It's reasonable for me to be a three-time Golden Horse Award-winning director and an all-around

Chapter 131 Victory Celebration Banquet and Investing in Red Star Dock? (6000-word long chapter, please vote!)
At noon, the competition for the chief director's design for the Olympic Games concluded.

The organizing committee also provides lunch here.

Lü Rui followed Tian Zhuangzhuang and the others to the cafeteria.

As soon as he sat down with his tray, Lao Tian asked curiously, "Xiao Lü, what do you think of the other people's proposals?"

"Each has its own merits," Lü Rui gave a compromise answer, but in his heart he felt that Zhang Yimou's was the best, with its regulations being quite comprehensive.

What do you think of Chen Kaige's poem?

Lu Rui was slightly taken aback, then shook his head after a moment: "I don't understand it, but I am deeply shocked."

He simply couldn't understand what Chen Kai was thinking, that he could develop an interest in reciting poetry in such a serious setting.
If the director has already been chosen, then so be it; consider it a clarion call before the work begins.

But this is still far from being finalized, and there's already such excitement. Anyone who doesn't know the situation might think the candidate has already been chosen...

After finishing their meal, the group returned to Beijing Film Academy.

What happened next was no longer relevant to Lü Rui, who returned to the editing room to resume post-production work.

The others are also quite busy; the Class of 01 is about to graduate, and they have a lot of work to do.

Especially regarding theses, under the leadership of Xie Xiaojing and Tian Zhuangzhuang, the directing department's review process was extremely rigorous, with absolutely no room for errors such as typos, dates, addition and subtraction calculations, or percentages.

Everyone has a sense of shame. If a paper is published and someone finds out that it contains fundamental errors, it would be a real slap in the face for oneself!

Actually, compared to other universities, the thesis difficulty at Beijing Film Academy is much lower.

Even information from decades ago is not difficult to verify; it can be found in libraries. There's no need to create bizarre and laughable regulations like the "Divorce Law."

...

The following evening at 7 p.m., Lu Rui attended the celebration party for "The Prestige".

Since the turn of the millennium, the Chinese-language film industry has experienced explosive growth!

The rapid growth of the film box office has made many people inside and outside the industry yearn for this industry, especially many wealthy coal bosses who are waving their money and rushing in.

The return on investment behind box office revenue is not only an important criterion for measuring success or failure, but also a focus of public attention.

In 2004, a total of 215 domestically produced films were produced in China, with a total box office of RMB 18.6 billion. Domestic films accounted for 61% of the box office revenue, or RMB 11.45 billion.

During the same period, Hollywood theaters grossed $94 billion.

The two are vastly different!
Meanwhile, among domestic films released that year, the top four films with box office earnings exceeding 4 million yuan had a total box office of 6.56 million yuan.

In other words, the remaining 211 films each had an average box office of less than 300 million yuan.

As is customary, film distributors can receive one-third of the box office revenue, which is less than 1 million yuan.

The investment for a low-budget domestic film is approximately 200 to 300 million yuan.

This means that the vast majority of domestically produced films are losing money! They're even struggling to break even!
In contrast, "The Prestige" had a budget of 7000 million, a domestic box office of 2.4 million, and an overseas box office of 3635 million USD (approximately 2.98 million RMB).

The return on investment is as high as 255%!
Meanwhile, this film was the No.1 domestic film at the box office last year, and it even broke into the top three of the North American box office charts for Chinese-language films!

What is this concept?
He gained both fame and fortune!

Therefore, this victory celebration banquet must be held, and it must be grand, dignified, and spacious!
As soon as Lü Rui entered the venue, he saw an ice sculpture on the table from afar. It not only had the title of the movie "The Prestige" engraved on it, but also the box office figures.

"Let's welcome Director Lü with the warmest applause."

Someone shouted, and thunderous applause erupted in the hall.

Besides the main cast and crew, the celebration banquet was attended by representatives from several investors and media outlets.

The banquet hall at the China World Trade Center is large enough that even hundreds of people standing inside don't feel crowded at all.

“Thank you, thank you for your support.”

Lu Rui clasped his hands together, smiled, and calmly responded to everyone's congratulations.

