At the CMG 3rd Annual Chinese TV Drama Awards, which aired on January 29, 2025, the financial drama "City Within a City" became the biggest winner, winning the "Drama of the Year" honor. The drama not only won the audience's love with its profound analysis of the financial industry and delicate portrayal of human nature, but also received high praise in the professional field. Yu Hewei, who played Zhao Hui in the drama, won the "Actor of the Year", screenwriters Bian Zhihong, Wu Nan, and Tian Yu won the "Screenwriter of the Year", actor Feng Jiayi won the "Audience Favorite Actor of the Year", and actor Xia Meng won the "Newcomer of the Year".
The financial drama "City Within a City" won the "Annual Drama" honor at the CMG Third Annual Chinese TV Drama Awards. Source: CCTV News
"A City Within a City" can be said to be a focus on the transformation of China's financial supervision, and it is also a deep analysis of the texture of Chinese society. The one holding this "era scalpel" is the producer and chief producer Yang Wenhong, who has supervised or planned phenomenal works such as "Dwelling Narrowness" and "Empresses in the Palace". With the acumen of a media person and the rigor of a historian, he finds the fulcrum of drama in the struggle between capital and ideals.
Yang Wenhong, graduated from the Chinese Department of Fudan University, is the chairman and founding partner of Xingge Media, the president of Shanghai Radio and Television Production Industry Association, and the vice chairman of Shanghai Television Artists Association. She has served as the deputy director of Shanghai Radio and Television (SMG), the director of Dragon TV, and the vice president of Shanghai Film Group. With her rich industry experience and keen market insight, she has led her team to work in the film and television industry for many years. The success of "City Within a City" once again proves her profound skills in creating realistic themes.
Yang Wenhong, producer and executive producer of "City Within a City", attended the CMG 3rd Annual Chinese TV Drama Ceremony.
"The essence of realism is criticality, but whether the intention is good or evil determines the fate of the work." In the creation process of "City within a City", she and the main creative team researched countless policy documents and interviewed many practitioners. With an almost rigorous creative attitude, they won the respect of professionals and relevant censorship departments: "They saw the good intentions of the work - it is not to label the corruption of financial executives, but to warn the individual plight of the whole chain of hunting."
Talking about the tragic fall of the protagonist Zhao Hui, an idealist, Yang Wenhong believes that the fall of this idealist is like the "barb of the times". When the pain of the rule reconstruction period engulfs individuals, the tragedy has a reflective value that transcends the industry.
In the interview, Yang Wenhong demonstrated her extremely focused creative consciousness: when the industry was hotly discussing the anxiety of short and medium-length dramas subverting long dramas, she insisted on calming down and spending a lot of time sorting out the evolution of China's financial policies over the past few decades; when the market was chasing the creation of hot topic dramas, she led the team to complete field surveys of dozens of financial practitioners; when the threat theory of short dramas was rampant, she saw from it the ultimate proposition that creators of long dramas must face - how to use the most luxurious resource of time for human beings to exchange for artistic expression that can transcend time.
Yang Wenhong's film and television project list includes the novels "The Long Rest of Life" by historian Luo Xin and "Destiny" by Cai Chongda. Yang Wenhong said that after observing the lockdown period, she made a creative shift: when the world suddenly stopped, "how did we become who we are today?" When she and Luo Xin talked about the story of Wang Zhong'er, a palace maid in the Northern Wei Dynasty, she found that it was possible for small people to leverage the narrative of big history: "Professor Luo said that historical imagination can only 'take one step' forward based on historical facts. I think that we filmmakers can 'take a few more steps' with the help of drama."
This high-quality drama maker is trying to reconstruct the coordinate system of film and television creation between the depth of history and the breadth of humanity. Yang Wenhong seems to still be a media person who is well versed in and loves in-depth reporting, but now he uses drama to dissect the world.
【dialogue】
Each generation has its own difficulties
The Paper : Now let’s review the core expression of the story of “City within a City”. What was the initial consensus you and director Teng Huatao reached?
