Five hundred and twenty-one, finally proud of the mountains and rivers movie
After the casting of the four male characters was completed, Zuo Le thought that the remaining female lead, Pei Ni, would be picked up quickly, but unexpectedly, she was the one that took the longest to choose.
It’s not that it’s difficult to find a specific candidate, on the contrary, the role of Penny belongs to the sweet girl category, the character design is simple, and basically anyone with some acting skills can play it.
Of course, the settings of the Shanhe version of "The Big Bang Theory" are more beautiful than the original version.
But let me ask, when has the entertainment industry lacked beauties?
The only difficulty was that Zuo Le wanted to find a female artist with experience in comedy performances, and it would be best if she could let go of her image baggage.
After all, it is a comedy, and sometimes the female characters will feel a certain amount of embarrassment. Even if they are goddesses, they have to be "down to earth" to be funny.
The fact that there are so few professional comedic women in the entertainment industry has a lot to do with the inability to let go of the baggage of image.
It is difficult for women, especially beauties who are sought after by countless people, to put down their airs and pretend to be crazy, stupid, ugly and funny...
Of course, that being said, after all Zuo Le's appeal is here, first-tier artists are not sure, but second-tier and third-tier female artists are still very interested in joining "The Big Bang Theory".
Women in the entertainment industry pay great attention to their image, but what they care more about is whether they can be popular. As long as they can be popular, they can pay some unbearable prices.
Hidden rules are still prevalent, let alone acting ugly.
So the most important reason why the role of Pei Ni took so long is that there were too many qualified candidates, and Zuo Le had trouble choosing.
Every actor has some qualities that Zuo Le values in the role of "Penny".
Either they have a cheerful temperament, or they have a bright appearance, or they have a hot figure, or they have a strong comedy color, or they are close to the original characters...
Like Raj, who chooses one from the other, Zuo Le can still compare directly, but with this kind of multiple choices, the choice becomes more difficult.
Coupled with the importance of the role of Pei Ni, Zuo Le still has not made up his mind after many considerations.
Fortunately, the other characters have been cast and the early preparations are in full swing. The role of Pei Ni will not delay the progress of the crew.
"The Big Bang Theory" is scheduled to premiere on December 15th, and Zuo Le decided to make the final choice before then.
However, compared with Pei Ni's casting, after entering December, Zuo Le and Shanhe are more concerned about this year's Golden Dragon Award and Golden Phoenix Award.
This year, "The Richest Man in Xihong City" made a big hit, with a box office of 3.229 billion, ranking ninth in China's box office list. It not only won the championship of the Lunar New Year season, but also eventually became the annual box office champion in 2023.
In addition, "Dumpling Detective" also performed well, ranking sixth at the box office of the year. The movies ahead of it were all released during the summer and Lunar New Year movies.
In addition to the box office, word-of-mouth ratings are also quite good. "Xihong City's Richest Dumpling Detective" has all entered the top ten of the 2023 movie word-of-mouth rating list.
As I said before, commercial films suffer in terms of ratings. Among the top ten films in this year's word-of-mouth rating list, only three have a box office of more than 1 billion, and only one "The Richest Man in Xihong City" has a box office of more than 2 billion.
With all these factors in mind, "The Richest Man in Xihong City" is not the best movie this year, but it is definitely the most successful.
When it comes to the movie industry in 2023, "The Richest Man in Xihong City" is an unavoidable name.
And for such a movie, even the self-righteous Golden Dragon Award would not dare to reject it openly.
Especially Zuo Le, who had a real fight with "Charlotte Troubles" and the Golden Dragon Awards, publicly announced his withdrawal from the selection.
Not only did it make the award ceremony particularly embarrassing, but it also caused the Golden Dragon Award jury, which was supposed to be re-elected only three years ago, to be re-elected in advance, and the current chairman of the jury, Lin Xiaoye, was disgraced.
This year's jury is newly appointed after Lin Xiaoye's. The chairman is named Chu Qin. He is a director and is a classmate of Zhang Kaigang.
However, this person's achievements are incomparable to those of Lao Zhang. He achieved some successes in the 1990s and early 2000s, but subsequently failed to keep up with the changes of the times, and his works frequently hit the market.
Chu Qin was a bachelor by nature, so when his career as a director suffered a setback, he simply pursued an official career.
Because of his seniority and wide connections, he was very popular in the industry. When he was at the highest level, he served as Chairman of the Chinese Film Association and Vice Chairman of the Chinese Directors Association.
This is not even the first time for him to be the chairman of the Golden Dragon Award jury. As early as the beginning of the century, he served as a high-level member of the jury, and in the previous term, he personally served as the chairman of the jury.
Because of Zuo Le, the Golden Dragon Award has suffered a big blow, so we specially invited Chu Qin, a veteran, in the hope of restoring the momentum of the Golden Dragon Award in the past.
