This director is vindictive.

Chen Mo didn't care much about the person trying to ride on his popularity; in fact, he quite liked them.

Think about it, didn't he do the same thing back then? From a purely promotional perspective, the buzz generated by this approach is indeed very useful.

Although this approach may attract criticism or even questioning from netizens, at least it allows them to "survive" by relying on the popularity – which is the most important thing for a director who is just starting out in the industry.

From this perspective, the other party has already succeeded: thanks to this wave of attention, regardless of how well the film is made, it is highly likely that it will not lose money at the box office.

As for the public pressure that may be encountered after the release, that is an inevitable result of the popularity.

Just like the "wall of newcomers" that actors encounter when they first start out, directors will also face similar difficulties when they begin their careers.

But unlike actors, if an actor's first film or television project is a flop, they might be able to wait for another opportunity.
If a director's first film is a box office and critical flop, unless someone is backing him, it's hard to say when he'll be able to secure investment for another film.

Because the director is directly related to the return on investment, investors' money isn't given away for nothing. It's no wonder that many directors have a bad temper on set and are called "set tyrants"—the pressure on their shoulders is simply too great.

There can be many actors in a film crew, but the most core and crucial role, the director, is usually only one.

Even abroad, where the system is producer-centric rather than director-centric, this situation is still prevalent. It goes without saying that in China, where the system is almost entirely director-centric, the status of directors is clearly evident.

Because the director's position is so special and the pressure is concentrated on one person, when people look back at the experiences of many famous actors after they become famous, they will find that they have filmed many little-known films and television works in their early years, and many people have never even heard of them.

Actors can gradually build their skills through a series of projects, and even if some fail, they still have opportunities to try again. Because if a project fails, no one will immediately blame the actor.

At most, I might criticize the other person's acting skills, but I wouldn't blame the actor.

But the situation is completely different for directors.

If we look at the well-known directors who are still active today, we will find that when they first started making films, they were often either low-budget experimental works or small-scale attempts.

But even these small-scale, initial works must achieve a certain level of success in terms of box office or word-of-mouth.

Without any achievements, it will be difficult for investors to give you another chance, and subsequent development will be very difficult.

This is why in the domestic entertainment industry, stars can emerge one after another and be replaced very quickly, but only a few directors can truly be remembered by the audience.

Even those directors who have made "banned films" have actually made money despite their films being banned from release—this shows that directors must face the direct test of the market from the very beginning, and their success is almost the only pass for them to continue making films.

Of course, directors like Chen Mo, who are exceptionally talented, don't count.

Directors aren't allowed to fail, but at the very least, as a new director, if you want to secure funding for your next film, you can't afford to lose your first battle!
After all, the other person was still his junior, so Chen Mo was quite pleased with this.

After all, his directorial debut, "Meteor Shower," wouldn't have gone so smoothly without his mentor's connections.

After all, he was a new director back then, and a new director who came to the field halfway through his career.

The motto of Beijing Film Academy is: Respect teachers and value the way of life, pass on the torch!

It can be said that we have always followed this school motto over the years.

Therefore, Chen Mo has actually been supporting directors and actors who graduated from Beijing Film Academy all these years.

After all, interests and favors are often reciprocal.

"Happy Breakup" was released as scheduled on Singles' Day, fueled by the hype surrounding the "three fingers" meme and the claim that the character was "the second Chen Mo".

That day, Chen Mo also took Xiao Zhao to see that movie.

After the show ended, he turned to Zhao Liying and asked, "What did you think?"

Zhao Liying frowned slightly, her tone somewhat reserved: "Overall, it's not particularly good. However, considering it's a new director's work, it's acceptable, isn't it?"

Chen Mo nodded and continued, "Yes, by the standards of a newcomer, he has indeed passed the passing mark. But I estimate that a storm of public opinion is about to hit."

He paused, then became more direct: "If we don't look at the promotional gimmicks like 'the second Chen Mo,' 'Chen Mo's successor,' and 'three fingers,' the film itself is actually quite decent—after all, he's a newcomer, so we can't expect too much."

"The problem is that they insisted on using my name and my old jokes to hype things up, raising the audience's expectations so high. Now the film is only 'okay' or 'break even,' which means it's not good enough for many people."

"The higher the hype during promotion, the harder the fall will be. People won't treat him with the same leniency as just an ordinary new director."

"Shouldn't he have been prepared when he tried to ride the wave of popularity in this way?" Zhao Liying said.

Chen Mo shook his head.

