Chapter 690

Lu Yan He returned to the country with a Golden Globe trophy and the others.

Taking the Spring Festival as the cutoff point, this was the second international award he had received for his script/screenwriting this year.

He was very satisfied and very content.

And this achievement of his also made the people at the Radio and Television Administration very satisfied.

In terms of international awards, Lu Yan He was producing results steadily every year, and even bringing others along to produce results, giving them something to write in their work reports.

This is also the reason why Lu Yan He's works basically never encounter resistance domestically.

Because his works can provide benefits to people in all aspects, people in all aspects will help him clear away obstacles.

The Radio and Television Administration was about to hold a symposium for "Friends".

It just so happened that the second season was currently airing, and "Friends" had also won an award at the Golden Globes.

However, Lu Yan He had no time at all; for him, January was a "death month."

The filming of the final episodes of "Friends," rehearsals for the Spring Festival Gala, and the selection process for the Lingyun Awards in the drama category.

And, this Friday, "Phone" would be released.

Originally scheduled for the New Year's slot, it was delayed by a week due to force majeure (in reality, it was because the author, me, forgot).

Therefore, after returning to the country, Lu Yan He and the others went straight back to the set, rehearsed, and after filming an episode of "Friends," he rushed off without stopping to the premiere of "Phone."

"Phone" held a grand premiere, not the kind where you just find a movie theater for a friends-only screening; it had a red carpet, celebrity friends showing their support, and over twenty media outlets on-site taking photos and filming.

It wasn't for any other reason, but because the market positioning of the movie "Phone" was a commercial suspense thriller.

This type of film is destined not to be a massive box office hit in the domestic market, but with proper promotion and marketing, it might be able to achieve 300-500 million in box office results.

This requires some major exposure—

Especially since the film is led by the popular actress Jiang Yuqian, with Lu Yan He serving as the screenwriter.

What the movie needs most is to let the audience know that such a film is being released, so come and watch it.

It must be said that at this time, the buzz he and Jiang Yuqian generated at the Golden Globes had a quite significant positive impact on "Phone."

Lu Yan He specifically invited the entire "Friends" cast to attend the premiere of "Phone" dressed in their finest.

Besides them, Li Zhibai, Chen Siqi, Huang Kai, and others who were free also came.

It was a star-studded event.

Hosting such a premiere, excluding the appearance fees of the stars, requires a budget of about 700,000 to make it relatively luxurious, covering venue rental and decoration, staff remuneration, media travel expenses, etc. Therefore, in the internet age, very few film production companies do such premieres anymore—the cost-effectiveness is not high.

"Phone" was different because Jiang Yuqian and Lu Yan He themselves were the producers and investors, so they were definitely standing there to cheer for free, and other celebrity friends also basically came for free; only the host was hired on the spot and required payment. Therefore, they could save a lot on celebrity appearance fees for a premiere.

Because the Golden Globes and the premiere of "Phone" could basically be said to be seamlessly connected.

When Lu Yan He appeared and arrived at the media interview area, almost everyone was asking about the Golden Globes.

Lu Yan He said: "To be honest, for a foreign non-English drama of ours to receive so many nominations at the Golden Globes is in itself a form of recognition; at least that's how I feel. The other nominated dramas are of course also excellent, and the creators are all excellent, but I also believe that we ourselves are equally awesome. If we hadn't worked hard and persisted for so long, there wouldn't be a Golden Globe nomination."

A reporter smiled and said: "Everyone says that if you hadn't been absent from the second and third seasons of 'Friends,' perhaps this series would have started winning international awards long ago."

"How could that be possible? The achievements 'Friends' has made to this day, and I'm talking about awards, are entirely because the audience loves watching it, which formed its popularity and influence. I am very clear that the subject matter and performance style of this show, including the image of the characters, are not what mainstream awards tend to favor."

"Then does 'Phone' have any hope of winning acting award nominations for the two female leads?" a reporter immediately asked.

