521: Chapter 521 Andy

After a thorough conversation with Boss Yang, Lin Chuyan felt increasingly cheerful and grew even more confident about "la la land."

At the same time, he realized one thing: the task of promotion was sometimes no less difficult than the actual filming.

No wonder many films spent more on marketing than on production costs.

After bidding farewell to Boss Yang, Lin Chuyan immediately set to work implementing the few things they had discussed one by one.

First, he instructed his subordinates to contact the production company and get them started as soon as possible.

This was a huge undertaking, as there would be more than one trailer.

It went without saying that there would be the standard teaser trailer, theatrical trailer, and final trailer, but they also needed to create different versions for different countries.

In addition to that, various character featurettes, production featurettes, and behind-the-scenes featurettes all had to be scheduled.

Besides video production, there was also the design of various posters, as well as future press releases, feature reports, and other tasks.

Fortunately, he now owned a professional film company with plenty of talent, so he could let his subordinates handle these matters and just make the final decisions himself, without having to do everything personally.

Of course, he still had to make a personal trip to China Film Group to apply for the film screening license—that is, the "Dragon Mark."

At this moment, the advantage of bringing China Film Group into the fold from the beginning became apparent.

Originally, it was just for distribution, but he hadn't expected that this unintentional act would also prove useful in this regard.

As one of the investors, China Film Group readily agreed after Lin Chuyan clarified the stakes, and they gave him a response that left him extremely satisfied: if there were no special censorship issues with the content, it wouldn't take a month, and approval could be granted by the end of the month.

A heavy weight lifted from Lin Chuyan's heart: what the hell kind of sensitive content could "la la land" possibly have that would require censorship...

After spending a day settling these two matters, he set off without stopping; that's right, he was going abroad again.

First, he went to Hong Kong to meet up with the people sent by Boss Yang, and then they traveled together to the United States to find the relevant personnel at Lionsgate.

The headquarters of Lionsgate is located in Santa Monica, California.

This city is a famous coastal resort and residential area, about 22 kilometers from downtown Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, this was all in the past.

The reason was quite moving: the Los Angeles wildfires had started right from the Santa Monica Mountains...

When Lin Chuyan arrived at Los Angeles International Airport, this was the scene that met his eyes.

The sky was blue, the air was fresh... but everything was waiting to be rebuilt.

But it didn't matter; these things had nothing to do with the purpose of their trip.

They were here to talk business.

In fact, Lin Chuyan didn't have high expectations for this "North America IMAX exclusivity agreement."

After returning, he had done some research and discovered that films capable of reaching such agreements were basically large-scale special effects blockbusters, and "la la land" really didn't qualify in that regard.

But he wouldn't be reconciled if he didn't try.

He still remembered that at the wrap party, people from Lionsgate had told him that due to the Los Angeles wildfires, many film projects had been affected, especially those big productions, many of which were forced to shut down.

When he went to film in August, there were still many crews rebuilding their sets.

The people at Lionsgate had scheduled the meeting time with him in advance, and the person who came was his only acquaintance there.

"Lin, long time no see."

The white man walking over to greet Lin Chuyan was none other than George Anderson, whom he had met at the last wrap party.

"Mr. Anderson, hello, we meet again," Lin Chuyan responded politely.

The other party was quite enthusiastic: "Haha, just call me George. Let's go, Lionsgate has high expectations for your film."

Lin Chuyan raised an eyebrow slightly, feeling slightly surprised inside.

Words like "high expectations" were just something to listen to, after all, the other party hadn't even seen the finished film yet.

However, the change in address was quite interesting.

In formal business settings, social occasions, or when dealing with people one isn't very familiar with, one would usually use a formal, polite title like "Mr. Anderson."

While "George" felt much more casual and also friendlier.

It seemed this guy was really looking forward to it?

Lin Chuyan followed the other's lead: "George, then please lead the way. I promise, I won't let you down."

There was no need to be humble here; besides, the purpose of his trip wasn't to be humble, but to give the other party enough confidence.

George was indeed looking forward to it.

He had been to the set of "la la land" and had met Lin Chuyan at the time.

Although they hadn't spoken, he was deeply impressed by the directing style of this young director from China.

Later, at the wrap party, the two met again, and he still remembered vividly what Lin Chuyan had said to the media reporters; it was so satisfying to hear.

Since then, he didn't just have a deep impression of Lin Chuyan, but he actually liked him—George had long disliked that bunch of reporters.

This screening was different from the one at Emperor Group; it wasn't just with Boss Yang alone.

Lionsgate knew the purpose of Lin Chuyan's trip and didn't just brush him off.

They sent a 5-person team, which looked like they were going to conduct a comprehensive assessment of his film before deciding whether to help him with his business.

George was one of the team members and, among the five, could be considered relatively friendly toward Lin Chuyan.

The two arrived at a room, which was a small screening room inside the Lionsgate company.

As soon as Lin Chuyan entered, one of them stood up and waved to greet him, while the other three chatted among themselves, ignoring him.

Lin Chuyan could understand this; after all, it was normal for them not to trust him.

To put it bluntly, he didn't have any impressive works over here yet: the fact that Lionsgate's top management valued his film didn't mean the staff below also approved of it.

George asked in a low voice: "Lin, do you need to say a few words to everyone?"

Lin Chuyan shook his head: "There's nothing to say, let's just watch the movie."

What the hell was there to discuss before watching the movie?

This wasn't a wrap party; the occasion was different.

No matter how nice things sounded, it was useless; the quality of the film was the most important thing.

"Fair enough." George nodded and instructed the staff to start playing the film.

For 128 minutes, Lin Chuyan accompanied these five people and watched "la la land" once more.

It wasn't strange to see himself in the film; he was already used to it.

But every time he saw his girlfriend's appearance in the film, he couldn't stop smiling—she was too beautiful, and she was so cute when acting.

No wonder so many directors liked to film their wives; it turned out this was also a way to show off their affection...

However, Lin Chuyan thought again: well, it couldn't be ruled out that some directors did this just to save some money while making more money at the same time...

128 minutes passed quietly while he was letting his imagination run wild and admiring his girlfriend's beauty.

No one spoke in the middle; everyone quietly finished watching the movie.

Just as Lin Chuyan was about to open his mouth to say something, George suddenly shouted: "House lights, damn it, hurry up and turn on the house lights."

"Snap—"

The staff quickly turned on the house lights.

Before Lin Chuyan could even make a sound, George had already started clapping, and immediately after, the others followed suit.

"Lin, is this 'la la land'? You are simply a genius!" George exclaimed in admiration.

"Thank you, George—"

George interrupted him: "Don't be so formal; if you can, call me Andy!"

George Anderson—the name "Andy" was obviously more intimate than "George."

Lin Chuyan: "..."

Wait, buddy, are we really that close?

Someone who didn't know better would think that song of mine, "Andy," was written specifically for you...