Extracting skills from movies

Hades knew that Amanda and the Samsung heiress had joined forces, and even hired a professional public relations team to handle the matter.
He hesitated for a moment and then said:

"CAA has also handed over the resources."

Chad Lovett himself will be present at the film review meeting to personally campaign for Du Sheng.

Amanda, however, felt that this was not enough:

"During the crucial voting stage, it's best to incorporate some trending news topics."

Many judges don't even watch the movies; they just vote based on their impressions.

They vote for whoever is currently trending or whose name is familiar.

Haders smiled:

"Du Sheng was prepared for this."

Amanda continued her analysis:
"In addition, endorsements from well-known figures are also important, as their recommendations can often influence a large number of centrists."

Haders nodded:
"We are arranging these things."

Amanda offered a reminder:
"Don't forget, there's also the issue of smear campaigns from our opponents."

These past few years, Brother Sheng has had a smooth and successful career, but he's also offended quite a few people, some of whom are eager to see him fall from grace.

The two then discussed coping strategies.

Since Harvey Weinstein, a master of "buying awards," entered the scene, the competition during Oscar season is no longer just about the quality of the films.
Behind the scenes, financial battles, propaganda wars, and even mudslinging have become standard practice.

The incident two years ago where a male celebrity was "blacklisted by the entire city" is one of the classic cases in the industry.

After Haders left, Amanda returned to her office and made a phone call:
"Elsa, we can begin."

Elsa Public Relations is a renowned behind-the-scenes firm in Hollywood, specializing in image management and awards public relations for the entertainment industry.

They are particularly adept at orchestrating promotional campaigns for major awards like the Oscars.

Founder Aisha Bella was Amanda's best friend from college; the two had an excellent personal relationship and worked together seamlessly.

Upon receiving the call, Elsa immediately summoned her assistant:

"Everyone, get to work immediately and send out all the prepared emails!"

Within hours, a detailed and precisely worded email was sent to the inboxes of numerous Screen Actors Guild members, Critics' Association members, and judges of various pre-award ceremonies.

And this is only the first step.

Subsequently, these individuals received a more detailed physical package of information.

It not only includes a plot analysis of "Taken" and a summary of Du Sheng's acting highlights, but also high praise from global media and real feedback from North American audiences.

As the deadline approaches, the battle for the Olympics begins.

Fortunately, Taken's box office and critical acclaim figures are impressive enough that it has surpassed I Am Legend to become the runner-up in the North American weekly box office rankings.

If "Enchanted" underperforms even slightly and no other blockbuster comes out, it's not impossible for it to take the top spot on the weekly charts.

.........

Beverly Hills, Hilton Hotel lobby.

Corio, a reporter from the Century Daily, sat in the lounge area, pretending to flip through a newspaper, but his eyes were actually fixed on the door.

The revolving door opened with a "whoosh," and a chubby figure walked in.

Corio muttered to himself:
"Attention, the target has appeared."

Not far away, another reporter, Riggs, picked up his backpack, got up, and walked towards the elevator.

He entered the elevator with several passersby and happened to ride with Harvey.

Nadi followed them inside, and the group remained silent.

The elevator slowly ascended, then stopped with a ding, and Harvey stepped out.

Riggs followed closely behind, but as soon as he stepped out of the elevator, he turned a corner and went in the opposite direction.

He took a small mirror out of his pocket and quietly observed Harvey's movements.

Don't let their status as journalists fool you; they're more professional than special agents at this job.

Once Harvey entered the room, Riggs turned back to the corridor, found the floor plan, confirmed Harvey's room number, and then quickly went downstairs to report.

In the room, Harvey was sitting alone watching TV, and the North American premiere of "Taken" was playing.

Du Sheng, dressed in a rugged leather motorcycle outfit, rode his motorcycle straight onto the red carpet, causing a stir among the crowd, with flashbulbs going off non-stop.

"Tsk, this guy knows how to have fun."

Harvey commented while munching on potato chips:
"He's a fucking genius."

It's a pity that this kid has been at odds with him lately, and it's also caused the company to suffer a huge loss.

Because of the Lear Wayne incident, filming for "Hurricane Season" was delayed by almost half a month.

Each day of delay adds up to a significant expense.

I was watching TV when there was a knock on the door.

Harvey got up and opened the door, and Matt Damon walked in.

