China Entertainment's Standout

Chapter 1053 With power in one hand and beauty in the other, he was at the height of his fame.
"Director Zhang, President Zhou is leaving early tonight and asked me to tell you."

"Oh, he has a meeting tonight?"

After dealing with various media outlets and film industry bigwigs for several hours straight, Zhang Yimou's voice became somewhat hoarse.

"I suppose so."

Pang Liwei's expression twitched slightly.

After wiping his face with the warm towel handed to him by his assistant, Zhang Yimou regained some of his composure and looked up to ask:
How's things going with the film crew? Is filming going smoothly?

"I was just about to report this to you."

Pang Liwei pulled up a chair, sat down, took out a tablet computer from her bag, and began to give a detailed report.

While Zhang Yimou personally led the team to Venice, the domestic crew of "One Second" was still working intensively in Dunhuang.

The entire burden fell on Zhang Mo's shoulders.

It is said that like father, like daughter. Zhang Mo has worked with Zhang Yimou on film sets for many years, not only participating in the execution of projects such as "The Flowers of War" and "The Hunt", but also having experience directing films on her own.

Logically speaking, there should be no problem proceeding according to the established film production plan.

But Zhang Yimou was still not at ease.

Even when socializing abroad until late at night, he would still take half an hour every day to talk to Zhang Mo on the phone, asking about everything from camera angles to actors' emotions.

Even Pang Liwei, who had worked with him for many years, was somewhat impressed by the Grand Preceptor's boundless energy.

Sleeping less than 4 hours a day, running around film festival events during the day, and remotely monitoring film crews at night—this is something no ordinary person could do.

Perhaps only Governor Zhou, who held power in his left hand and a beauty in his right, could slightly surpass him.

Today's premiere of "Shadow" at the Venice Film Festival far exceeded expectations, with several well-known foreign film critics giving it high praise.

Afterwards, Chen Xi arranged a dinner at the hotel. After finishing his social engagements, Zhang Yimou provided remote and detailed guidance to the domestic film crew.

By the time they finished all that, it was past 1:30 a.m. Three young people in the assistant team had bloodshot eyes and were yawning. Only then did Zhang Yimou wave his hand to let everyone go.

Back in his room, after drinking the red ginseng supplement that his wife Chen Ting had prepared in advance, Zhang Yimou was still full of energy and continued working at his desk.

When Pang Liwei received the call at 5:50 a.m. the next morning, she said with a wry smile, "Director Zhang, work is important, but you also need to take care of your health."

"I know what I'm doing, I'm used to it."

Zhang Yimou seemed to be eating breakfast, mumbling incoherently, when he suddenly changed the subject, "I forgot to ask last night, did you show that notebook to President Zhou?"

"I saw it. Mr. Zhou sent me a message at 2:30 a.m.

When the topic turned to their professional field, Pang Liwei perked up immediately and continued, "He said the script's framework was fine, and the character arcs were solid. As for the content, he said he'd talk to Director Tong at the bureau later and have me discuss the investment ratio and distribution revenue with Chen Xi."

"That's fine, that's fine."

Zhang Yimou then smiled and asked, "Have you booked your tickets to Toronto?"

"Everything has been arranged, so I won't attend the closing ceremony here to avoid rushing."

The Yangtze River rolls eastward, and its waves wash away all heroes.

Three Kingdoms-themed film and television dramas have always been highly sought-after in the film and television industry.

Jiangdong Entertainment had also planned for this long ago, but the original script for the film "Shadow" was still before it was transferred to Jiangdong. The script was revised several times, and in the final stage, it only had the name of the Three Kingdoms, but no Three Kingdoms reality.

It's like setting up a new temple in a snail shell.

It retains the core of Eastern aesthetics while lowering the barrier to understanding for overseas audiences.

The director still has high expectations for the global box office performance of "Shadow".

However, since it was a project personally overseen by the Imperial Advisor, Zhou Yutang did not interfere with the specific creative process from beginning to end.

—Every truly outstanding director is never a puppet manipulated by others.

Each of them has their own set of project management methods ingrained in their very being.

Others can't learn it, nor can they change it.

For example, Chen Shiren's productions are undeniably visually stunning, but each film is filled with his personal ideological pursuits, making the form outweigh the story.

Actor's nightmare, literary youth's god, Wong Kar-wai relies entirely on intuition, and his style is unique.

Zhang Yimou is adept at using strong colors and grand scenes in his narratives, but his plots are often somewhat weak.

The same is true for "Shadow" this time; the colors and scenes are still stunning, but the depth of the plot has not been able to break through.

Putting the plot aside, the visuals and colors of the entire film are truly beautiful.

Like ink wash painting, it depicts a magnificent landscape.

It has a classical charm and a unique style.

Zhou Yutang, who has high standards, couldn't say he was very satisfied.

But the foreigners at the scene seemed to be slightly shocked.

After the premiere, the fact that the ice cream contained sugar is another story.

