The Best Director

We are shocked and deeply regretful about the recent ’Juno Operation’ in

Gloucester City; their decisive actions are extremely heartbreaking…”

This was Flame Films’ first official response to the mass pregnancy incident on their website. The article didn’t contain much criticism or preaching but was filled with sorrow and regret, clearly stating the attitude: “Teen pregnancy is absolutely not a cool thing, and if it is for the sake of experiencing physical changes, the feelings of pregnancy, or to become a focal point… then teen pregnancy is extremely irresponsible to oneself, to one’s family, and to the baby!”

At the end of the article, it was also written, “We will donate ten million US dollars to support the work of the Youth Protection Foundation; furthermore we will donate another ten million US dollars to support organizations that help women and children. We wish all girls in America can have a healthy and happy adolescence.”

When Flame Filins published this message, they instantly received praise from numerous die-hard movie fans and the favor of many others. Because the ’Juno Operation¹ and the recent trend of teen pregnancy seem to be caused by ‘Juno/ but in reality, they have no direct connection to Flame Films or Wang Yang – it’s just the influence of the movie. Any other film company might have felt proud and handled it by not responding or just expressing ‘regret/ and then ignoring it altogether.

Even so, no true fans would blame them, as rational people understand that ‘Juno’ isn’t teaching about teen pregnancy. The movie doesn’t explicitly shout, “Don’t get pregnant young!” but it has said enough. As A.O. Scott from The New York Times film critics said, ”

‘Magical Yang.¹ Juno faces many difficulties in the film, none of which are fun, she is j ust strong enough and has great family and friends.”

I disagree with the irresponsible rhetoric of

But now, Flame Films has donated twenty million dollars, and they are just a small independent film company! Apart from the few who might maliciously say “they’re buying a good reputation,” everyone else will give a thumbs up. Flame Films donates money, people in need benefit from it, and that is something worthy of everyone’s praise and respect.

Wang Yang knew donating money wasn’t the perfect solution to this matter, but the reality was that there was no perfect solution to this issue. He wasn’t a messiah, and teen pregnancy isn’t a phenomenon that started today; it has become increasingly unavoidable… So, aside from official institutions, he entrusted the money to civil welfare organizations, meaning many girls in need, including those pregnant early, could get help. Isn’t that great?

Was that it after donating the money? Although Wang Yang had said almost everything he needed to on the Flame Films official website article and on his personal blog, print and online media were equally important. To have these words published in print, naturally, he had to accept personal interviews. Fortunately, he was currently in high demand, and there were plenty of newspapers and magazines hoping to interview him. He accepted the invitation from the Los Angeles Times – of course, the interview wasn’t limited to discussing the mass pregnancy incident; it was a comprehensive personal interview.

Inside the bright cafe, Wang Yang met with Kim-Silver, dressed in a professional women’s suit, who had interviewed him several times before, and they were quite familiar with each other. Kim-Silver, seeing him, immediately stood up, waved, and greeted with a smile, “Hi, Yang!” Wang Yang walked over, shook hands with her, and smiled back, “Hello, Kim.”

Having exchanged greetings, Wang Yang sat down in the chair and ordered a cup of coffee for himself as the interview began. Kim-Silver’s hands rested on the laptop keyboard as she looked at him and asked, “These past few days, everyone has been discussing the ‘Juno Operation.’ You’ve turned down NBC’s adaptation offer, and Flame Films has donated twenty million dollars to protection agencies. What is your true stance on this issue?”

Wang Yang paused fora moment, still feeling a bit choked up inside; he sighed and said, “I really regret it. I’m happy to see that everyone likes Juno, but Tin very unhappy to see her behavior of teenage pregnancy being learned and imitated!”

