Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 302 The premiere of "Nightclub" was very special! Chen Hao waited for Ma Xun on a winter night.
"Wait a minute, the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival? When did such a festival begin?"

"That makes sense, wasn't it the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards before?"

"These are two awards. Someone mentioned these awards to me before."

"Big brother, do you want to try your luck at winning a prize?"

"At present, it is not necessary, because this award is somewhat of a makeshift operation."

"But now it's become a holiday, and... in Hainan?"

The Wang brothers were completely bewildered. What was going on?
I was indeed quite shocked when this movie premiered at a well-known domestic film festival.

But upon closer inspection, something doesn't seem right.

This film festival doesn't seem to have existed before.

However, there's no problem with the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards; they are long-established film awards in our country.

These two awards are the popular Hundred Flowers Awards and the more professional Golden Rooster Awards.

In other words, one is audience voting, and the other is evaluation by art school teachers and leaders.

There's no film festival.

I've never heard of this so-called film festival.

The key point is that the location has changed this time.

It's worth noting that the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards used to be held in different locations every year, with each new award ceremony taking place in a different venue.

But this time in Hainan... look at the newspaper, oh, this report starts by saying it.

The Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival will stay in the same location from now on!
Have they permanently settled in Sanya?
This is absolutely a huge change.

After reading it again carefully... I understand now, I completely understand.

It's basically the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards that were merged, and then a film festival was created, followed by the awards ceremony.

And we won't change locations anymore; we'll stay in Sanya.

The key point is that the people in Sanya also showed great sincerity.

A large area was designated specifically for this film festival; it wasn't for sale, but rather for rent.

The property rights are definitely complicated. The Wang brothers have heard that there are too many houses over there.

They're piling up so badly they can't be sold at all.

Therefore, it's unclear whose house this is.

I doubt anyone would dare to take it on.

Of course, a Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Square was also built for this film festival.

A hotel was also converted next door.

There's also a film museum and a huge screening room.

Judging from its exterior, this screening room seems to have a bit of a Cannes feel to it.

The one in Cannes is called the Palais des Festivals, and inside it is mainly the Lumière Hall.

Is it configured the same way here?
The Wang brothers thought that this was very likely the case.

But if that's the case, then the person who did this is incredibly amazing and awesome!

The most important thing is this courage.

They dared to accept this award.

In fact, most people in the industry understand that the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards are really beyond saving.

Our influence is not significant enough, and, as things stand at the moment... it's quite obvious that we intend to focus more on exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong.

In other words, the current attitude of the authorities is to favor promoting the Golden Horse Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards.

The Hong Kong Film Awards, in particular, are quite petty, yet mainland Chinese stars and actors still attend.

She's a woman who generally has a good grasp of the big picture, although she does have some of the bad habits typical of Taiwanese intellectuals.

But at least this woman knows that more communication is the key to a future.

Therefore, the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival is not very popular.

Now, someone has actually come out to integrate resources and even organized a film festival.

They are still undertaking large-scale construction in Sanya.

After thinking for a while, the Wang brothers inexplicably thought of a name.

"Ma Xun?"

"Brother, could it be him?"

"Hmm, it probably isn't him."

"Exactly! This guy is so young, how can he accomplish such a big thing?"

"But it seems like the things you did before weren't small either."

"Damn! Which compound does this guy belong to?"

“There are some large compounds that we don’t know about, but there’s no point in investigating their background now.”

"Impossible! It absolutely couldn't have been him!"

Okay, the two brothers cosplayed Ah Q.

The simplest logic for them to think of Ma Xun is that it's this movie, "Nightclub".

Since it's now a film festival, there will be a film screening segment.

If this segment is included, then there will be an opening film.

The film "Nightclub" is definitely the opening film, and it will serve as the premiere of this movie.

Looking at the timing... it's the Lunar New Year film season!

There are just too many coincidences!

You should know that this is an honor.

This year marks the inaugural Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, and this is the first film of the inaugural festival.

This already has so many accolades to it.

The Wang brothers are both in the advertising business. They were novices before, but after so many years, even the dumbest person could see through it.

