I’m a Director, I’m Not Bad

Chapter 640 638. Death of the Soviet Union

"Breaking News!" The crew of "The Thirteen Beauties" fired four leaked actors! 》

When Xu Xin saw the news, the plane was already about to take off.

He didn't read the content.

For some things, just knowing the results is enough.

What's more, this process was planned by him.

After turning off the iPad, he sent a message to Yang Mi:

"The news is out."

"Well, I saw it, fired. What else needs to be done next?"

"Wait. Zhang Weiping is not a guy who likes to suffer losses. If he suffers a loss this time, he will definitely get it back in other ways. We just need to wait for him to make a move."

"...What if Director Zhang suffers a loss?"

"The old man will definitely suffer a loss. If he doesn't suffer a loss, how can I continue to operate?"

"Okay. Let's talk about it then. Where are you going now?"

"Chengdu."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work."

"Nice to work with, brother."

"Hehe, okay, big brother!"

While laughing, he ended the communication with his wife.

Soon, the private jet soared into the clouds.

A new journey has begun.

…

For "Hawthorn Tree"...if Xu Xin were to sum up this promotional trip, the biggest feeling would be tiredness.

After leaving Yanjing and arriving in Chengdu on the night of the 14th, he flew to two cities a day on average across the country.

On the 15th, I went to Chengdu in the morning, Chongqing in the afternoon, and then got on a plane to Guangdong that night.

Guangdong, AH, Zhengzhou, Wuhan...

On average, one city in the morning and one city in the afternoon, combined with radio broadcasts, online media interviews and other publicity, the tight time is like a life-threatening charm.

Tired him up.

It made him miss the old days very much.

It was so easy in the past. He was a little transparent in the entertainment industry and had no rivals when the movie was released. He could just follow the crew and do some publicity.

But... since this society entered the era of smartphones, the propaganda carrier seems... the rhythm has become a little different.

The box office of Chinese-language films has been rising year after year, but the investment ratio in publicity has become increasingly huge.

The total cost of filming "The Hawthorn Tree" was only eighteen thousand and less than two thousand, but now the cost of publicity, excluding the previous ones, has reached fifteen million since the official publicity period.

Ridiculously high.

What a nice person? Fifteen million in ten days?

The money flows out like running water.

Xu Xin feels that the publicity expenses are a bit exaggerated...

It’s not that I feel bad about money, but I look at it in terms of “shooting costs”.

The publicity cost of a movie has almost caught up with the shooting cost. Are you saying that this is outrageous?

But there are people who are more exaggerated than him.

For "If You Are the One 2", they prefer to use resources in a big way compared to preview screenings.

The background of Beijing Circle was suddenly revealed in front of everyone.

The first is Weibo.

Huayi's artist collective calls for director Feng's film.

Everyone's Weibo will have a Weibo related to "If You Are the One 2 will be released on December 22".

Then, with the development of the "footprint" function on Weibo, which allows everyone to see which Weibo posts their favorite celebrities have posted comments and left footprints in the dynamic system, suddenly there are more and more Weibo posts of these celebrities. There are many messages that like the news related to "If You Are the One 2".

These "indiscriminate bombardments" are like a complex but extremely sophisticated tree diagram, making the online marketing of "If You Are the One 2" quite overwhelming.

Then there are various media meetings.

Invite the media to watch it. After watching it, you will be interviewed. The video of the interview will appear directly on the sections of various entertainment news websites.

High definition, no ads, watch as you like.

Then, at the entrances of theaters in major cities, the most prime advertising space, life-size portraits of Ge You, Yao Chen, Shu Qi, Sun Honglei and others became the focus of advertisements for "If You Are the One 2".

They haven't been down since the movie promotion period.

And let alone various radios, advertisements, or hot posts...

They also took over the 30 seconds of prime advertising time before the movie starts in major theaters.

Compared with "If You Are the One 2", in Xu Xin's eyes, the promotional methods of "Hawthorn Tree" are extremely ridiculous, and they are like a younger brother.

Moreover, the overwhelming publicity of "If You Are the One" made Xu Xin feel ashamed.

In the past, he only knew that the Beijing circle was very powerful, but he had never dared to underestimate this circle.

But now... as the tip of the iceberg suddenly emerged from this intricate and intricate thing, the majestic undertones still made his heart shudder.

Knew it……

They didn't lose this battle, and we didn't win either.

Tsk.

He was full of emotion, but not unconvinced.

I don’t even think there’s anything wrong with a “poor guy” like me who works so hard to promote.

Some things in this world require equal exchange.

Their stupid method costs less but is hard work.

