I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 129 A Scene!

The venue for the Golden Horse Awards.

Lights flicker.

Countless figures moved about.

The award-winning actors and actresses, dressed in luxurious and glamorous clothes, chatted with each other, their smiles radiant, occasionally throwing in a few English words as they discussed very fashionable topics.

Upon entering the venue, Shen Long was so excited that he temporarily lost his hearing.

One by one, the stars I had seen on TV and in movies flashed before my eyes, as if they were within reach.

This is!

Entertainment industry!
And he is currently in the entertainment industry!

He couldn't help but stand up in the corner and glance at Zhou Yang.

"Mr. Zhou, may I go and say hello to them?"

"Go!"

Upon seeing Zhou Yang nod, he quickly straightened his clothes and excitedly walked towards the group of celebrities and directors.

Under the lights, his expression was sincere and humble. He kept his head down with a modest smile, bent over to introduce himself, and handed over his business card...

Last night, he couldn't sleep at all, constantly simulating walking down the red carpet, entering the venue, seeing the directors and award-winning actors, and greeting them.

He even fantasized that these people would be surprised, appreciative, and approving when they saw him, patting him on the shoulder and even inviting him to join their group and introduce themselves.

After all, the DVD sales and box office of the movie "The Longest Nite" were quite good, and he also participated in the filming of "The Haunted Village"...

However, he gradually noticed that everyone was just wearing polite smiles. After accepting the business cards, they would nod and symbolically put them away, and then immediately start chatting with the people around them.

It's as if there's an inherent barrier between them and these top-tier celebrities and directors.

Undeterred, he shamelessly continued, bending over and bowing, wandering around the entire venue. He even tried to join in the conversations of the directors, actors, and celebrities, excitedly expressing his admiration for them and his excitement at meeting them, like a humble little fan. However…

After going around in circles, they found themselves increasingly being met with indifference. Some people initially offered polite smiles, but their smiles quickly turned into undisguised disgust, as if some filthy flies were swarming around them.

This disgust felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over him...

At that moment, he realized that he was just a nobody at the Golden Horse Award.

After shamelessly striking up conversations with people everywhere and being ignored, he finally slunk back to the corner.

"Don't force yourself into a circle you can't fit into." Zhou Yang shook his head when he saw Shen Long's dejected expression.

Shen Long's expression was complicated as he continued to look at the glamorous directors and stars, his desire for recognition growing stronger.

"If our box office were higher and the movie were better made, wouldn't that be..." Shen Long murmured to himself.

"Didn't you notice that the actors and directors from the mainland, even the veteran actors with real talent, are all sitting on the side? Don't they have any works or representative works? And then look over there, sitting in the most eye-catching and attention-grabbing positions, aren't they all foreigners?" Zhou Yang narrowed his eyes as he looked at Shen Long's expression.

Shen Long looked around and finally fixed his gaze on something not far away.

Not far away, in the prime seats closest to the stage, several foreign directors were surrounded by a cacophony of voices. Several famous Hong Kong film stars were fawning over them, their faces beaming with obsequious and even ingratiating smiles. Several high-profile actresses in the Chinese film industry were practically clinging to the directors, almost sitting on their laps.

Seeing this, Shen Long felt uneasy.

One of the Taiwanese actresses, named Deng Wenwen, was someone Shen Long had approached earlier. He introduced himself and extended his hand, but she seemed not to see him and simply brushed past him, leaving Shen Long embarrassed and speechless.

And those foreign directors...

Shen Long was somewhat dazed; he had seen their works and their box office performance.

In reality, they are not famous overseas directors, nor have they won awards at Hollywood or the three major European film festivals; in fact, they have never even been nominated for a film festival...

Their works are not even well-known internationally, and their films are mostly murder and violence with no plot whatsoever. Yet, these works have received four nominations, including one for Best Feature Film...

At that moment, Shen Long felt as if a dull thud had struck his heart, leaving him breathless.

He looked around at himself again.

The Golden Horse Award is a place for ranking.

Their film crew was relegated to the furthest corner, the most neglected spot, surrounded by no other film crews, only a few invited film critics and journalists...

Meanwhile, the film "Youth of the Sea," which also won Best Director and Best New Actor awards, was seated in the brightest spot in front of the camera. Actor Chen Liang was surrounded and encouraged by a large crowd. Since he sat down, artists and directors from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China have come forward to shake his hand. Under the spotlight, he seemed to be the protagonist among all the newcomers this year...

