Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 197 The True Meaning of Aiming for the Olympics

Wu Yuchen could hear the strong confidence, even arrogance, in Miles's voice.

However, Wu Yuchen didn't refute anything. To be honest, the current Hollywood Big Seven do have a significant advantage over other companies. If they hadn't ruined their own careers, they could have lived comfortably just by relying on their connections. They dare to cheat and deceive even outsiders, including those on Wall Street. They suppress rising stars like DreamWorks and engage in infighting when things are going well.

However, it's impossible to avoid self-destruction. The film industry is inherently high-risk, and many high-ranking executives use their power to enrich themselves, sometimes becoming extremely reckless and prone to gambling. MGM will likely continue to accumulate debt in the future, ultimately destroying itself.

Wu Yuchen wasn't interested in going up against the Big Seven. If even a local giant like Spielberg's DreamWorks couldn't do it, he'd only do something out of sheer boredom. Overthrowing the reigning monarchy was something only a hot-blooded 18-year-old would do; he was already 22! His priority was figuring out how to extract even greater profits from Hollywood.

Miles then warmly said to Wu Yuchen, "Wu, I believe you have also felt Disney's sincerity through this collaboration. I look forward to you establishing a long-term cooperative relationship with Disney!"

Wu Yuchen chuckled and shook his head: "Miles, I have no idea what to do about the next movie. I've been filming movies one after another for the past two years, and I want to take a break. Let's talk about it when I have some ideas for the next movie."

“Oh, of course! With your talent, you’ll always be a guest of honor at Disney!” Miles responded enthusiastically. Directors like Wu Yuchen, who have consistently generated huge profits, are highly sought after in Hollywood.

Wu Yuchen then asked, "Miles, could you have one of the professionals from Disney responsible for the Oscar bid come to me? I'd like to hear about the detailed plans."

"Wu, I admire your tireless pursuit of your career! Don't worry, I'll arrange for someone to come over right away!"

Seeing how much Wu Yuchen was interested in the Oscars, Miles was naturally happy to see it happen. Now, all the subsequent revenue from "The Sixth Sense" already belonged to Disney. If they could successfully compete for an Oscar, it would have a huge publicity effect and generate more profits for Disney.

Just an hour after Miles left, a middle-aged man dressed in casual clothes came to visit.

"Dear Director Wu, hello! I'm Richard. I'll be in charge of all matters related to 'The Sixth Sense's' Oscar bid."

Looking at the polite man in front of him, Wu Yuchen smiled and welcomed him in.

"Richard, this should be my first time competing for an Oscar. Could you please give me a detailed explanation of all the details?"

Although Wu Yuchen had some understanding of the Olympic aspirations based on his past life and experiences over the past few years, he was certainly not as knowledgeable as these professionals, so he wanted to get more information from them.

"Of course, that's why I'm here~"
Director Wu, as you probably know, the Oscars are decided by votes from the Academy of Arts and Sciences. To date, the Academy has 5371 members with voting rights, the most numerous being actors (1380), followed by producers (450) and feature film directors (354)...

Hearing Richard rattle off these detailed figures, one could immediately sense his professionalism.

Having 5371 eligible voters doesn't mean you'll receive 5371 valid votes. In reality, the Academy receives fewer votes each year. Some people forget to vote, some have simply stopped paying attention to the Oscars, and some haven't even seen the nominated films.

"You know, many of the judges are actually quite old, and with their limited energy, how could they possibly watch all the movies? For some, caring for their cats, dogs, and plants is more important than voting. And there are quite a few who vote blindly without even watching the movies," Richard said with a shrug and a smile.

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuchen smiled and said, "Doesn't that mean that luck is sometimes very important?"

"Of course, it's also possible that these people will be lucky enough to vote for a movie that wins an award."

Richard made a joke, then said seriously:
"Director Wu, our task is to get the judges' approval as much as possible, or even just make them remember our film's name. If they recognize your film when they vote, they're more likely to vote for it."

