Chapter 163: Judging Myself?

Zhao Yazhi's heartfelt words made Jiang Qinqin thoughtful. Her mentality had indeed inflated a bit after this sudden explosion of popularity. If someone else had said this, she might not have listened, but coming from Zhao Yazhi, who had acted in many hit works, it made her sober up a bit.

*My Fair Princess* was originally chosen for her by Wu Yuchen. Otherwise, if she had been approached by Qiongyao at the beginning, she would have gone to act in *Tears in Heaven*. This drama was released in Wanwan earlier than *My Fair Princess*, and the cast was luxurious, but the final result was mediocre. At that time, Wu Yuchen told her that the audience was already aesthetically fatigued by this style of Qiongyao, and looking at it now, it was indeed so.

Qiongyao herself didn't value *My Fair Princess*, but Wu Yuchen could predict it in advance. In terms of vision, who was higher and who was lower was clear at a glance.

And *Art Museum by the Zoo* goes without saying; it could be said that it was specially prepared for her by Wu Yuchen, who taught her hand-in-hand how to act. It could truly be said that he fed the food into her mouth.

Therefore, it could be completely said that it was Wu Yuchen who personally made her famous. Without her, Jiang Qinqin, as long as Wu Yuchen wanted to promote someone, changing to another female lead would still make them famous. But without Wu Yuchen, then she, Jiang Qinqin, might be nothing now...

Having figured this out, Jiang Qinqin's inflated emotions these days really subsided a lot, and then she said to Zhao Yazhi: "Thank you for the reminder, Teacher Zhao~"

Afterward, she glanced at Wu Yuchen, who was chatting with the producer, and suddenly thought, "No, he is my man, isn't it only natural for me to rely on him?"

Thinking of this, her back straightened again. Except for Wu Yuchen, she could still show off in front of others!

Wu Yuchen didn't know Jiang Qinqin's thoughts. At tonight's wrap-up banquet, Zhu Yongde, the boss of Shanghai Film, naturally came too. After some drinking and chatting, he asked Wu Yuchen:

"Wu Dao, when do you plan to release our *My Sassy Girl*? New Year or summer?"

There were no May Day or National Day slots yet. The two best times for box office throughout the year were the summer and the year-end New Year period. And *My Sassy Girl* was a comedy, which was actually suitable for release during the New Year slot, hence why Old Zhu asked.

"Director Zhu, let's schedule it for the summer. To be honest, I still have a lot of things to do next. I might have to push back the post-production of *My Sassy Girl*. Leaving it for next summer gives me plenty of time."

Wu Yuchen wasn't lying. After filming *Don't Tell Me*, he had just finished editing and ran out to promote *Art Museum by the Zoo* with Jiang Qinqin. Then he had to take advantage of the summer not being over yet to hurry up and film *My Sassy Girl*.

Now the post-production of *My Sassy Girl* could be put off a bit. He had to go back first to completely finish the post-production of *Don't Tell Me*. Although a part of it had been handed over to others, he, the director, still had to go back to check the coordination and effects.

"Alright, Wu Dao, you set the time, and we can arrange the work here." Old Zhu had no objection to this.

When the wrap-up banquet was about to end, Wu Yuchen asked Wang Zuxian: "Sister Xiaoxian, are you not going back to Wanwan after filming this time?"

Wang Zuxian shook her head with a smile: "I'll rest for two days, then go to Rongcheng, meet up with Qi Qin there, and go to Tibet together. He is going to hold a concert in Tibet on October 2nd~"

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuchen nodded and smiled: "Then I wish you all a smooth trip to Tibet and have a good time~"

Wu Yuchen had also heard of this concert. Qi Qin was the first pop singer to hold a large-scale concert in Tibet, and Wang Zuxian served as a special guest.

To be honest, just from this point, it was quite admirable. An altitude of nearly 4000 meters, and he was singing live, and it wasn't for money. Otherwise, he could have held it in the eastern coastal cities. It was very professional, far better than those who lip-synced for money and were still stubborn about it.

However, thinking of the relationship between Wang Zuxian and Qi Qin, he couldn't help but shake his head, but he had no way to help.

