Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 235 245 [Farewell, My Little Wife, won the Best Foreign Language Film! ]

After talking with Harvey and Quentin, Li Yishu also said something to Thomas and walked towards Gong Li.

Although normally speaking, the crew of "The Sixth Sense" is definitely more important, after all, this movie brought huge box office revenue to Lee Ye-su.

But this time, with producer Thomas present, Li Yishu no longer needs to lead the team in the name of director, and can go directly to "Farewell My Concubine" to wait.

After Li Yishu came over and sat down, Gong Li asked curiously, "Director Li, what did those two people want to talk to you about just now? It looked like you two were standing there chatting for a long time."

Li Yishu shook her head: "Nothing, just looking for me for cooperation."

Gong Li smiled and said, "You have really become an internationally renowned director. When you come to award ceremonies, foreigners will actively approach you to collaborate with you."

"Isn't this normal operation?"

Li Yishu looked at Xu Lu beside her with a smile: "Sister Xu, you are also a producer. Wouldn't it be more reassuring to work with me instead of others?"

"That's right, it's definitely more reassuring to ask Director Li for help than to ask anyone else."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Lu smiled and said, "But Director Li, you haven't thought about me for a long time. I wonder if there will be another chance for us to work together?"

"Of course. After I finish filming the movie with Cheng Long, I will look for Sister Xu to work with me on the next movie."

Li Yishu has long wanted to find an opportunity to cooperate with Xu Lu again. The reason is very simple, that is the influence of Tang Chen Group in Shanghai.

As the first Hong Kong real estate group to enter Shanghai Pudong New Area for development, Tang Chen's influence is still very large.

Xu Lu's husband is the chairman of the Tang Chen Group. Li Yishu also hopes that he can help introduce her to the person in charge of Shanghai Pudong New Area. Naturally, she has to give first before she can receive anything in return.

"Okay! Then I'll wait for Director Li."

Xu Lu's eyes lit up. She didn't expect that her trip to the United States would bring her such an unexpected surprise.

While the three were chatting, Li An also came with the crew of "The Wedding Banquet".

There are seven people in total. Except for the male protagonist Zhao Wenxuan and his mother Gui Yalei, I don’t know the rest of them.

However, except for the male protagonist's "lover" who is an American actor, the others all understand Chinese and have no problem chatting with each other.

Time passed quickly, and the 1994st Golden Globe Awards ceremony for American Film and Television in 51 officially began at : in the evening.

Lee Yi-su was not interested in the presentation of the previous awards, as they had little to do with him. It was not until the Best Screenwriter award was presented that he perked up and looked towards the stage.

But Li Yishu didn't hold out much hope, as Spielberg's "Schindler's List" was too buggy.

To use the words of later generations, it is the perfect score for political correctness!
It would be the biggest upset for a film about the Jewish Holocaust concentration camps during World War II if it didn't sweep the Golden Globe Awards and the Oscars soon.

Who doesn't know how great Jewish influence is in Hollywood?
Sure enough, as Li Yishu guessed, the Best Screenplay award was given to "Schindler's List".

As a result, Lee Yi-su has even less hope of winning the final Best Supporting Actor award for "The Sixth Sense".

The acting skills of the young actor James are indeed very good. Thanks to the movie, he is now very famous in the United States, no less than the child star Macaulay Culkin who became famous with "Home Alone".

As other awards were presented one after another, it was soon the turn of the Best Foreign Language Film Award.

The two award presenters who came on stage were one man and one woman, and Li Yishu didn't look familiar to either of them.

After all, most of the Hollywood stars he was familiar with only started to become active after the millennium, when Hollywood blockbusters were rampant in China. Basically, anyone who had watched a Hollywood movie could name a few relatively familiar male and female actors.

"This year's nominees for Best Foreign Language Film are..."

After the male guest named the five nominees for this year's Best Foreign Language Film Award, the female guest opened the envelope, glanced at the list of winners, and said with a smile, "In 1994, at the 51st American Film and Television Golden Globe Awards, the winner of the Best Foreign Language Film Award was..."

""Farewell My Concubine""

"Let's give a round of applause to the director Art Li from China!"

Li Yishu didn't recognize the English translation at first, until the other party said "Art Li", then she realized that the English translation was really weird.

