After going on stage to accept his award, Chen Fusheng walked to the microphone and began his acceptance speech.
After the usual round of formulaic thanks, Chen Fusheng shared a few thoughts he’d prepared in advance.
“I believe that those quiet acts of persistence buried in turbulent times, that stubbornness of ordinary people, can truly pierce through the ages and strike deep into the human heart.”
“Finally, I want to share this honor with every soul in life’s bullfighting ring, facing adversity, challenging fate, and striving to defend dignity and meaning.”
“Thank you, everyone!”
Speech concluded, Chen Fusheng walked off the stage to moderately warm applause.
The next award was the Special Jury Prize.
It went to Alexander the Great.
When the stage announced the Golden Lion, Chen Fusheng was caught off guard.
He never expected the Best Screenplay Award he’d won to be the fourth from last.
This year’s festival hadn’t awarded best actor or best actress at all.
But this year’s Golden Lion was a double winner.
Unfortunately, Cowherd was not among them.
The films that took the 37th Golden Lion were Gloria and Atlantic City.
The ceremony came to a close.
But the real excitement tonight was just beginning.
“Let’s go. Next up: doing business at the banquet the organizers have prepared for us.”
Chen Fusheng saw people beginning to leave and stood up too, giving Han Sanping and Siqin Gaowa a nudge.
On the way to the banquet, the three first regrouped with Deputy Director Shi and the others.
“Director Shi, mission accomplished.”
“Well done, Comrade Fusheng! Your acceptance speech was excellent too. You held yourself well on stage and brought no shame to the motherland.”
“Thank you for the recognition, Director Shi. I’ll keep striving. If I have another chance to compete, I’ll bring home a Golden Lion.”
“Good. Young people should have this kind of ambition. But remember, one must never become arrogant.”
“Yes. I’ll always remember Director Shi’s teachings.”
Deputy Director Shi grew more and more pleased with Chen Fusheng. He patted the young man’s shoulder warmly and, with visible excitement, took the trophy to admire it.
Then it was passed around for everyone to see. Even Wang Tao, who didn’t get along with Chen Fusheng, offered a word of congratulations.
Then the group made their way to the banquet hall.
The moment they arrived, Chen Fusheng made a beeline for the buffet.
He’d been worried about needing the bathroom during the ceremony, so all day, aside from the breakfast Han Sanping had brought him, he’d barely had a sip of water.
By now he was absolutely starving.
“You need a full stomach before you can negotiate with anyone.” Chen Fusheng smiled at Deputy Director Shi as he loaded his plate.
“Go ahead. Eat first.” Deputy Director Shi reassured him and loaded up a plate himself.
But Chen Fusheng had barely taken a few bites before someone came over to greet him.
Not a distributor, but a Western celebrity whose name Chen Fusheng couldn’t recall.
He managed to get through it, and thanks to his performance on stage earlier, quite a few people remembered him. Throughout the banquet, people kept coming over to socialize.
Although Chen Fusheng was more interested in the food on his plate, once you entered this circle, you played by its rules.
From the moment he stood up, the food on his plate never got another touch.
In the end, when he went off to negotiate, the leftovers were polished off by Han Sanping and the two “bodyguard” comrades.
Not that it would have mattered if they hadn’t. But the Chinese of this era didn’t have the habit of wasting food.
“Chen, congratulations on your film winning best screenplay.”
Bob Weinstein, the owner of Miramax Films and the foreigner who had made the highest offer before, was of all the distributors the one who valued Cowherd‘s rights the most.
It was a pity Chen Fusheng’s group hadn’t accepted at the time, or he’d be seeing his return already.
He was well aware that after winning the Best Screenplay Award at Venice, buying the rights for six hundred thousand was no longer realistic.
Still, he had faith in Cowherd and was willing to raise his offer.
Of course, he had a ceiling.
“Chen, this is the highest price Miramax Films can offer. If someone outbids me, then I can only say it’s a shame. I hope we can work together next time.”
Chen Fusheng looked at the number Bob had written on his business card. Suppressing the excitement inside, he spoke as calmly as he could:
“Mr. Bob, I appreciate your sincerity. I need to go back and discuss it with the others. I’ll definitely give you an answer by noon tomorrow at the latest. Does that work?”
“Of course.” Bob knew Chen Fusheng’s side was playing the waiting game. But he too was eager to negotiate over other promising films’ rights.
So without further pleasantries, he stood up and shook Chen Fusheng’s hand: “Chen, looking forward to good news!”
“Likewise. Wishing you a pleasant evening, Mr. Bob.”
After Bob, several more distributors came calling.
Not every distributor had the financial muscle to negotiate for the worldwide rights. But Chen Fusheng preferred to bundle and sell as a package for the best price.
Four other solid distributors besides Miramax Films were interested in the global overseas rights.
Their offers were 760,000, 800,000, 880,000, and 950,000 dollars respectively.
All in U.S. dollars.
None exceeded Miramax Films.
So after finishing with the last distributor of the night, Chen Fusheng already had his answer.
“All done?”
It was already two in the morning. But including Deputy Director Shi, not a single person had gone back to their room. Everyone was waiting for the result of Chen Fusheng’s negotiations.
“Yep, all done.” Chen Fusheng took the mineral water Han Sanping handed him, took a sip to wet his throat, then continued: “It’s late. Anyone who wanted to talk to me probably already has. The ones who didn’t come likely won’t.”
“That makes sense.” Deputy Director Shi nodded and asked the question everyone was burning to know: “So what’s the result?”
“One million.” Chen Fusheng deliberately paused before adding the unit: “Dollars.”
He heard everyone gasp in unison, and saw their faces light up with excitement and astonishment.
“Wonderful, absolutely wonderful, Comrade Fusheng! Tonight’s award has doubled our film’s rights value. You’ve really achieved something great.” Deputy Director Shi was the first to recover. He seized Chen Fusheng’s hands and spoke with emotion.
Then the others chimed in:
“Good heavens! I was already shocked when you said someone offered six hundred thousand. Now it’s jumped to a million? I couldn’t have even dreamed of that before leaving the country.”
“Before I left, I heard people at our studio mocking our film. I can’t wait to see what they say when the news comes back that it sold for a million dollars.”
Wang Tao: It should have been my credit. All of it!
