Returning to Atlanta for Christmas, Martin had just arrived in Los Angeles when he received a call from David Fincher to go back to Beverly Hills to drop off his bags and rush to the studio at Disney Studios.

Louise, Graham and David Fincher are already waiting for him.

On the table in the small conference room, the latest newspapers are placed, and the entertainment pages are full of the latest reports on "Escape from Tehran".

Among them, the photos of Ron Stern and the other rescued people stand out.

Martin, who had already read these newspapers on the plane, sat down at the conference table and shook his head and sighed, saying: "These bastards are lowering the level of Oscar PR propaganda every year. ”

Louise laughed at him.

Martin Xin said, I have always won awards in a dignified manner, and the first time I won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, it was a desperate effort.

won the Oscar for Best Actor last year, and it was because the opponents were too far away from him without a fight.

David Fincher was a little anxious and said: "The witnesses back then stood up and blamed us, which led to a lot of criticism in the media and made us very passive. ”

Martin glanced at the photo in the newspaper: "Ron Stern, I have the impression that I saw him at the premiere. ”

"At the time of the rescue, Ron Stern was a Marine stationed at the embassy and later retired to Seattle to work as a security guard at a bank," Graham said. ”

Martin asked, "Has he been contacted?" ”

"Yes." Some work, Louise was already sitting in front: "But his reply to us, just to be honest in an interview with the media. ”

Martin frowned slightly: "Is that so?" ”

"Obviously someone approached him, and we're still doing his job," Louise said. ”

David Fincher continued: "Of all the movies based on real events, in addition to the main content, how can there be a one-to-one restoration of the events that completely follow the events? In that case, is a movie still a movie? It's better to shoot a documentary directly. ”

Louise added: "I just asked people to do a detailed investigation, and Ron Stern's average income, wife is unemployed at home, children lack self-care ability, and the financial burden is heavy, but his son, who is seriously addicted to drugs, has recently been admitted to a drug rehabilitation home with a high fee. ”

These are normal, Martin was not surprised, and asked, "What is the crew doing so far?" ”

Graham said: "I reached out to Tony Mendes, who will be giving an interview in the next few days to refute Ron Stern's claims. ”

This matter is directly related to the interests of Tony Mendes, and the old man not only called Ron Stern personally, but also actively cooperated with the crew.

The rescue in Tehran is also the most important thing Tony Mendes has written about in his life, and he will not let people deny his key role.

Graham added: "We reached out to Tony with Mark Hansen and Michael Cohen, who are still working in the diplomatic service, who were also rescued by Tony and offered to come forward for an interview to support us. “

Louise continued: "I contacted the CIA, who has been helping with the film, and to deny 'Escape from Tehran' is to deny the CIA's credit, and the CIA will issue a statement about it soon." ”

Martin put down the newspaper he was reading and said, "These are normal responses, which can dilute the negative effects of this series." ”

He pointed to reports of clandestine government deals and asked, "Is there really a behind-the-scenes deal?" ”

"The rescue of the 65 hostages must have been a behind-the-scenes deal." Graham said simply: "It is true that the other party's assets are unfrozen, as well as the accessories of the F-14 Tomcat, but whether Tony is implicated in this rescue incident is only clear to the CIA senior management or the decision-makers of the year." ”

Martin doesn't really care what the truth of the incident is, because his criteria for judging the truth of the events related to the film "Escape from Tehran" are particularly simple.

What is good for the film is all true; Anything that will have a negative impact on the film is all fake.

Louise then added: "This series of measures is just passive defense. She experienced last year's Oscar race for Best Actor: "If you want to gain an advantage, you have to not only defend, but also attack. ”

David Fincher asked, "Who is the opponent who made all this?" Have you found out? ”

"Nope." Graham asked people to investigate, but there were no clear results: "The target is not a big crew, this year is interested in competing for the Oscars, and has clashed with us over several major awards. ”

The overarching goal of "Escape from Tehran" is best director and best picture, as is evident in the series of outpost awards that have been awarded.

It's not hard for anyone who knows a little bit about the Hollywood awards season rush process to tell this.

