I am a historical film director in the entertainment industry.

Chapter 19 Flying to Venice

Everyone in the class knew that Qiao Shan and Cheng Sheng were very close.

Naturally, there was a chorus of congratulations.

Even people from the next class came over to congratulate Qiao Shan.

"Director Cheng Sheng is really amazing. His historical film has been nominated for so many awards."

"I counted, there are 5 categories in total, I wonder how many awards I can win."

"Su Chang has been nominated for Best Newcomer and Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival, Zheng Guolin and Fu Dalong have been nominated for Best Actor, as well as Best Director and Best Film."

"This is incredible! This is Director Cheng's first film, and it has achieved such outstanding results."

"Director Cheng Sheng has become famous this time. Those who refused to act in his movies are probably regretting it so much they want to commit suicide!"

"I really envy Bai Baihe for being able to walk the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival. Such a great opportunity may only come once in a lifetime."

"The scariest thing is that two male leads in one movie are selected as the lead actor!"

"There's also a female lead!"

"Regardless of whether Director Cheng Sheng wins an award, I doubt anyone would object to him calling himself a great director now!"

"Oppose it my foot! Let them do it if they dare!"

"Hehe, I really want to see those people online who didn't think highly of Director Cheng Sheng. They're probably getting slapped in the face right now!"

"Especially Feng Dapao, I'm really curious what his expression is right now."

bump!
I don't know what his expression was, but at this moment, Feng Dapao was so angry he wanted to kill someone. He kicked the trash can next to him away.

If he weren't on set, he probably would have been cursing wildly.

An unknown nobody dares to think he can climb over him? That's just wishful thinking.

Being selected is not the same as winning an award.

Do foreigners understand Chinese historical films?

They definitely want to use that kid's movie to pat other movies on the back.

Right, that is it.

Those foreigners are just trying to use this method to disgust Chinese films.

That damned Cheng Sheng.

You are disgracing the Chinese people.

When you've gained nothing in Venice, I'll bombard you to death.

……

The Venice Film Festival runs from September 1st to 11th.

And coincidentally, this day was the first day of school.

However, Cheng Sheng no longer cared about the start of the school year.

Film festival crews typically arrive in Venice three days in advance.

On August 27th, Cheng Sheng, with a large team, met up with the coal mine owners at the airport and then chartered a plane to fly directly to Venice, Italy.

The coal mine owner paid for the chartered plane, and Cheng Sheng and the rest of the crew hitched a ride.

We arrived in Venice, the city of water, with only three days until the opening ceremony.

Cheng Sheng's group was too large, so they didn't stay at the hotel arranged by the film festival officials.

Instead, the coal mine owner directly booked an entire floor of a hotel for everyone to stay in.

"The coal boss is really generous," Cheng Sheng thought to himself.

They invest so much money in making movies, but never ask how the money is spent or what the movies are like. Their only two requests are to help promote their mistresses and let them show off their power.

Cheng Sheng has now fulfilled both of his requirements.

Although the coal mine owners' mistresses weren't the main characters, Cheng Sheng arranged for them to play the concubines in Emperor Yang Guang's harem. Every woman who could become a coal mine owner's mistress was exceptionally beautiful, making them perfectly suited to play the emperor's concubines.

Using their natural beauty to entertain, Cheng Sheng simply had them act naturally. Even without the added benefit of being there in person, their natural performances would be perfectly fine.

I rested at the hotel for a day.

The next day, Cheng Sheng originally planned to go to the film festival alone to meet some people and see if he could sell the film.

Unexpectedly, two tagalongs followed them, namely Qiao Shan and Zeng Li.

It's not a problem for Qiao Shan to follow along as Cheng Sheng's good friend, but what's Zeng Li's situation?
She doesn't go shopping with the other women on set, so why would she go with him?
However, since she had already followed, Cheng Sheng couldn't ask her to go back.

All I could do was take her and Qiao Shan to the film festival venue to try our luck.

Cheng Sheng has great confidence in his film, after all, it's a script generated using a simulation panel.

If filmed according to the script, there will be absolutely no problem. Cheng Sheng also believes that his film is no worse than anyone else's.

But this is a Chinese historical film, and I don't know if foreigners will understand it.

This is probably the first time in history that a film about Chinese history has been planned to be sold to foreigners!

It was impossible for a film with an investment of 100 million yuan to break even through domestic box office revenue in 2004.

Only by selling the film overseas during the film festival might there be a chance to break even, or even make a fortune. This is the main reason why Cheng Sheng came to Venice.

Why do so many art-house directors in China want to submit their films to film festivals?
Winning awards is important, but selling the film is also very important.

A significant number of art-house film directors in China find their works unable to be released in theaters. What do they do then? Do they spend money to make films for themselves?

Of course not, they mainly profit from selling overseas distribution rights.

One typical example is Chia-Chang Ke.

The art films this guy makes rarely pass censorship, and even if they do, they don't do well at the box office in mainland China; he almost always loses money on every film he makes.

Logically speaking, a director like this shouldn't be able to find investors.

In reality, many people have invested in him.

Moreover, he himself has made a lot of money.

As for why?
Because of his films, they often sell for high prices at film festivals, regardless of whether they win awards.

Not only can they break even, but they often make a fortune.

Because the film festival hasn't officially started yet, there are very few film crews coming to the festival, and even those that do come are just trying to use connections to sell their films.

"Hi, are you Chinese?"

Cheng Sheng was wandering aimlessly with Zeng Li and Qiao Shan when suddenly someone called out from behind in English.

Cheng Sheng and his two companions turned around and saw that the person who had called them was actually a blonde beauty.

"Holy crap, Scarlett Johansson, my goddess."

Qiao Shan called out immediately.

Cheng Sheng recognized her too.

She's a goddess to everyone.

She is renowned for her unique charm, diverse roles, and outstanding acting skills, and is hailed as one of the most influential and sexiest actresses of our time.

She officially debuted in 94, and her acting skills have always been recognized by everyone.

Last year, in particular, Scarlett Johansson began to transition into playing adult roles, with major drama films such as Lost in Translation and biographical romance films such as Girl with a Pearl Earring, for which she received two Golden Globe nominations.

Lost in Translation also won her the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival, making her the first actress to win the award for her voice acting.

In "Lost in Translation," she plays a young woman who accompanies her husband in Japan and develops a subtle friendship with a movie star in Tokyo.

In "Girl with a Pearl Earring," she played the model for the Dutch painter Vermeer, and an indescribable feeling developed between them.

(End of this chapter)