Beijing, Ning Jiaqi's home.
When Xiao He and his group visited, they discovered that Director Zhuang Hongyi was also there.
Upon seeing Xiao He, Ning Jiaqi, who was chatting with Zhuang Hongyi, stopped talking and gestured for Xiao He to sit down with a smile.
"I'm just going to take a stroll around Beijing this time. Don't worry about the awards; what's meant to come will come."
Ning Jiaqi tapped the coffee table, crossed his legs, and suddenly felt a rare sense of ease and composure, as if he were back in his home base, no longer experiencing the anxiety and confusion he felt abroad.
Xiao He knew that Ning Jiaqi was prestigious in Beijing and that he couldn't possibly have no connection with the judging panel, so he smiled and said, "This time it's all thanks to the joint efforts of everyone in the crew. I hope everyone can get a satisfactory result."
Liu Rulan also said with a smile: "No Bait is an excellent work, and we believe that solid strength will definitely enable it to achieve corresponding results."
Both sides spoke eloquently, but their true intentions were already clear to each other.
After Xiao He and the others took their leave, Zhuang Hongyi turned his attention back to his teacher and said, "Xiao He is indeed a worthwhile investment. It was a wise move for you to give him a final boost."
As is well known, most awards require a degree of impartiality.
For example, the Best Actor and Best Actress awards are usually not given to actors from the same production, and the Best Screenplay and Best Director awards are usually given to different productions.
Although there may be some tilting at times, it's generally not a wasted trip.
In terms of story content, "No Bait" is indeed not suitable for winning Best Picture and Best Screenplay, and the female lead is only making a cameo appearance, so she has no competitiveness. Therefore, the most suitable major awards to win are Best Director and Best Actor.
This time, Ning Jiaqi asked the judges to give full support to Xiao He for Best Actor, instead of competing for his own Best Director award, which is enough to show his attitude.
The reason "No Bait" was nominated this time is to help Xiao He win an award!
Xiao He deserved it too!
Faced with Zhuang Hongyi's words, Ning Jiaqi remained noncommittal. Instead, he picked up the cup on the table and said calmly, "Things are different now than before. The fact that 'No Bait' was able to pass the review is enough to show that those people at the [N O V E L I G H T] top have wavered. Liu Rulan spent a lot of time and energy in Beijing recently. Maybe they could still get the award without our hint."
Now that he could easily gain an extra favor, he naturally wouldn't refuse.
And it's quite obvious that Xiao He's side is also a smart one.
Zhuang Hongyi felt a little regretful for his teacher: "But Xiao He is still young, he will always have opportunities."
When Ning Jiaqi said he was going to retire, he really meant it. "No Bait" was basically his last work.
If he could end his directing career with an award, wouldn't that be a perfect ending?
Ning Jiaqi just smiled and said, "I've already won awards in Cannes, so I don't care about these domestic awards now."
He already has box office success and awards; he doesn't need to compete with younger people for opportunities.
"You'd better come up with your good script sooner rather than later and get people involved," Ning Jiaqi said earnestly.
To be honest, Zhuang Hongyi and Xiao He have only collaborated twice, namely the first and second seasons of "The Phantom Thieves", and both times they were just guest appearances. To this day, Xiao He has never played an important role under Zhuang Hongyi.
Even "The Corner" was mainly funded by investors, with Yan Shaohan as the main director.
So, logically speaking, Zhuang Hongyi was the one who first discovered Xiao He and watched Xiao He grow through each of his works. Now, Xiao He is almost a movie star, but Zhuang Hongyi and Xiao He have never had a proper collaboration.
“I want to wait and see,” Zhuang Hongyi said. “Besides, the ‘Phantom Thieves’ series has great potential, and my main focus is still on that.”
As long as "The Phantom Thieves" continues to be filmed, Xiao He's relationship with them can continue indefinitely.
Ning Jiaqi shook his head: "Judging from your expression, I'm afraid you want to go out and film?"
Zhuang Hongyi is not the type to dawdle. If he had his eye on Xiao He long ago, he shouldn't have remained silent for so long.
Unless Zhuang Hongyi also wants to shoot something "weird".
Sure enough, Zhuang Hongyi sighed: "Although 'No Bait' has been successfully released, there are still many scripts that cannot be filmed under the current policy situation, so I plan to cooperate with Hong Kong."
"You mean 'Mang'?"
Upon hearing that the filming was to be shot in Hong Kong, Ning Jiaqi could pretty much guess which script Zhuang Hongyi wanted to shoot, and he immediately felt a bit disappointed in him, "You have so many scripts, why are you only focusing on shooting those things by Xiao He?"
As renowned directors, they naturally have a large number of scripts in their hands, but there are also a few rather special ones.
For example, the script for "Long" was written by Zhuang Hongyi three years ago because something triggered him, so he secluded himself for a few months and figured it out on his own. However, because the subject matter was sensitive and the general environment was not suitable, he ultimately chose to shelve it and did not plan to film it.
As Zhuang Hongyi's teacher, Ning Jiaqi had naturally read the script. Although it wasn't particularly amazing, the subject matter was quite rare in China nowadays. However, the neighboring country was eager to try and filmed (steal) it with great success.
“I do have good suspense films, of course, but I don’t think Liu Rulan is the kind of agent who would keep Xiao He stuck in a certain role or field.”
Zhuang Hongyi analyzed, then shook his head: "Although I don't understand why they prefer villainous characters when choosing scripts, these characters are still different overall."
They are all villains, and all are outstanding, but each is different.
Given Xiao He's current achievements, there aren't many scripts left that can move him and Liu Rulan.
Zhuang Hongyi believes that "Mang" is one of them!
Ning Jiaqi shook his head, seemingly with a hint of sigh and melancholy: "Difficult, difficult, difficult."
It's unclear whether he meant it was difficult for Xiao He and his team to accept the script, or that the script for "Long" was difficult to pass censorship, or perhaps both.
In any case, Ning Jiaqi was not optimistic about this matter.
"You should just keep making your film series and stop ruining other young people's lives."
Ning Jiaqi waved his hand, trying to drive Zhuang Hongyi away.
Zhuang Hongyi stood up helplessly: "Teacher, I really like this script. It also promotes traditional culture. Since you're retired and have nothing to do, you have to help me put in a good word for this!"
Ning Jiaqi didn't even lift his eyelids, and sneered: "You think feudal superstition is some kind of cultural elevation? I don't have that much to complain about, get out of here—"
When the script for "No Bait" was first published, they were just a step too late; they didn't get it approved and filmed before the political climate changed.
As it turns out, Zhuang Hongyi is quite something. He just had to create a script that is absolutely not allowed to be filmed now, right when things were at their most sensitive time. Isn't he just asking for trouble?
Why should I ask him to help me move around?
What, are you suggesting we let him throw a tantrum in front of the relevant authorities?