As for the propaganda of "If You Are the One", is it powerful? The answer is yes.

But they also spend a lot of money.

According to Wang Sicong's words, "If You Are the One 2" is just a trailer on the big screen at the door, and the price per day is astronomical.

Not to mention anything else, Wanda only counts the 30 seconds of advertisements before the start of other movies in terms of "hall".

One week, one hall, 30 seconds, 4,500 yuan.

At first glance, this figure seems very cheap. In a week, so many movies are shown in each hall, and an advertisement will be played for you in the first 30 seconds of each movie, and it only costs 4,500 yuan. Is it cheap?

Just like cabbage.

However, there is a problem here...

How many halls does a single Wanda Cinema have?

Lao Wang gave an accurate figure:

"As of now, Wanda has a total of 142 theaters opened in 73 cities across the country, with a total of 1,247 large screens." (Note 1)

1,247 screens equals 1,247 halls.

The number of cinema screens nationwide exceeds 8,500.

There are more than 30 chain cinema brands.

Although he doesn't know how many other theater brands besides Wanda have released "If You Are the One 2".

But come to think of it... the top 10 brands must have launched it.

As for Wanda, a 30-second pre-roll advertisement costs more than 5 million a week, not counting the advertising space at the entrance of the theater and the advertising space for promotional videos that are rolled and played outside the theater and charged according to the number of times.

Just think about it.

Starting with five million and decreasing based on the number of theater brands, no matter how you estimate, the cost of hard advertising alone in ten days will not be less than seventy million.

Coupled with the overwhelming publicity offensive, Huayi's people at least spent close to 150 million on publicity expenses.

The publicity of 150 million real money has created the overwhelming popularity it has today.

How can I compare the expenses of fifteen million to others, which I think are exaggerated?

In fact, anyone with a discerning eye knows what is going on with this exaggerated scale.

Normally, people in Huayi would not spend so much money on a movie... If nothing else, "Tangshan Earthquake" had a box office of 670 million, and its publicity cost was less than 70 million.

If "If You Are the One 2" is promoted normally for no other reason, even 50 million will not be used up.

Why do they do this?

Don't you just want to suppress Xu Xin?

Suppress Xu Xin and suppress the Northwest Circle.

Who allowed them to make such big moves in the past two years?

But the problem is...

How did you decide on a commercial film? Comparing publicity and box office with a literary film.

Regardless of whether it is reasonable or not...

So what if you win?

Is it glorious?

…

"I got the news. I just found out. Their total budget this time is close to 140 million. Cinema chains including Wanda have given a lot of discounts, and they have also increased their share ratio. But Wanda gave the least , this should be because of Si Cong."

Hearing this, Xu Xin sat on the sofa and asked on the phone with some doubts:

"It's so good, why do others give such big discounts?"

"It's not clear. But... they are definitely exerting their strength."

There was also some confusion in Qi Lei's voice.

But before he finished speaking, Xu Xin asserted:

"But this kind of exertion is not normal."

"...Which specific aspect?"

Qi Lei asked.

"I...have to think about it, this is a bit weird."

Xu Xin fell into deep thought.

Indeed, this force is not normal.

If you invest a lot in advertising, theater chains will give you discounts, which is normal.

It is normal to increase the share ratio.

After all, so much advertising money has been invested in you, and it is not too much to transfer the share ratio.

but……

His intuition told him that something was not quite right.

How do you feel... there is a pit here.

After a moment of silence, Qi Lei said:

"Okay, don't think about these things now. The movie will be released the day after tomorrow. After finishing the last stop tomorrow, how about we go back to Yanjing to talk about it?"

"...Okay, let's do this for now, Brother Qi, I'm done."

After hanging up the phone, his eyes were a little vacant and he fell into deep thought again.

And just then...

"Old Xu, here it is."

Xu Xin subconsciously took it with his hand, and a cigarette fell on the table next to his hand.

Lin Xin threw it over.

Seeing that the two of them were about to smoke, Liu Yifei, who was sitting on the sofa on the other side, stood up and opened the window.

The three of them are now in Shenzhen.

And now it is the night of the 20th.

After many days of hard work, everyone's face looked a bit frosty.

But the weather in Shenzhen is warm and quite comfortable.

"call……"

He lit the cigarette and breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he threw the lighter to Lin Xingxin.

Smoking without fire is a second-class smoker.

After Lin Xin lit it, he flicked it and threw the lighter on the table, but it was still some distance away from Xu Xin.

But neither of them cared.

Just listen to Lin Xingxin say:

"What's going on? What's wrong?"

"……Um."

Xu Xin responded.

"Is there a conspiracy?"

he continued to ask.

