Chapter 153 [Nominated for the Hong Kong Film Awards, invested in Li An’s film]

Xu Suo on the other end of the phone suddenly remembered something and said, “By the way, Director Li, this year’s Academy Awards will be held on April 4th. I have already contacted Ali and she has agreed to come and participate. She has also asked someone to contact Yu Chenghui for guidance.”

“What awards are we shortlisted for now?”

Li Yishu learned about this from Xu Suo when she returned to China in early March, but the shortlist had not been announced yet.

Xu Suo said: “There are six nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Newcomer, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Action Director.”

At this point, she paused and said, “Director Li, don’t worry. Everything has been arranged for the Academy Awards.”

For a martial arts film, these six awards are reasonable, not to mention that they have already been arranged, which means that it will definitely win an award this time.

Li Yishu naturally doesn’t mind winning some trophies. The current Academy Awards have not yet become the private domain of the Hong Kong entertainment industry, and they still have some value.

He also responded, “Okay, I’ll try to make arrangements in the next few days and go to Hong Kong.”

“Then I will wait for Director Li to return to Hong Kong.”

After chatting for a few more sentences, Li Yishu hung up the phone and continued to participate in post-production. At present, the editing and music soundtrack have been completed, and the only thing left is the final recording of special effects and dubbing synthesis.

There aren’t many special effects in “The Sixth Sense,” and they are mainly reflected in the ghosts that the little boy can see. It took about half a month to complete.

The dubbing synthesis is also relatively simple, and the final film will probably be completed before the beginning of May, at which time it can be copied on a large scale.

“Jingle Bell–“

Just then, Li Yishu’s cell phone rang. He picked it up and saw that it was an unfamiliar number.

After the call was connected, he hesitated and said, “Hello?”

“Excuse me, is this Director Lee Ye-seo?”

There was a voice in Mandarin coming from the other end of the line.

“Yes, it’s me, who are you?”

“Hello Director Li, I am Director Li An from Baodao.”

Li An?

Li Yishu was confused. He didn’t remember contacting the other party. However, when the other party called him, he smiled and said, “It turns out to be Director Li An. Hello.”

Li An apologized, “I’m so sorry, Director Li. I got your contact information from Director Lai Shengchuan, and I also know that you are in Los Angeles. I happen to be here too. Is there any chance I can invite you out for a cup of coffee?”

“No problem. How about the Columbia Pictures area? I have some work to do, so I’m afraid it won’t be convenient.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m nearby. How about noon?”

“can.”

Two hours later at noon.

Inside a restaurant near Columbia Pictures.

Li Yishu met Li An.

The two exchanged pleasantries and after sitting down, Li Yishu smiled and said:
“Congratulations, Director Li An. Although I haven’t seen your film The Wedding Banquet, it must be a very good film to have won the Berlin Golden Bear Award. I will definitely go to see it when it is released.”

“Thank you!”

Li An smiled, and was obviously in a very happy mood. This movie pushed him onto the international stage. “If Director Li wants to watch it, I have a copy. I’ll have someone send it to you later.”

“That’s not necessary. It would be better to go to the cinema when it’s released.”

Li Yishu found a reason to decline.

Those who have seen it should know that “The Wedding Banquet” is a homosexual-themed film, similar to “Brokeback Mountain”, except that one of the male protagonists is Chinese.

The plot is also very simple. The male protagonist who works in the United States lives happily with his foreign boyfriend. Under the pressure of his parents to get married, he is forced to find a mainland female illegal immigrant for a fake marriage, which led to “The Wedding Banquet”.

He has seen the movie and he thinks it is one of the few good films made by Li An.

“Director Li, I heard that your previous film Farewell My Concubine will be participating in this year’s Cannes Film Festival?”

“Yes, I have been shortlisted.”

“Really? That’s great. Congratulations, Director Li. I’ve been busy with the release of my movie, and I haven’t paid much attention to the Cannes Film Festival…”

The two chatted while drinking coffee.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Li An hesitated and said, “Director Li… I heard that you were recently shooting a movie for Columbia Pictures?” “Yes. When I went to Japan to shoot a Canon commercial last year, Columbia Pictures President Hisao Morishima had been inviting me to come to Hollywood to shoot a movie, but I just kept putting it off until recently.”

“I wonder if the filming is finished?”

“It has been filmed and is in post-production.”

