The Rise of Chinese Entertainment in 2008

These articles offer sharp commentary on currently showing movies.

Moreover, while the commentary was sharp, some of the word choices in the article were hilarious.

For example, when commenting on Zhang Yimou's film "A Simple Noodle Story," he said that after watching "Curse of the Golden Flower," he had completely given up on him.

But the opening ceremony of the Olympics rekindled his hope for Zhang Yimou.

I went to see the movie as soon as it was released. I thought that since it had been several years since Zhang Yimou's last film, he would be able to pull off something big. But after watching it, I realized that he had really let it slip.

After reviewing the films currently showing, the article concludes by mentioning several upcoming films, analyzing each from its director to its lead actor, conveying anticipation throughout.

Among the several films, "Lost in Thailand" is prominently featured.

Gu Ning browsed through various websites and saw many articles of this kind, nodding in satisfaction.

This method of promotion was later known as advertorial promotion.

So-called advertorials refer to content that does not directly promote products, but rather subtly influences consumers' perceptions by integrating commercial information into valuable content.

The core of this method lies in its stealth.

If Gu Ning were to have someone promote his movie online, everyone would immediately know it was just a movie advertisement.

Moreover, as a newcomer, no one buys into his image; instead, he only evokes resentment.

However, it is interspersed within reviews of other movies and ultimately included as a recommendation.

Although he also monetizes his work by promoting other films, it also helps some people remember his movies.

Currently, various industries do not pay much attention to online promotion, and the diverse promotional methods available online have not emerged.

Nobody realized this was a movie promotion.

Many of these articles were written by Gu Ning herself, and they used a lot of buzzwords and memes that we can understand now but haven't appeared yet.

Over the course of a few days, not only did it attract a huge number of viewers and reposts, but even some of the words and memes in the article became popular.

That day, Gu Ning received a call from Director Chen, who told him that the publicity arrangements had been made and that he should lead the main creative team to start promoting the project.

The promotional tour can only begin after the movie is released; in the early stages, they can only participate in some variety shows and attend some offline events.

Xu Zheng also came on the day of the promotion.

The promotion for "Crazy Racer" has been going on for over a week now. Xu Zheng is not a lead actor and does not need to participate in the promotion.

Upon learning that he had a new movie to promote, and that it was his junior's movie, Ning Hao was quite generous and let him go immediately.

Gu Ning learned from Xu Zheng that she had obtained Ning Hao's phone number, and then called to express her gratitude.

China Film Group arranged for them to do promotional activities on universities and participate in popular variety shows on satellite TV.

Director Gu Ning is not as popular as the two lead actors, Xu Zheng and Wang Baoqiang.

This promotional campaign continued until January 18th before temporarily ceasing.

"Thank you all for your hard work these past few days. Take a good rest now. After the movie is released, we'll have to work hard for you all again for a while," Gu Ning said, raising his glass.

"Director Gu, you can rest, but I can't."

Xu Zheng said with a bitter face, "I still have to go to Director Ning's place for promotion, and the movie will be released soon, so I'll be even busier then."

"This is a happy problem for you."

Gu Ning laughed and said, "How many people have two movies released at the same time during the Lunar New Year season? If both movies do well at the box office, your salary next year will probably double."

"If I ever hire you to make a movie, you'll have to give me a discount."

"Haha, then I'll take Director Gu's good wishes. I'll come even without pay, as long as Director Gu calls," Xu Zheng said with a smile.

Gu Ning didn't take it seriously. If the movie did well at the box office, he would ask Xu Zheng to make a cameo appearance in the future without asking for money.

But if the movie flops, it'll be strange if Xu Zheng even bothers with him.

…………

"Teacher Xu is so dedicated. School's on holiday, but she's still sticking to her post," Gu Ning said with a smile.

"Oh, Director Gu is here. Please have a seat and let me pour you some tea." Xu Bing smiled and stood up.

"Teacher Xu, I was wrong."

