Huayu has been doing one good deed a day since 2001

Chapter 70: Go for the Oscar?

On July 7th, Li Wenyu was having breakfast when he received a text message from Li Jiaxin, "I feel like my acting has improved a bit. When can you give me a review, Daxiang?"

Old Li, “…”

Where does Sister Xin get the confidence to be both a novice and playful?
If it weren't for his true compassion for women, the other person would have been dead long ago.

It was Pang Bing who stood up the other party last night when he came back from work in Shanghai.

Too lazy to complain anymore, Li Wenyu continued to eat breakfast.

It was at this time that Zhang Guorong appeared in the buffet restaurant and greeted them from a distance. "Good morning, Ayu. Seeing you young people have such big appetites, I feel much better."

While greeting, Li Wenyu remembered that he hadn't checked Zhang Guorong's status for a long time.

View target: Zhang Guorong
Acting, (95/100).

Singing skills, (88/100).

Healthy, (69/100).

……

After a quick glance, Li Wenyu felt greatly relieved.

That’s right, the first time he saw this Brother Rong, his acting skills were 93, his singing skills were 91, and his health was 21, which was very low.

But he has worked in two projects consecutively, "Tsuen Wan by the Sea" and "Let Me Embrace Happiness", and won the Best Actor Award at the Berlin and Cannes Film Festivals.

After filming two movies like this, there is nothing wrong with further improving his acting skills to 95.

As for health? It was 65 before the release of The Shallows.

After so long, it has risen to 69?
Zhang Guorong has been taking medication or receiving mental relaxation treatment under the guidance of an expert medical team.

It is reasonable for health to rise and fall.

Zhang Guorong randomly selected a small buffet dish and sat down across from Lao Li. He then asked curiously, "What's the matter with you calling me so early? Yesterday, Mr. Xiang, Mr. Da Wang, and I were discussing whether we should increase the reward pool for reporting piracy."

From The Shallows to The Piano Tuner, and then to films like Infernal Affairs and The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber II that can also attract another ticket to the event.

The mainland box office is so huge, except for theft prevention within the theaters.

There are rewards for reporting crimes outside the cinema, and continuous bonuses are given to whistleblowers, which is a great way to make a lot of money at the box office.

Li Wenyu nodded. "I've written a new script. Brother Rong, do you want to get nominated for a Hollywood Oscar for Best Actor next year?"

Zhang Guorong stood up instantly and almost dropped the plate in her hand onto the table.

He swiftly steadied the plate and food, sat down again, and drank a glass of warm water. He calmed down and said, "Yes, you helped me win two Best Actor awards."

"Ayu, you are really... this is too productive."

"Tsuen Wan by the Sea, The Shallows, Wonder, Let Me Embrace Happiness, The Tuner, and the best-selling book Interstellar. I heard you're working on another book?"

He was not deliberately flattering Li Wenyu, but was thinking carefully about it over the past year. He had met Lao Li in July last year.

Zhang Guorong grabbed the cup and walked back to get a glass of warm water, then walked back, "There are three major differences between the American Oscars and the European Oscars."

"Even if a white European male star wins the Best Actor award and has box office success in a small country, he still has a hard time getting started in Hollywood."

"Many movie stars from small European countries who have made it to Hollywood don't have nearly as many resources as Chow Yun-fat."

Zhou Runfa's record in Hollywood is terrible.

In fact, his resources are much higher-end than those of many white male actors from Britain, France, Germany and other European countries.

Zhou Runfa just went there and became the leading actor in a blockbuster movie with a production cost of 3000 million US dollars, produced by Wu Baige. The movie failed miserably. In mainland China, this is considered a hero and a kung fu-level leading actor.

He then starred in a blockbuster movie with a budget of over 2000 million US dollars and continued to fight to the death!

It’s similar to how he became famous on the beach in Hong Kong Island and earned a reputation as a box office poison in the film industry.

His third time was in 1999 when he played the leading role in Anna and the King, a film with an investment of over 9000 million US dollars. His partner was a strong woman who won two Academy Awards for Best Actress in the s and s.

