I am a historical film director in the entertainment industry.

[Yu Feihong: Congratulations to Director Cheng, Director Jia, Director Ning, and Teacher Zeng Li for their outstanding achievements at the Venice Film Festival, bringing glory to Chinese cinema.]

[Director Chen: Director Cheng is awesome! Director Ning, Director Jia, and Teacher Zeng Li, you are all the pride of China.]

[Liu Dehua: Congratulations, congratulations! Chinese films shine at Venice.]

[Li Xiaoran: Congratulations Director Cheng, congratulations Director Ning, congratulations...]

[Fan Shuangbing: Congratulations to Director Cheng and others on winning the Venice Film Festival Grand Prize.]

[Meiting: Congratulations, Big Pear, your dream has come true.]

[Zheng Zeshi: Congratulations to Director Cheng on winning the Golden Lion Award for the second time.]

[Li Naiwen: Congratulations, boss...]

[Da Tian Tian: Congratulations to Cheng Sheng...]

Yang Mi: Congratulations, Director Cheng...

While it was still late at night in China, many celebrities began posting messages to congratulate Cheng Sheng and others on winning the award.

Within a short time, news of celebrities posting congratulatory messages made headlines.

For a time, the blog was bustling with activity. Regardless of whether they knew Cheng Sheng or not, everyone took the initiative to post congratulations to Cheng Sheng and others.

At the Venice Film Festival awards ceremony.

After Chia Chang-ko finished his remarks, Cheng Sheng stepped forward and stood in front of the microphone.

He glanced around at the guests below the stage. These people who were able to sit in the theater were basically top talents and artists from the entertainment industry in various countries.

Cheng Sheng's gaze finally fell on Catherine, who smiled at him.

Cheng Sheng was very grateful to the other party.

If it weren't for their help, I probably wouldn't have been able to win this award.

Although it's shameless to live off a woman, and this award is a bit of a hot potato, who cares!

"Cough cough."

Cheng Sheng coughed twice, tested the microphone, and then said formally, "Standing here and receiving this Golden Lion Award, I am very surprised and delighted."

"Because I still have a lot to learn from so many outstanding peers, I never expected to win this award."

Cheng Sheng's acceptance speech was, as always, in Chinese, regardless of whether the audience understood it or not; he would say it anyway.

"Ten Red Army Soldiers" is the most arduous film I've ever made. The actors started experiencing rural life a month in advance in order to play their roles well. For example, Zeng Li won the Best Actress award, which she deserved.

"To play the lead role well, she chopped wood, carried water, farmed, and boiled water in the countryside. In just one month, she transformed our Central Academy of Drama's number one beauty into a rural peasant woman..."

"My God! When I saw her again a month later, I couldn't believe it. Was this really the same beautiful woman I used to know?!"

As Cheng Sheng recounted Zeng Li's story, those who understood Chinese all looked at Zeng Li, and seeing her smiling face, they felt great admiration for her.

A disfiguring performance is something not every actor can do.

This is a good actor.

We can collaborate if the opportunity arises.

This reflects the sentiments of the directors present.

"I am able to receive this award today because of the hard work of the cast and crew. I would like to thank them for allowing us to realize our value here."

"I would also like to thank my alma mater, the Central Academy of Drama, and thank Principal Xu Xiaozhong and teacher Zhang Yang..."

"And the judges, especially Ms. Catherine, she's my goddess..."

As he spoke, Cheng Sheng made a heart shape with his hands towards Catherine.

Haha.

The guests present all laughed.

They certainly wouldn't have suspected anything romantic between Cheng Sheng and Catherine, assuming he was simply thanking her in a humorous way.

After all, the chair of this year's jury was Catherine, and Cheng Sheng's award must have been partly due to her influence. Ning Hao, on the other hand, gave Cheng Sheng a strange look on the stage.

Only he knew about the relationship between Cheng Sheng and Catherine.

Because it was he who sold Cheng Sheng to Catherine.

"Receiving this award today is not only recognition for me, but also an encouragement. I will definitely work harder in the future and translate this recognition into my work! Thank you everyone!"

After speaking, Cheng Sheng returned to the film crew and then posed for photos with the reporters.

With this, the Venice Film Festival has come to a close this year.

For Cheng Sheng, it was a fairly perfect ending.

Next came the cocktail party.

Cheng Sheng was the center of attention at the party, and many people toasted him because his achievements were truly remarkable.

Cheng Sheng also got to know many people through this, including producers, directors, actors, and so on.

In addition, some Hollywood film companies wanted to acquire the overseas distribution rights for "Ten Red Army Soldiers" and also invited Cheng Sheng to Hollywood.

This isn't the first time Cheng Sheng has been invited to Hollywood.

Bruce from Lionsgate invited him to the last Cannes Film Festival.

However, Cheng Sheng did not agree.

This time, even more people invited him.

The success of each of Cheng Sheng's films indicates that he has the ability to reach a better stage.

Hollywood is the best stage in the world.

A platform that can make someone famous overnight and create a global star.

Of course, the main reason these people were so enthusiastic about Cheng Sheng was that Cheng Sheng had value to them.

Cheng Sheng's films have already proven how profitable they are with the success of "The Great Tang Dynasty 1" and "Three Kingdoms Part 1".

It has achieved remarkable success both locally and globally at the box office.

In particular, the movie "Three Kingdoms Part 2" grossed $3 million in North America.

It stormed into the North American box office charts and even ranked high.

This shocked everyone.

Most importantly, this is a purely Chinese film.

If Cheng Sheng were to direct a genuine Hollywood film, would it break box office records?
It would be strange if Hollywood companies weren't tempted.

Therefore, many Hollywood companies hope to invite Cheng Sheng to direct their films.

Cheng Sheng was not unmoved by it; after all, Hollywood is the mecca of global cinema, and being able to make movies there is absolutely every actor's and director's dream.

But when Cheng Sheng thought about Hollywood's producer system, he secretly rejected the idea.

The film industry operates on a different model; going to Hollywood would be pure suicide.

Hollywood uses a producer system, while China uses a director system.

In China, everything in a film is decided by the director, while in Hollywood, everything is decided by the producer, and the director is merely an executor.

To put it bluntly, in Hollywood, how a movie is made is up to the producer.

This is completely different from China, where the director usually has the final say in film production.

Especially famous directors have the power to make arbitrary decisions.

The most fundamental difference between the producer system and the director system lies in whether the film industry has been industrialized.

It is clear that Hollywood has long since industrialized the film industry, which is why it adheres to the producer system.

Because producers don't focus on the preferences of any one person, but rather on the needs of the entire film market—in short, what kind of films do audiences want to see? (End of Chapter)