This is top-notch marketing!

Most importantly, it's compared to their own film, "Big Shot's Funeral".

It's clearly a cut above the rest!
This made them both feel really annoyed.

Because the cast of "Big Shot's Funeral" is really big stars, while the opponent is actually a low-budget film. Among the actors, Gao Yuanyuan is not a very strong film star, and Huang Bo has only recently become famous.

As a result, our prestige is now lower than our competitors'!
The more they thought about it, the more they felt that this Lunar New Year film season was very risky.

Ma Xun is a tough guy to deal with.

Originally, Huayi had an advantage, but now, that advantage is being eroded step by step.

Even falling behind... The key point is, they fell behind in a very short time.

Ma Xun is a complete fraud!

"Selling Crutches" was a skit on this year's Spring Festival Gala, and it became an instant hit.

Do the Wang brothers also need a pair of crutches now?

No, we have to do something!
"The best solution now is to increase the investment."

"Yes, we also need to talk to Master Han."

"That's it, we have to drastically increase the stakes!"

The so-called "increased efforts" just means taking action in terms of publicity.

Since they have indeed fallen behind, the only option is to increase their publicity efforts.

So far, the most effective form of advertising for movies is actually advertising at bus stops.

Especially for ads near movie theaters, this kind of advertising can directly and positively stimulate box office revenue!
However, such billboards are not cheap to add temporarily, and you might even have to discuss additional sales with the other party.

For example, buy one bus shelter near a movie theater and bring two others from other places.

This... goes without saying.

The Lunar New Year film battle hasn't even started yet, and the Wang brothers have already suffered a huge loss!

……

Ma Xun used a simple trick to inflict a heavy blow on the two brothers.

It's so easy and simple.

Of course, this is all thanks to his advance planning.

Take the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival held in Sanya as an example.

The mayor is indeed quite good.

He readily allocated a piece of land to Ma Xun.

So, after quickly resolving the property rights issue, Ma Xun simply handed the land over to the bank.

A loan!

The money was then invested in the renovation of the buildings associated with the land.

Now, several months later, the permanent venue for the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival is perfectly fine!

Our reputation as an infrastructure powerhouse is well-deserved.

If you have money, the speed will be fast. Moreover, Ma Xun's main task this time is transformation.

In this way... the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival is practically under the Ma family name.

Of course, regarding the awards, he still needs to respect the opinions of the expert judges and the audience's votes.

Ahem, we'll talk about it when the time comes... we'll see.

Now is the perfect time for "Nightclub" to enjoy the opening benefits of this film festival!

How to make this premiere a success?

That could generate a lot of related benefits.

So you're saying that the Lunar New Year film season isn't the best time to release movies?
In the future, when a movie wants to be released during the Lunar New Year season, won't it give priority to the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival for its premiere?

So you want to hold the premiere here... don't you understand?

Ma Xun has essentially bought himself a super-large retirement insurance policy.

This money can keep being earned!

Of course, let's leave those things aside for now.

Let's make this film festival and the premiere of "Nightclub" a success!
In fact, Ma Xun has already realized this.

I have the upper hand!

The Wang brothers' promotional campaign for the Lunar New Year film season is still the same old routine.

What bus stop?

But I'm different.

I have plenty of strength and resources!
Before going to Sanya, Ma Xun had been visiting Enlight Media.

"Regarding the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival..."

"Don't worry, boss. We have prepared a complete set of promotional materials. Please take a look."

"Good, very good... We also need to pay attention to online marketing."

"understand!"

"Why not register a website and set up a BBS forum so that many netizens can speak freely?"

"Then what about our own website..."

"Stupid! Does that mean our company will stop making movies? How are netizens supposed to speak freely if you do this?"

"Got it! Let's set up a new website! And the name..."

"For example, let's call it 'Douban'."

"Great name!"

"Good my ass, I just came up with it on the spur of the moment."

"Boss is a genius! Even his impromptu ideas are so outstanding."

Goodness, Wang Changtian is quite the flatterer.

