Generation Z Artists

Chapter 282 The Crazy Plan
The cast and crew of "Hero" made a high-profile appearance in Hollywood, but Fang Xinghe blended into the hustle and bustle of the awards season like a drop of water.

The three key secrets of Fang's public relations principles are: finding the core, finding the variables, and finding leverage.

Everyone knows the specifics of how to do it, but everyone has their own methods.
The true way is to understand the correct and most effective way to do something before you even begin.

After landing, Fang Xinghe didn't rush to attend any banquets, but instead did something particularly crucial—

Take over Sony's public relations team.

He took Nakamura to Jeff Black, where they held a two-day debriefing meeting.

Jeff is the Chairman of Global Marketing and Distribution at Columbia TriStar Films, essentially the head of public relations. Despite Nakamura's seemingly enthusiastic attitude, when it comes to actual work, he's not even a fraction as capable as Jeff.

"Your proposal is good, but too traditional, so it's no surprise that it was blocked."

From the outset, Fang Xinghe rejected all the efforts of the marketing department.

A low hum filled the small conference room, and all the staff, from Jeff down, felt intense anxiety and discontent.

But Brother Fang didn't indulge them at all.

"The results have proven the process wrong; the traditional public relations approach of launching attacks one by one simply doesn't work. Let's analyze the overall situation. We need to clarify three questions—"

First, in which awards can we make a mark?

Second, who are our main competitors?

Third, what approach did our competitor's PR team take, and how far ahead are they compared to us?

Mr. Jeff, give me a full report.

Fang Xinghe's toughness, decisiveness, conciseness, and directness easily suppressed all the dissatisfaction in the conference room.

Colombia's PR team doesn't fully trust him, but they are willing to cooperate with him.

Jeff presented all the intelligence and gave a detailed report.

"Hero received a total of 12 Oscar nominations, with 6 of them being core nominations, namely—"

Best Picture

Chicago, Gangs of New York, Hero, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Pianist

Best Director

Roman Polanski – The Pianist

Zhang Yimou – Hero

Stephen Daldry – The Hours

Rob Marshall – Chicago

Martin Scorsese – Gangs of New York

Best Actress

Nicole Kidman – The Hours

Salma Hayek – Frida Kahlo

Diane Lane – Unfaithful

Gong Li – Hero

Renée Zellweger – Chicago

Best Supporting Actor

Chris Cooper – Adaptation

Ed Harris – The Hours

Fang Xinghe – Hero

John C. Reilly—Chicago

Christopher Walken – Cat and Mouse

[Best Original Screenplay]

"Talk to Her" — Pedro Almodóvar
Far From Heaven — Todd Haynes
Gangs of New York — Jay Cox, Steven Zaillian, Kenneth Lonergan

My Grand Greek Wedding — Nia Vardal

Heroes — Li Feng, Fang Xinghe
Best Foreign Language Film

Nowhere Without Men — Germany

Heroes—China

Savage Invasion—Canada
Zus & Zo — Netherlands

The Sins of Father Amaro — Mexico
......"

Jeff stated frankly, "The position of 'Hero' among the five nominees is basically equivalent to its chances of winning each award, and the probability is calculated by my department staff based on information collected."

Currently, the most promising major award is, and only, Best Foreign Language Film.

We are only slightly behind "Nowhere Without Men".

In the Best Picture race, we are far behind Chicago and slightly behind Gangs of New York, with little hope.

The situation for Best Director seems better, but it's actually worse—due to the publicity from his rivals, most members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences already know that you directed the ending of the currently released overseas version of "Hero," so Director Zhang has been excluded from the nominations.

The reason for the nomination is primarily based on respect for his masterful skills in the field of film composition.

For Best Actress, a nomination is an award in itself. Gong Li's role and performance were far from enough to warrant an award, not to mention that Nicole Kidman was a super favorite this year.

The male lead was not nominated, and JetLee is not commendable in this respect.

Original script... I personally think "Hero" is a good script, but that's precisely where the biggest controversy in the Academy lies.

