Chapter 77: Become famous in one battle (two in one)
"To be precise, it's already very late to start public relations now." After confirming that Zou Yunhua was pulled back by Su Yun, Ovitz slowly began to analyze the current situation to the two.
An Oscar can inject so much vitality into a movie that major film studios and brokerage companies have already started to formulate strategies specifically for it. Many times, they have already started to spend a lot of money to hire public relations companies to do public relations before the movie is even released.
However, these two people are extremely lucky that this year's Oscars have been full of innovations, and have continuously given one historic innovative move after another.
With the help of this favorable trend, the little girl in front of me not only managed to get a nomination for Best Supporting Actress - perhaps with hard work, she can really make an Oscar record.
"Normally, Oscar's PR will choose those famous PR companies, but your opponents are Linda Blair, who is backed by Warner, and Tatum O'Neal, who has an excellent family background. Even if you spend more money, it will be difficult for any company to be willing to take over your business." Ovitz knew that the business was promising, so he tried his best and proposed a plan that was completely contrary to the normal PR method.
"Every year when the awards season comes, the judges receive reference videos sent to them from all over the world for free viewing. So with so many nominated films each year, the basically judges just pick some that interest them, and when they have enough votes, they vote based on their impressions - this is how the Oscars are selected."
"With so many judges, it seems that fairness is basically guaranteed...but money talks." Ovitz explained slowly, "Those PR companies will track each judge's personal preferences for movies, analyze and judge in advance, and then lobby those judges who are more moderate and may waver to get their votes."
"I can help you screen out the votes that have been won by the Warner and O'Neill families, and then put all my strength and resources on those judges who may waver."
"Then how can you guarantee that the judges you lobby for us are likely to waver?" Zou Yunhua couldn't help but raise his doubts.
"WMA has a famous 'mailroom' for training newcomers. It was there that my friends and I received our first lessons in our careers." Ovitz answered very seriously, "So we have a lot of 'information' that even the bigwigs and senior executives may not be able to fully grasp."
"I think I understand what you mean." Su Yun nodded suddenly realizing.
The opponents are rich and powerful, so they take the open and honest path; then they can only find another way to break through the mountains and cut through the rocks, and forge an unusual and unique path.
Those judges with higher reputations and positions will inevitably be coerced by their opponents. Therefore, those judges of the middle and lower levels who are not treated in this way may be able to use Ovitz's method to win big with a small investment.
As the saying goes, a single spark can start a prairie fire, isn't that the truth?
"Is this the way to canvass for votes?" On this side, after listening to the canvassing plans given by Ovitz, including running around to promote, sending videotapes with some "peripheral" gifts secretly attached, following the judges' schedules to release GG, hiring water soldiers to blow up themselves and demote their opponents, and even letting Su Yun personally go on stage to sell Mengbo's favor, Zou Yunhua felt a dizzy feeling as if his dream was shattered.
How come the way they canvass for votes for a world-famous award is so similar to what they do when they fight with other companies in Hong Kong?
"The Oscars have always required PR operations, and many awards have their origins - some people won their first award to make up for their last loss, and some people won awards to play the sympathy card..." Ovitz explained again, "For example, at the 33rd Oscars, Elizabeth Taylor used her illness as an excuse to get the team to play the sympathy card, so that her rival Shirley MacLaine said helplessly after the awards ceremony that she actually lost to a tracheitis operation."
Su Yun, who had learned so much old gossip from Ovitz, nodded her head in a way that made her more knowledgeable: I originally thought that Oscars were controlled by public relations in the later stages, but I didn't know that the early stages didn't rely solely on acting skills…
With this calculation, it seems that no matter what period, Oscar's public relations operations are always up and down, and the money is spent like water.
In other words, most of the candidates in the early period had impressive abilities and could use their achievements to shut up the doubters and make the public believe that they were the "best" who stood out from a group of "very good" candidates and defeated other opponents.
