Chapter 79 is released (more before release)

In late December, the snow in Beijing was already very thick.

The Chinese Academy of Drama in the alley was covered with snow again. Liu Zhou walked on this familiar campus, but suddenly felt it was a lot quieter.

The temperature outside was over ten degrees below zero, so Liu Zhou didn't have the mood to feel too much. He tightened his hat and walked towards Lao Huang's office.

"Teacher, I'm back."

Huang Weiruo, who was working at his desk, heard this familiar voice, raised his head and said with a smile:

"Is the movie finished?"

"It's finished filming, and the post-production is also done, we're just waiting for it to be released."

“Has the show time been set?”

"Not yet. The Pearl River Film Studio said they need to discuss it with China Film Group."

"It is right to seek cooperation with China Film Group. The film landscape in the mainland will undergo tremendous changes because of the emergence of China Film Group."

"I can't think about that for now. I just hope my movie can do well at the box office."

"Look at your little achievements. Now that you have entered this industry, you must be more sensitive. Not only should you work hard, but you should also look up and see the road ahead."

"Teacher, you are different now that you have been promoted. You speak in a different way."

Huang Weiruo was previously the deputy director of the Drama Department of the Central Academy of Drama. This year, the former dean Xu Xiaozhong retired and stepped down as the dean of the Central Academy of Drama. As someone who was favored by the former dean, Huang was pushed by the former dean and became the full director.

Uh, this Director Huang is not the same Director Huang from the Performance Department.

Liu Zhou also knew that his teacher said this to him out of concern for him, but he was very clear about the changes in the mainland film industry in the next few years.

It was not until 2002 that private film and television companies in the mainland would be fully revitalized.

Just focus on making movies in the next two years. There's no need to mess around in this environment. Besides, it's not Liu Zhou's job to worry about such a big thing.

"Hey, I haven't taught you for so long. I think you have forgotten my authority as your class teacher."

Old Huang pretended to be serious, but in the end he couldn't help laughing.

"Teacher, don't worry. I'm not a fool. I know how to follow the policies from above."

"It's good that you know this. You're about to graduate, and I won't be able to help you much by then."

"You've taken care of me for three years. If I continue to rely on you, wouldn't that make me look incompetent?"

"Haha." Huang Weiruo lit a cigarette, took a puff, and then said slowly:

“How was it like making a movie for the first time?”

"I was very excited at first, and I'm still a little excited now, but I'm also a little nervous at the same time."

"Take your time. It will be fine once you've made more movies. And don't worry too much. Your situation is much better than most people. You can work with big stars in your first movie."

"Yes, I know."

After chatting for a while in Lao Huang’s office, Liu Zhou left.

There were not many classes at school now, so Liu Zhou went straight back to his own courtyard.

Although he hadn't been back for half a year, the courtyard was still kept very clean. Zeng Li usually lived here when she was in the capital.

When Liu Zhou came back, Zeng Li was cooking in the kitchen.

At this time, Zeng Li was wearing an apron, with her hair simply tied up, and was busy, looking like a beautiful cook.

Liu Zhou did not disturb her, but went to the study, ready to continue writing the half-finished "Longling Mystery Cave".

Liu Zhou had interrupted the writing of this book because he was busy with film matters.

Although the written manuscript has already been sent to "Mengya" magazine, it is enough for them to serialize.

But now "Mengya" will only serialize one-third at most to attract readers and increase magazine sales, and then publish a single volume.

Therefore, Liu Zhou must finish writing the entire book as soon as possible, and he wants to complete this task while he has time now.

However, after writing for less than half an hour, Zeng Li came to call him to eat.

The food Zeng Li cooks is getting better and better, and it's obvious that she has put a lot of effort into it.

Although Liu Zhou can cook, he only goes to the kitchen to show off his skills when he feels like it. Most of the time, Zeng Li does the cooking.

Fortunately, Liu Zhou's courtyard has undergone some renovations, so Zeng Li doesn't have to empty the chamber pot early in the morning like a queen.

Liu Zhou enjoyed this quiet and peaceful hutong life, especially after a busy day, which made him feel comfortable all over.

By mid-January, the 20th century had completely passed, and Liu Zhou had finally finished writing "The Lost Tomb of Dragon Ridge". After proofreading it, he sent the manuscript to Qu He.

After completing this task, Liu Zhou finally put his mind at ease.

However, Liu Zhou was now thinking about another matter. He wondered how the talks between Director Xie and China Film Group went.

Almost half a month has passed and there is still no news. Liu Zhou can't help but worry whether there will be any accidents.

Director Xie once invited Liu Zhou to join the discussion, but Liu Zhou felt it was unnecessary as he was a new director and would only go there to make up the numbers.

China Film Group is a giant in the industry. Not to mention Liu Zhou, even Zhang Yimou and Chen Shishi have to follow the rules. Perhaps after the mainland film industry completes market-oriented reforms, these big directors will have more face to ask distributors and exhibition companies to make concessions. I don’t know if Director Xie heard Liu Zhou’s voice, but within two days he came to Liu Zhou’s courtyard and told him that the distribution contract with China Film Group was negotiated.

