Chapter 120: Boss Wei is surrounded by beauties, the Golden Horse Awards are unstoppable

All day long, Gao Yuanyuan and Ceng Li stayed at the hotel, coordinating with the brand representatives to fuss over their red carpet makeup; Wei Jin, a big man, truly could not understand it.

However, it was also normal; for female stars, walking the red carpet at the Golden Horse Awards was a place to compete in beauty and glamour, a vanity fair, and behind it all, it was also a contest of strength between various companies.

Gao Yuanyuan was already a top-tier female star in the country, and the massive success of *Time-Space Cohabitation* had pushed her into the ranks of first-line popular artists, second only to the Four Dan Double Bing; some media even suggested removing Xu Cairen and having Gao Yuanyuan take her place. Regarding this, Yuan Yuanjie was overjoyed; if she could really suppress Xu Cairen, it would count as settling a score.

Ceng Li was even more popular; as the first Cannes Best Actress from Mainland China, regardless of whether the award was "wholesale," how many people could obtain such an honor? Her current status was already completely on par with the Four Dan Double Bing, and perhaps even slightly higher.

Therefore, the two of them were also the targets of pursuit by numerous brands.

While at Cannes, Chanel had already been in contact with Ceng Li, and the subsequent explosive popularity of *My Love from the Star* accelerated the pace of the official Chanel assessment; in July, they officially announced Ceng Li as the brand ambassador for Chanel in Greater China.

Gao Yuanyuan was not to be outdone; after the massive box office success of her film, she secured the role of brand ambassador for Gucci and also became the Mainland spokesperson for Chow Sang Sang.

The Golden Horse Awards red carpet was an excellent promotional and business method for brands; sometimes, just from one such red carpet, turnover would skyrocket by ten or even twenty percent, so it was no wonder the brand representatives made such a big fuss.

Their attire and accessories had been decided long ago, and the makeup artists and stylists had poured a great deal of effort into them.

At this moment, Gao Yuanyuan's assistant, Xiao Zhou, was urging her:

"Yuan Yuanjie, remember to be elegant and appropriate, keep a smile on your face, don't be temperamental, remember to greet the fans, and pay attention to the cameras."

It had already been agreed upon beforehand that today, Gao Yuanyuan and Ceng Li would walk the red carpet together with Wei Jin.

Xiao Zhou was afraid that Gao Yuanyuan would be in a bad mood and cause some kind of trouble on the red carpet, which would not only be embarrassing in the media but also leave a bad impression on Wei Jin.

"I know, you are really too long-winded. I won't go back on what I promised; I'm not that stupid."

Gao Yuanyuan said with some impatience; the makeup time had already been very long, and having to endure the assistant's constant chatter really made her head ache.

The Golden Horse Awards, the Hong Kong Film Awards, and the Golden Rooster Awards are hailed as the three major golden awards of Huaxia.

Back when Hong Kong was at its peak, the Hong Kong Film Awards naturally held the highest gold content because, at that time, Hong Kong cinema had immense influence throughout all of Asia.

However, the Hong Kong Film Awards always had a point of criticism, which was that the regional conditions were too restrictive; although they made compromises later on, they still emphasized that there must be Hong Kong elements and that they had to reach a certain proportion, which was truly disgusting.

Now, the glory of Hong Kong cinema is gone, and the influence of the Hong Kong Film Awards is far from what it used to be, going downhill year after year; even in Mainland China, few people pay attention to it anymore. It is estimated that in a few more years, it will be reduced to a toy for the Hong Kong Circle to amuse itself.

As for the Golden Rooster Awards, over the past ten years or so, there have been major problems.

One is the excessive emphasis on niche art; this is easy to understand, as the judges themselves come from a background of making art films and simply do not know how to make commercial films. If commercial directors were to join the competition, how would they justify their own positions?

The other is the issue of seniority, which is quite serious; this is also easy to understand—they are all in the same circle, so if I give it to you this year and to him next year, aren't they just dividing the spoils? If they didn't do this, wouldn't the already precarious art circle quickly fall apart? On the contrary, the Golden Horse Awards, because it does not set regional restrictions or even nationality restrictions—as long as it is a film with Huaxia elements, whether it is the actors, the director, or the Chinese used in the film, or even if the subtitles are in Chinese—can participate.

It can be said to be fully open to all Chinese-language films, and at the same time, it is more accepting of different political views.

