Unboxing, Director!

Chapter 179 I will officially bring my talent to the film industry!
After the awards ceremony, Lu Jiang stayed in Cannes for another day before returning to China.

On this day, the copyright transactions for "Beauty" and "The Lobster" were basically completed.

As a short film, "Beauty" has fewer educational elements than "Drunk" from a few years ago, so it only sold for a little over $7, which is considered a mediocre result.

"The Lobster" is much better.

The deal is basically finalized, covering 35 countries and regions in North America, Europe, and Asia, excluding mainland China, with a total overseas copyright price of US$515 million.

Based on previous years' best director films, this price is about 180 million more expensive.

Moreover, it is said that "The Lobster" earned about $200 million more than "Fooled Love," another film that won Best Director this year.

For an art film, 515 million is already a very good result.

Why was such a high price achieved?

We also have to thank Xiao Rizi for this.

Lu Jiang's fame in the European and American music scene is neither particularly high nor low, so his contribution to the film's box office is not significant.

However, Lu Jiang's popularity in Asia is completely different, with his popularity in Japan even exceeding that in South Korea.

Japan is Asia's largest box office market and is more interested in art films.

When "Farewell My Concubine" sold nearly $1000 million, Japan contributed 30% of that.

Now Lu Jiang is receiving similar treatment.

The Japanese publisher offered $180 million, which is almost 40%.

What else could Lu Jiang say? He could only say he would try to go to Japan to see another concert as soon as possible and make more money.
With the matter basically settled, Lu Jiang and his group returned to China directly.

At this time, the attention that mainland China paid to Lu Jiang was not limited to the Cannes awards.

The news that Lu Jiang's new English album has once again topped the North American Billboard charts has also spread.

She's thriving in both the music and film industries, attracting widespread media attention and generating immense fan enthusiasm.

Therefore, Lu Jiang's return to Beijing this time has garnered unprecedented attention.

To avoid traffic congestion at Beijing Airport, Lu Jiang arranged a press conference in advance.

The press conference was unsurprisingly held at the Central Academy of Drama.

Upon landing in Beijing, the Central Academy of Drama greeted him at the airport in a minibus.

Besides carrying more passengers, these minibuses were also the exclusive vehicles for leaders.

Ning Hao patted the leather seats and couldn't help but exclaim, "This car looks ordinary from the outside, but I never expected it to be so amazing inside."

“Of course, usually only ministerial-level leaders can ride in cars like this.” Zhang Jingchu was also proud, scanning the surroundings.

"Ministerial-level leader? That's too high a level!" Tang Wei was quite cautious, feeling as if she were a beggar sitting on a dragon throne, committing a capital offense of usurpation.

Fortunately, the leader from the Central Academy of Drama who was there to pick them up explained, "It's not that exaggerated. It's just a car."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and then became even bolder, exploring and taking photos in various ways.

After all, this opportunity is truly rare, and there may not be another one like it in the future.

The car soon arrived at the Central Academy of Drama.

From afar, Lu Jiang could see three huge banners hanging on the gate of the Central Academy of Drama.

Congratulations to Lu Jiang, an outstanding student from the 1998 Directing Department of our school, for winning the Best Director Award at the 55th Cannes International Film Festival for his film "The Lobster".

Congratulations to Lu Jiang, an outstanding student from the Directing Department of our school's Class of '98, for winning the Jury Prize for Short Films at the 55th Cannes International Film Festival for his film "Beauty".

In addition, there is an even larger and more conspicuous piece on top:
"Congratulations to Lu Jiang, an outstanding student from the Directing Department of our school's Class of '98, for winning awards for two works at the 55th Cannes International Film Festival, making world film history!"

"Good guy!"

Ning Hao's eyes widened in disbelief.

Three banners, each several tens of meters long, were stacked on top of the entrance; the display was absolutely impressive!

Zhang Jingchu and Tang Wei also stared wide-eyed.

They were all from the Central Academy of Drama, but they had never seen a scene like this before.