Kim-Silver nodded slightly, typing notes on her keyboard and continued to listen as he went on: “In fact, the movie ends with Juno being mature and understanding responsibility; that’s cool, not the Juno at the beginning, who was just a capricious little girl, bored and having sex because she wanted to; pregnant, considering abortion; not wanting to abort, then deciding to have the baby… She never seriously considered the consequences, so she hurt others, hurt herself, and was not cool at all.”

So you mean you’re strongly against teen pregnancy?” Kim-Silver looked up and asked; this question was to further clarify his position.

At that moment, the blonde waitress came over with a cup of coffee, placing it on the table with a smile, “Magic Yang, your coffee.” Wang Yang glanced at her and smiled, saying “Thankyou,” then seriously answered, “Yes, you could say that, I’m very much against teenage pregnancy because it is not suitable in terms of mentality, physical condition, capability, timing… nothing justifies it.”

He took a sip of his coffee, tasting the bitterness, and said, “But everyone has their own choices. What I want to say is, before making any choice, think more ask yourself ‘why’? Are you really ready? In the end, what I’m saying is old- fashioned and not cool, but these are truths,”

The next few questions they exchanged were about the pregnancy incident, and the interview then moved on to the next part, Wang Yang’s upcoming plans. With the serious topic out of the way, Kim Silvi’s face lit up with a smile. She cheerfully asked, ”Yang, you know fans are all looking forward to hearing you say ‘I’m making another movie, and it will be released in six months¹ — so, what are your plans for movies this year?¹¹

Haha!” Wang Yang couldn’t help but laugh, nodding as he said, “These past few days, I’ve had an idea for a script,”

What! Kim Silvi instantly let out a “Wow” of surprise, jackpot—a new project plan from Magic Yang was big news! She quickly asked, ^irCan you talk about what kind of script it is?”

Wang Yang thought about the script idea in his mind; it stemmed from two reasons, one of which was to make teenage pregnancy like Juno no longer trendy. How could he do that? Simply by introducing a new trend. He took another sip of coffee and said, “Right now, I can only tell you, it’s about another cool girl.” He chuckled and added, “It’s not just rhe pregnant teens who are cool.”

A cool girl’s story?!” Kim Silvi’s eyes sparkled with excitement. Despite his sparse answer, there was a lot to delve into. She immediately asked, “So, is there a lead actress in mind? Will it be Natalie Portman again?”

She knew that too many girls dreamed of being the lead in a Magic Yang film, from High School Musical to Juno; he had launched several girls like Jessica, Rachel, Zoe Deschanel, and Anne Hathaway to fame. Even Natalie Portman, who was already an outstanding star, had directly won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama. If he announced “I have a movie audition!” now, probably every young actress in Hollywood would flock to him, even for a minor role.

No, there isn’t a candidate yet.” Wang Yang said with a smile, shaking his head. But in fact, he already had someone in mind—the sweet and charming girl and this was another important reason why he wanted to make such a movie. However, he hadn’t told Jessica about the movie plan yet; he didn’t even know if she would be interested in acting. Wang Yang smiled faintly, feeling he didn’t need to worry about that.

But there was a question. He looked at Kim Silvi across from him and said this movie, ‘Sweetheart,¹ I won’t be directing. 1 will take on the role of a producer and an executive producer.”

Oh!” Kim Silvi looked surprised, and her hands paused above the keyboard. “Why aren’t you directing? Wow! Do you have any other film plans?”

No, I don’t have plans to direct another movie right now,” Wang Yang replied dashing her hopes, and continued, “I’m not directing ‘Sweetheart’ because…”

Even though the movie was called “Sweetheart” and would be a musical, it was unrelated to the movie “Sweetheart Spicy Dance” in his mind, because if he wanted to make a movie that could influence the teenage trend, a girl who could influence that trend, “Sweetheart Spicy Dance” wouldn’t be enough in terms of its story content or the personality of its characters.

After the experience with “High School Musical’¹ and “Juno”, he was well aware that teenagers have their own tastes, certain elements could drive them crazy, like the fresh yet passionate style of “High School Musical”, the unique characters like Juno, as well as youthful and attractive boys and girls.