After her second marriage, Teacher Fan changed into a burgundy silk nightgown.

Her skirt reached her ankles, making her skin appear even whiter. As she sat in front of the dressing table blow-drying her hair, she kept thinking about Governor Zhou's conclusion after watching "Shadow".

Teacher Fan had no doubt about what Governor Zhou said.

After finishing her skincare routine, she pressed her perky buttocks against the sofa, causing the leather sofa to visibly dent.

She leaned lazily against the man's chest, found a comfortable position and snuggled closer, then asked, "Old Zhang, this project has such a large investment, won't it lose money?"

"With proper marketing, we shouldn't lose money."

Zhou Yutang gently stroked her long hair with his fingers, his tone calm, "Just don't have too high expectations for the box office ceiling. It would be good if we could break even and make a small profit."

The entire project cost 3 million yuan, and in addition to Jiangdong, it was backed by several production companies such as Enlight Media and Tencent, so it wouldn't lose face.

Since the die is cast and cannot be cast, let Chen Xi handle it.

The premiere of the director's new film in Venice unsurprisingly dominated headlines across major media outlets and sparked heated discussions among netizens.

With two days left until the end of the film festival, the schedule remains packed with events.

There was a roundtable discussion on the theme of "Industrialization of Asian Cinema," as well as various forums and exchange activities such as "Chinese Film Night" led by La Peikang.
Fan Bingbing, who is incredibly popular, has been keeping busy, taking advantage of the film festival to make various appearances and easily securing a new high-end endorsement.

Given her status, she is undoubtedly the best among the top actresses in China, which is perfectly understandable.

Over the course of several days, accompanied by various big names, they frequently dominated the trending topics, making their presence felt.

However, various media outlets have been unable to catch a glimpse of Governor Zhou's true appearance.

After attending the premiere of "Shadow", Zhou Yutang only left two necessary events, and had his secretary decline all the others due to scheduling conflicts.

Just as the Venice Film Festival was taking place, a shocking piece of news also emerged from the domestic film and television industry:
"The fantasy romance film 'Turandot: The Curse of the Demon,' directed by Zheng Xiaolong, written by Wang Xiaoping, and starring Dylan Sprouse, Guan Xiaotong, Hu Jun, and Zou Zhaolong, with special appearances by Jiang Wen, Sophie Marceau, and Vincent Perez, has successfully wrapped up filming at the Tangcheng Film and Television Base in Xiangyang."

During a break in the meeting, Zhou Yutang came across this news and was full of question marks. "When did Director Zheng go and do such a project?"

He and Zheng Xiaolong are old acquaintances, having worked together on "Empresses in the Palace," a drama considered the pinnacle of palace intrigue, which remains popular to this day.

Especially when the broadcast of "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" fell short of expectations, the historical status of both Governor Zhou and Zheng Xiaolong rose by one level.

"It seems to be a LeEco project."

Chen Duling blinked her big, bright eyes: "It's a co-production adapted from one of the world's top ten operas. I heard the investment is as high as 3 million. They even wanted to entrust the post-production to Vision Media, but the price wasn't right, so they couldn't reach an agreement." "I wish him good luck."

Zhou Yutang's expression twitched slightly. Upon hearing "co-production," he immediately understood what kind of film it was.

In fact, more than ten years ago, Zheng Xiaolong made a film called "Gua Sha", starring Liang Jiahui and Aunt Wenli, which tells the story of the conflict between Chinese and Western concepts.

This world-renowned super IP is his second film as the director.

This husband-and-wife business may be very successful in the TV drama industry, but it may not be able to work in the film industry.

Jiang Wen, who also starred in this stunning co-production, moved to Toronto after the domestic flop of "Hidden Man".

The Toronto International Film Festival is only a week apart from the Venice Film Festival. Like Zhang Yimou, Jiang Wen's "Hidden Man" will also have its international premiere at the same festival.

Poet Chen has already announced that he will bring his film "Legend of the Demon Cat" to the Toronto International Film Festival for screening.

Yang Mi will be appearing at the premiere of Liu Jie's new film "Baby". Zhu Yilong, after supporting Zhang Yimou in Venice, has confirmed that he will not attend the awards ceremony, but he will also be rushing to another event.
However, none of this has anything to do with Zhou Yutang.

During this trip abroad, eating sushi in Japan was just an appetizer, and attending the film festival was secondary.

Jiangdong Entertainment Dynasty's overseas business development is of paramount importance.

Several high-ranking officials from the Jiangdong International Foundation, including the chief strategy officer in charge of overseas investments, were present. Several important overseas project evaluation reports all required the Grand Commander's signature.

Many domestic media outlets have sent their own reporters to Italy to cover the Venice Film Festival, one of the three major European film festivals.

While the news of the global premiere of the National Director's new film garnered a good response, it paled in comparison to the shock caused by Governor Zhou's actions.