Well, one could even say that the entire American society is very divided on this issue.

Those who like you think this ingenious and profound Eastern philosophy is novel, while those who dislike you think it is an insult.

You may or may not know, but the upper echelons of Hollywood are controlled by a group of people who have a very negative view of you…

Fang Xinghe certainly knew that Hollywood was all about money.

That anti-liberal article, "The Sino-US Relationship," hit their nail on the head.

Although Brother Fang deliberately wrote it vaguely and didn't name anyone, do those guys need a reason to dislike you?

Not at all.

Fang Xinghe even provided ample reasons to be disgusted...

His eyes flickered slightly as he asked, "So, Best Supporting Actor is the second most likely major award?"

"YES."

Jeff nodded steadily.

"It's the second most likely prize, relatively speaking."

Your performance in the film was impeccable. Although you only had a small amount of dialogue, it was not overshadowed by the brilliant fight scenes, which is remarkable.

Considering your age, image, and influence, I personally believe there is a certain probability that the academy will award this prize to you for reasons of recognition or appeasement.

"If you can win this award, you won't set a record for age, but you will forever etch the character of Prince Yu into film history, which will be of immense personal benefit to you..."

Jeff took a sip of water and continued talking.

"Based on the above reasons, we should focus our efforts on the two core awards: Best Foreign Language Film and Best Supporting Actor."

The competitors were the German film "No Man's Place," a simple competitor that didn't invest much in public relations.

And Chris Cooper and Ed Harris, two American actors backed by the CAA and WMA respectively.

But whether we can win the award no longer depends on our opponents.

What we are actually facing is a huge, long-standing, latent opposition force within Hollywood, possessing a kind of invisible hostility.

This made our public relations efforts extremely difficult.

"We even have three open and official enemies—New Line Cinema, which produced 'The Lord of the Rings,' Focus Features, which produced 'The Pianist,' and Miramax, which produced 'Chicago'..."

Upon hearing Miramax's name, Fang Xinghe raised an eyebrow.

The architects of Hollywood's "Weinstein era," public relations textbooks—Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob Weinstein are household names.

In a sense, Harvey is the patriarch of Chinese online trolls.

His ideas, methods, and practices have profoundly and enduringly influenced the entire industry, until they were disrupted by the AI-driven self-media era.

Fang Xinghe didn't know this person very well; he had only looked into many of his operational cases for the purpose of learning.

My memories of Chicago come from this.

Now that he finally had the chance to face off against him in person, Brother Fang was in high spirits.

"You mean, even if we don't directly compete with each other, they will still see us as rivals?"

"They're already causing trouble."

Jeff spread his hands in utter helplessness.

"The Harvey brothers have a terrible reputation. They don't care about your chances of winning; they just want to knock down all potential competitors and then stomp on them to ensure their absolute probability of winning."

Fang Xinghe nodded: "So, the news that's unfavorable to us right now..." "All three companies are involved, but Harvey is the most aggressive."

Jeff took out a separate document and handed it to Fang Xinghe.

"For example, in the Best Director competition, Harvey desperately exaggerated your role to the Directors Guild and belittled Director Zhang's performance."

In the process of eliminating dissenting opinions for Best Picture, he criticized you and Director Zhang for failing to prioritize and balance action and humanism...

In short, this guy attacked us relentlessly during the special screenings and receptions, almost completely destroying our already mediocre popularity within the college.

Fang Xinghe chimed in at the opportune moment: "And your funds are never spent very effectively."

"..."

The room fell silent instantly, and the staff members lowered their heads in embarrassment.

Jeff chuckled dryly and admitted, "When it comes to hospitality, we're definitely not as good as Harvey. People have different limits..."

When Fang Xinghe heard the last sentence, he felt a pang in his heart, as if he had touched upon a long-standing dark side of Hollywood.

It's not appropriate to mention the specifics, nor is it necessary. Outsiders who want to win awards in Hollywood ultimately have to find their own ways.

"OK, the current situation is now completely clear."

