Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 278 Oscar Nomination

"This is a Golden Globe Award for Chinese people!"

Many domestic media outlets' coverage of the 63rd Golden Globe Awards focused primarily on this theme.

Even state media reported on this, and in roughly the same tone.

For example, the China Youth Daily gave a special report on it.

"The 63rd Golden Globe Awards have come to a close. This was the Golden Globe Awards with the most Chinese participants, and it achieved unprecedented success."

Renowned Chinese director Cao Yang won the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay for "Juno." It is worth mentioning that this is the third time Cao Yang has won this award.

"The Dirty Milk" won the Best Screenplay award at the 61st Golden Globe Awards.

District 9 won the Best Screenplay award at the 62nd Golden Globe Awards.

Director Cao Yang's achievement has shocked countless Western media outlets, who have called it 'incredible'.

After the Golden Globe Awards, reporters interviewed many Hollywood stars who attended the awards ceremony that night. Depp said it was the best decision the Golden Globes had ever made, a decision that made him look at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association with new respect.

Director Spielberg said that Cao Yang is an extremely talented director, and this achievement is well-deserved.

Director Eastwood stated that director Cao Yang has achieved remarkable success and will become one of the greatest directors of the 21st century.

In an interview, Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron stated that director Cao Yang is the most passionate and creative director she has ever encountered, as well as one of the most talented directors.

In an interview, Leonardo DiCaprio said that Cao Yang is one of the directors he admires most, and that working with Cao Yang was unforgettable. He believes that Cao Yang's talent is the best in the world, and once you understand him, you will naturally think that winning three consecutive Best Screenplay awards is only a partial affirmation of his talent.

……

Chinese director An Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" won three awards: Best Director, Best Motion Picture – Drama, and Best Original Song, making it one of the biggest winners of the night.

The film "The Promise" by renowned Chinese director Chen Kaige stood out from numerous competitors and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

This marks director Chen Kaige's return to the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film after a twelve-year hiatus. His previous film, "Farewell My Concubine," won the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 51st Golden Globe Awards.

......"

In this report, Cao Yang alone occupies almost four-fifths of the space, Li An is mentioned in a single sentence, and Chen Kaige occupies two sentences.

There were also some encouraging words, saying that Chinese people are the most outstanding ethnic group in the world, and that they can achieve great results in any field. It also looked forward to the future of Chinese films, saying that there will definitely be more and more outstanding filmmakers.

This matter is also being hotly discussed online.

Back then, the three major portal websites were still the main forums for discussing trending news. Some trending news articles even had hundreds of thousands of comments, which is hard to imagine now, given how many ways we can get news these days.

The hot topic of discussion is that Cao Yang has won the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay for three consecutive years, which is something that would be hard to imagine in any film festival.

Let alone winning the same award for three consecutive years, even winning it for two consecutive years is extremely difficult, let alone three consecutive years.

The second hot topic of discussion is that Chinese people are not lacking in excellent filmmakers. From Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige in the past to Cao Yang and Li An in the present, they are all extremely excellent directors.

Li Xiaoran, Yu Feihong, Gao Yuanyuan, Dong Xuan, Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun, and others are all very outstanding actors.

However, this second hot topic started off well, with everyone discussing which excellent directors had actors, but as the conversation went on, it turned to the system.

As a result, two viewpoints emerged, and people split into two factions, arguing fiercely.

Some believe that the Chinese community has no shortage of excellent filmmakers, but the film censorship system has stifled many good ideas and concepts, restricting the talents of many filmmakers.

As a result, many excellent filmmakers have had to develop their careers abroad. If our country's film censorship system could adopt a rating system like many other countries, our film industry would flourish.

Another group believes that there is no shortage of excellent filmmakers in China. The reason why Chinese films have not developed is because our market opened up late. This can be seen from the fact that Hong Kong and Taiwanese filmmakers have gone north to the mainland in recent years. The domestic market will get better and better.

These days, there are many people online, especially under the news on portal websites, who are enthusiastic about "establishing a government," and the Chinese people are also keen to do this, so it's quite a lively discussion.

The government has very few regulations on the internet, and portal websites are happy to do so. Sometimes they even deliberately guide the discussion in this direction because everyone gets very enthusiastic and has a long fighting spirit when it comes to this kind of thing.

The "Cao Yang Bar" is different; most people are amazed by Cao Yang's awesomeness.
There were also discussions about how amazing Chinese filmmakers are, but as soon as arguments started to break out, they were stopped by the management. They didn't deliberately incite arguments for the sake of so-called "traffic."

