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

Chapter 48: Mutual benefit and friendship can be more solidified.
July has arrived in the blink of an eye.

On the 1st, news came from China that Sammo Hung, who served as the martial arts director on the set of "Kung Fu Hustle," had fallen out with Stephen Chow.

Out of curiosity, Lü Rui went online to check and found that Hong Kong media had even released interview videos.

In the video, Sammo Hung angrily said: "The filming environment was extremely harsh. I was bitten by mosquitoes like crazy. I had at least 300 bites on my body. I couldn't bear it anymore, so I went back to Hong Kong to see a doctor."

But during my leave, he called and said directly that the production crew no longer needed me and that I shouldn't come back..."

The first half of the sentence was just a helpless complaint and grumbling, but when the sentence "He only treats himself as a human being and everyone else as a dog" came out, it foreshadowed that the conflict had escalated to an irreparable point, and the cooperation between the two was completely broken!

After finishing his meal, Lü Rui looked away and buried himself in writing the script again.

In his spare time, he also frequently visited many prestigious schools such as the American Film Institute, the University of Southern California, and the Yale School of Drama for exchange and learning.

With both the Berlin Silver Bear and the Venice Silver Lion awards, becoming a guest of honor is not difficult.

Despite having the two major advantages of "system" and "foresight", Lü Rui always believed that laying a solid foundation was equally important.

A "golden finger" (a special ability or advantage) can determine his future potential, but his own fundamentals directly define his lower limit.

His ambitions go beyond just becoming a director.

To put it bluntly, no matter how well a movie is made, it's still essentially about working for someone else.

For example, Zhang Yimou, even though he's reached this level now, isn't he still working for Zhang Weiping?
What Lü Rui really wants to do is to gain control of the industry and have the final say on every film project without external interference. That's his goal!
At the same time, he also tried to register a blog account, hoping to publish his novel on it.

This is a shortcut for many new writers and screenwriters in North America to make their mark.

Unfortunately, after all that effort, he discovered that things were far more complicated than he had imagined.

Writing a movie script is relatively easy for him. With his extensive experience watching films and the help of the system, it is not difficult to organize a story that is more than an hour long.

But novel writing is completely different!

Even if you can remember the main plot of a classic work, filling in the details is a huge problem.

Take The Martian as an example. This hard science fiction novel is filled with a lot of professional knowledge in the fields of physics, biology and aerospace.

Lü Rui, however, lacked sufficient knowledge in these areas and was unable to reconstruct the intricate structure and scientific logic involved.

He couldn't help but swear: "Sure enough, I still need to save up money first, and then buy the copyright when the opportunity arises! Writing novels is fucking inhuman, it's so damn hard!"

After venting his frustrations, he quickly adjusted his mindset and threw himself back into scriptwriting and registration.

Meanwhile, while busy writing the script and selecting suitable novel copyrights, Lü Rui did not forget to keep an eye on Nasdaq's developments.

Stocks are sometimes like a mysterious mine, containing a wealth of wealth and opportunities.

Chris Gardner, the real-life inspiration for the character in "The Pursuit of Happyness," was an exceptionally successful stockbroker.

Previously, when Lü Rui purchased the copyright to his autobiography, he had a brief conversation with him on the phone.

This guy is under 50 years old. After achieving success, he has been busy with poverty alleviation work in South Africa.

When he heard that Lü Rui planned to bring his story to the big screen, he found it very interesting and quickly finalized the copyright deal without much hesitation.

Even though Lü Rui said he would translate the story into Chinese first, he had no objection.

Of course, this is still thanks to his status as a Silver Bear and Silver Lion director.

The graduation project has now been officially finalized.

Seeing that the other party was so straightforward and generous, Lü Rui did not hesitate either, and directly opened a stock account at the other party's company, intending to have them help manage the funds.

Although he only had a superficial understanding of stocks, he still knew which companies had unlimited future potential and which companies would lose everything in the market, based on his memories from his previous life.

Companies like Nvidia, Monster Drinks, Amazon, Apple, Altria, and Netflix were all recognized in my previous life as stocks with extremely high returns on investment.

Lu Rui knew his chances of becoming a globally renowned stock market guru like Warren Buffett were slim.

However, earning more US dollars to generate more money and then using that money to buy novel copyrights is still quite feasible for him.

In mid-July, all the special effects shots for "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" were completed.

After verifying frame by frame and confirming that the image quality and visual impact were exactly as he had envisioned, Lü Rui bid farewell to Dennis and prepared to return to China.

Unexpectedly, the other party even threw a party to see him off!
The villa was brightly lit, and Dennis's family, friends, and some of his colleagues and superiors from Warner's copyright department were all present.

As soon as Lü Rui appeared, Dennis warmly put his arm around his shoulder and introduced him to everyone, "This is my good friend! A double winner of the Berlin Silver Bear and the Venice Silver Lion!"

Lu Rui saw through the scheme behind this "farewell party" at a glance.

Dennis clearly wanted to use his fame to gain exposure within the company and expand his network.

