Happening across their "patron," Eric Shih of Warner Brothers Taiwan, proved to be the helping hand Chen needed to spur him along the last, uphill section of his trek. When Island Etude producer Wang Keng-yu heard that Warner, which rarely released Chinese-language films, was willing to offer two free trial screenings to Taiwanese films that were in search of a distributor, Chen leapt at the opportunity and met with Shih.
而與「貴人」──美商華納公司總經理石偉明的相遇，則成了中年導演環島旅程最後上坡路的意外推手。當《練習曲》製片王耿瑜聽到很少發行華語片的美商華納公司，願意提供國片兩次免費使用試片室的機會時，什麼都沒多想的陳懷恩與華納總經理石偉明見了面。