Chapter 837: Scene Stealer

Chen Siqi smiled slightly, "We have 98 signed self-media accounts across various categories, fields, and platforms with over one million followers, and we're about to break one hundred."

Lu Yan He showed a look of shock.

"These are self-media accounts that we operate directly and belong entirely to Jump Up. In addition, we also operate an MCN company to represent some internet celebrities and experts on various platforms," Chen Siqi said. "In this regard, we started very late. When we entered, the market was almost divided up, but because of the market share of *Jump Up* magazine in the literary market and the media influence driven by Jump Up Theater, we have gained the favor of many bloggers who want to transform into high-end and high-level ones."

"At the same time, we have been deeply involved in the content field, helping potential artists in various fields and famous big names do personal exhibitions and some agency media PR and work agency work," Chen Siqi said. "These have helped Jump Up open up some fields that domestic traditional media companies rarely involve, and thus opened up some new markets."

Lu Yan He said: "I actually know this, but I always thought the profit in this area shouldn't be high."

"Then you're wrong," Chen Siqi shook her head. "Especially in terms of work agency, the profit is far higher than you imagine. Our artists in China are receiving more and more attention internationally, and their value is rising. Coupled with the power of Jump Up in the media circle, we can promote and publicize many talented and capable artists, and many people can be pushed directly in front of everyone and gain the attention of the critics."

Lu Yan He understood immediately.

Chen Siqi combined her advantages in the media circle to do PR agency work for artists.

But this is indeed a relatively "narrow" field before.

It's not that no one does it in China, but very few people do it. In most cases, Chinese artists sign with overseas professional agencies to be their promoters. Jump Up may not be a direct promoter, but in essence, it is doing such work.

The development of Jump Up has indeed exceeded Lu Yan He's initial expectations in many places.

Chen Siqi, based on a magazine, actually slowly built such a media business empire—

Lu Yan He felt surprised, but also felt that there was nothing to be surprised about. With Chen Siqi's ability, plus that group of very excellent partners around her, under one opportunity after another, it is a matter of course to make Jump Up what it is today.

Of course, it is also possible that he thinks it is a matter of course.

Regardless of whether it is or not, Lu Yan He's trust in Chen Siqi is 100%.

Undoubtedly.

Chen Siqi said: "This time, regarding *Storm Calmer No. 1*, we are actually trying to push it through our power in the overseas media circle. It's just that because everyone knows the relationship between Jump Up Media and you, we can't do it too obviously, appearing too deeply bound, causing backlash to the movie. Our approach is also very simple: invite some creators from various fields who we cooperate well with to watch this movie and push this movie. *Storm Calmer No. 1* has never weakened its Chinese film attribute in PR, so I am also following this direction to create the impression that this movie has received high praise in various artistic fields in China, so as to deepen the publicity in this regard."

Lu Yan He nodded: "If *Storm Calmer No. 1* doesn't perform in this awards season with the attribute of a Chinese film, it won't make much sense, and I don't need to give up PR for my personal acting award for it."

Chen Siqi nodded.

"By the way, has *Storm Calmer No. 1* been confirmed? Will it represent Chinese films to be submitted for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film this year?"

Lu Yan He: "Still waiting for news. The news I heard before is that it's a sure thing, but such things may have variables before the final result is settled."

"That's true," Chen Siqi said. "Okay, then we can only wait."

"Hmm," Lu Yan He nodded. "But I feel now that even if this movie is not selected in the end, it doesn't matter."

Lu Yan He thought of the Korean movie *The Handmaiden*.

"As long as it really makes a sound in the awards season, even if it is not nominated for an Oscar, it will still be noticed in Europe and America."

What is truly important is how many people in Europe and America have actually seen this movie, and what their feelings are about this movie. This is the most critical thing.

Lu Yan He flew to Los Angeles first to attend a private party held by Schmidt-Lauri.

Many Hollywood stars came.

Lu Yan He hadn't appeared here for a long time, and as soon as he appeared, he attracted everyone's attention.

