Chapter 1055: Awards Season Deadline! Golden Horse

The next morning, an abrupt announcement of major shareholder sell-offs landed like a heavy sucker-punch to the film and television industry.

The already precarious industry environment was instantly made worse; panic swept through the trade, and the internet was awash with rumors.

"Sell-offs? The Wangs are selling at a time like this — what are they trying to do?"

"Well, well — those two scoundrels wouldn't be thinking of… doing a runner, would they?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Looks like the whispers were true — something big really has gone wrong."

"Market cap has already dropped to just 12.1 billion, and now they pull this stunt. Go on then, watch it nosedive straight through the ten-billion mark."

"This is absolutely insane! In just three years, the number-one stock of the Chinese film and television industry has plunged from a market cap of nearly a hundred billion to teetering on ten billion — and it'll definitely fall below ten billion before year's end!"

……

"The fact that they could smoothly release a sell-off announcement at this time is enough to prove one thing — and it sends a naked signal to the outside:

First, after those two brothers coughed up principal and interest, and after cutting their own flesh and bleeding themselves out… in the end, they were allowed to land safely;

Second, the powers above don't want the negative impact to spread further, so anyone who proactively makes up the shortfall and accepts the penalty will be given a chance to be handled quietly. Externally, they'll also help these people and companies keep things confidential — no public disclosure."

Wang Wang Changtian said with regret and a good deal of sorrow in his tone.

He was quite dissatisfied — even resentful — that those two brothers hadn't been taken down directly and had lucked their way out, but in the end he could only grumble helplessly.

"Look on the bright side. Making it this far is actually already pretty good.

At the very least, those two have been thoroughly scrubbed from the Chinese film and television industry, haven't they? From now on, no more raking it in, no more chances to use the industry for shady tricks."

Lin Nan replied, unable to hold back a laugh. To tell the truth, he was genuinely a little moved. After all, he had watched with his own eyes as the tower rose — and watched with his own eyes as it fell.

"But they still got off cheap. Anyway, enough about that — hurry up on your end, and once you're done, get Shu Chang back to the 'Galaxy Tutoring Class' crew. Deng Chao is planning to wrap his part early."

"He was too embarrassed to call me himself, so he sent you?"

"What do you think? Who in the industry dares to ask you for a person?"

"Don't worry, she can go back the day after tomorrow or the day after that. For the early scenes, they only have one shot left."

After a few words, Lin Nan hung up with a smile. He shook his head lightly and murmured: "Director Deng must be swamped lately too, bleeding quite a bit, I bet?"

Not long after, Lin Nan returned to the crew and announced loudly:

"Let's aim to wrap the early-stage scenes for Big Brother, Sister Hong, Liu Yan, Shu Chang, Director Tian and the others before noon today. Next time we meet, it'll be when 'Hua Mulan' as a whole is about to wrap."

"No problem!" Jackie Chan was the first to voice his agreement.

"Understood — the pay for the early-stage scenes only runs through today." Shu Chang chimed in cheerfully with a quip, and the people around him all laughed.

"Check the makeup and costumes, get ready — we start shooting in twenty minutes." Lin Nan gave a helpless smile and instructed the logistics team.

Sure enough, even with only a twenty-minute gap, Liu Liu Yifei and the others still found time to chat.

Quite a few people in the industry had already set off for Austria — people like Zhu Zhu Yawen had the whole family on the move, all for a wedding four days from now.

Of course, the day after tomorrow and the day after that also seemed to have party-like events; one could only say that Luo Jin and Tang Yan's wedding budget was genuinely not low.

At exactly 11 a. m., the 'Hua Mulan' crew entered preparation mode.

The jib camera's lens extended from the courtyard of the house all the way into the interior.

Jackie Chan's Father and Teacher Hui Hui Yinghong's Mother were earnestly and solemnly instructing Hua Mulan, while Liu Yan's elder sister and Shu Chang's younger sister wore equally grave expressions, listening at the side.

"You must remember — you absolutely cannot let anyone discover that you are a woman. Be very careful, very cautious — under no circumstances let anyone notice… Since ancient times, there has never been a case of a woman mixing in among a group of men to join the army… Once exposed, it would be a calamity of deceit…"

"I just realized — having Liu Yifei play Hua Mulan really is quite convincing." Lin Nan was staring at the monitor screen when Han Jianü nudged him and teased.

"Nonsense. Which part of her doesn't fit? Book-smart, martial, able to endure hardship, and good-looking to boot…" Lin Nan rolled his eyes, exasperated.

