Chapter 208: Sure Thing

Very obviously, this was the competitors starting to pick on Wu Yuchen.

Wu Yuchen's record-breaking Best Director double nomination this time was an undisputed advantage, and no one could deny this point. Since that was the case, they would pick on his thorns from other aspects.

And Wu Yuchen had two weaknesses.

First, his skin color, or his race. The current international situation was not as tense as it would be 20 years later. Hollywood would not specifically target Chinese people. They simply looked down on any skin color group, including black people, because Hollywood now was completely the world of white people!

For example, among the current Oscar judges, 94% were white. If they engaged in racial discrimination, the Oscars would have no share for other races at all. It was just that white people were now divided internally, and more and more white leftists stood on the side of people of color. Hollywood was the concentration camp of white leftists. These people supported the affirmative action movement, so more and more awards had begun to be won by black people in recent years.

Compared to black people, the power of discourse of yellow people in Hollywood was actually even less. However, although everyone knew that the topic of race and skin color existed, no one dared to really take this thing out to attack the other party, otherwise they would have to carry the big hat of racial discrimination first.

Wu Yuchen was not worried about the skin color issue, because there was an example from his past life. Li Ang won the Oscars in 2001, and he also won a nomination for Best Director. Basically in the same time period, if there was no problem with Li Ang, Wu Yuchen would not worry about this.

And this second point was the biggest weakness pointed out by Wu Yuchen: he was too young!

The Oscars also paid attention to seniority. This phenomenon was particularly obvious among actors. Young actors represented by "little fresh meat" were basically destined to have no fate with the Oscar for Best Actor. Because directors were not front-stage figures, they were not as conspicuous as actors, but the phenomenon of seniority also existed.

Wu Yuchen's age was clearly placed here, so naturally, he had to be used as a breakthrough by the enemy.

In fact, this was also the place Wu Yuchen worried about the most. Being young meant to some extent giving way to the old things. Anyway, you young people still have plenty of time, and we old guys have one foot in the coffin, how can we be so ignorant?

This kind of critical moment could not be relaxed at all. It was not that there had been no cases of leading in the first stage but being overturned in the second stage, and the example was right in front of him.

After seeing Spielberg's move, Wu Yuchen laughed. It was not because he was grateful to Spielberg. Spielberg standing out this time was not for him, but for Sam Mendes and *American Beauty*, because the producer of *American Beauty* was DreamWorks!

Don't underestimate DreamWorks. It was weaker than the Big Seven in terms of channels and censorship, but if it came to competing for Oscar connections and resources, the DreamWorks formed by the three giants was actually very fierce, sweeping awards for several years in a row.

With Spielberg coming out to express his position, although it was impossible to eliminate everyone's prejudice against age, Wu Yuchen felt that it definitely played a certain role. At the very least, when he and Sam Mendes were put together to compare qualifications, it would definitely not be said that he was at a disadvantage. After all, his long list of resumes could make up for the 10-year age gap between the two.

Taking out Wu Yuchen's long list of film resumes and honors, as well as box office, it was stronger than many directors who had filmed for a lifetime. Shouldn't the award be based on the film itself? Even if it was comparing seniority, shouldn't it be comparing the achievements and resumes of past films, rather than looking at age? If so, the Best Director award should be renamed the Oldest Director award!

At the same time, Wu Yuchen and the others also dragged their opponents into the water. It was none other than Sam Mendes, the director of *American Beauty*.

He remembered clearly that in his past life, this year's Oscar was won by Sam Mendes, a novice who directed a film for the first time, so now he had to label him as a young person's camp and pull him to the same starting line as himself. Let's see how you people choose!

This move made Sam Mendes a bit overwhelmed. The news accusing Wu Yuchen of age was not released by them, but now he was also dragged into the water. His weak resume was also placed under the spotlight, as if a big loudspeaker was telling everyone, this guy is a novice who has only made a film for the first time! Why can he win Best Director?!

And just at this time, Spielberg, a director who was in full swing in the Hollywood industry, stood out and spoke publicly: "Hollywood and the Oscars should never be judged by the director's age. The awards should return to the film itself."

From the initial Best Short Film Jin Xiong for *Car 44*, the Best Film at the Sydney Film Festival for *The Night of the Comet*, to the Best Director at the Tokyo Film Festival for *The Two of Us*, then the Berlin Best Director for *Run Lola Run*, the Berlin Jin Xiong for *Donkey Gets Water*, the Venice Golden Lion for *Amour*, and the three commercial films widely circulated in America in recent years, *Frequency*, *Phone Booth*, and *The Sixth Sense*, among which *Frequency* also won the most famous award for science fiction films in America, the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, and *My Sassy Girl* and *Classic*, which set off a trend in Asia, were also mentioned.

