Chapter 597

That Year in Chinese Entertainment: Chapter 743 - The Berlin Spring Festival Gala's inner-venue tickets have already started being distributed.

Regarding the audience, the directing team had racked their brains to find ways, under the premise that the program would remain conservative and actively positive.

In the end, they simply found "matching" celebrities for the audience from top to bottom, from old to young—this year's main focus was idols!

Andy Lau would be appearing on the Spring Festival Gala for the 5th time, and explosive artists like Lu Han, Wu Yifan, and William Chan were also on the promotional list.

I have to say, the effect was really good. The online heat, attention, and topic volume were all consistently high.

Countless netizens had expectations for this year's Spring Festival Gala because of their favorite stars; who knows, it might really be able to pull up the reputation of the declining Gala.

Lin Nan had never been to the Spring Festival Gala in person because he had no time, and secondly, no interest.

But the inner-venue tickets arrived on time every year. The quantity wasn't large, only three or four.

"The annual meeting is the day after tomorrow, the 31st. Let's put them into the prize pool for them to draw. After all, these are seats close to the stage, and there's food and drink provided."

Looking at the four Spring Festival Gala inner-venue tickets that had just been delivered, Lin Nan said with a smile.

Yue Jun nodded: "I'll have someone arrange it in a moment."

"Yeah. Wait? You ran to my office; it can't just be to talk about this small matter, right?"

Lin Nan leaned back in his chair and realized.

"There is indeed something else. In the last two days, many companies and agents in the circle have been contacting me, asking about *Running Man*," Yue Jun said, bringing up the real business.

Lin Nan understood; they were all coming for that permanent guest spot.

Although it hadn't been locked onto Wang Baoqiang yet, the fact that a certain permanent guest was leaving *Running Man* was already an open secret in the industry.

And anyone with a bit of a brain could guess that the one leaving must be a male guest.

"What are your thoughts?"

Lin Nan looked at Yue Jun and asked pointedly.

"I had the team do some market research, and there are one or two candidates who are particularly suitable;

Not only do their characteristics and positioning not conflict at all with the other permanent guests, but they also come with high popularity and a large fan base."

…………

January was coming to an end, and the atmosphere of the Lunar New Year was getting heavier. The entire film and entertainment circle had also become more boisterous.

Especially in the film market, under the smoke of the Spring Festival slot, dozens of films were sharpening their weapons, ready to go at a moment's notice.

And at this time, the movement of Lin Nan Film's new film abruptly broke into the headlines, attracting the attention of many industry insiders all at once.

"Produced by Lin Nan Film, directed by Guo Fan, starring Shu Chang, Luo Jin, Ma Sichun, Jiao Junyan, and others, the inspirational, romantic, comedy manga-adapted film *Go Away Mr. Tumor* officially started filming this morning."

"Liu Yifei appears at the opening ceremony with black sunglasses, chatting and laughing with Shu Chang and others..."

"The TV series *My Sunshine* has a perfect finale; Tang Yan appears at the opening scene of *Go Away Mr. Tumor*, suspected to be for Luo..."

After glancing at the entertainment news, Lin Nan couldn't help but tease:

"Luo Jin, this guy is something; he actually let someone visit the set in full view of everyone?"

"You really are meddling in other people's business; you'd better care more about the Berlin International Film Festival,"

Ning Hao said while brushing sauce on the meat skewers, complaining.

"What's there to care about? It's already been nominated; just wait for the results."

Lin Nan shrugged indifferently; he wasn't the jury president.

"Yifei went to visit the set, why didn't you follow?" Xing Aina handed Lin Nan an apron.

"Your Director Ning heard that my company's annual meeting tonight has performances by several top girl groups, and since I happen to be in the country this year, he called me over to fish for information.

He just told me to save him a front-row seat tonight, and even thought of the reason to give you: a dinner party tonight, going out for a stroll..."

"Damn you, can you not pit me and live?"

Ning Hao glared at Lin Nan and scolded him angrily.

Xing Aina could also tell Lin Nan was joking, but she still glared at Ning Hao. "I actually hope it's true."

"It is okay to go for a stroll. Lin Dao's company annual meeting is a rare grand occasion in the circle. I heard there are quite a few domestic singers this year too?"

Huang Bo ate the barbecue and changed the subject, relieving the pressure on Director Ning.

"Yeah, we found a few, Jane Zhang and them. Originally, the employees at Tiangong Color even named Jay Chou, but he just got married a while ago..."

As Lin Nan talked, his voice got quieter. Ning Hao's craftsmanship was actually quite good; he hadn't noticed it before!

"I, I remembered the lines from Uncle Zhao Benshan's sketch, hahaha..."

As soon as this joke was said, the few of them instantly reacted.

"Yeah, Director Ning really has the potential to be a chef!"

"Get lost!"

"By the way, I accepted a reality show."

Huang Bo's abrupt words almost made Lin Nan and Ning Hao choke.

"A reality show? You were reckless!"

Ning Hao said a word; for a serious actor, reality shows were completely more harmful than beneficial. Lin Nan also nodded silently.

