Chapter 193: 192, Cultural Output Attempts, Economic Revenue Generation In Various Base Areas
“Abroad? I think our company doesn’t have that strength.” The manager of Star Film Company had no confidence in his own company.
In this era of internal troubles and external threats, they worked hard to make movies, infused with their own patriotic sentiments, but didn’t dare to think of pushing their movies to broader markets.
Fang Wen could understand, but didn’t agree.
He spoke up: “Our general manager thinks the movies your company makes are not bad, especially in special effects. He went to the United States and stayed there for over two months. The production effects of Hollywood movies there are similar to yours. His idea is to shoot some movies for release in the United States.”
His real intention for coming here in disguise was: to make an attempt, to reverse-export some very distinctive movies to the United States, and mix in some anti-Japanese content for anti-Japanese propaganda, thereby gaining widespread sympathy and support.
Resist Japan, don’t be afraid of losing face, the country is beaten like this, the sooner the Japanese invaders are driven out, the better for China.
This attempt, whether it succeeds or fails, won’t affect other ongoing matters.
“Like this?” The manager was still hesitating.
Fang Wen continued: “How about this: Taishan Airlines Investment will fund it, you do the shooting, we’ll handle the script, and Taishan Airlines will also take care of overseas distribution.”
With this said, the manager had no more worries.
The conversation continued.
“Then that’s fine, once you decide, we’ll talk about cooperation.”
“Good, then let’s discuss the pre-screening advertisement now. I’ve made some adjustments: have all the actors from Burning Red Lotus Temple change into normal attire, gather by the Huangpu River, and the next plot is them reciting the ad lines together.”
“In that case, the advertising shooting cost will be higher, and we’ll have to pay more in actor fees.”
“Money’s no problem, make a budget and report it to Manager Sun.”
After some negotiation, the pre-screening advertisement was settled, and the rest was left to Sun Debiao.
Fang Wen and Sun Debiao said goodbye and left, getting into the car.
The red-hatted Sikh police officer smiled and leaned toward the window: “Sir, I’ve been guarding your car here the whole time.”
“Very good.” Fang Wen took out a British pound as his tip.
The car started, and Sun Debiao asked: “Where to now?”
“Go visit Mr. Liang and Mr. Lin to thank them for their help.” Fang Wen replied.
Under Sun Debiao’s guidance, the car arrived at the two men’s residence.
Knock knock knock, the knocking temporarily halted the salon conversation.
Mr. Lin got up to open the door, and everyone looked toward the entrance.
The first was Sun Debiao, whom everyone knew.
The second was unfamiliar, but who was he?
Mr. Lin asked: “Manager Sun, can you introduce the friend you brought?”
“My surname is Fang, I met both gentlemen once in Nanjing, at the small tavern by the Ming Palace.” Fang Wen replied.
That voice, and the matter mentioned.
Mr. Lin was surprised: “You’re Fang Wen, how did you change like this?”
“Some Jianghu tricks, can I borrow a place to change faces?” Fang Wen replied.
“Sure. This is too amazing. So the folk rumors are true.” Mr. Lin quickly led Fang Wen to a room to remove the makeup.
In the room, Fang Wen carefully removed the padding from his cheeks, then took off the human skin mask.
These things would be useful later, he placed them neatly, then left the room.
Outside, the group was baffled, Lin Liang and the others didn’t explain, just waiting for the show.
When Fang Wen came out, there was a chorus of exclamations.
“Big transformation of a living person!”
“Where did that guy from earlier go?”
Mr. Liang smiled and introduced: “This is Taishan Airlines General Manager Fang Wen. Everyone knows the Japanese have always wanted to deal with him, so he used some means to enter the city. As for the means he used, I think everyone is better off not asking. It’s a good way to avoid the Japanese.”
The people in the room nodded, suppressing their surprise, and didn’t ask further.
Next, Mr. Liang spoke up: “General Manager Fang came here for a reason, say whatever you want to say.”
Fang Wen looked at the people gathered in the living room and said: “Thank you all for your help with the advertisement creation. Through the advertisement, I saw your talents and had a very interesting idea.”
What interesting idea? The salon members were very curious.
