hollywood melon man

Chapter 442 Small Earthquake

Although this study trip to the United States was hosted by China Film Group, it was the people inside Big Scissors who came up with the idea and suggestion.

Therefore, when these 29 people arrive in Los Angeles, they will definitely need local consulate staff to receive them and then communicate with the crew.

The consulate's counselor, Wu Zanming, was having a very happy chat with a senior Disney executive outside the set and was not worried at all about what might happen.

When I turned around, my colleague Liu Guang from the consulate came running over and said, "Old Wu, something bad has happened."

Wu Zaming was so frightened that he almost lost his balance.

After standing firmly, Wu Zanming first glanced at the Disney executives next to him, then pulled Liu Guang aside and asked hurriedly, "What's wrong?"

Liu Guang quickly explained the whole story: "The list of our students was fake, and it was discovered by the crew. Now there is a quarrel inside!"

"The list of students is fake?" Wu Zaming was dumbfounded after hearing this: "What do you mean? Hasn't the list been checked? They are the people who came from China!"

It turned out that before this group of students came, the Chinese side sent a list of students to the consulate. After all, they would have to go back later, so the consulate needed to pay more attention to it.

This is normal behavior, and Wu Zaming doesn't understand why it is fake.

But Liu Guang said no, shaking his head and saying: "It's not this list, the people who came here are different from the selection list."

"What do you mean the selection list is different from the people who came here?" Wu Zaming was a little confused.

Liu Guang explained: “At the beginning of June at the Shanghai International Film Festival, Director Gilbert Jr. conducted an assessment and selected 29 people.

But most of the 29 people who came this time were different from those on the selection list, and they were fake. "

Wu Zaming's heart skipped a beat, and he looked guiltily at the confused Disney executives not far away.

Fortunately, the other person doesn’t understand Chinese, otherwise if someone heard it, wouldn’t it be a joke?

But Wu Zanming thought again, if this matter spread out, it would become a joke. The most urgent task now is to deal with this matter properly.

Wu Zanming quickly said, "You talk to the crew, I'll call the consul."

"Okay," Liu Guang hurried in to communicate with the crew, while Wu Zaming called the consul to explain the matter.

Inside the set, Steven Schmidt, the producer of The Mystery of the Talisman, was talking to the team leader of China Film Group: "These people don't match the June assessment list. The crew will not accept them. Please let them go!"

The leader of the China Film Group was Gong Ruiqi, who was anxious: "Mr. Schmidt, can we discuss this matter again?"

“Communicate?” Steven Schmidt said he did not want to communicate: “For partners with bad faith, we do not feel the need to communicate.

Except for these five who meet the list, everyone else please leave!"

Gong Ruiqi was helpless because this was on someone else's territory, and it was not the time for him to act powerful and domineering in his own country. The foreigners simply ignored him.

Besides, he also knew about the fake student issue. Similar things were very common in the circle, so he didn't take it seriously.

But I didn’t expect that the foreigners would really care about it. Now, the fake student has been exposed and I’m done for.

Until this time, Gong Ruiqi still thought it was no big deal. Isn't it just a fake student? Just communicate and pay some money.

Anyway, foreigners only care about money, so as long as you have enough money, nothing is a problem.

At worst, send these fake ones back. If you send the real ones back, the foreigners will be satisfied, right?

But Gong Ruiqi didn't know that this was not really about money.

Not to mention that little Gilbert looked like he was disappointed with his family, even if he was a real foreigner, he would not tolerate such dishonest behavior.

Although many foreigners often break their promises to others, they will not allow others to break their promises to them.

Besides, the second and third parts of "The Mystery of the Talisman" were shot consecutively, and the investment in the entire film was as high as 2.6 million US dollars, which really did not look down on the training fee given by China Film.

The sponsorship fee for the Tyrannosaurus glasses alone is three times the training fee.

Steven Schmidt was too lazy to talk to these fake students. He waved his hand and asked them to leave. He then took five real students, including Guo Fan, into the set.

Seeing Guo Fan and the others go in, Zhang Chuan, who was pretending to be Zhao Peng, became anxious and quickly asked Gong Ruiqi: "Boss Gong, what's going on?"

Gong Ruiqi sighed and said, "Let's find a place to stay first. I'll discuss this matter with the higher-ups."

Liu Guang from the consulate happened to come over, and Gong Ruiqi told Liu Guang about what had happened.