If you choose Sam Mendes, why can't you choose Wu Yuchen? Although he was younger, the double nomination plus a resume far richer than Sam Mendes, a novice, were also Wu Yuchen's solid advantages!

After Spielberg spoke, his good friend George Lucas followed up, and many people also supported this argument, stating that the creativity of young people would make Hollywood and the Oscars more vibrant.

This was Hollywood. DreamWorks, which had come to win over Wu Yuchen before, was now Wu Yuchen's biggest enemy in competing for the Oscars. Hollywood was always profit-first!

As a result, at the final Oscar awards ceremony, *Saving Private Ryan* only kept the important award of Spielberg's Best Director, while *Shakespeare in Love* swept 7 Oscar statuettes including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Screenplay, which made people drop their glasses.

But even so, Wu Yuchen dared not take it lightly or think that he was leading. He at most patched this weakness and stirred the water. Who would win and who would lose in the end was still unknown.

Sam Mendes was actually only 34 years old this year, and he used to be a stage play and musical director in the UK. *American Beauty* was his first personal film. His previous film resume was zero, blank! If from this angle, his qualifications were actually far worse than Wu Yuchen's, and he was even the weakest director among the 4 Best Director candidates!

Apart from Sam Mendes and Wu Yuchen, the other two directors were Lasse Hallström, the Swedish director of *The Cider House Rules*, who was 55 this year, and Michael Mann, the director of *The Insider*, who was 57 this year. If you really want to say it, Sam Mendes was also more than 20 years younger than these two directors, which was also too young!

In this way, things became interesting.

This was Wu Yuchen's response strategy. Since my weakness was placed here and I couldn't change it, I would simply pull you into the water together!

Because according to the situation of the outpost stations, everyone was more optimistic about Sam Mendes and Wu Yuchen from the film itself, but these two were relatively young, and Sam Mendes was a novice who directed a film for the first time. And the films of the other two old guys seemed to be a step weaker than the young people.

So now, should they choose the old guys according to seniority, or choose the young people?

So although he won two nominations at the same time, Wu Yuchen dared not say he had an advantage, and he didn't have much bottom in his heart.

Of course, Wu Yuchen's PR team was not eating dry rice. They immediately came up with a response plan, directly finding relevant media to speak for them, turning over Wu Yuchen's past film resumes and listing them one by one:

This was also the deification battle of Harvey Weinstein, the fat guy, who forcibly turned the water-goods *Shakespeare in Love* into a big winner of the Oscars, personally directing a big drama of reversal with PR.

Therefore, Wu Yuchen was now running around every day, running around in different cinemas during the day, and wandering in various banquets in Hollywood at night.

In last year's Oscar outpost stations, *Saving Private Ryan* was basically in a sweeping trend in the first stage of the outpost stations, with a huge lead, while *Shakespeare in Love* performed flatly, and basically the public opinion overwhelmingly predicted that *Saving Private Ryan* would win a complete victory in this year's Oscars.

The back and forth between several parties caused quite a stir.

At this time, in the Disney President's Office, a man nearly 60 years old finished reading the report in his hand and asked Miles, who was standing in front of him:

"How is this *Amour*?"

Miles, who had dealt with Wu Yuchen before, immediately said: "Mr. Eisner, this is an Asian story, a completely literary film."

Hearing this, Eisner understood. Asian plus literary film, basically a product that didn't make money. As for whether Wu Yuchen would win Best Director, he didn't even ask; he was too young!

Eisner frowned: "Let them put more energy into *The Sixth Sense*. We paid so much money to this young director, not to serve him!"

Disney paid a lot of money to buy out the subsequent copyright of *The Sixth Sense* from Wu Yuchen, so naturally, they had to take advantage of this wave of Oscar traffic to earn as much as possible. Wu Yuchen, the director, also had the obligation to cooperate with the promotion of *The Sixth Sense*. In Eisner's eyes, winning awards was just a means, all for the sake of profit, and making money was the first purpose.

After receiving the call from Miles, Wu Yuchen also felt tired. He wanted to use *Amour* to strive for Best Director, so he naturally talked about *Amour* in various occasions, and mentioned *The Sixth Sense* much less. This was something that couldn't be helped. However, he also promised verbally that he would cooperate with Disney's publicity department to speak more for *The Sixth Sense*.

After all, he still had to rely on Disney's PR team. He didn't have the energy to handle so many judges alone. It was indispensable for his PR team to visit and lobby those judges privately one by one, such as sending a copy of the latest Sony player, playing a Wu Yuchen film on the spot for the judges, and deepening the judges' impression.

