Huayu 2007: Starting with fleecing the "Fairy Sisters"

In the following days, A8 Music aired the songs on local TV stations and major satellite TV channels, and the downloads of the three songs as ringtones saw a crazy surge...

Wu Wei was overjoyed.

At this rate, it won't be more than two months before we've made enough to cover the cost of making the movie.

……

That afternoon, Wu Wei entered the gate of Anle Films' North Jin branch for the second time.

This time it was clearly much more grand than the last.

There were nearly ten people sitting in the large conference room, including Deng Hanxiang, whom I had met before, and the script planner.

In the very center of the long table sat a man in his fifties with a composed demeanor.

It was Jiang Zhiqiang, the owner of Anle Films.

Wu Wei's heart stirred slightly.

The fact that the big boss of Anle personally flew over from Hong Kong Island shows how much he values ​​this project.

"sit."

Jiang Zhiqiang raised his hand in a gesture of greeting, his tone amiable, but his gaze remained fixed on Wu Wei.

Wu Wei sat down opposite him, his expression calm and neither humble nor arrogant.

"Hanxiang has already told me about your request."

Jiang Zhiqiang's eyes held a probing look: "What I want to know is, what makes you so confident that your movie will be a huge hit?"

Jiang Zhiqiang said unhurriedly, "Jay Chou is much more popular than you. The box office of 'Secret' in mainland China barely broke even, and it only made a profit when we added the revenue from other Asian markets."

"Although you have several very popular songs now, the songs are popular but you yourself aren't. People don't even know what you look like. Do you think your movie's box office can surpass Jay Chou's 'Secret'?"

"Of course, that's for sure."

Wu Wei smiled confidently and said, "President Jiang, 'Secret' is a good movie. Although many people say it's a bad movie and incomprehensible, time will tell."

At this point, Wu Wei changed the subject: "Moreover, it actually had the potential to be a huge hit, but it made a few mistakes, which is why its box office performance in mainland China didn't meet expectations. And I won't make those mistakes!"

"Oh? Then tell me, what mistakes did 'Secret' make?"

Hearing Wu Wei's words, Jiang Zhiqiang couldn't help but become interested. He wanted to see what kind of nonsense this young man could come up with.

Wu Wei held up one finger: "First, a significant portion of Jay Chou's fans are teenagers, middle school students, and even elementary school students. They basically have no spending power and can't afford movie tickets."

"Secondly, the release date was incorrect."

Wu Wei held up a second finger: "It's scheduled to be released at the end of July, seemingly targeting the student population during summer vacation. But as I just said, middle school and primary school students can't afford tickets, and college students with spending power have all gone home for summer vacation. These college students' hometowns are generally in county towns and rural areas, where there isn't a single movie theater. Even if they wanted to watch it, they couldn't."

"The above two points effectively exclude the vast majority of Jay Chou's fan base from the movie audience."

Jiang Zhiqiang's expression changed slightly, and his brows furrowed unconsciously.

Wu Wei didn't pause and continued to extend his third finger: "Third, this film was released at the wrong time. The concepts of time travel and suspenseful mind-bending are still too advanced for today's average audience. They generally find it confusing and don't know what the film is about."

"But for viewers who frequently watch Western films, they might feel that it's just rehashing old Western films and using it for comparison and denigration. It pleases neither side, so its reputation doesn't improve, and naturally, its box office won't grow either."

The meeting room was quiet for a while.

Jiang Zhiqiang leaned back in his chair, his face expressionless, but his eyes had clearly changed.

To be honest, as a Hong Kong company, ANLO has only been in the mainland for a short time and its understanding of the mainland film market is indeed not deep enough.

In Hong Kong and Taiwan, summer vacation is the prime time for youth films to be released, so there's no need to even consider it.

Because the area is small but there are many cinemas, students can go to the cinema anytime they want to watch a movie.

However, the situation in mainland China is clearly different.

At least in this era, most students cannot go to the movies during summer vacation.

They were completely unaware of this problem before.

Several senior executives nearby also fell into deep thought, and the more they thought about it, the more they felt it made sense.

Looking at their expressions, Wu Wei knew he had successfully stunned them.

After all, he has the perspective of a later generation; looking back from a higher vantage point, he can naturally see many things more clearly.

Although they are highly professional in the industry, sometimes they are simply "unaware of the bigger picture".

After a moment of silence, Jiang Zhiqiang looked at Wu Wei with curiosity and asked, "Your movie has a similar target audience to 'Secret,' so how can you guarantee box office success?"

"My films must first capture the core audience—young people with spending power, especially recent graduates."

Wu Wei spoke eloquently: "Therefore, the release date must be set during the graduation season, which is early June. At this time, the college entrance examination has just ended, the senior students have just graduated, and other college students are still on campus and have not yet entered the tense exam week. This is the best time for youth films to be released!"

"Then we can do some marketing on topics like graduation, confession, and unrequited love. As long as the film is of high quality, it will easily gain popularity."

"In addition," Wu Wei added, "my film is more relaxed and down-to-earth than 'Secret,' and has a larger audience. Even if they are not students or my fans, they can still come to see it because they were once students too."

Jiang Zhiqiang nodded slightly, pondered for a few seconds, and then looked up at Wu Wei: "What you said does make sense, but reason is one thing, whether it can actually be done is another. These things alone are not enough to convince me."

Wu Wei simply smiled upon hearing this.

He had long prepared his real killing move.

"President Jiang, I am actually fully capable of investing in this movie myself, but I am still willing to give 300 million yuan of investment to Anle. We can all make money together, and more investment can also make the movie of better quality."

Having spent many years in the business world in his previous life, Wu Wei deeply understands one principle: when it comes to making money, everyone should do it together.

If you try to eat alone, you often end up eating nothing at all.

For a large company like Anle, it's unrealistic to expect him to only handle distribution and not participate in investment.

His willingness to give up a portion of his share is also a way of showing his sincerity.

Moreover, only when Anle invests real money will it wholeheartedly promote and distribute his film and strive to secure theatrical releases for him.

In addition, as a Hong Kong-based company, Anle has distribution capabilities in many parts of Asia.

The film "First Love" has the potential to become a hit across Asia. When it is released in places like Malaysia, Singapore, and Siam, it will need the distribution channels of ANLO.

Giving up some profits now is to earn more in the future.

Wu Wei continued, "If President Jiang is still worried that the 300 million he invested might go down the drain—"

He looked at Jiang Zhiqiang and said, "We can sign a performance-based agreement."