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Chapter 355, Episode 0342: [A Different Journey to the West]

The host began by introducing the event schedule and welcoming the guests.

Then, a group of foreigners were invited on stage to share behind-the-scenes stories about the film.

"Oh~~~~"

The whole crowd cheered.

A bunch of people were invited on stage, but the reporters' and audience's attention was all focused on Angelina Jolie.

The CEO of DreamWorks is being ignored by the Chinese people...

The event on stage was in full swing when a staff member crouched down and whispered to Chen Guiliang, "Mr. Chen, how about we invite you to come up on stage and interact with the audience later?"

“Okay. But I won’t go on stage, you guys can come to the audience.” Chen Guiliang didn’t mind, and he could also promote his animated short film at the same time.

Audience interaction slots for blockbuster films are typically allocated to employees of investors, distributors, sponsors, media or advertising companies, as well as members of the stars' fan clubs.

The premieres of low-budget or art-house films are where the real opportunity for random interaction with the audience comes in.

The CEO of DreamWorks and the director of "Kung Fu Panda" are both responsible for showering China with compliments, constantly talking about their love for giant pandas and traditional Chinese culture.

Director Mark also announced: "We were deeply saddened to hear about the disaster in the panda's homeland. After discussing with our Chinese partners, we have decided to donate all proceeds from the Chinese premiere of 'Kung Fu Panda' to the disaster relief efforts for the panda's habitat..."

"Clap clap clap!"

The whole audience applauded.

In particular, ordinary viewers who attended the premiere felt that buying a ticket had become more meaningful.

Angelina Jolie is the most amazing; she flew to China wearing maternity clothes. She's due to give birth next month. If anything goes wrong, the baby might be born right here in Shanghai.

This woman, who has been pregnant since the beginning of this year, has been traveling all over the world with the Kung Fu Panda team.

Chinese celebrities, including Jackie Chan, were also invited on stage for a brief interaction.

Next came the audience interaction.

Two or three lucky audience members were randomly selected. Host Chen Chen scanned the audience and said, "Let's invite one last person... Wow, what do I see? Mr. Chen Guiliang, CEO of ByteDance, has also come to the premiere!"

Chen Chen is a beautiful host under Shanghai Media Group (SMG). She has been gaining popularity in the past two years, hosting programs such as "Go! Good Boys" and "Dancing with the Stars." She is also frequently invited to host the Shanghai Film Festival and its various premieres.

Hearing that Chen Guiliang was also there, audience members who were farther away craned their necks to look for him.

Chen Chen walked straight up to Chen Guiliang with the microphone and said, "Hello, Mr. Chen!"

"Hello." Chen Guiliang took the microphone from the staff member.

The camera lens was also pointed at him.

Chen Chen asked, "Did you fly all the way to Shanghai specifically to see the premiere of 'Kung Fu Panda'?"

I don't follow celebrities, yet I flew here specifically to see the premiere.

Taking the opportunity, Chen Guiliang said, "I just happened to be passing by. My company, Breakthrough Animation, also has an animated film participating in the exhibition. It's called 'Summer of Little Monsters.' Although we didn't have a premiere, it's being screened this evening. I hope the media friends here can go and support domestic animation."

Many reporters at the scene knew what domestic animation Chen Guiliang was referring to, because Chen Guiliang had already promoted it on his personal account.

Fearing he would continue talking about topics unrelated to "Kung Fu Panda," Chen Chen quickly said, "After watching the interaction between the creative team just now, Mr. Chen, do you know which character Angelina Jolie voiced?"

Chen Guiliang said, "Tiger."

Chen Chen then asked, "Mr. Chen is from Sichuan, the hometown of pandas. Have you ever seen a real panda before?"

Chen Guiliang said, "I've seen it."

After asking a couple more simple questions, Chen Chen gave Chen Guiliang a Bao doll.

DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey asked the Chinese distributor's representative, "Is this person very famous?"

The Chinese partners of "Kung Fu Panda" are China Film Group and Huaxia Film Distribution.

China Film Group needs no further explanation.

Huaxia Film Studio was jointly established by 19 state-owned film companies and is directly under the Ministry of Truth.

