Director Edward

Chapter 198: The 'Challenger' in the Film Industry

As the Frost Film Festival time slowly passed, this lengthy celebration, lasting about half a month until mid-October, was gradually coming to a close.

Compared to past Frost Festivals, this year's event was unprecedented for the people of the Southern Region.

Not to mention the excitement of four films premiering on the festival's first day, the packed bars and cinemas every day thereafter clearly demonstrated the festival's popularity.

Most people in the Southern Region felt no chill during this cold season; instead, they found themselves heatedly competing for tickets and passionately discussing the storylines.

The atmosphere surrounding the films and television, along with the communal experience of watching, left a lasting impression on the people of the region, leading them to fall deeply in love with this emerging industry and embrace it as a significant hobby.

However, while the average citizens thoroughly enjoyed the festival and savored its rare festive spirit, for certain others, the Frost Film Festival was a particularly challenging time.

It goes without saying that these "certain others" referred to the Southern nobles whose interests were significantly impacted by the rise of the film industry.

Especially those who had previously relied on theaters, second-rate novels, and taverns as their main sources of income—many of them faced substantial losses during this period, with tired eyes and frustrated hearts.

Even those who didn't experience direct financial losses could only watch with envy as the film industry and television bars reaped enormous profits, igniting their jealousy.

Yet, due to Durin's strict limitations on investment entry into the television and film industry, backed by Emperor Hubbard and the establishment of clear industry protection laws, other nobles found themselves with no way to join in on the action—even if they wanted to.

In this context, many nobles naturally harbored intense resentment toward Durin, who was reaping significant rewards, wishing they could bring down this young man who dared to defy convention.

Eventually, these disgruntled Southern nobles banded together through their networks, formulating plans to destroy the film industry or, at the very least, wrest control of it from Durin.

However, no matter what measures they took throughout the Southern Region, Durin's original designs for open-air cinemas flourished.

Coupled with the neutral yet unwavering stance of the Southern Duke, who neither favored nor indulged them, the nobles' strategies were rendered ineffective.

They were forced to acknowledge that the film industry had thoroughly taken root in the Southern Region, with no opportunity to uproot it.

At that moment, an advisor under a noble, the long-standing head of a theater troupe, suddenly suggested:

"If there's no way to beat them, why not just join them? Even though the film industry is protected by clear imperial laws and we can't profit from piracy, why don't we make our own film to earn money? There's no law preventing others from making movies."

"That's right, exactly!"

Hearing the theater manager's words, the southern nobles immediately caught on.

Since they couldn't destroy the film industry, why not join in and make a movie themselves?

Although filmmaking equipment is protected by the Tower of Mages' patents, which require a significant licensing fee and profit sharing with cinemas, these costs are negligible compared to the potential huge profits.

Regardless, when they considered the eventual profits, the southern nobles couldn't help but drool.

After all, it was a massive sum they could never have imagined earning before.

Of course, making a movie is not as simple as deciding to do it. Beyond the equipment and operational details, there are major questions about what the movie will be about and where to get the actors.

However, not all southern nobles are inexperienced. Many have closely studied various aspects of filmmaking and have even considered making a film themselves to get rich.

At present, with a noble suggesting the idea, the other nobles quickly responded, forming the Southern Nobles Production Committee. They set their sights on the cinema market, intending to assertively enter and claim a share of the profits.

Objectively speaking, it was a group of amateurs who didn't fully understand what filmmaking even was, but their confidence was sky-high, as if they were about to produce a blockbuster in the blink of an eye.

...

Meanwhile, entirely unaware of the activities of the southern nobles, Durin, situated far away at the Imperial Mage Academy, was busy filming the sixth episode of "Kara no Kyoukai". He was also preparing for the production of "Fate/Zero" and "Steins;Gate".

Although spring was still a long way off, the work required to wrap up the two films was far greater than anticipated. Durin had to give it his all in order to successfully pull off a spectacular finale by the next spring.

At the same time, just as Durin was nearing the end of filming "Kara no Kyoukai" and preparing to research the production of the other two films, Scar suddenly paid him a visit, claiming that he had created a basic version of a mobile phone.

"Is the call quality unaffected?"

"Since the signal is based on the massive magic array of the Alchemy Tower, the coverage is limited to within the empire. But generally speaking, as long as the magical stone inside the phone doesn't run out of energy, it can be used continuously."

"What about recharging the magical stone?"

"Currently, it can only be manually recharged by a mage."

"Isn't that completely useless?"

Of course, while Durin said this, he knew full well that it was indeed a groundbreaking product.

Even though it required a mage for recharging, because of the durability of the magical stone and the phone's only built-in function being for calls, a single recharge would last an ordinary person several months.

No matter how you looked at it, this would become an astonishing product that would change the way communication worked in the world!

As Durin took advantage of the downtime after filming to discuss with Scar how to promote the mobile phone, someone he didn't expect suddenly appeared before him.

"You are... Roy?"

"Roy Mustang?"

The unexpected arrival startled both Durin and Scar.

Ignoring their surprise, Roy calmly stated, "At the request of the Grand Duke of the Southern Region, I have come to inform you, Baron Durin, about the Southern Nobles' annual meeting. I hope you will represent the Edward family at this year's event."

"The annual meeting..."

Realizing that many developments were unfolding far quicker than he had anticipated, Durin hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"I understand. I will attend."

It was clear that Durin had long intended to meet this ruler who controlled the entire Southern Region and engage in-depth discussions with him on various matters.

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