Rebirth 02, the Celestial Being Told Me to Stop Pretending

China Film Building, screening room.

There were about twenty seats, occupied by leaders from China Film Group.

Han Shangping sat in the middle, holding a pen in his hand. He didn't write anything; he just held it.

It is said that this habit was formed when he worked as a lighting technician at Emei Film Studio.

At that time, I was holding the handle of a lamp stand.

Lu Chen sat in the last row.

The lights went out.

At the 15th minute, a toilet scene. Dao Ge is squatting on the toilet, Mike is washing his hands, and the faucet is running loudly.

Han Shangping twirled his pen.

At the 20th minute, a long shot of the jade exhibition hall.

At two minutes and fifteen seconds, the three groups of people crossed paths.

Han Shangping stopped writing.

At the 100-minute mark, the end credits begin to roll.

The lights came on.

Han Shangping reached out and beckoned Lu Chen over.

Who edited the video?

"I."

Are you alone?

"Ning Hao oversaw the narrative pacing, Xing Aina oversaw the lip-syncing, and Zhao Bo oversaw the color grading. I was the final editor."

Han Shangping looked at him and smiled.

"Kid, you're pretty good."

This is the second time.

The last time we talked about investing, he said, "Don't make me lose money."

"China Film Group will handle the distribution." Han Shangping sat back down.

"Mr. Han, regarding the distribution, I'd like to mention someone."

"who?"

"Bona's Fatty Yu."

Han Shangping glanced at him.

How do you know him?

"I don't know them. But I know Bona Film Group has a wider cinema network in second-tier cities than China Film Group. This film is a low-budget comedy, so first-tier cities aren't its main target market."

Han Shangping remained silent.

"China Film Group and Bona Film Group will jointly distribute the film. China Film Group has a strong brand, guaranteeing top-tier screenings. Bona Film Group has a wider distribution network, with higher coverage in second-tier cities than China Film Group. Promoting it together will be more effective than promoting it alone."

"You want him in? Fine. China Film Group will handle the distribution; that's the bottom line."

"certainly."

"Have Fatty Yu come and talk to me."

Lu Chen stood up.

Han Shangping walked to the door and paused for a moment.

Has a release date been set?

"not yet."

"Forget about the Spring Festival release window. 'Hero' is still in production, and all the good release dates are booked."

"Then let's go with February 14th. Valentine's Day. A battle against 'The Mouse Loves the Cat'."

Han Shangping was taken aback.

Valentine's Day? A dark comedy, released on Valentine's Day?

"You're confident? It's a co-production, with Hong Kong stars."

"The release date is just the starting point; word-of-mouth is the engine. After watching romance films on Valentine's Day, audiences want a change of pace, and a dark comedy that will make them laugh until they're crouching on the floor is the perfect choice for that."

Lu Chen patted his chest.

"Valentine's Day is definitely possible, I'm confident."

The key issue is that there's no time to wait for the summer movie season.

He needs to make money now.

There's still no solution for my parents.

Han Shangping didn't say anything more and left.

-

That very evening, Fatty Yu called.

"Director Lu Chen, right? I'm Fatty Yu. President Han asked me to watch your film, and I couldn't sit still after ten minutes."

He has a loud voice and speaks very fast, like a machine gun.

"I've been in distribution for so many years, I know better than anyone which films will be hits. Let's give my brother a cut of the distribution: China Film Group takes 15%, I take 12%, three percentage points less. Distribution rights in second-tier cities go to me, and in first-tier cities to China Film Group. What do you think?"

Lu Chen thought to himself, "Isn't this just bullshit?"

If you knew everything, would Bona have ended up like that?

You're not even as good as those two precious kings.

But Lu Chen remained polite on the surface.

"Mr. Yu, you're too kind. I completely agree with your opinion."

"Brother Lu is straightforward."

Fatty Yu pondered for a moment.

"There's one more thing. February 14th is Valentine's Day, a good day. But audiences want to see romance movies on Valentine's Day. How do you get them to buy tickets?"

"Two things, Mr. Yu."

Lu Chen stood up and stretched his body.

"First, sell a concept."

"Brother Lu, what do you mean by this?"

"Our movie's promotional slogan is 'The movie you absolutely shouldn't watch on Valentine's Day.'"

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"I fucking love the concept of 'the worst movie to watch on Valentine's Day.' And another thing..."

"Another measure is to release trailers on various online forums."