Yang Wenhong : We both "saw new characters" and hit it off immediately, determined to create this new character against the backdrop of this great era.
Zhao Hui is not simply a fallen elite. He is a specific and micro figure in the transformation of China's financial supervision from 2017 to 2019. This kind of dilemma of people in financial supervision is caused by the huge interest field of finance. With so much money, if you move your hands a little, someone will die. Since you are in this position, if you have loopholes and weaknesses, you will inevitably be hunted by others. This is the real dilemma.
Yu Hewei as Zhao Hui
Su Jianren is also a new character. He is very real and not a second-generation official in the traditional sense. Many TV dramas tend to make such characters very "stupid", but Su is not. Su is capable and has the insight into all the rules of the officialdom, but he does not have too much ambition because he has lacked nothing since he was a child. He is also a "pure love warrior". He pursues pure love and has very sincere feelings for his classmates and friends.
There is also a new character, President Dai, who died shortly after his appearance. My friends in the financial industry said: At first glance, President Dai was born in the 1960s. People of this era, their career development period coincides with the country's rapid development period. In that era, the progress of some rules did not keep up with the speed of economic development, so some people did not respect the rules enough. They believed that the rules could be changed for a good purpose and broken for the development of the country and society. The question is, what if you lose? The rules are to ensure the safety of funds. Safety is the first priority, and breakthroughs are not the first priority.
The Paper : Dai Xingyi’s death, Zhao Hui’s rise, and Tao Wuji’s growth, the alternation of these three characters, are actually metaphors for the transformation of a society and the reconstruction of an industry?
Yang Wenhong : Yes, so they react differently to the same thing. Dai Xing, who was born in the 1960s, said, "I want to break the rules for my ideal and to preserve a national industry for the country." He thinks this is the right thing to do. Zhao Hui, who was born in the 1970s, believes that he must not break the rules for this because of his upbringing and education background. He is very clear about the red line. But when he later saw the plight of a technology company, he would face the same struggle as Dai Xing: This company actually has a future, should I save it?
Our story is set in a period of financial regulatory reform. Because of this regulatory change, financial people began to ask themselves the most fundamental question: "Finance is the lifeblood of the country. Where should the money go to best benefit the people's livelihood?"
There is the main proposition about the lifeblood of the country in such a great era, and the life question of how to make choices in the face of interest dilemmas. The combination of the national proposition and the life proposition makes the protagonists become typical characters in typical environments and typical dilemmas.
Before the implementation of the new regulatory policy, Dai Xing's operation in the first episode cannot be said to be "legal", but there is indeed room for maneuver. People like Zhao Hui have experienced the old rules and are now experiencing new regulatory policies. For Tao Wuji, the first day he went to work was when he accepted the new regulatory policy, and he did not experience the old rules. The three generations like them have different backgrounds. Dai Xing's predicament stems from the historical limitations of the lagging rules in the stormy era, Zhao Hui's struggle reflects the pain of the regulatory transition period, and Tao Wuji's growth foreshadows the reconstruction of the new order.
Wang Jinsong as Wu Xianlong
The Paper : For example, Wu Xianlong, played by Mr. Wang Jinsong, his professional identity is intertwined with his personal relationship with Zhao Hui, and also helps push Zhao Hui on the emotional level to take that path in the end?
Yang Wenhong : Wu Xianlong originally hoped that we, good brothers, would only talk about emotions and not interests. But when faced with the greatest interests and a life-and-death situation, he had to use the emotional card, and no one else could help him out of the predicament. What's interesting is that Wu Xianlong had a psychological struggle when he asked for it, but his son didn't think there was anything entangled. You should just ask him for it, otherwise what is brotherhood?
The generational differences are particularly evident in the split in the cognition of "brotherhood" between Wu Xianlong and his son - the older generation still has emotional struggles, while the new generation has taken the exchange of interests for granted. You see, your dilemma is likely not the dilemma of the next generation. Just like Dai Xing's dilemma is not Zhao Hui's, and Zhao Hui's dilemma is not Tao Wuji's.
