Fairy Chow mother

After finding success in making short webisodes, Lu puts his passion for comedy into three 20-minute films screened on Youku: (from top) UFO, Wedding Photos and The One. Photos: Courtesy of Lu Zhengyu

Director Lu Zhengyu first met his idol Steven Chow as a devoted fan during a promotional appearance for Chow's film CJ7 in 2008. Chow was a guest on a TV show for which Lu had made a short video segment. The video showed fans like himself who had chosen to go into filmmaking because of the Hong Kong director, actor and producer.

Lu's segment was aired, and Chow expressed his appreciation with a thumbs-up. Lu continued to direct and act in Beijing, and it seemed his brush with Chow had come and gone.

Three years later, out of the blue, Chow got in touch with Lu, and asked him to join the team of script writing for his next film, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, which was scheduled to start shooting just 10 days later. Lu hopped on board, and ended up writing for and playing a role in the film.

Now Lu is a rising comedy star in his own right. His online video series Hip Hop Quartet started its fifth season on Youku in August, attracting millions of online viewers. His acclaimed short films broke records for online paid content videos. Starting out as a pure fan of film, Lu has made his teenage dreams come true.

Paid content miracle

After his time on the Journey to the West crew, Lu started to work on three of his own short films. Lu set up his own team for the series and started preproduction. It took only 15 days to film all the scenes of the three short films in November of 2012.

When he released the first short, called The One, as a pay-to-view video on Youku in March this year, the vintage-style movie got a booming order online, surpassing that of Ang Lee's Life of Pi, according to a report on youku.com.

Many fans sent messages to Lu saying that it was the first time they had paid for online video content and had found it really worth the price. Audiences started quoting lines from the movie and copying the humorous poses from the closing dance number.

Lu shot the 20-minute movie in an old Shaw Brothers film style, with exaggerated facial expressions and eye-catching colors to match. The original script was full of Lu's unique sense of humor, playing off classic story lines from old kung fu movies, then finishing with a surprisingly touching ending.

The other two short films of the series were also highly praised by netizens. After the mystery-comedy UFO, many started discussing and analyzing the show's puzzles. After the relationship-driven Wedding Photos, viewers left comments about their own long-term relationships.

Lu was proud that his comedies not only made people laugh but also inspired people to think about themselves and society.

"The highest level of comedy is to drive people to cry while they laugh, and make people smile after the tears," Lu told the Global Times.

Another Chow?

Many people comment that Lu is quite in Chow's style for his ability to direct, write and act, and call him a disciple of Chow. Lu smiled at this, and admitted he did learn a great deal from Chow. But he emphasized that original creations are the lifeblood of a comedian.

Lu kept in touch with his idol after his time on Journey to the West, sharing ideas and asking for advice.

"I told Chow my ideas from my marriage, creating black humor about a long-term relationship. He said, 'Why don't you film them?'" Lu said of the conversations that led to Wedding Photos.

"I am different from some comedians with North-style humor such as Feng Xiaogang," Lu said. "That is why people found me closer to Chow."

Besides Chow, Lu is also influenced by British humor, which focuses on embarrassing moments rather than ironic dialog.

He insisted that a comedian should always have a pure heart.

"Chow is like a white-haired child, and I am also a childish person. Comedians are living in their own worlds," said Lu, dressed in an Astro Boy hoodie.