Chapter 647: One must not favor one over the other

"The Lingyun Awards have truly been quite vigorous in their reforms over the past two years; it's clear that a group of people who actually want to get things done are running this award. In recent years, any film that is nominated for the awards gets a re-release in theaters. Based on the situation over the past three or four years, the box office from the re-releases of all nominated films during this window period basically adds up to several hundred million."

Chen Ziyan was quite moved and approving when she mentioned the Lingyun Awards' performance in recent years.

Among the three major domestic film awards, the Lingyun Awards are actually the ones Lu Yan He participates in the most.

"They are truly sharp; they saw the changes in the drama market," Chen Ziyan said. "Actually, everyone says that domestic films have changed a lot over these years, but if you really talk about it, it's the market that is growing, the audience that is increasing, and people having more money and being willing to walk into cinemas to watch movies. If we are talking about changes in subject matter, filming techniques, quality, and other content, I personally believe the changes in dramas are far greater than those in films. To a certain extent, dramas are on an upward trajectory, while films, aside from production craftsmanship, seem to be on a downward slope in every other aspect."

Lu Yan He actually shared the same sentiment as Chen Ziyan.

"However, the three major traditional television drama awards have not kept up with these changes in the situation. I'm not saying that their award results are wrong, but the attribution and results of the awards sometimes reflect the trend of the entire industry."

Chen Ziyan continued, "Look at the results of the three major awards; I actually feel quite pessimistic that every year, the results are focused on whether there was foul play, rather than whether the results reflect what is most worthy of recognition in the industry."

Lu Yan He was taken aback.

"What do you mean?"

"Take *Friends* as an example. It's the hottest TV drama in the country these past few years, firmly holding the top spot; this point is beyond doubt, right?" Chen Ziyan said. "It's not that I'm saying this because you made this show, but for a drama that has such influence on the industry and such a huge response in the market, from the first season until now, when they are already starting to make the fifth season, it has never had any representation at the three major awards."

Lu Yan He hesitated for a moment.

"But... sitcoms have always been looked down upon by mainstream awards."

"That in itself is a paradox," Chen Ziyan said. "First, mainstream awards—whose mainstream is it? Is it the mainstream of government departments, the mainstream of the industry, or the mainstream of artistic value? The definition of mainstream has different scopes. Second, award selection requires fairness, but that doesn't mean the same ruler is followed every year. Some people mistakenly believe that so-called fairness means this standard should be immutable. This industry is constantly changing, and the market is also constantly changing."

"Sometimes, an award is concept-driven. Hmm, they feel that old actors have been winning in recent years, so they want to push the young actors. But, the very batch pushing the young actors doesn't have a single young actor whose performance is convincing. The result is that it invites a chorus of curses. Are you saying they are intentionally unfair? Not necessarily, but they are just too self-righteous, using their own concepts to try to manipulate the preferences of the public and the market."

Chen Ziyan said to Lu Yan He, "Back when you won Best Actor for *Road to Glory*, fortunately, you won it at the Galaxy Awards, which were presented last. Otherwise, there would have been controversy as well. The male actors everyone felt should have won had already won at the Lingyun Awards and the Feihong Awards. When you won, the questioning from others was much less. After all, that year was a 'big year,' and the competitors were too strong."

Lu Yan He nodded.

That was indeed the case.

"This is the issue of where the hearts of the people lie," Chen Ziyan said. "In a big year for the Best Actor competition, look, Shang Yongzhou, who acted in *Road to Glory* with you, didn't win the award in the end. Was his performance worse than the three male actors who won that year? Certainly not, right? He was even the most popular nominee at the beginning; he really acted well. So, when other male actors worthy of winning appeared, everyone was actually quite tacit—Shang Yongzhou, who no longer needed this trophy so much at that time, was passed over for now."

"Facts have proven that, look, the influence of the film *Road to Glory* was far inferior to *Rouge* later on. Zhou Yuning, who won Best Actor at the Lingyun Awards, also relied on *Nine Yin*, the martial arts film with the greatest influence in the last eight years," Chen Ziyan said. "For your year, the choices for Best Actor sparked huge discussion, but after the clamor subsided, everyone agreed that it was given correctly and was well-deserved."

