Chapter 34 on the show
In a villa near Zizhuyuan, Che Xiao and Li Shaofu lived here recently.
The villa was just bought by the richest man Li, just to facilitate Che Xiao's life in the imperial capital.
After answering Zhang Chen’s call, Che Xiao began to pack his bags and said to Li Shaofu: “I have to go out in the next few days to coordinate with the film promotion for a nationwide roadshow.”
“ Where are they going? ”
"Director Zhang, I, Zeng Li, and the staff of Guangguang Guangzhou, the location is probably Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wucheng and Hangzhou..."
The richest man Li was silent, obviously unwilling, but he also knew that it is an actor's obligation to cooperate with film promotions : "Okay, I understand, but dear, you should think carefully about what I told you. Being an actor is still too tiring."
"Okay, I will consider it. ."
"When are you leaving?"
"The flight is in three hours."
"I will send a car to take you to the airport."
"No need, the people from the light will pick us up."
......
While Che Xiao rushed to the airport, Zhang Chen unexpectedly received a call from Lao Li.
“Uncle Li, what’s the matter?”
"Xiao Chen, Director Li wants to be a film and television company. Let me be responsible. I want to hear your opinion."
Zhang Chen took a deep breath. The richest man Li wanted to enter the film and television industry. He mentioned it at the closing banquet. He thought Just saying it, I didn’t expect him to come for real.
But Zhang Chen is not optimistic.
"Uncle Li, you and my dad are friends, so I will tell you the truth. You are all outsiders. If you come in rashly, you will only be cheated. Our circle is very deep, except for Apart from celebrity remuneration, other expenses are not transparent. It’s too easy to fool you outsiders.”
“What about?”
"A straw hat costs 6,000 yuan, a pair of cloth shoes costs 3,000 yuan, and a venue costs 2,000 yuan a day. I will directly reimburse you 30,000 yuan. The key is that all the receipts are complete. How do you check?"
"Huh?"
"Moreover, making film investments requires more than just having money. Without vision, no amount of money is enough to compensate. Don't think our movie is successful. It's all an illusion. Hundreds of movies are produced across the country every year. , less than one-third can make a profit."
"Let me tell you a true story. There was a movie called "Jiang Hu" at the beginning of this year. It was a co-production between Mainland China's Star Cinema and Hong Kong and Taiwan. The team there worked with Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung, and it was considered a very formal project.
But in the end, the film still lost money, and it was a huge loss, because the Hong Kong production team didn't follow the script at all. There were mainland actors, but it didn’t happen. There was a police line that was promised, but it didn’t happen either.
In the end, the movie with a cost of 40 million could not be released in the mainland because it could not pass the censorship. It only took 12.91 million at the box office in Hong Kong.
The final result is that the entire crew including the director, actors, and people behind the scenes made money, and only the investors lost money. This is Xingmei, one of the major theater chains in the mainland. If you were an outsider, how much better do you think you could be than him? "
"Take our drama as an example again. If I want to cheat your money, I have a hundred ways.
In the early stage, I said 2 million, and you invested. Then during the filming process, did you know whether the hotel stay was 100 per night or 300 per night?
Do you know how much it costs to make those props?
Do you know whether to use one or three sets of photographic equipment, what specifications are used, and how much does it cost?
Do you know how much film is used and how much does each reel cost?
You don’t know anything about it, so I can just fish it out of here.
Then halfway through the shoot, let me tell you, the 2 million has been spent. If you want to finish the shoot, you still need another 2 million. Do you want to invest? ”
“I...”
"If you don't invest the first 2 million, it will be in vain."
"Then I will invest."
"Okay, when the movie is finished, the additional 2 million will be spent, but We need to do the post-production later, and we still need 1 million. Do you want to invest?”
Lao Li gritted his teeth: “I will do it.”
“After the post-production is completed, there needs to be distribution. The company takes over the issuance. If no company is willing to take over, it will definitely lose money
The cost is 5 million, and the maximum you can get back is 1.5 million, but it has no impact on us. Our share has been obtained in advance, and there are also those who are greedy for ink. "
Old Li's face has changed, Zhang Chen continues: "Even if there is a company willing to distribute, such a low-cost film distribution company will definitely not be willing to advance the distribution fee, and you have to pay this part of the fee. , even if it’s 2 million, can you get it out? "
"If it doesn't come out, the movie won't be promoted, and the box office will be a hit. If it comes out, the cost of 2 million will become 7 million. According to the 35% box office share ratio, the box office must be at least 20 million to break even. Domestic one year There are several movies with box office sales exceeding 20 million. "
At this time, Lao Li was speechless: "Is the water... so deep? "
"It's so deep and there are so many tricks. What I told you is less than one-tenth of it. Listen to my advice. Director Li has money to invest in movies. It's better to donate that money. At least it will pay off. Can get a good reputation! ”……
What is movie promotion? It is nothing more than creating topics, appearing on programs and live road shows.
