Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 579 Golden Deer Ventures
The Changchun Film Festival Company has been established for too short a time, and Li Qiutang and her team are not yet able to deeply reform the Changchun Film Festival's competition section.

But Li Qiutang knew that this matter couldn't be rushed. He was still young, and the average age of his team was not high either. The oldest, Professor Chen Jifeng, was only 55 years old. They had plenty of time to slowly transform the film festival.

Despite repeated emphasis from above on holding a frugal gala, Li Qiutang's team still opted for a lavish affair at the opening ceremony of this Changchun Film Festival.

Films are closely linked to the market and commerce. If film festivals want to gain recognition and exposure, in addition to having attractive and prestigious film awards, they also need to rely on stars.

If a film festival has no stars, or not enough stars, which audience member would want to watch it?
Those who are willing to come will naturally come, and those who are unwilling will have to be invited.

However, since the Changchun Film Festival is positioned as a Chinese-language film festival, Li Qiutang felt that apart from those who came to promote their films at the festival, there was really no need to invite foreign film crews.

It can also save some money.

But the truth is, few foreign film crews come to the Changchun Film Festival to promote their films.

However, Tang Lijun did manage to invite quite a few domestic celebrities.

Regardless of whether they are nominated or have any promotional tasks, Tang Lijun welcomes all celebrities to show their faces at the Changchun Film Festival opening ceremony, even if they leave right after walking the red carpet.

This is where data traffic comes in handy, and very handy at that!
Next week, "A Chinese Odyssey Part Three" will be released, and the lead actors Han Gen and Tang Yan walked the red carpet together.

If their popularity isn't enough, then how about Bei Weiwei, who just became a sensation and whose popularity continues to rise as the drama airs?

When Jing Tian appeared on the red carpet, the female audience members screamed like mad!
So what if she's a TV drama actress? Isn't she an actress? Jing Tian will also be in a movie at the end of the year.

The opening ceremony preparation team originally wanted to invite Yang Yang as well, but "Love O2O" aired too late, and Yang Yang's schedule was already full.

The film "I Belonged to You," which is set to be released during the National Day holiday, has generated a lot of anticipation before its premiere. Deng Chao and Du Juan were also invited to walk the red carpet at the film festival.

As for the established big names like Fan Bingbing, Huang Xiaoming, and Bai Baihe, as well as some second- and third-tier celebrities, I won't elaborate further.

Judging from this, the star power on the red carpet at this year's opening ceremony was quite impressive.

In fact, Tang Lijun wanted to bring together the four former members of EXO who had returned from overseas, which would have been a huge topic of conversation. However, the stage at the Changchun Film Festival was not big enough, and none of the four members were willing to come, let alone reunite.

"Alright, let's welcome Liu Yifei next." Liu Yifei would naturally be present on the Changchun Film Festival red carpet.

She said she wasn't nominated for any films, so she came to promote her recently completed film, "Be With You."

Liu Yifei wore a fairy-like tulle dress from Delpozo's 2016 early autumn collection today, and she looked absolutely stunning as she walked the red carpet alone.

The red carpet commentator introduced: "Liu Yifei just finished filming her new movie 'Now I'll See You' last month. The movie is directed by Han Yan, a famous young director in my country. This is Liu Yifei's first time playing a mother role since she started acting. Audiences are very much looking forward to the performance of the 'Fairy Sister'."

Liu Yifei waved to the audience along the red carpet, stopping frequently to allow reporters to take photos.

The red carpet interview was also very simple, mainly about the recently wrapped-up drama "Now I'll See You". Liu Yifei said that it was her first time playing a mother and she was very nervous. The role was also very challenging, but she declined to reveal more, only saying that the audience should look forward to it.

Several more couples walked the red carpet one after another.

"Next, let's welcome the final judges of this year's Golden Deer Film Project Market. They are: Li Qiutang, Chairman of the Jury of this year's Golden Deer Film Project Market, a famous Chinese director and Golden Globe Award winner; Yuan Quan, a famous actor and two-time Golden Rooster Award winner; Huang Ke, a famous screenwriter; Chen Bowen, a famous Taiwanese editor; and Zhang Miao, a famous producer and distributor."