Lu Yan He shook his head and said: "I don't know; that depends on how the judges of those later drama awards view this film. However, the performances of Sister Yuqian and Wang Jing are absolutely brilliant. I have already seen some clips, and I am very pleasantly surprised. Moreover, whether an actor can win an award for a movie is definitely not the primary consideration. So, before watching the movie, everyone should forget about this matter and watch the movie with a normal mindset. After watching it, we can discuss this matter again."

After Lu Yan He accepted these few interviews, he nodded, indicating that he had to leave first.

"This is purely an attempt; this subject matter, suspense, soft sci-fi, thriller... many genre elements."

After Lu Yan He entered the backstage lounge, he chatted with Director Wang Zhong, who had come to show his support, about "Phone." When asked why he wrote such a movie script, he explained it this way.

Wang Zhong said: "The subject matter you create is really quite varied."

"Yes, because there are really a lot of stories in my head," Lu Yan He said with a smile. "And I often dream. Every time I dream, it's a very complete story. After waking up, I just need to write the story down."

He always had to find a reason for why he could come up with so many different stories.

Dreaming.

This was the high-sounding reason he found for himself.

After all, anyone can accept that when a person dreams, the content they dream about can be a story completely unrelated to their own life, and one night, one dream, can be a complete story.

Wang Zhong said to Lu Yan He: "'Raise the Red Lantern' will most likely enter the main competition unit of this year's Xitu'er Film Festival. When the time comes, are you free to go to Xitu'er with us?"

Lu Yan He said: "It depends on the specific days. If 'Raise the Red Lantern' can be shortlisted for the main competition this year, that would be quite good. This year, Liu Bige is also one of the jury members for the main competition."

"I heard you were originally one too, but you declined?"

"Yes, being a judge takes about twenty days back and forth. I really can't spare that much time," Lu Yan He said.

Wang Zhong: "This year, the Bikalo Film Festival contacted me, wanting me to be the jury president."

"Ah?" Lu Yan He looked at Wang Zhong in surprise. "Really? That's great."

Wang Zhong: "I hope you can come to Bikalo to show your support this year."

"I'll try," Lu Yan He said. "Then shouldn't Chinese films send more to Bikalo this year?"

"I heard that the film selection at Bikalo this year isn't going very smoothly either; many films have been snatched away by Xitu'er," Wang Zhong said. "The slightly weaker ones were also snatched away by Venice. Now, among the international big four, Bikalo's influence is slightly inferior."

"Its commercialization isn't very high, is it? Among the big four, it belongs to the most niche."

"What about you? Do you have any films? If it's suitable, can you send it to Bikalo?"

"Me? I really don't have any films on hand suitable for sending to international film festivals to compete. 'Dragon Inn' can at most be sent to Hexi, but Hexi might not appreciate it either. Besides this, 'Home Alone,' which just started filming this month, or those few Hollywood films, are all pure commercial films; it's impossible for them to get in," Lu Yan He said.

Wang Zhong: "Then that's a pity."

Lu Yan He: "Yeah, it's a pity. Other filmmakers have cultural barriers after all. Whether people can truly understand what we want to express really depends on luck. If you run into a good jury president who understands, you can achieve a good result like 'Sanshan,' but if you don't run into one, it's terrible."

"Actually, your luck is quite good. Basically, not a single one of your films has been buried; almost all of them have received immediate positive feedback," Wang Zhong said.

Lu Yan He nodded.

"That is indeed the case. My luck is very good, I admit."

Wang Zhong: "I've filmed two movies with Chen Bige, but I haven't seriously collaborated with you as an actor once. After 'Raise the Red Lantern' is finished, shall we properly come up with a script and film a movie?"

"Do you want me to star in it?"

"Yes."

"Sure," Lu Yan He nodded.

Wang Zhong said: "Although I haven't figured out what kind of script to come up with yet."

Lu Yan He smiled.

"Director, what kind of script do you want? Do you want to write it yourself, or should I write it?"

"Either is fine," Wang Zhong smiled. "It's just that after doing 'Sanshan,' 'Rouge,' and 'Raise the Red Lantern' in a row, I want to do a play that is slightly less heavy."

Lu Yan He nodded.

