In the entertainment industry, the silly system claims it's the immortal realm.

Chapter 108 Detective Chinatown Premiere

September 30th.

Yanjing.

Xidan, in front of the China Film Group flagship store.

The flashbulbs went off one after another.

Wei Yi stood in the reception area of ​​the cinema lobby, his face already stiff from smiling.

In just one hour, he shook hands with no fewer than a hundred people and said "Hello, hello," "Thank you for coming," and "Please come in" no fewer than a hundred times.

"Teacher, teacher, save me," he squeezed out through gritted teeth.

Among the people from Beijing Film Academy, Tian Erzhuang was the first to arrive.

He was talking to Li Hua when he heard this, and without even turning his head, said, "You asked for it. Who told you to invite so many people?"

"I didn't!" Wei Yi protested. "Han Sanping and Yu Dong invited them. Most of the rest came uninvited!"

'

Indeed, many people come uninvited.

The premiere of "Detective Chinatown" was jointly organized by China Film Group and Bona Film Group.

Han Sanping personally called to invite people, and Yu Dong transferred an entire publicity team from Shanghai.

The red carpet stretched from the cinema entrance to the roadside, and the autograph wall was a full three meters high.

Strictly speaking, if we don't consider his status as the son of the Beijing Film Academy's heir...

His connections in the film industry are actually limited.

Among the main characters, Leung Ka-fai is the most famous and experienced, but he is from Hong Kong Island and doesn't have a deep foundation in mainland China.

Wang Baoqiang works for his own company, while Huang Xiaoming works for Huayi.

Fan Binbin and Gao Yuanyuan are capable of handling things, but today they are the main cast members and have their own tasks, so they can't greet the guests for him.

However, the distributors were still China Film Group and Bona Film Group.

Han Sanping's influence goes without saying; he's the head of China Film Group, and who in the industry wouldn't give him face?

Yu Dong has been operating in Southeast Asia for ten years, and his network of contacts extends from Bangkok to Singapore.

The two of them teamed up to help him organize the event, and quite a few people came to support him.

Wei Yi knew very well that this was just the beginning, and there were definitely more big names yet to arrive.

But just looking at all these people made his face stiffen from smiling.

This also made him determined that next time, whoever wanted to be the greeter could do it, he would find a way to avoid it.

The movie "Detective Chinatown" had a total investment of 70 million yuan.

The original plan was to spend 50 million on filming and 20 million on publicity, but the company claimed to have spent 100 million.

Actually, the filming progressed faster than expected, and with subsidies and tax refunds from the Bangkok authorities, the final cost of filming was exactly 40 million.

The remaining budget is nearly 30 million.

After discussing it, the three decided to use it directly for publicity.

Han Sanping wasn't satisfied and added another five million, bringing the total publicity to nearly thirty-five million, almost matching the production cost.

Even so, Wei Yi stopped him from blowing too hard.

A hundred million is already quite a lot; if you exaggerate it further, people will easily find fault with it.

Moreover, China Film Group has already given the hint.

It's said that the authorities are discussing support policies for domestically produced commercial films, so keeping a low profile at this time won't hurt.

They touted a 100 million investment, the title of genius director, and how amazing the plot and screenwriter's abilities were.

With the support of those old guys at the Beijing Film Academy, they all got hyped up.

It certainly attracted a great deal of attention.

Most importantly, this is the second film by the director of "One Shot"!

The fact that it's the latest film from the record holder for domestic box office is enough to entice many potential viewers to buy tickets.

Not to mention successful viral marketing.

With a very small amount of money, at least 50 million netizens became aware of the existence of this movie before its release.

Millions of people have participated in various internet marketing activities.

There is also a budget of 35 million for offline promotion, and the offline publicity can only be described as "overwhelming".

It even expanded to eight major cities across the country, with movie advertisements printed on buses.

Moreover, the entire cast and crew of "Palace" came to help today.

Li Hua led the team, bringing along all the people from his own company: Mu Tingting, Yang Mi, Zhang Xuan, Zhang Xiaofei, and Yuan Shanshan.

The male actors who were working with us, including the lead and second male leads, all voluntarily came to help.

Wei Yi thought to himself, since everyone's free anyway, why not come and fill in the gaps?

From the director to the actors to the behind-the-scenes staff, the entire cast and crew of "Palace" plus "Detective Chinatown" together give off a powerful and influential presence.

It seems that Hehuan Film and Television is no longer the small operation it was when it was first established.

Fan Binbin wore a black deep-V dress today, with her hair up, revealing her slender neck and a pair of jade earrings.

She held Wei Yi's arm with one hand, her smile dignified and proper, showing no sign that just a few months ago she was pulling each other's hair in the Huayi corridor.

Gao Yuanyuan is dressed simply today.

She wore a white linen shirt, a dark green long skirt, and her hair was casually draped over her shoulders; her face was only lightly made up.

