This director lacks vision.

Chapter 286 Some people are too excited about winning, while others are on the verge of collapse.

August 24th, morning, Xingmei International Building.

Lu Chuan sat in the reception room.

He came to Qin Hong today to discuss the screening of "The King's Feast" at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Lu Chuan really wanted to make a splash at the film festival, but the crew would have to spend a lot of money to go abroad, and Qin Hong's approval was needed for how to spend the money and how to promote the film.

"Director Lu, please have some tea first. Our General Manager Qin is in a morning meeting, which is expected to last another half hour."

Lu Chuan nodded upon hearing what the receptionist said.

With nothing to do, he opened his phone and saw a news article pushed to him by "Toutiao".

"The filming of 'Youth' was immediately sought after by the three major film festivals, and the president of the Cannes Film Festival came to China to invite Jiang Yifeng."

Upon seeing this news notification, Lu Chuan's eyes widened in disbelief.

This news sounds like a fairy tale.

Jiang Yifeng is just a commercial film director; how could he possibly be sought after by major film festivals, let alone personally invited by the president of the Cannes Film Festival?

Lu Chuan himself went to great lengths to secure a spot at the Toronto International Film Festival, but in the end, he only managed to get into the Special Screenings section.

Thinking of this, Lu Chuan quickly clicked on the news.

"On August 7th, Jiang Yifeng's new film 'Youth' quietly began filming, thus kicking off a fierce competition."

Major film festivals all wanted to acquire "Youth," making Jiang Yifeng a highly sought-after talent.

Venice Film Festival President Alberto took the lead, saying in a media interview: "Jiang Yifeng is the most talented director I have ever seen. He is the light of Asian cinema. I am very much looking forward to Youth showcasing its talent at the Venice Film Festival. I have already extended an invitation to Jiang Yifeng."

Compared to the Italians, the Germans are more pragmatic. Mark Müller, the artistic director of the Berlin Film Festival, came directly to China and stayed with the Youth film crew for a full week, but did not receive any definite news.

The French were the slowest to react, but the most sincere; the Cannes Film Festival sent Jean Valín.

As is well known, the Cannes Film Festival is managed by the French Film Association, and Jean Vallin is the president of the French Film Association's union, a higher position than the president of the Cannes Film Festival.

His invitation to Jiang Yifeng in China was a testament to his sincerity.

Before anyone knew it, Jiang Yifeng had already become a top-tier international director, with one of his new films sparking a bidding war among the world's three major film festivals..."

Upon seeing the specific news report, Lu Chuan let out a sneer. He felt that the content of the report was even more outrageous than the headline, and no one would believe it.

Then I saw the top three most liked comments under this news article.

"Jiang Yifeng is awesome! The Cannes, Venice and Berlin Film Festivals are all vying for his new film. This is the kind of prestige and vision that a great Chinese director should have!"

"Youth is Jiang Yifeng's first film with a serious subject matter. It seems that not only I am looking forward to it, but also the major film festivals are looking forward to it."

"I'm curious which film festival Youth will ultimately attend. If it were me, I'd go to Cannes. Cannes has the highest prestige, and the people who attend are the most sincere."

Seeing these comments, Lu Chuan was so angry he almost had a heart attack!
How can there be so many idiots! They actually believe such obvious fake news!

Lu Chuan grew angrier the more he thought about it, so he logged into Weibo, forwarded the news, and commented: "The world's three major film festivals vying for a director's film has never happened before, and it never will!"

Some shameless people deliberately release such ridiculous press releases to glorify themselves, and a few idiots actually believe them.

This is utterly shameless!

After posting this Weibo post, Lu Chuan thought he would receive a lot of support from netizens, but reality proved to be harsh.

“Jiang Yifeng is different. Jiang Yifeng has tens of millions of fans on YouTube. Gangnam Style was a global hit, and he has a high level of international fame.”

"If China has any international superstars, they would be Yao Ming, Cheng Long, and Jiang Yifeng."

“Walin really came to China. If you don’t believe me, go and see for yourself. Jiang Yifeng even posted a photo of them together on Weibo.”

Upon seeing this comment, Lu Chuan immediately opened Jiang Yifeng's Weibo.

Jiang Yifeng posted a new update at 11 pm last night.

"I originally wanted to start filming Youth quietly, I wanted to keep a low profile, but unfortunately my abilities wouldn't allow it."

I am grateful to Mr. Jean Vallin, a director of the Cannes Film Festival, for traveling such a long distance to invite me.

All I can say is that filming for *Youth* has only just begun; it's too early to say anything definitive.

Upon seeing this Weibo post, Lu Chuan was furious.

He wanted to be invited too; Cannes was his dream destination!