"Understood," he said. "Then I'll wait for your call. When you plan to start filming, let me know in advance, and I'll reserve the schedule for you."

"Hmm," Wang Zhong nodded.

Fortunately, because "Phone" is a dual-female lead movie, Lu Yan He doesn't have to worry about stealing the spotlight from the male lead.

As a creator of "Phone," Lu Yan He had been busy organizing and welcoming everyone's arrival.

It wasn't until the movie was ready to start screening that Lu Yan He could stop.

Jiang Yuqian and Wang Jing were sitting right next to him.

Holding their breath and concentrating.

From the very beginning, the movie was in a very dark tone, without any concealment, and the background music was faintly cold.

In this movie, Jiang Yuqian used a "pseudo-bare" state.

Very beautiful.

No heavy makeup, but wearing a bit of lipstick, driving back to her hometown.

This was very different from the image Jiang Yuqian usually presented to everyone. She specifically made her makeup "plain," but didn't make it ugly; it was just another style. Therefore, as soon as she appeared, her image gave everyone a refreshing feeling.

Lu Yan He highly approved of this change.

Because, once an actor's face is known to the audience for a long time, it will inevitably lose its freshness due to familiarity. At such times, the actor must put effort into the character's styling in the movie, such as changing long hair to short hair, or changing their image and character feeling slightly through weight changes, or doing a completely different style.

It's not that you have to undergo plastic surgery to change your inherent impression.

In the two movies "Late Autumn" and "Finding Mr. Destiny," Tang Wei's face was actually the same face, but the feeling she gave people was very different. The former had a decadent literary attribute, while the latter was a more refined urban girl image.

Zhang Ziyi's image in "The Grandmaster" was also like this—

At that time, she had already been famous for more than ten years, and that face had been seen countless times, yet Wong Kar-wai still captured a side of her that had never been captured before. Especially when she and Liang Chaowei walked on that quiet, deserted road, looking at the desolate signs on the street, and looked up, that moment of plainness and the loneliness in her eyes almost formed a scene that she might never be able to reproduce again.

In the movie, Jiang Yuqian's first twenty minutes were almost a solo performance time that belonged to her alone.

Before watching the movie, Lu Yan He's biggest worry was that Jiang Yuqian would overact in this play. Because it's not that Jiang Yuqian lacks acting skills, but she doesn't quite know how to subtract with ease.

However, what surprised him was that Jiang Yuqian finally changed her habitual performance style and chose a more introverted way of acting.

Being popular for a while is luck; being popular for a period is strength; being popular for a long time requires support from all aspects.

Jiang Yuqian smiled and said to him: "Didn't you notice?"

"Ah?"

"In this movie, I'm actually imitating another actor's acting method," Jiang Yuqian said. "This was suggested by the director. He said the easiest way for me to change my performance habit is to imitate others. Guess who I'm imitating."

Lu Yan He hesitated for a moment and shook his head.

Jiang Yuqian said: "Zhang Lan."

Lu Yan He widened his eyes in disbelief and looked at her incredulously.

Everyone knows that Jiang Yuqian's arch-rival is Zhang Lan.

A very important part of the reason she has fought so hard in the entertainment industry until now is probably so as not to be outdone by Zhang Lan.

Zhang Lan is the same.

He had known about their battle since he first started acting, and it has continued until now. Jiang Yuqian has clearly left Zhang Lan behind, but Lu Yan He could still feel that Jiang Yuqian hadn't relaxed her guard; she was still constantly wary of Zhang Lan, worried that Zhang Lan would make a comeback.

After all, back when Zhang Lan was at the height of her career, Jiang Yuqian also climbed out of the valley and stepped on Zhang Lan.

Lu Yan He thought to himself, why imitate anyone else, why did you have to imitate your arch-rival?

Jiang Yuqian said: "In the entire entertainment industry, the female actor I am most familiar with is her."

The one who knows you best is often your enemy.

Lu Yan He suddenly re-understood this sentence.

"In fact, using her way of acting to perform in this movie, I really felt at home," Jiang Yuqian sighed. "Every time the director praised me for changing quickly and acting well, I was speechless. He still doesn't know who I was imitating."