Ma Xun now definitely has the air of a big boss, but these matters still need to be arranged.

And some details...

“Gao Yuanyuan…”

"We'll definitely take some beautiful photos of her and put them on the website."

"Hmm, what about Huang Bo..."

"Try to make the photos as ugly as possible?"

"That won't be necessary. Let him sing; he has that talent."

"Understood! By the way, there are also many famous actors making cameo appearances."

"Take a good picture of them all!"

"understand!"

Fortunately, Huang Bo wasn't there, otherwise, upon hearing this... he certainly wouldn't have been able to get angry.

These things sound simple, but in reality, they require coordinating various groups of people.

Just like taking photos of Yuanyuan, you need to find a professional photographer.

Otherwise, the effect would be much worse.

As for the website... I'll grab that domain name first, and then develop in that direction.

What did that guy in "Big Shot's Funeral" say here?
Okay, let's do as he says.

First, find a group of gunmen.

Of course, Ma Xun's side also has the advantage of "China Entertainment Report".

We can launch a high-intensity marketing campaign on television!
It's definitely much better than advertising.

Moreover, it's perfectly legitimate!
We're reporting on the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival!

It's just that the movie "Nightclub" has a slightly more screen time.

With this level of promotion, Ma Xun is increasingly confident about this year's Lunar New Year film battle!
Looking ahead, if this approach achieves significant success, it could even be packaged as a 'marketing plan' or 'consulting plan'.

That's right, many movies were marketed in this way later on.

For example, there are quite a few companies like this in the United States. They are called 'lobbying firms'. There are the most in Washington, but in Hollywood, they mainly lobby people with voting rights.

But in reality, it's all marketing.

A famous example is "Parasite," which later won several Oscars.

Whether the movie is good or not is another matter, but they really did put in a whole marketing campaign, and they even talked about how they did it in a high-profile way.

Let's leave aside what happened later.

After arranging these plans, Ma Xun's next step was to fly to Sanya.

Unexpectedly, he had just returned to the alleyway where his little courtyard was located...

"Brother Ma, Brother Ma."

A timid voice called out to him.

"Why are you standing here so late?"

Ma Xun saw Chen Hao.

This girl was wearing a pink down jacket on this cold winter night.

She seemed to be hiding in the shadows, but now she's come out and appeared under the streetlight.

Judging from her slightly trembling body, she must have been waiting for a while.

"me……"

Ma Xun interrupted him bluntly, "Let's go inside quickly."

Yeah, is it really okay to chat outside at a time like this?
It's very warm inside.

The heat made Chen Hao's face turn bright red.

She took off her down jacket and watched Ma Xun busy at work.

"You must be freezing. I'll boil some water for you. Drinking this water will make you feel much better."

Ma Xun looked a bit flustered, and his accent even showed.

And so, Chen Hao quietly walked over and hugged him from behind.

“You…” Ma Xun understood what he meant.

But at this moment, something seems amiss.

Chen Hao pressed her face against Ma Xun's. The cashmere sweater Ma Xun was wearing was very soft and skin-friendly, making her feel very comfortable.

"Brother Ma, I... I want to repay you."

What does "repay" mean?
Dry?
do?
Damn it! What are you thinking?!

Ma Xun understood, of course, that Xu Qing must have overlooked that matter.

"It's nothing really. If you feel indebted to me, you can pay me back slowly in the future. But if you act like this... then I'll think I'm being a bit of a jerk."

That's exactly what Ma Xun really thought.

Things that can be solved with money... he has them.

Helping out is a matter of life and death, isn't it?

But if he were to use this to blackmail Chen Hao, Ma Xun felt that he would be too villainous.

He's still a villain with no bottom line.

Besides, he's not a lecherous man, and he's not short of women.

But after saying all that, why was there no response?
Oh, that's not right.

Ma Xun felt the girls behind him piling up.

When I turned around, Chen Hao was already lying on the ground.

Her face was very red, and she touched her forehead with her hand.

Oh no, I have a fever!

Ma Xun smiled helplessly. It seemed he had to take care of the sick little beauty first.

(End of this chapter)