Chris Fenton

Yeah. it all comes down to money, quite frankly. And what was interesting is that a moment that I think really woke up a lot of the American public to the fact that maybe we're not getting a complete straight story out of China in terms of a lot of different narratives was earlier,

Yeah. it all comes down to money, quite frankly. And what was interesting is that a moment that I think really woke up a lot of the American public to the fact that maybe we're not getting a complete straight story out of China in terms of a lot of different narratives was earlier,

pre-COVID in the fall of 2019, Daryl Morey, the GM of the Houston Rockets, tweeted out, fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong. And that was a tweet that he made outside of China that China heard. and immediately punish the NBA over in a way that made the NBA stumble and fumble on how to correctly respond to that and solve the issue.

pre-COVID in the fall of 2019, Daryl Morey, the GM of the Houston Rockets, tweeted out, fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong. And that was a tweet that he made outside of China that China heard. and immediately punish the NBA over in a way that made the NBA stumble and fumble on how to correctly respond to that and solve the issue.

We saw Adam Silver come out and say, oh, no, no, no, no, he didn't mean that. And then Daryl Morey saying, yeah, I did. And then, oh, we protect free speech, et cetera, et cetera. But it was that moment where you saw how carefully cultivated the narrative that Beijing wants to create, both inside of their country and outside.

We saw Adam Silver come out and say, oh, no, no, no, no, he didn't mean that. And then Daryl Morey saying, yeah, I did. And then, oh, we protect free speech, et cetera, et cetera. But it was that moment where you saw how carefully cultivated the narrative that Beijing wants to create, both inside of their country and outside.

I think a lot of people knew there was lots of censorship that occurs inside of that country. And a lot of us were OK with that. In fact, us in the film business, we would cut all kinds of things out of movies in order to get those things through so they could be viewed by Chinese consumers. knowing they had to be censored or being told they had to be censored. We didn't have a problem with that.

I think a lot of people knew there was lots of censorship that occurs inside of that country. And a lot of us were OK with that. In fact, us in the film business, we would cut all kinds of things out of movies in order to get those things through so they could be viewed by Chinese consumers. knowing they had to be censored or being told they had to be censored. We didn't have a problem with that.

But it was really when we saw Daryl Morey and the aftermath of that tweet around the world and the way China was dictating to the NBA what they can and can't do, where we realized, wait a minute, they're trying to control narrative outside of their borders. And they're really trying to cultivate a certain messaging about the PRC. And that led into COVID, which

But it was really when we saw Daryl Morey and the aftermath of that tweet around the world and the way China was dictating to the NBA what they can and can't do, where we realized, wait a minute, they're trying to control narrative outside of their borders. And they're really trying to cultivate a certain messaging about the PRC. And that led into COVID, which

i think a lot of us started to look at a lot of the different messaging that was coming out of beijing about the pandemic about the sourcing of it and where it was and we started noticing the pressure points they were putting on various organizations whether it was the wto or say dr fauci and the cdc here or whatever it was because there was so many people

i think a lot of us started to look at a lot of the different messaging that was coming out of beijing about the pandemic about the sourcing of it and where it was and we started noticing the pressure points they were putting on various organizations whether it was the wto or say dr fauci and the cdc here or whatever it was because there was so many people

so many different parties with money tied up in that country. They had no other alternative than other to listen to Beijing and do what they were telling them to do.

so many different parties with money tied up in that country. They had no other alternative than other to listen to Beijing and do what they were telling them to do.

Well, China, it's very interesting. I mean, if you want to peel the onion back in a more macro sense, I mean, obviously you guys have studied the COVID pandemic and the controversies around various parts of that whole period of our history.

Well, China, it's very interesting. I mean, if you want to peel the onion back in a more macro sense, I mean, obviously you guys have studied the COVID pandemic and the controversies around various parts of that whole period of our history.

But if you look at just sort of the macro sense of the way China tries to really control messaging and narrative, both inside their country and out, just look at the movie business. I mean, We can't put things such as criminals or drug abuse or dirty clothes on clotheslines inside Shanghai.

But if you look at just sort of the macro sense of the way China tries to really control messaging and narrative, both inside their country and out, just look at the movie business. I mean, We can't put things such as criminals or drug abuse or dirty clothes on clotheslines inside Shanghai.

We can't depict anything bad about that country in the television and films that we do, whether we want them released in China or not, because We have so much money coming from China in the Hollywood system, it's less than it used to be, but it's still there, that we're beholden to them with all content, whether it's something that's going to play in the market or not.

We can't depict anything bad about that country in the television and films that we do, whether we want them released in China or not, because We have so much money coming from China in the Hollywood system, it's less than it used to be, but it's still there, that we're beholden to them with all content, whether it's something that's going to play in the market or not.