Huayu: I'm reborn, but you still force me to be a scumbag?

Chapter 151: Forming a Navy
This was the first time that Ning Hao saw Chen Nuo in person.

When he walked into the meeting room of Chen Nuo's studio, the young man with a crew cut in the main seat stood up politely, extended his hand to him, and said, "Hello, Director Ning Hao."

Humble, polite, and very handsome, but a little fatter than he looks in the movies.

Ning Hao quickly looked him over, shook his hand respectfully and said, "Mr. Chen, nice to meet you at last."

Chen Nuo touched his face and explained with a smile: "Director Ning, don't call me Mr. Chen, just call me Xiao Chen. I gained 20 pounds because of filming before, so my face may be a little rounder. It may be a little different from before, hehe."

Very careful and observant. Ning Hao added another thing in his mind and made a joke with a smile: "Mr. Chen, even if you gain 50 pounds, you are still a hundred times more handsome than us."

Chen Nuo also laughed: "Director Ning, you must not be very happy when you say what you just said, and I am not very happy when I hear it. It's unnecessary, really unnecessary."

"Haha."

Everyone in the conference room laughed.

Cheerful, outspoken, humorous. Ning Hao added three more.

So far, it was all positive, which was quite different from what he had thought before. Ning Hao was more than a little relieved.

From this perspective, it shouldn't be too difficult to convince the other party later.

Everyone chatted for a while, and Geng Xiaochuan, the distribution manager of China Film, also arrived with several of his subordinates, and soon filled the small conference room.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Qi Yuntian spoke first: "I invited everyone here today because I heard that everyone has some objections to the release of the movie Crazy Stone. So I invite everyone to come and talk face to face and clarify some of the doubts between each other. Well, Director Ning Hao, Manager Geng, who do you think will go first?"

Geng Xiaochuan is a middle-aged man in his 40s. Hearing this, he pushed up his glasses and said, "Let me start. We at China Film Group Corporation attach great importance to the release of Crazy Stone. Although this is a low-budget feature film, after watching the finished film, I am very confident in this film. I think its market is not small. As long as we work together, we should be able to win."

But... Ning Hao added silently in his heart.

As expected, Geng Xiaochuan said immediately: "But the biggest problem our film encountered is Huayi. Although they didn't say it explicitly, we also have some inside information. In addition, their film "The Banquet" has not yet been scheduled, which already explains the problem. The lineup of "The Banquet", in terms of investment, cast, and post-production publicity investment, is another behemoth after "The Promise". They are now showing their strength and want to compete with us."

Ning Hao sighed slightly.

It was only after the film editing and production was completed that he learned that Huayi Brothers was actually preparing a movie targeting them.

It is no exaggeration to say that at that moment, he really felt like the sky was falling.

It now seems that professional distributors at China Film should feel the same way.

Indeed, isn’t the battle between “The Banquet” and them like an elephant versus an ant?
Geng Xiaochuan continued with a serious face: "As for your previous decision to release the film during the Lunar New Year period... our opinion is that although the Lunar New Year period is the best box office period every year, the competition for films is undoubtedly the most intense. It is very difficult to stand out."

Ning Hao agreed very much.

When Ning Hao heard the message that the film would be released during the Spring Festival, he couldn't sleep that night.

Although he is very confident about the final quality of the film "Thief in the Sky"... oh no, now called "Crazy Stone".

After all, he wrote the script, selected the actors, and directed the play himself.

However, he really didn't understand why some people had more faith than him.

That’s the Lunar New Year holiday.

As far as we know, there are two domestic commercial blockbusters and two Hollywood blockbusters scheduled to be released on New Year's Eve. If they and "The Banquet" were added, the scene would surely be horrific.

He even felt that as long as they dared to release the film during the Lunar New Year holiday, Huayi might not follow suit.

All you have to do is watch them suffer the consequences.

And Geng Xiaochuan's next words also proved that he was not the only one who thought so.

"The advantage of releasing the film during the Lunar New Year is that it can avoid Huayi's sniping. After all, their film is too big. There are so many films during the Lunar New Year, and the market capacity is already saturated, and there is no room for a behemoth like them."

“That’s the only benefit…”

Ning Hao nodded.

“…The rest is bad.”

Ning Hao nodded again. "Those movie laymen should think so."

