Chapter 595 People and People
The day after Love Letter was released was the screening day of Liu Bige's No. 100 film, Fake Death Is Not Allowed.
When "Love Letter" premiered, the entire cast and crew of "Even Faking Death Is Not an Option" came to support it.
Lu Yanhe and the others will, of course, go to support "Even Faking Death Is Not Allowed" tomorrow.
Two Chinese-language films supporting each other.
"Even Faking Death Is Not an Option" has also garnered a lot of attention because it is directed by Liu Bige.
The film "Late Spring" is quite famous at international film festivals and was one of the top ten films of the year by many media outlets.
Because of the positive reviews for "Love Letter," everyone is now even more excited for "Even Faking Death Is Not an Option."
Despite having a rather unconventional name.
However, just because a movie has an unconventional name doesn't mean it's not a good movie.
Many films in film history have titles that sound like terrible movies, but they are actually classics among classics.
"You, you made such a good film, Love Letter, now all the pressure is on me."
Lu Yanhe and Liu Bige had dinner together in their hotel room at 10 p.m. - before that, they were both busy with work and didn't have time to have dinner.
In this situation, the schedule is really too busy.
Perhaps because the premiere is tomorrow, Liu Bige seemed more anxious than he had been a couple of days ago.
"You're blaming me for this? You were the director of photography for 'Love Letter,' and the feedback on 'Love Letter' is good. You put in a lot of effort. Blame yourself." Lu Yanhe said bluntly.
Liu Bige: "..."
He fell into deep thought and said, "I'm suddenly having some doubts now. Is it really the right choice to bring 'Even Faking Death' to the main competition at the Jose Film Festival? This film is too commercial and may not be liked by the festival audience. I don't think the media will give it a very high rating either."
"That's not necessarily true. Why do you think that way?" Lu Yanhe said. "Don't think about it too much now. The screening is tomorrow, and we'll be busy."
Liu Bige: "Sigh, we should have insisted on casting Wang Jing in the role."
Initially, the role of the female lead was a choice between Wang Jing and Ji Miao.
Ultimately, Longyan Film Industry chose Ji Miao, who had won awards and was more famous, instead of Wang Jing, who was recommended by Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe didn't expect Liu Bige to say that at this time.
"Was Ji Miao's performance unsatisfactory?"
"I wouldn't say it's no good, but it's a bit lacking," Liu Bige said. "I watched 'The Squid Game,' and Wang Jing's crazyness in it... If she had played the role, the effect would have been even better."
“What’s done is done. Next time, stick to your intuition when casting actors,” Lu Yanhe said. “The actors’ performances have a huge impact on the quality of a movie, especially romantic comedies like this. The chemistry between the two actors basically determines the quality of the film itself.”
Liu Bige nodded.
“But Li Zhibai’s acting is really good, so relaxed.” Liu Bige suddenly said to Lu Yanhe, “He does better than you in this aspect. His relaxedness is unbeatable.”
Lu Yanhe smiled.
"That's what Director Luo Yuzhong praised him for back then."
“He’s really suited to acting in modern, urban dramas,” Liu Bige said. “He’s very lifelike, without a trace of the typical actor’s persona.”
Lu Yanhe: "He is actually a very good actor. Several people have praised him for that. It's just that the roles Zhou Pingan arranged for him before were all for the purpose of gaining more traffic and popularity. Li Zhibai has never had a chance to seriously act in a serious drama."
“He’s not suited for serious roles either. His talent lies in these everyday, everyday characters. He should take on more light comedies,” Liu Bige said. “Actually, there are almost no male actors in China who can play this kind of light comedy, especially young male actors with such a good image. I haven’t seen another one like him.”
Lu Yanhe suddenly realized.
A director is still a director.
It's estimated that they all have a list of actors in their minds, categorizing which actors can play what kind of roles.
Lu Yanhe thought for a moment and then said, "However, Li Zhibai's previous popular dramas were a fantasy period drama and a modern idol drama. He has never actually filmed a drama like 'Even Faking Death Is Not Allowed'."
Liu Bige: "I've seen it, and I understand why it's popular, but I don't like it."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
It's perfectly normal that Liu Bige doesn't like it.
