Caught in Affairs with Superstar

Chapter 1318: Chapter 696: A Surprise for You (Part 2)

Wen Bing looked into Yao Yuanfeng’s eyes, paused for a moment, and said, ”President Yao, can I ask you a question?”

”Not just one question, ask me eight hundred, I’m happy to answer,” Yao Yuanfeng said.

Wen Bing: ”Do you really consider me one of your own?”

Yao Yuanfeng replied, ”Of course, what kind of question is that? I thought you were going to ask something serious, turned out it’s just that, Wen Bing, how could I not see you as one of us? If I didn’t, would I give you the greatest support? Look at New Shield these past few years, the biggest investments are in your films. For other directors, would I be willing to give so much money, or trust them?”

Wen Bing: ”But, President Yao, if I’m honest with you, I’ve been increasingly unhappy these years at the company. I have stories to express and create, and I don’t want every project to have a bunch of people telling me what to do. Honestly, filming ’Life’ was my happiest time because no one controlled me, but starting from ’Two Tigers,’ with such a large investment and the company’s focus, and you even brought Liang Yuanpu to help, indeed, your support and trust in me is undeniable, yet filming ’Two Tigers’ was very unpleasant for me. I thought shooting ’Female Assassin’ would be better, but I didn’t expect you to assign Zeng Yeng as the producer to manage the crew; I never felt free.”

Yao Yuanfeng’s expression paused.

He truly hadn’t expected Wen Bing to unleash everything at once.

All were heartfelt words.

Yao Yuanfeng pondered.

Wen Bing: ”Boss, you appreciated me, gave me the opportunity to become a film director. I’m very aware and grateful, but I don’t want to be New Shield’s filming machine. If it’s about large investments keeping you from letting me be wasteful, I’d rather have smaller investments in my projects. Filming ’Two Tigers’ wasn’t my original intention, and while doing ’Female Assassin,’ I never planned such a grand production. It’s the company that thought the theme with Zhou Yun starring could be made into a commercial blockbuster, and thus my initial script got stuffed with mundane plots by the script review committee. I wanted to reject it but couldn’t, as everything was set in motion and I had no choice but to keep filming. After ’Female Assassin’, then what? Will you have me film sequels to ’Two Tigers’ or ’Female Assassin’? I can’t shoot these commercial films however I wish. I understand that. But can I withdraw? Can I film what I truly desire?”

Yao Yuanfeng gestured, meaning to tell Wen Bing that he could pause for a moment. He understood.

”Wen Bing, I know making you film ’Two Tigers’ was forcing you a bit, but look, the movie turned out great, didn’t tarnish your reputation, right?” Yao Yuanfeng saw Wen Bing about to speak again quickly signaled to wait, and continued, ”I know you’re a director with high aspirations, unwilling for your films to be meddled with, but Wen Bing, as someone who’s been in this industry for so long, I want to tell you this is not just your issue, I can even say all top-notch directors worldwide can’t film movies solely as they wish. Of course, you can be a niche art film director, make independent films, but your talent and skills aren’t limited to that. Just look at how well ’Two Tigers’ turned out and how much the audience loved it. It’s a contender in China’s action films; how do critics evaluate it? The fusion of violence and poetic romance! Filming movies like ’Life’, of course, is OK, but however classic it is, it’ll ultimately just rake in a few billion at the box office, that’s the ceiling. Are you willing to be a director like that?”

Wen Bing said, ”I want to film various types of movies, but the prerequisite is that my script doesn’t get patched up according to market conventions and preferences I don’t agree with.”

Yao Yuanfeng said, ”Then do you want your films to be acclaimed but not box office hits, like ’Zhongshan’, with such good reviews it didn’t have a single bad one, scored 9.1, but only raked in twenty million at the box office?”