Huayu: I'm reborn, but you still force me to be a scumbag?

Chapter 580 Absence
The CAA representatives came for no other reason than this.

After their meeting at the Golden Globe Awards, the two sides had a fairly pleasant conversation and had largely reached an agreement on cooperation. Chen Nuo originally wanted to wait until the end of this trip to discuss the signing of the contract, but CAA's attitude was more urgent than he had anticipated.

The contract had already been reviewed by both parties' lawyers in Los Angeles.

The signing date was set for February 12, 2013, with a signing bonus of $20 million plus an 8% box office revenue guarantee. The contract was for three years, during which CAA would represent him in negotiating new film and television contracts, brand endorsements, and commercial activities in North America, with a commission rate of 5%. This did not include renewal contracts for his previous endorsements.

In other words, all of his film and television projects and commercial endorsements were originally negotiated and signed directly by Huanxin Company, and as the legal representative of Huanxin, he personally signed them.

Now, with CAA joining as his exclusive agent, they will sign all documents related to film contracts, advertising, and events on his behalf. However, the actual earnings will still first flow into Huanxin's account, and then, according to the contract terms, 5% of the commission will be allocated to CAA. It's worth emphasizing that his personal earnings, instead of decreasing, have increased due to the other shareholders of the company relinquishing their interests. This is truly remarkable, especially in a society where even close friends and spouses can turn against each other over money.

In addition, CAA will establish a dedicated team for him, jointly formed by the Marketing and Public Relations Department, Brand Business Department, and Awards Season Strategy Group, to be fully responsible for his public relations and strategic operations. He will also be guaranteed final approval authority for every project.

After receiving the document, Chen Nuo carefully reviewed it again. Once he confirmed that all the terms were correct, he signed his name on the last page.

From that moment on, he officially became an A-list client of CAA. And George Walker, a senior partner and senior agent at CAA, officially became his chief agent and representative in Hollywood.

After the signing was completed, George Walker extended his hand, his voice filled with barely concealed excitement, "Chen, on behalf of CAA, I welcome you to our 'Crown List'."

Chen Nuo smiled and extended his hand to shake his. "I hope we can have a pleasant collaboration."

It seems that if it weren't for the fact that they were in such a desolate and remote town, and that he had been walking for a whole day, George Walker would have been planning to find a place to celebrate with him. But given the circumstances, he had no choice but to give up on that idea.

After agreeing on a time to meet again, George Walker drove away.

After Chen Nuo had taken a good shower and changed his clothes, Allison said with a smile, "He asked me to tell you that something happened to Katy Perry, one of his subordinates, and he had to rush back to deal with it. Please forgive him."

Chen Nuo yawned and said, "That's good, no need for socializing anymore. What's the final outcome for your matter?"

Allison smiled slightly and said, "They've included me in your core team, let me continue as your Chief Public Relations and Director of Strategic Affairs, and even arranged an office for me in the CAA's main building."

Chen Nuo smiled and said, "Sounds good." Then he turned and asked, "And what about you?"

Gulnazar chuckled and said, "Still my assistant."

"You're laughing so happily, tell me how much you get paid?"

“An annual salary of $40, plus 1% of the commission they take from you as their boss, as a performance bonus,” Gulnazar chuckled.

No wonder he was laughing.

This salary is absolutely high for a 20-year-old high school graduate. CAA truly lives up to its reputation as a long-established agency that remains successful even after more than a decade. Even knowing they're essentially paying for her, they're still spending a considerable amount.
Allison said, "CAA is very sincere this time. They should know very well that having your name on their client list is a victory for their brand and influence in Hollywood."

Chen Nuo smiled.

This woman has learned to flatter him ever since he arranged for a plane to take her back to Vancouver to see her daughter.

Allison said, "At the same time, working with them has saved us a lot of trouble. If there is another round of malicious public opinion like this next awards season, we won't be as passive as we were this time."

Chen Nuo said, "I hope so."

"Boss, are you really going to continue hiking?" Gulnazar suddenly interjected, looking him over with an expression that could be described as heartache.

Chen Nuo asked, "What's wrong?"

Gulnazar said, "You've only been walking for a little over a month, and you've already lost so much weight. If you walk for a few more months... what will you look like then?"

Chen Nuo tilted her head and looked at herself in the full-length mirror next to her.

Because I was wearing a mask the whole time, covering my neck and forehead, my complexion didn't get much darker, but the person in the mirror did look thinner than a month ago.

Looking back on the journey and hardships he had endured over the past month, even the presence of a tall, busty Latina woman who frequently visited his tent at night to chat about life and ideals couldn't compensate for his physical exhaustion.

but.

