Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 355 Magnolia Award
In mid-June, I went to Shanghai.

The 24th Magnolia Awards will be held at the Oriental Art Center tonight. The attention of TV drama practitioners and media from all over the country, big and small, is almost all focused here at once.

In the spacious hotel room, Meng Bai, Qin Lan and Yang Lei sat on the sofa in the middle. Around them, there were more than a dozen Arclight staff members busy at work.

"I heard that you have been trying to build connections with the jury recently?" Yang Lei looked at Meng Bai and asked casually.

"Yes." Meng Bai nodded without shying away, "After all, this is my first time participating in such a formal award, so I have to say hello to them first."

Award nominations represent recognition of the quality of a work, but whether or not it wins the award is determined by many factors.

The most famous one is the Oscars. Every year, major American film producers organize public relations activities for the judges, which has formed a complete industrial chain.

Don’t underestimate the power of public relations. It was thanks to Weinstein’s operation that Shakespeare in Love won the Oscar that year, beating Saving Private Ryan and Life is Beautiful.

The end result was that the Oscars were criticized online for more than a decade by countless viewers, who called them "the most worthless Oscars." The leading actress Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts) was also labeled the "Watery Oscar Queen."

Although it was a bit of a failure, it was enough to prove that the "public relations" judges were really helpful in the award selection.

The "public relations" here is naturally not straightforward bribery, but more about building relationships and establishing friendships, occasionally combined with some exchange of interests.

Although this is the first time that ArcLight has participated in the selection of the "Three Major Awards", as a leading film and television company in the industry today, it is naturally impossible for it to be a complete outsider.

The chairman of this year's Magnolia Jury is Liu Heping, a senior figure in the domestic screenwriting community. Meng Bai had met him once before on the crew of "All Quiet in Peking".

Last year, when he served as the chairman of the TV Drama Screenwriter Working Committee of the China Radio, Film and Television Social Organization Federation, he also invited Meng Bai to join the Screenwriters Association.

However, since most of these organizations are only reviewed every one to two years, it is currently in the process.

It was also under this pretext that Meng Bai had a chat with the other party a few days ago.

Of course, it was just a normal chat, and neither of them mentioned the Magnolia judges tacitly.

In addition to Liu Heping, the chairman, the jury also includes Gao Qunshu, Xu Fan, Xu Jizhou and Zhao Lixin. Xu Fan and Xu Jizhou are both from the Central Academy of Drama, so they are like senior brothers and sisters.

Meng Bai didn't have much friendship with them, but he had a good relationship with the Central Academy of Drama, so he got to know them through the school.

Although Arc Light has done a lot of work, it does not mean that the nominations for "Peace Hotel" are secure.

The biggest disadvantage of this drama is that it has nothing to do with the Shanghai circle.

As we all know, the Magnolia Awards have always been more inclined towards local forces. Whether it is a work or an actor, if they are related to the Shanghai circle, the probability of winning the award will naturally increase by three points.

Noon Sunshine has been able to achieve success in the Magnolia Awards in recent years because of its good relationship with Shanghai.

Yang Lei is also a director who has been in the industry for many years and is very familiar with the Magnolia Awards: "Although there are four nominations, the one that really has a good chance is your Best Screenwriter."

"You can't say that." Meng Bai said, "Sister Qin Lan's 'Best Actress' award is not something she has no chance of winning."

"Haha, although I think I played the role of 'Chen Jiaying' well this time, it's a bit too difficult to win an award." Qin Lan on the side laughed and said self-awarely.

It’s not that she has no confidence in herself, the key is that her competitors are too strong.

Look at the nominees for "Best Actress" - Sun Li, Qin Hailu, Ma Yili, and Hao Lei. Any one of them is a big star who can carry the leading role.

In comparison, although Qin Lan's popularity has hovered between the first and second tier in recent years, his strength and professionalism are far behind.

She herself knows very well that this Magnolia nomination is almost entirely due to the outstanding character and popularity of the role of "Chen Jiaying".

So from the very beginning, she never imagined that she could win the award.

"Peace Hotel" has four nominations. The competition for "Best Picture" is too fierce, and the "Best Actress" is not strong enough. The selection methods for technical awards such as "Best Art" are different.

