Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 362 Kill two birds with one stone

Yu Feihong ultimately did not say whether she wanted to go to Los Angeles with Cao Yang for a while.

However, after Cao Yang finished his call, she sat up, smoothed her hair, and asked softly, "You just said that the more times you do it, the higher the chances of success?"

He then touched it, seized on its weakness, and said with a smile, "You're clean now, right?"

Then, strange noises started up in the room again, but this time it began with the sound of eating.

After arriving in Los Angeles, Cao Yang first checked whether the progress of the CG effects for "Pirates of the Caribbean" had stalled or encountered any problems during his absence.

Fortunately, the presence of a visual director has mitigated these problems to some extent. In terms of the overall direction, all we need to do is communicate with the visual director.

Based on the current progress, Cao Yang expects to complete all the post-production work by August.

The "Wish Day" event sparked by "The Fault in Our Stars" has become increasingly popular. Now, the wish-fulfilling activities on each "Wish Day" are highly anticipated, with many people eagerly awaiting the video's release every day.

Tom Rothman, the executive director of Columbia Pictures and the film's producer, was delighted to tell Cao Yang that several cable television stations had inquired about the copyright, and they had also witnessed the unparalleled level of attention it was receiving.

During the conversation, some TV stations wanted to turn it into a reality show, while others said they wanted to create an unprecedented public welfare variety show.

Public service announcement? Variety show?
what is this?
Do American TV stations really have such good intentions that they'll donate all their profits to charity?

Tom Rothman smiled and explained, "As long as you set up a charitable account, you can deposit a portion of the proceeds into the charitable account. This portion can be tax-exempt and can also be done under the guise of charity."

Fine, whatever it's called or what form it takes, the root cause won't change; everything is about prioritizing profit.

Cao Yang didn't care what they did. This was America; he just needed to share the profits according to the contract.

Cao Yang calculated that the wish-granting day event's goal of fulfilling the wishes of 100 critically ill children and teenagers would be completed on August 6th.

In other words, according to the plan, "The Fault in Our Stars" will be released on August 6th.

August 6th is a Monday, not a traditional release date. Hollywood movies usually choose to release on Fridays because their weekly box office rankings are only based on the three days of the weekend.

If it's released on Monday, it will generally affect the box office performance and rankings in the first week.

Weekly box office rankings are an important reference for many North American viewers when deciding which movies to see.

The box office rankings after the film's release can also play an extremely important role in promotion.

"Tom, August 6th is a Monday. Do you mind if the movie is released on that day?" Cao Yang asked.

Tom Rothman paused for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"My dear director, you still don't know how to be flexible. Think about it, we never said that we had to fulfill a child's wish every day."

He looked at Cao Yang with a smug look and continued, "All we need to do is artificially add some difficulties to these so-called wishes, or make the children say they are not satisfied. What can we do?"
Then we'll have to fulfill their wishes again.

This way, it also shows that we are genuinely passionate about public welfare and unafraid of difficulties and troubles. Isn't that something worth praising?

Now it was Cao Yang's turn to fall silent.

Tom Rothman is right. As long as a seriously ill child or teenager says to the camera that they are not satisfied with the wish that was granted today, the production team can very "noblely" grant the "troublesome" child's wish again.

Viewers who are unaware of the facts will surely be moved by the production team and Columbia Pictures.

As for why fulfilling the last wish happened to coincide with the film's release on a Friday, who cares about that?
"Okay, I'm fine."

Before we knew it, it was late July.

On July 28th, the Venice Film Festival announced the list of entries for the main competition.

When the domestic media saw this, wow, they went crazy almost instantly.

This time, it can be considered a "great harvest" for Chinese-language films.

Two films from mainland China were selected for the main competition: Lao Tian's "Pieta" and Zhuang Yuxin's "Love's Teeth".

One film co-produced by mainland China and Hong Kong was shortlisted: Jiang Wen's "The Sun Also Rises." Because of Hong Kong's investment, his film was directly made into a co-production.

Wanwan was nominated for a film, "Help Me Cupid," directed by Li Kangsheng.

There is also a co-production between China and the United States, "Lust, Caution" directed by Li An.

