The Rise of Chinese Entertainment in 2008

While participating in the film festival, Gu Ning also received news from China every day.

Several popular films released during the Spring Festival were all shown in December and had already finished their run by January 20th.

Since its release, Crazy Racer has had absolutely no rivals.

Until the first day of the Lunar New Year, the release of "The Dragon and the Phoenix" and "Lost in Thailand" posed a certain threat to it.

However, there were only three relatively good movies around the Lunar New Year, and their impact on each other was limited.

By February 5th, "Crazy Racer" had been in theaters for over half a month, and its box office had reached over 2 million yuan.

However, box office revenue has already begun to weaken, and with the resumption of work after the Lunar New Year, it is almost impossible to break 100 million yuan based on the current trend.

Therefore, Ning Hao's side began to increase publicity, striving to complete this final push in the last ten days or so.

The film "Lost on Journey" grossed over 30 million yuan in just ten days.

This box office performance has already broken even; any further box office revenue will be a profit.

Although "Look for a Star" was released on the same day as "Lost in Thailand," it had Huayi Brothers as its investor and Andy Lau as its lead actor. Despite being released on the same day, "Look for a Star" grossed over 50 million yuan.

Gu Ning calculated in her mind that, based on the current box office performance, breaking 50 million should not be difficult.

If he wins an award and the news spreads back to China, it will definitely boost the film's box office, and 60 million is still a realistic possibility.

Based on 60 million, after deducting distribution costs, the production company would receive approximately 31%, which is 18.6 million.

After deducting the two million yuan in publicity expenses advanced by China Film Group, the remaining amount is 16.6 million yuan.

Gu Ning owns 35%, which means she will receive nearly six million.

If the copyright to the short film can be sold for a good price, the total value could conservatively be around ten million.

With this money, he can do a lot of things.

Thinking of this, Gu Ning fell asleep contentedly.

…………

Time flies, and it's already February 13th.

The three major award ceremonies are usually held on the closing day, and the event ends after the awards are presented.

But foreigners like to be romantic, so they held the awards ceremony on Valentine's Day.

In other words, the awards ceremony is tomorrow, and all the nominated directors are eagerly waiting for the organizer's call.

You can attend any awards ceremony, but receiving a phone invitation the day before the ceremony means you're guaranteed to win at least one award.

Seeing her husband's increasingly dark face, Chen Hong glanced at her watch and was at a loss for words to comfort him.

It was almost seven o'clock. According to the tradition of previous years, if you hadn't received a call by seven o'clock, it meant that there was no chance of winning a prize.

"Kaige, don't be discouraged. Different countries have different standards for art," Chen Hong comforted him.

She played the lead role in "Mei Lanfang," and she has already decided to work behind the scenes, which means this may be the last film she stars in.

It's impossible for me not to have any thoughts about the Best Actress award.

If I could win the Silver Bear Award, it would be a perfect ending to my acting career.

No matter how much regret she felt, she couldn't show it at all; she still had to keep her husband calm.

My husband usually has high emotional intelligence, but when he gets emotional, he becomes a bit childish.

The problem is that she can't really treat him like a child yet; all she can do is try her best to stabilize his emotions.

Chen Kaige paused for a moment and then said, "Get your clothes ready. You've worked very hard, being both the producer and the lead actor in this film. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and walking the red carpet with you in Berlin on this day will definitely be very memorable."

"Okay, sure."

Chen Hong nodded excitedly upon hearing this, as long as her husband didn't mention wanting to return to China.

If someone doesn't attend an awards ceremony just because they didn't win an award, they'll lose both face and substance.

"By the way, I wonder if Xiao Gu has received the call," Chen Hong said.

Chen Kaige shook his head and said, "His short film has enough storytelling and depth, but it is, after all, an animated short film. It doesn't showcase the director's abilities at all, so it's almost impossible for him to win an award."

He naturally didn't want to watch a short film, but Chen Hong said that Gu Ning was from the Beijing Film Academy, which meant she was his junior, and the two of them were the only two Chinese people nominated, so he had to support her.

Only then did Chen Hong pull the great poet Chen to take a look.

"We're all Chinese, and now that we're abroad, we should at least ask around."

After Chen Hong finished speaking, seeing that her husband did not refuse, she picked up her phone and called Gu Ning.

As soon as the call connected, Chen Hong chatted casually with a smile for a few minutes. After hearing Gu Ning's reply, her smile froze for a moment, but she quickly recovered and congratulated Gu Ning.

When the great poet Chen heard Chen Hong's congratulations, his expression, which had eased somewhat, darkened again.

He just said that Gu Ning's chances of winning the award were very small, but the boomerang came too fast.

The great poet Chen had an urge to have his wife book the tickets right now.

If we really wait until the awards ceremony is over, wouldn't we have to go back with Gu Ning?

He could already picture the group of people leaving the airport and being surrounded by a group of reporters.

Reporters surrounded Gu Ning with microphones, ignoring him completely. Then, after interviewing Gu Ning, they came to ask for his opinion of her, forcing him to insincerely praise her.

No!

Chen Kaige felt he couldn't bear the embarrassment and was even less willing to be Gu Ning's background character.

"Kaige, I'll take the clothes to the waiter to have them ironed."

Chen Hong ended the call without mentioning that Gu Ning had received the invitation.

When the great poet Chen saw his wife hang up the phone, he wanted to ask her to book a ticket back to China, but when he heard what she said, he stopped himself from saying it.

…………

Gu Ning had no idea that the great poet Chen had so many thoughts running through his mind.

He was still very happy to receive the call from the organizer.

In his previous life, he only won a few minor awards for the web series he filmed; he never even participated in the three major awards, let alone any of them.

Even a short film award made him very happy.

The following morning, a large number of journalists from various countries gathered outside the film festival venue.

Whenever a car stopped, the photographer would quickly take pictures.

Not only were the organizers romantic, but the film producers and celebrities attending the film festival also embraced romance.

They were always seen together, hand in hand, smiling sweetly, as if celebrating Valentine's Day.

Some people even kissed in public, providing ample material for the media before entering the venue.

"..."

Gu Ning felt that those who said the domestic entertainment industry was chaotic were being narrow-minded.

At least domestic celebrities wouldn't dare to do this.

When it was Gu Ning's turn, the reporters, who had been stingy with their film rolls during the opening ceremony, were unusually generous this time, almost blinding Gu Ning with their generosity.

The crowd erupted in cheers.

"What's wrong?"

Gu Ning was completely bewildered. While smiling and posing for the photo, she also quietly asked the translator for a question.

Could it be that these foreigners felt sorry for him because he didn't have a female companion?

"that…"

The translator explained in a slightly embarrassed voice for a couple of minutes.

Gu Ning's face darkened after hearing this, and she quickened her pace.

Are these foreigners crazy? Does not bringing a female companion mean they're gay?

The thought of smiling and cooperating just moments ago made Gu Ning feel like she wanted to die.

He vowed that he would go to film festivals again in the future.

……

The awards ceremony officially began at 9:30 a.m.

The first award presented was for short films, and Gu Ning became increasingly nervous as the first award was announced.

There are only three awards for short films: the Lifetime Achievement Award (Golden Bear), the Short Film Jury Award (Silver Bear), and the Best Short Film (Golden Bear).

The Honorary Golden Bear is not awarded to the shortlisted short films, but to those who have contributed to the development of short films.

The next two are the Silver Bear and the Golden Bear, respectively. If he doesn't win the next one, then the Golden Bear for Short Film is his.

When the jury announced that "Please Say Something" had won the Silver Bear for Best Short Film, Gu Ning breathed a sigh of relief and smiled as she clapped.