Huayu: Starting with Marketing Bad Movies

Unexpectedly, this is a martial arts story, but it is presented in a nonsensical and satirical way.

With the help of the system, the script quality is extremely high, and as long as it is filmed seriously, it can make money.

This has also been detected by the system.

The system has a prediction function that can determine in advance whether a movie will make money.

Of course, this is just a rough prediction. We don't know how high the box office will be or how much money it will generate.

If Xu Feng needs it, he can also accurately predict how much box office a movie will generate, who is the most suitable actor to play the role, and how to maximize box office revenue.

But that would consume too many system points, which he can't afford right now.

For Xu Feng, as long as he's certain the movie will make money, that's enough.

With the movie script ready, the next step is formal preparation, casting, and then filming.

The most important thing is still investment.

Every director has felt they are incredibly talented, capable of outshining Spielberg and Cameron, but lack of money prevents them from fully realizing their potential.

Finding investment is the hardest thing for a director. Countless directors have worked like slaves to secure funding for their first film.

To have a movie that gets a one-round run in theaters by the age of forty is truly remarkable.

Why is it that directors generally achieve success later in life, with most becoming prominent figures in their middle or older years?

It's incredibly difficult to get others to invest money; you need to demonstrate results to convince them.

Therefore, Xu Feng's ability to direct "The Warring States" before he was even thirty, thanks to Jing Tian, ​​can truly be described as a meteoric rise.

Now that he has successful experience and has accumulated his first pot of gold, finding investment is not difficult.

His achievements are his source of confidence.

The stellar CEO Liu has already said that as long as Xu Feng makes a movie, he will make up for any shortfall in investment.

It sounds nice, but you'd be a fool to actually believe it.

Fortunately, this movie had a very low budget, since it was inspired by something completely unexpected.

"My name is Wang Dachui, and I'm currently filming a low-budget martial arts drama."

"This cost is way too low. What's with this toy sword for kids?"

With a low budget and children's toy swords, the total cost of the film naturally wouldn't be very high. If he chose a very frugal shooting method, Xu Feng was even confident that he could make it with only one million yuan.

However, such filming conditions would inevitably be very difficult, and it would be impossible to hire many stars, which would also affect the final box office.

Xu Feng ultimately calculated the filming cost to be eight million, a figure that had been verified by the system and represented the most suitable return on investment.

Eight million—he could actually come up with that amount on his own, but he couldn't possibly do it.

What director invests their own money in making a movie?

Moreover, Xu Feng put all his money into the company account. Whether it was money transferred from Starlight Brilliant or cash rewards from the system, Xu Feng used most of it to start the company.

The original owner of this body was very business-minded and had started a company early on to avoid paying too much tax.

The maximum personal income tax rate is 45%, which will significantly reduce your take-home pay, but corporate tax is much lower.

Moreover, he already had a comprehensive business plan. Being a director was just the first step. Next, he planned to use the entertainment industry as a springboard to enter many industries such as games, the Internet, and high technology, and eventually become the world's richest man.

It must be said that the original owner's ambitions were truly lofty, but she failed at the very first step.

Xu Feng applauded his ambition and decided to carry it on.

But we must take it one step at a time to avoid overreaching and causing serious injury.

He hired a few employees, set up the company's framework, and assigned them a task: to invest in film and television dramas.

The system rewards anyone who creates excellent entertainment products, but it does not require full participation. Even producing or investing in such products can be rewarded.

However, the rewards are not as high as those who participate in the entire process.

But it's better than nothing.

The first task Xu Feng gave them was to find a way to invest in the movie "Love is Not Blind".

This film is directed by Teng Huatao and stars Wen Zhang and Bai Baihe.

That's not the point. The point is that this movie cost 10 million to make but grossed over 300 million at the box office, creating a miracle of achieving great success with a small budget.

It also sparked a trend of chick flicks in China.

This kind of movie is the system's favorite; even just a little bit of it can earn a substantial reward.

Actually, the movie had already started filming and the investment had been secured long ago, so theoretically there was no room for interference.

