Chapter 646: Linghe Awards, Serialized Content Awards

Of course, Lu Yanhe had not expected that the film Balcony Picnic would move him directly to tears.

Just as Chen Yin had said, this film was like a sharp blade piercing straight into his heart.

The film tells the story of a man whose wife and son both perished in a car accident; living alone in what was once a home for three, he constantly sinks into memories of the past, only to read poetry and stare blankly amidst the loneliness and sorrow of reality.

This is a film about one person.

Lu Yanhe had never seen this male actor before; in one scene, he sits alone in a room, watching the light outside the window gradually fade, his eyes desolate and devoid of light, sitting motionless like a clay statue.

Watching it made the hairs on Lu Yanhe's arms stand on end.

In that instant, Lu Yanhe felt this was a state he could not portray.

It was a genuine sorrow and silence that could only be seen in a documentary.

Lu Yanhe suddenly realized why Chen Yin had specifically raised this matter with him for this particular film.

This was a film clearly destined to earn little at the box office, yet one that could absolutely be called a true film.

It did not use a tragic plight to elicit audience empathy; rather, it used light and shadow, color contrast, music, and performance to compose a wandering back and forth between past and present, confined within a single house.

Of course, it was not sophisticated; its theme was overly explicit, and these shortcomings all existed. Yet it portrayed too well the image of a figure wandering between past and present, between sorrow and silent self-contemplation, silently hypnotizing and healing himself; Lu Yanhe felt as if he were slowly drowning, unknowingly sinking deeper and deeper within this film.

Compared to a mediocre work scoring ninety points, Lu Yanhe preferred this kind of film that seemed to score only a passing sixty in every aspect, yet achieved ninety-nine in one specific area.

Chen Yin said, "I have already met once with the director of this film. He made this movie using funds from the Youth Creation Fund plus his own savings of three hundred thousand yuan, spending over eight hundred thousand in total, but no company is willing to distribute it. If we act as its agent, there may still be related issues with domestic distribution, but we can submit it to try for film festivals and see if we can sell distribution rights overseas."

Lu Yanhe naturally understood why, despite being a good film, no company was willing to distribute it and no one wanted to take it on. A new director, a film without any famous actors, and no awards won meant there was not a single selling point; for any company engaged in commercial distribution, this meant almost no profit.

He said, "Buy it, or sign an agency agreement; we will exclusively represent the copyright operation of this film, while the copyright itself remains in his hands."

Chen Yin nodded.

"By the way, is he still making films now?"

"Right now he can barely afford three meals a day; all his money has been poured into this film. When I met him previously, he was working part-time as an internet cafe attendant," Chen Yin said.

Lu Yanhe said, "Then ask him while you are at it whether he is willing to sign with our company. If he is, we will pay him a basic salary; even when he has not written a script or filmed a second project, he will at least not worry about having enough for three meals a day."

Chen Yin's face lit up with delighted surprise.

"That's wonderful; I'll go talk to him immediately."

Lu Yanhe said, "Chen Zong, in the future, if you encounter films like this and directors like this that you think are good, communicate with me anytime; I am willing to let our Linghe do such things."

Chen Yin hesitated somewhat, saying, "But wouldn't it be bad if there were too many such cases?"

"If they can produce films of this quality, I don't mind having many; in fact, it's impossible to have too many," Lu Yanhe said. "You have struck treasure here; I am quite curious how you discovered this film."

"A friend from a distribution company recommended it to me, saying he had seen a very well-made low-budget film, but because it had no box office prospects, his company refused to take it on. He asked if I was interested; he acted out of a desire to cherish talent, so he recommended it to me."

"That's truly good." Lu Yanhe nodded. "This film is already very mature; try submitting it to the Situer Film Festival and see whether they are willing to accept it."

Chen Yin was somewhat surprised and asked, "Can this film be submitted to the Situer Film Festival?"

"Any film can be submitted," Lu Yanhe said. "It's just that their selection criteria are very high. When you submit it, attach a sentence saying that I really like this film and am willing to recommend it to everyone."

"Okay." Chen Yin became somewhat excited.

Lu Yanhe was actually willing to use his reputation to recommend this film.

This would certainly make the Situer Film Festival pay it greater attention.

While Lu Yanhe and Chen Yin were conversing, Chen Ziyan listened from the side, not speaking a single word throughout the entire exchange.

After they finished talking, Chen Ziyan held up her phone and said, "The Lingyun Awards just contacted me; they want to have a phone call with you."

Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised.

"Why are they looking for me?"

