Huayu: Starting from Fahrenheit

Chapter 416 One Person Drives an Entire Industry (Two Chapters Combined in 4k)
On his first night in the United States, Wu Zhuo was arranged by Sony to attend a charity dinner.

He donated another $500,000 to the Americans; it breaks my heart.

However, spending 500,000 was worthwhile.

This money wasn't donated to Lao Hei, but to the children at the welfare home.

On his second day after landing, Wu Zhuo visited three well-known radio stations in Los Angeles.

We mainly talked about records.

His album sales have made him a hot commodity for radio stations and media outlets.

The vast majority of them were rejected.

Some are really hard to push.

For example, the two radio stations I attended this morning.

One of these two radio stations is the second-ranked music radio station in Los Angeles.

Another is the Los Angeles bilingual radio station, whose audience is mostly Chinese.

These two radio stations provided him with considerable assistance when he was just starting out in North America.

In particular, the Los Angeles Bilingual Radio Station was of great help to Wu Zhuo.

At that time, Wu Zhuo was not well-known in North America, and radio stations were basically unwilling to play his songs.

It was the first time that Los Angeles Bilingual Radio Station broadcast Wu Zhuo's songs during its prime time, and promoted them frequently throughout the day.

It was also thanks to this radio station that Wu Zhuo was able to quickly gain popularity in North America.

Wu Zhuoxian first went to participate in an interview with a Los Angeles music radio station.

The interview was short, and I mainly asked about my creative work and personal life.

After finishing the interview here, Wu Zhuo rushed to Los Angeles Bilingual Radio Station.

"Abel, welcome, welcome!"

When Wu Zhuo arrived at the radio station, the radio host Yang Yungang was already waiting for him downstairs.

"Brother Gang, it's been a long time."

Wu Zhuo had previously participated in an interview with this radio station and was quite familiar with the host, Yang Yungang.

Yang Yungang is a native Chinese American whose ancestors were from Jiangsu. He also dabbled in underground rap in his early years.

Luo Baiji, a godfather-level figure in Taiwanese rap, was one of his earliest associates.

Later, when Luo Baiji returned to Taipei to develop his career, he stayed here and became a DJ at Los Angeles Bilingual Radio, a job he still holds today.

"Abel, how long are you staying in North America this time? Do you want to stay a few more days? I'll treat you to dinner."

The group chatted and laughed as they walked inside.

"Thank you so much, Gang. But I probably can't make it this time. I'm in a tight schedule. I'm going to New York tomorrow, and then I have to attend a friend's movie premiere."

I have to go back to China immediately after this is finished, as there's a film waiting to be shot there. I'm so sorry.

Wu Zhuo politely thanked Yang Yungang for the invitation.

He won't be staying in North America for more than a few days this time, so he won't have time to have meals with his friends.

Cameron called him yesterday, wanting to invite him to dinner, but he declined.

"It's okay, being busy is good, the busier you are, the more popular you are."

When you become famous, we Chinese people feel proud too.

But remember to call me next time you come here, I'll treat you to a meal.

Yang Yungang was not surprised by Wu Zhuo's rejection.

As a DJ, he has a very clear understanding of the entertainment industry.

This industry is a classic example of the more famous you are, the busier you get.

The busier Wu Zhuo is, the more popular he is.

If he's not busy one day, then there will be a problem.

This means he's past his prime.

It's not easy for a Chinese person to produce a superstar, and if he fades into obscurity so quickly, he will feel regretful.

After entering the radio station, Wu Zhuo and the others sat for a while.

When the time came, Yang Yungang and his partner started their radio hosting for the day on time.

"Dear listeners, welcome to Los Angeles Bilingual Radio. This is a Chinese song extravaganza. I'm your host, Ike."

I am Anna!

"It is said that the plan for the year starts in spring and the plan for the day starts in the morning. Morning is a special time for each of us."

Because during this period, we bid farewell to yesterday, whether it was happy or sad, and ushered in the unknown today.

Every morning, we greet the new day with anticipation.

Anna, what do you look forward to most every morning?

"In the past, what I looked forward to most every day was having a happy morning."

But today, of course I'm looking forward to recording the radio show with my absolute favorite Wu Zhuo.

"Haha, are you trying to flatter me?"

"Of course not, I've said that before, and my listeners can vouch for me."