Lu Yan He almost had to explain to everyone that he had just finished filming a movie and had been on the set, so he had "disappeared" for a long time.

He also took the initiative to ask everyone if they had watched *Storm Calmer No. 1*?

"Although this movie is destined not to harvest the most mainstream vision in this year's awards season, I still hope it can be seen, it doesn't matter who sees it," Lu Yan He said. "This movie is a movie I collaborated with Director Liu Bige again. You should all know *Late Spring* that I collaborated with him before, right?"

"Yes, *Late Spring* was my collaboration with him. He is a very talented director. If you look at *Storm Calmer No. 1* carefully, you should also notice that it is a kind of image and style I have never presented before. He gave me guidance that can be said to have reborn my acting."

While Lu Yan He was mingling with people, he told them some information about *Storm Calmer No. 1* in the midst of laughter.

Every sentence may prompt them to pay more attention to this movie, or even vote for this movie in some awards.

This is the meaning of PR activities.

Everyone is a "salesperson."

"Best Actor? Me?" Lu Yan He waved his hand with a smile and said: "I think it should be very difficult for me to get a nomination this year. Of course, I really want to get a nomination. This is undoubtedly. My performance in *Storm Calmer No. 1*, at least at my own level, is a qualitative leap."

"You should all know Wen Shengming, right? Yes, that is the actor who acted opposite me in *Storm Calmer No. 1*. His acting is very exquisite, giving me very precise stimulation, allowing me to give many real-time emotional reactions directly on the scene."

Lu Yan He seemed to think of something suddenly.

"By the way, I heard that the competition for Best Supporting Actor this year is very fierce? It seems that several people are competing?"

The benefit of *The Pianist* being eliminated early is that no one will mention this movie in front of Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He also doesn't have to be asked whether China is submitting *Storm Calmer No. 1* or *The Pianist* when recommending *Storm Calmer No. 1*.

Such topics actually happen every year.

Especially when a country has more than one seed player.

Lu Yan He is now more and more accustomed to being at ease in such PR activities, rather than scratching his ears and cheeks. A very important reason is that in such activities, everyone basically talks about movies, and gossip is also gossip about movies, which is what Lu Yan He is interested in.

Moreover, after Lu Yan He became familiar with such occasions, he didn't have to keep following other people's topics. If the topic being talked about was not what he was interested in, he also mastered the ability to change a topic quietly.

Just when Lu Yan He was doing concentrated PR in North America, the official finally announced that *Storm Calmer No. 1* would be submitted for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film this year.

It was also on the same day that the New York Film Critics Circle Awards announced their list.

Nominations and awards were announced together.

*Storm Calmer No. 1* was selected for the Best Foreign Language Film shortlist, Lu Yan He entered the Best Actor shortlist, and Wen Shengming was dropped.

This is the first nomination with some weight that Lu Yan He has received in the awards season this year.

Lu Yan He was quite surprised.

Not long after, it was the Gotham Independent Film Awards ceremony.

Although Lu Yan He did not get a nomination, he was also invited to attend with the *Storm Calmer No. 1* crew.

On the scene, someone said to Lu Yan He: "If you had appeared earlier, you would definitely have had a nomination tonight."

Lu Yan He waved his hand with a smile.

That night, *Storm Calmer No. 1* came back empty-handed and had no harvest.

Not long after, several less important film critic association awards announced their lists.

This time, the situation of the New York Film Critics Circle Awards did not appear again. Wen Shengming was on the shortlist, and Lu Yan He only appeared once.

And *Storm Calmer No. 1* was exceptionally fierce in the Best Foreign Language Film category, completely exceeding the worries of the PR team at the beginning, and firmly occupied the shortlist.

"The political attribute of *Storm Calmer No. 1* has been minimized in PR public opinion. They are focusing on the artistry of the film and the performance of the actors."

When a friend talked to Zhang Yuezhen on the phone about the PR situation of *Storm Calmer No. 1* in North America, the tone was also a bit helpless.

"Especially since this movie has achieved a box office of 200 million US dollars globally. This number is very convincing in Hollywood, in the awards season, especially for an art film."

