Chapter 532
"The Ryu Lai De Film Festival would like to invite you to serve as a jury member for next year's main competition."
The day after talking about director Gong Jiang's film, Chen Ziyan brought another piece of news.
"Yoo Laide Film Festival?"
Lu Yanhe had never attended this film festival before; he had only heard of it and knew that it was a relatively well-known independent film festival in the United States.
Chen Ziyan asked, "Do you want to go?"
Lu Yanhe asked, "When next year?"
“It will be around October, following Venice and Toronto,” Chen Ziyan said. “Currently, there are no plans for that time.”
Lu Yanhe: "Then let's go. We've already started the National Film Festival route, why not go to Ryu Laide?"
It is, after all, a very famous film festival.
Chen Ziyan hesitated.
"What's wrong?"
"I haven't thought about it yet. This is your first time serving as a jury member at an international film festival. If your starting point isn't high enough, will it lower your image in everyone's mind?"
"That can't be, right? Weren't there any big names among the judges at the Ryu Laide Film Festival before?"
“This film festival didn’t have a competition section before; it was only set up in the last two years,” Chen Ziyan said. “In the last two years, the lineup of judges they invited has indeed been rather average.”
"How are the films from this film festival received in terms of reviews?"
"That's pretty good. The Ryder Film Festival is a top-tier film festival in the United States, producing many excellent works, and in the past two years, some of its award-winning films have been nominated for Oscars."
“Then it’s no problem, I’ll go.” After hearing the brief introduction of the film festival, Lu Yanhe nodded. “As long as the film festival itself has a good reputation, I’ll be fine with going. I’ll just treat it as going to see a movie.”
Chen Ziyan nodded when she heard Lu Yanhe say that.
"Alright, since you put it that way, then we'll agree to their terms."
Chen Ziyan said, "There's one more thing: the movie 'Telephone' is about to start filming."
"Oh?" Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised. "When?"
"It should be next month, barring any unforeseen circumstances."
"Finally."
"Yes, finally." Chen Ziyan nodded.
Chen Ziyan had just finished talking to him during the day, and that evening, Jiang Yuqian called him to tell him that the movie "Telephone" was about to start filming.
"We're scheduled to start filming next month." Jiang Yuqian is currently attending Fashion Week and is not in the country. "Yan He, do you have time to come and see?"
"I'm still filming the second season of 'The Seventeen Floors,' and I'll go visit it once filming wraps up," Lu Yanhe said.
"OK."
Lu Yanhe asked, "Sister Yuqian, when are you going back to China?"
"It'll probably be another week before you're back. What's wrong?"
"Just out of curiosity, I've noticed you've been abroad a lot lately," Lu Yanhe said. "I heard there was a role they wanted you for, but someone else in the company snatched it up?"
“It’s not that bad. I turned it down myself and gave it to someone else. Was it Fu Li?” Jiang Yuqian said. “Both Zhou Pingan and she came to me and told me about it. I didn’t have time to perform anyway, so I just gave it to her.”
"Oh, that's good. I thought you were staying abroad for so long that your own backyard was on fire."
"But given enough time, that's not impossible," Jiang Yuqian laughed. "There have been a lot of changes in the company recently. But Yan He, you probably won't be renewing your contract with Xingyu, right?"
“Yes, it won’t be renewed. We’re just waiting for the contract to expire,” Lu Yanhe said. “There are still more than six months left.”
Jiang Yuqian: "That's good."
"Sister Yuqian, what about you? You've been with Xingyu for so many years. Now that Sui Xiaodie's contract has expired and she's leaving, will you renew your contract with Xingyu?"
"I haven't considered it yet, as Star Entertainment wouldn't be of much help to my current career."
Jiang Yuqian was also preparing to leave.
However, Lu Yanhe was not surprised by this.
To put it bluntly, Xingyu's resources and what it can do for them are completely no longer suitable for their current stage.
Lu Yanhe remained relatively restrained and did not immediately shift all his work focus overseas.
Jiang Yuqian, however, had absolutely no scruples.
“I’m planning to entrust my overseas agency contract to Williams Agency,” Jiang Yuqian added. “They contacted me proactively, wanting to represent me in my overseas affairs. Do you have an agency overseas?”
"not yet."
"I was going to ask for your opinion."
“I don’t have any advice for you to take into consideration,” Lu Yanhe said. “I might have to ask you for advice later.”
Jiang Yuqian: "Come on, I'm going all in. I want to ride the wave of 'Squid Game' and rush to the top in one go. You have a much stronger foundation than me, so you can take it one step at a time."
Jiang Yuqian smiled.