Wu Yuchen asked, "So that's why you need so-called public relations?"

Richard nodded: "Last year's 'Shakespeare in Love' saw Harvey Weinstein and his team visit many old men one by one, and it was through these impression votes that it won the Oscar. This has brought new requirements to our work. In the past, we only needed to follow the normal process to win awards. But since last year, these people have also become our key targets for public relations."

Richard then added, "Director Wu, our 'Sixth Sense' has an advantage right now, which is that your film is already very well-known and has a good reputation."

However, there's also a disadvantage: the film was released rather early. Films aiming for Oscars typically choose to be released in the last two months of the year to make a lasting impression on the judges. Time heals all wounds, and between two films of equal quality, the more recently released one will undoubtedly leave a stronger impression.

Therefore, we need to leverage the positive reputation of "The Sixth Sense" to further reinforce this impression on the judges.

Wu Yuchen said he understood, and then asked, "Is this what you call the normal procedure?"

"Yes, the four major weather vanes and the thirteen outposts."

The four major indicators refer to the Golden Globe Awards, the British Academy Film Awards, the Critics' Choice Awards, and the Guild Awards; while the thirteen outposts mainly refer to the thirteen film critic association awards, which are divided into the four major, four minor, and five major cities. New York, Los Angeles, National Board of Review, and National Association of Film Critics are the four major cities; Boston, Chicago, Toronto, and London are the four minor cities; and Las Vegas, Kansas City, Southeast, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Florida are the five major cities.

Winning these awards doesn't guarantee an Oscar, but these events involve frequent interactions among Academy judges and will influence most active members of the judging panel. Therefore, we should participate as much as possible. Of course, winning major awards at the three European film festivals will also boost a film's chances.

Everything we did, including public relations and attending social events, was to get as much approval as possible from the judges and ultimately win their votes.

After listening to Richard's explanation, Wu Yuchen gained a deeper understanding of the Olympic aspirations. However, this gave him a strong sense of déjà vu, and he rubbed his chin, asking:

“Richard, to be honest, I feel like winning the Oscars is similar to winning the US presidential election. It’s all about votes, conquering each stronghold one by one, and using every means to get people to vote for you.”

"Haha, Director Wu, congratulations on grasping the essence of winning the Olympics. In fact, it's the same as the general election!" Richard praised with a smile.

Wu Yuchen chatted with Richard for a while longer and was quite satisfied with his business skills. Then he asked, "Richard, do you usually take on Oscar-nominated films?" "Of course, but we don't take on just any film. At the very least, it has to have the potential to win an Oscar. For those trashy films, unless the money is really, really high, we can't guarantee anything about that." Richard indicated that anything is possible if the money is right.

Wu Yuchen smiled and nodded, then reached out and shook hands with Richard: "It's a pleasure to work with you next!"

“It would be my honor! Director Wu, I will tailor an Oscar-winning strategy for ‘The Sixth Sense.’ You need to tell me your schedule, down to the week, so that…”

“Wait a minute, Richard, I have an Oscar-nominated film I want to give you!” Wu Yuchen interrupted him with a smile.

"Hmm?" Richard looked puzzled. Wasn't he discussing his "Sixth Sense" with Wu Yuchen?

……

Miles was in a good mood. He had just secured the deal for "The Sixth Sense" that morning, which meant he had successfully completed the task assigned by the president. Now, with Disney's powerful distribution channels, they would be able to make a lot of profit from this movie.

Just then, there was a knock on the office door. When Miles saw that it was Richard, he couldn't help but smile and ask:

"Richard, how did your communication with Wu Yuchen go?"

Richard said with a slightly strange expression:

"Um, Mr. Miles, my communication with Director Wu went smoothly, and he was very willing to cooperate, but things seem to have taken a little unexpected turn..."

"An accident? What kind of accident?" Miles asked curiously.

