"You're coming to Lao Mei?"

"That's right."

"Oh, do you need help then?"

"Of course, I'm here for you."

"Looking for me?"

"That's right."

Dong Xuan on the other end of the phone asked with a smile, "What have you done, have you forgotten?" ”

"What did I do? I didn't do anything to you? ”

"I still don't admit it, Producer Li told me, you said I was your girlfriend!"

“。。。 Maybe this is a misunderstanding? ”

"I don't care, my visa has been completed, the ticket has been bought, and all my savings have been spent, you can watch it!"

"You're that, the ticket is back."

"No, you dare to do it, I'll decide, I want you to tell me in person!"

"Think about it again."

"My flight is XXX, I'll text you later!"

How can you be so biao?

Sure enough, it's a Northeast girl!

Hey, that's a big misunderstanding.

Lu Ping'an shook his head.

But soon he was relieved.

Come on.

Thousands of miles away, can I still let you go back on an empty stomach?

Big steak arrangement!

Hanging up the phone, Lu Ping'an ran to another city with Watts.

On March 14, Lu Ping'an went to New York to pick up Dong Xuan.

The plane was not delayed, and as soon as the time came, after a while, Dong Xuan came out with long legs.

Sure enough, it was a person who came.

"Here!"

Lu Ping'an waved his hand and shouted.

Dong Xuan ran up as soon as he saw Lu Ping'an, and then stood still in front of him.

"When I say I do, should you do what you say?"

"Big steak, I know."

"I want more than just a big steak."

Dong Xuan smiled, his eyes locked on him, and he no longer dodged.

Lu Ping'an took her luggage with a smile and said, "The others will wait until they eat the big steak." ”

"That's what you said."

"Yes, I did."

The two chatted briefly and set off for Los Angeles.

Today is the day when he and Hu Qingquan meet.

The deadline for the final Oscar voting is just three days away.

These few days are the most intense public relations period for him Hu Qingquan.

At the same time, this time is also the period when the public relations intensity of the main creative team of the work is the highest.

According to common sense, Lu Ping'an should have passed a long time ago.

But fortunately, "Chainsaw" exploded.

At present, "Chainsaw" has grossed more than $70 million in North America.

A horror film with a cost of 1 million has created such amazing results.

This is a super exposure.

Lu Ping'an has been on such shows these days, and every time he talks about his Oscar-winning short films.

So as long as you have watched the TV show, you still know that Lu Ping'an is not only the director of "Chainsaw", but also a finalist for this year's Oscar short film animation.

With this light, "Memory", which has been released again for $100,000, has also become known to more people.

In addition, Hu Qingquan began to spend money on public relations.

Hu Qingquan said that Lu Ping'an has now become the most favorable contender for the award.

Number one seed!

In the next few days, Lu Ping'an's task is to eat, chat, and have a good impression with some members of the academy who have been hidden and have been persuaded by the AD team.

As for the result, there is still no guarantee.

But for Lu Ping'an, if he really didn't give it to him, he also accepted his fate, anyway, according to the amount of money spent in the past, plus Hu Qingquan's various expenses and living expenses, he only spent less than 300,000 US dollars in total in half a year.

It's not a lot of money, so if you really don't have a prize, you should learn from experience and understand the rules, and that's enough.

Of course, you still have to take it if you can take it, after all, this is 300,000.

"I'm going to be busy in the next few days, how about our business in a few days?"

got on the plane, Lu Ping'an and Dong Xuan explained.

Dong Xuan grabbed Lu Ping'an's arm, leaned his head on his shoulder, closed his eyes and said softly: "I know you have to do things, don't worry about me." ”

"Why are you so sleepy? Didn't sleep along the way? ”

"Well, excited."

"Silly girl, you don't even know what my attitude is?"

Dong Xuan didn't reply, fell asleep, and seemed to be really tired.

Lu Ping'an adjusted her posture to make her sleep more comfortable, while Dong Xuan quietly hooked the corners of her mouth.

Landing in Los Angeles, David picked up the airport.

“lu！”

David was extremely enthusiastic and came up and hugged him.

"Chainsaw" was a big hit, and as a saw-leg doctor, he also had a lot of fame.

Although these fame may soon dissipate in the future, at least it is the peak of his life now.

After a brief chat, David did not express any thoughts about Dong Xuan beside Lu Ping'an.

Lu is so handsome, isn't it normal to have a woman, it's not normal to have it?

Soon everyone stayed in the hotel, and Lu Ping'an directly arranged Dong Xuan in his room.

To save money, right!

Dong Xuan smiled and did not express any opinions.

"It's noon, do you want to sleep for a while?"

"No, it's jet lag, I can hold on."

"Okay, this is Tina, it's a bodyguard hired for you, I'm going to go out for a while, and I'll be back in the evening, you can walk around the neighborhood and listen to her."

"Got it."

Dong Xuan is well-behaved and obedient, Lu Ping'an is what he says, and he is very happy to listen to him.

