Chapter 661 You'd better keep your word
After meeting with Director Lu Nei, Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan returned to the hotel together.
Chen Ziyan asked: "Are you going to have dinner with Schmidt Lawley tonight?"
Schmidt Lawley of Green Valley Films is one of Lu Yanhe's most familiar contacts in Hollywood.
He collaborated with Lu Yanhe on several of his films.
Including the movie "The Mist", it was through him that I got to know director Muken Sorge.
But this time, Lu Yanhe came here not just to reminisce with Schmidt Laurie.
In addition to "Source Code", Lu Yanhe also brought a script called "Buried Alive" this time.
This script has been written for a long time and has been looking for producers and directors in Hollywood film companies, but no suitable ones have been found.
"I'll talk to him first, as a friend, and not get into commercial negotiations." Lu Yanhe said, "He should have something to tell me."
Upon hearing this, Chen Ziyan asked, "Is there a movie project?"
"It's possible." Lu Yanhe said, "He asked me about my schedule for next year, and I told him it's basically full, with several dramas to shoot."
Chen Ziyan said: "If he really wants you to act in a movie, don't rush to refuse. We can try to adjust the schedule. If it is really a good project, at least our own project can be postponed."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
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Dinner was scheduled at a restaurant near the hotel where Lu Yanhe was staying.
The restaurant was, of course, booked by Schmidt-Lawley.
When Lu Yanhe entered the restaurant, he was recognized by the receptionist, who excitedly asked for a photo.
He exchanged pleasantries with Schmidt Lawley.
Schmidt-Lawley said: "Love Letter has done very well at the box office, with over 8 million already made, and its long-term trend has exceeded the estimates of all box office statistics systems."
Lu Yanhe smiled and said, "Maybe if you screen it on a large scale, the box office will be more than the current results."
Schmidt Lawley smiled and shook his head, which meant he was expressing his feelings. He did not give a direct answer, but said, "I saw the news today. It was said that you made another sitcom like Friends?"
"It's a sitcom, but it's not the same as Friends. It's different." Lu Yanhe said, "Which media published the news?"
"Variety," Schmidt Lawley said. "Sometimes I wonder if you have invested in this magazine. Otherwise, why would it pay so much attention to your news?"
Lu Yanhe: "Maybe I really did invest in it."
Schmidt Lawley: "Then it won't question your continued commercial filmmaking in Hollywood."
Lu Yanhe was a little surprised, "Ah? It questioned me about this?"
"Don't you know? One of its columnists wrote an article reviewing the development of some foreign actors represented by you in Hollywood."
"I haven't seen it." Lu Yanhe shook his head. "I'll go look for it later."
Schmidt Lawley: "These people clearly know what box office results mean to actors, but they always use an idealistic perspective to evaluate creators."
Lu Yanhe smiled.
After a while of pleasantries, the topic finally turned to "Buried Alive".
"This is a great story idea." Schmidt Laurie did not hesitate to praise the script, "But the movie takes place in a sealed coffin from beginning to end. To be honest, after it is made into a movie, how many audiences can be attracted to watch it?"
“Of course, this isn’t a big movie.”
"You want to keep the film copyright in your own hands. Is this the biggest obstacle in your negotiations with various companies?"
"Yes." Lu Yanhe nodded and did not deny it. "The script has been written for a while, but finding a suitable company to produce this movie is not as smooth as I thought. Even after the release of The Mist, this situation has not changed substantially."
"Because the leading actor of Buried Alive is an American in your script." Schmidt Lawley smiled, "But your box office magic potion in the market is your Asian identity."
The box office success of "The Mist" is regarded as a classic case of film marketing. Among the key marketing factors, Lu Yanhe's Asian identity attracted the audience's attention.
So, it is very special that, at present, in the positioning of the Hollywood system, Lu Yanhe's box office appeal, unlike many Asian actors, is mainly concentrated on his Asian identity.
This is why Darren Wilson asked him to help Edward stand up and win votes from Asian Academy members in Hollywood.
Even if Lu Yanhe himself doesn't think so, the reality is that he has become the actor with the most "Asian" label in Hollywood.
Lu Yanhe said: "Actually, I can make this movie myself without your investment, but I need a company to help me distribute it."
Schmidt Lawley said: "If you want us to distribute Buried Alive, I can only distribute it on the same scale as Love Letter, but it can't be higher."
To put it bluntly, I am still not optimistic about the market performance of the movie "Buried".
Lu Yanhe smiled and said, "Schmidt, just tell me, what do you want in order for me to agree to my terms?"
Schmidt Lawley: "Come and be in a film series that we're producing at Green Valley, and star in at least three films."
