Unboxing, Director!

Chapter 172

The following day, Lu Jiang set off for Cannes, accompanied by Bao Qiang and Situ Zhaodun.

Cannes is located in southern France, 900 kilometers from Paris.

There's no direct route from Beijing to Cannes; you have to land in Paris first, then transfer in Nice, and finally take a car.

After arriving in Paris, Zhou Jianhui took advantage of a short layover to meet with Lu Jiang.

He came directly from New York, which was convenient, so naturally we talked about Lu Jiang's new English album.

As of yesterday, the new album has been available for a week in North America and for two days in various parts of Europe.

In North America, all three songs from the new album charted on the singles chart.

Riding the wave of popularity from the "fragmented chapters" phenomenon, "Free Loop" climbed to number 12 in its first week.

"Hall of Fame" is number 57, and this is only three days after it became the NBA's promotional song, while the World Cup has only just started to capitalize on it yesterday.

The original chart-topping single "Shape of You," which had held the number one spot for several weeks, only reached number 29 in its first week, appearing much weaker than "Free."

But it's worth noting that this song didn't generate as much buzz as the previous two, yet it still managed to reach 29 in its first week, which is enough to show that it has the strongest staying power.

Meanwhile, the album "lu" also reached number 18 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Weekly sales also exceeded 33.

The results are only so-so, but next week will be different, because with the support of both charts, sales are bound to take off.

Lu Jiang was quite satisfied, after all, "lu" had not yet been insured with gold insurance, and its success was achieved purely through its own strength.

For Zhou Jianhui and Warner headquarters, they were extremely satisfied.

After all, Lao Lu is Chinese, and he's not exactly a mainstream figure in the Western music scene.

Even if you get a Grammy nomination, you can't escape the "exotic" label.

The "exotic" emoji is inherently a niche expression.

This will have a huge impact on the input-output ratio of resources.

So initially, Warner Music headquarters was very optimistic about all three songs from "Lu," but overall, they estimated that at most only two would make it onto the charts.

But now, the actual results have fully demonstrated Lujiang's market value.

The influence of niche labels may still exist, but it is far less than expected.

Therefore, Warner headquarters decided to immediately invest the next batch of resources.

In other words, Lu Jiang needs to quickly find time to work on the music video.

The key point of the music video is to collaborate with star actors and directors in the film and television industry.

However, this kind of collaboration is not simply about assembling a team, filming, and then screening the film.

The best approach is to collaborate with major brands on production.

In other words, it's about leveraging the interaction between celebrities and brands to fully capitalize on the benefits of music videos.

Lu Jiang is certainly happy to collaborate with brands, established celebrities, and even up-and-coming artists.

But working with a director?

Lu Jiang then asked, "What level of director?"

Zhou Jianhui immediately took out the documents. After Lu Jiang looked them over, he found that there were no big Hollywood directors among them, but there were quite a few well-known ones.

For example, Francis Lawrence, who worked on Britney Spears' music videos.

For most Western singers, this kind of collaboration is almost like that of mainland Chinese singers, such as Pu Shu, who got the opportunity to collaborate with Lu Taro.

Lu Taro is not important; what is important is that the other party naturally has more resources than the average director.

Even a debut work can attract big names and all sorts of high-level resources to generate buzz.

Objectively speaking, such an opportunity is indeed rare.

But the problem is, it's not certain whether the other party will agree to cooperate.
I might as well take the picture myself!
The original music videos for "Free Loop" and "Shape of You" are pretty good; they're perfectly usable.

“But that would reduce the hype,” Zhou Jianhui continued to advise.

"Don't rush, we'll have something to talk about in a few more days."

"You mean Cannes?" Zhou Jianhui's eyes lit up. "You already know you can win an award?"

Zhou Jianhui didn't know much about the film industry; he only believed that Lu Jiang had already received the news.

"Wait for good news." Lu Jiang gave a reassuring look, then quickly returned to the topic of cooperation. "Do you have a list of celebrities?"

