Chapter 146 Company Development
Some works need to stand the test of time before they can be accepted by the audience.

For example, when Stephen Chow's "A Chinese Odyssey" was first released, both mainland and Hong Kong audiences found it too noisy and difficult to understand.

But just a few years later, it became a classic movie in the hearts of many people and even influenced a generation.

When "The Legend of Zu" was first released, it was also criticized as a bad movie, but looking back on it more than ten years later, it was discovered that it had become the pinnacle of fantasy films.

The same is true for "Hero". With Jiang Heng's previous works as a precedent, the tolerance of this blockbuster has been greatly reduced, whether it is the audience or the film critics.

Some film critics said that "Hero" was just imitating "Ashes of Time", refining the plot, artistic conception, supporting roles, space and other aspects, and upgrading the action scenes.

The main purpose of the film is to express a point of view rather than to tell a good story, which is the biggest difference from Jiang Heng's commercial blockbusters.

Nowadays, audiences are "educated" by various entertainment programs, but they don't think there is anything wrong with it, mainly because they are used to it.

However, many viewers couldn't help it and posted short comments on Douban, saying that I spent money to watch the movie to have fun, not to listen to you lecture me.

There are quite a few such film reviews, and they resonate with many people.

Seeing this, some media also published a number of film reviews criticizing "Hero".

For a time, the movie received mixed reviews, which made Zhang Yimou very depressed.

Zhang Weiping felt even more aggrieved. Before the film was released, he thought it would be no problem to get a box office of 500 million or 600 million.

But looking at the current box office trend, it would be good to have 200 to 300 million, and there are still many movie fans who go to see Jiang Heng's movie.

But no matter what, I definitely made money, just not as much as Jiang Heng's films. After comforting myself a few times, I felt relieved.

I am just a businessman. Making money is enough. Why should I care about reputation?

In the literary and art circles, the first big name to "fire" at "Hero" was Mr. Jin Yong.

Frankly speaking, I like Zhang Yimou's "Red Sorghum" and "Ju Dou" is also very good, but I dislike "Hero" the most.

They think the film is whitewashing the tyrant Qin Shi Huang and deceiving the audience, and they think it is a ridiculous movie.

The second big name who criticized "Hero" was Zhang Yimou's old classmate Chen Kaige.

In an interview with the media, he bluntly stated that he did not like the movie "Hero".

I think this movie has a lot of problems. I don't like its theme. The movie is empty. I don't think it is right to sacrifice individual life for the sake of collective achievement.

When talking about his opinion on Jiang Heng's films, Chen Kaige was even more disdainful. He believed that Jiang Heng was just a "Yangshi Lei" (a family of royal architectural masters in the Qing Dynasty), and could only be regarded as a craftsman in the film industry. He could only make some colorful and eye-catching things according to the existing routines, but he would never become a master in his lifetime.

Then he went on to talk about his film “The Promise”, which focused on both art and commerce, and so on and so forth…

The reporters were interested in watching the fun and were not afraid of getting into trouble. They tried every means to interview Jiang Heng and hear his latest comments on "Hero" and his attitude towards Chen Kaige.

However, Jiang Heng's whereabouts were secretive and he rarely attended business events, so reporters had no chance to find him.

On the 15th day of the first lunar month, during the Lantern Festival Gala, Jiang Heng was blocked by a group of reporters when he arrived at CCTV.

"Hello, Director Jiang. Hero has received mixed reviews since its release. As one of the leading actors in the film and a famous commercial film director, can you tell us more about your opinion on this film?"

"Time will reveal everything!" Jiang Heng said expressionlessly.

The reporter was still not giving up. "What do you think of director Chen Kaige? He said that you are a 'style thunder' in the director circle, and you can only be considered a craftsman, and you will never become a master in your lifetime?"

Jiang Heng smiled, "The title of master is not something he can decide. It has to be recognized by the masses. Some people may be called masters, but if none of their works are recognized by the public, then who are they masters?" After saying that, he walked straight into the studio and ignored the reporters.

When the reporters heard the answers they wanted, they were all very excited and naturally did not stop asking further questions.

They all went back to write manuscripts, repeatedly dissecting and processing Jiang Heng's words, producing a manuscript that made Chen Kaige's blood pressure soar after reading it.

It is said that Lao Chen was so angry that day that he smashed a lot of good things.

And spread the word outside, letting Jiang Heng see what a master is.

Jiang Heng didn't know whether to laugh or cry after hearing this. He really didn't know what he could use to prove it, "The Promise" or "Legend of the Demon Cat"?
To be honest, he really couldn't understand why the fifth-generation directors always liked to be mysterious and do things that were difficult to understand.

When it comes to art, the later works of a certain master are not as touching as those of "Chief Jia".

"The Good Man of Three Gorges" and "A Touch of Sin" realistically depict the living conditions of the lower class people.

In comparison, some masters are too out of touch with reality.

Just like some celebrities who have been away from ordinary people for too long, they eat sky-high priced breakfasts and think that they can live a good life in Shanghai by just delivering a few takeout orders.

It can be said that Jiang Heng instantly had the idea of ​​investing in art films, so he called the two CEOs of iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video over.

The general manager is named Du Huan, who also graduated from the Beijing Film Studio. Originally, he founded Bonanza with Yu Dong.

The vice president is Li Xiaowan, who was originally the vice president of Guangxian Media.

Both of them are very capable people, and having them manage the company saves Jiang Heng a lot of worry.

He didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point: "I was busy filming a movie before and didn't have much time to take care of the company's affairs. You two have always been the ones worrying about it. I asked you to come here today because I wanted to talk about future development."

When the two heard this, their eyes lit up.

Du Huan said: "Director Jiang, we have long wanted to have a good chat!"

For people like them, salary alone is definitely not enough. They are willing to join iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video because they see value in the company's development.

It’s just that Jiang Heng has been focusing on filming and doesn’t care about the development of the company, which makes the two of them somewhat discouraged.

At this moment, everyone was excited to hear the good news.

Li Xiaoping said: "Director Jiang, I have been waiting for a long time!"

Jiang Heng said: "Let's talk about the first goal first, going public. I plan to transform the company into a joint-stock company and go public around 06 or 07. By then, you will all get a certain amount of equity."

As the domestic film and television company with the highest revenue, iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video are now giants, not startup companies.

Whether it is Du Huan or Li Xiaoping, they can only be regarded as company executives, not founding members.

Giving equity is nothing more than an incentive, because the main revenue of the entire company is earned by Jiang Heng.

The relationship with Du Huan and Li Xiaoping is not particularly close, so the shares that can be given to them are not much.

Even so, the two were extremely excited and felt that they finally saw hope.

(End of this chapter)