Chinese Entertainment: Directors Start with the Fairy Sister

Chapter 59, "Juno," tells the story of how she amazed Little Dragon Girl.

The filming location was chosen long ago: Vancouver.

This is also where the original work was filmed. It's not just that Zhao Yanxi didn't want to use her brain, but also because Vancouver has funding to support film production.

The most cost-effective!

After the filming location was confirmed, the long-awaited crew members, including actors, cinematographers, lighting technicians, sound engineers, art directors, and production designers, began to travel from Hollywood to Vancouver.

Some of these were brought in by Crystal Pictures itself, while others were recruited by Paul.

Zhao Yanxi also tested their skills, and they were indeed quite good; at least they were more than capable of filming a campus romance film like "Juno".

As for whether there was any discrimination against Zhao Yanxi, a director of Asian descent from China, in Zhao Yanxi's production team—that's simply a huge joke.

The mainland Chinese film and television industry certainly doesn't have much of a standing in Hollywood, but in a capitalist society, Zhao Yanxi always holds a powerful weapon—"You've been fired!"

In countries where people are accustomed to overspending, many would have to sleep on the streets if they didn't receive a salary for a month.

No one dared to displease Boss Zhao Yanxi.

Moreover, the three major European awards also hold a very prestigious position in Hollywood, and countless directors, actors, and artists consider it an honor to receive one of them.

At least for Leonardo DiCaprio, one of Hollywood's most popular male actors, affectionately known as "Little Leo" by Chinese audiences, his proudest award is still the Best Actor award at the Berlin International Film Festival ten years ago!

Zhao Yanxi, the director who won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, is also highly respected.

The story of Juno is very simple.

In short, it's the story of a girl named Juno who has a one-night stand with Brick, a cool guy on the school's track and field team, and ends up pregnant. The story follows how she resolves this "big problem."

Despite its simple story, which would not pass censorship in China, the American public is very receptive to it.

Since the last century, unintended pregnancy among minors has been a problem that has plagued society, and it remains a major issue in American society to this day.

Juno itself is a very American film.

Its essence lies in its unique American humor, its slightly edgy independent spirit, and its gentle and effortless handling of complex moral issues.

After confirming her pregnancy, the unconventional Juno initially did not want the child.

However, when she actually sat in the abortion clinic and felt the cold and strange atmosphere around her, a subtle yet firm change occurred within her.

A budding maternal instinct and an instinctive resistance led her to ultimately choose to leave and give birth to the child.

This was a decision that required immense courage.

When she tells her father and stepmother about her pregnancy, the film showcases a warm and open-minded side of American family dramas.

After recovering from her initial shock, Juno's parents quickly offered her their unconditional understanding and support.

Juno's solution was also unexpected: she didn't intend to raise the child, she just wanted to give birth and not care for her, and planned to just walk away and continue being a student, Juno.

With her father by her side, she chose a seemingly perfect couple—Mark and Vanessa.

They lived in a beautiful house, were financially well-off, and longed for children; everything about them matched Juno's ideal of "perfect parents."

If the story were to reach a happy ending at this point, it would fall into cliché.

The screenwriter's tone suddenly shifted again.

As Juno's due date approached, the long-simmering marital conflicts between the adoptive parents erupted, leading to divorce proceedings and the couple's inability to continue their marriage.

At this point, the entire adoption program was on the verge of collapse.

According to Chinese narrative logic, this should be the "heroic moment" when the protagonist Juno suddenly realizes the truth.

She may realize the true meaning of maternal love and family responsibility at this moment, and choose to raise the child alone or with Brick, completing her personal growth and transformation, and ushering in a touching reunion.

But the screenwriters of "Juno" deliberately abandoned this happy ending formula.

Despite the pain of her adoptive parents' marital problems, Juno chose to trust her divorced, single adoptive mother and leave her child with her.

Overjoyed, the adoptive mother became Juno's daughter's foster mother and rose to become a single mother.

Juno, having given birth, returns to school and plans to have a post-pregnancy romance with the cool guy Brick.