Yes, take a look.

Zhou Jianhui then presented the potential stars.

As expected, there were no A-list Hollywood stars present. These kinds of stars wouldn't even look at a music video unless you're Michael Jackson or a top-tier singer.

There aren't many second-tier players left, but there are about ten third-tier players.

But I don't seem to be very familiar with any of them.

Lu Jiang simply gave a few names he was familiar with.

For example, Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Alba. The former is probably not famous yet, while the latter is already famous, so it's unlikely we could get them.

But it doesn't matter, we'll cooperate with whoever comes, and if none of them work out, then we'll let Fan Binbin take over.

"Fan Binbin, this will ruin your popularity."

"That's not necessarily the case."

"How to say?"

"You'll know in a few days."

"It's not going to be Cannes again, is it?"

Lu Jiang responded with a smile as always.

Zhou Jianhui chuckled: "Just how much did you bet in Cannes?"

"Don't worry, you won't lose money."

"Let me make this clear first: if it really doesn't work out, can we be a little less impulsive?"

"no problem"

The two chatted about music for a while longer, and about ten minutes later, Baoqiang reminded them that it was time for a change of scenery.

Lu Jiang then ended his meeting with Zhou Jianhui and set off for Nice.

On the plane, Lu Jiang suddenly moved and the corners of his mouth turned up.

The girl in the seat in front of me was listening to "You Are Beautiful" in her headphones. Zhou Jianhui said that this song became even more popular in Europe after the Grammys, and now it seems that's indeed the case.

I wonder if they'll recognize me.

His ideals were lofty, but reality was harsh. Until he got off the plane, not a single foreigner recognized him.
After landing in Nice, we took another hour-long car ride to our hotel in Cannes. As soon as we looked up, we saw the company people, Lao Lu, and Fan's parents.

Lao Lu took the plane yesterday, accompanied by Fan's parents and Fan Chengcheng.

Mr. and Mrs. Fan accompanied them, ostensibly for tourism, but in reality, it was to take this opportunity to meet Lao Lu for the first time.

Lao Lu wholeheartedly agreed, and Lu Jiang didn't refuse either.

The Empress, unlike concubines like Gao Yuanyuan, is someone who needs to be treated with utmost respect.

Based on Lao Lu's feedback, it seems that the two sides are getting along very well.

Even so, Fan's parents were still somewhat reserved when they met Lu Jiang, even though it was their second meeting.

At first glance, it might seem that Situ Zhaodun's presence made them feel uneasy.

But Lu Jiang knew that the main reason was still because of himself.

Because Fan Binbin has mentioned this issue before.

There is a difference in status between him and Fan Binbin.

It can be said that Fan Binbin's current success is almost entirely due to Lu Jiang.

However, the Fan family was not a wealthy family and could not provide Lu Jiang with support in other aspects.

Therefore, this situation naturally arises.

However, this is not necessarily a bad thing.

Being too close is actually not good, as it carries the risk of interference in politics by the maternal relatives.

Having a sense of propriety and reverence is the right thing to do.

Of course, a balance must be maintained between the two.

One should not be too distant, lest outsiders overthink things, nor too close, lest the balance be disrupted.

Therefore, they were somewhat reserved when they met Fan's parents, and even dared not greet Lu Jiang because Situ Zhaodun was present.

Lu Jiang generously introduced Situ Zhaodun as "my future father-in-law and mother-in-law."

Fan's parents were flattered and repeatedly praised Situ Zhaodun.

Lu Jiang picked Fan Chengcheng up again: "Come here, Chengcheng, let your brother-in-law give you a hug. Wow, you've gained so much weight!"

This immediately brought the two families closer. Fan's mother beamed with joy, playfully scolding Fan Chengcheng, "That's right, you've been eating nothing but snacks these days. Chengcheng, did you hear me? If you eat any more snacks, your brother-in-law won't like you anymore!"

