director of the millennium

There is actually nothing special about this nomination luncheon. The organizing committee simply invites the so-called nominated crews to have a Western-style buffet lunch together, and everyone communicates freely during the meal, which is equivalent to creating a social occasion.

For a world-class director like Wu Yuan, this will not help him improve his network or create any opportunities for collaboration, but it is different for other second- and third-tier directors and actors.

During the dinner, he was frequently approached by people who looked familiar or unfamiliar, and he also received a lot of business cards and exchanged contact information.

Well, most business cards contain email addresses, which is a very "backward" way of contacting people.

Because of the special speed of development of the times, the people born in the 80s and 90s in China have not been exposed to the email era for a long time. In just a few years, they evolved into the instant messaging era, and then the WeChat era.

But it is different in the United States. When the Internet was first invented, email was the most convenient way to communicate. From personal contacts to business conversations to teacher-student contacts in learning, most Americans communicated through email, and this habit continued for decades.

To the extent that, until now, Americans are still accustomed to using email for online communication. Apps like WeChat are not very popular in the United States. Most young people born in the 90s and 00s usually use Instagram to chat privately with friends if they want to chat online.

But if it is a more formal communication, whether it is at work or in life, it is still better to use email.

This has always made Wu Yuan a little uncomfortable. After all, he uses WeChat during the Chinese New Year, and he can use WeChat's file assistant to send and receive files, without having to use email at all.

As a result, he often forgot to send or receive emails on the email address he used to contact his contacts in the United States. When he remembered it after a while, he opened it and found that many people had contacted him.
Therefore, Wu Yuan doesn't mind exchanging email contact information at all, because he himself is not sure whether he will contact these "new friends" via email in time. Anyway, his email is not set up for timely reminders. If they really want to contact him, without his mobile phone number, then everything will be left to fate.

However, it is worth mentioning that during the dinner, Wu Yuan also exchanged WeChat with a young female director.

It's rare to see Chinese figures at the Oscars, but this year is special. In addition to Wu Yuan, Chinese director Song Siqi was nominated for Best Animated Short Film for "Sister".

"Sister", a felt stop-motion animation, is set in China in the 1990s. A man recalls his daily life with his naughty sister as a child.

This is an 8-minute stop-motion animation of felt puppets.

The particularity of the material makes the characters' actions, psychological activities, etc. expressed more vividly and infectiously through changes in the material.

Song Siqi, who was born in 1989, is just 31 years old this year. On that day, Song Siqi wore a printed top with very Chinese characteristics and a Chinese-style double-breasted collar, which was very oriental.

It was a rare opportunity to meet a fellow villager, so Wu Yuan naturally did not hesitate to exchange contact information. However, this Song Siqi was not Wu Yuan's junior, and she was not even a graduate of one of the top three universities in China.

In fact, being nominated for an Oscar actually represents a different identity for Song Siqi.

She is a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts with a Master's degree in Experimental Animation.

To put it bluntly, she herself is a younger generation of the American Academy of Sciences. Putting aside her nationality, she is actually the authentic descendant of the Oscars, so it is no surprise that she was nominated.

Again, in a sense, the Oscars are exactly the same as the former Golden Rooster Awards. They are simply awards given privately within a small local circle. They have always been just the American Academy Awards, not an "international" film award.

However, Wu Yuan himself did not mind Song Siqi. She was not a banana person, nor was she the kind of person who would complain about the country when she went abroad and yearn for the "sweet air". On the contrary, at today's lunch, she was the one with the most Chinese charm, and she looked very beautiful in a modified Hanfu. For such a sister, Wu Yuan also took the initiative to introduce her to several directors and actors.

It's a pity that Song Siqi is engaged in animated films, not live-action films, so the two sides will not have any intersection in the future, and Wu Yuan's connections in Hollywood will not be of much help to her.

However, Chen Guokun really felt like a fish in water at the luncheon. Many directors were very interested in him, or to be more precise, in his kung fu.

Action movies have always been one of the most marketable commercial films in the world, and action movie directors with Chinese faces are also one of the most popular in the world. It’s just that after Jackie Chan, China has not had an actor of the same type who can inherit his influence.

Now there is a "Bruce Lee II" appearing, and everyone is still very interested in it.

Until the end of the lunch, many people still pulled Chen Guokun to chat, and their enthusiasm was even higher than that towards director Wu Yuan.

After all, Wu Yuan doesn't need any help, but Chen Guokun has just entered Hollywood and has a promising future.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, after the nomination luncheon, Wu Yuan, Chen Guokun and Emma Stone returned to the hotel where they were staying.

Emma Stone had other work to do, so after saying hello to Wu Yuan, she left the hotel and went back to work.

Wu Yuan and Chen Guokun are relatively free. They have no other work before the awards ceremony on February 2 and just need to stay in Los Angeles.

"Official voting will begin on the 30th, and the results will be announced on the 4th. I hope you can win the prize this time." Patting Chen Guokun on the shoulder, Wu Yuan tried his best to encourage him.

Although he is younger than Chen Guokun, Chen Guokun is much more nervous than Wu Yuan. "Director Wu, it is unimaginable for me to be able to come to the Oscars. Even if I can't win, I will be satisfied."

"Eh, you can't think like that." Wu Yuan curled his lips. "Although the hope is slim, you still have to have dreams. If you don't believe that you can win the prize, then you will definitely not win the prize."

To be honest, it is unlikely that Chen Guokun will win the Best Actor award at this year's Oscars.

It's just that his competitors are too strong.

Leonardo DiCaprio in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and Antonio Banderas in "Pain and Glory" are enough to beat him in terms of acting skills. Even if he were Bruce Lee alive, there would be nothing he could do.

Not to mention, above them is Joaquin Phoenix from "Joker", who is even more heavyweight.

No matter how guilty Wu Yuan is, he can't say Chen Guokun's performance is better than Joaquin Phoenix's Joker.
But encouragement should still be given where it is due.

"Martial arts actors are at a disadvantage in the awards process, so it's not easy to get nominated." Wu Yuan sighed and said, "Brother Cheng Long has never been nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor."

"In this regard, you are already ahead of Brother Cheng Long!" (End of this chapter)