The Best Director

Chapter 202: The Godfather and Difficult Brothers

The “MIT-21-TEAM” crew was in the midst of a bustling shoot in Las Vegas. Just under a week had passed since Flame Films completed the acquisition of Artisan Company for $160 million, and the industry was still speculating about what Flame really intended to do, when the gossip rag “Daily Entertainment” suddenly published a piece of on-set gossip: “Magical Yang’s New Business Theory, the 28 Laws are a Thing of the Past!?”

According to The Insider, the information was obtained from Joshua Alba who mentioned that during a recent on-set conversation about the acquisition, Magical Yang spoke at length about a new business concept known as “Long Tail Theory”, asserting that 80% of niche products and 20% of mainstream are equally important. Flame Films’ development strategy is also executed based on this theory, even declaring that it’s no longer “what we can offer customers”, but rather “what customers demand from us”. It heralded the end of the era ruled by the 28 Laws.

He also discussed the IT industry, expressing high hopes for Google’s prospects, noting that it had already discovered and implemented the Long Tail Theory. He even predicted that if Yahoo and Microsoft didn’t take action, such as direct acquisitions or launching new technologies, they would be surpassed and defeated by Google in a few years?

“I send a Chinese idiom to Bill Gates and Jerry Yang ‘To Rear a Tiger is to Court Calamity’. Also, my advice, first, immediately buy out Google directly. If Larry Page won’t agree, then go for it as soon as it goes public; second, cut off all business with Google.” He commented that Yahoo was out of touch with reality, whereas Google clearly understood the convenient features that young people and the general public really needed. He added, “It’s just that I chose not to go to Stanford, otherwise, watch how I’d deal with Google. Why? Because I love movies.”

What is the Long Tail Theory? Is it really feasible? “Daily Entertainment” commented with a laugh: “This year, Magical Yang is passionate about inventing, besides the currently popular fad of ‘planking’ on the internet, he has launched an attack on business.”

Many websites including Yahoo also shared this rumor-milled news because although he hadn’t gone to Stanford, as the owner of the most popular blogging website Blogger, he held a certain influence in the IT world. However, his statements downplaying Yahoo and Microsoft while praising Google did not garner much support, except for Larry Page, who was scared into a cold sweat by them.

“Magical Yang is actually a business prodigy, perhaps we should be thankful that he chose not to go to Stanford, or else we’d have one more competitor now and be short of one Best Director,” Yahoo Entertainment joked about the rumor.

Under the azure sky, on the Las Vegas Strip, the “MIT-21-TEAM” crew was setting up their filming equipment. The assistant director was directing the extras’ movements; near the large fountain, by the green trees, Joshua was smiling and talking with Alexis, nodding and laughing, saying, “Yeah, I do like a Diya pie, make it myself? Jesus, no way!”

“Joshua Alba, come with me.” The cold voice seemed to be spat out through clenched teeth as Wang Yang approached with a face ashen with rage, his eyes filled with suppressed anger, and a rolled-up newspaper in his hand.

Alexis was somewhat frightened by the director’s fury. Nearly a month into filming, she had never seen him curse at anyone, but now… Joshua was also puzzled. Having known him for so long, he rarely ever saw Wang in such a murderous rage, which seemed to be related to him. He told Alexis, “I’ll go see what’s up, Yang seems to be in a bad mood,” and quickly followed him.

Alexis watched as he followed Wang Yang to a tree away from the passersby and crew. Natalie, who was rehearsing nearby, also glanced at Wang Yang, only to see him suddenly smash the newspaper onto Joshua’s chest and angrily point at it, exploding like a powder keg.

“Take a look at this! Tell me, what is this? What are you doing!?” Wang Yang clenched his fists, nearly swinging a punch at Joshua, who fumbled to catch the newspaper, opening it while asking, “What’s wrong, what’s wrong?” Wang Yang took a deep breath, still unable to suppress his anger, and shouted, “What’s wrong? Why did you have to reveal that FUCKING Long Tail to the media!?”

“Didn’t I say to keep it a secret! To keep your mouth shut!! Did you betray me, do you know that!?” Listening to Wang Yang’s teeth-gritted roars, Joshua’s forehead broke out in a cold sweat, and he stared blankly at the article “Magical Yang’s New Business Theory” on the newspaper, quickly reading through it: “Uh…”

Wang Yang pressed his temple, exhaling deeply, “When did I say Yahoo would be doomed in 5 years, that I was going to take Google down?? Damn it! Even if I had the power, I’d have no interest!! To hell with IT!” His voice grew louder as he bellowed again, “But do you know? Flame Films and Blogger have dealings with Yahoo and Google, and there will be many strategic partnerships in the future. Now you’ve made the situation very awkward!!”

