I really don't want to make bad movies!

November 30th.

The north gate of Jinghai Film and Television Academy is located on a night market street.

Kong Xun and Zhao Lang met on the set of the TV series "The Swindler" and became friends without realizing it.

Both of them received more than 90,000 yuan in remuneration and agreed to have a meal together before the series was released.

"It's a pity that Director Xia is too busy and doesn't have time to go out for dinner."

Kong Xun felt regretful and scribbled a lot of beef tendon and kidney on the menu.

Now that I have money, I should eat well!

Zhao Lang opened a beer and said with a smile, "I called Li Junlin, and he said he'd be right there."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Junlin rode his bicycle to the barbecue stall and pulled up a chair to sit down.

"We're late."

"I'll punish myself with a drink!"

The group ate and laughed for a long time, and the conversation naturally veered towards "The Swindler".

"I feel like Director Xia is actually quite talented. His script is also quite good. The quality of the film shouldn't be too bad, right?" Kong Xun looked well-behaved, but he was the most talkative, chewing on his beef and spitting out words non-stop.

Zhao Lang took a sip of beer and shook his head regretfully: "It's a pity that Director Xia was in a bit of a rush. If it had been released a month later, it might have generated some buzz."

Why?

"Don't you watch web dramas?" Li Junlin picked up a bunch of water spinach. "Recently, only one web drama has become popular, and that's 'Chinese Paladin 4'."

"I know about 'The Legend of Sword and Fairy', it's already up to 4?"

"You're so out of touch. Lately, the internet is full of announcements for 'Chinese Paladin 4'," Zhao Lang mocked him, then took out his phone and opened Weibo.

"Look, the screen is full of 'Sword and Fairy 4's GG."

Kong Xun leaned closer for a look: "Oh, Ju Jingyi is the lead actor? I'll definitely have to watch it when I get back!"

"No need to watch it, it's a terrible movie."

After a few jokes, the topic returned to "The Swindler".

"It's such a pity. Director Xia used the best equipment. But the crew is obviously short-staffed and doesn't have money for publicity. It's clear that Director Xia can't raise any more money." Li Junlin said with genuine regret.

As one of the first students to work with Xia Ming, he was well aware of Xia Ming's skill level.

Someone gave Xia Ming a brain-dead script before, which resulted in the movie "The Big Hornet".

Now, having finally found a high-quality script for "The Swindlers," they not only lack the funds for promotion, but also run into the behemoth "Chinese Paladin 4" from iQiyi.

"It's a real pity." Zhao Lang put down his chopsticks and sighed. "This could have been our chance to soar to great heights."

"Building up some positive reputation is also a good thing."

"Speaking of which, this project must have been funded by Professor Zhao, right? Could Professor Xia, a student, really afford to spend that much money?"

Li Junlin recalled the scene of Xia Ming filming "The Big Hornet" with just one Canon camera, and immediately nodded: "It must be Professor Zhao supporting newcomers, right? I asked the crew's finance department before, and Director Xia didn't even get a salary."

"That's terrible." Kong Xun shook his head with a smile.

He earned 90,000 yuan from a web series written and directed by college students, and his roommates were extremely envious when he got back.

"Huh?" Zhao Lang, who was playing on his phone, suddenly asked in confusion.

Li Junlin stopped drinking and looked at him: "What's wrong?"

Zhao Lang didn't answer immediately, his fingers kept refreshing the screen on his phone, and he rubbed the corner of his eye.

"Did I see wrong?" He handed his phone to Li Junlin and asked, "Look, what's trending at number one?"

Li Junlin frowned, craned his neck, and read out word by word: "Even director Jiang Wen personally recommended this web series full of witty battles and plot twists. Will 'The Swindler' be as disappointing as 'Chinese Paladin 4'?"

He paused for a moment, then read the next article: "Is 'The Swindler,' the new film written and directed by Xia Ming, the director of 'The Big Hornet,' another marketing stunt?"

"What the hell?" Kong Xun also sensed something was wrong and snatched the phone from Zhao Lang's hand.

After clicking into the news details and glancing at it a few times, he understood the ins and outs of the matter.

At the end of an interview promoting his new movie, Jiang Wen spontaneously promoted a web series called "Mao Pian," directed by Xia Ming.

That's Xia Ming, the director who polluted the entire internet with "The Big Hornet"!

Jiang Wen even publicly praised Xia Ming's talent, believing that he would become a remarkable director of the next generation.

Looking at other trending topics, it's about actor Chen Kun promoting his new drama, which is titled "Mao Pian"!

A web series that had not revealed any information beforehand suddenly began to spread by word of mouth online.

Kong Xun put down his phone, looked up, and made eye contact with his two partners.

All three of them saw the same problem in each other's eyes.

The "producer Jiang Wen" I saw in the script before.

Is it really Jiang Wen?!

……

The same question had already been raised during the day on the campus of Beijing Film Academy.

Many film and television students are fans of Jiang Wen and pay close attention to his interviews and new film projects.

However, all the students who watched the interview had one question.

"Who is Mao the swindler?"

The slightly morbid title caught their attention, especially after Jiang Wen's recommendation.

Then they heard Jiang Wen recommend Xia Ming's name.

