Chapter 836: Advance

The day *The Boat* wrapped up, it started to rain.

A drizzling, incessant rain.

Autumn had already arrived, a season of "autumn chill," and this rain made the scene look even more desolate.

Fortunately, the crew wasn't large, and everyone was an old hand. Even though the environment was poor, everyone wore raincoats or held umbrellas, and the wrap-up was orderly.

Lu Yan He sat under the eaves, lost in thought.

He couldn't even remember when he had developed this habit—

Every time he wrapped up a film, he wouldn't be in a hurry to leave, but would sit on the set and carefully observe this familiar environment.

▲▲￠〇

Silently saying goodbye to this place in his heart.

Wen Shengming came to his side with a thermos and sat down as well.

"What are you daydreaming about?"

"Not daydreaming, just saying goodbye to this film," Lu Yan He said. "I don't know when I developed the habit of saying goodbye with this kind of ritual when wrapping up, to help me get out of the character and state as quickly as possible and return to my own life."

Wen Shengming: "That's quite good. Actors all have their own anchors to avoid getting too deeply involved and unable to get out."

Lu Yan He: "I originally thought that when I acted in this film, I would be very involved, the kind who dives in headfirst and can't get out, but it seems that's not the case. I can clearly know every second that this is acting. I've never felt this clear-headed when acting before."

Wen Shengming: "Perhaps it's related to the fact that you were slow to find the state for the scene where I passed away. In some aspects of this film, there are some superficial similarities to your real life, but in reality, they are completely different, so your reason repeatedly reminds you of the difference between reality and fiction."

"That might be it," Lu Yan He laughed. He placed his hands flat on his knees, leaned his head on them, and looked at Wen Shengming. "Teacher Wen, when I acted before, I was often 100% in the character's state. This time, I always feel like something is off, like I'm uncomfortable."

"Is it because you are basically using technical acting this time, so you're not used to it?" Wen Shengming asked.

Lu Yan He: "That might be it. I almost never truly acted in this film from the character's perspective."

"It doesn't matter," Wen Shengming shook his head. "Acting is not the art of an actor's inner heart; it is the art of external presentation. You might be uncomfortable because you suddenly changed your acting method this time, but in terms of results, you acted very well. You might only have given 1% of true emotion, but what was presented was 100%. That is enough."

Wen Shengming was sharing his experience with Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He nodded and said: "Maybe I really haven't put such a large technical performance into acting before. I'm not sure what kind of character I've shaped overall."

"On this point, you have to trust Luo Dao. Since he called 'pass,' he has a plan in his heart," Wen Shengming laughed. "I am actually surprised. You used to know exactly what you looked like when you acted. After editing, was there any difference from what you imagined?"

Lu Yan He shook his head: "No. Since I started filming, I've encountered very mature and capable directors. Luo Dao, Director Chen Lingling, Director Wang Zhong, including the younger directors I met later, they are all very mature and thoughtful creators. Even Bei, Liu Bige... they are all like this. During the filming stage, they basically already know what their work will look like. I am very clear on set what kind of lens effect they want to present in the end, so when I act, I am basically very clear about what level I have reached."

Wen Shengming: "Then you really have no experience in filming bad movies. It's enviable. No wonder I basically haven't seen any bad acting habits in you. You aren't even professionally trained, yet you have a professionalism that is better trained than those who are."

Lu Yan He: "It's mainly Luo Dao and Director Chen. When I first started as an actor, they set a very good standard for me on how an actor should behave. Actually, the actors I've collaborated with are all like this, bringing me a lot of help."

Wen Shengming: "On this point, you are indeed a 'pure land' in the entertainment industry. It seems you really haven't collaborated with any terrible people."

"Yes," Lu Yan He nodded. "In terms of creation, I have almost never had any major conflicts of opinion with others."

"That's great," Wen Shengming's eyes were full of appreciation for Lu Yan He. "This is a good thing. I actually often feel sorry that some young people, who were originally good seedlings, didn't meet good directors or good creators, which not only wasted their talent but also made them lose the light in their eyes. You can tell at a glance that they have been suppressed and tortured. Sigh."

"Don't actors often have such experiences to have more emotional reserves?"

"But what actors need most is not even emotional reserves," Wen Shengming shook his head. "What actors need most is self-confidence. Without self-confidence, nothing works."

Lu Yan He didn't expect Wen Shengming to say such things.

