Chinese Entertainment: Directors Start with the Fairy Sister

Chapter 107: Angry Criticism of Baihua, Discussing Marriage!

"Director Zhao, Director Zhao!"

"Yifei, Miss Liu!"

As soon as the group left the venue, they were stopped by a group of media reporters.

"Director Zhao, the awards ceremony wasn't over yet, and you left early. Does this mean you disagree with the awards results?"

"director..."

Liu Yifei whispered a reminder, hoping that Zhao Yanxi wouldn't be too stubborn in front of the media.

However, thinking of Liu Yifei's disappointed expression, Zhao Yanxi couldn't hide her indignation.

At this moment, facing media interviews, he didn't want to hide anything.

"Yes, I feel like this award result is like taking the brains of our crew and the audience out of the house, rolling them on the ground, and then telling us—that's just how it is!"

"hiss..."

"Do you mean the judging panel is voting haphazardly and awarding prizes indiscriminately?" The reporter asked, his hand holding the microphone trembling.

It wasn't fear, it was excitement. He could already foresee that this interview would be an absolutely earth-shattering news story!

"Since a patriotic film has already been decided, why not just find a few patriotic films together and choose one you like?"

"Why bother finding dozens of commercial films and having a group of judges, whose average age is over thirty-eight, direct this farce?!"

"Why bother with online and telephone voting, only to disregard the results? What percentage of the national moviegoers are over 38 years old?"

"Anyone who has studied high school math knows what 'categorical sampling' is. Cultural workers must be cultured!"

"The golden rooster is powerless, the hundred flowers are withered; you no longer need to send invitations to Yanxi Films. Our company's films will no longer participate in this film festival..."

"6

Liu Yifei stared wide-eyed at Zhao Yanxi, who was speaking eloquently.

Won't this mean something bad will happen?!

The media reporters were even more excited, and even Yang Shoucheng and Xie Tingfeng, who were right behind them, as well as Li and Fan, who were staring at each other and exchanging sharp glances, could not attract their attention.

"Alright, I've finished speaking. Everyone, please make way."

As soon as he finished speaking, the media reporters obediently lined up on both sides, making way for Zhao Yanxi, Liu Yifei and others to leave.

"Brother, these words..."

"What are you afraid of? Just send it back. Are you afraid of these old men?"

A veteran journalist stared wide-eyed and said, "Those of us in this line of work never worry about controversy or conflict. The bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish!"

"Boss, I'm going back to the hotel now," Yang Siwei said calmly after remaining silent. "If anything comes up, I can handle it immediately at the computer."

"Okay, go ahead," Zhao Yanxi said nonchalantly. "The ones who will be in a lot of trouble next are them, not us."

"Do you think anyone else will be satisfied with the award results? Netizens aren't stupid!"

Zhao Yanxi wasn't just speaking to Yang Siwei, but also to Liu Yifei and the others. At least the anxiety and worry in Liu Yifei's eyes lessened considerably.

"We haven't had dinner yet, how about we go get some barbecue?" Zhao Yanxi suggested.

"Great!" Zhu Yawen was the first to raise her hand and said, "I ordered West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce at noon based on someone's recommendation, so I didn't eat much at noon and I'm planning to make up for it at the dinner."

"Is West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce really that bad?" Zhou Yang asked curiously.

"It tastes worse than you imagined," Luo Jin said with a bitter face, clearly having also suffered from the same taste at noon.

That evening, the group returned to the hotel.

Liu Xiaoli was already waiting in Yang Siwei's suite, and Zhao Yanxi led Liu Yifei directly upstairs.

"How is it?"

"Boss, the organizing committee has really messed things up this time!" Yang Siwei said gleefully. "The internet is full of criticism now!"

Yang Siwei stepped aside, and Zhao Yanxi and Liu Yifei surrounded them.

The most prominent ones are comments from mainstream media:

[Yangtze Evening Post: Awards on the left, films on the right!]

