My singer girlfriend is super fierce

Chapter 1540 Rurouni Kenshin (Part 1)

Led by a waiter, Ye Zhi Qiu and Yuan Kui arrived at a private room.

Upon entering, there were already several people in the private room, led by a middle-aged man in his forties with slicked-back hair and wearing a black striped suit.

Upon seeing Ye Zhi Qiu, the middle-aged man immediately stood up and greeted him warmly.

"Hello, Mr. Ye!"

"My name is Hiroshi Kamiya, it's an honor to meet you!"

This middle-aged man is Hiroshi Kamiya, a rising star director in Japan.

Previously, the other party had intended to invite Ye Zhi Qiu to write a script, but Ye Zhi Qiu was also busy with other things and did not respond very actively.

Unexpectedly, Hiroshi Kamiya got anxious first. Upon learning that Ye Zhi Qiu was in Hong Kong these past few days, he personally led his team to fly over just to meet him.

Yeh Chih-Chiu is open to collaborating with Japanese directors.

Japan is one of the top five film markets in the world and the second largest in Asia. Ye Zhi Qiu certainly wants a piece of this market, and a big one at that!

However, unlike other regions, Japan's film market environment and audience preferences are very unique, somewhat like a "parallel world where the technology tree is off track".

Hollywood blockbusters that are a global phenomenon often fail to take off in Japan.

The audience here seems to have their own unique viewing preferences, preferring to watch local narratives such as family, school, youth, monsters, and social mystery.

Essentially, this is a highly self-sustaining cultural loop that naturally sets up a defense against external content.

Therefore, it is very difficult for imported films to achieve good box office results here; they still need to have localized storytelling.

Ye Zhi Qiu was well aware of this; in fact, collaborating with a local director like Hiroshi Kamiya was currently the best approach.

But the first skill in negotiation is to conceal your true purpose and whet the other party's appetite.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the two sat down, and Ye Zhi Qiu said directly, "Mr. Kamiya, please forgive my bluntness."

"You know how closed the Japanese film market is. Many Japanese screenwriters and directors have succeeded overseas, but very few outsiders have succeeded in entering the market."

"In this situation, why did you specifically choose to contact me?"

"You're different!" Hiroshi Kamiya exclaimed fervently. "That's in the eyes of ordinary people. You're a genius among geniuses, unlike everyone else. You're destined for success!"

"Mr. Ye, I have seen all of your works. You are an absolute all-rounder, proficient in almost all types of works, whether it is drama, comedy, suspense, or science fiction, you have produced excellent works!"

"Especially anime, works like 'Dragon Ball' and 'Attack on Titan' produced by your studio are 100% in line with the tastes of Japanese audiences, so there's absolutely no problem..."

Ye Zhi Qiu was slightly surprised. He didn't expect that this Kamiya Hiroshi knew so much about him, even reciting many of his previous works like the back of his hand. It seemed that he had done his homework.

Since that's the case, Ye Zhi Qiu didn't waste any more words and said, "I do have ideas for the script."

What terms can you offer?

Hiroshi Kamiya waved his hand and said, "Drive as you please!"

"As long as you are willing to write, all conditions are negotiable. Please have faith in our capabilities."

Hiroshi Kamiya said, "To be honest, your previous works such as Dragon Ball and Attack on Titan were very popular and achieved good results, but their commercial value was definitely underestimated!"

"Because you are not Japanese, you will be implicitly ostracized by the entire industry. This is an unwritten rule in the industry. If you entrust these works to me for distribution, they will definitely achieve better results!"

"You've lost at least 100 billion yen because of those ridiculous so-called industry protectionisms!"

When he mentioned "100 billion yen", Hiroshi Kamiya's tone was filled with righteous indignation, as if he were the one who had lost his own money.

Beside him, Yuan Kui couldn't help but ask, "But this kind of protectionism is protecting your own country's domestic industries, isn't it? Isn't that better? Why do you seem to disagree?"

Hiroshi Kamiya smiled indifferently and said, "Because I think it's an extremely foolish thing to do."

"To be honest, I strongly disagree with the current atmosphere of the Japanese film and television industry, and even the entire society. It seems prosperous, but in reality, it is class solidification, lifeless, and has completely lost the essence of free competition."

"On the surface, this xenophobia protects the domestic film industry, but it also greatly limits the potential of Japanese films. The highest-grossing Japanese film in history has a box office of less than $8 million, while the highest-grossing film in global film history has a box office of $30 billion!"

Hiroshi Kamiya spread his arms wide and said excitedly, "When I was studying in the United States, I witnessed the true industrialized production of Hollywood films. This is the future of the film industry! If Japanese films continue like this, they will never truly develop! This unhealthy state must be broken..."

“There’s another reason.” Hiroshi Kamiya took a deep breath and said, “My family is also one of the giants in the Japanese film and television industry. We are beneficiaries and conservatives who disagree with reform.”

"Therefore, I must achieve results to convince them!"

As Hiroshi Kamiya explained, Ye Zhi Qiu roughly understood.

To put it bluntly, director Hiroshi Kamiya is not a local protectionist; he adheres to the principles of market economy and free competition, and prioritizes money above all else.

It's clear that he has his own thoughts and pursuits in his career, and he is trying to change the status quo of the entire industry with his own efforts.

To be honest, Ye Zhi Qiu thought this idea was... quite naive.

His privileged background and privileged upbringing enabled him to study in the United States and gain access to the world's most cutting-edge film industry in Hollywood.

From a broader perspective, he saw the success of Hollywood and compared it with the current state of Japan's film and television industry, concluding that "openness is the only way to further development."

In fact, Ye Zhi Qiu and Kamiya Hiroshi hold completely opposite views.

Putting aside audience preferences, this layer of protectionism is what allows the Japanese film industry to survive, and thrive.

If we were to fully liberalize and adopt Hollywood's film industrialization model, we would not only fail to progress, but would also suffer a terrible fate.

For Japanese films, the problem isn't whether to choose, but that they have no choice.

There's only one Hollywood in the world. No matter how great you are, can you compete with them?

Maintaining the status quo and holding onto the world's third-largest domestic film market would be good enough; the right thing to do is to avoid making any further disruptions.

Of course, Ye Zhi Qiu would not say these words to Kamiya Hiroshi.

He doesn't care about anything else; it's none of his business. He only has one goal.

Make money! Make a killing in the Japanese market!

Kamiya Hiroshi spoke with righteous indignation, while Ye Zhi Qiu laughed heartily.

"Well said! I love working with ambitious people like Director Kamiya!"

"I do have a script here..."