The director starts by learning from the abilities of renowned directors.

Chapter 142 Sensation

8:11 a.m. on March 1.

Buzz—Buzz—Buzz—

The phone kept vibrating on the bedside table, and a bare arm reached out from under the covers to pick it up.

"Feed".

"Okay, I understand. I'll get back to you within half an hour. Don't do anything rash before then."

Another arm emerged from under the covers, this time clearly a woman's arm, and definitely a beautiful one at that, with skin as smooth as cream and flawless as white jade, wrapped around the waist of the man answering the phone.

"Who is it?"

The woman glanced at the man, still half-asleep, and asked with a smile.

The man put his hand on the woman's shoulder and said calmly, "Chen Zhixi said that someone took pictures of the two of us having dinner together last night and leaving in the same car. Now the matter has blown up and is being discussed fiercely on Weibo. It's getting a little out of control."

Upon hearing this, the woman immediately sobered up, sat up, and asked, "What should we do then?"

Shen Qing said, "I'm still thinking about it."

Last night, Shen Qing went to pick up Liu Yifei to stay at his house for the night. On the way, the two of them decided to have dinner together in a private room at a restaurant. Unexpectedly, the process of entering and leaving the private room and leaving together in a car was filmed and posted on Weibo. Things suddenly became very serious, catching Chen Zhixi off guard.

Shen Qing opened Weibo and quickly browsed through it. Liu Yifei leaned against Shen Qing's chest and peeked at the content on Weibo.

"Shocking! It turns out Liu Yifei is Shen Qing's real girlfriend!"

Why Liu Yifei? What about Fan Bingbing? Haven't we always heard that these two are a couple?

"I'm a Zhao Liying supporter."

"Actually, Liu Shishi and Shen Qing are the best match. Shen Qing specially made a movie called 'About Time' for her."

"There's no doubt that Liu Yifei is his official girlfriend. Just look at the way they look at each other; their eyes don't lie."

"It makes the most sense that it's Liu Yifei. The two walked the red carpet together at Cannes in 04 and were praised as a perfect match. Last year's 'Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons' should be the film that brought them together. Haven't there been people claiming to be staff members of the 'Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons' crew saying that the two were already openly together on set?"

"Here's something nobody knows: Liu Yifei and her mother have left Hongxingwu, and Shen Qing's Magical Investment Company recently established a new subsidiary, Jumei Entertainment." It's rumored that Liu Yifei's agency contract has been transferred to Jumei.

"true and false?"

"Holy crap, isn't that solid proof? Will they just officially announce it soon?"

"Who knows, they might just announce their marriage in a few days?!"

Although Shen Qing usually only posts movie updates on Weibo, her number of followers still soared to 1100 million, and most of them are active fans. At that time, Yao Chen only had 800 million followers, which shows how popular Shen Qing was.

Especially now that "Lost in Thailand" is at its peak and its box office is heading towards becoming the highest-grossing film in Chinese film history, fans are discussing Shen Qing with great enthusiasm. Suddenly, intimate photos of her were taken, and the entire internet exploded.

Moreover, the popularity continues to climb every minute and every second.

Chen Zhixi called again immediately afterward.

"We can't delay any longer. We must respond immediately. The level of attention we're getting now is on a completely different scale compared to when I called you just now. Douban, Tieba, Tianya, the four major portals—everywhere you can imagine is talking about you. In just this short time, more than a dozen media outlets have called the company to schedule telephone interviews with you."

"I'll respond on Weibo myself later, I'm hanging up now."

Just after hanging up with Chen Zhixi, Fan Bingbing called.

"Boss Shen, what's going on? Had enough fun and want to settle down? Are you really determined to give up the whole forest for one flower?"

""

"Ignorance is truly terrifying. That's called giving up an entire flower field for one flower. Can flowers and forests be compared?"

"So it's true?"

"I'm hanging up now, I'll check Weibo later."