The Paper : When we watch this drama, we feel that the scale is quite large. Did you ever think that there might be problems with censorship when filming?
Yang Wenhong : Our drama has been reviewed by two professional institutions, the Shanghai Financial Working Committee and the State Financial Regulatory Bureau. The reason why dramas related to professional industries need to be reviewed by professional institutions is to ensure the professionalism of the drama when presenting professional knowledge. To be honest, we have conducted serious research and self-examination in financial policies, real estate policies, and bank operating regulations. For example, we have made a table of industry-related policy changes every year for nearly 20 years, and we have pulled out the policy changes from 2010 to 2022 in particular. So we are confident. We did not fabricate facts, nor did we make wrong policy descriptions.
Fortunately, we met a group of professional reviewers who saw our seriousness and professionalism, the kindness and compassion in the work, and showed a high level of review. Their feedback was: "The City Within the City" did not label bankers, nor did it write about the fall of a bank executive in a labeling way; the play described the entire chain of the hunting of bank executives, which has profound warning significance.
In my speech at the CMG China TV Drama Annual Ceremony, I said, "Thank you to CGTN and iQIYI for believing in us and supporting us." It was from the bottom of my heart. This kind of warmth is invaluable. "City Within a City" made me deeply feel that it is a blessing to meet a professional and pure creative partner.
"City Within a City" starring Bai Yufan and director Teng Huatao
I don’t want “story for story’s sake”
The Paper : The film and television companies in Shanghai and Beijing that I have come into contact with have some differences in the topics they focus on and the content they specialize in. For Xingge Media, what kind of themes and stories do you most want to do in the future?
Yang Wenhong : People may think that since you are a Shanghai company and you made "City Within a City", you may mainly work on Shanghai-related topics in the future. But that is not the case.
I come from a media background, and I don't want to "tell stories for the sake of telling stories". In my opinion, trivialities and family life are just appearances, and we still have to find the root to uncover the essence under the appearance. For example, when people write about Shanghai, they usually see the kind of pleasant life. But that is only a small part of Shanghai. In fact, this city is very "sharp". In essence, finance is the engine of this city, and the concept of economy runs through the spirit of this city. And those romantic things are the appearance after the engine runs at high speed.
I hope to make some constructive records related to the present, to record the roots of the times, but of course, this is very difficult. We who work in journalism feel that good drama is like in-depth reporting, which can clearly show the cross-section of the world in a group or several groups of character relationships, just like an anatomical operation, and it can even transcend time and point directly to human nature.
The Paper : Today is an era of rapid success. Long dramas are facing challenges from short and medium-length dramas, and the industry is somewhat confused. For example, some short drama creators say they want to mass-produce short dramas and say that long dramas will be phased out. Several major long drama platforms are also undergoing structural adjustments. What do you think of these views and phenomena?
Yang Wenhong : I think it is better to be professional in your own professional field and not to comment on other people's professional fields. The so-called long drama does not refer to a drama with a long number of episodes, but the length of each episode in minutes. If you look at overseas dramas, there are episodes of one hour and one and a half hours, but the total number of episodes may be only a dozen, so it is definitely a long drama rather than a short drama, right? A work with an episode of 45 minutes or even more than an hour, its narrative is definitely different from that of an episode of one minute, ten or twenty minutes, and the narrative is definitely different.
The Paper : So you think that long-running dramas are not reaching a dead end, but are just facing a new round of adjustments?
Yang Wenhong : Yes. The requirements for creation are higher and more complicated. In the past, 60 points were enough to meet the standard, but now 80 points is unlikely. But think about it again. If you really think that 60 points are enough, the AI era has arrived, and AI may be able to reach 60 points faster. Then you will be killed by others or by AI. If the industry really wants to significantly reduce costs, AI can input and write the script in a few minutes. Short plays under 5 minutes are all complicated in plot and cost. There are many similar products trained by AI, so writing must be smooth.
The Paper : Could long dramas become the moat of human creation in the AI era?
