I was just thinking about taking the arts exam and you said I've been playing supporting roles

Chapter 352: Victory! The Jury!

The call was from Chen Su.

Of course, it's to report on the situation of "The Flowers of War".

"It's certain that Fitt can secure two judges!"

After Chen Jin answered the phone, Chen Su immediately reported: "Director Lu Ke also guaranteed that he could handle the judges, but he wasn't as direct as he said. However, his asking price is quite high..."

"Price is not the key factor!"

Chen Jin walked to the side, glanced around, and whispered, "We need to win over as many judges as possible!"

The more the merrier.

Even winning over 4 out of 8 judges doesn't guarantee a win.

Other people can win a major award by having five public relations professionals, while "Jinling" might only get a jury prize.

This is the power struggle within film festivals.

This happens every year, and the competition gets fiercer every year.

With over 20 films shortlisted for the main competition, even if they are bad, the jury's votes play a crucial role when the quality is comparable and there is intense external hype.

"Did Fate tell you who they were? Don't let it turn out that the same people were doing the PR!"

Chen Jin was afraid of this.

We definitely need to ask before granting the distribution rights to MK2!

Chen Su pondered for a moment, then said somewhat embarrassedly, "I pressed her several times, but Fate definitely wouldn't tell me the name directly. The Europeans are very afraid of being embroiled in scandals and causing a public relations disaster!"

This is understandable.

While public relations is an unspoken rule and a well-known practice within the industry, if you bring it into the open like the Americans do, and are reported by the media or by name, it will definitely affect your own interests and even the authority of the film festival.

If news and public opinion emerge that "XX film's PR bribed XX judges," and this is further fueled by the capital behind other films, the Berlin Film Festival will inevitably be tainted with negative publicity.

The impact is terrible.

Therefore, MK2 did this to prevent this outcome.

"However, he told me he wasn't one of Dieter Kosslick's men!"

"They are filmmakers who previously collaborated with MK2!"

Chen Su lowered his voice and said something. Chen Jin narrowed his eyes, thinking about the seven judges of this year's Berlin Film Festival. He already had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

This is definitely a complete revelation; they've gone this far, it's basically an open secret.

Because, not to mention Chen Jin, many people actually know that several members of the jury at this year's Berlin Film Festival are Dieter's confidants; while the other 4-5 members, namely the well-known Iranian director Asghar Farhadi and the American Gyllenhaal, are definitely not.

The rest is easy to guess.

"can!"

"You can discuss the specific price with Fitt!"

Chen Jin felt much more relieved.

With Fitt's words, the chances of "Jinling" winning the award at this year's Berlin International Film Festival are very high.

The chairman of the organizing committee, Dieter, clearly had a bias; since he invited Zhang Yimou to participate in Berlin, he must have hoped to make some noise, even though "Jinling" was so controversial.

Furthermore, he is relatively pro-China, and Zhang Yimou is also very familiar with him, so he has a high probability of winning the vote.

Asghar Farhadi and Gilenhar of Iran, on the other hand, were personally approached by Zhang Yimou and Li An.

These two votes also offer hope.

Add to that the jury president's connection to the Shanghai International Film Festival, and the two votes from MK2, and it seems like every member of the jury, including president Mike Lee, has won.

This was certainly Chen Jin's best plan.

In fact, if he can do it, so can others.

Therefore, you shouldn't open the champagne in advance.

It can only be said that Chen Jin made an appearance in front of each judge.

As for the final vote, it will definitely have a slight advantage; and among the more than 20 films shortlisted for the main competition, "Jinling" will definitely rank first in the vote after its reputation and public opinion have gone viral.

"Oh, right, Brother Jin!"

“Miramax wants to acquire the North American rights to ‘The Golden City.’ Harvey’s side seems to know you’re in the US, so I gave them your phone number. Miramax should call you soon…”

Miramax?
Harvey's old pervert's company.

It really was a perfect match. Chen Jin originally wanted to go directly to Harvey, but now... the other party actually came knocking on her door.

However, given Harvey's current status in Hollywood, a film like "Jinling" wouldn't warrant him making a personal phone call.

They must be company employees.

"okay, I get it!"

"I'll talk to them myself then!"

The premise is that they actually come to his door. If they don't, Chen Jin isn't in a hurry. Right now, all he's thinking about is the domestic Spring Festival release of "Jinling" and winning the award at Berlin.