Opening Jiang Yifeng's Weibo comment section reveals a flood of positive reviews and praise.

"Jiang Yifeng posted photos, it seems that he is indeed being sought after by the three major film festivals!"

"Warin looks so happy in the photo, like a fan meeting their idol."

"I checked Jan Valin's information, and he is indeed the union chairman. Jiang Yifeng is awesome!"

……

These idiotic remarks completely broke Lu Chuan's defenses.

He posted several Weibo posts in succession, angrily denouncing Jiang Yifeng for fabricating fake news.

However, the effect was not significant.

The comments section was full of positive feedback supporting Jiang Yifeng.

It was only when he got here that Lu Chuan realized something was wrong.

Although many people supported Jiang Yifeng in the past, there were also quite a few people who disliked him and relentlessly criticized him.

Why is the comment section so harmonious this time?
It's obvious that an online army has been mobilized!
Seeing that Qin Hong had finished the meeting, Lu Chuan asked, "President Qin, have we found our online army?"

Qin Hong lit a cigarette, took a puff, and then said, "It's easy to find online trolls, but different price points yield different results."

What effect do you want?

Lu Chuan immediately said, "We need the news effect of Jiang Yifeng being fought over by the three major film festivals today!"

Qin Hong shook her head and said, "That's impossible."

"why?"

"First, you are not as popular as Jiang Yifeng, and you don't have any newsworthy stories."

The news of the three major film festivals vying for Jiang Yifeng, though abstract, quickly attracted everyone's attention and became a hot topic online.

Go take a look. Today, besides Weibo, Baidu Tieba, forums, and video websites are all filled with topics about Jiang Yifeng being an internationally renowned director.

There will definitely be many more media outlets following up with reports.

Second, Jiang Yifeng has a propaganda system.

He can influence multiple platforms such as Weibo, Video, Entertainment, and Toutiao, and his company owns hundreds of influencer self-media accounts.

These people, working together, created a huge buzz around the topic.

Furthermore, Jiang Yifeng already had a fan base, so the effect of this wave of discussion was too strong; even if we hired the top-tier online trolls, we couldn't achieve the same level of impact.

Lu Chuan sighed and said, "Then let's try to find the best online trolls. The competition for the Lunar New Year film season is too fierce!"

There's Feng Xiaogang's 1942, Jackie Chan's Chinese Zodiac, Ann Lee's Life of Pi, Wang Jiawei's The Grandmaster, and "Cold War" starring Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung Ka-fai.

In terms of Hollywood blockbusters, there are also Wreck-It Ralph and James Bond.

Oh, and Jiang Yifeng's Fast and Furious is also likely to be released during the Lunar New Year holiday season.

With so many films crammed into the same release window, even if "The Feast of Kings" is of high quality, without increased promotion and some underhanded tactics, its box office performance will be difficult to achieve.

After deciding to release The King's Feast during the Lunar New Year holiday, Lu Chuan came up with a scheme: he would hire a large number of online trolls to give The King's Feast positive reviews and ratings, while attacking other films released in the same period.

This underhanded tactic was later exposed and became one of the most talked-about events of the 2012 Lunar New Year film season. It is even recorded on Baidu Baike as the Lu Chuan Water Army Incident.

Lu Chuan already had this idea, and seeing how effectively Jiang Yifeng's online commentary was controlled today only strengthened his resolve to continue his plan.

Qin Hong nodded and said, "Of course I support you hiring an online army, but you need to understand that an online army is a double-edged sword."

If anything goes wrong, you'll have to step up and take the blame.

Lu Chuan assured, "I'll take responsibility for any problems and I won't run away. Jiang Yifeng has already gone this far, so what am I afraid of?"

Qin Hong sighed, "This is also something I can't understand. Jiang Yifeng is very successful now and has a strong market appeal, so why does he need to resort to this online army thing?"
His behavior is likely to annoy passersby.

Qin Hong is right. While Jiang Yifeng's press release certainly made him and Fanghua stand out, it also aroused the resentment of many people.

After all, the news that Jiang Yifeng was being scrambled for by the three major European awards sounds very fake, and some reports are even quite abstract.

Passersby who wanted to complain or criticize were drowned out by comments from paid trolls.

Of course I'd be annoyed.

That very evening, public opinion began to backfire.

On the one hand, Jiang Yifeng removed some of the online commentators who were trying to control the narrative; on the other hand, other platforms and rival companies stepped up their efforts.

"Tencent News: We have called the Venice Film Festival President Albert, who said he had heard of Jiang Yifeng, but knew nothing about Youth."

"Xinlang Entertainment: Marco Müller is no longer the artistic director of the Berlin Film Festival, and his actions are unrelated to the festival."

