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Chapter 807: Chapter 701: An Outburst of Amazement (Please Subscribe!)
This kind of entertainment news.
If the article isn’t "embellished" a bit, who would watch it?
"Director Li, hello, I would like to ask how much investment went into this movie. We haven’t seen any promotion for it, and we don’t even know when filming started. You’ve done quite a good job keeping it a secret."
A journalist stood up to ask the question.
Such a "serious" question, it goes without saying, was surely a plant.
Li Xizhao perked up and glanced at Pu Chaodong sitting below, then announced a figure that nearly sent the journalists into a frenzy. "One hundred and fifty million dollars."
Boom.
A stir spread through the crowd.
The entire press conference exploded into chaos.
The brains of the entertainment reporters were buzzing.
What did they hear?
One hundred and fifty million dollars.
Not RMB.
Not Hong Kong Dollars.
And certainly not Yen.
Even if it were one hundred and fifty million RMB, in this day and age, that would be a colossal sum. Looking at Li Xizhao on the stage, their first thought was that he was exaggerating for hype.
They simply didn’t want to believe it.
Li Xizhao watched the reaction of the audience with satisfaction.
That was the effect he wanted. If talking about the actual investment, by his directorial budget, it was less than thirty million RMB because it was almost all completed within the photography studio, there weren’t many extras, the actors weren’t well-known, so their fees were low.
This movie.
The actors’ fees, combined with the wages for all the staff, amounted to just under fifteen million RMB.
The other costs were mainly on photographic equipment and the construction of the set, which can be reused. Therefore, thirty million RMB is the investment outside of the special effects for this movie.
As for the cost of special effects.
Li Xizhao didn’t know.
He had seen this special effects team’s work.
That brief encounter, the godlike speed, made it hard for Li Xizhao to believe it could consume much money, but in terms of movie profit sharing, the company’s special effects were valued at that much, priced as a package deal at seventy million dollars.
That was the price decided by Tang Qing.
So the question arises.
Does Comet Entertainment need to pay the special effects company that much cash? This is nearly six hundred million RMB, almost equal to Comet Entertainment’s market value. Comet Entertainment simply doesn’t have that much.
Of course, the answer is no.
The special effects company signed an agreement resembling profit sharing with Comet Entertainment, giving it priority in receiving profits. In other words, if the final movie profit is less than seventy million dollars, all that money goes to the special effects company.
Comet Entertainment gets nothing.
If there’s a shortfall, the special effects company won’t demand more. It’s like saying the profits are used first to repay the production cost to the special effects company.
If profits exceed seventy million dollars, Comet Entertainment can keep anything above that amount.
Thus, Tang Qing invested in this drama through a kind of credit system, which seemed a bit disadvantageous for Comet Entertainment. If the movie didn’t make money, the company would be at a loss, but would the film lose money?
Of course not.
On the other hand, it also postponed Comet Entertainment’s payments for goods.
After an evaluation.
Such special effects, if handled by a Western special effects company, wouldn’t be available for less than one hundred million dollars. The price of seventy million dollars was already discounted, and credit terms were given without a single cent of upfront payment.
It was a win-win cooperation clause.
These sorts of internal transactions were deemed necessary by Tang Qing. If you set a high price, in the future, if others want special effects done, they could also charge high prices. Otherwise what? Claim the special effects cost twenty million dollars?
That would be like turning your back on money.
If you can boast,
Do it with a bit more flare.
It can also give a sense of grandeur and luxury.
As for the real cost of the special effects, even if you include the exchange with the intelligence analyst, it’s merely tens of millions of RMB. No further investments are needed in the future, and this movie could make back ten times that amount. Adding Comet Entertainment’s profits, Tang Qing was already gleefully planning what to do next.
"Director Li, are you serious? One hundred and fifty million dollars, how can it be that..." Another journalist raised their hand to ask. This price, no matter how they looked at it, they just couldn’t accept it. A Huaxia science fiction movie, a hundred million RMB was already considered an ’epic work.’
Li Xizhao nodded earnestly.
"Yes, this movie truly has that much investment, mainly spent on special effects. Once you’ve seen the movie, you’ll understand that this investment is not at all high."
The journalist wanted to ask further.
But the other journalists wouldn’t have it. One question per person, those are the rules.
Li Xizhao had no choice but to move on to the next journalist.
"Hello, Director Li, can you talk about why you chose newcomers for the roles? Why not invite some well-known celebrities to make an appearance, even just a cameo, to boost the attention?"
This question made Li Xizhao inwardly comfortable.
No bizarre questions, that’s good.
Entertainment reporters always like to ask off-the-wall questions. At a new movie press conference, many times they manage to turn it into a scandal conference, which can be infuriating. Yet, you can’t afford to offend them, otherwise you’d be accused of acting superior and arrogant, which doesn’t sound good.