"Do you think they can really be trusted?" Zou Yunhua asked secretly.
"Don't you think they are a lot like you were before?" Su Yun asked back, "They were also fed up with the arrogance of their former company, so they wanted to innovate on their own - to do this, they would spare no expense and seize the tiny possibility of opportunity."
Thinking of his past and the fact that this round was originally intended to be a gamble, Zou Yunhua fell silent.
"If you really haven't made up your mind, I can also recommend some small and medium-sized public relations companies to you." Ovitz added patiently, "You can learn more about this and then decide."
Hearing this, Zou Yunhua raised his head and grinned: "No need."
At first, he knew that large PR companies would basically not take this business, and small and medium-sized PR companies did not have such network resources. In addition, he only had some knowledge of those large companies, so he was desperate and turned to WMA, a long-established agency.
"Your ideas and eloquence are perfect. I have decided to cooperate with you this time." After exchanging glances with Su Yun, Zou Yunhua finally made the decision.
After a round of exploratory exchanges, the two parties finally signed a cooperation contract.
The next step is to start carrying out work tasks in a targeted manner according to the plan.
So Su Yun quickly followed the plan and produced a number of short videos featuring Teddy Bears. Then, at her own expense, she asked Teddy Bear's partner manufacturers to make a batch of small Teddy Bears to be used as "peripheral gifts".
After the materials were basically prepared and the funds were gradually in place under Zou Yunhua's arrangement, Ovitz and his four friends immediately started working overtime.
From collecting information to lobbying everywhere, this group of young people, whose average age is in their early thirties, secretly used what they learned and gained from their work to start a series of sophistry operations that even the public relations companies that are involved in sophistry operations in this era could not have imagined.
"Come on, we can earn 20,000 US dollars from this business, and if we work hard and save more, we can quit the company and become our own bosses!" The five young people had already had opinions about the complacent WMA. This time, they secretly took the risk of taking on Su Yun and Zou Yunhua's private work in order to save up the starting capital for opening a new company.
As a result, during this month, many judges received new free packages in their mailboxes that were larger, thicker, and heavier than other free packages.
Because they are called movie peripherals, those small gifts are openly on the edge of gifts and gifts, stuck on the dividing line between gifts and bribes, which is really unreasonable: Can you say that my roast turkey plate with cute teddy bears printed on it and the furry cute teddy bear keychains and other small things are bribes? Which idiot would give these worthless little things to bribe those rich and powerful judges? These are peripherals! Peripherals!
This kind of cunning gift-giving, where there are policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom, doesn't cost a lot of money, but when faced with an ordinary package with only a videotape and a bonus package filled with “small gifts from the heart”, most people will have a better impression of which one is better. The result is self-evident…
In addition to concentrated bombings to fill up the judges' mailboxes, those daily activity venues also became battlegrounds for Su Yun and his team.
Thanks to the eloquence of Ovitz and his friends, as well as Su Yun's hard work with the system's golden fingers, all kinds of stores were "helped" by Su Yun in exchange to make promotional posters and promotional gg, with the goal of using artificial intelligence teddy bears to cover all aspects and ranges.
As a result of this viral marketing, restaurants are covered with teddy bear serving posters, bookstores have put up teddy bear recommendation book stands, stationery stores have launched teddy bear series stationery, buses have teddy bear patterns painted on them... wherever the naked eye can see, the adorable teddy bears are everywhere.
It's no wonder that thanks to the posters made by Su Yun at her own expense and with the help of the system's cheat code, the (Photoshopped) dishes, after being printed, are much better than those they had previously found from specialized stores.
Of the two restaurants, one has a beautifully made colorful teddy bear serving dishes poster, while the other has a normal dish introduction poster that is not very well printed. Regardless of age, most people will subconsciously choose the one that looks better.
Moreover, Su Yun is very hardworking and not only does she produce a new poster every week but also provides it for free. All the store owners have to pay is to help post the posters in the store and occasionally show specially made short videos. This mutually beneficial approach has attracted more and more partners in a short period of time.
