Huayu: Are you even sitting up straight? You're going to be the director?

Chapter 104 The Fate of the World, Under My Control? Filming Begins for "My Disqualified Daughter"

For several days in a row, the entertainment industry was in an uproar.

Numerous media outlets flocked to the Beijing Film Academy, hoping to interview Cao Zhong and inquire whether Bona Film Group's Yu Dong's criticism was true.

Is Cao Zhong's new movie really called "We Live in Nanjing"?

However, Cao Zhong disappeared from the public eye.

China Film Group and Huayi Brothers Media Group were once again impacted by public opinion, but both companies tacitly stated that they were not clear about the specifics and asked Cao Zhong to explain in person.

How could China Film Group not know? On the very night Han Sanpin launched his attack on Bona Film Group, he called Yu Dong.

He angrily berated the former junior clerk, saying he was insane, and in his agitation, he gripped the ground with his toes.

"Chen Kai can only make art films now, and you still want to mess with my Cao Zhong? Yu Dong, have I been too lenient with you?! I told you not to do anything rare, but you think it's rare? Besides, weren't you in the car? What good would that do you?"

Yu Dong was thoroughly scolded and said aggrievedly, "Chairman Han... this, this is a suggestion that Director Cao gave me. He, he said it's called 'stabilizing the fan base'."

"Well... you were right to curse!"

After clarifying the situation, Han Sanpin immediately understood and then called Cao Zhong, his tone ambiguous.
"Don't always resort to sneak attacks, next time at least tell me before you start worrying me."

Then he calmly resumed drinking tea at China Film Group.

In his mind, he was thinking that Director Cao was indeed Director Cao, unlike Chen Kaige, John Woo, and Chen Kexin.
Not only is he fast and high-quality when making movies, but he also knows how to generate public opinion. He's a fully automatic director, an absolute all-rounder!

Compared to Cao Zhong, those guys are useless at everything.
Take John Woo as an example, "Red Cliff" had been filmed for four or five months.

Leaving aside the controversy surrounding Chow Yun-fat and Leung Chiu-wai's withdrawal from the cast before filming began,

Unexpected events frequently occurred during the filming process.
At the very beginning of the project, the cinematographer left the crew due to a conflict with John Woo.
In June, during the "borrowing arrows with straw boats" incident, the drone crashed. Fortunately, the extras ran fast, and there were no casualties.

In July, the "Zhou Yu Grand Commander's Mansion" built at the Beijing Film Studio was demolished before filming could even begin due to repeated delays in the shooting schedule and the expiration of the lease. Chen Kaige urgently needed the location for filming "Mei Lanfang". The building was demolished, resulting in a loss of more than ten million yuan and no shots were taken.

Last month, during filming at Angzhuang Reservoir in Yi County, Hebei Province, a prop warship sank, and more than 200 extras who played soldiers swallowed a lot of water. John Woo's team was trying to suppress the incident.

When the news reached Han Sanpin, it gave him a fright!
Thinking about it this way, what's the big deal about Cao Zhong's public opinion scandal?

Meanwhile, due to Cao Zhong's lack of response, the online controversy intensified.

In addition, after hearing the name, Aki made a misjudgment and started spending lavishly, intending to launch an early attack on Cao Zhong's new movie. As a result, Cao Zhong's name began to frequently top the trending searches.

Countless people participated in it.

Although it's called Kuroshio, it's still a tide.

Amidst this immense popularity, the box office for "Nanjing Photo Studio" has increased again.

On September 15, "Nanjing Photo Studio" received the key to extend its box office, which had already reached 3.93 million yuan, just one step away from breaking 9 million yuan.

However, the media has lost much interest in the film's box office performance at this point.

People always want more than they have. The media is no exception.

Cao Zhong's silence on Yu Dong's statement was tantamount to acquiescence, and the attacks quickly escalated. Cao Zhong even faced strong criticism from many media outlets because of the movie's title.

On September 16th, some claimed that Cao Zhong, having offended Wang An and Jia Zhangke, as well as the narrative structure of the Western Golden Lion Awards, might have been killed by Western spies. They spoke with absolute certainty, even stating that the film had already grossed over 9 million yuan and was still being discussed wildly online; if he were alive, how could there be no response?

Afterwards, the entire internet erupted in discussion about whether Cao Zhong was alive or dead.

After that, media outlets like Southern Metropolis Daily suddenly changed their tune, no longer criticizing "Nanjing Photo Studio," but instead attacking Cao Zhong's actions and beginning to analyze from a rational perspective: "Nanjing Photo Studio" should exist, but "We Live in Nanjing" should not continue to exist.

