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

Chapter 356 Fellow Senior Sister
"Crack! Click!"

"Come on, teacher, please stand a little closer and show me the front...Okay!"

"Hello everyone, we are from Dragon TV. Would it be convenient for us to do a simple interview?"

"..."

Since noon, the entire Oriental Art Center was bustling with people, and tourists, fans and media from all walks of life surrounded the place.

"Sister Hailu."

Li Qin, who had just come in from the artist channel, saw Qin Hailu from afar, so she thanked the staff member who was in charge of giving directions, and then walked straight over.

She came here with the crew of "White Deer Plain". Apart from the male leading actors Zhang Jiayi, He Bing and Zhai Tianlin, the only female actors who came were her and Qin Hailu.

"Come here, Xiao Li, over here."

Qin Hailu waved at her, and when she came over, she looked her up and down and asked, "Are you changing into a dress?"

"Yes, the original one felt a little inappropriate, so I changed it temporarily."

"It's better to change it. I just didn't have the nerve to tell you this morning that the outfit was really - the design was vicious." Qin Hailu shook her head, "But your team did find it in time. Now this outfit looks so good."

"Ah, haha, what can I say." Li Qin pulled the hem of her skirt and said with a little embarrassment.

Qin Hailu's words reminded her of the time when she went to change into her dress in the morning. The Dior team also severely criticized her original "mixed style".

But fortunately, it was finally replaced.

Li Qin looked down at the dress she was wearing. It was a Klein blue gradient dress with a ribbon at the top connecting to the back. Although it was off-shoulder, it added a touch of elegance.

The chest is embellished with broken diamonds, which sparkle under the light. Paired with a blue skirt, it looks like a blue galaxy, which complements her own beautiful temperament.

The design is not as gorgeous and exaggerated as those haute couture dresses. It looks simple and elegant overall, which is in line with Li Qin's own ideas.

Today was just an award ceremony, not a fashion party, and a dress that was too fancy was not suitable for this occasion. Moreover, she thought she would not win any prize, and wearing something too fancy would only make her look exaggerated.

Li Qin chatted with Qin Hailu for a few words, and then greeted the producer, director and other leading actors who had arrived earlier. After waiting for a while, a staff member came over to say something, and then she followed the crew and stepped onto the red carpet full of flashing lights.

Taking photos, signing autographs, interviews, it took four or five minutes to walk through the red carpet which was less than 20 meters long.

Go around the signboards and walk further into the exhibition area. On both sides of the wide hall are official theme signs and introduction boards for this year's shortlisted TV series.

There were small groups of people gathered in front of almost every display board. They were the media interviewing and the live artist guests.

Li Qin looked around and instantly saw Meng Bai not far away, and then her eyes lit up.

Unlike his previous laziness, this guy changed into a formal suit this year. However, unlike most of the serious celebrities around him, he was wearing a matte black suit jacket with the front open and the collar of his white shirt slightly open. He stood there casually, exuding a sense of uninhibitedness and casualness.

Although there are many celebrities around him, including many young and handsome actors, their temperament is not as profound as his.

Li Qin looked at it for a while, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously curled up slightly, with a proud expression.

Not sure if he noticed someone was watching him, Meng Bai turned his head and looked around, and also saw Li Qin not far away.

Li Qin grabbed the hem of her skirt with both hands, turned her body slightly to show it off, then raised her eyebrows at him and asked with her mouth: "How is it?"

Meng Bai didn't say anything, but raised his hand and gave her a thumbs up to show his appreciation.

Li Qin was immediately delighted when she received the praise and showed a proud expression.

"What are you laughing at?"

Qin Hailu, who was standing by, saw that the girl seemed to be greeting someone, so she followed her gaze and also saw Meng Bai at a glance.

"People you know?"

"Ah, yes." Li Qin, who was caught, smiled unnaturally, and then introduced: "It's Mr. Meng Bai from Arclight Films."

"Ah, he is Mr. Meng." Qin Hailu sighed suddenly.

She knew the names of Arclight Films and Meng Bai, but it was her first time seeing him. She glanced at the girl next to her with a blush on her cheeks: "Why, do you two seem to know each other well?"

"Ah, that... We've worked together several times before, and it's okay." Li Qin said calmly.

This kind of performance naturally couldn't fool Qin Hailu, who was an experienced person, but she and Li Qin were just partners and not very familiar with each other. So she just patted her arm and gave her a meaningful smile.

