Generation Z Artists

Chapter 259 The Storm of Heroes is About to Erupt!
"Boss, are you really not considering accepting invitations to 'The Tonight Show with Jay Reynolds' or 'The Late Show with David Letterman'?"

Wang Chali developed heavy dark circles under his eyes from staying up late.

Taoist priest?

NO NO NO, the master of staying up all night!
Instead of answering, Fang Xinghe asked, "What's Nakamura Yoshihide's opinion?"

“No, not at all.” Charlie Wang shrugged. “He highly respects your personal wishes and believes that you can achieve sufficient results no matter what type of program you appear on.”

"Ah."

Fang Xinghe decided to wait and see. Anyway, he was in high demand right now, and every host wanted to invite him to their show.

"Let's go to Sony."

Fang Xinghe led the team out in the company vehicle in North America.

Oh, by the way, there are two little things that don't need to be mentioned—

First, Galaxy Pictures' North American branch has been officially established, having acquired a small independent production company as its base.

Second, the team purchased luxury homes and vehicles for him in Washington, New York, and Los Angeles, respectively.

Advice from tax and legal firms led Fang Xinghe to decide to allocate a certain amount of assets in the United States.

Bringing them all back to China is neither realistic nor cost-effective.

Anyway, real estate in the US is incredibly cheap right now. Two large villas in Washington and Los Angeles, plus a super-large penthouse in Manhattan, New York, only cost $2000 million in total. It's a sure-fire long-term investment.

After the media reported on this, Fang Xinghe hypocritically said in an interview, "Yes, I will consider America my second home. Why not? This place has extraordinary significance for me..."

Hmm, this is no ordinary field of chives.

Having been influenced by various political figures throughout history, he could speak any nonsense without batting an eye, such as, "I never want to clash with American culture; your cultural influence covers the entire globe..."

Key point: Global coverage~~~
In short, Fang is both arrogant and humble, and he always knows how to please the right audience at the right time. Apart from those stubborn racists, most ordinary Americans have a good impression of him.

Here's a joke: The number of people who criticize the US is less than one-tenth of the number in China, and many of them are of Chinese descent.

funny.

……

As Fang Xinghe drove toward Sony Pictures headquarters, he gazed out the window.

He saw that many large outdoor billboards had already been erected in the bustling areas and highway intersections of Los Angeles.

The sign displayed posters of the movie "Hero," in four different designs.

One type is the classic poster featuring prominent stars, with Jet Li and Fang Xinghe standing side by side gazing at each other, while Zhang Xiao and Li Jie watch anxiously from behind.

Jet Li's appeal among action movie fans in North America is undeniable. While Fang Xinghe does have a larger fan base, it lacks precision and has a broader, more superficial appeal. Therefore, the two employ a dual-core promotional strategy in North America.

The other three types are exciting scenes, close-up fight scenes, and close-up stills.

Of particular note is the close-up still featuring only Fang Xinghe, his battle-worn makeup—clad in heavy armor and wielding a long spear—made little girls scream with delight, and even older women and gay men scream with excitement…

The promotion of "Hero" is in full swing.

Before long, Fang Xinghe arrived at Sony Pictures, and everyone in the company came out to see him.

Yoshihide Nakamura warmly welcomed them and led them straight to the president's office, where he gave him a detailed introduction to all aspects of Sony Pictures.

By the time Sony Pictures was thriving, it had long since disappeared.

But in the present day, it has become Fang Xinghe's best partner.

The distribution negotiations for "Hero" lasted for nearly half a year, with all six major Hollywood studios involved, but in the end only Sony showed true respect.

The reason is both simple and complex—Sony reaped huge profits from releasing "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and at the same time, Sony's headquarters in Japan highly valued its relationship with Fang Xinghe, wanting to leverage him to expand Sony's influence in the fields of games, entertainment, and home appliances.

Therefore, Sony Pictures offered Fang Xinghe extremely high-profile treatment in order to welcome him.

Yoshihide Nakamura is the Vice Chairman, Chief Administrative Officer, and Chief Financial Officer of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

He is the most core Japanese executive among Sony Pictures' top executives, far more than just the CFO; he is also the "imperial envoy" dispatched by the Tokyo headquarters to Hollywood.

His primary responsibilities include overseeing finances, controlling budgets, ensuring the rationality of investments, and reporting directly to the Tokyo headquarters and Howard Stringer.

He shouldn't have been the one to contact Fang Xinghe, but he represented Tokyo and gave Fang Xinghe the highest level of hospitality.

"Mr. Fang, Chairman Nobuyuki Idei asked me to convey his sincerest greetings to you. We hope that you will have the opportunity to meet with us next time you visit Tokyo. Sony will certainly do us a good job."

The idiom is used very well; sweeping tatami mats is exactly the same as sweeping the tatami mat.