Entertainment news.
Bottom line?
Non-existent.
Would people watch if there was a bottom line?
Give me a break.
"Ahem, that’s a good question. Before this, when I got the script, I knew that this was a serious science fiction movie, not a comedy. The theme was not about love or family, those typical elements of American blockbusters.
Instead, it was a movie filled with serious ideological conflicts, and the investment was huge, especially in the special effects department. Therefore, I considered whether to hire some ’suitable’ actors, after all, we should give young people more opportunities."
The actors in this play were carefully selected, and the shooting proved that my judgment was not bad. They indeed had potential and capability and worked very hard, which let me see the spirit of the movie..."
Li Xizhao talked in circles, beating around the bush.
But the entertainment reporters present got his drift.
No money.
Save wherever possible.
Can’t afford big stars.
All the money went into special effects.
In short, it means... we’re quite broke recently.
Everyone internally laughed and cried. Just say the budget isn’t enough, no need to beat around the bush making it seem like there’s some grand reason. But this piqued everyone’s curiosity.
What would a Huaxia science fiction movie with an investment of 150 million US dollars look like?
When Li Xizhao spoke, he also felt a bit awkward, but he thought, without being a bit awkward, how else would he put it?
Then the press conference shifted back to normal proceedings.
For the actors on stage,
The journalists’ questions were all standard and polite; after all, what news value do these little-known actors have? Even if there are scandals, no one cares. So, they asked a few perfunctory questions and hurried back to focus on the main point of interest: the investment, which could attract some attention.
Wait until these young actors become more famous.
And then, as Comet Entertainment begins to push promotion, they’ll be interested in creating a buzz.
So,
In an atmosphere of harmony,
The press conference concluded.
Just ten minutes after the end,
The online media began their campaign, with pop-ups and entertainment headlines bought by Comet Entertainment. The TV and print media promotions hadn’t started yet; they were waiting for the articles to be written.
TV promotions were focused on the afternoon news, while newspapers would have to wait for the next morning’s issue.
Thanks to Zheng Lin’s efforts, even CCTV’s evening news would mention the movie. It wasn’t just Zheng Lin’s maneuvering but also due to the spontaneous promotion by Meng Rongfei. The numbers of those who had seen the movie were quickly rising.
Its popularity was spreading within the department.
Especially among the related management departments.
Everyone was an acquaintance; just chatting could lead to discussions about the movie.
In any case, this was a movie that could help Huaxia cinema break into the global market, so a trend of promotion from top to bottom seemed to naturally form and spread rapidly.
Those who came later couldn’t see the movie yet.
But following the lead from above,
Jumping on the bandwagon was surely no problem. Hence, this trend was gaining momentum, waiting to sweep across the land of Huaxia.
...
United States.
California.
Headquarters of the American Film Association.
Unlike Huaxia’s censorship system, American movies have a rating system; make a movie, and if you dare, you can release it, but there are restrictions such as the age of viewers and whether parental accompaniment is needed, among others.
This system has its good points,
Because it stands for freedom.
However, there are also significant downsides.
Many movies are filled with excessive violence, illicit substances, and sexual content, which can have a great impact on the viewers’ eyes and psyche. After all, both in and out of the movies, many American stars use prohibited substances.
It’s practically incitement.
Even though there’s an age restriction,
But,
Which parent would want their adult children to pick up such bad habits, like alcohol abuse, violence, promiscuity, illicit drugs, and so on? That’s also why the rating system in Huaxia struggles to progress, because public figures have too great an influence.
Especially when it comes to something that might affect tens or even hundreds of millions of viewers.
Once impacted, it’s not just one family.
It’s a flood.
Imagine your child watches a movie and suddenly gets curious about these things: What’s it like to use illegal substances? What does it feel like to change partners every day? Or develops an interest in violence...
Once your child acts on these curiosities,
Then you might as well smash the movie theater. And you’d probably want to strangle the director and actors. Freedom, your so-called freedom, those who haven’t experienced it will never understand how deep that hatred can be.
Therefore,
In Huaxia, even if films are rated, it’s always based on a censorship system.
Freedom,
Must be within limits; otherwise, such freedom is better off rejected.
After viewing the movie submitted by Comet Entertainment,
The entire studio was quiet, the Association’s members still in the shock of what they just witnessed. What did they see? It was a true feast for the eyes and a delight for the soul.
Huaxia was actually capable of producing a movie of this caliber.
All of a sudden, they had a ’wolf at the door’ sensation.
Previously, the global movie market was dominated by the West, with the United States always exporting advanced movie culture. But now, this movie from the East had shattered that notion. Has the quality of movies from the East improved to this extent?