"No choice, they paid too much, haha...

But listening to the creative concept, it's quite interesting, so I accepted. Together with Sun Honglei, Huang Lei, Wang Xun, and them. You two must keep it a secret for me."

"Of course. How much is the salary?" Ning Hao asked curiously.

"He definitely signed a confidentiality agreement, so don't ask. Anyway, it's definitely several times higher than a film salary, and it's easy, saving time and effort."

Lin Nan spoke up to explain for the embarrassed Huang Bo. The salary for the second season of *Running Man* had also risen a bit; it wasn't low.

"Tsk tsk tsk, no wonder even you were tempted."

Xing Aina sighed. Huang Bo's salary multiplying several times—that was definitely an eight-digit figure, and not one starting with 1!

Lin Nan coming to Ning Hao's place today was purely out of boredom, and also because it was a rare opportunity to get together.

He and Liu Yifei were departing for Berlin the morning after next, and they might not be in the country for almost the entire month of February.

Because the Berlin International Film Festival, from the opening ceremony to the closing ceremony, would last a full 11 days.

And one week after the closing ceremony awards, it would be the Academy Awards ceremony.

Lin Nan couldn't be sure at this moment if he would return to the country during that middle week; perhaps he and Liu Yifei would fly directly from Berlin to Hollywood, and the probability wasn't small.

The few of them ate, drank, talked, and laughed in the courtyard of Ning Hao's villa for more than two hours.

It wasn't until after one o'clock in the afternoon, when Liu Yifei called, that Lin Nan got up to prepare to go home.

"Are you going to my company tonight? Save you a front row? A whole row of long legs..."

"Get lost!"

"What about Huang Bo?"

"I, I'm willing but powerless..."

"One by one, henpecked, shameful."

Lin Nan laughed wantonly at the two of them and got into the car.

"Wishing you a golden harvest on this Berlin trip!"

"Lin Dao, the double gold is waiting for you—the Jin Xiong after the Golden Lion!"

"I'll take your kind words; if I really win, I'll treat you when I get back..."

When the last word drifted out, Lin Nan's car had already driven out of the villa.

…………

The filming location for *Go Away Mr. Tumor* was in the capital.

Liu Yifei going to the set and back, plus the time spent hanging out and grabbing lunch, was only three or four hours.

"Let's pack tomorrow; I'm too lazy to move this afternoon. Watching Changchang play a character that's a bit silly, a bit dull, and a bit dim-witted is quite funny."

After stretching her waist, Liu Yifei leaned lazily against Lin Nan.

"No rush, take it slow tomorrow; we're not departing until the morning after next."

"What are you looking at?"

With her head in Lin Nan's arms, Liu Yifei looked at the tablet in Lin Nan's hand.

"Watching *From Vegas to Macau II* and *Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal* bickering; it's very lively," Lin Nan teased.

Weibo had a poll, roughly meaning the eight blockbusters in the Spring Festival slot were fighting, asking netizens to vote for the film they were most looking forward to and would definitely watch.

This poll had high heat and was hanging on the trending list; to a certain extent, it was also a form of promotion.

Because *Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal* surpassed and crushed *From Vegas to Macau II* in votes, taking first place, Wong Jing started spraying.

The latter directly posted on Weibo naming *Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal*, saying this film spent money to hire water armies to brush votes, so it could easily increase by six or seven thousand votes within an hour, and the eating style was ugly.

This was no small matter; the main investor of *Zhong Kui* jumped out directly and started cursing back, even using harsh words like "If I hired water armies, my whole family dies; if I didn't, your whole family dies."

Originally, everyone suspected Wong Jing was using the opportunity to hype, and now they were even more inclined toward this idea.

After a round of back-and-forth exchanges, Wong Jing was cursed into silence.

Because this side directly escalated to character, saying his behavior of publicly calling to break ties with those in the Hong Kong circle who had crooked butts a while ago seemed to be firm in stance, but was actually self-protection, submitting a letter of intent to the mainland, using his former brothers as stepping stones and letters of intent... he was just a villain with a dark psychology and a cold nature... it was perfectly reasonable for him to bite people indiscriminately!

"The topic is a bit off-track; Wong Jing can't hold it!"

Lin Nan laughed and mocked. Wanda and Enlight, as joint producers of *Zhong Kui*, neither voiced their opinions.

"I remember, the special effects for *Zhong Kui* were done at Tiangong Color?" Liu Yifei asked, resting on Lin Nan's shoulder.

"Yeah, that's right. At the beginning, they said they wanted to benchmark against Hollywood, but in the end, they were stingy. Tiangong Color did its best for the special effects shots of this film. But I heard from Yue Jun that the plot is truly hard to describe."

"Very bad? We're not watching it anyway, forget it.

No, Li Bingbing said at an event two days ago that when we meet in Berlin, she wants to invite me to watch her film!"

Liu Yifei pouted and looked at Lin Nan speechlessly.

"Haha, then you just hide from her."

