Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 210 Was he kicked in the head by a donkey?

When the award was announced by Cheng Long, the entire audience burst into applause. This result was largely expected by most people.

The happiest people were undoubtedly the crew of "Love," and especially Wu Yuchen himself. After all, this was the first Oscar for a Chinese-language film! Chinese-language films have been vying for Oscars for decades, and this is a breakthrough!
This time, Wu Yuchen no longer suppressed his excitement and couldn't help but raise his arms and shout. Jennifer Connelly, who was beside him, reacted quickly and immediately gave him a hug, congratulating him repeatedly.

On the set of "Love," whether it was veteran actors Ge Cunzhuang and Wang Danfeng, supporting actors Gong Li and Huang Lei, or even the cinematographer and others, everyone was in a state of jubilation, hugging and high-fiving each other.

"Oscar! We won it, the Oscar!" Huang Lei shouted, shaking Wu Yuchen's arm and his face flushed.

"We got it! We got it!"

Wu Yuchen kept repeating that even though he had imagined it before, he still felt an indescribable sense of joy after actually winning the Oscar.

Wu Yuchen gave Ge Cunzhuang and Wang Danfeng a private hug each and whispered his thanks to them.

Then, amidst thunderous cheers and applause from the audience, Wu Yuchen strode confidently onto the stage. Upon seeing Wu Yuchen on stage, Cheng Long greeted him with a big hug.

"Director Wu, congratulations! You've truly brought honor to the Chinese people!" Jackie Chan warmly embraced Wu Yu-chen and offered his blessings.

Wu Yuchen happily said to Cheng Long, "Thank you so much, Brother Long, for bringing us good luck by presenting this award today!"

Jackie Chan laughed heartily, released Wu Yuchen, then personally took the Oscar statuette, wiped it clean a couple of times, and presented it to Wu Yuchen with both hands.

Wu Yuchen accepted the trophy with a smile, then walked behind the podium and said into the microphone:
"Wow, I'm so excited! This is my first Oscar, and it's also China's first Oscar. It has a special meaning for me and my country!"

After Wu Yuchen finished speaking, he kissed the little golden statue in his hand.

The Best Foreign Language Film award is a competition representing the country, so when everyone heard Wu Yuchen say this and saw his action, they all smiled knowingly.

"When you hold this trophy, you feel wonderful! It is the best reward and honor for my hard work in film over the past year."

Of course, this isn't solely my achievement; I want to thank many people. First and foremost are the film's lead actors, Mr. Ge Cunzhuang and Ms. Wang Danfeng. Without their brilliant performances, *Love* wouldn't have possessed such a powerful and moving impact. Thanks also to Gong Li, Huang Lei, the cinematographer, and many other members of the crew; without your participation and hard work, this film wouldn't exist!

I thank my parents, my alma mater Beijing Film Academy for nurturing me, and China Film Group and Shanghai Film Group for their help to our film crew!

Finally, thank you to the judges for their appreciation of "Love," and thank you to everyone who supported me!

Wu Yuchen's words were also broadcast live on television and reached all parts of the world.

Meanwhile, it wasn't just Wu Yuchen's "Love" crew who were excited.

This year's Oscars saw media teams from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong participating, thanks to the Chinese-language film "Love" and Wu Yuchen's multiple Oscar nominations. When "Love" won Best Foreign Language Film, reporters from all three regions showed no barriers, cheering in unison, with some even broadcasting live updates over the phone.

Nowadays, the internet is the fastest way to spread news. The three major portal websites set up a special text-based live broadcast section for this year's Oscars. The moment they received the news, they immediately put the news of "Amour" winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film on their front page and celebrated it in festive red font.

"Holy crap, this is huge! Wu Yuchen's 'Love' won an Oscar!"

"Go watch it online, China's first Oscar!"

"China won an Oscar! Awesome!"

"Quick, turn on your computer! Let's go see Wu Yuchen win an Oscar!"

It was morning in China, and Princess Six was playing Wu Yuchen's "My Sassy Girl" when suddenly a line of small text started scrolling below: "Warm congratulations to our country's film 'Love' for winning the 72nd Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film! Celebrating the birth of China's first Oscar!"

Although it was described as small print, it wasn't actually small; any larger and it would have obscured the subtitles. Moreover, the text was constantly scrolling, never stopping from the moment it appeared. The ratings for Princess 6 were already quite high, and with a popular movie like "My Sassy Girl" airing, naturally many people were watching. When everyone saw this text, they were all startled and forgot about the movie altogether.

Many people shouted loudly at home:

"Honey, Wu Yuchen's 'Love' won an Oscar! China has an Oscar now!"

