Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 129 Request
On May 5, the Cannes Film Festival has entered its eighth day.

At 11:30 in the morning, "Purple Butterfly" premiered. Cao Yang and Jiang Wen both attended. However, the international leading actors Zhang Ziyi and Liu Ye were not there. Only Lou Ye and the film's chief producer Wang Wei were there.

According to Lou Ye, international stars Zhang Ziyi and Liu Ye are filming "Jasmine" in China. For some reasons, they will come this afternoon to attend the film's press viewing session in the evening.

After the premiere, Cao Yang discovered that the theater was not very large and the occupancy rate was less than 50%, with only a few dozen people sparsely seated.

This is actually related to the screening time arranged by the Cannes Organizing Committee. 11:30 am is lunch time. Who will watch a movie during this time?
"Director Cao, please wait a moment. I need your help with something."

When Cao Yang and Jiang Wen were about to leave, they were stopped by Lou Ye.

Afterwards, Lou Ye greeted the chief producer Wang Wei, and walked towards Cao Yang without caring about the follow-up matters after the movie.

Jiang Wen didn't leave either, but just smiled and looked at Lou Ye with interest.

"Let's go and find a place to eat together." Cao Yang said.

The other two had no objections either. The movie was more than two hours long and it was almost two o'clock in the afternoon.

"I know a Chinese restaurant that's pretty good."

Jiang Wen said that because he was a judge, he came to Cannes relatively early and was familiar with where to eat around.

So he followed Jiang Wen and found a Chinese restaurant with somewhat Chinese-style decoration. The owner obviously knew Jiang Wen and greeted him with a smile.

However, no one recognized Cao Yang. Although Cao Yang is very famous, especially in the European literary and art circles, he is not an actor after all, and few ordinary people abroad can recognize him.

A few people found a quiet place and ate and chatted.

Lou Ye was mainly talking, while Cao Yang and Jiang Wen were listening beside him.

"...My chief producer Wang Wei told me that she has connections in Cannes, and I didn't doubt it. I thought it was good to have connections. At least I could arrange a good time for the film screening, and I could have more screenings so that more people could see it."

Lou Ye put down his chopsticks and sighed.

"But who would have thought that the organizing committee had only arranged two screenings, one at 11:30 a.m. and one at 10:30 p.m. The rest of the prime time was given to the French film 'Little Lily' which was screened on the same day."

"Haha, that's miserable. There was no one at both shows."

Jiang Wen chewed some food and said with a smile, with a hint of mockery in his voice.

Lou Ye shook his head, sighed, and then said, "I'll go and question her. Guess what she'll say?"

Jiang Wen shook his head and took another bite of food without saying anything.

Cao Yang could only cooperate and asked, "What do you mean?"

Jiang Wen may not care, but Cao Yang cannot. After all, they are alumni and he cannot let others feel too embarrassed.

"She said that because the films screened a few days ago were already a little vague in the judges' memory during the final review, and the judges were unable to chew on the films screened two days before the closing ceremony, so Purple Butterfly had already won in terms of competition time."

After Lou Ye said this, he himself was a little confused. What did this make sense? Alas!

"Well, that makes sense."

Jiang Wen chewed the food and nodded, as if he agreed with what was said.

"What do you want to do now?" Cao Yang asked.

Although Lou Ye didn't say it explicitly, Cao Yang could probably guess that Lou Ye just wanted a few more showtimes.

The main network of Nortel Network is in Berlin, and now there is also Venice, but to be honest, the network in Cannes is not that strong.

But isn’t Cao Yang in Cannes now? His presence here itself represents connections.

"Director Cao, can you think of a way to get the organizing committee to arrange a few more screenings?"

Lou Ye felt a little embarrassed. It was actually a bit difficult to say this at this time. The film festival has already started for eight days, and everything that needs to be arranged has already been arranged. Why are you saying this now? Where can the organizing committee make room for you?

"This is ridiculous! When and how many times each film will be shown are all planned before the film festival even opens."

Before Cao Yang could say anything, Jiang Wen spoke up next to him.

"You are worried that your movie will be screened less frequently or at a bad time, so you want to make arrangements in advance. But now the theaters are already fully booked. Where can you find a vacant theater?"

Lou Ye smiled awkwardly, "I really have no other choice. There's one show at 11:30 in the morning and one at 10:30 in the evening. These are the only two time slots... I'm anxious."

"The situation is urgent. You know how anxious you are. What have you been doing before? Find a more reliable chief producer next time." Jiang Wen tapped Lou Ye with his chopsticks and spoke bluntly.

Lou Ye's temper was not very good, but he did not turn his face away from Jiang Wen. Everyone knew that Jiang Wen had a temper like that and spoke very directly, and now he was a judge of the Cannes jury.

"Don't even think about the screening room. It must have been arranged long ago."

Cao Yang said, thought for a moment, and then said, "How about this, during the press conference tonight, I will try to find more reporters to come, and bring some Cannes officials over, and try to increase your exposure."

"Thank you, Director Cao."

Lou Ye smiled. This was the best solution.

With these exposures, even if you don’t win any awards, you can still sell hundreds of thousands more films.