Ning Hao continued to nod... halfway through, he suddenly raised his head and looked at Geng Xiaochuan.

What did you say
Geng Xiaochuan said seriously, "In the eyes of these outsiders, our film is sandwiched between these big movies and has no chance of survival. However, we at China Film Group feel that these people really don't understand movies. They don't know that, in addition to the quality of the film itself, the key is the means of publicity. As long as you, Mr. Chen, join our publicity plan, we may be able to carve out a path even during the Lunar New Year holiday."

what?
Ning Hao stared at Geng Xiaochuan in stunned silence.

Chen Nuo smiled and asked, "Manager Geng, what do you mean? Explain it to us in detail."

Geng Xiaochuan also smiled, spread his hands, and said, "Mr. Chen, the key is still you. Without you, even if the final effect of our film is as good as a flower, it will not make any bubbles if it is put into the Lunar New Year period. Because our publicity funds are extremely limited."

"But it's different now. I heard that Net1, Sina, Sogou and other entertainment sections are very interested in all the news about you, Mr. Chen. As long as we take advantage of the situation and make some use of this, the effect will be worth a hundred times."

Chen Nuo laughed: "You mean to stir up the scandal between me and Janice Man, right?"

Geng Xiaochuan nodded and said, "That's right. If... we add a little bit of a love triangle to it and include Miss Fan Binbing, it would be even better. However, this may damage your image, Mr. Chen, but I can guarantee that the final effect will definitely be the best."

Chen Nuo felt that China Film Group was still quite capable, at least it knew some basic means of publicity.

However, perhaps due to the constraints of the times, my focus is still on the traditional methods.

Just like how Zhang Jizhong hyped him and Liu Yifei, this time he hyped him and two women, Janice Man and Fan Binbing, which can indeed attract attention.

However, this is just a crooked way after all. They are still turning a blind eye to the real blue ocean of publicity, or rather, they have seen it but did not expect how much use it would be.

After all, it’s only 2006.

At that time, the term "50 Cent Party" did not yet exist, and the online water army was only in its infancy and had just started.

The bigwigs in the entertainment industry and even the film and television industry still don’t know what Internet+ is.

Unlike the future ten or twenty years from now, at that time, before and after a movie is released, if there is no large number of internet trolls hired to go to Douban, Maoyan, Weibo, and Tik Tok to brush up the scores and control the reviews, then the promotion of the movie is equivalent to not doing anything.

Although the current Internet does not have such a large user base as the future mobile Internet.

However, there is no doubt that for a film like theirs with low publicity costs and good quality, using Internet trolls to promote the film on major forums, BBS, and even BLOG is the best way for Chen Nuo to make a small investment and win big.

This is the general trend, with the positive and the strangeness of scandals as a supplement.

Chen Nuo coughed lightly and said, "I know what Manager Geng meant. What do you think, Director Ning?"

Ning Hao didn't know what to say at this time. He felt betrayed.

He took a deep breath, decided to give up trying to persuade her, and said, "Mr. Chen, I have no objection. I will listen to you."

Chen Nuo nodded, pondered for a while, and said: "In this case, let me talk about my ideas..."

More than an hour later, the people from China Film Group said goodbye to Ning Hao.

The two groups went downstairs together. Geng Xiaochuan said to Ning Hao, "Director Ning, what do you think of what Mr. Chen said just now?"

Ning Hao frowned and said, "It's hard to say, we can only try."

Geng Xiaochuan nodded and said, "We think so too. Let's give it a try. If the effect is not good, we can learn a lesson. After all, as far as I know, there has never been a film company doing this. But with our limited publicity budget, this may be the only way we can do. That's it, goodbye, Director Ning."

Ning Hao nodded and looked at the people from China Film Group getting into the Red Flag car at the door, feeling a little worried.

It seems that Geng Xiaochuan and his team are a little bit against spending all the publicity money on the Internet. I am actually the same. I always feel that the Internet is something illusory and intangible. It is better to buy a few pages in the newspaper and put up a few posters at the bus station than to find people to promote on it.

But if the investors want to do this, what can he, a director, do?
You have no choice but to obey.

Ning Hao finally shook his head, got into his Jetta, and drove away.

At this time, Chen Nuo was talking to Qi Yuntian upstairs: "In fact, we can set up a special department to deal with the Internet water army..."

(End of this chapter)