Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

"Good lad! That was a brilliant move, cutting off their supply lines. Now all the directors in Hong Kong are going crazy!"

In the hotel, Jiang Wen laughed heartily on the phone.

"To be honest, Yang Chen is really something else. He managed to get through to the Sixth Princess and get the news that you got 6.6 million in investment. Now the industry is going crazy. Everyone thinks you're going to follow in Zhang Yimou's footsteps and make a big-budget production!"

"Don't you even know what his family does?"

Zhuang Huai'an chuckled: "If I'm not mistaken, you called to tell me more than just this, right?"

"You're quite clever, aren't you?" Jiang Wen chuckled. "Someone approached me and said that if I really want to make a big production, they're willing to pay a premium as long as it gets on board."

"The person who would send you to act as an intermediary must be someone of considerable influence, right?"

"It's indeed quite large; it belongs to Huayi, Old Dong's company." Jiang Wen's tone was somewhat serious. "You've probably heard of his name."

Zhuang Huai'an hummed in agreement. If it was this person, then it wouldn't be surprising.

Although they are both named Hua Yi, the Wang brothers can't even come close to his shrewdness.

Jiang Wen added, "I'm making this call just to connect you two. Old Dong is actually a pretty good guy; he's very influential in Hong Kong and Taiwan. You can consider it."

"Okay, I'll consider it."

Zhuang Huai'an hung up the phone, threw it on the table, and shook his head with a laugh.

He wasn't opposed to this kind of thing. Even with the Hong Kong entertainment circle, which was portrayed so negatively in later generations, he initially approached it with a cooperative mindset. Making money is nothing to be ashamed of.

But if you want me to kneel, that would be fucking humiliating!

Hong Kong's film industry is now in decline, no longer the glorious "Hollywood of the East." After the "Infernal Affairs" series next year, many directors will move north in large numbers, and Hong Kong's local films will gradually decline.

Then Master Chen delivered the final blow.

Zhuang Huai'an's bottom line for cooperation is simple: don't involve political stances; everything else is a minor issue.

Take Jiang Wen, for example. She's all so powerful now, but back then, wasn't she forced to write a guarantee in a room?

Once you're in this circle, where are the clean people?

Oh right, this statement needs to exclude a certain little girl.

The second day of the Golden Horse Awards,

Unlike the quiet and deserted Hong Kong, here, Zhuang Huai'an finally experienced the grandeur befitting a great director.

The name of this auditorium is quite interesting.

The hosts were even more interesting, one woman and the other woman: Zheng Yuling from Hong Kong and Cai Kangyong from Taiwan.

Zhuang Huai'an couldn't understand why they would choose to use such an effeminate woman to attract attention when there are so many excellent hosts in Taiwan.

Because two of his films were nominated, Zhuang Huai'an walked the red carpet twice.

The organizers were quite considerate and had made arrangements in advance, separating the two film crews with a segment called "Beautiful Time".

Upon entering the auditorium, the two film crews were seated together. Wang Zhiwen and Wang Jingsong, the two Best Actor nominees, chatted without any restraint, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings.

It's worth mentioning that among the films nominated for this year's Golden Horse Awards, only "The Hunt" and "Seaside Town" are mainland Chinese films; the rest are from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Zhuang Huai'an guessed without malice that if he hadn't made a name for himself in Cannes and Venice, he might not have even qualified for the competition.

After presenting more than a dozen behind-the-scenes awards and having some unknown local artists perform a medley of songs, the more prestigious trophies were awarded.

When "The Hunt" won Best Screenplay, Zhuang Huai'an went up to give a few perfunctory words.

Lin Jiaxin won both Best Supporting Actress and Best Newcomer.

The best supporting actor is Huang Gou. This guy didn't look like a mixed-race person when he went on stage to speak. Maybe he changed after finding a foreign dad.

The Best Actress award went to Li Xinjie. Although she is not very famous in later generations, her opponents were Anita Mui, Fang Zhouxun, and Zheng Xiuwen. Moreover, she starred in a horror film, which was quite an upset.

