Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 692 Unyielding to Reason (Next Chapter)
In late October, the fragrance of osmanthus flowers in Hefei was almost cloying, and the autumn wind was chilly.

But for the 28th Golden Rooster Awards, this autumn chill wasn't just cool; it was as cold as stepping into an ice cellar.

On the night of the awards ceremony, Feng Xiaogang, the biggest favorite to win an award and who received nine nominations for "Aftershock," was surprisingly absent.

The official statement released to the public was that the person was "unwell and unable to travel far."

That's a pretty clever reason.

At least that's how Jiang Wen sees it.

He called Wu Chen immediately, his voice brimming with undisguised amusement.

"He has backbone, but not much. Bah, that's not backbone, that's a guilty conscience. He probably ran away because he was afraid everyone would see through his little scheme."

"Oh dear, how could you say that about Director Feng?"

On the other end of the phone, Wu Chen sounded utterly heartbroken.

"You're such a hypocrite!" Jiang Wen immediately laughed and scolded upon hearing this.

Everyone in the industry knows exactly what's going on.

When everyone was united against a common enemy, you, Feng Xiaogang, became a "traitor." Now that you see the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, you want to have your cake and eat it too, so you simply slip away and disappear.

That was a really flashy move.

However, the most outrageous part was yet to come.

When the final award results were announced, everyone was stunned.

The entire event was less of an awards ceremony and more of a "pork-sharing" party, and the pigs being distributed were ones that nobody knew.

Apart from "Aftershock" symbolically winning two technical awards, Best Art Direction and Best Music, the vast majority of the remaining awards were given to some completely unknown films.

Not to mention ordinary viewers, even many professional film critics were completely baffled.

The internet exploded.

"I hereby declare that this year's Golden Rooster Awards are a complete 'fake award'! I've never even heard of the winners!"

"What kind of movie is 'Shocking Sand'? Who plays the national anthem? The Best Actor award is an underdog, the Best Actress award is an underdog, the Best Director award is an underdog, and even the Best Film award is an underdog. Did the Golden Rooster Awards go to the Arctic Circle and freeze to death?"

"No wonder the big directors don't come. You guys really know how to have fun. Your art is too highbrow and you're just entertaining yourselves."

And what's with the award presenters tonight all showing off their breasts? Is there some kind of unspoken rule about it? Their breasts don't even look like breasts anymore, they're squeezed together like butts."

This year's Golden Rooster Awards, from beginning to end, can only be described as a "farce".

Just as the Golden Rooster Awards were still being repeatedly vilified by netizens, the winds blowing from the Korean Peninsula finally landed on the mainland.

The six major South Korean entertainment agencies—SM, YG, JYP, CUBE, FNC, and Starship—have officially announced a deep strategic partnership with Huayi Brothers.

Both parties will jointly invest in and establish a new joint venture company to be fully responsible for the artist management affairs of all artists under these six companies in China.

The moment this news broke, the entire Chinese entertainment industry was shaken.

The domestic idol industry is still in its infancy;
Now, facing a "regular army" trained by South Korea's industrialized assembly line, they're likely to get thoroughly beaten.

Of course, this is absolutely fantastic news for Huayi.

Because they have almost monopolized the resources of all the Korean idol groups and artists who are most likely to become hugely popular in the Chinese market in the next few years.
Jang Dong-gun, Hyun Bin, Bae Yong-joon, Super Junior, TVXQ, BoA, Girls' Generation, Wonder Girls
They are all popular South Korean celebrities.

Major companies have already quietly begun to take action, all figuring out how to play the game in the future.

Many companies are still observing and watching the moves of large companies such as StarChip, Bona Film Group, and Enlight Media.

Huayi, of course, wasn't just waiting idly.

How could one company possibly meet the needs of six major brokerage firms?

Wang Zhonglei's call went directly to Wu Chen.

To be honest, Wu Chen was also quite curious.

He met with Wang Zhonglei quite a few times, but they rarely had a proper phone conversation.

