Superstar's Development Diary
Chapter 457 - 458: Just That Excellent, No Other Way

Chapter 457: Chapter 458: Just That Excellent, No Other Way

It was rare to see He Jinxia nervous, and the others couldn’t help but smile kindly.

Zhang Ming even said, "Your acting still needs some polishing, but your performance in period dramas is quite good. With your style of acting in a period piece and a good script, you might really have a chance at being nominated for Movie Queen. However, the Berlin Festival is an international event after all, and they might not be that interested in Huaxia’s ancient culture."

With this statement, Zhang Ming also expressed his concerns about "World".

The excellence of "World" was beyond doubt, its global box office success was there for all to see.

Although some said Sheng Yan’s popularity was fading, in fact, his "World" was still in the top ten of this year’s global box office; a myriad of words couldn’t compare to real data.

It was uncertain whether Sheng Yan could once again stand out and win the Movie King trophy.

Zhang Ming wasn’t very optimistic about this trip to Berlin for "World", but maybe there was still hope?

He Jinxia asked, "After talking for so long, I still don’t know which of my works has been nominated for the Berlin Film Festival. Could it be ’Chen Xiaohui, Go Forward!’? No, that’s not right, I haven’t heard anything about competing for awards from Dong Qiin."

At the mention of this, Luo You also sighed, "Not ’Chen Xiaohui’. Besides that one, didn’t you also star in another movie?"

He Jinxia was stunned for a moment, then with a flash of insight said uncertainly, "’Eighteen Years Old Sky’?"

Luo You nodded vigorously, "Yes, even I didn’t expect that the first movie of yours to be nominated would be ’Eighteen Years Old Sky’!"

Now He Jinxia was truly bewildered, "Wait a minute, last time you communicated with the production team, didn’t they say it would only be released next year due to some issues with the distribution theaters?"

Luo You nodded, "The precise situation is that only one theater was willing to distribute their film. Because they couldn’t coordinate well with other theaters and wanted to secure more distribution resources, they decided to postpone the release. The release paperwork is all done, just waiting for an east wind next year."

He Jinxia remembered that it was a couple of months ago when Luo You called while she was also there. He had fiercely scolded those three young directors.

At that time, she hadn’t taken on "High Energy Classroom" yet; with her film opportunities drying up, Luo You hoped this movie could turn her fortunes around.

But when he called to inquire, they learned of the postponed release. Luo You was so enraged that he lost his temper on the spot, and one could imagine how badly the three were scolded.

A trace of confusion passed through He Jinxia’s eyes, "I don’t quite understand; the film hasn’t been released yet, how could it be nominated for the festival?"

Zhang Ming said with a smile at this point, "A film doesn’t have to be released to be eligible for competition; those that aren’t released but are completed can still be submitted to the committee’s disclosed email for films.

However, it’s best to have support from well-known filmmakers; otherwise, with hundreds or thousands of films sitting there, how could the committee have the time to watch them all?"

Luo You also said, "The news hasn’t been announced yet. It’s expected to break around noon. The ’Eighteen Years Old Sky’ production team just received the news. Once the director learned about it, he immediately called to inform me, asking if you were free to go to Berlin in February. I’ve already accepted on your behalf."

The Berlin Film Festival is also an alternative fashion stage; many stars want to participate, and tickets are hard to come by. Even if there’s not a single work involved, it’s still good to gold-plated there.

Luo You, "Eighteen Years Old Sky’ might be shown during the festival in a special screening section. It’s not yet determined whether it will be selected, but the director revealed the chances are very high. We should pay close attention to the official follow-ups."

When Luo You got to this point, he couldn’t help but laugh, "This movie has potential; if they really set the premiere at the film festival, it would be an explosive publicity stunt."

"I had stopped expecting you to get anything out of this film, but now it seems it might take your career to new heights."

Cheng Xiaohua curiously asked, "Can I also go to Berlin to see it?"

Luo You glanced at her and snorted, "Should be possible, the crew is missing someone to serve tea, pour water, and run errands."

Zhang Ming’s eyes lit up as he looked at Cheng Xiaohua and teased, "’World’ has many slots available. How about you come over and be my assistant? I’ll give you a formal accompanying personnel status, no need to serve tea and pour water."

Cheng Xiaohua tossed her head aside and declared with conviction, "I swear to follow Fat Emperor unswervingly, a single glimpse of Jinxia leads to a lifetime of mistake!"

The others burst into hearty laughter.

Laughter is contagious, and so is good news.

In just one hour, the two explosive pieces of news that "He Jinxia was shortlisted for the Berlin Special Screenings" and "Sheng Yan was nominated for Berlin Movie King" rapidly spread throughout the crew, even reaching the director who was still filming.

Considering the outstanding achievements of the two actors, the director suddenly felt a heavy burden on his shoulders.

Although he was shooting a short film, which after editing was only half an hour long, the fact that two actors, one a Movie King nominee and the other with the potential to be a Movie Queen, were in his film meant that if it wasn’t well made, what would happen to the actors’ reputations?

Moreover, Huami had unexpectedly assembled two powerful actors for this commercial shoot, so it had to be exceptional!

No one wanted to be the weak link that became another’s dark history, so the director rallied himself, deciding to raise the bar for Qin Siqin and Yu Yanyu!

This was miserable for the two singers who were not actors; since the director had caught them in the morning to film fight scenes, they had been flying through the air all day and had barely set foot on solid ground.

By noon, Qin Siqin and Yu Yanyu, one wailing and the other holding his back, stumbled to the dining table like disabled persons, casting resentful glances at He Jinxia and Sheng Yan, and in tacit understanding, they complained:

"Are you two even human?"

"Can you two stop being so outstanding?"

As soon as they spoke, Qin Siqin and Yu Yanyu were stunned, then looked at each other before turning their heads to look at He Jinxia and Sheng Yan, and said in unison:

"Is it that great to go to Berlin? I’ve held a concert at the Bird’s Nest!"

"Being shortlisted doesn’t necessarily mean winning an award. I’ve been nominated for Best Singer before!"

He Jinxia blinked and turned to look at Sheng Yan.

Sheng Yan also blinked back at her, his face calm.

Unable to ignore the heavy resentment coming from across the table, and seeing that Sheng Yan was not speaking up, He Jinxia braved herself to say, "Haha, actually it’s not that huge of a deal. I didn’t even know I could be shortlisted for Berlin."

Once the conversation started, Qin Siqin and Yu Yanyu began to pour out their grievances: "At this rate, the director would rather shave me bald!"

"The director’s gaze at me is so terrifying. I know my acting is mediocre, but it’s not beyond redemption, right? He looks like he wants to kill me!"

"I feel like my back can’t take it anymore—the workload is too intense. If I faint later on, you guys must remember to call an ambulance for me."—This was Yu Yanyu.

"Today, I just hung there and imitated a cat on a beam, meowing over a hundred times, and the director was not satisfied even once. If this continues, I feel that I might actually turn into a cat, meow~"—This was Qin Siqin.

Qin Siqin/Yu Yanyu: "Wuwu, please have mercy on us!"

He Jinxia: "..."

Sheng Yan gave them a glance and casually said, "It seems that in the eyes of others, we are just that outstanding. There’s nothing we can do about it."

Qin Siqin/Yu Yanyu: Collapsed and died from spitting blood.