Yang Wenhong : Time is the greatest luxury for human beings, because everyone's time is limited and non-renewable. It takes a long time to create and watch a long play. If your content does not meet the standard of luxury, how can you exchange it for the greatest luxury for the audience - time? Therefore, long plays should increase the production level, depth and breadth in the future.
When I was working on TV, I realized that after this drama came out, the market for similar themes would be "closed". When we invested in "Empresses in the Palace", we knew after talking with director Zheng Xiaolong that after this drama came out, similar dramas would not be released for a period of time. We joked privately that this kind of drama is called "unique drama".
Both "The Legend of Zhen Huan" and "Home Sweet Home" are benchmark works in their respective genres.
The Paper : "A City Within a City" has found its audience, a relatively mature group of intellectuals. But now the industry is paying much attention to young people, and it has been observed that many young people don't watch long dramas. Does this bring a lot of anxiety to the industry?
Yang Wenhong : The data on online platforms are mainly composed of young people, and then created using algorithms. Because they value data and algorithms, they have to please the existing data providers - young users. But do young users necessarily like simple and direct things? I think this is prejudice.
Can young creators not create something with depth and sharpness? I think this is also a prejudice. The movie "Nezha: The Devil Boy Conquers the Dragon King" proves this point. Teng Huatao was also young more than a decade ago, and he made "Dwelling Narrowness". Young people have their own sharpness, and they may be the most sharp and thorough in looking at problems.
Moreover, this logic of data and algorithms does lead to some problems on the creative side. For example, everyone always talks about innovation, but tries to copy in batches. However, innovation is not an industrialized production process, and the logic of innovation is essentially anti-data and algorithmic.
Yang Wenhong spoke at the Xingge Media's year-end summary meeting
Impressing people is a "scarce commodity"
The Paper : In fact, when it comes to innovation, creators still need to have insight into new social trends and phenomena. Before the epidemic, we had many "social topic dramas" that triggered public opinion. At that time, the economic environment was very good, and everyone's attention to education and class was a collective psychological projection of anxiety, tension, but also ambition. But after the epidemic, many people felt a sense of loss and confusion. It seems that no film and television drama has well understood and expressed this collective emotion.
Yang Wenhong : The social topic dramas you mentioned, apart from some high-quality works, many of them use pure opposition relationships to make stories, magnifying the contradictions to an unrealistic degree to attract the audience's attention. But dramas do not have to have strong oppositions to attract audiences. Look at "Reply 1988", what are the extreme contradictions? Some are true love and true feelings.
The biggest challenge for us creators now is how to make it "real". Superficial drama, bloody contradictions, and creating anxiety, I think this way of creation is to copy the hot search topics on the Internet into the drama. This kind of "pre-made" formula short drama is better at it. What kind of extremely bloody thing can't be told in five or ten minutes? Then the short drama will wrap you up.
The Paper : So how do we improve the “resilience” of long dramas?
Yang Wenhong : The most competitive tracks in the market are all combined competitions among similar projects, so when you start selecting a project, you should find its uniqueness. At present, most of our projects have not been competitive, probably because we initially selected projects that everyone thinks are special and difficult.
Touching people is always a scarce commodity. For screenwriters, you must have real life, real experience, and real learning. In my observation, even the quality of pure love themes has declined in recent years, lacking real, vivid, and touching love details. Pure love themes do not require many years of life experience and creative experience accumulation. Young screenwriters can write, but it is still scarce. Because there is no real emotion that touches one's own heart, what is written is just a formula.
Over the years, our industry has seen some growth in capabilities, but also some loss in capabilities. What has grown is the level of industrialization, but what has been lost is the sincerity and spirituality in creation. Sometimes, being too instrumental and too focused on data-quantified creation may sacrifice the true feelings in creation.
Also, is it that “data correctness” prevents many of our creators from truly expressing and fully demonstrating their creative intentions?
The Paper : In the past two years, we have seen a lot of research and discussion on how urban residents have become "isolated islands" and "atomized individuals". The development of the Internet and technology has led to a lack of real interactive links between people. Is this a problem faced by young screenwriters, making it difficult for them to write about real life?