Although there are sometimes some dark dealings and manipulations, in this era, the Golden Horse Awards can be considered the film award with the most tolerance in the Chinese-language film circle.

For example, the 2001 Golden Horse Awards presented both the Best Actor and Best Actress awards to Mainland films; the Best Actor award was given to Liu Ye for *Lan Yu*, and the Best Actress award was given to Qin Hailu for *Durian Durian*.

At the time, both were newcomers with no fame; what the Mainland could hype up was that the two were classmates and both from the Central Academy of Drama Class of 96.

Therefore, the Central Academy of Drama Class of 96 was also called the "Star Class" at that time, and its reputation was in no way inferior to the Beijing Film Academy Class of 96 Star Class.

Coupled with the fact that the students of the Beijing Film Academy Class of 96 had not won any awards, the saying "Beijing Film Academy produces stars, Central Academy of Drama produces actors" was coined.

Of course, this series of operations also allowed the Golden Horse Awards to firmly establish the title of "the film festival award with the most gold content in Huaxia," and almost all Huaxia film and television practitioners, whether actors or directors, longed to win the crown at the Golden Horse.

At 6:00 in the evening, Wei Jin brought the film crew to the venue of this year's Golden Horse Awards, the Taipei Arena; at this time, many fans and media had already gathered on both sides of the red carpet.

When Wei Jin held Ceng Li and Gao Yuanyuan's hands and walked onto the red carpet together, the cameras all around had already started flashing non-stop.

Along with the flashes came the voices of the fans: "Da Meiyuan, I love you!"

"Da Lizi, look over here!"

Hearing the fans' shouts, both of them were a bit excited and looked at each other, seemingly wanting to see whose fans were more numerous.

Sensing the little thoughts of the two beauties, Wei Jin patted their hands respectively and, arm in arm with both, walked across the red carpet amidst the envy of the numerous media and fans.

After simply accepting an interview from the red carpet host, the three of them walked into the awards ceremony venue.

Led by the staff, the three of them walked toward their assigned seats.

The seating arrangements for all kinds of awards ceremonies have always been based on status, and the Golden Horse Awards are no exception.

The first row is generally for the Golden Horse Awards organizing committee, local political representatives, and commercial representatives of sponsors, etc.

The second row is generally for the nominated actors of the current year's performance awards; some heavyweight guests are also arranged here so that the director can switch to these people's footage at any time—after all, this is the best guarantee for increasing viewership ratings.

Wei Jin and the others were naturally arranged in the second row, and along the way, many acquaintances greeted him, including Young Master Zhou.

"Old Wei, you are truly something."

Zhou Xun's words were double-edged; it was unclear whether she was talking about Wei Jin's three film nominations or his enjoyment of the company of two beauties. "You aren't bad yourself; with two films nominated for Best Actress, your chances are very high."

Wei Jin was not just being polite; the Best Actress nominations for *Perhaps Love* and *Painted Skin* meant that Zhou Xun had a high chance of winning.

"Seeing that *Room* has also come to participate, I don't hold out any hope anymore. Lizi, if you win the award, you must let me touch the trophy."

When Zhou Xun said this, there was a bit of bitterness; it was worthy of being a Cannes Palme d'Or film, having frequently participated in foreign film festivals recently and simply sweeping everything; she really couldn't muster the slightest fighting spirit.

"Xun Ge'er, don't say that; I am also a bit nervous."

Ceng Li and Zhou Xun had a good relationship, so she naturally appeared very humble.

From time to time, many stars and artists also came to greet Wei Jin, among them Guo Tianwang.

"Director Wei, hello, I am Aaron Kwok. We missed each other at the cocktail party in Hong Kong last time; it was a great pity."

"Hello, Brother Cheng. Your chances of winning the nomination this time are quite high; congratulations in advance."

This time, the art film *After This Our*, starring Aaron Kwok, also had high heat. In his past life, Wei Jin had seen this film; one must say, it was indeed good and was a rare art film that ordinary audiences could empathize with.

"Thank you for your kind words, Director Wei. If there is an opportunity, I hope to cooperate with Director Wei."

As Wei Jin's fame grew higher and higher, more and more top stars sought opportunities for cooperation; the Four Heavenly Kings, Best Actors, and Best Actresses would not miss the chance if they had one.

"Brother Cheng is too polite. Let's talk in detail when we have time."

Seeing Aaron Kwok, a thought actually popped into Wei Jin's mind. He had seen the film *Silent Witness* more than once in his past life; setting aside some irrationalities in the plot, the expression of fatherly love could still move the audience.