Liu Zhou took Director Xie to the reception room in the front yard. Zeng Li made him a cup of tea, and Liu Zhou picked up the contract and read it carefully.

Liu Zhou first turned to the most important point. The distribution fee was 9%. It seemed that Director Xie did have some face in China Film.

Currently the normal issuance fee is about 10% to 15%. It is already very good that Director Xie was able to negotiate it down to 9%.

Liu Zhou once again realized the benefits of cooperating with Pearl River Film Studio. If he had gone to negotiate on his own, China Film would most likely have charged him the maximum 15% distribution fee.

The producers nowadays are so miserable. After paying taxes on the total box office and dividing it among theater chains and distributors, the producers may only get around 25%.

After the reform, the producers were able to get more, up to nearly three levels.

Later, Zhang Weiping relied on Zhang Yimou's film "The Last Airbender" to persuade the theaters to make certain concessions, but these concessions were generally only made to big directors. However, it did open a gap for the producers.

Finally, with the gradual prosperity of the mainland film industry, theaters had to retreat again, and the production companies finally exceeded three levels in the total box office stratification.

Of course, if you also have the ability to distribute, you can also take in more than four layers of the total box office.

After looking at the distribution costs, Liu Zhou went to see how many copies were produced on the first day.

Fifty is quite a lot.

But Liu Zhou noticed that the Zhujiang factory was planning to produce twenty copies and distribute them to the entire eastern Guangdong Province and the provincial capitals of the other two brothers in South China F3.

China Film Group only produced thirty copies and distributed them to several major cities.

In fact, thirty copies are not a small number. After all, Liu Zhou is not Feng Kuzi. He has been famous for a long time, while he is just a novice in the directing industry.

The final release date chosen was February 13th, Valentine's Day, which was also the 17th day of the first lunar month, and the students had already returned to school.

This is what Liu Zhou told Director Xie: if there are no blockbuster movies during this period, then choose this date.

Currently, in the whole month of February, there is only one children's film "Flying Flowers", a very touching movie, but it will not conflict with "My Sassy Girl".

There were no famous movies in March, so finally it was decided to be released on Valentine's Day.

After reading this distribution contract, Liu Zhou was quite satisfied.

"Thank you for your hard work, Director. I didn't expect to be able to negotiate such a generous contract."

"Haha, since you have no objection, I will go and sign a formal contract with them tomorrow." Director Xie said with a smile.

"no problem."

At this time, Director Xie sighed and said:

"I wanted to hold a premiere, but China Film Group didn't agree, which is a pity."

Liu Zhou heard this and said with a smile:

"It's nothing to regret. I'm not a big director. I know myself well."

Although there were movie premieres in the mainland at this time, they were exclusively for big directors.

For example, Feng Kuzi has held movie premiere ceremonies at the Beijing Cultural Palace in recent years, but the scale is not very large.

It was not until Zhang Yimou's "Hero" held a nationwide premiere ceremony in the Great Hall of the People and achieved a very obvious publicity effect that movie premieres became increasingly important.

"It's only a little over a month until the release. Liu Zhou, do you have any plans for promotion?"

Liu Zhou pondered for a moment and said:

“In addition to normal posters and newspaper ads, I think we can spend more time and energy on the Internet.

In particular, the BBSs of major universities can be used as the focus of publicity. After all, the target audience of our film is these young men and women, and today's young people, especially college students, are very interested in the emerging network."

"Your suggestion is good. I hadn't considered this before. This kind of targeted publicity will definitely have a better effect."

"Not only that, a few days before the release, we can take the main creators to various universities in Beijing and Shanghai to promote the film, but this requires discussing this with my brother Zhang Guorong in advance."

"I'll take care of this. I think it shouldn't be a big problem. I'll contact the schools. I think in addition to Beijing and Shanghai, I can also visit the colleges and universities in Guangzhou."

"Okay, we can work out a promotional plan with China Film Group in the next two days."

In the following days, "Mengya", which has the closest cooperation with Liu Zhou, promoted the release information of Liu Zhou's new movie "My Sassy Girl" on the front page of its latest issue.

Subsequently, media outlets such as Southern Weekend, China Youth Daily, and Southern Metropolis Daily, which have good relations with Liu Zhou, also began to follow up with publicity.

Finally, on the Internet, the three major portals also began to publish news about the release of Liu Zhou’s new movie.

With this multi-pronged approach, Liu Zhou and "My Sassy Girl" generated quite a bit of heat before the Spring Festival.

Liu Zhou's book fans in particular are eagerly awaiting his new movie, wanting to see what kind of story his love movie will be about.

Because he was busy with the movie release, Liu Zhou didn't have much time to stay at home during the Chinese New Year this year.

Time slowly came to the 16th day of the first lunar month, and China Film Group and Pearl River Film Studio had already begun sending copies to major cities.

Liu Zhou, his brother and Zeng Li have also gathered in Beijing. Tomorrow is the first day of the movie's release, and they will also go to the two most famous universities in Beijing to promote it.

(End of this chapter)