This director is vindictive.

Time flies, and years pass like a flowing river.

Unbeknownst to many, it has been a full three months since renowned director Chen Mo announced his retirement from the entertainment industry.

However, even though he has faded from the public eye, the media has frequently used the phrase "aftermath of his retirement" to describe the current state of the film and television industry over the past three months—Chen Mo's name has not faded with time, but is often mentioned.

Examples include the accidental slip-up during a live stream, and Shengshi Pictures' previous "forward for good luck" campaign, and so on.

Looking back on Chen Mo's more than ten-year directing career, he has created too many unforgettable classic works, almost always pushing the subject matter, narrative, or visual presentation to the extreme. This strong personal style and extremely high level of completion have profoundly influenced later creators and audiences.

Of course, what's even more memorable is Chen Mo's endless stream of publicity tactics.

So much so that many netizens feel a sense of déjà vu when watching new works, as if later directors are still intentionally or unintentionally imitating Chen Mo's style.

At the same time, the publicity and promotion also give people the impression that everything was used by Chen Mo.

This phenomenon is not hard to understand: although Chen Mo is no longer active, any topic or work related to him can still easily attract a lot of attention—his name is still a guarantee of traffic.

Time has quietly passed to November of this year.

November is not a popular month for film and television releases, but it is different because of a special "holiday" - "Singles' Day".

This day, which originated from internet culture and is not a traditional festival, has gradually become a unique window for film screenings in the domestic film market.

Although most of the films released at this time are low- to mid-budget films, Singles' Day has become a regular feature of Chinese films.

Singles' Day carries its own topicality and emotional weight, making romance films, especially those about being single and breaking up, the most suitable genres for release on this day.

The reason for bringing this up is that, apart from the Double Eleven shopping festival, the most successful marketing campaign for this holiday was Chen Mo's first theatrical film, "Love is Not Blind," which stood out 33 years ago on a day that was hyped up as a super Double Eleven, the Singles' Day of the century.

Therefore, Singles' Day has become a period with considerable influence. Although this period usually only targets low- to mid-budget romance films, it is still quite eye-catching.

After all, the purpose of film promotion is to spread the word and let everyone know that a film is going to be released.

Secondly, it piques the audience's curiosity, making them willingly spend money.

This year is no exception, and one film in particular has attracted much attention.

The movie is called "Happy Breakup," a title that directly borrows from a popular classic love song, making it instantly memorable.

What's even more noteworthy is that although the director of this film is a newcomer, he has a great understanding of the market and audience psychology, and you could say he's "very quick-witted."

He keenly realized that even though Chen Mo had retired from the entertainment industry, his influence and popularity remained high. So he cleverly linked his work with the "Chen Mo effect" and used it to promote his work.

In the current environment, this is undoubtedly a smart move—because anything related to Chen Mo means attention and traffic.

Therefore, "Happy Breakup" not only cleverly uses its title, but also grasps the point that "Chen Mo is still the key to traffic" in its promotional strategy, successfully standing out during the Singles' Day period and becoming a hot topic recently.

The other party's approach was simple yet outstanding.

He completely copied Chen Mo.

At the premiere of the film "Happy Breakup," the young director's approach was both direct and bold, completely imitating Chen Mo's style from back then.

When a reporter asked, as pre-arranged, "Director, can you predict the box office performance of this film?"

The young director immediately made a striking move—he smiled and calmly held up three fingers.

Then, he said loudly to the camera: "Fifteen years ago, Director Chen Mo raised three fingers on the same occasion, creating a classic scene in the film industry. Today, I also raise three fingers, hoping that this courage and wish can come true just like back then!"

This move not only replicated Chen Mo's signature action, but also cleverly linked himself with Chen Mo's legend, paying tribute to his predecessor and creating buzz and memorable moments for the film.

Sure enough, it instantly became the focus of attention.

Originally, he was just a new director with little public attention, and it was highly unlikely that his shabby premiere would go viral or trend on social media.

However, his gesture of raising three fingers successfully broke through the mold.

This publicity strategy was indeed ingenious, accurately hitting the pulse of the current film and television industry's popularity.

