The central government's document regarding the retirement of veteran cadres had a profound impact on the film studios.
Setting Wang Yang aside, one needed only to look at the veteran directors.
Among the "Four Grand Commanders" of Beijing Film Studio, Ling Zifeng was sixty-five, Cheng Yin sixty-five, Shui Hua sixty-six, and Cui Wei had already passed away. The remaining three were all at retirement age. Since directors were part of the state system, they were naturally bound by policy.
Of course, directing was unique. As long as one's health held up, one could generally keep filming, but they would still gradually have to step back to the second line and cede opportunities to the younger generation.
By the early 1990s, that would no longer matter, though by then the old directors truly lacked the stamina to film—looking at it this way, Lao Mouzi had incredible energy, maintaining a pace of an average of one film a year even into his seventies.
Xie Tieli was fifty-seven this year, which counted as young.
After Cui Wei passed away, Xie Tieli had surged ahead to shoulder the studio's main burdens. He commanded immense authority and had his own core crew of cinematographers, art designers, and other staff.
At this moment, they were holding a meeting to discuss *The Bao Father and Son*.
Adapted from a novella, it told the story of an impoverished father who sent his son to school, longing for him to achieve great things and break through class barriers—though that was a modern interpretation, as the film suddenly gained huge popularity decades later and struck deep chords with audiences.
Even the Stancomb hair pomade featured in it became an iconic line.
*Knock, knock, knock!*
"Come in!"
Gong Xue pushed the door open. Seeing that a meeting was in progress, she smiled. "Sorry to interrupt. Bad timing on my part—I'll come back later."
"Xiao Gong, go ahead and speak if you need something. You're not interrupting," Xie Tieli said with a smile.
"Um..."
Gong Xue hesitated for a moment. "Director Xie, could you step outside for a second?"
Xie Tieli was taken aback. He got up, stepped out into the hallway, and asked, "Xiao Gong, what needs to be discussed in private?"
"I'm truly sorry, and thank you so much for thinking of me, but I really can't free up the time. *Life Is Beautiful* has been approved and is entering preparation immediately. I'll be shooting two films back-to-back, so I'm afraid I'll delay your schedule. If I ended up compromising the quality of your work, I'd feel terribly guilty."
Gong Xue took out the screenplay for *The Bao Father and Son* and tactfully returned it.
"Oh, if you really don't have the time, then forget it. No problem at all."
Xie Tieli felt a slight twinge of displeasure, but said nothing more. Taking the script, he went back inside.
"Director, what was that about?" his subordinates asked.
"Xiao Gong can't make time and turned down the role. We'll find someone else."
He had not made much of it at first—actors running into scheduling conflicts was common enough—only for someone to chime in, "Gong Xue is going to shoot Chen Qi's movie, isn't she?"
"Definitely. She doesn't take anything unless it's Chen Qi's project," another said immediately.
"Didn't she just shoot our studio's *Mama, Love Me Once More*?"
"Chen Qi wrote the screenplay for that too! Most likely it was inconvenient for him to direct, so he tossed it to the studio. Tell me, does this make any sense? He sets up a company, uses our studio's name, uses our personnel and equipment, and ropes in a whole bunch of people to run a clique right here. If this keeps up, will Beijing Film Studio even remain Beijing Film Studio? It'll end up belonging to that guy named Chen!"
"Hey, don't talk nonsense!" Xie Tieli reprimanded.
"I'm not talking nonsense! Director Wang Haowei, Director Li Wenhua, Big Sister Zhang Jinling... a whole crowd of them, thick as thieves. If that's not a clique, what is?"
"They're all Beijing Film Studio people, yet all they do is shoot movies for an outsider! And Gong Xue—I've had an issue with her for a while now. She's supposed to be our studio's most famous actress, right? Has she ever truly made a film for our studio? No matter who approaches her, it's always a flat refusal!"
"All right, that's enough. Don't talk about people behind their backs. Back to the meeting!"
Xie Tieli silenced them, but he frowned inwardly. It really was the truth.
Ever since the Eastern Depot was established, it had been seconding various resources from the studio, and quite a few people were eager to go over there; the stipend was high, a whole two yuan a day. Wang Haowei had not gone that far yet, but Li Wenhua had completely defected to that side, becoming one of Chen Qi's men.
Gong Xue went without saying.
Thinking about it this way, he began to feel resentful as well. As an actress affiliated with Beijing Film Studio, to favor outsiders instead of prioritizing the studio's own productions was simply going too far, wasn't it?
* * *
After the meeting ended and lunch was over.
With nothing pressing to do, Xie Tieli strolled leisurely through the studio grounds when he bumped into a colleague.
"Director Xie, just the man I was looking for. There's a meeting at two o'clock this afternoon in the small conference room!"
"What kind of meeting?"
"Seems to be about scheduling the shooting projects for the second half of the year—allocating things."
"Oh, all right!"
Xie Tieli nodded and continued his stroll. Once the time drew near, he walked over to the main building and entered the small conference room. There were not many people inside, just directors accompanied by their trusted assistants.
Before long, Wang Yang and several studio leaders walked in.
"This year, our studio was allocated a quota of twelve films, exactly three per quarter. The production tasks for the first quarter have progressed smoothly, and the second quarter is well prepared.
"Now, there is a situation. Orient Company has two quotas each year under our studio's name. Recently, a project titled *Life Is Beautiful* was initiated, scheduled to begin shooting in the second half of the year, so we need to allocate personnel and equipment.
"The application for *Life Is Beautiful* includes the director, actors, cinematography, makeup, props, sound recording, lighting..."
These were all standard requests, and no one reacted strongly. But when the list reached the very end, an item suddenly cropped up:
"...as well as three movie cameras!"
*Buzz!*
The conference room instantly erupted into an uproar that grew louder by the second.
Cameras were precious resources. Even at a major facility like Beijing Film Studio, each production crew was typically allotted only one, or at most two. For *Life Is Beautiful* to demand three all at once meant other projects would inevitably suffer.
"I object!"
Someone voiced his protest immediately. "My movie has been in preparation for a long time, and we're finally set to start shooting in the second half of the year. Everything is ready, and it cannot be delayed! This was approved by you leaders yourselves; you can't go back on your word!"
"Same goes for my film! If they need cameras, they can borrow them on their own. Why do we have to supply them?"
"Exactly! Where is the sense in favoring outsiders?"
"I won't yield mine anyway!"
"Neither will I!"
"Quiet down! Quiet down! Perhaps I didn't make myself clear," Wang Yang said. "Part of *Life Is Beautiful* will be shot on the mainland, and part in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has nothing to do with us, and the filming on the mainland won't drag on for long. The three cameras won't be used throughout the entire shoot, only for certain scenes."
"That still won't do! Who knows if they can finish on time? What if they take the cameras and don't return them?"
"Why should we accommodate an outsider's production schedule?"
"Leaders, this is hardly fair!"
Though they addressed the leaders as a group, their eyes were all fixed on Wang Yang, knowing full well how staunchly he supported Chen Qi.
Right at that moment, an experienced senior director spoke up: "There's something I must get off my chest. Old Studio Head, it's fine for you to look after the younger generation, but don't play favorites. You can't expect us to sacrifice ourselves just to help someone else achieve success, can you?"
"..."
With those words, the matter was laid bare in the open.
Wang Yang cleared his throat, just about to speak, when he noticed Xie Tieli raise his hand. It was rare for him to ask to speak. As a prominent director, the moment he moved to speak, all eyes turned toward him, and the room fell dead silent.
"I didn't intend to say anything, but since someone has brought this up, let me share my thoughts..."
Chapter 305