Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 440 Be able to afford to play, but don't play games with people.

However, the signing ceremony between Autumn Pictures and Happy Twist was not public, so there was no question of creating hype or not.

However, Li Qiutang's arrival still shocked Happy Twist a bit, as they really didn't know that the big boss of Autumn was Li Qiutang.

“It’s normal for a director like me to have my own company,” Li Qiutang said with a smile.

"But you didn't say you had such a big company."

"Wow, running such a big company, making your own short films, and marrying such a beautiful wife like Liu Yifei, you're a true winner in life." Even comedians have a lot of inhibitions in private.

The signing ceremony was very simple. The CEOs of both sides sat together, signed their names, shook hands, and took a photo. Then, in the fall, they hosted a dinner for both parties.

Most of the 1.7 million yuan invested in Qiutian will be put into the creation of Happy Twist's stage plays and film and television content. With this investment, Qiutian will naturally become the producer and distributor of Happy Twist's future films.

When it comes to making movies, Li Qiutang is more professional than everyone at Happy Twist combined. At the dinner table, Li Qiutang doesn't hold back and shares some of her experience with them.

How do you manage a film crew of one or two hundred people? How do you manage a film crew of seven or eight hundred people?

"Putting everything else aside, even a company department with 30 or 40 people can encounter countless problems when organizing a trip, let alone a film crew. At its peak, the 'Mojin: The Lost Legend' crew had more than 1,200 people on set. You can meet everyone you can and can't imagine in your life on a film crew."

"All sorts of monsters and demons are included."

Extras slack off by hiding away to sleep or play cards; assistant directors withhold extras' wages; actors thank producers by ordering takeout for them...

Li Qiutang could talk for three days and three nights about all the ridiculous things that happened on set without repeating herself.

So big-name directors' crews are fine? Whether you're a big director or not, they still get paid by the day, right? They even complain that you, as a big director, have too many requirements and strict rules.

After finishing her dinner with Happy Twist, Li Qiutang went home.

He has been closely monitoring the weather in Toronto recently. Since it's already winter in Toronto, light snow is manageable for the film crew, but Li Qiutang is worried about heavy snow.

The Toronto production team reminded Li Qiutang: "We must wrap up filming before Christmas. Unfortunately, Christmas falls on a Thursday this year. With two holidays and a two-day weekend, Toronto will have a four-day holiday. The crew can't afford any delays."

The capitalist, Li, said, "When will we give them time off in lieu of leave? They're living too comfortably."

On the evening of the 22nd, despite being nominated for Best Feature Film and Best Director, Li Qiutang did not appear on the Golden Horse red carpet. The three lead actors, Huang Xiaoming, Xi Meijuan, and Qin Lan, along with some staff members, went to Taiwan.

This year is a relatively quiet year for the Golden Horse Awards, with Taiwanese films of lower quality and fewer nominated works, naturally resulting in a less star-studded event.

Gong Li's presence added a lot of prestige to this year's Golden Horse Awards. Gong Li hasn't attended a film awards ceremony for many years, so her attendance this time can truly be described as giving face to the Golden Horse Awards—Gong Li is one of the few active Chinese filmmakers who can be described in this way.

While the awards ceremony was being held at the memorial hall, Li Qiutang was having a meal out with her family.

Liu Yifei lay on a massage chair in the mall to accumulate trial time, while Li Qiutang and Liu Xiaoli stood aside waiting for her.

"You should come with us. It's only for a month anyway. The smog in Yanjing in winter is terrifying."

Liu Xiaoli listened to her son-in-law, but insisted that Li Qiutang bring his mother along.

“I told her, but she didn’t want to go.”

As they talked, the conversation turned to their wedding.

"What are your wedding plans?" "Yifei and I haven't discussed it yet, but I reckon she has her own ideas." Are all grooms uninterested in wedding preparations? Li Qiutang seemed rather unenthusiastic. "Have you decided on a date yet?"

"The date is easy to choose, we're just waiting for you two." Liu Xiaoli and her in-laws had discussed it many times, just waiting for the young couple to nod in agreement. Li Qiutang can now manage two households, and both sets of parents fully respect their children's opinions.

"Your mother and I are thinking of having a big celebration." The mother and daughter have relied on each other for so many years, which has not been easy. It is perfectly reasonable for Liu Xiaoli to want to have a grand celebration.

“You should have children after you get married this year,” she said, even before the wedding was over, and the topic of children came up in just a few sentences. “You should go back to work, I’ll take care of the children for you, you don’t need to worry about it.”

Li Qiutang fell silent. He dared not tell his mother-in-law that the two of them did not plan to have children in the next few years, or he would surely be scolded.

After Liu Yifei finished her massage, she took Li Qiutang's arm, and the family left.

After finishing her meal and returning home, Li Qiutang went to her study to work.

At that moment, everyone in his work group was talking about one thing: "Why didn't they give the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress to Gong Li?!"

"Gong Li's performance in 'Coming Home' was not good enough?"

"Who is this Chen Xiangqi? Has anyone seen 'The Sonata of Backlight'?"

Many industry insiders are puzzled by this, but there is a consensus: "The Golden Horse Awards played Gong Li."

This isn't a question of whether or not one can afford to lose; it's a question of fairness in film awards.

In 1979, to invite Coppola's *Apocalypse Now* to be screened at Cannes, Jacob made an exception and accepted all of Coppola's "unreasonable" requests, including allowing Coppola to screen an unfinished version of the film and show two endings simultaneously—*Apocalypse Now* was not yet fully filmed and produced when it was screened in Cannes. Cannes also arranged for a private plane to transport Coppola's team and family.

Ultimately, Apocalypse Now still won the Palme d'Or.

But nobody said Jacob cheated.

The Golden Horse Awards are being questioned precisely because of this. Gong Li hasn't attended film festivals for over a decade, and this year you invited her to add some prestige, only to have her sit there all night without giving her anything?

This Chen Xiangqi is still a newcomer!

Using Gong Li to promote newcomers is such a huge investment!
The company's senior executives even created a group voice chat to discuss the matter. Li Qiutang listened for a while and everyone said that the Golden Horse Awards were unfair.

“Pierre (the watch brand endorsed by Gong Li) had prepared a celebration banquet, just waiting for Gong Li to win the award, but they were tricked like this.”

"This is not how you promote your own people. Even if you're shameless, you could at least give them a joint award. But doing it this way, the value of this leading lady is reduced to zero, and nobody will recognize her."

"If you ask me, it would be better to award it to 'The Invisible Guest' than to this Chen Xiangqi."

As expected, Gong Li's agent later directly criticized the Golden Horse Awards: "This has shown me what an unprofessional film festival is like, and an unfair film festival will make all artists look down on you."

Gong Li later personally stepped in, saying, "I will never come to this amateur film festival again; it's completely meaningless. This is my first time at the Golden Horse Awards, and it will also be my last!"

Before heading to Toronto, Li Qiutang gave a brief interview and was asked about the Golden Horse Awards incident. Li Qiutang's comment was very direct: "You have to be able to take the risks, but you can't play games with people."

Local time afternoon, Li Qiutang and his party arrived in Toronto to prepare for the start of filming for "Mojin: The Lost Legend".

(End of this chapter)