Chapter 735: Crowning Him (10,400 words)

Besides these two categories, as expected, Tropical Rainy Season also received a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

However, somewhat surprisingly, Qin Shulan, who had been highly favored by critics and media early on for Best Supporting Actress, failed to secure a nomination.

The publicity team hesitated, wondering if Qin Shulan truly possessed enough competitiveness for the Best Supporting Actress award, if their earlier assessments had been mistaken, or if they should abandon their publicity efforts.

"It's fine; these are just two critics' awards, merely references without decisive weight," Lu Yan He told Helena Monchi, the film's publicity manager. "The overall critical environment has been very positive toward Teacher Qin; even if she ultimately fails to secure an Academy Award nomination, this will still help Hollywood and the European-American film circles recognize her."

Lu Yan He did not want to pin all their current efforts, publicity campaigns, and sacrifices solely on an uncertain Academy Award nomination—

Although it remained the primary objective, the crucial reality was that throughout this three-to-four-month publicity process, as a filmmaker, you are mentioned, discussed, praised, and even criticized time and again; regardless of the nature, your name is repeatedly heard by the industry and leaves an impression, and irrespective of how many fans or how much visibility you accumulate during this awards season journey, you will undoubtedly imprint yourself upon the minds of those who control the industry's film and television resources.

Is this not itself a form of career advancement and expansion?

Just like this year's Academy Awards: although Demi Moore ultimately lost to Mikey Madison of Anora, there is no doubt that throughout the long awards season, amidst massive exposure and fervent discussion, her career once again reached its peak moment.

Her future casting in Hollywood will surely usher in an optimal window of opportunity.

In Hollywood, Asian female faces aged fifty or sixty are scarce—though one cannot state it quite so absolutely, as if demand were inherently high while supply remained low.

However, for any given project, script, or role, barring specific circumstances, it could realistically be portrayed by either Westerners or Asians.

If Qin Shulan gains recognition in Hollywood, similar to Korea's Youn Yuh-jung, she will secure major and quality projects one after another; though not necessarily leading roles, from the project's design perspective, they will be important, pivotal characters.

As an actor, as long as you remain on stage, you always harbor hope for awaiting a turning point in your career.

Just like Michelle Yeoh, who played supporting roles in Hollywood for so many years before awaiting Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Just like Demi Moore, who was nearly considered washed up in Hollywood, before awaiting The Substance.

Just like Brendan Fraser, who returned riding The Whale after years of obscurity.

Lu Yan He's thinking was simple: whether or not one secures a nomination or wins an award is secondary; first, one must get a seat at the table.

Only after sitting at the table does one qualify to discuss what meal is being served.

On this day, a private cocktail party gathered celebrities and sparkled with starlight; because it was not open to the public, the attending celebrities behaved more freely and relaxed, creating a far more comfortable atmosphere.

Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi appeared together.

This marked Lu Yan He's first formal appearance after being absent from the awards season for over a month.

On ground that did not belong to the Chinese, Lu Yan He dared not claim himself a "red-hot favorite."

Nevertheless, he was indeed a major star in Hollywood right now.

He was both a "seed contender" for this year's awards season and held the blockbuster film series The Mist, with its sequel releasing next year; furthermore, he would star in the grand fantasy production Godless by Green Valley, while multiple projects where he served as Screenwriter were advancing simultaneously.

Judging solely by career fortune, no one in all of Hollywood was smoother than him.

By any metric of evaluation, he undoubtedly belonged to the first tier among Hollywood's current generation of young actors.

Such a person, upon appearing, would inevitably become the focal point.

Not to mention those eyeing his various projects.

Lu Yan He was not even very adapted to domestic social occasions in China, let alone foreign social gatherings where he knew neither the people nor the terrain.

However, if in the past he could have muddled through with slight perfunctoriness, that was impossible this year.

This year, he must be proactive and full of spirit.

This was an "unwritten rule" of the awards season.

At such times, it was best not to display an artist's arrogance and unruliness.

Arrogance and unruliness make for fine tales in biographies, representing elegance and serving as footnotes to the god of art; yet in real life, they constitute a mood-killer, disgusting rudeness and impoliteness, resulting at best in others keeping a respectful distance and at worst in everyone shouting to strike you down as you cross the street.

Even Daniel Day-Lewis must become a regular fixture of the awards season; his publicity team also needs to craft an "artist" image, utilizing various "artist" stories to increase his chips during the awards season.

Actors who truly bypass the awards season yet still receive favor are few and far between, such as Judi Dench.

However, that occurred only after she had already become a "titan."

In the later stages, rather than being her own contention and publicity campaign for the Academy Awards, it was more accurately the studio and publicity team campaigning with the Academy Awards for the sake of their film and their own managed results, with Judi Dench merely serving as a (very useful) prop.

She did not even attend the Academy Awards ceremony.

Throughout the long awards season, Lu Yan He needed to follow a strategy wherein his chips could not be thrown out all at once.

The battle line must be extended; at every critical stage, new promotional angles must emerge to re-stimulate attention toward him.

The publicity team led by Helena Monchi had already formulated exactly what promotional content to release at several key rhythmic points.