"Hehe, I meant the chest. It wasn't big to begin with, and after half a year of training it's even less noticeable. Now throw on a tight undergarment, then armor, then a bit of makeup — and… with the chest gone, she's a proper brother-in-arms in the army! Hey, don't look at me like that — I'm just stating facts…"

"Heh, say that to her face in a bit — I guarantee she won't hit you!"

"You think I'm stupid?"

"You're not stupid, you're just dumb. I'll pass it along for you in a bit." Lin Nan shot Han Jianü a sarcastic sideways glance, then ignored her and went back to watching the shot.

Except that his mouth seemed to mumble absently: "I've only ever seen fifty steps laugh at a hundred before — this is the first time I've seen a hundred laugh at fifty. How rare…"

"I — you —…" So-and-so was struck dumb, furious, and stalked off clutching her chest.

On screen, another tear-jerking scene was perfectly frozen in place…

"Cut!" Lin Nan stood up from the director's chair, microphone in hand. "That's it for this morning's scenes. Director Guo?"

"Right here." Guo Fan squeezed out from the logistics team.

"How are the over a thousand soldier extras from the troops?"

"All the actors started basic makeup and costume at nine this morning. The entire logistics team has been at it nonstop — it'll definitely be done before two p. m." Guo Fan answered methodically. The "actors" he referred to were the over a thousand soldier extras from the troops.

"Once makeup and costume are done, get the actors fed lunch and rested first. We start shooting around four p. m. — should be fine, right?"

"No problem!"

……

While the 'Hua Mulan' crew was in full swing preparing for the afternoon's scenes, over in Hollywood it was just past eight in the evening.

It was already late October now, with only a week left before the start of awards season.

Although awards season hadn't officially begun, the atmosphere of it had already started brewing — bright lights, wine, song and dance everywhere.

But unlike the bustle across all of Hollywood, Tom was in no mood at all.

After roughly gulping down a mouthful of red wine, his gaze finally shifted away from the bikini-clad long legs in the distance, and he came back to himself.

"I hear Lionsgate recently took a big hit at the hands of China Film?" Tom picked a topic at random.

"If they weren't holding the only revenue-sharing film access channel into the Chinese-language market, Lionsgate would never have swallowed that loss in silence!" After saying this resentfully, Paul's tone suddenly softened considerably:

"Tom, don't force yourself. As you can see, Crystal Pictures has been 'isolated' by Hollywood. In everyone's eyes, you guys are one big, delicious cake."

"You people are truly shameless enough — cheerfully calling everyone old friends on one side, while openly brandishing swords on the other." Tom turned his head and shot Paul a complicated look.

The latter didn't pick up the thread, but smiled and changed the subject: "Tom, look at the state of you. You look like you've aged years — no energy, no spirit, listless and deflated.

You used to love the evening receptions and parties most of all — but this year? Not only have you quit the parties, you've even quit the blondes!

"Plenty of women have thrown themselves at you, and I thought they were all pretty, but you on the other hand… Don't tell me the pressure's gotten to you and you can't perform anymore? You'll have to have a proper talk with Lin Hao about this — you've sacrificed so much for his company, hahaha…"

If this had been last year, or even earlier, Tom would probably have burst out laughing and started cursing by now. But at this moment, he looked utterly unfamiliar, not even a trace of a smile on his face.

In Paul's eyes, Tom at this moment was not only unfamiliar, but also radiated an icy, indifferent aura.

So the laughter simply stopped short, turning into a sigh: "Tom, I really do treat you as a friend, and I hope we can work together. To be frank, let me lay it all out for you —"

"The major studios are competing with each other, each wanting to swallow up your company and your rights library, but at the same time they've already reached an unspoken understanding: this awards season is the final deadline they're giving you."

After saying that, Paul casually poured Tom some more red wine, then, without another word, simply turned and walked off into the crowd.

Quite a few people glanced furtively at Tom. His expression was grim; he held his wine glass but never once raised it.

With his other hand he took his phone from his pocket and scrolled through it aimlessly, until at last, as if possessed, he stopped on Lin Nan's number.

His gaze fixed on that number, his thumb moved over it, but after a moment's hesitation, Tom gave up and stuffed the phone back into his pocket.

He set down his wine glass and, under the covert gazes of many, strode quickly out of the venue.

Outside, the sky was dotted with stars, and combined with Hollywood's dazzling lights, it didn't seem dark at all.

"Boss?"

"Let's go, back!" Tom spat out a single sentence, his tone seemingly even more suppressed, unbearably heavy.

……

Hua Mulan Stockade, outside the city. A massive "recruit" force of over a thousand stood three or four zhang away from their families, bidding farewell; a line of veterans stood between them, and the scene was deeply moving.