"They probably want to invite you to serve as a judge for the Lingyun Awards," Chen Ziyan said. "The nomination list for the Lingyun Awards is about to be released; after the nominations come out, they will begin selecting the final award winners."

Lu Yanhe said, "Invite me to be a judge? Will I have the time to serve as a judge?"

"You should have the time," Chen Ziyan said. "You only need to join the crew for Season Two of Friends in December, which happens to avoid conflicting with the Lingyun Awards selection period. Actually, come to think of it, haven't you ever served as a judge before?"

"Mm, I haven't properly done it before," Lu Yanhe said.

"Serving as a judge will still be helpful for your career," Chen Ziyan said. "Especially now that Linghe also needs help from many people."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

"So you are suggesting I accept?"

"Yes," Chen Ziyan said.

"But if I go to serve as a judge for the Lingyun Awards, won't that mean Love Letter cannot participate in the selection?" Lu Yanhe asked.

Chen Ziyan hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Love Letter... indeed, that is the situation. Yes, Love Letter should certainly receive nominations, though it is unknown how many awards it will be nominated for. In that case, they definitely cannot invite you to be a judge; this is a bit strange. They gave me a hint that they wanted to invite you to be a judge..."

Regardless, the Lingyun Awards are one of the three major domestic film awards.

It is impossible for them to make such a basic mistake.

Lu Yanhe said, "I'll speak with them on the phone first and see if something has been mistaken."

Once the call connected and Lu Yanhe chatted with them, he learned that the Lingyun Awards did not want to invite him to serve as a judge for this year's ceremony; rather, the Lingyun Awards were preparing to reform and would also begin conducting selections for television dramas, web series, and other serialized content. Registration would launch at the end of December this year, with the award ceremony to be held in February next year.

The Lingyun Awards invited Lu Yanhe to serve as the Chairman of the Jury for the first edition of the Lingyun Awards (Serialized Content Category).

Lu Yanhe was utterly shocked.

Generally speaking, the chain of disdain between films and serialized content dictates that film awards often carry more prestige than awards for serialized content.

But that was not the main point; the main point was that, looking globally, the only award currently spanning both the fields of serialized content and film while also achieving influence and renown was the Golden Globe Awards in the United States.

All other such awards either target only serialized content or only films.

The step the Lingyun Awards was taking was rather ambitious.

Lu Yanhe could not make a decision immediately; after hesitating for a moment, he said, "Thank you for your invitation; you place too much trust in me. However, the responsibility of this role is too great, requiring a significant investment of time and energy. Basically, I will be filming throughout the beginning of next year and may not be able to spare enough time for this work."

The other party, however, expressed hope to discuss this matter with him in person.

Chen Hengyi, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Lingyun Awards, was a true powerhouse in the industry, the actual mastermind behind many major projects; behind the film Burning Fire stood his figure as well, as he was one of its Producers.

Those capable of serving as Producers on such top-tier blockbuster films may not necessarily have played any role at the production level for the film, but there are certainly certain key nodes that only they can resolve.

So-called big shots are called that only because they possess such capabilities.

Lu Yanhe did not expect that Chen Hengyi would come personally to meet him, sit down together for a meal, drink, and discuss this matter.

Chen Hengyi did not try to persuade him right away; instead, he said happily, "The special effects in the movie 'Burning Fire' are truly well done. It's finally not that fifty-cent game-effect quality anymore. Have you seen it?"

Lu Yanhe shook his head and said, "Not yet. After filming, I haven't looked at any material related to 'Burning Fire'."

Chen Hengyi said, "Long Yan this time spent a huge sum and went all out to create a true blockbuster, and the results are significant. It matches the performances of you and Yongzhou inside."

Lu Yanhe smiled.

"That's good."

"Actually, later we want to ask you to make an introduction, especially regarding dealings with Europe, America, and streaming platforms. For international distribution of such blockbusters, we don't have many successful cases to refer to," Chen Hengyi said. "You and Linghe have dealt with international distributors so much in recent years; you know the latest cooperation models and methods best."

"Alright, no problem," Lu Yanhe nodded. "If there's anything I can do, just let me know anytime."

Chen Hengyi: "That's straightforward."

Chen Hengyi added, "Now, due to the emergence of streaming platforms, the global influence of TV series is gradually showing signs of surpassing films, although those streaming platforms have not yet entered our mainland market." "Yes," Lu Yanhe nodded. "To some extent, I feel that compared to films, streaming platforms might be more suitable for Chinese-language film and television dramas to gain influence overseas. Look at the series produced in Korea; they often appear on the top ten global broadcast charts, with several works becoming quite popular every year. We have to admit that their work in series production is worth our learning."