“Yan He, don’t follow my example. I’ve considered my own situation, and if I want to reach a higher level in the next three to five years, the only way is to take the international route to overtake others. Otherwise, if we keep fighting with Zhang Lan and the others, we won’t make any significant breakthroughs. The rest of us have limited talent, unlike you and Chen Bige, who have such good acting skills. The more we progress, the more we understand the importance of talent. If I want to break through and take the lead, I can only compete in other areas. You don’t need to do this.”
Some actors have resumes filled with glittering works.
But some actors, their resumes are the result of sifting through sand to find gold.
This certainly doesn't mean the latter is worse than the former.
Sometimes, when you look back from the end of your life, the former may have failed and perished in just ten or twenty years, while the latter has stood strong for decades and become a legend.
Jiang Yuqian's plan for herself was based on the realization that she could not take the "Best Actress" route, but could only take the "Superstar" route.
Lu Yanhe: "I'll wait for you to take me flying."
Jiang Yuqian chuckled.
"OK."
-
After hanging up the phone, Lu Yanhe searched online for information about Jiang Yuqian's work activities over the past few months. He then discovered that Lu Yanhe's statement that she was almost always stationed abroad was not an exaggeration at all.
Jiang Yuqian worked with the intensity of someone who had just debuted and was on the rise, flying all over the world to fashion events, business dinners, and film events. Leveraging the fame of her role in "Squid Game," she frantically gained exposure in the global media, which indeed made her very popular during this period.
Especially in China's entertainment environment, Jiang Yuqian is a rare star who has achieved international success and is quite popular.
There's no way around it; the competition in China is too fierce. If you want to stand out and differentiate yourself from others, you have to have something that others don't.
Jiang Yuqian now has a unique advantage in terms of "internationalization," and she is constantly consolidating and expanding this advantage.
-
Halfway through filming the second season of "The Seventeen Floors", Jong Bon-seok suddenly appeared again.
This time, he brought a South Korean actor with him.
Lu Yanhe also knew him.
Kong Lingfan was the host of Lu Yanhe's appearance at the Asian Television Festival.
There was a slight unpleasantness between the two at the time.
Later, TVN's management even kicked Kong Lingfan out of the cooperation project because of this incident.
This time, Kong Lingfan came to visit the set with Zhong Benshuo, and their attitude was very good.
Along the way, whenever they saw Chen Bige and Jiang Jun, they would each bow to them.
Lu Yanhe came out of his rest room later.
Zhong Benshuo immediately called out to Lu Yanhe.
The moment Lu Yanhe saw the two of them, a clear look of wariness appeared on his face, before he politely smiled.
"Mr. Zhong."
Zhong Benshuo enthusiastically introduced, "Yan He, you must have met Ling Fan before, right? He's a fan of your 'Seventeen Floors' and has always wanted to come and observe the filming of the second season, especially you—he told me he's a fan of yours."
Lu Yanhe could only feign surprise and say, "Really? Thank you."
Kong Lingfan seemed to have forgotten the trouble he had caused Lu Yanhe before, and greeted Lu Yanhe very proactively and warmly.
"Teacher Lu, it's great to see you again. I'm so glad to see you."
His English pronunciation wasn't very accurate, and it took Lu Yanhe a while to understand what Kong Lingfan was saying.
"Hello."
After a brief, awkward conversation, Lu Yanhe went to prepare for his next scene.
The actors were gossiping about it privately.
Li Yuefeng found it strange and asked, "Didn't he just come here not long ago? Why is he here again? And he brought someone with him."
“They are one of the investors and broadcasters of our show, so it’s perfectly normal for them to come and visit us,” Yan Zhimeng said.
"How can he have so much free time to manage such a large region as Asia?"
Li Yuefeng seemed to mind it very much, and his tone was quite sharp.
"He brought that Kong Lingfan over; who knows what he's up to?"
Li Yuefeng's words served as a reminder to everyone present.
"Kong Lingfan is quite famous in South Korea, isn't he?"
"He's not exactly famous, but he did become popular two years ago because of a TV series," Lin Chan said. "I've seen that series, and he gained a lot of attention in China at the time."
Li Yuefeng: "Our drama isn't popular enough to attract a star who's quite popular in South Korea to come and visit the set."
"What do you want to say?" Chen Bige glanced at Li Yuefeng with a half-smile.
“I think Zhong Benshuo probably wants Kong Lingfan to have a cameo role in our show,” Li Yuefeng said. “Then, it would be logical to include him in the main cast of the third season.”
The group looked at each other in bewilderment.
Lu Yanhe originally wanted to say that although Maxine invested in the drama, the copyright was ultimately held by Beijing TV, and it wasn't up to them to decide who should be cast.
On second thought, given the nature of the relationship between Beijing and Taiwan and their past shady dealings, if they reach some kind of exchange of benefits, it might actually happen.
Lu Yanhe and Chen Bige exchanged a glance.
Seeing this, Chen Bige asked Lu Yanhe, "Do you think what Li Yuefeng said could come true?"