Fan Binbin remained quite calm, but the fact that she hugged Lu Jiang's arm even tighter revealed her pride and possessiveness. Han Sanpin, who was traveling with them, laughed, "I bet Old Zhang has been driven crazy by Old Wang these past few days!"

Old Zhang was referring to Zhang Huijun from the Beijing Film Academy, and Old Wang was naturally Wang Yongde, the president of the Central Academy of Drama.

A school not known for its film directing program has produced a Best Director; the president of Beijing Film Academy must be feeling incredibly ashamed these days.

Situ Zhaodun chuckled and said, "I don't know if he's been annoyed to death, but I'm definitely annoyed to death!"

After hearing this, Lu Jiang touched his nose.

He knew what was bothering Situ Zhaodun.

Ever since "The Lobster" was nominated, the Beijing Film Academy has been extending an olive branch to him again through Situ Zhaodun.

After winning the award a few days ago, the offensive from the Beijing Film Academy became even more aggressive.

You can choose to pursue a master's degree or become a teacher, and there are no mandatory coursework or teaching assignments.

This is much more lenient than the earlier olive branch.

Although it was possible to be recommended for postgraduate studies back then, you still had to attend classes and write papers, unlike the Central Academy of Drama, where everything was more relaxed and the education was more carefree.
Now look what happened, the Beijing Film Academy regrets it. Knowing that they can't teach someone like Lu Jiang, they've simply relaxed their requirements.

As long as you're willing to come, everything is negotiable.

Lu Jiang didn't agree yet because Situ Zhaodun said that the Central Academy of Drama hadn't made its move yet, and they should compare prices before deciding!

Soon the car entered the Central Academy of Drama and arrived outside the auditorium.

When Lu Jiang got out of the car, he was greeted by reporters and school leaders.

The crowd applauded enthusiastically, following Principal Wang Yongde. Amidst the flashing lights and brief greetings, the group proceeded to the auditorium.

At this moment, almost all the teachers and students of the Central Academy of Drama were present in the auditorium. The number of people was not large, less than a thousand, but it was still the most grand lineup ever assembled by the Central Academy of Drama.

Amidst thunderous applause, Lu Jiang, with the help of temporary hosts Deng Chao and Gao Lu, led the main cast onto the stage to receive praise.

The next hour consisted of various interactive activities.

Sharing experiences, various interesting stories from the filming process, and so on.

With the school in charge, the situation was generally stable.

Gao Chao appeared in the final stage.

Lu Jiang handed the two trophies directly to the teachers and students below the stage, allowing everyone to touch, look at, and even kiss them up close.

This immediately ignited the atmosphere at the scene.

Students at the Central Academy of Drama, to say the least, rarely see international-level trophies.

The same goes for the teachers. After all, the Central Academy of Drama is known for its stage dramas. They hardly have the chance to even glance at such a top international film award, let alone touch it!
The entire relay process was incredibly lively.

The vice-principal of the Central Academy of Drama was so nervous that he followed the whole thing, his eyes bulging even more than when he was catching his wife cheating.

This is the only student from the Central Academy of Drama!
There might not be another one in the future!

What if it gets bumped or bruised!
Fortunately, there weren't many people present, and everyone was well aware of the situation and was very careful.

When the trophy returned to Lu Jiang's hands, it only had a layer of fingerprints on it, oh, and a little note tucked behind the trophy.

Which naughty girl secretly slipped in that contact information?!
After the time travel was complete, the formal Q&A session with reporters began.

There were no sensitive questions in this segment; most of the discussion revolved around the film itself, with a small portion touching on Lu Jiang's career plans.

Regarding the former, many people have already asked about it in the previous hour.

At this stage, the most everyone got was some information about the release date.

Regarding the latter, Lu Jiang was completely frank.

Will you focus on movies next?

"Will do."

Lu Jiang opened his arms wide, "Next, I will officially bring my talent to the film industry!"

(End of this chapter)