Chapter 663 It's up to you

Just as Chen Ziyan had predicted, Parameter responded immediately after hearing that Lu Yanhe was interested in the project and had offered him an olive branch, expressing his willingness to discuss the prospects of the film collaboration with Lu Yanhe in person.

Chen Ziyan didn't rush to reply, and after lingering for about half a day, she finally said: Yan He happens to be in Los Angeles at this time.

So the two agreed to meet the next day.

Chen Ziyan said, "You wouldn't be able to act in this movie, whether considering the release date or its genre. So, this time I'll make an offer that they can't possibly accept, so they'll back down. That way, the problem won't be on our side in the end."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

“However, this means we can’t lower the salary for Green Valley’s ‘Godless’ movie,” Chen Ziyan said. “Otherwise, Parameter will know that we’re playing them, which will be detrimental to the subsequent negotiations for Jiang Jun’s participation.”

"So what kind of fee are you planning to ask for?"

"Ten million." Chen Ziyan had already thought through the price she wanted to ask for. She said, "This is a price you definitely can't reach right now, but after the contracts for so many big films like 'The Mist' and its sequel, 'Hurricane 2,' and the 'Godless' series, this offer won't seem too brainless."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

"Hollywood pay is still much better. Ten million US dollars is more than 60 million RMB, and that's not even the top-tier pay in Hollywood," Lu Yanhe sighed. "We really need to come here to earn more US dollars and write more scripts like 'Buried' and 'Source Code'."

Chen Ziyan: "As long as you can write, writing more is certainly a good thing. Look at how respected you are in the directing and acting circles now. Besides your achievements as an actor, another important reason is that you can write excellent scripts, whether it's commercial films or award-winning art films. Who wouldn't want to make a good impression on you and get the opportunity to act in your movies? That's how your reputation in the industry has gradually risen. After all, although actors receive more benefits and higher incomes than directors and screenwriters, their reputation is, to some extent, higher than that of actors. In the industry, the status of directors and screenwriters is higher than that of actors of the same level."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

-

"Lu Yanhe is going to Parameter's company tomorrow."

At the same time, domestically.

Zhang Yuezhen hung up the phone with an extremely unpleasant expression and said to Chen Pinhe, who was sitting on the other side.

Chen Pinhe looked up.

"Did he go... for the movie 'Doomsday'?"

“Yes,” Zhang Yuezhen said. “He did hear about the movie ‘Destruction Day’ and wanted to negotiate with Parameter to get the movie.”

Chen Pinhe's expression became even more serious.

"You told me before that the contract had already been signed, so why did he go?"

Zhang Yuezhen: "The contract is stuck at the Parameters section and hasn't been signed yet."

Chen Pinhe's hand clenched instantly.

Zhang Yue hesitated for a moment, then said, "I want to buy the next available flight to Los Angeles."

Chen Pinhe nodded, his expression softening, and said, "That's the only way. Do you need me to go with you?"

“Not for now,” Zhang Yuezhen said. “You’re not Lu Yanhe. Your status and fame are what they are. You still have to maintain your composure when necessary. You’re an artist, not a box office tycoon.”

Chen Pinhe sat down and put his arm around Zhang Yuezhen.

"It's fortunate that you're here." He looked at Zhang Yuezhen with deep affection in his eyes.

Zhang Yue sighed and said, "I shouldn't have taken on the job of your agent in the first place. It's too much of a headache."

Chen Pinhe said, "Without you as my manager, my acting career would have come to an end. I only trust you."

Zhang Yuezhen curled the corners of her mouth.

"Really?"

“Really.” Chen Pinhe nodded. “You know, my two previous agents were with me since I was unknown, but they both left later. I don’t have anyone I can trust anymore. In this industry, if I don’t have a trustworthy person in charge of my acting work, I can’t work. I don’t know which job is a trap.”

Zhang Yuezhen nodded.

"You're just too unwilling to trust anyone."

"Trusting you is enough," Chen Pinhe said with a smile. "Right?"

"Who told me to fall in love with you at first sight? Well, I'll just have to suffer a little." Zhang Yuezhen sighed and glared at him with a rather resentful look. "But you have to promise me that you won't hide anything from me, no matter what."

"What could I possibly hide from you?" Chen Pinhe smiled. "You know everything about me."

The smile in Zhang Yuezhen's eyes froze slightly.

--Yeah?

