Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 451 Gao Qunshu

On August 8, in a screening room in Beijing

As the scrolling credits appeared, the lights came back on, followed by applause that gradually rose.

Zhang Chen stood up, straightened his clothes, and walked to the front of the stage, followed closely by Jing Tian.

This was a media screening specially held for "Crocodile Storm", and the invited audience were basically writers and film critics from some well-known columns.

The applause continued. Zhang Chen looked at the people in the audience with a smile and clasped his hands together. Then the applause gradually weakened.

"Thank you everyone~"

Zhang Chen smiled and said, "Do you think this movie 'Crocodile Storm' is okay?"

"A very good thriller, very immersive~"

"Congratulations to Xingchen Entertainment for releasing another masterpiece~"

Everyone praised it generously.

"Thank you, thank you~"

Zhang Chen clasped his hands together again and said with a smile: "If it still catches your eyes, I would like to ask you to help promote it.

I'm sure everyone knows Ms. Jing Tian next to me. She played the daughter in Taken. This is her first time to play a leading role. New actors need encouragement. I hope you will write about her and let more audiences see her efforts..."

"Director Zhang, you're too polite~"

"Ms. Jing performed very well~"

Everyone echoed.

Da Tiantian was so nervous that she didn't know what to say and could only keep bowing.

Seeing the actor's simplicity, everyone burst into laughter, which made Jing Tian blush.

"Haha, our heroine is shy~"

Someone couldn't help but make a joke, and Jing Tian's face turned even redder.

“Okay, everyone, stop teasing the newbies.

After watching the movie for such a long time, everyone must be hungry. We have prepared a dinner, please move in. There will be small gifts later as a token of our appreciation. "

As Zhang Chen spoke, he gestured for everyone to go out. Lu Zheng had been waiting at the door with a smile on his face. Every time someone came out, he shook hands with them and presented them with a gift.

The gift was a red envelope plus an MP3, which was also known as travel expenses.

"Thank you for your concern~"

"Thank you everyone~"

"It's just a token of my appreciation, not a token of my respect~"

The media film screening is actually public relations.

Everyone here has certain social resources, they are either the editor-in-chief of a column or a well-known film critic. You invite them together, you give them travel expenses, and they will use their fame to sing praises for you.

Everyone takes what they need, this is the simplest circle~
If it were Zhang Chen's film, it would definitely not involve these things.

His fame no longer requires these means.

But this time the situation is special. The protagonist Jing Tian is a quasi-newcomer, and although director James Wan is a well-known Hollywood director, domestic audiences may not know him.

If you ask you whether you have seen "Saw", most people have.

If you ask who the director of "Saw" is, most people probably can't tell you.

After all, the director is behind the scenes and is less famous than the big stars in front of the stage.

The announced cost of "Crocodile Storm" was 50 million, the actual production cost was 20 million, and the publicity and promotion cost was 10 million.

The investment is not high, but the publicity and promotion costs are not low either.

There is no way, this is the disadvantage of not having a strong enough lineup.

When promoting a movie now, the media always looks at the cast. If the cast is strong, the media is willing to report more.

Although "Crocodile Storm" has a lot of gimmicks, neither Jing Tian nor Xu Qing are first-tier stars. If they want exposure, they can only spend money on publicity.

Only when the publicity is in place will the theaters schedule more screenings for you.

Without enough publicity, it will be useless even if Zhang Yimou comes.

The most obvious examples are "House of Flying Daggers" and "A One Man's Journey", both of which are films by Zhang Yimou. Almost no one has heard of the latter, but because there was no publicity, the box office results were very different.

However, this time, the theaters were very considerate and gave 30% of the screening time to "Crocodile Storm".

At an earlier screening meeting for theater managers, everyone expressed affirmation of the quality of "The Shallows," and coupled with the hype of being a sister film of "The Shallows" and the spin-off of "Taken," it earned 30% of the screenings.

It's rare to be able to give so much.

It is said that publicity + support from theaters = high-grossing movie.

Now that the cinema chains have given their support, the publicity certainly can’t be lax.

That’s why we had this media screening.

When any movie is released, its early reputation cannot rely solely on the movie itself and needs to be maintained.

Almost all movies, without exception, have good reputations when they are first released.

Today's media screening included travel expenses and small gifts, all just to build word of mouth.

We usually say that publicity determines the lower limit of box office, and word of mouth determines the upper limit of box office.

But to have a good reputation, people must first read it.

If you don't maintain your reputation in the early stages, once someone maliciously gives you a bad review, it can easily turn into a black swan event.

