Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

At 3:10 p.m. sharp, Su Yuyan appeared at the studio entrance.

Ning Yuan arrived five minutes earlier than her and was sitting in a corner of the conference room smoking.

Seeing her come in, he threw the cigarette butt directly into the mineral water bottle.

Jiang Fan sat in the main seat, with a stack of neatly organized documents spread out in front of him.

Su Yuyan pushed open the door and came in, nodded to Ning Yuan, glanced at Li Cheng, and sat down to Jiang Fan's left.

Today I wore a dark-colored tank top with a blazer over it and jeans.

Her hair was casually draped over her shoulders, giving her a neat yet relaxed look.

She put her bag down next to the chair, reached out and dragged the documents on the table over, flipping through a couple of pages.

"I read half of the script in the car a few days ago, and it's really good." She put down the documents and placed her hands on the table, folded over each other.

"But a good script and a good box office are worlds apart. I need to know a few key pieces of information—release date, marketing budget, and distribution channels. One by one."

Jiang Fan pushed the documents to the center of the table.

"The casting is basically finalized, the filming period is two and a half months, and post-production is one month. Today we'll mainly discuss distribution and scheduling."

Su Yuyan took out a notebook from her bag, opened it, and pulled out a pen.

Have you decided on your schedule?

"Release date is set for the Spring Festival."

The meeting room was silent for two seconds.

Su Yuyan's pen hovered above the paper, but did not fall.

"Say it again?"

"The Spring Festival film season starts on the first day of the Lunar New Year."

Su Yuyan put down her pen, leaned back in her chair, crossed her legs, and looked at Jiang Fan.

"Jiang Fan, do you even understand what the Spring Festival film season means? Besides, it's less than five months until the Spring Festival, is there enough time?"

"Time is not a problem."

"Even if the timing isn't an issue, those big-budget films released during the Spring Festival have budgets starting at several hundred million yuan. Is your 40 million yuan comedy just going to be a stepping stone for them?"

Su Yuyan spoke without holding back, placing one hand on the edge of the table and tapping her fingers twice.

"You're a new company, making your first film, with no established box office foundation and all amateur actors—trying to squeeze into the Spring Festival release window is suicide. Wouldn't the May Day holiday be better? I think even the summer release window is more secure than the Spring Festival."

The judgments based on more than a decade of market experience are all flawless.

Jiang Fan didn't rush to refute, but turned to look at Ning Yuan.

Ning Yuan propped his legs up and tapped his fingers rhythmically on his knees.

I agree with the Spring Festival release schedule.

Su Yuyan turned her head and glared at him.

Ning Yuan shrugged.

"This script is solid. I'm confident."

Su Yuyan looked at Ning Yuan, then at Jiang Fan.

The two people are now on the same side.

She rubbed her temples.

"Okay. Let's say it's the Spring Festival season. Then tell me, what's the marketing budget?"

Jiang Fan stretched out one hand, his five fingers spread wide.

"Fifty million."

Li Cheng walked in carrying four cups of coffee, and tripped over his feet when he heard the number.

He spilled some coffee, quickly put his things on the table, and plopped down in bed.

Su Yuyan stared at Jiang Fan for three seconds.

"Fifty million spent on marketing and promotion? What about production costs?"

"By acquiring the Mahua FunAge troupe, we can save a lot on actors' salaries. Most of the scenes will be in schools and indoors, so we don't need to build large sets. The total investment can be kept to around 20 million."

What are your box office projections?

Jiang Fan picked up his coffee and took a sip.

"A conservative estimate—no less than one billion."

No one spoke in the meeting room.

Li Cheng held the coffee cup to his lips, unsure whether to drink it or put it down.

Ning Yuan put his legs down.

Su Yuyan's expression changed from questioning to scrutinizing.

One billion.

There are many Chinese films that have grossed over 1 billion yuan at the box office, but behind each one is the collective effort of a top-notch team, top-notch resources, and top-notch marketing.

And this twenty-year-old young man in front of us, along with a newly acquired drama troupe and a director who has been blacklisted by the industry for more than a year—is aiming for a billion-dollar box office.

Ning Yuan was the first to speak.

"Your confidence in this script reaches this level?"

