Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 386 Can the three weather vane trophies be combined into a little golden statuette?

Avenue of Stars.

Hyatt Regency Century Square.

Gu Bei got out of the car and buttoned up his suit jacket.
He calmly faced the flashing lights of the media and slowly walked into the hotel.

"Bruce, congratulations on your Directors Guild Award nomination tonight. What are your thoughts on Kathryn Bigelow's nomination?" a reporter suddenly asked Gu Beifa.

It’s interesting!

Was Harvey involved?
This question is actually not easy to answer.
Without Gu Bei, Catherine would have been destined to become the first female director to win an Oscar for Best Director, and also the first female director to win the Directors Guild Award.

Entering the new century,
Especially after 08,
Black people and women are no longer satisfied with their current treatment and have begun to fight for their 'rightful' share.

If Gu Bei gives a wrong answer, he will have to bear a new crime.

He pondered for a moment:
"I think it's excellent. The Hurt Locker is a feature film, but it's also a documentary."

Director Catherine's filming techniques explore the narrative boundaries of war films, and I am quite certain that it will become one of the benchmarks for anti-war films.

However, compared to the version seen at the Venice Film Festival in 08,
I'm a bit disappointed with the Hurt Locker movie that's currently showing.

The Venice version is the best!

Regardless of whether this reporter was Harvey's doing,
Let's just shift the blame to Harvey for now.
As everyone knows, Harvey is a well-known scissors in the independent film industry!

When Bong Joon-ho first came to Hollywood, he had a major showdown with Harvey Weasley over the final cut of Snowpiercer. He only managed to regain the final cut thanks to the support of Chris Evans, the male lead, and other actors.

But the cost was that North American distribution was handled by The Weinstein Company.

It has been downgraded to RADiUS-TWC, a niche arthouse film distributor owned by Weinstein.

When The Grandmaster was released in North America, it was also heavily re-edited by Harvey, from 130 minutes to 111 minutes.

Ironically,
The 111-minute 3D re-release of The Grandmaster in China
Basically, it follows the editing approach of Harvey's North American version.

Some side stories have been removed, and some explanatory dialogue has been added to make it easier for everyone to understand.
Ultimately, both box office performance and critical reviews leaned more towards this re-released version of The Grandmaster.

really,

After hearing Gu Bei's evaluation,

Everyone's faces showed expressions of 'Harvey is so damn damned'.

This isn't the first time Harvey has messed up a director's film; everyone is well aware of Harvey's flaws, but no one has dared to criticize him like this before.

Gu Bei waved to the media and walked into the banquet hall with a smile.

The hotel's banquet hall was filled with tables and decorated with beautiful flowers, giving Gu Bei the feeling of attending a wedding banquet.

but,

The Directors Guild Awards are guild awards.
All of the nominees are directors.

There's one award for advertising directors, seven categories for television, and two categories for films: documentaries and feature films, for a total of only ten awards.

Moreover, the awards ceremony is actually an awards banquet, and the process is really similar to a wedding banquet. After the awards are presented, everyone starts eating right away!
Gu Bei was led by a waiter to the table with his name on it.

He saw Cameron chatting with a middle-aged woman, so he greeted him: "James, I heard you're working on another special edition of Avatar?"

Avatar's North American box office is approaching $600 million.

Gu Bei heard from the IMAX staff that there's a special edition of Avatar, which will only be shown in IMAX 3D and 3D theaters.

He knew this news, and because of the exclusive agreement with IMAX regarding Gravity, once Gravity was released, all IMAX theaters in North America would stop showing Avatar and give up IMAX theaters to Gravity.

"Yes, it's a pity that many scenes were cut, and I plan to release them again."

Cameron nodded in response and introduced the middle-aged woman next to Gu Bei. Sure enough, she was Cameron's ex-wife and the director of The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow.

Judging from their expressions during their conversation, Gu Bei knew that those who said Cameron looked livid when Catherine won the award were just stirring up trouble by marketing accounts. The two of them clearly had a good relationship.

He greeted her in return: "Hello, Mrs. Bigelow. I really like your bomb squad. Why does it feel a little different from the one in Winston back then?"

"Harvey bought the film's distribution rights, which is something he often does!"

Catherine didn't hold back when criticizing Harvey, and she even said to Gu Bei with a smile, "I also really like your La La Land. Although I can't make movies like that, it doesn't stop me from appreciating them."

Gu Bei quite liked Catherine's cheerful personality and readily admitted his shortcomings in directing technique.