Zhang Yuezhen asked: "Didn't everyone say before that *Storm Calmer No. 1* would be treated coldly?"

"The development of things is a bit beyond expectations."

Zhang Yuezhen: "Also, why did Lu Yan He get several Best Actor nominations? Didn't they say that he reported for the lead, and basically there was no hope for a nomination?"

"These are film critic association awards. He himself is liked by the group of film critics. According to the situation we have mastered, Lu Yan He has always stayed in the second tier. He just won an Oscar not long ago and was nominated for Best Actor once. Everyone didn't think his performance this time was worth giving another nomination immediately," the other party smiled. "Lu Yan He is very young. He is not even thirty years old yet, and he has already won two Oscars. The Academy will not let him create a record so young."

The other party was comforting Zhang Yuezhen, but Zhang Yuezhen felt particularly harsh and uncomfortable listening to these words.

Not even thirty years old, and already won a Best Supporting Actor and a Best Original Screenplay award. Such an achievement is unprecedented even in Hollywood. Why can a movie like *Storm Calmer No. 1* that has nothing to do with Hollywood achieve the current momentum? Isn't it because the person behind this movie is Lu Yan He, and many people in Hollywood are particularly concerned about this movie because of this?

Once a person's momentum is on them, before the momentum goes down, every move is the focus of everyone's attention.

For example, in the years when Zhan Siti's momentum was the strongest, the remaining power made *The Other Side of the Bridge*, which she produced, a low-budget streaming movie, without the blessing of a famous director, without the gilding of film festival awards, and without a major studio to protect it in the awards season, just because it was her first work after giving birth, it also received the attention of the Oscars.

The Academy also has a "core" in its heart.

Lu Yan He has used his momentum to break into this "core" in the past few years.

After Zhang Yuezhen understood the truth, how could she be happy?

"Yan He is using the connections and energy he accumulated in Hollywood to build momentum for *Storm Calmer No. 1*." Domestically, Chen Ziyan did not go to the United States with Lu Yan He, but sat in the country. When having dinner with an executive of a film company, talking about the current situation, Chen Ziyan said bluntly, "To be honest, for Yan He, it is much easier for his movies to have a good performance in the awards season than for ordinary people. *Storm Calmer No. 1* is just a lead actor, but because it is such a subject matter, the opportunity is not easy. Even if this will make him consume a lot of human feelings, or even owe a lot of human feelings, he must do this thing. I wanted to persuade him to consider his own interests more. This is not a responsibility he can carry alone. Sigh, but this person, in this regard, is very stubborn. Even if I try to persuade him, he won't listen."

The executive laughed: "This is also a responsibility that only Yan He can carry."

"Just because of this, I don't want him to carry it. Think about it, how old is he? Being able to get all this today is strength, and also luck. How heavy is this responsibility he carries? What if he didn't carry it? Or, if he really carried out a nomination, and then a group of haters deliberately scolded him, saying he didn't do his best, resulting in not winning the award in the end."

"Ho, no one would believe such words, right? Being able to get a nomination is a very amazing breakthrough."

"The public doesn't know, especially in such an internet society now, how easy it is for public emotions to be rendered and stirred up," Chen Ziyan said. "Sometimes I really wish he would be less of a bird that sticks its head out. Maybe I am more vulgar. I only care about tangible interests. Those responsibilities and honors, if they can be shouldered along the way, of course, that's fine, but there is no need to take the initiative to pick them up on your own shoulders, right?"

The other party: "What you said is of course reasonable, but I still admire Yan He for doing this. And, Ziyan, you have to know that in many places, there are many people who are silently supporting him. The things you worry about may happen, but not everyone will sit idly by. Didn't *The Pianist* also compete with *Storm Calmer No. 1* for the quota to represent Chinese films to be submitted for this year's Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film? They have many means, but in fact, the General Administration never considered changing *The Pianist*. The choice from beginning to end was *Storm Calmer No. 1*. You should know this, right?"

Chen Ziyan laughed.

"I know this, sigh, but don't say, we were really nervous at the time, really worried that *Storm Calmer No. 1* would be abandoned in the end."

