Chapter 21: Walking the Red Carpet

“Cheng, this should be your first film festival, and there are many things you aren't aware of. To trade overseas rights, you first need to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the work and attract the attention of overseas audiences and buyers through screenings and promotional activities. If you contact those distributors before the film has even been screened, you will suffer a heavy loss. If the film is entered into the competition unit, you should wait even longer. If the film wins an award, the overseas rights can be sold at a much higher price.”

Hearing Scarlett's words, Cheng Sheng finally realized how much of a novice he truly was.

It turned out that overseas rights trading involved so many intricacies.

If he hadn't run into Scarlett, his film would likely have been sold at the lowest possible price.

Selling it blindly like that would have been far too much of a loss.

“Thank you. If it weren't for you, I might have suffered a huge loss,” Cheng Sheng said gratefully.

“You're welcome.”

With Scarlett's reminder, Cheng Sheng stopped looking for distributors.

Instead, he spent two good days enjoying Venice.

September 1st.

It was also the day all schools in China reopened.

On this day, Cheng Sheng led his crew to prepare for the red carpet.

Several coal bosses stood on either side of Cheng Sheng, their expressions very solemn, looking like employees receiving an inspection from a superior.

The rest of the main cast stood behind Cheng Sheng and his group.

Logically, Cheng Sheng should have walked at the front with the film's protagonists, but the coal bosses were the financiers, after all.

Among all the crews walking the red carpet, Cheng Sheng's crew had the largest number of people—nearly thirty. This was even after Cheng Sheng had left a small portion of the staff behind at the hotel.

If everyone had come, it would have taken several minutes just to walk the red carpet.

This year, two Chinese-language films were shortlisted for the main competition unit at Venice: Jia Zhangke's *World* and Cheng Sheng's *The Great Tang Dynasty: Origins*.

Normally, if a domestic film was shortlisted for the Venice Film Festival, the media would be in an uproar, as it would be a major celebratory event for the country.

However, the situation this year was somewhat special. Jia Zhangke's *World* was an underground film and could not be released in China.

As for Cheng Sheng's film, it was a historical drama; it would be a miracle if such a film could win an award.

No media outlet was optimistic about Cheng Sheng, so there had been little media coverage for the time being.

Unless Cheng Sheng's film won an award, once the Venice Film Festival ended, the media would only say: "The young man should keep working hard."

Cheng Sheng was scheduled to walk the red carpet around four o'clock in the afternoon.

One should not underestimate this time slot. Generally, walking the red carpet and the film's Venice premiere happen simultaneously.

Four o'clock was an excellent time; usually, only films favored by the jury are scheduled for this slot.

The scheduling of the red carpet and the premiere was a very good signal for Cheng Sheng—his film might have a chance at winning an award.

Upon receiving the news, everyone in the crew was invigorated, especially the shortlisted actors, who were all brimming with energy.

At four o'clock, the group stepped onto the red carpet right on time.

The surrounding magnesium lights flashed incessantly, and the cameras clicked rapidly.

Media reporters from all over the world gathered on both sides of the red carpet.

It was the first time the coal bosses had seen such a grand spectacle. Seeing the crowd composed mostly of people with white and black skin tones and a few East Asian faces, a sudden sense of pride rose in their hearts.

They felt a strong urge to shout at the cameras: "Family, we have brought glory to our country!"

Fortunately, they weren't fools; they knew that doing so would definitely not bring glory, but would instead bring shame to their countrymen in Venice.

The broad-shouldered, stout coal bosses appeared very solemn on the surface, but their hearts were anything but calm.

"Old Yang, our money wasn't wasted. Director Cheng is the real deal. We're pretty awesome this time."

"Yeah! Next time Director Cheng makes a movie, I'll invest again. It's just a few million, right? If it can make me look this grand, I'll give ten million."

"Hey, Old Feng, is that a reporter from CCTV? Will we make it onto the News Broadcast? If we really do, that would truly bring honor to our ancestors."

The coal bosses whispered among themselves, feeling that this moment was the pinnacle of their lives.

They had finally made a real appearance.

One could say they had achieved both prestige and glory.

After returning home, they would have plenty to brag about.

Exchanging a few million in investment for their moment of peak glory seemed like a very worthwhile deal no matter how one looked at it.

It wasn't just the coal bosses who were excited; the actors walking behind them were also moved.

Although Zeng Li had participated in similar activities in China, this was her first time abroad, and more importantly, it was her first time having a film shortlisted for an international film festival with her very first movie.

Indeed, Zeng Li had previously only acted in television dramas; this was her first time in film.

As the female lead and a contender for the Venice Volpi Cup for Best Actress, Su Chang was momentarily stunned by the situation. Her expression became somewhat stiff, and she even subconsciously avoided the glare of the magnesium lights.

If this were certain female stars in China, they would have already started posing provocatively for the cameras.

Walking the red carpet at a top-tier international film festival was an honor that most actors could only dream of.

As newcomers, Bai Baihe, Tong Yaya, and Wang Zhi performed even more poorly; their bodies were stiff, their walking became uncoordinated, and they nearly tripped if not for someone supporting them.

Tong Yaya and Wang Zhi were essentially bit players in the film. They were only able to walk the red carpet because Cheng Sheng had specifically named them; otherwise, given their roles, they would have had no chance at all.

The media on both sides also watched Cheng Sheng and the others in shock.

They were likely seeing such a large group walking the red carpet together for the first time as well!

After the red carpet, there was one final part: accepting interviews from reporters.

Afterward, following Venetian custom, a premiere press conference for Cheng Sheng's film was to be held.

However, because the jury had scheduled the premiere at the same time as the red carpet, the crew of *The Great Tang Dynasty: Origins* had no time to prepare.

Consequently, no one from Cheng Sheng's group was present during the premiere.

It wasn't until the red carpet ended that Cheng Sheng and the others arrived at the screening hall.

Looking at the sparse audience, Cheng Sheng did a rough count; the occupancy rate was less than forty percent.

Given that the jury had arranged for the best possible time slot, this turnout was quite meager.

This was likely because the jury had not helped with promotion, and since it was Cheng Sheng's first time in Venice, his team had spent the last two days playing instead of promoting the film.

This resulted in no one knowing about the film, and thus, very few people came to watch it.

Although there weren't many viewers, more than half of them were film critics, colleagues coming to show support, and distributors from various countries.

The reason there were so many professional film critics was mainly due to the jury's apparent favor toward the film.

Although the jury had not disclosed the film's content to the public, news of their interest had reached those who were paying attention.

Since the jury favored it, the film must have its merits.

The critics were curious to see what kind of film could be so highly regarded by the jury.