Farewell My Concubine?

No wonder after "Farewell My Concubine" was handed over to Columbia Pictures for distribution in the United States last year, it did quite well at the North American box office, reaching $760 million before it was withdrawn. With just the title of this movie, who wouldn't want to go to the cinema to watch it?
"Yishu, congratulations!"

Gong Li didn't understand at first, until the other party said Art Li, she looked at Li Yishu excitedly.

"Congratulations, Director Li." Li An smiled, and it was hard to tell whether he was happy or sad, but he must be disappointed inside.

"Congratulations Director Li!"

"congratulations."

"..."

"thanks, thanks."

After shaking hands with the people from the "The Wedding Banquet" crew around her, Li Yishu took a deep breath and strode onto the stage.

When he arrived on the stage, he thanked the presenter for accepting the Best Foreign Language Film Award, and then, under the arrangement of the host, he came to the microphone.

"I am very happy to be on the stage of the Golden Globe Awards. This film is the third one in my directing career. It has taught me a lot and brought me a lot. I would like to thank the organizers and the jury for their support, which allowed me to win the Best Foreign Language Film Award. I would also like to thank the main creative staff of the crew, including producer Xu Suo..."

Li Yishu thanked the organizers, judges, and crew, and thanked everyone who should be thanked, then walked off the stage holding the trophy.

"This trophy is really nice." Gong Li took the trophy and played with it. She didn't expect that she could really win the Best Foreign Language Film Award.

"It's very good, Sister Xu, this is for you."

Li Yishu handed the trophy to Xu Lu.

Xu Su was stunned for a moment, then shook his head: "Why would you give me the trophy? Just take it yourself."

"You're the producer, who else should I give it to?" "That's true, but it's your own ability that earned you the award, Director Li. There's no point in me getting this trophy."

Seeing the two of them being polite to each other, Li An was extremely envious. He really wanted to win a Best Foreign Language Film Award, which would mean he had successfully entered Hollywood, but he had no chance.

"Okay, if you two don't want it, just give it to me."

Gong Li took the trophy and said with a smile, "I will put it in the cultural center as an exhibit later. It's a pity that Director Li's film The Sixth Sense didn't win the Best Screenplay Award, otherwise you would have won two awards."

“Even if you have the ability to get it, you can’t get it.” Li Yishu looked at the stage meaningfully.

Gong Li was stunned: "What do you mean?"

Other people around also looked at Li Yishu with curiosity.

From the tone of voice, it seems like there is another hidden story.

"Believe it or not, Schindler's List will definitely win the Best Director and Best Picture awards next month. This movie will win even more at the Oscars next month, and it will definitely win the Best Director and Best Picture awards as well."

Upon hearing this, a group of people were surprised. Could it be that there is some inside story between the Golden Globe Awards and the Oscars?

But no one dared to ask about such things. Most of them had just met Li Yishu, so it was better to say less about their intimate relationship. There was no one in the film and television industry who was not a shrewd person.

Gong Li and Xu Lu wanted to ask, but they knew that this was not a good occasion, so they didn't say much.

Li An, on the other hand, seemed to be thinking about something.

Li Yishu also noticed Li An's expression and showed a playful look. If we talk about a Chinese director who is very good at political correctness, it has to be Li An.

But I think Li An could not have expected that the political correctness buff in the United States would accumulate so quickly, from homosexuality all the way to love among dozens of genders.

As time passed, the results of the subsequent awards were not beyond Li Yishu's expectations. The Best Director award went to Spielberg, who directed "Schindler's List", and the Best Picture award was also given to this movie.

Li Yishu, who has memories of the future, is quite funny. "Schindler's List" does describe a tragic history, but 30 years later in 2024, this list was imposed on other nations by the Jews in another form.

This year's hot favorite "Schindler's List" received six nominations. After the awards ceremony, it won a total of three awards, including the most important Best Director and Best Picture, becoming the biggest winner of this year's Golden Globe Awards.

But winning or losing had nothing to do with Lee Yi-su. Out of basic courtesy, after receiving the award, he went to the Golden Globe Awards dinner alone.

