Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 249 Venice Next Year
At a premiere, naturally, you have to say good things; the film is of good quality, so there's plenty of praise to be given.

The director in charge was a teacher at the Beijing Film Academy who had a good relationship with Yang Mi. Chen Shou was also overseeing the filming process. The film was shot at the beginning of last year, but it was delayed until this year because the company was about to go public.

Chen Shouzhe gave several interviews, mainly asking him about his expectations for the film's box office performance.

It's just a formality, followed by a banquet.

Inviting someone over inevitably involves hosting a meal. Banquets are social occasions, and many people are willing to attend them. You might even be spotted by a director at a banquet and end up starring in a movie, and so on.

Yang Mi brought along some of the celebrities from her company, and Li Baibing and others who had their own studios also brought along, making a large group of several hundred people at the banquet.

Moreover, it's a traditional buffet-style cocktail party, making it easy for everyone to move around. If you want to discuss something private, you can find a sofa in the corner to sit down and chat.

"How's the movie going? It's going to be released next month. Is there enough time?" Ren Zhonglun asked Chen Shou, holding a wine glass.

There were quite a few people around, and they naturally knew which movie he was asking about when they heard his words.

"It's already passed the review and will be released as scheduled next month." Chen Shou nodded, referring to the operation in northern Myanmar.

The benefits of "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy" were immense for him. It was a mainstream commercial film that combined mainstream themes with commercial elements. For a state-owned enterprise, there was no better political achievement than this.

Chen Shou could understand his eagerness, but Wang Changtian, who was standing next to him, was bound to feel uncomfortable. From refusing to invest, the first movie that was rejected was "Operation Northern Myanmar".

Among so many production companies, Enlight Media was the only one missing. When he learned that Xi'an Film Studio had contributed 15% of the profits, he thought he also had connections who could help him.

Unfortunately, Chen Shouzhe completely ignored him and directly finalized his business partner.

This time, the distribution is still handled by three companies: China Film Group, Shanghai Film Group, and Wanda Pictures, but notably not Enlight Media.

Yu Dong was equally envious, as he didn't get a share either. The other film and television company executives were the same; it was too good to be holding onto film projects. They had already seen this year's results, and even the directors he had supported were making a fortune.

They could only gloat over Wang Changtian's misfortune. If it were them, they would be more than happy for Chen Shouzhe to invest in them and establish a deeper relationship with them.

To put it bluntly, the fear is that a situation like Huayi's, where there's only one Feng Xiaogang, the company is completely bound to him, and there's nothing they can do about it.

At the end of August, Chen Shou is going to Venice again. He won a small prize last year, which is considered a bit of goodwill.

Last year, Gravity had its world premiere in Venice, and this year the Venice International Film Festival is on August 30th. Chen Shouzhe was naturally among those invited, and he took the opportunity to trade his company's film produced this year, as a way of repaying the favor he received there last year.

People lift each other up, and the higher they go.

After the premiere, a massive publicity campaign began, praising Yang Mi's acting skills and her first film as a producer.

Her company is very good at this kind of promotion, and not to mention that many people go to see the movie because of the promotion.

On Qixi Festival, it's still all about the "simp economy," without the rise of "awakened sisters" (a term referring to women who are overly devoted to men ...).

A holiday is a time to go see a movie, but you can't exactly watch Wu Jing's patriotic fervor on Qixi Festival.

The blood is hot, how do we cool it down?

On the day Yang Mi's film was released, Chen Shouzhe took a plane with Zhong Lifan and others to Venice to attend the international film festival.

The entire domestic film and television industry was rushing there, led by Chairman La of China Film Group, who even asked Chen Shouzhe if he wanted to go with them. Chen Shouzhe resolutely refused, not going with the state-owned enterprise. Once there, he walked the red carpet and then began busying himself with film sales.

It's inevitable that domestic films will have difficulty going global. Chen Shou's best-selling films are basically released worldwide, such as science fiction films.

The five films brought this time were sold well, except for "Hello Mr. Billionaire," which was a close call. "Mojin: The Lost Legend" also sold well, showing that foreign audiences are very interested in the Eastern tomb raiding genre.

Several film companies approached Chen Shouzhe and suggested that the ending could be changed. In the end, he got nothing, just went on a trip and a bunch of people died, which was meaningless.

The idea behind tomb raiding is to find a huge treasure trove and then make a fortune.

Chen Shou could only helplessly explain the reasons to them, and the final transaction price was not high.

However, all that was sold was money; the five films together grossed over 100 million US dollars.

After attending the Venice International Film Festival, Chen Shouzhe was invited to present an award at the closing ceremony. As an Oscar-winning director, he was more than qualified to present an award in Venice.

Chen Shouzhe presented the Best Director Award, which was won by a French director.

The host, not wanting Chen Shou to simply be there to present an award, asked on stage, "Director Chen, when will you bring your work to Venice?"

"How about next year?" Chen Shou asked with a smile.

"Huh? Really?" the host exclaimed.

"Haha, if I can make it, I'll come next year." Chen Shou waved his hand.

Everyone present was surprised to hear Chen Shouzhe's words. Was Chen Shouzhe really going to participate in Venice?
Anyway, the organizing committee was very happy to hear this. Chen Shou is going to start aiming for awards, so they need to reserve his work early and not let Berlin or Cannes snatch it away.

Chen Shouzhe's words naturally reached China as well. He was still on the plane when the news started trending on Weibo.

Many people in the film and television industry took notice, especially actors. If they really wanted to participate in Venice, they would be willing to lower their fees or even act for free.

For an actor's pursuit of awards, just look at Leonardo DiCaprio.

Since Chen Shouzhe is going to participate, given his abilities, he is destined to gain something; there is no doubt about that.

Who says commercial film directors can't make art films? Chen Shouzhe is a recognized freak; who knows what kind of work he'll come up with?

However, a small group of people in China knew that the person Chen Shouzhe was talking about going to Venice might not be him, but rather the divine doctor that Wen Mu also brought.

After seeing the trending topic, Xu Zheng contacted Wen Muye immediately. The two had a good relationship, mainly because Xu Zheng was trying to win Wen Muye over.

He knew that Wen Mu had also come into Chen Shouzhe's sights. This time, he worked for him, and Chen Shouzhe would not treat him badly in the future. Building a good relationship and bringing him to his side in the future would be a great thing to improve the company's stock price.

"Congratulations, Director Wen, but you should also be mentally prepared that you might end up like Director Jiang Wen," Xu Zheng said.

"It's alright, I'm still young. Besides, Director Chen won't let me suffer." Wen Mu smiled. He knew his own position, and if he really won the Golden Lion Award, it would be an unparalleled boost to his career.

Others yearn for what they cannot obtain, but he can get it simply by being a middleman; he is already quite content with that.

(End of this chapter)