Both film companies sent their vice presidents to the premiere.

Jiang, the vice president of China Film Group, said, "He has a great influence among young people."

"Is he an actor too?" Jeffrey asked.

Vice President Jiang said, "He's the boss, and the company is already listed in the US. Um... he's also a bestselling author. He owns a website similar to Facebook, and half of China's celebrities have registered accounts on that website. When 'Kung Fu Panda' was released in China, we promoted it on his website."

"Oh!"

Jeffrey exclaimed dramatically, "That's amazing! He looks so young!"

Vice President Jiang said, "They are indeed very young; they haven't even graduated from university yet."

A few minutes later, the lights went out and the movie "Kung Fu Panda" began to play.

The vast majority of the audience members were seeing this movie for the first time and were completely blown away by the visuals.

Laughter could be heard from the cinema from time to time, and Chen Guiliang was also watching with great interest.

Although he had already seen it before.

After the movie ended, Yang Shuo, who played a bodyguard in a cameo role, whispered, "This animated film is amazing! I've never seen anything like it before!"

Chen Guiliang asked with a smile, "When are you getting married?"

"Soon, I'll meet her parents in a while. She said her parents aren't too opposed," Yang Shuo said.

This guy actually managed to have an online romance with a girl from the outskirts of Beijing. It just goes to show that people are generally quite down-to-earth these days. Their requirements for marriage and relationships aren't that outrageous.

Chen Guiliang said, "Next month, I'll give you a raise and appoint you as a personal assistant."

Yang Shuo laughed and said, "The boss is very generous!"

"Stop grinning like that, you're practically turning into a Beijing slicker," Chen Guiliang complained.

As they spoke, the lights came back on.

The main cast, guests, reporters... are about to head to a nearby hotel for a dinner.

Breakthrough Animation has always been self-sufficient. Their film "Summer of Little Monsters" participated in multiple international film festivals, incurring huge expenses for airfare, accommodation, and exhibition booths. While they've sold some overseas rights, these were all at bargain prices to various television stations. Currently, the company is facing financial difficulties and doesn't have much money left for events at the Shanghai Film Festival.

So the premiere was scheduled after "Kung Fu Panda," and the reporters from the top media outlets had to attend the "Kung Fu Panda" gala dinner, so they simply didn't have time to see "Summer of the Little Monsters"!
It's a total rip-off.

"Mr. Chen, would you like to join me for the dinner party?" Jiang, the vice president of China Film Group, personally came over to invite him.

Chen Guiliang said, "My company's animated film will start in about half an hour."

"That's a real shame. I hope there will be another opportunity in the future." Vice President Jiang took the initiative to exchange phone numbers with Chen Guiliang.

Chen Guiliang said, "When we get back to Beijing, just let me know if President Jiang needs anything."

The two shook hands and said goodbye.

This Vice President Jiang is often caught in the middle, disliked by both sides.

The left criticizes his ethnic background, spreads rumors about his surname and love for the Gioro clan, and claims that he was the one who created all the Qing Dynasty operas.

The right wing criticized him for making a mountain out of a molehill and stirring up trouble, saying that he insisted on leading the Chinese to withdraw from the Tokyo Film Festival just because the Taiwanese delegation didn't have the word "China" in front of it.

In addition, he often spoke well of Zhao Yanzi and Fan Bayi, so how could he not be criticized after their scandals?
She's quite a shrewd and worldly person.

You can tell from the fact that he personally came to invite Chen Guiliang to the dinner party.

Seeing that Vice President Jiang had arrived, Feng Kuzi also came over to greet Chen Guiliang. Cheng Long, Chen Chong, and others also came over to shake hands and exchange pleasantries.

Zhang Ziyi somehow managed to get into the circle of foreigners and is now talking to the CEO of DreamWorks.

“Our movie will also be promoted on HaiNei.com. We hope Mr. Chen will give us your support then.” Chen Chong had no idea how to do online promotion. She thought it was just a matter of a word from Chen Guiliang.

Yes, she wanted Chen Guiliang to help promote the message for free; she never considered asking influential figures to post messages for her.

Chen Guiliang chuckled, shook hands politely, and quickly released his grip.