The most obvious examples are "Shanghai Fortress" and "Fengshen 2".

In the past, Dong Jianqiang was responsible for these matters, but unfortunately, the end of August was the Venice Film Festival, and Dong Jianqiang took "Crocodile Storm" to the film festival to sell the film, so Zhang Chen had to do it himself.

In Zhang Chen's version of "Crocodile Storm", Jing Tian's acting is OK and the special effects are also good.

James Wan is worthy of being a horror film director, he has a perfect grasp of the tense atmosphere.

Overall, it's better than the original.

Zhang Chen believes that after "Crocodile Storm", Jing Tian's popularity will definitely increase greatly.

It will be stabilized later. I can’t say about the first line, but the second line will be fine.

Thinking of this, he was also a little puzzled.

I wonder why Jing Tian from the original time and space is not popular~
With so many incredible resources, it just can’t be made popular.

Zhang Chen even made a very negative guess, that Jing Tian had not been popular because her family did not want her to do this, so they found resources specifically for her in order to make her give up on her own initiative.

Otherwise it doesn't make sense, how can they grasp it so accurately, every one of them is a big production, but none of them is a hit.

In the later period, Jing Tian even became famous because she was not famous: Zhuang Xinyan who couldn’t sing and Jing Tian who couldn’t be made famous.

"Don't be nervous, don't be nervous~"

Seeing that Jing Tian's face was still a little flushed, Zhang Chen hurried to comfort her.

"You can't do that. If you want to be a star, overcoming shyness is a necessary stage~"

Jing Tian nodded: "I don't know what happened today, I'm not like this usually."

"But it's not bad for you to maintain this personality~"

"what?"

Jing Tian didn't understand what the character setting was. Zhang Chen explained, "It's good for you to stay simple. There are too many shrewd people in the entertainment industry. The audience is already used to it. If they occasionally see someone like you who is as blank as a sheet of paper, they may be more interested...

If the audience is interested in you, the media will report more, and then you will be more likely to become famous..."

After Zhang Chen's analysis, Jing Tian looked confused, while Lu Zheng next to him seemed to be thinking about something.

……

A dinner party is a social occasion.

Some people are not used to such occasions and just leave after taking the red envelopes, while others chase after such occasions, hoping to make more connections.

There were more people at the banquet than just the number mentioned earlier. There were many more, some I knew and some I didn’t. Everyone came with their own purpose.

Zhang Chen met an unexpected person here——

"Director Gao Qunshu?"

Zhang Chen asked uncertainly, and the other party nodded with a smile: "Hello, Director Zhang Chen, I am Gao Qunshu~"

"It's really you~"

"I'm sorry, I came uninvited~"

"No, no, Director Gao, you're too polite~"

The reason why he was a little surprised was not because the other party came uninvited, but because of the other party's identity.

"Crocodile Storm" is scheduled to be released on September 9st, and Gao Qunshu's movie "Tokyo Trial" is also scheduled to be released on September 1st.

Strictly speaking, the two are competitors.

That's why he was wondering, is Gao Qunshu here to spy on the enemy?

Gao Qunshu felt a little embarrassed by being looked at, scratched his head and smiled awkwardly: "Director Zhang, actually I have no other intention in coming here this time.

Even though "Tokyo Trial" and "Crocodile Storm" were released at the same time, they are not actually competitors.

They are all different types and have different audience groups. "Tokyo Trial" will not pose a threat to "Crocodile Storm".

I came here mainly to see what a media screening is like. As you know, I used to make TV series, and Tokyo Trial is my first movie. I don’t understand many of the processes. I happened to hear about the screening of Crocodile Storm, so I thought of coming here to learn from it…”

Gao Qunshu was very frank and did not try to hide anything. He spoke directly about the matter.

Zhang Chen naturally wouldn't be stingy, "Hahaha, Director Gao, don't misunderstand me, I don't mean anything else. On the contrary, I welcome Director Gao's arrival~"

What he said makes sense. Between "Tokyo Trial" and "Crocodile Storm", the one that should be worried about is "Tokyo Trial".

"Oh, I haven't congratulated Director Gao on winning the Special Jury Award at this year's Changchun Film Festival for his film Tokyo Trial~"

"Tokyo Trial" is a documentary starring Damian Lau, Kenneth Tsang and Yingda. It tells the story of the trial of Japanese war criminals by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo in 1946.

This film not only won the Special Jury Award at the Changchun Film Festival, but was also nominated for Best Director at this year's Golden Rooster Awards and Hundred Flowers Awards.

