Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 28 Domestic Premiere
March 3st, in the small conference room of China Film Corporation.

Cao Yang came here with Hou Keming. The movie will be released tomorrow. Mr. Han from China Film Group has said several times that he wants to meet Cao Yang. Today is an opportunity.

After the meeting, there was a natural exchange of pleasantries, mainly with President Han praising Cao Yang in various ways, saying that he was young and promising, that heroes emerge from young people, and that they must strengthen cooperation in the future.

Hou Keming smiled but said nothing.

The purpose of this meeting was to discuss matters related to the release of the movie, but in fact, it was mainly because Mr. Han wanted to meet Cao Yang.

Before, like everyone else, he didn't quite believe that this movie that won two Silver Bears was directed by Cao Yang. He also thought it was Tian Zhuangzhuang's creation and Cao Yang was just a puppet pushed out to circumvent the ban on directing.

But after the film was screened at China Film's internal screening, President Han was shocked and had two thoughts in his mind in an instant.

First of all, how could such an obvious auteur film be a film by Tian Zhuangzhuang? It is completely different from Tian Zhuangzhuang's style. This was shot by a student in his twenties!

It's incredible, we must win him over.

Second, where did that actress named Li Xiaoran come from? She's awesome! This movie doesn't even look like an acting, it feels like her autobiography. No wonder she won the Berlin Film Festival.

President Han didn't know whether he should sigh that Cao Yang was lucky or that Li Xiaoran was lucky.

The only conclusion is that the right script miraculously met the right actors and they complemented each other.

This time we were mainly discussing the film tour premiere event - it's not that there were no roadshows in this era, it's just that the name is different, now it's called a tour premiere event or a tour screening event.

In fact, it is the same as a roadshow, that is, a publicity tour, visiting several major cities one by one, holding screening events and meet-and-greets in local theaters in turn, where the main creative staff of the film meet with the audience, sign autographs, and interact with them.

China Film Corporation selected seven major cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Jiangxi. Later, at Cao Yang's suggestion, Shandong Island was added as the filming location.

No one realizes yet that with a little guidance of public opinion at the filming location, the box office can bring surprises.

Cao Yang attended the premiere event meetings in Beijing and Ludong Island, while the other cities were left to the main actors.

The reason for choosing to go to Ludong Island was because Cao Yang wanted to film the scene there, so it was a good opportunity to go over and take a look.

The premiere in Beijing was held at the Beijing Theater.

The Internet was not yet popular in those days, and online news mainly relied on a few portal websites, while print media was still the main source.

Therefore, it is very meaningful to hold a touring premiere event, which can maximize the audience's attention, create news hotspots, and allow more potential audiences to see the film.

The domestic market is not doing well now, not the potential market. Look at the big ships and "Hero" which will be released next year and will usher in the era of blockbusters. As long as the potential audience is mobilized and a craze is formed, there is still great potential for the market.

At five o'clock in the afternoon on March 3, the invited guests began to arrive one after another.

Cao Yang, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Li Xiaoran, Ding Jiali and others should be welcomed and greeted. It mainly depends on their status and position. In the film and television industry, the potential levels are still very clear.

When directors from the older generation or the fifth generation come, even if they are not very famous, Cao Yang will welcome them. Most of them are from the Beijing Film Academy, so sometimes background is also very important.

Almost all the students from the Class of 78 of the Directing Department who were in Beijing came. They were all received by Cao Yang personally. After the greetings, he personally took them to their seats at the venue.

The national teacher also came. Although he was from Class 78, he was not from the directing department, so the relationship was more distant. Cao Yang received him personally, and then asked Li Xiaoran to bring him to the position to create an opportunity for Li Xiaoran.

Although Cao Yang knew that the national director would most likely compromise with the market and choose Zhang Ziyi, Li Xiaoran was not without a chance. It all depended on the box office and influence of the movie after it was released.

Huang Lei also brought Milk Tea Liu with him. For such occasions, he dared to bring Milk Tea Liu with him openly without fear of public opinion or Sun Li's opinions.