No matter what you do, there is only one purpose, to increase the exposure of the movie, to let people know that there is such a movie, and to generate curiosity and go to the cinema.
It sounds simple, but it is actually quite difficult.
Especially for a film like "Dark Invasion", which does not have big stars or big scenes, it is really difficult to mobilize the audience to spend money to buy tickets.
Guang Guang probably saw the potential of "Dark Invasion" and worked very hard in promoting it. He tried to help contact him and wanted to appear in "A Date with Luyu" and "Super Interview".
The former is a talk show produced by Phoenix TV, and the latter is the earliest large-scale entertainment talk show in China. They are both currently hot and popular programs.
Unfortunately, "A Date with Lu Yu" did not agree. It was probably because the interviewees were too high-profile. The interviewees of the other party were usually rich people and celebrities. Maybe they didn't like "Dark Invasion".
But "Super Visit" was on the queue, and I even jumped in the queue.
On the 5th, Zhang Chen received a notice and rushed to Oriental Popular Media to record "Super Interview".
The hosts are Li Jing and Dai Jun.
The recording was in the afternoon, and the three of them had a meal together at noon. This is also a common practice, which can bring the relationship between the guests and the host closer and make the afternoon recording smoother.
Zhang Chen didn’t remember exactly what he ate, nor did he remember what he said. He only remembered that Dai Jun kept telling dirty jokes throughout the meal, all kinds of dirty jokes, without repeating them. Yes, the reserve capacity is really amazing.
After recording "Super Interview", Zhang Chen rushed to Shanghai on the nearest flight to meet up with Che Xiao and the others.
I really responded to the saying, "You will be very busy next time." It was really very busy. Dong Jianqiang arranged a full schedule for them.
Seeing the schedule, Zhang Chen couldn't help but complain: "The donkeys in the production team don't dare to use it like this~"
According to the arrangement of the light, they were still doing promotions in a certain theater in Shanghai in the morning, and in the afternoon I have to appear at a road show in Chengdu.
A proper trapeze artist.
Dong Jianqiang knew that Zhang Chen would definitely have resistance and comforted him: "It will be over once you carry it. Now is the most critical time. We only have this week. Next Friday, "Ten Faces" will be released. "Ambush" will be released soon, it depends on whether it is a bicycle or a motorcycle..."
Zhang Chen had no choice but to agree, who made him want a motorcycle.
Even now, the publicity for "House of Flying Daggers" is overwhelming. If they don't pay attention, they will be drowned in it. In fact, Dong Jianqiang is right, whether it is a dragon or an insect, it actually depends on this week.
The road show started and they were really tired. Most of their sleeping time was spent on transportation. The average rest time for the few of them was no more than 5 hours a day.
It's painful, but it's necessary.
In the early stage of a movie, publicity work is very important. The more people watch it, the easier it will be to build a reputation, and the theater chain will not cut off your film schedule.
Piracy is rampant now. A week after a movie is released, pirated copies are sold all over the place.
Movies basically make money in the first two weeks, and the box office in the first weekend plus the following week can account for two-thirds of the total box office.
Zhang Chen also specially arranged a road show for his hometown.
The audience was very enthusiastic. There were many directors from the coal province, such as He Ping, Jia Zhangke, and Ju Xingmao, but none of them could make commercial films.
Original time and space, this record will be broken by Ning Hao in 2006.
But now it’s Zhang Chen, and it’s advanced to 2004.
Due to economic reasons, Coal Province does not have a box office city, but in terms of the share of "Dark Invasion"'s first weekend box office, Coal Province showed different potential this time.
The distribution company was puzzled and could only attribute it to the fact that this was the director’s hometown.
But Zhang Chen knew that it was probably his parents who caused the little storm and Haixin Group’s booking of the venue.
......
In the past few days, everyone involved in "Dark Invasion" has been under great pressure.
Next Friday is the 16th, which is the day "House of Flying Daggers" is released.
During this period, the publicity for "House of Flying Daggers" has been overwhelming, greatly compressing their space.
If they want the name "Dark Invasion" to appear in the media, they often need to put in a lot of effort, but they can only get one or two points of effect.
The time has come to Wednesday, and today happens to be the day when "Super Interview" is broadcast.
(End of this chapter)