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

Chapter 150 Taking a Gamble! Betting on a Brilliant Future! (7000-word long chapter, please vote!)
"The 62nd Venice International Film Festival has come to a successful close. Congratulations to director Li An for winning the Golden Lion Award for Best Film with 'Brokeback Mountain'!"

"Reprinted from The Hollywood Reporter: The action/disaster film 'I Am Legend,' written and produced by Lu Rui and with a budget of $150 million, is scheduled to be released in North American theaters on December 2."

"The North American release date for 'Taken' has been set for October 14th. Stay tuned!"

"Following 'Lurking,' the latest horror film written by Lü Rui, 'Paranormal Activity,' is scheduled for release on October 31st, the eve of Halloween..."

"Review has officially announced the start of a new drama series - 'Soldiers Sortie', which will be produced in collaboration with the August First Film Studio. It tells the inspirational story of Xu Sanduo, a rural boy, who grows from an ordinary soldier into a 'King of Soldiers'."

...

In early September, Huayi Brothers launched a major marketing campaign, leaving people both inside and outside the industry dazzled.

It's only halfway through the month, and the spotlight has already shifted to Ruishijie.

More accurately, it's about Lü Rui himself!
"I Am Legend," "Taken," and "Paranormal Activity"—three movies will be released in Hollywood at the same time. That's quite a lineup!
In comparison, Huayi Brothers' projects such as "The Banquet" and "Battle of Wits" seem somewhat lackluster.

Even the buzz surrounding Lee An's Golden Lion win for "Brokeback Mountain" was significantly overshadowed.

After all, it was a film with a gay theme, and the main actors were all foreigners, which didn't quite fit the domestic trend, so the media coverage was limited.

But Lü Rui's film projects are different; if they all become huge hits, they will all be real honors and medals!

Compared to figures like Feng Xiaogang, Zhang Yimou, and Chen Kaige, he is currently a highly sought-after figure among leaders in the propaganda field.

A graduate of a film academy, his ancestors for generations were ordinary farmers and workers, and he was not involved in any faction...

That's what you call having impeccable political background and revolutionary credentials!
Besides, he has real talent; he's got box office appeal and awards to his name. Most importantly, he's young, mature, and has unlimited potential…

Los Angeles Airport.

Just as Lü Rui was about to board the plane, Han Sanping suddenly called: "The ministry leaders specifically mentioned you in a meeting today, saying they want to treat you as a key talent to be cultivated, and that we, the 'national-level' units, should give you a good platform and pave the way for you..."

Hearing this subtle reminder, Lü Rui instantly understood: "Thank you for your guidance, leader. I will definitely work hard and contribute to the Chinese film and television industry!"

"Haha, good," Han Sanping was extremely satisfied. "Come visit China Film Group more often when you have time. I've already told my staff that you don't need to announce your arrival; just come directly to my office."

"must!"

Just after hanging up with Han Sanping, Ren Zhonglun's call came in.

"Director Lü, come visit Shanghai Film Studio more often when you have time. We have plenty of good stuff here, I guarantee you'll be satisfied..."

Although Lü Rui was unclear about the specifics of what the ministry leaders discussed in the meeting, judging from the successive phone calls from Han Sanping and Ren Zhonglun, his path ahead would definitely be much easier than before.

"Since Chairman Ren invited me, I will naturally go, haha."

"Alright, I'll be waiting for you."

They ended the call after exchanging only a few words, as they needed to prepare to board their plane.

Since making or receiving phone calls is not allowed during takeoff, Lü Rui switched to airplane mode.

He only turned off the flight mode after the plane had officially taken off and entered a stable cruising phase.

The next second, several missed calls and text messages popped up.

Judging from the self-introductions in the messages, they were mostly sent by people from major state-owned traditional film studios.

Lu Rui flipped through it roughly, his gaze lingering on Xiying.

Back in the day, Xi'an Film Studio was incredibly prestigious, and the Beijing film industry was nothing compared to it.