Although Catherine is a female director, her personality and directing style are very much like those of a man.
Even in terms of her directorial shortcomings, unlike typical female directors who excel at character development but lack technical skill, Catherine's directing skills prioritize technical ability over character development.

In her film *The Hurt Locker*, it's very obvious that the character development is extremely weak.
But the film's breakthrough lies in its use of a semi-documentary style to depict the realism of war.

It abandons the grand narratives and individual heroes of previous war films, and focuses on the micro-experiences in war after de-heroizing them.

Although The Hurt Locker is arguably the lowest-grossing film among all Oscar-winning Best Picture winners, its influence on subsequent war films is no less significant, including North American Sniper and Hacksaw Ridge.

"Bruce, you're so young!"

Jason Reitman, who was standing next to Gu Bei, reached out his hand to Gu Bei and couldn't help but sigh as he looked at him.

"Isn't it the same for you?"

Gu Bei shook hands with Jason and chuckled to himself.

Of the five nominees present, these two are the closest in age; Jason is only 32 years old this year, much younger than the other three directors.

Jason shook his head, somewhat dejectedly: "I'm still far behind you!"

Jason comes from a film family; his father is also a director. He became a child star at the age of eleven and started directing at the age of twenty. This kind of opportunity is something that most directors dream of.

Even with this growth rate far exceeding that of ordinary directors,

Jason was already thirty years old when he entered the mainstream.

and,

Quite coincidentally,

Gu Bei and Jason entered the mainstream field in the same year.
Their films, Whiplash and Juno, are both from 2007.

But two years have passed, and this year, just like Juno back then, Gu Bei is destined to be a runner-up in the Cloud, while Gu Bei has gone from being a runner-up to becoming the biggest star of the awards season.

This situation was difficult for Jason, who had been used to being considered a genius since childhood, to adapt to for a while.

"Bruce, I think I owe you an apology!"

Quentin took the initiative to strike up a conversation with Gu Bei.

The two had only met twice in three years since their first meeting at Hannibal Anthony Hopkins’s house, but Gu Bei’s name had been constantly on Quentin’s mind.

He originally wanted to meet Gu Bei in Cannes, but the plan had to be shelved because of the conflict between Gu Bei and Harvey.

Then he turned his back.
After filming Inglourious Basterds,
They discovered that Gu Bei was already a hot director in Hollywood.

He said somewhat apologetically, "I'm very sorry, I may have said some inappropriate things after drinking back then. Your editing of Whiplash did change some of my initial impressions!"

Quentin's words piqued the curiosity of those present.
I never imagined there was such a story between Gu Bei and Quentin.
What's even more intriguing is how Gu Bei will respond, given that Gu Bei and Quentin's financial backer Harvey are practically irreconcilable enemies.

"Well, I hope you don't drink too much tonight!"

Gu Bei simply smiled faintly, shook hands with Quentin, and then sat down in his seat.

Quentin was slightly disappointed. However, considering Gu Bei's attitude towards Harvey,

At least Gu Bei shook hands with him.
This is much better than Harvey's treatment.

The awards banquet began.

As it's a Directors Guild Award, the choice of host is also quite unusual.
87-year-old director and comedian Carl Reiner,
This is a veteran who truly experienced the entire Golden Age of Hollywood.
It's not just the Directors Guild; there's a group of people like this in all the major Hollywood guilds. Artists and La La Land are selling nostalgia by appealing to this group.

Compared to award ceremonies that rely on viewership ratings, the Directors Guild Awards don't have many performances in between, and the awards are presented quite quickly.

Gu Bei sat in his seat, watching the awards banquet unfold while also observing the five nominees, including himself.

Because of the Oscar rules, the nominees for Best Director are nominated by directors, and then everyone votes to decide who wins the Best Director award, the nominees for the Directors Guild Awards and the Oscar nominees almost completely overlap.

Cameron and Jason were the first to be eliminated from the five, as both of them had weaknesses in their storytelling.

Jason's two films, Juno and Up in the Air, were nominated because their themes resonated with the times.

However, his cinematic storytelling is only of average quality.

This is evident from the fact that neither film received a nomination for Best Editing in the 'Little Best Picture' category.

As for Cameron's Avatar, its narrative pace is smooth and it handles heavy topics with ease, but it doesn't offer anything new.

Even movie fans can see that Avatar overlaps with certain classic films, and Cameron himself has admitted that he is paying homage to these movies.

For the Oscar judges who have witnessed the production of those classic films, Avatar's narrative is outdated.

In contrast,

Titanic is truly an epic masterpiece!
Cameron's storytelling skills haven't gotten worse.
However, compared to Titanic, whose story synopsis was full of dramatic tension from the very beginning, Avatar inherently lacks sufficient dramatic tension.