After all, the target audience is different.

After the Golden Globe Awards post-party hosted by NBCUniversal, Cao Yang thought for a moment and sent a message to Charlize Theron.

"Sally, I have something to do tonight, so I probably won't be able to stay with you."

We're all so familiar with each other, even if we're not going, we should still let them know.

To my surprise, Charlize Theron replied to the message in less than a minute.

"It's okay, darling. You go ahead and do your own thing. I've booked this room for a week, so you can come see me anytime these days."

Cao Yang shook his head after reading the message, feeling a bit hesitant to go.

Charlize Theron told him today that she has completely lost feelings for Irish actor Stuart Townsend and wants to break up, and asked Cao Yang for advice.

What advice Cao Yang could give you is your private matter; what advice could he possibly give you on something like this?

Furthermore, Cao Yang could detect anticipation in Charlize Theron's tone.

Damn it, can't we all just have some fun?

You took the initiative from the beginning; at that time, you and your boyfriend had a good relationship.

Now that you're having relationship problems with your boyfriend, what do you want to do?
Talking about feelings can hurt feelings.

As long as you don't talk about feelings, we can still be good friends with feelings for each other.

I said goodbye to Old Chen, told him I had some things to discuss, and asked them to go back first.

Then, without hesitation, he went to find Anne Hathaway.

Human nature is unpredictable. In the US, he only occasionally interacted with actresses who had appeared in his movies; he politely declined all interactions with those he didn't know.

Cao Yang is not afraid of rumors, but he is afraid of being used or set into a trap by others.

Just like Zhang Ziyi, he was almost certain that if he went to see her today, there would be rumors about him and Zhang Ziyi everywhere tomorrow.

Zhang Ziyi is the kind of person who would do something like this.

They might even pretend to be aggrieved afterward.

He wasn't very familiar with the others, but which of those who made a name for themselves in Hollywood was easy? Who knew if someone would use underhanded tactics against him?

But it's different for those who have appeared in his movies. Once they've acted in one of his films, they're guaranteed a bright future and won't be shortsighted and only seek temporary gains.

"Annie, I heard you found an Italian boyfriend?"

Anne Hathaway is only 23 years old now, she's still very young.

Yes, Cao Yang meant that his whole body looked very youthful, not just his age, something he had experienced firsthand.

Yes...yes.

Anne Hathaway said vaguely.

Because it is vague, it is unclear.

"You two have a good relationship, right?"

Cao Yang took a breath, grabbed her hair, but not forcefully; he just gestured and asked again.

"It's...it's alright," Anne Hathaway mumbled, her words unclear.

She understood Cao Yang's signal and stopped moving her head. Instead, she maintained a reserved and subtle posture for about thirty seconds before letting go.

He took a few deep breaths.

Cao Yang patted her bottom and made her bend over backwards.

"What's your boyfriend's name?"

Anne Hathaway turned back with a charming smile and said, "Rafero, Rafero Falieri... Oh..."

Cao Yang spent nearly a week in Columbia following up on the post-production of "Inception," and returned to China on the 24th, which was the 25th of the lunar calendar.

Lunar New Year's Eve is just three days away. I've been very busy all year and haven't spent much time with my parents. It would be more reassuring to spend the New Year with them.

This sentiment is shared by all Chinese people.

I said I'd spend the New Year with my parents, but I only slept at home on New Year's Eve.

On the day I returned to China, I rested for a while.

On the 26th of the lunar calendar, I went to Lao Situ's house during the day and spent the night at Li Xiaoran's place.

On the 27th of the lunar calendar, I went to Lao Hou's house during the day and spent the night at Gao Yuanyuan's place.

On the 28th of the lunar calendar, I went to Mr. Han's house during the day, and then went to Dong Xuan's place. Dong Xuan hadn't recovered yet, so it was like two different people during the day and at night, which was quite interesting.

On the 29th of the lunar calendar, I had a meal with Lao Tian during the day, and then went to my older sister Fei Hong's place.

Older women are more considerate. Fei Hong prepared a sumptuous dinner and showed great thoughtfulness in other small details, making Cao Yang feel like he was living a comfortable, homely life.

I spent Lunar New Year's Eve at home with my parents, and then spent another day with them on Lunar New Year's Day.