Yang Wenhong : For example, if you feel lonely, you can also write about real loneliness. Or we still have room for imagination, for example, you can also write science fiction, but it seems that there are not many excellent works in this area, because even science fiction that allows imagination to run wild requires an understanding of reality. For example, many science fiction works tell the story of you discovering that there is a higher system controlling your life, and then you have to resist.
If we want to find the essence of a topic, it depends on whether our screenwriters have the ability to refine and summarize, and whether they have imagination and critical spirit.
The Paper : Xingge's subsequent creative projects include Luo Xin's "The Long Rest of Life" and Cai Chongda's "Destiny". How did you get these two works?
Book covers for The Long Rest of Life and Destiny
Yang Wenhong : The acquisition of the film and television adaptation rights for these two works is actually related to my rethinking of some issues. The previous epidemic made me reflect further on myself, my creation, and the environment. In March 2022, I was supposed to fly to London, but when I heard that there might be a lockdown, I immediately refunded my ticket. As a person with a media background, I instinctively felt that I could not miss such an important historical moment and scene.
This period of stillness made me re-observe many things and re-think many questions. One of the most important questions is: How did we become who we are today? Sometimes, personal thinking inevitably falls into despair, so I looked for people and books who had thought about the same questions or given answers. At that time, I made a decision for future creations: every important creation should try to complete a certain expression, raise a question or answer a question in an open way, and it should be relevant to the present.
One day, I watched a live broadcast of "The Long Rest of Life" on Ideal Country, with Luo Xin, Wang Di, and Li Li as the speakers. Professors Luo and Wang's historical perspectives on individuals and ordinary people touched me deeply. I immediately found this book. Professor Luo's wonderful history book cuts into the great era from the perspective of small people. I think this writing style itself represents a historical attitude.
I visited Professor Luo Xin, who said that historians' imagination of history can only "go one step forward" based on historical facts. I think the work of "going a few more steps forward" can be done by us. Perhaps we can expand and show the historical role of a palace maid like Wang Zhonger and the diverse and rich era of the Northern Wei Dynasty from the current perspective.
Cai Chongda's "Fate" has a very strong endogenous power. When I first saw this title in a bookstore, I thought that a book with such a name was either a joke or a great work. Producer Chen Quan posted a message in the middle of the night saying that she cried after reading it. I went to read it and burst into tears. A friend who translated Marquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude" said to me after reading the book: "This is China's "One Hundred Years of Solitude."
This is a century of a woman. She has experienced all kinds of changes, separations and deaths in this century. She started by fighting against fate, then understood it, and lived with it. "Like ripe fruit falling from a tree, when it dies, neither the person nor the world has any wounds." This kind of story is an explanation of "how we become who we are". No matter how difficult it is, we have to try.
The Paper : Xingge Media has been established for nearly ten years, and has just gone through a period of online dramas rising, capital fever, and the industry returning to a state of calm. How do you view this cycle, and how do you view the present?
Yang Wenhong : When I first started making web series, I was confused and lost. Some of the scripts I received at that time needed to be polished according to the standards of TV series selection. But at that time, the audience's demand for dramas was huge and urgent. Many scripts that I thought were not mature enough were made into web series and were well received. I began to doubt myself and was in a state of self-reflection for a long time.
After reflection, I think that expressing the relationship between individual fate and the times may be what our company should insist on, and it may also be our strength. We should maintain and further develop the sensitivity and thinking ability of our journalistic background. Therefore, we changed the company's creative slogan to "Record the times with images." "City within a City" is the product of this creative concept.
Now that the industry has limited financial resources, they will focus more on the top projects. But the top does not only refer to large lineups and large traffic, but also to high-quality creations. What we are experiencing is not only the cycle of the industry, but also the cycle of the times and the economy. It is often during periods of great social change that we can get sufficient and rich ideological nutrients, and new ideas and creative trends can emerge. I think there will definitely be. I have seen that the whole society is paying more and more attention to individual narratives, and some new humanistic ideas have appeared in literary and artistic works and academic expressions.
