Soon, the designer they were waiting for arrived.
He was a somewhat thin foreign man, wearing a modified short black tuxedo, his hair was meticulously styled, and he wore a monocle that was said to be able to be pulled off only by the three-dimensional features of foreigners. Paired with a high, aquiline nose, he had a slightly melancholic air about him and didn't look like a fashion designer.
Liu Rulan stood up with a smile, greeted the person, and then introduced Xiao He: "This is designer Theodore. He used to be the main clothing designer for C and L brands. Now he has started his own studio and usually only handles work with brands."
"Hello, Mr. Theodore."
Xiao He immediately stood up obediently and greeted him.
Theodore was exceptionally aloof. Faced with their attempts to be friendly, he didn't say anything extra, but simply nodded slightly as if to acknowledge them. He then turned and gestured to his assistant to go to a small room to get the clothes out.
Despite Theodore's coldness, Liu Rulan still smiled and communicated with him in English about the costume design they had arranged before, and then shamelessly confirmed the details with him again.
Theodore would still give her half-hearted answers, but more often he would scrutinize Xiao He from head to toe critically, then turn to his assistant and say something in French.
Xiao He vaguely heard the other party instructing his assistant to modify his accessories.
He raised an eyebrow slightly.
Seemingly surprised that Xiao He could understand, Theodore and his assistant didn't talk behind their backs, so Xiao He could openly listen to their conversation, which actually made him feel a little more at ease.
Although Theodore seemed difficult to talk to and had a cold attitude, he at least did not express any discrimination or prejudice against them in his words. He used very polite language, and the content of his discussions with his assistant was mostly about some adjustments to the styling and clothing design after meeting him in person. He was obviously taking it seriously.
Xiao He quite liked this official and businesslike attitude.
So when they came out of the studio, both Xiao He and Liu Rulan had satisfied expressions on their faces.
-
The next day, Xiao He and Liu Rulan landed in Cannes with their team.
Cannes is a small city located on the Mediterranean coast in southeastern France. It has a Mediterranean climate with plenty of sunshine all year round, lush vegetation, beautiful scenery, and a rich historical and cultural heritage. It is world-famous for the Cannes Film Festival.
At this time of year, the area is filled with a dazzling and lively atmosphere, and even the palm trees lining the seaside promenade seem to come alive. Many travelers and pedestrians are dressed in fashionable and elegant attire, and the film festival's logos are displayed everywhere along the road. The traffic is also bustling with luxury cars and supercars, whose powerful exhaust pipes can be heard frequently as they speed past.
When Xiao He arrived at the hotel near the event, he realized that it was a true gathering of heroes.
Every ten steps you see a top-tier director, every five steps a Hollywood star, and at the very least, an internationally renowned model or singer—it's dazzling.
Ning Jiaqi is nearing retirement age. He has his own famous works, and although he is now focused on box office success, he was a prominent figure in his early years and still enjoys international recognition.
After standing there for only a short while, people started coming up to greet Ning Jiaqi, and Xiao He could also hear people around him talking about him and their film crew in foreign languages from time to time.
Xiao He observed for a while and found that most of these people were of Asian appearance, and they could tell from their accents that they were from several neighboring countries.
Among them were directors and actors, who were not arrogant in front of Director Ning and were mostly quite respectful. Out of admiration for Xiao He, Director Ning also made sure to introduce Xiao He to these people during their interactions.
Xiao He's film "Law of the Jungle" has a certain degree of popularity in Asia, and his film "Twelve Mirrors" has been circulating online recently. Some people who have some impression of Xiao He showed amazement on their faces.
One of the directors from Japan stared at Xiao He for a long time. Before leaving, he asked for Xiao He's contact information. Judging from his expression, he seemed quite interested in Xiao He and had the intention to cooperate in the future.
Although he wasn't very fluent in Japanese and didn't really want to act in a movie in Japan, Xiao He naturally wouldn't refuse such an opportunity to expand his network, and decisively gestured for Liu Rulan to hand over her business card.
After handing out the first one, many more were given out in succession. Whether they were doing it out of respect for Director Ning or were genuinely interested in Xiao He, the results of this brief exchange were clearly quite good.
Liu Rulan's smile never stopped.
Even the rest of the crew benefited.
Incidentally, several overseas distributors also came to Director Ning in advance to discuss the overseas distribution of "No Bait".
This is actually the true essence of the Cannes Film Festival: a global film copyright trading market.
Generally speaking, the Cannes Film Festival usually lasts about 12 days. Apart from the most important opening ceremony and the final awards jury closing ceremony, most of the time is spent on the premieres of the films participating in the event and the opening of the film market.
In layman's terms, it's a group of sellers who bring their carefully crafted works to this event, forming a small trading market. Buyers from all over the world come here to watch the films and then select the most promising works to buy and take back to their own countries or regions to make money.
In other words, when domestic films go to Cannes, the essence is to leverage the festival's popularity to sell the film's overseas "screening rights (copyright)" to distributors, who then connect with local theaters and cinemas to allow the film to reach audiences overseas.
These people are approaching Director Ning in advance, which is like picking cabbages before the "market" has officially opened, trying their luck, and seeing if they can snatch the overseas distribution rights of "No Bait" ahead of time.
At this stage, "cabbage" (referring to the movie's price) is usually cheaper because it hasn't premiered yet. It's similar to a blind box, where you don't know the true quality of the movie, which has both advantages and disadvantages.
Director Ke Ning is a well-known director with many years of experience, and "No Bait" is an official shortlisted work, which at least shows that the quality of "No Bait" is very guaranteed.
So, as soon as the distributors who have been working with Director Ning for many years saw him, they couldn't help but gather around, wanting to have a chat with him beforehand.
Although it's highly unlikely that Director Ning will finalize a distributor before the official premiere of "No Bait," but... what if?
Unfortunately, there's no such thing as a "what if".
These people came full of excitement, and then left disappointed.
Watching the disappointed figures of those people, Director Ning couldn't help but sneer: "These capitalists, I was just waiting for 'No Bait' to make a fortune, but they're squeezing the profit share to death."
Is he such a short-sighted person?
He then patted Xiao He on the shoulder and earnestly reminded him: "There should be many partners and producers coming up recently. Be careful, don't make promises lightly, and don't rush to sign contracts. This place is full of all sorts of people, be careful not to get scammed."
Xiao He nodded: "I understand, thank you for the reminder, Director Ning."