Instead of competing with Fan Binbin for the seat next to Wei Yi, she moved a chair and sat next to the registration area. When someone came, she would stand up and smile; when no one came, she would look down at her phone, giving off a lazy vibe that said, "I'm just here to make up the numbers."

Mu Tingting was also helping out at the registration desk.

She volunteered to do this job so that she wouldn't have to stand awkwardly next to Fan Binbin and Gao Yuanyuan, and could rightfully stand in the most conspicuous position.

Yang Mi stood beside her, the two of them working together so well that it was as if they had rehearsed. One handed her a pen while the other flipped through the autograph book.

"Sister Tingting," Yang Mi said in a low voice, glancing towards the door, "Huo Shiyan is here."

Mu Tingting followed her gaze.

Huo Shiyan wore a fuchsia strapless mini dress today, the hem of which was just below the upper thigh. She wore a pair of silver stilettos, and the way her waist swayed when she walked was just on the line between "sexy" and "frivolous".

She entered the room with a smile, a smile as bright as a flower, and reached out to Wei Yi from afar: "Director Wei! Congratulations!"

Mu Tingting lowered her head to organize the sign-in book, her face expressionless.

"Let her wear whatever she wants." She paused, then added, "He doesn't care about the clothes anyway."

Yang Mi thought about it and felt that she couldn't respond to that.

She glanced at Wei Yi furtively; he hadn't really looked at Huo Shiyan's clothes much.

He was busy exchanging pleasantries with Albert Yeung, but out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Gao Yuanyuan.

Huo Shiyan's attitude is actually very comfortable.

This girl has always been in an intermediate position at Huayi Brothers. She played several leading roles a few years ago, but recently she has only played supporting roles.

After the fight between Fan Binbin and Zhou Xun, several people were sidelined by the senior management of Huayi Brothers.

She was among them.

The reason is that she had shown considerable enthusiasm for Hehuan Films before that.

Unfortunately, neither Wei Yi nor Hehuan Film and Television responded to her much.

It might really be true what they say, "If I can't handle XX, I can certainly handle you!"

She hadn't received any decent gigs for over two months, and her agent hinted that she could figure out a way herself.

She thought about it. After much thought, she came up with Wei Yi.

So she took the initiative to tag Wei Yi on her blog and sent him a sincere private message, saying that she especially liked "One Shot" and asked if she could attend the premiere of "Detective Chinatown".

Wei Yi certainly wouldn't refuse; you can't hit someone who's smiling at you.

"Director Wei, I saw the nine-grid promotional image you posted before, it was amazing!" Huo Shiyan held his hand tightly, her eyes sparkling. "I looked at it on Tianya for days, but I just couldn't guess the answer. When the premiere trailer came out, I was so excited that I couldn't sleep all night."

Wei Yi smiled and withdrew his hand: "Then we can verify it when we watch the movie later."

"I'll definitely watch it carefully!" After saying this, Huo Shiyan finally noticed Fan Binbin's gaze beside her and quickly added, "Hello, Sister Binbin. Hello, Sister Yuanyuan."

Fan Binbin smiled at her, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

Gao Yuanyuan replied with a serious "Hello," and then went back to staring blankly.

After Huo Shiyan left, Fan Binbin leaned close to Wei Yi's ear and whispered something.

After listening, Wei Yi replied without changing his expression.

Fan Binbin glared at him and then fell silent.

Gao Yuanyuan, who witnessed the whole thing, suddenly spoke up, "She's actually quite good-looking. She's just rather scheming. You can play around with her, but don't bring her home. I'm afraid she might really fight with Bingbing and Tingting."

Fan Binbin was absolutely furious with her.

If it weren't for the inappropriate occasion, I would have liked to grab her and confront her.

After Tian Erzhuang, most of the people from Beijing Film Academy also came.

Dean Zhang Huijun led the team, which included Xie Xiaojin, Mu Deyuan, Xu Xiaodan, several department heads and vice deans, a large group of more than a dozen people, representing most of the leadership of Beijing Film Academy.

Even Situ Zhaodun came, leaning on a cane.

Old Situ was being helped by Xie Xiaojin, and he walked slowly. There was a moment of silence when he entered the room.

This man is a living fossil of the Beijing Film Academy, the son of the former Vice Minister of Culture. Even Tian Erzhuang has to call him "teacher" when he sees him.

"Master, what brings you here?" Wei Yi quickly went to greet him.

Old Situ steadied himself with his cane, looked him up and down, and then said, "I've come to see what kind of movies young people like to watch these days. I'm not like your teachers; although I'm older than them, I'm not stuck in the past."

After I learned that my teachers and colleagues had arrived.

Tian Erzhuang, who quickly came out from inside, chuckled apologetically, "Teacher, why are you bringing this up again? It's been so long."