Liu Guang held his forehead and said, "Boss Gong, this is no small matter. If things go wrong, it will cause a diplomatic incident. Oh, how can you be so bold!"

Seeing that Liu Guang's expression did not seem fake, Gong Ruiqi also panicked: "Counselor Liu, is this okay? Isn't it just a fake student? The crew didn't suffer any loss!"

"Nothing to lose?" Liu Guang pointed at his face and said, "This is a matter of face. What you did is not only a slap in the face of Gilbert Jr., but also a slap in the face of Hollywood, and even a slap in the face of yourself."

No matter what circle you are in, face is a very important issue.

In June, young Gilbert personally presided over the assessment and reviewed the names of each student and selected them. But you turned around and replaced them with a different group of students. Isn't it obvious that you treat young Gilbert as a fool?

No wonder the crew reacted so strongly. It’s not just luck that Gilbert Jr. was able to make it in Hollywood and become a world-class director.

Without some brains, can he survive the fierce competition in Hollywood?
After understanding the whole story, Gong Ruiqi, Zhang Chuan and other fake students realized that they probably wouldn't be able to get promoted this time.

And it is very likely that the crew will also be held accountable.

"What should we do now?" asked Gong Ruiqi.

Liu Guang looked at A Zhan and spread his hands, "I don't know. The consulate has nothing to do with this matter. We only found out about it now."

Liu Guang meant that the consulate should not take the blame.

Moreover, the consulate did not know in advance that the list of students could be forged, and they did not have a list of real students, making it impossible to verify the identities of the students.

Gong Ruiqi is very panicked now and needs to communicate this matter with his leader as soon as possible.

At this time, another person from the crew came and said to Gong Ruiqi and Liu Guang: "The formalities for these five people have been completed. They will work and study in our crew for the next three months. We came here specially to inform you.

During the crew's work and study, their accommodation, meals, and safety issues are all taken care of by our crew, and we will communicate with the consulate if there are any issues."

Liu Guang quickly thanked them: "Thank you, thank you for your trouble."

"You're welcome," the man glanced at the fake students, didn't want to say a word, and returned to the set.

During the film preparation period, we were so busy with work every day, who had the time to deal with these irrelevant people?

Anyway, the list does not match, and the crew has no obligation to be responsible for these people, so let these Chinese people deal with it themselves!

Gong Ruiqi and Liu Guang discussed it and decided to take the man back first, find a place for him to live, and wait for the follow-up results of the matter!
Now this matter has become a big deal, it is not something they can decide.

Inside the studio, Little Gilbert was talking on the phone with Old Tian.

Daytime in Los Angeles is late at night in Beijing. Old Tian had already lain down to rest and had been asleep for a long time, but the transatlantic phone call finally found him. When he heard that it was Little Gilbert who called, Old Tian was a little confused. It must be a big deal that he was called at this time.

As expected, the matter was very serious and Old Tian was dumbfounded after hearing it.

Lao Tian has been promoted rapidly in recent years and is now a leader in the cultural sector.

As a reformer of the film market, and a hero who advocated the introduction of Hollywood films and pushed for China's accession to the WTO, Lao Tian is a big shot of the same level as Karl Lagerfeld in the film and television industry.

Little Gilbert knew very well that it was useless to ask China Film or Big Scissors for help with this matter, and it would end up in nothing. Someone at a higher position had to handle this matter.

So he called his old friend Lao Tian directly, hoping that he would handle the matter.

Lao Tian was very angry, he knew about sending students to Hollywood to study, he had planned this when he was in The Big Scissors.

The fact that there were so many Chinese staff members on the set of The Lord of the Rings was his masterpiece.

This time they are not staying in China but going directly to Los Angeles to study. Lao Tian is still worried that the students may cause trouble, so he repeatedly emphasizes to his subordinates that they must be careful.

I didn't expect that despite all the warnings and instructions, something still happened, and it was such a bad thing that someone pretended to be a student.

It was fake, and it was exposed on the spot.

If things go wrong, this matter will cause loss of face internationally, not to mention the so-called entertainment industry, even he, the deputy minister, will be in trouble.

"Don't worry," Old Tian quickly assured Little Gilbert, "I will take this matter seriously and give you a satisfactory answer."

Little Gilbert snorted coldly: "That's better, Old Tian. I'm very disappointed that my Chinese counterparts are all at this level, cheating.

I still had some expectations for Chinese-language films, but now it seems that’s no longer necessary.”

