Huayu 02: The Days of Extreme Pulling and Rolling with the Fairy

"Master, why did you call me back? Let whoever wants to get involved in this mess get involved. Why did I join the association? I don't have time to attend their meetings."

Wang Jinsong had already argued with the academy about this matter a couple of days ago, but he couldn't win against the authorities, so he could only try to reassure his beloved student.

"Son, you don't live in a vacuum tank. If you want to succeed in the world of fame and fortune, you have to follow the rules. You can skip the Film Association, but you absolutely must attend the Directors Guild. Don't be so hard on yourself."

"Let me put it this way: Feng Xiaogang listed you and Zhang Yimou in the newspaper. If you don't go, wouldn't that be a form of defiance against the association?"

"If you don't go, won't people speculate that the Directors Guild can't tolerate young people?"

Xie Jin was both amused and annoyed. The Directors Guild is a secondary association under the Film Association and also participates in the Golden Rooster Awards.

Now we have to prove the impartiality of the Golden Rooster Award. It's okay to be a XX, but you can't expect people to erect a chastity arch for you, can you?

"Zhang Yimou has been called back from Ukraine; he also has to attend a meeting for a day."

"Listen more and talk less. This is a very complicated situation. Words can cause trouble. You're a junior, so don't go looking for trouble."

Xie Jin sighed, "Alright, I won't make things difficult for you, I'll go."

..........

Old Wang began to ramble on about the ins and outs of the matter.

  

The China Film Association held a leadership change this year, with Xie Tieli, who directed "The Storm," stepping down, and Wu Yigong, who directed "My Memories of Old Beijing," being elected chairman.

The top leader has changed from the classical faction of Beijing Film Academy to the poetic faction of Shanghai Film Academy.

The Directors Guild also underwent a leadership change. Compared to the smaller-scale changes in the Film Association, the Directors Guild experienced a major reshuffle.

The top leader has changed from the fourth generation director Wu Yigong to the fifth generation director Huang Xinjian.

Several vice presidents came in at once: Chen Kaige, Feng Dapao, Li Shaohong, and Zhang Jianya.

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China Film Conference Room

More than seventy people from the association were present in the conference room. Apart from the more than thirty leaders in different positions, the rest were all members.

That's right, nearly half of the seventy members of the association are leaders.

Besides the Directors Guild members, Master Han also came.

Xie Jin glanced around and saw that most of the people there were between 30 and 70 years old. Xie Jin then consciously found a corner to hide in.

In his peripheral area, there was another person wearing a baseball cap and lurking around.

"Hey, junior brother, why don't you move forward a bit?" The sixth-generation Section Chief Jia laughed heartily and winked.

Xie Jin curled her lip. "If you're going to play the grandson, then play the grandson. I'll just stay in the back, that'll be fine."

"I think so too. Our small bodies aren't even enough to fill a hole, let alone join in the fun."

The meeting began, and the room was very quiet; no one spoke.

At this moment, Xie Jin just wanted to disappear, so that no one would remember him. While the higher-ups were having a big meeting, Xie Jin and the hamster were having a private meeting via text message.

When the tiger is away, the monkey becomes king. With Xie Jin gone, Liu Xiaoli also had to go out for a few hours.

Fortunately, Xie Jin was away at a meeting these past few days and no one was around to look after her, so Big Hamster was quite carefree. The main thing was that other actors were filming, so Big Hamster had nothing to do with it.

The big hamster, accompanied by its little follower, found a place to frolic.

Wearing sunglasses, he sprawled out on a recliner in the warehouse, crossed his legs, and started bossing around Big Yellow.

"Captain Huang, here's a piece for you."

Big Yellow was holding a piece of pork jerky in its mouth, and its tail was wagging like a fan.

"Go, bring me the cola and the egg yolk pie."

"Good dog! Good dog! Here's half an egg yolk pie for you."

While eating snacks, the big hamster started typing.

[Dog Egg, did the meeting go well? Was it fun?]

[This isn't fun, there's someone lurking in the back, hurry up and finish, it's so annoying. Did you sneak a bite? You should be adding close-up shots in a few days, right?]

【What do you take me for? I, Liu Yifei, am a woman of steel; how could I possibly steal delicious food!】

"Captain Huang, bring that duck neck too, I'll share a piece with you."

Buzz

Ning Hao: [Junior brother, I have something to say. Cough cough, junior sister secretly ate all the snacks I bought for the child actors... I'm afraid I might be too lenient... Are you going to do anything about it...?]

I knew it! Make an excuse to call your aunt and tell her to come back to the group, but don't tell anyone I told her.

Junior brother, you're such a jerk... but I really like it...

.........

Huang Xinjian lit a cigarette as a signal to begin: "Today's meeting is closed-door, so let's all keep quiet. No one can leave until things are resolved."

