Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 14: Flying to Berlin
On February 2, Cao Yang and his delegation set off from Beijing and took an international flight to their destination, Berlin.

It has been more than three months since the filming of the movie was completed. When Cao Yang saw Li Xiaoran again, he secretly observed her. She seemed to have recovered well, at least she seemed very natural when they met and greeted each other.

"Hello, Director Cao. I'm Xiaoran's agent, Zhang Sumei. Thank you for giving Xiaoran this opportunity. If I can be of use to you in the future, just let me know."

As soon as Zhang Sumei saw Cao Yang, she was extremely enthusiastic. When shaking hands, she not only stretched out both hands but also bent down slightly.

She never dreamed that the movie that Li Xiaoran had turned down would now be selected for the main competition unit of the Berlin Film Festival!

She also heard from the grapevine that Xiaoran, this silly girl, had a great chance of winning the Berlin Film Actress Award.

She couldn't believe her ears at the time. She? Li Xiaoran? The Berlin Film Festival winner?

What and what?

This doesn't fit at all!
It has been confirmed again and again that the movie starring Li Xiaoran was indeed selected for the main competition unit and it is indeed the Berlin International Film Festival, not some random, random film festival.

Zhang Sumei was surprised, stunned, amazed and shocked!
She almost slapped herself on the spot. At that time, Li Xiaoran had just finished filming a movie and was unable to get out of the role. She couldn't get any more roles for several months. She even made a few sarcastic remarks... Who would have thought that a student director in his twenties could achieve success.

Fortunately, Li Xiaoran insisted and did not force her to take the TV series. Otherwise, if she missed this opportunity, she would regret it every night.

Zhang Sumei must go to Berlin this time. Li Xiaoran has now become the most promising actor in her hands, so she cannot help but pay attention to her and has to follow and serve her throughout the trip.

To be realistic, if Li Xiaoran wins the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress award, she will become a big star in China. Look at the so-called four most beautiful actresses who were selected just before the New Year. How many awards did they win?

In this day and age, there is no talk of box office success because no one has one.

Even the one who is known as the International Zhang has not won any significant award so far.

So I won’t compare myself with those Huadans. As for Huadans, what’s the use of acting skills? All they need is a pretty face. I am a great Qingyi who is good at singing and writing!
Who are the top three Best Actress winners in Europe?
Gong Li won the Venice Film Festival Best Actress Award, Zhang Manyu won the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress Award, and Xiao Fangfang also won the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress Award.

The first two are called Gong Huang and Man Shen, while Xiao Fangfang is even called the queen of queens, the light of Hong Kong, the Rose Princess, and the Oriental Shirley Temple!
What kind of status is this?
Zhang Sumei is not exaggerating. Even if Li Xiaoran missed out on the Best Actress award, as long as the movie she starred in can win an award in Berlin and a press release is issued, she can be touted as a quasi-first-tier actress, second only to the four most beautiful actresses.

Cao Yang knew the reason why Zhang Sumei was showing kindness, so he smiled and nodded, saying, "Sister Zhang, you are too polite. Xiaoran is a good actor, and I am very optimistic about her."

In addition to Li Xiaoran and the other two, Tian Zhuangzhuang also came. He has connections in Berlin, and he was going to give Cao Yang a push. Now he and Cao Yang are very close.

In addition to sending the film's producer Cheng Jianye to Berlin, Qingying Studio also sent two assistants to do some miscellaneous work other than the film.

In addition, a translator was specially hired.

The coal boss’s mistress also came. Her name is Zhao Tiantian. I had promised her at the beginning that I would take her to Europe to compete for awards, and I couldn’t go back on my word. Of course I had to take her to Berlin.

The coal boss is so nice. He doesn't care how the movie is made or how the money is spent. His only requirement is to support his mistress. But even if he supports her, he doesn't ask for the main role. Where can you find such an investor?
No wonder so many years later, so many people in the circle miss the coal bosses. Who wouldn’t miss the good things about the coal bosses?

When I got on the plane, I unexpectedly ran into an acquaintance.

"Brother Tian, ​​long time no see."

