Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 302 The Eighteen Lords Besiege the Artist
Gu Bei and Michael finalized the follow-up public relations activities and returned to Rose Pictures to continue their work.

In addition to the awards season activities, he also had to prepare for the pre-production filming of La La Land, especially the casting of the male and female leads.

The artist's box office photos he had just posted on Weibo started to garner more and more comments as it entered 8 a.m. in China.

Liu Yifei: "Wow, that's amazing, Boss Gu! @Gu Bei"

Although Liu Yifei's reposts and comments only lasted for half an hour.

But in a short period of time,
It was voted the most by everyone and reached the top spot.

"The way Sisi is eagerly trying to please her boss is exactly how I am in the workplace, it's so cute!"

"So short? Sisi actually used such a short sentence to brush off the boss. It's not even a third as long as the inspirational post you made yesterday. You're punished by having to go back and rewrite it!"

"Liu Yifei, the position of boss's wife at Linlang Entertainment is still vacant. I wonder if you'd be interested?"

Most people are clearly more concerned about the gossip.

They didn't even notice the artist's terrifying box office revenue per venue.

At most, one can only marvel at how much money the North American film market really makes!

This gave Gu Bei a feeling of wearing fine clothes in the dark.

He's showing off in a way that's outside everyone's knowledge.

resignedly,

He replied to Liu Yifei with, "Hurry up and go back to practice singing!"

"Practicing singing? What songs? Is Liu Yifei releasing another album?"

"It seems that Sisi will be singing a song with her older brother at this year's Spring Festival Gala."

"Sisi, singing isn't the right path for you. Let's give up on it!"

"Am I the only one who thinks Sisi sings quite well?"

"That's right, you're the only one who thinks that!"

"Shouldn't music be good to listen to?"

Liu Yifei's first appearance on the Spring Festival Gala was ultimately confirmed to be a singing performance.

This is arguably the safest option.

After all, the singing on the Spring Festival Gala is all lip-synced. As long as the lip movements match, that's enough. Even if the lip movements don't match, there are still rehearsal tapes to replace them.

However, in the era before the development of social media, these messages were only passed on among the most senior fans.

Most people wouldn't notice that their idol's name appears a few times in a small entertainment news article in the newspaper.

"They're still doing promotional tours for Mei Lanfang."

Liu Yifei seemed to be online at the same time, and replied to Gu Bei not long after.

"Catching a Sisi online!"

"Hey, hey, hey, do you two think we online friends don't exist?"

"You two keep talking, we'll keep watching!"

Gu Bei couldn't help but smile when he saw this.

Liu Yifei really did treat Weibo like a chat app, and she started having a conversation with Gu Bei remotely.

However, WeChat does not exist now.

Even WhatsApp, developed by Gu Bei, has few users.
First, WhatsApp currently does not support voice calls. Second, and more importantly, Apple has not even enabled push notifications. To receive messages, you have to open the app yourself.

Gu Bei put down his work and dialed Liu Yifei's number.

"Hey!"

Before Gu Bei could speak,
Liu Yifei said anxiously, "I'm in the airport VIP lounge with the rest of the crew right now!"

Gu Bei was slightly taken aback, and then immediately realized that Liu Yifei was reminding him not to say anything carelessly, otherwise he would be on the news tomorrow.

"Oh, good morning everyone!"

It should be a little before nine in the morning in China now.

"Director Gu!"

"Director Chen!"

Gu Bei recognized Chen Kaige's voice.

Chen Kaige said to Gu Bei, "Director Gu, Mei Lanfang was actually released on the same day as you in North America, but it's still in preview screenings for now. However, it should be available in Hollywood by now."

Gu Bei was slightly stunned when he heard this.

Because he didn't see Mei Lanfang or any similar film titles on that box office ranking!
However, he quickly realized there was another possibility.
The screening of "Mei Lanfang" likely did not receive MPAA certification.
Like most Chinese films, it can only be screened in a small number of Chinese communities and cannot be shown on a large scale throughout North America.

The advantage of doing this is that it saves on MPAA certification fees.

Chen Kaige is probably doing this to try and get nominated for an Oscar, and a mainstream one at that.

After realizing what Chen Kaige meant, Gu Bei followed up with:
"I didn't know that. It must be because the publisher didn't promote it enough."

I'll recommend it to some film critics later.