Unfortunately, as policies became clearer and commercial films began to dominate, Xi'an Film Studio gradually showed signs of falling behind.

After all, not everyone can become Zhang Yimou. Most veteran directors simply can't handle commercial films, and it's also very difficult to cultivate new talent.

After the turn of the millennium, a large number of industry talents flocked to Beijing and Shanghai, and with major art colleges also located there, the economic prosperity of the Northwest was not extended to it...

Under the influence of multiple factors, the decline of Xi'an Film Studio became inevitable.

But...

Lu Rui's eyes darted around, and he suddenly remembered those "veterans" from Xi'an Film Studio.

As the saying goes, "An elder in the family is a treasure."

Although Xi'an Film Studio's overall economic performance is not good, in terms of prestige, seniority, and industry status, who can compare?
If only we could get them to come and help out...

With this in mind, Lü Rui first politely replied to the messages sent by the production company staff, then took out his laptop and continued to immerse himself in scriptwriting.

He was initially worried that the script he was preparing might face considerable obstacles when it came to getting approved.

But now, the situation is gradually becoming clearer.

As the ancients said: "Where there's a will, there's a way; where there's a bridge, the boat will straighten itself."

There's always a solution to a problem.

Of course, he himself would not act rashly and touch those sensitive minefields.

In "Dallas Buyers Club," the male protagonist suffers from AIDS, and the plot mainly revolves around anti-AIDS drugs.

In the adapted version of "Dying to Survive," the male protagonist becomes a businessman who focuses on the generic version of Gleevec, a highly effective drug urgently needed by leukemia patients.

Both of these films are products of their respective historical contexts, and cannot be simply translated or adapted into Chinese and then filmed.

In particular, AIDS is a word that people in China are terrified to even mention.

Lü Rui naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to copy it blindly.

Just use the framework and some plot points; the main characters' storylines still need to be adapted into a new main storyline.

After inquiring and gathering information over this period of time, he set the background of the male protagonist as a "liver cancer" patient, and the "expensive life-saving drug" he focused on was sorafenib.

According to my past life memories, this drug will be approved by the Chinese drug regulatory authorities at the end of next year, enter the domestic market, and subsequently become a targeted drug for the treatment of advanced liver cancer.

However, it is currently an unapproved new drug in China, and its price abroad is even more astonishingly high, making it unaffordable for ordinary patients.

In the absence of medication, patients can only choose surgical or interventional treatment.

The exorbitant cost of cancer treatment is beyond the reach of ordinary families.
This perfectly aligns with the current era.

During a chance gathering of fellow patients, the protagonist learned that there were relatively inexpensive generic versions of sorafenib available abroad.

Initially, he risked everything to have someone buy things from abroad just so he could survive.

But seeing the same despair and helplessness in the eyes of his fellow patients, his sense of justice was ignited, and he resolutely decided to carve out a "lifeline" for everyone, even if the road ahead was full of thorns and difficulties...

If the "system" is the key to Lü Rui's success, then "rebirth" is also a crucial advantage for him.

If he hadn’t seen the finished film of “Dying to Survive” and hadn’t known that sorafenib would be approved for entry into the Chinese market next September, he wouldn’t have been able to change the script!

Now, not only is the script adaptation progressing smoothly, but it may also leverage the policy momentum to further expand the film's influence.

This is an absolute winning situation!

Meanwhile, while Lü Rui was busy revising the script, Jason Blum's promotion for "Paranormal Activity" was also progressing smoothly.

The sole objective of all pre-release publicity is to use psychological, auditory, and visual cues to manipulate the audience into believing that the released news, videos, and even the actual movie are authentic.

This is similar to the concept of latent hypnosis in psychology.

The best example is "The Blair Witch Project". However, the movie was made too crudely. Although it spent a lot of money on marketing and distribution and did bring considerable profits, the director and main creators were all criticized as utter garbage.

But Paranormal Activity is different.

Although the film's marketing was somewhat deceptive, the film itself is quite exciting and authentic.