Lu Yanhe smiled. "It's not impossible."
-
Zhong Benshuo actually had this idea in mind.
However, his ideas don't stop at just a third season.
He has already reached an agreement with Beijing TV. After the "Seventeen Floors" trilogy, Maxine will acquire the rights to adapt it into a spin-off series.
Jong Bon-seok's idea was to create a Korean version of "The 17th Floor" by leveraging Kong Ling-fan's cameo role in the drama.
Zhong Benshuo also did not plan to have Kong Lingfan make a guest appearance in the second season.
He was just bringing him along to get acquainted with the area beforehand, so that Kong Lingfan would become one of the main characters in the third season.
-
Kong Lingfan was somewhat uneasy. Ever since leaving the "Seventeen Floors" crew, he had been in a daze and had been worried.
Seeing this, Zhong Benshuo asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Kong Lingfan said, "Brother, I offended Lu Yanhe before. Do you think he will stop me from participating in the third season?"
Zhong Benshuo: "Don't worry, I've already made arrangements with Beijing TV. This drama is produced by Beijing TV, not by Lu Yanhe."
Kong Lingfan said, "But I've heard that Lu Yanhe has a lot of influence in China. What if he's determined to prevent me from participating in this drama?"
“You don’t know, the relationship between Lu Yanhe and Jingtai has been very delicate for a long time.” Zhong Benshuo shook his head. “The third season of ‘The Seventeen Floors’ will be his last collaboration with Jingtai. Under such circumstances, why would Jingtai care about his opinion?”
Kong Lingfan was somewhat surprised upon hearing this, "Has he been blacklisted by Beijing and Taiwan?"
“He’s practically blacklisted Beijing and Taiwan.” Zhong Benshuo smiled. “The film and television environment in China is quite different from that in South Korea. Television stations aren’t as powerful now. You should try your best to ease the tension with him. If you hadn’t told me that you didn’t get along with him, I would have found a way to get you a role in the sequel to ‘Squid Game’.”
Kong Lingfan sighed.
"I was too impulsive."
I just wanted to ride the wave of popularity, but I didn't expect to hurt myself like that.
Zhong Benshuo: "But it's okay. There's an old Chinese saying that fortune turns around. With Lu Yanhe's temper and stubbornness, he'll eventually suffer a loss and setback."
Kong Lingfan glanced at Zhong Benshuo with some surprise.
He hadn't expected that Zhong Benshuo also had a problem with Lu Yanhe.
He thought Zhong Benshuo and Lu Yanhe had a good relationship.
After all, the two of them have collaborated so many times.
Zhong Benshuo didn't say much. In fact, he couldn't possibly tell others, at a time when Lu Yanhe was at the height of his power, that there were still disagreements and frictions in his cooperation with Lu Yanhe.
To the outside world, he also had to cultivate the image of a close and cooperative relationship between him and Lu Yanhe.
-
"Look at you, worrying about nothing."
Shen Yue said to Li Yuefeng, "They didn't stay to make a cameo appearance, okay?"
Li Yuefeng shrugged.
"As I said at the time, it was only one possibility."
Lu Yanhe also found it quite interesting that everyone's attitude on this matter was quite consistent; they all didn't really want Kong Lingfan to make a cameo appearance.
It's also possible that the initial tone was set by Li Yuefeng to be "unwelcoming."
“The Seventeen Floors series is a hot commodity,” Li Yuefeng said. “Even if Kong Lingfan doesn’t make a cameo appearance this time, I don’t believe we won’t develop other spin-off series after we finish filming the trilogy. It’s such an easy subject to develop. Just change all the actors, restart a story, and it will still be very good.”
"That depends on how the Beijing-Taiwan authorities arrange things," Jiang Jun said with a smile.
Li Yuefeng said, "Do you think Beijing TV will develop spin-off dramas for our individual characters, like American TV series?"
“A popular role doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t be played,” Lu Yanhe said. “For example, your role.”
Li Yuefeng: "My most popular character is already dead, and I don't know how the audience will view my current character."
He was a little upset when he talked about it.
He is the only actor among the main cast of the second season who has to worry about whether the audience will continue to accept him.
"Sister Bige, if your role were to have its own spin-off series, would you be willing to act in it?" Shen Yue asked.
Chen Bige shook his head.
“We’ve already acted in three parts, why would we continue? Wouldn’t people get tired of it?” Chen Bige said. “I’m not considering continuing in this series anytime soon.”
Shen Yue: "Actually, it would be great if this subject matter could be developed into a movie. I think it would definitely be very good."
“Beijing and Taiwan have absolutely no experience or channels for making movies. Unless you collaborate with others, it’s very difficult,” Chen Bige said. “Movies and TV series are completely different systems with very deep barriers.”
-
I've had too much to drink, that's all for today.
(End of this chapter)
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