The Best Director

The final award of the night, the Best Picture, Drama, was claimed by “Gladiator”; when Elizabeth Taylor presented the lifetime achievement award trophy to Al Pacino, the 58th Golden Globe Awards ceremony also came to an end.

In regards to the final results of the Golden Globes this year, the media and fans had their satisfying moments as well as disappointments. There were various controversies surrounding several awards, like the Best Actor in a Drama Series. Russell Crowe’s fans said, “Russell is more deserving of the Best Actor title,” and Will Smith’s supporters also claimed, “Will is the one who should have won.”

The same happened with the “Best Motion Picture, Drama,” which was taken by “Almost Famous.” Fans of “Juno” were outraged, and numerous media outlets also stated, “‘Almost Famous’ is a fine piece, but ‘Juno’ is more relatable and carries greater significance.”

But facts are facts, and regardless of what the fans say, it won’t change the outcome. However, the public was quite satisfied with this year’s Best Actress winners, 33-year-old Julia Roberts and 19-year-old Natalie Portman; they were the focus of media reports. The Los Angeles Times believed that at this year’s Oscars, the Best Actress nominations list would surely include both women, and that Julia Roberts had a 90% chance of clinching the title; Natalie Portman was also expected to become the first actress born in the ’80s to be nominated.

The coverage of the Best Director award naturally occupied a considerable amount of newspaper space, but it was all congratulations and praise. Since Ang Lee’s win was not a surprise, in fact, out of the four nominees, only Wang Yang was the dark horse. At the betting shops, his odds of winning were as high as 1 to 10; Ang Lee at 4 to 10, Steven Soderbergh and Ridley Scott were both at 3 to 10.

Not only did the American media report this, but so did newspapers in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other places. Hong Kong’s Ming Pao described Ang Lee as “a bridge for cultural exchange between the East and West.” The article also mentioned Wang Yang, calling him “the greatest hope for the future of Chinese directors.” It commented on his four films, which, though delicate and poetic with an Eastern touch, displayed more American culture and lacked much Eastern essence: “He grew up in Chinatown, is familiar with Mandarin and Eastern culture, and we have reason to believe he can produce outstanding Chinese works. We look forward to seeing that day.”

After attending the Golden Globe Awards ceremony, Wang Yang and Jessica, who had finished filming “High School Musical 3,” returned to San Francisco the next day, ready to celebrate the Lunar New Year with his family amid the bustling and festive Chinatown.

This was his first time celebrating the Lunar New Year with Jessica. Even though she had read many books on Chinese culture since dating him, she was still full of curiosity, asking all sorts of questions, to which Wang Yang provided answers willingly.

Both understood that if they wanted to continue dating happily, eventually start a family, and have children, they needed to be clear about and respect each other’s cultural traditions. Jessica, who was of mixed heritage, understood this far better than Wang Yang. Her maternal grandparents were a combination of Danish and French, and her mother married a man of Mexican descent. From her grandmother and mother, she knew well the importance of cultural integration.

However, the elders had done well. With already three countries involved, Jessica and Wang Yang felt that adding China into the mix wouldn’t be a problem at all.

The sweet and joyful holiday in San Francisco proved just that, as the two of them enjoyed the parade, browsed through the flower market, and watched the dragon and lion dances… Jessica also learned quite a lot of authentic Chinese cooking skills at the Wang’s restaurant. With her and his family’s company, Wang Yang had a simple and happy 21st birthday; two days after the Lantern Festival, they returned to Los Angeles with bags of decorations, gifts, and other items they had collected from stores.

During this time, “Juno” completed its 7th week of release, and the number of theaters showing it was 2,546, decreasing by around 200 weekly, but its North American box office had already broken through the 200 million US Dollars mark; after being released overseas for two weeks, its international box office also rose to over 75.4 million US Dollars. On Flamethrower Films’ official international website message board, fans from all over the world—Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany…—were all saying crazily: “I love Juno!”

The charm of “Juno” was not limited to the box office, its original soundtrack CD was immediately sold out in North America upon release. According to the record store owner, ever since “Juno” was released, sales for similar country records with harmonica and guitar styles have been doing better than in the same period in the past. On a Yahoo poll for teenagers, Juno won “Best Screen Female Character of the Year 2000” by a landslide, and “Juno” also swept almost all the awards it was nominated for, including “Best Movie, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Music,” even surpassing the popularity of the “High School Musical” series.

