The Best Director

After a month and a half, filming of “Juno” was complete, and the crew disbanded. Bidding farewell to the tranquil and beautiful town of Toronto, Natalie Portman boarded a plane to Sydney; meanwhile, Wang Yang, along with Michael Pitt, Joshua, and others, returned to Los Angeles. After attending the premiere of “High School Musical 2,” it wasn’t two days before Wang Yang’s life once again entered the busyness of post-production for the movie.

When looking for an editor for “Juno,” Wang Yang naturally first considered and interviewed his old partner Margaret Goodspeed. Their previous two collaborations had already fostered a certain rapport, and as a woman, Margaret had unique insights into the story of “Juno.” After talking with Wang Yang, it was clear that she knew what he wanted, understood the charm of the character Juno—”independent, whimsical, cool”—and also grasped the film’s style and rhythm—”warm, sunny.” She passed the interview with ease, and the two set out on their third collaboration.

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Juno” was slated to be 120 minutes long. How should it be edited? In a way, this movie’s pace has some similarities with “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Both are character-driven dramas centered around an event and life changes that drive time and narrative forward. “The Pursuit of Happyness” focused on Chris Gardner’s pursuit of becoming a stockbroker; “Juno” was about Juno’s pregnancy. So, this movie still follows a linear, chronological structure—Juno finding out she’s pregnant, secretly planning an abortion, deciding to keep the baby, and then going through the entire pregnancy period, with family, adoptive parents, Paulie, classmates, and others all taking the stage, culminating in Juno giving birth to the child.

The theme of this movie does not debate whether teenage pregnancy is right or preach about it; nor does it argue whether abortion is right, without leaning toward any side. This is one of the clever aspects of “Juno.” The rock girl Juno initially chose abortion and was free to make that choice, aligning with the pro-choice faction that advocates for “a woman’s right to choose”; however, Juno didn’t go through with it, as she realized the child in her womb was a living being and abandoned her abortion plans out of conscience, coinciding with the conservative stance that respects life.

In the original script, one reason Juno changed her mind was because she encountered a Chinese classmate named Su Qin standing outside the abortion clinic who said, “The baby already has fingernails.” Although Su Qin lacked a noticeable accent, her original lines had several instances of dry humor that were meant to elicit laughter, highlighting Juno’s uniqueness with her own stiffness and monotony.

Wang Yang chose not to shoot it that way. This was a “bad habit” in the film industry, making jokes about minorities, Asian people in particular. He wasn’t particularly upset about this, and would simply laugh it off when watching; but that didn’t mean he would self-deprecatingly perpetuate this bad habit, nor would he endorse the few stereotypical images of Chinese supporting characters: “the stiff nerd, the presumptuous troublemaker, or the outright weirdo.”

Thus, the role of Su Qin was directly switched to a Caucasian. It didn’t affect the movie; and as for Juno’s line “You should move to China, I hear they give away babies like free iPods,” Wang Yang removed that as well. He didn’t know what an iPod was, nor was he clear about the state of baby survival in China, but he was sure it was just a joke—an unfunny one and another bad habit to him. Besides, he didn’t want his grandfather laying into him and scolding, “Yang, what are you filming? You’ve forgotten your ancestry!”

These were just minor changes. The real changes were in the shift of the core theme and the focus of the story. The original “Juno” was indeed an excellent story and film, but what it wanted to express and tell was not entirely the same as what he wanted to convey. With this rich editing material, Wang Yang could have Margaret edit a 90-minute “Juno” with the same story and theme as the original, which could be as good as, or even better than, the original. But that wasn’t what he wanted—he was aiming for the 120-minute “Juno.”

Would it be successful? To hell with it! He just wanted to make the “movies he wanted to make.” As for the rest, it was still the same saying, “Make a good movie, do good promotion, do your job well, and let the audience decide the rest.”

However, as a year passed, and with a month and a half of shooting, Wang Yang’s thoughts had changed significantly from when he first started, repeatedly revising and supplementing the script. As a result, “Juno” had several different endings.

The original ending saw Juno and Paulie raising the child together, but now, devoid of his previous “madness for a daughter,” and after having real conversations with teen mothers like Cass, hearing them say “men are all jerks” and “sometimes I deeply regret and resent that I ruined my own life,” he wondered, how would Juno fair? Although Paulie had matured and was no longer a jerk, neither he nor Juno had the financial means to support a child. Raising it themselves could end up harming not just them but also the child.

So, among the endings Wang Yang filmed, the baby’s custody still belonged to the adoptive mother, Vanessa, but Juno and Paulie wouldn’t decide to never see the child, to act as if nothing had ever happened; instead, Juno and Paulie visit the baby, going from Juno’s initial insistence on a closed adoption, wanting nothing to do with even the baby’s pictures, to eventually requesting an open adoption; from a disdainful attitude towards the child, casually considering abortion, to seeing herself as a “mother” and looking at the child with tender eyes.