Occasionally when she has some free time, she doesn't even sit idle. She goes shopping with the normal-proportioned teddy bear specially customized for her by the manufacturer, and acts cute everywhere. In addition to the exquisite MV cut out from the movie plot, the short film GG also has cute CG animations of the teddy bear working to earn money to support his little master. The plot is a very simple story: the teddy bear and his little master, who have no home and no mother, work everywhere to earn money. When they get off work, they count the money silently, hoping to find their mother and home.
The teddy bear she was holding was a special product for her guest appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con. It could say thank you and bow. Walking along like this, she really looked like a poor child performing arts...
Most of the judges were of a certain age, and most of them were white men; so she could only display the super bonus buff of "human cub" to barely offset the disadvantages of race and gender.
By the way, there is a funny episode here: when Su Yun went to New Jersey for promotion, she also visited Tom's family.
When Tom's youngest sister Marian saw Su Yun, she said proudly, "Tom bullied you, and I avenged you. Now many people in school admire me!"
Su Yun looked at the other two sisters in confusion, and only then did she understand the true meaning of the words from their amusing explanations: in the MV that was released everywhere, there was a scene where the biological son played by Tom bullied the little robot played by Su Yun, so those children who were about the same age as Marian and those who had never seen the movie before, all had new and old grudges and hated Tom's character very much.
Marian took advantage of this "advantage" and punched her brother Tom with her little fist, which attracted the admiration of her classmates and made her particularly prestigious in school.
"She's like this, and you still play with her?" After hearing this, Su Yun immediately looked at Tom with a helpless look.
"It doesn't hurt anyway." Tom shook his head.
"Then where did all these bruises on your face and body come from?" Su Yun narrowed his eyes in confusion.
"Some people like you, and naturally some people don't like you - so I taught those blind people a lesson." Tom answered honestly.
Su Yun was silent for a moment, then patted his shoulder heavily: "Good brother!"
Tom always felt something was wrong but couldn't figure out what it was. He held his shoulder and was puzzled all night. Even when Su Yun went back to work the next day, he still couldn't figure out the answer.
I was busy until the end of the month, and many people knew that the leading actor of the movie "AI Artificial Intelligence" would be particularly "shameless" to run around everywhere to attract attention and win favor.
Some people sighed, some were amazed, some were speechless, and some sneered at it.
Those who sighed naturally did not expect that Su Yun could let go of her pride and act cute and please others. Those who were amazed were those who discovered the magic of viral marketing. As for those who despised her, most of them felt that Su Yun's approach was not presentable and could not compare to her opponents' normal methods of canvassing votes, such as TV promotion and specially-organized movie viewings and cocktail parties.
After hearing these feedbacks, Su Yun chuckled: Others rely on their parents and companies to succeed, but I have nothing, so I can only rely on my friends!
Time passed quietly in the busyness, and in the blink of an eye it was April 2, 1974.
The 46th Academy Awards ceremony was held on this day at the Los Angeles Music Center in California, USA.
In Su Yun's opinion, this year's awards ceremony was filled with yellow and orange tones. From the stage to the seats to the walls, everything was orange mixed with a little gold, which was more eye-catching than the color schemes of previous years.
However, considering the era, such eye-catching bright colors are still considered fashionable...
Perhaps in order to showcase the innovative content, even the color scheme of the venue was so innovative and alternative.
Su Yun walked the red carpet this time wearing a modified white silk stand-up collar cheongsam. The original cheongsam style was modified to look like a dress with a puffy skirt. At first glance, it looked like a stand-up collar dress, but when you get closer, you can find the distinctive buttons and small embroidery patterns. She also accessorized it with a full set of specially sized pearl hairpins, necklaces, and jingle bracelets. As she walked along, the crisp and ethereal jingle bracelets kept colliding, as if it had its own BGM.