"Thank you, thank you~"

Gao Qunshu waved his hands. After seeing the media and film critics present today, he knew that "Tokyo Trial" would never be a match for "Crocodile Storm".

Not to mention marketing or anything, just talking about the movie itself, it is no match.

"Tokyo Trial" is a realist film with a serious subject matter, and it is not known for its box office success, but it is good at winning awards.

In fact, Gao Qunshu can be considered to be from the Northwest circle, but the Northwest circle is not a circle and has always been fighting on its own.

"I've heard Director Zhang's opinions on commercial films before. After watching "Crocodile Storm" today, I was even more touched. It's as if I suddenly know how to make a commercial film~"

"Oh, Director Gao's next work is going to be a commercial film?" Zhang Chen suddenly became interested.

"Yes, I have always had a story in my mind, about drug enforcement~"

"Is it inconvenient to talk about it~"

Seeing that Zhang Chen was interested, Gao Qunshu did not hide anything and told him the story.

Zhang Chen's face was very interesting after hearing this.
Northwest~
Drug Enforcement
Isn’t this “The West Wind Blows”?

"Director Gao likes this kind of realistic subject matter?"

Seeing Zhang Chen asked this, Gao Qunshu nodded.

He does prefer this type of film, and his previous film "Conquest" was also of this type.

Zhang Chen pondered for a moment and said, "I also have a story here. I wonder if Director Gao likes it. If he does, we can work together~"

"Oh, I'd like to hear more about it~"

Zhang Chen did not tell the story right away, but asked, "Director Gao, do you know about the kidnapping of Wu Ruofu a few years ago?"

That’s right, what Zhang Chen was talking about was “Rescue Mr. Wu”.

Adapted from a true story~
In the original time and space, the director of this play was not Gao Qunshu, but Zhang Chen felt that Gao Qunshu was very suitable for this type of film.

In the original time and space, he made a movie called "The West Wind", claiming that it would get 5 million at the box office, but it flopped.

Then there is no more then.

The journey of making movies came to an abrupt end, and he could only go back dejectedly to continue tinkering with his TV series.

But Zhang Chen really feels that the subject matter of "Saving Mr. Wu" is very suitable for him.

Gao Qunshu recalled it, nodded, and then asked in surprise: "You want to shoot this?"

Zhang Chen nodded: "What realistic subject is more suitable than a real case?"

Gao Qunshu was surprised, and after a while he said, "But didn't the Radio and Television Bureau ban dramas involving crimes?"

"That's a TV series, not a movie. Of course, if you really want to shoot it, you have to contact the Ministry of Public Security and get permission before you can shoot it."

What Zhang Chen was talking about was buying copyrights in later generations.

In later generations, movies adapted from real cases, such as "Operation Mekong", needed to purchase copyrights from the Ministry of Public Security and obtain permission before they could be filmed.

Gao Qunshu was still in doubt, so Zhang Chen asked, "Director Gao, what do you think of this subject? It's adapted from a real case, and it has a prototype. The audience will definitely be interested, and the box office will definitely be good."

After Zhang Chen said this, Gao Qunshu thought more and more that this was the case.

"Director Zhang really understands the art of film. Every idea he comes up with is brilliant..."

"Hey, Director Gao, please stop flattering me. How about this story? Are you interested in it? If you are, we can work together~"

"How to cooperate?"

"I will run this matter, and Director Gao will direct it when the time comes~"

After hearing what Zhang Chen said, Gao Qunshu was really moved, but he was still a little confused: "Why doesn't Director Zhang direct it himself?"

Zhang Chen sneered: "I am not good at this type of film, but Director Gao has always been an expert in this area. I have also seen "Conquer"..."

"We can ask Wu Ruofu to play the role of himself. This is another very good gimmick. The key is that the case was solved very beautifully, and there is no suspicion of discrediting the public security organs, so the possibility of obtaining the copyright is very high..."

Zhang Chen was not afraid that Gao Qunshu would kick him out after listening to his idea and let him handle it himself. If the other party really dared to do so, Zhang Chen would arrange a large group of people to encircle and suppress him.

Or they could shoot another identical version of "Saving Mr. Wu", and then the two films would compete against each other.

Anyway, with his fame, he is not afraid of fighting in the ring.

He is invincible below the same level, and can exchange one for one with those above the same level.

At present, no one can make him a one-for-one trade.

Gao Qunshu was still hesitant, "Director Zhang, let me think about it. We can talk about this matter after the movie is released..."

"Easy to say~"

(End of this chapter)