If these two points are successful, then there will be no need to worry about the copyright of "Jinling" in other regions.

With awards and box office success in China, how could a film not find buyers?
Even if Japanese investors try to stop them, they can't possibly block global capital!

There are too many film companies that want to make money, and no matter how powerful Columbia and Sony are, they can't stop everyone.

At most, Japan will unilaterally boycott the film, preventing it from being shown in their country; it's impossible to say that it can't be shown globally.

In the previous life, it was Zhang Weiping's questionable actions that led to the failure of "Jinling" globally, except in China.

He was too eager to make money and wanted to leverage Bale's reputation to conquer the American market first. In addition, Zhang Yimou was eager for the Golden Globes and Oscars, so he wanted to win the Best Foreign Language Film award through North American box office and public relations.

This could lead to another surge in domestic box office revenue.

He never even considered the three major European film festivals, especially Berlin, which Zhang Yimou didn't care about, so he set his sights on North America.

All I can say is that the idea was good, but reality is cruel.

Unexpectedly, Japanese investors, led by Columbia and Sony, took the initiative, bribing all media outlets and rating websites to launch a massive boycott of "The Battle of Nanjing," which led to distributors and cinemas returning and pulling the film from theaters.

This is the real reason why "Jinling" completely collapsed.

Now, Chen Jin clearly doesn't take North America seriously; in this kind of market, you can only make them go all in if you show them how to make money first.

Once the domestic box office picks up, investors will be tempted.

Instead of having a global premiere in North America first, they held one in China before the domestic one.

Even with Bale in the lead role, it shouldn't have been done.

Since "Nanjing" is a film about Nanjing and the massacre, how could it possibly be released globally in North America?
Isn't this putting the cart before the horse and forgetting your roots?!
So, Zhang Weiping really deserves to die!
A perfectly good film, but because of these various issues, it has been criticized by many netizens after its release. Of course, Japanese capital has also contributed to this backlash, but the film's marketing and promotion still have major problems.

Especially the bed scene between Ni Ni and Bale!

This is what the audience hates the most. Why would you market something like this when you could be marketing a massacre?

The key new footage is still there, and they keep using this shot to hype it up.

In fact, this was not a sex scene at all, but rather malicious editing.

Although Chen Jin had not yet seen the version of "The Flowers of War" in which he was currently starring, Chen Su had described it to him, saying that the plot did not have many of the controversies and problematic points of the original.

This put Chen Jin at ease.

"continue!"

Chen Jin hung up the phone with Chen Su, handed the phone to Wan Qian, and went back to filming.

***
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, California, just east of New York, in Beverly Hills, Hollywood, the Weinstein Company was located!

Harvey Weinstein, smoking a cigar, overweight and with a face full of pockmarked acne scars, was listening to a report from a Chinese film buyer on the other end of the phone.

Miramax is long gone.

In 1993, Miramax, the company founded by the Weinstein brothers, was acquired by Disney.

Miramax then went on a fast track. Harvey, backed by Disney, one of the six major film studios, had a thriving public relations business. However, due to his success in the film industry and his arrogance, he gradually fell out with Disney's then CEO, Michael Eisner.

One of them is the head of Disney, who doesn't take the nouveau riche Harvey seriously at all.

One is a highly influential figure in the global film industry with top-tier connections, who has helped countless films garner over 300 Oscar nominations.

Of course, neither of them would listen to the other.

Finally, in 05, it ended with Weinstein leaving for Disney, or Miramax.

After leaving Disney, the Weinstein brothers founded the current film industry giant. They are not affiliated with any film company, but rather an independent production company that collaborates with the six major Hollywood studios.

Therefore, their status is quite special.

Weinstein's status in the global film industry is also unshakeable.

Over the years, their business has grown bigger and bigger, and their public relations skills have become number one in the industry, especially in Hollywood, where they basically have the magic to make things happen.

The reason why Chen Jin and Chen Su always referred to Miramax is because the company is so deeply associated with Weinstein that Chinese people are generally too lazy to change their way of addressing it. Weinstein doesn't mind either, since it was, after all, his startup company.

In fact, the current Weinstein Company is no different from the former Miramax; it's just a shell, essentially a newly opened "Miramax 2"!
"Okay, I'll have someone contact that guy!"

Harvey listened to his subordinate's report on the other end of the phone, his eyes showing little emotion.

He had a love-hate relationship with Zhang Yimou.