With a strong sense of contempt, Fang Xinghe began to summarize... or rather, to make a decision.

"Traditional methods are too slow and cumbersome, and they are also difficult to dispel the judges' deep-seated hostility towards us."

If we continue to use Academy members as the core of our public relations efforts, such as pushing our own film critics like Stephen Hunter to do public relations with them, we will only fall into the trap of slander from our opponents and waste too much energy on self-justification and proof.

This is because they didn't find the right core of public relations...

Jeff was stunned.

If you don't try to win over the college committee members, then who do you try to win over?
Those who voted were none other than those members!
But Fang Xinghe's next words struck him like a thunderbolt—the American idiom doesn't exist, but the feeling is universal.

Little knife pulled my butt, that's fucking eye-opening...

"At the college level, we always put in three times the effort to achieve one result."

The unpopularity of "Hero" is a foregone conclusion, Sony's unpopularity is deeply rooted, and I myself, in the eyes of those old white male judges in their fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties, am almost equivalent to a cultist.

Therefore, we must go beyond this level and, instead of voting, take a more proactive approach to lobbying the organizations, institutions, and parties behind these individuals.

We must find the variables in this game!

If there are no internal variables, then look for external ones.

If there are no variables in the middle, then look at the lower or higher levels...

Specifically, where exactly do we need these variables?
On those two seemingly unrelated bills—the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Coordination Act and the Patriot Act!
Can you figure out what I need to do?

Whoosh! Crack... Crackle!
Suddenly, a chaotic noise erupted in the room. Some people exclaimed, some jumped up and pushed back their chairs, and some accidentally knocked over their cups and scrambled to their feet.

"Jesus!"

Jeff clutched his head and gasped.

"Sir SR, you are simply the most terrifying genius in the world!"

As a high-level elite, Jeff understood the essence of those two bills all too well.

The Jobs Act, also known as the Tax Cuts Act, aims to reduce the capital gains tax to 15%, which has been met with praise from the media and widespread public discontent.

The Patriot Act expands the surveillance powers of law enforcement agencies, prompting lawsuits from organizations such as the Civil Liberties Union, highlighting the conflict between security and privacy rights.

What comes to mind when you see these two bills side by side?
It's time to get started.

Externally, military action is imminent, and significant deregulation of capital groups is being implemented in exchange for their support of the current government.

Domestically, it represents a full-scale attack by neoconservatism on neoliberalism, leading to further centralization of power.

Thinking deeper, the divide between belligerence and anti-war sentiment will lead to political polarization, which in turn will lead to polarization of stances, and ultimately to polarization of antagonism.

Fang Xinghe had just realized that the magical America he knew so well, the aging empire that turned politics into a game of biubiu, was actually the seed of disaster sown during this period.

That was none of his business, but it was precisely at this time that Hollywood's ideology began to split internally.

On one hand, there is the individual heroism and the invincibility of the United States promoted by commercial blockbusters; on the other hand, there is the strong anti-war sentiment in award-winning art films. The two sides take turns performing, each dominating the scene for a year or two.

As time went on, personal stances became increasingly blurred, and political correctness began to prevail.

Many Gen Zers dislike later Hollywood movies, believing they've become obsessed with political correctness.

In reality, the Big Six are not without their limitations. While they may be very influential in the film industry, they are merely marginal figures within the broader American political landscape.

Returning to the present, Hollywood, overall, leans towards the artistic left.

That is: progressive liberalism.

They are naturally at odds with the neoconservatism that is currently at its peak. On the one hand, they are happy to accept foreign elites like Fang Xinghe, but on the other hand, they are disgusted by the anti-liberal ideas held by Fang Xinghe.

Doesn't that sound contradictory?

In fact, the core of the neoconservative camp is more contradictory. On the one hand, they resent Fang Xinghe's Chinese identity, and on the other hand, they use his ideas and words to attack, so they are not much better.

But Fang saw an opportunity in this contradiction and division—

Hollywood is not a unified entity; their loves and hates are easily swayed.

After waiting for everyone to react for a while, Fang Xinghe gave the following three specific instructions.

