This director is so innocent.

Chapter 180 Angry Outburst at the Hundred Flowers Award

"I'm in Bangkok, just finished filming."

First of all, congratulations to Director Feng, Zhang Hanyu, and Li Bingbing for winning Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress.

"The Hundred Flowers Awards were once sacred and pure in my heart. I remember buying the magazine 'Popular Cinema,' tearing out the ballot, filling in my favorite movie, and mailing it back."

"But now! It's like an old woman's foot binding cloth, smelly and long."

"To imitate those talent shows and introduce audience judges, to take entertainment to this level is clearly a form of self-degradation."

"Voting goes on and on, and if it were even useful, that would be fine. But the problem is that this voting system is just a game; everything is invalidated later, and you have to start all over again. So what's the point of all this?"

"Were the 101 judges from the public truly fair and impartial? If they were fair, why did Li Lianjie, Liang Jiahui, Guo Tao, and Liu Songren only receive single-digit votes?"

"Are movies like 'The Warlords,' 'Sheep Without a Shepherd,' and 'Crazy Stone' really not good enough for you?"

"There's also the issue of timeliness. Since the film festival reforms in 05, major film festivals have become biennial events, which was a good start."

"But with films from two years ago all coming to this competition, how many people still care about winning? Do the filmmakers even have the energy to come and accept awards?"

Finally, if a film festival doesn't even have a Best Screenplay award, can it still be considered a proper film festival?

"This Weibo post was like a boulder dropped into a calm lake, stirring up countless splashes and ripples."

When the major media outlets saw this Weibo post, their eyes lit up with excitement, as if they were celebrating their wedding night.

Their typing speed was incredibly fast; within half an hour, one report after another appeared online related to Su Jin criticizing the Hundred Flowers Awards.

The topic "Su Jin's Three Questions about the Hundred Flowers Awards" quickly became the number one trending topic on Weibo.

"Holy crap—Su Jin is awesome, you're a real man."

"I used to be a little annoyed with Su Jin, but now I'm really impressed. You dare to criticize the Hundred Flowers Awards like this, so I have to support you by giving you a movie ticket."

"What's there to be afraid of criticizing? The Hundred Flowers Awards are garbage. Their voting system is completely useless. In the end, the decision is still made by the 101 public judges, so what's the point of casting a vote?"

"I dare say there's something fishy about those 101 audience judges. Isn't 'Sheep Without a Shepherd' better than the privately-run 'Assembly'? But damn it!"

"Only a dozen or so tickets? That's a real rip-off."

"Assembly is considered good. Look at Yunshuiyao. If it weren't a patriotic film, it wouldn't have won any awards."

"So, is Su Jin upset about the Hundred Flowers Awards, or is she standing up for her family's film?"

"I estimate it's a combination of both; during the Best Director voting, Su Jin's votes were terrifyingly high, over a hundred thousand, completely crushing second-place Feng Xiaogang's *Assembly*."

"His 'The Coffin in the Mountain' was also a runaway winner in Best Picture, with other films not even having a chance to compete."

Now that you mention it, it's actually true.

"Judging by actions, not intentions, the Hundred Flowers Awards are truly a mess. Look at the winning films, they're all patriotic films; you'd think it was the Huabiao Awards!"

The screenwriters in the industry were the happiest by Su Jin's attack.

The Hundred Flowers Awards originally included a "Best Screenplay Award," but it was discontinued after two sessions and was not reinstated until 1980.

That year's Best Screenplay Award was given to Chen Lide for "Ji Hongchang".

This is clearly nonsense. You can judge the best film, best director, best actor and actress, but you can't judge the best screenwriter?

This time, taking advantage of Su Jin's criticism, they stirred up various troubles and called for the addition of a "Best Screenplay Award".

Wang Hailin: "Everything in a movie starts with the script; without a script, there is no movie."

Yu Dongxing: "The Hundred Flowers Awards showed North American screenwriters the truth that Chinese screenwriters have no status in the Chinese film industry."

Fei Min: "The North American Academy Awards have two awards for screenplays: Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay. Our film festival doesn't even have a Best Screenplay award. This is a tragedy for the industry."

Feng Xiaogang also joined in: "I'm in North America, just got off the plane. Young people are really full of energy! Although I won Best Director, I still want to say something."

The Hundred Flowers Awards for the Masses—its name is "the Masses." But can those 101 public judges truly represent the general public?

