go, Lao Wu, have you set the house on fire?
At this time, Zhang Huijun was holding his own washbasin. He had just returned from the water room. He passed by Wu Jianye's room and saw the smoke coming out of the window. He couldn't help shouting.
Wu Jianye shook his head and said with a smile: Don't worry, even if you want to order something, order it in your room first!
Hey, let's go have breakfast together?
OK, I'm going to wash my face first! Wu Jianye didn't refuse.
Soaking your face in cold water feels very good. From time to time, teachers who live in the school come in with their own basins and say hello to each other.
After returning to the dormitory and changing into clean clothes, Wu Jianye and Zhang Huijun went to the cafeteria together. The breakfast in the cafeteria was still the same, and it would not have changed much in the past few years.
But Wu Jianye was still in high spirits after not sleeping all night.
Zhang Huijun is different from Wu Jianye. Zhang Huijun is still in charge of students from the Department of Fine Arts. These are all serious students who have been admitted to the Yenching Film Academy. They are students of the Yenching Film Academy who are very popular. But Wu Jianye
The advanced training class at night has now been officially renamed the cadre training class.
To put it bluntly, these people come to Yanjing Film Academy to get gold plating, but Wu Jianye will not slack off on his work just because of this. These people may not be well-known in front of and behind the scenes in the future.
But they are real people with real power. Even now, they are all middle-level leaders of various studios.
Wu Jianye came to the classroom with his textbook.
Teacher Xiao Wu is here!
Everyone showed no restraint after meeting Wu Jianye. Most of these people were older than Wu Jianye, so the title of Teacher Xiao Wu has become their exclusive noun.
Wu Jianye had no objection to this and greeted everyone with a smile.
When Wu Jianye stood on the podium, the classroom became quiet. Wu Jianye was very satisfied with this situation. It was not like this when he first taught this group of people. Each of them maintained their own identity.
, they don’t like Wu Jianye very much. Not to mention that Wu Jianye has only starred in two movies now. Even if Wu Jianye actually directed two movies, they won’t take it too seriously. These people’s
Doesn’t the one in my hand have a group of directors?
They also had the idea of coming here for gold plating, so they gave Wu Jianye a slap in the face when the class started.
He clearly told Wu Jianye that everyone is usually very busy, so Wu Jianye shouldn't take it too seriously. Everyone just muddles through, and it's fine if you're good and I'm good.
Wu Jianye didn't say anything at the time. He knew that even if he used the directing techniques of later generations to talk to these people, he would not get any results. To put it bluntly, the job of these people is not to be a cameraman, but to do politics!
So what he is talking about is the future of Huaxia Film Studio!
The first words Wu Jianye said at that time shocked everyone: If Chinese film studios cannot follow the path of foreign studios, they will become dust in history sooner or later!
You can imagine how much reaction Wu Jianye caused when he said this sentence. Now that Chinese movies are doing well, no one will think that what Wu Jianye said is correct.
Therefore, Wu Jianye was blamed for being young, frivolous and trying to please others.
At that time, Wu Jianye ignored them and told them about the development history of Hong Kong film companies and the development history of the seven major film companies in Hollywood.
This knowledge has not been compiled into books at all in China today, which means that what Wu Jianye is talking about is a completely new topic.
It was precisely in this situation of being in a commanding position that Wu Jianye gradually conquered everyone, and now they have begun to look forward to Wu Jianye's lectures.
Teacher Xiao Wu, can you tell us more about Hollywood in the United States?
The quiet anger was quickly broken. The person who shouted was a production director of Xiaoxiang Film Studio, surnamed Liu, Liu Yuanjun. He had the unique frankness of a man from the northwest. The one who had been most dissatisfied with Wu Jianye before was
But after listening to a few classes from Wu Jianye, I have now become a die-hard fan of Wu Jianye.
Previously, Wu Jianye told them many stories about the eight major film companies in Hollywood's golden period through the imbalance of information between domestic and foreign countries. Now these people hope to hear more.
Wu Jianye pressed his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and then smiled and said: Everyone knows Chaplin, right?
Of course! More than a dozen students in the class said at the same time.
Chaplin is an indelible figure in global film history. Regardless of his character, his influence is known even in China today.
Today we are going to talk about the century-old history of United Artists, a top Hollywood production company that Chaplin participated in and founded! After Wu Jianye finished speaking, he wrote the word "United Artists" on the blackboard, and after thinking about it, he added "Failure"
History is three words!
The founder of United Artists was not only Charlie Chaplin, but also D. Griffith, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks. These four people were all famous Hollywood filmmakers at the time. It can be said that
Each of their influential and moment-to-moment deeds have been written repeatedly in Hollywood and recorded in history.
The original intention of establishing United Artists was actually for stars to resist the oppression of large companies, but they were unable to maintain a purely independent identity. However, in the end, they relied on this original intention to become one of the eight major companies in the golden age of Hollywood, but they failed
Because of this idea, as well as its own unstable personnel changes and management strategies, this operation is in danger, making independent production more possible.
Teacher Xiao Wu, didn’t you say before that professional things should be left to professionals? It stands to reason that since the four Chaplins are film masters, why would they let their company get into trouble and at the same time there would be
What about unstable personnel changes and mistakes in management strategies? Liu Yuanjun asked incomprehensively.
There is no conflict between these two things. It is true that the four Chaplins are professionals when it comes to filming or acting in movies, but managing a company, even a film company, is still a brand new topic for them, that is
It is said that these four people are not professional in this regard, and it is this lack of professionalism that made United Art not successful in its early days! Wu Jianye said.
