The Rise of Chinese Entertainment in 2008

Gu Ning had no reason to miss such a great publicity opportunity.

I contacted China Film Group and was interviewed in a conference room at China Film Group.

For China Film Group, Gu Ning's fame would greatly boost the film's box office performance after its release, as they would receive a 12% cut, so naturally they were very interested.

However, before he could even give an interview, a news article appeared that sparked heated discussion.

#Director Lu Chuan says: Are short films considered movies?#

The incident began when Lu Chuan was interviewed at an event and a reporter asked him if he had seen Gu Ning's short film.

Lu Chuan's face immediately darkened, and she replied, "Who is Gu Ning? I don't know her."

The reporters in the audience were like sharks smelling blood, instantly excited.

Lu Chuan is a director who graduated from the Beijing Film Academy. Although Gu Ning is not very famous, the news that his short film was shortlisted for the Berlin Film Festival has been reported by major entertainment news outlets.

Even some official media outlets have reported on this.

Even if Lu Chuan didn't know Gu Ning before, she should know now.

Moreover, his expression at the time made the reporters keenly aware that something was amiss.

Reporters are never afraid of making things big, especially entertainment reporters.

The reporters chattered about Gu Ning's nomination for the Berlin Film Festival and asked for their opinions on whether Gu Ning could win an award.

Some of the more critical ones even bluntly stated that he couldn't possibly not know, and asked if the two had any conflicts.

Seeing this, the organizers wanted to help Lu Chuan out of the predicament and ended the interview.

Lu Chuan, however, said with a dark face, "A short film counts as a movie?"

Then he turned around and left.

The reporters were even more excited. Although Lu Chuan only said a few words, she had already explained a lot.

For journalists, creating a sensational news story from a single photograph is a basic skill.

The next day, all sorts of related news appeared on the headlines of major entertainment news outlets.

"Why should I be jealous of him?"

Lu Chuan read one of the news articles, which said that he was so jealous of Gu Ning that he swept everything off his desk.

In 02, his directorial debut, "The Missing Gun," was selected for the competition section of the 59th Venice Film Festival, vying for the Golden Lion.

The later film, "Kekexili," not only won awards at top domestic film awards such as the Huabiao Awards, the Golden Rooster Awards, and the Golden Horse Awards, but also won the Jury Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

Gu Ning is no good enough to make him jealous.

"Go, inform the reporters that I'm going to hold a press conference," Lu Chuan said, panting heavily.

"Mr. Lu, please calm down. You know how these media outlets behave."

The assistant quickly advised, "If you respond now, it won't calm things down; instead, it will only give Gu Ning more exposure."

"Didn't you see what these media outlets are saying about me?" Lu Chuan said angrily.

The news report not only said that he was jealous of Gu Ning, but also brought up his plagiarism again.

"But your response at this time will only embroil you in an even bigger public opinion storm."

The assistant said, "I received information that Gu Ning is also going to be interviewed today. If you don't show up, the reporters will definitely target him."

He's a newcomer, and young at that; he might not be able to hold back.

And no matter how he answers, he won't get a good response.

"Phew~"

Upon hearing this, Lu Chuan took a deep breath and calmed down.

"You're right, I want to see how he responds to those reporters."

It's true that he has connections, but Gu Ning is from the Beijing Film Academy.

If he has no fame, no matter what he does, the Beijing Film Academy won't care.

But now that Gu Ning is famous, if he were to target Gu Ning for no reason, not only would the Beijing Film Academy intervene, but it would also damage his reputation in the industry.

If Gu Ning said anything harsh during the interview, then no one could say anything if he suppressed Gu Ning.

…………

"Director Chen, is there something you're hiding from me?" Gu Ning asked.

Even if Lu Chuan is stupid, she's not an idiot.

He had only met Lu Chuan once before, at the last movie screening. Although Lu Chuan had said a few sarcastic things to him then, he didn't respond.

Surely Lu Chuan wouldn't hold a grudge against him just because he didn't confront him, and then say something like that in front of the media?

Although Lu Chuan's actions indirectly helped him, he didn't want to make enemies without knowing why.

Upon hearing this, Director Chen smiled wryly and said, "This matter does have something to do with China Film Group. He has a movie that China Film Group also invested in, and it was originally scheduled to be released on the first day of the Lunar New Year."

However, due to some issues with the movie, President Han rejected it.

For some time now, Chairman Han had been avoiding him, but he finally managed to corner him a couple of days ago. He wanted the film to proceed as planned, but Chairman Han said that the schedule was already full and refused.

"So he feels that my movie stole his screen time?"

Gu Ning felt it was absurd; this was a completely undeserved disaster for her.

Moreover, Lu Chuan is too petty.

"Perhaps it's because your movie's release date was set so quickly that he thinks it's your fault," Director Chen said.

I don't think so.

Gu Ning shook his head and said, "I think he's angry at Zhongying, but he can't do anything about it. He's holding back his anger and needs to find a place to vent it."

Unfortunately, in his eyes I was an easy target, so he took his anger out on me.

Director Chen noticed something was off about Gu Ning's tone and said, "Gu, this matter will not only not affect you, but will also benefit you. Don't do anything reckless."

"I'm easy to bully, why would I do anything reckless?"

Gu Ning smiled slightly and said, "But I've essentially taken the blame for China Film Group, and they're not offering any compensation?"

It has no negative impact whatsoever and may even be beneficial.

It's like someone slaps you and then gives you ten thousand dollars.

Then someone tells you that it doesn't hurt and you still get paid.

What he said makes sense, but if he really swallows his anger, how will he survive in the industry in the future?

However, he didn't say any of this; his real goal right now was to get some benefits from China Film Group.

Director Chen was silent for a moment before saying, "The original screening schedule has been increased from 12.4% to 20%. This schedule can be maintained for three days. After three days, it will be adjusted according to the attendance rate. This is the limit of what I can do."

"Director Chen is really joking. The news these past few days has given us a lot of exposure, so it's normal to increase the number of screenings."

Gu Ning said, "Besides, this is all thanks to me. China Film Group gets such a high share, they can't just do nothing, can they?"

"China Film Group will add one million for publicity, which will not be deducted from the revenue sharing," Director Chen said.

Gu Ning is right. With the news of Gu Ning's nomination being reported, the film received more exposure.

China Film Group has also raised its box office expectations significantly, and increasing the number of screenings is a certainty.

Seeing how difficult Gu Ning was to deal with, he had no choice but to offer some compensation.

Of course, for China Film Group, the so-called publicity funds do not need to be that much.

China Film Group itself undertakes publicity business. For example, with the previous investment of two million yuan in publicity, China Film Group would develop a publicity plan, and a large part of it would be earned by China Film Group.

For some promising films or those with good box office performance, China Film Group will also provide additional promotion.

In terms of box office revenue, China Film Group received a higher share, so it wasn't a loss for them either.

This was within his authority; otherwise, no matter what Gu Ning said, he wouldn't have given it to her.

"Thank you very much, Director Chen," Gu Ning said with a smile.

"It'll be time in about ten minutes. I'll go check on the preparations. You guys have a seat."

Director Chen said goodbye and then got up and left.

"Old Gu, are we just going to let it go like this?" Liu Sanxi asked, somewhat discontented.

If Gu Ning hadn't told him not to speak on the way here, he would have already spoken up.

"No way."

Gu Ning sneered, "There's no point in arguing with him now. Let's wait until his movie is released."

He's no gentleman; he won't wait that long for revenge.

As Lu Xun once said, revenge should be taken as soon as possible; if it comes too late, the joy is not so pleasant.