"Yes, this is also the reason why we want to create a TV series award unit for the Lingyun Awards," Chen Hengyi said. "We hold the film awards at the end of the year and the TV series awards at the beginning of the year, and we are making awards with true taste."

Lu Yanhe: "This is a very good thing. The Lingyun Awards are already one of the three major awards in the film field. Now adding a television drama award is different from those other awards started from scratch; its fame, honor, and credibility are all right there."

"Exactly," Chen Hengyi nodded. "But if the results of the first and second selections cannot stand the test of time and the market, and cannot convince everyone, they will easily rot."

Lu Yanhe: "Fairness is always a talisman."

"Yes, so for the TV series award unit of our Lingyun Awards, we are preparing to break an industry rule."

"What rule?"

"Production companies and drama teams do not need to register," Chen Hengyi said. "We will create the nomination list based on multiple dimensions such as market feedback over the year, drama quality, audience reputation, and industry recognition."

"So is this nomination list also decided by a preliminary selection committee?"

"We do not plan to have a preliminary selection committee," Chen Hengyi said. "On the contrary, we are preparing to adopt the Academy system of the Academy Awards—the biggest difference between TV series and films is that the former requires too much viewing time. In fact, whether it is a preliminary selection committee or a final selection committee, it is very difficult to watch every single work from beginning to end. So, if we can recruit thousands of industry personnel and bloggers and big V influencers who are deeply rooted in film and television dramas as members to vote every year, the resulting nomination list will have more credibility."

Please... collect_ (!)

Lu Yanhe did not expect the Lingyun Awards' TV series award to do this.

"What about the final selection? Won't the final selection continue to use this method?" Lu Yanhe asked. "Actually, our country has never really had a proper industry award. Our awards are almost all based on a jury system; the most we have is a dozen or so judges, and the least is just a few people."

"For the final selection, we still hope to adopt the jury system," Chen Hengyi said. "Because the preliminary selection is for making a wide-ranging nomination to reduce the number of overlooked gems, ensuring that the works on the nomination list are at least noticed by the entire industry. But when it comes to the final selection stage, especially for people in the entertainment circle, ninety percent of them cannot watch every work on the nomination list from beginning to end. We still need a jury to seriously judge these works. If a work is on the nomination list and you haven't seen it, as a final selection judge, you must watch it."

Lu Yanhe understood Chen Hengyi's meaning.

But even so, this is already a very large-scale reform.

Lu Yanhe did not know what effect such a design would actually have.

Because the design of any system, in terms of its original intention, is often good, but in the actual operation process, various problems will always arise.

But at least the Lingyun Awards are willing to make such an attempt.

Lu Yanhe: "This is a rather bold design."

"Mm," Chen Hengyi nodded. "We don't know either. If we really invite thousands of people related to the film and television industry to become our members, what will the final nominated list look like? But, we can really only do it step by step and see, improving slowly. Our original intention is to launch an award that can maximize the recognition of good dramas at this stage of rapid improvement in the quality of Chinese-language dramas, keeping pace with the times, to promote the further development of this industry."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

"So, the first session is crucial," Chen Hengyi said. "The choice of the chairman of the first final selection jury is crucial."

He looked seriously into Lu Yanhe's eyes.

At this moment, Chen Hengyi's gaze was very sincere.

"It must be someone who has gained recognition and has influence throughout the entire industry," Chen Hengyi said. "At the same time, it must be someone without such deep historical ties to the traditional three major awards, so that everyone can believe this is a new award, an award with a different positioning from the traditional three major awards."

Lu Yanhe's heart skipped a beat.

"In terms of fame, achievements, and industry influence, the only one who can meet these standards is you, Yan He," Chen Hengyi said. "So, this is not like ordinary invitations. I know many places are inviting you to be a judge, to be on the jury committee, or to be the chairman of the jury—"

Chen Ziyan smiled slightly and interjected opportunistically, saying, "Actually, Mr. Chen, Yan He just recently declined to be a judge for the Main Competition Unit of next year's Xitu'er International Film Festival."

Chen Hengyi was slightly stunned.

Lu Yanhe said, "I did so because of what you just said—I need to watch every single work on the nomination list and have enough time to discuss every work with everyone before finally deciding the list of winners. As you know, in January and February every year is when 'Friends' is being filmed. I am very afraid I won't have time to do this job well. If I have time, I would be very willing to contribute my strength to do this."

