Extracting skills from movies

After Du Sheng left, he planned to go to Miracle Records to see how the recording of his third Chinese album was going.

Unexpectedly, Yang Shucheng came to the mainland and asked him to meet.

In addition to discussing the screening schedule of "Flash Point", it seems that there is also some talk about commercial cooperation.

This time, Du Sheng specifically asked Wang Yaoyang to drive because he knew he would have to drink a few glasses.

The place chosen by the other party was a not-so-conspicuous private club outside the Third Ring Road.

This club was recently opened. Although its location is a bit remote, the interior decoration is extremely exquisite and of very high quality.

Only people who really know the business will come to this kind of place.

When we arrived at the entrance of the club, as soon as the driver parked the car, a doorman quickly came forward to open the door.

As Du Sheng got out of the car and was about to walk in, he was politely stopped by the lobby manager at the door.

The manager was dressed in a business suit and looked quite professional, except that one button of her shirt was missing, her skirt was a little shorter, and she was wearing a pair of black high heels. The overall look gave her a formal yet somewhat coquettish look.

She said politely:
"Sir, this place is a membership-based management place, and you need to verify your identity before you can enter.

If you are not a member yet, you can ask an old member to recommend you. "

As a public figure, Du Sheng is well aware of the importance of keeping a low profile in such occasions.

Becoming a member here was obviously not his choice.

So, he called Yang Shucheng directly.

Not long after, Yang Shucheng sent someone down to greet them.

Led by a waitress, the group walked through the elegantly decorated lobby and entered a small garden full of natural beauty.

There are verdant bamboo forests, various ornamental trees, and carefully arranged rockery and streams, creating a very elegant environment.

There are many independent small courtyards scattered in the garden, and each courtyard is kept at an appropriate distance to ensure privacy.

Du Sheng followed Yang Shucheng to a courtyard called "Yiyunju".

There were already several guests gathered in the room, three men and two women.

Seeing Du Sheng coming, everyone stood up to greet him.

Yang Shucheng then began to introduce:
"Mr. He, you two are old acquaintances, so I won't introduce you any further.

This is Mr. Wang Yingxiang, the head of Wancheng Xianglong Pictures, and also a well-known figure in the Chinese film industry.

There is also this director Wei Desheng, as well as Wen Di and Zhang Huimei..."

Like Zhou Jielun, Wen Ruo was also discovered by Wu Zongxian.

However, she is taking the hot route, having released her fifth album this year and is preparing to enter the film and television industry.

Not to mention Zhang Huimei, a top female singer in Bay City, who is also preparing to venture into the film industry.

Du Sheng took off his sunglasses, nodded to everyone, and sat down.

He really couldn't turn down the party tonight.

On the one hand, it was because Yang Shucheng had invited him many times, but he had always declined.

On the other hand, He Guohua also called personally.

In addition, his company's newly developed online ticket purchasing software had just reached a cooperation with China Film, and He Guohua helped a lot in it.

Out of gratitude, I came here reluctantly.

I didn’t expect Yang Shucheng to choose such a “high-end” place and even specially arranged for a female celebrity from Bay City to accompany him.

Judging from the reactions of the people around me, they seemed to be used to it.

Especially Wang Yingxiang, although he is not young anymore, he is still very enthusiastic about tonight's activities and is obviously looking forward to the upcoming shows.

Although he had some reservations in his heart, Du Sheng never wanted to make a name for himself in such occasions.

So after sitting down, he exchanged a few polite words and asked:

"Boss Yang, are you looking for me about the Hong Kong release of Flash Point?"

“There is something about this.”

Yang Shucheng was slightly stunned, then replied with a smile:

"But the main reason is that Mr. He had some problems. I just came here to meet up with an old friend."

He had collaborated with Xianglong Pictures on the distribution of several films, so the two parties were naturally familiar with each other.

He Guohua poured Du Sheng a cup of tea and said:
"We had planned to release Flashpoint next year, but the above said it would be better to release it a few days earlier."

Du Sheng was a little surprised and said:
"what's the situation?"

He Guohua took a sip of tea and explained:

"One of Wenxuanchu's leaders is about to be promoted, and he is very optimistic about this movie. I thought I might as well prepare it in advance to add another touch of color to it."

Du Sheng raised his eyebrows:

"Will this not please both sides?"

Political achievements are very common in this circle.

He Guohua nodded:

“It is true that there will be some impact, but this leader is not retiring and will continue to coordinate film line affairs, especially the review aspect.

If you were in my position, you would know what to do, right? "

Du Sheng understood and said:
"So how long in advance does Flashpoint come out?"

Calculating the time, there is less than a month left until the originally scheduled release on July 1.7.

He Guohua thought for a moment and said:

"Move forward to 12.30. That day happens to be the weekend. Do you think it's okay?"

