Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 244 Fire Captain
Being nominated was already a great success. Li Qiutang never thought she could win the award, so she had no intention of attending the award ceremony.

But relevant leaders from the Film Bureau and the General Administration asked them to go. The leaders of relevant departments did not think that "In Time" could win an award, but "it would be nice to go and show your face."

So "In Time" sent the director, the male and female protagonists and producer Cao Ping to the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel.

Liu Ye brought his French wife along as well; it is indeed a rare opportunity to show up at the Golden Globe Awards.

After the five people landed, Li Qiutang first took them to visit his own lantern entertainment.

Liu Yifei and Cao Ping already knew that Li Qiutang owned a film company in the United States, and that its CEO was Michael Lynn, the former head of New Line.

Now I see it for the first time.

Unexpectedly, it looks quite good, and the first movie I made, "Limitless", will be released in two months.

Li Qiutang smiled bitterly and said, "No one in China believes that I can run a successful American company. The company has relied on either my personal funds or the funds raised by Michael Lynn for the past two years. No investor is optimistic about a Hollywood film company run by a Chinese."

Cao Ping knew a lot of inside information. Li Qiutang originally put Lantern Entertainment and Autumn Pictures together, but domestic investors did not believe in Lantern Entertainment at all and were only willing to invest in Autumn Pictures.

Michael Lynn thought Cao Ping was an investor brought by Li Qiutang from China, just like the several coal bosses brought last year.

But after talking to her, I found out that Cao Ping was Li Qiutang's entrepreneurial partner in the country.

"I don't have the money to invest in Lantern Entertainment." Cao Ping said with a smile.

After looking around at Lantern Entertainment, Cao Ping feels that the company is developing well. Its first movie will be released in March, a small- to medium-budget film will start shooting in April, and another blockbuster will start shooting in July. The Hunger Games, with a cost of 3 million U.S. dollars, is considered a blockbuster in Cao Ping's eyes.

There are many projects, but the funds are indeed tight, and it is difficult for Li Qiutang and Michael Lynn, one old and one young, to support them.

After visiting Lantern Entertainment, the group returned to the hotel to rest. Cao Ping and Liu Ye knew about the relationship between Li Qiutang and Liu Yifei. Michael Lynn and the Focus staff were not interested in Li Qiutang's relationship issues, so Li Qiutang and Liu Yifei did not avoid people in the United States and lived together openly.

It is impossible for an artist to hide his or her feelings from his or her personal assistant. Li and Liu’s assistants knew about it a long time ago, but they didn’t care.

Their assistants were helping them pack their luggage. Li Qiutang washed her face and came out. Just as she was about to speak, her cell phone rang.

"Xiao Ming."

"Why is he calling you at this time?" Liu Yifei was also confused.

Li Qiutang answered the phone: "Hello, Xiao Ming, um, I'm in Hollywood, just arrived, you're here too, ok, ok, let's have a couple of drinks tonight, it won't delay us, um, Yifei and Ye Ge are both here, ok, let's talk tonight."

After hanging up the phone, he said to Liu Yifei: "Strange, Xiao Ming said he was also in Los Angeles and wanted to have dinner together tonight."

"What is he doing in Los Angeles?"

"He said he was here on vacation."

In the evening, Huang Xiaoming took the initiative to come to the hotel where Li Qiutang and others were staying and hosted dinner for the representatives of the "In Time" crew.

But how could Huang Xiaoming pay for this meal? Li Qiutang was half the host today, so there was no way she would let Huang Xiaoming pay.

Xiao Ming is really great to his relatives and friends; everyone would give him a thumbs up.

Li Qiutang asked herself that she could not be as thorough as Huang Xiaoming.

During the dinner, Xiao Ming raised his glass frequently, wishing that "In Time" would achieve good results tomorrow.

Li Qiutang told the truth: "We just came here to make ourselves known. The bureau wanted us to come, and the focus wanted us to come. We never thought about winning any awards."

Huang Xiaoming said: "Since you are shortlisted, you may win the award. You should still have ideals, just in case they come true." Li Qiutang was very happy to hear this: "Then I will take your good wishes. If you really win the award, I will invite you alone."

The meal was a great success, and when it was over, Huang Xiaoming asked Li Qiutang to stay alone, saying that he had something to talk to him about.

"It's quite embarrassing to talk about it." This matter seemed very difficult to talk about.

"It's nothing. Just tell me. Are you facing any difficulties or something? I will definitely help you if I can." Li Qiutang was also generous and upright in his work.

Huang Xiaoming said: "I took on a play last year called "Pifu", which is about bandits fighting against the Japanese. The characters and the story are pretty good. Recently, something happened to the crew and the production was suspended."

Huang Xiaoming told Li Qiutang about his experience. The director of "The Ordinary Man" was Yang Shupeng, who had an affair with the leading actress Zhang Xinyi one month after the filming started. Unfortunately, Yang Shupeng's wife found out about it.

It just so happens that Yang Shupeng’s wife is the investor and producer of this drama.

He was caught cheating by his ex-wife and it was so embarrassing on the set.

Yang Shupeng’s wife withdrew her investment on the spot and the production was shut down.

This is not the end, she also asked someone to send Yang Shupeng to the hospital!
The crew was leaderless, and the lead actor Huang Xiaoming had no choice but to step up and keep the crew going.

Now the crew of "Pifu" has been temporarily disbanded. The main creators said that if Xiao Ming can find someone to put the team together again, they are willing to finish filming the show. If the team really cannot be put together, then they can just give up.

It can be said that Huang Xiaoming is a confused investor, but there is no other way. If he does not step forward, the crew will really fall apart.

"After much thought, I can only come to you." Huang Xiaoming has many director friends, but he thinks Li Qiutang is the most suitable person for this kind of firefighting mission.

"You're a famous director now, and you've been nominated for a Golden Globe. To be honest, I shouldn't give you a movie like this, but..."

Li Qiutang waved her hands: "It's okay, it's okay, I'm here to help."

If Li Qiutang "cares about his reputation", he would definitely not take over the mess of "Pifu".

But Li Qiutang is not a person who follows the rules. He came all the way to the United States to ask him for help. Xiao Ming is also a person worth dealing with. It is a pity to see hundreds of people in a crew rotting there.

"How about this, you organize the filmed materials, scripts, storyboards, and the list of the main creators on and off the stage for me, and I'll take a look first."

With Li Qiutang's words, Huang Xiaoming's flight of more than 10,000 kilometers was not in vain.

But Li Qiutang didn't dare to make any guarantees: "I can't say that I can definitely save him. Let me see first."

Huang Xiaoming naturally agreed.

Sometimes something as big as entering a fire scene to put out a fire can be negotiated so easily.

When they got back to the hotel, they told Liu Yifei about this. Liu Yifei also supported Li Qiutang and said, "It's OK if we don't know. If we know, we can help if we can."

But she was worried that if she stepped in temporarily to put out a fire, and the film wasn't shot well, it would ruin Li Qiutang's reputation. After all, Li Qiutang had never made a bad film.

"Oh, why worry about this? If you're worried about not doing the job well before you even start working, then don't do the job." It's really nonsense to worry about such things.

What Li Qiutang needs to worry about now is: "I saw your assistant packed two pairs of stockings for you..."

Before he could finish his words, Liu Yifei scolded him: "You hooligan, you pervert." But she also said: "Those two pairs are new ones I bought, don't tear them up."

(End of this chapter)