Business Closed Loop: Starting with Ringback Tones to Take Down Giants

In the editing room, Wang Song stared at the rough cut he had just finished and nodded in satisfaction.

All that's left is color grading.

Color grading can only be outsourced to great contractors.

Jiang Yilei, standing next to him, was exporting the final version of the short film.

Three essays were submitted over a month, and in the end, only three 15-minute short films were produced.

Jiang Yilei pressed Enter: "Boss, it's been sent. Youku said to review it once and upload it tonight."

Wang Song nodded, "Okay, let Chen Shu and Ma Xiaojun promote it on the forum."

Youku Operations Department.

After watching the three short films, Xiao Zhou saw the news that Xianming was being promoted simultaneously on the forum and in the story club.

"The Immortal Name Microfilm, premiered exclusively on Youku."

He glanced at other video platforms and found that Tudou and 56.com didn't have it.

The supervisor rushed over upon hearing the news: "It's not listed on any other platforms?"

"No, only we have it."

The supervisor was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Use internal messaging to push."

Xiao Zhou was stunned: "Internal message?"

Since its inception, Youku has only pushed out two in-site messages, which were only platform updates and financing news.

I have never recommended any content to you.

"They gave us the starting lineup, we have to give back." The manager noticed his hesitation.

"Hugo single-handedly supported the traffic of 6rooms for half a year."

"For Xianming, the three short films are just the beginning, and people are still submitting them continuously."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Let's promote the 'Immortal Name Culture' brand with more sincerity."

Xiao Zhou was silent for a moment, then said, "I'll go prepare the copy."

That afternoon.

All registered users of Youku received an inbox containing a private message.

"【Recommended】The Immortal Names short film series is now online. There's bound to be one that touches your heart."

Click the link to go directly to the Xianming Culture column.

In the column, the short film is listed first, followed by behind-the-scenes footage, and then a link to selected stories.

The comment section received over 500 comments in four hours, mostly from the Story Club forum.

"The story will unfold; the original work is well-written, and the adaptation is even better."

"That suspense film gave me chills when it was made."

"Has no one mentioned the behind-the-scenes footage of that movie? I clicked on it and couldn't stop watching."

"I used to not know what the actors looked like when I watched trailers, but now watching behind-the-scenes footage feels more familiar."

"Love is Not Blind? December 25th? Okay, I'm taking my girlfriend to see it."

"Bringing your girlfriend to see 'Breakup'??"

The buzz simmered for ten days, seemingly inspiring others to imitate it.

The voice acting and color grading for "Immortal's Pavilion" are now complete.

Wang Song stared at the finished product from beginning to end. There was no strange smell. He reduced the sauce.

Only one step remains: submission for review.

Jiang Yilei placed the laptop in front of him: "Boss, look."

On the screen, a familiar name was displayed.

"Curse of the Golden Flower: Jay Chou's Behind-the-Scenes Special"

Jiang Yilei explained, "It was released yesterday."

"After our short film was uploaded to all platforms, the number of views for the behind-the-scenes footage also increased."

"The total number of views across all platforms and videos has exceeded ten million."

"And that's it."

Wang Song paused for a moment, clicked in and watched for thirty seconds, then laughed.

Zhang Weiping commented.

This is definitely Zhang Wei's comment.

To come up with such a shady idea as "me and Bale having a sex scene" just for the sake of box office success.

Only him.

"Boss, what are you laughing at? He's trying to ride our coattails." Jiang Yilei asked, puzzled.

Wang Song scrolled down and pointed to one of the comments.

"After watching Jay Chou's episode, I went to watch a few episodes of The Immortals' episode, and it was indeed quite novel."

Wang Song smiled.

"It's not about copying, it's about learning. Even blockbuster movies are copying our model; the popularity is interconnected."

Wang Song handed the computer back to her: "Keep watching it. It would be even better if they started arguing."

On the other hand, there is sorrow and despair.

Xiao Zhou was watching behind-the-scenes footage of movies released in the same period, but with completely different themes.

The name Jay Chou is so popular that it has indirectly boosted the popularity of the behind-the-scenes footage released by Fairy Name for the first time.

He breathed a long sigh of relief. Things were stable; his salary could even go up a bit more.

ding dong~

Xiao Zhou's email rang again.

"Huayi? Behind-the-scenes footage from the set of 'A Battle of Wits'?"

He searched it up and realized it had already been released a while ago. Why are they promoting it again now?

"Manager, manager, come and take a look at this."

The supervisor rushed over upon hearing the news. After watching the video, he pondered for a moment and then suddenly smiled.

"Now all three companies are releasing behind-the-scenes footage here."

He paused, a calculating look on his face, and said, "Then let's put them together and start fighting."

"I'm starting a new column called 'Off-Set Scene,' where all the behind-the-scenes footage will be posted."

"How much cumulative video viewing time do you need to receive items?"