Lu Ping'an gave her some money again: "Play casually!" ”

"Is this what it's like to be fostered?"

Dong Xuan's face was full of mischievousness.

"Yes, how to grind, don't you regret it?"

"Of course I don't regret it, my mother never regrets it!"

"Okay, then you have fun, I'll go first."

After the explanation, Lu Ping'an and Hu Qingquan converged.

When he arrived at the place, Hu Qingquan formally talked to Dale, the head of the public relations team, about the current progress.

There are several major hurdles to overcome in the Oscars.

The first step is to gild the show and stimulate the interest of the jury members.

This step is especially specific to non-Hollywood films, and can even be generalized as non-American films.

The PR will arrange for the drama to go to the three major European film festivals (Golden Lion, Golden Bear, Palme d'Or) and the Critics' Choice Awards, which is the so-called sentinel battle.

It's best to win awards, and if you don't win awards, you can go to major film festivals to brush your face and mix up some recognition.

Then PR began to operate like crazy:

arrange press releases for authoritative film media and magazines, and spend a lot of money to buy hard publicity positions; If the crew is willing to spend money, PR will also arrange well-known TV shows.

The purpose of this large-scale propaganda bombardment is very clear.

That is, try to make the jury members know and be interested in the film before lobbying.

But this is a feature film, and it doesn't have to be so troublesome for short films, but the process is pretty much the same.

And Lu Ping'an's "Memories" has done a good job at this point.

"Memory" has won 23 awards so far, all of which were run down by Hu Qingquan.

The key is that Lu Ping'an himself sits on the top three of Europe's three major short film awards, so it is reasonable that "Memory" did not win the European award.

The second step is lobbying.

The lobbying session is one of the most distinctive and irreplaceable steps of the Hollywood PR team.

Because these PRs clearly know who the 5,307 jury members are this year? What genre of movies do you like? and how to approach them.

This is a "difficult problem" that no drama party can solve by itself.

The Guardian once joked that every year in mid-to-late October, members of the jury would appear in high-end western restaurants for free lunch and dinner.

The business experience on the wine table, Hollywood public relations people are simply in hand, and they will explain every detail and sublimation point in the movie to the judges in detail.

After eating a meal, it may not be possible to "cheat" the votes smoothly, but it can effectively interfere with the final selection of the judges.

At this point, Hu Qingquan specially followed Dell's strategy and made 10,000 DVDs of "Memory", which were given away in the form of small gifts.

In the past few months, I have eaten with countless people.

In addition, there is also the opportunity to play "Memories" in theaters now, which cost nearly $200,000.

In the end, Lu Ping'an relied on the big exposure of "Chainsaw" in the final stage, and as mentioned above, "Memory" became the No. 1 seed of the hit.

It was gilded, lobbyed, and there was a big exposure.

Now that the needs have been done, the next thing is to hope that there will be no moths.

Because there is another thing that cannot be ignored in the Oscar rush journey, that is, smearing opponents.

In the history of the Oscars, there are too many classic cases of smearing.

In the history of the Oscars, similar "black PR" affecting the results of the awards can be traced back to 1941: the media tycoon at the time, Howster, angry at the insinuation of "Citizen Kane" to himself, not only mobilized all its propaganda machines to ban the film, but even took personal attacks against director Orson Welles after throwing money at the studio to try to destroy the film, and even took personal attacks against director Orson Welles, and did not hesitate to arrange underage naked women in the latter's hotel room, in an attempt to ruin the director's reputation.

Thanks to the kind police officers who informed him in advance, Wells was able to escape.

However, "Citizen Kane" finally hated the Oscars of that year.

And more recently in 99, "The Love History of Saween" defeated "Saving Private Ryan".

At that time, the most popular "Rushing Olympics" was "Saving Private Ryan".

But at the critical moment before the voting deadline, there was a lot of negative news about the latter, such as the use of World War II veterans in the United Kingdom, questioning the film's opening Omaha Beach scene as a false depiction.

In the end, "The Love History of Saween" won the best picture, but it became the object of ridicule in the test of time later.

This has also become the biggest "unjust case" and black history in the entire Oscar history.

Even Gwyneth Paltrow, who relied on Harvey's public relations to defeat Meryl Streep and Cate Blanchett and win the actress crown, was also scolded as the first queen of the Oscars.

The most criticized thing about Weinstein is that he did everything he could when he "hacked" "A Beautiful Mind" last year, saying that the film deliberately concealed the homosexual tendencies of the protagonist Nash, and then saying that Nash was "anti-Semitic" back then.

Given the strong influence of Jews in Hollywood, and indeed in the United States as a whole, the latter's "distortion of the facts" can be described as particularly vicious.

However, "A Beautiful Mind" withstood the test and ultimately won Best Picture.

Weinstein had to call Universal Pictures, the producer of "A Beautiful Mind," to apologize.

This also became the only "black PR" that Weinstein was confirmed.