So in comparison, Meng Bai's "Best Screenwriter" award is the most promising.

"The competition is not small." Meng Bai sighed, "Especially my senior sister. In comparison, she has everything going for her."

There are also five nominees for "Best Screenwriter". In addition to Meng Bai, there are also Chang Jiang, the screenwriter of "The Advisors Alliance", Qin Wen, the screenwriter of "My First Half of Life", Shen Jie, the screenwriter of "White Deer Plain", and Wang Zhili, the screenwriter of "Love in the Courtyard".

This drama, like "Peace Hotel", is a hit TV series from last year to this year.

What Meng Bai is most concerned about here is Qin Wen, the screenwriter of "My First Half of Life".

The drama "My First Half of Life" is very popular. From the actors to the producers behind it, there are shadows of the Shanghai circle. As for Qin Wen, she is a direct senior of Meng Bai in the Department of Drama and Literature at the Central Academy of Drama, and she is also a Shanghai native.

In a sense, it can be said that the buffs are maxed out.

Not to mention a "Best Screenwriter", if it weren't for "White Deer Plain", I'm afraid few awards tonight would be able to "escape" the drama "My First Half of Life".

"It's a pity that we didn't set the story background in Shanghai's Peace Hotel." Qin Lan said with some regret: "With such a representative regional symbol, plus the quality of our drama, winning the award is a sure thing."

Meng Bai smiled when he heard this. What this sister said was indeed true. If the "Peace Hotel" was really moved from Harbin to Shanghai, then his current buff would not be much worse than that of the senior sister.

But then again, sometimes having too many buffs is not necessarily a good thing.

After all, the Magnolia Award is an industry-wide award, so it is impossible to completely ignore the "division of the pie."

As one of the "three major awards", if all the awards were won by one or two dramas, it would eventually give people a reason to criticize it.

As for how to distribute the prizes, it depends on how the organizers strike a balance. Because of this consideration, it is hard to say who will win the prize until the final announcement.

After they chatted for a while in the room, Meng Bai's cell phone suddenly rang.

He took it out and took a look at it, then put it aside calmly, and then looked at Qin Lan: "Sister, don't you have to prepare for the red carpet this afternoon?"

Qin Lan glanced at the time and said, "It's almost time. I'm going to go over and put on makeup and try on the dress."

"Then let's stop here for now." Meng Bai stood up, "Everyone go back and pack up, take a break at noon, and wait for the red carpet in the afternoon and the awards ceremony in the evening."

The staff naturally agreed and began to pack up their things and leave the room one after another.

Qin Lan slowed down his movements and deliberately fell behind.

"What's wrong?" Meng Bai asked.

Qin Lan raised the corner of her mouth and glanced at his phone ambiguously: "I remember that this year's "White Deer Plain" seemed to have been nominated for a 'Best Supporting Actress'... It seems that I am not suitable to disturb you tonight."

"It doesn't matter." Meng Bai raised his eyebrows, "I don't mind if you come with me."

"Bah, you are so beautiful. If you have the guts, tell the same thing to other girls." Qin Lan rolled her eyes and said, "Let's go!"

After saying that, she waved her hand and left.

...Meng Bai waited in the room for a while and finally heard a knock on the door.

Walking to the door and opening it, Li Qin's pretty little face appeared from behind the door.

"You came here alone?"

"No, the crew is here too."

Like Meng Bai, Li Qin also came to attend the Magnolia Awards. She spent more than half a year on the White Deer Plain, earning her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress, which was worth her half a year of hard work in the northwest.

However, like Qin Lan, she also faced a group of strong competitors for this award, including veteran actress Jiang Shan, Wan Qian who won the Golden Horse Best Supporting Actress Award, and Wu Yue and Xu Di who became popular with "My First Half of Life".

In comparison, Li Qin is the youngest among all the nominated actors, so you can imagine how difficult it was for her to win the award.

But this girl has a good mentality. From the beginning, she thought that "it's great to be nominated". She came to the awards ceremony today just to give face to the Magnolia Awards.

Although she didn't have any idea about her award, she was very concerned about whether Meng Bai could win the award.

"I analyzed it and I think you still have great hope."

"How to say?"

