Subtitle of this chapter: Capital ko Art

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The decade after World War I was a prosperous period for American films to conquer the whole world.

In 1921, 20,000 cinemas in the United States were all occupied by local films, and almost all foreign films had disappeared. By the world film market in the late 1920s, the release rate of American films accounted for two-thirds, and in some countries it even reached 90%.

At this moment, financial capitalists had noticed this film industry that could be compared with automobiles, canned food, steel, oil, and cigarettes. Financial giants such as Morgan, Rockefeller, General Motors, DuPont, Goldman Sachs began to combine with Jewish operators of major production companies.

If our Master Yuan wants to transform Hollywood with his own strength, he will really not have much time left.

Don’t get me wrong. He is not going to confront financial capitalists. After all, he is not wearing a world of entertainment. A director can use movies to beat up everything, including Wall Street. Yuan Yanshu wants to use his own success to guide these Wall Street tycoons to invest capital in the "director + screenwriter binary model" he advocates.

Let me understand it, those Wall Street vampires know nothing about the art of film, they only care about the return on investment. Then Yuan Yanshu would use the blinding box office to tell them that as long as the director and screenwriter are powerful, it would be a huge profit.

This means we have to mention Mr. David Griffith in front of Yuan Yanshu. In the history of world cinema, he is really an extremely important film worker.

Note that this is not just about the art of film itself.

Around 1921, as the world's number one director, his continuous failures also made film tycoons and financial capitalists realize that literary youths are ultimately unreliable.

So they turned their attention from directors to movie stars. From this time on, the latter became an instrumental trademark of the production company.

The owner of the film is no longer the director, but the producer, that is, the professional managers selected and appreciated by Wall Street. The producer has the right to choose the theme, actors and crew, the right to interpret the script and shooting methods, the right to supervise props, sets and costumes, and the most important final editing rights.

The film directors who originally had these powers were just staff members who received fixed salaries like photographers and lighting set technicians.

Compared to artists like David Griffith who have such a distinct personal color and such persistent artistic pursuit, the producers would rather choose a director who piles up visual effects like Cecilb.demille (1881-1959).

This guy caters to the needs of the audience in the "Golden Age". He is also good at shooting grand historical films, especially the Bible themes, such as the "Ten Commandments" in 1923. Therefore, he is called the "Bible Director". However, the films he shoots, whether in costumes, props, interiors, and exteriors, are extremely luxurious and grand, and he will also add some content that the audience likes to watch in the film.

So, Griffith's personal failure is one of the reasons why the Hollywood film industry has since entered the big studio model. Small money has allowed Hollywood to eliminate the artists who created it.

In order to achieve his own goals, the neoclassical liberal master will not be able to do it without breastfeeding the film master. However, before this, he should be awakened.

Our Master Yuan wiped his mouth with a napkin and said, "David, we are shooting movies in DreamWorks, and the producers must have."

"Producer?!" Mr. Griffith, who was very disgusted with this thing, raised his tone, "Neo, has your DreamWorks learned from those Jews you look down on?"

Yuan Yan was not angry and said to herself: "David, listen to me. I, a Cyrius, can also be considered an artist. Of course, I can understand your artistic pursuit of excellence, but it is not possible to make movies like you..."

"We are in a capitalist society, so we must know that capital is omnipresent and far-reaching. As long as we find profitable things, capital will flock like a swarm of bees that smell nectar. Isn't your Hollywood now controlled by a group of profit-oriented Jewish jewelers who have no artistic literacy?"

"The only one who can defeat capital is capital..." He thought to himself, and there was also the iron fist of the proletarian dictatorship.

"Well, I'm afraid you understand this too. Otherwise, you wouldn't go back to seek the help of Mr. George Baker, and we won't know each other anymore. I have to say that Mr. Baker is indeed a good person with high moral integrity, but if you can't bring profits to investors like Mr. Baker, why should they invest in your movies?"

The big director finally found a chance to interrupt and said, "Neo, do you mean that I still have to surrender to the producer? But this time the Jewish guy was replaced by you, Chinese, just!"

"Hey..." Master Yuan sighed and said, "David, that's wrong. In addition to investors, I am also one of the creators. Don't I want to make my works into artistic treasures and classics? But I know that if you want to improve the artistic effect by 1%, you have to pay a cost far exceeding this number. Is this worth it?"

Mr. Griffith said unconvincedly: "Of course it's worth it, what's not worth it for the sake of art?"

"David. This is why your recent movies are not popular." Yuan Hongjian, a writer of the online novel in his previous life, said very "feeling" and said, "I agree with what you said, for art, what's not worth it. But your movies are not made for peers and critics..."

"Your movie is made for the general public!"

"And what the general public wants to see? Gorgeous pictures, smooth stories, wonderful plots, outstanding interpretations, beautiful faces, high-end, atmospheric and high-end... Well, at least it looks like a high-end, atmospheric and high-end theme. That's all, that's all!"

"This..." The movie master was speechless by his words.

Our Master Yuan saw that his face was a little looser, so he comforted him: "David, don't worry. The producers of my delegation will not restrict you, they will help you instead."

Mr. Griffith asked in amazement, “How do you help me?”

Yuan Yan smiled slightly and said, "It's very simple. They will make a budget with you, a budget that both of us can accept. And... David, have you heard of Valuationadjustmentmechanism?"

The big director said in a daze: "vam...Neo, what is this?"

"Oh, this is a bet agreement in futures." Master Yuan explained patiently, "The two parties to the transaction make an agreement on uncertain future situations. If the agreed conditions appear, one party can exercise a right; if the agreed conditions do not appear, the other party will exercise a right."

"We can also sign a bet agreement. If your shooting cost exceeds the budget you agree to, you will deduct money from the payment you earn. But the same way, if the box office of the movie exceeds the initial estimate, you will add money!"

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By the way, patients, have you misunderstood? It doesn’t mean I’m going to take a vacation.
Chapter completed!