At last,
So all that's left are my two films against Harvey?

If I weren't there, wouldn't that mean this year's winner would be either Catherine or Quentin?

Even Gu Bei had to admit that Harvey was quite capable. After Gu Bei snatched away the wrestler, he immediately captured the bomb disposal team that year.

Even if Harvey has excellent judgment...

Even so, they couldn't stop Gu Bei, this guy who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

The next question is whether the plagiarism controversy has affected the judges of the Directors Guild.

"Next up is the winner of the 62nd Directors Guild of North America Award for Feature Film. This year's five directors are all very young and very talented."

Carl Reiner carefully opened the envelope.

young?

Gu Bei turned to look at Cameron and Catherine, both born in the 1950s and nearing sixty.

However, compared to Carl Reiner, who was born in the 1920s, he is indeed considered young.

Carl finally opened the envelope: "Congratulations on the birth of our youngest Directors Guild Award winner today... Gu Bei, La La Land!"

The words fell,

The scene fell silent for a moment.

Everyone already had an expectation in their hearts.
Anyone in Hollywood can't ignore the invincible presence of La La Land's awards season.

But when the results were actually announced...
It still manages to amaze people.

"Clap clap clap!"

Cameron, who was sitting at the same table, stood up and gave Gu Bei a congratulatory applause.

Everyone in the banquet hall stood up, filling the hall with applause as they applauded Gu Bei, the youngest recipient of the Directors Guild Award in history.

Amidst the applause, Gu Bei momentarily lost in thought.
The transparency of the awards season made all the results predictable.

But Harvey's underhanded tactics still bothered him.

The allure of reality lies in the fact that no outcome requires logic, because reality doesn't need to convince anyone; it's full of geniuses who just lack that one sliver of luck.
Fortunately, he has never lacked such a bit of luck!
Gu Bei stood up.

He walked through the applauding crowd.

He walked and stopped frequently, making sure to speak with every union member who approached him.
This feeling gave Gu Bei the sensation of being transported to a banquet in the last century.

After he walked through the crowd and reached the empty space in front of the podium,

Looking at the awards stage in front of him, he knew very well that once he got past the Directors Guild Awards, he would be facing a smooth road ahead!
Gu Bei took the trophy from the nearly ninety-year-old Carl Reiner and looked back at the faces in the banquet hall.

now,

He only wanted to ask one question:
"Three films, three Oscar nominations, three Oscar predictor trophies... can they be combined into one golden statuette?"

……

After a few days,
Kyoto, Park Hyatt Residence.

Zhang Ziyi walked into the luxury apartment with a somewhat dejected expression, casually tossing her luxury handbag, worth hundreds of thousands of yuan, onto the sofa.

She lay there, utterly exhausted.
2010 was like a catastrophe in her life.

First, there was the ink-splashing incident at the end of last year, which sparked numerous rumors about him.

She had already vaguely sensed that something was wrong.
Before she could even react, a socialite she had previously associated with contacted the media, revealing a whole host of stories that only exacerbated the already unresolved controversy.

The final wave came a few days ago with allegations of fraudulent donations, which directly brought her public image to rock bottom.

Everything from the past is rapidly fading away from her.

A month ago, she was Zhang Ziyi, not only able to be the leading actress in a Hollywood award-winning film, but also the producer of that film.

However, a month later

The film she initiated kicked her out, her endorsements dropped, and she was criticized wherever she went for business events, completely losing her former international superstar status.

at this time,

She saw the headline on the magazine next to her: "Gu Bei embroiled in plagiarism controversy in Hollywood, his Oscar dream shattered once again this year?"

"Deserve it!"

Zhang Ziyi felt a little better when she saw this headline.

When someone is stuck in a quagmire, seeing others in the same predicament can make them feel much better.

Especially after the ink-splashing incident, she begged Liu Yifei to help her ask Gu Bei for help, but Gu Bei completely ignored her.

Moreover, it was Gu Bei who made her choose between the Grandmaster and the Snowflake Secret Fan.

Without this choice,

She can still go back and film The Grandmaster.
While Wong Kar-wai couldn't secure her a foothold in Hollywood, he was able to keep her status as a star.

Now everything is gone!
Zhang Ziyi opened her phone.

I was just about to browse Weibo to de-stress,
The first message that appeared after the update was: "Gu Bei's La La Land leads this year's Oscars with 14 nominations, tying Titanic and All About Eve as the film with the most Oscar nominations!"

(End of this chapter)