Why was it, in her past life, that such a talented and driven director—one who dared to sell his own home for his dream—never even managed to get his name out there in the film world?
Laila believed the most likely reason was that, in her previous life, Han Mingjiang must have encountered a similar situation. Only that time, he didn't have a childhood friend who happened to work in cinema management. And in that world, there was no Laila who was willing to lend a hand to help an Eastern director. With his hot-headed personality, it would have been all too easy for him to make a mistake he couldn't recover from.
Han Mingjiang felt a little frustrated after her blunt lecture, but considering who Laila was, he held back his rebuttal and merely said, "I'll be more careful in the future."
Laila could hear the reluctance in his tone. A stubborn man like him wouldn't change overnight. If she could keep him close by, maybe she could teach him herself. But with such distance between them, she figured it'd be better to hand the "wake-up call" job over to someone else.
So, after ending the call, she dialed Fu Chuan.
"Boss, thank you so much!" came Fu Chuan's emotional voice the moment the call connected.
He practically worshipped his boss. In such a short amount of time, she had managed to resolve such a difficult matter! If she hadn't stepped in, who knows how badly his old friend would've been screwed over.
Laila sighed. She couldn't help but think how incredibly lucky Han Mingjiang was—to have such a devoted friend like this. Where had he earned that kind of good fortune?
"It wasn't hard to resolve," she said calmly, then paused to collect her words before continuing. "Han Mingjiang is undoubtedly a talented director—you can see that from his film. But when it comes to dealing with people, I think you need to give him some guidance."
Fu Chuan had known Han Mingjiang since they were kids. If anyone understood his personality, it was him. The moment Laila mentioned it, he instantly knew what she was talking about.
"Did he say something that offended you? If he did, I'll make him apologize to you in person right away!"
If necessary, he'd drag Han Mingjiang to the U.S. to kneel and beg for forgiveness! After everything Laila had done for him, if that idiot's dumb habits were acting up again, he deserved a good beating. Being stubborn was one thing—but to be stubborn with Laila? Was he insane?
Laila couldn't help but chuckle. "He didn't offend me. I'm talking about the incident that caused all this in the first place. You might not know the full details yet."
Then, in just a few clear and simple sentences, she summarized what she had found out.
"And if you were in the other guy's position—with that kind of power—what would you have done?"
Holy shit, I'd want to kill the bastard too! Fu Chuan swore furiously in his head.
Forget anyone else—if he saw a pretty girl while out having fun, he'd probably want to strike up a conversation too. And that second young master hadn't even said anything inappropriate, let alone tried to force himself on her. At worst, he hadn't even had the chance to try! And then to get pushed so hard he hurt his back? Hell no!
If a film director did that to him, you can bet he'd cause trouble during that director's release, too. He was in charge of scheduling movie screenings across major theaters—a few fewer screenings could mean losses of tens of thousands! Even if he didn't act, investors would step in to wreck anyone who crossed them.
"Don't worry, boss. I will straighten that guy out!" Fu Chuan swore through gritted teeth.
Laila trusted him. Back when she'd hired him, it had been precisely because she appreciated his capabilities.
"As long as you understand. I know personality isn't something that can change overnight. But you have to make him realize that Hollywood is far more competitive than the East. Yes, he's talented—but this is the holy land of cinema. If he wants to make it here, he has to understand there are plenty of people just as talented—if not more so—than him. Why should they give him a chance? Besides ability, there are many other factors they'll consider."
"At the very least, before he has the strength to let his work speak for itself, he needs to learn how to get along with people."
What Laila said was based on her years of experience. After so long in Hollywood, she understood this world all too well.
A truly great director could afford to be arrogant—even act like a tyrant on set—and people would still throw money at them. Top actors would line up begging for roles in their films.
Why?
Because that kind of director had proven results. People knew their movies made money. People knew the characters they created would receive critical and public attention.
But a newcomer with no body of work? No one even knew who they were. It was hard enough to secure funding, let alone find willing actors.
Investors weren't throwing their money around for fun. If they didn't know what a new director was capable of, they'd rather put that money into someone with a reputation. And as for actors—forget it. Any actor with even a bit of name recognition, or who took their career seriously, wouldn't randomly join the production of a nobody.
Many actors had their own black marks—cringeworthy roles in terrible films. Once they became famous, those old performances would come back to haunt them. So anyone with ambition and the confidence to make it in Hollywood would rather play a small supporting role under a respected director than star in a film helmed by a complete unknown.
Especially if that unknown director was an Easterner.
It wasn't that there weren't any good Eastern directors—but there were far, far too few.
Looking at the entire history of Hollywood, how many Eastern directors have stood on the Oscar stage?
Only one.
And that one didn't even come from the most populous Eastern nation.
In over a hundred years, with over a billion people, not a single Oscar-level director had come out of the Eastern mainland. That, in itself, was a tragedy.
That was why Laila had gone out of her way to nurture someone like Han Mingjiang.
Even if just one more Eastern director could find a foothold in Hollywood, it would be a big win for Eastern cinema as a whole.
After getting Fu Chuan's firm promise, Laila finally considered the matter settled—for now.
She had done everything she could. If Han Mingjiang still turned out to be a hopeless case, then she would give up on him without hesitation. After all, the East had plenty of people—and its film industry was flourishing. She was sure she could find other promising talents to cultivate.
With her support and her "New Wave Project" backing them, she didn't believe she could raise a few world-class directors.
A few days later, Laila received another call from Fu Chuan.
He had only one piece of news:
He had taken Han Mingjiang to personally apologize.
The Yu family's Second Young Master, even though still disgruntled, had no choice but to accept their apology under pressure from his older brother. He agreed to let the whole incident go.