"Let users vote with props and support the content they like."

"Wow, you're amazing, manager!" Xiao Zhou exclaimed with admiration.

The supervisor patted Xiao Zhou on the shoulder, "I have high hopes for you. Learn from me and I won't treat you unfairly."

With his blood boiling, Xiao Zhou typed with even more energy.

Three days later, the behind-the-scenes column was launched.

Homepage recommendation: "The stories outside the movies are just as fascinating."

That evening, the comments section exploded.

"I watched 'Battle of Wits' when it was released, and it was just so-so. I'll only watch these two movies."

"Are you blind? 'A Battle of Wits' is a great movie! Andy Lau's acting is superb!"

"Shut up, everyone. They're all trash compared to Jaylen, okay?"

"Can Jay Chou's fans please stop spamming this? This is behind-the-scenes footage, not a blog or forum."

"It'll be released in a few days, I'm too lazy to argue with you, the box office will tell."

December 14th, the premiere of "Curse of the Golden Flower".

It was released nationwide on December 17th, and its box office revenue exceeded 12 million yuan on its opening day.

On December 18th, the official seal of the Ministry of Public Security was firmly placed at the beginning of the film "Love is Not Blind".

Old Chen pushed the door open and came in: "The distribution deal has been finalized too."

Wang Song looked up at him.

"The Central Academy of Drama handled the distribution, following a pilot program of industry-academia-research collaboration, and partnered with China Film Group."

Old Chen paused for a moment, then added, "But we'll have to pay for it ourselves."

Wang Song was stunned for a moment: "China Film Group?"

"You think you're so important? I've never heard of that. When I asked Professor Ding, he was very secretive about it."

Wang Song thought that the Central Academy of Drama was already being very generous by allocating 30% of the nation's cinema screenings to it.

Old Chen chuckled. "There are things you wouldn't have thought of."

"Your essay contest has spread throughout the art college circle, and the Central Academy of Drama is receiving so many phone calls that they can't keep up."

"And we're touting it as the first film adapted from a story magazine."

He then handed over another official document.

The Eleventh Five-Year Plan encourages digital production and networked communication.

"The Central Academy of Drama included your project in its documents and submitted it as a typical case study."

"The explanation given to China Film Group was that this is not a commercial film, but an exploratory work guided by policy."

Wang Song remained silent for a few seconds.

So it's not that I have a big face.

It was a big policy move; we stumbled upon this policy that supports the internet.

For companies with Chinese-owned brands, mission outweighs commerce.

"Just this once." Old Chen could tell what he was thinking.

"Favors are used up one by one. If you want to take this approach again, you have to let the box office speak for itself."

Wang Song nodded.

enough.

Once is enough.

Right now.

Jiang Yilei rushed up in a hurry, clutching his laptop.

"Boss, boss, they're really arguing!"

Jiang Yilei pointed at the computer screen.

"After Director Zhang's movie was released yesterday, moviegoers said that the movie was bad and nonsensical."

"Jay Chou's fans said that moviegoers don't know how to appreciate movies, pointing out what's wrong with them, and that's how the argument started."

"Andy Lau's fans have also joined the outcry against Jay Chou's fans."

Wang Song took the computer and browsed through it.

"I've watched both of them. They were high-budget productions, but the results were just so-so."

"I, the God of Gamblers, earn the most with the lowest cost. Others don't think much of me, but I might be a dark horse."

"Come on, with such a small investment, it's good enough to break even."

"So what if the investment is small? 'Crazy Stone' also had a small investment, how did it succeed?"

"That's Ning Hao, this is a student, how can you compare them?"

"What's wrong with the students? Have you seen the behind-the-scenes footage? They filmed it so diligently."

"Can being serious put food on the table? Can being serious compare to Jay Chou? Box office results speak for themselves."

"You can't even criticize a bad film? Jay Chou's music is great, but his acting is terrible."

"They don't even have the courage to confront challenges head-on, yet they call their November releases 'New Year's Eve blockbusters'?"

True fans, fanatics, and those who just want to have fun are all here.

Wang Song switched to the voting interface, where the three votes were very close.

Xianming is leading by a narrow margin with its large quantity and satisfying portions, and it's also the name that's causing the most heated arguments in the comments section.

Some say it's a low-budget production that didn't even feature a table, while others say the other two feature films are poor imitations.

Ultimately, it all boils down to this: wait until Christmas Eve to see what happens.

Wang Song couldn't help but laugh: "I only wanted to recoup my costs, but now look what's happened."

"Everyone's watching our film closely; the anticipation is already high."

Jiang Yilei was taken aback: "So... is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

With the hype generated, distribution secured, and screenings arranged, there's always a way out.

He looked at Jiang Yilei and Lao Chen: "Of course it's a good thing."

"There's no use being anxious now. We've done what we needed to do, and the rest..."

"Leave it to the market."