It was only then that they remembered, wasn't "The Swindler" the new web series that Xia Ming from school had been working on lately?!

"What's Xia Ming's background? That Jiang Wen would personally recommend him?"

"Jiang Wen is doomed; he's ruining his reputation by recommending a borderline web series!"

"Not necessarily. Look at Weibo, Chen Kun also starred in 'The Swindlers' and strongly recommended it as a great urban crime drama!"

"Xia Ming actually managed to get Chen Kun to act? Stop bragging!"

"With less than two months between filming and release, what kind of content can they possibly produce?"

"..."

Similar discussions not only occurred at Beijing Film Studio, but also erupted at the neighboring China Film Group Corporation.

As Jiang Wen's alma mater, students at China Film Group also pay close attention to Jiang Wen and learned about an upcoming web series called "The Swindler" through interviews.

Seeing Jiang Wen's high praise for Xia Ming, they couldn't help but become curious about "The Swindler".

The huge online drama audience shares the same sentiment as the two film and television academies.

They wanted to watch web series to relieve their boredom, but were frustrated by the monopoly of "Chinese Paladin 4" on its release schedule.

Low-budget, poorly made dramas are unwatchable, and there aren't any high-budget, high-quality dramas available right now.

Just then, news of "The Swindler" began to circulate.

People started searching for "Mao Pian" online and quickly found some poster images circulating online.

The most eye-catching feature is undoubtedly the good looks of the five main actors.

The two figures stood in a triangular formation, with Jiang Xixi, whose features were sharp and stern, at the very front.

With her aloof and unapproachable aura emanating from within, Jiang Xixi can appeal to audiences of both genders.

Looking further up, the poster features Chen Kun's calm profile, exuding a commanding presence that overwhelms the five main characters, creating a powerful visual impact.

Riding on the wave of Jiang Wen's promotion of the new film, and Chen Kun's spontaneous promotion on Weibo and Yin Fu platforms, the popularity of "Mao Pian" has soared, repeatedly vying for the top spot on the trending searches.

As the director, Xia Ming kept track of all the news from beginning to end.

His phone and chat apps have been bombarded with calls.

But he didn't have time to reply to messages, so he turned on Do Not Disturb mode, found a quiet place, and continued his marketing campaign.

Xia Ming wasn't as wealthy as Kiwi Fruit, and the other main actors didn't have the star power to promote him.

The entire 6 million yuan publicity budget was used for content marketing, but it was still lacking in terms of creating hype for the premiere.

After several days of deliberation, Xia Ming decided to resort to some underhanded tactics.

It's a classic example of disparaging other shows and creating conflict.

The first choice is naturally "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 4".

The world has suffered from "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 4" for too long!

Xia Ming contacted the same seller he had previously bought accounts from and purchased a large number of platform accounts.

The seller of the accounts asked suspiciously: "It's you again."

Xia Ming replied: [Regular customers get a discount]

【Row】

After buying the account, Xia Ming immediately started posting things like, "The Swindler is the benchmark for web dramas, and Chinese Paladin 4 is a complete waste of resources."

"Three hundred million was spent on a low-quality fantasy drama series, while eight million was spent on creating a classic web series. Web series need more production teams like 'The Swindler'."

These comments quickly sparked heated arguments on various forums.

[Support "The Swindler" for its righteous victory over "Chinese Paladin 4"! Idiot iQiyi, give me back my membership money!]

[How do you know the conman only spent eight million? Are you the director? With Jiang Wen as producer and Chen Kun in the cast, how could this show be cheap?]

[Don't laugh at one pile of shit while you're laughing at another, okay? You can tell it's not a good show just by looking at the title.]

Although the quality of "Chinese Paladin 4" was terrible, Ju Jingyi had many fans who couldn't stand seeing other little-known dramas belittling their big-budget productions, so they all followed up with their responses.

[Uh, can the shills who keep hyping up "The Swindler" please stop? I'm embarrassed to even mention the title of your show when I recommend it to others.]

[If that old man who made his fortune by associating with the "Fairy Sister's" beauty can't find any roles, I also have a "Fairy Sister" in my family you can mooch off~]

[This is hilarious! They're already bragging about it before it's even online. Don't hide like a mouse when the quality is terrible.]

Every netizen harbors a strong fighting spirit, but lacks an outlet for it.

As soon as the battlefield was established, netizens from all directions joined the fight.

Regardless of the quality of "The Swindlers," it's great to be able to take a jab at "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 4."

Chen Kun's fans and Ju Jingyi's fans started arguing, with the topic even tracing back to the TV series "The Story of a Noble Family" from many years ago.

This is undoubtedly a double-edged sword.

While instantly boosting the popularity of "Mao Pian", it also put "Mao Pian" under intense scrutiny.

Countless eyes are fixed on "Mao Pian," waiting for the moment it goes online to find out what it's all about.

Is true gold truly impervious to fire, or is a paper tiger easily destroyed by fire?

In just three days, the popularity of "The Swindler" has approached that of "Chinese Paladin 4", making it the second most watched web series of the year.

Amidst a cacophony of arguments, "The Swindler" premiered on time at 6 PM on December 3rd!