Juno, the sharp-tongued teenage mother-to-be, had already sparked a unique trend across America and even globally. As The New York Times had said, she also showed the market the demand and potential of the “teen pregnancy” theme, and once it came to light, the market would not be indifferent. NBC Television Network wanted to purchase adaptation rights for “Juno” to produce a TV series.

“How do you plan to adapt it?” Wang Yang held the phone receiver, leaning against the kitchen cabinet in the open kitchen, watching Jessica, who was wrapped in an apron, busily working, and asked David Vince, the producer from NBC on the other end of the phone. This was a call to confirm preliminary intentions, but he was not at all anxious; he wasn’t in need of the money from selling adaptation rights; “Juno” didn’t need this kind of promotion since by the time the TV series came out, it would have already finished its theatrical run.

David Vince chuckled with a voice full of sincerity, “Actually, we would love to invite you to join the writing team; of course, we would be even more pleased and welcome if you could direct the series.” He said this without holding any real hope, the person on the other end was the amazing Yang, the youngest billionaire, genius director, youngest nominee for the Best Director at the Golden Globes…

A member of the series writing team? Or a director? His invitation was just trying his luck. With this thought, David Vince added, “Yang, just the first episode would be fine!”

“Um, I…” Wang Yang chuckled, his major at the University of Southern California was in Film and Television Production, with television being a major part of the curriculum. What he learned during his brief college career, including his self-study, were all telling him that movies and TV series were very different, including the design of camera shots due to the different viewing experience on the big screen and small screen; also, the pacing of storytelling and so on.

The two were like a pair of brothers, though of the same blood, their figures and appearances were not at all alike.

He naturally preferred movies, but he wasn’t completely uninterested in TV series either. If he wanted to tell a long story in detail, TV series, compared to movies, were a better choice. However, he currently didn’t have the impulse to tell such a story, especially about teen pregnancy, about “Juno”—all his ideas had already been expressed in the movie, there was no need to make a TV series of it.

“No, thanks.” Wang Yang promptly declined David Vince’s invitation, shaking his head and smiling, “No, I don’t have any plans to do a TV series at the moment; the same goes for joining the writing team. David, if I transfer the adaptation rights for ‘Juno,’ I won’t be involved anymore.”

Jessica, who was busy washing vegetables, looked back at him and asked curiously, “They want you to film a TV series based on ‘Juno’?” Wang Yang smiled and nodded, and after a while, he spoke into the microphone again, “Yes, I don’t have any new film projects right now, but no thanks. Co-production, executive producer… sorry, I’m just not interested. Let’s just say, I’ve had enough of ‘Juno’.”

“Oh, that’s really too bad,” David Wince said in a low tone, and then with a bit of hope, he asked, “Maybe you should give it some serious thought?” Hearing Wang Yang murmur an “Um,” David Wince slapped his forehead and laughed at himself, “Haha, I’m just used to saying that, I forgot you’re the amazing Yang.”

“Don’t say that,” Wang Yang said with a smile, shaking his head. He looked at Jessica, who was humming a tune, and said, “I just want to take a good rest.” David Wince said, “Alright then, let me tell you about our preliminary plans. We have two adaptation ideas: one is a 20-minute-per-episode sitcom; the other is a 45-minute-per-episode drama…”

Wang Yang listened to David Wince’s pitch, humming in agreement from time to time. David meant that if it was adapted into a sitcom, they would detail Juno’s entire pregnancy process, adding several comical classmates with distinctive personalities, with stories taking place in various main settings such as the school, home, and small town; and if it turned into a drama series, then major work would be required, and in the end, it might just retain the character’s personality and name, with a completely different story backdrop.

After hearing his blueprint, Wang Yang nodded and said, “David, I will consider it seriously and get back to you with an answer.” David Wince replied with a smile, “Good, please do it as soon as possible, as you know we want to launch this TV series this summer.” What he didn’t say was that even without the adaptation rights to ‘Juno,’ they would still hire writers to rewrite the story and characters, as NBC had already decided to order a teen pregnancy series.

But what David Wince and NBC didn’t expect was that, before Wang Yang had a day to consider, ABC Television Network suddenly announced that they would launch a teen pregnancy-themed series titled ‘The Pregnancy Diaries’ on July 1 during the summer season. No sooner had ABC finished speaking than the next day, CBS also announced a new teen pregnancy-themed series called ‘Young Mother,’ also set to debut in the summer!