With a budget of $200 million, the audience will definitely be satisfied!
Therefore, even though the publicity campaign was extensive and deceptive, no one, from the creators to the distribution team, thought there was anything wrong with it.

In Lü Rui's words, "Those viewers who were 'tricked' into watching might even thank us for letting them see such a wonderful and realistic horror film."

Jason Blum, who has been completely brainwashed, is now eagerly anticipating the film's box office performance.

The office door opened, and Joel, who was in charge of the second phase of publicity, walked in and reported, "Boss, as you instructed, the video has been forwarded."

"Okay." Jason nodded in satisfaction. Now all that's left is for the online trolls to push the hype forward and for the buzz to build.

But then Joel frowned, puzzled, and said, "So far, we've already spent $730 million on promotion, and we expect to spend at least another $1000 million. That's far beyond the film's production cost. Will we really break even?"

These words made Jason's smile freeze.

Indeed, according to Lü Rui's plan, if this film is to be released in theaters and make money, the initial investment will be enormous.

Not only the advertising investment, but also the cost of a single film copy, from developing, storing, transporting to insurance, is $1500.

Commercial cinema chains typically have multiple theaters and require large-scale distribution, with the first batch needing at least 3000 copies.

That's $450 million!
In other words, the film's budget alone has reached $1380 million even before its release!
It's worth noting that, to date, the total annual revenue of the Brom House has not exceeded $1000 million.

If it weren't for Lü Rui's insistence on doing this and investing a large sum of money, Jason would never have spent money on this film!

He took a deep breath and looked at Joel: "Do you think we can stop now?"

After a moment of silence, Joel shook his head: "We can't stop, and we can't stop, otherwise the losses will be even greater. We have no choice but to give it our all!"

"Let's fight!" Jason's eyes gradually lit up with fighting spirit.

Releasing this film was undoubtedly a huge gamble.

Ultimately, however, investing in and distributing any film is inherently a risk.

For an independent production or distribution company to grow, taking risks is essential, especially now that Hollywood resources are almost monopolized by the Big Six.

Having worked with Harvey for several years, he knew very well that filmmaking was a high-risk investment, and taking big risks to win big was even more so.

Only in this way can the company truly become stronger!
For Brom House to grow and expand, it needs more funding. Only with sufficient funds can it avoid becoming a vassal of the six major companies and a plaything in the hands of capital.

It's important to understand that in Hollywood's food chain, the survival of small and medium-sized companies actually depends heavily on taking risks.

On the contrary, most of the truly large companies don't even have the courage to take risks.

It's not that we lack confidence, but rather that it's unnecessary.

This is an inevitable conservative mentality that arises after becoming an oligarch.

If you know a certain model will sell well, why change it?

If you can make money by copying, releasing sequels, and using fixed formulas, who would be willing to gamble on an uncertain future?
But companies like Ruixing Pictures and Bulam House, if they want to make huge profits, must be willing to take risks, fight, grab, and do things that others dare not do!
With this attitude, another million dollars in advertising funds were poured in within just one day.

The effect was remarkable; the video quickly went viral online, sparking a new round of discussion and heated debate…

……

After dropping Lü Rui off at the airport and returning to the company to finish his work, Peter Griffin went home in the cool evening breeze.

After parking his car, he stood quietly at the door for a moment, as he always did.

Before me lay a tidy garden, with the lush green lawn neatly trimmed and colorful flowers blooming freely, emitting a fragrant aroma.

The neat house has a grand and elegant exterior, with its white walls taking on a warm yellow hue in the afterglow of the setting sun.

The clear water in the pool rippled gently, its surface shimmering.

All of this made Peter feel incredibly at ease.

Looking back on his time working at CAA, he wasn't so poor that he had to beg on the streets, but his salary was barely enough to cover his family's daily expenses.

After his mother fell ill, he could only buy cheap medicine and could only watch helplessly as she suffered from the illness.

But ever since I started working with Lü Rui, everything has changed dramatically!