"Xiao Shuai, are you guys on this flight too? I haven't congratulated you yet, you're really good, I hope you can win a big prize."

Seeing Wang Xiaoshuai standing up, Tian Zhuangzhuang walked over and patted him on the shoulder, feeling quite emotional. The sixth generation directors began to walk onto the stage one by one.

In particular, there is a level 98 product, which should have been considered the seventh generation, but was forced to be squeezed into the sixth generation.

Tian Zhuangzhuang put his arm around Wang Xiaoshuai's shoulders and waved to Cao Yang, "Come here and let me introduce you. This is Wang Xiaoshuai from the class of 85 in our directing department." Then he said to Wang Xiaoshuai, "This is Cao Yang, from the class of 98 in the directing department. He is a junior and a student of Teacher Situ. He is my junior brother. It was his first time making a feature film, and he was lucky enough to be selected into the main competition unit. From now on, it's you young people's world. You should help each other out."

Cao Yang extended his hand and shook hands with Wang Xiaoshuai, saying with a smile, "I've heard of Director Wang's name for a long time. I really like your film Extreme Cold. When I saw the director's name was unknown, I thought it was some great director. Later I found out it was Director Wang's work."

Wang Xiaoshuai pulled the corner of his mouth, which was considered a smile. He felt a little shy and serious. "Hello, I'm Wang Xiaoshuai."

Since we had just boarded the plane, it was inconvenient to talk too much, so we each found a seat and sat down.

Cao Yang and his companions were seated in economy class, which had a classic 3-4-3 layout and was quite compact. On his left was Li Xiaoran, on his right was Lao Tian, ​​and they were three rows apart from Wang Xiaoshuai and his companions.

After thinking for a while, Cao Yang asked Lao Tian in a low voice, "Why do I feel that Wang Xiaoshuai is a little cold to me?"

Old Tian didn't even think about it and whispered, "Nonsense, he finally got in touch with Wanwan Jiao Xiongping and was recommended to the main competition unit, risking being banned from directing. He thought he would definitely win an award if he met a teacher from the school's directing department as a judge, but who knew that the school's own son would show up halfway, and it's a great accomplishment for him not to give you the cold shoulder."

Cao Yang was stunned. "His movie didn't pass the review?"

“I was beaten back.”

"Wait, who do you say is the school's favorite son? How did I become the school's favorite son?"

Old Tian glanced at Cao Yang with disdain and ignored him. Didn't he know who was the school's favorite son?

Again, the school benefits from the achievements of graduates. The achievements of students on campus are yours, the school’s, and the leaders’.

Cao Yang looked around but didn't see Da Meiyu and Xun Ge'er. He wondered if they were not going to the film festival or they didn't take this flight.

Logically speaking, even if they are busy filming, they will ask for leave to go to Berlin. It is one of the three major cities in Europe. Going there will show off their status, and the agency will not miss the opportunity.

In a few years, at the three major film festivals every year, even if there are no works, there will still be many domestic "carpet stars" appearing.

Want to ask them if it’s embarrassing to walk the red carpet?

Oh, this is my job, how can I call it embarrassing to buy a copy to show off my status? That's called stunning!

During the more than ten hours of flight, whether intentionally or unintentionally, Li Xiaoran did not talk to Cao Yang. However, she naturally pulled Cao Yang's arm over and fell asleep with her arm around his shoulder.

Fell asleep……

This made Cao Yang suffer. Although he could still feel the warmth and softness of the other person's chest at the beginning, as time went on, his entire arm went from sore to numb, then to painful, then to numbness, and finally to loss of feeling.

An unknown amount of time had passed before Cao Yang could no longer bear it and tried to pull out. Unexpectedly, Li Xiaoran opened her eyes and glared at Cao Yang, then closed her eyes and hugged him even tighter.

As time passed, Li Xiaoran hugged half of Cao Yang's arm, rested her head on his shoulder with her eyes open, a little sweetness on her face.

Cao Yang fell asleep with his head tilted next to Li Xiaoran's.

Lao Tian was snoring next to him.

Berlin, here we are.

(End of this chapter)