The number of Chinese internet users has surged this year, and the growth of HaiNei.com's users has also been unprecedentedly rapid. Just over a month ago, it had just surpassed 5000 million users, and now it's almost 5600 million.

Influencers have also figured out various ways to make money on their own.

It started with advertising for online stores, charging a certain amount per post. Gradually, some influential figures started opening their own online stores.

Then there's promoting movies and records, and writing advertorials for celebrities in the entertainment industry.

Nowadays, some small and medium-sized manufacturers are even hiring influential figures on overseas websites to promote their products—most of which are low-quality or counterfeit goods.

HaiNei.com's community business ecosystem is gradually taking shape.

This is thanks to the follower feature, which typically charges based on the number of followers.

Sina Blog is a different story. Although it has tried to add a follower feature, it has never been able to build a robust ecosystem. Many users don't even register an account; they simply search for and read celebrity blogs. Or, even if they register an account, they don't like logging in—the user profiles aren't engaging enough.

Chen Guiliang chatted with those people for a few minutes, then strolled away and headed to the screening room for "Summer of Little Monsters".

The premiere theater for "Kung Fu Panda" is too big. If "Summer of Little Monsters" were also shown there, most of the seats would probably be empty.

"Mr. Chen!" A reporter caught up with him.

Chen Guiliang asked, "Why don't you go to the Kung Fu Panda party? There are big stars from home and abroad there."

The reporter handed over his business card and said, "I'm a special correspondent for Mtime.com. Although Mtime.com has a lot of users, it is still an online media and can't hold its head high in front of traditional media. Besides, the celebrity interviews are over after the red carpet ceremony, so going to the party now is just to network with people in the industry."

“Liu Rui… Hello, Reporter Liu,” Chen Guiliang glanced at the business card, “After watching the film, I’ll treat our media friends to dinner.”

It was already dinnertime, but "Summer of Little Monsters" was only 30 minutes long and didn't have any lengthy premiere events. The movie ended before 8 PM.

As they were talking, three or four more people came running over, all from websites or second-rate print media.

They won't make a name for themselves at the Kung Fu Panda party, so they might as well take this opportunity to befriend Chen Guiliang.

"There are quite a few spectators here, even more than expected!" Wang Chenyu greeted them happily.

Chen Guiliang asked, "How many TV stations came?"

Wang Chenyu's smile faltered slightly: "Just local TV stations in Shanghai. It seems we'll have to go door-to-door to sell our shows to TV stations in other provinces and cities. However, we've won an international award, and if we receive positive reviews at the Shanghai Film Festival, we should be able to sell them for a good price on TV stations."

An animated short film naturally cannot make money from box office revenue.

They can only be sold to TV stations or websites for broadcast.

Chen Guiliang glanced around and saw that the small screening room, which could hold forty or fifty people, was about 90% full.

Most of them were fans of Chen Guiliang and players of "Future Era" who came after seeing the promotional messages on websites such as HaiNei.com and Tieba.

"Chen Shiyi, look this way!"

Some people in the audience were already heckling.

Chen Guiliang didn't know who was shouting, so he could only wave in that direction.

Seeing his reaction, more and more audience members cheered, and the atmosphere became lively.

Even Xu Fengyin's fans asked, "Chen Shiyi, why didn't Jiu Neng come? I want her original autograph!"

"You want my original autograph? I think you want my original panties!" a viewer immediately retorted.

Chen Guiliang gave them the middle finger.

"Hahaha!"

The other audience members laughed.

Chen Guiliang took the microphone and said, “As everyone knows, the domestic animation industry is in a slump, and it’s not easy for those who are still making animation. This short film is based on Journey to the West, and I only provided the story idea and framework. But the creative team insisted on labeling me as the screenwriter, so I had no choice but to attend the premiere.”

"Let's not talk about anything else, let's watch the animated film first. Let the quality of the film speak for itself!"

Both the media and the audience thought that "Summer of Little Monsters" might be boring.

Which domestically produced animated short films adapted from "Journey to the West" have been truly successful in recent years? They didn't have any expectations.

but!

This film grabbed everyone's attention in just one minute.

It really does seem different.

(End of this chapter)