“I originally wanted Li Zhibai to try out for the role of Lu Xiaochuan, the young eunuch in ‘Dragon Inn’,” Liu Bige said. “However, Yan Liang’s agent also came to me, wanting to give Yan Liang a try out. When I put him together with other actors, I found that Yan Liang was more suitable. Li Zhibai’s image is too handsome, outstandingly handsome, and no one else can match it.”
Lu Yanhe thought to himself that Lu Xiaochuan in the original "New Dragon Gate Inn" was played by Wu Qihua, and he was arguably the most handsome character in the entire film. However, he understood what Liu Bige meant.
Liu Bige asked, "Would you like to come and play a role?"
“Me?” Lu Yanhe thought for a moment, then shook his head. “Forget it. The cast of this movie is already strong enough. There’s no need for me to make a cameo appearance. Let others have the opportunity. For some actors, just showing their face in this movie might be enough to make them known to everyone.”
Liu Bige: "Okay."
"Who are you planning to cast for the role of Governor Cao?" Lu Yanhe asked curiously.
Liu Bige said, "I still want to find an actor with some martial arts background to play the role, but I have met a few actors with such backgrounds, but their acting skills are not good enough, or they just refuse to play the role when they hear that it is a eunuch."
"Are there still actors with such serious prejudices these days?"
“Yes,” Liu Bige nodded. “It’s not exactly prejudice, but if an actor can’t get rid of their inner concerns, they can’t play this kind of role well.”
“I thought you would say that actors should be able to play any role.”
“Actors aren’t gods, and directors can’t direct every kind of film. Why should I expect actors to be able to play every kind of role?” Liu Bige said. “If an actor can play a certain type of role so well, then that’s a gift from God.”
Lu Yanhe nodded, agreeing with Liu Bige's words.
The two of them talked until the early hours of the morning before Lu Yanhe left Liu Bige's room and returned to his own.
Chen Siqi and the others are still in a meeting discussing the main topics and materials to be promoted tomorrow.
"Our Editor-in-Chief Lu is back!" Lin Yu said with a smile. "Let's head out, it's getting late."
Chen Siqi: "Let's call it a day and get some rest. Everyone has been working hard lately. Once the Jose Film Festival is over, everyone can take a break and relax."
“It’s really nice. I really need a vacation,” Lin Yu said. “When I get back to China, I’m going to sleep for 24 hours straight.”
Chen Siqi: "If you can sleep for 24 hours straight, I'll treat you to breakfast for a week."
Lin Yu: "If you're so capable, then treat me to breakfast for a month."
Chen Siqi nodded: "Sure, one month it is."
They chatted and laughed as they packed their things and left.
Chen Siqi stretched and said, "So tired."
Lu Yanhe came up behind Chen Siqi and massaged her neck.
Chen Siqi breathed a sigh of relief.
"Your technique is impressive. Where did you learn it?"
"Self-taught." Lu Yanhe asked, "Why did your meeting go on so late today?"
"This year's Jose Film Festival has received far more attention in China than expected. We also need to keep up with the demand and keep launching new content to meet everyone's needs. Otherwise, the hype will quickly die down," Chen Siqi said. "In just the last two days, we have added thirteen new advertising placements across various media channels, which shows how much attention we've received."
The placement of this type of media channel is quite different from that of film and television dramas, and the price is not as high, but the price for placing an order with one company still starts at least in the seven figures.
Lu Yanhe instantly understood why everyone was working so hard overtime.
The amount of attention the content receives can be inferred from the volume of advertising revenue.
"Impressive." Lu Yanhe nodded.
Chen Siqi: "The main reason is that the quality of our users and the conversion rate of our ads are far higher than those of users on other platforms, which is well-known among advertisers. Thank you all for trusting us."
Lu Yanhe: "With such a tight schedule, have all the new advertisements placed in recent days been screened?"
“Of course, all thirteen brands are well-known brands that have been operating for many years and have cooperated with us before. No new brand has been able to get on our channels so quickly,” Chen Siqi said. “We always reject more advertising placements than we accept. We do a very good job in quality control.”
"It feels like advertising revenue has now become Jump's main source of income."
“That does count, but the biggest source of revenue is content,” Chen Siqi said. “Our magazine sales, digital copyright revenue, and membership subscription revenue from various channels are actually quite substantial, including copyright operation revenue—since the announcement of Jump Up Theater, our copyright operation revenue has seen a significant increase.”
Lu Yanhe asked, "Isn't tomorrow the premiere of 'The Adventures of a Young Girl'?"