Fang Xinghe nodded with a smile: "I also hope to form a deeper cooperation with Sony."

His personal likes and dislikes never affected his ability to exploit others.

Sony is a very nice company. It is rich, generous, holds a high position, has great power, its influence is deeply rooted in the local market, and its stance is left-leaning. Ultimately, it will naturally fade away in the competition.

Currently, they have no conflict with China, and in the future, they will have even less conflict with China.

Whether it's portable music players, game consoles, or high-end home appliances, as long as they're willing to spend the money, Brother Fang will happily accept it. At worst, he'll just exclude the image licensing from mainland China.

This is completely different from the situation of Japan's three major automakers. Sony's track is narrower, higher, and more marginal. Those markets will either be naturally eliminated, be overwhelmed by the domestic market, or be too niche and uninteresting, unlike the automotive industry, which is a pillar industry and a shining pearl of the country.

By endorsing Sony, Fang Xinghe could both secure the Japanese market and its fans, and also reap another big profit. He had his eye on them for a long time.

This time, Sony Pictures showed its sincerity, and the two sides immediately hit it off.

Upon reaching the top floor, a large group of high-ranking executives gathered, including John Culley (Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment), Mel Harris (COO), and Jeff Black (Chairman of Global Marketing and Distribution for Columbia Pictures).

Fang Ge spent some time figuring out the significance of these people gathering at the same time.

Sony, a Japanese company, owns Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), which in turn owns Columbia Pictures.

The group includes—

Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures, Sony Classics (a dedicated art film studio), and the global marketing and distribution division (responsible for the promotion and release of films from all these studios).

Jeff Black was the key figure in the global distribution of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and he also has high hopes for "Hero."

John Culley was responsible for making the final decision, while Yoshihide Nakamura was responsible for reporting and communicating with the head office.

It's quite complicated, but that's just how Sony is.

Japanese companies have learned their lesson in the US time and again, and now they would rather die slowly from internal strife than be hollowed out by decentralization and streamlining of administration.

However, the release of "Hero" was beneficial to all factions within Sony, so they united as one.

The communication with senior management lasted for half an hour, and the professional meeting lasted for four hours.

Fang Xinghe certainly couldn't gain control over the distribution, but he earned himself tremendous freedom and thoroughly understood the logic of North American distribution.

Next time he releases "Less You", he will have more control.

Simply put, in the current era, during the release period of a film, the distributor has four promotional tasks.

First, traditional mass media advertising.

Television commercials, movie trailers, and print ads.

Second, public relations and media cooperation.

Celebrity tours, special interviews, and premiere ceremonies.

Third, offline and physical promotion.

Large outdoor billboards, fast food restaurant partnerships, consumer product collaborations, etc. Fourth, emerging internet marketing.

It's not very useful for now; it can only be used to spread word-of-mouth—if there is any word-of-mouth at all.

If you do these four things well, the publicity effect will be quite good.

Jeff and Fang Xinghe each took charge of a large part of the project, with Fang Xinghe responsible for things like celebrity tours, special interviews, premiere ceremonies, and collaborations with consumer goods and fast food restaurants.

Therefore, celebrities during their promotional period are extremely busy, spending long periods of time traveling between events.

Fang Xinghe was no exception, and he had an extra motivation—every offline event was a rare opportunity to boost his fan base.

"I will remain on the front lines of the propaganda battle with the utmost dedication."

Fang Xinghe solemnly assured him, then swung his arm and struck down with the stick.

"And you? When will your advertising investment be fully utilized? When will you be able to expand to over 1500 cinemas? When will you see substantial progress in your award campaign?"

Jeff Black had long since realized how difficult Fang Xinghe was to deal with, but in order to maintain a long-term friendly relationship with him, this super professional elite quickly gave him the maximum favor within his authority.

"The 1000 million yuan investment in promotion will be fully utilized before the end of the Christmas holidays. After that, I will apply for additional funding as soon as possible based on the various data of the film."

As for the scale of the screenings, I personally believe it is not advisable to expand them too early, for the following reasons…

He rattled off a lengthy explanation, and his professionalism quickly won over everyone who came with him.

The actual distribution partner for "Hero" is Sony Classics, a professional art film label under Columbia Pictures' TriStar Pictures group, which has extensive experience and resources in Oscar contention.

The strategy is to create scarcity of film sources on a medium scale, thereby generating higher attendance and arousing public anticipation.

The strategy is to first lure kung fu movie audiences and moviegoers into theaters, then gradually create a cultural trend and reap huge profits through long-term screenings.

"Foreign films can never compete with local films in terms of explosive power."

Jeff calmly explained.

"The American film market during the Christmas season is already fiercely competitive."

Currently, the market not only features the blockbuster "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," but also the powerful film "Catch Me If You Can" starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.