There were reporters and cameras all around, and the crew was doing interviews before the ceremony, so the situation was not suitable for a private chat between the two. Therefore, Li Qin and Meng Bai just exchanged a few words with expressions and small gestures from a distance, and did not get together.

Like Li Qin and others, the crew of "Peace Hotel" was also being interviewed at this time.

Meng Bai thought that it would be the same as before, with Qin Lan and Yang Lei leading the way, so he didn't need to do anything. After all, compared to the leading actors and directors, not many viewers were interested in screenwriters, producers, etc.

However, what he didn't expect was that after he had just stood there waiting for a while, several cameras came up to him, expressing their desire to interview him.

"Hello, Mr. Meng Bai, I am a reporter from Dragon TV."

A sweet-looking girl held the microphone in front of him and said with a sweet smile, "This is your first time participating in the selection of the Magnolia Awards. How do you feel?"

Are all the reporters on location now girls? Meng Bai looked at the four or five girls in front of him who were holding various radio equipment and pointing them at him, and he couldn't help but feel puzzled.

But this was not the time for him to think about these strange questions. With a light cough, Meng Bai showed a standard smile: "I feel very good. The Magnolia Award is an important award with great influence in the domestic and even international film and television circles. It is a great honor and recognition for me to be invited to participate for the first time. I feel very honored and excited..."

Meng Bai talked freely in front of the camera.

He just doesn't like to appear on camera, which doesn't mean he can't appear on camera. On the contrary, due to the expansion of Arclight Films in recent years, he has participated in many official or industry meetings, and he can easily say such clichés.

The girl in charge of the interview was a little stunned. This answer sounded too familiar. If there weren't celebrities walking around from time to time, she would have thought she was doing some government interview.

"Peace Hotel is your first TV drama and it was nominated directly. Do you think tonight's result will be just as miraculous, that you will win the award directly for your first participation?"

"It's hard to say. The works of the other nominated screenwriters are also excellent. Before the awards are announced, no one dares to say what the result will be."

Meng Bai answered the same as before, but then he paused and added: "But I am willing to believe in this kind of miracle."

The interview before the ceremony was relatively simple, and there were not many people present from Meng Bai's side, so it ended in a short while.

The group walked into the main hall and found their assigned seats under the guidance of the staff. "It seems that the group of "My First Half of Life" is next to us." Qin Lan glanced at the note on the back of the chair and said.

Meng Bai also took a look, and sure enough, the names posted on her side were those of Lei Jiayin, Ma Yili and others, all of whom were from the crew of "My First Half of Life".

"Come to think of it, Director Yang originally wanted Lei Jiayin to play 'Wang Dading'."

"Really? Not to mention, the image and style are actually quite suitable. But I still think Qin Hao would be better." Qin Lan said: "It's a pity that he didn't get the nomination for 'Best Actor'."

The Magnolia Awards do not limit the number of awards a crew can apply for, so when Arc Light registered "Peace Hotel", it applied for all the awards it could.

However, in the end, he only got nominated for four categories.

Objectively speaking, Qin Hao's performance as the bandit "Wang Dading" in "Peace Hotel" is actually quite brilliant. Especially compared with his previous images, it is a breakthrough performance.

It’s just that this character itself ranks below Chen Jiaying in the plot, and its importance is relatively weaker.

Furthermore, look at the nomination list for this year's "Best Actor" - He Bing, Hu Ge, Lei Jiayin, Wu Xiubao, and Zhang Jiayi, four actors from Shanghai. We can't let Qin Hao replace He Bing.

However, the standards of the Magnolia Awards when defining "leading actor" and "supporting actor" are also very strange.

Like Lei Jiayin, he was selected as the "Best Actor" because of his role as Chen Junsheng in "My First Half of Life".

This character became very popular when the show was first aired, and the nickname "Ex-husband Brother" was talked about by audiences and netizens for a long time. Lei Jiayin also gained a lot of popularity with this role.

When they signed up for the show, they should have all applied for the "Best Actor" award, after all, they both had the title of "leading actor". But viewers who have watched the show know that the male lead of the show is actually He Han, played by Jin Dong, and Lei Jiayin should be considered the second male lead.

I just don’t know why Jin Dong, the “real male lead”, was not chosen in the end, and instead the spot was given to a supporting role.

