Chapter 572 Don't let good intentions lead to bad outcomes
"Actually, doing this is quite risky. If the drama flops in the end and Liu Manbo doesn't manage to save the production, then Li Zhibai will have to bear all the risks."
“Sigh, Li Zhibai is too anxious right now. As soon as I mentioned Liu Manbo to him, he immediately asked if he could come to the set right away,” Lu Yanhe said to Chen Ziyan. “He said that the set is in complete chaos right now, and if we don’t find a director to get things back together soon, the set might just fall apart. So, I originally wanted to advise him that no matter how urgent things are, there’s no need to rush for a day or two, but after hearing what he said, I didn’t know what to say.”
Chen Ziyan: "I'm worried that Lighthouse Video won't be satisfied with Li Zhibai's approach. Think about it, the biggest investor hasn't even agreed yet, and you've already taken it upon yourself to bring a director into the crew and start letting him direct. No matter how urgent the situation is right now, in Lighthouse Video's eyes, that's overstepping your bounds. It's just fortunate that it was Li Zhibai who did this, so Lighthouse won't think about it in a deeper, more complicated way. But if there are any problems with the show later on, Li Zhibai's actions will be investigated and he will be held accountable."
Lu Yanhe nodded, understanding Chen Ziyan's meaning.
As they were talking, Lu Yanhe's phone suddenly vibrated twice.
Li Zhibai sent a message: Liu Manbo got into character very quickly and has just finished filming the first scene smoothly.
Lu Yanhe immediately felt relieved.
He showed Chen Ziyan the message Li Zhibai had sent, saying that, for now, the situation was relatively good.
Chen Ziyan: "I have no doubt about Liu Manbo's ability and talent, so I haven't been worried about that. You should remind Li Zhibai to take the initiative to ask Lighthouse whether or not to agree to let Liu Manbo be the director of this drama. Right now, Liu Manbo is only nominally here to help out, so let Li Zhibai give Lighthouse a clear answer and not leave her in a difficult position."
Lu Yanhe nodded and agreed.
He immediately relayed Chen Ziyan's instructions to Li Zhibai.
Li Zhibai: Amazing! Just five minutes ago, Lin Suyang said the exact same thing to me. He told me to give the footage of the scene Liu Manbo just filmed to Lighthouse.
Lu Yanhe understood why Chen Ziyan and Lin Suyang said those things.
To put it bluntly, the biggest problem with this matter is that Li Zhi overstepped his bounds. He did not have the authority to appoint a director (even though Lighthouse respected his opinion from the beginning). In this situation, he directly put Liu Manbo in the position of director without Lighthouse Video's permission, which was a taboo.
Although it doesn't solve the problem, Li Zhibai's initiative to ask the Lighthouse whether to keep Liu Manbo around, using the footage she filmed, is ultimately a form of deliberate expression of his stance, a gesture of relinquishing power.
If the director didn't genuinely have a problem with Liu Manbo and disagree with him becoming the director, in order for the crew to continue filming, the director would usually just back down and let it slide.
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At this moment, Lu Yanhe had already arrived in Thailand.
Lu Yanhe was invited by Thailand as an Asian superstar.
He was quite bewildered when he saw the film festival promoting him as an Asian superstar.
However, they genuinely believed this and provided them with high-level hospitality.
From the moment he arrived in Thailand, he was accompanied by a dedicated person, and was also provided with a car and driver.
Lu Yanhe had only met actress Cai Na once in Thailand.
However, in this conflict between Lu Yanhe and Harvey, Cai Na was one of the first Asian celebrities to voice her support for Lu Yanhe on her social media.
After arriving in Thailand, he thought he would go out and explore.
Chen Ziyan had no time to spend with him; she was about to transfer to the United States—she was currently meeting with a producer in Thailand to discuss a collaboration with Wen Minglan.
Thailand's film and television market is not large, but both Thai dramas and Thai films have achieved remarkable success relative to the country's market size.