Mei Lanfang's visit to Hollywood back then left him with quite a bit of fame!

Upon hearing this, Chen Kaige felt very pleased: "Thank you, Director Gu. I will definitely put your name on the Oscar ballot!"

"Thank you, Director Chen!"

Gu Bei said lightly.

He felt no emotion whatsoever.

At least during the nomination stage, Chen Kaige's votes had no effect.

Because the voting rules during the Oscar nomination process use a first-come, first-served system.

Chen Kaige is from the directing department, so his ballot only has two lists.

One was Best Picture, and the other was Best Director.
Each list has five slots, all in order.

Next, the number of times each film garners the most votes is counted. If a film reaches one-fifth of the total number of votes cast by the judges, it can be included in the nomination list.

Once a film is nominated, it disappears from the ballot, and the second-place film becomes the first-place film.
Continue counting the number of first place winners until all five nomination lists are filled.

If Chen Kaige is nominated...

The first one will definitely include his own movies and himself.

Therefore, it was only after Mei Lanfang was nominated for an Oscar that...
You have to be the first to get one-fifth of the judges' votes before the artist.

At this point, the second-ranked artist and Gu Bei will be counted on Chen Kaige's ballot.
But it is clear that the probability of an artist being nominated first is much, much greater than the probability of Mei Lanfang being nominated first!

However... after the nomination list was released, Chen Kaige's vote became very useful.
The number of first-place votes is very important for the Best Picture award. That year, La La Land lost to Moonlight.

It's because La La Land's first-place vote count was too low.

In fact, La La Land received more votes than Moonlight.

Subsequently,

Gu Bei seemed to realize something and said to Chen Kaige, "Director Chen, after finishing up with Mei Lanfang, do you have any other projects? The Linlang Entertainment earthquake project was stalled for a while."
The script has just been completed, and we are currently looking for a suitable director.

Having just received a favor from Gu Bei, Chen Kaige couldn't find a reason to refuse: "I'll go and read the original work first. Send me the manuscript and I'll study it carefully."

"Okay, Director Chen!"

Gu Bei never imagined that he would direct the movie "The Great Earthquake".

Previously, it was only to seize Huayi's copyright.

However, even after securing the role, they haven't been able to find a director to replace Feng Xiaogang for the time being.

After getting to know Zhang Yimou, he tried to contact him.
Before Three Guns was disgraced, Zhang Yimou only had some dissatisfaction with Zhang Weipin, but had no intention of betraying him.

Now I'm thinking of Chen Kaige.

Although Chen Kaige's work has been largely abstract since the new century.
But he still manages to occasionally produce good movies, such as the one that brought the couple together, Da Mei Yuan and her husband.

"I'm not Director Chen!"

Liu Yifei's voice came through the phone, carrying a hint of coquettishness.

"When will the movie 'Mei Lanfang' be released? You've been doing promotional tours for 'Mei Lanfang' lately, and you also have to find time to practice singing. You must be exhausted," Gu Bei asked with some concern.

Liu Yifei heard Gu Bei's concern,

Her face flushed slightly; Gu Bei's sudden serious concern made her a little uncomfortable!
She looked around cautiously.
After realizing that no one was paying attention to him, he whispered, "December 12th is the first movie of the Lunar New Year season. I don't know why Huayi arranged for 'The Wind Rises' to be released on the same day, which made Director Chen a little unhappy."

Upon hearing this, Gu Bei pondered for a moment.

The Lunar New Year film season is currently the best time for box office revenue. It usually falls in the middle of December each year, depending on which day a blockbuster is released. That's when the season starts.

Mei Lanfang's performance is scheduled for December 12th.
I don't know why the release date was suddenly moved up by a week.
However, this time it was not moved up in release date, but was still placed in the Lunar New Year film season as the opening film of the Lunar New Year season.

Huayi used the phrase "The Fierce West Wind" to fight against Mei Lanfang.
It's estimated that he was trying to get revenge on Liu Yifei and Chen Kaige.

Liu Yifei's involvement with Linlang Entertainment, coupled with her status as Gu Bei's girlfriend, naturally made her Huayi's primary target. They had previously attempted to use public opinion against Liu Yifei.

Chen Kaige was the one who slapped Huayi in the face and resolved Liu Yifei's ban crisis.

