Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 279 Former Executive Producer
The Chinese people initially had high expectations for the 78th Academy Awards.

If the Golden Globes can be a "feast" for Chinese people, why can't the Oscars?
When the Oscar nominations were announced, everyone looked and looked carefully, only to be disappointed to find that not only was Zhang Ziyi not nominated for Best Actress, but there was also no Chinese-language film nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.

Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu Hustle" was not nominated, and even "The Promise," which won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, was not nominated.

Most people expressed disappointment with this result.

Then came the mass ridicule of Chen Kaige – after winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, he angrily criticized the audience and media for not understanding art, and even said he was going to sue the creators of "A Bloody Case Caused by a Steamed Bun".

He even went so far as to say that only people who truly "understand" film can understand his movies, and that those who don't understand "The Promise" now won't understand it within ten years.

Okay, Chen is still the same arrogant Chen, the same "arrogant" Chen who started to get "arrogant" after winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes, the same Chen who "can't get down" after his status and fame have risen.

His words, amplified and interpreted by the media, offended too many people.

The media said his unspoken meaning was that you can't understand it because your literary cultivation is insufficient, and you can't understand what I'm trying to express.

Regardless of whether Lao Chen meant it that way or not, his words were interpreted by the media to mean that.

If "The Promise" can break through the many foreign films nominated for the Oscars and be nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, that would be great. It's likely that many people will reinterpret "The Promise".

The key point is that "The Promise" wasn't nominated for an Oscar.

So, after the Oscar nominations were announced, before Cao Yang and Li An even had a chance to become trending topics, Lao Chen unexpectedly rose to prominence and was criticized by everyone, making headlines.

It's worth noting that the day the Oscar nominations were announced was the third day of the Lunar New Year. Everyone was having a small gathering at Lao Situ's house: Cao Yang, Lao Chen, Lao Tian, ​​Xie Xiaojing, Li Shaohong, Zhang Jianya, Wu Ziniu, Hu Mei...

Just moments before, everyone was congratulating their junior colleague Cao Yang on the film "Juno," which received five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing.

The next moment, upon learning that Chen's "The Promise" had "lost" its Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, everyone quickly shut up and began to change the subject to avoid embarrassing Chen.

Not long after, news came that Lao Chen was being vilified across the internet. Everyone remained silent and simply continued eating.

Who here doesn't know Lao Chen? After all these years, we know each other's personalities perfectly well.

Old Chen is sensitive.

At this point, whether you try to persuade him or help him curse, given Old Chen's sensitive and fragile nerves, he will feel like you're making a fool of him.

So what else can we say?
After arriving in the United States, Cao Yang was somewhat surprised to receive a call from Zhang Ziyi.

Before the Lunar New Year, Cao Yang ignored the room key Zhang Ziyi gave him, thinking she would be embarrassed or hold a grudge.

To my surprise, they seemed to have forgotten about it, and didn't mention it when they called.

Moreover, this phone call was made to ask Cao Yang for help.

At first, she said she wanted to invite Cao Yang to dinner, but Cao Yang didn't dare to go. He only said that he was busy promoting "Juno" and working on the post-production of "Inception" and couldn't find the time.

Then, Zhang Ziyi spoke up, saying she wanted to ask Cao Yang for a small favor.

This made Cao Yang sigh. Sure enough, no successful female star is simple. Even if they are introverted or indifferent to marketing, they are just fooling their naive fans or those who pretend to be deaf and dumb.

In the entertainment industry, if someone is truly introverted or doesn't compete or strive for anything, they would have already given up and left the industry long ago.

Of those who succeed, how many are introverted or don't compete or fight for success?

As I said before, there are plenty of beautiful women in the entertainment industry, so why would a director or investor choose you?

There has to be a reason for choosing you.

But this reason is certainly not because you are introverted or as indifferent as a chrysanthemum.

Just like Zhang Ziyi, she gave out the room key, but the person didn't show up. If it were someone a little more shy, they would definitely avoid her in the future to avoid embarrassment.

But Zhang Ziyi acted as if nothing had happened and even asked Cao Yang for help.

This mental fortitude is truly admirable; there's a reason for his success.

"Ziyi, tell me what it is first. I'm not trying to shirk my responsibility. We're all Chinese, and it's not easy being away from home. If I can do it and have the time, I will definitely help."

Well, Cao Yang gave several limiting conditions in one sentence.

This way you can move forward or backward freely.

In reality, it's equivalent to saying nothing and making no promises.

"Director Cao, it's nothing serious. The Oscars originally wanted me to be a presenter for this year's Best Editing award, but for some reason, they seem to have received news that I'm not suitable and they want to find someone else."

I asked around, but didn't get any useful information. Director Cao, you're a big shot in Hollywood, with far more influence than I do. I just wanted to ask you to help me find out what really happened.

This is indeed not a big deal. For Cao Yang, it is very simple to find out information; it only takes one phone call.

"Okay, Ziyi, I'll ask around for you, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to find out. Just don't blame me for not doing a good job."