"How could it be? This movie, whether it is its artistic achievement or its subject matter and the characters it focuses on, cannot fail to represent Chinese films to be submitted for this year's Oscars. This is an attitude," the other party said. "Everything Yan He is doing now, everyone must see it in their eyes. I have heard that your PR team in North America, the PR priority, the first is Best Foreign Language Film, the second is Teacher Wen's Best Supporting Actor, and the third is Yan He. His approach will win the respect of many people, including me."

"Hearing you say this, I am relieved. I am just worried about this child. Since he became an actor, everything has been smooth sailing, and he is too idealistic. Being too rigid is easy to break. You still have to protect him more."

"This is of course. How difficult is it to have a Yan He? You don't need to say this. All the top official film activities will definitely invite Yan He to attend. This treatment is enough to explain everything."

After Chen Ziyan sent the person to the car and left with satisfaction, she waited on the side of the road for a while, and Lu Qingzhen drove over to pick her up.

"How was the talk?"

"Quite good. His father is a leader in the Central Propaganda Department. In terms of public opinion guidance, I don't know what black hands Zhang Yuezhen and Chen Pinhe will play next. We must say hello in advance to avoid being passive later," Chen Ziyan nodded. "Fortunately, he appreciates Yan He himself, and the meaning between the lines is that we don't need to worry about these things. The tone he revealed is still very positive."

"That's good," Lu Qingzhen said. "Just now, a friend I am familiar with called me, and someone asked her to sing down Yan He's actions in the awards season this year, and to work hard to do the scheming of him reporting for the lead and Teacher Wen reporting for the supporting."

Chen Ziyan: "No need to ask, I know it is Zhang Yuezhen's handwriting. This is certain. Zhang Yuezhen has always wanted to alienate Teacher Wen and Yan He. Even Teacher Wen's agent noticed something wrong and came to remind us."

"Then what should we do?"

"Use PR strategy to point out the logic behind Teacher Wen reporting for Best Supporting Actor, and then use the current awards season results to prove this point," Chen Ziyan said. "At the same time, dirty water should also be splashed back. Director Zheng Ximo has reached a cooperation agreement with Beijiguang Film, and has officially cut ties with Chen Pinhe's company. We can continue to render Chen Pinhe's image as a scene stealer."

"Does the image of a scene stealer have any impact on him? After all, his performance is the only advantage of *The Pianist* in the critical circle."

"Because of being a scene stealer, the director had no say in the production process of this movie, making the whole movie a stage for an actor's performance," Chen Ziyan said. "Highlighting the actor and weakening the overall art of the movie itself, is such a scene stealer worthy of praise?"

Chen Ziyan raised her eyebrows.

Lu Qingzhen nodded.

"This angle can be done well."

The black material about Chen Pinhe's scene-stealing behavior during the filming of *The Pianist* was released bit by bit.

Chen Ziyan and Lu Qingzhen did not do "overwhelming overnight," but first used some small accounts to pretend to be "insiders" to "break the news."

Subsequently, new clues were released bit by bit.

Chen Pinhe himself was attending film activities in the UK with Zhang Yuezhen, and was suddenly asked by a Chinese media on the scene to respond to the "scene stealer" rumors.

He was stunned, and didn't react for several seconds.

It was Zhang Yuezhen who darkened her face first and asked: "Which media are you from? Can such rumors without sources be asked on such an occasion?"

The reporter was very tough and said bluntly: "Is it because this is a fact that you didn't deny it the first time?"

Chen Pinhe said with a dark face: "I have never been a scene stealer."

"The evaluation of *The Pianist* movie itself is very polarized, and Director Zheng Ximo has basically been absent from the movie's PR activities in the awards season. I don't know how your relationship with Zheng Ximo is now?" The reporter continued to ask.

Zhang Yuezhen: "*The Pianist* is a movie that won an award in the main competition unit of the Venice International Film Festival. Whether it is the achievements it has achieved or its artistic value, it should not be belittled by you here as a polarized movie."