The opening paragraph lavishes praise on "Nanjing Photo Studio," a stark contrast to the previous resistance towards the same name.

He then launched into a fierce attack on Cao Zhong, claiming that Cao Zhong's continued filming of the "Nanjing" series was disrespectful to the city of Nanjing and the people of NJ, and went so far as to say that Cao Zhong should not be allowed to profit from human suffering every time.

Amidst the immense public outcry, Hu Xijin of the Global Times stepped in, analyzing from his own perspective the reasons behind Cao Zhong's decision to make this type of film. He argued that Cao Zhong was merely a pig always riding the wave of trends, and that his technical skills might not be sufficient to direct new types of films. He could only delve deeper into already successful themes. His article was filled with pessimism towards Cao Zhong, and he advised Cao Zhong to listen to the people's opinions as much as possible, stop fanning the flames, and try to cool things down.

On September 18, the media was also in an uproar. Second-rate newspapers published lengthy articles that day, with one editor claiming that Cao Zhong "cannot be so willful in destroying the hard-won peace."

While the online public opinion storm hasn't exactly shifted, it's certainly not favorable for Cao Zhong.

Some people are being swayed by public opinion, thinking that it's one thing for Cao Zhong to make one film, but to make another is simply inhuman.

Some of them were even viewers of "Nanjing Photo Studio".

Similarly, some people firmly stood on Cao Zhong's side, saying, "What, someone has already done it, so we can't even say it?!"

Besides Cao Zhong, many others were also very anxious.

Mei Ting calls Director Cao every day to chat, saying, "Director Cao, if you're in a bad mood, come to my house for a meal. I can cook for you anytime, and I'm a very good cook."

Huang Xiaoming also called: "Director Cao, how about we go out to sea to relax? There's sea fishing in Qingdao, and this month is perfect for it."

Cui Xinqin, Zu Feng, and Wang Hongwei also called to advise Cao Zhong to quit while he was ahead and not to make enemies with those people.
There are too many of these people.

Let's try making a different kind of movie.

Even Zhang Huijun called, asking hesitantly:

"Xiao Cao, do you think there are any schools that can help you? Just let us know if you need anything! We can offer assistance within our limited resources."

My parents also called, saying that although the family photo studio was doing business, a lot of reporters came. Some were there to learn about Cao Zhongsheng's life, while others were there to cause trouble, deliberately asking all sorts of random questions.

It's too chaotic and it's affecting business too much, so the photo studio will be closed for now.

"Dad, Mom, I've made a lot of money. You two should take a rest first, and if you want, you can go on a nice trip."

Cao Zhong paused for a moment upon hearing that the photo studio was closing down. He lowered his head, his expression calm.

“There’s nothing we want to go to. We’ve seen the news too,” Dad Cao Yongkang reminded him. “Don’t worry about what people are saying online, I think you’re right.”

"I only started to understand the arts circle after you came to the Beijing Film Academy's acting department. Generally, everyone says good things. As long as the box office is good, the actors around you will all praise you. If that happens, people will start to believe it over time, which is not good. These doubts and criticisms now might actually be a good thing."

Cao Yongkang didn't understand why his son had punctured someone's lung.

"Anyway, my family, relatives and friends have all said that your Nanjing Photo Studio was really good, so what's wrong with making a new movie about Nanjing? As long as you can live with your conscience, that's all that matters."

"There was a lot of criticism of you online before, but many people around me went to see the movie. Just keep up the good work and you'll be fine." Cao Zhong hung up the phone and remained silent for a long time.

The Kuroshio Current was larger than Cao Zhong had imagined, something he hadn't anticipated at all.

After he won one victory, the enemy's attacks on him intensified.

He called Han Sanpin: "Regarding 'We Live in Nanjing,' could you please select your own people for the review committee to ensure that the information is completely confidential?"

"Okay." Han Sanpin thought for a moment, "Don't worry about this."

Cao Zhong breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving the feedback.

He originally thought he could set the pace and control the world's affairs.

But once things were really going, Cao Zhong realized that things were much more serious than he had imagined.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. After all, back then, weren't these the same people who had the power to speak out in public opinion?
“So it really is overwhelming,” Cao Zhong couldn’t help but chuckle. “No wonder the character ‘Xiang’ in Liu Xiang’s name can have other meanings.”

Compared to a champion who can drape a flag over his body, what does a box office champion even mean?

However, thinking about the possible scenarios after the movie's release, Cao Zhong felt it was very good, excellent.