Seeing that no one spoke up, Huang Xinjian sighed and could only call on the vice president: "Old Feng, you've had the loudest voice this time, why don't you say a few words?"

Feng Xiaogang's popularity didn't happen overnight; it actually started back in 00.

Objectively speaking, Jinji and high-ranking officials do have opinions about him.

In particular, Ye Jing (Boss You in "Party A and Party B") publicly humiliated him by bringing up his nickname "Feng Kuzi" on TV, which exposed the side of him that he was a poor kid from the past and that he least wanted people to see.

This directly led to a rift between Feng Xiaogang and some people in the Beijing elite circle, especially those from the compound.

The Golden Rooster Association is so heavily influenced by various associations, how could they possibly still include him in their activities?

Old Feng looked indignant. "Everyone calls me Feng the Cannon, so I won't tease him anymore."

"I only have one question! Does Chinese cinema need to be commercialized? If it does, then why should commercially successful directors be considered inferior? If the Golden Rooster Awards are going to be like this, then we might as well just award prizes based on seniority from now on!"

Xie Jin observed from behind and found it really interesting.

Almost everyone under 40 nodded slightly, looking at the little cannon intently.

The older gentlemen were either drinking tea or having their own private meetings, muttering amongst themselves, "Idiot, when I was carrying the camera, he was probably the one urging me on."

"Even when he was working as an art designer at the Beijing Film Studio, nobody wanted him."

"If he hadn't been currying favor with those few, would he even be in this position?"

"This is truly a case of a fucking mutt turning over a new leaf; even Feng Kuzi should take a piss and look at himself in the mirror."

..........

Section Chief Jia glanced at Xie Jin. Although Xiao Gangpao had many flaws, to be honest, his classical oil paintings were flawless. Besides, a true villain is better than a hypocrite, isn't he?

He lowered his head and whispered, "Did you hear that? You tell me, who dares to mess with these old garlic cloves?"

Xie Jin tilted her head and whispered, "Do you think there's any difference between us in their eyes? Old Feng is a mongrel from the alley, while we're mongrels from the countryside."

Old Jia chuckled beside him.

Huang Xinjian coughed lightly: "Dapao spoke quite well. Regardless of whether he's right or wrong, he at least said what he thought. It's better to speak frankly than to be malicious. Even the vice president has said a few words, Kai-ge."

Chen Kaige is actually in a rather difficult position.

Compared to veteran directors, he still has some box office appeal, after all, The Promise hasn't been released yet, and this mess hasn't been made yet.

He also said that The Promise is a milestone in mainland Chinese commercial blockbusters and a pioneering work of a new era. Basically, on the day it was released, the people of mainland China stood up in the film industry.

However, he himself is a beneficiary of the Golden Rooster Awards and one of the leading figures among the children of film studio employees. Last year's Golden Rooster Award for Best Feature Film went to his film.

He can't eat the food of Jinji and then smash Jinji's pot.

Chen Kai was in a difficult position, so he forced himself to smooth things over: "I understand that Xiaogang has a grievance. But I don't question the fairness of the organizing committee. After all, there's still the Hundred Flowers Awards, so it's not like commercial films weren't given a chance at all. As the saying goes, 'When you think you've reached the end of the road, a new path opens up.' Cough, cough, let me say a few words."

Zhang Yimou really wanted to curse. "Your tasteless fart is better left unsaid. Do I need you to recite it? Why don't you think of me when there are good things to say? Why do you make me say a few words now?"

Throughout his years in the industry, Zhang Yimou has basically never had any conflicts with anyone.

The problem is that given his position, he has to talk about it whether he wants to or not.

At times like this, Zhang Yimou can only play dumb: "I'm just a cameraman, I don't understand these things either. Anyway, commercialization is an inevitable trend, but we can't abandon artistry. It's more scientific for the jury to consider all aspects and listen to all sides."

We'd been chatting like this for half an hour, and slowly three factions started to emerge.

The chairman of the Hong Kong Film Awards represents Hong Kong's commercial films, and he clearly sides with Feng Xiaogang. Directors of genre films such as Wang Xingdong, He Ping, and Manfred Wong, who have long been discriminated against by the arts and culture sector, have also clearly expressed their support for Feng Xiaogang's proposed reforms to the Golden Rooster Awards.

Li Shaohong, Zhang Yimou, and Chen Kaige are all like clay figures, silent and unresponsive. When called upon, they basically just try to smooth things over. This is the state of most people, including Xie Jin.

Another group, led by veteran directors Xie Fei, Ding Yinnan, Zhai Junjie, and Wang Xiaotang, who are also key judges of the Golden Rooster Awards, explicitly accused Feng Xiaogang of smearing the Golden Rooster Awards and stated that his films lacked humanistic depth.

Huang Xinjian was having a headache when he suddenly noticed an unusually young face behind him.

Hey...right, it seems like the cannon specifically mentioned a young man...