Fang Wen continued: “I just went to Star Film Company and talked with them about some movie matters. My idea is to shoot a movie that can attract global audiences, screen it overseas, and mix in anti-Japanese propaganda to attract overseas attention and support.”
Immediately, someone responded.
A man with a full beard replied: “I think this idea is great. Nowadays, China is like an aging person. Our Chinese culture, which we are proud of, only circulates internally. Overseas places are all European colonies; they admire Western culture. Even Southeast Asia, places influenced by our China, no longer appreciate our culture and instead learn Western literature and eat Western food.”
The salon conversation flowed freely, and soon someone else spoke up, sparking a dispute.
“That can only be blamed on our own lack of effort. With internal troubles and external threats now, only by overcoming them can China rise again. Without strength, don’t expect to export cultural influence; better to focus on practical matters.”
“Wrong, don’t refrain from small good deeds or commit small evils. Now China is weak, countrymen lack confidence. I think culture is also important, to enhance countrymen’s sense of identity with Chinese culture.”
The dispute continued, escalating, almost to the point of fighting if they couldn’t out-argue each other.
Fang Wen had never seen such an intense verbal and temperamental dispute among literati, and he couldn’t help but worry: “They won’t really fight, will they?”
“Usually not, even if they do, it’s just for show.” Mr. Liang said with a smile.
With that, Fang Wen felt much relieved.
After a while, everyone surprisingly stopped arguing because they noticed the person who started it was watching the fun on the side.
The bearded one was straightforward and raised his voice: “Fine, fine, General Manager Fang, you speak halfway and watch us make fools of ourselves, huh?”
Fang Wen quickly responded: “Really not, your words were so intense, I couldn’t get a word in, so I thought I’d wait until you were tired to continue.”
This made everyone burst into laughter, all watching how Fang Wen would tie his idea together.
Fang Wen said seriously: “You just talked about cultural influence. Indeed, our Eastern cultural values are introverted, Western values are extroverted. In this era dominated by interests, Eastern civilization needs peaceful development time, not chaos. I think everyone can agree with that?”
Everyone present had studied and understood Chinese history. China has always divided after long unity and united after long division, but every time civilization burst into brilliant splendor, it was during peaceful prosperous eras.
Fang Wen continued: “So, pursuing cultural influence in a war-torn era is very difficult, and I don’t intend to do that. What I want is commercialized movies that fit universal world values, so they can be screened globally, attract audiences, and promote our anti-Japanese cause.”
With this, everyone got excited.
What kind of movie fits universal world values and is commercialized?
That required analyzing the whole world.
In this era, the whole world is in the Great Depression, even countries once enriched by colonialism are struggling bitterly.
Most middle and lower-class people are facing great difficulties.
What kind of movies would they want to see?
This question sparked deep thought among the salon members.
Fang Wen directly gave the answer.
“I think it’s not movies that rub salt in wounds. Though those might stir viewers’ emotions, after the emotions fade, they’ll be more depressed. For people in hardship, they don’t need to spend money repeatedly appreciating their own suffering. So the universal world value isn’t reality, but escapist comedies and fantasies. Viewers can gain pleasure from them, making life less difficult.”
Fang Wen’s words made the salon people ponder deeply.
Someone asked: “If everyone watches comedies, who will worry about the country?”
“So my target market is the United States, where people need joy but aren’t worried about war.” Fang Wen replied.
So that’s it, Taishan Airlines General Manager wanted everyone to create a magical script for export abroad, as an attempt.
The salon people all looked at one person.
Everyone thought he could do it.
Mr. Liang introduced: “His pen name is Huanzhu Louzhu. His Shu Mountain Swordsmen Legend serialized in Tianfeng Report is selling hot. For wild imagination, all of us combined don’t match him.”
Fang Wen looked at him in surprise and asked: “Excuse me, can you write a Western fantasy novel script?”
This was right up his alley, and he spoke leisurely.
“To write Shu Mountain, I did some research. Western mythology is mainly bloodline inheritance, whether Greek Homer epics and Hesiod’s gods and men, or Norse Germanic giants, gods, dwarves, elves. Later, during their Renaissance, they created knight literature, blending medieval knight legends with alchemy, astrology, etc., thus creating roles like knights, mages, alchemists. Later still, Gothic novels emerged, featuring dark, mysterious, and horrific elements, full of werewolves, vampires, mummies, and other monsters.”