But Xu Xin shook his head:

"I don't know, but I think this thing is a bit weird. Maybe it's not a conspiracy, but I feel something is not right."

"What's going on?"

"I……"

Xu Xin, who couldn't explain why, waved his hand:

"I'll think about it myself."

Then, he fell into deep thought.

But after thinking about it for a while, I found that I couldn't figure it out.

Subconsciously, he took out his phone and dialed Wang Sicong.

"Dudu... hello."

Wang Sicong's voice was a little noisy.

"Where are you?"

"I was about to go out to eat with others when I was in the car. Brother Qi introduced me to a music producer who knows many singers. I'll go meet him. What's going on? Tell me."

"...Please help me ask the people at the theater who has negotiated the cooperation with "If You Are the One" and what the detailed content and details are. Please help me ask, what do you think?"

"Okay, now?"

"Yes, now."

"Okay. Then just wait for my news."

Wang Sicong agreed without any hesitation.

After the call was made, Xu Xin leaned on the sofa and let out a sigh of relief.

Then I saw the fairy sister looking at the fruit plate, snacks and pastries presented by Wanda Hotel on the table in a daze.

"……You are hungry?"

he asked.

But the fairy sister shook her head vigorously, swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said:

"Not hungry."

Lin Xingxin immediately became happy when he saw this:

"Are you really not hungry?"

"Don't be annoying!"

Liu Yifei rolled her eyes:

"I just ate two cucumbers at night, and I'm really upset right now."

"Why don't you tell Lao Xu that you're not hungry?"

"I'm just not hungry! What's wrong!"

"Okay, okay..."

The two started laughing.

Xu Xin, on the other hand, was more simple and picked up a macaron on the dessert plate:

"Here, try it? You won't get fat after eating this, 0 calories."

"You!! Why are you as annoying as him!"

The fairy sister’s mentality is a bit broken.

Simply ignore them.

The three of them are now in the hotel, waiting to attend the event tomorrow.

After many days, they were all very tired in order to cope with the publicity period. And because of the intensive schedule, everyone is basically at the hotel and at the work site.

There is no leisure time and no means of entertainment.

The biggest solution is for three people to get together to fight the landlord.

Originally they planned to deal with it this way tonight, but Xu Xin obviously had something to do at this moment, so the two of them were not in a hurry.

After joking for a while, Wang Sicong wrote back:

"Hey, I asked them what they were talking about... nothing happened. It was the same routine. I hope to use a large amount of advertising in exchange for advertising discounts and increased share. As long as I am here, the people in the company will definitely not agree. And their negotiation routines are all normal, and they even mentioned long-term cooperation... But everyone has heard enough of this empty talk..."

"Wait a moment. What did you just say?"

Suddenly, Xu Xin was stunned.

"……What?"

"What kind of long-term cooperation?"

Xu Xin felt that he seemed to have grasped something, and quickly asked:

"They said they wanted to cooperate for a long time?"

"Yes... Hey, who would believe this? I'm not a child. Let's not mention our relationship. From an objective point of view, isn't it just to target you when they take such big actions this time? But what about the next one? It's true that Huayi is a big company, but how many movies can they produce in a year? Even if they target you everywhere, for the theater chain, it is not a matter of affecting our own interests. This is what I say to you and the boss: You give me Make it cheaper, and I’ll introduce you to more customers. This sentence is true..."

"..."

Wang Sicong said it easily, but Xu Xin's brows wrinkled completely.

Frowning and thinking, until Wang Sicong asked:

"What's going on? Why don't you say anything?"

He suddenly asked:

"But what if this thing is really long-term?"

"laugh."

Wang Sicong sneered directly:

"That's even more impossible. Let's not talk about whether their intention is so obvious... You and I won't mention it, just talk about Xiying Studio. Do they really think Xiying Studio is easy to bully? Others won't fight back?"

"But what if what they want is for us to fight back?"

Xu Xin said again.

At this time, Wang Sicong was stunned.

"Well……"

"How do you think the Soviet Union died?"

Xu Xin suddenly asked such a sentence.

And his words also made Lin Xingxin and Liu Yifei frown at the same time.

But at this moment, Xu Xin felt like he was seeing the moonlight through the clouds.

Although he was not sure whether what he imagined was right or wrong, he finally found the "reasonableness" of this matter.

Question: How did the Soviet Union die?

Maybe people with different answers can hand in different answer sheets.

But for him, there is only one answer.

The country's industrial structure is unreasonable, leading to serious imbalances in productivity.

Ultimately leading to the demise of this behemoth.

Perhaps it is one-sided, or perhaps this answer is simply laughable in the eyes of others.

