It's reasonable for me to be a three-time Golden Horse Award-winning director and an all-around

Chapter 58 "Exaggerated" Marketing Tactics!

The farce at the gate of the Central Academy of Drama did not last long.

Less than three minutes later, a group of people ran out of the school and forcibly separated the two sides.

Jiang Wen, with a hint of schadenfreude on his face, muttered, "Old Zhang is in big trouble this time. 'Cellphone' is about to be released, but his son... tsk tsk."

The speaker has no intention, the listener has the heart.

Jiang Wen's words stirred something in Lü Rui's heart.

After getting off the bus, he made an excuse to go to the restroom and went to a secluded corner to call Wang Changtian, the chairman of Enlight Media.

These production companies didn't get their investment shares for nothing.

China Film Group and Bona Film Group need to handle a series of pre-release procedures, such as submitting the film for review and distribution.

Dong Ping was responsible for handling the import and release of the film in Hong Kong and Taiwan, Beijing Film Academy provided logistical support, and Enlight Media was responsible for the film's on-the-ground promotion, advertising, and utilizing traditional media channels to ensure that the film's popularity remained high.

Of course, all of this was done on the premise that Wisdom Vision had secured the rights to produce the film.

The farce that had just happened at the school gate, combined with Jiang Wen's mutterings, suddenly gave Lü Rui an idea.

Could we take this opportunity to trip up "Cellphone" a little?

With the idea of ​​"playing a couple of rounds even if there's no guarantee of success," Lü Rui briefly described his thoughts after dialing Wang Changtian's number.

On the other end of the phone, Wang Changtian immediately understood: "I understand, Director Lü, don't worry, I'll arrange it. Leave it to me."

Being kind to your competitors is being cruel to yourself!
Given the opportunity, Lü Rui would naturally not hesitate to act ruthlessly.

He believed that Feng Xiaogang felt the same way.

After hanging up the phone, Lü Rui walked calmly toward the auditorium.

There were quite a few people attending the exchange meeting today. In addition to the media and reporters arranged by the Central Academy of Drama, there were also a large number of students, filling the entire auditorium.

Compared to the Beijing Film Academy, the Central Academy of Drama has a significantly larger student body.

For example, in the 02 class, the undergraduate class at Beijing Film Academy only had about twenty students, but the class at the Central Academy of Drama was divided into three classes, and the total number of students increased dramatically!
Along the way, students kept greeting us warmly.

"Hello Director Lü, I am Tang Yan, a student from the 02 class of the Acting Department."

This is a girl with long legs.

"Hello Director Lü, I'm Bai Baihe."

"My name is Wen Zhang, and I'm also from the class of 02. Please take care of me..."

"Hello, Director Lü, I am Zhang Han, a freshman from the class of 03!"

"Guo Zhenni, Shen Jiani, Wang Kai..."

As Lü Rui walked forward, he saw many familiar faces when he arrived at the entrance of the auditorium.

When he stepped into the auditorium, good heavens, it was already packed with people!
A number of people were gathered around Jiang Wen, asking him for autographs.

Some people noticed Lü Rui and quickly came over to greet him.

"Hello Director Lü, I am Zhou Jian from the Directing Department."

"I am Mao Sulong from the Photography Department."

"Department of Literature..."

Unfortunately, Lü Rui didn't remember these people's names; he figured they must have all gone on to work behind the scenes after graduation.

Compared to the Beijing Film Academy, the Central Academy of Drama is mainly known for its acting department's veteran actors and skilled performers. As for other fields such as directing, cinematography, and literature, very few of them have made it big.

People like Jiang Wen, who can both act and direct, are extremely rare.

The exchange meeting officially started a little over ten minutes later.

The exciting clip from "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" playing on the big screen attracted everyone's attention and elicited gasps of surprise both inside and outside the auditorium!

In an era when special effects in domestic films were still underdeveloped, Chinese films with fantasy elements were quite rare.

Lü Rui briefly shared some of his experiences.

Many people listened with rapt attention, but their eyes also held a hint of bewilderment.