In the early days of United Artists, although these four people were full of enthusiasm, they wanted to establish a vertically integrated enterprise funded by the DuPont consortium with production, distribution and exhibition functions.
But they all have their own little calculations, or it can be said that they don't think that much at all.
For example, when United Artists was founded, the copyrights of Pickford and Chaplin's works were still in the hands of First Nation. United Artists was founded in 1919, but Chaplin, as the founder, did not release his own works until the end of 1923.
United Artists' first film "A Woman in Paris".
In order to increase his original stake in United Artists, Griffith signed a three-picture contract with First Nation in 1919. He worked hard for this and was relieved the following year.
Of the four, Fairbanks was the only one to be immediately freed, and his "American Majesty" naturally became the first film released by United Artists.
The terms of the establishment of United Artists also showed that the four founders were very amateurish. They actually required each of them to independently produce five films per year and release at least 12 films per year.
You must know that the language of silent films had already matured at that time, and the length of the film was fixed at about ninety minutes (about eight films). The style of large-scale productions increased the production cost and lengthened the production cycle. This determined that even the most popular
Even popular stars cannot complete five high-quality works in one year.
In 1920, United Artists' first official year of operation, it released only seven films, just half of its mission. To promote business, United Artists created a sub-group called allied producers.
The company, which focused on the work of relatively minor directors and actors such as Charles Ray and Max Lindet, later proved to have little appeal.
At the same time, Chaplin and others were afraid of being taken over, so they flatly refused to go public, which caused them to encounter difficulties in financing on Wall Street.
In the early days of United Artists, there were several box-office successes, such as "The Marriage", "Robin Hood" and "The Gold Rush", but the value they created could not offset those money-losing products, and it could not reverse the trend of making ends meet. Between 1919 and 1927, United Artists
It was only profitable for two years, and overall it was in a state of loss - the so-called profit was actually not worth the monthly salary paid by Adolf Zucker to Pickford.
In the end, Douglas took the lead in withdrawing from United Artists and sold his shares in United Artists in 1924.
Later, Chaplin and others also realized their shortcomings in management and hired Joseph Schenck as the new chairman. His advantage lay not only in the rich experience accumulated in his ten years as a producer, but also in the knowledge he brought
Schenck's film family: Norma Talmadge, the star wife who was worth more than Pickford at the time, Norma's sister actor Constance Talmadge and her director-star husband Buster Keaton.
During this period, Chaplin also opposed the merger of United Artists and MGM.
During this period, United Artists was on the verge of bankruptcy for a period, but later two lawyers-turned-producers, Arthur Colm and Robert Benjamin, saved United Artists' fate and created its miracle in the 1950s and 1960s.
and brilliance.
In 1951, Colm and Benjamin approached Pickford and Chaplin and made them a somewhat crazy request: they wanted to host Pickford and Chaplin's shares for a period of ten years.
If United Artists is profitable in any of the three years, Colm Benjamin's team will be allowed to purchase 50% of the company's shares for a nominal price of one dollar per share (approximately $8,000).
Pickford thought he had nothing to lose, so he might as well give it a go and readily agreed. Chaplin initially objected, but he was entangled in private lawsuits at the time and was under investigation by the Committee on Un-American Activities, so he had no time to protect himself. Ultimately, the following year
When Chaplin premiered "A Stage Life" in Europe, the U.S. government disqualified him from returning to the United States, and he was forced to let go completely.
By the end of 1951, in just a few months, United Artists had released a total of forty-five films, making an incredible net profit of US$313,000.
The agreement between Colm Benjamin Team and Pickford Chaplin is effective immediately, and they have successfully become partners of United Artists.
At this point, United Arts ushered in its own glory. It was not until the 1950s that the image of United Arts changed in the minds of major financial institutions, and it was gradually shaped into a distribution company with rational management——
A chaotic page in its history has been turned.
In February 1955, Chaplin sold all his shares worth a total of US$1.1 million to Colm and Benjamin. The following year, in 1956, with the success of United Artists, Pickford thought that he could also gracefully
Withdrawing from the company, she sold her 25 shares and took away US$3 million. Colm and Benjamin became the sole owners of United Artists. Soon after, United Artists officially went public and became a joint-stock company.
In 1967, United Artists reached its peak and became the most successful company in the American film industry. Colm and Benjamin, who had gained both fame and fortune, decided to sell United Artists to the insurance giant Pan American Corporation.
When capital participates in the management of film companies, it is also destined that the once glorious United Artists will once again usher in its own period of decline.
After Pan American acquired United Artists, it immediately began drastic reforms and quickly transformed into a diversified company, extending into the mass leisure industry and acquiring a series of chain restaurants, hotels, bowling alleys and service stations.
Pan American's leadership team, skilled in selling insurance but inexperienced in making movies, was eager to prove that under their leadership, United Artists could also produce high-quality films. They prepared director Michael Cimino's brainchild for the big-budget western "Paradise".
The door has been given the green light.
Everyone knows the subsequent result. "Heaven's Gate" deceived Lianyi to the point of ecstasy.
After Wu Jianye finished telling the history of United Arts, the students in the audience fell into deep thought.
The future of film studios will not only have to deal with the system at that time, but also with the development of the country, the capital market will enter the Chinese film industry sooner or later. Where should your studios go then is a question that everyone needs to consider!
When the bell rang for the end of get out of class, Wu Jianye's words also fell silent!