—When do you plan to tell me about Lu Yanhe's matter?

A smile returned to Zhang Yuezhen's eyes.

"You know that much. Let me tell you, nothing you can hide from my sharp eyes." Zhang Yuezhen gave a spoiled snort and wrapped her arms around Chen Pinhe's neck.

Chen Pinhe's smile reached his eyes.

He kissed her.

-

Lu Yanhe walked along a road covered with golden fallen leaves.

Chen Ziyan took several photos.

Wan Qingqing stood beside her, watching the scene before her, and sighed, "The Creator is so unfair. Why can some people be born like Lu Yanhe?"

Chen Ziyan: "Then you're mistaken. To be honest, Lu Yanhe's looks are only an 8 out of 10 in the entertainment industry. He's not a top-tier handsome man. It's his overall temperament that makes him stand out. He's sunny, has a scholarly air, is clean-cut, and generous. He hasn't picked up the makeup habits of those young male celebrities in the entertainment industry. It's not that they all look the same, but people, especially women, prefer the natural look. Whenever you see him, you feel that he's a real person, not a packaged star."

"That just means that Brother Lu is naturally good-looking. Even without makeup, he is indeed handsome, a natural handsomeness. Those celebrities in the entertainment industry have to wear makeup whenever they go out because they are ugly," Wan Qingqing commented very harshly.

Chen Ziyan: "So you're really mistaken? I don't know what it's like in Hollywood, but in China, they wear makeup everywhere, regardless of gender. If their skin is even slightly dark, they look unwell, or they have dark circles, there will be a deluge of negative comments about them. You can't ignore it because producers, brands, and so on all care about the public image of the artists they work with. Yan He can ignore it because these comments no longer affect him. Others can't prevent such influences, so they can only put on makeup, even if it eventually leads to the negative effects I just mentioned. It's still better than being criticized for being ugly, in poor condition, not managing their image, or having a bad reputation."

Wan Qingqing sighed.

"deformity."

“Yes, we all know it’s a deformity, but there’s nothing we can do,” Chen Ziyan said. “That’s just how the world is; what can we do?”

Lu Yanhe walked back from the front.

"Are you done filming?"

"I took the photos." Chen Ziyan nodded. "I'll send them to my colleagues later and have them edit the images."

"What are you trying to do?" Wan Qingqing asked curiously.

"I'll post this on Weibo," Chen Ziyan said with a smile.

He should announce it directly on Weibo: At this very moment, Lu Yanhe is in Los Angeles.

The news should be spread that Lu Yanhe is in Hollywood negotiating his next film collaboration.

If Jiang Jun doesn't actually lose to Chen Pinhe in the competition, and Chen Pinhe ultimately gets the film, Chen Ziyan's side will release the news that the film was initially offered to Lu Yanhe, but they couldn't agree on the salary, so the film ended up with Chen Pinhe.

The key here is the order of consideration and the amount of pay.

That's right, Lu Yanhe was approached for the role in "Doomsday," and the two sides entered into negotiations. That's right, Lu Yanhe didn't end up in "Doomsday" because they couldn't agree on the salary. In other words, if they had agreed on the salary, the movie would have been Lu Yanhe's. The fact that they couldn't agree on Lu Yanhe's salary but were able to negotiate with Chen Pinhe shows that Chen Pinhe's asking price was lower than Lu Yanhe's.

The gap between the two people was unconsciously widened.

Then, at this time, the news of Lu Yanhe's collaboration with Green Valley Film Company on the "Godless" film series was announced.

Salary?

Sorry, my fee is confidential.

However, he rejected "Doomsday" but accepted "Agodless." Guess what that means?

...

This whole thing was Chen Ziyan's idea.

Lu Yanhe was amazed.

In summary, this battle against Chen Pinhe was a strategy that allowed for both offense and defense.

Chen Ziyan said, "Because, to put it bluntly, in this battle of attrition, we are trying to get something for nothing. The item is in his hands. If we manage to get it, we will profit. If we don't, we can still annoy him. He is at a disadvantage from the start. But by the same token, maybe when we have the item and he attacks, we will be the ones defending."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

“There’s more to come,” Chen Ziyan said. “We didn’t have any direct conflict with them before, and we ignored each other’s existence. Now that we’ve made the first move, don’t expect them to just stand there and let us beat them up. They will definitely retaliate later.”

“Okay.” Lu Yanhe nodded. “We have the blood to fight this battle.”