The global box office total was only $1.13 million! And a year and a half later, a super A production like Spider-Man 1 only invested $1.39 million.

When talking about the treatment in Hollywood, Jackie Chan and Jet Li probably smiled on the surface, but they really wanted to turn around and cry in the toilet, which made Ah Fa so jealous.

It was a small miracle that Chow Yun-fat was able to return to Hong Kong alive from Hollywood.

He was rescued by Li An and cast in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which became a hit, but the crew didn't even nominate him for Best Actor or Best Actress, let alone Best Supporting Actor.

Li Wenyu laughed as he ate. "I know what you mean. We Chinese practitioners at the Oscars don't have nearly as many connections as the three major European companies."

"Here's what I'm thinking: we'll work with Columbia. I'll join as the screenwriter and director, and you'll play the male lead and join with the film's salary. Columbia will choose the rest of the crew."

"Columbia holds the lion's share of the investment, and only a large portion can secure Oscar nominations for American films, just as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, despite strong investment, has a slew of Oscar nominations."

"They own the theatrical and DVD markets in Europe and the US, and we're trying to negotiate for the Asian market to be ours. The bottom line is that we own all of China and South Korea. However, the island countries are a huge voting base, so Columbia is unlikely to give them up."

"I don't really expect box office sales for award-winning films, but I hope the DVDs will sell well. I want an Oscar nomination for Best Director and to pursue Li An. If Columbia agrees, we'll cooperate."

"He won't cooperate and find another group."

Nominations are based on strength and quality, while winning an award is about operating public relations.

The quality of the script is solid enough, the quality of the finished film is high, and the cost of the nomination is just a drop in the bucket.

Zhang Guorong was nominated twice. She just made some phone calls and had dinner with old acquaintances to get the nomination done. But winning the award is the real money.

Li An's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon received 10 Oscar nominations because Columbia's investment accounted for the lion's share.

Zhang Guorong couldn't help but slam the table. "Is this how it works? Then you nominate for Best Director and I nominate for Best Actor, so it won't be too difficult."

Can you win an award? Even if you spend tens of millions of dollars now, it probably won’t make any difference.

But the nomination is enough.

After filming Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Li An was only nominated for Best Director but did not win the award!
But for this nomination, blockbusters with the majority of non-US investment have no chance of being nominated, and films from other countries have no chance of being nominated.

Hero was only eligible for Best Foreign Language Film.

Brother Rong rubbed his hands excitedly, "Notebook?"

Chow Yun-fat is one of the most iconic figures in the Hong Kong film industry and among Chinese people breaking into Hollywood, although he has been very unsuccessful.

Li Wenyu smiled and took out the script from the briefcase beside his chair. It was not only a text script, but also a comic-like colorful storyboard script.

The book is called "Marriage Story" and tells the story of a couple who seem to be relatively successful in society and get divorced a few years after their marriage.

The original trajectory was that Black Widow was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in 2020, and the male lead was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor.

There are also nominations for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Score.

In addition to the Oscars, it also received a number of Golden Globe nominations and was nominated for the Golden Lion Award in the main competition unit of the Venice Film Festival, one of the three major European Film Festivals.

Black Widow dominated the European and American award circles with the help of a movie!

[Marriage Story] Putting aside the actors' salaries, the total investment in filming was only US$10 million in the late 100s.

The whole movie is about a drama, divorce!

It contains countless changes and transitions in the relationships between men and women in the marriage fortress.

How quickly can the full script be filmed? It's early July now, and the actors' acting skills are good enough, so with Hong Kong's production efficiency, filming can be completed in half a month.

There are all kinds of unions in Hollywood...

At best, it won’t take more than two months to shoot.

You Who Came From the Stars will start filming after October, but since its preparation, it has been positioned as an independent film project of Li Wenyu.

Fly to the United States for a vacation, travel for a month, and wait for the Oscar nomination for Best Director next year.

(ps: I don’t really want to go to Hollywood, I just want to go there quickly and come back quickly, just to win the awards~)

(End of this chapter)