Huayu 2015, the Artist of Light and Shadow

……

Once the conversation started, director Wang Xiaoshuai and Lu Yunzhou became increasingly happy as they chatted.

"Oh right, I almost forgot something."

"I've heard rumors that the State Film Administration is preparing to launch a support program for young directors at the end of the year."

"Once you finish filming the drama you're currently working on, come to Yanjing at the end of the year, and I'll recommend you join this project."

"In this program, renowned directors Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou are the core mentors. As long as your film project is well-written, there is a chance they will help you become a producer."

With a renowned director as producer, Lu Yunzhou's first film will garner attention across the internet.

Both the theater scheduling and the publicity are guaranteed.

This is a very crucial step.

Relying solely on popular celebrities like Tang Yan isn't enough to boost a film's success. However, if a major player in the domestic film industry lends a hand, things become relatively simpler.

"Thank you for your guidance, Director Wang."

Lu Yunzhou didn't really have high hopes for this.

Zhang Yimou is currently filming "The Great Wall".

After the film was released, it received terrible reviews. Under such circumstances, how could he possibly be in the mood to mentor newcomers?

As for Chen Kaige, he just finished filming "Monk Comes Down the Mountain" and is currently preparing for "Legend of the Demon Cat." He's busy helping the film studio with its problems and can't spare any time for filming.

Ultimately, you have to rely on yourself to be a good person.

Director Wang Xiaoshuai brought up the film project, which coincided with Tang Yan's plans for Lu Yunzhou.

Tang Yan blinked at the opportune moment, leaned forward slightly, adopting the posture of a curious child, and softened her voice a bit: "Director Wang, I keep hearing about some kind of young director support program, but after so many years, there are only a handful of directors on the market. Why is that?"

Why do many business owners always bring a beautiful female subordinate when discussing business?

That's exactly the kind of moment we're looking for.

When a man is too embarrassed to ask the question directly, a pretty girl has to pretend to be naive and innocent and ask the question for him.

"That's a good question."

Director Wang Xiaoshuai laughed, took a sip of wine, and introduced Tang Yan to the current situation of the domestic film market.

"According to authoritative estimates, China's domestic box office will exceed 400 billion yuan this year. This should make it one of the world's largest markets."

"Normally, a film market as large as China needs at least 300 experienced directors, but based on my understanding of the domestic film and television industry, there are no more than 100 directors who are truly outstanding. There is a shortage of at least 200 directors."

Director Wang Xiaoshuai first gave Tang Yan a brief introduction to the domestic directing industry.

This is the core data.

Tang Yan, this popular celebrity, may have heard of these statistics, but he certainly doesn't have the same profound understanding as someone like him who attends meetings every day.

Hearing this, Tang Yan nodded in sudden realization: "No wonder so many actors are now switching to directing and doing very well. I thought they were so talented, but it turns out it's because of the imbalance between supply and demand in the market."

Zhao Wei can also be a director.

Alec Su can also be a director.

Xu Zheng can also be a director.

Even Wang Baoqiang and Huang Bo are reportedly preparing their own film projects.

Overnight, Tang Yan felt that anyone could be a director.

In her mind, a director must be very talented and have a strong artistic foundation... Someone like Lu Yunzhou is more in line with Tang Yan's ideal director.

"You have a very keen eye."

Director Wang Xiaoshuai praised Tang Yan, and Tang Yan immediately smiled sweetly.

This gave director Wang Xiaoshuai a strange sense of vanity, and he continued to share his insights: "Currently, there is a serious shortage of new directors, and most of them come from other fields and lack systematic film creation training."

"A lack of systematic training, a lack of awareness of frameworks, and a lack of aesthetic system will lead to one consequence: extremely poor stability."

"This film is very well made, but the next one might be terrible. This could easily damage the market and dampen audiences' enthusiasm for watching movies. In the long run, it will harm the entire industry."

"At the last meeting, the leaders of the State Film Administration even lamented: the film industry is growing wildly and the market size is constantly expanding, but there is no one to use and no talent to choose from."

In 2015, the Chinese film market had no shortage of money, projects, or audiences; what it lacked was a mature director who could consistently produce good works!

Maturity does not refer to age.

This means that the director has a very mature creative framework and will not make major mistakes for no reason.

According to director Wang Xiaoshuai, although Lu Yunzhou is young, he is already a fairly mature director in terms of creative work, and he just needs a few more works to prove himself.

"Director Wang, thank you for broadening my horizons. I'd like to propose a toast to you."

Tang Yan was truly grateful for the insights that director Wang Xiaoshuai shared about the current state of the industry.

Because their plan was correct.

Now is the perfect time for them to enter the film market.

After all, if "Tiny Times" could succeed, Tang Yan didn't believe that Lu Yunzhou couldn't either.

"I'm not drinking anymore. If I keep drinking, I'll really get drunk. I can't let it interfere with my important business tomorrow."

Director Wang Xiaoshuai felt that Tang Yan still wanted to get information out of him.

But he wasn't falling for that honey trap. He turned around and chatted with Lu Yunzhou for a while, telling him some interesting stories from other international film festivals.

The meal lasted two hours, and both hosts and guests enjoyed themselves.

During the meal, Ji Rujing secretly went out and paid the bill, instead of letting Director Wang Xiaoshuai treat her.