He added, "At worst, he might take all my outside roles away from home, but it's fine. I'll just write my own scripts, direct, and star in them myself."

Chen Ziyan smiled.

"All my previous tricks were just feigned shamelessness; yours is the real shamelessness, the kind that's impossible to counter."

Is this a compliment?

"Yes, in this matter." Chen Ziyan nodded seriously, a smile in her eyes. "It's good. Relying on yourself is worse than relying on anyone else. What you truly have in your own hands, no one can take away."

-

Under Chen Ziyan's arrangement, Lu Yanhe is in Los Angeles in contact with a Hollywood film company to discuss a new film.

News related to Lu Yanhe spread quickly, after all, he is the only one in the world with such star power.

With Chen Ziyan's deliberate push, this matter quickly became a trending topic.

Soon, the media came to inquire about the situation.

Chen Ziyan and Wang Biao, two people who are relatively well-known to the outside world, have received many calls from the media, who want to find out some news that they can report exclusively.

The two of them naturally used the most provocative language to gradually reveal clues.

Yes, we are in contact, but I can't disclose the specific project yet. Please understand.

—Of course, it's a project from a top-tier company. Hmm, the role is very challenging, and there's a lot of screen time.

—We're still in the initial stages of negotiations; nothing is finalized yet.

—What type of film? It's hard to say, but it's definitely a key project.

—Payment? Haha, of course that has to be kept secret, I can't say, it's a trade secret.

—Actually, this is a choice made by both parties. They need to talk to Yan He further to see how suitable the cooperation is, and we also need more information to further evaluate this project.

Yan He will still focus on Chinese-language films and television dramas. However, if there are good foreign language scripts and a good production team, he will definitely take on overseas films, regardless of whether they are big productions or not. We don't care about that.

...

News of new developments in Lu Yanhe's next Hollywood film spread like wildfire.

So much so that some of Lu Yanhe's friends came to inquire about the situation.

Including Liu Bige.

Liu Bige called directly and asked, "Are you an animal? You haven't even filmed so many projects yet, and you're already negotiating new ones."

"It's just a negotiation." Lu Yanhe smiled helplessly. "Isn't it normal to have negotiations? Many actors have more than a dozen projects in negotiation, which is also very normal."

Look at Leonardo DiCaprio, who was once as beautiful as a flower but is now overweight and has a big belly. He has never been in talks for fewer than double digits of projects at the same time. After four or five years of twists and turns, "The Devil in White City" has come back to him.

In the real entertainment industry, before any film or television project actually starts filming, you never know where the next variable will be, and you never know who will ultimately benefit from the project.

Just like Lu Yanhe's return to Friends.

Liu Bige said, "Will our film 'Dingfeng No. 1' still be able to be filmed as scheduled next year?"

"I've reserved the slot for you, but you need to finalize it as soon as possible. There are quite a few projects to shoot next year," Lu Yanhe said. "The sooner you finalize the shooting time, the easier it will be for me to confirm the schedule."

"It has been tentatively decided to shoot this movie next summer. However, it seems that Longyan plans to release 'Burning Fire' in the summer. They certainly don't want you to miss the promotion," Liu Bige said.

“Even if it’s released in the summer, it won’t be a big problem. In the agreement I signed with Longyan, I only agreed to cooperate with them on five promotional events,” Lu Yanhe said. “Of course, it would be best if we could avoid that period.”

"How about you give me about two months, from May to June?"

“Okay,” Lu Yanhe said. “I’ll talk to Wang Biao and ask him to make room for me.”

Liu Bige asked, "I heard you have quite a few films scheduled to be shot next year, including the sequel to 'Mist'?"

“Yes, but that won’t be until the end of next year,” Lu Yanhe said. “They still haven’t given me the script.”

Liu Bige: "As long as we can stagger them, it'll be fine."

"Yeah, but it will be a headache for me because I film Friends at the end of every year. If they insist on filming in December or January, that would be terrible. I hope not, otherwise I will have to give up one of the two shows."

“Actually, I thought you should have stopped making Friends a long time ago. It took up so much of your time and energy. But this story should have ended a long time ago, at least your part should have ended. You could have used that time to do more worthwhile projects.” Liu Bige spoke frankly from the perspective of a friend.

Although it was the first time Lu Yanhe had heard such words, he was not surprised at all.

He had often sensed similar thoughts from the hesitant attitudes of his friends.

