Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 426 Zhang Xiaolong: After filming wrapped and he rested, he set off again in Hangzhou.

After the Tang City earthquake,
Suddenly, no one considered the possibility of gravity causing an accident.
What they need to consider is whether it will become fodder for Gu Bei's films, just like 1942 last year, leading to a wave of major films adjusting their release dates during the National Day holiday.

In the Chinese mainland film market, October and November, between the National Day holiday and the Lunar New Year holiday, are generally the off-season. Therefore, everyone starts to crowd into the summer season, and there is even a bit of a stampede.

The first to flee were the swords raining down from Little Horse Galloping.
This movie was originally scheduled for release on the 28th, only two days earlier than Gravity.

I don't know if they were just brave, or if they simply didn't know that Gravity was already scheduled for release on the 30th, so they moved it up a month and joined the competition for the August summer movie season.

Seeing this, Lightspeed's "Legend of the Fist" also quickly moved up its release date to the August summer blockbuster season.

Zhang Yimou's Under the Hawthorn Tree was the only exception, as its release date was moved up by just one week, which somewhat avoided the pull of gravity.

Under the Hawthorn Tree is an art-house drama, and thanks to Zhang Yimou's box office appeal, its release for half a month before entering the National Day holiday season didn't conflict with Gravity.

These are just the big movies.
How many low- to medium-budget films have escaped?

Gu Bei didn't have the energy to pay attention to them one by one.

Instead of focusing on those films, we should think about how to combat piracy.

He replied to Han Sanpin with a smile: "Chairman Han, I am analyzing this based on objective facts. It is impossible to expect Gravity to have such a long screening period as Avatar, right?"

However, after Avatar, the world has been eager for excellent 3D movies, and with the advent of Gravity, they have no other choice. This film will definitely break even.

"Actually, not necessarily."

Han Sanpin shook his head. "Gravity, as a co-production, is still fundamentally an imported revenue-sharing film."
According to our original negotiations with Hollywood, the encryption keys for imported revenue-sharing films were produced by you in North America, and they could only be screened on encrypted digital projectors.

This tactic prevented a situation like the Tang City earthquake, where clear pirated copies appeared the very next day.

Fortunately, you had a 3D version of "Aftershock in Tang City," which significantly improved the film's box office performance; otherwise, it would have suffered greatly from piracy like other movies.

Gu Bei felt somewhat relieved upon hearing this.

The period around 2010 was indeed the time when piracy was most rampant in China.
The internet has permeated the entire country, and with the widespread use of digital projectors, pirated copies of movies can be released the day after their theatrical release and can be watched all over the country, depending mainly on your internet speed.

Besides affecting movie box office, piracy also...

The greater impact will be on the film's ability to generate revenue through multiple channels.

At the beginning of the century, domestic audio-visual copyrights were still worth some money, but now they are worthless; if the box office doesn't make a profit, the movie will lose money.

In North America, over 60% of films can ultimately generate profit through multiple channels.

Currently, nine out of ten films made in China lose money.
Investors in movies these days are genuinely motivated by 'love'.

While feeling relieved, Gu Bei asked curiously, "So, is there no way to restrict piracy now?"

"Actually, encryption technology is not complicated; China Film Group's technology company has already developed it."

Han Sanpin shook his head helplessly, indicating that he had no solution to the problem. "The problem now is that most of the old cinemas in second- and third-tier cities and below use unencrypted digital projectors."

Digital cinemas have only been around for a few years, so it's unrealistic to expect them to replace their projectors, and it's even more unrealistic to refuse them copies.

Moreover, many distributors are willing to provide these cinemas with copies in order to secure more screenings.

Now all we can do is wait.
Once the market develops, their share will decrease to a certain percentage.

Gu Bei finally understood why this era was the era with the most rampant piracy.

Previously, the internet and digital cinemas were not well-developed, resulting in information asymmetry, which made piracy a lucrative business.

In the future, as technology advances, the information gap will disappear, making piracy more difficult, more rampant, and less profitable.

Right now, piracy is simple, profitable, and risk-free.

After Gu Bei and Han Sanpin chatted for a while longer,

He left China Film Group.
Then they returned to the Hangzhou film crew for filming.
Gu Bei deliberately scheduled the more difficult filming tasks for the first month and a half. The filming tasks after returning from Tang City were basically simple dialogue scenes, with more emphasis on the emotional expression between the actors.

at last,

By mid-August,
Gu Bei sat behind the monitor, watching the virus carrier stumble into the carriage. After the train attendant checked that no one was on the platform, he also entered the carriage, and the doors slowly closed.