"Director Zheng Ximo said in an interview that the chance of continuing to cooperate with Teacher Chen in the future is approximately zero. Do you have any response to this?" The reporter finally released a big move.

Zhang Yuezhen and Chen Pinhe were both stunned.

"Is this really what Zheng Ximo said?" Zhang Yuezhen sneered immediately, "I believe Director Zheng Ximo will not say a word that might cause misunderstanding at will."

Reporter: "Then what kind of mood do you think he said this sentence with?"

Chen Pinhe and Zhang Yuezhen were annoyed and darkened their faces, and were silent for a few seconds. Zhang Yuezhen said: "We don't want to accept questions with hostility and malice. You are very unprofessional."

After speaking, the two refused to answer the reporter's questions again.

The video of Chen Pinhe and Zhang Yuezhen being embarrassed became popular in China immediately.

Of course, the one who was scolded more was this reporter, as well as Zheng Ximo.

The two of them had no fans and no water army, so of course they were easily attacked first.

However, the matter of Chen Pinhe being a scene stealer also entered the public eye.

Like him, a top actor who has been famous for a long time, suddenly broke out a scandal of "scene stealer," of course, not many people believed it at first.

But it doesn't matter. This is an era where no matter what you say, someone will definitely think "why can't it be true."

Director Zheng Ximo did not stand up to respond and deny all this, which gave the public room to question Chen Pinhe.

What Zhang Yuezhen can arrange is just the praise of Chen Pinhe by people who have cooperated with Chen Pinhe in the past, praising his professionalism and his good cooperation.

It's not that Zhang Yuezhen hasn't contacted Zheng Ximo, hoping that Zheng Ximo can stand up and say a few words for Chen Pinhe to deny the so-called "scene stealer scandal."

But the last time they contacted, Zheng Ximo expressed very coldly that he was unwilling to cooperate. This time, he would not do it even more.

Before, Zhang Yuezhen pushed the wave for Chen Pinhe to build momentum, and the remarks that "the director's level is not good, and Chen Pinhe's performance turned the tide" were pushed by Zhang Yuezhen. Zheng Ximo was attacked by Chen Pinhe's fans in large numbers. At that time, why didn't they stand up and say a word for him?

Zheng Ximo actually always wanted to stand up and say a word.

This movie was produced by Zhang Yuezhen and Chen Pinhe's company. Although he was crowned with the name of director, he did not have the reality of a director. Now the movie is questioned, and he is pushed out to take the blame. Everyone has a temper, so how can Zheng Ximo be willing to take the blame for others.

At this time, the Feihong Awards suddenly announced the nomination list for this year.

Lu Yan He, Wen Shengming, and Chen Pinhe were all shortlisted for Best Actor.

*Storm Calmer No. 1* and *The Pianist* were also shortlisted for Best Film.

However, in terms of Best Director, Liu Bige was shortlisted as expected, while Zheng Ximo, who won an award in Venice, did not appear.

Obviously, the judges of the Feihong Awards believed that Zheng Ximo's director ability shown in *The Pianist* was not enough, or rather, insufficient.

Not only was he absent from Best Director, but the script written by Zheng Ximo was also not shortlisted for Best Screenplay.

Chen Pinhe's fans, who were originally exhausted from arguing with people because of the "scene stealer" incident, were like meeting sweet dew, taking this nomination of the Feihong Awards and promoting it everywhere, saying that the problem of *The Pianist* lies with Zheng Ximo. Now that the movie evaluation is not good, they started to accuse Chen Pinhe of being a scene stealer. Zheng Ximo's comment area was full of smoke.

Zheng Ximo was so angry that he couldn't help but send a sentence "People are doing, heaven is watching," which ignited the internet.

This is the first time Zheng Ximo has spoken out after the "scene stealer" incident broke out.

If Chen Pinhe's fans could say before that the "scene stealer" incident was deliberately smeared by others and there was no evidence at all, now it's good, the "victim" has spoken.

The speculation and discussion triggered by the six words once again directed everyone's focus to Chen Pinhe and "scene stealer." ===== CHAPTER 838 =====