Sure enough, the showdown came.
Hollywood is a business place. As long as it's business, there is always room for negotiation. It just depends on whether you can offer the price the other party wants.
Lu Yanhe asked: "What movie?"
"It's a movie adapted from a best-selling novel, tentatively titled Godless," Schmidt-Lawley said. "It's a fantasy movie based on Norse mythology."
"Norse mythology?" Lu Yanhe was a little surprised and asked, "Are there any Asian characters in this genre?"
"This is why the novel is so popular. It has been adapted into a story with a modern background," Schmidt Lawley said bluntly, "and you are the inheritor of a mysterious oriental mythological figure."
Lu Yanhe suddenly realized.
He thought for a moment and said, "A contract for a film series with at least three films in exchange for the large-scale distribution of one film, Buried Alive? That's not worth it."
Schmidt Lawley said: "Lu, this movie will become your masterpiece. Its box office and influence will only be higher than The Mist. We position it as a blockbuster that will hit the local market with a revenue of 3 million US dollars. It will not lower your value."
Lu Yanhe said: "I don't want to be positioned as a commercial film actor in Hollywood."
Schmidt Lawley said: "If you agree to join, we at Green Valley will do our best to help your Love Letter to win awards this year. It has a good reputation in the mass media and has the strength to win awards. However, to be honest, the copyright of this film is not in our hands, so even if we run an awards season for it, the benefits are too low."
Lu Yanhe showed a bit of surprise.
"Love Letters" earned more than $8 million in the ., plus its overseas box office performance, as long as it is managed properly, I believe it will at least have some voice and gains in this year's awards season." Schmidt-Laurie said, "especially your script."
Lu Yanhe: "At least let me finish reading the novel "Godless" first."
Schmidt Lawley said, "Lu, we have worked together several times before. I admire your talent and I am optimistic about your project. You should also be able to see that I am not a liar. You can't always ask me to carry your sedan chair for you and earn some hard work fees. This is really not meaningful to us in Green Valley. The profit you brought to D19 by participating in one of the films "The Mist" is greater than the profit brought to us by twenty films of "Love Letters" and "Road to Glory."
"Schmidt, you want me to participate in Godless mainly for the Asian market, right?"
“No, to be honest, you have box office appeal in the global market now. Although you haven’t had a movie to verify this appeal, many of our data agencies have calculated this.” Schmidt-Lawley said, “You have international cultural influence, which is the biggest difference between you and other Hollywood stars. So, I hope you can join the Godless film series.”
"Let me read the novel first. Also, you need to tell me whether you have made a strong adaptation of the novel?"
"Basically, respect the storyline and characters of the original novel." Schmidt Lawley said bluntly, "Your character is an important one, even if he is not the protagonist."
"You have to know that my salary is not low, especially for a movie like this that requires signing three performance contracts at once." Lu Yanhe said, "Even if we have worked together before, I will not give you a friendship price."
"I'm willing to pay your salary," Schmidt Lawley said, "as long as you don't ask for too much."
"Schmidt, you are too cunning. So if you are unwilling to pay, then I am asking for too much, right?" Lu Yanhe smiled and shook his head.
Schmidt Lawley: "No, Lu, you have to believe me, my sincerity towards you is enough for me to say this."
-
To be honest, Schmidt Lawley did not cheat Lu Yanhe.
"Road to Glory" helped Lu Yanhe to make it to the awards season. Although he did not get nominated for a key award in the end, it did bring him a wave of fame and presence, allowing Lu Yanhe to be noticed by mainstream media and film critics in the United States.
This invisibly helped Lu Yanhe accumulate the most original capital.
This is also the reason why if Lu Yanhe were to make the decision for many of his later movies, he would give priority to working with Midoriya.
After Lu Yanhe returned to the hotel, he told Chen Ziyan what he talked about when he met with Schmidt Lawley.
"Godless, a movie series? A blockbuster?" Chen Ziyan was a little surprised. "He thought that under normal circumstances, you wouldn't take this movie?"
"It seems so."
"If the positioning of this movie is really as he said, then did he overestimate your current position, or did we underestimate your current position?" Chen Ziyan meant that for Lu Yanhe at this stage, it is not so easy to just say "no" to such a movie. "Because it is a supporting role, although an important supporting role." Lu Yanhe said, "Another reason is that the image we created before is probably too real. He is very worried that I will not be willing to take commercial films in Hollywood in the near future. After all, all the films I took before were commercial films."
"That's right. Putting aside commercial films, you are already a young artist who has achieved outstanding achievements in the film industry." Chen Ziyan said, "Hollywood treats these famous artists like nouveau riche. They may not think that these artists can help them make money, but they all hope to get one or two to decorate their tables, especially commercial films."