Lu Yanhe knew that Thai dramas, in particular, had a large and loyal audience in China, even though he himself didn't enjoy watching them.
The Thai producer that Chen Ziyan wanted to meet was a very experienced film producer; two of his films had been released in China.
Since Chen Ziyan came to discuss a collaboration with Wen Minglan, Lu Yanhe didn't go with her. Otherwise, her attention might have been drawn directly to Lu Yanhe.
Led by a local guide, Lu Yanhe and his entourage visited the local market and then explored the surrounding area.
When he returned to the hotel, the head of the local tourism management department was there, waiting for him in the lobby.
They came specifically to show their welcome to him.
Lu Yanhe was extremely surprised.
Because this is not a TV show recording.
Sometimes when recording a program, the production team will have some foreign media activities. Because the program is influential and popular, they will also arrange similar activities to boost publicity and tourism.
However, Lu Yanhe was only there to attend the film festival, and there was no official arrangement for tourism officials to visit him on his itinerary.
It was a completely unexpected private trip—though it couldn't really be called a private trip, as he was accompanied by a member of the film festival's management team who came specifically to welcome him.
They presented him with a gift, expressed their hope that he would have a good time in Thailand, and sincerely invited him to visit Thailand in the future.
Then, he was invited to a high-profile dinner party that evening, hosted by a local tycoon.
Lu Yanhe politely declined.
People were puzzled, wondering why Lu Yanhe would decline, and even specifically emphasized that he was one of Thailand's top tycoons, very powerful, and that very few people could get an invitation to his banquets.
Lu Yanhe smiled and politely declined.
He rarely attends banquets hosted by wealthy Chinese, let alone those abroad.
First, such occasions have little to do with his work, and getting acquainted with them would only cause all sorts of trouble. Second, nobody knows who might be in such a setting. If there are any unsafe or dangerous individuals there without his knowledge, and he ends up in a frame with them, or even taking a photo with them, he could later be implicated and smeared with dirt that he can't clear his name from.
Lu Yanhe plans to attend the film festival activities tomorrow, complete a shoot the day after tomorrow, finish his work, meet with a few directors he had contacted in advance, have a chat, and then fly to Malaysia.
Minimize activities outside of work.
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However, Lu Yanhe did underestimate his current influence.
The hugely popular horror film "The Mist," which grossed over $200 million worldwide, brought Lu Yanhe not only a box office hit, but also increased his global fame during the global promotion of the film.
This is why Chen Ziyan said that there must be a few commercial blockbusters that everyone can recognize just by hearing their names.
For an actor to become a movie superstar, unless you are like Meryl Streep, already tied to Hollywood and the Oscars, and have your fame propelled to that level by the power of the entire industry, more than 90% of actors build their careers on a few globally blockbuster works.
A Thai movie channel, through connections with Yuehu TV (the two had previously collaborated), found Chen Ziyan, who then passed the information to Wang Biao. By 7 p.m., Lu Yanhe was forced to sit in the hotel restaurant and give an interview to the movie channel.
Thankfully, it was a pre-recorded video, not a live broadcast.
Lu Yanhe doesn't speak Thai, and if he speaks English, not many people can understand him.
Adhering to the principle of "since I'm here, I might as well make the best of it," he accepted the interview assignment and was determined to make the most of it.
Therefore, he mentioned almost all the works in which he had starred.
Anyway, his works are available on streaming platforms, and Thai audiences can watch them too.
The host asked a standard question: "Are there any Thai directors or actors you admire and would like to work with?"
Lu Yanhe said, "Cai Na, actually we've already started working together. I invited her to participate in the production of a Chinese program called 'The Birth of an Actor.' I don't know if this program has any viewers in Thailand."
"Cai Na? Oh right, I saw a report before that said Cai Na might appear in the second season of 'Squid Game,' is that right?"
Lu Yanhe laughed.
"The second season of 'The Squid Game' is still in the planning stages, and the script hasn't even been written yet. However, if there's a suitable role, Cai Na is an actress I'd really like to work with." He also generously added, "I'm a fan of Cai Na; I've seen many of her movies."
