Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 625 Winning a Small Award
Film festivals are complex projects that provide a platform for film enthusiasts to watch movies, but also allow international buyers to purchase various films and their copyrights. For example, several major Chinese films that went global, such as "Hero," were selected by overseas audiences when EMO participated in film festivals.

But in reality, Emo didn't sell for much money because the person who bought the rights was Harvey Weinstein, a well-known villain in American entertainment.

This person's usual tactic is to claim he'll buy a film at a high price, then wait until the film festival is almost over and most of the other buyers have left before suddenly offering to lower the price.

At this point, there are no other buyers, so the production company has no choice but to tolerate the situation and sell the film to him.

The newly established Tokyo International Film Festival certainly wouldn't attract this well-known villain from the American entertainment industry, but there are still quite a few film buyers from all over Asia waiting and staking out the festival.

The fact that Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand do not have particularly good production capabilities does not mean that they do not need to buy movies.

Seeing Gu Ming and Zhou Wenhuai chatting and laughing, the film buyers who had been waiting outside the door swarmed in.

If even Chow Man-wai has seen a movie, then of course they should watch it too!

"Great, now you're a truly international director!"

Gu Ming chuckled twice and saw the somewhat shy Kitano Takeshi off.

It's really hard to bear seeing Takeshi Kitano, with his fierce face, acting so shy.

Gu Ming was in high spirits and wanted to find a few more suitable films, but Zhou Wenhuai was already half-lying on his cane and seemed to have lost interest.

"You young people have so much energy. I think I'll stop here."

Gu Ming bowed slightly: "Won't you take another look?"

“Jiahe has its own buyers. There’s no need for an old man like me to get too involved. Just showing up for the opening and closing ceremonies is enough.”

After all, he is a top figure in the Hong Kong film industry, and it's impossible for him to spend every day like other film buyers, waiting around for films.

Gu Ming was not surprised. He bowed slightly and took his leave of Zhou Wenhuai.

He couldn't stay idle, so naturally, he went to the film festival to see if there were any suitable films.

……

……

Gu Ming strolled around the film festival and watched some decent films. While they weren't exactly great, he figured they could still make some money by releasing videotapes.

With the current number of stores, 91Video has enough to support itself.

Gu Ming entered the market early, and before others had even realized what was happening, he had already begun opening videotape stores in Tokyo. While not as widespread as Bestone across the US, he now enjoys considerable success in the more developed areas of Honshu, Japan.

Acquiring the distribution rights to these videotapes was naturally not a problem.

Gu Ming came out of the theater and chatted briefly with a few new film directors as they walked.

Although there aren't any particularly famous directors, Gu Ming has no doubt that history will always have some unexpected twists.

What if someone was previously unknown, but suddenly gets an epiphany after receiving investment? Such things do happen from time to time.

On the other side of the theater, a weathered figure watched Gu Ming leave.

Wan Gu Ao.

Although he had to move away from his original family home due to the company's bankruptcy, it didn't mean he was incapable. After all, he was still a skilled director with connections at Fuji Television. Now, by directing short films for others, he was at least not living a life of wandering.

Watching the group leave amidst their laughter and conversation, Wan Gu'ao held a cigarette in his hand, his expression somewhat sinister.

But after much hesitation, he ultimately did not follow.

What else can be done now that things have come to this?

He can't win fights, he can't make films, and now that he doesn't have any big-budget investors, he's incapable of continuing to produce any big-budget films.

Let alone a big-budget production. Given his past misdeeds and reputation, even a small-scale production wouldn't be acceptable. Before any investment is made, someone will always consider how much of the investment money might be embezzled.

"If we hadn't taken out that loan in the first place..."

Wan Gu'ao originally wanted to say that, but in the end, all his words turned into a long sigh.

He actually knew it too.

Even without that loan, this problem would have surfaced sooner or later; this loan just brought it to the forefront.

He casually stubbed out his cigarette, looked around to make sure no one was watching, then tossed it under his feet and stomped it out before walking away.

He also had a film submitted to the exhibition this time. It was made under a pseudonym and is a typical example of undress art. It is not a purely pornographic film, but it contains some elements. It still has some market both at home and abroad.

If he doesn't return to the theaters to be with the investors, he might not even be able to sell this short film.

……

……

The Tokyo International Film Festival lasted only eight days before it came to an end. As it was the first film festival, although it had everything it should have, its format was not complete. The main competition section and the sub-sections were practically merged together.

Today is the day for voting on the films in the main competition section. Afterwards, there will be a closing ceremony to mark the successful conclusion of the Tokyo International Film Festival. A banquet will then be held in the restaurant on the second floor of the main exhibition hall, which all guests are welcome to attend.

In the main theater on the sixth floor, the lights were off, leaving only the stage lights on. The host was an old friend, Masaaki Sakai.

This host, who comes from a family of comedians, is known for his skill in warming up the audience.

"The autumn sky is clear and the air is crisp; it's another wonderful day."

Masaaki Sakai flipped through his cue cards and began to recount the films that had won votes at the film festival.

Gu Ming was sitting in the first row, in the center of the stage. He was not there as a contestant, but as a fellow judge, one of the members of the judging panel.

Gu Ming also voted on various films.

"As you might expect, this film festival has seen a great number of excellent short films! Some of them are particularly anticipated."

“Bitter’s Little Pony, Outrageous Cop, First Love, Time Flows…”

First Love is the short film directed by Tsui Hark, and Extreme Evil Cop is the short film directed by Takeshi Kitano. However, Gu Ming himself did not expect that it would have such a name.

Masaaki Sakai wasn't one to keep people in suspense. After a symbolic pause of a few seconds, he raised his hand.

"The short film that won the Sakura Award is 'First Love'! The director used wonderful camerawork to show us a girl experiencing her first love, which is truly amazing! Welcome to the 'First Love' crew!"

Gu Ming looked at what was in front of him and saw Xu Ke and Shi Nansheng sitting there, speaking mostly Japanese that he couldn't understand.

"Wake up, you're on stage! You've won an award! Best Short Film!"

Because the first international film festival was in a trial period, it did not receive permission from international associations and could not use the term "Grand Prize" at the moment, so it had to use other alternative names.

Therefore, the award at the first Tokyo International Film Festival was called the 'Sakura Award'.

Xu Ke was slightly taken aback at first, then immediately stood up.

That's great! It wasn't a wasted trip; he even won an award!

Gu Ming nodded slightly.

Luckily I won the award, otherwise there would definitely be a Xu Ke who owes eight million yen at the foot of Tokyo Tower this year.

(End of this chapter)