Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 371 Longing
"Beep beep, beep beep..."

The alarm clock rang, and Hou Keming was jolted awake, sitting up in bed and quickly turning off his phone alarm so as not to disturb his wife.

Unfortunately, it was already a bit late.

His wife rolled over, pinning his lower body to her leg, and muttered, "What time is it? Why are you up so early?"

"It's almost four o'clock, it's still early, you can go back to sleep."

Old Hou gently lifted the blanket, then slowly lowered his wife's legs off his body. He got up, slipped on his slippers, and opened and closed the door in one smooth motion before heading towards the study.

Turn on the computer.

While waiting, Lao Hou took out a cigarette. He was about to light it, but hesitated for a moment, afraid that his wife would nag him when he got home, so he put the cigarette back.

I opened the webpage, glanced at it briefly, and couldn't help but laugh.

As expected, Cao Yang is still the most reliable; "Pieta" has already won the Best Screenplay Award at the Venice Film Festival.

Well, it's just a small prize, nothing to make a fuss about.

Old Hou said this to himself, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his lips.

The Venice Film Festival's Best Screenplay Award is a permanent award; how could it be considered a minor prize? For 99% of directors and screenwriters in China, this award represents the pinnacle of achievement.

Actually, let alone winning an award, just making it into the main competition is a remarkable achievement and deserves extensive media coverage.

"Ha, if domestic directors want to win awards at the three major European film festivals, they still have to look to my Beijing Film Academy."

Old Hou couldn't help but say this, thinking of Jiang Wen, who had been heavily praised by the media for entering the main competition and was widely believed to be a winner.

So what if the media has high hopes for us?
Old Hou could guess without even thinking that Jiang Wen's movies would be the same old thing again, just using metaphors that others couldn't understand to entertain himself, thinking that was art.

Art can indeed use film to metaphorically represent social phenomena and marginalized figures, but if you become too obscure and too engrossed in self-expression, then it becomes self-indulgence.

To put it bluntly, art is not about detaching oneself from the masses; art originates from life and explores life. Art should leave people thoughtful, not confused.

Ha, Central Academy of Drama? No chance!
Old Hou was lost in thought, his hand unconsciously reaching for a cigarette. Just as he was about to light it, he suddenly snapped out of it, shaking his head with a smile. He was thinking too much.

I checked the time; it was a little past four in the morning.

Based on the time difference, it was a little past 10 p.m. in Italy, and the awards ceremony should have just ended.

Old Hou quickly refreshed the webpage.

When I looked again, there were many more big red headlines.

"Pietà, the Golden Lion!"

"Snapped!"

Old Hou couldn't hold back any longer and slapped the cigarette box, flattening it completely. It was now ruined.

He merely inhaled a breath of cold air, not having time to feel sorry for the half-pack of cigarettes he had lost. He couldn't help but clench his hands and wave them vigorously in the air for a while before calming his agitated emotions a little.

"Golden Lion, another one of these damn Golden Lions."

Old Hou grinned widely, his eyes almost closing into slits with laughter.

Lao Tian's Golden Lion is different from Jia Zhangke's Golden Lion last year.

Although Jia Zhangke is also a graduate of Beijing Film Academy, the film "Still Life" which won him the Golden Lion Award was produced by his own company registered in Hong Kong and invested by Shanghai Film Group, and has little to do with Beijing Film Academy and Shanghai Film Studio.

Although the Beijing Film Academy can also benefit from Jia Zhangke's status as a graduate, the benefits the school can gain are incomparable to those of Lao Tian, ​​the current head of the directing department at the Beijing Film Academy, who is a true "red and upright" graduate.

"Pieta" is not only produced, supervised, directed and written by people from the Beijing Film Academy, but also invested in by the Qingdao Film Studio.

Of course, this is incomparable to the political achievements that Lao Hou was able to obtain.

For Beijing Film Academy and Hou Hsiao-ch'ien, unless another director like Cao Yang emerges who can win the three highest European awards while still a student, Lao Tian's current way of winning awards is the most ideal situation.

Old Hou was no longer sleepy at all.

He was humming a little tune, getting excited, and kicked... well, he stopped just in time at the bedroom door.

However, this excitement should be released.

"Oh...w-what are you doing?"