"Is the post-production of 'Taken' going smoothly?" Han Sanping was particularly interested in this project.

A Sino-foreign co-production with a budget of 100 million yuan, a purely commercial film... This time it might break the box office record of "Hero" produced by New Pictures!
The market is constantly evolving, the number of cinemas is increasing, and the movie-going population is growing steadily.

Under these circumstances, there's no reason why box office results should continue to decline.

Of course, all of this is predicated on the film being of high quality.

"It's going smoothly, and it should be done by the end of next month at the latest," Lu Rui replied.

This movie doesn't have many special effects or non-linear narrative shots, making it much easier to edit than "The Prestige".

"Okay, let me know when post-production is finished, and I'll arrange the best screenings for you for all other periods, except for the Lunar New Year season."

Upon hearing this, Lü Rui instantly understood: "Is 'The Promise' going to be released during the Lunar New Year holiday?"

Seeing that many people around him were looking over, Han Sanping didn't hide anything and nodded, saying, "December 15th."

Upon hearing this, everyone's minds immediately started racing, wondering if they should avoid the area.
The film "The Promise" reportedly had an investment of nearly 400 million yuan, which is no less than that of "Hero"!
Chen Kaige's reputation is currently very stable, and almost no one thinks this movie will fail.

Although there were many setbacks during filming, they were minor and did not affect the overall situation.

Compared to the tension of other investors, Lü Rui seemed quite relaxed.

He hadn't originally planned to squeeze into the Lunar New Year film season; if things went smoothly later on, he could just release it during the summer vacation.

He has other work to handle in the second half of the year, but if he has extra time, he could shoot an award-winning film.

Let's forget about commercial films for now. The preparation and filming are too troublesome, and I really don't have time to follow up. I'll finish all the work at hand first.

"If you need my help, just let me know." Jiang Wen also came over, worried about the sound recording of the movie.

"Okay." Lü Rui nodded, then asked, "When do you plan to turn on your computer? Do you need any help?"

"No need now."

Although he directed and starred in the film himself, Jiang Wen found three cinematographers—Zhao Fei, Li Pingbin, and Yang Tao—as well as four assistant directors to help him, so the filming was definitely not a problem.

With a total investment of 60 million, he has plenty of time to go all out!

"Director Lü, it's been a long time!" Fan Bingbing seized the opportunity and finally came over.

There were too many big shots there just now, so she really didn't dare to force her way in.

After waiting for half an hour, he finally found a gap and leaned next to Lü Rui.

"Yes, it's been a long time." Lu Rui nodded to her.

Fan Bingbing wanted to continue the conversation, but at that moment, Liu Yifei walked over from the side, called out "Senior," and pulled Lü Rui away.

"???"

As the person disappeared from sight, Fan Bingbing was stunned for a moment.

No?

How am I, a hot and beautiful woman with outstanding looks, inferior to that little brat?
He was seduced by that little vixen?

At this moment, Fan Bingbing suddenly had some doubts about life, and even had the thought that "is Lü Rui really face-blind?"

"Is there something wrong?" Lu Rui asked Liu Yifei, looking at her with a puzzled expression from the corner.

This girl is acting all mysterious, saying she has something important to discuss with me...

What important matter could a little girl like her possibly have?
Liu Yifei looked around to make sure no one was watching before asking softly, "My mother asked me to ask you, does Ruishijie really not do artist management business?"

During this period, Liu Xiaoli has been under immense pressure!

To be precise, Liu Yifei felt pressured from the moment she was confirmed to play "Little Dragon Girl".

The malicious attacks, deliberate suppression, and smear campaigns from all around came like a torrent, wave after wave.

At that time, she could barely hold on, after all, Hongxingwu had some resources.

But after the news of her participation in "Taken" came out, the defensive dam seemed to be about to collapse, and the cracks were getting bigger and bigger!
She tried everything to remedy the situation, but to little avail.

A while ago, the cast list for "The Sun Also Rises" was officially announced, which immediately became the last wave to break through the dam.

Although Liu Yifei only made a cameo appearance and had very few scenes.

The problem is that other mainland actors didn't even get a cameo role, so why did she get the chance to participate?

