Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 540 Filming Begins (34)

The North American film market has an awards season…

Awards season has a profound impact on the film industry. Many high-quality films use the Oscar race as a gimmick for publicity and marketing, using the many awards during awards season as an endorsement of their quality to attract more audiences!
This is also why many small and medium-sized film companies are able to maintain their competitiveness.

In the past, many large film studios would produce several films each year specifically for the purpose of competing for the Oscars.

Alternatively, it can be handed over to its subsidiaries. Fox has Fox Searchlight Pictures, Disney has Disney Touchstone Pictures, and Universal has Focus Features…

These sub-brands initially produced serious dramas; Disney once acquired Harvey's Miramax.

However, later...

The six major Hollywood studios are gradually giving up on Oscar-contending films!
The reason is simple: major studios pursue big-budget productions with global releases and need to ensure profitability through large-scale commercial distribution, which conflicts with the "niche" requirement of the Oscars.

This 'niche' refers to its artistic merit!
Let's take "Dallas Buyers Club" as an example. Although the film's popularity soared after the awards season promotion and its global rights sold well, the subsequent DVD and streaming rights will likely generate a large profit...

But at most, he'd only earn a little over ten million US dollars…

This achievement is nothing compared to the over $4 million in global profits of "Iron Man 3"!

Major studios are bound to pursue large profits...

As for the brand value brought by winning awards, which of the six major Oscars hasn't won one?
Citizen Kane is hailed as the number one film on the list of "100 Greatest American Films of the Century"!
Its producer, RKO, went bankrupt long ago!

Therefore, the quality of the film itself is not important; what matters is whether it can make money.

The media then asked whether Shen Yan would attend the awards ceremony…

Shen Yan shook his head: "I'm just an investor, why would I go to an awards ceremony? Have you ever seen an investor attend an awards ceremony?"

"Zhang Weiping has been there..."

Shen Yan deliberately asked, "Zhang Weiping? Who's that?"

"...The boss of New Pictures!"

"Oh, so he's an unprofessional investor... The most important thing for independent films is the director..."

Aren't you going to the Oscars?

"...When is the Oscars ceremony?"

"August 3th!"

"No, I have work..." After a pause, Shen Yan explained, "After filming 'Boss & Me,' I have to join the cast of 'Legend of Fei.' That show has been waiting for me for half a year, and I can't stand it up again!"

"...A TV series?"

"Yes, my novel... could you guys help me promote it..."

Do you have any film plans for this year?

"Yes... we're making an award-contending film called 'Burning,' and we've already connected with Venice. It'll most likely be nominated for the Venice Film Festival..."

"They've already been confirmed as shortlisted?"

"Not yet, the reviewers still need to see the final product..."

"Does this count as getting in through connections?"

"Uh... I don't think so." Shen Yan explained, "Everyone knows that film festivals are a small circle game... I'm a globally renowned filmmaker, and I know a few film festival organizers. They think highly of me and believe I have the ability... They sent out invitations before the film even started shooting... Do you think that counts as getting in through connections?"

Shen Yan added, "That's how film festivals are these days. The three major festivals every year seem glamorous, but in reality, just to get a good film to compete, you have to pull strings and meet all the conditions. It really boils down to one word: scramble!"

"Win the premiere?"

"Yes, the greatest honor at a film festival is the film premiere!"

"Then why not go to Cannes?" "I can't make it. Filming starts in May; I'd be lucky to make it to Venice..."

……

As I said before, Shen Yan has a good relationship with most media outlets and generally answers all questions.

And he's a top-tier celebrity...

I learn a lot from every interview with him.

The press conference lasted for more than an hour. Shen Yan checked the time and asked, "Do you have any other questions? We've covered enough material for an interview today, right?"

"...Oh, Brother Yan, I heard you bought Huayi Brothers stock?"

"Yes, I bought some...it's an investment...I also bought shares in Enlight Media and Huace Film & TV..."

"Current policies encourage the cultural and entertainment industry, and BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) companies are all entering the film and television industry, which is beneficial to cultural and entertainment companies. Their market value still has great potential for growth..."

Huace Media's market value is currently 170 billion yuan, having peaked at 400 billion yuan.
Enlight Media is similar... now it's worth 190 billion, but in 2015 it had grown to 500 billion!
That's right, 2015 was the peak year for the entertainment sector...

The company with the highest market capitalization is Wanda Film, which once reached 1300 billion yuan…

However, Wanda Cinema is not yet listed on the stock exchange…

Shen Yan simply wanted to make an investment; he had no intention of becoming a spokesperson for the company through purchasing shares.

So he added, "This is just a simple investment activity, don't overanalyze it. I've been investing in Tencent and Kweichow Moutai stocks... why don't you report on it?"

"Really? How much did you buy?"

"I started buying them the year before last... I won't tell you how many I bought, but I've made a lot of money!"

……

After spouting nonsense, the reporters left…

Oh, and I also asked about "Duckweed," and Shen Yan replied, "It's passed censorship and confirmed for release on Chinese New Year's Day. We're currently negotiating screening schedules with theaters..."

After the media left, the crew made some preparations and then started filming immediately!
Time is of the essence – "Boss & Me" has been scheduled to air on Jiangsu TV during the summer season…

By the way, this show attracted a lot of sponsors, including the character Feng Teng, played by Shen Yan, whose car is a Bentley Continental, while he himself drives a Porsche Panamera on a daily basis…

They're all sponsored by brands!
Some everyday items include computers, mobile phones...

Xue Shanshan's cosmetics, laundry detergent, clothes, hand cream, and even the snacks she eats are all products with product placements…

Roughly speaking, there are about forty brands involved in product placement!
This is already the result of cutting it by 2/3!

The show "Let's Get Married" features over eighty brands, and the show also includes "Beijing Youth," "Men's Gang," and "Golden Wedding 2"—a whole host of product placements!

Especially "Golden Wedding 2", because there were too many product placements and the methods of placement were too blatant, the TV station had to re-edit it.

The same goes for "Let's Get Married". In the fifth episode, the female lead is shopping at the supermarket with her mother, and the first line she says is, "We've run out of the gentle laundry detergent."

Then, the two mothers of the male and female protagonists staged a scene of fighting over a certain laundry detergent in the supermarket. The key point is that there was clearly an entire shelf full of this laundry detergent behind them. I really don't understand what there was to fight over!

Even after the couple left the supermarket, the mother kept asking, "Did you get the laundry detergent?"

In total, most of the episode revolves around laundry detergent.

There's no way around it, Libai gives out more!
Oh, it's Libai laundry detergent...

"Boss & Me" definitely can't do that; product placement should revolve around the plot itself...

The very first scene filmed was Feng Teng entering the company…

(End of this chapter)