……

After dinner.

The group returned to the hotel.

Lu Yunzhou didn't actually drink much, but Tang Yan kept toasting Director Wang Xiaoshuai and unknowingly drank a bit too much, her cheeks turning bright red.

After all, it's not the wine that intoxicates, but the person themselves.

"Sister Ji, wouldn't it be wonderful if I could be 10 years younger?"

After escorting Lu Yunzhou back to his room, Tang Yan and Ji Rujing looked at Lu Yunzhou's door and sighed softly before parting ways at the stairwell.

In fact, Tang Yan and Lu Yunzhou didn't have much contact, only a few times. However, her infatuation with Lu Yunzhou grew stronger with each encounter.

"Tangtang, time has only etched its marks on your face, but not on your heart, has it? Have you forgotten about Aze?"

Ji Rujing didn't want to see Tang Yan repeat the same mistake, so she couldn't help but offer a reminder.

That one sentence instantly snapped Tang Yan back to reality. Her voice tinged with bitterness as she said, "Yeah. An idiot like me can't even handle Aze. I should just focus on my career."

……

It started the following day.

The film festival has moved into the screening phase.

As a top-tier celebrity in China, and having collaborated with Rain on the drama "Diamond Lover," Tang Yan also enjoys some fame in South Korea.

During the short film screening, many people came to watch Lu Yunzhou's short film "Dream".

"Wow, this female teacher is so charming."

Within the first few seconds, they were captivated by Teacher Tang, who was dressed in a professional suit.

To better match the style of the Hangzhou G20 summit, Lu Yunzhou's team, after careful consideration, changed the catchy name "Super Cleaning Hero" to "Dream".

Since the short film has already been shortlisted and gained some recognition, gimmicks are no longer needed; what's needed now is style.

"What movie is this?"

"The atmosphere is so beautiful... It's a bit like the Japanese movie 'Love Letter,' where the light and shadow sway like the wind as the curtains are rolled up, creating a special kind of hazy beauty, making the female teacher's face seem as if it's veiled in mist."

Because the atmosphere at this moment was so beautiful, almost like a poem or a painting, many people were so captivated by this beautiful scene that they watched the entire short film.

"How amazing."

"The entire short film has only one line of dialogue, but I completely understood the meaning of the story."

"Also, director, your use of natural light... I feel like I've learned something similar somewhere. But I can't quite remember. Hey, do you remember?"

The man pondered for a long time, feeling that the scene and mood in the short film seemed familiar, and couldn't help but turn to look at his companion.

"Idiot. This is the concept of light and shadow by the great British painter Turner! We just learned it last week, and you've already forgotten it? No wonder you failed your exam."

"Using this hazy mist and the diffused natural light to create that atmosphere... how to put it? It's a feeling of uncertainty about the future, but also a feeling of being illuminated by light."

"I have to say, this Chinese director is something else."

"In addition, the short film is also very elegantly structured, and the final theme, though silent, resonates deeply within me and leaves a lasting impression. It has greatly piqued my interest in this female teacher."

"She is so elegant and so kind."

"By the way, I remember this female teacher, didn't she act in an idol drama with Rain? She played a scheming woman in it, and her acting was terrible. But watching this short film, her acting is very good, and she's also very pretty."

Which one truly represents Tang Yan's acting skills?

South Korean viewers were left in a state of great confusion.

Some people who watched all 68 episodes of "Diamond Lover" didn't find Tang Yan particularly attractive, and wondered why the male lead and the second male lead were so eager to be with her.

However, the short three-minute film made South Korean viewers suddenly realize that Tang Yan is an absolute beauty.

……

"Sister Tangtang, the audience all say you're so beautiful."

Tang Yan was also present at the screening. Since she couldn't understand Korean, she specially found a translator.

The translator heard the audience comments below and immediately translated them for Tang Yan.

The endless stream of praise was almost making Tang Yan feel dizzy.

"very nice."

"This feeling is absolutely wonderful."

Tang Yan was certain that the other person wasn't just blindly praising her, but because she had finally seen her own reflection in the short film.

In the hazy mist, the elegant Ms. Tang stood under the light, revealing only her clean and clear face and elegant jawline.

Lu Yunzhou didn't take a picture of her full face, avoiding her major flaws... her hairline was too high, and her forehead looked a bit bald.

The photos perfectly captured her beautiful jawline and slender swan neck.

As for why Teacher Tang is so kind?

She knew she couldn't act it out.

At this moment, Lu Yunzhou displayed his exceptional montage editing skills...

A beautiful piece of artistic text.

—"Go, little man! You can do it!"

Just by looking at these words, the audience can instantly imagine how gentle and kind Teacher Tang's smile was when she wrote them.

This beautiful artistic calligraphy was not written by Tang Yan, but by a master penmanship expert commissioned by Lu Yunzhou.

However, the whole world thought it was written by Teacher Tang.

At this moment, Tang Yan felt great. She felt that this was her true self: elegant, gentle, kind, and radiant with beauty!

……

"That 150 million was totally worth it!"

Listening to the translator's praise, and looking at the elegant and radiant self that Lu Yunzhou had personally "sculpted" on the screen.

Tang Yan suddenly felt a pang of regret. Why hadn't she gone to find Lu Yunzhou sooner?

I used to live such a hard life.