Instead of pointing it out, he smiled broadly and struck up a conversation with his friends, discussing everything from industry trends to project collaborations, displaying his approachable nature in every gesture.

People carry people in sedan chairs.

Dennis wanted to use his fame to enhance his own image, but didn't he also want to plant a mole in Hollywood?
Mutual benefit and friendship can be strengthened through mutual exploitation. Especially in the film and television industry, "personal connections" are inherently a mutually beneficial business.

Dennis is now just one of many managers in Warner Bros.' copyright department; there are at least a dozen at his level in the company.

However, his professional skills and expertise are very solid. If we can help him rise to the top of Warner's management, it will undoubtedly be much easier for him to negotiate copyrights or secure overseas distribution resources in the future.

This party was less a farewell and more a tacit exchange of interests.

Lu Rui knew that investing in connections was like investing in movies—you had to give up something to gain something.

In the world of fame and fortune that is Hollywood, only by leveraging each other's strengths and taking advantage of each other can an unbreakable network of relationships be built!
After the party ended, on July 17, Lü Rui successfully returned to China.

After getting off the plane, he plunged into the editing room and spent more than ten days finally completing the fine-cutting of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty".

He also incorporated the song copyrights he acquired from Hollywood into the film.

The original soundtrack is truly the soul of the series; those stirring or lyrical melodies always manage to touch people's hearts precisely.

Unfortunately, some of the episodes have not yet been released, and he can only try his best to piece them together, hoping to find a way to make up for the deficiencies if an American version is released in the future.

Just as he was wrapping up the film, Huayi Brothers officially announced Feng Xiaogang's new film project – "A World Without Thieves"!
Jiang Wen had mentioned to him that the original script for this story failed the review process, but the plot of the female thief becoming pregnant was added, and that's how it finally passed the review.

Feng Xiaogang, all high and mighty, stepped forward again, facing the media cameras, and shouted the slogan that the box office would surpass "Hero"!

These words sparked a flurry of discussion and ridicule within the industry.

Yet he remained calm and composed, radiating an air of self-assurance that he was the only one capable of succeeding!
On August 1st, the final cut of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" was officially completed.

After checking everything and confirming there were no problems, Lü Rui immediately invited the numerous investors and actors in Yanjing to watch the film.

Everyone was already looking forward to his first commercial film, so when they received the invitation, they naturally rushed over.

"Senior, it's been a long time!"

When Lü Rui saw Liu Yifei appear before him with a radiant smile, he was quite surprised. "Didn't you pass the audition for the new movie? Why didn't you go to film it?"

Liu Yifei shrugged slightly, her hair swaying playfully, "I'm still a bit confused. We were originally scheduled to start filming at the end of the year, but it was changed to February next year at the last minute..."

Like a cheerful little magpie, she chattered on and on about the changes in the film crew to Lü Rui.

Liu Xiaoli left after dropping her off, so she could let loose a little and didn't have to be so tense all the time.

"You mean? The role you auditioned for is... Anu?"

Lu Rui gleaned a very surprising piece of information from her words.

"Yes." Liu Yifei nodded.

"Who will play Zhao Ling'er?"

"I don't know. The production team said that filming can't start because the role is still pending. I haven't even signed the contract yet." Liu Yifei tilted her head, looking confused.

Lu Rui gave her a deep look, his Adam's apple bobbing, but he didn't ask any further questions.

Although he didn't know the specifics of the situation, he clearly remembered that the role of Zhao Ling'er was definitely played by Liu Yifei.

Perhaps there will be other changes...

"Xiao Lü!"

A loud shout suddenly came from afar.

Following the sound, Lü Rui saw Tian Zhuangzhuang, Han Sanping, Jiang Wei, Zhang Jiandong, and others walking side by side.

Walking in the middle of the crowd alongside Han Sanping was none other than Zhang Huijun, the new dean of the Beijing Film Academy, who had been a classmate of Zhang Yimou in the 78 Photography Department and even shared a bunk bed with him.

Lu Rui stepped forward and greeted the crowd.

Zhang Huijun raised his hand and patted his shoulder, smiling gently: "Director Tian said that your new movie is finished, and I happened to be at school, so I came to join in the fun."

"Haha, welcome to give us your guidance."

Lü Rui invited everyone into the screening room.

Jiang Wen didn't come today; his new film "Warriors of Heaven and Earth" is about to be released, and he's currently busy promoting it.

After everyone was seated, Lü Rui adjusted the equipment and confirmed that the picture and sound effects were correct before turning back.

But then he noticed that Liu Yifei had somehow moved to the empty seat next to him, looking up at him with bright eyes.

"Senior, can I sit here?" she whispered, glancing furtively at the group of people discussing in the row in front of her. "The teachers have such intimidating auras, I'm a little scared..."

The girl's hair was still damp with the summer heat, and her eyelashes trembled slightly as she spoke, making her look just like a startled fawn.

Lu Rui couldn't help but chuckle softly, nodding in acquiescence...

(End of this chapter)