"Wang Jiawei: I have served as the president of the Cannes jury, but there has never been a situation where the three major filmmakers were vying for my film." Many others also posted directly on Weibo, such as Zhang Weiping.

"I thought I was good at marketing, but compared to Jiang Yifeng, I'm still too honest."

@Jiang Yifeng, is this what you meant by making a serious film to set an example for us?

In the end, they're still after awards, and they even brag about begging the film festival to let them win awards—it's hilarious!

As public opinion turned against Jiang Yifeng, more and more people criticized and ridiculed him, but public opinion did not completely turn one-sided.

Jiang Yifeng's fans and supporters are becoming increasingly enthusiastic.

"Just because Wang Jiawei can't do it doesn't mean Jiang Yifeng can't. Some directors and producers have been begging major film festivals for awards, but now that they see Jiang Yifeng being fought over by the three major film festivals, it's like their faith has collapsed. They would rather die than believe it."

“We never oppose films being judged for awards. What we oppose is deliberately making films that cater to Western values ​​in order to win awards. Jiang Yifeng has criticized this before. Please be careful to distinguish and don’t be misled.”

Amidst the immense controversy, this news story has garnered increasing attention, attracting a growing number of media outlets to participate.

Although Jiang Yifeng's supporters are very strong, he is still at a disadvantage in terms of public opinion.

Because most passersby, judging rationally, also felt that the idea of ​​the three major film festivals vying for Jiang Yifeng was too outrageous and was fake news.

Regardless, the publicity campaign was a great success.

Even those who don't follow the entertainment industry have vaguely heard about Jiang Yifeng being fought over these past few days, and have formed a related concept in their minds.

The film *Youth* also gained greater popularity.

This is the first step in the promotion of traffic-driven fan circles or "win-theory": reporting an outrageous and abstract event to attract public attention and instill certain concepts in people.

When the public starts to question it, that's when it's time to purify and crystallize the powder.

So how do we expand our fan base?
That is to keep winning, winning in every sense of the word and at every level.

Jiang Yifeng doesn't need to be so abstract; he has a lot of room to maneuver.

On August 27th, Jean Valin gave a joint interview to Sohu Entertainment and CCTV Movie Channel.

During the interview, the host asked, "What is the main purpose of your visit to China this time?"

Jean Vallin said, "There is no doubt that we invited Jiang Yifeng's 'Youth' to Cannes. Cannes has not had a good film for too long, and we are all looking forward to the performance of this talented director, Jiang Yifeng."

The "we" that Garin refers to here is the Zuo Yili group on the Cannes board of directors, and this group is becoming increasingly smaller.

But the host deliberately confused the concepts, equating "we" with "Cannes," and then asked, "Are you worried that Youthful Days might not choose Cannes, but instead choose Berlin or Venice?"

This problem is also a trap.

But to Walin's surprise, he said directly, "Of course I'm worried, that's why I came here in person. I've shown you all our sincerity, and I believe Jiang Yifeng will make the right choice."

The interview immediately garnered a lot of attention after it was broadcast.

Key interview clips were also made into video clips and photos with captions, which circulated widely online.

Many people saw this and immediately acknowledged that Cannes had specifically invited Jiang Yifeng, and were worried that Jiang Yifeng would be snatched away by Berlin and Venice.

Doesn't this confirm that the three major film festivals are vying for Jiang Yifeng's new film "Youth"?

So when this interview came out, Jiang Yifeng's fans and supporters spread the news and cheered for victory.

we won!

Many passersby also began to waver, as if it really was the three major film festivals vying for Jiang Yifeng?
On August 30th, Saburo Hojo, the vice president of NHK Japan, stated on a program that he had reached a preliminary agreement with Jiang Yifeng, and Jiang Yifeng would come to Japan to co-produce the second season of Hunting with NHK.

When the host asked Saburo Hojo how he managed to invite Jiang Yifeng, Hojo exaggeratedly said, "Jiang Yifeng is an internationally renowned director. I went to China six times to invite him!"

The host exclaimed, "That's incredibly lucky! This is Jiang Yifeng, and it's Hunting 2! He succeeded after only six attempts! He's so lucky!"

The Hunting series is extremely popular in Japan, and Jiang Yifeng is also very popular there.

After Saburo Hojo announced the filming of the second season of Hunting, it immediately became a hot topic on Yahoo! Japan and sparked heated discussions on Twitter.

Many Japanese netizens praised Saburo Hojo while also agreeing with the host, saying that Saburo Hojo was very lucky to have Jiang Yifeng as his collaborator.

The videos from the Japanese program, along with comments from Japanese netizens, were edited and reposted in China by Fengxing Media.

This has really caused an uproar!
NHK is a major Japanese television network. In order to cooperate with Jiang Yifeng, its deputy director came to China six times, and the Japanese still felt very lucky.

