Chapter 914 Mutual Appreciation and Silent Support
Lu Yanhe had prepared at least five movie scripts for Yan Liang, all of which were already written and stored on his computer.
Those are roles that neither he nor Li Zhibai could play.
Of course, this doesn't mean that these roles can't be given to others, but Yan Liang would definitely be given priority.
Aside from Yan Liang, who else would start learning martial arts just because Lu Yanhe said, "You can try action movies in the future"?
At the time, in order to gain experience in shooting action films, he was even willing to play a supporting role in "Dragon Inn".
These scripts from Lu Yanhe are definitely reserved for him first.
Of course, Lu Yanhe also prepared a script for Li Zhibai.
A single tree cannot make a forest.
In Hollywood, Lu Yanhe has now established himself and has one foot in the heart of Hollywood.
Yan Liang gained some fame with several films, including "Flypaper," and is now waiting for the release of "Speed of Life" to make his mark.
Li Zhibai gained recognition with "Buried Alive," and his subsequent films received attention but did not achieve the same level of success. To truly become a star, he needs one or two films that become global box office hits.
To be honest, Lu Yanhe never intended to help Wen Shengming, Jiang Jun, Chen Bige and the others "plan" their so-called performing arts careers.
Although they are very close friends, they are ultimately different.
Lu Yanhe didn't feel qualified to help them "plan" their careers. They were all very experienced actors who had worked in the industry for many years.
Even though Jiang Jun wasn't famous before "Squid Game," he was known as the "uncrowned king" in the industry.
Lu Yanhe always assigns suitable roles to individuals after a project is completed.
Even without Lu Yanhe, they would have already achieved their own success and honors in this industry.
It's not that Li Zhibai and Yan Liang relied on Lu Yanhe.
That's not what I meant.
However, Li Zhibai and Yan Liang are different.
In Lu Yanhe's heart, he took the responsibility for the development of their careers upon himself.
He unconditionally wanted them to be better; this kind of friendship truly belonged only to the two of them. People you meet when you're both struggling are always different; the order in which people appear in your lives is incredibly important.
Following the Men in Black series, Lu Yanhe's second major Hollywood production was The Matrix.
Lu Yanhe was leaving this film series to Yan Liang.
He hasn't told anyone about this yet, including Yan Liang himself.
Because launching this series after the success of "Men in Black" would allow them to secure better conditions for him and Yan Liang.
Lu Yanhe firmly believed that "Men in Black" would definitely succeed and achieve the same success as in parallel universes.
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After Yan Liang finished filming and left the crew, Lu Yanhe also took leave and returned to China with Yan Liang.
I had already taken the vacation.
The film "The Boat" was released during the Qingming Festival in the country, and Lu Yanhe had to rush back to participate in several promotional events.
This is his responsibility as the lead actor.
This film did not adopt the promotional methods of a blockbuster, but instead took the route of an "art film".
The film had already begun limited screenings at the end of March.
Including campus visits.
This time, it wasn't Lu Yanhe who suggested it, but Yu Mengling. As the initiator of this film project, Yu Mengling clearly had a clear understanding of the film.
While a film could use such a cast for blockbuster-style promotion, showcasing a top-tier cast and raking in pre-sale tickets in the first day or two, it could definitely sell hundreds of millions of yuan in box office revenue during the pre-sale and opening days—
However, doing so would absolutely ruin the film's reputation with audiences.
Because art films must face the reality that their viewing threshold is high, and for most viewers who go to the cinema for "sensory stimulation," they cannot reach that threshold.
During the promotional phase, Yu Mengling made no attempt to downplay the film's obscure themes, its slow pace, and its overall artistic style. This approach undoubtedly deterred many viewers from watching the film, which boasts a "top-tier" cast. However, it also filtered out many "non-target audiences," thus preserving the film's reputation in the public sphere.
Many movies are actually quite good, but they flop terribly during their release, often because of major problems during the promotional phase.
Most domestic films currently have this problem.
It's not that they weren't aware of it, but rather that they dared not give up the "instant box office" brought by "false advertising" or "misaligned advertising".
Even though it might crash, if we don't do this, we might not even have any "instant box office" revenue.
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Lu Yanhe's return to China mainly consisted of four trips.
The first part of the itinerary consisted of interviews with eight media outlets.
This trip was spread out over two days of various work sessions within the country.
For top-tier artists like Lu Yanhe, the interview time allocated to the media is generally fifteen to thirty minutes.
However, Lu Yanhe gave each media outlet about an hour.