Many people who were psychologically unbalanced immediately turned their anger towards her.

In addition, the competition that arose during the casting of the Little Dragon Girl role offended many actresses...

Others, of course, wouldn't hold back; it was perfectly normal for them to take advantage of any opportunity to kick someone when they could.

Then it was a back-and-forth kicking, and soon Liu Xiaoli was completely stunned.

She's alright as an assistant, but her experience as a manager is far inferior to that of her former manager who has already left. She's completely at a loss in this situation.

Although she has been learning over the years her daughter has been involved in the entertainment industry, she has only grasped seven out of eight of the essentials.

Therefore, faced with this situation of being "besieged," she was momentarily at a loss as to what to do.

Just then, a bunch of talent agencies came knocking, promising to help resolve those troubles if they could sign Liu Yifei to a management contract.

Liu Xiaoli was naturally unwilling to give in.

The reason he founded Red Starwood was to ensure that his daughter could develop freely.

Otherwise, wouldn't it be easier to just sign a visa with Huayi Brothers as soon as you return to China? Why spend money to pave the way yourself?
But not signing with a company means having no backing, and is destined to drift aimlessly, to be torn apart by malicious attacks.

After thinking about it for a while, Liu Xiaoli wondered if she could find a backer for Hongxingwu.

The first person she thought of was none other than Lü Rui!
So he sent his daughter over first to ask and sound out what she thought.

"We definitely won't be doing artist management business," Lü Rui gave a clear answer.

Producing is the key, a decision he made after discussing it with Hou Hongliang.

"Okay..." Liu Yifei pouted, unable to hide her disappointment.

But the next second, Lü Rui added, "But if there is an opportunity, I might invest in a few artist studios."

Being an artist manager and investing in an artist's studio are two different concepts.

The former needs help finding resources and negotiating endorsements.

The latter can be viewed as an investment, which doesn't require much effort to manage; if you have the resources, you can simply transfer some to them.

However, his words immediately caught Liu Yifei's eye!
Strictly speaking, Hongxingwu is a standard artist studio, and the entire company only serves her; it just used the company name when it was registered.

The concept of "artist studio" doesn't exist in China yet, but it's very common abroad. Hongxingwu is actually quite advanced in China.

"Senior, are you interested in investing in Red Starwood?" Her mother asked her to sound out the possibility, but she didn't think much about it and blurted out everything.

Lu Rui smiled, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Liu Xiaoli, who was chatting and exchanging pleasantries with a group of investors in the distance, and replied, "What do you know, you're just a kid? Go back and tell your mother that you can sit down and talk about it in detail."

Ruixing Group currently has two subsidiaries: Ruishijie and Ruiyue Animation. Going forward, Lü Rui will continue to expand the business, and investing in artist studios is one of the plans.

Hongxingwu is a pretty suitable choice.

Liu Yifei is incredibly good at making money, doesn't cause trouble, and is unlikely to cause any scandals. She has no scandals to speak of for the next twenty years, making her quite a worthwhile investment.

On the other hand, Fan Bingbing is not the kind of person who is destined to be content with her lot. She is not well-suited for investment and is easily implicated in others' affairs.

You need to find a stable way to make money, otherwise you never know when a problem might arise that could drag you down with it.

However, Liu Yifei suddenly became anxious, putting her hands on her hips and saying, "I'm not a child anymore! I'll be an adult in just over three months!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Lu Rui's gaze swept over her chest.

Liu Yifei deflated instantly, her cheeks and ears turning red. She rolled her eyes at him, turned around, and ran quickly towards her mother.

That jerk!
She's just young now, so she looks small. She'll naturally grow bigger as she gets older!

……

At 8:00 AM sharp, the celebration banquet officially began.

"Crack!"

In front of the media cameras, Lü Rui, Han Sanping, and several others held hammers and smashed the ice sculpture on the table together, symbolizing "breaking through obstacles", "praying for blessings and good fortune" and "celebrating the harvest".

Afterwards, everyone raised their champagne and wine glasses, clinking glasses and exchanging toasts amidst laughter and chatter.

