Chapter 595: Winning Awards

If it is said that *Love Letter* did not receive the support of film critics and had "suspicion of deliberately pleasing the audience" in their eyes, then *Fake Death Won't Do*, in their mouths, became a director who could clearly film good works, but was reduced to a clown using funny behavior to please the audience—

It can only be said that these film critics are not stingy with language when praising you, and when scolding you, they are also mean and sharp.

*Fake Death Won't Do* field score opened at 2.7, located in the upper-middle area.

However, Li Zhibai's performance received praise from many people, and was even exaggeratedly described by some media as "perhaps this audience will vote for Best Actor for Li Zhibai, after all, he is too sexually attractive in *Fake Death Won't Do*."

Two Chinese-language films in the main competition unit premiered, and the results were quite good.

The key is that the media discussion of both films is very high, bringing very high attention to the films—

For the film party, the benefit is that many overseas film merchants have come to negotiate distribution rights.

And on the same day, the opening work of *Jump Up* Theater, *Girl's Adventure*, took a 0.62% rating on Yuehai TV. Compared with the promotional array that seemed to ring to the sky in the early stage, and the rating miracle created by Lu Yan He before, this figure seems not enough to look at, appearing as if it "flopped." But for a brand-new team of new directors and new actors, this rating can be given a beautiful score.

Lu Yan He himself was so busy that his feet were almost flying, and he was still thinking about sending a congratulatory message to all the creators.

He also forwarded a "celebration poster" of *Jump Up* Theater—

Newcomer team, beautiful results!

In those voices that didn't know the truth and deliberately sang down, his gesture was actually telling everyone clearly that this result was already good enough! -

It's just that Lu Yan He really didn't have too much time to take care of things on the *Jump Up* Theater side.

He was busy with the overseas distribution negotiations for *Love Letter*.

D19 seemed to want to replicate the success of *Road to Glory* in North America again, and communicated with Lu Yan He several times seriously about the gains *Love Letter* might get in the awards season.

They seemed very firm in their belief that *Love Letter* could gain something in the Best Foreign Language Film award.

Lu Yan He himself didn't believe it very much. Because *Love Letter* is not the path that the North American awards season likes. *Road to Glory*, whether it is the subject matter or the style, is the favorite of the North American awards season.

And Schmidt Lawley of American Green Valley Film Company, who had operated *Road to Glory* for Lu Yan He, obviously held the same view as Lu Yan He.

After the premiere of *Fake Death Won't Do*, Schmidt Lawley came to communicate with Lu Yan He. His judgment on *Love Letter* was that there was no need for this film to go through the awards season. Going through the awards season would instead affect the film's performance in North America—

After all, once it goes through the awards season, but doesn't get any gains, it will create an impression in the industry and market that "this film is not very good."

Schmidt Lawley said to Lu Yan He: "It should take the route of media and audience word-of-mouth."

After Lu Yan He went back, he seriously thought about the current quotes and distribution ideas of various film merchants, and held two meetings with Chen Ziyan and Xu Tianming to discuss the situation of *Love Letter*, and finally decided to give the North American distribution rights to American Green Valley Film Company at a price of 6 million US dollars.

Subsequently, several relatively large markets such as Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and France were successively taken down by distributors in various countries at a seven-figure price.

Especially in Japan, several distribution companies competed very fiercely. They seemed to have taken a fancy to the fact that this film would have very good box office performance in the Japanese market, and it was finally taken down by Japan's Dongshan Film Company at a price of 4.5 million US dollars.

After such a division, the interest of streaming media merchants like Maxine and HP in *Love Letter* was not great. The distribution rights taken down by various countries include streaming media distribution rights. This means that if Maxine and HP want to launch this film for users in a certain country, they have to buy the playback rights from them again.

In fact, if Lu Yan He and the others were willing to give the overseas exclusive distribution rights directly to any streaming media, the price they offered might be higher than the sum of these separate sales. But Lu Yan He and the others believe that the current demand for Linghe to establish diversified channels is far higher than the value of the copyright income brought by a movie.

Xu Tianming, Wan Qingqing, and Song Jiang are now just needing to use a movie like *Love Letter* to establish connections with distributors in various countries, and use this to "pay tuition" to accumulate more resources for future film distribution.

