Chapter 1980 Adding Fuel to the Fire

Zhao Fusheng had high expectations for Ning Hao, but only in terms of box office.

As for awards—

Heh.

Zhao Fusheng never even considered relying on Ning Hao to win awards.

If he wanted awards, he had to look to someone like Wang Quanan.

Just in the past few days, shooting for Tuya's Marriage had wrapped, and it had been selected as a screening film for the Rotterdam International Film Festival in the Netherlands.

As a Dutch domestic film festival, it was slightly lower in prestige compared to Cannes, Berlin, and Venice.

However, the Rotterdam Film Festival had its own characteristics.

This festival was a well-known film trading platform in Europe.

Moreover, in the global film industry, it was hailed as 'the most important stage for emerging directors in the world'!

Just from that statement, one could see what its specialty was.

During the festival, the Dutch provided avenues and support for promising filmmakers seeking financing; many directors of the Sixth Generation had received help there.

Furthermore, the famous 'Seven Gentlemen Incident' occurred when a director attended this festival without approval from the regulatory authority and was banned, quickly sparking massive discussion within the industry.

Ning Hao naturally couldn't attend this festival.

But Wang Quanan could.

With Ye Jing's maneuvering, Wang Quanan, along with his film and lead actress Yu Nan, set off for Europe to attend the festival.

In Ye Jing's words, even if they had to grind it out, they had to come away with a few major awards.

After all, such films had virtually no box office in China.

The only way to profit was to win awards in Europe and then sell the overseas rights to foreigners.

Wang Quanan knew this himself and, without any complaints, flew to Rotterdam.

Zhao Fusheng happened to hear about this while chatting with Ye Jing.

He had no objections, only telling Ye Jing that since they were going to Europe, they might as well not stay idle—visit Venice, Cannes, and make the rounds.

Shoot first, ask later; who knew, they might win an award.

...

...

Sure enough, even someone like Liu Yiming, who didn't watch many movies, found Crazy Racer interesting, let alone others.

The next day's media coverage was full of praise for Crazy Racer.

'The film's tone starts and ends with racing; the misalignment and interweaving of various threads, and the ending where the police rush to the air-raid shelter, where contradictions and climaxes culminate in a police siege, feels somewhat disjointed from the overall effect. If the ending could be designed as a misaligned structure like the rest of the film, not converging into one point but still splitting into many points, with each thread's conclusion having its own logic yet coinciding, still weaving a misaligned ending through time and space, it would better embody the film's structuralism in one go.' — China Film Report

'The main storyline can be divided into five threads: the protagonist Geng Hao and his master, the swindler businessman Li Fala, two unprofessional assassins, a gang, and two cops wanting to solve a big case. The first four threads are main lines, interweaving and playing with changes in time and space. The police thread runs through them, serving as the gatherer after all focal points explode—meaning the final cleanup relies on the police, a return to the legal system, but without abruptness or affectation. Using the coherent and reasonable plot to connect with the mainstream theme, the integration is perfect. It's truly not easy to maximize the director's creative intent within the permissible limits of the national film mechanism.' — China Film Critics Network

Comments like these flooded the internet and print media.

At first, Zhao Fusheng thought Ye Jing was behind it, but later he learned it was all spontaneous from the media and netizens.

'It's a hit just like that?'

Watching the box office skyrocket, Ye Jing sat in his office with a bewildered expression.

He couldn't quite understand how the film had suddenly become so popular.

Zhao Fusheng smiled calmly. Films that inexplicably became hits would only become more common in the future.

Market prosperity brought about such results.

People were increasingly oppressed in real life, so they hoped to find comfort in the world of cinema.

Under these circumstances, films that brought laughter naturally gained market recognition.

The logic was simple, but few understood it.

That was the gap in vision.

'What do we do next?'

Ye Jing asked Zhao Fusheng.

To be honest, the surprise success of Crazy Racer in the summer season was something even he hadn't expected.

He had originally thought that an investment of eight or nine million could yield a profit of eight or nine million at best.

But now, it seemed the film could break fifty million in total box office.

Maybe even more.

'Step up the promotion. Have Ning Hao take the cast on a roadshow.'

Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment and said to Ye Jing, 'Tell him whether he becomes a director with a hundred million in box office depends on this!'

Hearing this, even Ye Jing lost his composure.

'You think it can cross a hundred million?'

Ye Jing looked at Zhao Fusheng in surprise.

'Let's give it a try.'

Zhao Fusheng chuckled. In his memory, the film did cross a hundred million, but that was in 2009. Now, he couldn't be sure.

Moreover, the Olympics were about to start. If the film wasn't pulled from theaters before the Olympics, then—heh—no matter how big the blockbuster, it would flop.

This was the Olympics!

The eyes of all Chinese people were fixed on it.

Not just Future Films; any domestic film company with a bit of sense had abandoned the August slot.

There was no choice. Whoever went up then would flop. From August 8th to August 24th, all attention was on the Olympics; anything else trying to steal the spotlight—

Hard!

So Zhao Fusheng simply had Ye Jing concentrate all promotional efforts on July.

Ye Jing understood this reasoning and nodded, then made arrangements.

...

...

Of course, it wasn't just Ning Hao pushing forward; others at Future Films were also helping with promotion.

Even Jiang Wen and Yu Feihong, during interviews, mentioned Future Films' production Crazy Racer several times. Jiang Wen even frankly stated that Ning Hao was a better director for commercial films than himself.

Just that statement alone boosted the film's buzz a few notches.

Who was Jiang Wen?

He was one of the top-tier directors in the country. Jiang Wen rarely praised younger directors in public.

This was the first time he had said something like that.

For a moment, Ning Hao was thrust into the spotlight.

'Why did you have to say that?'

Zhao Fusheng said to Jiang Wen in exasperation. 'Do you know that because of your words, the company is now swarmed by reporters?'

'Haha, what, you don't think Ning Hao has the ability?'

Jiang Wen said with a smile. 'I think it's a good thing for him.'

'A good thing?'

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback. 'What do you mean?'

'Yeah, don't you think this way more people will pay attention to Ning Hao and his film?'

Jiang Wen countered.

Zhao Fusheng was stunned.

He really hadn't thought that this could be done that way.