Even Chen Mo himself, who has been out of the industry for three months, would probably nod in approval if he saw this – it is both another testament to his influence and an acknowledgment of the new director's keen sense of smell.

Movie promotion has always placed the most emphasis on topics and gimmicks.

Especially given the lingering effects of Chen Mo's retirement from the entertainment industry and the fact that his name remains a "traffic magnet," this new director of "Happy Breakup" is clearly well-versed in this approach.

He cleverly utilized the "legacy" left by Chen Mo: a deeply ingrained classic gesture and a legendary story closely linked to a romance film released during the "Singles' Day" period.

It can be said that this "opportunity" was indeed perfect - it not only connected with the collective memory of movie fans, but also awakened the public's nostalgia for Chen Mo's debut. It did not require paying any extra cost for this "sentiment". It simply replicated a gesture and said a word of tribute, and it firmly tied itself and the new film to Chen Mo's huge halo and the fast train of topic traffic. It was simply a sure-fire way to make money.

Sure enough, the effect was immediate. Before long, a highly impactful and trending comparison image went viral.

On the left of the picture is a still somewhat naive Chen Mo, at the premiere of the movie "Love is Not Blind," confidently raising three fingers when predicting the box office for the media.

On the right side of the picture is the same gesture made by the young director of the new film "Happy Breakup" released during this year's "Singles' Day" period—three fingers raised, in almost the same situation and when responding to almost the same question.

The two photos were placed side by side, spanning fifteen years.

On one side is the starting point of a legend, and on the other side are the tributes of imitators;

On one side is the legendary peak, and on the other is the reality of trying to take advantage of the situation to climb higher.

This striking visual contrast and plot replication successfully evoked collective memories among countless moviegoers and created a huge space for discussion.

It seems to have completed a temporal and spatial echo in the world of light and shadow, and even more so, a profound cycle of the times—although Chen Mo has retired, the model he created and the symbols he left behind continue to profoundly influence the industry, being regarded as a guiding principle by those who come after, and becoming a shortcut for them to gain attention and achieve success. This is perhaps the most direct manifestation of the "aftershocks" of the Chen Mo era.

Netizens were swept up in a wave of nostalgia.

"Chen Mo's 'three fingers' is so classic! Fifteen years have passed, and I still remember it was at the premiere of 'Love is Not Blind'. At the time, I thought he was just creating a gimmick, but it turned out to be a prophetic moment that created a box office phenomenon!"

"This is so nostalgic! I bet the other directors are kicking themselves! How come they didn't think of such a simple imitation, such a cost-effective way to promote the film? Just for this reason alone, I'll definitely go see this movie!"

"Seeing the director of 'Happy Breakup' imitation and tribute, I was instantly devastated. Although Director Chen has retired, the entire industry is still living in his shadow. Even the promotional gesture has become a traffic code 'facepalm.JPG'."

"To be honest, I didn't pay much attention to directors before, but when I saw that comparison picture on the trending topics, I was immediately moved to tears—on the left was Chen Mo, who was full of vigor back then, and on the right was a new director who is now 'riding the wave'. It suddenly dawned on me that many of the publicity and marketing tactics that we thought were new were actually things that Chen Mo had already done!"

"This is outrageous! They've been delayed for three months and they can still 'remotely urge for updates'? These days, even new directors have to imitate Chen Mo to get on the trending topics just by holding up three fingers. I can only say thank you for the 'traffic legacy' left by Director Chen. The Singles' Day release date is the best proof of that!"

"As a long-time fan, all I want to say is: Director Chen is still Director Chen! Retiring from the industry just means he's no longer in the spotlight, but his legend lives on everywhere. Fifteen years ago, a single gesture made a film a hit, and fifteen years later, a replica immediately propelled a new film to stardom—that's the terrifying influence of a top director."

"I've seen people criticize the director of 'Happy Breakup' for trying to ride the wave of popularity, but I don't think he did anything wrong! Isn't that how the film and television industry works these days? Chen Mo's name is a topic of conversation, it's attention. The publicity and distribution model he pioneered back then is now being used by others, which proves that his methodology is still relevant today!"