“Yes.” Chen Siqi nodded. “Starting from the first Sunday of May, one episode will be broadcast every week.”
Lu Yanhe asked, "Why didn't anyone ask me to share and promote this?"
“We’ve already done a lot of promotion beforehand, now it’s time to see the real results, so we won’t trouble you.” Chen Siqi laughed. “The most important thing is that, since ‘The Adventures of a Young Girl’ doesn’t really have much to do with you, you didn’t direct, write, or act in it, what everyone is most afraid of right now is that the audience’s expectations are too high and then they will be disappointed with the show.”
Lu Yanhe understood Chen Siqi's meaning and nodded.
Things happened one after another, all of them piling up at once.
Of course, it's a good thing. Mutual boosting of popularity brings in more attention, leading to better results.
-
The next day, the score for the program booklet for "Love Letter" came out: 3.3.
That's the second-highest score in the main competition so far.
The José Film Festival's program score is an average of the scores given by film media invited by the festival, and it largely reflects the level of appreciation for the film by media outlets around the world.
The media score tends to be the same as the audience score, and for the Jose Film Festival, where the winners are determined by audience votes, this score is very meaningful.
It's almost certain that "Love Letter" will win an award; the only question is what award it will receive.
Tickets for the screenings of "Love Letter" in the following days were almost impossible to obtain.
It's fair to say that once the scores for the "Love Letter" program were released, the purchasing intentions of various companies surged to an unprecedented level.
At this point, Schmidt Lowry of Green Valley Films suddenly approached them, expressing his willingness to acquire the North American distribution rights to "Love Letter" for $6 million.
For a film with a production cost of no more than $6 million, this figure is truly impressive.
But at the same time, several American film companies came to bid.
D19, which Lu Yanhe had previously collaborated with, also expressed its willingness to offer $5 million for the North American distribution of "Love Letter".
According to information obtained by Wan Qingqing and Song Jiang, although they don't think "Love Letter" will achieve great box office results in North America and won't be able to recoup the distribution costs from theatrical releases, "Love Letter" will perform very well in family entertainment revenue and streaming rights revenue.
D19 also stated that if Lu Yanhe was willing to give them the North American distribution rights for "Love Letter," they would also allocate a seven-figure public relations budget for the awards season campaign.
The box office performance of "Love Letter" in North American theaters is estimated to be around two to three million dollars – this is the average box office performance of a non-English blockbuster that has come from one of the four major international film festivals.
Lu Yanhe and his team knew that the chances of "Love Letter" becoming a box office miracle in the United States were slim. However, if "Love Letter" performed well during the North American awards season, the box office could benefit from it.
“The media really likes ‘Love Letter,’ but the film critics’ reaction this time isn’t as good as the media’s,” Xu Tianming said. “Without the support of film critics, ‘Love Letter’ might not perform well if it really goes for awards season. Yan He’s performance in ‘Road to Glory’ was able to get some nominations in the North American awards season because of the support of film critics, which brought Yan He some attention.”
Chen Ziyan nodded, "Moreover, the themes and cultural background of 'Love Letter' might resonate with audiences in Asia, but in the United States... I'm not optimistic about it."
Wan Qingqing said, "In North America, films like Love Letter have always been niche films. If film critics aren't particularly enthusiastic, it's indeed difficult to generate much attention. In the United States, the positive reviews from the media don't translate into a film's success as much as the positive reviews from film critics."
The reason why "Love Letter" didn't receive a very high response from film critics is, as Lu Yanhe himself understands the film, that it lacks depth. It achieves emotional extremes, but that may not be the style that critics prefer. In the words of some critics, while entertaining, it's too pandering to the audience.
Lu Yanhe was also thinking about Juliana's reaction yesterday—she actually thought that "Love Letter" was a movie about pure love.
There is indeed still a gap in understanding.
Their choice of the North American distributor for the film *Love Letter* was certainly not a simple "highest bidder wins" decision. After all, it wasn't a buyout. How much revenue *Love Letter* will ultimately bring to Linghe in North America depends on the distribution company's capabilities and its distribution strategy for the film.
If they ultimately conclude that Love Letter will not perform well during the North American awards season, then D19's "North American awards season" strategy will not be enough to sway them.
-
When Liu Bige, Li Zhibai, and Ji Miao were preparing to leave for the premiere, Huang Zhongjing and Huang Taiwenzhimao from Longyan Film Industry were also with them.
