The Best Director

Chapter 211: After the Oscars

“`”Welcome to the 75th Academy Awards,” at precisely 9:30 PM, CCTV6’s movie channel began broadcasting “Oscar Night,” providing a live feed with full Chinese dubbing. Amidst fervent applause, Steve Martin, dressed in a black suit, stepped onto the stage, greeting the audience with his opening monologue. The voice-over artist, maintaining a calm tone, said, “I’m pleased to see the organizers have lowered the standards for this awards ceremony, even cancelling the traditional red carpet. Just so you all know, I’ve been asked to pass on this message.”…

Much of the lengthy opening speech, which contained several “unsuitable for broadcast” elements, was omitted; coupled with the complex nature of the live information and the fact that the dubbing actor wasn’t a film industry professional, the dubbing was rather poor. Audience members unfamiliar with the double entendres failed to grasp why Steve Martin’s carefully prepared jokes were amusing, resulting in scattered, somewhat perplexing laughter from below the stage.

However, most of the audience was there to see Zhang Yimou, Wang Yang, and the splendid beauty of the event itself.

“Wang Yang is here too; I thought he’d gone traveling again. He dodged me last time,” the dubbing actor translated, as the camera suddenly showed Wang Yang’s smiling face among the audience. Then, those at home who hadn’t heard of the amazing Yang began to wonder, “Eh, who’s this?” “Wang Yang? Is that the Chinese director?” “And who’s that woman sitting beside him? She’s so beautiful!”…

Throughout the award ceremony, the cameras frequently focused on Wang Yang, particularly whenever “District 9” was vying for an award, increasingly piquing the interest of those who didn’t recognize him.

“Wang Yang, ‘District 9’,” the dubbing actor followed as Harrison Ford called out the name, amongst screams and applause, Wang Yang on screen appeared startled, then kissed the excited beauty next to him, hugged the people around him, and proceeded to the stage. Those who recognized him among the fans laughed happily, finally seeing how the amazing Yang received his award! For those unfamiliar, for first-time Oscar viewers, they were stunned—Best Director awarded to this young Chinese man!? He looks like a college student!

“No offense, but why didn’t a lady present me with the award?” Wang Yang said, holding his trophy amid growing laughter and applause below the stage, and the dubbing actor promptly translated, “Everyone seems to be in a rush tonight, even though everyone here is busy…” Listening to the boisterous laughter, many viewers who hadn’t seen the original text and translations online were puzzled, what were these people laughing at?

Although CCTV6’s broadcast didn’t fully convey Wang Yang’s humor, devoted fans and casual viewers alike, including those just following the hype, became aware of a very handsome, young Chinese Best Director. Of course, it wasn’t just due to “Oscar Night,” but also because of the overwhelming news coverage—online, in newspapers, and across central and local television channels…

Add to that Yao Ming, who generated a wave of China’s youth falling in love with basketball and the NBA, and suddenly Hollywood didn’t seem so distant; under these influences, the reputation of the magnificent Yang rocketed almost to its zenith.

Not to mention the well-established film and entertainment industries in Hong Kong and Taiwan, where fans cheered and screamed in excitement. Channels like TVB and ATV conducted special programmatic reports, filling television screens with images and profiles of Wang Yang.

A female narrator presented, “Speaking of his name, Yang once shared a story about it. His mother believed ‘young represents vitality and beauty,’ choosing YOUNG because it stood out so prominently; whereas his initial Chinese name was Qing Yang, derived from ‘graceful and mild’ in the ‘Book of Songs.’ He said that since his father only had a superficial understanding of Chinese culture, he changed it after being reminded that it was a description typically used for females.”“`

As a child, Wang Yang was very mischievous, often giving his parents headaches because of his fighting…” On the TVB channel, they inserted another clip of Wang Yang’s airport frenzy from his visit to Hong Kong last year, where he said with a smile, “Thank you so much for your support, I’m very happy to be here! I love Hong Kong, bye-bye!” Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Eastern Television was also covering the news, “Wang Yang has directed 6 movies, which grossed over 2.8 billion US Dollars worldwide, and he’s won 1 Oscar for Best Director…”

In Asia, including Japan and Korea, as well as Europe, while focusing on the Iraq War, they were also reporting on the 75th Oscars results, featuring the youngest winner of the Best Director, Wang Yang.

In America, the ABC channel’s broadcast that lasted over three and a half hours had a household viewership rating of 20.4%, inevitably setting the lowest record since the first televised Oscars in 1953, even lower than the lowest point of last year’s slot. With 106.7 million television-owning households in America, this translated to an average on-site viewership of 33.05 million people, also the lowest since the average viewership numbers began being recorded in 1974.