"Mom and Dad, come quick! We won an Oscar!"

Not only the sixth princess, but even CCTV, which is usually known for its complicated procedures and slow response, suddenly interrupted its news broadcast at this time:
"Breaking news! Our director Wu Yuchen's film 'Love' has won Best Foreign Language Film at the 72nd Academy Awards! This is not only China's first Oscar, but also a breakthrough for Chinese-language films!"

As the broadcast was being broadcast, a picture was inserted in the background, which was none other than Wu Yuchen kissing the Oscar statuette.

While CCTV was only broadcasting verbal messages, television stations in Hong Kong and Taiwan directly edited together the awards ceremony segment from ABC and aired it on their news programs. Although the internet is fast, the percentage of internet users is still relatively small these days, but television is a different story!

Television is currently enjoying its golden age, boasting unparalleled efficiency and reach. The news instantly captivated Chinese communities across mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, as the Oscars are considered incredibly prestigious these days!

In an instant, many people flocked to the television, eager to watch more content. They were all discussing it enthusiastically, praising Wu Yuchen, and the atmosphere was filled with joy.

Chen Kaizi was currently in his study, a calligraphy brush in one hand, wielding it across rice paper. He wasn't unaware that the Oscars ceremony was in progress, but he chose not to watch. What did it matter to him what others were doing judging the awards?

Suddenly, a series of crackling sounds came from outside, causing Chen Kaizi's pen to tilt and fall, which made him feel irritated. Just as he opened the door, he saw his three-year-old son, Guoguo, jumping around and excitedly shouting:
"Oscar! Win! Oscar! Win! Oscar! Win!"

Chen Hong, who was heavily pregnant, quickly called out, "Guoguo, shut up!"

However, Chen Kaizi's expression had turned ugly at this moment. Even if he didn't want to face it, he had to accept the reality that he was about to lose his position as the number one director in China!
With a bang, Chen Kaizi locked himself in the study again. Chen Hong felt a headache coming on; she was already so pregnant, and she not only had to worry about her son, but also about Chen Kaizi.

Regardless of external reactions, the Oscars ceremony continued. It couldn't be stopped for Wu Yuchen and "Love." After more song and dance performances and several awards for original songs, the ceremony reached its climax.

The first award presented was for Best Actor, and as per the Screen Actors Guild's decision, Kevin Spacey won for his role in *American Beauty*. This was virtually uncontroversial, consistent with Spacey's sweeping performance in *Outpost*.

Wu Yuchen looked at Kevin Spacey on the stage. This guy's acting skills were indeed good, but Wu Yuchen would not cooperate with him. He would not even get involved with him. This guy later collapsed because he was exposed for having committed sexual assault for many years, and the victims were all of the same sex.

Next up was the Best Actress award, which differed from the guild award this time. It wasn't for "American Beauty," but for the actress in "Boys Don't Cry."

After winning Best Actor and Best Actress awards consecutively, a screenplay award, which carries some weight but isn't considered a major one, was introduced to ease the tension. Wu Yuchen didn't win Best Adapted Screenplay, as it went to "Always Sunny," but he was a direct nominee for Best Original Screenplay, with two nominations!

The award presenters who appeared at this climax were all quite prominent. The award for Best Original Screenplay was presented by Mel Gibson, a top Hollywood star and director.

On the big screen, Wu Yuchen occupied two of the five squares, which was very eye-catching.

The winner of the Best Original Screenplay award is...

Amidst the expectant gazes of the entire audience, Mel Gibson pulled out a slip of paper: "Wu Yuchen, *The Sixth Sense*!"

Upon hearing that he was the winner, Wu Yuchen felt a surge of joy. Although he had received two nominations, which increased his chances, he wasn't very confident about winning the award, so receiving it was indeed a pleasant surprise.

However, compared to the excitement of winning Best Foreign Language Film, Wu Yuchen was much calmer at this moment. He simply clenched his fist, hugged each member of the crew to accept their congratulations, and then got up and walked towards the stage.

"I have always believed that a good script is the beginning of a good movie, and its importance is self-evident."

Thank you to producer James, who did so much to bring my story to life as a film and was a wonderful partner! Thank you to Bruce Willis, Haley, and everyone else for their brilliant performances, and thank you to the entire crew for making this dream a reality!
This award means a lot to me; it will encourage me to create more great stories. Thank you!

Compared to previous acceptance speeches, Wu Yuchen's speech this time was much shorter, but the applause from the audience was still enthusiastic.

