The Best Director

“Mr. Wang, may I ask if on August 23,1999, at Paleck Private Hospital, did you initiate a physical attack on my client, Mr. Cole Randston?” the prosecuting attorney Billy McRoe asked sternly, eyes fixed on Wang Yang who sat in the chair. “You just need to answer me, did you, or did you not?” Wang Yang nodded calmly and replied, “Yes, I did…”

Billy McRoe snapped his fingers and looked up at the judge with white hair, then glanced toward the jury members. As he walked over, he said, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is a grave offense. He violently attacked an innocent man, punched his face, kneed his stomach, kicked his joints… my client nearly lost his life!” Cole, on the other side, looked pitiful and sighed softly, as if he were still shaken by the experience.

“Look at the comparison!” Billy McRoe pointed at Wang Yang, and the jury members looked over. He continued, “This guy is 185 cm, over 170 pounds; while my client is only 170 cm, less than 14.0 pounds, and what’s more, there’s ample evidence to show Wang Yang has been practicing some kind of boxing since he was young, whereas my client is just an ordinary person! If this were a boxing match, it would be utterly unfair—this is lightweight versus heavyweight!”

A few people in the spectator seats chuckled, but Wang Yang’s support team and the accompanying Jessica maintained their composure. The judge with white hair banged his gavel, and the courtroom immediately quieted down. Holding up a finger, Billy McRoe continued, “What I want to highlight isn’t fairness, but Wang Yang’s brutality and malice. My client didn’t want to fight; he almost pleaded, ‘Stop! Please stop!’ But Wang Yang didn’t stop. Not until the security arrived to pull him away. Yet from the video, we can see that Wang Yang still wanted to charge forward and continue assaulting my client. He just wanted to hit someone; he is a devil! This is absolutely a grave case of intentional assault!”

Wang Yang glanced at Cole on his left, who was nodding his head in regret. The jury members exchanged looks, each with different expressions—some furrowing their brows in thought, others indifferent as if their minds were already made up. As soon as Billy McRoe returned to his seat, defense attorney Vincent Grant stood up. He looked at the jury, spreading his hands, and asked, “Does anyone have children?”

The jury members were taken aback. Vincent Grant patted Wang Yang’s shoulder and said, “My client, he saved a child. He saved a child’s life!” He looked toward the spectator seats, where the rescued little girl, Brianna, was sitting in her mother Carmen’s arms—they were there to defend Wang Yang. Vincent Grant continued, “Think about it—if that were your child, in that situation while you’re trying to save her life, but someone is obstructing you, wasting your precious time, what would you do?”

“My client is not a devil; he’s a superhero. In fact, all Americans love such heroes!” Vincent Grant took two steps forward, glanced at the judge, and pointed outside, saying, “Superheroes always fight the bad guys. We love this, we adore it! If you don’t believe me, just step into any movie theater and you’ll find one or two blockbusters being shown that tell such tales. The whole cinema cheers for them, why?”

Vincent Grant paused for a moment and answered himself, “Because it’s human nature! It’s the good side of human nature! The law of this country is always established to cater to the social nature of humans. I say Mr. Randston is a bad guy, and Mr. McRoe claims he’s an innocent victim, but what’s the truth?” He looked at Cole and said gravely, “This guy, in pursuit of a few money-making photos, didn’t lend a hand to a human life but instead caused a disturbance. His behavior is the true intentional assault, the intentional murder!”

“My client, he was infuriated, he indeed struck first in the hospital. But ladies and gentlemen, this is a whole incident, continuous from the street to the hospital—it shouldn’t be dissected. The incident should start where it began: on the street, my client was repeatedly obstructed and provoked by Mr. Randston. So, the first to hit was my client, but the first to take action was Mr. Randston!” After Vincent Grant finished speaking, the jury members looked at each other again, their expressions changing and varying once more.

“This is slander! This is an utterly baseless accusation!” Billy McRoe immediately stood up and said, “Mr. Wang was saving someone, but my client did not interfere, nor did he stand by indifferently, but what could he do? There was only one Brianna, and all he could do was follow at her side. Moreover, I hope everyone can distinguish that when Wang Yang started to beat up my client, he had already finished saving the person. As an entertainment reporter, my client has always been seen as an enemy in the eyes of Mr. Wang. Could it be that he beat up my client to vent his personal grudge from before?”

Wang Yang leaned back in his chair, the sounds in the courtroom gradually fading to meagre whispers. If possible, he would have liked to hit Cole again, to vent his personal grudge; but at that time, it was only a matter of 5 minutes. Just 5 minutes, and a life would have been lost. He thought he would never feel regret over his actions. As these thoughts crossed his mind, Wang Yang turned to look at the spectator seats, where little girl Brianna, sensing his gaze, immediately flashed him a radiant smile and waved. Wang Yang smiled faintly in return and turned his head back to face the old judge with furrowed white brows.