Martin asked directly: "In a few days, the academy will mail Oscar ballots to all members, and the situation of the awards season is clearer, who are our main competitors?" ”

Graham replied: "I've been in contact with Spielberg and I've studied the current situation carefully, and the primary goal of "Lincoln" is best actor, and other films like "Les Miserables" and "Beasts of the South" are very difficult to threaten us, and the only competitor is "Life of Pi" directed by Ang Lee. ”

Martin rubbed his chin and said: "We don't have to care who is behind the incident, we just need to know who our main competitor is, and we will fight hard against our main competitor." ”

Louise agreed: "Our goal is not to figure out who is doing this behind the scenes, because these are becoming more and more common in awards season PR, and they have been won every year in recent years, and it is expected to intensify in the future." ”

Speaking of which, she glanced at Martin, and Harvey Weinstein single-handedly trampled the Oscar PR campaign to the ground.

In the past few years, Martin has been selling miserably and being more dignified, which has simply thrown the Oscar PR into the pit.

The bottom line is getting lower and lower, and the Oscars are about to turn into a clown election contest in Washington.

Martin said: "The next offensive plan is to grab the rival Life of Pi and fight hard! ”

Louise asked, "Keep it worse than bad?" ”

Although David Fincher didn't understand the meaning of this, he literally guessed and reminded: "I went to see Life of Pi with Graham, and the film was very well made, and it had nothing to do with rottenness. ”

Granham agrees: "In terms of the quality of the film, this is a strong competitor, and their PR is no less. ”

Martin nodded: "In addition to normal publicity and lobbying, some ways to win prizes can only be used once, and the second time is not good." ”

David Fincher asks, "Smear competitors?" ”

"Discrediting competitors in media coverage and public opinion would have been relegated to normal PR in the Harvey-Weinstein era more than a decade ago," Martin said. ”

Louise knew very well that Martin was going to use unconventional means.

Martin thought for a moment and said: "Contact Tony and the other two parties to clarify and support "Escape from Tehran" in the media, you are in charge, and I will figure out how to attack it." ”

David Fincher made the last attempt at the Oscar for Best Director, wanting to give it his all, saying: "What does it take me to do, just say." ”

Graham also said: "GK Films can also invest a lot of resources here. ”

Louise naturally didn't need to say much.

Martin said: "I was on the plane back to Los Angeles in Atlanta, and I was thinking about it, and I had a rough idea, and you guys could give me some advice......

To be precise, his ideas came from a past life and had a relationship with Megan Ellison.

In her previous life, Meghan Ellison was able to become the biggest Oscar winner after Harvey Weinstein, not only because of the quality assurance of the films invested in filming and production, but also because of a series of public relations means.

The Oscar game can be said to be an alternative American election.

Think about the moths in the general election, and you can know how much mess there will be in the Oscars from publicity to public relations to awards.

Martin's proposal was endorsed by Louise, Graham and David Fincher.

Campaigning...... No, to win the prize, use some means to be chilling.

What's more, there are countless small sums of money after winning the prize.

At the end of the meeting, Martin was the first to leave Disney Studios, and after having an Escalade with Bruce, he said, "You go find Jody." ”

Bruce was in the corner of the conference room, knowing Martin's plan, and said, "Jody is on a business trip, I'll be there as soon as she gets back." ”

Martin gestured to the back seat: "Don't forget to bring a present." ”

Bruce nodded silently, for the sake of Martin's good brother, he really hit the pelvis again and again and hurt him, maybe one day he will break his bones.

No way, who let this be a brother of life and death.

Sending Martin to the "La La Land" crew, which was still on location, Bruce called Jody and contacted him to meet tomorrow afternoon.

On the other hand, Louise and Graham also contacted the media, with Tony Mendes, Mark Hansen and Michael Cohen giving exclusive interviews to the media on the same day.

Louise called the C.I.A. counterparts office again.

The next morning, at a press conference, the CIA's spokesperson specifically mentioned "Escape from Tehran", praising the film as a true reflection of the CIA's rescue plan, saying that the CIA has a rare positive image in Hollywood films, and that the film directed by David Fincher is a masterpiece.

Subsequently, "Entertainment Weekly" published an interview with Tony Mendes, who of course praised the film adaptation, believing that the film is at least eighty percent true, and the fictional point is also to highlight the urgency of the incident and the urgency of the rescue, which is harmless.

Like Ron Stern, Mark Hansen and Michael Cohen, who also experienced the whole incident, said very different things in an interview with "People", thinking that the film is very real, almost a true reproduction of the experience of that year.

But it's not easy to completely eliminate the negative effects.

Spread rumors with one mouth, refute rumors and break your legs.

What's more, this is not a rumor in the first place.

After all, this world is magical, and those who spread rumors are telling the truth, and those who refute rumors are full of lies.

And public opinion is in favor of the latter.

(End of chapter)