A male dormitory at a university was crammed with about 20 students. It was only the year 2000, and computers weren't cheap or common; on average, there was only one computer for every few dorm rooms.

At this moment, the group of about 20 people were surrounding a bulky desktop computer in layers, constantly urging it on:

"Have you come out yet? Why haven't we heard from you yet?"

"Click a few more times, refresh the page a few more times!"

"Is your computer any good? Why hasn't it changed at all?" "It's not my computer's fault, it's the slow internet speed!" The boy was surrounded by a group of people, secretly pleased, constantly operating the mouse and clicking refresh.

The next moment, a second piece of good news appeared on the Sina webpage in large red characters:

Congratulations to Wu Yuchen on winning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, China's second Oscar!

Someone with sharp eyes immediately exclaimed, "Holy crap, the second one! Wu Yuchen is awesome!"

Then, with a whoosh, everyone in the dormitory burst into enthusiastic cheers, and soon, as if it were contagious, the cheers spread throughout the entire dormitory building.

Not only Sina, but all the websites were paying attention to the progress of the Oscars, and for a time they were all flooded with the good news of Wu Yuchen's second Oscar.

The news spread much faster than the virus, reaching every household and Chinese communities around the world in no time, filling them with a festive atmosphere.

Meanwhile, at the Oscars ceremony, the event had reached its final climax, with the last two awards—Best Director and Best Picture—about to be won.

For many years, the Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture were essentially bundled together; these two awards were almost inseparable. If one film won Best Picture, the other would win Best Director. If you were the Best Director, your film was guaranteed to be the Best Picture.

However, last year, Harvey Weinstein emerged as a disruptor, allowing "Swing Girls" to snatch Best Picture from "Saving Private Ryan," breaking the precedent. Therefore, whether Best Director and Best Picture will be split again this year is one of the highlights of this year's awards ceremony.

Seeing Spielberg appear on stage, Wu Yuchen suddenly felt inexplicably nervous. According to Huang Lei's theory, having DreamWorks as the presenter wasn't a good omen for him!
Wu Yuchen then shook his head. Spielberg, as last year's Best Director winner, is a normal guest to present the award this year. It's a tradition and represents a passing down of the torch.

Spielberg came up and didn't waste any words: "Please look at the five candidate films."

The five films, "The Sixth Sense," "American Beauty," "There's Always a Sun," "Love," and "The Insider," were shown one by one on the big screen.

As soon as the broadcast ended, Spielberg couldn't wait to open the envelope, even he was curious about who the winner was.

……

The Vanity Fair party after the Oscars is a celebration venue for various Hollywood film crews. Everyone is much more relaxed than at the awards ceremony, with toasts and loud conversations everywhere.

At this time, Ge Cunzhuang and Wang Danfeng, two veteran actors in the "Love" crew, were not used to this kind of occasion and had already gone home early. The other young people stayed to celebrate. After winning China's first Oscar, wasn't it worth celebrating wildly?
Of course, this is also a very important social occasion, and Wu Yuchen, as a famous director, is naturally a person many people talk to and socialize with.

Wu Yuchen smiled and casually dealt with these people. After all, with his experiences over the past few months, such polite conversation had become second nature to him.

However, his mind was filled with questions. Were these judges really that fickle? What benefits had DreamWorks given them? Or was "Love's" lead originally very small, only to be reversed by "American Beauty"?
At that moment, Spielberg, the presenter from earlier, walked up to Wu Yuchen with a wine glass in hand, smiling and saying, "Wu, congratulations on winning Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay! You've definitely set a new record for the youngest winner of both awards!"

"Thank you!" Wu Yuchen gently clinked his glass against his.

Spielberg then added, "It's such a shame about the Best Director award."

Unlike his previous polite replies, Wu Yuchen said directly, "The winner takes all, there's nothing to regret. To be honest, more than words of comfort, I'd like to know how you all managed to do it?"

Spielberg shrugged: "Actually, we didn't do anything."

Seeing Wu Yuchen frown upon hearing this, Spielberg smiled and said, "I know your doubts. Would you like to find a place to talk? I can answer all your questions."

In the quiet room, the two sat facing each other.

Spielberg chuckled and asked, "Do you know who your four previous unlucky guys were?"

Without waiting for Wu Yuchen's reply, Spielberg answered his own question: "In 86, my film 'The Color Purple' won the Guild Award for Best Director and received 11 Oscar nominations, but ended up winning nothing."

The one before me was Francis Ford Coppola, whose "The Godfather" is hailed as one of the greatest films in the world. He is a recognized master director and also won the Guild Award, but surprisingly, he didn't win the Academy Award for Best Director.