Gu Ning quickly stepped forward to take the cup, smiling apologetically, "I can do it myself, how could I dare let you pour me tea?"

"snort!"

Xu Bing said irritably, "Now you've gotten bolder, you even dare to make fun of teachers."

"This is just a joke."

Gu Ning found some tea leaves, brewed a cup of tea, sat down, and asked, "Teacher Xu called me here. What are your instructions?"

Xu Bing said, "Your short film has been confirmed for a nomination."

"Really?" Gu Ning asked in surprise.

"real!"

Xu Bing said, "This is information we received from the school organizers. Besides you, Chen Kaige's 'Mei Lanfang' has been shortlisted for the main competition."

These are the only two domestic works to receive a nomination.

"When does the film festival start?" Gu Ning asked.

"Starting on February 5th and ending on February 15th."

"But my movie is released on January 26th, so there's a bit of a time conflict."

Gu Ning frowned and said, "Teacher Xu, could you please talk to Director Chen for me and ask him to mentor me if we win an award?"

"You think you're going to collect eggs? You can collect them for someone else."

Xu Bing said irritably, "You think you can win an award if you don't go? Dream on."

"I was just kidding."

Gu Ning gave an awkward smile; he knew that was unrealistic.

And if he remembers correctly, Chen Da Shi Ren's film did not win any awards.

Given the temperament of the great poet Chen, he wouldn't even attend the award ceremony if he hadn't won the award, so how could I possibly accept the award on his behalf?

Moreover, he also needs to sell copyrights; in addition to the honor, the awards also bring practical benefits.

Film distributors from many countries participate in film festivals to buy films.

The copyright price differs depending on whether the candidate is nominated or not, and the price will be even higher if they win an award.

"You know that's good. You have your passport, right?" Xu Bing asked.

"No, I'll take care of it later." Gu Ning shook her head.

"It's too late, the holiday is almost here, did you bring your ID card?"

"I brought it."

"Go take a few passport photos later and send them over; the school will handle it for you."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Teacher Xu."

"Bringing an award back is the greatest gratitude you can give me."

"Whether or not we win an award is not up to me."

"Alright, go on ahead." Xu Bing waved his hand.

…………

Gu Ning found a photo studio near the school, took a headshot, and sent the photo and her ID card to the school.

Then I called Liu Sanxi to tell him the good news.

Upon hearing this, Liu Sanxi was very excited and said he wanted to go with him.

"You can't go. I have to leave about a week in advance. The movie will only have been released for a few days then, so you'll have to lead the team to the roadshow," Gu Ning said.

Liu Sanxi said regretfully, "I thought I could meet those Hollywood stars."

"Search for photos online, look at them however you like," Gu Ning said with a smile.

"Get lost."

Liu Sanxi said irritably, "You can't go alone, can you? Aren't you supposed to bring a female companion to those film festivals?"

"It's just a short film, there's no need to be so particular," Gu Ning said, shaking his head.

He wrote and directed this short film, but there were no actors or even voice-over.

He had to go alone.

On January 15th, the Berlin Film Festival announced its selected films.

Because the time difference between the two countries is about seven hours, the organizers announced the time at 9 a.m., while it was already 4 p.m. in China.

These days, news from abroad comes back relatively slowly, but entertainment media outlets have been keeping a close eye on the Berlin Film Festival.

The following morning, the news made headlines on major entertainment news outlets.

It instantly overshadowed the news that Chen Chusheng had filed for arbitration to terminate the contract.

Although the news articles featured Chen the Great Poet extensively, Gu Ning was only mentioned briefly at the end, but the upcoming film "Lost in Thailand" was mentioned, which could be considered free publicity for him.

Many people believe that it was perfectly normal for the great poet Chen to be nominated.

On the contrary, Gu Ning, although a newcomer and currently a junior in college, is only making short films.

But precisely because of this, it has also garnered considerable attention.

Many media outlets contacted Gu Ning through various means, wanting to interview him.