When Wang Yang and Jessica and the others walked out of the courthouse, the paparazzi who had been waiting for the opportunity swarmed them, raising various cameras and frantically snapping pictures. The bodyguards they had hired quickly held back the paparazzi, allowing Wang Yang and his group to smoothly make their way to the car. The paparazzi continued to take photos and shouted, “Yang, the trial result has been postponed again; are you relieved or anxious?” “Yang, are you afraid of going to prison? What do you think it would be like if you have to go?” “Jessica, if Yang goes to prison, would you mind?”

With a “bang,” the car door shut and as the vehicle started up and drove away, the voices of the paparazzi quickly faded. Wang Yang closed his eyes and let out a sigh, with Jessica sitting beside him, gently tugging at his hand and softly saying, “Yang, are you tired? Get some sleep.” Wang Yang hummed in agreement, then opened his eyes to look at her and laughed, “I’m not afraid of going to prison, but I can’t go now. ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ is going to be released in just a couple of months, there’s still a bit left for post-production, and soon we’ll be starting promotion. If I were in some prison, I doubt they would have an editing suite and music studio, ha ha!”

Jessica looked at him tenderly and comfortingly said, “Yang, you won’t go to prison, you’ll be fine.” Wang Yang furrowed his brows and laughed, “What if I really have to go to prison, would you mind?” Rolling her eyes at him, Jessica seriously replied, “How would I mind? I would sit with you!” Wang Yang couldn’t help but laugh and said, “No! Thanks, though… Ha, I reckon there are no jails for couples, right?”

The car headed straight for Kennedy International Airport, where Wang Yang and Jessica boarded a flight back to Los Angeles. He wondered if the first-class stewardesses were particularly beautiful, glancing a few times but not taking a closer look, then quietly observed the sleeping Jessica beside him, her mouth slightly open. He couldn’t help but smile; she had been worried about the verdict for days now, and she was truly exhausted.

Picking up a blanket, he gently covered her and half-reclined in the comfortable seat, popped a grape from the little table’s food tray into his mouth, and picked up a book to read. The cover depicted a child leaning against the hand of a father holding a briefcase, and in the bottom right corner in a roundel was a real-life picture of a beaming African American man with the words “How I went from broke to millionaire, how I found my own happiness?”

This book was the first volume of Chris Gardner’s autobiography “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Since the beginning of February, when Flame Films, the publishers, and the author all reached an agreement, the promotion had officially begun. Chris Gardner frequently accepted interviews from various media outlets and made appearances on several radio programs and TV talk shows, promoting his story and the autobiography, sharing his experience of success.

Some of these exposures were free, while others required money for contact and purchase. The expenses for these promotional activities were mainly covered by the publisher Dwarf Chicken Publishing Company. However, if Flame Films wanted to ride on this publicity, they would sponsor a million dollars, additionally paying half of the printing costs for the movie promotion. Why half? Because the success of the movie and the book were interlinked; if the movie succeeded, the book would sell even better.

The promotional plan was not just about interviews and shows. Starting this month, as “The Pursuit of Happyness” hit the market, Chris Gardner also began his North American lecture and promotion tour, attending various booksellers’ association events and book fairs. This marked the beginning of a two-month new promotional round, after which he’d meet with the film crew to prepare for the final publicity before its release.

Shorty Publishing Company had successfully packaged numerous new authors and launched countless bestsellers. They immediately saw the huge potential of “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Their experienced marketing ensured that this autobiography sold very well upon its release. Shorty Publishing estimated that with the lecture tour, it could climb to the top of the bestseller lists. This was hardly surprising; not to mention the packaging of the book and author, but also based on its content. As a quintessential “American Dream” success story, Chris Gardner’s legendary tale caught significant attention. As his exposure increased with the autobiography’s release, he became a new idol in the hearts of many African Americans and Americans alike. Like a snowball gaining momentum, his fame and the fame of “The Pursuit of Happyness” grew larger and larger.

He excitedly told Wang Yang over the phone, “I’ve received so many letters from readers saying they were moved by my story. Yang, I got an A in history when I was a kid, and I thought I’d become a historian. I never imagined I would become a writer with so many readers who liked me!” Wang Yang was also happy; Chris’s story could empower people to pursue happiness and add force to the movie’s promotion.

After Chris Gardner met the man driving the Ferrari and decided to change his career to a stockbroker, what happened next? When Wang Yang turned the page, he saw a movie poster featuring Will Smith and Terri, emblazoned with the large date “May 20, North America wide release!” Followed by a few selected classic lines, “If you have a dream, you’ve got to work for it.” and “I have nothing, but at least I have dreams, which many people are afraid to hold onto… they’re afraid.”