Is self-confidence more important than anything else?

Wen Shengming said: "The more actors you meet in the future, the more you will understand what I mean. Actors, you have to have a bit of arrogance inside here."

He pointed to the position of his heart.

Lu Yan He nodded.

After wrapping up, on the way to the high-speed rail station, Wang Biao suddenly let out a cry of surprise.

"What's wrong?" Lu Yan He asked.

Wang Biao said: "The Gotham Independent Film Awards have announced the nominations. *Storm Calmer No. 1* has been shortlisted for Best Foreign Language Film, and Teacher Wen has been shortlisted for Best Supporting Actor."

Lu Yan He's eyes lit up.

"Really?! That's great!"

Did the PR strategy succeed?

Wang Biao said: "Unfortunately, Little Brother Lu, you were not shortlisted for Best Actor."

"That's normal. We already knew that. We had expectations, so don't feel sorry about this," Lu Yan He shook his head. "Don't forget what our focus is for this movie."

Wang Biao nodded.

"Of course, Chen Pinhe wasn't shortlisted either," Wang Biao laughed. "They were still doing PR and building momentum before, but in the end, they weren't even shortlisted for the Gotham Independent Film Awards."

There are several such independent film awards in the awards season, and Gotham is one of the most influential—the kind where a large number of nominees attend in grand attire every year.

And it is aimed at independent films; films from major studios are not eligible for selection, which actually prevents many awards season seeds from entering this list. Independent films like *Storm Calmer No. 1* and *The Pianist* that are not released by major Hollywood studios can receive preferential support.

In short, those who get nominated are not necessarily awards season favorites, but if you can't even get shortlisted for the Gotham Independent Film Awards, you can basically be considered "out."

Lu Yan He smiled slightly.

This is good.

Lu Yan He immediately sent a message to Wen Shengming to congratulate him and asked him to make sure to set aside time later to continue participating in PR activities in North America.

Lu Yan He was about to join the crew to film *Friends*. In this situation, Lu Yan He only left himself two days of rest to accompany Chen Siqi. Two days later, he would set off for the United States to participate in the PR activities for *Storm Calmer No. 1*.

Receptions, parties, media activities...

Lu Yan He reported for Best Actor. Even if he is currently a "second-tier" player, with only a few nominations from small film critic associations and no major waves, this doesn't mean he isn't getting attention this year.

Liu Bige had already been in the United States for almost a month.

Madam Huang also brought people from Long Yan to participate in PR activities in North America personally.

She still has some skills in this regard.

Having come through big storms, this is also what she is best at.

Chen Siqi said: "You are really different now. I thought you and Madam Huang were at the point where neither of you would pay attention to the other."

"It's not that exaggerated, just that we will try not to interact in the future, and if we really have to be on the same stage, we can just put on a show," Lu Yan He laughed. "There are common interests involved. I hope *Storm Calmer No. 1* does well, and she does too."

"She wanted to make it a commercial film at first."

"In the end, she also agreed to let it be filmed according to Liu Bige's ideas. During the production stage, everyone has different ideas and demands, which is normal," Lu Yan He shrugged. "Of course, the final box office performance of *Storm Calmer No. 1* is better than the box office performance she wanted to create as a commercial film at the beginning. Movies still have to earn money from the global market. If the subject matter is not popular enough in a single market, the ceiling is limited."

Chen Siqi nodded with a smile.

"You just finished filming *The Boat* and are going to throw yourself into the promotion of *Storm Calmer No. 1* without stopping. Aren't you tired?" she said. "Do you want to take a break? Liu Bige and the others are in North America, and the PR is also gaining momentum. Actually, they don't need you that much."

Lu Yan He said: "While I have time, I should go. When I have to film *Friends*, I really won't have time."

"Then why don't you promote *Storm Calmer No. 1* in *Friends*?" Chen Siqi said. "*Friends* now has hundreds of millions of viewers overseas."

Lu Yan He said: "I thought about it, but I'm afraid it will be counterproductive. *Storm Calmer No. 1* is not a big-budget film. Its current positioning in the awards season is also a low-budget film. Once it appears in *Friends*, it will dissolve the impression of this film in everyone's hearts. Those judges who support low-budget art films might have had a tendency towards this film, but once they see *Friends* can also do PR for it, they might not vote for it."

