Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 302 Invitation, Arrogance
The night was slightly cool, and the evening breeze from the capital city drifted into the room through the gauze window.

Gong Li

Liu Yifei's voice held an eager excitement.

"Yifei, is there something you need?" On the other end of the phone, Gong Li's voice was low and gentle yet powerful, with a hint of a smile.

“It wasn’t me, it was Wu Chen who wanted to talk to you. He said he wants you to have a cameo role in ‘The Martian.’” Liu Yifei said, handing her phone to Wu Chen.

"A cameo role?" Gong Li was taken aback.

She has had cameo roles in movies, but only very few.

Due to the restrictions imposed by Taiwan on mainland actors at the time, the production team of "God of Gamblers II: Back to Shanghai" specially filmed two versions to meet the needs of different markets.

She played the role of "Ru Xian" in the Hong Kong version, but the role was not part of the main storyline; it was more of a highlight for the film.

Another time, it wasn't a cameo but rather an added role, a special appearance, also in collaboration with Stephen Chow in "Flirting Scholar".

All things considered, these are the only two films in which she is not a true female lead.

"Sister Gong Li, it's like this."

Wu Chen took the phone and then described the people who made cameo appearances.

Although Scarlett Johansson and Chadwick Boseman have not yet won Best Actor and Best Actress awards, the former is from an art-house film background and has received numerous nominations, while the latter has also received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

Christian Bale and Liu Yifei, one a Berlin Film Festival Best Actor and the other a Cannes Film Festival Best Actress, made Gong Li's heart flutter.

"Director Wu, the female lead in 'The Martian'."

“Sister Gong Li, ‘The Martian’ is a male-centric film; there’s no female lead,” Wu Chen said with a wry smile.

Gong Li sighed. She hadn't expected it to be a male-centric film. Otherwise, in a Sino-US co-production, she felt that as long as the role wasn't too niche, she would have been much more competitive than the others as the female lead.

"Sure, I've been planning to be more careful with the scripts I take these past few years, so I'll accept your cameo role, Director Wu."

With this lineup, she has no problem taking the role and is no longer considering it.

Besides, future connections are only possible through collaboration, since there are no other actresses in China who are more suited to be in a film than her.

"You actually collected them all for me!" Liu Yifei jumped up excitedly after Wu Chen hung up the phone.

"It wasn't that difficult to begin with."

Wu Chen smiled. Liu Yifei's situation was not difficult at all. Bale wouldn't care about this anyway, as he had made many cameo appearances in movies and the two had a good relationship.

The only one that's a bit difficult is Gong Li.

Even if Gong Li had refused, he still had ways to gather the Best Actor and Best Actress awards from the three major film festivals. There was also a Venice Film Festival Best Actor award in China, not to mention Hollywood.

"Shameless! I helped you, remember to reward me!" Liu Yifei grinned and pointed to her cheek, indicating to Wu Chen.

The next morning, Wu Chen got up very early and headed to the space agency in high spirits.

The soft morning light of early autumn in Beijing spilled onto the square outside the space agency building, the air carrying a hint of metallic and ink smells.

"This is the model design of the Mars rover, which was manufactured by the aerospace technology team." The engineer in charge of the project pointed to rows of hand-drawn drawings. "These are the outer shell materials and the living quarters module. We are mainly responsible for the internal living environment and electromagnetic protection."

NASA's focus is on the integration plan between the airtight compartment and the propulsion system.

Wu Chen moved closer to the model and gently ran his hand over the metal casing.

These are the facades of hard science fiction. Because it's a one-man show, the audience's attention is often focused on the equipment inside these aircraft.

"Our cooperation with NASA is going smoothly so far."

Wu Chen nodded; the current progress was even faster than he had imagined.

The script's scientific logic has been perfected; it's time to hand it back to him for polishing some details.

He spent the entire morning at the space agency, only leaving around noon. Just then, Wu Chen's phone vibrated; it was Han Sanping calling, laughing and scolding:

"You're the one who's under pressure. The Golden Rooster Organizing Committee has even filed complaints with China Film Group."

Awards backed by official sources have real credibility.