My phone has been ringing non-stop these past two days, either with calls or text messages.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, after leaving Lao Situ's house, I went to Pang Bing's place and stayed overnight.

The third day of the Lunar New Year is January 31st, and on that day, the Oscars announced their nominations.

"Juno" received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing.

There weren't many nominated awards, but they were all major awards.

Chen Kaige's "The Promise" failed to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, and no Chinese-language films received any nominations, resulting in a complete failure.

As soon as the Oscar nominations were announced, Jason Simmons, president of Fox Searchlight, called Cao Yang and told him to return to the United States as soon as possible to help him win the Oscars.

"Juno" has been promoted for so long, all for the sake of the Oscars.

Cao Yang also wants "Juno" to win an Oscar, which would not only prove his production and screenwriting abilities, but also make his novel more valuable.

When Cao Yang arrived in the United States, he was personally picked up at the airport by Jason Simmons, president of Fox Searchlight.

On the way, he analyzed for Cao Yang the advantages that made "Juno" a winner of awards.

Even in the United States, the subject of the film "Juno" is sensitive, especially for conservative Republicans.

However, Hollywood has always been dominated by the Democratic Party, and political correctness here means all kinds of freedom...

And the most important point.

Jason Simmons asked Cao Yang with a smile, "Do you know Fox Television? You mean Fox Broadcasting Company?"

Cao Yang must know about the four major American television giants.

"Of course I know, you should be considered one family."

Fox Television was established after media mogul Rupert Murdoch acquired 20th Century Fox. Although it was established relatively late, its influence has gradually increased over the years and is no less than that of the traditional Big Three television networks in the United States.

Fox Searchlight was a company established by 20th Century Fox specifically to produce independent and art-house films, so they are essentially one company.

“Are you aware of Fox News’ political leanings?” Jason Simmons asked again with a smile.

"Republican party?"

This is no secret in the US; even Cao Yang, an outsider, knows it.

"That's right, Fox News has always leaned towards the conservative Republican Party, which is an anomaly in Hollywood."

Jason Simmons smiled and looked at Cao Yang, then said:

"So, when conservative Fox News produced a film with 'liberal' ideas, do you think the Academy guys might use it to boost their propaganda and undermine the president on the stage?"

Cao Yang paused for a moment, wanting to ask Jason Simmons, "Wouldn't this count as a backstabbing?"

Furthermore, it's very American that a movie is involved in politics and Hollywood's political correctness.

Having probably guessed Cao Yang's thoughts, Jason Simmons laughed and said:

"Don't worry, my man. Fox is Fox, and Fox Searchlight is Fox Searchlight. As long as it makes money, Fox Searchlight can make more 'liberal' movies."

There were too many flaws, and Cao Yang didn't know what to say for a moment.

Am I worried about you?

Damn it, when they want to win awards, Fox Searchlight is one company with Fox Television, but when they want to make money, they go their separate ways.

This is so damn American.

That being said, is it really okay to betray someone like this?
It should be fine.

As long as they can make money, and make a lot of US dollars, political stance is nothing to these film companies.

In the days that followed, Cao Yang supervised the post-production of "Inception" while occasionally attending interviews and parties.

However, he didn't say anything outrageous in the interview; it's better to be cautious, as it won't be easy for the Republican conservatives on the stage to deal with Hollywood and the Democrats.

However, there are still countless ways to deal with Cao Yang.

On the contrary, director Jason Reitman and actress Emma Stone did not have Cao Yang's concerns. When promoting the film, they talked a lot about democracy and freedom, various political correctness, and made various appeals, as if they were afraid that others would not know their views.

Well, actually, their lines were agreed upon by Fox Searchlight and their own agencies, with the aim of letting interested people see that a cutting-edge film had been made under the Fox system during their final push for the Oscars.

Of course, relying solely on interviews and cocktail parties is not enough; various "small" gifts and souvenirs are essential.

Cao Yang also saw the male lead of "Juno," a young man in his early twenties, get into an old man's car at the academy after a party.

Yes, no one forced them; it was all voluntary.

In Hollywood, there is no coercion; everything is consensual.

Of course, I'm not forcing you; you have the freedom to do so.

However, I also have the freedom to choose my actors, the freedom to give resources to whomever I want, and the freedom to award prizes to whomever I want...

It was all voluntary and free.

So, does "I don't force you" really mean "I don't force you"?
Of course, this is also a kind of freedom, it just depends on how you choose to be.

(End of this chapter)