A total of 5 films were selected for the main competition at the 64th Venice International Film Festival.

When domestic media saw that five Chinese-language films were selected, their first reaction was definitely that Chinese-language films were about to rise. Well, even if it's not a real rise, it's still a positive development.

This is definitely something that deserves extensive coverage.

Unbeknownst to them, Cao Yang had been plotting against "Lust, Caution" with President Han for a year, and they were completely unaware of its existence.

But Cao Yang was stunned.

When he returned to China recently, he heard from President Han that "Lust, Caution" did not pass censorship in China because of unclear copyright issues.

Li An mobilized many connections and even went to the Film Bureau, but it seems that they were all passing the buck, thus delaying the matter, and it looks like it will be a long time before it passes the censorship.

Therefore, at this point, "Lust, Caution" definitely hadn't passed censorship.
Films with unclear copyrights should not be accepted by the Venice Film Festival, which has international influence.

Cao Yang originally wanted to call the Venice Film Festival president, Marco Müller, to ask about it, but after thinking about it, he decided to call President Han first to avoid unnecessary trouble, since President Han would definitely know about the matter.

However, before he could call President Han, his phone rang.

Cao Yang thought that President Han was on the same wavelength as him and had called him.

To my surprise, it was Lao Ma calling.

"Old Ma, I was just about to call you."

Cao Yang answered the phone and said with a smile.

It was obvious that Lao Ma was calling about "Lust, Caution." To show that he was completely at ease with Lao Ma and had no reservations whatsoever, Cao Yang preemptively spoke up.

"Haha, is it because of Li An's 'Lust, Caution'?"

Old Ma asked.

He was aware of Li An's film, which had copyright disputes, and had called Cao Yang before the Venice Film Festival's main competition nominations were announced.

Old Ma certainly wasn't sensitive to the content of "Lust, Caution," nor would he think about its inner meaning. After all, for Italians, isn't it normal for so-called "traitors and lackeys" to survive in the end, and for love to be above the country?

Italy never considered surrendering and switching sides a disgrace; on the contrary, they were proud of it, feeling that they had made a decision in accordance with their "ancestors."

Therefore, Lao Ma didn't care about the deeper meaning of "Lust, Caution." He only felt that it was a film co-produced by the internationally renowned director Li An and Hollywood, and that was enough for him.

He even called Cao Yang specifically to ask if Cao Yang could step in and resolve the copyright dispute surrounding "Lust, Caution".

In his mind, aren't these all Chinese-language films?
Cao Yang explained to Lao Ma the implications of "Lust, Caution" and the difficulty in resolving copyright disputes.

Old Ma is a smart man. He doesn't understand China's National Day celebrations, but he respects them.

He roughly understood what Cao Yang meant. Finally, he smiled and reassured Cao Yang.

Is this how you put my mind at ease?

This is also why Cao Yang didn't think to call Lao Ma right away, for fear of causing an unpleasant situation with Lao Ma over this matter.

"Haha, Brother Cao, you can't blame me for this. Blame yourself."

Old Ma said with a smile.

His words left Cao Yang bewildered. How could it be my fault?

Old Ma then continued, "Brother, look, at the beginning of the year, you could go to Berlin to be the chairman of the jury, but recently, when I asked you to come to Venice, you made all sorts of excuses, saying you were too busy..."

Haha, I understand you, I know you have several projects on your hands.

However, as you know, the Venice Film Festival isn't what it used to be; both its popularity and influence have declined. And since you're not coming to increase Venice's exposure or bring any impact, I'm anxious too.

Cao Yang remained silent, but he could tell that Lao Ma was unhappy about not being the president of the jury at the Venice Film Festival.

Old Ma continued, "So, I used a little trick to get 'Lust, Caution' into the main competition."

Li An is very famous and influential. If controversy arises, even more people will pay attention, which could bring some attention to Venice.

Cao Yang understood Lao Ma's meaning. He planned to let the matter escalate and generate controversy, then claim that "Lust, Caution" had concealed copyright disputes, hold a press conference to formally apologize to the audience, and then remove "Lust, Caution" from the film...

This wave of traffic has been generated.

However, it's a mixed bag.