"Not necessarily! This storm won't be small; hopefully, he can withstand it!"

"You know about that movie starring Lu Taro back then, right?" Chen Mo asked Zhao Liying with a smile.

Zhao Liying nodded with a slight smile and said, "Of course I know. Hey, you mean that movie from back then, was it really directed by Jiang Wen?"

Chen Mo couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle, "That's not the point at all. The point is that at that time, Lu Tailang didn't have a stable mindset at all. To put it bluntly, what level is Jiang Wen, and what level is Lu Tailang? Is it his ability to get Jiang Wen to supervise him? No, it's his father's face."

Instead of thinking about how to learn anything from Jiang Wen, he was troubled by whether the film was his work, and what kind of prestige he, a new director, had.

"Have you ever seen a new director manage to cast someone like Jiang Wen in their film?"

That starting point was incredibly high. It truly shows how much parents worry about their children. The other party's father was heartbroken over his son's situation.

Not only did he not appreciate it, but he also acted extremely aggrieved, as if he had been bullied by Jiang Wen, which was simply outrageous.

You know, people went there for him, right? No, everyone went there for Jiang Wen!

Chen Mo's words proved prophetic.

The storm came faster and more violently than expected.

"How many dishes did you have to drink to this extent? Does this person even deserve to be the second Chen Mo?"

"They even held up three fingers, a real master at riding the wave of popularity, but what kind of garbage did they end up filming?"

"Hilarious! They hyped it up like crazy before it aired, but after watching it, all I want to ask is: Did Chen Mo agree to let you take over?"

"The hype before its release was incredible, but once you see the actual film, the cinematography is amateurish, the plot is fragmented, and the acting is incredibly awkward!"

"When marketing accounts tout him as 'the second Chen Mo,' don't they feel any remorse? The gap is probably as big as ten 'Love is Not Blind's'!"

"I can understand a new director, but trying to ride the coattails of a top star has backfired, hasn't it? Audiences aren't stupid; overdoing the hype will inevitably backfire!" "Three fingers? I'd say three points is the most they can count! So what if the box office doesn't lose money? The word-of-mouth is already rotten!"

"Are the self-media still trying to whitewash this? What's left of this movie besides its gimmicks? Chen Mo became famous because of his talent, while this guy became famous by trying to gain attention through sensationalism. Can they be compared?"

"You used to tout yourself as 'Chen Mo's successor,' but now you're deleting your posts so quickly? You dare to boast but not admit it—a classic case of hypocrisy!"

And those marketing accounts and self-media accounts that had previously praised it all seem to have forgotten their true colors.

It's as if they weren't the ones being praised before.

At this point, they're quicker than anyone to kick someone when they're down.

"I suggest the director switch to marketing; making movies is a waste of his talent. He really knows how to ride this wave of popularity; even Chen Mo himself would have to admit he's 'impressed'!"

"To be honest, if it weren't for Chen Mo's name being involved, no one would have paid any attention to this movie. It's a pity that the higher the expectations, the harder it crashed; it deserves to be ridiculed!"

Director: I'm serious about riding the wave of popularity. Audience: You're serious about making bad movies too [doge]

"As it turns out, Chen Mo is irreplaceable. Instead of constantly thinking about becoming the 'second xxx,' we should first think about how to tell the story clearly!"

Although some rational film critics have given relatively objective evaluations.

Unfortunately, with the storm of public opinion already brewing after the film's release, those relatively objective and mild reviews—such as pointing out that the film is "acceptable" or "passable" as a work by a new director—have failed to make a ripple at all.

The main reason is that Chen Mo, as a top director in the industry, has a vastly different influence and status compared to the junior director who used his name for publicity. In the entertainment industry, even if one wants to "蹭热度" (蹭热度 means to piggyback on someone else's fame) or use someone else's name to climb the ladder, one must have a certain level of ability; otherwise, the gap will only become more glaring in comparison.

The current outcome was almost inevitable from the moment the other party chose to promote themselves using gimmicks such as "the second Chen Mo" and "three fingers".

Do you really think that those marketing accounts and self-media accounts that follow the trend and hype things up are doing so out of good intentions or genuine approval?
Before the film was even released, they had already begun to hype it up. This was essentially a carefully planned "self-directed and self-acted" campaign: first, they attracted attention and reaped traffic by raising expectations, and then, when the film's actual performance failed to live up to the hype, they turned to criticism and ridicule, thus completing another round of traffic harvesting.