Harvey raised an eyebrow:

"Shouldn't 'The Bourne Ultimatum' be competing for awards? Shouldn't it be at the British Academy Film Festival?"

Matt Damon glanced at Du Sheng on the TV:
"I've taken leave from there. I'll come back and rest for a couple of days before going to France."

Harvey got straight to the point:

"They won't help you get an Oscar nomination?"

Matt Damon shrugged:

"Last year, 'Infernal Affairs' won the grand slam, and many people compared me with a Chinese man surnamed Du, unanimously agreeing that my acting skills were not even as good as his."

This guy just won Best Supporting Actor, and the production team felt I had no chance at all, so they simply nominated the director and cinematographer instead.

In other words, despite being the lead actor in the critically acclaimed and commercially successful "The Bourne Ultimatum," he didn't even receive an Oscar nomination this time.

This silent mockery was almost overwhelming.

Harvey smiled:
"Your acting skills are inferior to Du Sheng's? Interesting."

He squinted, his tone meaningful:
"However, those who dare to be enterprising often go far."

Matt Damon, naturally not wanting things to remain sluggish, seized the opportunity to offer a compliment:
"The Oscars are your home turf, can't you think of a way?"

Harvey's lips curled into a smile as he recalled Brad Pitt, who had been complaining about Du Sheng just a few days ago:
"After Elsa Arguido finished filming 'xXx,' she started collecting dirt on me again."

Matt Damon understood that this was a prerequisite for cooperation and nodded:

"Understood, I will warn her."

Harvey's phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the caller ID and saw it was his wife, Georgina, calling.

He answered the phone:
"Honey, how was your trip to England?"

Georgina said with a smile:

"It looks like a lot of fun, do you want to come?"

Harvey shook his head:

"There are too many things to do here, I can't get away."

After hanging up the phone, he exchanged a few more pleasantries with Matt before leaving the room together.

In the lobby, seeing the two leave, the Century Daily group, which had been hiding in a corner, immediately gathered together.

Corio whispered:

"Harvey's private room is locked in, what's next?"

Nadi rubbed his arms and grinned:
"Start from the inside, listen in on the phone, check the call logs, you can always find something out."

Riggs cautioned, "This is Los Angeles, not New York. Be discreet and don't give yourself away."

The three exchanged glances and nodded knowingly.

A game revolving around 'breaking headlines' is quietly unfolding.

In this game, some are plotting, some are fighting back, and some... are just waiting to be exposed.

Meanwhile, the creative team moved from the United States to the University of California, Massachusetts, and "Taken" maintained a steady performance at the North American box office on its second Saturday, earning another $1466 million.

Previously, "Enchanted" held the top spot, but this week it only lasted for 3 days before being easily surpassed by "Taken".

For two consecutive days, "Taken" remained at the top of the North American box office, while "I Am Legend" lagged far behind, barely visible.

By the end of Sunday, "Taken" unsurprisingly topped the North American box office with $4384 million.

In contrast, despite the huge influence of the IP, "Enchanted" failed to maintain its box office success and appeared somewhat lackluster.

With this film, Lin Chaoxian, Li Dachao, and others also achieved the best results in their directing careers.

The film not only achieved remarkable box office success, but also garnered unwavering critical acclaim.
It maintains a 92% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, an 87 rating on Metacritic, and an 8.5 rating on IMDb.

CinemaScore, based on audience ratings, gave it an A grade, suggesting that the final box office in North America could reach around $1.7 million, and the global box office could reach $3.2 million.

That's amazing enough!
After all, Taken is a foreign language film, not a Hollywood blockbuster.

And with an investment of less than 3 million US dollars, the profit is nearly ten times!
Driven by profit, major North American media outlets spontaneously praised it, even believing that Du Sheng deserved to enter the $2000 million box office club with it.

Unsurprisingly, the film series has secured its success, and the producers and distributors have accelerated the pace of overseas releases, finalizing release plans in multiple markets including the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America.

This week, the production team continued to travel all over the United States for promotional activities, keeping them extremely busy.

The film was a huge box office success and received rave reviews, and Lin Chaoxian, Li Dachao, Keiko Kitagawa, Masaharu Fukuyama, Sun Yaowei, Peng Yuyan and others also benefited greatly from it.

After all, this is international fame, something that many top domestic artists cannot match even after starring in a few blockbuster movies.

During the promotional period, Du Sheng received a call from Hades.

"I have good news for you. Chad has convened a special meeting for you to try your luck in winning the lottery."

