Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 22 Olive Branch

After the release was confirmed, Li Qiutang called his main creators one by one to arrange the release date:
"It's settled, it's set to be released on September 9th, during the National Day holiday, and the premiere will be on the 28nd, in Yanjing. The location hasn't been decided yet, I'll let you know when it's decided. Okay, make time for it."

When talking to Qin Lan, Li Qiutang set his sights on Huang Xiaoming. This current top young actor in mainland China has enormous traffic. If he could come to the premiere, the publicity and promotion effect would definitely be maximized.

But when it comes to Huang Xiaoming, Qin Lan hesitated and finally rejected Li Qiutang: "He is very busy during the National Day holiday and can't spare the time."

Having said that, Li Qiutang didn't force it.

When did the two break up?

Li Qiutang will be notified of the main creative team, and China Film Group will be responsible for the celebrity guests. Although Li Qiutang is a newcomer, since China Film Group has taken over the publicity and promotion, they will not treat him unfairly and will also invite several celebrity guests from the industry to help out. Otherwise, if all the newcomers stand there, the scene will be too ugly and the publicity and promotion will have no effect.

Li Qiutang was still in the process of negotiating with China Film Group Corporation about the advance screening and discussing how to build up early word-of-mouth, at which point someone came to visit.

The visitor claimed to be a distribution manager at Huayi, and judging by his business card, it seemed genuine. He said Huayi was very interested in "The Night the Comet Came" and hoped to be the distribution agent.

It seems that Huayi is still unaware that the film has been handed over to China Film. Li Qiutang said: "The film has been handed over to China Film for distribution and will be released during the National Day this year."

Manager Huayi felt a little regretful, but he still smiled and said, "That conflicts with our Baby Project."

He further explained: "Our company invested in "Baby Project" and we are also responsible for the distribution in mainland China."

However, he also told Li Qiutang to relax: "There is no competition between our two films. The seven-day holiday will definitely allow for two films."

His real purpose was: “I wonder if Director Li has any plans for a new film in the future.”

People from Huayi watched "The Night the Comet Came" at the Film Academy's graduation exhibition, and mentioned the film when they went back to report. When they reported it to Wang Zhonglei, they said, "It's very good, and there is a young director with great potential."

Whether out of love for talent or business considerations, Huayi became interested in Li Qiutang.

"The Night the Comet Came" has a low cost, so Huayi can afford it even if it loses all the money.

If you can’t distribute it, try investing in this young director. Huayi is short of films now, but it is even more short of directors.

Everyone at Huayi knew that they were too dependent on Feng Xiaogang, so the Wang brothers had a very strong motivation to discover new directors.

More than 60% of Huayi Company’s profits come from Feng Xiaogang. So is Huayi’s surname Wang or Feng?
In particular, in 04, Feng Xiaogang's contract with Huayi expired and was not renewed, so he left to start his own business. Although the two parties have changed the way of cooperation, it is in the past two years that Huayi has attached great importance to investing in new films other than Feng Xiaogang and discovering young directors with potential.

Isn’t Huayi jealous of Ning Hao?
It was really that China Film Warner Hengdian acted too quickly. Just after the box office peak of "Crazy Stone", China Film Warner Hengdian announced the start of preparations for "Crazy Racing", and Ning Hao did not seem to plan to change jobs.

So Huayi has set its sights on Li Qiutang, which has not yet been released to the public. I guess no one will snatch it from me this time.

His debut film hasn't even been released yet, but a big film company like Huayi has come to ask about his new film and is very willing to invest. Any director would think this is pie in the sky.

Li Qiutang was indeed not expecting the olive branch from Huayi, but she must not be timid in such an occasion: "There is no rush for the new film. My first film has not been released yet. If the performance is good, I will continue to work on the next one. If the performance is not good, we will talk about it later."

But Huayi can afford the loss and cannot wait. Which director doesn’t have three or five scripts in his hand? Regardless of whether they can be filmed or not, he will take them out first to fool investors.

Huayi manager said, "That's what you said, but if you have a new script, just show it to us. Our company attaches great importance to new directors like you. Before I came here, President Wang specifically told me that if the price is below 5000 million, I don't need to report it to the company. I can decide it myself."

He must be bragging. How can a distribution manager like him decide on an investment of 5000 million?

But this bragging sounds pretty good.

Li Qiutang was not fooled by this boast and still said that he did not have a new script, but expressed his gratitude for Huayi's kindness: "This is the strength of Huayi in China," and gave a thumbs up, "I would definitely like to cooperate with you if there is a chance. My new film will be released on National Day, and I'm really busy recently. If I have a new script, I will definitely notify you." Li Qiutang was ready to see the guests off.

"Director Li, this is a nice gesture." The manager actually took out a bank card.

Is it so blatant?
No reward without merit, Li Qiutang cannot take this money.

"The matter hasn't been done yet, why should I collect money?" Li Qiutang pushed it away.

Li Qiutang refused to accept the money, and Huayi's manager did not force her, but said, "You must come to the company's 12th anniversary celebration next month."

Li Qiutang agreed: "Of course, of course."

In the evening, Li Qiutang went out to the gym to swim because the summer in Yanjing was too hot.

The cinema is on the floor below the gym. Li Qiutang went in to take a look when she came down.

There were quite a lot of people at the scene. Looking at the posters at the theater, all of them were blockbusters. The theater is currently promoting three major films: "Superman Returns", "Mission Impossible 3" and "Fighter with Dragon Tiger Gate".

The advertisements on the big screen at the scene were also warming up for next month's "Garfield 2", "The Call" and "Cars".

"Hello, what time is the next show of 'Dragon Tiger Gate'?" Li Qiutang decided to go and see.

"Ten minutes later, you can enter if you buy your ticket now."

"Okay, give me one."

The lady at the counter said as she was punching the ticket, "Would you like some popcorn and Coke?"

"Have a Coke."

"Okay, 40 yuan. Here's your ticket. Check in over there."

Watching a movie is indeed a very cost-effective summer activity. It is not bad to spend thirty or forty yuan to sit in a movie theater with big seats, big air conditioning, and a big screen for an hour or two.

If you can grab half-price tickets every Wednesday, it can be even cheaper.

The attendance rate of "Dragon Tiger Gate" was quite high, and the theater was basically full. Li Qiutang arrived late and didn't get a good seat, but that didn't matter.

This movie is actually pretty good. From the director to the actors, and to the audience, everyone knows that its selling point is action. Li Qiutang bought a ticket to watch the action, so why do you have to pick on his literary drama?
I don't know that Zhen Zidan and Nicholas Tse's acting is bad?

But their fighting is indeed fun to watch, and as for the literary drama and story logic, it's fine as long as it's basically smooth.

"Dragon Tiger Gate" sold 3000 million in its first weekend, which is worthy of the action scenes and cast.

After watching it, Li Qiutang couldn't help but sigh: "The Fire Cloud Evil God is really pretentious!"

"Who is the best fighter here?" - Of course it's Ip Man, could it be me?
"You don't even deserve to die in my hands."

What's the name of the actor who plays the Fire Cloud Evil God? I didn't look at the subtitles carefully just now, but it seems that he is a professional martial arts director.

(End of this chapter)