Wen Zhimao jokingly teased Liu Bige: "If our 'Even Faking Death' wins another big award this time, we'll throw you a grand celebration party."
Liu Bige smiled and nodded.
Upon hearing this, Li Zhibai said, "Mrs. Huang, don't just focus on throwing a celebration party for Director Liu, throw one for me too. Next time you ask me to make a movie, I'll give you a 5% discount!"
He's deliberately messing around.
He knew very well that Liu Bige was already somewhat resistant to Longyan Film Industry's interference in his creative work.
Just kidding, if Liu Bige could win another big prize, would they still be able to manipulate him like this?
Wen Zhimao glared angrily at Li Zhibai, "When have I ever mistreated you?"
"Then why do you always make me act in those teen romance movies? I haven't seen a more melodramatic plot in the past year," Li Zhibai complained directly.
Wen Zhimao said helplessly, "That was the screenplay adapted from the best-selling novel the year before last."
"Either the novel is melodramatic or the script is poorly adapted. Anyway, I'm not going to act in it," Li Zhibai said bluntly. "If I did, I'd be cursed to death."
Huang Zhongjing smiled.
"You have the same temper as your father when he was young."
Li Zhibai raised his chin and said, "What a pity. He has a temper like mine, but not a face like mine. I bet it would be a lot of trouble for him to win over my mom."
Huang Zhongjing: "..."
Wen Zhimao: "You wait and see how your dad reacts when he finds out you've been talking about him like this behind his back."
“If he causes me trouble, I’ll tell everyone that you’re trying to sow discord between me and my father.” Li Zhibai wasn’t afraid of Huang Zhongjing and Wen Zhimao.
Even if they are big shots in the film and television industry, not to mention that they are popular stars now, their fathers can also support them.
Back then, when he and Zhou Ping'an fought like that, Zhou Ping'an didn't dare to use any underhanded tricks, because he was afraid of his background.
Li Zhibai said to Liu Bige, "Director Liu, why don't you leave Longyan? I'll have my dad open a production company for you, just for you. You can make movies exclusively for me."
He deliberately spoke so arrogantly, of course, in order to use the most joking words to support Liu Bige in the least damaging way.
Liu Bige rolled his eyes at him and said, "Go play by yourself."
Well, Liu Bige didn't respond to him and didn't approve of his suggestion.
However, Li Zhibai's words clearly stated a fact to Huang Zhongjing and Wen Zhimao: given Liu Bige's current status and his ability as a director, there are many people who want to compete with him.
From Li Zhibai's perspective, he really didn't understand what Longyan was thinking, interfering so much with an auteur director like Liu Bige, who was probably one in a hundred.
During the filming of "Even Faking Death Is Not Allowed", there was a producer from Longyan on set who was specifically there to oversee all aspects of the filming process.
Moreover, even during the later editing process, as far as Li Zhibai knew, there were several conflicts over editing opinions.
Liu Bige's vision for the film differed from that of Long Yan and his team, leading to several arguments between the two sides.
Their arguments were mostly based on business considerations.
Longyan hopes that "Even Faking Death Is Not Allowed" can be more commercial, more comedic, and have a more pronounced comedic effect.
Li Zhibai could understand a film company's commercial considerations. However, he couldn't understand why they had to pursue commercial returns in Liu Bige's films—so many directors could make traditional commercial comedies, why insist on competing with Liu Bige?
-
At the premiere of "Even Faking Death Is Not an Option," the star power wasn't as dazzling as that of yesterday's "Love Letter," but it was still quite impressive.
Lu Yanhe appeared hand-in-hand with Chen Siqi on the red carpet for "Even Faking Death Is Not Allowed," leaving the media present puzzled.
Yesterday at the "Love Letter" red carpet event, he didn't hold Chen Siqi's hand, but today at someone else's movie, he did.
After entering the screening room, Lu Yanhe's seat was right next to Japanese director Koichi Matsuyama.
Director Koichi Matsuyama, the director of "The Promised Time," is the only Japanese film nominated in this year's main competition and is also a national treasure-level director in Japan.
He also has many fans in China—after all, among Japan's national treasure-level directors, he is the only one who has clearly opposed war and publicly condemned Japan's past acts of aggression.