"Then look at the attribution of performance awards in the last two years. How many of those winners' films will truly enter the classics of Chinese film history, and how many people have actually watched those films?" Chen Ziyan curled her lip. "Blindly pursuing art and absolute performance quality without considering the situation of the entire industry is also a process of self-destruction."

Lu Yan He was lost in thought.

What made Lu Yan He the angriest about this year's Jinding Awards wasn't actually the *Friends* incident, but that *The Summit*, starring Yan Liang, didn't even help him get a nomination.

Fairness is a concept that must be self-deceived to maintain a false balance, even if one knows it is a false proposition.

Yan Liang's performance in the drama field in recent years is enough to be called a model for all young actors in the entire industry.

Whether it is the dedication, the effort, or the quality of character portrayal presented in the end, it should all be recognized.

But inexplicably, the drama *The Summit* was ignored.

The news that the Lingyun Awards planned to hold a drama award selection, by this stage, could basically no longer be kept under wraps and was slowly spreading within the industry.

However, for many in the industry, the Lingyun Awards suddenly making such a big move was linked to the public opinion crisis of this year's Jinding Awards.

Many speculated whether the Lingyun Awards wanted to replace the Jinding Awards in the field of drama awards.

This was not some amateur group throwing together an award, but the Lingyun Awards, which is itself an authoritative film award.

As it spread through the industry, it suddenly evolved into a signal that "the Jinding Awards are in danger."

Huang Lian didn't know how many phone calls he had answered in a row.

The Lingyun Awards were going to do drama awards, but the spearhead was pointed directly at the Jinding Awards.

The negative public opinion that had already slowly passed came back again.

No one expected that things would develop in this way.

Huang Lian repeatedly assured people that the status of the Jinding Awards would definitely not be shaken by the Lingyun Awards.

However, verbal assurances were worth nothing.

The Jinding Awards Executive Committee held an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures.

Next year's Jinding Awards must not fail; there cannot be such controversy as this year again.

They had to find a way to change public opinion and turn the tide.

"Invite Lu Yan He to serve as a judge?" Huang Lian looked at the others in the conference room in shock; this was a direction he had completely not expected.

Someone said, "Only in this way can we bridge the relationship between Lu Yan He and our Jinding Awards in the eyes of the public."

"He is only twenty-four years old," Huang Lian emphasized. "A twenty-four-year-old judge? In the history of the Jinding Awards, there has never been such a young judge!"

"Then has there ever been an actor at the Jinding Awards who almost ruined the reputation of our Jinding Awards because of one actor?" Someone immediately retorted to Huang Lian. "His current achievements have completely exceeded the normal level of actors in his age group; it can even be said that most first-tier actors in their thirties and forties in the circle have not achieved as much as he has."

"That is too much," Huang Lian shook his head. "I disagree."

"Then let's put it to a vote," someone said immediately. "The Executive Committee isn't decided by you alone."

Huang Lian's face became extremely ugly.

"What do you mean by this?"

"I also don't support a vote," Gu Mo suddenly spoke up.

As soon as he spoke, everyone else looked at him in shock.

Huang Lian was the same.

Gu Mo was a student of Luo Yuzhong and had always been a staunch supporter of Lu Yan He. That he would oppose it at this time was something no one had expected.

"Gu Mo, do you also think Lu Yan He is too young?"

"It's not because of that," Gu Mo shrugged his shoulders. "It's just that I can clearly say that even if we invite him to serve as a judge, he won't come."

"He won't come?" Huang Lian smiled, a cold smile.

Gu Mo: "Just recently, the main competition unit of the Xitu'er International Film Festival invited him to serve as a judge next year, and he refused. The Lingyun Awards' drama awards invited him to serve as the first chairman of the jury, and he refused twice. Now Chen Hengyi is still persistently lobbying him."

He turned his head to look at Huang Lian.

"Does Chairman Huang think a mere Jinding Awards judge is something that has any temptation for Lu Yan He?"

After Gu Mo finished speaking, the conference room was silent.

Huang Lian's face changed again and again; his mouth opened and closed, wanting to speak but stopping, stopping and wanting to speak again. For a long time, he didn't say a word.

