Chapter 486: Nominating and Being Nominated

Chapter 486: Nominating and Being Nominated

Meng Fan was entirely serious about creating an animation award, and one that would become the largest and most influential in all of China. He was bound to pour a tremendous amount of energy into it in the days to come, but a single person’s capabilities were always limited, and even if his talent knew no bounds, his energy was ultimately a finite resource. Therefore, he inevitably had to seek out partners; the Shanhai Animation Studio alone could never sustain a grand spectacle of this magnitude.

The three parties sat down to deliberate under Meng Fan’s guidance—a feat that truly could not be achieved merely by the persuasive power of his voice, for the crucial factor remained the guidance of mutual profit. Meng Fan did not indulge in empty rhetoric, directly laying his cards on the table for the other two companies, and so a preliminary agreement was reached among the three, all of them willing to use the inaugural Shanhai Animation Award as a grand experiment.

As for the name of the Shanhai Animation Award, though Meng Fan had mentioned that whichever company contributed the most funding could claim the naming rights, it was ultimately set in stone. He had invited Penguin Animation Network and Station 8 to negotiate face-to-face; with the two companies secretly vying against each other, neither could possibly bear to let the other claim the prize, so it was only fair that Shanhai Animation retained ownership.

The manner of their initial cooperation was simple: Shanhai Animation would provide the funds while Meng Fan stood upon the stage to drum up publicity, and Penguin Animation Network alongside Station 8 would contribute their efforts, providing venues, platforms, and manpower, while also taking charge of the preliminary screening of the submissions.

To put it plainly, the hosting rights were handed over to Penguin Animation Network and Station 8, and the Shanhai Animation Studio merely needed to dispatch personnel to participate.

Yet, what sort of personnel could they send?

In truth, the current members of Shanhai Animation Studio were few, consisting primarily of technical staff, and there was truly no suitable candidate to join the fray. What, then, was to be done?

Meng Fan possessed a solution, one he had envisioned from the very beginning; even if Shanhai Animation Studio had possessed ample hands, he still would have chosen this path, which was to recruit a judging panel from across the internet.

Looking back, this was also connected to his earliest thoughts on how the accolades of the Shanhai Animation Award would be born: half would come from the recommendations and votes of industry professionals, and the other half would stem from the recommendations and votes of the fans themselves. Therefore, this judging panel ought to partially consist of animation enthusiasts, and even if they could not comprise a full half, they would certainly occupy a definitive proportion.

Furthermore, this was a magnificent method of promotion.

Meng Fan had, of course, discussed this concept with Penguin Animation Network and Station 8. The two companies felt rather helpless yet found themselves in complete agreement; it was just that, since these judges hailed from the fan community, from a certain perspective, an element of uncertainty lingered, and so everything depended on how these fan judges were to be selected.

On this point, Meng Fan possessed absolute confidence; he had emerged from this very community and knew precisely where to look to find the right candidates. These individuals might not be deeply professional or profoundly forward-looking, but they were absolutely fervent, possessing their own unique insights and even fiercely partisan views on animation.

Once the negotiations were settled, Meng Fan posted another update to his microblog. The general content was to inform everyone that his words from the previous day were no casual remarks but were instead being actively put into practice, and he also announced that the Shanhai Animation Award would cooperate with Penguin Animation Network and Station 8—as for whether those two had truly finalized the cooperation or whether they had to return to let their higher-ups make the ultimate decision, he cared little; a verbal agreement was still an agreement, so it was best to post it first. Aside from this, the focal point was the recruitment of members for the fan judging panel, with the requirements and registration methods attached below.

Regarding the preliminary screening after registration, Penguin Animation Network and Station 8 would dispatch personnel to participate, and simultaneously, Meng Fan also approached those interested from his original stream-viewer groups to form a small team to join the effort. These viewers were all animation enthusiasts themselves, and selecting a few standouts among them to assist with the review process posed no trouble at all.

The efficiency of Penguin Animation Network and Station 8 was remarkably high; within three days, they had already drafted the general outline of the Shanhai Animation Award's process. Subsequently, personnel from both sides hurried to Hangzhou to discuss the finer details with Meng Fan. To be frank, Meng Fan understood very little of such matters and could only look to the Japan Anime Awards and various domestic and international film and television awards for reference, after which he dragged Meng Caiwei, who had attended all manner of film festivals and award ceremonies worldwide, to serve as their consultant.

Meng Caiwei was also somewhat unfamiliar with the minutiae, particularly the logistical arrangements and setups of the organizers, which went without saying, but she possessed an incredibly discerning eye. Some of the suggestions she put forward made the hearts of the representatives from Penguin Animation Network and Station 8 thud with anxiety, yet they aligned perfectly with Meng Fan's original intention—had they not agreed to create the most influential animation award in China? Then they must fashion it according to the highest standards!

The representatives of Penguin Animation Network and Station 8 broke into cold sweats as they listened. Such high standards were wonderful, indeed, but how much funding would that damn well require? It had been agreed at the outset that Meng Fan's financial contribution referred to the ten million yuan prize pool, while the rest was left to the two hosts; the funds to invite these prominent celebrities would surely have to come from their own pockets, and with the specifications just mentioned and the few names tossed out, were those merely names? That was the distinct sound of funds burning away!

"Once the list is finalized, I will personally invite the celebrities of the first tier and above; you will be responsible for inviting the others."

Hearing Meng Fan’s concluding words, the two parties finally breathed a sigh of relief. They could, of course, afford to invite and sway celebrities of the first tier and above, but such a grandeur was certainly not within the scope of this particular budget; if they were truly forced to invite them, their expenses would boundlessly escalate.

With Meng Fan laying down this promise, though the budget would still increase, it remained within an acceptable range, and the platforms were naturally willing. Though they would spend a bit more money, Meng Fan would be the one inviting the top-tier stars, which meant they were essentially riding his coattails to a cheap victory.

After the two parties returned home, they quickly came back to deliberate on the timing of the animation awards and other related matters.

Ultimately, the name of the award was finalized—the China Animation Shanhai Award, reversing the order of the original name, which brought it closer to the naming conventions of film and television accolades.

The date was also set; the presentation ceremony of the inaugural Shanhai Award was scheduled for February 22nd. The date was rather foolishly repetitious with its number twos, but it was easy to remember, and if one truly required a reason, it could be said to share a spiritual bond with the second dimension.

Furthermore, if this timeframe were converted to the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, it would fall fundamentally within the first lunar month, coinciding gracefully with the Chinese awards season.

With the date of the award ceremony fixed, it meant that from this moment onward, over three months remained to prepare for the first Shanhai Award. The time was certainly sufficient, quite enough for the organizers and hosts to manage the early preparations, the screening of works, the final voting, and the ultimate selection.

As the remaining details fell into place, the preparatory work, the screening of submissions, and the nominations commenced.

The efficiency of Penguin Animation Network and Station 8 in this matter was exceptionally high; before long, they had successfully established and structured the framework for the professional judging panel. This preliminary lineup, aside from participating in the final vote to choose the winning pieces, would also shoulder the task of screening and recommending submissions, reviewing the works entering the competition, and putting forth the finest creations within the industry. Together with the fan judging panel, they worked along two parallel tracks to establish the submission database as quickly as possible.

Meng Fan was naturally one of the professional judges endowed with the right to nominate, and even as he was recommending individuals or works to become candidates, he himself was nominated by others. However, his nomination was not to vie for the Shanhai Award, but rather for the China Top Ten Laureus World Sports Awards to be held the following month, an accolade that stood at the very pinnacle of the Chinese sporting world.

(End of Chapter)