Reborn in the Chinese Entertainment Industry: You're a Director, But You're a Casanova?

The next day, the film festival.

Although "Peng Zu" was placed in the Horizons section, due to the widespread dissemination of Liu Yuehua's previous scandals in Berlin, coupled with Liu Yifei's stunningly beautiful oriental face when she served as a guest host, the premiere was a resounding success with tickets selling out quickly.

The Horizons section focuses on recognizing works that represent the future trends of the film industry and innovative art forms.

Compared to the somber and profound main competition section, this section is more likely to produce dark horses and high-priced commercial copyright works.

Liu Yuehua's decision to have Lao Tian choose this segment was actually based on business calculations.

What he wanted wasn't to win the Golden Lion Award in his freshman year; he wanted the reputation of innovation to strike at the old guard in the country who couldn't make movies except for glorifying suffering.

……

The lights go out, and the screen starts playing.

Zhang Songwen plays a professor who is planning to move.

He bid farewell to his friends one by one, and then recounted the history he remembered and the little-known past in detail.

This innovative film style, which blends classical Eastern philosophy with cultural confidence, gave the film critics in the audience a refreshing experience.

A Miramax copyright acquisition manager, his eyes gleaming with the greed of money.

"My God, how can a film with such a low budget tell such an interesting story?"

"This Chinese director isn't just making a movie; he's creating a completely new totem of Eastern civilization for a global audience."

……

As the screening ended, the entire audience stood up and, amidst thunderous applause, Liu Yuehua, dressed in a dark Zhongshan suit, slowly walked onto the stage.

Countless cameras captured this scene, and these photos will soon be sent back to China and appear on the front page of Tianya and Mop.

Mr. Ma, your old rules are nothing but a fart in the face of this barrage of public opinion across Europe.

……

The awards ceremony a few days later was mediocre and boring.

When the chairman of the jury walked up to the microphone to present the awards for the Horizons category, Liu Yuehua, sitting in the back, remained as steady as a mountain.

Old Tian and Old Xie, who had come from China, seemed a little nervous.

Even with Liu Yuehua's Qi-observation technique, he could sense the complex emotional fluctuations of Lao Tian and Lao Xie.

They were afraid that their apprentices would surpass them, and they were also afraid that they would achieve nothing this time.

Liu Yuehua remained expressionless, but inwardly he was secretly complaining.

I haven't attended a single class, Lao Tian, ​​how can you be so shameless?

"The film that won the Best Innovation Award in the Horizons section and the FIPRESCI Prize at this year's Venice Film Festival is..."

The presenter paused deliberately for a moment, then announced loudly in heavily accented English:

"Peng Zu, director Liu Yuehua."

There was thunderous applause.

Liu Yuehua stood up and first gave a graceful hug to Liu Yifei, who was jumping for joy beside him.

Then, he politely shook hands with Lao Tian and Lao Xie, steadily walked onto the podium, and accepted the heavy trophy.

Liu Yuehua smiled broadly as he faced the cameras of countless media outlets from around the world.

His acceptance speech was concise and insightful, brimming with profound political wisdom.

"Thank you Venice, thank you to the jury."

"This film explores ancient Chinese philosophy and civilization. It is not only a film, but also an attempt for Chinese culture to reach the world."

"I hope that audiences around the world can see a great Eastern country with a rich cultural heritage through this film."

On the surface, this speech was addressed to Europeans, but in reality, every word was carefully crafted by Liu Yuehua, who intended to transmit it back to his superiors through domestic portal websites and official media press releases.

This is the qualitative assessment, elevating a sit-and-chat drama film to the level of a national strategy for cultural export.

The real highlight took place at the reception following the awards ceremony.

Liu Xiaoli took the photos and press releases back with her to prepare for a domestic media offensive.

Miramax's copyright acquisition manager proactively approached Liu Yuehua, an industry insider known for his sharp eye, who got straight to the point and quoted a price.

"Liu, your film showed me the potential of Eastern culture. I bought out all the rights in North America and Europe for $200 million."

Liu Yuehua chuckled softly.

"Sir, $200 million? That's not even enough to make a casual film in Hollywood."

"Take the story structure about history and civilization in 'Peng Zu' and change it a bit, and you can make a story about Jesus. I want $400 million, plus 10% of the North American and European box office revenue."

The two sides engaged in a difficult, protracted negotiation in a corner.

Ultimately, faced with Liu Yuehua's unwavering bottom line and a little bit of mysterious external influence, Hollywood capital chose to compromise and willingly signed the overseas rights to "Peng Zu".

$400 million may seem like a small amount now.

Although foreign exchange reserves were growing rapidly at this time, foreign exchange earnings remained one of the core performance indicators for relevant units.

A cultural work with almost zero cost not only did not spend the country's money, but also made a hefty $400 million from Western capital.

In the eyes of the then-Xinjiang Electric Power Bureau and the Cultural Bureau, this was simply a national glory, a political achievement.

With this protective shield, anyone who dares to hold him back is going against his superiors' political achievements.

Liu Yuehua glanced at his watch and, calculating the time, thought that Zhang should have already been arrested.

……

Let's go back two days.

Mr. Zhang huddled on the sofa deep inside the private room, his body drenched in cold sweat.

The hallucination he had just experienced with the mushrooms had left him completely mesmerized.

His paranoia and his inherent violent tendencies, catalyzed by some substance, produced a violent chemical reaction.

In his view, the smiles on the faces of his cronies who usually obeyed him were all twisted.

He even hallucinated that people were whispering.

"Look at that good-for-nothing, he's nothing but a rich kid."

"Who does he think he is?"

"Shut up, everyone shut up to the original poster!"

Mr. Zhang suddenly stood up and kicked over the coffee table in front of him, shattering the wine bottle and glass on the floor.

The girls in the private room screamed in fright and shrank into a corner.

Just then, the door to the private room was opened, and several fully armed constables rushed in, shouting sternly.

"During the routine inspection, everyone crouched down with their hands behind their heads and placed their hands in a conspicuous place."

This was a surprise inspection. Such operations happen frequently in Beijing's nightlife scene, and sometimes they don't even occur in certain locations.

Based on past experience, if Zhang had simply squatted down obediently and let the constables take him back, and then waited a few days, his father could have found a friend, and the matter would have been resolved peacefully. However, at this moment, Zhang had lost his mind. Under the influence of hallucinations, the constables in front of him twisted into murderers who intended to take his life, and his paranoia triggered an outburst.

Instead of squatting down, Zhang grabbed half of a broken wine bottle and lunged at the constable in front like a madman.