This is the common survival logic in the entertainment industry: praising the powerful and belittling the weak, a never-ending cycle. During promotion, someone can be elevated to the highest level, but once their work fails to meet expectations, they are quickly pulled back to earth, even trampled into the mud. It's all about generating buzz and creating topics; that's often how reality is.

"Happy Breakup" has been thrust into the spotlight. Although the box office was decent, the director was almost universally criticized.

Various sarcastic remarks.

Chen Mo's fans don't care if you're Chen Mo's junior.

Many bystanders also dislike this kind of attention-seeking behavior, which led to overwhelming criticism.

Indeed, this is true, although the motto of Beijing Film Academy is to respect teachers and pass on the torch.

But with so many actors and directors graduating from Beijing Film Academy every year, the relationships are actually just so-so.

This is why the entertainment industry has gradually become a "family business," and why the children of stars and directors are more likely to succeed.

Because, not to mention the children of celebrities, who have more resources, the children of directors are the same. They can withstand failure and have a second or third chance, but what about the others?
This setback also left Chen Mo's junior in a state of utter chaos.

Even when forced to meet people, they had to wear masks and sunglasses, and hurriedly walk through the airport hall with their heads down.

The marketing accounts that once praised him the most are now editing his interview clips into absurd videos for the entire internet to laugh at.

It's fair to say that during the promotional period, he was praised and basked in glory by gimmicks like "the second Chen Mo" and "three fingers," but now that the movie has been released and received terrible reviews, he's being ridiculed by the entire internet. That's how upset and embarrassed he must feel.

Of course, it's not accurate to say that he's really down on his luck or unable to make a living.

Ultimately, his films were undeniably successful at the box office; they didn't lose money and may even have made a profit—that's a hard fact.

Even though the ratings were driven to rock bottom by angry moviegoers, the money still went straight into their pockets.

The problem is that a new director often hasn't developed a thick skin yet.

He had never experienced being kicked straight down from the clouds to the ground.

Unlike Chen Shishi back then, after filming "The Promise," even though he was ridiculed by the entire internet and made into parody videos, he was still full of confidence and even dared to say that "no one will understand it within ten years."

Even so, the poet Chen was almost driven to the point of losing his temper and publicly lashing out by the criticism he received back then.

Now, this kind of media storm is falling on a new director who has just debuted and may not be psychologically prepared. You can imagine how much pressure he is under.

He had to endure the ridicule and insults flooding his social media accounts while forcing himself to give interviews and face the media, all while worrying about whether anyone would dare to invest in his next film—a feeling that cannot be easily erased by simply saying "the box office didn't lose money."

Soon, a week after the movie's release, during the peak of the criticism...

He publicly issued an apology statement on his official Weibo account.

I am Zhang XX, the director of the movie "Happy Breakup".

Here, I would like to sincerely apologize to everyone for the controversy caused by the recent release of the film.

First, I must admit that using tags like "three fingers raised" for marketing during film promotion does involve excessive leveraging and exaggerated publicity.

As a new director, I desperately wanted my work to be seen by more people, but I chose an unreliable approach and over-exploited the audience's trust and expectations of excellent filmmakers.

I bear an unshirkable responsibility for this and feel deeply ashamed.

After the film was released, I read every review carefully—whether it was sharp criticism or gentle advice.

I must admit that "Happy Breakup" is my directorial debut and is still immature in many ways: the pacing of the plot, the use of cinematic language, and the overall completion are all far from meeting the expectations of the audience based on the pre-release publicity.

As the director, I failed to deliver a work worthy of those expectations, which is my dereliction of duty.

I also want to apologize to @陈默学长.

As a junior at Beijing Film Academy, I should have taken my seniors as role models, studied diligently, and created solid works. However, due to my eagerness for quick success and instant benefits, I have tarnished the school motto of "passing on the torch".

My senior's support and tolerance towards younger students over the years makes me feel even more ashamed.

While the film wasn't a box office failure, its critical reception made me realize that a director's life lies in their work, not gimmicks. The audience's criticism is the most honest spur to me. I will remember this lesson and dedicate all my energy to the creative process, letting my work speak for itself, rather than relying on hype for survival.

Finally, thank you to all the audience members who went to the cinema to watch "Happy Breakup," and thank you to the film critics who were still willing to objectively evaluate the film's shortcomings and highlights.

I will temporarily step away from the public eye, return to the film set and my books, and relearn and reflect. If the opportunity arises in the future, I will definitely repay everyone's supervision and expectations with better works. (End of Chapter)