Ning Hao also chimed in, saying, "I won't comment on the others, but timeliness is really important. 'Stone' is a movie I made two years ago. If I hadn't received the notification from the organizing committee, I would have almost forgotten about it."

Yang Qing, the top henchman, immediately chimed in: "Timeliness is important, but the Best Screenplay Award is also important. Before I became a director, I was a screenwriter."

If authoritative industry awards disrespect screenwriters and disregard copyright, the brain drain in the screenwriting industry will become increasingly severe. Eventually, everyone will be working on adaptations, and not a single original film will be available.

With the voices of various filmmakers, the news of Su Jin's attack on the Hundred Flowers Awards has intensified and attracted a great deal of attention.

The film "Painted Skin," set to release on September 26, has already surpassed 9 million yuan in pre-sale box office revenue.

This is also why Feng Xiaogang left the scene; otherwise, why would he leave? Wouldn't it be better to just drink tea and watch the show?

If it weren't for the fact that the young prodigy is rather reserved, he would have personally taken to the stage.

Bangkok, film crew.

Su Jin received a call from Huang Jiaqiang.

"My dear boss, can't we just focus on making the movie? Kang Jianmin from the Hundred Flowers Awards has been calling my phone non-stop."

Huang Jiaqiang's tone was full of helplessness; it was truly a case of being at home when disaster struck from the sky.

Why criticize the Hundred Flowers Awards of all people? That's just crazy!

Didn't you see that Xiao Wang from Huayi Brothers didn't criticize the Hundred Flowers Awards? Who do you think you are?

Besides, everyone in the industry knows what kind of people the Hundred Flowers Awards are! Why criticize them? It doesn't do any good.

He doesn't care at all if his company's films don't win the Hundred Flowers Award in the future.

Winning awards is an actor's business; the company basically doesn't benefit from it.

"I'll buy you a new one if I break it."

"Boss, could you please let us know before you make any big moves in the future, so we can be mentally prepared and do some public relations?"

"Hmm, what did Kang Jianmin say to you on the phone?"

"It's just asking what you want to do!"

"What did you say to him?"

"I ignored him. A mere director isn't qualified. The chairman would be more suitable," Huang Jiaqiang said dismissively.

How's the promotion for "Painted Skin" going?

"Everything is going according to plan. Zhou Xun, Chen Kun, Fan Bingbing, and Huang Xiaoming are participating in a variety show, and offline connections are also being established."

"Did they agree to this scandalous publicity stunt?"

"I agreed." Huang Jiaqiang said this with a hint of excitement, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up.

"Boss, this move of creating rumors about the four of them was absolutely right. The audience is extremely interested in their love lives."

"A love quadrangle, who wouldn't care!" Su Jin said, then changed the subject, "What about ticket subsidies?"

The Jianmu ticketing website is already ready, and in order to make a good start, 20 million yuan has been invested in ticket subsidies.

"The talks with China Film Stellar Media, Beijing New Film Union, and Shanghai United Film Group went very smoothly; they all agreed to cooperate." Huang Jiaqiang said worriedly, "Boss, are we really sure there won't be any problems with us spending so much on ticket subsidies?"

"What problem could there be? We're not laundering money or buying box office receipts. The audience benefits. Besides, there's no law that explicitly prohibits subsidizing ticket sales."

"I mean disrupting the market."

"What nonsense about disrupting the market! Twenty million was thrown in and didn't even make a ripple. What kind of market disruption could it possibly cause?"

"I'm afraid someone will report it."

"Don't worry, even if you report it, the higher-ups won't care. Now is the time for development, and they'd love for everyone to invest money and build up the film and television industry."

Huang Jiaqiang nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Boss, when will filming for 'The Lone Wolf' wrap up? And 'Painted Skin'?"

Will you be able to make it back before the premiere?

"I doubt he'll be able to make it back in time."

The premiere of "Painted Skin" is on September 23, while "The Man from Nowhere" will not wrap up filming until at least the 23rd or 24th.

"Boss, take a three-day break from work and come back for the premiere! Without you, there's less to talk about, and besides, you're still the director!"

"We'll see when the time comes! That's all for now, I have to go filming."

"Okay, boss. Take care and get some rest."

"Okay, bye-bye."

Shortly after I hung up the phone, Zuo Shandiao called.