Indeed, Huanzhu Louzhu’s talk of mystical things was particularly captivating; everyone listened raptly, as if a hidden switch to the world had been flipped.
Fang Wen thus gained confidence in him.
After he finished describing mystical literature, Fang Wen asked: “If you were to write a Western fantasy script, how would you do it?”
“I…” Huanzhu Louzhu pondered, then replied: “I can only do some adaptations to enrich the content, like my Shu Mountain Swordsmen Legend, building a world with gods, giants, dwarves, elves, werewolves, vampires, mummies, knights, mages, alchemists coexisting. It’s fictional but connected to reality, set specifically twenty years ago.”
Twenty years ago was World War I.
Using World War I as background to create a magical world, Fang Wen was greatly surprised by Huanzhu Louzhu’s wild imagination.
If created, wouldn’t it be an adult Harry Potter, or The Lord of the Rings trilogy?
If so, it could even connect to Eastern culture’s immortal system.
Could this guy pull it off?
Fang Wen asked: “Your idea is great, I can sponsor you and handle overseas sales.”
“Really write it?!” Huanzhu Louzhu was stunned; he’d drawn a super big pie, and writing it out wouldn’t be easy.
But if successful, such a grand narrative and background would be a classic.
Next, Fang Wen talked privately with Huanzhu Louzhu.
After the talk, Fang Wen and Huanzhu Louzhu reached an agreement.
No need for a long novel first; with that background structure, write a movie script.
The general plot fitting this era’s Western pursuits: knight heroism.
As for creation, Fang Wen gave only one requirement.
Single linear narrative, not like his Shu Mountain Swordsmen Legend with tons of characters.
Simply put, one protagonist embarks on a fantastical adventure due to some accident.
This was the unified narrative style of future fantasy movies, unlikely to be wrong.
Once the script is done, find Star Film Company to shoot it, then test it in U.S. theaters.
If good, write a long novel, make movie sequels, turn it into an IP.
Shanghai trip ended, Fang Wen safely returned to the airport wearing the human skin mask.
Movie matters wrapped up for now, still need the script.
Everything returned to normal track.
Time passed, reaching November.
In this over-a-month period, many things happened domestically.
The 19th Route Army, which fought the Japanese Army in the Shanghai January 28th Incident, announced ‘anti-Jiang anti-Japanese’ in Fuzhou.
Because of this, Taishan Airlines’ Fuzhou airport was forced to suspend flights for a week.
Chahar’s anti-Japanese allied army was gone; the lost lands recaptured by the anti-Japanese allied army were reoccupied by the Japanese.
The entire North China region had no more anti-Japanese armies.
More and more people evacuated from Beiping; Jinan Airport flights to Shanghai became many people’s top choice.
For this, Fang Wen specially visited Tsinghua University, leaving Taishan Airlines’ business telegram frequency, telling them that if they wanted to evacuate, Taishan Airlines could help anytime.
During this time, Fang Wen also discovered a historical event he had missed.
The relocation of cultural relics from Beiping Forbidden City southward, probably completed around May this year. They didn’t contact Taishan Airlines, instead directly transporting hundreds of thousands of precious artifacts to Nanjing by train.
Besides the bleak situation in the north, the encirclement and suppression in the south continued.
Under this high-intensity encirclement, the Red Army persisted, even trying to break the Kuomintang’s economic blockade and find ways to increase income sources.
In this regard, Red Third Army did well; the Xiang’e border base area gained continuous bullet and silver dollar supplies through cigarette trade, easing the base area’s economic pressure.
For this, other base areas specifically learned from Red Third Army.
After learning the situation, they established contact through Red Third Army’s channel with Taishan Airlines.
The person sent was Shu Zhitao, Red Third Army’s single-line contact with Taishan Airlines.
Besides coming on a mission to negotiate, he also had one thing: attending the wedding of his subordinate liaison officer, Miao girl Long Yumei.
The time was November 20, 1933.
Xiangxi Airport was decorated with lights and colors, full of relatives and friends.