"Black Peony" was not submitted for this year's Golden Rooster Award, and the latter naturally complained bitterly.

"Chairman Han, didn't China Film Group send 'The Knot' over this year? Isn't that enough?" Wu Chen smiled and dodged the question.

"Forget it, forget it!" Han Sanping was too lazy to continue the discussion, and then asked, "By the way, when are you planning to cast for 'The Martian'?"

"Casting... there aren't many options left, but we still need to decide on the lead actor." Wu Chen paused.

"Huh?" Han Sanping was stunned.

Wu Chen then laughed: "I found a few people to play cameo roles."

There was silence on the other end of the phone. After listening to Wu Chen talk about the guest actors he had invited, Han Sanping took a deep breath and asked, "Really?"

"Chairman Han, how could something like this be fake?" Wu Chen said with a smile. "I've already spoken to the people. I'll let Universal know later, otherwise I'm afraid it will put pressure on the producer and public relations team."

Han Sanping was taken aback.

He really didn't dare to think about the people they had invited. If it were from the Chinese-speaking world, there might be a chance, but with Hollywood involved, the difficulty was just too high.

"It's a perfect fit for the 'international collaboration' background of hard science fiction films, and it also fits the feel of a big-budget production."

Han Sanping breathed a sigh of relief. He had to admit that these people seemed to fit in with the film "The Martian" naturally, and since they were all positive characters, there was no chance of any one of them having a bad influence on the film.

After hanging up the phone, Han Sanping couldn't help but imagine the future surge in popularity of "The Martian." He then thought of other movies before shaking his head.

"Sigh, it's a pity it can't be copied. Only Wu Chen could manage to do it."

For cameo roles like these, only directors with the ability and connections to invite these people can get them; otherwise, what ordinary director would bother with them?

"Chairman Han, something's happened with 'Red Cliff'." The secretary rushed over.

Han Sanping, who had just been happy for a short while, was immediately overwhelmed by these words.

"What happened again?"

"The schedules of several key actors who signed contracts with the production team are about to expire, especially Takeshi Kaneshiro's, but director Wu Yusen said that filming will not wrap up for at least another two months."

"."

The next day, there were many reports about "Red Cliff", such as "Schedule exceeds time limit, Takeshi Kaneshiro urges director to wrap up filming" and "Wu Yusen reveals that he will spend one million US dollars to ensure the crew wraps up filming".
However, all the major news stories paled in comparison to this year's Golden Rooster Awards nominations.

Yin Li's "The Knot" garnered eight nominations, including Best Picture, making it the biggest winner, which is not surprising.
However, Feng Xiaogang's "The Banquet" only received two nominations: Best Supporting Actress and Best Sound Recording, while Zhang Yimou's "Curse of the Golden Flower" was completely shut out.

Even films that have won awards at international film festivals, such as the Golden Lion "Still Life" and the Golden Bear "Tuya's Marriage," were not nominated this time.
This move by the Golden Rooster Awards is truly baffling. It's not a problem that commercial films aren't being selected, but the problem is that even art films are being excluded.

Netizens couldn't believe their eyes; they'd only seen a few of the nominated films, and those they had seemed to have mostly missed out. A torrent of complaints immediately erupted.
"What kind of choice is this?!"

"Are you brain-dead? This film, 'The Messenger of Shambhala,' has it even been shown in theaters? How did it become Best Picture?"

"At least pick a few movies that we've already seen to put on the list! I haven't seen any of these, I suspect they haven't even been released yet!"

"."

There was a lot of discussion and criticism online, but Kang Jianming, Secretary-General of the China Film Association, showed no fear when facing media interviews:
"All the big-budget commercial films submitted their applications, but we weren't selected. It's that simple."

"The Golden Rooster Awards have their own selection rules, and the nomination list is the result of the organizing committee's selection."

"To be honest, I don't understand what kind of films they're trying to select." Ning Hao was stunned when he saw the list. It was a list that novices could possibly choose from. He then thought of Wu Chen's "Black Peony," "By the way, your film wasn't nominated either?"

"No, I didn't send it over."

(End of this chapter)