This director loves making friends.

There is no free lunch.

Qin Keqing had considered it carefully.

If he hadn't sold the European and American rights to "A Bittersweet Life" beforehand, even if he had "befriended" the owner of a film company, that person certainly wouldn't have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote his film during the film festival for no reason.

This is not realistic.

"Making friends" is just about making friends; it doesn't mean turning others into idiots or puppets.

If the film hadn't been promoted using the strategy devised by Pierre Lissent, "La Dolce Vita" would have been lucky to even make it into the main competition; it wouldn't have been worthy of winning an award based on its exceptional artistry alone.

Furthermore, Qin Keqing only had 17 points available before.

However, with the announcement of the list of participants selected for the main competition at Cannes, three more points were added.

That way, you can make a couple more casual acquaintances.

But even if the points are used on the two judges, without a lot of "interpretive" publicity, will they still give the "tear up" award?

uncertain.

Finally, it's really hard to say whether the copyright fee for a film that was selected for the main competition but didn't win an award will be higher than the fee for a film that was selected for the main competition but might win an award.

Well, it's highly likely that more will be sold now.

Qin Keqing couldn't help but sigh again, "I still don't have enough points. If I had 100 points, I wouldn't need to sell the copyright now; I could just 'smash' it."

"Pierre, are you sure they'll promote the film according to your plan?"

Qin Keqing couldn't help but ask again.

If the other party has now bought the rights, they will definitely promote the film, but will they follow the strategy devised by Pierre Lissent to promote it?

"Haha, Qin, my friend, aren't you underestimating me?"

Pierre-Lissent laughed heartily and patted Qin Keqing on the shoulder, his tone relaxed, as if it were no problem at all.

"Don't worry, using my strategy to promote the film is a prerequisite for purchasing the film rights. I've been working with these people for over a decade and have never encountered a breach of contract."

Qin Keqing thought about Pierre Lissent's identity and felt relieved. This guy was not only a senior film selector at Cannes, but also the right-hand man of Gilles Jacob, the current director of the Cannes Film Festival.

At least until Gilles Jacob stepped down, Pierre Lissent was still quite influential in Cannes.

He currently has a mutually beneficial cooperative relationship with some French and European companies that want to buy films at the Cannes Film Festival.

Pierre Lissent recommended three film companies to Qin Keqing.

One is Pathé, a long-established French film company. Pathé has strong production and distribution capabilities and controls a large number of cinema resources. This company not only distributes art films, but also distributes a large number of commercial films.

EMI clearly preferred "A Bittersweet Life," presumably viewing it as a commercially viable film with the potential to win awards.

Don't assume that Europeans, especially the flamboyant French, really love art films. Just look at their domestic box office composition: commercial films account for about 80% of the total.

It can only be said that many European countries have dedicated art-house cinemas, which is why art films have fertile ground to thrive and appear to be doing well in Europe.

But in every European country, commercial films are the mainstream, especially Hollywood films.

EMI's sincerity is the greatest.

The second company is Diamond Pictures, a highly influential independent film production and distribution company in France, known for its deep involvement in auteur and art films. Marguerite Menegh is the founder and leader of the company's artistic style, and she maintains long-term and in-depth collaborations with many master directors.

The brand is positioned to focus on films with strong personal style, literary quality and philosophical thinking, and is an important driving force behind the French New Wave and subsequent auteur cinema movement.

Films distributed by Diamond Pictures have won numerous top honors, including the Academy Award, the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and the Jury Prize, making them a benchmark in the French independent film industry.

However, the purchase price they offered was not as "sincere" as that offered by EMI.

Conversely, the fact that a film is distributed by Diamond Pictures signifies recognition of its artistic merit, which is more conducive to winning awards.

Another important point is that, according to Pierre Lissent's promotional plan, "La Dolce Vita" will be defined as "an experimental auteur film that aims to balance commercial appeal and artistic merit."

If Diamond Pictures were to add its endorsement, industry insiders would subconsciously label "A Bittersweet Life" as an "experimental auteur film" when watching it.

And so, "art" was formed.

The third film company is a bit special. It is called United International Films, which was reorganized from New Arts International Films in 1981. It is jointly operated by Paramount, Universal and MGM in Hollywood.

United International Films is primarily responsible for global film distribution outside of the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. It is a very strong company with a wide range of business operations.

For Qin Keqing, the advantages and disadvantages of United International Film Studio were both very obvious.

The advantage is that it allows you to connect with Hollywood and maybe even apply for an Oscar.

The downside is that United International Films' influence in Cannes is not comparable to Diamond Films, and it's not even as good as the French domestic company Pathé.

In terms of "sincerity," Pathé Films is undoubtedly the most sincere.

United International, relying on its large size and resources, seems to lack "sincerity".

Diamond Cinema, which focuses on art-house cinemas, certainly can't compare to companies like EMI and United International, which can distribute films in commercial cinemas. Their films have very long run times and a long payback period, so their "sincerity" seems insufficient.

Although Qin Keqing also took "sincerity" into consideration, the three parties' "sincerity" was not too different. After all, Qin Keqing was a new director who did not have any previous works, let alone honors.

The copyright fee for "A Bittersweet Life" was only at the upper-middle level for films selected for the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and it didn't even exceed $50. Even Pathé, which was the most "sincere" of them all, was slightly short of that amount.

"The most important thing now is not money, but to make a name for ourselves and establish our film style in Europe."

Qin Keqing finally made up his mind that if he could establish the style of "experimental auteur films that balance commerce and art", even if he made more commercial films in the future, people's first reaction would be "this time he didn't balance it well".

Therefore, establishing a style is very important.

"Pierre, I've made up my mind. Let's go with Diamond Pictures."

Pierre-Lysent paused for a moment, then burst into laughter.

He felt that his previous idea was correct; Qin Keqing still loved art, otherwise she wouldn't have chosen Diamond Pictures, which offered the lowest copyright fee.

"Damn Hong Kong film companies, I will never allow you to drag a talented artist into the stench of commercialism."

As Pierre-Lysent thought about it, he said very seriously, "Qin, you have made a great decision."

Pierre Lissent then made up his mind that in a few days he would take $10,000 from his $40,000 brokerage fee to buy some high-end goods for his old friend Gilles Jacob, the artistic director of the Cannes Film Festival.

Then he strongly recommended Qin Keqing to him, making Qin Keqing a trusted director at Cannes.