[Sichuan Evening News: The Golden Rooster is powerless, and all the flowers are withered]

The comments from netizens below are equally true: "Director Zhao is right. If I remember correctly, a previous survey showed that the mainstream audience for movies is now 16 to 30 years old. Can this group of middle-aged people in their forties represent the mainstream audience's evaluation and preferences for movies?"

"Director Zhao, well done! You dare to speak the truth. China lacks directors like you, which is why film festivals are getting worse and worse!"

"The golden rooster is powerless, the hundred flowers are withered; the two families are ultimately one."

Of course, besides those criticizing the organizing committee, there were also plenty of haters trying to stir up trouble.

"Great directors should have some magnanimity; they shouldn't blame the organizers just because they didn't win an award."

"Liu Yifei, an American, wants to win domestic awards? The Hundred Flowers Awards isn't an international film festival~"

"Yan Xi, thank you!"

Liu Yifei smiled brightly, knowing that for Zhao Yanxi, who had won the Silver Bear in Berlin, these domestic awards were actually dispensable.

Not to mention that he is dedicated to directing and wouldn't care about a Best Newcomer Award.

This time, his angry criticism of Baihua Media in front of the media was mostly to vent his own anger!

"It's nothing," Zhao Yanxi said with a smile, then pointed directly to the comments on the computer and looked at Liu Xiaoli, saying, "Auntie, this comment just reminded me."

"Actually, I had considered before whether to persuade you to change Sisi's nationality back, but at that time I thought I was too weak to speak up, so I thought I would wait and see."

"Given my current achievements in the film and television industry, I believe I can ensure that Sissi's acting career won't encounter any major problems, whether in mainland China or Hollywood. Now, is it time to change her nationality back?"

"Being criticized for this is a minor issue; the more important thing is that I'm earning more and more box office revenue and royalties overseas. If Sisi holds foreign citizenship, I'll have to pay a lot of taxes to those countries for no reason..."

""

Under US tax law, married couples are jointly taxed.

Therefore, Liu Xiaoli looked somewhat melancholy. Was she already starting to consider marriage?

At this very moment, in a meeting room of the film festival association, a group of men over fifty years old are sitting around the center of the conference table.

Sitting in the center was an elderly man in his sixties, his face dark with anger. He slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "Every year there are people who don't attend the banquet, but Zhao Yanxi is the first to leave before the awards ceremony is over!"

"Absolutely outrageous! Utterly outrageous!"

"I told you, just give him the Best Newcomer Award. Once he gets the award, there won't be any more trouble," someone muttered, which made the dark-faced old man in the middle heave his chest even more violently with anger.

"Why should we give him an award?!"

"The association's invitation letter has been sent to his company for two years, and he still doesn't know how to join the association or the organization. How can such a disorganized and undisciplined scoundrel win an award?"

"What do we do now?"

The secretary-general of the Film Association also looked equally grim; no matter how he explained, the media and netizens were not buying it.

He didn't want to do it this way in the first place. Last year, he gave the Golden Rooster Award for Best Film to "Zhang Side". Even if others were unhappy, they probably wouldn't say anything.

At the time, they said they wanted to give face to some veteran comrades and support the newcomers, so that "Zhang Side" would give way to "Kekexili".

What now?

The Hundred Flowers Awards are an award that involves participation from netizens and the audience. To play tricks on the audience like this, does it really mean we're still in the last century? Can't we do something underhanded and no one notice?

Nowadays, with media reporters and the ubiquitous internet, your every word and action will be magnified infinitely by netizens!

"How about we contact President Han, or ask those people at the Film Academy to talk to Zhao Yanxi and explain the situation?"

"What's the point of explaining? The words have already been spoken, what's the use of further explanation?!"

"Contact our old buddies directly and tell them to pay close attention to the notebooks Zhao Yanxi sends later. Make sure he knows there are consequences for talking nonsense!"