"Cut!"

Gu Bei shouted loudly.

He stood up and, in front of thousands of passengers on both platforms, announced, "I hereby declare that our Hangzhou trip is over!"

A cheer immediately erupted from the crowd.

Although the trip to Hangzhou, as Gu Bei's work, may become a significant part of their resumes, they have already been working for two months, and no one wants to miss a vacation.

"boom!"

at this time,

A cannon shot rang out behind Gu Bei.
He turned his head and saw that Zhang Zifeng had abandoned the ceremonial cannons and run away, probably planning this stunt for a long time before filming wrapped up.

but……

Gu Bei felt that tonight's wrap party...

I need to have a serious talk with Zhang's mother about Zhang Zifeng's academic performance.

I've been filming for two months, so I can't neglect my summer homework!
"Director Gu, thank you for giving me this opportunity." Ma Dongxi walked over, shook Gu Bei's hand, and thanked him in broken Chinese.

"You're welcome, your performance was very unique."

Gu Bei replied with a smile in English.

He still used the character Ma Dong-seok in the Hangzhou trip, mainly because of his unique appearance and acting style.

Actually, there are many actors with a rugged appearance like Ma Dong-seok in China.

But there are very few people like Ma Dong-seok who can be so rugged yet have a touch of cuteness, and who can play supporting roles and villains all year round without being ignored or disliked by the audience. It can even be said that he has a unique role niche.

Now is the time for Chinese cinema to develop rapidly and attract film talent from across Asia.
Gu Bei's invitation to Ma Dongxi didn't seem out of place.

Even within South Korea, there's a certain pride that their film market has caught Gu Bei's attention.
After all, it's quite peculiar that the film "Whiplash," which Gu Bei started with, actually generated roughly the same amount of box office revenue in three distinct film markets: China, North America, and South Korea.

The only thing that Gu Bei found somewhat regrettable was that...
South Korea hasn't even started claiming they have Korean ancestry yet.
I don't know if it's because I'm not strong enough, or because I haven't seen it yet.

"Director Gu, thank you again. I'll invite you again when I return to Los Angeles."

When Ma Dong-seok heard Gu Bei speak English, he responded in a mix of English and Chinese, his expression still showing considerable respect for Gu Bei.

As a Korean-American from North America, he grew up in Los Angeles and returned to South Korea to become an actor. His English is much better than his Chinese, after all, his future wife was someone he taught English to win over. "If there's an opportunity."

Gu Bei replied casually.

"Thank you so much!"

Ma Dong-seok, however, looked delighted.

He is still a fledgling actor, and being able to play the second male lead in Gu Bei's film is something he, his family, and his agent could never have dreamed of.

Even though Gu Bei's words didn't sound like a promise, the mere hope was enough to excite him.

The crew packed up and headed to the wrap party.

At the wrap party,
Zhang's mother brought Zhang Zifeng to apologize to Gu Bei.

Zhang Zifeng said reluctantly, "I'm sorry, Director Gu, I shouldn't have done such a dangerous thing on the platform. I won't do it again next time."

"fine!"

Gu Bei waved his hand magnanimously at Zhang Zifeng, then looked at Zhang's mother and said, "I don't hold grudges against children, but school is about to start, so Zifeng, you need to work harder on your studies."

Especially mathematics, which is the foundation of all sciences and the driving force for developing potential. Entering the entertainment industry also requires a good grasp of mathematics.

When I was in school, I even won awards in math competitions. This set of workbooks is a special wrap-up gift for you, so be sure to study hard!

Zhang Zifeng listened to Gu Bei speak, but by the end his head was buzzing and he no longer knew what Gu Bei was saying.

People in the entertainment industry have to learn math, which I absolutely hate!
Looking at Gu Bei's 37-degree angled mouth, Zhang Zifeng was so angry that he couldn't help but tremble. Was he even human?

"Snapped!"

Zhang's mother patted her on the shoulder: "Hurry up and thank Director Gu."

Zhang Zifeng immediately snapped out of it, tears welling up in his eyes: "Thank you, Director Gu..."

