Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 699 Interview (33)

The Golden Rooster Awards will be held on the 19th…

The voting results are already in!

Shen Yan won the Best... Screenplay Award.

Yes, it's another Best Screenplay...

Perhaps the judges felt that Shen Yan was, after all, a well-known young director who had won awards at international film festivals, and it wouldn't be right not to give him an award...

Let's just give it a screenplay award!

Anyway, this award isn't a big prize...

It won't affect the fact that we're awarding the big prize to the director they admire!
The director of *Wolf Totem* is Jean-Jacques Annaud, the director of *The Lover* and *Enemy at the Gates*...

Giving him the Best Director award would obviously overshadow Shen Yan;

Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy...

Claimed to be a reinterpretation of a classic revolutionary story.

Director Tsui Hark!

With his Golden Rooster Award, he has now collected the Golden Horse, Golden Rooster, and Golden Horse awards.

Yes, the three-time Golden Horse Award-winning director~
This mentality is a bit... "I'd rather befriend foreign powers than give to my own people; I'll use all of China's resources to win the favor of foreign countries!"

To be more precise: We can't beat you, but we'll ignore you!

Of course, Shen Yan doesn't need the so-called Golden Rooster Award endorsement.

The Golden Rooster Awards are in an awkward position. Held only once every two years, they not only fail to give timely recognition to the outstanding films that emerge each year, but also fail to provide the industry with reference and guidance. Furthermore, the sheer number of films nominated inevitably affects the rationality and fairness of the awards.

In any case, the credibility of the Golden Rooster Awards and the Hundred Flowers Awards has long been exhausted, and truly talented actors don't care at all.

Anyway, Shen Yan didn't care about any of that...

As for registration…

Of course you have to apply. If you are nominated, the local government will reward you with funds—real financial rewards that are tax-free!
Nominations for the Golden Rooster, Hundred Flowers, and Huabiao Awards all come with cash prizes…

……

Toronto, afternoon, hotel, open-air balcony.

Shen Yan and Chen Yiyi sat facing each other...

The photography team set up their equipment, without makeup or sunshades, with the clear blue Toronto sky in the background.

"can we start?"

"...Of course, anytime!"

Shen Yan's attitude was very casual...

By the way, Chen Yiyi is the editor-in-chief of Sina Entertainment, in charge of Weibo's celebrity, film, music, and drama platforms, as well as Sina's portal news section…

Their team spearheaded the construction of Weibo's celebrity ecosystem, launching events such as the Celebrity Power Ranking and Fan Carnival…

She also did big data marketing for films like "My Old Classmate" and "Forever Young," and oh yeah, "L.O.R.D.: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties"...

Well, it was also she who proposed the concept of 'Weibo Big Data,' and her team believed that *L.O.R.D.: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties* would definitely be a huge hit—after the official announcement of *L.O.R.D.: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties*'s production, its posters and casting received a lot of attention from fans. After Chen Xuedong announced that he would star in *L.O.R.D.: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties*, the number of reposts on Weibo reached 100 million within two hours.

With such strong data support, and Weibo also investing in "Legend of Ravaging Dynasties"...

And then... the box office was a disaster.

After that, Weibo's role was limited to co-producing content and doing some promotional work.

Chen Yiyi began the interview by asking about the Toronto International Film Festival: "Have you seen the People's Choice Award-winning film, 'Room'?"

"I saw it!" Shen Yan nodded. "Moreover, A24 has bought the North American distribution rights, so it should be released next year if nothing unexpected happens!"

"Huh? Why next year?"

"Because there are so many award-contending films this year—'Carol,' 'The Danish Girl,' and 'La La Land,' that's already three films..." The main issue is that 'Room' and 'La La Land' have conflicting award aspirations...

Oh, "Room" is the film for which Brie Larson won the Oscar for Best Actress for "Captain Marvel"...

A24 acquired the North American distribution rights for $500 million.

This movie was actually the first Oscar awarded to the original timeline company A24!