Just after hanging up with Fan Bingbing, Yang Mi called, followed by Zhao Liying, Gao Yuanyuan, Wan Qian, Li Yitong, and even Liu Shishi.

However, Shen Qing did not answer any of the subsequent calls.

Liu Yifei listened to the incessant vibrations of Shen Qing's phone and looked at the caller ID, feeling incredibly annoyed. It was obvious that all the women calling were having affairs with Shen Qing—that womanizing bastard! And these women had only one purpose in calling—to test the rumors; if they were true, they wanted to stop them!

Shen Qing is a womanizer, but who can blame her for being unable to leave him? But no one can have a legitimate girlfriend! Without a legitimate girlfriend, everyone still has a chance; if such a girlfriend does appear, everyone will become a mistress!

Liu Yifei also received a call from her mother.

"Yifei, are you and Shen Qing really going to officially announce it?"

Liu Yifei held up her phone, unsure how to answer her mother. Should she say the two were unrelated? That would be blatant lying! Should she say they were going to make it official? Of course she would, more than willing, but she couldn't make that decision herself, so she just held up her phone and secretly watched Shen Qing's expression.

"Where are you now? Are you with Shen Qing?"

"Mom, we'll talk later. I'll hang up now."

After hanging up the phone, Liu Yifei continued to look at Shen Qing, her heart pounding uncontrollably.

It would be great if they could officially announce it.

"Then let's make it official," Shen Qing suddenly said.

"You just said—official announcement?" Liu Yifei's breathing became rapid.

Shen Qing started typing away on Weibo to reply, and at the same time said to Liu Yifei, "You also post a Weibo, saying that we actually talked about the script for 'The Great Wall' last night, and that you were very excited to take on the role of Mo Ying, but also felt a lot of pressure. I'll post the official announcement of the female lead for 'The Great Wall,' with Ms. Liu Yifei playing the female lead, Mo Ying."

"Okay, I'll edit it right away. By the way, you can publish it directly after it's finished, so that I don't overlook anything."

When Shen Qing told her that the official announcement was for the female lead in "The Great Wall," Liu Yifei felt both disappointed and secretly relieved.

A moment later, Shen Qing finished editing his Weibo post. He showed it to Liu Yifei first, and then clicked the send button. Liu Yifei also quickly edited her own Weibo post. She handed her phone to Shen Qing, who glanced at it, saw no problems, and clicked send without changing a single word.

Zhao Liying was filming GG in the studio when her assistant told her about the rumors between Shen Qing and Liu Yifei. Suddenly, she felt very depressed. She thought about calling Shen Qing to test the waters, but she couldn't get through. This made her feel even more depressed. She wondered if the two of them would really take this opportunity to make their relationship official.

Does that mean she has absolutely no chance?

She kept refreshing Weibo, and after a moment, she suddenly stood up from her chair.

Shen Qing responded on Weibo, essentially saying: There were no dates, we were discussing the script, and it's already been decided that Liu Yifei will be in *The Great Wall*.

The female lead.

Liu Shishi was performing out of town when Cai Yinong called to inform her. After learning the whole story, Liu Shishi suddenly felt panicked. She wanted to call Shen Qing to get some answers, but then felt she didn't have the right. She and Shen Qing had agreed that she would stay with him for a year, and after that, they would have no further relationship.

However, these excuses were nothing but wishful thinking and self-deception. They were just excuses she made for herself, for knowing that Shen Qing had a bunch of women but still dating him. Now, even these excuses are about to fall apart.

Finally, she mustered up the courage to call Shen Qing, but Shen Qing didn't answer at all.

After learning about the situation, Yang Mi immediately found the three needles that Shen Qing had given her. If Shen Qing really intended to make his relationship with Liu Yifei official, then she would stop Shen Qing from jumping off the cliff, just as Guo Xiang used the golden needles to stop Yang Guo from jumping off the cliff.