Lu Yan He: "If this were said out loud, I guess the entire entertainment industry would explode."

Just kidding, even now, the fans of these two people are fighting fiercely, and neither is willing to let the other go.

Jiang Yuqian shrugged her shoulders.

If Jiang Yuqian's performance made Lu Yan He feel refreshed, then Wang Jing's performance shocked him.

He had long known that Wang Jing's acting skills were very good, especially her explosive power; she was very good at those scenes with big emotional swings.

However, when Wang Jing was truly hysterical, Lu Yan He was still controlled by her.

As a child abused by her mother, her madness was interpreted on the screen by Wang Jing with a commanding hysteria, firmly attracting everyone's gaze to herself.

A very successful performance.

The scene erupted in collective gasps several times.

When the movie ended, everyone's reaction was a long sigh of relief.

Lu Yan He also breathed a sigh of relief.

If nothing else, the overall rhythm of this movie was very right, without a single bit of dragging or boring moments.

If you want to talk about shortcomings, of course there are some; the two lines intertwined back and forth, and the switching points were actually not done very well. However, the flaws do not obscure the virtues, especially the acting duel between Jiang Yuqian and Wang Jing, which was very brilliant in the later stages.

It's just a pity that although Jiang Yuqian's performance was very good, due to the character setting, she was somewhat suppressed by Wang Jing in the later stages. Her best part was still the first half.

Lu Yan He pulled everyone to stand up together and bowed to everyone to express his gratitude.

The scene was filled with thunderous applause.

Especially the friends in the media area; they seemed to like this movie very much.

Post-screening interview session.

Many people asked about that ending question.

Lu Yan He said: "I'll leave this for the audience to interpret."

The host asked Lu Yan He what he thought of the performances of the two actresses, Jiang Yuqian and Wang Jing.

Lu Yan He smiled and said: "There's nothing to say. Both are actresses I have collaborated with and am very familiar with, and their performances in the movie left me in awe. I even feel guilty for writing this script too stereotypically; otherwise, they would definitely be candidates for major acting awards."

Jiang Yuqian and Wang Jing both showed pleasantly surprised expressions.

Lu Yan He turned to Jiang Yuqian and said: "Actually, here I want to especially thank Sister Yuqian, and Wang Jing as well."

Everyone was stunned.

Lu Yan He said: "When I was writing this script, because it was a dual-female lead, I was actually very worried about whether I could find suitable actresses. So, after I agreed with Sister Yuqian, I was also worried. At that time, Wang Jing hadn't debuted for long, and I wondered if Sister Yuqian would be willing to bring Wang Jing to star in this movie. She didn't hesitate at all and nodded in agreement immediately."

Jiang Yuqian smiled suddenly, somewhat helplessly.

"Why are you saying all this?"

Wang Jing immediately followed up on Lu Yan He's words: "Thank you, Sister Yuqian. Actually, throughout the entire filming process, Sister Yuqian was always helping me, including today, when we came to the premiere together. The dress I'm wearing was borrowed for me by Sister Yuqian."

Lu Yan He: "I'm telling this story because this movie was a real treat for me to watch. The two of them dueling on screen, sparks flying, that sense of confrontation is the foundation of why this movie is good. If Sister Yuqian had felt at the time that Wang Jing had just debuted, and her seniority and status were far inferior to hers, and refused to star with her, then this movie might have been a different story."

Jiang Yuqian: "Cut it out, you clearly know that as long as it's your play, no matter who you find to act in it, I'm willing to act." The scene erupted in laughter.

Lu Yan He: "Really? Then what if I find so-and-so?"

Jiang Yuqian glared at Lu Yan He with lightning speed.

"Who do you want to talk about?" Jiang Yuqian was visibly flustered.

Lu Yan He smiled and waved his hand, "I mean, if I find a male actor who doesn't brush his teeth, doesn't wash his face, and hasn't bathed in a month to act in a kissing scene with you, will you act or not?"

Jiang Yuqian: "..."

After a premiere, more than twenty media outlets reported and commented on the movie "Phone."