Chen Siqi: "I hadn't thought of that. By the way, will *Storm Calmer No. 1* also be submitted for domestic film awards this year?"

"Of course," Lu Yan He nodded. "This year, Sister Ziyan said that for domestic film awards, I should make a good impact for Best Actor."

Chen Siqi: "Domestic film awards don't use the North American PR battle tactics. What's the point of us making an impact?"

Lu Yan He: "I don't know about that, but *Storm Calmer No. 1* is definitely a hot film for mainstream film awards this year. It just depends on how the judges vote."

Chen Siqi: "Chen Pinhe is probably also a strong competitor for this award."

"Yes," Lu Yan He nodded. "It doesn't matter. Anyway, his idea of having a performance in the North American awards season this year has already failed."

Chen Siqi nodded: "Yes, now the PR strategy for *Storm Calmer No. 1* is successful and has shown results, while *The Pianist* has completely lost its presence. The first round, the winner and loser have been decided."

Lu Yan He: "There will be many more exchanges in the future."

"What are you afraid of?" Chen Siqi said. "He is not even on the same level as you now, okay? Especially in terms of box office results, this is his biggest shortcoming. The movies he starred in have always had very average box office."

Lu Yan He: "Hmm."

Chen Siqi: "After filming *Friends*, which project are you planning to do?"

"*Men in Black*," Lu Yan He said. "Oh, no, before *Men in Black*, there is still that play by Huang Tianlin to film, but that play only takes twenty-something days."

Chen Siqi nodded.

"OK, it seems your route has changed to grabbing both awards and box office."

"No way, I have to grab both," Lu Yan He said. "There's such a big stall."

Chen Siqi said: "Our Jump Up Theater is getting more and more popular now. Even Japanese TV stations are regularly coming to talk to us about cooperation and buying adaptation rights."

Lu Yan He: "Many story themes of Jump Up Theater are the style they like themselves."

Chen Siqi nodded.

"Yes, but I now require all partners who adapt Jump Up Theater plays, no matter which country they are from, to mark the Jump Up Theater name," Chen Siqi said. "I must build the Jump Up brand into a famous name all over the world."

Lu Yan He: "How is the magazine going overseas?"

"We've made all kinds of attempts, and we're barely breaking even," Chen Siqi said. "Our theme books sell quite well in Asia, but they are quite cold in Europe and America. Fortunately, because of Jump Up Theater, many authors have gained a certain degree of popularity with overseas publishers. We are now pushing domestic books to the overseas market, and translation and publishing are still much smoother than before. Mingyin's novels have been translated and published in Japan for 5 books, and the total sales have already exceeded 1.2 million copies."

Lu Yan He showed a look of shock, "So many?"

"Yes," Chen Siqi nodded. "She herself has gone to Japan to hold two book signing events, which were very popular. The initial opportunity was that her novels were purchased by Japanese TV stations for several remake rights, and the resulting dramas were relatively popular."

Lu Yan He nodded.

"Teacher Liu Jiazhen's novels also slowly have a fixed reader base overseas," Chen Siqi said. "Crime and mystery novels are a fixed hot-selling category, and because of the adaptation and broadcast of several film and television dramas, his reader base is getting wider and wider. For this, I thought for a long time about whether to set up a film and television production company specifically to be responsible for Jump Up Theater, but in the end, I decided to give up and focus on the operation of author book copyrights."

"That's better," Lu Yan He said. "If Jump Up Theater is no longer looking for other film and television companies to do it, but you do it yourself, it basically won't work. The workload is too large. If you let Linghe be responsible for the production of Jump Up Theater now, it won't be able to eat it in one breath. No film and television company can eat it in one breath. More than 50 plays a year is too exaggerated."

Chen Siqi nodded.

"Yes, I also figured this out later. We only need the brand value of Jump Up Theater. Everyone will come to help me build this brand value for common interests. But if I do it myself, others will become my competitors and enemies. I am not a professional in film and television, so there is no need."

"The value of media is much greater than the single value of film and television, whether it is commercial or non-commercial," Lu Yan He said. "Jump Up will become a very amazing media group. I really think so."

"That's for sure, and I'm heading towards this goal," Chen Siqi nodded. "Actually, we are already a very huge media group now. You have no idea how terrifying the strength Jump Up possesses now."

"Hmm?" Lu Yan He asked, "What did I miss?" ===== CHAPTER 837 =====