What followed was information about the film, interviews with the cast, etc. Looking at the photo collection at the back, where he, Will Smith, and Chris Gardner were huddled together, Wang Yang couldn’t help but smile. From a movie promotion perspective, every book sold meant someone learned about the story and the film, which also meant tapping into that person’s life network; their family and friends might also become interested in the movie, and thus the power of viral marketing would be made apparent.

“That’s great, that’s just great…” Wang Yang muttered to himself with a smile, closing the book. At that moment, Jessica, who was beside him, muttered hazily, as if in a dream, “What’s great?” Wang Yang glanced at her as she lay half-asleep; he reached out and gently stroked her hair, saying softly, “You’re great, go back to sleep.”

Back in Los Angeles, Wang Yang continued the remaining post-production work for “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Every day, he spent less time in the editing room and more in the scoring room. Jan Kaczmarek was very committed to this great film and his first Hollywood score, his enthusiasm and inspiration running high. Most of the scenes needed little deliberation before he produced fitting music that flowed naturally, greatly accelerating the workflow beyond expectations.

March was destined to be an eventful period. The NCAA national championship kicked off, with 64 universities embarking on “March Madness” to fight for the national title. As a basketball fan and an NCAA enthusiast, Wang Yang naturally filled out a “Final Four” prediction bracket and posted it on his blog. His favorites were Michigan State University, University of Florida, Cincinnati, and Michael Jordan’s alma mater, the University of North Carolina, although his own University of Southern California didn’t make the top 64.

His predictions were largely in line with popular sentiment, except for the University of Florida, which ranked lower in the polls and would be considered a mild upset if they made it to the Final Four. Many fans were puzzled by his omission of the heavily-favored University of Connecticut, but Wang Yang believed Florida’s clear and fluid offensive system, along with fierce morale, should not be underestimated. His response led many fans to tell him, “We’ll see.”

The concept of a blogger was still relatively new, having only gone live in August of the previous year. Wang Yang stumbled upon it one day and found it fascinating, so he became a user of the site. He thought it interesting because he could post updates about movies, which was a novel way to promote them. He had analyzed it carefully and realized that Blogger had a different appeal compared to official websites. Posting there felt like he was personally telling everyone about the updates, creating a greater impression and interest among fans; he could also share updates from his own life or his take on various topics, which he found quite engaging.

He hadn’t found other “colleagues” yet, and it seemed he was the only Hollywood personality on the site. This drew skepticism from the site administrators, but after they got in touch and he verified his identity, he exclusively released some behind-the-scenes photos from “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Consequently, “Wang Yang becomes a Blogger user” made the news on the homepage. Though the website didn’t have a huge number of users yet, his blog traffic wasn’t that high, but it ranked quite well on the site.

Influenced by Wang Yang, Jessica also joined the blogging crowd. Without needing to write much, merely by posting a few personal photos, her blog’s click-through rate surpassed Wang Yang’s, which left her feeling smug. In an effort to catch up, Wang Yang engaged in more topics and predictions, but there was one thing he didn’t predict, and that was another big event coming in March, the Oscars.

The Razzie Awards, which always announced their winners before the Oscars, continued to unveil their recipients early. This year, the blockbuster “Hurricane Policemen” lived up to its expectations by winning five awards in categories like Worst Picture, Worst Director, and Worst Actor, while Will Smith clinched three awards for Worst Actor, Worst Screen Combo, and Worst Song, making him this year’s “stinkiest” person.

“Will, it’s no big deal. You just got dragged down by a terrible movie. Your performance in ‘The Pursuit of Happyness,’ I dare say, was Oscar-worthy,” Wang Yang said earnestly and reassuringly over the phone. When the movie was paired with music, Will’s performance left him speechless and gave him that feeling of discovering “that little something.” Will Smith laughed heartily from the other end, “Buddy, I’m totally fine. Next year I’m aiming for the Oscar for Worst Actor. Hey, what could be wrong with me?” Wang Yang laughed and replied, “Will, having the Razzie and the Oscar trophies side by side would definitely be an interesting sight.”

After the Razzie Awards, March 26th brought the 72nd Oscars as scheduled. Wang Yang, in a black suit, and Jessica, in a white evening dress, stepped out of the stretch Lincoln, and the flashbulbs started popping from all around. Jessica held a handbag in one hand and Wang Yang’s hand in the other, both smiling as they stepped onto the red carpet and made their way towards the Schubert Theatre.

“Yang, hey, look over here! Jessica, here, here!” Journalists crowded against the barriers, relentlessly snapping photos with their cameras and shouting.

Wang Yang and Jessica struck poses for the photographers, coordinating with them. Observing the long lenses of the journalists’ cameras and the bustling, star-studded red carpet, Wang Yang suddenly remembered that he had once had a dream like this. But when had he dreamed it?