"Buried"?
Renly was somewhat surprised. Andy had visited him three times today, clearly driven by the Emmy Awards, just like Morgan Fisher. However, Andy hadn't mentioned the Emmy Awards yet; he focused on "Buried". It was indeed an unconventional approach. Nonetheless, this was one of the reasons why Renly chose Andy.
Renly began talking about "Buried", and Andy listened attentively. He even inquired about the script and some shooting details. Then, crossing his hands over his belly, like the Maitreya Buddha, Andy immersed himself in deep thought. Even while contemplating, the smile remained on his lips, as if it had become a habitual expression.
"To summarize, this is an independent project, an absolute one-man show, occupying about ninety-nine percent of the screen time. During filming, you continuously challenged yourself, and the performance difficulty even exceeded that of "The Pacific", is that correct?" Andy provided a summary, to which Renly nodded in affirmation. "I have nothing to add."
"By the way, how long was the shooting period?"
"Eight days."
Andy began pondering again. Renly wasn't particularly curious about these things; they fell under the purview of his manager. Since he had already hired a manager, he delegated the professional and tedious matters to the experts. However, this was the initial stage of their collaboration; they needed to adjust, understand, and build trust. Otherwise, the next time Renly wanted to appear in an independent film like "Buried", how could he be sure that Andy would go all out to secure the role for him?
"Regarding this project, what's your viewpoint?" Renly also didn't beat around the bush, diving straight into the topic.
Andy looked up and didn't answer immediately. Instead, he nodded lightly. "A good thing. More accurately, a joyful thing. The situation is much better than I had imagined."
Now, Andy was somewhat glad that Renly had signed with him instead of Morgan Fisher. In terms of selecting roles and career planning, Renly was resolute and wise enough. While working with such a person might be more complicated, as they couldn't be manipulated in a simplistic "eye candy" manner, once the collaboration succeeded, the ultimate outcome would be worth looking forward to.
"Do you remember our last conversation when we met? I suggested that you start with independent projects, establish a strong public impression of your acting skills, and then aim for a nomination at an awards ceremony. After that, we can try some distinctive commercial scripts and explore different possibilities." Andy's words flowed smoothly, a well-practiced speech. Clearly, he had been storing this career plan for Renly in his mind, even though Renly had only agreed today.
The confidence revealed behind this was silently sharp—Andy was so certain that Renly would sign with him.
Andy wore a wide smile. "So, here we are now. You've first secured an Emmy Award nomination and then starred in an independent film where your acting skills reached their peak. God, we can't pray for a better situation." Up until now, Andy's understanding of Renly had remained speculative and conjectural. Yet, after hearing the details of "Buried", he finally confirmed his thoughts and his plans.
"Next, if all goes as planned, "Buried" should premiere in Toronto, at the very least, we hope so. Hopefully, the final quality can reach this standard. After that, we'll head to Telluride, then look at those small film festivals in New York, Rome, and Europe. By the way, you're British, right? Maybe we can go to London..."
Andy's simple words conveyed an abundance of information. The names of those places he mentioned each had their own film festivals, and each festival was a celebration for cinephiles. Among them, the Telluride Film Festival was the one Renly had always wanted to attend, surpassing even the Sundance Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival—the former being the pinnacle of independent films and the latter the oldest film festival in history. This showcased Renly's yearning for the Telluride Film Festival. Just imagining himself participating filled him with excitement and enthusiasm.
Different from ordinary film festivals, the Telluride Film Festival truly belonged to the cinephiles. The organizing committee didn't set any awards or red carpets; they completely opened up the festival to all film enthusiasts, allowing them to indulge in the beauty of cinema in this small town.
For Renly, this was a place of reverence and worship. In his previous life, he had watched thousands of films but had never truly found dedicated, seasoned film enthusiasts to connect with. Telluride's approach—abandoning commercial publicity, professional authority, and viewing thresholds—truly represented the ultimate form of his dreams.
"If our momentum is good after entering December, we might even anticipate your first Golden Globe Award nomination. Then, your choices will be entirely different." The ambition revealed in Andy's words was astonishing. This especially powerful statement, accompanied by a consistent smile, created a sense of dissonance.