But not “Sweetheart Spicy Dance”, its plot was undoubtedly inspirational, but the tone was too gloomy. Teenagers have stories that teenagers love, it doesn’t need to be complicated, it could be cliche, funny, heartwarming, passionate.., but it just couldn’t be gloomy, including the story’s characters, the setting of the scenes, the colors of the shots, and so on, everything needed to have real, visible sunshine. And that ghetto tone of “Sweetheart Spicy Dance”, it’s not bad, but it couldn’t influence the trend among teenagers.

He asked himself: “If you were a teenager, what would you think?”, and the voice in his heart answered him: “I feel the same way.”

If it were a youth musical movie, he wanted to see a young and beautiful story, a group of sunny and individual young people; not violence, drugs, gangs, and other negative energies. If he wanted to see a world of sin, he could watch something more serious like “Traffic”, Why would he want to see those things in a youth musical film?

These past few days, he had been contemplating this issue, actors who were handsome or beautiful were easy to find, but a good story and characters were very hard to come by. To write a good script, and also to pinpoint the successful elements of a street dance style musical movie, he put all the movies and TV shows he could think of that fit the dance theme in front of him and watched and analyzed them one by one, “Sweetheart Spicy Dance”, “Step Up” i, 2,3, “Dream to Dance”, “Rhythms of the World”.and so on, even more exaggerated than back during “High School Musical” rimes.

Now he still had a ton of movies that he hadn’t watched, but his goal was to watch them all, extract their essence, then combine his own ideas, and slowly create a script and sculpt a “cool” girl and several young people with distinct personalities.

He already had a rough outline in mind, and the reason he wasn’t directing was precisely because he found that when it came to youth dance films, he lacked directorial passion.

A commercial movie script could be written very calmly, strictly following market analysis, and he was aware of the market’s demands and the secrets to success; he had confidence in creating a good script. But a movie wasn’t just a script; it needed vitality, a vibrancy that leapt off the page, and when a script reached the hands of directors and actors, their inspiration and passion would imbue it with that energy, even turning a mediocre script into a great movie. This was why there was such a huge disparity between the compensation of screenwriters and that of directors and actors.

If he directed now with his current calm demeanor, it would just be mechanical work. He might end up making a good film, but the greater likelihood was creating something mediocre.

However, the two reasons for making this film meant he couldn’t just finish the script and then let go.

Perhaps only he, having seen the gains and losses of all the dance films of the next ten years, could steer clear of the wrong paths and know “what style this movie should be shot in” and “what kind of editing this movie should have”. So he had to tell the director these things as a producer and be responsible for overseeing the big picture.

I’m not directing because I want to put down the microphone for a while,” Wang Yang spread his hands with a smile, thinking of the past three years, and softly said, “I’m 21 now, and in three years, I’ve made and shot four movies, barely taking a break. I think it’s time to learn something new, maybe you don’t know, but my drawing skills are terrible, the kind of terrible that turns an apple into a butt.”

Kim Silvertown couldn’t help but laugh out loud, looking at him and asking with a laugh, “Magic Yang, should I write down that quote?” Wang Yang shrugged and continued, “So I’m planning to hire an art teacher, and I will go back to study at the University of Southern California.” Seeing her astonished look, he laughed and said, “What? You know the ‘Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts’ is going to be completed at the end of the month. I will go there for further study.”

I didn’t hear you wrong, did I? You’re going back to the University of Southern California to study?” Kim-Silver still found it unbelievable, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director, over $1.4 billion in global box office from four movies, what more was there to learn? Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts? She immediately realized and, with widened eyes, asked, “You mean, you want to learn some digital effects?” Seeing Wang Yang nod, she excitedly asked, “Wow, are you planning on making a big-budget special effects movie for your next project?”