What I love is that he once made a lot of money; including "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers", which earned Miramax hundreds of millions of dollars in profit.

The two films grossed a combined $7000 million in North America and over $2 million overseas.

What he bought at the time was the distribution rights for Europe and the United States.

This includes the packaging of copyrights for audio and video content, etc.

With DVDs and streaming services, these two films alone have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue over the years.

Therefore, Harvey really enjoys cooperating with Chinese people.

Only he knew how popular these Chinese films were internationally at times.

He also contributed to this effort, getting "Hero" nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and "House of Flying Daggers" nominated for a Golden Globe Award. These were all Harvey's doing.

That period could be described as their honeymoon.

One is making money, and the other is frequently appearing in Hollywood.

However, starting with "Curse of the Golden Flower" and then "A Simple Noodle Story" a couple of years ago, Harvey completely lost patience with this top Chinese director.

"Curse of the Golden Flower" did well; he made some money, $8000 million worldwide, and more than $3000 million after deducting the domestic box office.

But "A Simple Noodle Story" was a huge loss!

The North American box office for "A Simple Noodle Story" was a paltry $19.

Harvey spent $500 million to buy him.

Therefore, he is now wary of Zhang Yimou, fearing that he might lose everything again.

Even this time, "The Flowers of War" also features Christian Bale, a member of North America's most sought-after multi-million dollar salary club.

drop!
Harvey pressed the phone on the table: "Call Tom and Tim over!"

"Okay, boss!"

A short while later, two white men knocked on Harvey's office door.

If Chen Jin were here, she would definitely recognize these two people. They are the two founders who would later establish Neon Films and win five Palme d'Or awards in six years.

The reason for five films in six years is that one of those years was that the Cannes Film Festival was not held due to the pandemic.

"What's wrong, boss?"

Tom, whose hair was somewhat gray and who looked to be around 40 years old, smiled at Harvey, while Tim, who had a serious expression, stood to the side.

"Those who have seen movies in China say that Zhang Yimou's new film 'Heroes of Nanjing' is definitely worth buying!"

"He estimates that it will gross at least nearly $2 million at the global box office!"

Harvey gestured for the two to sit down.

"Heroes of Nanjing" is the overseas film title of "The Flowers of War".

"Heroes of Jinling?"

Tom shrugged: "This movie is controversial, I've looked into it!"

"Tell me!"

"This is a film similar to 'City of Life and Death,' about the massacre. You know, the Japanese can't possibly admit that, and 'City of Life and Death' didn't do well at the box office..."

Tom didn't say anything more.

"City of Life and Death" is the foreign title of Taro Motokawa's "Nanjing! Nanjing!"

It just hit North American theaters this year, and was released in May.

The film received rave reviews and was named "Best Film of the Decade" by American media. American audiences even followed Taro Ayakawa to leave comments on his Weibo account. It is said that on Facebook, the world's largest social networking site, more than 62000 netizens engaged in heated discussions about the film and director Ayakawa in just two weeks.

However, the box office... it's been almost half a year and it still hasn't broken $10.

If the data above is correct, even if each ticket costs $10, 62000 people would still generate 62 in box office revenue!
It shouldn't be that by now, it hasn't even reached 10.

Therefore, given the credibility of this news, coupled with the overwhelming praise and hype from the American media, there is only one possibility.

Advertorial!

This is a press release from Kino International Pictures, the company that bought the film.

It certainly hoped that "Nanjing! Nanjing!" would do well at the North American box office, but it was destined to be another failure, resulting in heavy losses.

This is another typical case of being fooled.

Kino International had previously produced Wu Yusen's "The Killer," which became a classic Chinese film in the eyes of Americans; it wanted to replicate this success, but unfortunately, Lu Taro didn't deliver.

"The film 'City of Life and Death' is still showing in North America, and its box office is estimated to be no more than $12!"

Tim, standing beside him, spoke with unwavering precision.

This guy is a data enthusiast; he knows the box office figures for many movies like the back of his hand, especially those that have been released.

"so?"

Harvey looked up at the two of them.

"So I think this movie is meaningless!"

Tim spoke very succinctly.

Harvey frowned and retorted, "Tim, you should analyze the directors. The director of 'City of Life and Death' is an unknown, while 'Heroes of Nanjing' is Zhang Yimou!"

"His movies still have a market in North America!"

"Heh, three shots, huh?"

Tim spoke up without holding back.

(End of this chapter)