Chinese-language films are still far behind; the quality of teaching and the foundation are worlds apart from Hollywood… At the end of the exchange meeting, the invited media began their interviews:
"Director Jiang, people say that you are Director Lü's mentor. So how did you see that he would become an excellent director and successfully discover him?"

As the old saying goes, a fine horse is easy to find, but a discerning eye for talent is rare.

Everyone immediately became interested upon hearing the question.

Jiang Wen laughed and explained, "It was actually just a coincidence. He wrote a script, the one called 'Gone Girl,' and I thought it was good, so I thought I'd give him a hand..."

That's actually a modest way of putting it.

Back when Tian Zhuangzhuang was promoting "The Great Eunuch" with him, Jiao Xiongping, the godmother of Taiwanese films at the time, asked him: "There are so many directors in China, which one do you think is better?"

Jiang Wen, who was only 28 years old that year, shook his head directly: "Not now, but in the future!"

Jiao Xiongping pressed further: "Who is it?"

Jiang Wen, who had never directed a film before, patted his chest and exuded domineering confidence: "Me!"

However, he was a little embarrassed to continue bragging in front of Lü Rui.

The thoroughbred horse is running too fast; even he, the talent scout, can barely keep up. It feels rather awkward to keep pretending.
The exchange meeting for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was held very smoothly.

Meanwhile, Feng Xiaogang received a phone call.

"Director Feng, don't worry, I'll take care of it right away and make sure it won't affect the movie."

Old Zhang is prepared to bleed a lot of money!
But what's done is done, and how can the impact be eliminated in a short time?
The news articles that Wang Changtian contacted and released to the media were intentionally or unintentionally linking the incident to the movie "Cellphone," which greatly reduced the audience's impression of the film.

This will inevitably lead to a loss of some viewers.

Of course, it's impossible to completely bring him down, after all, Feng Xiaogang's box office appeal is still quite strong!
On the 18th, "Cell Phone" was officially released, directly suppressing the popularity of "Infernal Affairs 3" and showing a trend of being overtaken at the box office.

The latter clearly lacked staying power; after only one week of release, its daily box office had already fallen below 300 million.

If this trend continues, it's unlikely that even the box office record of 4100 million yuan set by "Warriors of Heaven and Earth" will be broken.

"This wave is stable!"

In Huayi's office, Feng Xiaogang breathed a long sigh of relief.

Although the assault incident had some impact on the film "Cellphone", it was not significant. In addition, Zhang Guoli handled the situation promptly, so it did not cause too much of a stir.

Moreover, Huayi is also an advertising company, so they are quite experienced in handling sudden public opinion events.

"Haha, based on this box office trend, a minimum of 4500 million yuan in box office revenue is definitely guaranteed." Wang Zhonglei was also very happy.

The box office performance of "Cell Phone" is excellent, and Feng Xiaogang's title as the "father of the Lunar New Year film season" has been solidified once again.

Riding this wave of momentum, if we launch "A World Without Thieves" next year, wouldn't we make a fortune?
"By the way, is the premiere and press conference for 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' being held today?" Feng Xiaogang suddenly remembered his rival.

"Yes."

Wang Zhonglei also received an invitation.

He actually wanted to go to the scene, mainly to ease tensions with Lü Rui.

But Feng Xiaogang arrived at the company very early in the morning, making him too embarrassed to go out.

"Ha, a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger, truly ignorant of its own limitations..."

Feng Xiaogang, full of vigor and confidence, was just about to continue his criticism when the office door was suddenly pushed open, and the head of Huayi's publicity department strode in, looking flustered.

Seeing this, Wang Zhonglei frowned and asked anxiously, "What's wrong? What happened?"

"President Wang, Director Feng, something terrible has happened! The popularity of 'Cellphone' has been suppressed!"

"What?" The two men's expressions changed drastically, and they asked in unison, "What happened?"

"It was because of the movie 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' that Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui publicly announced at the press conference that they would retire from the entertainment industry together!"

Feng Xiaogang's expression changed, turning as white as a sheet.

Wang Zhonglei's eyes widened in disbelief!
What are you doing?

Isn't this marketing tactic a bit too exaggerated?

(End of this chapter)