Within this framework, Lu Yan He's role was mostly to cooperate.

On December 4, the Gotham Independent Film Awards announced their winners; Ube Clark secured another victory, once again taking home Best Supporting Actor.

On the same day, the Washington D. C. Area Film Critics Association Awards were announced, with Javier Maxwell of Belfast winning Best Supporting Actor.

However, the good news was that Qin Shulan finally entered the radar for the Best Supporting Actress category, securing her first nomination.

Furthermore, the Washington D. C. Area Film Critics Association clearly favored Tropical Rainy Season, even granting it a nomination for Best Picture.

On December 5, the American Film Institute (AFI) revealed its Top Ten Films of the Year, with Tropical Rainy Season listed among them.

On this day, everyone was extremely tense.

Because on December 6, the Golden Globe Awards nominations would be announced.

As one of the biggest barometers for the Academy Awards, it truly exerted a pivotal influence on the Oscars.

(Note: In the 2025 Academy Award for Best Actress category, Fernanda Torres, the lead of the Brazilian film I'm Still Here, initially had absolutely no buzz; despite receiving no nominations from the Screen Actors Guild Awards or the British Academy Film Awards, she created a thunderclap at the Golden Globes, pulling off a massive upset by defeating another heavy favorite to win Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, and subsequently secured a strong nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.)

Lu Yan He felt confident about his and Huang Feng's nominations; although he had not yet won a single Best Supporting Actor trophy, he had consistently remained a first-tier contender, so a nomination should not be problematic.

Regarding Best Actor, the Golden Globe Awards' habit of splitting films into Drama and Musical/Comedy categories meant there were as many as ten nominees; given Huang Feng's earlier performance, he would surely secure a nomination.

For Best Foreign Language Film, if Tropical Rainy Season failed to secure a nomination given its momentum this year, it would absolutely constitute a massive upset of "questionable" proportions.

Only Qin Shulan's chances for Best Supporting Actress, and whether Tropical Rainy Season could secure a slot on the Best Picture nomination list while safeguarding its Best Foreign Language Film nomination, would determine whether the film's trajectory this awards season was a "major force" or a "minor force."

The announcement of the Golden Globe Awards nomination list always included a live broadcast.

Lu Yan He and the others sat together specifically to watch this live broadcast.

Helena Monchi, leading her publicity team, occupied the majority of the room.

Some people on-site were also filming footage, ready to release it as promotional material at any moment.

Chen Siqi ordered pizza, juice, coffee, and desserts for everyone, taking charge of logistics.

Even Darren Wilson showed up.

In truth, he didn't need to come.

It could only be said that he attached enough importance to Lu Yan He's performance during this awards season; thus, at the moment the Golden Globe Awards nominations were announced, he had to appear by Lu Yan He's side.

This was less about companionship and more about making a statement.

Qin Shulan's expression betrayed an uncontrollable nervousness.

She was likely the one under the greatest pressure among everyone present.

At this moment, the first nominations were announced, starting with the television series categories.

This also concerned Lu Yan He.

This year, both the second season of "Seventeen Floors" and the second season of "Friends" were in contention.

Maxine had also conducted some public relations campaigns for these two series.

After all, both series had entered the top ten of Maxine's global viewership rankings for television series this year.

The results were remarkable.

There were still sequels to come.

If they could perform well at the Golden Globe Awards, it would benefit the entire franchise.

Lu Yan He did not know whether the second season of "Friends" would perform well this year; he recalled that in the original work, aside from the first season garnering a few nominations, its subsequent performance regarding awards was truly lackluster, a gap quite significant compared to the later "The Big Bang Theory."

And Lu Yan He's premonition came true.

The second season of "Friends" failed to secure nominations in any acting category, receiving nominations only for Best Screenwriter and Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.

As for the second season of "Seventeen Floors," only Chen Bige secured a nomination for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama.

Another tradition of the Golden Globe Awards is favoring major stars who have won mainstream acting awards, especially the need to include some non-American major stars in the list; a glance at the roster reveals this happens every single year without exception.

Last year, Chen Bige earned a Best Actress nomination in the film category at the Golden Globe Awards for "Love Letter," and this year she secured a Best Actress nomination in the television category for the second season of "Seventeen Floors"; to claim that behind this lay no influence from Chen Bige having twice won Best Actress at the four major international film festivals would be something Lu Yan He would never believe even if beaten to death.

Of course, regardless of the reasons, this was truly an unexpected joy.

Once again, Chen Bige had earned a Golden Globe Awards nomination without any public relations efforts.

Lu Yan He could well imagine how delighted Beijing Television must be.

Her career luck in recent years had indeed been excellent.

She had caught the wave of several scripts tailored specifically for her by Lu Yan He, and also ridden the surge of her starring series on streaming platforms, receiving a guaranteed push from the platform.

Lu Yan He sent a message in the six-person "Friends" group chat saying, "Let us redouble our efforts next year!", then sent a congratulatory text to Chen Bige, reclaimed his focus, and continued watching the live broadcast.

Finally, it was time for the film categories.

First came the supporting role units.