"hey-hey……"

Old Hou looked up, smiled, and then buried his head in his work.

"You... don't bite so hard... oh..."

……

For a moment, the few hormones colliding in the bedroom made a loud "pop" sound.

The next day, the freshmen of the Class of 07, who had only been enrolled for a few days, finally saw the legendary red banner of the Beijing Film Academy.

Jing Tian rushed out of her dormitory and ran to the cafeteria. She had an early class today. She had been busy until late at night yesterday recording the theme song "Still Love You" for the game "QQ Speed".

This song is scheduled to be released on the 20th, which is about ten days away, so we're in a bit of a rush.

She rushed to school early this morning, then ran back to her dorm to get her books, leaving her with very little time.

Freshmen are always afraid of being late, but once they become seasoned veterans at school, they don't care anymore.

As she jogged along, she noticed that the students around her seemed to be excitedly talking about something.

It's hard not to notice. It wouldn't matter if one or two students did this, but the key is that many students are discussing it.

Jing Tian felt something was off as soon as he entered the school. It seemed that the students he encountered at the school gate were excitedly discussing something.

Arriving at the cafeteria entrance, she took a short breath and finally realized why everyone was so excited.

"Warmest congratulations to our school's film 'Pieta,' produced and written by Cao Yang and directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang, for winning the Golden Lion Award for Best Film at the 64th Venice International Film Festival!"

A long, bright red banner was hung at the entrance of the cafeteria.

Jing Tian stopped at the entrance of the cafeteria, staring wide-eyed at the big red banner, unable to suppress his envy.

It would be great to be able to act in a movie like this, even if I'm not the lead. It would be a huge asset for my future career in the film and television industry.

Although she first attended the Affiliated High School of Beijing Dance Academy to study folk dance, and then debuted as a singer, now that she has been admitted to the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy, she must want to develop as an actress.

You should love what you do.

The path to becoming an actor is somewhat mystical; the film and television industry has a long-standing saying: "Small success depends on promotion, but great success depends on fate."

The entertainment industry has always been like this: minor fame comes from promotion, major fame comes from fate, and forced promotion can lead to "extinction." Looking at the male and female stars who have become popular in recent years, they all prove this point.

Of course, some people insist on arguing, saying that all the actors Cao Yang promoted became hugely famous.

Actually, this is just arguing for the sake of arguing.

It's common knowledge that if you're unlucky, how could you possibly have the chance to appear in a film directed by Cao Yang?
So, you still need to be lucky.

"Hey!"

Jing Tian, ​​who was intently looking at the large red banner and envisioning the future, was startled by a sudden shout in his ear.

Looking up, I saw it was Shuangzi and Kan Qingzi from the same dormitory. The two of them were walking out of the cafeteria when they saw Jingtian standing at the cafeteria entrance, staring at the banner in a daze.

The carefree Shuangzi shouted in Jing Tian's ear.

Jing Tian not only shares a dormitory with Shuang Zi and Kan Qing Zi, but they are also classmates.

It's only been ten days since the start of the semester, so it's natural that you'll have a better relationship and be more familiar with your roommates.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you? Don't go, it'll be too late if you delay any longer. I bought an extra steamed bun, just for you."

Kan Qingzi handed the steamed bun in her hand to Jing Tian and said with a smile.

"Thank you."

Jing Tian hesitated for a moment, but still took it, smiled at Kan Qingzi, and then followed the two of them to the classroom.

"Director Cao Yang is really amazing. He just wrote a script for Director Tian and it won the Golden Lion Award at Venice."

As the three walked and talked, Shuangzi couldn't help but dream, "I wish I could become Director Cao's next leading lady."

"Stop dreaming. Director Cao's current focus is on Hollywood. All the movies he makes are mainstream Hollywood blockbusters, which have budgets of over a billion dollars. How could he possibly cast a newcomer as the female lead?"

Kan Qingzi laughed and teased Shuangzi, "Director Cao is indeed amazing. You guys know about 'Crazy Stone,' which was released two years ago, right? It was directed by Ning Hao, but the script was written by Director Cao."

Jing Tian said from the side.

When young girls watch movies, they generally don't pay attention to who the screenwriter is, and some may not even care who the director is. They are more concerned about who the male or female lead is.