"Director Wu has another film that he wants to compete for an Oscar, and he entrusted it to me."

"There's one more!"

Miles was also greatly surprised to hear this, and he immediately stood up and quickly asked:
"Richard, what movie is it? Are the distribution rights still available? Can we buy it?"

With "The Sixth Sense" already established, when Miles heard that Wu Yuchen had another movie, his first thought was to buy it, or at the very least, get the distribution rights. Since the other party had entrusted them with the task of winning awards, their chances of success were not small.

“Mr. Miles, this is a purely Chinese-language film, and its main award to be nominated is Best Foreign Language Film.”

Upon hearing Richard's explanation, Miles' enthusiasm immediately waned, and he sat back down in his chair. Oh, it was just a foreign film! He'd gotten all excited for nothing!

Foreign language films don't perform that well at the box office in the US. For example, "Life Is Beautiful," which won Best Foreign Language Film this year, only grossed $5756 million in North America. That's already the highest box office gross for a foreign language film ever, but it's far from the blockbuster success of "The Sixth Sense."

For a movie with such box office success, there's no need for him, a high-ranking official, to personally oversee it; let his subordinates worry about it.

However, Miles still smiled and said, "No problem. Since Wu Yuchen wants to compete for the Olympics, then do your best to help him. If he can win an award, it will also deepen our relationship!"

Miles would never refuse such a thing, especially since it was a profitable business deal, and Wu Yuchen would have to pay them public relations fees.

He also expressed his admiration for Wu Yuchen's talent and ambition, noting that he had two films vying for awards at the same Oscars. He wondered who had done this last time.

……

After settling the copyright issue for "The Sixth Sense," Wu Yuchen stayed in Los Angeles for a few more days. After discussing the subsequent plans for the Oscars with his public relations team, he boarded a plane directly to Venice.

That's right, it was Venice, because his film "Amour" had already been submitted to the Venice Film Festival. Actually, Richard originally suggested that Wu Yuchen participate in the Toronto International Film Festival, because compared to the Venice Film Festival, the North American Toronto International Film Festival has a greater influence on Oscar voters, and its timing conflicted with this year's Venice Film Festival.

However, after thinking it over, Wu Yuchen declined Richard's suggestion. After all, compared to the Toronto International Film Festival, Venice has a much greater influence in China, and if he could win an important award at Venice, it would also help his chances of winning the Oscars.

He and Richard had already finalized his plans for winning awards. After attending the Venice Film Festival, he would first return to China to have the film "Amour" screened domestically to qualify for the foreign language film competition. Then, starting in October, he would bring "Amour" and "The Sixth Sense" to North America to compete in the awards according to the so-called normal process, not participating in all of them, but participating in as many as possible.

To be honest, it's quite rare for him to have two films competing for awards all by himself, which amazed Richard.

Wu Yuchen came to the Venice Film Festival alone this time. The male and female leads of the film "Love," Ge Cunzhuang and Wang Danfeng, are both over seventy years old. It would be too much trouble for them to travel across the ocean again; there was no need for them.

As for Gong Li, if she were the lead actress, the "Empress Gong" would undoubtedly come along. However, she only plays a minor supporting role this time, so she felt embarrassed to walk the red carpet. Therefore, Wu Yuchen was the only significant member of the entire crew who attended.

Even though Wu Yuchen came alone, the organizers still treated him with great hospitality. After all, Wu Yuchen is now a world-renowned director, having won the Berlin Golden Bear and Best Director award, and also enjoys great commercial fame. His recent film, "The Sixth Sense," achieved phenomenal box office success in North America and has already made its mark in the global film industry, given that Hollywood is the world's film center.

Art films by a renowned director like Wu Yuchen are highly sought after by the three major film festivals, so his participation in the Venice Film Festival naturally delighted the organizers.

Wu Yuchen's arrival has also attracted many film companies. The name Wu Yuchen alone is now very appealing!

(End of this chapter)