“Oh…” Joshua put down the newspaper and, feeling totally helpless, looked at the infuriated Wang Yang and said, “I’m so sorry… I don’t know how it happened… I didn’t tell the media! I remember, I chatted with Ali and told her because she was interested too, I mentioned it was confidential… Damn it!” He anxiously ran his fingers through his hair, asking urgently, “Who could be so unethical to sell it to the gossip papers? It definitely wasn’t Alexis; she has no reason to do so…”

“Hahaha! Ali has no reason to do that.” Suddenly Wang Yang stopped laughing and grabbed Joshua by the collar, his anger erupting, “But if she told a friend to keep it a secret, and that friend told another friend, and then a bunch of friends, all keeping secrets! Don’t you know? Someone will sell it out!” He twisted and pushed hard, his voice strained, “So do you understand now how terrifying viral marketing can be!?”

Joshua stumbled back a few steps, his face a picture of bewilderment, “Yang, I’m really sorry, I messed up!”

“It’s not about Google or Yahoo. Do you understand what it means for the policy of Flame Movies to get out like that?… At any moment, other big companies could catch on, and then they and we will be competing for film library resources, competing for the market…” Wang Yang shouted, voice weakening, he propped his left hand on his waist and pinched his nose with the right, continuing, “Do you know why Flame isn’t going public? One, it’s not lacking money, two, to avoid snipers like Carl Icahn, we want to develop steadily and keep a low profile!!”

Wang Yang glanced at Alexis nearby, then narrowing his eyes at Joshua, his voice growing louder, “Joshua, do you know that a good producer always starts from the film, from the market, and personal issues have nothing to do with it! Why are there so many third-rate, fourth-rate producers? Because they can’t keep their mouths shut, because they don’t consider the bigger picture! Is it so casual to just say everything? Is it that when you get enticed by a hot girl in a bar, you tell the investors and the director that she’s the lead actress? Who would care about you, you can’t even be a third-rate producer, you’d be out on your ass!!!”

Joshua wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, not daring to meet Wang Yang’s furious gaze, he said softly, “I know, I’ve never said that… ”

“Have you seen ‘The Godfather’? Don’t let women manipulate your thinking!!” Wang Yang roared again, pointing to his temple, “Here!! Just to joke with a woman, to satisfy their interests…” He slowed down as he spoke, his anger rapidly subsiding, his voice growing quieter, “…everything gets spilled… for the sake of making a woman happy, letting someone with no screen presence, who’s not even an actor, come for an audition… ”

Seeing him suddenly stop, his expression returning to calm, like a keg of gunpowder doused with cold water, Joshua blinked in confusion and hesitantly said, “Continue?”

“Hmm.” Wang Yang glanced at the crew members looking their way, the expressionless Natalie, the somewhat worried Ali… He scratched his head, suddenly laughing softly, and clapped Joshua on the shoulder, self-deprecatingly saying, “Sorry, Joshua, in fact, I’m also to blame; this mistake originally came from me.” Joshua stood there still looking dumbfounded, “Really?” Wang Yang nodded, “Yes.”

The source of this viral chain was his own words, spoken to satisfy a woman’s interest, getting more and more enthusiastic as he talked…

Wang Yang sighed. The mindset with which Joshua told Alexis was the same with which he had told Natalie and Rachel; it was just that Ali then told someone else. He didn’t suspect Natalie or Rachel of spreading it; they weren’t that trivial. He didn’t blame Ali, either. When a first-hand secret becomes second-hand, it is bound to become third-hand, because it’s taken lightly.

“Joshua.” Wang Yang looked at the tall young man before him, looking dejected. In the past month, Joshua had been diligent and hadn’t made any mistakes. A few years ago, everyone was still an immature kid… People have to go through things, to slowly mature, both he and Joshua had a long way to go.

He put an arm around Joshua’s shoulder, saying with an even, smiling tone, “I made a mistake, and so did you. When someone tells you a secret, you need to keep it a secret, you need to keep your word.”

“Yes!” Joshua nodded solemnly, still looking downcast, frowning as he said, “I know it’s my fault. Every time I faced Ali, I’d forget everything, but it won’t happen again! You’ve woken me up.” At first, he had had a fleeting thought it might have been the other two women who had talked, but then he realized it wasn’t. The truth was he had told Ali, and when he did, he only mentioned “Don’t go spreading it, okay?”

Why couldn’t he keep a secret?! Everything got messed up, and he was so disappointed in himself! But at the same time, he had truly resolved to become an outstanding producer, an outstanding person!