It's made for foreigners. If it were made in China, Zhao Yanxi would be worried that she would be banned from directing for five years. While "Juno" is a hit abroad, "The Return of the Condor Heroes" has also premiered in China amidst much anticipation.

In the realm of wuxia novels, whether Jin Yong, Liang Yusheng, Gu Long, Wen Ruian, or Huang Yi is more accomplished is perhaps still debatable.

However, in terms of influence in film and television adaptations, the four predecessors combined probably cannot match Lao Jin alone.

Even with the support of CCTV-8, "Seven Swords" didn't generate nearly as much buzz as "The Return of the Condor Heroes".

When Xiaolongnu first appeared, she was dressed in white, aloof and unsmiling, exuding a cold beauty that instantly captivated all the viewers!

Wow, her Little Dragon Girl costume is absolutely stunning!

"This Yang Guo is so slick... he looks like Xiaolongnu's uncle."

"Fairy Sister, forever a goddess!"

"The martial arts moves are really amazing. I don't think the appearance is much better than Li Ruotong's version, but the martial arts choreography is more beautiful."

"Liu Yifei, a renowned female warrior actress, truly deserves this title!"

Zhao Yanxi, who was overseas, also used a VPN to watch a few episodes of "The Return of the Condor Heroes" and took screenshots as proof—she hadn't watched the premiere of "Chinese Paladin" because she was busy with other things.

He even got a good scolding from Xiao Liu.

This time, Zhao Yanxi specifically asked her assistant to keep track of the time and remind her even though there was a time difference.

"I played Zhen Zhibing really well~"

"Hmph, Zhen Zhibing hasn't even logged on yet!"

"You acted well even without it going live," Zhao Yanxi replied with a smile. "My biggest regret during filming was not kissing him when the director yelled 'cut'."

"If I kiss you, you're dead! Mommy won't let you get away with this!"

Zhao Yanxi thought about it and realized that if Liu Xiaoli could slap the assistant director in anger for kissing his cheek in "Chinese Paladin", it wouldn't be a problem for her to slap an actor in "The Return of the Condor Heroes".

"Thankfully, it's all over now, and they've let me off the hook."

,"whee!"

Domestically, the completed film "Stone" has also been submitted for review.

The distribution has been handed over to Enlight Media, and Wang Changtian has given full support to the company's first distributed film.

Although the film is still a month and a half away from release, and there are only posters and trailers for promotion at the moment, Enlight Media has already arranged nearly a dozen events and interviews for the main creative team of "Stone".

Basically, from April 10th until the movie's release, Ning Hao and Huang Bo won't be able to land.

Industry insiders have also paid special attention to this film. The producer, supervisor, and even Xing Aina added Zhao Yanxi's name to the screenwriter list because Zhao Yanxi gave some suggestions on the script and changed the name.

Zhao Yanxi originally didn't want to benefit from this, after all, he knew about the box office miracle of "Stone".

Unfortunately, Ning Hao himself was unaware that after experiencing too many failures, the couple lacked confidence and felt that Zhao Yanxi's name should be able to boost the film's box office.

At the couple's insistence, Zhao Yanxi did not refuse. Everything was for the sake of the box office, and he also felt that his reputation should be of some use.

Given that Zhao Yanxi's first film, with a production budget of just over one million, grossed 1.3 million at the box office; and her second film, with a budget of 30 US dollars, grossed 1.8 million US dollars...

The price and box office of "Buried" are unknown, so we won't discuss them for now, but it won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, so it's definitely not a loss.

Compared to those works, "Stone," with an investment of 450 million yuan, is definitely the largest investment Zhao Yanxi has ever made, naturally attracting a lot of attention.

Ning Hao treated "Stone" as his comeback film, and was even more eager to promote it than Zhao Yanxi.

While Zhao Yanxi was in Vancouver, she would receive calls from Ning Hao from time to time, asking when he would be back.

Zhao Yanxi was so annoyed by him that she had no choice but to promise to go back before the premiere!