Gu Mo spread his hands, "So, everyone should know why I opposed the vote, right? To bridge the relationship with Lu Yan He in this way, the premise is that what we give is what Lu Yan He wants. While you are being stingy here, others have already reached another level. What is there for us to struggle with? With the current operating philosophy, even if we really invited Lu Yan He over and made the public feel that the relationship between the Jinding Awards and Lu Yan He has eased, so what? Even when choosing a judge, you are still so concerned about age and seniority, not to mention the selection of awards. Just let the Jinding Awards be slowly eliminated."

"Gu Mo, don't be so extreme. How can you boost others' morale and destroy your own prestige like this?" Someone said. "The Jinding Awards do have some problems, but now everyone is still thinking about solving the problems."

"Solving what problems?" Gu Mo suddenly asked.

For a moment, no one spoke.

"Does anyone know what the problem with the Jinding Awards is now?"

Still, no one spoke.

Gu Mo looked at Huang Lian, "Isn't the biggest problem with the Jinding Awards that the results of this award have been impure from the beginning? Who can be nominated, who cannot be nominated—who is deciding this matter? Who is influencing this list?"

The air was very quiet.

At this moment, everyone's expression changed.

"Huang Lian retaliating against Lu Yan He is his problem, but everyone present, as well as the various forces behind you, who can say their hands are clean?" Gu Mo sneered, "Invite Lu Yan He to be a judge for the Jinding Awards? I don't know whose idea this was, but I want to ask one thing: have you ever thought about it? If you really invite Lu Yan He to be a judge, who will be able to handle him then? Or are you saying, let this award be clean for one year?" Huang Lian looked at Gu Mo in shock.

"Gu Mo, what nonsense are you talking about?" Someone reprimanded.

Gu Mo asked: "What I'm saying shouldn't be hard to understand, right? Did I say anything wrong?"

Huang Lian smiled.

"Gu Mo, did Director Luo tell you to say these things?"

"You are quite interesting yourself. Is it that whatever you say or do is not your own intention, but all instructed by others, so in your eyes, everyone is a marionette?"

Gu Mo's words pierced sharply into Huang Lian's heart.

Huang Lian clenched his fists and looked at Gu Mo with a cold face.

"I just said a little truth, everyone doesn't need to be so nervous and agitated," Gu Mo spread his hands. "These words are just what I wanted to say myself; no one instructed or directed me. I feel this doubt from the bottom of my heart—we always have a few unclean actions in every previous award session. Let's just open up and speak clearly at this table. If Lu Yan He comes, do you think he will accept such actions and accept an unclean result?"

Gu Mo's words were not grand enough to be deafening, but after he spoke, the conference room was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.

This was a very realistic problem.

Although Lu Yan He had not yet agreed to be the chairman of the first jury, invitation letters for members of the Lingyun Awards (drama category) had been sent to many people in the industry one after another.

Please... collect_(!)

In this invitation letter, Chen Hengyi explained in detail the operating rules, voting mechanism, and the original intention of establishing such an award.

This was the first time Chen Hengyi had introduced the Lingyun Awards (drama category) to the film and television industry on a large scale and publicly.

Before, it was all rumors; now it had become reality.

Because membership was by invitation, whether or not one received an invitation letter had become a topic of conversation for everyone during this recent period.

If you received one, it meant you were a recognized person in this industry; if you didn't receive one, that was terrible.

Lu Yan He, Li Zhibai, and Yan Liang all received invitation letters.

It was not strange that the three of them received invitation letters.

In the drama field, the achievements the three of them had made in recent years were obvious to all.

What Lu Yan He didn't expect was that film directors like Wang Zhong and Liu Bige did not receive invitation letters.

Wang Zhong said that Chen Hengyi had specifically called him to explain.

This was a drama award; one must be an industry professional who had participated in drama production and had a certain influence in the drama field to receive an invitation and become a member.

Hearing this news, Lu Yan He realized more deeply that Chen Hengyi truly wanted to do this award well.

Gathering a group of famous and influential people to be members of this award association was not a difficult task. For an industry bigwig like Chen Hengyi, basically everyone would give him face.

However, whether they truly understood drama production and whether they had made contributions to this field—how should one put it? Everything is linked.

The "Ballon d'Or" selected by all football players and participants in the football industry is definitely different in gold content from the one selected by top athletes of different sports types. It's not to say the latter would be weaker, but the industry recognition of the former is definitely higher.