He was referring to the time more than four months ago when Wei Yi took Fan Binbin and Mu Tingting to his courtyard house.

Because Wei Yi's two consecutive films were commercial comedies aimed at box office success.

Xie Xiaojin said a couple of things at the time.

As a result, he was lectured by Old Master Situ.

The elderly people who came from the difficult era of revolutionary model operas are actually more open-minded than these fifth-generation directors.

With the phrase "Who do you think you are if the masses like you?", Tian Erzhuang and his group were all criticized.

Wei Yi laughed quite frankly: "Then after you've finished reading it, give me your criticism. See if I've become out of touch with the masses!"

"Hmm, hmm." Old Master Situ nodded with satisfaction, ignoring his disciples completely, and only patted his grand-disciple's shoulder lightly before going inside.

This scene was witnessed by those around them and then spread.

That's practically the best proof of Wei Yi's status as the "crown prince of Beijing Film Academy".

When arranging for the people from Beijing Film Academy to take their seats, Tian Erzhuang deliberately pulled Wei Yi aside and whispered a few words to him.

The gist is that there were quite a few media outlets present today, some of whom were invited by the school.

When reporting back, the focus will be on "young directors trained by the Beijing Film Academy".

Wei Yi nodded and explained, but in his heart he was thinking: Do I really need you to explain this to me? My identity as the heir of the Beijing Film Academy is practically welded to me.

People also came from Hong Kong Island.

Chow Yun-fat, wearing sunglasses, slipped in through a side door, followed by Lau Ka-ling and Leung Chiu-wai.

He's always been a person who cares a lot about his image. When walking the red carpet, he always has to walk with a group of people, and he has to be at the very front, to make it seem like he's a big shot.

But today he actually asked to use the side door.

"Today is Director Wei's home turf, I'm too embarrassed to steal the spotlight."

That's a nice way of putting it, but in reality, he knew there were too many people here today, and entering through the side door would allow him to avoid most of the small talk.

"Director Wei!"

As soon as Chow Yun-fat entered the VIP room, he took off his sunglasses, patted Wei Yi on the shoulder, and grinned, revealing a full set of teeth. "I heard from Ah Cai that all the subsidies from Bangkok have been released? Eight percent?"

"I'm done. Thanks to Brother Fa for introducing me to Chairman Lin; it saved me a lot of money."

"No problem! If you want to film your next movie in Thailand, I can help you connect with someone at the film bureau there; maybe we can get you a bigger refund!"

Albert Yeung also came in person.

The boss of Emperor Entertainment Group personally brought Xie Tingfeng over to show his support. As soon as he entered, he shook hands with Wei Yi for half a minute.

His smile was more mellow than Chow Yun-fat's, and he spoke with greater tact.

"Director Wei, I'm here today just to show my support, not to talk business. We can discuss business later."

But less than five minutes after he said that, his deputy approached Li Yi and started discussing whether Emperor Entertainment's distribution channels in Southeast Asia could cooperate deeply with Hehuan Films.

Li Yi handled the situation flawlessly, but inwardly he was cursing: Every single one of these people came because they smelled the meat.

The two kings, Hua Yi and Wang, actually arrived as well.

Wang Zhongjun patted Wei Yi on the shoulder with a big smile and said, "The younger generation is truly formidable." His enthusiasm made it seem to anyone who didn't know better that Wei Yi was a rising director being heavily promoted by Huayi Brothers.

Wang Zhonglei followed behind, a bright smile on his face.

However, he walked up to Li Hua, shook hands, and said in a moderate voice, "Mr. Li, after the release of 'The Palace Lock,' can we sit down and talk about it?"

"Of course, of course." Li Hua smiled as politely as Wang Zhonglei. "We trust Huayi's publicity channels. I'll have someone send you the details of the cooperation later."

Both of them were laughing, but each of them had their own agenda.

Fan Binbin didn't glance at the two Wangs once throughout the entire process, even though she is currently still a contracted artist with Huayi Brothers.

However, because of what happened with Young Master Zhou last time, he had already fallen out with the two kings and Hua Yi.

The reason I didn't leave immediately was that the penalty for breach of contract was too high, and there was less than a year left to work.

She linked arms with Wei Yi, her smile dignified and her posture graceful, completely conveying the attitude that "I have nothing to do with you anymore, Hua Yi."

But when Li Binbin greeted her, she still returned a smile.

When the two met at the corner of the corridor, there were hardly any people around.

Li Binbin wore a dark blue suit, with exquisite makeup and a generous temperament. Standing next to Fan Binbin, the two "Bingbing"s each had their own beauty.

"You look beautiful today," Li Binbin said.

"You too," Fan Binbin replied, then paused and added, "I haven't properly thanked you for what happened last time."

Li Binbin waved his hand: "No need to thank me. I didn't help you, I just can't stand that guy surnamed Zhou."