First, Zhou Yutang had a private dinner with Armani, and then there were rumors that Yu Sheng of the Jiangdong faction wanted to plant his flag in Milan, the fashion capital.

Even Wang Jinhua, Guo Tingting, and others couldn't sit still.

They rose from agents to entertainment company owners, and their main revenue comes from the income generated by the artists under their management.

Now that the Grand Commander of Jiangdong has ventured into the fashion industry, he seems determined to become the leader in the circle.

This move is to make the whole pie bigger, so that everyone can benefit from it.

Whoever gets a series of endorsements from Yu Sheng Jia in the future will have their commercial value recognized.

In industry jargon, this elevates one's status and naturally attracts attention.

Many people only notice the terrifying influence of the Jiangdong Group in the entertainment industry.

Some observant individuals have noticed that Jiangdong Group's overseas funds seem to be making moves again.

An investment company operated behind the scenes by the Grand Commander of Jiangdong, with an initial scale of over 10 billion yuan in overseas asset allocation.

In addition, its influence in the sports field is also increasing simultaneously.

The business empire of Jiangdong Entertainment Dynasty has never been built solely on film and television projects.

It was thanks to Zhou Yutang's behind-the-scenes role that the decisions made in these endless meetings gradually expanded from the domestic to the international stage.

Time flies, and before we knew it, it was the day of the closing ceremony.

At this point, the atmosphere on Lido Island was gradually reaching its climax.

A-list celebrities are everywhere, and world-class directors are also a common sight.

In his private dressing room, Governor Zhou, still dressed in a custom-made suit, leisurely crossed his legs as he cruised through the canyon.

His personal top makeup artist, Eileen, is applying makeup to Teacher Fan.

This made her already flawless and exquisite face even more radiant.

As the leading lady on the red carpet tonight, Ms. Fan's makeup and styling naturally need to be more exquisite.

A black openwork phoenix robe with tassels, designed by a top designer commissioned by Yu Sheng, with a touch of traditional Chinese style.

The design of the upper body perfectly showcases the amazing curve of Teacher Fan's chest, presenting a visually appealing sense of fullness and uprightness.

That platinum and diamond necklace, worth eight figures, was an early birthday gift from Governor Zhou, which further accentuated the beauty's flawless, snow-white skin.

It showcases the sexiness of a mature woman without appearing overly vulgar.

The most noteworthy feature is the cinched waist, which accentuates the slender and graceful waistline. The jade tassels on the belt complement the gold embroidery on the skirt.

In addition, she wore a pair of black high heels that matched her dress, exuding an indescribable elegance and sophistication.

Half an hour later, the task was finally completed. I heard that this dress was personally chosen by Governor Zhou. Looking at the stunning beauty in the mirror, I couldn't help but exclaim:
"President Zhou has excellent taste."

Some bored marketing accounts have done a count and found that Ms. Fan has worn a total of 23 dresses in public these past few days, but tonight's dress is undoubtedly the most beautiful one.

The women in the dressing room had the same thoughts.

Aside from being stunning, there's nothing else to say about it.

"How about it?"

Ms. Fan, beautiful and self-aware, slightly raised her red lips and deliberately stretched out her arms in front of the man, her skirt swirling gently.

There was a hint of sly anticipation in his eyes.

"It's just average-looking."

Governor Zhou, who had just carelessly had his crystal stolen by Li Xin, was cursing under his breath when he glanced up at her.

"Just average?"

Teacher Fan raised an eyebrow and raised her voice.

In fact, she knew very well that Governor Zhou, who suffered from severe face blindness, was surrounded by beautiful women, all of whom were top-tier beauties.
Even the most beautiful woman, after a while, she'll just look the same.

"Ordinary means that even ordinary female celebrities can't compare to her."

Zhou Yutang rarely praised him, saying, "Of course, your ambition is unmatched; you were still memorizing at 2:30."

"Ahem, you're smart to know what's good for you."

Teacher Fan blushed and interrupted the spell with a soft hum.

She would never let anyone know that she secretly memorized her acceptance speech before going to bed!
"."

Everyone in the dressing room, including Eileen, was numb from watching the two flirting.

Eileen chuckled, and Zhou Yutang asked curiously, "What are you laughing at?"

The two have been working together for over a decade and are already very good friends.

Eileen blurted out jokes that others wouldn't dare to make: "I remember you always have some witty remarks, Mr. Zhou. I think you said on some variety show that you were just ordinary and average, and today you're saying you're just average-looking."

"The life I yearn for."

It would have been better if you hadn't mentioned it, because once you did, all the professional people in the dressing room who were trying not to laugh couldn't hold it in anymore.

This was a speech Zhou Dudu gave at the Mushroom House, which he thought was very ordinary, but Teacher He followed up with a chorus of compliments that elevated it to a whole new level.

Then, netizens took a screenshot of it, and unsurprisingly, it became a popular meme.

Zhou, the ordinary governor, and Fan, the average-looking teacher.

You two are such a perfect match!

(End of this chapter)