But the physical exhaustion brought with it a kind of mental excitement.

Just like when he was filming "My Blueberry Nights".

Although that film ultimately failed to win him any awards at Cannes for various reasons, he has served as a film festival jury member several times over the years and has watched countless films. Looking back at that performance, he feels that he should have won an award that time.

If in "The House of the Mute" he acted entirely on intuition and emotion, using the most primal impulses to shape the character,
However, in "My Blueberry Nights," his acting style underwent a complete 180-degree transformation—becoming extremely restrained and refined.

Even now, when he thinks back on this performance style, he still finds it to have a strange kind of beauty.

Back then, he knew nothing and hadn't taken many acting classes. How could he possibly deliver a performance that would amaze him even years later?
There is only one answer—Wang Jiawei.

That psychopath made him do over two hundred takes in the very first scene, pushing him to the brink of despair in an almost cruel way.

The constant rejections and retakes pushed him to his limits and forced him to a height he shouldn't have reached.

Later, he went to Los Angeles to audition for the Joker in "The Dark Knight." A large part of the reason he was able to impress Nolan during the audition was that the passion for acting that Wong Kar-wai had ignited still lingered in his body.

After nearly ten years of making movies, looking back, Li Er's strong push for him to take on the role in "My Blueberry Nights" was actually another key turning point that changed his destiny.

However, after that, he was no longer that inexperienced newbie. Directors would give him special treatment, and he never encountered that situation again.

until now.

When he embarked on this path with a try-it-and-see attitude, he felt a familiar, extreme pressure.

This time, however, the pressure didn't come from Wang Jiawei's repeated calls to stop, but from the wind, snow, cold, and hunger on the road.

He could feel that Sean, the 19th-century fisherman, was slowly becoming one with him under this pressure, and a long-lost passion for performance was gradually rising within him.

Under these circumstances, he certainly couldn't give up.

He didn't answer Gulnazar's childish question, but instead looked at Allison and said, "Allison, about this year's Oscars..."

……

……

Inside a Cadillac minivan as it drove away from the town of Fallon.

The assistant next to him put down the phone and said, "George, I've found out."

George Walker closed his eyes and said calmly, "Speak."

"Those two girls are both graduates from Berkeley this year. One is named Dora Conchita Alonso, and she is Venezuelan... The other is named Vivian Cha, and she has dual Korean and American citizenship, and she is..." If Dora or Vivian were present at this moment, they would be very surprised, because in the assistant's words, the two of them were as transparent as if they were invisible. Their main resumes from childhood to adulthood appeared in the assistant's mouth.

After listening, George Walker asked, "Are there any problems with those two?"

The assistant said, "Nothing else. It's just that Dora Conchita Alonso has a YouTube account, and when our people were watching a new video she posted about ten days ago, they noticed that Chen seemed to have revealed a little bit of his identity in one of the videos. There's a risk that he might be recognized, which could cause a little trouble. But—maybe it's not all bad."

George Walker opened his eyes, turned his head and said, "Let me see."

The assistant immediately opened the laptop next to him, logged onto YouTube using the wireless network card, opened the video, and started playing it. He paused briefly, pointed out the scene where Chen Nuo's face appeared, said a few words, and then continued playing.

After he finished, George Walker looked thoughtful and remained silent for a moment. After a while, he said, "What do you think we should do?"

The assistant carefully observed his expression and said, "A hiking trip through the snow and wind, a romantic encounter along the way... This is actually a good thing for Chen's public image. Look at how he risked his life to clear a path for the girl in the snow. This will enhance his adventurous spirit and tough guy image, while also making him seem more human. Especially for his fans, they will definitely be delighted."

He paused, then said, "The only problem is that everyone knows he has a Chinese girlfriend who hasn't been seen in public for a long time. If the media starts speculating about their relationship, it might cause some trouble. But I don't think it'll be a big problem; all we need to do is have Dora issue a clarification."

George Walker was silent for a moment, then suddenly picked up his phone, dialed a number, and his expression changed. He said with a beaming smile, "Halo, Chen, it's me, George. We've just discovered a new situation… Yes, we have two suggestions for handling this… OK, should you remind your friend, or do you need us… Okay, no problem, of course. Goodbye, good night."

After hanging up the phone, George Walker turned to him and said, "Find a way to get YouTube to take this video down."

“Okay,” the assistant replied immediately.

"be quick."

"clear."