But at this moment, it is the most appropriate answer to use it here.

but……

He still needed to think carefully, so after leaving Wang Sicong in suspense, he said directly:

"I'll hang up first."

"Uh... ok."

Wang Sicong hung up the phone and sat in the car, also lost in thought.

How did the Soviet Union die?

Lao Xu's question... is interesting.

He was thinking about this all the way until the business car arrived at the hotel.

When Guo Ping was looking for a room, he followed behind, always looking worried.

Until the box door was pushed open.

"Hello, Brother Cong."

Hearing this, he looked up and found that it was Di Wei herself, and said to Guo Ping:

"Okay, Apple, go find Dafa."

"OK."

Guo Ping nodded and left quickly.

After Wang Sicong greeted Di Wei, he asked:

"That one hasn't come yet?"

"Teacher Liang hasn't arrived yet, but he will probably arrive soon."

"oh."

Wang Sicong nodded, sat down on the reception sofa in the luxury box, and fell into deep thought again.

Seeing this, Di Wei asked curiously:

"Brother Cong, what's wrong with you? You look distracted."

"...I'm thinking about something."

Wang Sicong responded.

Si Wei was stunned:

"What's going on?"

"...how the Soviet Union died."

"..."

Di Wei's mouth twitched.

Accident?

No.

Brother Cong is indeed a very talented person, and his talent... people who have little contact with him may not be able to see it.

But after being in contact with him for a long time, you can feel that there are many things in his mind that ordinary people cannot understand or think of.

Although the Soviet matter is a "historical issue",...

“Didn’t the collapse of the Soviet Union happen because of the United States?”

Isn't the answer obvious?

This is what Si Wei doesn't understand.

This kind of thing has long been settled. Is there anything worth discussing?

But Wang Sicong shook his head:

"No, there are "many" reasons for the death of the Soviet Union, but I am finding the only correct one."

"..."

At this time, Di Wei was really speechless.

Brother, what on earth are you talking about?

Are you bullying me for being uneducated?

Or do you people who study philosophy like to be so blabbering?

but……

Don't tell me yet.

Brother Cong is thinking about issues that most people rarely think about. Tsk tsk, he is a talented person after all. It is indeed different.

She looked at Wang Sicong and said heartily.

…

"You mean, Huayi... thinks we are the Soviet Union?"

Compared to the puzzled Di Wei, the two people on Xu Xin's side were particularly clear.

Because they followed the development of the situation and Xu Xin's ideas, they were gradually brought to this point.

After hanging up the phone, Liu Yifei was silent for a while. She probably made a judgment about the matter in her mind before she asked this question.

Xu Xin nodded:

"I dare not say that what I am thinking is right. After all, I am not a tapeworm in their stomachs. However, after I raised this point of view, I followed this line of thought and suddenly realized that it would be very detrimental to us if we continue on this path... …So, even if something goes wrong, I have to prepare for a rainy day.”

While talking, he dialed Qi Lei's phone number.

"Dudu... hello?"

"Brother Qi, how did the Soviet Union die?"

He once again asked a classic question.

…

"So, what you mean is...this is not just Huayi fighting against us?"

In the quiet room, the only sound was Qi Lei's voice coming from the phone.

"One Huayi can't stand up to us. Huayi also has shareholders and interested partners, right?"

"..."

Qi Lei fell into silence again.

Just now, Xu Xin had expressed his thoughts.

Frankly speaking, Qi Lei's first reaction was also absurd.

It's so good, why does it look like a cold war?

But after the absurdity, he quickly realized the seriousness of the matter.

Propaganda is like an arms race.

To put it bluntly, according to Xu Xin, Hua Yi wanted to use this seven-injury fist to kill an enemy by a thousand and damage himself by seven hundred, so that the two sides could start fighting for real money.

I spend 100 million to promote a movie, will you do it? If you don’t do it, I will be like “If You Are the One”, squeezing your movie promotion space. If you want to make money, you must increase your publicity to fight against me. Otherwise, no one will watch your movie after it is released.

This idea makes no sense. Just like when "Tangshan Earthquake" was released in July this year, who remembered that there was a movie "First Love Red Bean Ice" starring A Niu and Cao Chrome?

In the nature of commercial movies, why do they prefer to hire big names and stars instead of cheap actors with guaranteed acting skills?

In the final analysis, it is to attract the audience to your own cinema.

This is the importance of publicity.

Or maybe this matter is nothing to Xu Xin.

A person's name, the shadow of a tree.

His reputation as a director has given him a guarantee of box office appeal.

