Chapter 1057

In Turpan in November, the temperature dropped significantly.

During the day, the temperature of around ten degrees Celsius already required a trench coat, casual wear, or a thin sweater to keep warm.

Of course, this kind of weather is also very suitable for going out to relax, for example, riding a horse to play. After all, the sun overhead is really not very hot, and it looks bright and charming.

Therefore, several relatively docile and pretty Ili horses were led over early in the morning and prepared outside, for Lin Nan, Liu Yifei, Han Jia nv, and Guo Fan to gallop on the grassland this morning.

This was an activity agreed upon before joining the crew, and it just happened that they were flying to Taiwan the day after tomorrow, so they just took two days off in advance to ride horses together today to appreciate the vastness of Xinjiang.

"Wow, these big eyes, these dense and slender eyelashes, it feels full of spirituality!"

Han Jia nv was quick-eyed and fast-handed, snatching a chestnut-colored tall horse, whose white stripe on its forehead extended evenly to its nostrils, looking particularly spirited.

"Then I want this jujube-red horse." Liu Yifei walked towards the most beautiful jujube-red horse, she smiled and touched the meteor spot on the jujube-red horse's forehead, as a greeting.

And the jujube-red horse beside her was also quite spiritual, snorting and lowering its head to rub against Miss Liu's palm, looking very close. Sure enough, beauty is common.

"Let's go. It's just past 8:00 AM, let's be back by 12:00 PM."

Lin Nan led the pure black, shiny black beauty closest to him, hmm, the mane from the neck to the shoulder was very cool.

The group decisively flipped onto their horses, skillfully controlling the horses, and walked out of the camp one by one with a clip-clop... Looking into the distance, the sky is high and the earth is wide; the mood is infinitely free!

Lin Nan's group was cultivating their mood and relaxing their minds on the wilderness of Xinjiang, how pleasant;

And on the Hollywood side, only a few hours had passed, but Tang Mu could no longer suppress his emotions at all, and his mentality also had signs of collapse.

From the determination and nostalgia at 2:00 PM, he became more and more nervous, hesitant, angry, irritable, frustrated, and worried about gains and losses...

The closer he got to his scheduled time, the more he felt like sitting on pins and needles, helpless and powerless, as if he had lost his parents.

After all, it was the fate of a company worth billions of dollars, and it can be said that he managed it single-handedly, just like his son!

This was the result of thirteen years of hard work and struggle, and how many thirteen years are there in a person's life?

Thinking back to the beginning, Lin Nan was still a young director who had just revealed his edge, with only one Silver Bear trophy for Best Director; and he was also a penniless, unranked broker, the two were very compatible, and hit it off immediately...

Tang Mu now knew very clearly, very clearly, that he no longer had the drive and energy he had thirteen years ago. All his enthusiasm had been given to Crystal Pictures in these thirteen years!

"Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of an ox? Heh, this is just talk, it's too ideal. Reality is either death or surrender..."

Tang Mu took a deep breath for a while, trying his best to calm his mood. He smiled and shook his head, muttering and looking at the horizon.

The sunset began to set, it was about time.

For the Golden Horse Awards on the 17th, Xu Zheng was enthusiastic and longing from the bottom of his heart, and the other actors of the *Dying to Survive* crew were also incomparably active.

Therefore, a group of leads had agreed to fly to Taipei on the morning of the 13th, either from the capital or from Shanghai, and have dinner there at noon.

Therefore, their itinerary planning was two full days earlier than that of Lin Nan, Liu Yifei, Han Jia nv, and Han Sanping and others.

Bad Monkey.

Compared to Xu Zheng who was focused on the Golden Horse Awards, Dong Ping was more concerned about the promotion of *Crazy Alien*. In addition, his and Ning Hao's itinerary was the day after tomorrow, so naturally he wasn't in a hurry.

"Half a month, the promotional intensity can be fully pulled up, and what should be done will be done thoroughly."

"And Enlight Media and Wanda have already given Lin Nan a promise that they will ensure *Crazy Alien* gets the highest screening rate in the Spring Festival slot."

Ning Hao was organizing the roadshow script while saying to Dong Ping. Happy Mahua also had a 10% share, which was based on the founder shareholder agreement between him and Happy Mahua.

"Very good, if you can really rush to 2 billion this time, pointing to 3 billion... then Happy Mahua will definitely benefit a lot."