The next week was basically negotiations with different people around the overseas distribution of *Love Letter*.

Finally, adding it all up, *Love Letter* sold distribution rights in 32 countries and regions during the Hezhou Film Festival, totaling 29.4 million US dollars.

Just the overseas distribution alone made *Love Letter* a big profit.

The American *Variety* magazine reported the phenomenon that *Love Letter* was "highly sought after" in the Hezhou Film Festival trading market, but also pointed out that Linghe actually rejected higher quotes from several streaming media and insisted on theatrical release, "It is reported that a streaming media platform even offered a sky-high price of 55 million US dollars."

Lu Yan He saw this news and was also speechless.

No need to ask, this so-called "it is reported" must have been released by Maxine itself. Anyway, it can't be bought, so directly report a exaggerated figure, making it seem like they have great sincerity.

It is not that streaming media has never offered a high price of 55 million US dollars for a movie, but generally, it is a new work by a world-class director, or a work with several A-list stars leading the cast and receiving wide attention, that will get this figure.

*Love Letter* could not get this figure.

*Fake Death Won't Do* was taken down by the American film company Paramater at a price of 15 million US dollars for overseas distribution rights excluding mainland China.

It is also a high price.

And, according to the information Lu Yan He learned, the terms of the distribution agreement signed by *Fake Death Won't Do* and Parameter might not bring lower income to *Fake Death Won't Do* later than *Love Letter*.

What Lu Yan He didn't expect was that Long Yan Pictures actually took down the mainland China distribution rights for three films, including Lubian Murray's *Paradise*.

Lu Yan He said to Chen Ziyan: "It's a pity, we don't have any distribution experience or channels in China."

Chen Ziyan: "Domestic distribution is a deep water area. If you don't have certain background and channels, don't do it easily, otherwise, many plays you take down distribution rights, passing the review is a hurdle, and whether the cinema gives you screening is another hurdle. After passing these two hurdles, you can enter normal market competition—a life-and-death competition."

Lu Yan He nodded.

Lu Yan He stayed in Hezhou for two solid weeks.

Everyone else in the crew went back.

Until the day before the awards ceremony, Lu Yan He suddenly received a notice inviting him to attend the awards ceremony—there is an award.

Lu Yan He breathed a sigh of relief.

Although it was expected that Chen Bige should have no hope of winning Best Actress this time, after confirming that they did not recall Chen Bige, Lu Yan He was still a little disappointed—people, always hope that miracles can happen.

And *Fake Death Won't Do* did not receive a "recall" notice, basically there is no hope of winning an award.

Of course, Long Yan Pictures is already very satisfied with this Hezhou trip.

15 million US dollars in overseas distribution fees are in hand, the production cost has been collected seven or eight, and the rest is pure profit.

Because there was too much work to handle on the *Jump Up* side, Chen Siqi did not stay in Hezhou with Lu Yan He all the time, and went back several days ago.

On the day of the awards ceremony, Lu Yan He attended the closing ceremony alone.

He was also invited to present the award for Best Actress.

Lu Yan He was a bit curious, what award *Love Letter* could win.

Acting awards can't be won, and there are not many awards in the technical department of Hezhou, just one Best Cinematography award.

As a result, not long after the awards started, it was announced that *Love Letter* won the Best Cinematography award.

Lu Yan He: "..."

The director of photography for this movie is Liu Bige, and the photographers are Wu Zhou and Bao Wenliang.

But none of the three are here.

Lu Yan He had to go on stage.

"Very surprised. If I had known that our photography could win an award, I would have let Liu Bige stay. He is the director of photography for this movie—um, he is also the director of *Fake Death Won't Do* and *Late Spring*," Lu Yan He took the trophy, "Similarly, as the director of *Love Letter*, I also want to thank the two photographers of *Love Letter*, Wu Zhou and Bao Wenliang. I am very happy to be able to accept this award on stage on your behalf. If it weren't for your support, I, a newcomer director, would definitely not have been able to film *Love Letter*. I miss the days of working with you very much. Thank you for your recognition of *Love Letter*, thank you."

Lu Yan He accepted the award and went off stage.

He took a photo for the first time and sent it to the *Love Letter* crew group chat, @ Liu Bige, Wu Zhou, and Bao Wenliang.