Indeed, in Yang Mi's eyes, Shen Qing and Liu Yifei's official announcement of their relationship was tantamount to jumping off a cliff.

Li Yitong, Wan Qian, Gao Yuanyuan, and others shared similar thoughts.

Then Shen Qing posted on Weibo and officially announced it, but it had nothing to do with boyfriend and girlfriend. Shen Qing announced that she would be casting Mo Ying, the female lead in the movie "The Great Wall".

The response finally came, instantly causing a frenzy across the internet, with countless netizens embarking on a celebratory spree.

"I'd already taken my pants off, and this is all? Discussing the script? Can't the entertainment industry come up with a fresh excuse?"

"Having dinner together, behaving intimately, gazing at each other affectionately, and leaving in the same car, and you're telling me it was about discussing the script? That's ridiculous!"

"Because it's so outrageous, I actually think it might be true."

"Didn't someone just say that Liu Yifei and her mother left Hongxingwu? Doesn't this all fit together? Liu Yifei left Hongxingwu and joined Jumei Entertainment under Shen Qing, and then Liu Yifei successfully got the female lead role in 'The Great Wall'."

"You know what, you really shouldn't tell!"

Shen Qing's fans split into two factions. One faction is mainly composed of male fans, most of whom think Liu Yifei is really good and that it's okay for her to be in a relationship after officially announcing it. However, there are also dissatisfactions among them, and these people may be more supportive of Shen Qing choosing Yang Mi, Liu Shishi, Fan Bingbing, Li Yitong, etc.

-

The other group, mainly female fans, included a significant portion of whom were very opposed to Shen Qing dating. So, upon seeing Shen Qing's response, they were actually relieved.

Then, many netizens are also very concerned about the Great Wall project itself.

"Is there finally any progress on 'The Great Wall'? It's been said for a long time that this is director Shen Qing's next mega-production, with a budget of 1.5 million US dollars! Wow! Chinese directors can really go all out now. Looking forward to it!"

"Chinese directors have already gone all out. Gravity grossed $15.83 billion, ranking third in global film history."

"The Great Wall and monsters sound pretty exciting, but I don't think they'd be easy to film!"

"That's exactly why it's difficult to film. Shen Qing's films are known for being difficult to film. Was 'Gravity' easy to film?"

9 o'clock in the morning.

Assistant Shen Ying and driver Shen Lei arrived at the apartment building. Shen Ying went upstairs to pick up Liu Yifei. Shen Qing had just made a phone call, instructing the assistant to take Liu Yifei home. Shen Ying also thoughtfully brought breakfast for two people.

"Why don't you finish your meal before you leave?"

Shen Qing sat down at the dining table and broke apart a pair of disposable chopsticks.

"Great, I'm hungry too."

Liu Yifei sat down. Breakfast included porridge, tofu pudding, soy milk, fried dough sticks, and steamed buns.

After having breakfast, Liu Yifei rinsed her mouth, put on the hat, mask, and sunglasses prepared by Shen Ying, and went downstairs with Shen Ying.

"Come pick me up at 2 PM to go to the company."

Before the two went downstairs, Shen Qing said to Shen Ying.

In the afternoon, at Magical Film and Television Media Company.

Filming for "The Great Wall" will officially begin in the middle of this month, and Shen Qing has some things to tell Chen Zhixi before joining the crew.

Previously, Shen Qing believed that Shenqi Film and Television Media had not ventured into the film distribution field because he felt that everyone should specialize in their own area. His advantage was in content production, and doing traditional distribution would likely result in the content being dragged down if the distribution was not done well.

His later experiences taught him that making a company too big is not necessarily a good thing. Wanda Cinema acquired AMC, the second-largest cinema chain in the United States, and Legendary Pictures, the Hollywood film company that produced films such as "Inception" and "Interstellar". In the end, it became Ruyi Cinema.

Huayi Brothers was incredibly successful in its early days, doing everything, but then its stock price plummeted to 1 yuan, and the company's revenue fell to less than 1200 million yuan.