The Best Supporting Actor category was announced first, and unsurprisingly, Lu Yan He appeared on the nomination list; subsequently, for Best Supporting Actress, Qin Shulan's name was the last to be called, and when it was spoken, the entire room erupted in cheers of collective relief.

A smile of fulfilled expectation spread across Qin Shulan's face.

Afterwards, the nomination lists for various awards were announced one by one: Best Original Score went to someone other than "Tropical Rainy Season"; Best Screenplay also excluded "Tropical Rainy Season"; however, it successfully secured a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

For Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, when all five names had been read aloud and Huang Feng's had not appeared, everyone was momentarily stunned.

What was going on?

Everyone's initial reaction was even to look at each other in blank dismay.

They suspected they had heard wrong.

After all, Huang Feng's performance in the precursor awards had been even more stable than Lu Yan He's.

His momentum resembled the year Jennifer Lawrence won her award for "Silver Linings Playbook," where the little girl from "Beasts of the Southern Wild" had no chance of winning but her nomination was rock solid—

Subsequently, the nomination list for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy was announced, and Huang Feng was absent there as well.

It was indeed a shocking upset elimination.

Furthermore, whether for Best Motion Picture – Drama or Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, "Tropical Rainy Season" was nowhere to be found.

Three nominations in total.

Not a small number, yet certainly not a large one either; the crucial point was that among the four major awards, there was not a single nomination, meaning that in this year's awards season, one could only describe its momentum as "rather modest."

"This is already a very good result." No one expected that Huang Tianlin would be the first to stand up and offer encouragement to everyone.

Even Lu Yan He was surprised.

He knew better than anyone just how "prickly" Huang Tianlin's personality could be.

Huang Tianlin embraced Qin Shulan and Lu Yan He in succession, expressing congratulations and blessings.

The others also snapped out of their stupor, breaking into applause and cheers.

Lu Yan He knew that this was absolutely not the time to dampen spirits.

Therefore, he immediately composed himself, broke into a smile, embraced Qin Shulan, and then made a fist-pumping gesture of encouragement.

With the release of the Golden Globe Awards nomination list, the competitive trends of this awards season had begun to take shape.

Of course, this was still merely a beginning, as several key bellwethers had yet to be released.

In the following days, the Sunset Circle Awards, the British Independent Film Awards, the Atlanta Film Critics Circle Awards, and the Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards were unveiled one after another.

Lu Yan He finally secured two Best Supporting Actor awards for himself: one from the British Independent Film Awards and one from Las Vegas, ensuring that he would not end up with a zero count in the precursor statistics.

And whether due to the influence of the Golden Globe Awards or not, Qin Shulan also finally began frequently appearing on the nomination lists for Best Supporting Actress.

However, at the same time, even though Huang Feng had failed to secure a Golden Globe Awards nomination, he still remained firmly on the Best Actor nomination lists for these subsequent awards.

Why exactly Huang Feng had failed to receive a Golden Globe Awards nomination remained a mystery, something baffling to comprehend.

During awards season, talent and good performances are merely the ticket and entry pass; who does not deliver a good performance? The significance of public relations lies in its ability to argue from various angles and heights of value why this year should be the year for a specific person to win an award or receive a nomination.

After obtaining Lu Yan He's stance and consent, Helena Monchie published an article on Huang Feng's behalf in "The Washington Post," arguing that "Hollywood has failed to honor the excellent performances of underage actors for ten consecutive years."

This sharp and unconventional theme was entirely Helena Monchie's handiwork.

She did not discuss how good Huang Feng's performance was or how widely accepted it had become; instead, from the industry's perspective, she argued what significance it would hold to honor Huang Feng's performance this year.

This approach shared a striking similarity with the public relations strategy employed when Meryl Streep won her third Academy Award for acting with The Iron Lady; however, that time her PR strategy leaned more toward making her the central focus—

It has been twenty-nine years since Meryl Streep last won the Little Golden Man! Her performance in The Iron Lady rightfully deserves another victory!

This sentence ran through Meryl's entire public relations campaign that year.

The reason for emphasizing this point was that Meryl had already won twice before; for the Academy Awards, securing a third win was extremely difficult, and in history, only one person had ever achieved four wins.

Therefore, her public relations team used the angle of "twenty-nine years without an award" to counteract the judges' hesitations regarding a "third win," persuading them to cast their votes for her once again.

Helena Monchi's maneuver earned Lu Yan He's deep admiration in his heart.

Employing an unexpected stratagem.

Just like the year Michelle Yeoh won Best Actress, facing the overwhelming momentum of Cate Blanchett, she ultimately relied on the argument, "I am the first Asian with a chance to win Best Actress; I hope my victory can inspire all Asians and tell everyone that no one in this world can say the word 'impossible' to you," directly fighting a "moral battle" and a "battle for industry significance" from an industry perspective, laying a solid foundation for her eventual triumph as Best Actress.

Public relations—

To a certain extent, it is also like debating, like giving a speech, like each side presenting their arguments.

Helena Monchi said that the public relations personnel from Green Valley had already been fully mobilized, accompanying celebrities and voting members of the Academy to watch Tropical Rainy Season, accumulating votes one by one.