Du Sheng smiled:
"In order to avoid too much tension, we moved the release date to early next year.

If this is changed, it will really be a conflict of schedule. "

In addition to "Flash Point" in this year's Lunar New Year, Cheng Kaige's "The Promise" was released not long ago.

There is also Zhang Yimou's "A Solo Journey of Thousands of Miles", which has already been scheduled for mid-to-late December.

In order to avoid being laughed at and scolded by Master Zhang for not respecting the elderly and loving the young, they took the initiative to step back for a week.

Unexpectedly, after going around in circles, I ended up back where I started.

He Guohua helplessly spread his hands and said:
"It can't be helped if the dates overlap. Maybe a fight between the three strongest players will be more exciting."

Yang Shucheng laughed and added:
"There are more than just the top three, there's also 'A Chinese Odyssey' directed by Stephen Chow and starring Michael Tse, and the Hollywood blockbuster 'King Kong' which was released in early January.

In addition, Jet Li's "Huo Yuan Jia" also wants to squeeze into the Lunar New Year period, this is a six-nation competition."

In today's mainland film market, the concept of the Spring Festival period has not yet been fully formed, so the New Year period is the most anticipated period.

Movies with strength and ambition will all target the Lunar New Year holiday season.

Du Sheng nodded and said:
"Okay, it will be released on December 12th!
Just thinking about organizing the most popular Lunar New Year battle of the year is exciting.

Anyway, we have the support of China Film and Miracle Cinemas, so we have a big advantage in scheduling films.

But to be honest, we really need to be more careful about these two films, "The Promise" and "A Single Man's Journey". "

He Guohua looked at Du Sheng's confident look and couldn't help but sigh:

"You are still young and energetic!"

In fact, he was also hesitant when he proposed to release the film earlier.

If I had a choice, I really wouldn't want to go head-on with blockbusters like "The Promise" and "King Kong".

But Du Sheng was not afraid at all and felt particularly excited.

This youthful vigor is exactly what he lacks. Du Sheng's confidence in "Flash Point" is not an empty boast.

He had already seen the complete edited version. The plot was tight, the scenes were superb, and the fights were hyper-realistic. It was a true action blockbuster that was not inferior to Hollywood blockbusters.

I guess the leaders watched the finished film for review and felt that it would definitely be a hit, so they wanted to release it early so that they could use it as their own political achievement.

Watching another promotional video produced at the same time, the leader didn't mention anything at all.

The distinction is obvious.

In fact, in addition to its high quality, what matters more about this film is the two trump cards in Du Sheng's hand.

The first is the theater schedule.

Like "SPL", "Flash Point" was jointly invested by China Film, Miracle Studios and Yinghuang.

Cinemas under China Film currently account for nearly 16% of the market share in the country.

And Miracle Cinemas isn’t bad either.

After two years of development, there are now 218 screens, accounting for 11% of the total number of screens in the country, ranking among the top six cinema chains in the country.

If we combine those small cinema chains, they will account for almost 40% of the number of screens in the country.

This has a huge impact on the box office.

And the remaining 60% of theaters have a relatively neutral attitude towards "Flash Point" and other films.

After all, Du Sheng’s appeal is strong enough, and the performance of his previous work “SPL” is also there.

Once the word of mouth for "Flash Point" comes out, the screening schedule will most likely increase further.

Du Sheng’s second advantage is quick online payment.

Most of the people who go to the movies are young people, and they love to buy tickets online.

As long as Star Media continues to promote promotional activities, the box office will definitely increase.

In addition, the reputation of "The Promise" is not very good, and "A Solo Journey" is an art film with a relatively narrow audience.

With this calculation, Du Sheng is full of confidence in the performance of "Flash Point" during the Lunar New Year holiday.

"Besides this, is there anything else?"

Du Sheng turned to He Guohua, who explained:

“With the increase in economic and cultural exchanges in recent years, our relationship with the Bay City has grown stronger.

The above hopes to use the medium of film to further promote the concept of "Datong in the World".

Therefore, Huaxia Film took the lead in launching a new project called "Seediq Bale", which tells the story of the Seediq people, the indigenous people of Taiwan, who resisted the colonial rule of Neon Japan. The purpose is to show the common historical perspective and national spirit of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait through this film."

Seeing that everyone was somewhat puzzled, He Guohua continued:
"In order to better convey this concept, we adopted a cross-strait, Hong Kong and Macau cooperation model this time.

It is jointly invested by China Film + Star Media, Hong Kong Yinghuang and Taiwan's Xianglong Pictures, and actors from all over the world are invited to participate in the performance.

Bay City has already confirmed that Miss Wen Di will be the leading female role, and other actors such as Zeng Haosheng and You Daqing will also join the cast.

But their appeal is average, so the mainland needs a heavyweight actor to take the lead.