"Director Wu, I had dinner with this group of Korean artists last night. During the dinner, they kept saying that among Chinese directors, you are the one they admire the most."

Wang Zhonglei sounded extremely smug, "In the future, if Director Wu has any productions that require these people, just let Huayi know."

Half price for everyone! No matter who it is.

Wang Zhonglei had a very clever plan.

Half price?

If Huayi Brothers gave that half-price discount to other directors, they might really lose a fortune.

But it's a different story with Wu Chen. Just appearing in Wu Chen's movie, even as a background character, would raise his value, and Huayi might even make a profit.

Wu Chen couldn't help but smile. This Wang Zhonglei was really dreaming.

"Mr. Wang, let's talk about it later."

Wu Chen was too lazy to waste his breath.

Half price?

Some people would come to perform for him even if they didn't want money, but it all depends on whether he's in a good mood or not.

"He's completely stubborn."

Wang Zhonglei snorted coldly as he listened to the busy tone on the phone.

In the film and television industry, there are very few people who dare not give him face, but Wu Chen happens to be one of those rare individuals.

On October 31, "The Warmest 10 Days of My Life" officially ended its theatrical run, with its final box office gross settling at 4.26 million yuan.

[With a box office of 4.26 million yuan, "Warm Thirty Days" sets a new box office record for domestic romantic drama films!]

[Wu Chen and Liu Yifei team up to create a phenomenal blockbuster, achieving both critical and commercial success!]

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes," which has only been in theaters for three days, has taken over the mantle from "30 Days of Warmth."

However, this Hollywood blockbuster, which is a huge hit worldwide, is not very appealing to domestic audiences. In its first three days, it only grossed more than 5000 million yuan.

Liu Yifei has been extremely busy these days.

On the one hand, we are about to fly to Hollywood with Wu Chenfei to start the global promotion of "Interstellar", so we have brought together some domestic activities.

Like today, I'm going to support a Chanel event.

However, what makes actresses in the industry even more envious is that Liu Yifei's domestic film remuneration has increased significantly again, firmly reaching the 15 million mark, leaving the second-tier actresses far behind, almost forming a gap.

"I can't be envious, I can't be envious. Luckily, she rarely takes on outside opportunities."

"Forget it, their family has enough resources for her anyway, it has nothing to do with us!"

"."

Early in the morning, Liu Yifei picked up a small bag and prepared to leave.

She was dressed head to toe in Chanel today.

A classic black and white color-blocked tweed jacket, paired with a simple white silk shirt, and tailored black wide-leg trousers, finished with two-tone flat shoes, looks both elegant and capable.

"I'm leaving now. Are you going back to the company today?"

She leaned close to Wu Chen and kissed him on the cheek. Just as she was about to pull away, Wu Chen pulled her into his arms.

"What, you think you can just run away after you've taken advantage of me?"

"Hehehe," Liu Yifei laughed brightly, tilting her head back, "Here, shall I take it back for you?"

"Forget it, I don't want to take advantage of someone for free."

"You deserve a beating!"

The two joked around for a while before setting off separately.

Starry Sky Pictures, Wu Chen's office.

Xu Zheng has finally finished perfecting the script for "Lost in Thailand".

"I heard that he went to Thailand specifically to find inspiration and spent two whole months there." Wu Chen smiled and brewed a pot of tea for the two of them.

Ning Hao also came over. He took the notebook and started flipping through it.

"Great job, Lao Xu!" Ning Hao exclaimed after reading it. "This script is really well-written. It has potential!"

He could see that this notebook had great potential.

Of course, in his opinion, the most important thing was the framework that Wu Chen provided, which was well-designed.

Flesh and blood grow by attaching to the skeleton.

Some people are born with deformed bone structures.

Xu Zheng sat to the side, feeling somewhat uneasy.

This should be the closest he's ever come to success in his life.

If Wu Chen doesn't approve, then all his efforts over the past six months will have been for nothing.

He watched Wu Chen nervously, awaiting the final "judgment".
(End of this chapter)