"I just don't know how many more reporters Director Cao means, and which official people he can bring." Lou Ye couldn't help but think. At ten o'clock in the evening, Lou Ye, Zhang Ziyi and Liu Ye, who had just arrived this afternoon, prepared to welcome the group of reporters who came to watch the movie.

However, after twenty minutes, not many media came, and most of them were domestic media, with only a few European and American media. But it was obvious that their interest in the movie was not as great as their interest in the international chapter.

"Director Lou, why is the screening room so small? Wasn't it said that this evening's show was for reporters? Why are there only a few reporters here?"

International star Zhang couldn't help herself, this scene was too small.

"With Director Lou's fame, it's great that he can come here. Do you think Director Lou is Director Cao or Director Zhang?"

Liu Ye said from the side, well, he is just a straightforward boy.

Lou Ye smiled somewhat awkwardly. Even if I am not as famous as them, you can't say it openly, you bastard. Next time I make a movie, I will definitely not use you.

As they were talking, they saw Cao Yang coming over with a group of people, talking and laughing.

Lou Ye was cheered up and hurried to greet him.

Among them are jury president Patrice Chareau, head of the organizing committee Luc Godard, and jury members Spielberg, Meg Ryan, Karin Veha, Eli De Luca and Jiang Wen.

Behind them, there was a large group of reporters.

"Thank you, Director Cao, thank you."

Lou Ye held Cao Yang's hand and said sincerely.

"We are all from Beijing Film Academy. It's only natural that we help each other. You should go over and say hello." Cao Yang said.

"Director Cao, long time no see. You seem to be getting more and more imposing now."

Liu Ye came over, hugged Cao Yang directly, and smiled happily.

"Director Cao, long time no see. Thank you for your help. Let's sit together when we have time."

Zhang Ziyi didn't shake hands, but hugged Cao Yang directly and whispered in Cao Yang's ear.

She is such a smart person that she can definitely see that these people were brought by Cao Yang.

"Director Cao, when are you going back? Back to China or to the United States?" Liu Ye asked beside him.

"Returning to China? It's not certain yet when to return. What about you? When will you return to China?" Cao Yang asked with a smile.

International Zhang smoothed her hair and said first: "We are not sure either. It would be best if we could wait until the organizing committee tells us. Don't worry, let's wait two days before leaving."

Cao Yang smiled and nodded, "Then I wish you good luck."

“I also wish Director Cao good luck!”

Afterwards, Zhang Ziyi casually whispered again, "I'm free these few days and I'm quite familiar with Cannes. Director Cao can come and see me anytime."

May 5th, tomorrow is the closing ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival, and today Cao Yang’s "Despicable Milk" premieres.

Depp also arrived from the United States last night.

This time the film was scheduled to be held directly in the Lumiere Hall of the Film Palace.

Lou Ye came here with Zhang Ziyi and Liu Ye. Looking at the magnificent hall, he couldn't help but wonder when he would be able to enjoy such treatment?
My own film was only scheduled for two screenings during garbage time, while Director Cao's film was not only scheduled in the Lumiere Hall, but also had six screenings during prime time. There is really no comparison.

International Zhang’s focus was different from Lou Ye’s. What he saw was that all the big names including the president of the Cannes Film Festival, the president of the organizing committee, the artistic director, and the president of the jury came to attend Cao Yang’s premiere.

There are also many famous directors and producers in the European art film circles, as well as numerous stars.

This treatment is comparable to the treatment given to Zhang Yimou. It seems that Cannes attaches great importance to this young director.

After the movie was over, Liu Ye couldn't help but ask Zhang Ziyi next to him: "Wasn't it said to be a gay movie? How did it become a political satire?"

Zhang Ziyi knew some inside information. She whispered, "When Director Cao first arrived in Hollywood, he was backstabbed by two male protagonists he liked. It was said that the script was already written, but the male protagonist revealed that the biographical character of the movie was not like that at all, and also threw out a lot of evidence, which made the crew very passive.

Director Cao had to rewrite the script and re-plan the film. I didn’t expect that Director Cao could make such a good movie in such a short time under such a passive situation. "

Liu Ye couldn't help but look at Zhang Ziyi, with an inexplicable expression on his face. The version of "Meanwhile Milk" that will be screened will definitely not be cut, so the passionate scenes between Depp and Anne Hathaway, which lasted for more than ten minutes in total, were shown from all angles.

He felt a little embarrassed watching it just now, and Zhang Ziyi actually said it looked good?

Afterwards, Liu Ye thought about it carefully and recalled the action scenes. He had to admit that what Zhang Ziyi said was right, it was indeed quite good-looking.

After the movie, led by the president of the Cannes Film Festival, everyone laughed happily and applauded for a long time, for five or six minutes.

It can be seen that the Gallic roosters still prefer to watch American scandals.

Of course, the ones with action scenes are definitely better.

In the European art circle, if your movie doesn’t have some action scenes, how can you claim to be a member of the art circle?

When the bigwigs were about to leave, the chairman of the Cannes Film Festival Organizing Committee specifically said to Cao Yang: "Cao, don't be in a hurry, wait two days before leaving."

Purple Butterfly never received these words that Zhang Ziyi had been thinking about for a long time.

(End of this chapter)