Li Yishu said this while looking at Li An’s conflicted expression.

He probably understood the other party’s intention, probably hoping to use him to get in touch with Columbia Pictures and see if they could make a movie in Hollywood.

Even though he guessed it, Li Yishu wouldn’t be so foolish as to bring it up. If the other party didn’t say it himself, there was no need for him to pretend to be a good guy.

After chatting for a while, perhaps because it was getting late and Li Yishu might leave if he didn’t get back to the topic, Li An hesitated and said, “Director Li, I came to you this time because I want to ask you for help with something.”

“Don’t know what it is?”

Li Yishu pretended to laugh cheerfully and said, “We are all family. In this foreign country, I will never refuse to help you.”

“It’s like this. A few years ago, I wrote a script based on the British female writer Jane Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility. I have always wanted to make it into a movie. Some time ago, I visited major Hollywood film companies, but it seems that no one is very optimistic about this script, so I hope Director Li can help…”

As Li An spoke, his troubled state of mind gradually eased.

The reason why he came directly to Li Yishu this time was that after Li An won the Berlin Golden Bear Award, he came to the United States and promoted his script to major film companies with great confidence. However, he was still too naive.

Because Li An found that the Golden Bear Award was not popular in Hollywood, he happened to learn from a Hollywood friend that Columbia Pictures had recently invited a Chinese director to make a movie.

It’s all over Hollywood.

This also surprised Li An. He didn’t expect that there would be a Chinese director who could come to Hollywood to make a movie. After asking someone, he found out that it was Li Yishu, who became famous in North America last year with “Sword Rain” and Canon’s commercials.

After much thought, Li An didn’t want to go back in disgrace, so he used his connections in Taiwan to get Li Yishu’s contact information from Lai Shengchuan, trying to see if he could get his support.

Sense and Sensibility
Li Yishu didn’t expect that it would be this movie. It seems that before Li An filmed this movie, the script had been shelved for many years, and it was finally successfully filmed in 1995.

This film also won Li An his second Golden Bear Award.

Coincidentally, the investor happened to be Columbia Pictures.

Li Yishu pondered for a moment and said, “Director Li An, logically speaking, we all have the last name Li, and we might have been a family five hundred years ago. I will definitely help you, but…”

“Just what?” Li An asked anxiously.

“To be honest, there has been a power struggle among the top brass at Columbia Pictures recently. President Hisao Morishima, who supports me, is not doing well recently. If my movie is successful, that won’t be a problem, but…”

Li Yishu didn’t say it explicitly, but Li An could understand what she meant. The Japanese president who supported Li Yishu was probably going to step down, and now everyone depended on whether Li Yishu’s movie could be a success.

If it succeeds, everything will be fine. If it fails, not only will Hisao Morishima have to step down, but Lee Yi-su’s directing career in Hollywood will also come to an end. For Li An, who is also a Chinese, it will be basically impossible for him to get investment.

Before Li Yishu, there had never been a Chinese director in North America, so he became the first.

The success proves that movies made by Chinese directors have a market in North America and around the world.

vice versa.

Originally in history, the first Chinese director to venture into Hollywood should have been Wu Yusen, who came here in mid-year.

Wu Yusen was quite successful in his first ten years in Hollywood. He became famous with “Face/Off” and “Mission Impossible 2”.

But perhaps the ten-year agreement had expired, as the 2002 film “Windtalkers” directly killed MGM Studios, thus ending Wu Yusen’s film career in Hollywood.

In fact, it was simply a loss, and Wu Yusen still had a chance to make a comeback. At worst, he could start with a small production, but MGM Pictures went bankrupt and liquidated because of this movie~~
Americans are not superstitious, they believe in science.

Wu Yusen’s movie ruined the century-old MGM, causing no one to dare to use him again. This is very scientific.

“I understand. I took it for granted, Director Li.”

Li An nodded. He understood why Hollywood didn’t pay much attention to it, because Chinese directors have not yet demonstrated their ability at the box office.

This is not a question of the director’s ability, it’s purely the nature of the film. It’s like letting Americans make movies about China, and most of them end up being flops.

The gimmicky “The Forbidden Kingdom” is actually a movie about a pile of shit.

This is a cultural difference.

“In fact, if we are just looking for investment, our art film company can try to invest in your film.”

(End of this chapter)