Wu Yuchen and Wang Zuxian had also cooperated on two plays, and their relationship was quite familiar. Usually, they could joke around, but he, an outsider, couldn't intervene in such emotional matters.

As for the matter of Qi Qin's illegitimate child, it wasn't that there were no rumors reported by Hong Kong and Taiwan media. Maybe Wang Zuxian had heard about it long ago, but the illegitimate child had never been made public until now, so she just pretended not to know. But it was just when she and Qi Qin were about to get married that the illegitimate child appeared in court. I don't know if it was because the conditions weren't negotiated privately, or if it had been planned long ago. That led to the two of them completely breaking up later...

Wu Yuchen really couldn't do anything about this kind of thing, and could only hope that there would be some different progress this time.

After a lively wrap-up banquet ended, the crew went their separate ways. Wu Yuchen took Jiang Qinqin directly back to Beijing, naturally continuing to invest in the post-production of *Don't Tell Me*.

As for Jiang Qinqin, she was pulled away by Xiangnan Satellite TV and Qiongyao to discuss the sequel to *My Fair Princess*.

After Jiang Qinqin was promoted to a movie star through *Art Museum by the Zoo*, she looked down on the sequel to *My Fair Princess* a bit and didn't really want to act in it. But Xiangnan Satellite TV and Qiongyao now regarded *My Fair Princess* as a big treasure. How could the sequel be missing a female lead? Therefore, they came to do Jiang Qinqin's ideological work every day.

Wu Yuchen didn't care and let her make her own decision. He was busy with his own affairs.

In the recording studio, listening to Wang Fei and Li Jian singing *I Want You*, Wu Yuchen showed a satisfied smile. This song was the theme song of the movie, and the original version also had two versions: one sung by the actor Ren Suxi herself, and one as a duet with Lao Lang.

This time, Wu Yuchen found Wang Fei and Li Jian, and also recorded two versions: Wang Fei's solo and the male-female duet. Currently, the effect looked good.

After the two came out of the recording studio, Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "Very good! Thank you both for your hard work~"

Wang Fei said politely: "Wu Dao, where are you talking about? You wrote this song quite well. I have to thank you for thinking of finding me to sing it."

She had contact with Wu Yuchen two years ago, at Dou Wei's house, but now things have changed. The two had a daughter, but they were already in the middle of a divorce. And Wu Yuchen, from a new director two years ago, had now transformed into an international big director. Her agent had warned her to keep polite when seeing Wu Yuchen, which made her sigh with emotion.

Beside him, Li Jian was grinning at Wu Yuchen. He had already sung *Art Museum by the Zoo* for Wu Yuchen before, and this time he was pulled over again, and it was a duet with the diva Wang Fei. Li Jian felt that following Wu Yuchen was truly a rhythm of being carried to success.

"Haha, let's not be polite to each other. I'll treat you to a meal to thank you for singing my theme song so well!" Wu Yuchen waved his hand and said with a smile.

At the dinner table, after a few people started chatting, Wang Fei also mentioned to Wu Yuchen about the situation in Hong Kong:

"Wu Dao, you may not know, but you have caused quite a lot of controversy in Hong Kong~"

"Oh? What controversy?" Wu Yuchen raised his eyebrows upon hearing this. Could it be that some idiot in Hong Kong popped up to mock him?

"It's just about this year's Hong Kong Film Awards. Many people scolded the Hong Kong Film Awards for being too rigid, saying that your *Run Luo La Run* was clearly filmed in Hong Kong and should be counted as a Hong Kong movie, but the Film Awards just wouldn't let it participate in the evaluation, so it caused a lot of controversy."

Wu Yuchen understood that he had thought wrong.

At present, among the several film awards in the Chinese-speaking region, the Golden Horse Awards have the greatest influence because they opened up restrictions a few years ago. Any Chinese-language film, regardless of region or nationality, can sign up to participate, as long as the director is Chinese and the film dialogue is in Chinese.

Like *In the Heat of the Sun*, it directly swept the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Effects, and other major awards in the first year the Golden Horse opened up, directly occupying half of the major awards and showing off.