Those famous directors themselves are the guarantee of box office.

but……

The factory does not only need one Xu Xin, nor does it plan to, or even rely on just one Xu Xin.

Xu Xin's movies may be able to attract audiences based on his fame.

But what about everyone else’s?

What should everyone else do?

The theater movies produced in Beijing every year account for at least one-third of the Chinese film industry.

If you want to find a chance to explore the Northwest Circle... it couldn't be easier.

They are just fighting with you for armament, but if you don’t fight, they will continue to play this kind of "overwhelming" at a price that is much higher than the ordinary movie promotion budget, but absolutely affordable.

If you fight, everyone will compete with each other to see who has more money.

But the question is...it's more than money, is it worth it?

It definitely can’t be compared.

If it really compares, the northwest circle will become the Beijing circle.

If the money in the factory is spent like this, it will definitely be spent very quickly.

And once there is no money, it will be difficult to produce good works.

But people in the Beijing area are not afraid.

Too many companies and too many tangled roots support their big tree to continue to grow towards the sun.

If the Northwest Circle really falls, then they will naturally be able to step on the corpse of the Northwest Circle and become absolute hegemony again, just like the United States, which reaped global dividends after the Cold War.

hiss……

After thinking about this, Qi Lei took a breath of cold air.

This idea...

Who came up with it?

What a poisonous thought...

"what should we do?"

"Don't panic. Brother Qi."

Seemingly feeling the emotion on the other end of the phone, Xu Xin first comforted him and calmed him down.

"Their plan is not seamless. It seems perfect, but the flaws are also obvious."

"...for example?"

"For example, although the power of money is huge, it cannot compare to the power of people's hearts."

Xu Xin said as he picked up the cigarette case from the table.

First, he threw a cigarette to Lin Gou, who was frowning, and then took one to his mouth.

But when he was about to light it, he discovered that... the lighter was a little far away from him on the table.

I was about to get up to get it, but someone next to me moved faster.

Liu Yifei frowned, not shying away from the loose sweater she was wearing. She bent down and picked up the lighter on the table, then walked to him.

Xu Xin glanced at her and nodded.

After the cigarette was lit, he continued:

"Hiss... Phew. The money offensive is indeed scary, but it is not without its drawbacks. Although there are many movies produced in the Beijing area every year, the quality of most of them cannot withstand scrutiny. Of course, why can those movies be released in theaters... ...There are too many words here. But essentially, he is on a different path than ours. They just want to snipe me now, and it doesn’t matter, we can push others."

While he was speaking, Lin Xingxin rolled her eyes speechlessly after confirming that Liu Yifei had no intention of giving her a lighter.

My heart says you should be more obvious?

Then he got up and took the lighter.

"……you mean?"

Qi Lei seemed to understand something and asked subconsciously:

"But the quality of the video..."

"Quality is definitely the top priority. But our selection criteria need to be appropriately relaxed. They can snipe one, two... but what if we bloom more? In a cycle of successful movies, they can't To snipe other movies. Commercial movies and box office are destined to be one-on-one duels like ancient knights.

Therefore, the best way to break this situation is actually to test whether they really mean this, and then we begin to comprehensively promote directors, actors, and film and television works in the northwest circle, striving to give the audience the shortest possible time. It leaves an impression that "Xiying's product must be a high-quality product". With this impression, in this game... we dare not say we will win, but at least we will no longer be so passive. "

After hearing his words, Qi Lei's voice sounded again:

"In other words... you want to advance the second phase of the plan?"

"...?"

"..."

These words made Lin Xinxin and Liu Yifei stunned at the same time.

second stage?

plan?

Is there such a thing?

But Xu Xin didn't explain.

In Liu Yifei's eyes, the confident man's eyes were shining, his expression was high, and he said with the confidence of having a pearl of wisdom:

"Otherwise? The war has already begun. Anyone who takes chances in this war will not survive. And there is only one thing we can do."

Suddenly, with the words, the wise man seemed to transform into an ambitious and powerful tiger that could swallow thousands of miles.

With Lingyun's fighting spirit, he said word by word under the woman's obsessed gaze that he tried hard to hide:

"Don't be afraid of the long and difficult journey, and you must strive for victory. Because without victory, you cannot survive."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The three of them were speechless.

In this absolute tranquility, Liu Yifei stood up silently and walked towards the bathroom.

Enter the house and close the door.

She looked at herself in the mirror.

Her face is as red as a peach blossom.

Only...

Eyes dim.

(Note 1: The number of Wanda screens is the number in 2011. I haven’t found out the specific number in 2010. Don’t take it seriously. One last sentence: single female protagonist, single female protagonist, single female protagonist!)