Moreover, this happened before Xu Feng traveled through time; otherwise, he would have definitely invested in this movie even if he had to take out a bank loan.

You're guaranteed to make money.

However, Xu Feng knew that the film would still face funding shortages at times, so he instructed his subordinates to keep a close eye on the situation.

Another film is "The Flowers of War," directed by Zhang Yimou, the legendary "National Master," whom almost everyone knows.

Filming for this movie had already begun, but given Zhang Yimou's style, there was definitely an opportunity to invest. Xu Feng also had his men keep an eye on it.

Of course, the probability is relatively low. Zhang Yimou's films never lack investment; there are plenty of people vying to invest. On the other hand, "Love is Not Blind" has a higher probability because this film is not well-regarded.

To make this film, director Teng Huatao invested half of the money himself before attracting various investors to join the project.

In addition to these, Xu Feng also asked them to pay attention to whether other film and television dramas needed investment, regardless of whether there was any potential, to try their luck first.

These are the company's current tasks; as for becoming bigger and stronger, that's for the future.

Xu Feng is very confident about his future. He is destined to have no shortage of money, and the company can expand at any time if he wants.

After settling his company affairs, Xu Feng went to Starlight Brilliant Company.

He didn't see Jing Tian this time; while he was writing the script, Jing Tian went to film "Time Raiders".

Both Mr. Liu and Jing Tian have high expectations for this movie. Director Lin Zhicong is not like Xu Feng; he has experience in directing TV series, and his work has been quite successful.

Although the lead actor, Huo Jianhua, cannot compare to the combination of Sun Honglei and Wu Zhenyu, he is still a top-tier star.

"How much did this movie cost?" Mr. Liu looked at the script for a while, but he didn't understand it at all.

Not everyone can understand a script, and scripts and novels are completely different things.

The former is the textualization of images, while the latter is a story specifically designed for comprehension.

To understand a script, a certain level of expertise is required. However, some directors will specifically literaryize film and television scripts to facilitate investment and make it easier for investors to appreciate the brilliance of the plot.

However, given Xu Feng's relationship with Starlight Entertainment, even without a script, it wouldn't stop President Liu from spending money.

"The movie will cost about eight million to make, but I plan to report a budget of ten million to the public. I will invest two million myself, plus the director's and screenwriter's salaries, which will account for 40%," Xu Feng said frankly.

The actual cost and the quoted price are not the same, which is common in the industry. The director and screenwriter's salary of two million is to raise their own status. If the movie makes money in the end, he will also make a lot of money.

This movie is almost 100% profitable, so Xu Feng certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to give it all to someone else.

In fact, Xu Feng could have invested in this movie all by himself, without involving anyone else, which would have maximized his profits.

But things shouldn't be taken to extremes; only by sharing the pie with others can the road ahead be easier.

Eating alone can easily arouse jealousy.

"Okay, cast all the remaining 'Starry Night' tickets." Mr. Liu nodded.

If the film investment is tens of millions, he might hesitate a bit, but a few million is nothing to him.

The investment in this film was less than one-third of that in "Time Raiders," in which Jing Tian starred.

Xu Feng is a director who has made money.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Liu, I can only give you 40% of the share at most. I hope to bring in other participants for the rest." Xu Feng shook his head.

He doesn't plan to entrust all his investments to one company; he intends to bring in several investors, such as China Film Group, Huayi Capital, or Enlight Media.

Starlight Brilliant Company is very rich, but that's all it is.

But in the entertainment industry, money alone isn't enough.

There are some crucial resources that Starlight Brilliant Company simply cannot provide.

One major reason why "The Warring States" flopped so badly is that Starlight Entertainment is not an entertainment company; otherwise, even if the film's quality was mediocre, its box office wouldn't have been so low.

"That's fine too." Mr. Liu had no objection.

He didn't care about the investment of several million.

Moreover, the most important thing for this company is not making money, but making Jing Tian famous.

Without Jing Tian's involvement, this film couldn't possibly attract his attention.

Xu Feng can do whatever he wants.