Chapter 221: Scheming, Turmoil, Sniping

Warner Bros. headquarters, special effects center.

It was Wei Jin's first time visiting this place; after observing it up close, he intuitively felt the gap between Summit Entertainment and the Hollywood Six Majors.

After the Berlin International Film Festival ended, Wei Jin rushed to Hollywood, while the trading of film copyrights was left to Hunter to handle.

At this moment, Nolan was like a general here, leading hundreds of special effects engineers to tackle the project.

"Wei, come and see the results."

Nolan pulled Wei Jin along to watch several special effects clips that had already been completed.

Three minutes passed, and Wei Jin still felt unsatisfied; although he had seen them in his past life, the clips at this moment had undergone many changes and were even more stunning than the images in his mind. Nolan truly had skill.

"Wei, how is it? Did it meet your expectations?"

"I can only say perfect, absolutely fantastic. It seems handing it over to you was the right choice."

"Haha, then I can rest easy."

Although he already had a film with a billion in box office as a foundation, Nolan still attached great importance to Wei Jin's ideas. This young man before him was simply too terrifying; not only had he produced a Berlin Film Festival Best Actor, but he was also only one step away from a Grand Slam of the European Big Three.

"Nolan, you are too modest. Believe me, this film will definitely go down in film history."

"Haha, actually I think so too, but when facing you, one has to be a little modest, right?"

After touring around with Nolan some more, Wei Jin bid farewell; he had a family dinner to attend that evening.

After leaving, Wei Jin returned directly to the villa in Beverly Hills.

"Yuan Yuanjie, we should head out." —— Domestic, Huayi Brothers headquarters.

Wang Zhongjun hung up the phone, his expression somewhat gloomy.

"Brother, do we really have to listen to those old guys?"

Because it was on speakerphone, Wang Zhonglei naturally knew the content of the conversation. Did these old guys have something wrong with their brains?

"Listen to them, my ass. What era is this? Still playing that 'those who submit prosper, those who resist perish' game?"

Wang Zhongjun cursed without reservation. They were old enough to be buried; couldn't they just stay quiet?

What made Wang Zhongjun even angrier was the condescending attitude of the old guys. Did they really think he was still the small fry from back then? Although Huayi's early rise had received quite a bit of help from these people due to his background, Wang Zhongjun asked himself, he had never been stingy with the benefits that should have been given over the years. Many of the descendants of these old things were being promoted by Huayi.

Including the Qing palace dramas of these years, had the old guys forgotten how they became hits? In Wang Zhongjun's view, the two sides were more like a cooperative relationship, not some agent or white glove.

"Then how do we explain it to them later? There are still many elders in the family..."

"Drag it out for now. We are at the critical moment of going public, and Wei Jin holds quite a few shares, plus we are collaborating on *The Message*. There is no need to fall out. Who can say for sure about the future?"

Wang Zhongjun was very clear-headed. Don't look at how impressive Shanhe Media's influence was now; as long as they hadn't gone public for a day, Huayi still had a chance to overtake them. The capital market didn't care about who came first.

Dragging it out served two purposes: first, to build up strength—if the two sides really turned against each other one day, Huayi would have the power to fight; second, the old guys were about ready to be buried anyway. When that time came, whether to fight or make peace would be decided by interests.

"Hmm, brother, this method of yours is good. Listing is the priority; I doubt they can pick any faults." —— North America, a private villa was brightly lit, and a family dinner was underway.

"Wei, cheers to us, bottoms up!"

"Cheers!"

Wei Jin sipped some red wine and began to eat.

Matt had clearly put in the effort, specifically preparing Chinese food for today's family dinner.

"Wei, this script, you really should have given it to me. I can guarantee it would definitely be more outstanding than this guy Matt..."

After Matt received the Silver Bear trophy, he had immediately shown it off to his old friend Leonardo, so it was no surprise that the latter appeared here.

"Shit, Leon, when it comes to acting, I don't think I'll lose to you."

Matt now had the Silver Bear to back him up, and his confidence was much stronger when he spoke.

"Leon, have you forgotten? You once rejected me. I'm a person who holds grudges."

Wei Jin picked up a piece of food for Gao Yuanyuan and said with a bit of teasing.

"Hmm? Leon even rejected you?"

Gao Yuanyuan was a bit surprised. Was there anyone who would reject Wei Jin's script?

"Right, I also remembered. *The Invisible Guest* fell into my hands just like that. So, in Huaxia terms, this is called 'fate', right, Wei?"

Matt used awkward Chinese to say the two words "yuan fen" (fate), drawing a burst of giggles from Gao Yuanyuan.

"Haha, that's right, Matt, this is our fate."