Mr. Du, given your advantages in acting and popularity, I was specifically asked to invite you to participate. "

Du Sheng had never watched Seediq Bale before, so he didn't know who the original male lead was.
But after hearing He Guohua's introduction, he couldn't help but say:
"Is this a reference to 'Love in Bashan'?"

He Guohua seemed a little embarrassed after hearing this, but he couldn't refute it.

After all, the main theme of positive energy on both sides of the Taiwan Strait is basically inseparable from the love story across the strait.

But young people on both sides probably won’t be too interested in this kind of propaganda.

Not to mention, the second male lead selected by Bay City has publicly stated that he is not an Oriental, so this choice is indeed dramatic.

So Du Sheng was not very interested in the movie "Seediq Bale".

He felt that even if this movie was made, it would not achieve the expected publicity effect and it was purely a one-sided wishful thinking.

So he said frankly:
"I will probably still be busy with promotions in Hollywood in January and February next year, and the company also has a lot of things to deal with during the Chinese New Year.

Mr. He, you also know that Star Media has been involved in a lot of business recently, and I can't devote myself to acting."

He Guohua opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

After all, Du Sheng has already been listed on the Hurun Rich List this year, and his net worth may double next year.

Seeing that Wang Yingxiang and Yang Shucheng seemed to have something to say, Du Sheng smiled and waved his hands:
"After March, I have another movie called Wanted to shoot, so I really can't spare the schedule in the first half of the year."

He Guohua looked at Wang Yingxiang and said:

“It doesn’t matter, there is no rush to start filming the Seediq Bale project, we can start during the summer vacation.

Mr. Du, didn’t you say before that you really wanted to work with Xu Ruoxuan?

It doesn’t matter if we can’t work together on “The Legend of Yun Shui”. Mr. Wang can ask her to play a role in this movie, so you can have a chance to get to know each other.”

In order to get Du Sheng to play the leading male role, He Guohua and Wang Yingxiang took great pains and even sent out beautiful women.

Du Sheng knew that they had misunderstood and smiled:
"I don't have any special thoughts about Miss Xu. I just mentioned it casually at the time."

It was really just a casual remark, just to make it easier for Sissi to get along with others on the crew.

Seeing He Guohua's bitter face, Du Sheng shook his head and smiled, thinking for a moment and said:

“I agree with the promotion of ‘Datong in the World’, but I think it is unrealistic to achieve it through small love and affection.

It’s better to express patriotism through lone heroes or big blockbusters, which can also attract young people.”

He Guohua's heart moved and he asked:

"Boss Du, do you have an idea?"

After the success of many film and television works, especially after receiving great praise for correcting the flaws in "The Return of the Condor Heroes", Du Sheng is now well-known in the field of screenwriters.

Du Sheng did not hide his thoughts and spoke out his thoughts:
“I wonder if you’ve heard about the illegal human organ trafficking incident that happened in Bay City last year?”

Wang Yingxiang, who had been silent, interrupted:
"Of course I heard about it. The case caused a huge uproar in Bay City. All walks of life paid close attention to it, and the news reports were everywhere."

Zhang Huimei also nodded in agreement:

"Yes, many people in Bay City were horrified after hearing this. It was really too scary."

Du Sheng smiled and continued:

“You see, this is a major event that has attracted the attention of the entire nation, but it was deliberately covered up by some people.

If it were adapted into a movie, would Bay City audiences be interested?

Do they want to go into the cinema and watch it?

In order to effectively promote ideas, we must first arouse their interest.

It is not difficult to adapt and polish this story. We can set the protagonist as an outstanding special forces soldier from the mainland, who lives in seclusion in the home of a single mother and daughter in Bay City due to some painful experiences.

Xiaomi's mother was accidentally involved in a drug deal with Heibai. In order to recover the stolen drugs and money, Heibai not only brutally killed Xiaomi's mother and cut off her genitals, but also kidnapped Xiaomi and prepared to send her to Neon to be matched with a big shot for blood type.

Out of justice and brotherhood, the protagonist decides to join the investigation and is inadvertently involved in a more horrific illegal human organ trade...

This adaptation is not only consistent with the development of the real case, but also allows for the arrangement of various promotional content about "Tianxia Datong" in the film.

This film can even be shown in areas with a large overseas Chinese population, further enhancing the publicity effect.

This will not only win a sense of identity and pride, but also achieve effective publicity purposes.”

To shoot a movie like this involving gangsters, drugs, stolen money, and a real case of human organ trafficking, the review process is not only quite complicated, but also very strict.

This kind of project must be supported and coordinated by senior management.

But Du Sheng couldn't bear to see this blockbuster being "hidden" by Korea, so he took the opportunity to promote "The World of Datong" to promote it.

………(End of chapter)