George Walker glanced at his expression and said, “Your suggestion is good, but you must remember that the most important thing for a qualified CAA agent is to understand the needs of the clients you serve. Do you think Chen cares about what you’re saying? He’s one of the richest people in Hollywood, a shareholder and board member of Facebook.”

"His purpose in signing with us from the beginning has been very clear: the Oscar. In this respect, he's even more insane than Leonardo DiCaprio. At least, DiCaprio certainly wouldn't do what he's doing now. So, your suggestion is good, but untimely."

"And why did I make this call? Christian, if after these few meetings you still can't figure out what kind of person he is, then you're destined to spend your whole life serving me coffee."

……

After seeing Allison and Gulnazar off, Chen Nuo did not linger in the town.

When he left, he thought Vivian and Dora would give up, but to his surprise, the two, who had slept for two whole days without leaving the hotel, seemed to have been fully revived and were ready to travel with him right on time.

To be honest, he already knows what he needs to know, and he has said what he needs to say.

Shouldn't we all go our separate ways? Does he really have to take responsibility?
During a previous conversation, he heard the woman say that it was her first time. Although he didn't believe a word of it at the time, he later came to believe it about 80% by observing her words and the awkwardness and tension she exuded.

But so what?
All he could say was "sorry."

In the end, the free-spirited Latin girl didn't say anything.

That's the only way he felt comfortable directly kicking people out.

So, after resting and replenishing their food and water, the four of them set off on their journey once again.

After leaving Fallon, the next stop is Lovelock.

Like Fallon, Lovelock is also a small town located in a dry basin.

The journey didn't seem far on the map; five or six days was hardly a problem for Chen Nuo.

However, this time, when they arrived in Lovelock and the cell phone signal returned to the screen, the atmosphere was completely different from the last time.

Instead of screaming excitedly as before, Dora suddenly let out a cry of alarm and anger.

"Due to your recent content violating the community terms, your channel will be suspended from receiving advertising revenue, and the relevant videos have been temporarily removed pending review... WTF! What does this mean!?"

Chen Nuo immediately understood what had happened. Although he didn't know what methods CAA had used, he had initially thought it was just the videos being taken down, but he hadn't expected that their account would also be banned.

Dora stared at her phone screen, incredulous, and said, "Why would they do this? What happened to me?"

After checking her phone, Vivian immediately said, "Dora, they must have made a mistake somewhere. You need to file a complaint right away!"

“Okay, I’ll write it now!” Dora calmed down and said, “There must be a mistake, it must be like this.”

Two recent graduates have no idea how dirty the world can be.

Six or seven days later, when the group left Lovelock and traveled northeast along the old railway tracks to the edge of a city called Winnie-the-Powell, Dora finally received a reply from YouTube, but the content was exactly the opposite of what she had expected.

"Upon further review, it has been determined that your channel violated platform policies and will be indefinitely suspended from earning revenue from advertising. Thank you for your understanding. Understanding? I don't understand! What the hell did I do wrong? Why are they doing this to me?!"

"Dora, calm down, maybe we can still appeal."

"Will appealing even work? They're just sending emails now, not even a concrete explanation... FUCK! I've worked so hard on this account for three years! Why? Waaah~"

Having her account restricted from earning money is obviously a significant blow to the girl.

Not only did she cry, but for the next two days, Dora, who was usually chattering and lively on the road, not only stopped running around with her camera like before, but also became much quieter.

If it weren't for a piece of news that suddenly came over the radio that night, which was so surprising, the girl would probably have remained depressed for a long time.

On this day, the group found an abandoned railway shed early in the morning and used it as a temporary campsite because of something.

Several people were cooking around a fire, which involved boiling dehydrated pasta in hot water and heating canned food, eating various canned goods and pasta at the same time.

At that moment, the radio announcer's voice came through: "—Breaking news! The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed with the Academy that Chinese actor Nuo Chen, nominated for Best Actor for his role as an illegal immigrant in 'Waterdrop,' will not be attending the 85th Academy Awards ceremony, which is scheduled to begin in half an hour—"

"Bang" sound.

Dora dropped her coffee cup on the floor.

The girl's eyes widened in disbelief: "What did he say? Did I hear that right?"

The radio host's voice continued: "...According to the information I have now, this is the first time since Jack Nicholson in 2003, Nick Nolte in 1999, and Daniel Day-Lewis in 1990 that a Best Actor nominee has been absent from the ceremony..."

Ps:

My first fast left me dizzy and lightheaded. But even though Chen Nuo missed the Oscars, my updates didn't stop. Please vote with your monthly tickets!

The word count in the PS file wasn't charged.

(End of this chapter)