"Oh, Wei, I thought you were a magnanimous person. Shouldn't making movies be a bit more pure?"

Although Leonardo already had a Berlin Silver Bear trophy, no actor would complain about having too many of those things.

"Haha, I'm just joking. It's really that you are too expensive, and besides, *Inception* needs you more."

In fact, Wei Jin had truly considered Leon, but his screen image had been too distinct over the years, which actually had a debuff effect on the script's characters and was not conducive to chasing awards.

"It really is cheap for this guy Matt. I heard him say the film is also going to challenge for next year's Oscar?"

Speaking of this, Leonardo was even more annoyed. How could he have missed the opportunity? He had been waiting bitterly for quite a few years.

"There is such a plan."

Wei Jin had already handed this aspect of the work to Summit Entertainment. Producing an Oscar-winning film was also an enhancement of soft power for the latter, and they would be very diligent.

"Oh, I feel like I've really lost too much. Wei, next time, if there's another award-chasing film, you must remember to find me. I can even forgo my salary."

Films with the potential to chase awards were rare and hard to find; Leonardo was truly willing to perform for zero salary.

Especially at the Oscars that concluded a few days ago, Winslet winning the Oscar Best Actress for *The Reader* made Leonardo even more determined to become an Oscar Best Actor.

"Haha, then we can only wait for the next opportunity." —— Beijing, Deep Blue Recording Studio.

Ever since she first recorded a song with Wei Jin here, Jing Tian had treated this place as her base; whenever she recorded songs, she would come here.

Before Wei Jin went abroad, he gave three songs to Jing Tian, but the young girl had been busy helping out at school since the Spring Festival and hadn't had time to record them.

Now that the Beijing Film Academy art exams were finally over, she could finally record songs with peace of mind.

Looking at the lyrics and sheet music, Jing Tian couldn't help but think of Wei Jin again. She didn't know where this heart-thief was having fun with Gao Yuanyuan right now.

"What a playboy, and here I was speaking well of you in front of my uncle."

"Tian Tian, whose praises are you singing?"

A voice came over, making Jing Tian stand at attention instantly, her face showing some embarrassment.

"Teacher Liu Huan, you've arrived."

The person who arrived was none other than Liu Huan. Ever since he got to know Wei Jin and Jing Tian three years ago because of the Zhang Yadong affair, he had kept his word and had almost become Jing Tian's exclusive producer.

This time, he had also specifically adjusted his schedule to match Jing Tian's time to record the songs. It wasn't that he was being humble; it was truly a case of "eating someone's food makes your mouth soft, taking someone's gifts makes your hands short."

Although Liu Huan had always been a big shot in the industry, and there was even talk of him being the number one in the Mainland China music scene, his commercial value was actually not that high. This could be seen from his various commercial performance fees.

But with the explosive popularity of The Voice, his market value had more than doubled. All kinds of announcements, commercial performances, and endorsements were drifting toward him like snowflakes.

Although Liu Huan was a very pure musician and did not value these things too much, the increase in commercial value brought obvious benefits to him.

To give a simple example, he could now support his management team by doing just two or three commercial performances a year. Didn't this save him a lot of time to find musical inspiration?

"Tian Tian, show me the lyrics and score first. I want to see what good songs Wei Jin has written for you again."

Liu Huan felt a bit wistful when he said this. Wei Jin was truly talented, but it was a pity he couldn't focus on music. Coupled with his limited vocal conditions, otherwise, with his attainments in Chinese and English songs, he might have had the potential to become a world-class pop king.

"The Light Chaser, As You Wish, Tomorrow Hello—you've really squeezed Wei Jin dry, writing three songs for you at once."

Listening to Liu Huan's slightly ambiguous phrasing, Jing Tian's pretty face flushed red. At the time, she really had squeezed him dry to get the songs.

"Well, let's start with this simpler one, Tomorrow Hello. Tian Tian, are you familiar with the lyrics?"

"Yes, Teacher Liu Huan, everything is ready."

Jing Tian also knew that Liu Huan's time was precious, so she had naturally prepared well; otherwise, it would be too disrespectful to treat a big shot as anything less.

"Alright then, let's begin now."

"Okay." — Mainland China, at a certain interview site for the Central Academy of Drama.

"Teacher Ceng, your complexion doesn't look good. Why don't you go take a rest first? You can leave things here to us."

After one round of interviews, one of the teachers among the examiners looked at Ceng Li with some concern.

"It's fine, I'll just watch from the side."

Although Ceng Li felt a bit unwell, she was the chief examiner and had to be responsible. Moreover, a scandal had broken out at the neighboring school. Although she trusted the integrity of the teachers at the Central Academy of Drama, she still had to supervise.