However, Wang Yang was far from neglected; he had already received many, many interview requests from media magazines the next day, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Movie Weekly, Variety… several of which were invitations to be cover stories. There were also many website interview requests, and some film studios couldn’t wait to send him film proposals. Even though they knew he preferred to “self-shoot” and wanted full funding, it was always good to try his luck.

When it was learned that he was interested in making a spaceship-type science fiction film, Paramount got in touch with him, wanting to give him full control of the 11th Star Trek movie. If he liked filming the USS Enterprise, it would be the USS Enterprise, the Original Series, or even a new prequel!

Wang Yang naturally declined repeatedly, saying “No, thank you.” He didn’t hate the Star Trek story; he just wasn’t interested in its very clean and streamlined style at the moment. Its sci-fi worldview and spaceship style were not changeable.

In the days following the Oscars, he felt constantly bombarded by interviews, surrounded by all sorts of questions, as if everyone was talking about him… After completing an interview with a Los Angeles media outlet, he agreed to do a phone interview with Phoenix Satellite Television from China. Then, to allow his internet fans to see it too, he gladly accepted an exclusive interview with .

“Yang, when will you officially come to China?” the female journalist on the phone asked, with “officially” probably meaning appearing in the media and arranging fan meet-and-greets. Sitting at his computer desk in the study, Wang Yang thought for a moment and replied with a smile, “I think the opportunity will come soon. You know ‘MIT-21-TEAM’ will be released this summer. Yes, I’ll be coming to China with the cast members to meet everyone, and I’m very grateful for the support of Chinese fans.”

The conversation then moved to the issue of the highly anticipated new sci-fi work. Wang Yang pressed his forehead and said helplessly into the phone, “I don’t know. Everyone wants me to say ‘the second sci-fi movie will be released this summer,’ but that’s not possible. You will see! But I need some time, please.”

Fans in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan felt it was expected when Wang Yang revealed in his Sina interview plans to promote ‘MIT-21-TEAM’ in China, since a film by a Chinese director with a Chinese leading actor telling the legendary story of a Chinese gambling master wouldn’t ignore the Asian market. But fans were still very excited, and they discussed excitedly online, “Will Natalie Portman come? I heard she can speak Mandarin!” “This time I must see the amazing Yang!”…

As days went by, there was less and less follow-up coverage about this year’s Oscars in the news section of the newspapers. The calendar moved into April; the Iraq War once again dominated almost all the pages, along with the NCAA National Championship, NBA events, etc. This grand event of the film industry officially concluded amid praises, criticisms, and controversies.

April 1st is April Fool’s Day, and amid the shadow of war, there were far fewer people making jokes. On his blog, Wang Yang wrote a post titled “I’m going to star as the male lead in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’!” as an April Fools’ Day joke, citing reasons such as “Good-looking as Wang Yang!” “Acting skills as strong as Tom Hanks!” “Jessica’s boyfriend!” “Won the Oscar for Best Actor!” and so on, ending with “Happy April Fool’s Day.”

“Yang, I’m pregnant.” When Wang Yang saw the calm look and tightly pressed lips of Jessica, he was really startled. Pregnant?! Then Jessica said, “It must have been that night at the Oscars.” As soon as Wang Yang heard this, he knew she was making an April Fools’ joke. Although that night was a bit wild, finding out about a pregnancy in less than ten days? Sure enough, she couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Even if it’s April Fools’, you shouldn’t joke about things like this! I’ve lost another Juno!” “Haha, I thought it would be quite funny. Oh help, someone’s hitting me!” …

However, the joy of the day did not last until the end. In the evening, Wang Yang suddenly heard some shocking news. His first reaction was, “Is this an April Fools’ joke?” But it wasn’t. The Chinese superstar Leslie Cheung had committed suicide by jumping from a building. Wang Yang felt very sad and full of regret. Leslie Cheung was a Hong Kong artist he greatly admired and liked. Movies like “A Better Tomorrow” and “Ashes of Time” had been performed exceptionally well, and his songs were also very good, yet he had departed from this world just like that.

That night, Wang Yang listened quietly to many songs by Leslie Cheung, feeling extremely saddened and mournful, but he could only accept this fact. The next day, he continued with his busy work and life, and recently he had been busy with preparations for “The Devil Wears Prada.” However, this time he did not take on many tasks, just the script and direction. Most of the production work was handled by others, starting right after acquiring the adaptation rights.

