Chapter 32: Wanda Cinema Chain

Having confirmed his inner thoughts, Zhu Zhu Yawen left the school.

Acting department students, by their third year, are almost in a semi-graduated state; if one sees an acting student still on campus at this time, it is obviously for other purposes, either aiming for a permanent position or having other plans.

I don't know what the school is thinking; this year's preliminary audition judge list is actually being released in advance.

Lin Nan was summoned to the Chen Yanxi, while the Directing Department chose to lie flat, still recruiting only a few this year.

Lin Nan was not on the preliminary judge list, which was inevitable; on the second-round judge list, the Chen Yanxi hoped to add Lin Nan, but he refused once again, as he needed to focus on selling films during that period, and if he could make it back in time, he could help.

Ultimately, Lin Nan was written into the final-round judge list, which would be announced after the second round ended.

With nothing to do, Lin Nan continued browsing the portal websites.

In terms of films, the Kung Fu Emperor is starting a new film, "The Grandmaster Huo Yuanjia," currently casting supporting female roles; Big Brother is starting two films this year, "Mystic Legend" and "Rob-B-Hood"; Lu Chuan, having won the Golden Horse, also received an invitation from Berlin, though only for the Youth Forum section.

If talking about prestige, one must look at films, but if talking about plot, one must look at television dramas.

From last November's "The Romance of the Red Chamber" to the currently filming "Drawing Sword," there are still many classics of television dramas coming out this year: "Emperor Wu of Han," "Xiao Yu Er and Hua Wu Que," "The Best Under Heaven," "Chinese Paladin," "Home with Kids," "Lotus Lantern," "A Lifetime as a Slave"...

Especially after learning about the profits of television dramas, Lin Nan hesitated whether to invest in filming a television drama; it was a guaranteed profit, relying on the goods in his belly.

In the end, he put it aside for now, waiting for a future opportunity to find someone to film it, while he would just provide the script.

Europe's three major film festivals have always been the top three among A-class international film festivals, and also the stage for film practitioners and distributors worldwide to exchange.

Last time, Lin Nan accompanied Li Yang to witness it once, but this time selling films relies on Lin Nan himself; he must do his homework in advance.

For this, he specifically went to China Film, which holds the import rights for foreign films and is absolutely experienced in buying and selling films.

But experience is merely auxiliary; the most important factor determining a film's value at film festivals is whether it has awards, even a nomination will do.

China Film will also go to the Berlin Film Festival; as the only company domestically holding import rights, it cannot help but roam around various film festivals.

Lin Nan decided to depart together with the China Film team when the time came.

The New Year will definitely be spent abroad; Lin Nan called his father, and the old man chattered a few sentences before hanging up.

Lin Nan's father subscribed to several newspapers for the restaurant, especially those in the film and television industry; many times he could see his son's figure on them, feeling very satisfied at the moment, and customers could also flip through them to pass the time.

The trailer for "Chinese Paladin" could already be seen on television; Tang Ren spared no effort in promoting it, and Old Hu's looks were highly praised on Tieba.

Liu Liu Yifei needed no further explanation; previously she had already stunned with Wang Wang Yuyan, and the "Mystic Legend" crew still occasionally released some stills, causing everyone to be even more expectant of her Zhao Ling'er.

A large number of stills also appeared on the portal websites: Hu Ge's Li Li Xiaoyao, Liu Liu Yifei's Zhao Ling'er, Eddie Peng, Annie Yi...

Finally, there was a photo that made even Lin Nan's eyes widen: in the artificial peach blossom forest of "Chinese Paladin," Lin Nan, wearing casual clothes, posed with a costumed Zhao Ling'er.

Blooming peach blossoms formed the background; Zhao Ling'er had one hand resting on Lin Nan's shoulder, looking straight ahead with an incredibly bright smile, while the latter, in profile, lowered his head slightly to look at Zhao Ling'er, his eyes gentle, his face immersed in a smile.

Lin Nan suddenly realized; no wonder Cai Cai Yinong said she would give him a red envelope.

Lin Nan didn't even know about this photo; at the time, he must have been distracted, but it looked very well-shot, very aesthetic.

Lin Nan thought to himself that he must get the digital file; this one is worth treasuring.

Regarding this photo, many netizens were very gossipy; finally, the production company revealed online that during that period, Lin Nan happened to be directing "Lotus Lantern" in Hengdian, often visiting the "Chinese Paladin" crew, which is how this photo came to be.

Lin Nan chatted with Liu Liu Yifei and mentioned this photo; the latter, smiling, said she had already obtained the digital file; after hanging up the phone, Lin Nan received an email.

The president of the jury for this Berlin International Film Festival has been confirmed: German director Roland Emmerich.

Lin Nan also saw this report. For domestic competing works, the one receiving the most attention was Gu Gu Changwei's "Peacock"; adhering to the traditions of the older generation of directors, these people are very skilled in the art-house film sector.

Expectations within the industry for "Peacock" are very high. Lin Nan's "Dust into Dust" is also a competing work, but reports are relatively few; from the film's preparation to filming, not a single media outlet got even a shred of news; everyone only knew the title and genre.

Li Li Baotian and other key crew members all have strong professional ethics; without Lin Nan's consent, they would not reveal even a fraction.

For "Dust into Dust," the media had no material to report, only saying this was Lin Nan's first work aiming for awards, worthy of expectation.

For a commercial film director turning to shoot realistic themes, the older generation did not withhold praise, as if Lin Nan had finally turned over a new leaf.