Looking at Wang Yang, whose anger had vanished, Joshua’s eyes gradually firmed, and he asked, “So what do we do now? What consequences do I need to face?”

“Just do your job! Everything continues, and don’t respond to this incident,” Wang Yang smiled, pleased to see Joshua not shrinking away. In fact, earlier that morning, when Mark Slant told him the news over the phone, they had already discussed it; the situation wasn’t so dire. He was just angry that Joshua had told the media about it.

Wang Yang said, “Flame has already bought Artisan, and we now own over 8,500 movies, which is the most any company in Hollywood has in their library. Even the biggest studios like Universal only have about 4,000. No one can touch our collection.” He shrugged and smiled, “Moreover, our operational system and distribution channels are basically mature. Even if Universal starts to take the long-tail business seriously, it won’t have much effect on us.”

The key to the long-tail theory lies in implementation. A film library is a foundation, but it won’t generate money simply by keeping the acquisitions sitting in a warehouse, or Artisan wouldn’t have gone bankrupt; Flame Films’ strategy is not to allow things to take their own course, but to refine market operations and repackage those movies, such as “Weekend Family Comedy Package”, “Bloody Horror Collection”, and so on, making it crystal clear for movie fans when choosing films, always finding what they want.

“Really? You’re not just comforting me?” Joshua looked doubtful, but if the trouble he’d caused wasn’t as bad as he feared, he was naturally very relieved.

“I need to comfort your sister because she still doesn’t know, but I don’t need to comfort you,” Wang Yang said, smiling as he picked up the newspaper that had fallen to the ground, folding it as he spoke. “Actually, we are expanding into the family entertainment market, taking market shares from those big companies. They have ample capital and high ambitions, still chasing high costs and Oscars; in fact, the ones we should worry about are companies like Dimen and Miramax Films joining the acquisition fray. You know, it’s the competitors ahead and behind you that engage you in the close combat.”

8,500 movies is a lot, but it’s still far from enough, because the more small products there are, the greater the power of the long tail. Only when Flame’s library reaches 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 movies, will it be possible to truly achieve the 50% to 50% goal.

And acquiring Artisan is of vital importance to Flame, but it will not stop there, Flame is already continuing to look for the next prey and buying movie rights.

“The worst situation now is just that there are a few more acquisition competitors, we already have one like Lionsgate,” Wang Yang said, looking at the newspaper in his hands full of teasing meaning. He laughed and said, “Does anyone believe this long-tail theory? I hope they think it’s fake news.”

This kind of non-scandalous gossip didn’t occupy much of the page, wouldn’t draw much attention; and without pictures or evidence, it could only be considered rumors, just like someone saying “Paris Hilton was cursing Drew Barrymore in front of the bathroom mirror”, except the latter is more intriguing.

“Yang, what’s written in the newspaper is a bit off, but…” Joshua pondered with a serious face, and said earnestly, “It’s still the long-tail theory, it seems very reasonable, it’s not something anyone could just make up, and there are those IT…”

“Forget it, let it go!” Wang Yang looked into his eyes and said earnestly, “And don’t let this happen again, you or me.” Joshua nodded seriously, and Wang Yang nodded as well, turned to leave, but then seeing Alexis in the distance, he suddenly remembered something and added, “Little brother, there’s another line from ‘The Godfather’, a man who doesn’t take care of his family can’t be considered a real man.”

Wang Yang smiled and said, “I have my own interpretation, a woman who can influence your thinking and change your mind, your mother, your wife, your daughter.” Joshua also smiled and said, “Let me add one, your sister, you know I’ve always taken care of my family since I was little.”

“It seems neither of us is ‘The Godfather’,” Wang Yang thought about the curses he had uttered in a fit of rage, and unsure if he had hurt the guy’s feelings, he extended his right hand and said, “Friendship can build a strong defense, I hope this incident doesn’t ruin our friendship.” Joshua shook his hand tightly and laughed, “How could it? Bro, I’m so happy you accepted my apology.”

“Thank you for not rejecting my friendship,” Wang Yang pulled on his hand, the two bumped shoulders with force. Wang Yang patted Joshua on the back encouragingly and smiled, “Buddy, great people aren’t born great; they grow great over time, and we’re just starting out.”

Alexis, who had been keeping an eye on the situation from a distance, relaxed and smiled in relief; Natalie also smiled and looked away, as the rest of the crew continued to focus on their work.

Joshua, hearing the way he spoke, which was quite different from usual, couldn’t help but ask, “Is that from ‘The Godfather’ again?” Wang Yang released him, shrugged, and smiled, “What else did you think? It’s just that classic.” Saying that, he walked over towards the camera position.