And among the vast, swarming crowd of well-wishers, the camera gave close-ups only to the family headed by Yu, and to the Lin father and son.

Liu Liu Yifei's Hua Mulan looked at her father, who was forcibly steadying his emotions, and at her mother, sisters, and younger brother, whose eyes were red and who were sobbing. She did not cry; instead she smiled and waved, comforting them.

The next second, their gazes met and converged. Hua Mulan and Lin Muzhi gazed quietly at each other. All the surrounding noise seemed to vanish in an instant.

The former smiled, the corners of her mouth trembling despite herself, holding back the glimmer of tears in her eyes, and mouthed: "Take care of yourself. Don't wait for me."

The latter opened his mouth several times before finally suppressing his emotions, managing only four words: "Come back… safe."

"Muzhi, take good care of Father, remember what I told you!" Onki Zhou Jie's voice rang out, calling from afar.

"I'll take good care of Dad. Big brother, you have to come back too!"

The bigger the crowd scene, the easier it is to fall short of expectations.

And so this stretch of filming dragged on from four in the afternoon until seven before finally wrapping up satisfactorily.

Fortunately, the sun in the Western Regions doesn't set until past nine at night, so the light at four in the afternoon wasn't much different from that at seven, and the shot quality wasn't affected…

In the evening, a bonfire banquet was held, serving as a temporary wrap party for Jackie Chan, Teacher Hui Hui Yinghong, Tian Tian Zhuangzhuang, Watching Shu Chang, and Liu Yan.

Oh right, for Xing Aina's family's Stone, this was a complete wrap. When the role of Little Brother appears again, it'll be played by Director Chen's Chen Chen Feiyu.

Also, right at eight in the evening, Zou Zou Zhaolong officially joined the crew, just in time to attend Jackie Chan and company's farewell banquet.

On the 24th it wrapped; on the 25th, the Hua Mulan crew rested again, and Jackie Chan and the others all set about leaving the set;

But before they left, they all made arrangements with Lin Nan to be on call for a recall to set at any time; only that call wouldn't come for at least another two months or so.

On the 26th, the number of extras from the military reached three thousand. Looking out, tents stood in great numbers — a truly magnificent sight.

On the 27th, the first exterior scene leaving Hua Mulan Stockade began filming.

To get a good shot of just half a minute of several thousand troops on the march, they deployed a full twelve vehicle-mounted cameras and aerial drones. The army of several thousand also kept busy for two whole days, only wrapping up satisfactorily on the afternoon of the 28th.

……

On the 29th, news of Luo Jin and Tang Yan's wedding in Vienna predictably topped entertainment trending searches across the web.

But interestingly, not a single media outlet got any photos or video from the wedding scene, so entertainment reporters could only repost the on-site photos the newlyweds themselves had posted. The whole web sighed in admiration at how well the wedding's confidentiality had been handled.

And meanwhile, far away in the Western Regions, Director Lin Da and Producer Liu were also dragged onto the headlines together.

All because among the gifts Yue Jun had helped bring along, there was a present from Lin Nan and his partner: an invitation for Luo Jin and Tang Yan to co-star in The Captain!

That single piece of news stoked the buzz surrounding their wedding considerably — hot, lively, drawing envious looks from the entire industry.

At noon, during the crew's lunch break, Lin Nan, Liu Liu Yifei, Guo Fan, and Han Jianü also took the opportunity to discuss the shoot. Oh, and the trending searches online.

Yue Jun's phone calls always came at the most inopportune moments, but they couldn't not be answered.

"Back already?" Lin Nan said, on speaker, teasing.

"What did you expect? After the wedding I headed straight for the airport, and landed at the capital airport this morning. Unlike the other guests, who all planned to stay one night and only fly back the next morning. Mm, they're probably having breakfast right now or heading to the airport…"

"So, what's this call about?" Liu Liu Yifei asked with a smile.

"It's business!" Yue Jun replied at once. "The Hundred Flowers we can skip, but the Golden Horse — you three need to start planning your itinerary now. They just called asking about the schedule for the Dying to Survive crew so they can arrange Golden Horse interviews…"

In an instant, Lin Nan, Liu Liu Yifei, Han Jianü, and Guo Fan were all energized; after a month of shooting on the Hua Mulan crew, they'd been so swamped they'd actually forgotten about the Golden Horse Awards!

"How many days left?"

"The ceremony is on the 17th, we need to head out early!"

Han Jianü said eagerly. For this Golden Horse trip, Han Han Sanping, Ren Ren Zhonglun, and Wang Yong would also go as representatives of the producers, leading the delegation together.

……

(End of chapter)