A group of people immediately exploded to congratulate them.

Lu Yan He said in the group with a smile: Send red envelopes! Come back and treat us to dinner!

Liu Bige: Sun! I should have stayed!

Lu Yan He: Hahahahaha.

Wu Zhou:?????? We won an award?!

Someone said: Yes, Teacher Wu Zhou, from now on you are the winner of the Best Cinematography award in the main competition unit of the Hezhou Film Festival!

Wu Zhou: I rely!!

Lu Yan He was chatting lively with everyone, suddenly, someone gently patted his arm.

Lu Yan He turned to look at her with some doubt.

Next to him was a strange woman.

She signaled to the stage and said with a smile: "*Love Letter*, Best Screenplay award."

Lu Yan He then suddenly reacted, showing a surprised, even somewhat stunned reaction.

After he went on stage, he slowed down for a while because he was too surprised.

"Sorry, please forgive me, I thought our *Love Letter* won the Best Cinematography award, so there was no chance to win the second award, so I was a bit confused just now and didn't react."

Lu Yan He looked at the stage, and after telling the truth, showed a somewhat embarrassed, shy smile, but such a smile happened to make him return to the state of playing Huai Jing Shu in *Love Letter* at this moment, that kind of youthful, slightly green state.

People off stage applauded for him.

"Last time I came to the Hezhou Film Festival, *Rouge* won the Audience Choice Award and Best Actress award. I didn't expect that this time I came, *Love Letter* won two awards again. Thank you very much Hezhou, this place seems to have become my blessed land," Lu Yan He said with a smile.

"In the past few days, I have received blessings and care from friends all over the world. To tell the truth, the first time I was a director, I was really blind, and I didn't know how to start at all. But fortunately, I have been an actor and screenwriter for a few years and have known many good teachers and helpful friends. When I was blind, I started helping me without saying a word. *Love Letter* is a movie that I knew very clearly when I was writing the script, what kind of picture it should present. The process of transforming from text to image, people who make movies all know what to experience in it."

Lu Yan He held this trophy in his hand, "*Love Letter* is not a movie about the complexity and depth of human nature. What I hope everyone gains from this movie is not thinking, but nostalgia for a certain past in life, a certain person. We keep moving forward, but sometimes don't forget to look back. Knowing what you want to see when you look back, you know where you are going in the future. Thank you again."

He bowed deeply.

The applause sounded for the third time.

Lu Yan He looked at the trophy in his hand in disbelief, shaking his head, as if he was sighing that he really didn't expect to win the second award.

Afterward, the Best Director award was given to Lubian Murray of *Paradise*.

Best Actor and Best Actress both belonged to European films.

And the last two big awards, the Audience Choice Award and the

Upon hearing this final result, Lu Yan He quietly suppressed the thought of "is it possible to win another major award."

Two awards were already very good; he should be content.

Lu Yan He took a group photo with the other winners, followed by the official press interview session.

The media was very satisfied with the win for "Love Letter."

"Paradise" and "Love Letter" were the two films the media circle liked the most, while "The Long Rainy Season," which won the top prize this year, had a lukewarm reception in the media circle.

No one knew why the audience vote had awarded the top prize to "The Long Rainy Season" this year.

The media was very interested in the next film Lu Yan He would direct, with several outlets pressing him on it. Even though Lu Yan He said he had no plans to continue as a director for the time being, it seemed no one believed him. It felt like there was a sentiment of, "You made a work like 'Love Letter' the first time you directed, how could you not have plans for a next film?"

Before leaving Hezhou, Wu Yang specifically came to the hotel to see Lu Yan He off.

Wu Yang said, "Come to Hezhou more often in the future."

Lu Yan He nodded with a smile and added, "However, I might not be that prolific; I won't have a film every year."

Wu Yang: "As long as you are willing to come, we can certainly find a suitable way."

Lu Yan He nodded and said, "Actually, we have many good Chinese-language films every year in China, it's just that they don't necessarily have the channels to send their films to the Hezhou Film Festival. Director, I hope you can pay more attention to new Chinese directors every year, just like you did with Liu Bige back then. There are still many directors like him in China."

Wu Yang said, "Lu, if you discover such directors, or if you have films you want to recommend to me, you are welcome to contact me at any time. You have my contact information."