Compared with the Golden Horse Awards, the Hong Kong Film Awards can only be said to be a local award at present, because its registration conditions stipulate that the director must be a Hong Konger; the main creative team must have more than 6 Hong Kongers; and the film must have Hong Kong capital injection. These three conditions must be met by at least two to participate in the Hong Kong Film Awards.

And last year's *Run Luo La Run* clearly didn't meet the requirements. Therefore, regardless of whether the movie was filmed in Hong Kong or whether it was a Chinese-language movie, it just couldn't participate in the evaluation.

Wu Yuchen smiled faintly and said: "Not letting me participate in the evaluation is their loss."

"Wu Dao, you are right, that's why the Film Awards were scolded!" Wang Fei agreed.

In fact, Wu Yuchen also knew that it could cause such a big controversy, mostly because he had two consecutive movies with box office breaking 100 million in America, and it wasn't just barely breaking 100 million. *Frequency* reached 150 million US dollars, and *Phone Booth* finally reached 180 million.

Don't look at Hong Kong people having a sense of superiority over the mainland, but in front of the American father, they are nothing. Think about how many people in Hong Kong recognize the British as fathers, and the British are the younger brothers of America, so by seniority, America is also their uncle. Wu Yuchen had conquered their uncle, so wouldn't a bunch of people want to cheer for Wu Yuchen? Otherwise, how to prove the superiority of the British father and the American uncle?

It's just because in the past 20 years, Hong Kong's film industry was developed, which can be called the Oriental Hollywood, so the status of the Hong Kong Film Awards was raised. But now it's just the peak. With the continuous decline of Hong Kong films, and not opening up restrictions and insisting on localization, the gold content of the Film Awards will continue to decline.

A meal was enjoyed by both host and guest. After sending Wang Fei away, Wu Yuchen kept Li Jian and handed him another piece of lyrics and music.

After Li Jian took it and looked at it, he saw *I Believe* written on it, and couldn't help but ask: "Wu Dao, this is?"

"This is the theme song of *My Sassy Girl*. Your voice is just right. Go back and practice well." Wu Yuchen patted him on the shoulder and said.

Li Jian was overjoyed upon hearing this. Who doesn't know Wu Yuchen's new movie *My Sassy Girl*? It had been making a lot of noise since filming started, and now he had actually handed the theme song to him!

Li Jian made up his mind to resign and take the music path because of *Art Museum by the Zoo*. This song had already given him quite a bit of fame. And now Wu Yuchen had arranged two songs for him, *I Want You* and *I Believe*...

It is not polite to say, but Wu Yuchen is his Li Jian's Bole, and he doesn't know how to repay this kindness!

"Wu Dao, don't worry, I will definitely practice this song well and won't hold you back!"

Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "Not to that extent. When I come back, I will give you the script. You should feel the emotions of the male and female leads well. Don't show off your skills. The emotion of this song is the soul."

In the past life, this song was covered by Sun Nan and became popular. But to be honest, Sun Nan's singing skills were enough, but he just liked to show off his skills. His own tone was high and bright, but he ended up showing off his skills and sang a gentle and deep song with high-pitched penetration. Penetrate your sister! This is not participating in *I Am a Singer*!

Wu Yuchen wasn't really deliberately cultivating Li Jian or anything. His tone was very suitable for *Art Museum by the Zoo* and *I Believe*. Now it seems like he has become his own exclusive singer. But Wu Yuchen didn't care about these details, as long as the effect was good.

After the soundtrack of *Don't Tell Me* was completed, the overall post-production was almost finished, which finally made him breathe a sigh of relief. Although the script of this movie was similar to the original version of the past life, the actors were very different, and the style was also different. It could be said that it was already two movies from the original version. He didn't dare to say that he was full of confidence in winning awards, but he also did his best.

As if by coincidence, at this time Wu Yuchen received an international call. After looking at the area code, it was from Germany.

"Hello, this is Wu Yuchen."

"Hello, Wu Dao, we are the organizers of the Berlin International Film Festival. I hope we didn't disturb you~"

Wu Yuchen muttered in his heart after hearing this. His *Don't Tell Me* had just finished post-production. Could it have already reached Berlin? It shouldn't be, right? Is the news already so well-informed?