Andy preemptively cut off his words, stopping at a certain point. He knew that celebrating too early was premature. The annual awards season was like a chaotic battlefield with a thousand troops charging in. Until the last moment, nobody knew how things would develop. Moreover, the quality of "Buried" and how well Renly's performance would measure up were still unknown variables.
Following that, Andy changed the subject. "Let's leave future matters to time. First, we need to start with Toronto." If "Buried" couldn't even make it onto Toronto's competition list, then all their thoughts were just wishful thinking. "No, correction, we should start with the director. Provide me with the director's contact information. He's also the producer, right? We need to communicate and plan with him."
By now, Renly had also regained his composure. In his previous life, "Buried" hadn't received any recognition during the awards season, not even a nomination. It had practically disappeared from public attention. Therefore, how things would unfold in this life was a colossal unknown.
"I didn't expect that an actor's agent would also interfere in the film's distribution work," Renly calmly remarked, with a smile.
Andy looked candid. "If it's an independent film and one where my actor takes the lead, then yes, I will intervene in the film's distribution and promotion. Maybe I won't directly participate in those tasks, but at the very least, I can facilitate connections to help them find more reliable distribution companies."
The extensive network of a talent agent was beyond imagination, and the influence of a top-tier agent was similarly beyond imagining.
"Before Toronto, we have a significant task to address first." Andy organized his thoughts. Having just taken over Renly's talent contract, everything had to start from scratch. Both "The Pacific" and the potential "Buried" had further planning value. Andy knew that the rest of the year would be incredibly busy; it was a positive sign.
"The Emmy Awards."
Renly nodded with a smile. It had only been a few hours since he learned about his Emmy Award nomination, and he hadn't fully processed the reality yet. "I also just heard the news this afternoon."
"Heh, "The Pacific" is definitely making a big splash," Andy summed up in one sentence. With his explanation, Renly finally understood this year's Emmy Award nominations.
In the miniseries and television movie categories that "The Pacific" belonged to, the competition this year was somewhat uneven. The competition for miniseries was not intense at all; ultimately, only two works, "The Pacific" and " Return to Cranford", were nominated. However, the competition in the television movie category was particularly fierce, with a total of six works receiving nominations: "Temple Grandin", "You Don't Know Jack", "The Special Relationship", "Moonshot", "Endgame", and "Georgia O'Keeffe".
Thus, in overall projects and technical categories, "The Pacific" had an absolute advantage, standing out from the rest. However, in categories where miniseries and television movies competed together, such as director, writer, and actor, it would face stern challenges.
Even so, relying on the substantial advantage in the technical departments, "The Pacific" secured an astounding twenty-four nominations. Among them, the categories of best director, best writer, best cinematography, and best visual effects received double nominations. The best sound mixing category occupied four out of five nomination slots. In terms of nomination quantity alone, "The Pacific" surpassed "Band of Brothers", setting a new record.
However, the most significant breakthrough for "The Pacific" was undoubtedly the nomination for Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie. Renly, in competition with Judy Dench from "Return to Cranford", became one of the twenty nominees in this category. While the miniseries only obtained two nominations, the television movie category dominated the remaining eighteen.
Even among these twenty nominees, Renly stood out as the most eye-catching anomaly. At just twenty years old, with a debut work centered around war scenes and an ensemble cast, Renly managed to win the judges' favor with his delicate yet solid, profound yet profound acting. He garnered his career's first nomination—a stunning debut.
A truly stunning debut.
"When you attend the awards ceremony, you will undoubtedly be the center of attention. Before this, you were an insignificant nobody, a lightweight nobody knew. Your name was completely unknown. But now, you have the qualifications to compete on the same stage as Al Pacino and Jeff Bridges. Regardless of the outcome, you've already succeeded."
Andy didn't spare his words of admiration. Looking at Renly before him, an idea suddenly occurred to him. He casually asked, "Do you want to win the award?"
"Yes," Renly's response was straightforward, succinct, without any evasiveness. He made his attitude clear in a straightforward manner. Even facing four seasoned actors, even confronting four Oscar-winning actors, even facing long-established, prolific actors—even with a debut work and first-time nomination—Renly showed no signs of retreat, nor any hesitation.
Andy's smile reached his eyes as he nodded involuntarily. "In that case, we should start with selecting a suit. The red carpet is where everything begins."