In fact, this is not the first time that the Magnolia Awards has done something similar. Last year, Liu Tao and Jiang Xin were both nominated for "Best Actress" for "Ode to Joy", but the winner was Yin Tao for "Chicken Feathers Flying to the Sky", so it did not cause much controversy.

However, it can be seen that Magnolia is not so strict about the positioning of the male and female protagonists. As long as they play a role in the overall plot, they are allowed to be classified as the protagonist.

Looking along the row of notes, Meng Bai also saw Qin Wen's name.

Among the five nominees for "Best Screenplay", "White Deer Plain" is at a natural disadvantage in terms of being an adapted script, "Love in the Courtyard" performed well but received low ratings from the audience, and "The Advisors Alliance" is slightly inferior in this regard.

So, in a sense, Meng Bai’s biggest opponent is his senior sister.

Just as I was thinking this, I saw the main creators and leading actors of "My First Half of Life" crew walking up the stairs.

Qin Lan and Ma Yili greeted them and introduced Meng Bai and Yang Lei to them.

Although they had no intersection before, Arclight Films is now quite famous in the circle, so Lei Jiayin and others came over to say hello to Meng Bai and make themselves familiar with him.

Meng Bai exchanged a few words with them, and then a middle-aged woman looked over with a smile.

"Meng Bai?" The woman stretched out her hand. "Hello, I'm Qin Wen."

"Sister Qin."

"Haha, a few years ago, I heard Professor Zou mention that he recruited a very talented student in his class, but unfortunately he was not able to keep him. He felt regretful for a long time." Qin Wen said: "I thought Professor Zou was exaggerating at the time, but I didn't expect him to be so low-key."

Meng Bai thought about it and realized that the "Teacher Zou" she mentioned should be Professor Zou.

From this point of view, the two of them can really be considered to be from the same school.

"You are too polite, Senior Sister. Unfortunately, I was too proud at the time and failed to live up to Professor Zou's kindness."

"Hey, when I was chatting with Mr. Zou a few days ago, he also said that not stopping you at the beginning is actually a good thing now."

Although they were competitors tonight, there wasn't much tension between the two.

For Qin Wen, Meng Bai, this "junior brother", is not only a screenwriter, but also the boss of a film and television company. If they make a good relationship, there may be opportunities for cooperation in the future.

As time went by, the ceremony venue slowly filled up with people.

Meng Bai also saw Li Qin who entered after him, but unfortunately there was a row between them and they could only communicate via mobile phone.

After waiting for a while, we heard the host Cao Kefan calling for silence. Then the lights dimmed and a golden magnolia logo lit up on the big screen, announcing the official start of the 24th Shanghai TV Festival Magnolia Award Ceremony.

The awards initially given out were mainly international awards, opera awards, and smaller awards such as documentaries. The Magnolia Award has always been held together with the Shanghai TV Festival, so naturally it would not be limited to the TV series category.

For Meng Bai, the first part was not interesting, so he simply lowered his head and used his mobile phone to send messages to tease Teacher Li.

There was a camera overhead all the time, so Li Qin didn't dare to be as casual as him. She could only smile and applaud along with the crowd, and when the camera passed by, she would take a moment to check her phone, reply to a message, and then quickly look up again.

Although it was a bit stimulating, she enjoyed it.

"…The two new awards to be presented at this year's Magnolia Awards are 'Best Fine Arts' and 'Best Photography'. Please take a look at the selected works on the big screen."

Halfway through the ceremony, everyone at the scene became more energized as they listened to the host’s introduction—the main event of the day was finally about to begin.

"Best Art" and "Best Photography" are two new technical awards introduced by the Magnolia Awards this year, so they are awarded together.

"I hope to have a good start." Yang Lei muttered to the side.

Peace Hotel has a dedicated art team, but Yang Lei also participated in a considerable part of it. So if it wins the award, he will at least take half of the credit.

In addition, this is the first nominated award for their crew, and everyone hopes for a good result.

It’s a pity that the award was finally given to “The Advisors Alliance”.

"It's okay, just think of it as accumulating good luck." Meng Bai comforted him.

"Haha, that's right." Yang Lei smiled.

Although it was only a minor technical award, it was the most promising award for Peace Hotel besides the Best Screenplay. It was a pity that we didn’t win it.

This result was also within expectations, so Yang Lei didn't care too much.

However, in this case, the only hope left is Meng Bai's "Best Screenwriter" award.

(End of this chapter)