This year, the art exams at the Beijing Film Academy ended a bit earlier than those at the Central Academy of Drama.

On the day the final results were posted, a parent of a failed candidate reported on the spot: a teacher in the acting department who ran a training class outside had demanded 300,000 to guarantee a pass in the final exam.

Because this candidate had previously acted in a movie and was multi-talented—able to sing and dance—and was full of confidence, the parent also felt there was no need to spend money unjustly, so they refused the matter.

Who would have expected that they would fail in the end? Both the parent and the student felt that this teacher was harboring a grudge.

The Beijing Film Academy urgently held a press conference, specifically emphasizing the fairness and strictness of the art exams, and even specifically listed the names of this year's art exam supervision team, including eight professors and associate professors, and two doctoral supervisors.

But public opinion did not buy it, because this phenomenon of demanding money did indeed exist, and the acting department of the Beijing Film Academy had already become unscrupulous.

This matter had been in the headlines for several days, and even the honor of Wei Jin winning the Golden Bear could not cover up this scandal.

However, Ceng Li also understood that it was indeed very difficult to achieve fairness and justice in the admissions work of the acting department. The evaluation criteria were too subjective and vague, and it was difficult to be as clear and definite as other majors. All she could do was to minimize the eliminations caused by being too subjective.

Throughout this interview session, Ceng Li did not speak and just watched the other examiners work. The physical discomfort finally eased a little.

"Teacher Ceng, I suggest you go take a look. Don't take a small illness lightly."

The person speaking was a slightly older teacher, and the advice given was very sincere; he was an experienced person.

"Yes, I will, thank you Teacher Ma." — Wei Jin did not expect that even with a private jet, he would still be blocked at the airport by the media.

"I say, how many days have you been camping out here?"

"Hehe, Director Wei, we didn't see you in Berlin, and we couldn't catch up with you in North America. The leaders have given the order that we must interview you. We brothers have been taking turns guarding for a week."

Wei Jin's flight information could no longer be checked, but the media had many connections among all walks of life, and it was still possible to inquire about whether any private flight routes had been applied for.

Although they didn't know whose plane it was, it was never wrong to come and wait; at worst, it would just take a little more effort.

"Alright, seeing as you've worked so hard, I'll answer three questions. Ask away."

"Then thank you first, Director Wei. May I ask if you are satisfied with the General Administration's handling of the matter?"

A few days ago, a member of the review panel stood up and admitted that it was his own work negligence that caused Wei Jin's script to fail the review, and he voluntarily applied to resign, which barely calmed the situation.

"I've already said it before, anyone can make mistakes. Since it has already been corrected, that is naturally for the best."

His mentor had already communicated with him about this matter. It was said that Professor Hou had personally found Tian Zhuangzhuang. This person's face still had to be given, after all, he was a former vice dean of the Academy.

Moreover, Wei Jin did not intend to rely on this matter to change the review environment. There was still a lot of work to be done, and the road ahead was long.

"May I ask Director Wei, you said you want to win the Grand Slam of the European Big Three, do you have a specific plan?"

Currently, Huaxia does not yet have the Grand Slam of the highest awards of the European Big Three. Li An and Zhang Yimou are only one step away; both of them have already won the Golden Lion and the Golden Bear, and are only missing the Palme d'Or, which can be considered to be at the same stage as Wei Jin.

"I already have one. I expect to launch an assault on the Golden Lion within three years."

The reason for waiting so long was that Wei Jin intended to assault the highest honor of the Oscar at the same time, so he naturally had to choose the right time.

"May I ask Director Wei, what is your take on Painted Skin?"

A few days ago, that guy Lu Chuan was quite high-profile in front of the media because Painted Skin had obtained a public screening license and had already been scheduled for May Day.

He actually declared to the outside world that Painted Skin was a tribute film. In his mouth, this movie was praised to the extreme, giving people the feeling that if you didn't go to the cinema, you were forgetting history.

"I don't know what kind of mindset Lu Chuan had when creating this script, but for this kind of film with an incorrect stance that whitewashes the enemy, Shanhe Cinema Line will refuse to screen it."

Wei Jin's words directly shocked the reporters on the scene, with undisguised malice and blatant suppression.

But they didn't expect that there were even bigger "surprises" waiting for them. They only heard Wei Jin continue: "At the same time, the martial arts film Eye for an Eye and the costume fantasy blockbuster Painted Skin 2, produced by Shanhe Media, will be scheduled for April and May respectively."

The second update today, I earnestly request all book friends for subscriptions, follow-up readings, collections, monthly tickets, and recommendation tickets. Thank you all! (End of chapter)