Haders' voice was filled with excitement:

"The company transferred a few people, along with Elsa and me, to form a new public relations team, and the company covered all the expenses."

Du Sheng asked:

How's the public relations effort with film critics in Los Angeles going?

"Several renowned film critics have highly praised your performance in Taken and have written articles recommending it in their respective columns."

Haders proudly said:
"Of course, our public relations efforts targeting [the company] also played a role."

Du Sheng reminded him:
"Don't forget about the interview."

"The interviews with The Hollywood Reporter and Vanity Fair are in the works and should be fine."

Haders responded quickly.

During awards season, increasing exposure is fundamental to winning awards.

Haders also suggested to Du Sheng:

"Try to get your famous friends, such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Charlize Theron, and Taylor, involved as well."

Du Sheng said:

"They will speak out at the end of December, which is just the right time."

After hanging up the phone, Du Sheng continued to focus on the remaining North American roadshows.

Thanks to a large-scale promotional campaign and positive word-of-mouth, Taken's box office only dropped 35% in its second weekend in North America, bringing its cumulative box office to $1.2 million, just shy of $1.5 million.

Meanwhile, the film's success at the North American box office laid the foundation for its performance in overseas markets.

The film has grossed $8678 million at the international box office so far, mainly from the Asian and European markets.

Of course, the film faced both box office and critical challenges in the Middle East and Latin America markets.

This also reflects the limited influence of Chinese people in these regions.

In addition, these regions are Europe's backyard, which makes Asian films face certain obstacles here.

Nevertheless, Taken's overall performance remains remarkable, and its future looks promising.

It was early this morning.

Du Sheng had just returned from boxing practice and was eating breakfast at the dining table when his phone rang.

Haders called:

"Go check out the latest report in The Lighthouse Express; it suddenly mentioned you."

Du Sheng responded, and Ma Yaowei immediately got up, retrieved a stack of newspapers from the mailbox by the door, and returned.
After flipping through a few pages, I finally found the article about Du Sheng in the entertainment section of the Lighthouse Express.

He handed over the newspaper, and Du Sheng glanced at it, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"It's written quite well."

The title of the article is:
[Exclusive Scoop | Did Du Sheng have entanglements with the Hong Kong entertainment group in his early years?]

The content is roughly as follows:

According to multiple reliable sources, before Du Sheng made a name for himself in the Chinese entertainment industry, he was involved in several scandals in Wancheng.

Several gang leaders privately revealed that Du Sheng not only assaulted people, but was also suspected of indirectly causing Yang Zengkui's death and driving him insane...

After Du Sheng finished reading, he pushed the newspaper towards Ma Yaowei:

"These people have done a pretty thorough investigation; they seem to have a pretty convincing track record."

These are all old stories, yet they were still dug up, which shows that some people still have ulterior motives.

Perhaps this information was provided by certain forces within China, who wanted to take advantage of the situation.

Ma Yaowei nodded as he read:
"It's quite sophisticated. Many newspapers in Bay City reported on these things back then, but they were very misleading."

Du Sheng smiled:
“They are picking out the facts, but if you cut off the beginning and the end, the meaning will naturally change.”

He did have conflicts with the gangsters in Bay City, and Yang Zengkui's death was indeed related to him.

But that was to rid the people of a scourge.

But when this report came out, people who didn't know the truth thought he was a ruthless member of the underworld.

Ma Yaowei frowned and asked:

"Should we have a lawyer handle this?"

Du Sheng shook his head:

"There's no need. These kinds of gossip media outlets aren't afraid of being sued."

Moreover, the fact that this has suddenly surfaced at this critical juncture is clearly aimed at my international reputation.

The timing of this "bad news" during awards season is highly suspicious and clearly targeted.

Ma Yaowei realized:
"A competitor's doing?"

"pretty close."

As Du Sheng spoke, she picked up her phone and dialed Haders:
"Let's meet up."

After hanging up, he called Li Yixin again:
"Keep an eye on online activity for me."

Li Yixin clearly noticed the wind direction was wrong and said:
"Understood, but there hasn't been much activity online yet."

The two went out and arrived at the agreed-upon coffee shop.

Haders was already waiting there, holding a copy of the popular "Entertainer" magazine.

He handed it directly to Du Sheng:

"This was not a coincidence; it was a series of interconnected events, clearly premeditated."

…(End of this chapter)