"After all, the box office appeal of you, Shen Teng, and Huang Bo added together will only be high, not low." Dong Ping nodded, his mood quite pleasant for a moment.

"Whether my career can be complete, and whether I can lie flat with peace of mind later, depends on this time." Ning Hao couldn't help but tease himself.

"Eh, by the way, what about Director Zhang? How is the script for his new play? Is it finalized?" Xing Aina took over Ning Hao's words and interrupted.

Hearing this question, Dong Ping's face suddenly looked a bit wrong; under the suspicious eyes of Ning Hao and Xing Aina, he sighed and said:

"He and Zhang Mo are also setting off the day after tomorrow, and they are still busy with the post-production of *One Second* right now."

"However, speaking of his new play, I have thought about it repeatedly recently, and still feel the risk is too high... If I really invest, the money might be thrown into the water, and..."

Ning Hao and Xing Aina looked at each other, both of them heard Dong Ping's subtext. Happy Mahua, no, it should be said that Dong Ping felt the risk was too high and was not very willing to invest in Zhang Yimou's new film!

"You two don't look at me with such eyes. Ning Hao, you did suggest to me last time, saying to wait for the script to be finalized before considering it, or to negotiate and communicate with Director Zhang to see if the scale can be adjusted and modified."

"But the answer I got from Zhang Mo recently is not very ideal. Her answer to me is that Director Zhang had already talked to the screenwriter about this problem, and his attitude is very firm and persistent, he won't change it, and even requested the script to be made deeper, fuller, and more practical..."

"You two listen, if you really make such a 'good script,' what is it if it's not throwing money into the water? Once a great director's film is blocked, the negative impact on the company will be very large, and it will definitely affect the stock price..."

On the way back, everyone was completely leisurely. Just sitting on the horse playing with their phones, swaying, unhurried.

Just ten minutes ago, the Golden Horse Awards officially announced the last award presenter, the two-time Best Actor winner Andy Lau.

It is no exaggeration to say that this year's lineup of award presenters is also incomparably luxurious, worthy of the term "big year for movies."

"Zhou Xun's *Last Letter*, Zhao Tao's *Ash Is Purest White*, Sun Li's *Shadow*, which one of the three do you think can win Best Actress?" Han Jia nv invited everyone to bet with interest.

"Zhou Xun's momentum is too strong, and she has already won the Golden Horse Award twice. Zhao Tao, haha, those who know understand, her luck with awards is really too bad; as for Sun Li, it's very suspenseful, the plot of *Shadow* is not enough to support her to the position of Best Actress... The most important thing is, this is the Golden Horse Awards, there is a convention, it will reserve Best Actress or Best Actor for Taiwan films..."

Before Lin Nan and Liu Yifei could react, Guo Fan had already analyzed it with a smile.

"Director Guo, do you mean that these three actresses from our mainland will likely stop at the nomination?"

"More or less. The main thing is that compared to the competition for the Best Actress award, the competition for the Best Actor award is more intense: Duan Yihong, two A-list Best Actor awards; Deng Chao, one A-list Best Actor award; Xu Zheng, also an acting school, and the male lead of *Dying to Survive*... The male actor side is not easy to micro-manage, that is, to kill three big favorites to make way for Taiwan's little fresh meat!"

Lin Nan smiled and echoed. After serving as the jury president of the Venice main competition unit once, he clearly understood the knowledge of award distribution more deeply.

Especially those film festivals and film awards that cover a wide range and have great influence, when these award jury committees finally decide the attribution of each award, there is an unwritten rule to follow:

It can be operated within a small range, but the main framework and standards cannot be messed up; the more popular the modules and films, the less they can mess around, and they must be cautious; they must balance, and cannot be overbearing.

Otherwise, what is lost is the credibility of the award, which will become a laughing stock. And if they do this year after year, the award will completely become a "water award," and its reputation will plummet and be irreversible.

Of course, individual awards in the mainland don't care about this, because the groups they face are only the mainland; those people in the organizing committee also know very well that the attractiveness of the awards to film crews outside the mainland is minimal, especially for films in Southeast Asia, there is almost no attraction at all...

In addition, in the mainland, these awards represent "mainstream," represent official... the status is high above, irreplaceable; so when deciding the attribution of awards, they can naturally "go their own way," and don't have to care about the opinions of ordinary audiences at all, let alone the opinions of market feedback.