Old Tian was very embarrassed. How could he put his face aside when a foreigner said he was disappointed with Chinese-language films?

He tried to ask, "Then I'll send all the students on the list over there?"

"No need," Gilbert Jr. refused, "Since they can sell the places to others, whether they are sincere or not, their nature is worse than these fake students.

I don't need people like this to tarnish my crew.

There are only five of us. Don’t bring any more people. The crew won’t acknowledge us.”

After saying that, Little Gilbert hung up the phone, leaving Old Tian sighing on the other end of the line. But now is not the time to sigh, he has to deal with this matter quickly.

Old Tian didn't want to sleep either, and quickly called his secretary: "Call Sanping and Lao Zheng, as well as Big Scissors and all the senior leaders of China Film.

Also prepare a meeting room for the meeting..."

The secretary didn't understand what was going on, but he knew something big must have happened, so he went to call for help.

After Gilbert finished his call, Steven Schmidt reported the results of the handling: "I have asked them to take those fake students back.

Leave these five students behind, what do you think?"

"I'll go out and take a look..." Little Gilbert went out and saw five students standing at the side of the set, at a loss.

What happened today was beyond their imagination. The five trainees were a little uneasy at this moment, not knowing how the crew would deal with them.

"Relax, everyone relax," at this time little Gilbert came over and comforted the students in Chinese.

"You are all great. Even though other students were cheating, you were able to stick to your original intentions and did not deceive the crew. I am very satisfied."

One of the students, Sun Yunlong, raised his hand and said, "Director Gilbert, we all know about the student replacement..."

Little Gilbert waved his hand gently and interrupted him: "You all know it, but you can't change it, this is normal.

Those who can stand up and stop this kind of deception are warriors.

But since you are not in that position yet, it is wise for you not to stand up and stop them, and I understand that.”

Gilbert Jr.’s tone turned serious: “But what I want to say is, it’s the future.

You can see what kind of people these are? They are just trying to get rich, just to get by, and then go back to do what they want and show off their power. How can such people lead the development of Chinese-language films in the future?
I hope that one day, when you reach a certain position, you will be able to change this bad habit.

Movies, after all, should speak for themselves through their works, rather than taking shortcuts..."

Seeing the students thinking, Little Gilbert said no more: "Okay, the rest is left for you to think about. I wish you all the best in your three-month study in the crew."

The five students puffed out their chests, feeling a sense of heroism rising, as if they represented the future of Chinese-language films, and were full of energy.

Little Gilbert's actions have relieved the nervousness of the five students. Otherwise, with what happened today, these five students would probably not be able to stay in the crew.

The crew of "The Mystery of the Talisman" is actually okay. After all, there are Chinese actors among the main actors, and the atmosphere is quite harmonious. I hope these five students can study hard!

Producer Steven Schmidt even came over to ask Gilbert Jr.: "Do you want to give these five students some special care?"

"No need," Little Gilbert shook his head and said, "Just treat them as ordinary crew members. There's no need to treat them specially."

How can you see the rainbow without going through hardships?
The flowers in the greenhouse will wither and fail to achieve anything great outside, so these five students still need some training.

Turning our attention to Disney and Warner, the top executives of both companies have already learned about the fake students.

The top leaders are not angry. They don't care about the Chinese at all.

But these Chinese people made Little Gilbert angry, so of course Disney and Warner had to step in to avenge Little Gilbert.

This is their own ace director, but he was deceived and lied to? This is intolerable.

So the top executives of Disney and Warner held an emergency joint high-level meeting, and Gilbert Jr. also attended.

At the meeting, Disney Vice President Solomon said: "I suggest that we formally lodge a serious protest with the Los Angeles Consulate and have the ambassador send a note to the other side to make our attitude clear."

This move kills two birds with one stone, avenging Gilbert Jr. and also serving as a warning to certain forces in North America.

Many senior executives looked at little Gilbert who was sitting at the end to hear his attitude.

Gilbert Jr. said: "I have no objection, just deal with it as you say!"

Although this may embarrass the other party, there is no other way. After all, he is a white man and cannot say good things or take an opposing stance in this situation.

And some people are really too much. In recent years, they have always focused on economic development and selectively ignored the development of culture and entertainment, resulting in a chaotic environment in this circle.

Little Gilbert also took this opportunity to force the big boss over there to take action and clean up the cultural and entertainment circles.

Not to mention restoring order to the entertainment industry, at least we can curb this increasingly bad trend.

(End of this chapter)