She finished speaking and chuckled, a chuckle that carried the unspoken understanding among female celebrities in the industry. "Besides," she said, "you have powerful backers now, who would dare offend you?"

Fan Binbin didn't respond to that question.

She knew that Li Binbin was talking about Wei Yi, and she also knew that Li Binbin's purpose in coming today was similar to that of Albert Yeung.

To get close to someone, build relationships, and pave the way for the future.

But one shouldn't hit a smiling face, especially since Li Binbin did speak up for her in the Huayi corridor.

"Let's have dinner together sometime," Fan Binbin said, then turned and left.

As Li Binbin watched her retreating figure, the smile on his face faded slightly.

Damn, we still have time to have dinner together.

He had readily agreed, saying he would take Wei Yi to dinner.

Almost half a year has passed now.

I didn't get to eat a single bite.

Her younger sister, Li Xue, leaned over and whispered, "Sister, don't be angry. There will always be another chance."

Of course, Li Binbin couldn't help but be angry.

However, she was indeed able to hold back.

The entire cast and crew of "Palace" were present today.

Li Hua led the team, and Zhang Xuan, Zhang Xiaofei, and Yuan Shanshan all came, saying they were there to support their boss.

But Palace Lock hasn't been released yet.

They were both still young students.

They couldn't even help entertain the celebrities; they could only sit idly by, secretly glancing at the faces they usually only saw on TV.

"That's Liu Tianxian!"

Yuan Shanshan grabbed Zhang Xuan's arm, her voice low but unable to contain her excitement, "Oh my god, oh my god, you're even more beautiful in person than on TV! Your skin is so good, how do you take care of it?!"

Zhang Xuan followed her gaze and saw a girl in a light green dress signing in with Liu's mother.

The girl's profile was almost transparently white under the flash, her features were as delicate as a porcelain doll, but there was a wooden feeling in her eyes that was different from those of her peers.

"Only nineteen," Zhang Xuan muttered. "A year younger than us."

Zhang Xiaofei quietly added, "She's already played Wang Yuyan. Last year, 'Chinese Paladin' was a huge hit, and she also played Xiaolongnu in 'The Return of the Condor Heroes.' The only one on our side who's more popular than her is Bingbing, and Yuanyuan is at most on the same level."

The three of them were silent for half a second.

"What were we doing when we were nineteen?" Yuan Shanshan asked.

"We're cleaning the floor," Zhang Xuan replied expressionlessly.

Another silence fell. Then the three of them laughed at the same time, a laugh tinged with self-deprecation and an indescribable feeling.

They have now signed with Hehuan Film & Television and have already landed roles in "Palace".

Although it can't compare to Liu Tianxian's starting point, it's already an incredibly good start compared to her classmates who are still in school.

But seeing that your peers have already reached higher levels, a sense of resentment still arises in your heart.

After Liu Tianxian finished signing in, she followed her mother straight to Wei Yi.

Liu's mother is half a step ahead of her daughter; people who don't know the situation might think that she is the star and her daughter is the agent.

As they approached Wei Yi, Liu's mother smiled and said, "Hello, Director Wei, I've heard so much about you. This is my daughter, Xixi; she loves your movies."

After saying that, he took a step back, making way for the celestial Liu behind him.

"Hello Director Wei, I'm Liu Qianqian." The girl's voice was soft and sweet, but her gesture of extending her hand was very generous. "Actually, it's not just me, my mom and I both really love your 'One Shot'."

Wei Yi took her hand and exchanged a few polite greetings.

The two chatted for less than two minutes before the topic shifted from movies to photography, and then from photography to Liu Yifei's recently finished filming "The Return of the Condor Heroes".

Towards the end of the conversation, Liu Yifei suddenly asked, "Does Director Wei have any plans for his next film?"

"I'm still thinking about it." Wei Yi smiled.

"If there's a suitable role—" Liu Tianxian didn't finish her sentence, but her mother chimed in at just the right moment: "Sisi has always wanted to act in a really good movie."

Wei Yi politely replied that he would definitely consider it if a suitable role came up.

Mrs. Liu smiled with satisfaction, then turned and led her daughter toward the screening room.

Liu Tianxian took two steps, stopped, and looked back at Wei Yi.

That glance was brief, but Fan Binbin caught it.

"Another annoying one," she said to Gao Yuanyuan in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Gao Yuanyuan glanced up at Liu Tianxian's back, then looked down and continued playing on her phone: "It's normal. That's what he looks like."

Fan Binbin rolled her eyes: "Can't you react normally for once?"

"I was just describing a normal reaction."

Gao Yuanyuan straightened up and said in her usual unhurried tone, "If you're always this nervous, you'll age very quickly."

Fan Binbin took a deep breath and decided to stop talking to this woman with such a peculiar way of thinking.