Jing Tian knew all this because her first EP last year, "Who Are You," was not only tailor-made for her by Zhang Yadong, a famous producer in the music industry, but her company also invested heavily in inviting director Ning Hao to shoot the music video for the title track.

That really cost a fortune, a very, very large sum.

Otherwise, how could they have invited Ning Hao, who already has a film that grossed over 100 million yuan?

Moreover, Ning Hao not only has a movie that grossed over 100 million yuan, but he is also one of Director Cao's go-to people, serving as Director Cao's assistant director.

With someone of that status, being able to "splur" money to film a music video is already incredibly lucky.

Therefore, Jing Tian's agent repeatedly told her that she must not treat this seemingly carefree MV director as an ordinary MV director, but must respect him and put her heart into it.

He's a legitimate director, and a member of the "100 Million Yuan Club" of directors in China.

It was only because of his agent's repeated reminders that Jing Tian learned how amazing his music video director was, and that he was Cao Yang's go-to persona, and that Cao Yang had even written the script for him himself.

"Huh? Was the script for the movie 'Crazy Stone' also written by director Cao Yang? I... I watched it online and almost died laughing. It was so funny. I thought the director was so talented."

"Shuangzi said."

She suddenly realized that the screenwriter of that movie was also Director Cao.

"Director Cao is really amazing."

She sighed sincerely.

"Uh-huh."

Kan Qingzi nodded vigorously beside her and couldn't help but say, "Director Cao's 'Inception' is simply a masterpiece. It's endlessly watchable. I was stunned when I first watched it."

"Yeah, me too."

"I was stunned when I saw the streets of Paris flip up like a piece of paper. The idea for that scene was simply amazing. I don't know how Director Cao came up with it. I really envy Fan Bingbing for being able to star in such a classic movie."

Jing Tian agreed wholeheartedly, but couldn't help envying Pang Bing, wishing he could play such a role.

"Hey, by the way, you guys said the spinning tops in the back never stopped, right...?"

……

The three girls chattered excitedly as they walked toward the teaching building.

Arriving at the teaching building, I saw that it also had banners hanging on it, but this time there were three: two large and one small.

"Congratulations to director Tian Zhuangzhuang on winning the Golden Lion at the 64th Venice Film Festival for her film Pietà."

"Congratulations to director Cao Yang on winning the Best Screenplay Award at the 64th Venice Film Festival."

Below these two banners, there was a smaller banner with the following words written in small print:

"Congratulations to Cao Yang on the release of his art film 'The Fault in Our Stars,' which he produced, supervised, and wrote. It has grossed over $1.9 million in North America and over $3.6 million worldwide."

Upon closer inspection, the four characters for "art film" appear to be larger than the others, emphasizing these characters.

The Beijing Film Academy is actually quite concerned about its "face." If it weren't for the Golden Lion and Best Screenplay awards at the Venice Film Festival, it certainly wouldn't have put up the banner below.

However, with the opportunity to win the Golden Lion and Best Screenplay awards, it's a good time to release the box office information for "The Fault in Our Stars." After all, it's an art film, and to achieve this box office is simply amazing.

Of course, most importantly, this is an art film. I want to emphasize that it's an art film, which is why it deserves a banner from the Beijing Film Academy.

Otherwise, unless it's like "Inception," which grossed over $9 million worldwide (equivalent to over 70 billion RMB at the time), it wouldn't be worth the Beijing Film Academy hanging up a banner.

In fact, domestic media outlets have also reported on the box office information of "The Fault in Our Stars".

However, since the film has not yet been released in China, and it is still showing in the countries and regions where it has been released, the final box office results are yet to be determined, so it has not been widely reported.

Initially, when this movie's box office surpassed that of Jackie Chan's "Rush Hour 3," it was reported for a while, and its box office performance was mentioned every week thereafter.

I estimate that once "The Fault in Our Stars" finishes its theatrical run in North America, the media will give it a lot of coverage.

"Wow, $3.6 million! How much is that? By the way, is 'The Fault in Our Stars' showing in theaters? I haven't seen any promotion for it."

Sawako couldn't help but ask.

Jing Tian is not an "ordinary person"; she has already debuted, so she knows much more about this information than Shuang Zi.