"Release trailers online? Nobody does that anymore, right?"

"It's not about letting people watch the trailer online, it's about letting them discuss it online. The people online these days are mostly young people, which perfectly matches our film's target audience."

"Discussing something on a forum is more effective than playing 'GG' ten times on TV. TV 'GG' is one-way, but forum discussions are interactive. One person says it's good, ten people reply, and a hundred people read the post. This is spontaneous dissemination."

Of course, we still need to hire some online trolls.

Which forum do you want to post it on?

"Tianya and Xici Hutong are the main battlegrounds, but we also need to publish on other platforms. I'll be in charge of this."

How long is the trailer?

"Two minutes. Fast-paced, packed with jokes, and a cliffhanger ending. The biggest laugh isn't included; it's reserved for the movie theater."

Fatty Yu lit a cigarette, and the sound of the lighter came through the receiver.

"Okay. You release the trailer, I'll push for theatrical release. It's settled then."

After hanging up the phone, Lu Chen went to find Zhao Bo.

"Edit a trailer. Two minutes. Due tomorrow."

Zhao Bo spent four hours editing a two-minute and eight-second trailer.

The story begins with Dao Ge in a teahouse: "I'm the kind of person who never does anything I'm not sure about."

The scene changes.

Squatting in a toilet, climbing through an exhibition hall window, running wildly on the road, and being scolded for trying to pick someone up on a cable car.

The pace quickens, the jokes become more frequent, and the background music is Zhang Liangying's upbeat guitar piece.

In the last five seconds, the screen suddenly went silent.

Blackie squatted in the corner, clutching a loaf of bread in his hand, looking up at the camera.

The subtitle appears: Crazy Stone

The following line of small print reads: February 14th, the worst movie to watch on Valentine's Day.

After reading it, Lu Chen gave Zhao Bo a thumbs up.

"Awesome."

Then he called out again, "Wang Yan."

"arrive."

"I want to see our movie being discussed on all the major forums tomorrow. Is that okay?"

"Absolutely no problem, Director Lu. I guarantee I'll complete the mission."

Now, I, Lu Chen, am going to sweep the Valentine's Day season and dominate the entertainment industry.

Who is for and who is against?

With the internet speeds of 2003, uploading a two-minute video took nearly forty minutes.

Lu Chen didn't care about Wang Yan's post; he only cared about the result.

If you can't even handle this simple matter, how can you be his chief steward?

Unless he cuts off two ounces of meat.

Lu Chen walked out of the editing room. The January night in Beiping was cold, and his breath dispersed under the streetlights.

The phone rang.

A brief message about Liu Yifei.

"Is the film finished editing?"

"It's finished."

"Is it pretty?"

"What kind of question is that? If I were to take action, wouldn't it be a piece of cake?"

"Don't get cocky, you bastard."

The next morning, Wang Yan pushed open the door and came in, his expression not quite right.

"Brother Lu, there's something I need to tell you."

"explain."

"I heard from people in the distribution department of China Film Group that Wang Zhongjun from Huayi Brothers has been contacting theater chains these past few days, saying that they shouldn't touch these low-budget student projects, it's not worth it."

Lu Chen put down the cup in his hand.

"Does President Han know?"

"I know. Old Zhou from the distribution department told General Manager Han, and General Manager Han just replied with four words—'Don't worry about him.'"

Lu Chen smiled.

Huayi was secretly sabotaging him, but Han Shangping saw it but was not in a hurry.

He wasn't in a hurry because he hadn't seen how far the bullet had flown.

But Lu Chen knew that the bullet had already left the barrel.

Less than twelve hours after the trailer was released, there were already over three hundred replies on Tianya.

He picked up his phone and sent a text message to Fatty Yu: "Those two idiots from Huayi Brothers have contacted the cinema chains, trying to suppress our screenings. Keep a close eye on second-tier cities."

Fatty Yu probably didn't expect Brother Lu to be so direct.

But she replied instantly: "Don't worry. Huayi Brothers can contact the distribution company and the theaters, but can they control what the audience wants to see? A theater manager who doesn't make money would be crazy."

Lu Chen looked at the text message and thought: Fatty Yu is right.

Huayi cannot suppress its reputation.

But he had another worry in his heart.

Huayi is currently only creating obstacles in the distribution process. What tricks will they use once the box office results are released?

He had been waiting for this day ever since he rejected Huayi's investment.