He traded his old Chevrolet for a spacious and comfortable Cadillac Escalade.

He also moved his house from a remote suburb to a clean, tidy, and safe city, which greatly improved his family's living environment.

What made him even more gratified was that his mother had successfully undergone surgery and was slowly recovering!
All these changes were brought about by Lü Rui.

Therefore, he was filled with gratitude towards Lü Rui, a gratitude as boundless as the Atlantic Ocean!

Every time he stepped into his home, he would silently vow in his heart that he would work harder in the future and never let down Lü Rui's trust and cultivation.

"God, may you protect Lv." As usual, Peter made the sign of the cross on his chest, prayed softly, and then walked briskly into the house.

"uncle!"

As soon as he entered the house, his niece rushed over and pulled him towards the room with a serious expression.

"Isa, what's wrong?" Peter asked, his face full of confusion, before he could even put down his briefcase.

"I'll show you a video." Just turned 10 years old, Isa looked serious as she pulled Peter to the computer and opened a video.

It was a scene like a surveillance video. At first, everything was normal, but a few seconds later, a blurry black shadow suddenly flashed by!

Peter raised an eyebrow, barely suppressing a laugh, his expression particularly interesting.

He recognized the video content as a clip from "Paranormal Activity".

But my little niece said very seriously, "Uncle! Ghosts exist in this world! They can exist anywhere, like in the basement, the attic..."

Seeing her serious expression, Peter asked curiously, "Where did this video come from?"

Isa replied, "Many people are sharing this online, on blogs and forums... It's rumored to be a surveillance tape from a home, but it's been damaged due to unforeseen circumstances and is currently being repaired..."

Peter listened, and couldn't help but think to himself, "LV's promotional strategy is incredibly effective!"

However, he spoke with an air of seriousness, deliberately trying to scare her: "Isa, never go out at night. I've heard that demons love to come out at night to hunt for food."

After saying that, he left, leaving behind his little niece, whose face turned pale with fright.

However, kids are naturally brave, and before long, Isha sat back down at her computer, reposted the blog post, and added the caption: "I've seen ghosts in my own attic!"

She immediately logged into iCQ and chatted with her classmates and friends about it, sharing stories about "ghosts" with them...

Fear and ghost stories always spread within certain circles.

In particular, many adults deliberately scare children by saying that there are scary things in the attic or basement. Coupled with this video, more and more people believe the claim that "someone really captured a ghost on surveillance footage".

The speed of information dissemination on the internet is much faster than offline.

As the saying goes, a lie told once will not be believed, told ten times will be doubted, but told a million times will become the "truth"!
Viral marketing takes advantage of this truth.

This tactic isn't exactly new, but few films have actually used it for promotion and achieved remarkable results.

"The Blair Witch Project" is a typical example, but that was back in 1999.

Six years later, who would have thought that Paranormal Activity would use this trick?

……

domestic.

Beijing Capital International Airport.

As soon as he arrived at the exit, Lü Rui noticed the various promotional posters hanging on both sides.

The most eye-catching of them all is Jackie Chan's new film, "The Myth".

As an action blockbuster co-produced by China Film Group and Yinghuang, with an investment of HK$1.6 million and Han Sanping as the executive producer, this film is highly anticipated.

Judging from the scale of its publicity campaign alone, it's clear that it's aiming to break records.

Fortunately, "The Myth" was released on September 23, more than a week after "Click".

Otherwise, if the two films were to go head-to-head, they would likely both suffer heavy losses.

It is no exaggeration to say that Jackie Chan's influence is currently second to none among Chinese movie stars in China.

His influence extends both overseas and internationally.

If it weren't for his exorbitant salary, Lu Rui actually wanted to cast him as the male lead when filming "Taken".

But in that case, 100 million is far from enough; it would have to be at least doubled!
Upon arriving at the underground parking garage, Lü Rui easily found the Rolls-Royce that was already waiting in the parking space.

