Chapter 656: Chapter 479: That’s Cannes_2
Hou Mengjie helplessly shook his head and said, "Okay, President Yao, I’ve heard enough of your praises for Zhou Yun, no need to continue praising."
Yao Yuanfeng laughed.
...
"Life" did well at the box office in the United Kingdom and France, breaking the one-million-dollar mark in both countries—a rare achievement in recent years for a Chinese romance art film.
Zhou Lan had people pick some praises for Zhou Yun from foreign netizens on international websites, bring them back to China, along with the box office results, and did a round of promotion.
Zhou Yun’s fans were delighted and proud, feeling honored for the success of "Life."
However, those who didn’t like Zhou Yun derisively commented, had the movie been hyped for so long that there was nothing else to hype?
Of course, someone immediately replied with promotional posters for "Heart Inquiry" and "Dingfengbo."
Unfortunately, due to its reputation, the viewership of "Dingfengbo" rose to 1.2 and then stagnated, generally maintaining between 1.1 to 1.2.
Although it still ranked first in viewership and remained highly discussed, the overall evaluation of the show was noticeably lower than "Heart Inquiry," and the feedback for Zhou Yun wasn’t particularly favorable. Despite that, people didn’t think Zhou Yun performed poorly, but neither did they find it outstanding.
The only actor who really benefited from this show was Xu Siyao.
Xu Siyao, with this drama, transformed and gained a lot of fans.
Of course, Chengqian Film and Television also made a lot from this show.
Recently, Zhou Yun’s main focus has been on "Four Killers" and "Under the Grand Dress."
Zhou Lan has been very busy recently, flying around the country.
She secured two web dramas as leading roles for Wang Jing, and also got Lu Zhongting and Huang Zicheng two roles each, both as supporting actors.
All these scripts were specifically chosen by Zhou Lan.
Zhou Yun had also reviewed them.
Zhou Lan now highly trusted Zhou Yun’s judgment when it came to picking scripts.
Zhou Lan’s goal is to make Wang Jing a top-tier actor within three years and make Lu Zhongting and Huang Zicheng well-known actors.
In the world of popularity, some are boosted, others rise by fate—Zhou Lan strongly believed in this.
What she could do was to provide them with one opportunity after another, thus increasing their chances of becoming famous.
In April, something else happened; the TV drama Xu Siyao and Su Yan were working on started filming. It was said that Xu Siyao, who had recently risen in fame and cleaned her image, was reluctant to play the villainess opposite Su Yan and even wanted to quit. But the producers vehemently refused to let her go, clinging to the contract and forcing Xu Siyao to report to the set, even threatening to expose this issue online if she didn’t show up on time.
Xu Siyao, not wanting to ruin her newly improved reputation, went reluctantly.
This story spread far within the circle, even Zhou Yun heard about it from Yuk Chu.
Zhou Yun thought this was typical of Xu Siyao; a person can forgo shame blatantly and justifiably.
But later when Zhou Yun heard that Xu Siyao forcefully demanded the producers to increase her fee by several million, Zhou Yun was internally shocked.
It was said the crew also did this to keep "the ancestor" content and filming smoothly on the set, to avoid troubles.
Astonishing.
Zhou Yun was embarrassed to be in the same company with her, but what could she do?
A money-making artist, disliked by her but liked by the company.
This month, Song Chi also joined a cultural variety show as a regular guest, one by CCTV.
Zhou Yun knew without asking—there must be someone behind this show that Zhou Yun needed to get in good graces with, and that’s why he got that precious time slot.
It was a pretty common situation, running a film production company can involve tasks you might not want to do.
Often, we do things we don’t want to, to facilitate the things we do want to pursue.
The adult world often necessitates indirect approaches, strategically maneuvering to achieve goals.
On April 9th, since Zhou Yun had no work in the morning, she slept in and rolled around in bed.
Song Chi had left early; she was at home alone, enjoying the solitude.
Suddenly, her phone ringing jolted her awake.
It was Zhou Lan calling.
"Sister Lan, you woke me up," Zhou Yun yawned, "Let’s talk later."
Actually, she was already awake.
Zhou Lan screamed from the other end of the phone, "The main competition entries for Cannes were announced!"
Zhou Yun’s heart skipped a beat.
Zhou Lan’s tone had already told her the outcome.
Zhou Yun paused, "Sister Lan?"
Zhou Lan: "’Behind the Scenes’ made it!"
Zhou Yun abruptly sat up from her bed, her face in shock, "Sister Lan, really?"
"Absolutely, it’s true, I’ve seen the list!" Zhou Lan said, "I’m at the airport right now, grinning like an idiot, unable to contain my excitement. People are looking at me like I’m crazy! Zhou Yun, you’ve been shortlisted for the Cannes Film Festival! This time it’s the main competition! The main competition! Did you hear that?"
Zhou Yun felt completely overwhelmed.
She was a bit stunned and pleasantly surprised.
Zhou Yun sat on her bed, stunned for a few seconds, then laughed foolishly out loud.
"Sister Lan, congratulations to you, both your actors will walk the red carpet at Cannes."
Zhou Lan: "Exactly! I’m so thrilled! Zhou Yun, you can’t imagine how happy and excited I am! There’s no agent luckier than me in all of China!"
"Have you called Wang Jing yet?"
"Not yet."
"You should call Wang Jing quickly; she must be waiting for your call," Zhou Yun said with a smile.
She seemed to laugh casually, but she knew her excitement was no less intense than Zhou Lan’s.
That’s Cannes!