It is precisely for this reason that, in addition to "Even Faking Death Is Not an Option", "As Promised" is one of the other two main competition films that Lu Yanhe will attend its premiere.
"Hello, Director." Lu Yanhe greeted Matsuyama Koichi.
Koichi Matsuyama is a person with a refined and elegant demeanor, and he exudes the typical Japanese aura.
He shook hands with Lu Yanhe and congratulated him on making a good movie.
The overwhelmingly positive reviews of "Love Letter" have made it one of the top contenders for awards at the Jose Film Festival. Although Koichi Matsuyama did not attend the film's premiere, he has heard about it from many people.
Lu Yanhe: "Thank you, I'm also looking forward to 'As Promised'."
His interactions with Koichi Matsuyama ended there.
After all, it was our first meeting.
Over the next two hours, Lu Yanhe carefully read "Even Faking Death Is Not an Option".
A very enjoyable romantic comedy film.
It reminded Lu Yanhe of Woody Allen's "To Rome with Love," as well as "500 Days of Summer" and "Love is Not Blind." They're all films that play with dialogue and character development to create a unique style.
It's very light and easy, not heavy, and doesn't have a pretentious twist at the end, like a short story published in a magazine.
There's a scene in it that left a deep impression on Lu Yanhe.
The male protagonist, played by Li Zhibai, is constantly being harassed, and he is in a state of frantic impatience, frequently swearing and cursing "Damn it."
Ji Miao's portrayal of the "psychopathic" female lead is also quite bold, directly asking with her eyes narrowed, "You keep having sex in front of me all day long, who do you want to have sex with?"
Li Zhibai was completely overwhelmed and rendered speechless by Ji Miao's retorts. In the end, he could only utter the words, "Damn it."
There are many such scenes in the movie.
but--
In many instances of comedic effect, the execution felt a bit too deliberate.
It is indeed very funny, but "laughing for the sake of laughing" is not so natural.
After the movie ended, as Lu Yanhe and everyone else stood up to applaud, Matsuyama Koichi suddenly asked Lu Yanhe, "What did you think of this movie?"
Before Lu Yanhe could answer, Matsuyama Koichi added, "It's a real pity; it could have been made into a much better film."
Lu Yanhe was taken aback.
"I still prefer your collaboration, 'Late Spring,' that's a real movie."
Lu Yanhe hesitated for a moment in silence, then said, "It is indeed not perfect, but I like it very much."
Koichi Matsuyama glanced at him with some surprise.
"All right."
Lu Yanhe also glanced at Matsuyama Koichi with some surprise.
Chen Siqi turned her head and asked, "Yan He, do you want to come with me to say hello to Director Min Xizhen later?"
Lu Yanhe smiled slightly at Songshan Haoyi as a matter of course, ending the conversation, and then turned to smile at Chen Siqi.
"good."
-
"This actor is so charming!"
Min Xizhen's eyes lit up, making no attempt to hide her feelings—she looked completely captivated by Li Zhibai.
"He makes me want to push him onto the bed and force myself on him." Min Xizhen's words stunned Lu Yanhe.
This Korean-American female director speaks very boldly.
Her film "Lovers," which she made last year, was a dark horse in the North American awards season. Although it didn't win many awards, it received a lot of nominations, making her a focus of attention in the European and American film industry.
Chen Siqi said with a smile, "Go and tell Li Zhibai in person later that Li Zhibai and Yan He are very good friends."
“That won’t do. Saying it to his face would be sexual harassment.” Min Xizhen immediately waved her hand. “I just wanted to say that he is really too charming.”
She looked at Lu Yanhe.
"Although you were very handsome in 'Love Letter,' I still prefer Li Zhibai's type."
Lu Yanhe smiled and said, "It's okay, I accept."
“I hope to have the opportunity to work with you in the future,” Min Hee-jin said. “Both you and Lee Ji-baek are actors I really want to work with.”
Lu Yanhe agreed.
He hadn't actually expected Min Hee-jin to have this kind of style.
After all, the movie "Lovers" is, in some ways, more like the style of "Love Letter". It tells the story of a couple who break up and get back together, and finally break up. The whole film is shrouded in a monologue-style narration, like an essay, quiet and melancholic.
At that moment, Schmidt Lowry of Green Valley Films walked towards him again.
-
I recommend the older book, "I Became the Leading Lady of a Scandal Overnight".
(End of this chapter)
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