He's still not as good as Zhang Xuefeng, after all, Zhang Xuefeng directly declared war on an entire industry, while Cao Zhong is far behind.

However, there must be quite a few people who have accepted money from Aji, because Cao Zhong clearly felt the pressure, which was even greater than when he attacked Xiaojin, and much faster.

They really tried to kill the movie before it even got off the ground, just when its name was revealed.

……

On September 23, Shen Ao called, saying he had already had preliminary discussions with each of the actors selected for "My Disqualified Daughter".
"Director Cao, we have basically completed the pre-production work for the film crew. Du Jie went to shoot Ning Hao's new movie, so we chose Mr. Lü Yue as the cinematographer. He was in John Woo's 'Red Cliff' crew before, but he fell out with John Woo and stepped down. He just happens to have time."

Regarding the casting, Cai Ming agreed on the spot, and Guo Tao also agreed; the only problem arose with Yan Ni.

"Yan Ni really wants to participate in this role and hopes we can wait for her, but she is currently filming a promotional TV series called 'National Action' and may need at least another month before she can join the crew. She hopes we can give her this opportunity."

"Do you think we should wait?" Cao Zhong wasn't going to give an opinion directly.

Shen Ao said, "It seems a bit slow, but I feel there's still time. The most important thing is that Yan Ni is very emotional because the full name of the TV series she's currently filming is 'National Action - The Three Gorges Great Migration'."

"Yan Ni was very straightforward on the phone. She told me that Director Cao's previous incident of beating the dog was well done and brilliant! The higher-ups know about many things and are dealing with them, but some people always deliberately show the bad side to outsiders. She even said that if Captain Jia dared to make a movie like the one she acted in, she would think more highly of the captain."

"So from my perspective, Yan Ni is definitely your fan now, and she will definitely give her all in the movie."

Cao Zhong had no idea that this TV series existed in his previous life, because he felt he had never heard of it before.
But he agreed with the Olympic bid, saying, "Then let's do it your way."

"Okay, then according to my plan, we expect to officially start filming the day after tomorrow."

"Keep it up. I'll probably go and watch for a few days. It just so happens that I've been contacting people for the drama 'We Live in Nanjing' these past few days. Everything's pretty much sorted out, so I'll leave that whole thing to you."

"Thank you, Director Cao, for the opportunity."

"You're welcome."

……

September 25, 2007, Hengdian World Studios, Zhejiang.

Filming for "My Disqualified Daughter" has begun.
Amidst the overwhelming wave of criticism, this film, produced by Cao Zhong, also became a hit on portal websites simply because of Cao Zhong's name.

The fire was a complete mess.

Of course, it wasn't because the film's marketing budget was generous.
It was not because of the filming start that people finally saw Cao Zhong, who had been silent for a long time.

He smiled brightly, revealing his white teeth.

The media went wild instantly.

"Director Cao!"

"Director Cao, could you please respond to the question about your latest film? Is it actually called 'We Live in Nanjing'?"

Cao Zhong and Shen Ao exchanged a smile, then walked towards the media area.

"Please respect our filming start ceremony. The film we are starting today is called 'My Disqualified Daughter,' a heartwarming comedy. The film has an investment cost of 2400 million yuan. We will do our best to bring the audience a beautiful family story. We hope everyone will pay attention to it."

Shen Ao also took this opportunity to give an interview and practice his skills. He remained calm and composed in the face of the flashing cameras.

"This movie was written by Director Cao."

In terms of story type, this is indeed a strong genre film that I have never seen before in all my years of film analysis.

Forgive me for not being able to tell you too much about the plot, but I promise that this movie will bring joy to many people when it is released.

Director Cao's skill level is actually very high, far beyond what the media portrays him as.

At the press conference for the start of filming, Shen Ao tried to salvage the situation for Cao Zhong, since he didn't even know the specific content of the movie "We Live in Nanjing".

"Director Cao, are you very confident about this film?"

The media clearly prefers Cao Zhong.

"I'm very confident." Cao Zhong smiled. "I also have great confidence in Director Shen and Director Xu. I believe this movie will gross at least 100 million yuan when it's released!"

Cao Zhong's response immediately caught the attention of the media reporters.

It was worth it! It was worth it!

Cao Zhong has started firing off again. One hundred million? There are only four directors in China with a combined budget of one hundred million. You're just a producer here, writing a script, and you dare to say that?
That's incredibly powerful!

I love how outspoken you are!
Cao Zhong, however, didn't take it to heart. Since he was going to walk the dogs, he figured he should make the most of them.

Let this group of people spontaneously promote "My Disqualified Daughter".

(End of this chapter)