There are many other cases, in short, the more it reaches the voting deadline, the more complicated it becomes, and all kinds of messy and ridiculous black material can be exploded, but fortunately, this is probably in the feature film awards, and this year is relatively mild.

It's just a feature film, and the short film is even milder...

As he was talking, Dale received a phone call, and after a few minutes, he said with a somewhat solemn face, "We may be in trouble." ”

"What's the situation?"

Hu Qingquan asked for the first time.

More than an hour later.

Everyone checks the current news about "Memories" in front of their computers.

"Memory" was discredited.

It is currently four days before the voting deadline.

Dale said that it is possible that most of the 5,307 judges have already sent out their ballots, and it is possible that they will only be sent out in the next few days.

Therefore, the current opponent's smearing is likely to grasp the general situation, that is, it is a better time to smear now, which can change most people's minds, otherwise it would have been smeared earlier.

Dell also analyzed.

This is probably because Lu Ping'an is too popular.

It's true to think about it.

It's just a short film, and you actually used the blockbuster "Chainsaw" to expose yourself, and it was said everywhere that you had a short film shortlisted for the Oscars.

This can be said on a feature film, and the short film has you playing like this!

However, this is not a reason for you to smear!

Listen to what the media has to say.

said that there is an academic who is suspicious, and said that "Memory" was not directed by Lu Ping'an at all.

How can a person who makes a horror movie make such a short film?

Others say that even if he directs, the relationship between animation and director is not big, the production is someone else's, and it has nothing to do with him Lu Ping'an, maybe it's just a name, and even Lu Ping'an can't draw at all.

It is also said that the screenwriter and director of "Memory" are all Lu Ping'an, but this work is not something that a 21-year-old person can write at first glance.

"The means are quite low-level, and the reasons are very naïve."

Hu Qingquan wiped his glasses, and his face was not very good-looking.

He has seen Oscar's urine again.

"This is a smear, not a debate, the question now is how to eliminate this effect in the shortest possible time, the ballot will be sent out in these days, today and tomorrow are the prime time, after tomorrow, even if the ballot is sent, it may be late, that will be invalidated, so if we don't act in time, everything will be too late." ”

Hu Qingquan put on his glasses and asked, "What can you do?" ”

"Now we don't know who instigated it, even if there is suspicion, it can't be clear, it is impossible to complete a special point-to-point smear, and it will be very passive to counterattack and discredit the remaining four works, we will make an anti-smear reaction when we are smeared, others can see at a glance that we did it, and there is not enough time, my suggestion is, seize the weakest of them, the most clarifyable one, and use all kinds of exposure to come to a wave of reverse full public relations."

Hu Qingquan nodded directly, now that time is tight, he can only do this.

As for which one to clarify, it seems that none of them is easy to clarify.

Say that you didn't direct it, and the evidence you come up with can fight back strongly? Shoot one on the spot, a day or two, including shooting and editing, and play, how can you be in time? Tickets have already been sent!

If you really want to clarify, only today and tomorrow!

Say you're not a screenwriter, how can you fight back?

Tell a story?

Produce evidence of the copyright of the script?

Where is the time!

And in terms of storytelling, what Lu Ping An should have said on the show these days has already been said, and people still use this to talk about you, proving that they are not afraid of you fighting back like this.

At this time, a female member of Dell's team on the side proposed: "We can focus on the second article, the other party said that the production has little to do with Lu, we can focus on the last sentence, the other party said that Lu can't draw, we will draw for everyone!" ”

"Yes!"

As soon as the voice fell, Lu Ping'an agreed.

Because that's what he thinks.

I can't draw?

Ha!

You can say that I can't make movies, I can't edit, I can't write scripts, I can't compose, I don't have such a high talent, all the skills on my body are given by the golden finger, I am a copyist, and I am a reborn.

But only by drawing, I really can!

I drew them one by one!

I am an orphan, with no relatives and no one to help, I have dropped out of school several times, I have been helping in the school cafeteria since junior high school, and I have received subsidies in high school to work in fried chicken restaurants and studios to earn living expenses, and I have studied hard in the cold window, in order to be admitted to college, just to win a chance to go to college!

For this opportunity, Lao Tzu studied art for 6 years, drawing, sketching, gouache, and Chinese painting, relying on picking up other people's pencils and charcoal, rubbing other people's paints, and other people's eliminated brushes, cheeky and borrowing drawing paper, and polishing the fingerprints of the thumb, index finger and ring finger in a few years, step by step, relying on this undergraduate admission!

I thought I would never get involved in art again, art was just a tool to get into college.

But I don't want to, just because you can question it!

I didn't draw that well, but I scored 96 points in the art joint examination!

Come on, paint!

10,000 words sent!

Regarding painting, there is an exaggeration, but it is indeed my real experience, three fingers smoothed, a glorious time.

Don't say that the protagonist's character is subverted.,At the beginning of the article, I said several times that I was an art student.,Rely on art to enter the university.,In addition, animation and sketching and other basic paintings are not the same.,So don't say how animation didn't work at that time.。

(End of chapter)