Chen Hengyi: "Of course, we know that. However, if you take the position of the chairman of the jury committee, you can start watching this year's popular dramas right now; you don't necessarily have to wait until the nomination list comes out to watch them, right?"

Lu Yanhe was stunned.

"Sorry, what I'm saying might be a bit excessive, but I really hope to invite you to be the chairman of the Lingyun Awards jury committee. Only by inviting you, only with you doing it, can we set a high-standard tone for this award."

Lu Yanhe waved his hand. "How could that be? We have so many excellent directors and actors. Sister Bige has also returned to the drama circle in recent years and filmed the drama 'Seventeen Floors'; the response was very good. She is also very suitable."

Chen Hengyi shook his head without letting anyone speak, saying, "No one is more suitable than you."

The person was much older than him and was also his great senior. Given such great sincerity to invite him, Lu Yanhe really found it impossible to grit his teeth and refuse—

In a situation where there was no direct scheduling conflict.

Lu Yanhe looked at Chen Ziyan with some difficulty.

Chen Ziyan signaled with her eyes: You make the decision yourself.

Lu Yanhe took a deep breath.

"However, isn't it also troublesome for me to be the chairman?" Lu Yanhe asked. "Won't the projects I participate in need to be disqualified to avoid conflict of interest?"

Chen Hengyi said, "Yes, if that is the case, the works you participate in and the awards related to you personally will be automatically removed from the final selection list—of course, if they could originally enter the nomination list, we will simultaneously release an announcement to explain."

Chen Ziyan: "That sacrifice is too great."

Chen Hengyi: "Yan He absolutely does not lack one or two Screenwriter Awards, Director Awards, or Performance Awards. Ziyan, the TV series award of the Lingyun Awards is aiming for the highest award. Its influence will definitely be complementary to the chairman of the first jury committee. Actually, think about it from another angle: if Yan He can become a key driver at the founding moment of a future major award, I believe that for Yan He's acting career, this will definitely be a monument."

Lu Yanhe: "... Did you really use the word 'monument'?"

Chen Hengyi: "I am speaking seriously. Just as for film actors, on one hand, world-class performance awards are honors, and on the other hand, being the chairman of a jury at a top film festival is also an honor no less than many major awards."

Chen Ziyan: "Mr. Chen, I fully agree with your planning for the Lingyun Awards, but let's not make empty promises. The reason Yan He is so busy today and insists on meeting you in person is that, regardless of whether he finally decides to take on this work, he respects your innovative and reformist ideas very much, and he truly hopes this industry will get better."

Chen Hengyi nodded.

"I can feel that, so Yan He, I earnestly implore you to overcome all difficulties and take on this job," Chen Hengyi said. "All difficulties, we will solve them together with you. If there is a filming conflict, we will move all the jury committee discussions to beside your filming location; we will book hotels nearby and rent conference rooms."

Chen Hengyi's persistence truly lives up to his name.

Lu Yanhe took a deep breath.

Things had been said to this extent.

"Chen Zong, I am indeed moved by your words, but please forgive me; I must consider the actual situation. I do not wish to strive for both sides only to have both end in disappointment. I cannot agree to you right now; I need to go back and seriously think this matter over."

Chen Ziyan glanced at Lu Yanhe with some surprise but said nothing.

Chen Hengyi nodded.

"Good."

He said, "I believe you will definitely give me a satisfactory answer."

Lu Yanhe shook his head helplessly and gave a bitter smile.

"I thought you had truly been convinced and would agree on the spot."

"I was indeed moved by him, but—" Lu Yanhe said, "At the very moment I was about to agree, I thought that I absolutely must not make a decision while emotions are running high, so that is what I said."

"Acceptable; you've grown." Chen Ziyan smiled, then sighed with that smile, "Sigh, these great figures never give up until they achieve their goal."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

"If they did not possess such qualities, would it not be difficult for them to become great figures?"

"That is indeed the logic of it." Chen Ziyan nodded. "However, don't you feel they are morally kidnapping you?"

"I do not accept kidnapping; who then could morally kidnap me? Moreover, I understand everything he said." Lu Yanhe said, "He wants to accomplish this matter; do you expect him to follow all the rules and reason things out slowly and methodically? If he were not so aggressive and persistent, never giving up until he achieved his goal, how could such a massive reform ever be completed?"

Lu Yanhe smiled and looked at Chen Ziyan.

"My tolerance has increased, hasn't it?"

Recommendation: Old entertainment-themed novel "Overnight I Became the Scandalous Female Lead" (End of Chapter)