On stage, Kwan King-pang and Mui Yim-fong held up cards together and said in unison:

"The Best Director award at the 39th Golden Horse Awards goes to Chuang Huai-an for 'A Small Town by the Sea.' Congratulations, Director Chuang!"

OK, we've won the first big prize.

Zhuang Huai'an stood up, smiled, waved to the crowd, and went on stage amidst applause.

Zhuang Huai'an hugged Anita Mui briefly, but not Kwan King-pang, whose sexual orientation has always been unclear. He simply shook hands with him and they parted ways immediately.

It was another tired thank-you speech. He already had a template, because in this kind of situation, saying too much would lead to mistakes, and saying thank you would avoid being criticized.

As he stepped off the stage, he ran into Chen Kexin, who was waiting backstage. Chen Kexin had a fake smile on her face, shook hands with Zhuang Huai'an, and said congratulations.

You can't hit someone who's smiling. Zhuang Huai'an isn't some arrogant genius. No matter how bad this guy's reputation is, at least he hasn't offended him yet, so there's no need for him to put on airs.

The teacher once said that you should make a lot of friends.

Chen Kexin's appearance on stage gave Li Ming a glimmer of hope. After all, she could be considered his mentor, so what if she could help him?

Things didn't go as planned, and the result left him somewhat frustrated.

The Best Actor award was won by Wang Jingsong.

Looking at Lao Wang on the stage, Zhuang Huai'an nudged Wang Zhiwen beside him and teased, "Senior brother, are you disappointed?"

Wang Zhiwen smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "Jing Song's performance deserves this award, and besides, I've also won Best Actor."

Both actors are among the best in the Chinese-speaking world, and their roles are very well-suited to their characters. They have discussed this topic privately and agree.

The Golden Horse Award for Best Actor belongs to none other than the two kings.

Wang Jingsong walked down the aisle with the trophy in his hand, full of pride.

The proceedings on stage continued, and Hou Hsiao-hsien, as the chairman of this year's jury, presented the award for Best Film without hesitation.

"The winner of the Best Feature Film award at the 39th Golden Horse Awards is Chuang Huai-an for 'Seaside Town.' Congratulations, Director Chuang."

Zhuang Huai'an went on stage three times to accept the award. Hou Xiaoxian smiled and shook his hand, saying softly, "Well deserved! Congratulations!"

"Thank you, Director Hou."

Zhuang Huai'an deliberately replied in Hakka, and Hou Xiaoxian's eyes visibly lit up upon hearing it.

"Thank you to the organizing committee, thank you to the Golden Horse Awards, thank you to my alma mater, Beijing Film Academy..."

This award was the grand finale, so Zhuang Huai'an naturally couldn't be perfunctory and put more effort into his speech.

He admitted that he had been narrow-minded before, thinking that the Golden Horse Awards would ask him to carry the sedan chair, but he didn't expect that they would actually give him the prizes, and they were all big prizes.

It must be said that the Golden Horse Awards, as the most prestigious award for Chinese-language films, is indeed relatively fair. At least there have been no upsets, and it has not been reduced to a tool for political maneuvering.

After Zhuang Huai'an stepped off the stage with the trophy, Hou Xiaoxian posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award to the late director Li Hanxiang.

With that, the Golden Horse Awards came to a close.

Although it was generally a pleasant experience, just like in Venice, Zhuang Huai'an doesn't plan to participate again. The awards are just a prelude for him; he'll let them have their own fun from now on.

The banquet following the ceremony

Zhuang Huai'an received another large stack of business cards, many of which belonged to rumored big shots.

They're not fake big shots; the big shots in Taiwan these days really play biubiubiu.

Just when he was struggling to cope, Hou Hsiao-hsien appeared in time to help him out of the predicament.

"Hey buddy, wanna go over there and have a chat?"

Hou Hsiao-hsien smiled and spoke fluent Hakka.