Chu Qin does have the means, and the Golden Dragon Award was held in a good manner last year, which offset a lot of negative effects.
But this cannot directly cover up the original incident.
If he was just an ordinary artist at the beginning, that would be fine. As the person becomes more popular, everyone will gradually forget about him.
But Zuo Le is different. He and his subordinate Shanhe are now very popular in the entertainment industry. Their presence is so strong that all the news about them is a hot topic that people are chasing.
"The Richest Man in Xihong City" released this year, with nearly half of "Charlotte" as the main creator, has created greater glory.
While the film industry is in a frenzy, more and more people are talking about the original "Zuo Le's hard-fought Golden Dragon Award incident".
This matter is like a gangrene in the bones, making it difficult for the Golden Dragon Award to get out of the shadows in a short time.
And if this matter is not removed and resolved, the longer it goes on, the greater the negative impact it will have, and even ultimately the Golden Dragon Award will suffer a greater blow.
Chu Qin thought about it for a long time and felt that to untie the bell, he needed to tie the bell.
The best way to pull the Golden Dragon Award out of this quagmire is to settle the feud with Zuo Le, and then blame the original unhappiness on the third party who took the blame.
This scapegoat is easy to find, and Lin Xiaoye, the chairman of the previous jury, is the best candidate.
Even finding him can't be considered as taking the blame, he is the culprit in the first place.
If he hadn't ignored the fair and impartial stance of the jury, put his personal bias into the award evaluation, favored literary films and belittled comedy films, this would have ultimately caused Zuo Le and the Golden Dragon Awards to become enemies.
Without him, Zuo Le would have had trouble competing for the highest film award, and the Golden Dragon Award would not have suffered such a big setback.
So I blame Lin Xiaoye for everything...
Chu Qin decided that once the Golden Dragon Award and Zuo Le reached a consensus and reconciled, the two parties would immediately mobilize their connections to direct the original contradictions between the two parties to Lin Xiaoye.
The final result is that Zuo Le is an innocent victim, the Golden Dragon Award is a kind-hearted platform that has been deceived by others, and only the bad guy Lin Xiaoye is the instigator, and it is all his fault.
Chu Qin thought this method was very good. It was a win-win situation for everyone, and only Lin Xiaoye suffered the loss and was scolded.
As for whether the other party would bear grudge against them, Zuo Le's family has great achievements and is not afraid at all. Chu Qin does not take the other party seriously at all.
Lin Xiaoye and Zuo Lebi had more seniority and connections, but his few qualifications and connections were not at the same level as Chu Qin.
Zuo Le may have some trouble dealing with Lin Xiaoye. Chu Qin, who is following the same route as him, can be described in two words——
Finished.
………
Having made up his mind, Chu Qin quickly called Zuo Le through his connections to test his opinion on this year's Golden Dragon Award.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not some awards scandal.
Although Chu Qin intended to reconcile with Zuo Le, Chu Qin would not abandon the principles of selection.
There is no need for him to throw it away. With the results of "The Richest Man in Xihong City", I can't say whether it will win or not, but it will be no problem to get a few nominations.
The main reason why Chu Qin called Zuo Le in person was to confirm whether Zuo Le would accept the Golden Dragon Award's overtures.
Otherwise, if his side announced the nomination for "The Richest Man in Xihong City", Zuo Le would not show off his face and publicly announced his withdrawal from the selection again, and the Golden Dragon Award would really be stepped on.
In this conversation, Chu Qin, an old fox, spoke in a garbled way, mainly because he was afraid of being recorded or something and leaving clues.
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After all, the chairman of the Golden Dragon Awards privately contacted the film crew who was expected to participate in the election, and his words were all good intentions. If word got out, he would have resigned on the spot.
Fortunately, Zuo Le is no longer the newbie who listened carefully to the leader's speech for a long time before figuring out some skills. Chu Qin's words were vague, but he understood them.
Without hesitation, he replied.
As long as the selection of the Golden Dragon Award is fair and just, Shanhe and he have no reason to refuse the honor.
Chu and Qin were overjoyed, and Zuo Le also had high morale.
Of course he has to participate in the Golden Dragon Awards. He made two movies at once last year. Doesn't he just want to compete for the Golden Dragon Awards? After watching "Xihong City Explosion", he would be a fool not to go.
Shortly after the call ended, the Golden Dragon Award Selection Committee announced the shortlist of nominees for this year's Golden Dragon Award.
"The Richest Man in Xihong City" lived up to expectations and received many nominations, most of which were heavyweight awards.