“The Godfather…” Joshua scratched his head. Even though the matter seemed to be resolved, he still needed to get it clear. Thinking it through, he approached Alexis, who walked up to meet him and said, “Joshua, what’s up? The mighty Yang was pretty fierce.” Joshua took a deep breath and explained the newspaper situation, asking, “Did you tell anyone else?”

“Oh my God! I didn’t know it would be this serious…” Alexis covered her mouth with both hands, her face full of surprise and apology, and she rushed to say, “I’m sorry, the other day I had a phone call with a friend, and we just happened to talk about Amazing Yang, and then we got onto the topic of fun stuff on the film set, and I mentioned this… I thought you meant it was okay to tell close friends, but I told her that you had instructed us not to talk about it everywhere… I’m so sorry!”

Joshua waved his hand dismissively, with a self-mocking tone, “It’s nothing, actually the greatest responsibility is mine; I was the one who first made the mistake.” Alexis said with a sense of guilt, “I’m such an idiot…” Looking at her, Joshua said very seriously, “Alexis, I made a mistake, you made a mistake, when someone tells you a secret, you need to keep it, you have to keep your word. But neither of us did…”

“HEY, Valery, let me take a look.” Reaching the camera that had been set up, Wang Yang greeted Valery Fisher and others, then leaned over and squinted through the viewfinder, his mind already moving past the nuisance and focusing on the whole day’s work ahead. After checking from this position, he took out a separate director’s viewfinder and walked to another angle on the curb to get a sense of the scene.

At that moment, he heard a laugh asking, “What happened? You just scolded Joshua to the brink of tears.” Putting down the viewfinder, Wang Yang looked at Natalie, who had come over, and smiled, “Nothing much, the long-tail theory I discussed with you guys leaked, and now I’m dubbed a business genius from hell.” With that, he took out the newspaper he had someone buy that morning, now crumpled up, and handed it over, saying, “Take a look.”

“What…” Natalie took it, unfolded it, and after a glance, burst into laughter, “That’s terrible, I’m the one who told the media!” While continuing to frame the shot, Wang Yang replied, “You’re kidding, right? Why would you do that?” Natalie looked at him, speaking softly, “What do you think? My plan was, because of this, you and Joshua would have a fallout, and then your relationship with Jessica would suffer… I am a Harvard graduate, after all.”

Wang Yang smiled, unfazed by her words. Natalie was watching his expression intently, not doubting for a second. She chuckled to herself, actually she had been somewhat worried that if the leak was suspected to be her doing, she would be very disappointed and sad, thankfully she was overthinking it.

“A tiger brings trouble…” With her concerns gone, Natalie read the newspaper with interest, translating the proverb into Chinese. The more she read, the more entertaining she found it, laughing out loud, “A business genius! You seem very arrogant here, you’re even schooling Bill Gates: ‘If Google isn’t dealt with now, I guarantee that in less than five years, they’ll regret it sorely, by then it’ll be Google kicking Gates’ butt.’ Ha ha!”

Tabloids, aiming to catch the eye, would naturally not report in an ordinary fashion but portrayed Amazing Yang as someone who only loved movies and disdained the IT industry, but once in, it’s a scene of tumult and slaughter. The reports such as how Yahoo, the internet giant, isn’t far from death, and how Bill Gates should beat his chest in regret for not taking down Google immediately! These were key points in the reporting, the youngest billionaire schooling the world’s richest man made a big piece of gossip.

“I’ll just wait a few years to see if it’s true!” Natalie rolled up the newspaper while chuckling. Wang Yang put down the viewfinder, looked at her, and smiled, “I don’t know about what the paper says, but I do know you will be the Oscar Best Actress.”

“Yes, you said that when I was 14,” Natalie shrugged and said, “I’ve also said, buddy, you will be the Oscar Best Director!” With that, they both erupted into laughter, both vaguely recalling that they had said such things during the filming of “Juno.” Wang Yang patted her shoulder and said with a smile, “Don’t say it’s impossible, nothing is impossible, we will be.” With that, he walked back to the camera, Natalie following behind with a smile.

“But actually, the Oscars are no big deal, does not winning mean it’s not a good movie? I prefer box office success more.”

“Then you don’t want it, but I do.”

“Anyway, why not take something that’s free? The trophy is made of gold! Plus, having it would increase the box office.”

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PS: Waah, asking for votes, ahh, at the start of the new week I earnestly request everyone to throw in some recommendation tickets, let’s dash for the top ranks in the category recommendations, thank you!