Clearly, she had more to say, but under her mother's watchful gaze, she obviously dared not speak.

Gu Bei watched Zhang Zifeng's departing figure with a sense of melancholy.

When they meet again, their relationship will obviously not be as natural as it is now. After all, Zhang Zifeng will have grown up by then, and growing up is not as fun.

What other roles has she played in the future?

Oh right, the kind of 'sacrifice' I yearn for—drinking nine cans of milk a day.

The filming of "Hangzhou Trip" has just wrapped up, but it has already sparked a discussion on Weibo.

"What's going on? Gravity hasn't even been released yet, and Director Gu has already wrapped up another movie. This movie was only filmed for less than two months, right?"

"It is said that this movie is just a low-budget zombie film, just a hobby of Director Gu, and it will be ready in about two months."

"Hey upstairs, watch your wording. This is supposed to be a biohazard disaster movie. If it makes it so that no one can watch a movie, then I'll get angry with you!"

"The trip to Hangzhou is worth looking forward to. There's a rumor that the script for this film actually came out a long time ago. It wasn't rejected before because of its excessive gore, but because the railway authorities disagreed."

It wasn't until Director Gu won an Oscar that "The Hangzhou Trip" was approved; it's a disaster film with a unique style and a completely new subject matter.

"Hilarious! I'm really looking forward to seeing what the first domestically produced chemical disaster film will be like. All the domestic horror films end with the characters being mentally ill. Only Gu Bei is qualified to make this kind of film, right?"

"It's not that only Director Gu is qualified, but that China needs Director Gu to create a completely new type of film."

My friend works in the film and television industry. It's said that Gravity Training Institute trained a group of high-level prop masters, and Hangzhou Training Institute trained a group of high-level makeup artists.

Furthermore, given Rose Pictures' ice and snow special effects division in China, granting Director Gu this favor for his hobby isn't unreasonable at all.

Overall, the reviews on Weibo are positive.

The relatively lax piracy environment in China allows some niche foreign themes to become very popular in the country.
Many zombie movie fans are hoping that Gu Bei can bring them a real domestic zombie movie, instead of those horror movies that are just a sham.

Gu Bei sealed away the materials from his trip to Hangzhou.

Subsequently,

He then left Kyoto.
Contrary to what most people assumed, his destination this time was Los Angeles.
This time, Gu Bei chose a domestic flight, with his destination being Guangzhou, which he had visited last year.

"You had a good rest this year, didn't you?"

Gu Bei met Zhang Xiaolong and asked with a smile.

"Reading books and drinking tea, I haven't had such a comfortable life since graduation."

Zhang Xiaolong wore a faint smile, and his entire being exuded a Zen-like aura.

I guess he's had enough rest this year; even the smell of work has disappeared from his body.

"That's good. Once you've rested well, the scenery you see will be completely different."

Gu Bei nodded and said calmly.

The reason he was willing to let Zhang Xiaolong rest for a whole year was because last year's timing was not right; the number of mobile phone users was still too small to support another instant messaging software besides Mobile Penguin.

After a year,

Weibo has successfully surpassed 100 million registered users.

This indicates that the smartphone market has penetrated into the hands of many middle-aged and elderly people.
Regardless of who uses WeChat in the future, the biggest impression WeChat gives people is that everyone has to use WeChat because the boss uses it.

The timing is perfect.

Because the mobile penguin has too many functions, its compatibility with current smartphones is too poor.

Moreover, many functions are indeed inaccessible to some middle-aged and elderly people. Even Gu Bei's WhatsApp, without any promotion, has already gained hundreds of thousands of users in China solely through word-of-mouth from overseas returnees. This shows how much demand there is for an instant messaging software specifically for mobile phones.

Gu Bei recalled that just a few months later, an instant messaging software called KIK developed its user base using original relationship chains of mobile phone numbers and email addresses. It gained over a million registered users in 15 days, surpassing Facebook to become the fastest-growing software in history, which finally alerted Tencent.

MiTalk was developed in a hurry because it saw the success of this software.

Lei Jun believes that as long as MiTalk survives the first six months without attracting Tencent's attention and reaches ten million users, it will have the ticket to compete with Tencent.

As a result, it didn't even last two months before it was targeted by penguins.

Gu Bei was going to see how long it would take for the penguin to discover his WeChat account.

(End of this chapter)