This style, which combines traditional charm with modern style, immediately attracted a lot of attention.
This outfit is obviously a super high-end version of the white jumpsuit she wore when she was a little robot. It not only links to the movie it belongs to, but also shows a brand new look, which makes people who have been amazed by the appearance of the little robots in the movie feel refreshed.
Coincidentally, Linda Blair also wore a light-colored dress similar to the one in the movie "The Exorcist"; while Tatum O'Neal wore a neutral outfit with a small suit - in "Paper Moon", the character she played was a little girl who lived like a tomboy because of the hardships in life. After meeting the male protagonist and receiving the guidance of her "father", she gradually awakened to gender awareness and grew up.
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the three people were dressed like their respective movie characters, allowing reporters on both sides to capture a lot of footage.
After entering the arena, Linda took the initiative to come over to Su Yun's side and said: "Tatum has a great chance of winning this time."
"How did you know?" Su Yun looked at her.
"Her parents have done a lot of things before. Compared to yours, her methods of canvassing votes are not overt, but they are particularly effective." Linda's tone was a little unconvinced and helpless: if she had been beaten visibly, she might have been convinced, but everyone was about the same, and Su Yun was even recognized as better...
But it is difficult to compare people fairly.
Moreover, compared to Su Yun and her, who both relied on their own efforts to obtain their roles and achievements, Tatum relied more or less on the factors of his parents: although Tatum's performance in "Paper Moon" was also very outstanding, the plot of this movie is about the two characters, the male protagonist and Tatum, who disliked each other at the beginning, but developed a family relationship during the journey.
In the plot, the male protagonist is not Tatum's biological father, but the "family love" between the two is very touching.
In reality, the actor who plays the leading man, Ryan O'Neal, is Tatum's biological father - so it is hard not to believe that her outstanding performance in the film is more or less due to this real-life relationship.
"So I'd rather you win it than her." Linda already had a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, and Warner's full focus this round was on pushing "The Exorcist" and "The Stupidity" for Best Picture. She knew that her nomination for Best Supporting Actress wouldn't get her much resources, so she had already prepared herself to be a runner-up.
"Do your best." Su Yun smiled.
Seeing the person sitting next to Su Yun coming over, Linda hurried to her seat.
Su Yun and Linda waved and turned around, only to be struck by the visitor's sincere yet slightly shy smile.
After moving the seat aside for him to sit in, Su Yun had no choice but to speak up when she saw him stealing glances at her from time to time: "Mr. Pacino, do you have anything to say to me?"
"Were you guys talking about something just now?" The kid saw through it, so Al Pacino, the candidate for this year's Best Actor, simply said, "What's the problem... Can't you solve it privately? It's easy for people to remember you guys like this."
Su Yun was a little amused by his professional and smooth talk, as if he wished the whole world could be harmonious and friendly. "No, we were just talking casually, not arguing, and no one should notice."
"That's good." Pacino breathed a sigh of relief.
"You looked like a psychiatrist just now." Taking advantage of the plenty of time now, the two chatted casually, so Su Yun made a joke.
"Really?" Pacino also smiled. "They all say that I have a weird personality. If someone criticizes me, I will remember that person for years and hold a grudge. In fact, I just don't like criticizing others, and I don't like others criticizing me."
Su Yun was a little speechless as she could not believe that such a superstar who has been in the Hollywood world of fame and fortune for many years would have such a naive and wishy-washy idea.
He turned around and said a few words to Zou Yunhua who was sitting on the other side, and soon, the first award, "Best Supporting Actor", was about to be presented.
After the performance competition award was presented, technical awards began to be presented one after another.
When it came to the Best Sound Award, protesters outside the venue suddenly held up a sign with a large slogan on it that read "Please give the Best Sound Award to Nixon". Not only the audience on site, but even the audience watching TV couldn't help laughing.
As expected, this is the legendary free America. Only they can make fun of their own president...
After this episode, the Best Foreign Language Film Award was given to the French film "Day After Night".