What was most unexpected was that seven or eight of the reviews mentioned the shortcomings of the movie.

For example, the magnification and distortion of the dark side of human nature, for example, Wang Jing still didn't change her explosive performance style, switching from the "abused" to "serial killer" too abruptly, causing aesthetic fatigue, for example, Lu Yan He's script overemphasized drama and reversals, lacking a bit of literary quality...

Subsequently, another media outlet commented on this matter: "I don't know if Lu Yan He is bold because of his skill, or what, but this time at the premiere, he invited so many media outlets and actually didn't ask the media to delay the publication of negative reviews. Generally speaking, for media that can see the film in advance, the production side will require the media not to make negative reviews. Slightly more relaxed production sides will also require that even if there are negative reviews, there is a confidentiality period, and they must be released after a certain number of days. 'Phone' really just let the media comment freely. Even now that so many bad reviews have come out, they haven't said a word. For this, I have to give a thumbs up."

Shortly after, when Jiang Yuqian was interviewed, she said: "Nowadays, whether a movie is good or bad cannot be covered up at all; the box office will directly reflect it. It's not the era when information wasn't well-informed anymore. Moreover, Yan He is also very right; negative reviews of a movie are not necessarily a bad thing, because audiences who are very concerned about these, once they see them, won't walk into the movie theater. Simply put, it's screening the audience in advance. Those who truly walk into the movie theater will actually give the movie a much higher evaluation than usual. For the overall word-of-mouth of the movie, it's not a bad thing."

Another day later, Wang Jing continued to add while running promotions: "Of course, we have great confidence in the movie 'Phone.' No movie is perfect, but whether a movie has done a good job on its core selling points, whether it has done every aspect solidly, and is sincere to the audience, making the audience feel it's good, I believe most audiences can tell. Since that's the case, we are not afraid of people saying bad things, as long as no one is deliberately stirring up trouble and saying things that clearly don't exist in the movie."

!

"My performance style is indeed somewhat solidified. In this regard, Sister Yuqian did much better than me. Little Brother Lu also said that I should learn from Sister Yuqian in this regard. She gave a performance temperament in this movie that she had never had before," Wang Jing said sincerely. "I will try my best to adjust. However, actually, these are also friends who especially like me and have watched many of my plays who have put forward such well-intentioned opinions. They don't think I act poorly, but feel that I need to expand the content of my performance. I like this kind of substantive criticism very much; this is also a kind of spur."

The day before the release of "Phone," Lu Yan He started a live stream.

He said: "Sorry, I'm live streaming with everyone so late tonight because there was a scene in 'Friends' that wasn't finished until just now."

He invited Jiang Yuqian and Wang Jing to his live stream room to promote "Phone" before its release.

"'Phone' is a very typical genre film. Actually, for me, I would call it a creative film, which is a movie expanded from a relatively brain-opening, not very common idea," Lu Yan He said. "I wanted to write this script also because it's different from the stories I've written in the past. It's special enough, there's no problem of homogenization, and another thing, it's also a challenge."

Jiang Yuqian asked: "Then is our performance the same as what you imagined when you wrote the script? Did it reach your expectations? Tell the truth."

"Wang Jing is about the same as I expected, but her explosive power is even stronger than I imagined. Even if I anticipated it, when I was actually watching it, I was still firmly grabbed by her. This is a killer move in her performance," Lu Yan He said about Wang Jing first.

Wang Jing immediately covered her face somewhat shyly.

"Sister Yuqian, you are completely different from what I imagined. The way I imagined you acting is two different styles from now," Lu Yan He said. "I will also learn this method of yours next time."

"What method?" Wang Jing asked immediately, "Give me some pointers."

Lu Yan He asked: "Sister Yuqian, can I say it?"

"You can say it, what's there that can't be said," Jiang Yuqian smiled. "You just find a performance style that is different from yours but very familiar, and imitate others. Of course, you can't purely imitate. This imitation is the process of breaking your inherent performance style."

Wang Jing showed a look of surprise.

"Can it be done like this?"