Li Qin sat down next to Meng Bai and said seriously, "I counted the award-winning works of the previous Magnolia Awards. The most awards were three, and there must be one technical award among them."

"This year, the hot favorites, besides our White Deer Plain, are My First Half of Life and Peace Hotel. Even if those two dramas win all seven major awards, they will only take up four spots. One of the remaining spots must be reserved for you. 'Best TV Series' is unlikely, so the only thing left is your 'Best Screenwriter'."

"..."

Meng Bai touched his eyebrows. It turned out that this girl's logic was the same "dividing the cake" theory that he had thought of before, and it did sound reasonable.

"I hope the jury will share the same idea as you."

"Don't worry, it's fine."

Li Qin had an expression that said "Just trust me" and patted Meng Bai's shoulder in a pretentious manner.

"By the way, don't you need to prepare your makeup and dress?"

"It's all ready." Li Qin stood up and showed it off, "This is the dress for the red carpet."

Only then did Meng Bai notice her attire. She was wearing a pink top with layers of lace on the sleeves, and black leather pants. Maybe because her legs were too thin, they looked a bit empty. She was barefoot in chain-strap high heels.

"How is it?" Li Qin grabbed her clothes and shook them at Meng Bai: "Does it look good?"

"Um……"

Meng Bai frowned and looked him up and down for a while with an indescribable expression: "Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"

"Haha, what's a lie?"

"Ugly."

"What about the truth?"

"pretty ugly."

"..."

"Has your styling team been dragged out to sacrifice themselves to make such an outfit for you?"

Li Qin was choked and puffed her lips to look up and down: "They said this is a 'mixed style' and it's also a new style attempt."

"Come on, those gay guys don't know anything." Meng Bai complained mercilessly.

Li Qin opened her mouth, but felt that what he said was right and she couldn't refute it.

"Just wait for me."

Meng Bai said something to her, then stood up and made a phone call.

"...Yes, I'm in Shanghai... Well, who knows the results before the awards ceremony. I need to trouble you with something... Dior? That's fine too, I'm not picky... I don't say it has to be couture, just a normal dress will do... OK, send me your contact information later."

After hanging up the phone, he waited for a while. Until he saw a string of numbers sent by Yang Ming on WeChat, he forwarded it to Li Qin,

"I'll let your team contact you later. Go change into a formal dress while there's still some time."

Li Qin looked at the number on her phone. Although she didn't hear what was said on the other end of the line, she heard everything Meng Bai said clearly.

Did this guy just say Dio?

Seeing the girl looking a little overwhelmed, Meng Bai said, "Time is too tight, I can't borrow a high-end dress, so I can only make do with a regular dress for now."

"It doesn't matter. I'm just attending an award ceremony and I haven't won any awards yet, so an ordinary dress is most suitable."

Li Qin said hurriedly, her eyes full of stars.

That's Dior! Although the brand's status has slightly declined in the past two years due to its development path, it is still one of the old brands after all.

Even ordinary dresses are not so easy to borrow. After all, in such public occasions, the brand must also weigh the impact of the artist on the brand value.

Anyway, Li Qin felt that she would not be able to borrow the money just relying on her current popularity and status.

But she was only excited for a moment, and then looked at Meng Bai with some worry: "Will it be troublesome?"

"Not bad." Meng Bai said: "It would be even better if you could sign with Taiyang Chuanhe after your contract expires."

Huguang is in the film and television industry and has nothing to do with the fashion industry. So he just contacted Yang Ming and used his resources.

Yang Ming agreed immediately. Apart from Meng Bai's relationship, Li Qin herself is one of the most popular "90s girls" and her image is not negative. As long as she doesn't insist on a high-end dress, other regular dresses are not a problem.

"By the way, I remember your contract only ends this year, right?" Meng Bai asked, "How long will it take?"

"It's almost the end of the year." Li Qin said, "Aunt Li asked me about renewing my contract some time ago, but I didn't agree. She was a little disappointed, but she didn't say anything."

She signed a ten-year contract with Rong Xinda when she was filming "Dream of Red Mansions", and it ended this year.

As for where she would go after the contract expired, she had been booked by Meng Bai a long time ago.

(End of this chapter)