Chapter 902: Invitation from the Organizing Committee!!!

"The urban fantasy romantic comedy film *Generation Elf*, directed by Director Ning Hao, produced by Xing Aina, and starring Liu Yifei and Lin Dao Nan, has reached a total box office of 620 million yuan after one week of release."

"At noon today, five ministries and commissions—the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television—jointly issued a red-headed document: *Notice on Several Policies to Support the Prosperous Development of TV Dramas*; among which..."

A red-headed document jointly signed by the five ministries and commissions just like that dragged the attention of all Chinese filmmakers, actors, celebrities, and media personnel far away at the Venice International Film Festival back to the domestic market.

Even many foreign filmmakers on the Lido in Venice took note of the "earthquake" in the Chinese film and television market!

The red-headed document contained a total of 14 sections, with clauses specifically targeting the issue of sky-high industry salaries;

This was also the first time the authorities had explicitly defined the issue of sky-high salaries in the form of a document, provided a clear outline of requirements for optimizing the salary distribution mechanism, and used sharp language:

"It is strictly forbidden for film and television broadcasting institutions to use celebrity status as the sole standard for price negotiation!"

"The issue of sky-high salaries mainly affects the TV drama industry, so the title of this document explicitly focuses on the three words 'TV drama';

If nothing goes wrong, the State Administration's red-headed document should be out before the end of the month, setting detailed and specific regulatory requirements for the salaries of actors and celebrities.

Of course, this is to curb sky-high salaries by targeting production companies and broadcasting platforms; after all, not a single actor receiving a super-high salary is willing to voluntarily lower their pay. Since that's the case, we can only start from the client side..."

On the morning of the 4th, Venice time, Lin Nan was still pulled in to attend a meeting to have the spirit of the document conveyed to him. With him were all the top Chinese filmmakers currently on the Lido.

And the keynote speaker was naturally the leader of the Chinese filmmakers at the Venice International Film Festival—Chairman of China Film Group: La Peikang.

"The salaries my company pays are at most at the upper-middle level; there has never been any talk of sky-high prices."

"Lin Dao, what kind of joke are you making? Who in the circle would dare ask Lin Nan Film Industry for a sky-high salary? The only ones who could get the highest salary from your company are probably Zhou Xun and Liu Dehua, right?"

Lin Nan muttered in a low voice, and then Zhang Mo chimed in from the side.

"Because only they are worth that price; other actors are completely unqualified."

While chatting in low voices and slacking off with Zhang Mo, Lin Nan also intentionally observed the expressions of Wang Zhonglei, Feng Xiaogang, and others on the other side; they all looked calm and composed, with no ripples on their faces.

But in other words, the more calm the people present looked at this moment, the more they had on their minds; because the vast majority of people here had more or less, good or bad, emotional feedback on their faces.

After all, the authorities really had taken action to cut sky-high salaries; for everyone present, this was either a good thing or a bad thing.

Just look at actor representatives like Zhou Xun and Fan Bingbing—they all had gloomy faces.

As for the directors, producers, and heads of film and television companies, they were almost all emotionally agitated, looking like they found it gratifying. Well, except for the very few who were expressionless and appeared as if it had nothing to do with them!

By the time the meeting ended, it was almost 12:00 noon. Liu Yifei and Watching Shu Chang had already been waiting outside for a long time, waiting for Lin Nan to go have lunch together.

"Who did I offend? They spent another ten minutes naming and criticizing me." Zhou Xun, in a terrible mood, cursed as she caught up.

The naming and criticizing she referred to was the report by CCTV this morning, domestic time, on the sky-high salaries for *Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace*. This was the second time she had been named and criticized.

"Killing the chicken to warn the monkey, right? Who told you to have such a high status and happen to be in the line of fire?" Watching Shu Chang, sharp-tongued, teased with a grin. Then she received an eye-roll from Zhou Xun, "It's as if you aren't affected!"

"Alright, let's not talk about these buzzkills. Lin Dao, it's already the 4th today; hasn't there been a phone call yet?"

Liu Yifei interrupted the chatter between Watching Shu Chang and Zhou Xun and asked about the serious business. Upon hearing this, the latter two instantly looked at the great Lin Dao.

"No."

"Then tomorrow afternoon?" Liu Yifei pressed.

"Not sure, but we'll know tomorrow afternoon, won't we?"

"What kind of riddle are you two playing?" Watching Shu Chang and Zhou Xun asked in unison; they didn't yet know about Lin Nan being asked to meet someone tomorrow afternoon.

"Confidential." Miss Liu said, her red lips parting slightly to utter only two words.

"Heh!"

"Hehehe!"

"Stop 'heh-ing'. Let's go eat; I'll order a few more bottles of water for you two to drink slowly."

Lin Nan couldn't help but tease. He then took Liu Yifei's hand and walked straight toward the Western restaurant they had agreed to go to that morning.

As for the matter tomorrow afternoon, he and Miss Liu had been whispering about it for a long time last night. Both of them had faint guesses, but they weren't certain, so it was hard to say.

In the afternoon, many Chinese filmmakers at the Venice International Film Festival chose to return home early, such as big names like Wang Zhonglei, Feng Xiaogang, Fan Bingbing, and Li Bingbing.

Of course, these people didn't have invitations for the closing ceremony red carpet anyway, so they might as well go back to catch the red carpet for the Bazaar Charity Night. Besides, it couldn't be ruled out that they had other important matters to return home to handle...