"During the five-day film festival, five final judges will chair the project pitching session and score the 32 shortlisted projects. This is the first year of the Golden Deer Project Pitching, but it has attracted a lot of young filmmakers with dreams. According to official data from the film festival, the Golden Deer Project Pitching organizing committee received 271 applications during the project submission period, with 32 projects shortlisted for the final review, making the competition fierce."

"Those who didn't make the cut shouldn't be discouraged. Deer Ventures has plenty of non-competitive opportunities available. You can actively strive for your projects through channels such as attending audits, one-on-one meetings, and open sessions. Maybe you'll be the next Li Qiutang. Good luck to everyone." Deer Ventures is of paramount importance, so the red carpet commentary naturally focuses on it.

As the chairperson, Li Qiutang represented the venture capital judges in a red carpet interview, encouraging the newcomers participating in venture capital to speak up, communicate, and set their own conditions. Li Qiutang made an inappropriate analogy: "Just treat the managers and bosses of the film companies in the audience as landlords and rich people, and rip them off as much as you want, don't be afraid."

Both hosts were amused by Li Qiutang's analogy and didn't know how to respond. They could only wish the young filmmakers participating in the venture capital a great success before letting the five judges leave.

In fact, the Golden Deer Ventures event had already begun before the opening red carpet, with the five judges having already listened to the presentations of the five projects.

It's naive to assume that all venture capital projects shortlisted for the final review are necessarily good or have investment value; some are simply unacceptable.

Jinlu Venture Capital Market is supposed to close at 8 p.m., but tonight, even at 10 p.m., there were still many people discussing things on the floor where the venture capital market is located.

In its first year, Deer Antlers was thriving.

Li Qiutang's team cannot interfere with the judging of competition awards for the time being, but it is already quite an achievement to do their own venture capital event well.

The next day, the five judges arrived at the venue early to prepare. They were expected to listen to 10 project presentations that day, which would be very tiring.

At 9 o'clock, the venture capital roadshow officially began.

The first project was called "Mountain Tracking," directed by Li Xiaofeng. The project proposal stated that the script was complete and that the project was seeking support for filming and distribution.

Li Qiutang did not know Li Xiaofeng, but in his self-introduction on the roadshow PPT, he mentioned that he had won the Most Creative Award at the 13 Shanghai International Film Festival for a film called "Nezha". The film was also nominated for the 14 Golden Horse Awards.

Judging from his resume, he is not a newcomer. He started out as a film critic, published a collection of film essays, served as the on-set documentary director for "Kekexili", collaborated with director Zhang Yuan, and even received the title of "Youth Leader".

It’s a big deal.

Li Xiaofeng must have attended many venture capital conferences; his PPT presentations are excellent, and his speeches are very fluent.

When the judges raised questions, he would even revise his PowerPoint presentation on the spot.

"This film mainly tells the story of Zhang Baomin, a mute miner, who searches for his son in the mountains. On his journey, he encounters..."

This film sounds like a suspense thriller, and the five judges seemed much more alert, since the five projects from the previous day were all too artistic.

It's not that we don't invest in art films, but the purpose of venture capital is to get projects into theaters. The representatives from the dozens of film companies sitting behind us are also here for this purpose. If the venture capital conference is full of art films, then it goes against the original intention of venture capital.

Li Xiaofeng was still speaking when the five judges listened and took notes.

After he finished speaking, Li Qiutang was the first to raise a question: "From your description, I understand that your film is on the darker side and has a good structure, but it also carries a high risk of being censored. What are your thoughts on this?"

Li Xiaofeng clearly had this in mind, and replied, "I intend to strengthen the positive image of the police and prosecutors, but it won't affect the plot's progression." The implication was that the police and prosecutors were merely decorative figures, and the plot would proceed as planned.

"Okay, I'm fine."

Two more judges asked Li Xiaofeng a few questions, which he answered very well, so they let him leave the room.

(End of this chapter)