Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

2 month 16 day,

The closing ceremony of the Berlin Film Festival.

Zhuang Huai'an, accompanied by Feng Yuanzhen and Mei Ting, walked the red carpet, took some photos, and then entered the venue.

The award ceremony procedures for the three major competitions are all similar: first, the cake is distributed, and then the grand prize in the main competition is awarded.

Although "Hero" was nominated, Zhang Yimou did not attend, probably because he knew the film had little potential to win an award.

However, the organizers also gave him a piece of the pie, awarding him the Alfred Innovation Award, which recognizes visual innovation in films, similar to the Best Art Direction award at domestic film festivals. Zhuang Huai'an felt this was very reasonable, as the art direction of "Hero" was indeed impeccable.

Li Yang's "Blind Shaft" won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution, which is not a very prestigious award, second only to the Silver Bear for Best Original Score.

Seeing Li Yang weeping on the awards stage, Zhuang Huai'an shook his head and offered no comment.

The Best Actor award went to George Clooney for "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," while the Best Actress award was shared by three actors, all from the same film, "The Hours." The winners were Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, and Julianne Moore.

The fact that they didn't win either of the two awards left Feng Yuanzhen and Mei Ting a little disappointed. After all, they had come all this way and definitely wanted to take an award home.

Having missed out on Best Actor and Best Actress, the next awards to be presented are the two most promising awards for "Gone Girl": Best Director and the Jury Prize. As for the Golden Bear, Zhuang Huai'an had never even considered it.

"The Best Director award at the 53rd Berlin International Film Festival goes to 'Gone Girl'! Congratulations to the director!"

OK, Leo, you've made me a fortune again!

With a polite smile, Zhuang Huai'an hugged Feng Yuanzhen and Mei Ting before calmly walking onto the podium.

"Thank you to the film festival, thank you to the organizing committee, and thank you to my alma mater, Beijing Film Academy, for your strong support..."

After a long string of template thanks, Zhuang Huai'an raised the Silver Bear trophy and waved it to the audience.

Li Yang below clapped absentmindedly, a complex look flashing in his eyes.

The awards ceremony continued.

The Silver Bear Jury Prize was won by Patrice Scherhout, a close friend of Zhang Yimou and the jury president for this year's Cannes Film Festival. Zhuang Huai'an has met him a few times, and the two get along quite well.

Old Xiahou's directing skills are indeed impressive, but Zhuang Huai'an really couldn't appreciate the award-winning film "Dead Poems." He even felt that Li An's later film "Brokeback Mountain" was definitely deeply influenced by this movie.

The Golden Bear winner is once again Michael Winterbottom's "The World Between Us," a feature film shot with a documentary style. It is worth mentioning that the characters in this film are all played by real Pakistani refugees.

This kind of film is unbeatable in Berlin.

At the banquet following the awards ceremony, Old Xiahou took the initiative to approach Zhuang Huai'an.

"An, congratulations on becoming the youngest winner of the Berlin Silver Bear."

Zhuang Huai'an raised his champagne glass and clinked it with his, saying with a smile, "Sir, you seem to have forgotten that I am still the youngest winner of the Venice Golden Lion Award."

Cannes is different. The youngest winner there was only 12 years old. Jody May won the Best Actress in an Ensemble Cast award in 1988, similar to this year's winner, "The Hours."

"It was indeed my mistake."

Xiahou joked, "I should call you the youngest Grand Slam winner."

The Jury Prize at Cannes, the Golden Lion at Venice, and the Silver Bear for Best Director at Berlin.

These are all very prestigious awards; calling them a mini-Grand Slam is absolutely no exaggeration.

Zhuang Huai'an laughed after hearing this. It was indeed interesting that a film festival could award a different kind of prize.

To be honest,

Xiahou spoke in broken Chinese, then switched back to English, saying, "I've accepted the invitation from this year's Cannes Film Festival organizing committee to serve as the jury president. I heard from Zhang that you seem to have a new film in development; is it going to be submitted to Cannes?"

That's exactly what I was thinking.

Zhuang Huai'an replied in Chinese, "This movie is somewhat similar to my previous two films; both feature a male protagonist and are about humanity and redemption."

"I see."

Xiahou nodded and exclaimed, "An, I must say, your grasp of human nature is really accurate. Even a 14-minute short film like 'The Tuner' can be told as a good story."

"Thank you for the compliment. I think this might just be talent."

You're kidding, it's a cheat code.

"Yes, talent. It's hard to imagine your future."

After clinking glasses with him, Old Xiahou said, "Looking forward to your movie," and then left.

Seeing that Zhuang Huai'an was alone, the actors present stepped forward to hand him their business cards, including top Hollywood actors such as Nicole Kidman and Brad Pitt.

The so-called layman looks at the excitement and the insider looks at the doorway.

Audiences may idolize stars and pay more attention to awards like Best Actor and Best Actress, but within the industry, it's generally accepted that the Best Feature Film award is the most prestigious, followed by Best Director.

Being a good director is itself half an asset.

After the dinner,

Zhuang Huai'an had just returned to the hotel when he saw Leo grinning broadly as he walked over, eager to show off. "An, how was it?"

"Leo, you're a fucking genius, well done!" Zhuang Huai'an laughed and punched him on the shoulder.

The two went upstairs and sat at opposite ends.

"Well then, let's get down to business."

A sly glint flashed in Leo's eyes. "MK2 has offered 1600 million euros for the film 'Gone Girl,' and as usual, it will be distributed outside of Asia."

"A local, ordinary person." This price was in line with Zhuang Huai'an's expectations.

Leo seemed somewhat surprised that he agreed so readily.

To be honest, his original asking price was 1800 million euros. The reason he quoted 1600 million was because he thought that Zhuang Huai'an's value would increase after winning the award, with a fluctuation of 200 million, so that he would have room for bidding.

But Zhuang Huai'an didn't know that?

he knows,

He knew Leo had earned a lot these past few times, but you can't expect the horse to run without feeding it, can you?

What is the most important thing when dealing with an international film distributor?

We're offering discounts, reasonable discounts!

Only when they make money will they continue to fawn over you. What can make capital submit is not talent, but music and slapstick.

For Zhuang Huai'an, he was just a middleman, doing business with no capital investment; as long as he could sell, it was all profit.

Unlike his predecessors who were time travelers, he wouldn't treat other people's works as his own treasures and hoard them tightly.

You've made two movies, do you really think you can have an equal dialogue with those established capitalists?

This idea of ​​Zhuang Huai'an's is not about worshipping foreign things, nor would he beg to make money.

To put it bluntly, even if you are Spielberg, Cameron, or Nolan, you still have to rely on these publishers' channels to make money, instead of them begging you. The best outcome is if both sides can interact on an equal footing.

Of course, we're talking about the publisher, not the producer.

For those who can't distinguish between them, you can think of the former as China Film Group, and the latter as Enlight Media or Bona Film Group.

After finishing their business, Leo put down his coffee cup and asked, "An, when are you planning to go back to China?"

"I'm not going back for now; I want to go to Hollywood."

Zhuang Huai'an shook his head. The timing was awkward for China. He decided to take a trip to Los Angeles. Whether or not he would make a movie was another matter. He needed to register with the Writers Guild and file some classic scripts first.

"What a coincidence," Leo raised an eyebrow, "I'm also going to Los Angeles. We wouldn't happen to be on the same flight, would we?"

"Eight o'clock the day after tomorrow morning," Zhuang Huai'an replied.

"Good, me too. Looks like this trip won't be lonely."

Leo smiled and said, "I'll introduce you to a friend."