If it was far-fetched to say that the Golden Globes were an Oscar bellwether, then the Guild Awards were the most authentic Oscar bellwether. Because the judges of the Guild Awards had the highest overlap with the Oscar judges!

Hollywood's various guilds only evaluated awards related to their own job types. For example, the Screen Actors Guild was for various actor awards, while the Directors Guild Award included the annual comprehensive evaluation of directors in various fields such as film, television, drama, and broadcasting. It could be regarded as a combination of the Oscars, the TV Emmys, and the drama Tonys.

The economic strength of the Directors Guild far exceeded that of various film critic associations. It had its own lair, located at 7920 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, the National Directors Guild Building, which was the venue for the guild's large-scale activities every year.

Undoubtedly, Best Film Director was the most important award of the annual Directors Guild Awards, and it was also the highlight and climax of the awards ceremony.

The Directors Guild Awards had five nominations like the Oscars, but its nomination list was not necessarily the same as the Oscars. For example, among the five films at this year's Oscars, *The Cider House Rules* was not shortlisted for the Directors Guild Awards. Instead, it was the director of *The Green Mile*, starring Tang Mu Hanks.

"The Best Film Director this year is..."

At this very moment, all 4 candidates were very nervous. After all, the Directors Guild Award was an award highly recognized by the Hollywood industry and had a high status. For Wu Yuchen, Sam Mendes, and Michael Mann, the three candidates who were shortlisted for the Oscar for Best Director at the same time, it was even more uneasy. Because winning the Best Director of the Directors Guild Award could almost declare to the outside world in advance that the Oscar for Best Director statuette was already in hand!

Why say so? Because since the Directors Guild Awards, in the past 51 sessions, only 4 sessions' Directors Guild Best Director was not the Oscar Best Director. That is to say, after winning this award, the probability of winning the Oscar statuette was over 90%! It was a real sure thing!

Therefore, let the Golden Globe Awards, the first bellwether, roll aside. Hollywood knew that the Guild Awards were the rehearsal for the Oscars. So you see why directors generally looked very calm at every Oscar awards ceremony, because they basically already knew the ending in advance!

Watching the presenter on stage take out the slip of paper from the envelope, Wu Yuchen couldn't help but cross his hands tightly. Sam Mendes's hands on his legs also couldn't help but clench his thighs, while the fifty-something Michael Mann stretched his neck and stared straight at the stage, obviously very eager for this award.

"*Amour*, Wu Yuchen!"

Instantly, Wu Yuchen only felt the blood rushing to his brain, and couldn't help but wave his arm and roar. At this time, he couldn't control his emotions at all!

Beside Wu Yuchen, Richard was also extremely excited and shouted to Wu Yuchen:

"You did it! You really did it! You are creating a miracle! You will win this year's Oscars! The youngest, double-nominated Oscar Best Director, you are a miracle! A miracle that no one can surpass!"

Wu Yuchen hugged Richard heavily and said from the bottom of his heart: "Thank you, buddy, thank you for everything you have done for me! I will never forget it!"

Walking all the way through these 4 months, Wu Yuchen knew that without Richard, he might not have achieved today's results. Everything had his credit.

Richard patted Wu Yuchen on the shoulder: "Wu, you should go up to receive the award!"

Wu Yuchen released Richard, straightened his collar, then revealed a sincere and bright smile, and walked onto the podium confidently amidst the applause of a group of directors:

"Really a bit hard to believe! Here I felt the openness and tolerance of America. A young man like me being able to win Best Director is inseparable from the support and recognition of all the seniors present. Thank you very much!"

Wu Yuchen paused, then smiled and said: "Actually, I still have a lot to say, but I think it's better to leave it for another occasion. Thank you again!"

Everyone below laughed when they heard this. Everyone knew that the other occasion Wu Yuchen mentioned was the Oscar awards scene.

Fifty-something Michael Mann looked at the high-spirited Wu Yuchen on the stage and couldn't help but reveal a somewhat lonely expression. Did the judges of this session choose the young man after all?

Sam Mendes looked at Wu Yuchen on the stage and also sighed. The Oscar statuette for Best Director had no hope. His film career could be said to be a dream start. The results of *American Beauty* over the past few months made him fall into a dream and unable to extricate himself. Best Director was so close to him, but now his dream was shattered by Wu Yuchen.

You say he is not convinced, but there is nothing to be unconvinced about. He is indeed a novice director. Compared with Wu Yuchen's long list of film achievements, his resume is simply not presentable, so he can be considered convinced.

However, Sam Mendes soon restrained his mood. Even without Best Director, he could still strive for Best Picture. The current *American Beauty* was still the biggest favorite for Best Picture. As long as he took this most important Oscar award, his start would still be dreamy, at most fading some color.