Huayi is trying to get revenge on both of them at once.

but……

Huayi originally planned to release "If You Are the One" that year.

But now Feng Xiaogang is busy working on 1942, and "If You Are the One" has completely disappeared from the scene.

Gu Bei confidently said to Liu Yifei, "Don't worry, Director Chen's film is not afraid of an ordinary director. Mei Lanfang can definitely handle Xi Fenglie!"

"That's good. I hope Director Chen won't be affected by me!"

Liu Yifei breathed a sigh of relief.

She had complete faith in Gu Bei's judgment.

She was genuinely afraid that her actions would lead to the film "Mei Lanfang" being targeted.

"Even if Director Gao's West Wind is really well made, an action movie can't steal box office revenue from biographical art films. They are two completely different groups."

Gu Bei said lightly.

The first major clash in the Chinese film market
It has to be the 2011 films *The Flowers of War* and *Flying Swords of Dragon Gate*.

Before these two films, blockbusters would tacitly avoid each other for at least a week, for fear that the other would steal their box office.

As a result, the Flowers of War and Flying Swords of Dragon Gate took the top two spots at the box office this time, showing that two blockbusters can even revitalize the market.

And this time,
It was three years ahead of schedule.
Both films are blockbusters with budgets exceeding or approaching 100 million yuan.
The subject matter is so imaginative, it's hard to say what the outcome will be.
Gu Bei chatted with Liu Yifei for a while longer until Liu Yifei was about to board the plane before hanging up the phone.

With the release of the opening weekend box office figures,

The artist's reputation also began to grow.

Before its release, probably no one would have believed that the public would be willing to accept a black-and-white silent film.

The New York Times directly quoted Gu Bei in an interview as its headline: "Artists are very popular, directors: Welcome back to the golden age!"

From the moment Gu Bei's career took off, the New York Times has consistently been very supportive of him.

The same applies this time.
From the very beginning of the article,
The editor lavished praise on the artist, calling it the best black-and-white silent film of the new century to date, with a simple yet profound story, and it received high praise from critics and the general public.

Then, following the phenomenon of artists becoming popular,

They then began to suggest that as Generation Y gradually becomes the mainstream of society,
As a generation that accelerates its self-development and is deeply influenced by the internet,
The diverse aesthetic tastes of Generation Y audiences are driving the booming development of different film genres, as evidenced by films like Twilight in April and The Artist in December.

It seems that another golden age for movies is about to begin!
At the end of the article, the New York Times editor also revealed some exclusive news.
That means Gu Bei's next film project is confirmed to be a musical.
This was, of course, an exclusive piece of news that Gu Bei leaked to the New York Times.

This serves as a good warm-up for the recent casting of the male and female leads.

The New York Times article has once again fueled the artist's popularity, allowing him to maintain his leading position in the awards season.

But what is prosperous for a long time will inevitably decline.
An artist cannot always maintain the highest level of popularity.

Other films also began to exert their influence.
Danny Boyle, who directed Trainspotting, is also a renowned director.
He also has a large following of film critics, and the slum millionaire has begun to appear frequently in the film review sections of various newspapers.

Harvey also started to exert his strength.
Although The Reader is only showing in one theater,

But as the king of Hollywood independent films, he managed to make the figure of the reader ubiquitous.

Not only are they taking advantage of Gu Bei's artists, but they're also taking advantage of other popular movies, showcasing Harvey's unique media hype to the fullest.

Besides independent films

Brad Pitt's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button also caused a great sensation.

The story of a man growing from an old man into a child is inherently full of contradictions, especially when intertwined with historical changes similar to Forrest Gump.

The entire film, in terms of both performance and structure, has a very unique flavor.

And then there are the die-hard fans of the Dark Knight.

As a superhero film, The Dark Knight, with its compelling storyline and depth, along with the death of Heath Ledger, became a strong contender for Best Picture.

As the awards season heats up,
The era of artists dominating the scene is over.
The other films were like eighteen warlords besieging us.
If the noise of a single film can't outweigh that of an artist, then everyone will unite to deal with the artist.

In this context, two major preliminary awards were announced: the Los Angeles Film Critics Circle Awards and the New York Film Critics Circle Awards.

As two major centers of North American cinema, these two film critics' association awards, to a certain extent, determine the future direction of the awards season.

(End of this chapter)