"Does having the two of us unlucky guys with you make you feel a little better? Is this some kind of unconventional friendship?"

Spielberg smiled and raised his glass. Wu Yuchen pursed his lips and clinked glasses with him.

Although it doesn't change the fact that they lost, Spielberg's self-description and the fact that the Losers' League is full of experts did provide some psychological comfort.

Wu Yuchen then asked, "Steven, what do you mean by saying you didn't do anything?"

Spielberg cut to the chase: "On the third day of the Oscar voting, I received a call from an old friend who said he was very confused by my sudden vote-switching."

Wu Yuchen keenly noticed a word, and his brows immediately furrowed as he asked, "Change the ticket?!"

Spielberg observed Wu Yuchen's expression and, as he had guessed, he was unaware of the situation. He then continued, "Yes, the vote was changed. Your PR team personally visited him, hoping he would vote for 'The Sixth Sense' in the Oscar for Best Director."

Wu Yuchen's expression changed instantly. He immediately recalled that just a few days after the Directors Guild Awards, the entire team's marketing efforts were focused on "The Sixth Sense," and Richard was nowhere to be seen during that time.

However, this made Wu Yuchen somewhat incredulous, because from the start of public relations to winning the Directors Guild Award, it took more than four months. It was the result of the joint efforts of the entire team, including himself. They had worked so hard and finally accomplished something very difficult. How could they suddenly do something like changing tickets at the last minute?

Looking at Wu Yuchen's expression, Spielberg said, "Is it strange why this is happening? Because it's an order from Michael Eisner, the king of Disney."

Wu Yuchen clenched his fist and couldn't help but swear: "Did a donkey kick Eisner in the head?"

Most of the Directors Guild Awards judges voted for him because they were rooting for "Amour," so suddenly changing the votes will definitely be unacceptable to many. This not only makes it impossible for "The Sixth Sense" to win, but it will also reduce "Amour's" original vote count, making it a completely self-destructive act.

Spielberg wagged his finger:

"No, no, Eisner isn't stupid, he's just arrogant. He's ruled Disney for 16 years and is known as the Emperor of Disney. Absolute power breeds absolute arrogance, and one can become extremely self-righteous and willful."

"It's not just you; he's fooled many people. My partner, Katzenberg, was fooled by Eisner more than once and left Disney in anger."

Katzenberg is one of the three giants of DreamWorks and a major contributor to Disney's resurgence a decade ago.

Michael Ovitz, founder of CAA, North America's largest talent agency, was promised by Eisner the opportunity to leave CAA and join Disney, but in the end, he was given no power and was kicked out after a year.

Even Steve Jobs, the current owner of Pixar who is very important to Disney, received no respect from Eisner, and the two are now bitter enemies.

Then Spielberg brought the topic back:

“I heard that Disney paid a considerable sum to buy out 'The Sixth Sense'. In Eisner’s eyes, I paid money, so you should cooperate with Disney’s actions. He doesn’t consider how important the award is to you, but rather how much revenue 'The Sixth Sense' will bring to Disney if it wins.”

Wu Yuchen rubbed his temples. He had basically figured out what was going on and believed that Spielberg wouldn't lie to him about something like this. He would just visit a few of the judges on the original PR list and ask them.

Wu Yuchen originally thought that the reversal was due to his age or the small difference in votes, but he never expected that Disney had betrayed him behind his back!
"Isn't Disney afraid of damaging its own reputation by doing this?" Wu Yuchen asked with a stern face.

Spielberg shook his head slightly in response:
"It's possible, but very unlikely. I don't need to explain the principle of big stores bullying customers. In fact, getting two of your films nominated at the same time is already seen by many as a testament to the strength of your public relations team."

And this time is really special—two films competing for the same award, and the same team handling the PR—it hasn't happened in decades. Nobody else would bother with such a happy problem!

Yes, there hasn't been a situation like Wu Yuchen's in decades, and it's precisely because both nominations were handled by the same team that this kind of manipulation was created. Leaving aside those directors who are overjoyed to be noticed by Disney, even many established directors don't need to worry about this issue at all, as they only need to manage public relations for a single film.

At this moment, Wu Yuchen went through the whole incident in his mind and realized a truth. The most fundamental reason for this incident was that his interests were not aligned with Disney's.

Disney was focused on maximizing the profits from "The Sixth Sense," while he was after the personal accolades that "Amour" would bring him. Initially, this was just a minor concern, but as the Best Director award loomed, the conflicting interests caused the problem to fully surface.

But even though he understood, Wu Yuchen still had to curse: "Eisner, you son of a bitch!"

(End of this chapter)