…………

He was mocking Ning Hao and Huang Bo for being henpecked in the morning, but Lin Nan admitted he said that too early; it was a bit of a slap in the face.

Because he didn't go to the company annual meeting that officially started in the evening either.

Yeah, went shopping with Liu Yifei...

What's good about legs? That group of people at Tiangong Color were just blindly excited.

In Lin Dao's line of sight, there were only Miss Liu's long legs, which he could never see enough of!

However, the media reporters were one more excited and cunning than the other.

They had been guarding outside the villa rented by Lin Nan Film early on, and Yue Jun even let quite a few people in.

So much so that at this moment, the internet was full of text and photo reports of the Lin Nan Film annual meeting, and from time to time, videos of energetic singing and dancing appeared on Weibo, and the online heat was frighteningly high.

"It still has to be Lin Dao's company annual meeting! Much more powerful than those satellite TV stations; they can't invite so many popular first-line girl groups!"

"These legs, this dance, these eyes, this performance... this flexibility and waist... so charming... I want to report it, the Lin Nan Film annual meeting is suspected of... harming single youth..."

"Alright, I like Park Ji-yeon! Feels better than that Im Yoon-ah..."

"The one above, what kind of fart are you talking?"

"Don't you support your own countrymen? f(x)'s Victoria is very outstanding!"

"I support Boram!"

"I heard Lin Gengxin is playing a couple with Im Yoon-ah? Really chilling..."

"Wonder Girls' classic tracks plus dance, the feeling came all at once, they even found the members who left the team! Lin Dao is awesome!"

"Stop forcing it, focus on watching the legs... watching the performance..."

"Give us more videos, why is it all photos? Jane Zhang's high notes are very cool..."

"The cost of this annual meeting is not cheap! I guess only Lin Nan Film in the film circle can throw money like this?!"

"Pretty much, because Lin Dao's company makes a lot of money! Especially last year, the first 2-billion-box-office-club director, the first 2-billion-box-office Chinese film..."

……

After one night, the media's reports on the Lin Nan Film annual meeting were unanimous praise.

Because unlike other companies that hide things, Lin Nan Film was truly generous.

Not only did they let everyone watch the performance, but they also provided a large amount of news material, comparable to a gala!

Especially that 10-million cash prize pool and the gift pool worth tens of millions, which left reporters and netizens dumbfounded and deeply shocked.

Because Lin Nan Film, Tiangong Color, plus Shan Hai Media, all together only had two hundred employees—an average prize pool share of nearly 100,000 per person!

Time, this brought us to February 1st.

Starting from the morning, Liu Yifei's phone hadn't stopped ringing.

It was clearly Lin Nan going to compete for the Jin Xiong at the Berlin International Film Festival, but Miss Liu was busier than him, and those luxury brand parties were even more active.

Confirming the itinerary, confirming the hotel, confirming the activities to attend... preparing several sets of evening gowns, what to match...

Lin Nan lay on the sofa, watching Liu Yifei, who looked like a strong career woman, busy; she was truly beautiful.

"Xixi, I have to remind you. The hotel we are staying at this time is paid for by the organizers of the Berlin International Film Festival, and I didn't refuse. Between the Hilton and the Hotel Palace Berlin, I chose the latter."

Lin Nan said with a hint of pride.

Only a few filmmakers could get the organizers to pay for the hotel.

And among the directors who had enjoyed this treatment, 60% had won that thing!

Liu Yifei nodded gently at Lin Nan, then instructed the assistant on the other end of the phone to notify the brand party.

Outside.

In the mainland film circle, groups of production companies, distribution companies, film crews, filmmakers, and celebrity actors began to appear at the airport one after another; everyone's destination was basically the same: Berlin.

The circle and the media were also paying attention to the movements of Lin Nan and Liu Yifei, because Jiang Wen had already departed a few days ago, and Lin Nan was the only one left of the only two big directors in the country going to compete for the Jin Xiong.

In the afternoon, Tom's call came directly from Berlin.

"Lin, I've already arrived in Berlin. When is your and Crystal's itinerary? *Manchester by the Sea* is the opening film; you have to come and report in person."

"Berlin time, you'll see me tomorrow at noon or in the afternoon," Lin Nan said with a smile.

Berlin is 7 hours behind the capital, and the flight time is roughly between 7.5 and 10 hours; the time spent cannot be fixed, it depends on the specific flight situation.

Lin Nan and Liu Yifei depart tomorrow morning; by the time they arrive in Berlin, it should be around 12 noon local time.

"Have Leon and the others arrived?" Liu Yifei asked from the side.

"My dear Crystal, haven't seen you for half a month, I've really missed you."

Tom, this sycophant, started again; Lin Nan resisted the urge to curse.

Liu Yifei leaned her head against Lin Nan's shoulder and couldn't stop laughing; she couldn't stand the tone of Tom, this lackey.

"Speak quickly."

"Leon won't be able to come until the day of the opening ceremony; he has to go back in the middle and rush back for the awards ceremony. Matt and Jessica will arrive together two days before the opening ceremony..."

…………