“Magic Yang, I’ve been thinking these past few days. This character is very attractive, and the script’s dialogue is brilliant…” Meryl Streep received an official invitation from “The Devil Wears Prada” crew a few days ago, along with a complete script and character script for Miranda. She was quite satisfied with them. It was Andrea’s transformation and growth, the gradual revelation of Miranda, culminating in an explosive climax for both characters at the story’s end.

In terms of theme about life choices and human nature, it was quite profound. This was not an ordinary commercial film; it had the potential to be a good movie, and the person directing it had just won the Oscar for Best Director. So after much thought, Meryl Streep couldn’t find any reason to refuse. She was extremely interested, a great script, a magical director… and she also had absolute confidence—if the film ended up with negative reviews, the problem would not lie with her.

“I’ve accepted the invitation.” Hearing Meryl Streep’s serious voice on the phone, Wang Yang couldn’t help but exclaim, “Wow!” He walked back and forth in the living room with the phone, Danny following happily beside him. He laughed and said, “This is so exciting! You know, when I was a kid, I watched you act, and now I can’t believe we’ll be making a movie together!”

“Hehe, young man, are you saying that I’m old?” Meryl Streep chuckled softly, to which Wang Yang immediately laughed, “No, no, no, not at all.” Meryl Streep then said, “But I have a condition, we start shooting after this war is over; I also know you work fast with filming, but I have a rule.” She said with a laugh, “I won’t leave home for more than two weeks. If we’re going to shoot on location, I want a good schedule.”

“Certainly! Of course, no problem!” Wang Yang agreed without a second thought because indeed there were no issues. The film had scenes in many fashionable cities like Paris, Milan, and New York. However… Wang Yang said into the receiver with a smile, “Apart from New York, I plan to create all those outdoor scenes using green screens, but you know, they’ll look just like real.”

For those scenes that basically just pass through the streets or sweep by iconic buildings, green screens can save time, effort, and money, and the effects are just as good. Those outdoor scenes merely serve as atmospheric interludes rather than requiring genuine travel; and most of the primary scenes are indoors anyway.

“As for the war…” Wang Yang paused and thought for a moment. He naturally understood that the “end” Meryl referred to did not include the aftermath, but the time when it’s no longer broadcast on TV. He said, “I think the war will be over this month, and we can start shooting in May.” Although the Allied forces are having a tough time right now, with increased troops and changed strategies, Iraq wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer because they are just too far behind.

They’ve lost air superiority and there’s even less to say about electronic warfare. Once a general attack begins, Baghdad, without power, water, or communications, will be as helpless as a blind and deaf person being attacked. So as long as the Allied forces complete their tasks of dividing and encircling, the active battle phase of the war will be over.

“Then I have no problems.” Meryl Streep’s voice was cheerful as she spoke, Wang Yang said with a laugh, “Good, I hope we can have a pleasant collaboration.” Of course, the remaining issues on fees and conditions were left to the producer and agent to discuss in detail.

“The Devil Wears Prada” was scheduled to start shooting in early May. Apart from waiting for the Iraq war to end, this was also because the crew needed some more time to complete preparations. The most important tasks were finalizing the cast, and the team had to work on set design and prop details, among other things. The crew members were mostly Wang Yang’s regular team, though this did not include several fashion consultants.

Wang Yang did not plan to meddle in these preparatory tasks; he had already delegated the production duties. Also, the film did not contain any supernatural elements—if there was any dissatisfaction with the office and other set arrangements, fine adjustments could be made during filming. This time, his role was more like that of a pure director. He only concerned himself with the selection of a few main cast members, leaving the rest to the casting team.

This April, Wang Yang planned to devote his time entirely to editing “MIT-21-TEAM” with Margaret Goodspeed and to finish the theatrical version of the film. Then, come May, he would be able to focus on shooting “The Devil Wears Prada,” with “MIT-21-TEAM” having ample time for post-production work such as soundtrack and color grading.

After confirming Meryl Streep’s participation, Flame Film announced the news: Meryl would play the lead role of the “devil boss,” Miranda! In the intensifying tension of the war, this news wasn’t too eye-catching, but it still attracted attention from the movie and entertainment media and the fans. The public and media comments were almost unanimous.

Yahoo Entertainment, which was “destined to be surpassed and defeated by Google,” commented, “If Magic Yang can’t bring Meryl Streep her 14th Oscar nomination, her 11th Best Actress nomination, it would be a colossal failure.”

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PS: It’s the last day, let us hold onto the top 50 monthly ticket results! We started at 30, but now Wally only hopes for the top 50, we’ve also worked hard for a month! Many authors say “I really can’t stand it, I just can’t!” But does Wally really feel resigned? Thank you, everyone. (To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please visit . More chapters are available, support the author, support genuine reading!)