Yu Zheng rants about the industry: Bad acting is the director's fault

Producer and screenwriter Yu Zheng recently opened up about his thoughts on the entertainment industry. He talks about how it's a director's job to make sure that acting is on point.  He says,  "While we are complaining about an actor's bad acting, have we considered the lack of guidance by the director?"  Yu Zheng further says, " I am afraid that the director who does not understand the drama has ruined the drama."  

Yu Zheng shared the process around choosing the director for Story of Yanxi Palace in 2016. He revealed that there had been meetings with so-called big shot directors and these directors demanded exorbitant fees even without understanding the script. These are people that have filmed big productions or have ties to popular idols or work as a certain director's assistant. 

When a netizen commented that there was something wrong with the way Wu Jinyan delivered her lines. Yu Zheng defended the actress saying that there was no problem with Wu Jinyan's lines. He said that of course, she cannot compare to industry veterans. However, if three-time Gold Awarded film actresses are only up to this level, how good do you expect a young actress born in the nineties to be? 

With such a response, Yu Zheng immediately got flak for throwing shade at industry veterans (assumed to be Zhou Xun of Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace). Zhou Xun has won the big 3 acting accolades from the Golden Horse Award, Hong Kong Film Award and Golden Rooster Award over the course of her career. 

Yu Zheng's wrote a follow up post on Weibo, "The intention is to call attention to every aspect of the industry.  Why are there so many stupid people who always take someone's words out of context?  It's ridiculous."  He ended his post by saying "What I mean is that even multi-awarded film actresses can't be completely without fault, the occasional question of one or two lines should not be brought up, give her (Wu Jinyan) time, slowly see her progress." 

Here's the thing. I believe Yu Zheng has a point here. He could've said it better without throwing shade at anyone else but this is Yu Zheng we're talking about. It should be the director's job to steer the production in the right direction. If you have a great director who's worth his salt and has a passion for what he does, chances are, you're getting a quality production.  Settle for a mediocre one... well, you get what you pay for.  

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Office Posters from Standardized Life Starring Wu Jinyan

Standardized Life 标化人生 is a workplace drama that stars Wu Jinyan (The Legend of Hao Lan) and Yin Tao (The Years You Were Late).  They are joined by Liu Mintao (The Love Hypnosis), Zuo Xiaoqing (Ordinary Glory), Peter Ho (Age of Rebellion), Hong Yao (Story of Yanxi Palace), Zhang Tao (Gossip High) and Zhang Nan (Long For You). 

It is an interesting concept to feature each character's workspace which gives the impression that this could be a story that's reflective of the average salaryman. Like in real life, office desks are an extension of a person's personalities and gives a little window into these characters. It seems that corporate politics will largely revolve around the ladies in the sales department. 

Wu Jinyan plays Zhang Xiaoyu, the new personal assistant of Lin Rui, the company's sales director.  She is the owner of the messy desk, always on the go and at her boss's beck and call. 

Yin Tao plays Lin Rui, the very capable sales director of the company who serves as mentor to Zhang Xiaoyu. She is next in line to become the GM. 

Liu Mintao plays Shu Wanting, the General Manager of the company who worries about being replaced. 

Zuo Xiaoqing plays Fang Jing, Lin Rui's rival and head of the second sales department.

Peter Ho plays Wen Zhe, a company manager. It's not hard to guess which desk he owns, it's the one with the fancy watch.  

Hong Yao plays Dan Ding, a computer genius. 

Zhang Tao plays Jin Xiaobei, a rich heir.

Zhang Nan is Ling Xiaoxiao, Fang Jing's assistant. Her workspace is decorated in pink. 

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Story of Yanxi Palace is Google's Most Searched TV Show in 2018

It's been a few months since Story of Yanxi Palace 延禧攻略 ended, and it continues to reap the rewards of success especially now that it's the year end and award shows are rounding up their top picks. Today, the show has become the top trending topic on Weibo once again coincidentally because of how well it trended elsewhere. 

Google has revealed its Year in Search 2018 which listed the trending items for the year. According to the rankings, Story of Yanxi Palace was the #1 trending TV show in the world especially in places like Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia.

As a fan of dramas, I feel that k-drama is ultimately the more popular choice among international viewers. Mainland Chinese viewers don't even use Google, so this win is an unexpected surprise. Yu Zheng and the cast and crew really deserve all the praise for turning what was initially an underdog into a global phenomenon. A big congrats!

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From Kris Wu to Luhan, iQiYi Scream Night 2019 is full of epic reunions

iQiYi Scream Night 2019 was held last night on Dec 1, 2018. An awards show hosted by a streaming media service may be far from being the most esteemed, but the event came together with all the glitz and glamour of c-ent. Many attendees went onstage to accept their awards and off-stage interactions also became trending topics. 

To start, Kris Wu and Luhan who were formerly members of the boy band EXO were seated on the same table. Ever since they left the band one after the other and returned to China to pursue solo activities, interactions between then were sparse and far between (though they do exist, if you know where to look). 

Whoever's in charge of the seating plan is a genius, allowing the two a chance to reconnect in the public eye. The moment though lasting less than a minute still put a smile on my face (see video). 

Yu Zheng is like the proud father of Story of Yanxi Palace as he attended with the cast that includes Nie Yuan, Charmaine Sheh, Qin Lan, Wu Jinyan, Xu Kai, Su Qing and Wang Yuanke. Bai Lu also joined in for the pictures. 

Story of Yanxi Palace took home many awards. While posing for the group photo, Yu Zheng joked that he is not the eunuch but the crown prince. 

Actor Hu Xianxu and singer Chen Linong are friends from the iQiYi reality show Hi Housemate.

The two same-age buddies born in 2000 chatted the night away at iQiYi Scream Night despite being seated at different tables. They even shared a handshake before Hu Xianxu took the stage to accept his award. 

NINE PERCENT members performed onstage and brought home Group of the Year, Variety Show of the Year and Scream Boy Band. The nine members were complete - Cai Xukun, Chen Linong, Fan Chengcheng, Justin Huang Minghao, Lin Yanjun, Zhu Zhengyan, Wang Ziyi, Xiao Gui - Wang Linkai and You Zhangjing. 

Watch iQiYi Scream Night 2019 here. 

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