Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 379 I am not good at marketing
In July, the exhausted Kurosawa Mitsuru arrived in Ikoma, took a brief tour of the set, and then talked about business.

evening.

Gu Ming and Kurosawa Mitsuru sat opposite each other, and he was naturally treated to fresh ingredients from local farmers and various dishes prepared on the spot.

Fresh vegetables were spread out on the table, and bubbles were bubbling in the pot.

This is not called hot pot, this is called Sukiyaki...

Gu Ming put the dishes on the table and said, "Come, let's eat hot pot."

Kurosawa Mitsuru responded, holding a small lacquered wooden bowl with vegetables in it.

"Let's cut to the chase...Have you heard the latest news about Toei?"

Of course Gu Ming had never heard of it.

"Toei is planning a film, slated for release next summer, called 'Makai Tensei,' based on the original novel by Yamada Fuutarou. It stars some of the best actors, and the director is none other than the renowned film director Kinji Fukasaku."

Gu Ming let out an "oh".

That sounds pretty impressive.

Gu Ming said, "But what does this have to do with us?"

"It matters a lot! Don't forget, your plan is to shoot and release two movies together. The second one is scheduled to be released during the winter vacation, so it has nothing to do with you. But the third one will be released at the same time as Demon World Reincarnation!"

Kurosawa Mitsuru gestured with his chopsticks, moving them back and forth between the two people.

"You, and Makai Tensei, don't you understand? That's a true masterpiece, not something this petty and frivolous can compare to. But then again, if you weren't working on a work like that, maybe Fukasaku Kinji would come looking for you."

Gu Ming rolled his eyes.

He had never received any notice from Kinji Fukasaku.

But what Kurosawa Mitsuru said really gave Gu Ming some reminder.

After the two films are shot together, the second one will be released this year, and the third one will be released next year to coincide with the reincarnation of the demon world.

They are both movies with the same theme!

Moreover, there is no doubt that one is a film invested and produced by Toei itself, and the other is a film produced by Toei, or produced by "Tochu Production", while Toei is only responsible for the distribution of the film.

The treatment of these two is actually obvious.

So, we postpone?
Gu Ming was about to say this to Kurosawa Mitsuru, but Kurosawa Mitsuru laughed first and gestured with the chopsticks in his hand: "But this is a great opportunity! Furuya-kun, don't forget that you are recognized by foreigners. Even the French have a lot of praise for you. I've seen the finished film of the first part. If you maintain that quality, it may not be impossible to become a work that can be compared to Makai Tensei!"

"Think about it, Gu Gu-kun. Ours is a medium-budget production, while theirs is a high-budget production worth at least hundreds of millions. The profits from these two are completely different!"

"So we have to seize this opportunity. We can't postpone it, as that would weaken the impact of the second film. We can't advance it either, as that would affect the second film's revenue. So we have to choose the time of Demon World Reincarnation to release it together!"

Kurosawa Mitsuru was so excited that he seemed unable to hear anything.

After a long while, Gu Ming showed a puzzled expression.

"You said us, but it seems like you're also an employee of Toei?"

"No! Of course not! I don't belong to Toei, I belong to 'Toei Center Film Production Company', and I'm only responsible to President Okada! I believe Furuya-kun should be able to understand the meaning of this sentence, right?"

When Gu Ming looked at him, he seemed to see the layers of relationship chains and oppressive relationships behind the giant Toei.

Yes, Kurosawa Mitsuru was certainly an employee of Toei, but he was also the person that Toei's president specially lured away from Nikkatsu and invited to take charge of Toei Center Film Production Company.

So on the surface he is an employee of Toei, but in fact he is independent of Toei. He is just a person who uses Toei's name and can use some of Toei's resources.

In this way, it is not surprising that Kurosawa Mitsuru said such words.

How much money Makai Tensei makes has nothing to do with him; that money belongs to Toei. However, the profits from The Picture Scroll of Vengeance are closely tied to Tochu Productions. As the film's distributor and the direct head of Tochu Productions, he's naturally the one most eager to see box office growth!

After thinking this through, Gu Ming bowed slightly and saluted.

"I don't know much about marketing and distribution. In that case, I'll ask Mr. Kurosawa Mitsuru for your guidance."

"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking about," Kurosawa Mitsuru said. "Makai Tensei has already started promoting it, but the scale of the promotion isn't very large yet. There's only a few mentions of Toei's upcoming large-scale production in the newspapers, so I don't plan to capitalize on the popularity of Makai Tensei at this time."

——Of course, I will do that in the future.

"I've contacted a talk show in Kyoto. You can go on the show soon and advertise the film."

"In addition, I have also collected some information about the evil deeds that have occurred over the years due to local customs and the ignorance of the villagers."

Gu Ming suddenly spoke up: "The East China system can utilize relatively large resources, right?"

Kurosawa Mitsuru nodded, and for a moment he didn't understand what Gu Ming was trying to say.

Gu Ming made a gesture of asking for something, and Kurosawa Mitsuru handed the information he brought to Gu Ming.

"Hokkaido Festival... Kyushu Sea Festival... Okinawa..."

Gu Ming raised his head.

"Is there a possibility that we find an event that really happened, or we create an event that really happened?"

Looking at Kurosawa's stunned expression, Gu Ming casually talked about a classic work of film marketing.

"There's a small, secluded village in Ikoma City, Nara Prefecture. Several young people went there for fun and disappeared. When rescuers found them, they only found skeletons and a fragment of a videotape. After playing the tape, they learned of the village's sinister past. Ultimately, thanks to a crackdown by the local Nara police, the evil village was destroyed, all the plots were extinguished, and light returned. So, Nara is truly efficient..."

Kurosawa Mitsuru: ???

What the hell is this!

Didn’t you say you don’t know how to market movies?
What Gu Ming is talking about is of course the most classic marketing tactic, pseudo-documentary.

This routine would not appear before people for the first time until more than ten years later.

There is a movie in American entertainment literature that many people will use, called "The Blair Witch Project", which has low investment cost and high box office.

But the price is that the marketing cost is extremely terrifying, dozens of times more than the shooting cost.

Gu Ming doesn't need that kind of overwhelming effect now, and Japan is not that big.

Using a fabricated event to attract audiences and leveraging Dongzhong’s channels for marketing might yield better results.

In an instant, it seemed as if Kurosawa Mitsuru's Ren and Du meridians were opened up.

"I understand... No, wait a minute, we'd better find a few more people, some real rescued people."

Gu Ming: ???
Kurosawa Mitsuru said: "Then, during filming, your crew encountered a real incident and finally rescued these people. Of course, the real incident was not so bloody and cruel, but it was still very tortuous and bizarre!"

"The news headline is about how you busted up a small criminal village and, with the cooperation of the Nara police, rescued a few poor hikers!"

"In this way, through this incident, we can direct the focus of the film and create the impression that the movie is based on real events! That's it! Please have Furuya-kun contact Nara, and I will contact the TV stations and newspapers. However, this will require additional marketing expenses, starting at 10 million yen! As long as we can cover the Kansai and Kanto regions, it will be sufficient. The rest of the marketing will rely on word of mouth and self-marketing. It will be absolutely no problem!"

Gu Ming took a sip of the Sukiyaki.

OK OK.

You professionals in film marketing are the ones who know how to do it!
How dare you even think of such a method!
Gu Ming spread his hands.

Since you can, then do it!
(End of this chapter)