Chapter 406

Han Zong has an important meeting today.

It is a relevant meeting convened by the Film Bureau.

It is mainly to discuss and accelerate the efforts of domestic cinema chains to increase investment and construction, while maintaining the advantages in first-tier cities, and actively expanding to second-tier and even third-tier cities.

Furthermore, various relevant departments also discussed how to accelerate the layout of rural digital cinema construction.

The morning was spent discussing the expansion of domestic cinema chains, and the afternoon was spent discussing the construction of rural digital cinema chains.

However, the matter of accelerating the expansion and approval of domestic cinema chains involves too many stakeholders, so the meeting lasted until 12:30 PM.

Han Zong came out of the meeting room and considered that there was still an hour and a half before the afternoon meeting; going back to have a meal and then taking a short nap should be enough time.

By the time he got into the car and left the Film Bureau, it was already past 12:40.

He had read too much material in the morning, and the discussion was very intense, which made Han Zong a bit exhausted. He closed his eyes in the car, but in his heart, he always felt that he had forgotten something.

What was it? He couldn't think of it for a moment.

Just like that, the driver had driven out of the Film Bureau for about five minutes when Han Zong's phone suddenly rang.

He subconsciously frowned, took out his phone with some exhaustion, and took a look; it was a call from his secretary.

The secretary calling at this time must mean something has happened; otherwise, it would be impossible to call at this time.

"Hmm... hmm?"

Han Zong had only listened to two sentences before he immediately sat up straight, and the exhaustion on his face also magically disappeared.

"Is it accurate? Is it confirmed?"

Han Zong slapped his thigh and couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth.

"Good, good, that's great!"

Only then did he remember what he had forgotten: today is the Oscar awards ceremony! He was thinking about this before the meeting in the morning; he didn't expect that after discussing at the Film Bureau all morning, he had forgotten such an important thing.

Han Zong checked the time: 12:49 PM. Converting the time difference between Jingcheng and Los Angeles, it should be 8:49 PM there.

The Oscar awards ceremony is almost over; what follows is interviews and the Oscar banquet.

After hanging up the phone, Han Zong took a deep breath and said softly to the driver in front: "Xiao Li, make a U-turn ahead, go back to the Film Bureau. We'll eat at the bureau's cafeteria today; we're not going back."

He knew very well that for the afternoon meeting, the bureau's leaders probably wouldn't go home at noon and would likely eat in the cafeteria—if they went out to eat, they would definitely call him.

It's not Han Zong bragging; he is now the head of China Film Group, holding great power, and is also an old subordinate and old partner of Director Tong. If they went out to eat, it would be impossible not to call him.

The cafeteria is good; Han Zong likes the cafeteria the most.

Returning to the Film Bureau, Han Zong walked with great vigor all the way.

"Hey, Old Han, didn't you go back?"

"What? You know too? I just went out and made a call to find out. I didn't expect you to know even earlier than I did."

"Ah?"

"Sigh, isn't it just that China Film Group invested in a Hollywood film? I didn't expect it to cause such a big stir. This matter, it's all thanks to Cao Dao Yang being righteous; if it weren't for Cao Dao, how could I have had the opportunity to serve as the producer of this film."

"A Hollywood film?"

"Sigh, isn't it just winning an Oscar for Best Picture? It's no big deal. My role as producer is just to make up the numbers. I'm ashamed, ashamed!"

Han Zong raised his volume in the cafeteria without realizing it, which made more and more people look over.

Of course, while Han Zong was shouting about being ashamed, the corners of his mouth were curled up to his ears.

"What Oscar? What's wrong with the Oscars?"

Another leader who didn't hear the whole thing asked suspiciously.

At this moment, Han Zong wished he could slap his thigh; he was most afraid of singing a solo act and loved this kind of "straight man" to his "comedian."

If there were no "straight men" in this world, the fun would definitely be reduced by more than half.

Han Zong straightened his body, deliberately cleared his throat, looked around, and then said with a smile:

"Last year, Cao Dao Yang led the production of a low-budget film based on a novel he wrote himself, giving China Film Group an opportunity to participate and make it a co-production with Columbia.