In Lu Yanhe's mind, there wasn't enough time, so what came out of the interviews was only "superficial".
Things that are "on the surface" can only gain exposure, but cannot translate that exposure into a driving force for people to watch the movie.
In fact, why does Lu Yanhe have such a good public image?
Is it just because he is a good person? Not all celebrities are monsters. Many people only receive in-depth reports about their lives when they are old or have passed away, and the public then discovers, oh, he/she was such a good person.
Why didn't anyone know about it before? Was it because they weren't famous enough? There might be various reasons, but the media is definitely involved. The media rarely had the opportunity to interview, or to learn about such things, or perhaps they lacked the resources to make these stories "known to everyone."
Lu Yanhe's team has an absolutely unparalleled relationship with the media in the domestic entertainment industry.
There are very few artists like Lu Yanhe who always agree to schedule follow-up interviews by phone or in person if there isn't enough time to finish an article.
Even Li Zhibai and Yan Liang could hardly do it. This wasn't their fault; it was a combination of factors. Celebrities are inherently very busy and don't have the time for this. Plus, sometimes kindness is taken advantage of, and the media isn't always kind—some media outlets will take advantage of a celebrity's cooperation. Lu Yanhe can show 100% goodwill because even when he does, no one dares to take advantage of him; he entered the ranks of investors and production companies early on, while Li Zhibai and Yan Liang couldn't.
If you're a little "difficult" to deal with, others will be a little "afraid" to deal with you.
But the final result is that the domestic media's evaluation of Lu Yanhe is definitely the highest average.
Basically, there won't be any large-scale negative attacks against Lu Yanhe in the media.
Unless they bought smear articles.
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However, on the other hand, it is not easy for the media to get an exclusive interview with Lu Yanhe nowadays.
Eight media outlets.
It appears there are eight companies in total.
In fact, three of them are traditional print media, one is a podcast hosted by a presenter, two are very popular self-media accounts, and the other two are their own "Jump Up" and YeMai.com.
They are all different types.
To secure an exclusive interview, they need to submit a competitive article in advance.
Lu Yanhe's team will send a questionnaire to media outlets that want to conduct an exclusive interview, including questions such as "What aspects of Lu Yanhe would you most like to know about this time?" and "If you only had three chances to ask questions about the movie 'The Boat,' what would you ask Lu Yanhe?"
Based on this information, the team and Lu Yanhe himself selected eight media outlets.
This approach helps avoid answering the same questions repeatedly during intensive interviews, ensuring the uniqueness and readability of the interview content.
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In addition to media interviews, Lu Yanhe will be returning to Zhenhua University with the cast and crew of the TV series "The Boat" to hold a youth forum.
Lu Yanhe hasn't been back for a long time.
His alma mater.
They will have a dialogue with the faculty of the Faculty of Arts.
In addition, there are the interview programs on the movie channel.
Finally, there was a movie screening ceremony.
Everyone was dressed to the nines.
Friends in the industry, media, etc...
Lu Yanhe only has two days to do so much.
But this is necessary to promote the release of "The Boat".
So far, the pre-sales of "The Boat" have not been as good as another suspenseful crime film.
The latter stars Liu Zefan and several other movie stars.
Liu Zefan is currently very popular and has many fans, but this is not the main reason for the high pre-sale of this movie.
Most importantly, the "revenge" theme of the film has attracted the attention of many viewers of this genre after the trailer was released, and they are very much looking forward to the movie.
Lu Yanhe was also asked this question in an interview with a self-media outlet.
Lu Yanhe said, "We must accept one thing: most viewers go to the cinema not to see a particular actor. We actors have to accept this, and so do the audience. We shouldn't be greedy for the story of the film while pinning our hopes on who the actors are."
"You've collaborated with Liu Zefan a lot over the past few years. Will this incident affect your relationship?"
Lu Yanhe burst into laughter.
What do you think?
Lu Yanhe concluded earnestly, "I sincerely hope that everyone's hard work will yield good results. One day in the future, if Liu Zefan acts in an art film, he will receive critical acclaim; if I act in a commercial film, I will also receive box office success. We are all practitioners in this industry, and the relationship between practitioners isn't just competition; cooperation is also a relationship. In fact, neither competition nor cooperation can prevent outstanding creators from appreciating each other and silently supporting one another."
When the interview was published, Liu Zefan forwarded the article without saying a word.
Everything that needs to be said is in Lu Yanhe's article.
(End of this chapter)
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