Opening the car door, I saw Lu Yang making a phone call.

Seeing him get into the car, the other person said a few hurried words and quickly hung up, revealing a simple and honest smile: "Brother Rui, are you going back to the company or going home first?"

"Let's go home, I need to adjust to the time difference."

Lu Rui realized that every time he returned from abroad, the person picking him up was never his driver, but either Zhao Peng or Shen Ao.

Now, Lu Yang has been added to the list.

He knew immediately that these three guys were trying to make their presence known to him and, incidentally, build a closer relationship.

However, he didn't mind; such situations were inevitable on the road to higher places.

It's normal for friendships that were once simple and straightforward to undergo changes.

"Alright, buckle up and hold on tight." Lu Yang readily agreed, stepped on the gas, and the Rolls-Royce drove out of the airport parking lot and merged into the traffic.

On the way, Lü Rui chatted casually with him.

How are the auditions for "Sunny Sisters" going?

"It went quite smoothly. The first round of screening is almost over, with about 100 resumes selected. The second round will begin soon."

More than 100 copies?

Lu Rui was taken aback at first, then realized what was happening.

This film features 14 female leads, covering the middle-aged and young adult age groups, as well as a female villain and numerous supporting roles, making the audition process quite challenging.

"Tell Zhao Peng not to rush into casting, to have more auditions and selections, and to make sure that every role fits the character's description..."

As the screenwriter and nominal producer of "Sunny Sisters," Lü Rui's role was not just a casual one.

In theory, the producer is actually a representative sent by the production company and has little power to interfere with the content.

For example, Han Sanping likes to hang up the producer's name.

However, despite his assertive style, he doesn't actually care about the content of the filming.

However, the producer is specifically in charge of the content.

A strong producer can even render the director a mere figurehead!
For example, Tsui Hark was the producer of films such as Swordsman II and New Dragon Gate Inn.

The end result is that, thanks to him, not many people know who directed these two films.

In comparison, Lu Chuan was actually quite lucky.

Although "The Missing Gun" was produced by Jiang Wen, he also gained fame by riding on the wave of popularity, so he made a profit.

"Okay, Brother Rui, I'll tell Brother Peng when I get back." Lu Yang nodded hurriedly in agreement.

However, at this moment, he suddenly remembered something and immediately reminded him, "By the way, Brother Rui, didn't you ask me to keep an eye on Teacher Tian's student recruitment a while ago...?"

"What? Are you recruiting new graduate students again?" Lü Rui immediately became alert.

"Hmm, I heard they've been having a meeting lately to discuss this. Zhao Yanzi keeps going to the school; it seems she wants to follow Xu Jinglei's example and become a director after excelling in acting..."

Considering all the trouble this guy has been causing lately, Lü Rui had a feeling that he definitely couldn't be stopped from enrolling in graduate school.

The film "A Time to Love" earned her three Best Actress awards: the Golden Deer Award, the Golden Goblet Award, and the Huabiao Award. This achievement is quite significant!

Despite experiencing incidents such as wearing a military flag, being attacked with feces, and assaulting a pregnant woman, she still managed to thrive.

Nobody would believe it if you said you had no one supporting you behind the scenes!

"Keep an eye on it, and let me know as soon as there's any new information." Lü Rui pondered to himself, intending to start by examining Tian Zhuangzhuang's character.

For no other reason than the leeks I was exploited in my past life, I'm going to get her!
The thought that this woman might become his fellow disciple made him feel nauseous!
“Okay, Brother Rui, I understand.” Lu Yang replied earnestly.

Although he didn't know what grudge Lü Rui and Zhao Yanzi had, he was very happy to be able to help.

After all, compared to official business, handling personal matters is the best opportunity to build closer relationships!
……

The following morning, Lü Rui got up early.

After changing into a proper black suit, he went downstairs to meet Shen Ao, who had been waiting outside for a while. The two headed straight for the Babaoshan Funeral Home.

The news that Fu Biao's memorial service would be held at Babaoshan Funeral Home had already spread.