It's that *The Fault in Our Stars* that caused a sensation in the US. The total investment..."

Han Zong originally wanted to say the total investment was about 100 million RMB, but when the words reached his lips, he felt that 100 million was a bit "too big" and the shock would be less, so he didn't say RMB.

"The total investment was just a little over 10 million US dollars. Everyone is a professional, so you must know that this amount of money in Hollywood is the smallest of small investments."

Speaking of this, he could no longer suppress the joy in his heart and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Haha, however, no matter how small the investment, it is still a film written and produced by Cao Dao. It was released in North America last August, and the box office exploded a little bit. It didn't explode much, and it certainly can't compare to *Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End* directed by Cao Dao."

"How much did it explode?"

Someone couldn't help but ask.

Han Zong waved his hand and shook his head, "Not much, not much, just 200 million in North America. Oh, that's US dollars."

At this time, some heads of state-owned cinema chains attending the meeting, as well as some private cinema owners with strong capital and development potential, couldn't help but smile bitterly.

A budget of over 10 million US dollars and a North American box office of 200 million US dollars—damn, that's a huge profit!

It is estimated that Hollywood might not even produce one film with such a high rate of return in a year.

What's more, didn't you hear Han Zong say? This is just the North American box office; it doesn't even count the global box office.

"The Oscar you just mentioned..."

The leader who asked the question just now couldn't help but ask again.

Old Han was rambling on, and hadn't mentioned anything about the Oscars.

Han Zong almost couldn't help but slap his thigh again.

He deliberately coughed to stop his itchy arm.

"This film has achieved a box office of 260 million US dollars in the case that it hasn't been released in most countries including China."

Han Zong smiled and looked at the leader of the Film Bureau who was at the same level as him, and then continued: "Box office or not, it's meaningless. I just received news that at the Oscar awards ceremony that just ended, this film won Best Picture!"

He grinned and sighed: "This film that China Film Group invested in, I actually didn't put in much effort. I just helped recommend some staff, found a few location sites, supervised the accounts, and handled some small problems.

Sigh, I didn't expect Columbia and Cao Dao Yang to insist on letting me have the title of producer. I'm ashamed, ashamed. If I had known the film could win an Oscar for Best Picture, I wouldn't have let myself be named as a producer no matter what."

Han Zong was saying he was ashamed, but his mouth was getting wider and wider, especially when he said the words "Oscar Best Picture," which were sonorous, powerful, and clearly articulated.

Instantly, the leader who asked the question just now turned his head away; he hated himself for being so talkative.

Oscar Best Picture.

Every year, they "rush for the Oscars," and after rushing for twenty years, these directors in the mainland haven't even touched the hair of a Best Foreign Language Film. Even for this, they argue endlessly every year for a "rush for the Oscars" film, and even "fight."

This guy is better; he didn't do anything, and the highest Oscar award, Best Picture, is in his hands. Where the hell can one go to reason?

He had mocked this guy before for following behind Cao Yang and "charging into battle" for Cao Yang.

And now?

Sigh...

Originally, at Han Zong's age, he had already reached the end of his career in his current position. In fact, everyone at this age basically gives up the idea of rising and only seeks to land safely and wait until retirement.

Now it seems that Old Han "mooched" an Oscar for Best Picture, so this is not necessarily the case.

For a time, everyone's view of Old Han changed. No matter what they thought in their hearts, at least on the surface, they were all happy that Old Han had won an Oscar for Best Picture.

Laughter and congratulations resounded through the cafeteria.

While there was laughter and joy here, over at the Beijing Film Academy, Hou Keming and Xie Xie Xiaojing were "worried" to death.

The problem they were worried about was also very simple: there was no place to hang the banner.

*Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End* won several Oscar technical awards. If it were any other director at the Beijing Film Academy, they would definitely celebrate and hang a banner.

But Cao Yang is different. To be honest, if they hung a banner for Cao Yang for these "small" Oscar technical awards, he might feel it was "embarrassing."

Hou Keming and Xie Xie Xiaojing were not worried about this.