"When you act, you are basically driven by your own reasons and sensibility, right?" Lu Yan He laughed. "Basically, you are still keeping it on the basis of truly listening, truly watching, and truly feeling."

"Yes."

"Over time, this will make people feel that no matter what role you play, it's the same," Lu Yan He said. "Of course, there is no lack of such actors who are also very awesome in the end, but that requires a very deep internal strength to be able to do it."

The three of them then chatted about many behind-the-scenes stories.

Until almost the end, Lu Yan He brought up the matter of "competition between actresses."

"There is fierce competition, but there is also true mutual appreciation and support. Just like any workplace, you have colleagues you like and colleagues you don't like. This is nothing strange, it's just because everything about us is placed under the spotlight, so it's magnified."

Jiang Yuqian said: "Then the process of my collaboration with Little Jing was very pleasant, because in some matters, my way of handling things and hers is to take a step back whenever possible, and then communicate more. Don't keep everything in your heart and not say it. Most of the time, this is enough."

Wang Jing also nodded.

"Filming with Sister Yuqian, I was quite nervous at first, but after really getting to know her, I breathed a sigh of relief," Wang Jing said with a smile. "Only those who have filmed with Sister Yuqian will know how good Sister Yuqian is to small actors like us."

Jiang Yuqian: "Cut it out, you are not a small actor at all. Your first play was 'Late Spring' which you collaborated with Yan He on. If my first play could have such a high starting point, I wouldn't have had to work hard for so many years to have my current achievements. You must grasp your opportunities well, I'm rooting for you!"

Lu Yan He asked Wang Jing: "Wang Jing, do you have any plans for your next play?"

Wang Jing said: "Not yet, I've been looking at scripts."

Lu Yan He said: "Why don't you come and help me play a role in my next play?"

Wang Jing nodded without hesitation and said: "Okay."

Only after nodding did she ask: "What play is it?"

"'Home Alone,' it has already started filming, a comedy movie starring Liu Laoshi Teli," Lu Yan He said. "Just two scenes."

Wang Jing: "That's great, I can collaborate with Liu Laoshi Teli!"

"Uh, your role might not have any scenes with Liu Laoshi," Lu Yan He said.

What Lu Yan He wanted Wang Jing to cameo in was the airport ticketing staff, the girl who was a bit arrogant at first and then suddenly scared by the mother character's outburst.

Very stereotypical, but very dramatic.

Of course, Lu Yan He issued this invitation in the live stream room, one is to warm up for "Home Alone," and the other is to provide topics for the promotion of the release of "Phone."

As a result, Jiang Yuqian suddenly asked: "Why do you ask Wang Jing, but not me to help you cameo?"

Lu Yan He: "... Wang Jing has no plans to film later, you are busy as hell later, how can I ask you?"

"If you ask me, it's just a cameo, two scenes, it'll be finished in one day, I can always find time," Jiang Yuqian said coquettishly.

Lu Yan He paused and immediately accused: "This actress, just now she said that actresses can appreciate each other, and it's not just a competitive relationship. As a result, now she's immediately grabbing even a cameo role. Wang Jing, if I were you, I would immediately take back all the words you just praised her with."

Wang Jing laughed and didn't know what to say.

Jiang Yuqian rolled her eyes.

Lu Yan He: "That's it for the live stream today. Everyone remember to go watch 'Phone' tomorrow. That's it, bye-bye."

Jiang Yuqian and Wang Jing said bye-bye together.

In one night, about more than 8 million people were online in his live stream room at the same time, and those who watched for more than five minutes exceeded 10 million, which is a very rare number of viewers for Lu Yan He's live stream room. After all, when he usually live streams reading books and typing, at most there are only 30,000 to 50,000 people, no more.

After the live stream, Lu Yan He went to check the box office pre-sale results of "Phone" for tomorrow.

Very good pre-sale results, breaking 25 million.

As a movie premiering on Friday, according to common sense, the pre-sale box office on the day before release often accounts for half of the first-day box office. According to this calculation, the first-day box office tomorrow might be able to break 50 million. If it can really reach this number, the first weekend will definitely break 100 million.

That would be a very beautiful box office result for a movie like "Phone."