It's true that Friends was very popular, but for Lu Yanhe now, there's no need to continue making it.

This is a very realistic consideration.

but--

“For me, it is a very worthwhile project,” Lu Yanhe said. “In my heart, I really want to continue making sitcoms, especially sitcoms that can accompany the audience for many years. Maybe there will be a time when it has to end, but at least it’s not that time yet.”

"I knew you'd say that," Liu Bige said, sounding somewhat helpless.

Lu Yanhe: "Then can you support me?"

Do you need my support?

“As a friend, of course,” Lu Yanhe said. “You may think I don’t need it, but I do. For me, the most important thing is the attitude of the people around me.”

“Then you should know that no matter what you do, even if we don’t understand, we will definitely support you,” Liu Bige said. “Did you say something to Mrs. Huang before? Recently, she has suddenly become particularly concerned about the projects I’m going to do later. The implication is that if I really have a project I want to do, she will definitely support me.”

Lu Yanhe smiled.

"That's a good thing."

"Thank you." Liu Bige's tone suddenly became serious and sincere. "If it weren't for you, perhaps no one else would have made her realize these problems. To be honest, Yan He, after many people learned about the problems between me and Longyan, their first reaction was to make me leave Longyan and end the cooperative relationship with Longyan. Sigh."

“I know, it’s not that easy, I know.” Lu Yanhe said “I know” twice in a row. “They’re telling you this because you’re already a very successful director. Wherever you go, there will be film companies willing to give your projects the green light. But conflicts and frictions are one thing, but Longyan has also provided you with a lot, whether it’s the opportunity for your first film or its top-notch level in terms of both hardware and software as the top film company in China. These are things that no film company can replace.”

“Yes,” Liu Bige said, “In the end, I am still at a disadvantage in front of them.”

“It’s alright. You’ve only made two movies. Things will definitely get better and better because your status in the industry will rise, and Longyan will respect you more and more,” Lu Yanhe said. “You have to accept that Longyan still sees you as a young man who needs their support to become a film director. It will take time to gradually change their attitude.”

Liu Bige: "You're absolutely right."

“Because I’ve been through all of this.” Lu Yanhe smiled. “That’s just how it is. No one can truly understand your situation except yourself.”

Liu Bige: "Actually, there's something else I want to tell you."

"What's up?"

Liu Bige: "The Xituer Film Festival contacted me and invited me to be a jury member for next year's main competition."

“Oh, that’s great! You should definitely go if you have time,” Lu Yanhe said. “They invited me before, but I really didn’t have time, so I declined.”

"But you also accepted the chairmanship of the jury for the Lingyun Award for Best Drama Series," Liu Bige said with a smile. "Weren't these two awards given around the same time?"

“The judging work for the Lingyun Awards will be finished in January, which is good,” Lu Yanhe said. “But I have to participate in the Spring Festival Gala in February and also film ‘Friends’. The Lingyun Awards’ drama series judging committee can be held near the ‘Friends’ film set, but the Xituer Film Festival cannot.”

Liu Bige: "Wow, the Lingyun Awards agreed to let the judging work for the drama awards be done right next to the set of your 'Friends'?"

“Well, otherwise I really wouldn’t be able to participate,” Lu Yanhe said. “The main thing is… the judging work at the Citium Film Festival. My participation would mainly help my career and add prestige, but whether I go or not wouldn’t affect the quality of the Citium Film Festival results. But the Lingyun Award, they really convinced me, so I’ll do what I can. Maybe in the future we can really create an award that can truly convince the public and has the same significance as the Emmy Awards for American and European TV series. If that’s really achieved, then it will be one of my achievements.”

"You," Liu Bige sighed with a smile, "Alright, anyway, you're in a position to succeed now, so just turn it down. The judges are nothing. Try to win the Best Actor award at the Citium Film Festival in the future."

“Okay, then we’ll rely on ‘Calming the Wind’,” Lu Yanhe said. “The pressure is on you. If I don’t win Best Actor at the Xituer Film Festival for this film, then it’s your problem.”

"I—" Liu Bige didn't know what to say for a moment, "It's a long and arduous journey, alright, I'll try my best."

"Okay, I'm counting on you." Lu Yanhe smiled and hung up the phone.

-

I recommend the older entertainment-themed book, "I Became the Leading Lady of a Scandal Overnight."

(End of this chapter)