Fan Chengcheng is almost two years old now. He doesn't have a huge vocabulary, but he's at that age where he's incredibly bold: "I don't eat snacks, I eat Nana~"

Everyone: (ω)!

Fan's mother was greatly embarrassed and quickly explained, "Oh dear, you're just talking nonsense about milk. It is milk! This kid drinks two pounds of milk a day, and we can't stop him!"

Old Lu laughed heartily: "He's even more impressive than Lu Jiang was when he was a kid. He'll definitely grow to be over 1.85 meters tall!"

Old Zhao: "Oh, that's too tall. About the same height as Lu Jiang is fine. Lu Jiang's height is just right."

Mr. and Mrs. Fan laughed even harder.
After resting at the hotel, Fan Binbin and Dong Xuan returned.

They arrived the day before yesterday to take some street photos in Cannes in advance.

Dong Xuan is also a lead actress in "Lobster" and an artist under their own company, so Lu Jiang also reserved a red carpet opportunity for her.

She also prepared a dress this time, and the styling was quite good, but she didn't dare to think about outshining anyone.

After all, even if someone wanted to suppress her, they couldn't suppress Fan Binbin.

She felt that by tomorrow, even those foreign celebrities might have to kneel down.

So for her, this red carpet trip was merely a chance to broaden her horizons and slightly increase her domestic market value.

This is already very good, considering that the other two lead actresses, Zhang Jingchu and Tang Wei, didn't even get a chance.

It wasn't that Lu Jiang was unwilling, but the interval between the nomination and the red carpet was too short, and their visas hadn't been processed.

But because of this, Dong Xuan is even more grateful that she is a member of Lu Jiang's company.

Upon meeting, Fan Binbin completely ignored Fan Chengcheng, who was calling out "sister" and opening his arms for a hug, and went straight to Lu Jiang, throwing herself into his arms.

As usual, Lu Jiang picked her up and spun her around, a routine he always did after their long-awaited reunion.

That scene was incredibly romantic in everyone's eyes, except for Fan Chengcheng.

Because Fan Chengcheng's face was hit by the hem of the dress, his small body stumbled, and soon the entire hotel corridor was filled with Fan Chengcheng's cries and Fan Binbin's loud laughter.
After calming the little one down, everyone ate together. Afterwards, back in their hotel room, Fan Binbin reported on the events of the past three days.

The red carpet event is tomorrow, so the fairy-like costumes will only be unveiled tomorrow.

These past few days have been a prelude to the fierce competition among female celebrities, who have arrived in Cannes early to take various photos in an effort to attract the attention of brands.

Fan Binbin changed his look three times in the past three days and took three sets of photos in Paris, Cannes and other places.

In theory, as a Chinese actress, apart from a simple collaboration with Chanel in Asia, she has no foothold in Europe, so this approach is unlikely to attract much attention from the media and brands.

Therefore, the purpose of this photoshoot was simply to take portrait photos.

The good news is that Fan Binbin is a natural-born fashion icon.

With such good looks, even without the divine attire of a flower fairy, it's hard not to attract attention.

Dong Xuan even said, "These past few days, Bingbing has been the most beautiful sight in Cannes!"

So in just three days, several European brands have shown interest in us.

However, bad news followed.

Do you know what these people are asking right away?

"what?"

"They all asked me if I was a Korean or Japanese girl, without exception! I told them I was Chinese, and do you know what their expressions were? They were totally disappointed! I was so angry!"

"No way, so many brands are disappointed?"

"Of course, not all of them were. Most of them were very interested in me, but I was very impressed by the few who were disappointed."

"They look down on people, don't bother with them. Wait until you become the queen of the red carpet and a fashion icon, then they'll regret it!"

"I think so too!"

Fan Binbin arrogantly punched the air a few times, "Starting tomorrow, I'm going to make them regret it so much they'll be constipated!"

(End of this chapter)