Founded in 01, Ruishijie has been around for more than four years and has officially moved beyond the stage of being "weak and powerless".

The success of several projects, coupled with Lü Rui's outstanding personal achievements, has made him a highly sought-after figure by investors.

Capital operates on the principle of economies of scale; the more people who support it, the easier it is to make a profit.

This is the "Matthew effect": the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance!

High-quality projects attract not only capital, but also various resources, such as upstream production teams, midstream publicity and distribution channels, and downstream cinema chains.

When these factors are combined, investment risk can be significantly reduced and investment returns can be increased.

Like a snowball, it gets bigger and bigger!

Just moments ago, Xiao Liu was "dissatisfied" with Lü Rui, but now he looked at her with admiration.

Sitting next to her, Liu Xiaoli fell into deep thought.

The news her daughter brought back was certainly welcome, but it also put her in a difficult position.

If a cooperation agreement can be reached, how much of Red Star Dock should be given to Lü Rui?

"Sissi."

"what?"

"Call Director Lü tomorrow and ask when he'll be free to come over. Tell him you'd like to thank him for his help and invite him to dinner."

"it is good."

Liu Yifei nodded subconsciously, but then her eyes widened in surprise.

Invite your senior to come over for a visit?
My bedroom is so messy, what if someone sees it?
"No, I need to get back and pack quickly tonight..."

……

The celebration party for "The Prestige" has once again sparked heated discussions.

Media reports were extremely exaggerated, almost as if they were trying to elevate Lü Rui to a god-like status.

With another film, "Taken," set to be released this year, his popularity is even more astonishing.

Many people are envious and jealous, but he has already gained momentum, and it's not something just anyone can easily take advantage of.

Because China Film Group had a special mission, they bought a lot of press releases to encourage the film and television industry to develop actively by leveraging the success of "The Prestige".

In a short time, even more private funds poured in.

However, at this moment, Chen Kaige stepped forward and declared: "When 'The Promise' is released at the end of the year, everyone will know what a real blockbuster is."

Along with this statement, the news that "The Promise" is scheduled for release on December 15th was also released by China Film Group.

In a short period of time, movies such as "The Myth", "Seven Swords", "Initial D", "Perhaps Love", and "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles" also made their appearances.

Judging from the current situation, these films should be the leading force in this year's film market.

As for who will succeed and who will fail, we shall wait and see.

Compared to the film market, which is still in the early stages of its competition, the television drama market has already entered a "battle of the titans" mode.

The Chinese Paladin series in January directly pioneered the enduring popularity of the fantasy genre in Chinese dramas!
Following closely behind is "Storm Riders 2". Even though the main character looks like a beggar and has a ramen noodle hairstyle, the quality and plot are outstanding!
Zhao Wenzhuo's "Nie Feng" and He Rundong's "Bu Jingyun" became incredibly popular.

Especially He Rundong, this guy has played almost every role that men want to play!

Lu Bu, Erlang Shen, Xiang Yu... there's not a single character he hasn't played.

Occasionally, some interesting ideas would pop into Lü Rui's mind.

Could we get He Rundong and Jiao Enjun, these two tough guys, together and have them pilot mechs to fight monsters?
In March, the wildly popular TV series became "The World's Number One".

Although this is a purely original martial arts film, Wang Jing did an excellent job in "stitching together" the characters, and the stunning appearances of characters such as "Yagyu Yukihime", "Yagyu Piaoxu", and "Cao Zhengchun" attracted a lot of attention.

Following closely behind are other upcoming dramas such as "The Little Fish and the Flower Without Flaws," "Jingwei Fills the Sea," "The Lotus Lantern," "Happy Seven Fairies," and "Bright Sword"...

Perhaps to today's audiences, these TV dramas are just so-so, after all, there are too many new dramas that can be used as "substitutes" for other shows.

But gradually everyone will realize that what's gone can never be brought back!
Everyone thought that "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 1" was just the beginning, but no one expected that it would be the peak right from the start.

Furthermore, Cao Gonggong's retreat in "The World's Number One" set martial arts dramas back twenty years!

Looking further ahead, while the new generation of TV dramas and movies may seem to generate a lot of buzz and hype, in terms of quality, they are not even as good as the works from 2005.