Shen Long felt uneasy.

"I heard that the Golden Horse Award requires some networking. We came here without paying any visits to the organizers or giving them any money... It's almost a consensus that we'll have to pay hundreds of thousands of RMB in 'incense money' (gift money). As for whether we'll win an award, that's another story. Judging from the seating arrangement this time, we probably have no chance of winning, and we won't get much screen time either..."

Chen Jianfeng looked at those people and said something to Shen Long with a complicated expression.

After listening, Shen Long nodded and looked at his admission ticket with a complicated expression.

When he looked at Zhou Yang again...

But they found that President Zhou was no longer in his seat.

He saw Zhou Yang not far away, chatting with a group of film critics for more than ten minutes. After seeing the critics' excited expressions, Zhou Yang started walking towards other film crews in the corner...

They specifically sought out and chatted with the staff members who were sitting there like lackeys, as well as some timid new actors who were clearly there for the first time, just like them...

Furthermore, as the conversation progressed, the new actors excitedly bent down and wrote something.

Only after the awards ceremony officially began did Zhou Yang sit back down...

He now had several audition forms for actors and interview forms for crew members in his hands.

……

The opening remarks for the Golden Horse Awards were rather boring.

The host, Tsai Ming-yi, is from Taiwan. After rambling on about the film data of the past year in 2003, he started talking about the impact of Hollywood on the global film industry.

In the context of this great era, Taiwan should unite, and so on, and so on.

Mainland Chinese films were also discussed, but only briefly, and they didn't even get much screen time during the Golden Horse Awards presentation in Taiwan...

Shen Long stared intently at the screen displaying the Golden Horse Awards.

Movies flashed across the screen, clips flickered by, but their movies were nowhere to be found.

"Did they make a mistake?"

"All movies have it, so why doesn't our 'The Haunted Village' have it...?"

"We have three nominations, so why... are we not even eligible to appear?"

Not only was it not included in the film nominations, but it wasn't even listed in the film review.

Shen Long felt all alone, like a spectator.

He looked at Zhou Yang.

Zhou Yang watched calmly, his expression unchanged.

Chen Jianfeng was extremely gloomy. After a long while, he finally managed to utter a sentence in a low voice: "Actually, I noticed it when I came in. All the other posters were huge, but we didn't even have a poster. They didn't show the poster that was on the registration materials at all; they only gave us a name..."

“Of course, there’s another possibility: our film isn’t suitable for showing…it might scare people…” Shen Hu suddenly said from the side.

..............................

The Golden Horse Awards did not provide any information about the film "The Haunted Village"...

It didn't cause much of a stir at the scene, and no one talked about it.

Everyone's gaze was calm.

It all seemed perfectly reasonable.

As one of the judges...

As one of the award presenters...

At this moment, Zhong Jianming, who was backstage, had an exceptionally gloomy expression.

Why are they being targeted like this?

"They're ignorant and didn't pay their respects. Letting them in is the most reasonable thing for us!"

"Didn't the Golden Horse Awards reform this year promise to treat mainland films and young directors equally? Our organizing committee unanimously agreed... So why are we still being manipulated this year?"

"Calm down, Director Zhong. Without rules, there can be no order. We are all beneficiaries of the existing rules, Director Zhong..."

"Tell me about their awards, and I'll do everything I can to protect them..."

"Director Zhong, Tianyu Media doesn't like them. None of the five major film companies in mainland China speak up for them, and no capital is willing to do so. Every nomination, every award, every exposure is the result of a reasonable allocation of resources. You've already done a good job by sending them here..."

Not far away, a chubby figure smiled as he looked at Zhong Jianming.

After listening, Zhong Jianming's expression gradually turned cold.

"This is the latest list, take a look..."

"..."

Zhong Jianming took a card.

I glanced at the list silently.

Just at this time……

The Golden Horse Award ceremony has officially begun.

The first award was for Best Visual Design...

That was the first award nomination for "The Haunted Village," and it was also the award he helped bring the film to the top.

Zhong Jianming silently held the envelope on the card, but did not open it.

The backstage lights grew dimmer and dimmer.

The stage lights, however, grew brighter and brighter.

He walked silently towards the stage, step by step.

"Next, we invite Mr. Chung Chien-ming, a renowned director, filmmaker, scholar, and expert from Taiwan, to announce the winner of this year's Golden Horse Award for Best Visual Design..."

(End of this chapter)