"The Fault in Our Stars hasn't been released in China yet. This movie is adapted from director Cao Yang's novel, which is very good and very touching..."

Well, neither Shuangzi nor Kan Qingzi "got" what Jing Tian was trying to say. Jing Tian just couldn't help but show off that he had read the novel "Cao Yang's Fantastic Journey".

Shuangzi and Kan Qingzi ignored the past.

Kan Qingzi couldn't help but do a quick mental calculation, then said to Shuangzi with envy, "The current exchange rate seems to be 7.6, right? 3.6 million US dollars is more than 27 billion RMB."

"Wow wow wow!"

Shuangzi was shocked. "More than 27 billion! That's a lot of money! Don't even mention 27 billion, if I could earn more than two million a day, I would be willing to retire from the entertainment industry."

Kan Qingzi patted Shuangzi on the shoulder and joked, "What are you thinking? How could an actor earn more than 200 million a day? Even the Four Great Actresses and Fan Bingbing can't earn more than 200 million a day, right?"

The three of them joked with each other as they walked towards the classroom.

At the same time, a large number of reports began to appear online, almost all of them about Lao Tian winning the Golden Lion and Cao Yang winning the Best Screenplay Award.

Not only that, many print media outlets also kept up with the times, working overnight to add more content, and reports about the Golden Lion Awards appeared early this morning.

Authoritative newspapers such as China Youth Daily, Beijing Daily, and Beijing Youth Daily also reported on this matter.

Before Lao Tian was banned from directing, his status and reputation were similar to those of Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige. Even though Zhang Yimou won the Berlin Golden Bear first, everyone still felt that it was only a matter of time before Lao Tian and Chen Kaige won awards.

In 92, Zhang Yimou directed "The Story of Qiu Ju" and competed in the Venice Film Festival.

In 93, Chen Kaige filmed "Farewell My Concubine" in preparation for the Cannes Film Festival.

In 93, Lao Tian made "The Blue Kite," which was likely to be submitted to the Venice Film Festival.

As a result, Zhang Yimou won the Golden Lion, Chen Kaige won the Palme d'Or, and Tian Xiang received a ban.

From then on, Lao Chen and Lao Mouzi left Lao Tian behind.

Now, after 14 years, Lao Tian has finally caught up.

Don't assume that because Lao Tian won the Golden Lion later, his status is inferior to that of Lao Zhangzi and Lao Chen.

Lao Tian's status is only missing one of the three major European awards to prove it. You should know that he is also the head of the directing department at Beijing Film Academy, and his resume includes two Golden Lion Awards.

Back when Cao Yang's "Empty Room" won the Golden Lion for the first time, a producer position was reserved for Lao Tian. Theoretically, the producer should be able to share in the achievement of the Golden Lion.

Of course, this is only in theory.

Old Tian is a man of pride, and even though this point could be included in his resume, he has never mentioned it.

Now that Pietà has won the Golden Lion as a director, his status has risen dramatically.

In fact, Hou Keming wasn't the only one paying attention to the Venice awards in the early hours of the morning; Xiao Gangpao also woke up precisely around 3 or 4 a.m.

The post-production of "Assembly" was only completed a few days ago, but it is not yet finalized. It will be finalized after Cao Yang has reviewed it.

At first, Xiao Gangpao was definitely very opposed. As one of the top directors in China, how could he allow others to interfere with the editing of his film?
Even if this person is Cao Yang, the vice chairman of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the spiritual leader of Beijing Film Academy, etc., Little Cannon still thinks that at most it's just for Cao Yang to see.

Well, if he really offered some suggestions, it would be a collective effort, and everyone would be working together to make a good film, so it wouldn't be considered an infringement on his directorial rights.

That's right, it's just a matter of brainstorming.

However, after he saw that he had won the Gold Lion for Pietà, Little Cannon fell completely silent.

He smoked one cigarette after another, sometimes cursing Lao Tian for getting lucky, and sometimes he couldn't help but daydream, since it was all Cao Yang's grandson... since it was all Brother Cao's script.

And they were all produced by Brother Cao, so why can Lao Tian win the Golden Lion Award while I only get one of the top three European awards? Even... even just Best Director would be fine!

Is it possible?

Little Cannon stayed in the study, smoking one cigarette after another until dawn.

(End of this chapter)