Originally, Li Yishu just wanted to stroll around the party and then leave, but he didn't expect that as soon as he arrived, three people immediately surrounded him.

Quentin, Harvey and a strange man.

Harvey said with a big smile: "Lee, let me introduce you to some friends. This is Walt Disney's producer Mike Doyle."

Hearing this, Li Yishu looked at the slightly bald man who looked to be around 40 years old, and extended his hand with a smile: "Hello, Mr. Doyle."

McDowell shook his hand and said, "Hello, Li. I have seen several of your films. They are all very creative, especially the one you shot in China, "Sword Rain". The wonderful cold weapon fighting scenes, coupled with the bullet time you created, really have a strong sense of science fiction!"

The Americans really think it is a science fiction film!
While Li Yishu was feeling emotional, she also showed a polite smile on her face: "Thank you, I am also very satisfied with this movie."

"We at Disney have always been committed to working with the world's top directors. Your film The Sixth Sense was great, but Columbia didn't take it seriously and chose to release it during the time of Jurassic Park. If it could be released during Thanksgiving or Christmas, I believe the box office would be higher."

After McDowell stepped on Columbia, he immediately said enthusiastically: "Lee, do you have any ideas for a new movie recently? If so, welcome to Disney. As long as it is your movie, we will support it and can provide the same generous conditions as Columbia."

With the same conditions as Columbia, does it allow equity participation or box office sharing?

Li Yishu raised his eyebrows and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Doyle, I don't have any plans for a new film at the moment, but if I do next time, I would be happy to cooperate with a movie giant like Disney that has influence all over the world."

Although he has a good relationship with Hisao Morishima, the other party is not the boss of Columbia. He is only a general manager and may be replaced by the parent company "Sony Entertainment" at any time.

If he wants to make more movies in Hollywood and make money, then it is naturally impossible for him to only cooperate with Columbia. The consequence of deep ties is often that it is difficult to break away.

Li Yishu does not expect to create a movie giant in Hollywood. The only way is to make more money and then build his entertainment empire in China. Therefore, if he wants to make movies in Hollywood in the future, he will definitely have to cooperate with several other movie giants.

This is the only way to fish in troubled waters.

"Haha, no problem. I heard from Harvey that you don't have the habit of carrying business cards. This is my business card. If you have any plans for new films, please feel free to contact me."

McDowell gave a business card, chatted with Li Yishu for a few words, and then left with Harvey and Quentin.

After they left, Li Yishu was still thinking about leaving, but who would have thought that someone from Universal Pictures would come looking for her right away.

After the Universal people left, the Fox people came again...

Lee Yi-su earned $4 million at the global box office with "The Sixth Sense" and is now a well-known director in Hollywood. Before his failure, he was the object of competition among major film companies.

After all, the total investment of the production company and publicity and promotion was only 4000 million US dollars, and it not only earned 10 times the box office revenue worldwide, but the videotapes also sold very well. The shooting and editing time was about two months. He was simply the great director that Hollywood film companies dreamed of.

Small amount of capital + fast turnover + high returns, once these three words are confirmed to be true and effective, everyone will invest crazily before being cheated, right?

After chatting with several producers from Hollywood giants and some popular or not-so-popular Hollywood actors for more than an hour and receiving dozens of business cards, Li Yishu finally left the cocktail party.

They had to leave. Some 18th-tier actresses who had obviously gotten in through connections, after seeing how popular Lee Yi-su, an Asian-looking man, was, asked around and found out that he was the director of "The Sixth Sense", all came running over, hoping to get a piece of the action.

Although Li Yishu is not the upright gentleman Liu Xiahui, he is not the lustful devil Wanyan Liang who wants to sleep with every woman.

Although these Hollywood 18th-tier actresses have good looks and figures, they do not have eye-catching looks, and they are not the graceful and elegant Hollywood actresses that we remember.

Without good looks and no status to support the fun, the performance is naturally greatly reduced.

It would be better to go back to the mansion in Beverly Hills to find Gong Li as soon as possible.

But if it were Jennifer Connelly or Naomi Watts, Li Yishu would also want to experience the fun of beautiful entertainment.

　I remembered it wrong in the previous chapter. Pulp Fiction was released in October 1994. It has been modified and will not affect the reading.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)