This is the transformation of Juno’s mindset, and what she learned from the pregnancy – she left behind childishness and avoidance, coming to understand what responsibility is, and what love is.

Vanessa underwent a similar transformation, from secretly rejoicing at Juno’s initial mention of a closed adoption to eventually embracing openness and happiness. She, too, had her own period of “pregnancy,” learning in the process.

The baby made them all grow up. The child belonged to Vanessa, but also to Juno and Paulie. This ending was also Margaret’s favorite; as a middle-aged mother, she said, “It moved me and warmed my heart.”

After much deliberation, Wang Yang decided to choose this ending for the theatrical release. Juno pedals her bike with her guitar on her back, carrying the latest letter from Vanessa, rushing to Paulie’s house. In the bright sunshine at his doorstep, Juno and Paulie laugh as they open the letter and look at the recent photo of the baby, before playing the guitar together. The alternate endings would be included with the film’s DVD release.

Aside from editing, the most crucial part of post-production without special effects was the film’s music. The score for “Juno” needed to have a country-style, quaint charm, embodying naive and lively youth, warmth, and nature. Wang Yang didn’t approach Jan Kaczmarek, whose style did not suit “Juno.” Jan was a master of string and piano pieces, his scores always bearing an air of grandiosity; but “Juno” required a soundscape of guitars and harmonicas.

Wang Yang didn’t know many composers, so he tentatively reached out to David Lawrence. Undoubtedly, the score for “High School Musical” was excellent and successful, with a soundtrack that sold out. But it had an exuberant style – could David Lawrence handle the country vibe of “Juno”? After an interview, the answer was found in the music studio, and David Lawrence became the composer for “Juno.”

While Wang Yang was busy with post-production for “Juno,” “High School Musical 2” was reaping its box office in North American theaters. As early as August 4th, on the same day as its premiere in Los Angeles, it was screened in 2,986 theaters across North America. Although Wang Yang wasn’t the director, which disappointed many fans early on and lessened their interest, the popularity of cast members like Tom, Jessica, and Rachel could not be underestimated, still attracting a large fanbase. Moreover, the script was written by Wang Yang, which undoubtedly restored some confidence in the sequel for the fans.

From August 4th to the 10th, fans of the musical flocked to theaters, bringing in a first-week box office of $36.4512 million for “High School Musical 2,” placing it second that week. The first spot was taken by the new horror film “The Invisible Monster” that premiered the same week with a $90 million budget, earning $37,256 million. But from August 11th to the 17th, in its second week, “High School Musical 2” climbed to the top spot with $25.2871 million, while “The Invisible Monster” only made $18.31 million and ranked second.

On IMDb, “High School Musical 2” has a score of 5.8. The Los Angeles Times reviewed it, saying, “This is a fairly standard sequel—its story isn’t bad, but there aren’t any surprises; and in terms of cinematography, Sara Schulman has given it a touch of feminine delicacy, yet it lacks the confidence and spiritual energy of its predecessor. The nearly sole highlight of the film is the cameo by the amazing Wang Yang, who did quite well.”

Many gossip media were interested in Wang Yang’s cameo. Daily

Entertainment commented, “Wang Yang has a real talent for acting; maybe he should direct and star in his own film, just like Mel Gibson.”

Seeing this news, Wang Yang just smiled and shook his head. Those few lines and his expressionless cameo, he had flubbed countless times. Acting talent? Directing and starring in his own film? They might as well kill him!

Although the movie’s ratings weren’t high, and the reviews almost uniformly described it as middling, that was enough. To be considered standard against an outstanding predecessor, in other words, meant it was quite impressive.

From August 18 to 24, “High School Musical 2” took in $16.7415 million at the box office, ranking second, with a total box office of $78.4798 million. With this decreasing percentage trend, breaking $100 million in North America might be challenging. However, considering its potential overseas revenue, following the first installment’s market characteristic of “overseas receipts being higher than in North America,” Flame Film’s analysts estimated that its global box office should come close to $200 million.

For a movie with a production cost of $30 million and marketing expenses of $20 million, a $200 million box office meant a massive profit, with a profit margin that could reach 100%! If you included various merchandise, the super-selling original soundtrack CD, DVDs, and so on, “High School Musical 2” was definitely a money-making tool. Any film company would drool over this franchise.

Wang Yang attended a meeting with Flame Films about scheduling “High School Musical 3.” The preliminary plan was to keep the original cast, with stars like Tom Willing, Jessica, Rachel, Zachary, and others, and to continue with Sara Schulman as director. This movie would be the last for characters like Troy, Gabriela, and the rest. Perhaps the company would invest in making “High School Musical 4” and “High School Musical 5″ in the future, but they would feature new scripts with fresh stories and new faces.