NBC was instantly in a panic: “Damn it, we thought of it first!” They quickly announced on their official website that producer David Wince was already in talks with Wang Yang about the adaptation rights for the TV series ‘Juno,’ and as soon as the magical Yang agreed, production of the TV version of ‘Juno’ would begin, aiming for a release this summer!

Three teen pregnancy-themed TV series hitting the market at the same time during this summer?! The media and fans were stunned, as they could imagine turning on their televisions at home to see the screen filled with young girls flaunting their baby bumps.

“The New York Times” headlined their story “Early Pregnancy Wave Hits!” While some fans expressed anticipation, others voiced their disdain for the bandwagon trend, and even more were concerned about the magical Yang’s decision, because, compared to ‘The Pregnancy Diaries’ and ‘Young Mother,’ they were more eager for ‘Juno.’ Many parents were reviving their ongoing concerns, wondering if this could lead to any issues, like influencing their children to imitate? Could the “on-screen early pregnancy wave” turn into a real-life pregnancy wave?

“Come on, Danny, it’s not even 500 meters!” On the trails of Beverly Hills, Wang Yang, laughing, tugged on Danny, who was panting with his tongue hanging out: “Buddy, get up! Our goal is two kilometers.”

Next to him, Jessica looked at Danny lying on the ground, refusing to move, her beautiful face filled with a helpless smile as she chided, “Joshua is just no good! It’s always like this; I’ve said before Danny easily gains weight, don’t feed him so much. This time he stayed with him for over ten days, and Danny gained over 30 pounds!”

Wang Yang smiled and tugged on the leash, then laughed at Danny, “Look at yourself—unless you want to be alone forever, you need to start losing weight!” Just then, his phone in his pocket suddenly rang. He handed Danny over to Jessica and pulled out his phone. Answering the call, he chuckled, “Hi, Mark.” He immediately heard a very helpless Mark Stront say on the other end, “Yang, unbelievable, unbelievable!” Wang Yang frowned in confusion and laughed, “Hey, what’s up?” Could it be that this wasn’t good news?

“In Massachusetts, 17 underage high school students got pregnant as a group, and they even made a pact to get pregnant and raise their children together. The pact mentioned ‘Juno’… Oh, what the hell is going on?” Mark Stront cursed in bewilderment and went on, “Boss, you should check out the news. It’s said that there were over fifty signatures from girls on the agreement, it’s just unbelievable!”

What?! A group pregnancy?! Wang Yang blinked, dumbstruck, unable to grasp the concept for a few seconds. Then it began to sink in, and he forced a smile, “Mark, you’re kidding, right?” Mark Stront on the other end said bluntly, “NO, I wish it were fake news,” causing Wang Yang to take a deep breath, with his face turning grave, as he murmured, “How could this happen? Good lord, crap…”

“Yang?” Jessica couldn’t help but frown with concern, looking at him worriedly as she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Boss, relax a bit; this really has nothing to do with us. Legally we have no responsibility,” Mark Stront said seriously and then sighed, his tone comforting, “It’s a very regrettable event, but Yang, it’s not your fault. They were just being reckless; don’t overthink it! We don’t need to deal with it.”

Wang Yang silently put down his phone. Jessica held his hand tightly, asking softly, “Yang, what happened?” Wang Yang glanced at her and then looked up at the clear blue sky, pinching his forehead as he said, “Something absurd and sad has happened…” He relayed the bad news he had just heard. At that, Jessica’s eyes widened in alarm, and she said in surprise, “They did it because they watched ‘Juno,’ so…?” Wang Yang nodded and mourned, “Yes, that’s what was apparently written in that pact.”

“Oh, my god…” Jessica exclaimed dazedly, “How could this happen!?”

Wang Yang shook his head without saying a word, his mind echoing Mark Stront’s words—don’t pay it any mind? Seventeen girls, all under the age of 16, got pregnant together after watching “Juno”… Was this really none of his business?

Note: The pregnancy craze mentioned in this chapter is not a fictional creation; it is all rooted in reality. In 2008, ‘The Secret Life of the American Teenager’ debuted on ABC-Family with a viewership of 2.8 million, setting a new high for the network’s premieres, and reached 4.5 million viewers by the end of the first season, doubling the numbers of the wildly popular ‘Gossip Girl’. After ‘Juno’, there indeed was a surge in teenage pregnancies in America, with the rate of teenage girls getting pregnant increasing compared to previous years, including the group pregnancy incident. If interested, you can search for more information.