The controversy surrounding his criticism of the Hundred Flowers Awards has generated an extraordinary amount of buzz this time.

According to Zuo Shandiao, this matter has attracted the attention of higher authorities, who say that the film festival may need to be reformed, but they don't know how.

But no matter how it's changed, it's none of his business.

He wasn't particularly interested in domestic awards.

Time flies, and it's already the 22nd.

During this time, Su Jin worked through the night to finish filming her scenes so she could go back and attend the premiere of "Painted Skin".

The work done these past few days has been quite good, and we've reached his last shot.

This is the most dangerous shot in the film, requiring one to break through a window on the second floor, more than six meters high, and jump onto the road.

Because of the danger, it was filmed last.

If you don't do it yourself and use a stunt double, of course you can film it in advance, but Su Jin is unwilling and insists on doing it herself.

There's no reason why Hyun Bin wouldn't have the guts to jump from the second floor if Hyun Bin dared to do so.

Of course, he wasn't stupid. There were mats underneath; it wasn't a one-shot film. Otherwise, at over six meters high, without wires or mats, only a fool would jump down.

Hyun Bin didn't dare either, because there was a cushion more than a meter high below him.

You can watch behind-the-scenes footage on this Douyin account.

"Du Jie, why are your legs shaking?" Su Jin couldn't help but tease, looking at Su Jin who was wearing wires and whose legs were trembling.

Since finishing filming Ning Hao's "Crazy Racer," Du Jie has been resting and learning English.

Seeing that he hadn't worked for more than half a year and had lost a lot of weight, Su Jin pulled him over to be her photographer.

"What do you think!" Du Jie retorted irritably. He was going to be holding a camera and suspended in mid-air, following Su Jin's landing.

The second floor doesn't seem very high, but when he stood on it just now, it was truly terrifying!

You really don't know what it means to put yourself in someone else's shoes until you experience it for yourself.

"I said it's alright!"

"Of course you're okay, there's a mat down there. I'm hanging in mid-air," Du Jie said speechlessly. He had never filmed while suspended in the air in all his years in the industry.

"Hahahaha—don't be nervous, the protective measures are very safe, nothing will happen." Su Jin patted his shoulder to encourage him.

"Go away—don't delay my mental preparation."

Before long, everything was ready and filming began.

"action".

""

Su Jin took a deep breath, started sprinting, and broke through the window sideways, her movements fluid and natural.

Then it landed precisely on the mat below.

"Cut!" Cheng Er stood up and said loudly, "Director, your expression didn't look very natural when you came out; we need to reshoot."

Ok?

Unnatural?

Su Jin walked over and checked the footage that had just been filmed.

He was a little unnatural, mainly because it was his first time filming such a dangerous scene, and it would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous.

If you don't jump well and land outside the mat, you might be done for.

This is not an exaggeration; a fall from the second floor can be fatal.

When I was a child, a construction worker in the village was using a crane to lift bricks up from the second floor. The bricks were too heavy, and the machine pulled him down, killing him instantly.

"Let's reshoot. This time, don't film my face directly; film me from the side."

OK.

When Du Jie learned that the filming would have to be reshot, he complained bitterly, and his legs were trembling.

Su Jin, you're a big star and a big boss, why are you risking your life like this!

While the staff were replacing the glass and cleaning up the scene, Cheng Er spoke up, "Director, I've finished reading the script for 'Border Town'."

"How is it?"

"Excellent, exceptionally good." Cheng Er gave a thumbs up, his face showing admiration.

Actually, he also had a feeling that the script was exactly as he had written it, but he was too embarrassed to say it out loud.

"Director, who are you planning to cast as the male lead?"

What do you think?

"I think Sun Honglei is more suitable. He has a kind of sinister aura, which is perfect for this kind of role."

"Let's go with him!"

"You agreed?" Cheng Er asked in surprise. He really didn't expect Su Jin to be so easy to talk to, agreeing without even thinking.

"Yes, Sun Honglei is quite suitable."

Sun Honglei is the original male lead, so why would he disagree?

Besides, the actor really did a good job, so there's no need to replace him.

"Who do you think is suitable for the female lead, director?" Cheng Er asked, trying to sound very helpful.

Actresses are basically chosen by the investors.

"I'll tell you more about the female lead later."

Before long, the work was ready.

The second segment went smoothly and was completed in one take.

Then they filmed landing shots, as well as some other shots.