Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 351 Endorsement Upgrade, the Director Department Can't Turn Things Around

The black minivan that drove out of the Capital Airport traveled along the ring road. Outside the car window, the tree branches leaned, and the snow had half melted, hanging down as shiny streaks of water.

At 7 p.m. that evening, the special edition of the *China Film News* had changed its headline to two black characters: "Triumphant Return." The subheading even featured a large banner:

[Director Wu Chen leads the "Black Peony" crew back to China—Chinese films are making increasingly steady strides on the international stage]

The schedule didn't ease up after everyone returned.

The awards ceremony has come to a complete end, but in the days that followed, there were a barrage of interviews and press conferences from official media and meetings within the bureau.

On March 2, the two had just left the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television to attend a symposium on the achievements of the National Key Cultural and Artistic Masterpieces Project regarding the play "Black Peony".

The content, however, remains consistently filled with "summaries and encouragement."

"I feel like I've been saying a lot lately, but what exactly did I say?" As she walked out of the venue, Liu Yifei blinked, somewhat confused, and asked:
"Am I old?"

"You're so old-fashioned. You'll be fine in a few days. Let's go, find somewhere to eat something before we go back."

Wu Chen couldn't help but tap Liu Yifei's head lightly. The latter couldn't help but stick out her tongue and smile playfully. She opened the passenger door, got in the car, and started counting the dinner menu on her fingers.

“Oh right,” she suddenly remembered, “Mom said that Chanel has been in talks these past few days, saying they might upgrade my endorsement? I need to go to Paris.”

Wu Chen gripped the steering wheel and paused slightly: "Upgrade to global ambassadorship?"

"No. Chanel has very few global brand ambassadors, and they are on lifetime contracts; they don't just give them out casually. My mother said they only mentioned upgrading the contract level. But LV and Bulgari are also in contact with my mother."

"Let Auntie think about this carefully," Wu Chen nodded. "She's always been quite stable in this regard. If she's really unsure, she can ask a few industry consultants to do some research."

Liu Xiaoli has handled this aspect quite well; naturally, she has to carefully oversee her daughter's future brand endorsements.

Meanwhile, the fashion world is already reeling from the aftermath of the Oscars.

The industry can only feel envy, nothing more.

Because currently, only a handful of people can obtain the highest level of endorsement from top luxury brands, and it's all too far out of reach.

"Forget it, I'll just go and be the spokesperson for U-Love-Me."

"Please. You think being at U-Lo is a good job?"

"."

At that time in Paris, spring rain fell outside the shop windows as Madame Figaro and VOGUE co-hosted a brand cocktail party, "Spring Starry Night," which was being held in an art gallery on the banks of the Seine.

Zhang Ziyi was invited here by Wendi Deng, wife of Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

"You know about this reshuffling of brand resources, right? Several brands are updating their lists; some have been removed, and some have been added." Wendi Deng smiled knowingly, her champagne glass swirling slightly. "All the Oscar nominees are already in the global resource pools of LV and Dior."

Zhang Ziyi smiled and nodded upon hearing this; of course she knew that.

Now Liu Yifei's endorsements are even more prestigious than hers, but there's nothing that can be done about it. It's only natural that brands would vie for a film that was a phenomenal success at Cannes and the Oscars.

It's important to understand that brands and brand ambassadors have a complementary relationship. Brands need exposure, but conversely, brand ambassadors also need brands to support their commercial value.

“But don’t envy her,” Wendi Deng said, looking at her with a smile in her eyes. “You’ll be the boss soon.”

She raised her champagne glass: "Cheers, congratulations on the birth of a new Hollywood producer."

“Cheers!” Zhang Ziyi immediately smiled.

Through her boyfriend, Avi Nevo, she met Wendi Deng and Hollywood producer Florence Snown, and the three of them are accelerating the registration of their new film company. Although the main projects are still unclear in the early stages, it is definitely the key to accessing Hollywood's internal resources for her.

"By the way, what's your relationship with Wu Chen like?" Wendi Deng asked after putting down her wine glass.

"Um," Zhang Ziyi hesitated for a moment.

Wendi Deng immediately understood.

In the warm spring of March, the capital city was blessed with a thorough spring rain, a rare occurrence.

The ground was not completely dry, and puddles reflected the silvery sky, while the branches were already a vibrant green, swaying gently in the breeze, as if the entire campus was awakening.

In front of the red brick building of the photography department, several senior students climbed the stone steps.

"It seems that Senior Brother Wu Chen came back to school today."

"Didn't I just go back a few days ago?"

"Someone saw him at the stairwell of the office building just now. He probably came to check on the staff of the 'The Martian' on-campus practice. Senior Xiang was also there."

"Didn't they post the list of students for each department on the bulletin board a couple of days ago? I guess the production team will start filming soon."

"Our photography department selected six people for this social practice project, two more than the directing department. I doubt other departments have as many as us."

"Isn't that obvious?"

"."

A hint of anticipation lingered in the air on campus.

"Brother Chen, I'll go to the Management Department first, and then I'll go to Teacher Mu's later." Xiang Zhuo held the list of social practice students selected by the school and waved it in the air.

Wu Chen nodded and then headed towards the photography department.

Meanwhile, in the office, Mu Deyuan was holding a list of candidates for the postgraduate entrance examination and discussing the questions with Tian Zhuangzhuang to avoid the questions from the two departments being too similar.

"Old Tian, ​​what do you think of my last essay question, which asks them to 'discuss the new landscape of Hollywood cinema in light of recent Oscar winners (or their works)'?"

Tian Zhuangzhuang, sitting on the opposite sofa, couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Heh."

Damn it, he knew that communicating with Mu Deyuan would inevitably involve this.

But to be honest, the directing department is actually planning to prepare a similar essay this year, only the topic has been slightly changed. But looking at the current situation, it still needs to be revised, since it is indeed more suitable for the cinematography department to write this essay.

Thinking of this, Tian Zhuangzhuang couldn't help but feel a little sad. The only student who had shown any promise in recent years was Lu Yang, who was trained by Wu Chen.

When will this constant overshadowing by the photography department end?
No more than two minutes after he finished speaking, there was a knock on the door.

"teacher?"

A familiar voice rang out, the door opened, and Wu Chen walked in: "Teacher, Teacher Tian."

"Sit down, sit down!" Mu Deyuan greeted with a smile. "Are you here to confirm the list of people for the social practice program? I've looked at that list. Each department has taken a few people, so it's about twenty. They're all of high caliber, so there shouldn't be any problems."

"Well, mainly because the 'Mars Rescue' project is about to start, so I came with Xiang Zhuo."

(End of this chapter)