The next day was just a rest day.

Lu Yan He had to start preliminary discussions on the attribution of various awards with the judges of the Lingyun Awards today.

As soon as they met, there was another round of congratulations.

Lian Bei smiled and said: "You've already won the Best Screenplay Award at the Golden Globes, but 'Friends' didn't even get a nomination at our Lingyun Awards this time. This really can't be justified."

Lu Yan He smiled, waved his hand, and said: "Avoiding suspicion, I won't judge myself, so I simply won't participate in the evaluation."

Lian Bei said: "The old saying goes, recommend the virtuous without avoiding relatives."

Lu Yan He: "But the old saying didn't say recommend yourself, that's too ridiculous."

Everyone laughed.

This year, Lu Yan He came to be the jury president for the drama category of the Lingyun Awards, and he did make a sacrifice, which was that acting awards, screenwriting awards, and dramas produced by Linghe would not participate in the evaluation.

Therefore, "Friends" received a nomination for Best Drama, but Lu Yan He did not receive a nomination for Best Screenplay; "My Own Swordsman" received nominations for Best Actress and Best Director, but Lu Yan He still did not receive a nomination for Best Screenplay.

There was no way; even if Lu Yan He felt that the scripts of these two dramas were worth winning, in order to avoid suspicion, he could only withdraw from the selection.

But it was precisely this attitude of Lu Yan He that made him very respected during this judging process.

After a day, everyone basically discussed every award, and the scope of the attribution of the awards was basically locked to a choice between two, or directly locked to a certain result.

The next thing to do is to go back and review carefully, and next time they meet, they can vote, and the award results will be decided by the number of votes.

Liu Teli, who had already started filming "Home Alone" and specifically asked for leave to come out, said: "Actually, why don't we just vote today."

Lu Yan He shook his head and said: "Liu Laoshi, I still hope everyone has a time for calm thinking, because many things, when we say them and hear them on the spot, but after calming down a little, we return to a more rational track. Discussion is to help us see things outside the limitations of our own perspective, but ultimately this choice is decided based on our aesthetics."

Although he is the jury president, he didn't say that his number of votes was more than others, just that if there was a tie, then whoever he gave his vote to, it would belong to them, which is the same principle. He didn't think his weight had to be heavier than others.

He also knew why he was invited to be the jury president, because of his industry influence, and because this is the first time, and they need to set a good example.

Therefore, if nothing else, the most basic fairness and justice, Lu Yan He was determined to achieve.

Liu Teli nodded, "Okay, doing this is also right. We are hardworking, but at least the awards of this session are chosen cleanly, and we can all stand tall and announce these awards."

Everyone nodded in agreement, packed their things, and prepared to leave.

Lu Yan He asked Liu Teli.

"Liu Laoshi, is the filming of 'Home Alone' going smoothly?"

"Sigh, I'm so worried that I'm losing hair every day," Liu Teli said with a painful face, shaking his head, "It's hard to act."

Lu Yan He said in surprise: "No way?"

Liu Teli: "I really doubt if I agreed wrongly, I shouldn't have come to act."

"That won't do, you've already signed the contract," Lu Yan He said, "You can't run."

Liu Teli: "... I've acted for so many years, I've never acted in such a stupid role, I really don't know how to act, I'm worried."

This made Lu Yan He feel a little guilty for no reason.

Forcing an old actor, a best actor, to say such things...

Although, this role has its difficulties; one more point can't be more, one less point can't be less.

Lu Yan He said: "You feel it's so hard to act, let alone others. Fortunately, we invited you."

Liu Teli: "..."

Lu Yan He said: "I can only rest assured if there is a pillar like you."

Liu Teli: "It's useless no matter how sweet you talk."

Lu Yan He immediately laughed.

"Then what is useful? You say it, I'll do it immediately."

Liu Teli: "I'm too lazy to talk to you now, I'll settle the score with you after filming."

Lu Yan He: "After you finish filming, I'll go and apologize."

Liu Teli was also helpless in the face of Lu Yan He's shamelessness, shook his head, and left.