All we can say is that the media of that era was not yet well developed, and had not yet ushered in the impact of self-media. People in the entertainment industry played much more "openly" than those in later generations.

Huang Lei is not only a teacher at Beijing Film Academy, but also one of the most popular idols at the moment. Because of his identity as a teacher at Beijing Film Academy, Cao Yang also had to come out to receive him.

Huang Lei first congratulated and said a lot of nice things. As a teacher at Beijing Film Academy, he certainly did not misunderstand that this was a Tian Zhuangzhuang movie as the outside world did. Milk Tea Liu, as Huang Lei's fourth emotional object, also knew very well who this movie belonged to.

He first apologized and explained that he was preparing a new song at the time and it was a pity that he missed such a good movie. If he had the chance next time, he would definitely turn down everything as long as Director Cao said a word.

Well, that’s the reality of the entertainment industry.

In the entertainment industry, maybe because we have seen and played too much, we don’t care about many things anymore.

Look, the little cannon is here too, and the key is that he brings Xu Fan with him.

People were still chatting and laughing with Lao Tian, ​​and even jokingly teasing Lao Tian about his superior skills, saying that he had captured two silver bears with one move.

Xiao Gangpao also thought that this was a movie directed by Lao Tian. Before watching the movie, no one thought that this was something that could be shot by a student in his twenties.

Xu Fan next to him also congratulated with a smile, and complained that Lao Tian didn't give him a chance even though he had a good role.

The little cannon's smile paused for a moment, and then he looked as if nothing had happened.

Li Shaohong, from the class of 78, who was a student of the Directing Department, was a classmate of Tian Zhuangzhuang and also his confidante. She starred in both the well-received "The Story of the Palace of Eternal Life" and the critically acclaimed "The New Dream of Red Mansions".

She once said jokingly, "He (Tian Zhuangzhuang) just wants to fall in love with someone in the movie, but there will be no drama after the movie is finished."

So, if Xu Fan goes to act in Tian Zhuangzhuang's movie again, Xiao Gangpao doesn't mind at all, right Gangzi?

In addition to the Class of 78, there is another very famous class in the Directing Department of Beijing Film Academy, that is the Class of 85.

There were 85 people in the undergraduate class of 9, and some of the more famous ones in the film industry included Wang Xiaoshuai, Lou Ye, and Lu Xuechang.

Several people from Class 85 came together today. There are four of them in total. In addition to the three above, there is also Wang Rui who stayed in school to teach.

It is also very interesting to say that the teaching teacher of the 85 undergraduate class was Xie Xiaojing, who is also the current director of the Directing Department.

Xie Xiaojing was in the 78th grade and was a student of the old Situ. The old Situ also accepted Cao Yang. So, if it were in ancient times, Cao Yang would have become the junior master of Wang Xiaoshuai and the others...

Of course, this is just a joke, let’s not talk about that now.

Old Situ didn't come today. He said that when Cao Yang wins one of the three highest awards in Europe, he will go to Cao Yang's premiere.

This is a kind of expectation and motivation.

In addition to these directors, many CEOs of private film companies also came, but Hou Keming did not let Cao Yang show up. No one knew what he was thinking. Was he afraid that Cao Yang would be snatched away?

When the time came, Cao Yang and several actors from the movie came on stage and started chatting.

These are fixed processes and are the materials for reporters to write articles, talking about the original intention of making the movie, the difficulties encountered, and the interesting things that happened during the filming.

Of course, all of this has a "script", and what can be said and what cannot be said has already been decided.

What noble purpose can there be for making a movie? It's nothing more than fame and fortune, but can you say that?

As for the difficulties and interesting things, these are what you want to see, not what actually happened.

Could Cao Yang say, I sent an invitation to Xu Jinglei, but she ignored me; I asked Huang Lei to invite Milk Tea Liu, but Huang Lei also ignored me.

It’s not that we can’t say it, it’s just that it’s inappropriate.

If a movie has not won any awards but is about to be released and needs popularity, many directors don't mind revealing some shocking information, talking nonsense, and will not care about offending some people who "may" be offended.

(End of this chapter)