This is far too much courtesy being given to Jiang Yifeng!

Doesn't this just prove Jiang Yifeng's international reputation?
The deputy director of NHK Television had to come to invite him six times. What's so impossible about the three major film festivals sending people to snatch Jiang Yifeng's new film?
Jiang Yifeng's fans and supporters cheered again!

Win! Win big!

Many neutral observers have switched sides, beginning to believe that Jiang Yifeng is truly being fought over by the three major powers.

The controversy stems from competitors publishing smear articles, driven by jealousy, envy, and hatred from figures like Lu Chuan and Zhang Weiping.

On September 1, Netflix President Hastings held a press conference in the United States to announce that Netflix's first original series, "Stranger Things," will premiere on the Netflix platform on October 2.

At the press conference, Hastings not only played the trailer for "Stranger Things," but also praised the show's director, Jiang Yifeng.

“Netflix has experienced the growing pains and struggles of transformation over the past period of time, but we have never given up on our goal of becoming a streaming service.”

Without a doubt, Jiang Yifeng is one of the world's top directors in the field of streaming content production.

In order to cooperate with him, I waited at his hotel for a week before I finally caught up with him.

Fortunately, the outcome was good. I am absolutely certain that with Jiang Yifeng's help, Netflix will soon be back on track and reach new heights!

Jiang Yifeng is the most talented director I've ever met. He led the completion of Strange Things, from the script to the filming and the post-production music.

The theme song in the trailer was called "Dirty Paws," which was composed by Jiang Yifeng…

Hastings's words at the press conference quickly reached China.

Jiang Yifeng's fans and supporters have won again.

What a win!
A netizen named "I'm Just a Little Dark" said: "Being Jiang Yifeng's fan is so great, I wake up to good news every day!"
I won an argument with someone yesterday, I won again today, and I'll win again tomorrow!
That's cool!

In Jiang Yifeng's words, "We'd like to keep a low profile, but our strength won't allow it!"

Jiang Yifeng's series of publicity stunts not only confuses his fans and supporters but also subtly shifts the narrative, confirming the existence of fake news.

Cannes sent Valin to invite Jiang Yifeng, the deputy director of NHK TV made six trips to China to invite Jiang Yifeng, and the president of Netflix stayed at Jiang Yifeng's hotel for a week...

After seeing the news that Jiang Yifeng was invited by various people and platforms overseas, many netizens and passersby began to believe that the three major film festivals were really vying for Jiang Yifeng.

In fact, most netizens are willing to believe that Jiang Yifeng is being fought over.

The news that a Chinese director is being sought after by major international film festivals makes them feel proud.

It was just that it seemed too outrageous before, and no one dared to believe it.

Now that more and more facts are emerging, and Jiang Yifeng has been winning all the time, they have come to believe it and become staunch supporters of this view.

Anyone who questions this claim will be ridiculed by them.

Jiang Yifeng's statement, "I also want to keep a low profile, but unfortunately my strength doesn't allow it," has become a popular internet phrase.

While people were making fun of the memes, they also acknowledged Jiang Yifeng's abilities.

Seeing this, Zhang Weiping, Lu Chuan, and the others were truly on edge.

It's clear that Jiang Yifeng wasn't sought after by the three major film selection committees; it was just a normal selection process for the Cannes Film Festival.

It has now been publicized as an established fact.

Other directors gain fame by winning awards at the three major film festivals, but Jiang Yifeng went a step further, becoming someone that all three festivals were vying for.

This person is incredibly high-profile and sophisticated.

The most outrageous thing is that this story gradually spread overseas, and many people believed it. As a result, many overseas viewers remembered Jiang Yifeng's name.

Even though the Venice Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival have issued denials, many people still believe it.

Jiang Yifeng announced on September 5th that he had accepted Jean Valín's invitation and that "Youth" would participate in the main competition of the 66th Cannes Film Festival.

After this news broke, the denials from Venice and Berlin became meaningless.

Their denials were seen as Jiang Yifeng's angry and petty revenge for choosing Cannes over them.

After evaluation, the Cannes organizing committee felt that Jiang Yifeng's situation was beneficial to the film festival's promotion.

Moreover, in this story, Jiang Yifeng ultimately chose Cannes.

The Cannes Film Festival beat its rivals Venice and Berlin, so they tacitly accepted it.

People involved in the Cannes Film Festival even made some ambiguous statements, stirring up the related topic.

This truly completes the closed loop.

Even if someone digs deeper into this matter later, it will be hard to explain.

As Jiang Yifeng becomes more and more powerful, the fact that the three major powers are vying for him might become a "beautiful story".

This is the magical reality.

(End of this chapter)