Jiang Fan put down his cup.

"What did you say after you finished reading it? 'The best comedy script I've ever read in my life.' You said that."

Ning Yuan shut his mouth.

Su Yuyan didn't speak, her fingers unconsciously twirling the pen.

She has seen too many cases where people confidently predict box office targets, only to fail to even recoup their costs in the end.

Su Yuyan took a breath and leaned back in her chair.

"Fine. If you're crazy, I'll be crazy with you."

She picked up her pen again and wrote a string of numbers in her notebook.

"But let me make this clear upfront—I'll do my best with the 50 million in marketing and distribution, but if the box office is still less than 1 billion, you can't blame me."

"If it doesn't reach a billion, I'll treat you to a year's worth of meals."

"What's the use of eating? If it doesn't reach a billion, you can give me your studio as collateral."

"make a deal."

Su Yuyan was taken aback, and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly.

"I don't want your crappy studio. If you lose, you'll be my assistant for a year."

"Sure," Jiang Fan leaned back in his chair, "but I won't lose."

Li Cheng listened to the conversation and silently wrote a line in his notebook: "Brother Fan sacrificed himself for Xinghuo Media."

Three exclamation marks were drawn after it.

The three of them then broke down the details of the publicity campaign, listing everything, big or small, on a timeline.

Su Yuyan is extremely efficient in her work.

Her notebook was filled with three pages, each item marked with the contact person and deadline.

Ning Yuan wasn't idle either. He offered several suggestions on the editing approach for the trailer, focusing on the density of jokes in the first thirty seconds.

Su Yuyan took over the responsibility of scheduling the films.

"I'll arrange dinner with Wanda and Dadi. Old Zhang from Huaying owes me a favor; I can negotiate for you to get over 15% of the screenings on the first day. But the subsequent performance depends on word-of-mouth—you guys handle that."

Jiang Fan nodded: "If word-of-mouth spreads after the first week, the number of screenings will automatically increase. What we need to do is ensure that enough viewers go to the theater on the first day. As long as there are people watching, we can rely on word-of-mouth to spread the word."

"You're dreaming," Su Yuyan said, tucking the pen into her notebook.

After the group had gone through everything—the release date, publicity schedule, target audience, material production, film scheduling negotiations, and roadshow arrangements—the digital clock on the wall had already pointed to seven o'clock.

Li Cheng stretched and yawned, his spine cracking a series of sounds.

He stood up and placed both hands on the table.

"Alright, alright, it's been almost four hours, my brain is about to explode. Come on, let's grab something to eat, it's on me."

Su Yuyan was already packing her things. She stuffed her notebook into her bag, stood up, and gave Jiang Fan a wink.

"I'm not going, I have plans. I'm leaving now."

She opened the conference room door and went out.

The high heels clicked lightly on the corridor floor, fading into the distance.

Li Cheng paused for a moment, then turned to look at Jiang Fan.

"Then the three of us—"

Jiang Fan stood up and put away his document on the table.

"I have something to do tonight too. You go eat with Director Ning."

Li Cheng's expression fell.

He turned to look at Ning Yuan.

Ning Yuan had already pulled his coat off the back of the chair and put it on, taking out his phone as he walked out.

"Don't look at me. My wife has cooked dinner. If you're late, you'll be kneeling on the washboard."

He didn't even turn his head, left the conference room, and walked away.

Li Cheng stood in the middle of the empty conference room.

Several confiscated documents and four empty coffee cups were spread out on the table.

He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Zhou Yutong peeked half her head out from behind the front desk.

"Brother Cheng, aren't you leaving? I'm going to turn off the lights."

Li Cheng slowly withdrew his hand from the table.

"Yutong".

"Um?"

"did you eat?"

Zhou Yutong tilted her head and thought for a moment. "No."

"Come on, I'll treat you to hot pot."

"Really?!" Zhou Yutong's eyes lit up, and she started rattling off names.

"Then I'll have a half-and half-half hot pot base, plus sliced ​​beef, tripe, and shrimp paste—"

"Enough talk. Let's go."

Li Cheng picked up his car keys and walked out.

Zhou Yutong followed behind, reciting the names of the dishes, her voice fading into the distance.