After hanging up the phone, Cao Yang thought for a moment and then called Sid Garnier directly.

Sid Garnier is the current president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, having been elected president on August 23 last year.

Perhaps some people don't quite understand the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In 1929, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences established the Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars. Last year, not only did the Golden Globes change its chairman, but the Oscars also got a new chairman.

Cao Yang is very familiar with Sid Garnier.

Before being elected president of the Academy, Sid Garnier held senior executive positions at film companies such as Lucasfilm, Paramount, and Columbia.

When Cao Yang was filming District 9, he had not yet left Columbia Pictures and was still the deputy director of Columbia Pictures' production department.

There were three producers for District 9: Cao Yang, President Han, and Tom Rothman, the executive director of Columbia Pictures who was instrumental in promoting the film.

Tom Rothman, as an executive director of Columbia Pictures, was nominally a producer of District 9, but he couldn't possibly stay on set. Sid Garnier was the executive producer sent there.

Just like when Cheng Jianye was sent by Cao Yang to serve as the executive producer of the TV series "Juno".

(It's true that Sid Garnier was elected chairman in August 2005 and that he held senior management positions at Lucasfilm, Paramount, and Columbia. I'm writing this down to avoid being accused of making it too contrived...)
Cao Yang had a fairly pleasant working relationship with Sid Garnier at the time, so the two maintained a good relationship.

Last year, when Inception was being prepared, Sid Garnier was involved as an executive producer.

However, in June, Sid Garnier resigned from Columbia, and Inception got a new executive producer.

Cao Yang had spoken to Sid Garnier on the phone, and Garnier laughed and said he had found a good place to go.

It wasn't until the end of August that Cao Yang learned that this old guy had actually become the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Not long after, Cao Yang became a lifetime member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Furthermore, Sid-Ganis jokingly called Cao Yang to ask if he wanted to take on some special position at the academy, but Cao Yang declined.

The presidents of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are almost all former executives of the seven major Hollywood studios.

Through communication with Sid Garnier, Sid Garnier didn't say anything explicitly, but only said some unrelated things.

In summary, it's normal for white people in Hollywood to present awards to other white people, but when a very small minority presents awards to a very small minority, it easily leads people to suspect that the awards have been predetermined.

After a moment's thought, Cao Yang understood what Sid-Ganis meant.

The director and actors of "Juno" are all from Karami, and only Cao Yang, who serves as producer, supervisor and screenwriter, is a true big name.

And this film was edited entirely according to Cao Yang's instructions, under his supervision.

However, Cao Yang was not the director. Since he participated in the editing, in order to expand the influence of "Juno", Cao Yang and the editor became the editors of "Juno".

Therefore, Cao Yang was one of the editors of "Juno" when it was submitted for the Oscars.

One of the five nominations for "Juno" was for Best Editing.

In other words, if Juno wins Best Editing and Zhang Ziyi presents the award, it would indeed be easy to be criticized, and people would inevitably think of it as a "pre-arranged" win, since there are only a handful of Chinese people working in Hollywood.

Some people might think, "What a coincidence!"

Uh, it seems I've dragged Zhang Ziyi down with me?

Okay, Cao Yang isn't one to dawdle. Since Zhang Ziyi might lose her chance to be an award presenter because of him, he'll ask if there's any way to resolve this.

For Cao Yang, the Oscar presenters are dispensable and not a big deal.

But for an actress like Zhang Ziyi, this was an exceptionally important event.

That's one way to put it. When Zhang Ziyi is a presenter at the Oscars, people just think it's an honor for her. But if Cao Yang were a presenter, it would be an honor for the winner.

"Side, is there a way to solve this?" Cao Yang asked.

This was a very small matter for Sid Garnier.

"Haha, Cao, since you've brought it up, of course I'll give you face. It's a small matter; I'll find a way to get her to switch places with someone else."

Then, as if remembering something amusing, he laughed for a while before saying:
"Like at the Golden Globe, like you and Eastwood."

Cao Yang chuckled, then suddenly had an idea and asked, "Sid, is there any way to add another person, like Bingbing, the actress from 'Inception,' so she can present the same award with Zhang Ziyi?"

"Haha, Cao, I understand what you mean. I told you, it's a small matter."

It's just adding an individual; it's not like she's presenting an award alone. It's a very simple matter.

Cao Yang hung up the phone with a smile. It seemed that Zhang Ziyi was about to be unable to be an award presenter, so he pulled her back.

I just wonder, should Zhang Ziyi be happy or disappointed to know that she will be presenting an award with Bingbing?

When Fan Bingbing and Zhang Ziyi presented an award together, it gave the impression that Fan Bingbing's current status was almost the same as Zhang Ziyi's.

Of course, this can't really be considered "stepping on" Zhang Ziyi. After "Inception" is released, Fan Bingbing's status will definitely be no less than Zhang Ziyi's.

It's just that this step was taken a little earlier than expected.

Cao Yang's plan for Bingbing is not to promote her to become an international film queen for the time being, but to position her similarly to Zhang Ziyi, making her an international superstar.

(End of this chapter)