Film festivals have many unit modules; the Competition Section may not compare to the Panorama Section in terms of independence and artistry, but regarding influence, no matter which film festival, the Main Competition Section is always the most eye-catching.

The works shortlisted for the Main Competition Section have not yet been announced; Li Yang said this year's shortlist might be released as early as the end of January, rather than early February.

If that is truly the case, then Lin Nan can completely wait until the shortlist is announced before departing for Berlin; if he is fortunate enough to be shortlisted, he can go together with Li Li Baotian and Jiang Teacher Wenli.

The school's attitude toward Lin Nan aiming for awards is very affirmative; no matter how you look at it, he is the most promising student in recent years.

Many students, known and unknown, ran over to tell Lin Nan to keep it up, hoping he could be shortlisted for the Competition Section.

Regardless of the mindset they came with, Lin Nan politely thanked them all.

Lin Nan shuttled between the company and the school; year-end taxes needed to be coordinated well, and for any exams he could take, he tried his best to do well.

The Directing Department teachers even decided to let Lin Nan off easy; the advantage of having good practical performance scores showed itself.

Although Lin Nan was very tempted, he still refused; if this were brought up later and fabricated, it would become another black material.

The "Crazy Stone" crew proceeded very smoothly; anyway, Ning Hao said he had a lot of fun, completely different from when he filmed "Incense" before; commercial comedies are much more interesting than art-house films.

Media reports on "Crazy Stone" were mostly positive; Ning Hao, following Lin Nan's advice, was very enthusiastic toward reporters visiting the set, and they all received red envelopes when leaving.

Taking advantage of the fact that Lin Nan had not yet left school, he was called to a meeting again, as one of the scorers for the final round.

The leaders spoke, requiring the judges to maintain a fair and just heart, starting from a professional perspective, digging out promising seedlings, not just looking at appearance, and strictly prohibiting favoritism.

Lin Nan sat on the side, listening while internally complaining; the four words "strictly prohibiting favoritism" were a bit ridiculous.

During this period, he saw many old-timers in the industry bringing young people in and out of the school.

This was just on the surface; privately, there were probably even more.

Lin Nan was even expecting whether someone would come to find him after the second round.

Winter break began; "Kung Fu" was completely withdrawn from theaters here; the mainland box office finally settled at over 170 million, and the Hong Kong island box office at over 60 million.

Huayi, as one of the production companies of "Kung Fu," plus "A World Without Thieves," saw its momentum last year approach that of state-owned enterprises.

News of Huayi's annual meeting came out; this year's bonuses would double.

Just as Lin Nan was waiting for Berlin to announce the shortlist, a guest came to visit.

The front desk contacted Lin Nan, saying a Mr. Ye wanted to meet with him; the other party said they were from a cinema chain.

Lin Nan thought he usually didn't deal with cinema chains; why come to find him?

"Then schedule it for tomorrow morning; I still have some matters at school."

Not thinking too much about it, Lin Nan had the front desk reply as such. As a film director, maintaining good relations with the downstream theater chains was also quite necessary.

After inquiring with his teacher about his exam results and finding that he had barely passed all of them, Lin Nan finally felt at ease.

The next morning, Lin Nan returned to the company and met the visitor.

Ye Ning, someone from Wanda.

"Lin Dao, hello, I am Wanda Cinema Line's Vice President Ye Ning."

"Hello, hello."

Lin Nan reached out in a daze to shake hands, then reacted — it seemed he had indeed heard before that Wanda was applying with the higher-ups for a cinema chain.

"Wanda Cinema Line got approved?" Lin Nan couldn't help but ask.

"Since Lin Dao asks, I'll just say it. The notice from the General Administration should be coming within these few days; the establishment of Wanda Cinema Line is a foregone conclusion. The reason for this meeting with Lin Dao is to establish a good relationship for future cooperation.

Lin Dao is a director and also a producer, belonging to the upstream of the industry; cinema chains are a downstream industry. Establishing a good cooperative relationship is also beneficial to the development of the industry.

Lin Dao's *Return to Dust* is currently in the running for awards. When it is released, our Wanda will give full support — at the very least, we won't slack on scheduling…"

Lin Nan had been hit where it hurt. Realistic themes indeed couldn't compete with other genres at the box office, and could only bully the art-house films below.

How many audience members buying tickets to watch a movie are willing to see a tragic story? No matter how well-made a suffering film is, its box office often is inversely proportional to its reputation.

"Then when the time comes, I'll be counting on you," Lin Nan said.

There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

As they chatted, Lin Nan gradually picked up on the meaning behind Ye Ning's words.

Since Wanda entered the film and television industry, it had never intended to only do the downstream cinema chain business.

Going against the current was their goal; an industry closed loop was the ultimate aim. Their main business was commercial real estate, which happened to be suitable as an entry point through cinema chains.

Lin Nan was very satisfied with Ye Ning's way of talking — whatever he wanted to do was stated outright. Business is business. They had cinema chains and capital, and simply wanted to befriend some excellent directors, screenwriters, and producers. Lin Nan perfectly fit the bill, and had no faction backing.

Over the course of the morning, Lin Nan and Ye Ning became fairly well acquainted. They even had lunch together, promising to definitely cooperate when the chance arose in the future — a thoroughly enjoyable meeting for both host and guest.

Sure enough, on the twentieth the General Administration issued the notice, approving the establishment of Wanda Cinema Line — another domestic cinema chain added to the roster.

News came from the Berlin International Film Festival: the opening film for the opening ceremony on the tenth had been confirmed — *The Barbarian Legend* from French director Régis Wagner.