Millennium director

There is nothing special about this nomination luncheon. The organizing committee invites the so-called shortlisted crew to have a Western-style buffet lunch together. During the meal, everyone can communicate freely, which is equivalent to creating a social occasion.

For Wu Yuan, who is a top director in the world, it will not help him improve his network or create any cooperation opportunities, but it is different for other second- and third-tier directors and actors.

For example, he was often approached by various familiar or unfamiliar people during the meal, and he also received a lot of business cards and exchanged contact information.

Well, most of the business cards have email addresses, which is a very "backward" way of contact.

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

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

So far, Americans are still used to using emails for online communication. Whatsapp, which is similar to WeChat, is not popular in the United States. Most young people born in the 1990s and 2000s usually use Instagram to chat with friends privately if they want to chat online.

But if it is a more formal communication, whether it is work or life, email is still used for contact.

This has always made Wu Yuan a little uncomfortable. After all, he used WeChat during the Chinese New Year, including the file assistant of WeChat for sending and receiving files, and he didn’t need to use email at all.

So he often forgot to send and receive emails in the email 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 contacted him.

So Wu Yuan didn’t mind exchanging email contact information at all, because he himself was not sure whether he would contact these "new friends" through email in time. Anyway, his email was not set up for timely reminders. If he really wanted to contact him, without a mobile phone number, everything would be left to fate.

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

It is 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 the 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 when he was a child.

This is an 8-minute felt puppet stop-motion animation.

The special nature of its materials makes the characters' actions and psychological activities more vivid and infectious through the changes in the materials.

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

It is rare to meet a fellow countryman, so Wu Yuan naturally did not hesitate to exchange a contact number, but this Song Siqi is not Wu Yuan's junior sister, and she is not even from one of the three major domestic universities.

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

She graduated from the California Institute of the Arts with a master's degree in experimental animation.

To put it bluntly, she is a descendant of the American Academy. Putting aside her nationality, she is actually the authentic descendant of the Oscars. It is not surprising that she was nominated.

Again, in a sense, the Oscars are exactly the same as the previous Golden Rooster Awards. They are completely awards given and accepted privately in a small local circle. They have always been the American Academy Awards, not the "international" film awards.

However, Wu Yuan himself does not mind Song Siqi. She is not a banana person, nor is she the kind of person who complains about the country when she goes abroad and yearns for the "sweet air". On the contrary, at today's lunch, she is the one with the most Chinese charm, and she is very beautiful in a modified Hanfu.

For such a sister, Wu Yuan also took the initiative to take her to meet several directors and actors.

It's a pity that Song Siqi is an animated film, not a live-action film. There will be no intersection between the two in the future, and Wu Yuan's connections in Hollywood can't help her much.

Chen Guokun was really in his element at the luncheon. Many directors were very interested in him, or more precisely, in his kung fu.

Action movies have always been one of the most marketable commercial movies in the world, and Chinese action movie directors are also the most popular in the world. It’s just that after Cheng Long, China has never had an actor of the same type who can inherit his influence.

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

Until the end of the luncheon, many people still pulled Chen Guokun to talk, and their enthusiasm was higher than that of director Wu Yuan.

After all, Wu Yuan did not need any help, but Chen Guokun had just entered Hollywood, and his future was still promising.

At 3 pm, after the nomination luncheon, Wu Yuan, Chen Guokun, and Emma Stone returned to the hotel where they were staying.

Because Emma Stone had other work, she said hello to Wu Yuan and left the hotel to continue working.

Wu Yuan and Chen Guokun are relatively free. They have no other work before the awards ceremony on February 9 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 this time." Wu Yuan tried his best to encourage Chen Guokun, patting his shoulder.

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

"Hey, don't think so." Wu Yuan curled his lips. "Although the hope is not great, you still have to have a dream. If you don't believe that you can win, then you will definitely not win."

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 in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and Antonio Banderas in "Pain and Glory" can beat him in terms of acting skills, even if he is Bruce Lee.

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

Wu Yuan couldn't say Chen Guokun's performance was better than Joaquin Phoenix's Joker, even if he was being conscientious.

But encouragement should be given.

"Martial arts actors are at a disadvantage in awards, and 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 ahead of Brother Cheng Long!" (End of this chapter)