Seeing that Wei Jin was not just being perfunctory, Aaron Kwok was somewhat pleasantly surprised: "Then I will quietly await the good news from President Wei."

As the stars finished entering, the fans and reporters also entered one after another; Wei Jin knew that it was about to begin.

Sure enough, as a light show and music started, the hosts officially took the stage.

The hosts for this awards ceremony were Kevin Tsai and Patty Hou; the former needs no introduction—a famous host from Taiwan who has hosted many well-known variety shows and is also a regular at the Golden Horse Awards.

The latter is an artist under Fengxing, who has not debuted for long, and whose most famous identity is that of Zhou Dong's girlfriend.

Since news of her relationship with Zhou Dong broke at the end of 2004, this once obscure little host has leaped to become a rising star in Taiwan.

After a tedious sequence of procedures, the guests in the audience only felt sleepy, while Wei Jin exchanged amorous glances with the two beauties beside him; if not for the cameras on site, his large hands would have long since started acting restlessly.

The song and dance performance ended, and finally, the hosts took the stage; it was time to begin the awards ceremony.

Like most awards ceremonies, it started with the presentation of some minor awards.

"Painted Skin" won Best Visual Effects and Best Art Direction, and "Time-Space Cohabitation" won Best Original Screenplay.

Soon, the main event arrived, and the competition for Best Actress began.

"The winner of the 43rd Golden Horse Awards for Best Actress is, Ceng Li for 'Room'!"

Young Master Zhou felt a bit disappointed, but she quickly cheered up and applauded for Ceng Li.

Li Jie was also somewhat surprised; although she had already won Cannes Best Actress, she had not yet received a heavyweight film award in the country, and winning an award at home this time could be considered gaining recognition from her compatriots.

Gao Yuanyuan, on the side, was not so happy; when Ceng Li went on stage to give her speech, she pouted her little mouth to the heavens, and her large eyes were full of resentment as she looked at Wei Jin.

"Yuan Yuanjie, 'Search' will definitely win an award next year, believe me."

Wei Jin was not fooling her with these words; "Search," directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang, was already very different from what Wei Jin remembered, focusing more on digging into the deeper core, which might result in some losses at the box office, but there might be surprises when it comes to awards.

"That's what you said, if it doesn't happen, you have to compensate me."

As expected, Best Actor was still awarded to Guo Tianwang; the film "After This Our" was indeed quite good.

Best Director was awarded to the director of "Perhaps Love," Chen Kexin; Wei Jin felt this might be a form of balance.

Sure enough, Best Feature Film was awarded to "Room"; even if the Golden Horse Awards organizing committee was unwilling, they could not ignore a film that had won the Cannes Palme d'Or, though this might be another interpretation of the fairness and impartiality of the Golden Horse Awards.

Without a doubt, Wei Jin became the biggest winner of this year's Golden Horse Awards; amidst many envious gazes, Wei Jin walked slowly onto the stage, not showing the slightest stage fright.

"I am very happy that the organizing committee has presented this award to me. I started making films at the end of 2003; the first one had a box office of only 35 million, the second one exceeded 100 million, and the third one even reached 378 million. Breaking 100 million at the box office is not difficult for me; I am not saying this to show off my achievements."

Noticing that the people in the audience were a bit surprised, Wei Jin paused and continued: "I mean to say that the film and television market in Taiwan is simply too small. How many local films in Taiwan had a box office of over 10 million this year? I am speaking in terms of RMB."

The total capacity of the Taiwan film market is probably only 200-300 million USD, which converts to a box office ceiling of 2 billion RMB, but more than 90% of the box office is swallowed by Hollywood films, and in some years it even reaches over 95%, leaving most local films struggling to survive.

"In Taiwan, even if a film is invested with 10 million, it is very difficult to recoup costs relying solely on the local market, but the Mainland is different. There are many films with investments exceeding 100 million. Why dare to invest so much? Because the market has given us confidence. This year's total box office is expected to reach 3.5 billion, and this figure is growing rapidly every year; it is expected to break 5 billion next year, and it will definitely exceed 10 billion within three years. Across the two straits and three regions, all belonging to Huaxia, the China Film market welcomes every Huaxia filmmaker."

The second update of the day, I implore all book friends to reward me with subscriptions, follow-up readings, and collections. Make sure to flip to the last page for the follow-up reading, thank you everyone! (End of chapter)