"La La Land came in second place at the People's Choice Awards... Did you expect that?"

“Hmm,” Shen Yan thought for a moment, organizing his thoughts, “I should say yes… the Venice and Toronto film festivals are both part of the awards competition…”

"Should we start aiming for the prize now?"

“You need to create a sense of high anticipation,” Shen Yan smiled. “This was my PR manager’s suggestion…”

Who is the PR manager? Would you mind revealing that?

"What's inconvenient about that...Cynthia Schwartz, she once won the Academy Award for Best Picture for No Country for Old Men, Crash, and The Hurt Locker!"

Why not Harvey Weinstein?

“Neither my male nor female lead likes him,” Shen Yan shrugged. “This person not only has a bad reputation in China, but also in North America!”

Chen Yiyi nodded, then changed the subject: "Can we talk about Xu Zheng?"

"Xu Zheng? Why are we talking about him?"

"...This year's National Day holiday film season will see 'Never Say Die' go head-to-head with 'Lost in Hong Kong'..."

"The release and distribution are not my decisions; they are the strategies devised by Maoyan," Shen Yan explained, adding, "However, both are comedies, and being released in the same period will inevitably lead to comparisons... I think releasing it a day earlier shows our confidence in the film itself!"

Have you watched "Lost in Hong Kong"?

"No..." Shen Yan shook his head: "But I watched 'Never Say Die,' which stars Ma Li, so I invested half of it..."

"You don't think 'Lost in Hong Kong' will be a success?"

"I haven't even seen this movie..."

"Why didn't Wang Baoqiang appear in 'Lost in Hong Kong,' but instead joined your 'Detective Chinatown'?"

"...I don't know, that's their private matter!"

Actually, most viewers went to the theater for the first "Lost in Thailand" because of Wang Baoqiang;

The full title of "Lost in Thailand" is "Lost on Journey: Thailand". Baoqiang had already signed a contract with "Lost on Journey 2" at the beginning. When he heard that Xu Zheng was going to start his own project and be the director, he returned his salary without saying a word and joined "Lost in Thailand" at a low salary. At this point, you have to consider relationships. After making money, you go through the contract process!
When it came to "Lost in Hong Kong," Bao Qiang wanted to exchange his salary for investment, but Xu Zheng refused and kicked him out, replacing him with Bao Beier...

Of course, Xu Zheng didn't look down on Wang Baoqiang; he simply loved money—Huang Bo was the same…

—In a game on "Happy Camp," Huang Bo was asked to call Xu Zheng to borrow money. As soon as the call connected and he mentioned the money, Xu Zheng said, "(For this movie) haven't I given you enough?"

The interview continues:

"...Based on your experience, how much box office revenue does 'Never Say Die' expect to get this time?"

"Between 15 billion and 20 billion... I think it will be difficult to exceed 20 billion, after all, the upper limit of the box office during the National Day holiday is set!"

……

We talked for about an hour and a half, and the conversation later touched on topics like the phenomenon of young, handsome male actors and the Spring Festival film "The Mermaid"...

Oh, and there's also the film *Mountains May Depart*—Jia Zhangke brought *Mountains May Depart* to Toronto for a screening, which was basically just a way to sell the rights…

Not only was it screened, but it also clashed with "Wolf Totem": the two films were competing for a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Wang Weimin, the producer of "Wolf Totem," also posted on Weibo: "That director's films have always been profound and obscure, with deep thoughts. I lack the self-control to watch any of them in their entirety, so I cannot comment on his work."

It's like they just started tearing each other apart!

Of course, in the end, neither of these two films had a chance, and the film that represented China in the Oscar race for Best Foreign Language Film was "Go Away Mr. Tumor"!
Shen Yan had absolutely no opinion on this...

Although "Go Away Mr. Tumor" was produced by Spark Studio, the main production company was Wanda!
Afterwards, Shen Yan treated them to a meal—after all, meeting in a foreign land is fate!

(End of this chapter)