The two hosts chatted and joked for two or three minutes before getting to today's topic.

"Today we are very honored to have invited Abel Wu, the pride of the Chinese people, the Chinese diaspora, and all Asians."

Welcome, welcome Abel Wu!

Wu Zhuo's voice came in, "Hello, host. Hello to all the listeners here. I am Abel Wu Zhuo."

The morning sun slowly rises, bringing a unique vitality to Los Angeles.

After having breakfast, Wang Yulong got into his car and drove to the company.

In recent years, Chinese singer Abel Wu has been living a very difficult life in North America.

Incidentally, it also boosted the popularity of Chinese language training institutions that were previously not well-known.

Influenced by Wu Zhuo, many foreigners flocked to Chinese language training institutions to learn Chinese, bringing a unique vitality to the industry.

It was under these circumstances that Wang Yulong founded a Chinese language training institution.

The company is not large, but it is still quite substantial, with six training locations across the United States.

This year, Wu Zhuo's album sold incredibly well again, accumulating tens of millions of copies sold, making him known to most people across the United States.

Incidentally, they also developed an interest in Chinese and enrolled in training courses to learn it.

Wang Yulong is good at seizing opportunities. He took advantage of Wu Zhuo's album becoming a hit and successfully opened up markets in cities such as New York and Washington, and expanded his training institutions to other cities.

Just yesterday, another of his Chinese language training institutions started accepting enrollments in New York.

The thought of the training institution expanding again and the income increasing again made Wang Yulong extremely excited.

Humming a little tune, he turned on the car radio.

"Hello, hosts and listeners. I'm Abel Wu, and I'm very happy to meet you all on Chinese Golden Hits Show."

"what……"

Upon hearing the voice on the radio, Wang Yulong was taken aback; it was Wu Zhuo.

Although Wu Zhuo is very popular in North America, he rarely appears in North America.

"The bilingual radio station is really generous; they even managed to get Wu Zhuo on board."

……

Wu Zhuo has joined a bilingual radio station.

The news quickly spread among the Chinese community in Los Angeles, and even among foreigners.

In a short time, the bilingual radio station's listenership increased again and again.

Within minutes, the bilingual radio station's listenership rose to number one in all of Los Angeles, and it's still going strong.

"Wu Zhuo, we all know you're very popular in North America. Do you plan to develop your career in North America long-term?"

"We should be traveling around often, but it depends on the situation."

"When will your next album be released?" "Next year, that's all we can do."

Is it still a traditional record?

"No, I'm experimenting with digital albums. It's so convenient for everyone now; you can listen to music on your phone. I might choose to release a digital album."

Radio interviews, and even television interviews, are second nature to Wu Zhuo.

In addition, the host, Yang Yungang, will not ask any particularly harsh questions.

So this radio interview was very enjoyable.

The host asked questions with great enthusiasm, the audience listened with delight, and Wu Zhuo himself thoroughly enjoyed his conversation.

At 10:00 AM, the half-hour interview ended, and Wu Zhuo said goodbye to Yang Yungang and others.

After this event, he has to attend another one.

Because he rarely comes to North America, every time he comes here, there are always so many events that he doesn't have much free time at the end of the day.

When I'm not busy, I usually have five or six announcements.

On average, at least seven a day.

However, despite the numerous announcements, it's also very lucrative.

Aside from social events, Wu Zhuo's attendance at many other events always costs at least a million US dollars.

Wu Zhuo spent seven days in North America, during which he raked in $1600 million, which was practically robbery in America.

Of course, this situation can't happen every day.

The timing of events is also important.
Even the most popular celebrities can't have these kinds of events every day.

Even if they exist, people won't always share them.

Some events are fine to take on once in a while; taking on too many can easily annoy people.

Actually, everything is like that.

The same applies to movies and TV series.

Just look at the big names in Beijing's elite circles in later generations.

Goodness, he's in almost every movie and TV show throughout the year, it's driving the audience crazy...

On the 16th, Wu Zhuo attended the premiere of "Undisputed 3".

Needless to say, the presence of top-tier celebrities made Undisputed 3 the top news story in North America that day.

For a low-budget film that relies mainly on streaming and DVD sales to make money, getting a day in the headlines is practically a blessing.

Indeed, thanks to the buzz generated by Wu Zhuo's appearance, the film grossed $800 million in North America in its opening week.