The host's smile immediately became even brighter.
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The following day, Lu Yanhe attended the film festival's red carpet event and presented a "Potential Award" to a Thai newcomer.
This is not a major award in an awards ceremony, but a major award set up to encourage young filmmakers. A separate awards ceremony is held for this award every year.
Each year, the film festival invites a prominent filmmaker to present awards to the winners.
This event has become a regular feature of the film festival.
Although it wasn't an awards ceremony, the chairman of the executive committee and the chairman of the jury for this year's film festival were both present.
Before the awards ceremony, a special segment was arranged to briefly introduce Lu Yanhe's achievements.
The chairman of the executive committee introduced him as "a legendary young actor, and a young legendary actor."
Lu Yanhe waved his hands back and forth, saying, "I dare not accept such praise."
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“Lighthouse Video has agreed.” Lin Suyang called Li Zhibai immediately. “However, they have kept Liu Manbo’s salary very low, only willing to give Lu Xibo one-tenth of what he gets.”
Lu Xibo was the director before "Nineteen Years of Crime".
Li Zhibai: "Haven't they communicated with Liu Manbo about this yet?"
“They’ve made up their minds. Liu Manbo is filming here even if she doesn’t want any money. Even if she only gets a tenth of what she’s paid, she’ll definitely accept it.”
"They're incredibly stingy." Li Zhibai said with great disdain, "Director Liu saved the day with his life, and they're still being so stingy about this."
“It’s actually quite normal, after all, she’s a new director who has never directed a feature film before,” Lin Suyang said. “For Liu Manbo, this opportunity is much more important than the salary.”
"These are all excuses to squeeze out the income you deserve," Li Zhibai said bluntly. "They say it's because the opportunity is more important, so they're withholding the income you should receive. If Director Liu doesn't accept these conditions, he won't direct anymore, and we'll lose even more. You know what Director Liu has been doing on set these past two days, and you've seen the footage he shot—it's incredibly good. Although it's still a bit different from what we initially imagined, to have filmed it to this level in such a short time, to be honest, the entire crew is impressed."
Liu Manbo knows very clearly what kind of film he wants to make and how he wants to make it. He won't make unreasonable demands that can't be met. Of course, he actually has a lot of demands and ideas. Many of the early designs and preparations were changed at his request. However, none of these changes were impossible or forced to be done.
So, despite the long hours and numerous complaints, the final product and the footage were perfectly presentable and presentable. There was no trace of last-minute cramming or panic. This is where true talent shines; as he increasingly took control of the situation and ensured the production was well-made, the crew grew to trust him more and more.
A director's authority was established by himself in such an urgent, critical moment when he was appointed to the position.
Li Zhibai: "I invited Liu Manbo here. Brother Su Yang, I can't let him suffer too much, especially since he has helped our show so much."
Lin Suyang: "Zhibai, to be honest, based on my observations and understanding of Liu Manbo these past few days, if you try to get him a better treatment at this point, he might not be willing to do so."
"Huh?" Li Zhi asked, "Why are you unwilling?"
Lin Suyang said, "Because he cares about this opportunity, he cares about it even more. He definitely doesn't want to get the directing opportunity and then have trouble dealing with the salary issue. If he didn't care about this opportunity, he wouldn't have come to do this without anything being agreed upon. Do you understand what I mean? Everyone has self-respect. If a production team asks you to act in a film without promising you anything, how would you feel? Would you be willing to act in it? But since he's in this situation, you can understand how important this opportunity is to him."
Li Zhibai remained silent.
Lin Suyang's words struck a chord with him. He felt that Lin Suyang was right, and he was convinced.
"Why don't you talk to him directly about this and let him decide for himself whether to try again or just let it go?" Lin Suyang said. "Don't let good intentions backfire."
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I've been quite busy these past few days, so I can only keep up with basic updates.
(End of this chapter)
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