Therefore, when the two arrived, they found that many fans and media had already arrived.

Today's occasion was clearly not suitable for noise, so everyone was very quiet. Even the reporters were just holding up their cameras and filming, and didn't chase after the celebrities for interviews.

After getting out of the car, Lü Rui and Shen Ao walked solemnly into the funeral home.

Upon seeing him, the reporters on the periphery inevitably stirred, but they quickly calmed down, though many cameras turned to point at him.

"Come this way."

As soon as he entered, Lü Rui saw Jiang Wen and Ge You standing together, with the former waving at him.

He walked over while observing the situation.

There are so many people here this year!
Wang Da and Wang Xiaowang, Feng Xiaogang, Zhang Guoli, Liu Zhenyun, Zhang Yimou, Li Shaohong, Li Baotian, Li Xuejian, Lü Liping, Sun Haiying, Ding Zhicheng...

Not only from the mainland, but also from Hong Kong and Taiwan, many people came.

Fu Biao was very popular and had many friends. Today, everyone came here specifically to send him off on his final journey.

"When did you get back?" Jiang Wen asked in a low voice when Lü Rui arrived.

“Yesterday,” Lü Rui replied, then asked in return, “How’s it going with ‘The Sun Also Rises’? Is everything going smoothly?”

"Yeah, no problem."

After exchanging a few words and greeting Ge You, Lü Rui remained silent.

More than half an hour later, everyone arrived one after another, and Fu Biao's wife and son, who had been waiting outside, also came in.

The memorial service officially began.

Feng Xiaogang presided over the ceremony, Liu Zhenyun wrote the eulogy, and Zhang Guoli read it, giving it a grand reception.

When Ge You stepped forward to pay his respects, he wiped away tears and made a promise to Fu Biao's wife, Zhang Qiufang, in front of everyone: "Sister-in-law, don't be sad. My brother is gone, but life still goes on."

From this day forward, Zi'en is my own son. I will raise him and send him to school!

Upon hearing this, everyone present turned to look at Ge You, their eyes filled with admiration.

Fu Biao left in a hurry, without having time to entrust his children to anyone.

But Ge You took on this responsibility voluntarily, which is definitely the behavior of a true man!
Who wouldn't say "Uncle Ge is something else" after hearing this?
Lu Rui and Shen Ao followed to the altar and bowed deeply three times before Fu Biao's portrait.

As he straightened up, he turned to Zhang Qiufang, who was struggling to stay upright, and said in a steady but warm voice: "Sister-in-law, Brother Fu's passing was sudden, but we will always remember his loyalty and integrity in the industry over the years. Don't be too sad, you and the children. You have to keep looking forward."

He paused, glanced at everyone present, and added firmly, "I know that Brother Fu owes a lot of money for medical treatment. The crew of 'Remote Control' has discussed this matter, and the crew will bear this part of the debt."

The money isn't much, but it's a small token of our appreciation from the entire crew, and it's also a way to help with Brother Fu's funeral arrangements.

As soon as he finished speaking, a commotion broke out at the scene.

As everyone knows, Fu Biao only had a cameo role in "Remote Control of Life," with limited screen time, and his payment had already been settled.

Logically speaking, the relationship between the production crew and him was far from being so strong that he had to shoulder the debt.

Not only did Lu Rui take the initiative to mention it, but he also directly agreed on behalf of the production team. This gesture of kindness was truly touching.

Although the crowd didn't turn their heads to look at them as they had before, they all understood perfectly well what was going on.

This isn't just empty talk; it's a commitment backed by real money!

Many people nodded quietly, secretly admiring: Lü Rui's actions were truly generous and righteous, much more practical than those who only talked the talk!
No wonder his movies are always box office hits; this is the reason why.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the crowd, Feng Xiaogang, who was hosting the event with a microphone in hand, inexplicably felt that something was amiss.

For some reason, he always felt that the way people looked at him was a little strange.

(End of this chapter)