The total box office is estimated to be around 30 million US dollars.

In fact, $30 million in North America is already a pretty good box office result.

Especially for a low-budget film.

The total investment for Undisputed 3 will not exceed $400 million.

With a box office of 30 million US dollars, it can already be considered a great success.

Moreover, for films like Undisputed, they don't make money from box office revenue; their main market is the streaming and DVD market.

Just like "Ip Man," this film was bought by Warner Bros. for $1200 million.

But the profits exceeded tens of millions, they made a fortune.

However, no matter how high the box office of "Undisputed 3" is, it has little to do with Wu Zhuo.

After attending the premiere of The Ultimate Fighter, he quickly returned to China to continue filming Ip Man 2.

The filming of "Ip Man 2" was done in the same way as the first one.

Fight, fight, fight, fight!
The protagonist fights his way from weak to strong, overcoming all obstacles and defeating every enemy in his path.

Compared to the first film, the action scenes in this one are much more difficult.

Especially the fight scene with Sammo Hung on the table.

That one scene alone took three whole days to film.

However, the longer it took, the more pleasing the results were.

Wu Zhuo, a martial arts actor who came to the profession later in life, has been honed into a first-class martial arts actor whose various actions and fight scenes are second to none...

In May, Boyka returned from her trip to the United States to promote Undisputed 3.

Because he had taken on a new role in Hollywood, and time was tight, the production crew had to speed up the filming process.

After more than a month, the film, which had been shot for nearly four months, finally wrapped up.

Meanwhile, Legendary Pictures officially launched and began filming "Wolf Warrior".

The production team contacted a military region, and filming had already begun.

Many of the actors were retired soldiers.

The investment in "Wolf Warrior" wasn't large, but it wasn't small either.

This film had a budget of 36 million.

Wu Zhuo originally planned to collaborate with other film companies.

Unfortunately, when other companies heard that it was a military-themed film unlike any other, and that the lead actor was Wu Jing, a notorious troublemaker, they all avoided it and were unwilling to invest in the project.

Ultimately, this project could only be produced independently by Legendary Pictures.

Oh, Wu Jing also personally invested in this movie.

To be honest, this guy's dream of becoming a boss has always existed.

After returning to the mainland from Hong Kong in 08, he immediately sought investment to produce his own film, "Wolf Warrior".

Although the movie was a failure, it wasn't a complete failure, and he still had a considerable amount of money in his pocket.

He was very optimistic about the Wolf Warrior movie, which starred him, so he approached Wu Zhuo.

With his film salary of 200 million RMB plus his own savings of 300 million RMB, he invested 500 million RMB.

Wu Zhuo did not object to his idea of ​​participating in the investment and agreed immediately.

To be honest, Wu Zhuo himself was also worried that the project would flop.

It's not 13 anymore; everything has changed, and the chances of failure are still very high.

It's a good thing that Wu Jing is willing to share the 5 million investment.

Another point is that this project was copied from his previous life, and he was originally going to soar to great heights because of this project.

Now, because of him, Wu Zhuo felt a little guilty that others were earning far less.

Wu Zhuo didn't need to worry about the filming of "Wolf Warrior". After finishing filming "Ip Man 2", he helped promote "You Are the Apple of My Eye" for a while.

This film, which was shot last year, was not released during the Lunar New Year holiday season.

The reason is that the type is not suitable.

Secondly, during the Lunar New Year season at that time, Legendary Pictures already had "Lost in Thailand".

Even companies like Huayi Brothers only dare to promote one of their own films during a given release period.

The same is true for Legendary Pictures.

With the release of "Lost in Thailand" during the Lunar New Year film season, all the promotional resources have been allocated to this movie.

If "You Are the Apple of My Eye" were to be added, the company's resources would immediately become scarce.

In the end, it's possible that all your efforts will be in vain.

So last year, the company decided that "You Are the Apple of My Eye" would be released during this summer's movie season.

In fact, this youth film doesn't really need Wu Zhuo.

The company already has well-established publicity channels.

Wu Zhuo's help mainly involved leveraging his own fame to promote the project and let people know that he was the one who invested in and produced the film.

Incidentally, Wu Zhuo also promoted the film, saying that some of his childhood stories were included.

To be fair, this gimmick did attract quite a few people.

(End of this chapter)