Forcing Me to Be a Godly Tycoon, Right?

Chapter 270: Chapter 156: Grasping the Future Movie Mogul (Long Chapter, Please Subscribe)_2

Ning Hao was now nearly driven mad searching for funds to make his film, so upon seeing Zhang Jingdong – a potential major investor – he naturally didn’t put on airs and took the initiative to greet him: ”Mr. Zhang, hello, my name is Ning Hao...”

Zhang Jingdong looked at the future celebrated director’s modest demeanor and couldn’t help but laugh: ”Hello, my name is Zhang Jingdong. Please, take a seat...”

Ning Hao deliberately mentioned his name to show humility, but he didn’t expect Mr. Zhang, the big boss, to be so approachable, and subconsciously glanced at Chen Hui.

Seeing Chen Hui nod at him, he finally felt at ease.

After both parties sat down, Zhang Jingdong cut straight to the chase: ”Director Ning, I heard from Mr. Chen that you’ve made a film before and it even won an award?”

”That’s true, but it was no major award... I have brought the film here, if you’re interested, you could take a look.”

”Oh really, alright then, let’s watch it now.”

Upon hearing this, Ning Hao felt a surge of emotion.

Previously, when he met with other bosses, they usually said they would watch it later, then they would start chatting about miscellaneous things, and thereafter, there would be no further word from them.

Zhang Jingdong was the first to agree to watch the film on the spot, which if nothing else, clearly showed his genuine interest in seeing Ning Hao’s caliber of filmmaking.

At this point, Chen Hui spoke to Ning Hao: ”Hand me the tape.”

Ning Hao immediately took out the tape from his bag and handed it over efficiently.

Chen Hui took the tape, stood up, went to the nearby television, and did a few manipulations before two red characters on the TV appeared—Incense Offering.

Ning Hao’s truly first work, Incense Offering, told a very simple story of a temple in a rural village of Jin Province, where a young monk lived. The monk depended on the temple offerings for survival, but as the New Year approached, the Buddha statue in the temple suddenly collapsed.

Without the Buddha statue, the offerings ceased, and without the offerings, the monk could not survive. So, to survive, the monk began to raise funds to repair the Buddha image.

During the fundraising, the monk encountered all sorts of people and experienced many bizarre events.

Because the film had very little investment, totaling less than 100,000 yuan—and 40,000 yuan of it came from Ning Hao’s own pocket—plus the fact that Ning Hao was very naïve, oh no, idealistic at that time, the film was not as good as his later ”Crazy” series of films.

But there’s a saying that geniuses are usually not developed slowly; rather they display their unique strengths as soon as they emerge.

Similarly, Ning Hao’s Incense Offering also showcased a trait that would later make him a top director—the ability to tell a story.

Zhang Jingdong only saw some clips of this film in short videos in his previous life, this was his first time to watch the entire film.

To be honest, although the film’s visuals were rough, you could watch it to the end without any difficulty because the story was fluent and interesting.

Ning Hao had watched his own film many times, so during the entire screening, he was actually observing Zhang Jingdong’s reactions.

Especially during the first twenty minutes, his heart was hanging in his throat, fearing that Zhang Jingdong would suddenly say: ”Let’s stop watching; what is this nonsense...”

Only after an hour did he finally breathe a sigh of relief because he saw a genuine appreciation in Zhang Jingdong’s eyes.

But he still didn’t dare let his guard down, because appreciation is one thing, but getting an investment from the big boss is another.

Especially as he had faced too many rejections over the past year and had seen all sorts of bad luck, so now he didn’t dare to have too high hopes until things were settled.

Another twenty minutes passed, and the film ended.

At this point, Ning Hao first glanced at Chen Hui, then turned to Zhang Jingdong with a mix of nervousness and anticipation.

At that moment, Zhang Jingdong was seen smiling and clapping his hands: ”Hmm, the story is well told!”

Ning Hao’s hanging heart finally settled a bit.

”Director Ning, I’ve seen quite a few films before, and in my view, some film directors are born for this line of work, while others can only make films to scrape by. You clearly belong to the former category.”

Ning Hao quickly waved his hands: ”Mr. Zhang, your praise is too high, I really can’t accept it...”

”What are your filming plans next? Or more to the point, do you want to continue making award-winning films or do you want to make films that are genuinely enjoyable to watch?”

Ning Hao was momentarily stunned: ”Mr. Zhang, what you said... I seem to have misunderstood?”

Zhang Jingdong curled his lip: ”Did you really not understand, or are you pretending not to? Never mind, whatever type you are, let me just share my thoughts.”

”As far as I know, our country’s top directors basically follow the same path: work hard on films, go abroad to film festivals, and after winning an award for the glory of the country, they return home seeking opportunities to make more films, and then go abroad for festivals again... in an endless loop.”

”Because one only gets the chance to make films at home after gaining fame and winning awards abroad, the vast majority of directors are focused on making films that will win at foreign film festivals.”

”And since these awards are foreign, and most of the jurors are also foreigners, these national directors must feign tastes that cater to the foreign jurors.”

”As the film industry is among the most powerful cultural exports and mediums for displaying a country’s culture, it naturally becomes an important tool for some countries to oppress the culture of others.”