"Happy Breakup" successfully broke into the mainstream by replicating Chen Mo's "bragging" gesture of raising three fingers fifteen years ago.

She instantly became the most dazzling star of the season.

"Is this new director your junior from school? He's riding this wave of popularity just like you did back in the day!" Zhao Liying teased as she looked at the trending topic of the "three fingers" scene.

Chen Mo didn't seem to care much about it.

Celebrities should be prepared to be imitated, hyped, and targeted for extortion.

Besides, Chen Mo has also tried to piggyback on the fame of other celebrities back then!
Therefore, Chen Mo didn't see anything wrong with the other party using this method for publicity.

“This junior is indeed very smart, but…” Chen Mo shook his head.

"You don't think he's a good candidate?" Fan Binbin asked curiously as he leaned closer.

"I have no problem with staging accidents, and I have no problem using this method for publicity, and the effect is indeed very good! It's a pity that times have changed! I don't know if he's prepared for the backlash from this incident," Chen Mo said calmly.

"Backlash?" Zhao Liying asked, puzzled.

“You have to understand, all sentimentality is filtered through a lens. For example, with ‘The Return of the Condor Heroes’ back then, people would instinctively think that the new is not as good as the old!” Chen Mo said, looking at the Fairy Sister.

Even though Liu Yifei's portrayal of Xiaolongnu was indeed a very fitting role, the new version of "The Return of the Condor Heroes" was still criticized by many people for comparison because of the excellent performance of Li Ruotong's version of Xiaolongnu.

It's not because they weren't good enough, but because past works, even slightly better ones, leave a deep impression on people, giving them a layer of nostalgia.

"That's right!" Liu Yifei nodded; she knew it all too well.

Many people thought her portrayal of Xiaolongnü was a perfect fit for her, but when the film was first released, a lot of people still mocked her for not matching Li Ruotong's version of Xiaolongnü at all.

Later, her version of "The Return of the Condor Heroes" gradually became the old version, and that's when the changes occurred.

New is never as good as old, unless the new version is a particularly classic, otherwise there's no reasoning with that.

"So, from a commercial standpoint, this kind of promotion is perfectly acceptable and does save a lot of money on marketing and distribution. However, from the director's standpoint, doing this could easily backfire because people will scrutinize the shortcomings of 'Breakup Happiness' with a magnifying glass."

Compare it to "Love is Not Blind"!

"That's not all. Just wait and see. This wave of traffic is huge. No self-media marketing accounts will miss it, and they won't report it according to this junior's ideas, so..." Chen Mo had been in the industry for so many years and had long seen through this.

The hotter a topic is, the more it slips out of the control of its initiator, especially in this era where everyone is a media person and traffic is paramount.

In the era of self-media, it can be said that as long as there is traffic, they can have no bottom line.

If it were a real-life event or a sensitive topic, they might be more restrained, since nobody wants to get investigated for spreading rumors.

However, there were no such concerns during the film's promotion.

Sure enough, Chen Mo's words soon came true.

Many self-media marketing accounts have started to praise this new director who has only just shot his first theatrical film.

What "Chen Mo's successor!"

"The new Chen Mo of the film industry!"

"The beginning of a new legend in Chinese cinema!"

They showered him with endless praise, describing him as the second Chen Mo.

And they're not just making things up. Look, they both graduated from the Beijing Film Academy, both made their film debuts, and both held up three fingers.
For a moment, it seemed as if this person really was the second Chen Mo.

However, such praise is likely to provoke resentment from Chen Mo's fans.

What rank are you? You're the second Chen Mo?
It took Chen Mo more than a decade and dozens of works to achieve his current status.

So the backlash came very quickly, and it was incredibly fierce.

For celebrities, being famous even when they're infamous is still fame, but for directors, it's not necessarily the same.

In particular, the upcoming release of the movie "Happy Breakup" has made it the focus of attention for countless movie fans.

If the film is of good quality, it's alright, but if it's even slightly bad, it will be scrutinized under a microscope. (End of Chapter)