By the afternoon of the 4th, the 10-day Venice International Film Festival was already halfway over.

And all the film crews in the main competition section were waiting for notification of the unwritten rules... hearts were restless, unable to stay calm.

Even Lin Nan stayed in the hotel all afternoon, not going anywhere, because he couldn't muster any spirit or interest.

Simply put, he directly started a work video call with the *Detective Chinatown 2* crew; anyway, the time difference was only four hours.

And don't say, with staff "manning the camera," Lin Nan and the others in the hotel were completely "visiting the set" remotely, occasionally "commenting" on a few things.

For example, Lin Nan thought Reba's shot was unqualified, so he called for an NG.

"Lin Dao, what have you considered regarding the release schedule I proposed?" Lu Yang asked while eating lunch, his video call on.

"It's fine. Once you wrap up, announce it to the public."

Lin Nan gave a clear reply. *Operation Red Sea* + *Detective Chinatown 2*—two big-budget films of different genres released on the same day—striving to carve up the Spring Festival slot.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yang slapped his thigh with a "pop," instantly energized, "Good, I can finally say I have two big films in the same release window. This Spring Festival slot is mine!"

"Playing it that big?" Watching Shu Chang and Zhou Xun were both stunned. Lin Nan Film Industry had never done this before; was this completely leaving no room for peers this time?

"The box office market is a battlefield to begin with; life-and-death competition is a normal phenomenon." Lu Yang said, taking a big bite of his burger the next second, "If you can eat more, you should eat more... I'm taking a cut of the box office!"

On the 5th, except for the films shortlisted in the various modules of the film festival, the vast majority of other films had almost all completed copyright transactions.

With this, the eyes of all film merchants at the entire festival were focused on the remaining few dozen films.

Lin Nan received a piece of inside information: the overseas copyright transaction price for *Legend of the Demon Cat* was just over 20 million USD.

This price was actually not low at all; after all, this film had absolutely no awards to back it up, and it was a Chinese historical costume theme, which was relatively niche overseas!

And the couple Chen Kaige and Chen Hong, who had sold the copyright, had already left the Lido with their people after 8:00 AM.

It was said that when they were blocked by reporters for interviews before leaving, the two of them had rarely shown smiles. Chen Hong even proactively mentioned Chen Feiyu, saying that the two of them planned to visit the set of *Ever Night* after returning.

In the afternoon, Lin Nan and Liu Yifei received the suddenly visiting Zhang Yimou and Zhang Mo.

In all fairness, Zhang Yimou's mindset had changed quite a bit. For the first time, he revealed that he would officially sign with Huanxi next year, as if he were talking about something everyone already knew.

But in fact, that wasn't the case; there were quite a few people who didn't know about this, such as Zhou Xun and Watching Shu Chang, who were completely stunned, very realistically.

"*Shadow* will be submitted to compete in next year's Venice Film Festival... Later, when my next film is approved, I can let Zhang Yi come over, probably around the middle of next year; keep this confidential for now..."

When sending the great Director Zhang and his daughter out of the hotel, Zhang Yimou finally stated the main purpose of his visit today.

"No problem, I'll have him reserve the schedule. And thank Director Zhang on his behalf."

"Mm, then we'll be going first."

Zhang Yimou and Zhang Mo had just left when a few more people came over; it was an appointment.

"Lin..."

"Welcome..."

Lin Nan smiled and went up to greet them, hugging them. Then he led the way, guiding the few people into the hotel.

What he didn't notice at all was that Zhang Yimou, who had already walked far away, was looking back at this side.

"Dad, aren't those...?" Zhang Mo exclaimed.

"The Chairman and board members of the Venice International Film Festival Organizing Committee..." At this moment, Zhang Yimou narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression very serious.

"What is the Organizing Committee looking for Lin Dao for?" Zhang Mo still hadn't reacted.

"You haven't experienced it, so you don't know. I estimate that even if Lin Nan can guess something, he only knows half of it at most. However, next year's Venice International Film Festival... is going to be lively!"

Zhang Yimou murmured, then strode away, continuing to walk back. Leaving only a bewildered Zhang Mo following behind.

In the hotel conference room, only Lin Nan and the four members of the Venice International Film Festival Organizing Committee were present.

His heartbeat rhythm sped up a bit, because he and Liu Yifei had guessed right, but they had also guessed wrong.

The guess Lin Nan and Liu Yifei had the night before last was: the Organizing Committee invited him for a talk, possibly wanting to invite him to be a judge for next year's film festival, most likely a judge for the main competition section...

And at this moment, the great Lin Dao couldn't help but recall the words Marco Müller had said to him jokingly at the launch ceremony banquet of the Pingyao International Film Festival at the beginning of the year.

At this moment, it had really come true!

"I wonder if Lin Dao Nan has the willingness to serve as the President of the main competition jury for next year's film festival?"

"In the past, Director Li An and Director Zhang Yimou have both served as..."

"If Lin Dao Nan agrees, then within a few days after the closing ceremony and awards banquet, we need to sign a letter of appointment..."

"In addition, you also need to keep it confidential until the launch ceremony press conference for the 75th Venice International Film Festival in the first half of next year, when the Organizing Committee will publicly announce this matter."

... ===== CHAPTER 903 =====