In addition, "Gangs of New York," which is aiming for awards, has attracted a lot of attention from film critics.

Now is not a good time to directly join the front-line battle...

Fang Xinghe sighed with emotion. The American film market was indeed too mature. No matter how amazing his skills or how far ahead of his time he was, he couldn't possibly solve all the problems with ease.

At this point, there are not many things that individuals can decide; it has truly come to the stage of doing one's best and leaving the rest to fate.

Fang Xinghe even saw a familiar name on the movie release schedule the other party handed him—the musical film, *Chicago*.

It seems to be a classic in film history?
Fang Xinghe hadn't seen it and wasn't interested, but he had seen related information about it on several occasions. He remembered it as a masterpiece that could rival "Green Book" and "Parasite".

The Christmas season is like a meat grinder...

But actually, it's the same for other release dates. All the good release dates in North America are incredibly difficult, and it's normal to run into all sorts of monsters.

"Okay, I basically agree with your opinion."

Fang Xinghe stood up and shook hands with Jeff, quick and decisive.

"Then let's get started."

Before leaving, he made a point of saying goodbye to Nakamura alone.

"If you have the opportunity to come to China, please let me do my best to be a good host."

Nakamura was overjoyed: "Definitely, definitely! It would be my greatest honor if Mr. Fang would personally take me on a tour of the beautiful China!"

He showered her with flattery—which was actually unnecessary, but Japanese office workers are so used to this kind of behavior—and, hoping to build rapport, asked with great anticipation:
"Where does Mr. Fang plan to take me to enjoy beautiful scenery and delicious food?"

"Harbin, Unit 731 Memorial Hall."

Nakamura was stunned, speechless, and at a loss for words.

Fang Xinghe laughed heartily, patted Nakamura on the shoulder, and said meaningfully, "Just kidding. I can tell the difference between friends and enemies."

Watching Fang Xinghe leave, Nakamura went back upstairs and immediately dialed Idei Nobuyuki's number.

"I'm sorry to bother you at this time..."

A calm yet domineering voice came from the other end of the phone: "Get straight to the point, Nakamura. Have you been in contact with Fang Xinghe?"

"Hi! Yes, I just saw Fang Xinghe off..."

"Hmm, what's your assessment?"

"Very powerful, very terrifying, a person who cannot be described simply as a superstar."

Nakamura sat upright and began his detailed report.

"...In conclusion, I don't think anything can defeat him."

If he suffers consecutive box office failures, he can return to being a writer. If his literary works also fail, he can return to the sports world. If he can't succeed in sports, he can become an excellent businessman.

I don't know how to describe the shock he gave me. I can only say that I never imagined a 17-year-old boy could be like this..."

Numerous words of praise poured out of his mouth, but Nakamura insisted that these were merely objective evaluations.

"So," Nobuyuki Idei began slowly, "do you think he has any intention of pursuing further cooperation with Sony?"

"Yes, Chairman."

Nakamura's spirits lifted, and he patted his chest to vouch for it.

Fang Xinghe clearly stated that in the future, he will only accept one or two endorsements from Japan at most, and will maintain good personal friendships with some left-wing writers and film masters.

I can sense that his attitude towards hatred, dissatisfaction, and cooperation isn't about finding a balance, but rather a clean break. Sony isn't on the side being cut off; we can absolutely form a long-term, in-depth, and multifaceted cooperative relationship with him…”

"In that case..."

Nobuyuki Idei pondered for less than two seconds before making his final decision.

"Then let SPE give him a push. To befriend a genius like him, you can't just talk the talk; Glory has to show sincerity!"

"Hey! Yes, I understand!"

After the call ended, CFO Nakamura immediately rejected Jeff's budget request.

Then add a reminder: Is that enough?
Jeff was overjoyed and, mustering his courage, added a sum to the $1000 million application, making it $1500 million.

This time, it was approved instantly.

Furthermore, Nakamura added a second reminder: Is the funding for the Olympic bid included?
Jeff took a whole tub of nitroglycerin pills that night and replied firmly: One thing at a time, of course not!

And so, Sony's advertising machine roared into action, adding another bucket of aviation kerosene to the already chaotic Christmas market.

Meanwhile, eager kung fu fans and moviegoers have already set their sights on the 888 carefully selected cinemas that will be showing the film.

The storm of "Heroes" is about to erupt!
*************
It's a minor injury, nothing serious. It's just an inflammation that started after I caught a cold a few days ago when the temperature dropped, and it just won't go away. I coughed so much that my capillaries ruptured.

I always cough when I'm writing about life skills; it gets better in the summer but comes back in the winter. The check-up didn't find anything seriously wrong.

I think the persistent runny nose is more annoying and affects my writing more.

(End of this chapter)