Lu Yanhe said: "I have to sign three movies at once, which makes me feel a bit overwhelmed. I feel that I have too many series. "Friends" is still being filmed once a year, and the last part of "The 17th Floor" has not yet started filming. There are also sequels to "Burning Fire" and "The Mist". If "Home Alone" can't find a suitable actor in the end, I will still play in "Home Alone". "
Chen Ziyan: "In this case, we have to do subtraction. After the sequel of The Mist is finished, in the short term, regardless of whether D19 will start the third part, we will not participate. This has been decided before. There is no shooting plan for The Seventeenth Floor next year, and the second part has not been scheduled yet. If we really take on Godless, the shooting schedule is the most important thing to pay attention to in the contract."
"I wanted to reduce my shooting pace."
"In fact, if Friends didn't follow the model of shooting and broadcasting at the same time, and followed the normal shooting rhythm, each season of the show could be finished in less than a month." Chen Ziyan said, "It is the model of shooting and broadcasting at the same time that lengthened the time, requiring more than two months."
“But I like this shooting rhythm, it makes me feel comfortable.” Lu Yanhe said, “I don’t know when the filming of ‘Godless’ will start.”
"According to the practice of Hollywood film companies, it usually takes two years to shoot a movie," Chen Ziyan said. "This is the normal production cycle of a blockbuster series."
"That's not bad." Lu Yanhe said, "I'm just afraid that we'll have to shoot one more movie a year."
Chen Ziyan said: "Under normal circumstances, the blockbuster "Burning Fire" has not been completed yet, and you should not take on the "Godless" with the same theme. However, the situation is special. The global publicity resources of the "Godless" series are several orders of magnitude higher than those of "The Mist", which is beneficial to your career."
"Yeah." Lu Yanhe nodded.
Chen Ziyan: "Of course, you can also choose not to shoot "Godless". After the sequel to "The Mist" is finished, we will consider Hollywood commercial films."
"There are only a few Hollywood movies of the production quality of 'Godless' every year, not to mention an important role suitable for me." Lu Yanhe knew what was important and what was not. "Since they found me, I definitely want to agree."
Chen Ziyan: "Look, you know everything. I'll talk to Darren about this first. Let's see what terms he thinks we should negotiate for our pay after watching this movie."
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Darren Wilson was very surprised when he heard the news.
As a top agent in Hollywood, he had never heard of this project. He was even informed of it by his own client.
The reason why Hollywood agents take so much commission is that a very stable and complex system has been formed in Hollywood. There are conventions among each other and the system operates through agents. All information on film and television projects must go through agents before it can reach the actors.
In short, if you, an unknown actor, want to get a role and be seen, you need an agent in this industry to recommend you. Only then can you get the opportunity to audition.
Otherwise, you may not be able to know a lot of information.
Monopoly.
In Darren Wilson's eyes, an actor of Lu Yanhe's level, an outsider, a Chinese actor without roots in Hollywood, needs to rely heavily on him as his agent.
Of course, Darren Wilson would not put on airs in front of Lu Yanhe because of this.
This is just the information and resource gap between the local bosses and outsiders.
This is a natural difference.
For a movie of the level of "Godless", even an agent of Darren Wilson's level has not received any news yet. This can only mean one thing, that is, this film project is still in a very early stage of development and there has definitely been no substantial progress.
However, under such circumstances, the film crew found Lu Yanhe and took the initiative to recruit him to star in the film.
This was beyond Darren Wilson's judgment of Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe's development trajectory in Hollywood is itself "unprecedented", but no matter how "unprecedented", he is not the master of Hollywood. His trajectory is still that of a "supporting role". He is Asian, and both his roles and his popularity are closely related to his "Asian" identity.
Therefore, Darren Wilson never worried from the beginning to the end that if Lu Yanhe became more and more popular, he would kick him out.
Even if Lu Yanhe becomes a world-renowned filmmaker in the future, he still needs an agent in Hollywood who is familiar with the situation in Hollywood.
Darren Wilson serves Lu Yanhe with this idea and attitude.
Therefore, knowing that "Godless" bypassed him and went directly to find Lu Yanhe, Darren Wilson's first reaction was to scold Schmidt Lawley for being unruly. His second reaction was that Lu Yanhe was actually valued by Schmidt Lawley to the point of "unruly".
To put it in plain language, this level can be expressed in one sentence: Schmidt Laurie hopes that the relationship between him and Lu Yanhe is a private one.
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At the private screening of "The Office", Darren Wilson personally drove to pick up Lu Yanhe.
