The 30th Shanghai TV Festival officially announced on May 20 that Chinese actor Chen Baoguo will serve as the chairman of the TV drama jury for this year's Magnolia Awards. In an interview with the media, he fondly recalled his long-standing relationship with the Shanghai TV Festival and the Magnolia Awards, saying, "I respect the Magnolia Awards' previous juries' adherence to artistic purity, character creation, and the criteria for judging the resonance of the times." He looks forward to the important time node of the 30th Shanghai TV Festival, and to selecting good works for the audience and the industry together with other judges, so that this year's Magnolia Awards "will not only become a place to crown excellent works, but also a milestone for the development of China's television industry."
Chinese actor Chen Baoguo serves as chairman of the jury for this year's Magnolia Awards TV series
“I have a lifelong connection with the Magnolia Award”
Chen Baoguo, who was nominated three times and won twice, has deep feelings for the Magnolia Award. He even used such solemn words as "a lifelong fate".
2015 Magnolia Award for Best Actor Chen Baoguo
In 2013, Chen Baoguo was nominated for the Magnolia Award for the first time for his role as Feng Tiankui in the TV series "The Righteous Man Is Invincible". Subsequently, in 2015 and 2020, he won the Magnolia Award for Best Actor twice for his roles as the poor peasant Niu Dadan in "Old Farmers" and the small character Chen Huaihai in "Old Tavern" respectively.
Posters for "Old Farmer" and "Old Tavern"
"There is an old saying that if an actor can play three or five successful roles in his lifetime, that is enough for his artistic career." He said with deep emotion that he has been working in the television industry for more than 40 years and has starred in "70, 80 or even more" TV series. In a sense, "an actor not only relies on choice, but also luck and the ability to control."
Because of this fate, he gladly accepted the invitation of this TV Festival and wrote an open letter to the media. In the letter, he said, "The Magnolia Award is one of the three major awards recognized by the Chinese TV industry and has always been known as the 'Expert Award'." Compared with his personal honor when he won the award before, he admired the work of the jury in the review process, so he was willing to inherit this mission this year.
Chen Baoguo
Chen Baoguo is also the second chairman whose main job is an actor after Zhang Guoli in 2016. Therefore, in addition to considering various production links, he also has the perspective of observing excellent actors. "Good scripts and good characters are not available in large quantities every creative year." He said that he has been praying for one or two more opportunities to encounter good scripts and good roles. "In that case, with my current understanding and experience of acting, as well as my desire for acting, I think I will not disappoint the audience. At the same time, we can also look forward to more excellent works emerging every year in the future, so I think every Magnolia Award will be a 'battle of gods'."
“Awarding is not like dividing candy, it requires the harmony of five flavors”
Chen Baoguo was very serious when talking about the upcoming selection work. He said that he "will use his expertise together with the judges of this year's jury, adhere to his artistic conscience, and feel the great goodness and beauty of the times and the nation shown in all the shortlisted works." As for the judging principles that the outside world is concerned about, he used "stick to professionalism, uphold fairness; encourage diversity, respect breakthroughs; inherit craftsmanship, and support newcomers" to summarize.
Chen Baoguo also has a profound consideration of what kind of work is a good work. He used three levels of metaphor to emphasize the criteria of the jury. "The Magnolia Award is a ruler that measures the 'bones' of the play, not the 'skin' of the play. This requires first looking at the 'bones' of the play, that is, the script, whether it is rooted in life and whether it has the pulse of the times; secondly, the 'flesh and blood' of the play, that is, the performance. What our performers present is whether they are acting from the heart. We will definitely stare at the eyes of the actors to see whether they are acting the role or living themselves into the role; finally, it should be the 'soul' of the play, that is, the overall technology and skills, whether they respect professionalism." He said that works have ideological depth and strong artistic appeal, the performance has solid basic skills, the shaping and interpretation of the characters are unique and sincere, and the director has overall control over the structure, rhythm and style of the work, then they are the excellent works that the Magnolia Award needs to select.
Chen Baoguo is quite positive about the fact that the Magnolia Award jury this year is composed of three generations: old, middle-aged and young. "Judging awards is not like dividing candies, it requires the harmony of the five flavors." He humorously said that the old comrades can taste the "sweetness aftertaste", the middle-aged can clearly identify the "heat" in the middle, and the young have a "freshness". "If this is a full banquet, then every flavor is present, so that people can savor the taste and savor the aftertaste."
After thirty years of ups and downs, the Shanghai TV Festival and the Magnolia Awards, in his opinion, "witnessed the process of Chinese TV from narrative innovation to technological leap, became a bridge connecting audiences and creators, and built an important platform for telling Chinese stories on the international stage", and "never afraid of excitement, but afraid that there will be no room for flavor after the excitement". Standing at this historical node, he hopes that he and his colleagues on the jury can leave something for the future, "hoping to live up to the trust and mission".