In his spare time, Lü Rui made a point of checking out the TV series "Crossing the Guandong" that Ruishijie was currently producing.

Hou Hongliang estimates that filming will wrap up no later than July.

If all goes well, the show could be released early next year, but it remains to be seen which TV station it will be able to partner with.
Hou Hongliang said he would wait until the finished product was released before watching it, and his target... was none other than CCTV!
After all, this drama set a high standard, aiming directly for a "serious drama".

……

May 1st, Labor Day.

At the invitation of Liu Xiaoli and her daughter Liu Yifei, Lü Rui visited their home.

As soon as the villa door opened, several dogs rushed out barking.

Although Lü Rui doesn't know much about dog breeds, he can distinguish most of them. For example, he can recognize the Pomeranian and the two Schnauzers in front of him.

Although they aren't very good-looking, these dogs are quite docile, unlike the Teddy dogs, which are both ugly and fierce!
"Candy, Laifu! You two are not allowed to call out! Come back here right now."

Behind the door, Liu Yifei ran out, holding a cat in her arms and wearing slippers, reminding him, "Senior, don't be afraid, my dog ​​doesn't bite."

"Well, it's okay."

Lu Rui ignored the dogs circling around him and glanced at the cat in her arms: "You really like small animals?"

"Yes, I like kittens and puppies, but I don't like big dogs." She nodded in agreement and led Lü Rui home.

Several dogs tried to follow the nanny inside, but she stopped them and sent them to the garden.

That cat alone enjoyed the favor.

"Director Lü is here? Sisi, quickly go get some water."

Liu Xiaoli came out of the kitchen, still wearing an apron, clearly busy at work.

However, Lü Rui always felt that she didn't seem like the kind of person who had good cooking skills.

Sure enough, a short while later, he saw the chef cooking in the kitchen.

chef?

He was slightly taken aback. Was this a banquet to entertain him, with a professional chef even being hired to come to his home?
That's quite a thoughtful gesture!
"Director Lü, please have some fruit first. The food will be ready soon."

When Liu Xiaoli came out again, she had taken off her apron and was sitting gracefully on the sofa. She had an elegant demeanor and was the kind of woman that many men liked—someone they could take out to social events with and someone they could enjoy at home.

Looking at Liu Yifei, although she sat quietly under her mother's control, her eyes were darting around, and she would occasionally wink at Lü Rui.

She definitely wouldn't have dared to do that with any other customer.

But when facing Lü Rui, even though he was a famous director, she wasn't afraid at all. On the contrary, she felt quite comfortable being with him.

This feeling only started last year when the two of them went to see a movie together and held hands in the mall.

Ultimately, the two are only a few years apart in age, or even the same age.

The only difference is that, due to his personal achievements and personality, Lü Rui appears much more mature and composed than his peers.

On the other hand, Liu Yifei seems to have gained some weight recently because she hasn't been working and has been staying at home reading and studying. Her face is starting to look like "Little Yifei's Bun".

Seeing that Lü Rui was staring at her, and that her mother's conversation had turned to her, she pouted, looking charmingly adorable with a touch of silly cuteness...

The food was served quickly.

Liu Xiaoli specially opened a bottle of red wine and said warmly, "Don't be shy, make yourself at home."

"okay."

Lu Rui nodded subconsciously, then felt something was amiss.

what's the situation?
How did it become my own home?

"Mom, can I drink alcohol?" Liu Yifei pointed to the wine bottle, her eyes filled with anticipation.

With outsiders present, Liu Xiaoli still gave her daughter face, and after thinking for a moment, replied, "She can only have one drink."

“Three cups!” Liu Yifei held up three fingers.

"Two cups." The mother and daughter began to haggle.

"Okay, two glasses, deal."

Liu Yifei chuckled, a triumphant look on her face.

Lu Rui found this scene quite amusing.

The way this mother and daughter get along is more like that of friends, rather than adhering to a rigid relationship based on so-called "hierarchical order".

However, Liu Yifei's alcohol tolerance was really poor; she hadn't even finished one glass of wine before her face turned red...

(End of this chapter)