The so-called industry award, professionalism, is the same principle.

This made Lu Yan He think again about whether he should take on the job of the first jury chairman.

"Of course you should go," Li Zhibai felt there was nothing to hesitate about. "You should go; you should tell others what is professional and what is good."

Lu Yan He: "My biggest psychological obstacle is that I feel I am not that capable. Can my eye really select the person most worthy of winning the award? Who am I to deserve this?"

Lu Yan He wouldn't be this humble with others.

But with Li Zhibai and Yan Liang, Lu Yan He really said whatever was on his mind.

"You guys aren't unaware; I have always felt... to a certain extent, I am just lucky."

"Then let me ask you, have you been in this industry for many years?" Li Zhibai asked. "Even if it's not ten years, counting from when you became an actor, is it a full count?"

"About that?" Lu Yan He said. "Five and a half years."

"Fine, anyway, it's not a small amount, right?" Li Zhibai said again. "You have collaborated with so many people and seen so many crews, all of whom are the most outstanding creators in our industry. It can be said that big productions, small crews, Best Actors and Actresses, newcomers, and rookies—you have collaborated with them all. I say you are knowledgeable and experienced; you wouldn't deny this point, right? At most, you can only say that compared to those old veterans, you are still a bit green, right?"

Lu Yan He sighed noncommittally.

"Finally, do you have any selfish motives? Will you be fair? We have watched so many scripts and so many film and television dramas; when we communicate privately, aren't we quite capable of talking? Talking with great clarity."

Li Zhibai said: "Then since it has reached the time when you need to step up, why don't you dare to step up? You say you are afraid that you don't have that much of an eye, but in reality? The more one has no selfish motives and the more one wants to select the best result, the more one fears this matter and the more one has a sense of awe. Do this matter well."

A cannonball was fired from Li Zhibai's mouth, hitting Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He felt that for a moment, he was stunned, and then he realized.

Yan Liang: "Don't be afraid to bear the responsibility and consequences. If you are afraid, what should I and Li Zhibai do if we receive such an invitation in the future?"

Yan Liang was never like Li Zhibai, who could have so much to say, but what he said often could hit Lu Yan He's most critical weakness.

They all knew what kind of words to use to stimulate Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He nodded.

He looked at the two people on the screen and asked: "How is your filming going? Is Yan Liang about to wrap up?"

Now the two of them were still in the crew of *Chinese Paladin*.

Yan Liang nodded and said: "I have two weeks left before I wrap up. Recently, I have been concentrating on rushing my scenes."

"Then you won't be able to rest at all and will have to go film *Dragon Inn* directly?"

"Yes," Yan Liang said. "And I have to go to the desert to film, filming on location every day."

When Yan Liang said this, he didn't feel it was very hard at all, but rather excited—the kind of excitement where his eyes were shining.

To film *Dragon Inn*, Liu Bige had built this inn on-site in the desert area.

Liu Bige wanted to film completely on location.

This was, of course, very helpful for the actors' performances.

But not every actor was willing to film on location. After all, for the film *Dragon Inn*, one could tell from the script that if it were filmed on location, the filming environment would be very arduous.

Actors like Yan Liang, who loved to use the most realistic environment to stimulate their reactions, were in the extreme minority.

The two words "professionalism" can be faked for a while, but not for too long.

Lu Yan He said: "After these few dramas, I feel you can really walk the path of an action superstar in the future."

Although the drama *Flowing Light* didn't broadcast as well as expected, Yan Liang's performance in it was unanimously praised, especially his image as a war god and the large number of action scenes he performed himself, which left the audience very satisfied.

Later, there was *Chinese Paladin*, and then *Dragon Inn*.

For these few dramas, Yan Liang had started martial arts training more than a year in advance.

The moves he performed, although still "flowery," were not "flowery" at all in the lens.

Lu Yan He began to seriously think about what kind of action script he should write for Yan Liang later.

Tailor-made.

He had written so many protagonists for Li Zhibai, but until now, Lu Yan He had never written a proper big protagonist for Yan Liang.

They are all friends; one must not favor one over the other.

Recommend the new book on the Xianxia adventure theme, *Sword of Demon Hunting*. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 648 =====