To put it more bluntly: those film awards and film festivals outside the mainland, as long as they make a few mistakes, or make one or two big mistakes, they will die completely; while the mainland awards are completely different, no matter how they make mistakes year after year, no matter how they humiliate the audience, their status is high above and unshakable, they are always official, always authoritative!

The few people on horseback were all pondering Lin Nan's subtext, and everyone was nodding in recognition one after another.

A song "Heart Palpitation" suddenly rang out, the air was instantly dead silent, and the great Director Lin almost fell off the horse in embarrassment...

Han Jia nv, Guo Fan, and several assistants all cast playful glances, their expressions were holding back laughter, so much so that Director Lin was about to die of shame.

He glared fiercely at Liu Yifei, who was riding a jujube-red horse beside him. The latter pretended to be confused, looking up at the sky and humming a little tune; it's just that the subtle peeking movement in the corner of her eyes couldn't be hidden from the great Director Lin.

Because they were going out to play today, Liu Yifei changed Lin Nan's phone ringtone from vibration to ringing early in the morning... under the pretext that she was afraid of not receiving the call and missing important things. As a result, she changed it to this? At this moment, Lin Nan wanted to vomit blood.

"Oh my, stop looking at me, hurry up and answer your phone. Maybe it's urging us to go back for lunch, or a call from Chairman Han and the others?" Liu Yifei urged with a smile.

Lin Nan unzipped his windbreaker speechlessly and took out his phone from the inner pocket of his pants.

It's just that the moment he saw the caller, his whole person instantly became solemn, and his aura also became abnormally cold and murderous in a flash... his brows frowned slightly, his face gloomy.

On the side, Liu Yifei and the others also noticed Lin Nan's strangeness. Everyone's expressions began to become serious involuntarily, and bad thoughts and guesses arose in their hearts.

"Lin Nan, whose call is it?" Liu Yifei rode her horse closer and asked with concern.

"Brother Lin, did something happen? Don't be like this, it's scary." Han Jia nv also muttered.

Lin Nan looked at Liu Yifei, opened his mouth, and spat out two words with a complex tone: "Tang Mu."

Sure enough, hearing these two words, Miss Liu's face immediately looked bad too.

She clearly remembered that at the end of November last year in Hollywood, Lin Nan said to Tang Mu face to face, saying to hold on as long as he could, and if he really couldn't hold on, give him a call;

And Tang Mu was still laughing at the time, joking bitterly, saying that after Lin Nan and she left Hollywood and returned to China, he would try not to call, even if it was work-related, he would only communicate by email. If he called, that would be...

After a full year, this phone call finally came!

"Tang Mu?" Lin Nan had already connected the phone, his voice as soft as possible, as if everything was light and airy, not wanting to give the other party pressure.

There was obvious breathing on the other end of the phone, but there was no response for a long time.

"Tang Mu?" Lin Nan called out again, his tone slightly heavier.

This time, there was a reaction on the other end of the phone, his voice filled with infinite frustration, and even with a trace of choking, "Lin, sorry..."

Lin Nan clearly heard three Chinese characters, and Liu Yifei, who was huddled close, also heard them vaguely. Only Han Jia nv and the others were still standing in the distance, looking solemn, waiting.

"It's okay, you've done your best."

"Lin, I..."

"So, is it now?"

Seeing Tang Mu choking and unable to speak again, Lin Nan simply asked himself. And Liu Yifei couldn't help but frown, things were really a mess right now, everything was piled together.

"Lin, you need to come over. All the things now need you to make the final decision. They are all waiting, they won!"

Lin Nan closed his eyes, calming his mood. A moment later, when he opened his eyes again, he just nodded simply and replied: "Okay."

Hanging up the phone, Lin Nan looked at Liu Yifei, incomparably solemn, "Xixi, let's go back to the crew."

"Okay." Liu Yifei nodded, and also looked at Han Jia nv and the others: "Let's go, hurry back to the crew as soon as possible."

Several horses galloped again, rushing straight to the *Mulan* crew station.

On the way back to the crew, the assistant began to contact the logistics team, instructing them to prepare lunch. In addition, prepare another tent for meetings, which would be used in a while, and also have lunch in it.