The debtor filed for bankruptcy.

Shen Qing has always been cautious about business expansion.

However, at this point in time, the situation has changed.

In less than a year, Meituan will launch the Meituan Movies project, which will be renamed Maoyan Movies in the future, and at its peak account for more than 6% of the online movie ticketing market.

The future belongs to the mobile internet era, and online ticketing will become the absolute mainstream. Maoyan will have a unique advantage in film distribution.

But these were not the reasons why Shen Qing ultimately decided to run Maoyan. There was another huge dilemma in running Maoyan: no matter how well you did at the beginning, you would inevitably have to compete head-on with major internet companies in the future.

WeChat will definitely get involved in this area, and Alibaba will definitely launch Taobao Tickets. A ticket subsidy war is bound to break out, and when it comes to burning money, Shen Qing certainly can't outspend the internet giants.

But precisely because a ticket subsidy war is inevitable in the future, Shen Qing is forced to seriously consider whether or not to get involved with Maoyan.

If ticket subsidies were only provided by the platform, that would be one thing. The problem is that the main force behind ticket subsidies in the later stages has become the film production companies. There's even a saying that a film isn't qualified to be released during the Spring Festival if it doesn't spend 5000 million yuan on ticket subsidies.

The ticket subsidies for "Lost in Hong Kong" may reach as high as 1.5 million yuan.

In the future, almost all mainstream films will be forced to subsidize tickets. Other movies will be available for as low as 9.9 yuan, while your film's minimum ticket price will be 30 yuan. How will you compete? Even cinemas see ticket subsidies as a sign of confidence in your film, a belief that subsidies will boost box office revenue and generate profit. If you don't even dare to subsidize tickets, how can cinemas have confidence in you? And if cinemas don't have confidence in your film, then they will reduce your screenings!

Since we'll have to burn money and rely on ticket subsidies sooner or later, we might as well build our own platform.

Besides, Shen Qing has a content advantage, and building a platform doesn't necessarily require burning money.

For example, preview screenings.

The blockbuster that audiences have been eagerly anticipating will not be officially released for another week, but now you can buy preview tickets on Maoyan. You can watch it immediately after buying them. If you want to buy tickets, you need to download Maoyan.

The preview tickets are only available on Maoyan. No matter how much money Taopiaopiao has, it can't sell them. If this blockbuster is attractive enough, will the audience download Maoyan to buy the preview tickets?

As long as Shen Qing has enough excellent blockbusters in hand, the preview screenings alone will be enough to give Maoyan an advantage.

Then Shen Qing's blockbuster was released, and Shen Qing subsidized the tickets on his own Maoyan platform, which even had a triple effect.

First of all, Maoyan's ticket subsidies are essentially using money to help Maoyan grab market share, which is why the platform was the main force behind ticket subsidies in the early days.

Secondly, subsidizing their own movies through Maoyan can boost their box office revenue.

Third, if Shen Qing's movie is a huge hit, and Maoyan is still subsidizing tickets, allowing viewers to watch Shen Qing's blockbuster for 9.9 yuan, shouldn't Alibaba's Taopiaopiao also subsidize tickets for Shen Qing's blockbuster? If you don't subsidize tickets, Maoyan will charge 9.9 yuan, while Taopiaopiao will charge 30 yuan. Which platform will viewers use? Will you also subsidize tickets? If Taopiaopiao spends 1 million yuan subsidizing tickets for Shen Qing's movie, it's equivalent to giving Shen Qing 1 million yuan in box office revenue for free. It's like Shen Qing is using other platforms' money to subsidize himself!

So Maoyan can do it, but there's a prerequisite: you need to have enough, high-quality blockbuster movies.

Moreover, Maoyan has a backup plan, such as selling it to WeChat or Alibaba when its valuation is at its highest.

If you're determined to create Maoyan, 2011 is the perfect time.

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