"Oh, no, may I ask what's the matter?"

"It's like this, Wu Dao, we want to invite you to serve as a judge for the 49th Berlin Film Festival. I wonder if you are willing?"

Film festivals usually invite judges a few months in advance. After all, whether it is a director or an actor, they have schedules. If you don't invite them in advance, maybe they have already set their itinerary.

And someone like Wu Yuchen, who had won Best Director at their Berlin Film Festival, was the right candidate for them to invite as a judge.

But this stunned Wu Yuchen...

Invite me to be a judge?

He was planning to send *Don't Tell Me* to this Berlin Film Festival. Judge myself?

If he could really be an actor and a referee at the same time, wouldn't that be cool!

Of course, Wu Yuchen also knew this was a dream, and could only smile helplessly: "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't accept this invitation..."

"Oh, that's a pity. In fact, we really hope Wu Dao can come to be a judge this time. Now it seems we can only invite others."

Wu Yuchen smiled upon hearing this: "Yes, you need to invite someone else, because I am going to bring my work that I spent 3 years polishing to participate in this Berlin Film Festival~"

"Hmm?! Oh, that's great! Haha, Wu Dao, our Berlin Film Festival welcomes your arrival very much!" After hearing this, the other side was stunned for a moment, and then immediately laughed.

The current Wu Yuchen is not only the Berlin Best Director, but also has two consecutive Hollywood works breaking 100 million in North America, and is also a big director with a loud reputation in the international film scene.

Although the three major European festivals have always claimed to be the persistence of European art films and sing the opposite of Hollywood commercial films, in fact, if big Hollywood directors bring films to participate, they have always welcomed them. This is real traffic! Just look at the Cannes red carpet being priced, who would have trouble with money?

Therefore, for a big director like Wu Yuchen who is very successful commercially but also has artistic pursuits, no matter which film festival, they are all welcome with open arms.

"Wu Dao, you can provide your crew members to us in advance. First-class air tickets, Alond Hotel, we will definitely arrange the best treatment for you!" There is also competition between the three major festivals, so big directors will be given the best treatment possible.

"I will. I also hope that the trip to Berlin a few months later can achieve a satisfactory result~"

After hanging up the phone, Wu Yuchen also smiled. He really didn't expect the Berlin Film Festival to invite him to be a judge. It was really a coincidence. But he couldn't go this time, and he didn't know who would be invited to fill his quota. The Chinese judge in the Berlin jury list in the past life was Yang Ziqiong. Will it be her this time?

He hadn't dealt with this famous Chinese-American actress yet. When he held a celebration banquet in Hollywood at the beginning of the year, Yang Ziqiong happened to go filming, so she just called Wu Yuchen to congratulate him.

Yang Ziqiong is currently developing much better than Zhou Runfa in Hollywood because she has kung fu. As soon as she entered Hollywood, she was invited to be the female lead of *Tomorrow Never Dies*, a Bond girl who is a fighter, with a salary of 2.5 million US dollars. Although the film's box office failed in the end, she also showed her face in the film and had a place in Hollywood.

In fact, it can be seen that it is basically impossible for Chinese actors to take the acting path in Hollywood. Whether it is the earliest Bruce Lee, or the later Jackie Chan or Jet Li, or the fighter Yang Ziqiong, they all have kung fu and rely on action to get ahead. Like Zhou Runfa, his turnaround also relied on the martial arts action of *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon*. His previous few films in Hollywood really failed.

As for John Lone, although it sounds a bit unpleasant, he did take advantage of director Bernardo Bertolucci and *The Last Emperor*, and has been on a downward slope ever since. It's not that his acting skills are bad, but the power of Chinese in Hollywood is too weak. You can't get good resources, and arrogant Americans can't substitute a Chinese male lead. Unless it is a kung fu or martial arts action film, it is basically impossible for Chinese to be the male lead in big commercial productions.

Thinking of this, Wu Yuchen calculated the time. It seems that Jackie Chan's *Rush Hour* is about to be released in North America. It seems that Brother Long is also going to reach the peak of his life. ===== CHAPTER 164 =====