Because there is no media and it is not a public screening, it is relatively relaxed.
They even asked before whether a version with Chinese subtitles was needed.
Both Edward Hodgson himself and his public relations manager seemed to attach great importance to Lu Yanhe's attitude.
Lu Yanhe was actually a little puzzled before. If he really publicly praised Edward Hodgson's performance in the media and built up momentum for him, would it really provide a big boost to Edward Hodgson's awards season journey?
With such power, why can't he get nominated for a prestigious award?
Chen Ziyan said: "Because on the one hand, your achievements are recognized by them, and your attitude can influence who they give the cake to at the table. On the other hand, you don't play in their circle, so you can't eat the cake yourself before you get to the table."
Hit the nail on the head.
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Edward Hodgson is in his early thirties and has always been an actor known for his good acting skills in Hollywood.
He is not a very famous actor, but with each performance, his fame has accumulated, especially among critics.
Lu Yanhe learned about his acting resume a few days ago.
It can be said that he has been acting in more serious movies since he entered the industry, and has worked with many big directors. He is an actor with very high self-demands.
Lu Yanhe believed that for an actor like him who had gradually gained fame, if he was willing to act in films with a more commercial nature, he would definitely have a chance.
The logic of selecting actors for films from all over the world is the same. They need well-known actors who can carry the box office to be the protagonists, and they also need actors with good acting skills and a good professional image to be supporting actors. From the cast lineup, people should feel that "this movie is worth watching". And having an actor who has a high film brand in everyone's mind to star in his own movie is definitely a powerful weapon.
This time, Edward Hodgson starred in "The Office" and he was actually one of the two male protagonists, with a lot of scenes. However, in the end, his public relations team decided on an award-winning strategy for him to compete for the Best Supporting Actor award, as they calculated that this award had a higher chance of winning.
This is also a common strategy during Oscar awards season.
Although he is one of the leading actors, he chose to apply for the supporting actor award in order to have a higher chance of winning.
Edward Hodgson was waiting for him.
There are some others.
Lu Yanhe greeted him and exchanged a few pleasantries.
Edward Hodgson said: "I hope you enjoy the film."
Lu Yanhe: "I've heard from many people that this movie is great and your performance is great. I can't wait to watch it."
In fact, Edward Hodgson did give a very good performance in this film.
The performance quality is top notch.
Lu Yanhe's first reaction was that if he were to play the role himself, there were many parts of the performance that he would not be able to perform as Edward Hodgson performed.
There is no experience like that.
After watching the movie, Lu Yanhe said honestly: "No wonder so many people praised this movie and your performance. I am very inspired."
Edward Hodgson put one hand on his chest and the other on the back of his chair.
"Thank you," Edward Hodgson said. "They said this was the closest I've ever been to an Oscar, but the competition is very fierce this year."
"I will recommend this movie to my friends," Lu Yanhe said. "It deserves to be seen by more people."
"Thank you very much." Edward Hodgson shook hands with Lu Yanhe. "This is very important to us. I'm glad that you like this movie."
-
"Have you noticed? In Hollywood, many people are very confident. If they think they acted well, they might be modest, but they will never deny it."
After the movie, Chen Ziyan whispered in Lu Yanhe's ear.
“They make no secret of their desire for awards.”
"They have formed such a cultural atmosphere. At this time every year, anyone who has a chance to compete will throw themselves into this long public relations battle during the awards season." Lu Yanhe said, "If you ask me to be like Edward, constantly recommending my movies to different people and talking about his understanding of the role and his performance, I would still feel ashamed because we don't have such a cultural background."
"You should learn from this." Chen Ziyan said bluntly, "First you have to recognize yourself, then others will take a second look. You see, if there was no invitation from Darren, no screening, you probably wouldn't have watched this movie before the Oscars, and you wouldn't have known how well he acted."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"PR managers can exist openly because they do exactly this, to get more voting Academy members to see the film and his performance," Chen Ziyan said. "If Love Letter is really managed by Schmidt Lawley for this year's awards season, we will do the same thing."
"I don't have the time to invest two or three months into this lengthy public relations battle like Edward did."
"When one of your films has a real chance of being nominated, I will force you to invest in it," Chen Ziyan said. "This is not the time for you to be hypocritical. You must make your position clear. This is the rule of the game. Don't give away the trophy you might have won just because you are too lazy to follow the rules. I will be so angry if you do that."
Lu Yanhe immediately said: "I'm just saying, I will definitely abide by the rules."
Chen Ziyan snorted, "You'd better keep your word."
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Recommend the new book "The Sword of the Demon Hunter"
(End of this chapter)