On the way back to the hotel, Lu Yan He finally had time to check his phone.

In the main creator group of "Phone," the producer had already reported the latest box office news. The first-day box office today had broken 53 million, and it is expected to break 56 million at midnight. At the same time, the box office forecasting agency also gave the total box office forecast for this movie: 360 million.

Everyone in the group sent flower-scattering emojis one after another.

Lu Yan He also hurriedly added: Awesome! The partners in promotion and distribution have worked hard.

He went to the main work group and sent ten red envelopes.

A group of messages saying "Thank you, boss" appeared immediately.

"Phone" really caught a good time.

In the January slot, before the Spring Festival slot, there were basically no strong competitors, allowing "Phone" to get 47% of the daily screenings, and relying on the Golden Globes, the movie "Phone" got enough exposure following Lu Yan He and Jiang Yuqian.

The first-day reviews came out, and the overall audience word-of-mouth was good. No one thought this movie was extremely good, but everyone felt that the movie was interesting and worth watching.

This kind of "allowing bad reviews" comment atmosphere drove a lot of passersby's curiosity about this movie.

The topic degree was off the charts.

Stimulated by the first-day box office, Jiang Yuqian and Wang Jing added more horsepower to run promotions.

On Saturday, it rose slightly by 20 million, on Sunday, it fell by 30 million. Finally, the first weekend box office reached 170 million. The total box office result depends on the decline on weekdays, whether it's protecting 300 million and striving for 500 million, or protecting 400 million and striving for 600 million.

In any case, it's a movie that is definitely making money.

Such a box office result, for Lu Yan He, actually has no blessing.

For the industry, this is just another normal performance by Lu Yan He.

However, for Jiang Yuqian and Wang Jing, it means they have taken a big step forward in their careers.

Jiang Yuqian finally has a movie with good box office results where she is the first lead, and she has stepped into the film circle with one foot.

After "Late Spring," Wang Jing once again produced a starring movie with good box office results. For her age, she has acting skills, word-of-mouth, and successful representative works, successfully entering the first echelon of film young actresses.

What surprised the industry most was the marketing model of "Phone."

It actually didn't care about the bad reviews from the audience at all—

However, in this case, the box office of "Phone" was not affected.

Many people criticized the bad parts of "Phone," but there were very few voices calling it a bad movie.

The most critical thing is that a movie with flaws and loopholes in the logic of the script didn't make the audience feel disappointed, and they still felt it was good, feeling that Lu Yan He wrote a movie story they liked.

Why?

Is it judging people by their appearance?

Is it differential treatment?

Is it just because he is Lu Yan He?

The industry is discussing it.

It was Huang Zong of Long Yan who mentioned it at an internal meeting: "Lu Yan He is really a smart person. He is very clear that the script of 'Phone' is not perfect, and the movie is just a commercial subject with a gimmick. Therefore, he had long anticipated that there would be voices that didn't like the movie, but he turned this kind of dislike from the audience into a marketing method. They didn't control negative reviews, but used a softer means to market the production side's open attitude towards negative reviews, thereby achieving an impression that these negative reviews do not affect the overall popularity of the movie. The result is that even if everyone sees some not-so-good reviews, they will feel that this is normal and worth watching."

Huang Tai took a deep breath.

"Previously, Lu Yan He's movies were all promoted by Chen Siqi's Jump Up team. This time, the Jump Up team didn't participate. 'Phone' used the most traditional way of promotion, but achieved the best results, with the box office far exceeding the pre-release estimates," Huang Tai said. "Our sensitivity to the market is really lagging too much. When we are still playing the good review card and the word-of-mouth masterpiece card, others have already reached another level."

"That's also because only he dares to do this. Who among us dares to do this?"

"Others dare to do this because they dare to fail. Their cost control is very good, and selling 300 million at the box office can make a lot of money," Huang Zong suddenly raised his volume and said angrily, "A star can use the value of a star. You play the all-star card, and tens of millions of remuneration are invested without making a normal-sized splash. Do you really have any serious research on the use of movie stars? Can any star be used?"

The conference room was instantly silent. (End of chapter)