Next, it is Su Yun’s goal - the Best Supporting Actress award, which is commonly known as the "Shadow Queen" award equivalent to the Best Actress award.
"Tatum O'Neal - 'Paper Moon'!" When the male host read out this name, the audience fell silent for a moment.
The youngest Best Supporting Actress winner is Tatum, who is still the hot favorite...
Just as the reporters were thinking about how to write an article about the record-breaking youngest female winner, the female host took the envelope from the male host and stepped to the microphone again, "Mary Sue - "AI Artificial Intelligence"!"
When the second name was announced, there was a burst of surprises in the audience: It's a double yolk egg?!
As we all know, with the Oscar selection mechanism, it is difficult for two films to have exactly the same number of votes, so it is rare to see double yolk eggs or multiple yolk eggs as is sometimes seen in other awards.
According to current records, there was once a double yolk egg for Best Actor at the 5th Academy Awards in 1933: Wallace Beery of "The Young Wizards" and Frederick March of "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" both won the Best Actor award because they met the rule that "if the difference in votes between the two is less than 3, it will be considered a tie."
But if you count carefully, the Best Actor Oscar this year actually went to Frederick March, who received a higher number of votes.
Since then, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has gradually revised more mature regulations, stipulating that double yolk eggs can only appear if the tickets are the same, so the probability is so small that it can almost be ignored.
However, the probability is small, but it is not impossible.
Five years ago in 1969, at the 41st Academy Awards ceremony, Barbra Streisand for "Funny Girl" and Katharine Hepburn for "The Lion in Winter" had a rare tie and won the Best Actress award together, becoming true double yolks.
And tonight's 46th Academy Awards ceremony saw another extremely rare double yolk for Best Supporting Actress, following the double yolk for Best Actress five years ago!
Moreover, both winners can even be called legendary in age - originally thought that Tatum O'Neal had already broken the record of the youngest competition award winner in Oscar history; but within a few minutes, Mary Sue broke the former's record directly, once again breaking the record of the youngest competition award winner!
In other words, this year's Oscars produced the two youngest Best Supporting Actress winners!
Because of this almost miraculous same vote and the legendary status of the two people, after the award ceremony, many newspapers and magazines compared the two young girls.
Among the many reviews and analyses, there are some quite insightful comments and assessments: Mary Sue's win for Best Supporting Actress was not only due to her unexpectedly strong public relations, but also partly due to the support of the "backer" behind her.
Although art should be apolitical, nothing in the world can be as ideal as it is and be free from all real connections.
Therefore, after Nixon's visit to China and the gradual normalization of Sino-US relations, Mary Sue was fortunate enough to encounter the rare "honeymoon period" in the relationship between the two countries. Therefore, many judges, taking this into consideration, gave face to the red flag represented by Mary Sue.
Of course, in addition to backing, one's own strength is also crucial: the special effects technology mastered by this young genius Mary Sue may also make many judges related to the film industry give her future collaborator some advance goodwill and preferential treatment.
Finally, the most well-known evaluation of this year's double-star queen is this report that combines the two's movies and reality:
“Paper Moon is a nostalgic black-and-white comedy that once again shows us the former glory of Hollywood black-and-white movies with its interesting plot and natural and smooth performances; while AI Artificial Intelligence is a futuristic science fiction film that perfectly combines commerciality and art, using gorgeous and fantastic special effects technology and meaningful core ideas to explore the future of humanity and the prospects of color movies…”
"From 'Glorious Past' to 'Future Prospects', Hollywood will never disappoint those who have dreams!"
Many years later, when this report, which was widely recognized at the time, was once again dug out from the dust of history, combined with the two completely different lives of Tatum's "peak at debut" and Marilyn Sue's "this is just the beginning", one can't help but sigh that it was really as expected.
The glory of the past will eventually fade away with the past.
As for the future, she will forge ahead like the red flag she represents and bring glory again.
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