"First, go and get 'The Sino-American World' going viral again!"

The opposing side criticized the Patriot Act for legally proving the hypocrisy of American freedom as depicted in "The Sino-American World".

The affirmative side quoted the original text about the contradiction between freedom and fairness, placing the freedom of privacy under the category of security and fairness.

I believe this is enough to keep them arguing for a long time.

"Second, go and symbolize the ending of 'Hero' for me!"

Core theme: Qin Shi Huang's unification of the six kingdoms brought lasting peace to them.

Don't neoconservative scholars like Wolfowitz clamor for a 'democratic transformation of Midwinter' every day? Let's add fuel to the fire!

I've heard many people analyze that the US will officially send troops by mid-March at the latest, and "Heroes" is perfectly timed, so there's no reason not to capitalize on this opportunity.

It is important to downplay the core idea of ​​"unification" and focus propaganda on the idea that "victory that brings peace is justice".

I don't believe in this stuff, but the old guys at the academy will probably love it, right?

"Third, drag all our opponents—I mean all, not limited to those who are in direct competition—into the quagmire of the topic of 'liberalism versus conservatism'."

Harvey and his gang love to fight, don't they?
Now, we need to get everyone into close-quarters combat!
"Chicago" is too free and romantic, "The Pianist" is too serious and conservative, "The Lord of the Rings" emphasizes racial attributes too much, and "Gangs of New York" is both contemptuous of and fearful of order, outwardly strong but inwardly weak..."

Everyone in the room was speechless and dumbfounded.

But Brother Fang continues to unleash his terrifying talent, pouring sulfuric acid into everyone's brains.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our core idea is to introduce higher-level external forces to influence the stance, attitude, and choices of the academy judges, ultimately to strike at our competitors and elevate the reputation of 'Hero'."

In this dynamic process, the core is the conflict between the 'liberal camp and the conservative camp' that has just intensified, the variable is the external pressure that is higher than that within Hollywood, and the lever is the core ideology of "Hero" that is basically in line with the mainstream ideology.

This was a very accidental opportunity. If we had missed this chance, "Hero," along with me and Sony, would have been an unlucky combination with a naturally loser's face.

But it just so happens to be this term, it just so happens to be March of this year, and it just so happens to be the start of a new honeymoon period between the two countries…

Now tell me loudly, what can you imagine?!

Jeff's face flushed bright red.

"We can expect much more than just a Best Foreign Language Film!"

"Yes!"

Fang Xinghe suddenly stood up, propped himself up on the table with both hands, and looked down at everyone.

"So don't set your sights so low, and don't be afraid of that bullshit Focus New Line Harvey! Excluding those few impossible awards, we are fully capable of fighting to the bitter end with anyone this year!"

The confusion, anxiety, and restlessness that had filled everyone's eyes were now ignited, transforming into blazing flames.

The chicken blood was so hot that steam was rising from my head, making it difficult to sit or stand still.

Brother Fang looked around the room and suddenly smiled.

With morale soaring and the troops in good hands, those incompetent guys at Sony should be able to pull off something, right?
Thinking of this, his smile became wicked and profound. He waved his hand and drew a Northeast-style flatbread.

"How you do it is up to you. I won't interfere with your methods; I'll just offer you a small reward—"

In addition to normal public relations expenses, each award can be exchanged for a $100 million prize with me, which will be given directly to your department for you to decide on its internal distribution.

"Hero" has the potential to surpass "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". If it can win 5 awards, that would be a prize of 500 million.

Mr. Jeff, can you ensure a fair distribution?

"Of course!"

Jeff immediately gave his assurance, and in an instant, the room was filled with heavy breathing.

People die for money, birds die for food, and Americans are people too, but now, they're not going to be...

What kinds of animals are in Fang Sheng's art world?

Forget it, pigs and dogs, cattle and horses, as long as they can serve Fang Sheng, Mr. Me, I'll do anything!
So, Sony quickly got to work in earnest, giving this special awards season a good lesson.

(End of this chapter)