The attention it garnered was significant, but the negative impact was certainly considerable as well.

People will definitely question the authority of the Venice Film Festival, wondering how they could not even find a film with unclear copyright.

The greater the controversy, the more attention it receives.

I guess Lao Ma doesn't care about this negative impact.

You can't think like an Italian using normal logic.

The Venice Film Festival has done so many bizarre things that one more won't make a difference.

"This incident will damage the reputation of the Venice Film Festival. Aren't you afraid the damage will be irreparable?" Cao Yang reminded Lao Ma.

Old Ma continued to laugh heartily, and he laughed for a long time.

Cao Yang thought something was wrong with Lao Ma, which is why Lao Ma stopped.

“Brother, do you know that there are a lot of complaints within Venice about me always serving as both the festival president and artistic director? Some people want me to resign from my position as artistic director because of my excessive focus on Chinese-language films.”

"You know what, bro? They secretly finalized the selections behind my back! That's absolutely unforgivable!"

Old Ma's tone was somewhat agitated.

Perhaps realizing he had lost his composure, Old Ma took a deep breath, smiled, and said softly, "Li An and Focus Features in Hollywood thought I didn't know about the copyright issue, so they came directly to me."

But you've already told me about the copyright dispute, so I pretended not to know anything about copyright either, and hinted to them that I was about to be sidelined and that I wouldn't be able to keep my position as art director after the film festival.

"Let them go find a new art director..."

Cao Yang could clearly hear again that Lao Ma was somewhat pleased with how he had handled the matter.

The matter is already very clear: once the copyright dispute over "Lust, Caution" is exposed, the prestige of the Venice Film Festival will be affected. So, shouldn't someone be held responsible?
Who bears the primary responsibility?

It must be the art director candidate who put forward "Lust, Caution".

Damn it, I didn't expect Old Ma to be such a shrew.

Cao Yang had just thought that Lao Ma didn't care much about the Venice Film Festival's prestige being affected, in order to gain more attention.

It turned out that I was just waiting here.

In this way, they can both increase their visibility due to the controversy surrounding the famous director and eliminate potential competitors.

Generally speaking, no one who can climb to a high position and gain a foothold, whether in China or abroad, is simple.

How can you expect me to cooperate?

Cao Yang asked.

Old Ma laughed again and said, "Li An is, after all, Chinese. Your involvement will have a negative impact. You don't need to worry about this. I will handle it properly before the film festival opens."

Cao Yang also experienced Lao Ma's personal "charm" once again.

First, they complain, making you feel guilty.

Then they'll give you an unreserved explanation, making you feel that everyone is still your closest family.

Finally, they are so "thoughtful" that you don't need to get involved, it's all for your own good.

A combination of punches like that would be too much for most young people to handle, right?
Cao Yang shook his head. He and Lao Ma were like two parallel lines, and there was basically no conflict of interest between them. So he only needed to keep an eye on him and didn't need to be particularly wary of the old man.

Domestic media outlets can actually find information that "Lust, Caution" was not approved for censorship.

However, since "Lust, Caution" was co-invested by Hong Kong Silver City and Hollywood Focus Features, and there seem to be several other hidden investors, the Chinese media will definitely not care about such films if they don't want them to be released in China.

Therefore, domestic media outlets have been reporting on this extensively in the past few days.

Many of the headlines are also quite sensational.

"Chinese-language films conquer Venice; this is a grand celebration for Chinese-language filmmakers."

"Who will ultimately win the Golden Lion? It will most likely be Chinese-language films again."

"Li An, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Jiang Wen, who will have the last laugh?"

……

Li An hung up the phone and sighed. The other party didn't try to fool him and told him directly that as long as he could resolve the copyright issue, there would definitely be no problem with the film being released in mainland China.

This is precisely what's giving Li a headache.

The copyright for "Lust, Caution" is too fragmented. The copyright in Taiwan is actually not too difficult to handle; he had someone buy it back at a high price. But who knew that before that, a portion of the copyright had already been traded away.

This is the most troublesome part.

The company that bought a portion of the copyright is now preparing to sue him for copyright infringement around the world.

(End of this chapter)