Nobody knows movies better than me

Chapter 33 When You Succeed, You'll Be Surrounded by Good People

On December 31, after thirteen days in theaters, "Little Miss Sunshine" grossed over 30 million yuan, reaching 3246 million yuan.

Compared to the neighboring films "A World Without Thieves" and "Kung Fu Hustle," which have already grossed over 100 million yuan, this achievement seems so insignificant.

But considering that this film has no big-name actors and the director is young and not a professional, it is already amazing enough.

Moreover, there are very few domestic films that have grossed over 100 million yuan in this era.

Zhang Jun's film even surpassed Wong Kar-wai's "2046," ranking fifth on this year's domestic film box office chart, after Jackie Chan's "New Police Story."

Including Hollywood imports, "Little Miss Sunshine" ranks tenth on the overall list, after "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban".

However, considering that "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" has already finished its run, while "Little Miss Sunshine" still has some time before it leaves theaters, this ranking seems to be able to move up a bit.

In fact, as "Little Miss Sunshine" continued to climb the box office, the media was already buzzing with excitement.

Because this film is truly legendary.

A 22-year-old young man, a graduate of Tsinghua University, made such a film, and it's bound to generate a lot of buzz!

Although the Southern Metropolis Daily has always been critical of this and that, it has been generous in its praise of Zhang Jun.

The report stated: "As the Lunar New Year film season gradually comes to an end, 'A World Without Thieves' and 'Kung Fu Hustle' are undoubtedly the absolute focus of market attention."

However, a film called "Little Miss Sunshine" emerged as a dark horse, becoming the most surprising market hit of the year thanks to its unique creativity and solid word-of-mouth.

The film successfully blends the Hollywood road movie narrative style with the local Northeastern comedy style. Its natural humor and sincere emotions resonated widely with the audience, and its market performance exceeded expectations.

What's even more remarkable is the director behind the film, Zhang Jun, who is only twenty-two years old.

His mature control, outstanding ability to integrate different genres, and profound understanding of local culture demonstrated in this work indicate that a talented new filmmaker is making a strong debut.

Industry insiders generally believe that this young director's future performance is worth looking forward to.

The Beijing Youth Daily had previously interviewed Zhang Jun at the College Student Film Festival. Although it was just a routine interview, it was still the first mainstream media outlet to interview Zhang Jun.

The newspaper focused on Zhang Jun's identity: "In this year's fiercely competitive film market, young director Zhang Jun has won unanimous praise from the industry and audiences for his self-written and directed debut film, 'Little Miss Sunshine'."

This newcomer to filmmaking, a graduate of Tsinghua University, demonstrated comprehensive control over everything from scriptwriting to on-set directing in the film.

Its mature narrative skills and unique artistic expression demonstrate a professional competence and creative vitality that transcends its age.

Zhang Jun's success story has sparked in-depth discussions among the public about his educational background.

Many observers have pointed out that Zhang Jun's comprehensive qualities, innovative thinking, and practical abilities demonstrated in his film creation precisely reflect the profound changes taking place in the educational philosophy of China's top universities.

Currently, higher education is increasingly emphasizing the cultivation of students' interdisciplinary integration abilities, independent problem-solving skills, and personalized creative potential.

Zhang Jun's growth trajectory is seen as a vivid microcosm of this educational reform trend.

His outstanding achievements are not only a personal success, but also provide a positive practical reference for talent cultivation models in universities.

Well, even Tsinghua University didn't know its education model was so amazing. This Zhang Jun is like someone who popped out of a rock.

However, despite the hype from the outside, the leaders of Tsinghua University also gained prestige.

In recent meetings with leaders of Peking University, the leaders of Tsinghua University have been sitting very upright, extremely proud of themselves.

The leaders of Peking University were so jealous that they went back and emphasized that Peking University should strengthen the cultivation of students' comprehensive qualities.

Tsinghua University is also taking action, rewarding those who have made contributions to the university and helped it surpass Peking University.

On the one hand, the outstanding alumni award that Hou Yu helped Zhang Jun apply for has been approved, but some procedures need to be followed.

Tsinghua University's idea is to promote Zhang Jun's status as an outstanding alumnus during the admissions season, thereby attracting outstanding students.

This is a living advertisement; we should make good use of it.

This is also a good thing for Zhang Jun, as it means that his relationship with Tsinghua University has deepened.

Tsinghua University is not only one of the top universities in China, but also represents a circle.

Do you think the entertainment industry, rife with factionalism, is more powerful, or the academic world, capable of leading national research projects and reaching the highest levels of government?

It's worth noting that even Number One graduated from Tsinghua University.

Although Zhang Jun may not reach that level, the fact that he is listed as an outstanding alumnus means that Tsinghua University considers him one of its own.

If Zhang Jun encounters any difficulties, Tsinghua University will step in to help him, both morally and logically.

This also reflects Tsinghua University's high regard for Zhang Jun's potential. Although Hou Yu used Zhang Jun's success to realize his political ambition of being promoted to associate professor.

But he truly reciprocated.

In a conversation with school leaders, Hou Yu expressed his optimism that Zhang Jun would become the next Zhang Yimou and a symbol of national film culture.

If what Hou Yu said is true, then Zhang Jun is essentially a golden brand for Tsinghua University in terms of culture.

If we want this young director to grow up healthily, we must provide him with some convenience and protection.

Of course, Zhang Jun himself needs to prove himself in the film business.

If he can't do it, then there's nothing anyone can do.

The second aspect is related to international publicity. Tsinghua University originally planned to take Zhang Jun's short film "The Tuner" to the Cannes Film Festival for exhibition.

This is a great opportunity to gain international recognition.

After all, Tsinghua University is already one of the top universities in China, so no matter how much it is upgraded, it will only be so-so.

However, winning an award in Cannes increases the city's international ranking and its attractiveness to international students.

So Hou Yu also talked to Ye Xiaoyi, asking her to tell Zhang Jun to remember to go to the Cannes Film Festival together next May.

Zhang Jun comes from the future and has demystified the so-called three major European awards and even the Oscars.

However, people in this era are still very enthusiastic about various foreign awards, and Tsinghua University is no exception. It would be even better if it were the Nobel Prize.

However, since the school wants it, Zhang Jun said he would actively cooperate.

In addition to these effects, and the fact that ordinary viewers' amazement at Zhang Jun turned into actual curiosity, leading them to go to the cinema, Zhang Jun also strengthened the resolve of many people.

One of them would become a famous figure in the future, but at this time he had just graduated from law school and was working as a packaging supervisor at Travel Channel.

He is Guo Fan, who harbors a dream of making movies and had previously seen reports about Zhang Jun.

Despite having a major completely unrelated to the film industry, Zhang Jun achieved his dream.

Zhang Jun was very lucky; he found a big boss to invest in his film and it became a success.

Guo Fan, on the other hand, could only proceed in a roundabout way, with the realization of his dream still a long way off.

He saw Zhang Jun's interview with Peng Shen, in which he said something about how he would regret not pursuing his dreams when he was eighty.

I feel that Zhang Jun has spoken his mind.

Inspired by Zhang Jun's story, Guo Fan became even more determined to pursue his dream of becoming a director, until he saw the announcement for Zhang Jun's personal director studio's assistant.