Near 1:00 PM, many staff members of the crew, including Zou Zhaolong and Andy On, saw Lin Nan's group returning on horseback in a hurry with frost on their faces.

Subsequently, they only saw the great Director Lin's group ignore any crew members and go straight to a tent in a quiet place;

Immediately after, a nameplate with "In Meeting" was hung up, and the logistics team sent lunch in and left quickly.

Although no one dared to approach, from afar, someone still heard scolding, it seemed to be the voice of Director Han Jia nv. But it was only one or two sentences, and then it was stopped, and no movement was heard again.

Inside the tent, Han Jia nv sat there angrily, not touching the lunch with color, fragrance, and taste in front of her. And Liu Yifei, Guo Fan, and several assistants were the same, not moving their chopsticks.

Only Lin Nan was eating by himself, and also accepting the attention of everyone present. He could feel that everyone was waiting for him to speak, especially Liu Yifei.

"Let's have lunch first, let's talk while we eat."

Lin Nan looked up, barely revealing a trace of a smile. Then he looked at Liu Yifei sitting beside him, and smiled with a complex tone: "Xixi, our Crystal Pictures might have to change its name."

"I'll go with you?" Liu Yifei's exquisite face didn't have a trace of extreme emotion, she was very calm, incomparably mature and clear-headed.

"I'm afraid not." Lin Nan shook his head.

"*Dying to Survive* is a big favorite for the Golden Horse this year, and the relevant leaders also attach great importance to it, so my father, Uncle Ren, and Uncle Wang will all go.

In this case, the director's temporary absence is already a big event; if you, the director's wife, are also absent, this is not just a big event, but a big accident. Who knows how the media over there will report it?

You have to know that you can also represent Director Lin, the director of *Dying to Survive*, to a certain extent. So, you have to stay and go to the Golden Horse with us."

Han Jia nv looked directly at Liu Yifei and solemnly rejected it. In this regard, she was the most professional among the few people present.

"Director Han is right, the two of you really can't go to Hollywood to handle the company's affairs together this time. You have to consider the reaction of the Golden Horse side, you have to act separately." Guo Fan also nodded in agreement.

"When are you leaving?" Liu Yifei naturally understood the reason and asked Lin Nan decisively.

"Change the ticket for me, set off tomorrow morning." Lin Nan looked at the assistant and also answered Liu Yifei.

"Director Lin, there are no direct flights in Xinjiang, you have to transfer in San Francisco." The assistant flipped through the phone and quickly locked the itinerary.

"Okay, arrange for someone to go with me."

"Understood."

After 3:00 PM, Han Jia nv called Han Sanping. And coincidentally, Ren Zhonglun was also on the side.

"This matter, I had already reminded Lin Nan a long time ago, his company in Hollywood would eventually reach this step, it can't be avoided.

The bigger Crystal Pictures gets, the more influence it has, the less room for maneuver there is. It's just unexpected that he could hold on until today, hold on until now before he couldn't hold on anymore.

From this point, it can also be seen that his professional manager is still quite capable, able to negotiate for so long!"

"Better hurry up and say hello to the Golden Horse side. Lin Nan is not other small directors, his temporary cancellation of the itinerary is a big thing. The media hurdle, it absolutely can't be avoided." Chairman Ren reminded quite solemnly.

"I know, but there is another thing more important right now."

"What?"

"Lin Nan is also young, such a big thing, doesn't he know to say hello to the leaders? Although it can't change the ending, at least he should report it!" Han Sanping glanced at Chairman Ren and said disgustedly.

"Well, in terms of awareness, you are stronger than me, okay? What I'm most curious about right now is the final ownership of Crystal Pictures. Which giant or giants will swallow it, and how much will it finally sell for?

After all, you also know that even in Hollywood, Lin Nan's company is a recognized treasure company. To put it realistically, him taking the money and leaving now might not be the best ending at the current stage!"

Han Sanping glanced at his old partner speechlessly and sighed helplessly: "Sigh, although that's what's said, it was ultimately developed over 13 years, and it is the only large and medium-sized film and television production company successfully rooted in Hollywood by mainland capital..."

"Precisely because of this, that's why they didn't leave any room for Crystal Pictures, right?

Alright, let's do serious business. I'll go notify the Golden Horse side about Lin Nan's temporary business, you go to the bureau..."

(End of chapter)