Haha, possibly, everything is possible right now,” Wang Yang laughed a few times, picked up his coffee and sipped, saying seriously, “Actually, the reason is not that complicated, I just feel that since there are no new directing plans, why not learn something new.¹¹ Kim-Silver frowned and asked, “So we won’t be seeing a new movie from you for quite a while?” Wang Yang shook his head and smiled, “That’s really hard to say.”

Kim-Silver nodded and typed rapidly on her keyboard, asking, “We all know you had some unpleasant experiences at USC, and now it’s almost three years later, what do you think?”

Since we’re talking about this…” Wang Yang smiled and continued to drink his coffee, recalling the joy of receiving rhe acceptance letter from USC, the crazy days lie first arrived, the brief yet happy rimes that followed, and that event that changed his destiny… He was silent for a long rime before he said, “The School of Cinematic Arts at USC is a great school. 1 love her, respect her, her embrace is filled with people who are passionate about movies like me. But…

Kim-Silver saw him become very serious, his tone became much heavier, “Regarding the incident that happened to me, and rhe way the school handled it, I do not agree. Maybe the person who handled my case has made many right decisions, but they were wrong with me. They should be punished, an apology is not enough.” He sighed, his smile serious, “Anyway, I hope USC and all schools, when thinking about expelling a student, should be very cautious, because your momentary decision can change someone’s life. And the bad thing is, these changes are usually ones of despair.”

The two of them talked about a few more movie-related questions and then came to the final part of the interview, Wang Yang’s life and gossip. Kim-Silver closed her notebook, apparently content with keeping the gossip in her mind, she drank her coffee, smiling casually as she asked, “I heard you and Natalie are very good friends privately?”

Yes, good buddies. Wang Yang smiled inwardly, shaking his head, “I refuse to answer this question, but anyway, we are not enemies.” Kim-Silver, seemingly ready to dig deeper into gossip, propped her chin and asked, “So, who do you think is prettier, Jessica or Natalie?” Wang Yang rolled his eyes somewhat helplessly, and laughed, “I’m not the magic mirror, but yes, you’re the prettiest.”

Kime-Silver burst into laughter at his response, Wang Yang went on to say, “Kim, you can write this, ‘Natalie is a very talented and brilliant actress, and it is a pleasure to work with her.\'” His eyes glanced through the glass window and suddenly, he noticed a paparazzi crew outside taking pictures of them. He couldn’t help but laugh, “Lookover there, wow, paparazzi! Lady, it seems you’ll be in the entertainment newspapers tomorrow too, the headline might read ‘Wang Yang’s secret meeting with a mysterious woman at the cafe¹…” He shrugged smilingly, “I know how you work, that’s how rumors get started can’t even have a coffee without trouble.”

Okay, let’s not talk about Natalie then,” Kim-Silver wasn’t worried about the rumor about herself, she thought for a moment, then asked, “The Oscar nominations will be announced soon, everyone says you will get a Best Director nomination, becoming the youngest nominee. What are your expectations for this?”

If I get the nomination, of course I will be very happy, but I haven’t thought too much about it, let’s just see what happens,” Wang Yang said calmly. Despite the media’s predictions claiming a sure nomination this year, he wasn’t as optimistic inside; the Oscars were known for their staid and conservative style. Would the judges really let a 21-year-old who has directed two “just-eligible” movies get a Best Director nomination?

He smiled faintly, whatever will be, will be, just like Natalie suggested, if he’s shortlisted, it would be a surprise; if not, he wouldn’t be disappointed. His real expectation for this year’s Oscars was whether Will Smith could be nominated for Best Actor, and if he could win the award? As for that two-faced girl, he felt she would definitely be nominated, but winning was unlikely.

Kim-Silver nodded, then asked, “You know, the final court decision on your case with Cole Randston will be made next month, how do you feel about that?

Waiting,” Mentioning Cole and the assault case that had dragged on tor more than a year, Wang Yang became somewhat irritated and said unwillingly, “There’s not much to say about that.”