[Best Newcomer]: Jiang Chao (Zhuang Qiang)
[Best Supporting Actor]: Zuo Le (Coach)
[Best Actor]: Shen Teng (Wang Duoyu)
[Best Director]: Zuo Le
[Best New Director]: Zuo Le
【Best Film】
【Best Film Music】
There are seven awards in total, and the most eye-catching one is not Shen Teng who participated in the Best Actor competition, but Zuo Le.
He was actually shortlisted for three awards, and was also shortlisted for "Best Supporting Actor". Coupled with the shortlist released by the Golden Phoenix Awards not long ago, Zuo Le entered the competition for the emperor with "The Legend of Zhen Huan".
With a Golden Dragon Award [Best Supporting Actor] and a Golden Phoenix Award [Best Actor], this year can be called the breakout year for Zuo Le's acting career.
Even if he is only shortlisted in the end and does not win the award, with these two nominations, Zuo Le can legitimately be called a powerful veteran actor in the future.
In addition to being nominated for [Best Supporting Actor], another interesting thing is that Zuo Le was nominated for [Best Director] and [Best New Director] at the same time.
This is the first time in the history of the Golden Dragon Awards.
There are two awards, [Best Director] is easy to understand, and [Best New Director] is an award established after the beginning of the Golden Dragon Awards.
The main purpose is to inspire more new directors, and it is also a kind of support. Those new directors are unknown, have no money and no connections. Having an award as a foundation can help them invest more.
This award was not valuable at first, but later several award winners became prominent and it gradually became important.
Nowadays, this award has become one of the most valued honors for young directors. As long as you can win the award, you will immediately become a new director in the industry. A lot of investment will come to your door, and stars from all over the world will come to make friends.
If the follow-up works can be stable and establish a firm foothold, in the future, you will be able to eat and drink in the circle without worries, and even control the wind and rain.
Some young directors put all their money into making movies, just to take a gamble and knock on the door of the director's circle.
According to the Golden Dragon Award's entry rules for "Best New Director", this award can only be awarded to directors who are participating in the Golden Dragon Award for the first time.
And Zuo Le meets this condition exactly.
For a new director who is competing for the Golden Dragon Award for the first time, he would be very satisfied if he could be nominated for "Best New Director".
I simply don’t dare to think that the [Best Director] that countless famous directors are flocking to does not have the ability and qualifications.
But Zuo Le is different. "The Richest Man in Xihong City" is this year's annual box office champion. It has a good reputation and has a strong public influence.
No matter from all aspects, it is no exaggeration to win a [Best Director] nomination.
Another point is that although "The Richest Man in Xihong City" was a box office hit, it is a comedy movie after all. In terms of depth, it is still inferior to other movies.
For the [Best Director] award, Zuo Le is almost certain to be a runner-up, and even Zuo Le knows this.
The Golden Dragon Awards have been held for more than 50 years, but no comedy film has ever won the "Best Director" and "Best Picture", and only a handful of them have even been shortlisted.
"The Richest Man in Xihong City" can be shortlisted for these two awards as a comedy film, which is actually a great affirmation.
However, Zuo Le was mentally prepared because he was prepared. Chu Qin wanted to make peace with him, so no matter what, he had to give him a "consolation prize".
It happened that Zuo Le met the requirements for "Best New Director", so Chu Qin arranged for him.
With the results of "The Richest Man in Xihong City" and Zuo Le's own ability, competing with a group of new directors is like an adult beating a child, with a sure win and no loss.
Chu Qin may have good intentions, but Zuo Le was a little embarrassed.
This [Best New Director] award is a step into the sky for some new directors, but for Zuo Le, who has already achieved fame, apart from collecting another stamp, the actual effect is equivalent to nothing.
This makes Zuo Le always feel like he is stealing opportunities from the younger generation and bullying the newcomers.
But regardless of whether he is being pretentious or not, the list of Golden Dragon Awards has been announced, and Zuo Le cannot turn him away. Moreover, according to the selection rules, he won this award justly.
After all, he is indeed the "newcomer" participating in the Golden Dragon Award for the first time...
In addition to "The Richest Man in Xihong City", Zuo Le's other film "Dumpling Detective" also received three nominations.
[Best Supporting Actor] Sha Yi (Bao Baobao)
【Best Newcomer】Duan Long (Along)
【Best Action Director】Wu Jing
It is particularly worth mentioning that Wu Jing is the only Golden Dragon Award winner among Shanhe films.
He won the "Best Action Director" once for the movie "Wulin Gaiden" and is the "old-timer" of Zuo Le and others.
When the "Wulin Gaiden" movie first competed, Wu Jing was the only one, and "Charlotte" was a complete fallout and did not participate in the award.
After several years, Shanhe Film competes for the Golden Dragon Award for the third time.
Two movies, ten nominations!
Among the major film and television companies participating in the Golden Dragon Award this year, Zuo Le is the best unit, and it can be said that Zuo Le is proud of himself at the Golden Dragon Award...