Lu Yan He: "Okay."

Returning to the country.

Lu Yan He, who returned to the country with two major awards, had a brief encounter with his fans at the airport before heading home without delay to rest and prepare for the recording of the final episode of "Birth of an Actor."

He had already missed one recording session in the interim.

"Currently, Wang Dashan, Zhen Hongyu, Zhang Pingqing, Xu Liang, and Qu Yan are the five people who have entered today's final recording." On the way there, Chen Ziyan, who had returned to the country earlier, briefed him on the latest progress of the show. "Cheng Hai was eliminated in the top ten, but he will return today as a guest performer."

Lu Yan He nodded.

Among these five names, aside from Wang Dashan, who surprised Lu Yan He somewhat, the others were indeed among the best actors on the show. Except for Zhen Hongyu, they were all actors who had become familiar to the public through this program.

Chen Ziyan: "Our show has still brought everyone a great deal of attention. Among those who entered the finals, besides Wang Dashan and Zhen Hongyu, who were already not lacking in lead roles, Zhang Pingqing, Xu Liang, and Qu Yan have now all received scripts inviting them to play the lead."

"That's good," Lu Yan He said with a smile. "In that case, if we were to do a second season of this show, it should attract even more good actors to participate, right?"

"Mm," Chen Ziyan nodded. "We have almost finished recruiting actors for our second season, but we were indeed snatched of a few we had our eyes on by that show 'Director, Please Advise.' However, they all said they were willing to come to our show after participating in 'Director, Please Advise.' 'Director, Please Advise' is scheduled to air in the summer, and our second season of 'Birth of an Actor' won't air until next spring."

Lu Yan He: "If that's the case, then forget it. Appearing on two shows of the same type in such a short time will cause audience fatigue. Besides, if they perform well on 'Director, Please Advise,' they will surely receive acting offers."

Chen Ziyan nodded.

"Yuehu Station is also asking if we want to put the trailer for 'Love Letter' on the final episode of 'Birth of an Actor' to be broadcast together?"

"Did they suggest it themselves?"

"Yes," Chen Ziyan nodded.

"That's certainly good," Lu Yan He said. "'Love Letter' is scheduled for release during the Qixi Festival this year, in August. Releasing the first version of the trailer in May is about right."

"Mm," Chen Ziyan nodded. "The entire market's reaction to 'Love Letter' is quite enthusiastic right now. Although you keep saying this film won't have a huge box office volume, there are indeed some romance films in the domestic market that have sold around one billion."

Lu Yan He knew that not all romance films fail at the box office. He was very clear about this, citing examples like "Us and Them," "Finding Mr. Right," and "More Than Blue." But these things depend too much on chance and coincidence; it's not that just because you have a well-made romance film, it will definitely reach that box office volume. This is different from certain specific, proven blockbuster genres with huge markets. The randomness of romance films is too great.

Therefore, he kept emphasizing that the box office volume of "Love Letter" would not be large, precisely to break everyone's unrealistic fantasies from the start, so as to avoid disappointment in the end. If a miracle really happens later, okay, then everyone is happy. If no miracle happens, it's just a normal box office performance, and the goal has already been achieved.

Lu Yan He said: "The film 'Love Letter' has already made a profit through overseas sales anyway, so there is no pressure for its domestic release. But if we set such a high target for 'Love Letter' now and overdo the promotion and marketing, it might actually make people not want to watch it. After all, this film is not the kind of movie suitable for everyone to walk into a cinema to see."

As the two of them chatted, they arrived at the recording location.

Although it was a Yuehu Station show, the recording was taking place in Yuming.

They got out of the car and walked toward the studio. Not long after they walked in, several loud bangs of celebratory cannons suddenly rang out inside.

The crew of "Birth of an Actor," including Director Luo Yuzhong and the actors participating in today's recording like Wang Dashan, were all there. They applauded one after another, with applause and cheers rising and falling.

A banner was unfurled, on which was written—

Warmly welcome the glorious return of Hezhou Film Festival Best Screenplay winner Lu Yan He!

"Congratulations!" The show's director, Zhou Tong, presented a bouquet of flowers to Lu Yan He on behalf of the entire production team.

Recommend the old book "I Became the Scandalous Protagonist Overnight"