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Jessica, there’s something I have to tell you.” In the living room, Wang Yang, sitting on the couch, patted the spot next to him. Jessica, who was wearing a large white T-shirt and tidying the living room, turned and looked at him before walking over and sitting down. “What is it?” Wang Yang put his arm around her shoulder and smiled. “The company has decided to go ahead with ‘High School Musical 3,’ set for release next summer.”

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Hmm, I know,” Jessica nodded with a smile. She had already heard from Wang Yang, and it was expected. Looking into his eyes, she suddenly asked, “Yang, how about your new film? Can I be part of it?”

New film? Wang Yang paused, then burst into laughter. “Hey, sweetheart, my new movie is ‘Juno’! You’re asking about after ‘Juno’; I don’t have any ideas right now, I can’t answer you.” He then kissed her forehead and said softly, “Jessie, don’t worry, there will be opportunities.” Jessica leaned against him and laughed. “Well, then I’ll just star in ‘High School Musical 3’ first.”

Long ago, she followed Wang Yang’s advice not to accept too many film offers carelessly, to avoid getting involved in bad movies. An entertainment career isn’t about doing more; improving acting skills requires sufficient time to ponder and mature. One or two influential movies a year were more than enough. As a result, up to now, she had only made two “High School Musicals since becoming famous.

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There’s something else I want to discuss with you,” Wang Yang said with a mysterious smile, a matter that should make her very happy, or perhaps? Watching Jessica’s confused smile, he spoke seriously, “I want to buy a house, then we can live together.” Jessica was taken aback, her mouth agape, her heartbeat suddenly quickened. She sat up straight, her eyes wide as she said, “Oh my god, you mean…” Wang Yang nodded and smiled, “Yes, cohabitation. I know Catholicism doesn’t allow it, this is just my idea, and it’s okay if you don’t like it.”

She had thought it was… Jessica let out a laugh and quietly exhaled. She furrowed her brow in thought and said, “We are genuinely in love, I believe the merciful Lord will forgive us.” Saying this, she made the sign of the cross, and with her eyes closed, devoutly said, “Thankyou, Lord.”

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Then we should plan it out carefully!” Hearing her agreement, once she finished praying, Wang Yang excitedly wrapped his arms around her and said with a smile, “You know, that’s going to be our home in the future, and we can’t take it lightly. What kind of house do you like?” Jessica pondered and replied, “Um… I don’t know, but I like them bigger.”

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Like Will Smith’s big?” Wang Yang looked at her, puzzled.

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No, that would be too big.” Jessica laughed and shook her head, a reminiscent look flickering across her face. She softly said, “Yang, when we first moved to Los Angeles, we didn’t live here. We lived in another affluent neighborhood, where there were very big houses, very big gardens, swimming pools… but none were our home.” She smiled lightly and said, “We lived in the smallest house in the community, with just a little lawn. It was a strange feeling, my dad thought it was the best environment to grow up in.”

Wang Yang listened silently; he had never heard this story before, but it must have been a less than pleasant memory.

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Back then, my dad was busy with his business, and I hardly saw him every day, my mom was working several part-time jobs, and then there were those bad kids yelling at Joshua and me, ‘You little dirtbags, go back to Mexico’…” Upon saying this, Jessica squeezed into his arms and inhaled his scent deeply, murmuring, “Yang, I really missed you back then. I often fantasized that you would suddenly show up and say, ‘Back off, don’t mess with my Jessica!’ If you were there, they would have seen what’s what.” Wang Yang also sniffed her scent and said with a smile, “I missed you too. You wouldn’t believe how much less I got to fight without you around.”

Jessica looked at him, her expression resolute, and said, “Back then, my whole family struggled. I told myself that I would work hard to earn a lot of money, buy a big house, so dad wouldn’t have to be cranky about the mortgage, and mom wouldn’t have to work odd jobs. I wanted to make everyone in the family happy!” She smiled sweetly and added, “But after dad’s business succeeded, there was no need for me to worry about it.”

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Jessica, in our family, leave the earning to me, and you just focus on living in a big house and being happy,” Wang Yang said, holding her tightly and kissing her forehead. “Understand?” Jessica replied joyfully, “Yes! But I have a lot of money now, ha! The money I make is all yours.” Wang Yang laughed and said, “That’s the audience’s money. Come on, let’s talk about happier things, design our house.” Jessica nodded, and as she started to plan, she said sweetly, “I like it with a big garden, full of many flowers… ”

Watching her happily count on her fingers, Wang Yang smiled, and a bit proudly thought to himself, not all men are jerks, huh.