As the awards ceremony ended, everyone moved directly to the banquet hall prepared next door. Undoubtedly, Wu Yuchen was the focus of the whole banquet, and everyone came over to have friendly talks with him. Wu Yuchen, who was in a great mood, refused no one and gave appropriate replies one by one.

Everyone present, including Wu Yuchen himself, felt that this year's Oscar for Best Director was already stable. After all, in the past 51 years, only 4 unlucky guys won the Directors Guild Best Director but failed to win the Oscar Best Director statuette. Could it be that he would become the 5th one this year?

Wu Yuchen shook his head with a smile in his heart. In fact, this 5th unlucky guy in his past life was none other than Li Ang, who won the Directors Guild Award for Best Director for *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon* next year.

But Li Ang was really unlucky, because he met Steven Soderbergh, who won the Best Director double nomination at the same time, next year. The current Wu Yuchen would not be as unlucky as Li Ang; he was the double nomination himself!

Speak of Cao Cao, Cao Cao arrived. Wu Yuchen saw a gentle bald guy wearing glasses walking towards him with a wine glass, and it was Soderbergh!

Steven Soderbergh was not an unknown person. Ten years ago, his debut *Sex, Lies, and Videotape* directly won the Cannes Palme d'Or. At that time, he was only 26 years old, which could be said to be famous in one fell swoop.

But there was a rumor about this film. It was said that after this film was shot, it was actually not valued at all, and then he met Harvey Weinstein, the fat guy, who took a fancy to it at a glance, and then Harvey went on stage himself, made a major edit to the film, and sent it to Cannes, and as a result, it won the Palme d'Or in one fell swoop.

Harvey did have a nickname in Hollywood, called Edward Scissorhands, which meant that he always waved his big scissors at the films the company bought. So many people said that this film could win the award, but at least half of the credit should be attributed to Harvey Weinstein, which made Soderbergh extremely unhappy.

Wu Yuchen didn't know if this rumor was true or false, but the two of them had never worked together again after this. A director who won the Palme d'Or with his debut, Harvey let him go so easily? There must be some tricks in the middle.

"Wu, congratulations! I really appreciate your shooting style that tends to be documentary-style in *Amour*. In fact, I also plan to shoot a similar semi-documentary film recently."

Wu Yuchen's heart moved, and he couldn't help but ask: "Thank you, Steven, can I ask what theme you are going to shoot? I am quite interested in this~"

Soderbergh didn't hide it either: "A film about drugs, not focusing on the addicts, I want to focus on its channels. It's a pity that it's not going very smoothly at the moment."

"Oh? May I ask if you are facing financial difficulties?"

Soderbergh revealed a helpless expression: "After I set up the project, I searched all the major companies. Harrison Ford was originally willing to appear, but he suddenly regretted it last month, feeling that it would affect the hero image he established to the outside world, and Fox also stopped this project..."

Hearing this, Wu Yuchen's eyes lit up. This should be Soderbergh's peak representative work of box office and art, *Traffic*, which swept the nominations for major awards, helped him win the Oscar for Best Director, and had a global box office of 250 million US dollars.

Since he had already taken his title of Best Director double nomination in advance, it was better to help him now, so he smiled and said:

"Steven, I am quite interested in your project about drug channels. If Fox is not willing to give the green light, my Miracle Pictures is willing to provide you with shooting funds."

Soderbergh was stunned for a moment, then immediately showed a look of surprise: "Wu, are you serious?"

"Of course, bring the script and project plan to my company tomorrow, and we will talk in detail."

Now that he had already booked the Oscar for Best Director statuette in advance, Wu Yuchen's PR schedule suddenly relaxed by more than half, and he had quite a lot of free time to talk to Soderbergh about this project. Wu Yuchen didn't mind investing in such a good project that made money and fame! He, the jade-faced Mengchang Wu Da Guanren, also had to exert some internationalist spirit!

Like Wu Yuchen, although he was still presiding over the team's PR activities, Richard's mood was also much relaxed. Being able to help Wu Yuchen successfully win the double nomination this time, and then successfully win the Best Director statuette, he could add a heavy stroke to his resume. These were all capital for promotion!

However, after Richard received a call, his face changed, and he packed up his things and hurried back.

The design of the Disney headquarters building was very interesting, supported by 7 dwarfs. The office areas and meeting rooms in the office building were also decorated with various designs that looked childlike, meaning that they were constantly implying that our entire enterprise was serving children.

But now Richard was standing at the door of an office, but his mood was extremely uneasy, and he didn't feel relaxed and happy at all. Every time he came here, he couldn't help but speed up his heartbeat by three points, even if he had made good achievements. Because the person he was about to meet was the Emperor of Disney, the "Tyrant" Michael Eisner. ===== CHAPTER 209 =====