Chapter 238: Chapter 222: Online Blockbuster Movie_i
“Preparing for the premiere…?”
Everyone is at the company. After receiving Lin Yuan’s call, they all met in the film department.
In the face of an expectant Lin Yuan, 01′ Zhou felt a headache coming on. He contemplated his words while saying, “Your movie can most certainly be premiered…”
“But?”
Lin Yuan felt like there must be some kind of catch.
Just as Lin Yuan anticipated.
or Zhou, as predicted, coughed and said, “But our company is currently busy preparing for the premiere of ‘Thunderstorm’, and July is the summer season, the competition in the film market is fierce…”
Lin Yuan frowned.
He, of course, knew about the ’Thunderstorm’ project.
It was the company’s first film project, so it was given high priority.
Unlike Earth.
The film industry on Blue Star was undoubtedly more developed. The various special effects technologies could easily overpower Hollywood on Earth.
This meant a drastic increase in the speed of such film productions.
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With such superior film technology support, the completion speed of movies like ‘Thunderstorm’ may not be much slower than some small budget movies. On Earth, this would be unimaginable, but on Blue Star, it wasn’t an issue.
“So here’s the thing.”
01′ Zhou sighed, “Your film, ‘Flirting Scholar’, won’t get many screenings. The market is full of blockbusters at the same time. Even our previous agreement stated that we didn’t have a surplus budget to promote your movie.”
“What if I adjust the schedule?”
Lin Yuan, of course, understood the importance of scheduling.
01′ Zhou was taken aback, not expecting Lin Yuan to consider the screening schedule.
Summer season was a mere excuse from 01′ Zhou.
He really couldn’t secure many screenings for ‘Flirting Scholar’.
For a film with an investment of less than ten million, none of its actors could carry the box office.
The director is inexperienced, and the scriptwriter is a songwriter. Moreover, the plot is quite unpredictable…
You should know.
Screening decisions are not only based on the film quality, but also the effort put in by the production company.
Take ‘Thunderstorm’ for example.
As a film heavily promoted by Starlight, to secure high initial screenings, 01′ Zhou and the film department leaders had to offer certain benefits to the heads of theaters.
Do they expect him to offer benefits for ‘Flirting Scholar’?
How much would that cost?
And it wouldn’t be an issue if offerings were useful.
The problem is that even with more screenings, ‘Flirting Scholar’ wouldn’t benefit much.
The ultimate decision to purchase is neither up to the theaters nor the entertainment companies, but the general public!
01′ Zhou complains, “Adjusting the schedule can be done, but no matter how you adjust, securing screenings for your movie will be difficult. After all, theater companies also make decisions based on benefits. Your film lacks stars, known directors, and investment…”
No large investment.
No famous directors.
No famous actors.
These films are referred to as ‘three-absence films’.
While there have been instances where such movies have been successful, they are few and far between. Hence, theater companies will be unwilling to invest much in them.
It’s not that 01′ Zhou deliberately makes excuses.
Even if 01′ Zhou wanted to help, he couldn’t.
He could only allocate a few off-peak slots for ‘Flirting Scholar’ as a consolation. After all, the film had been made, so it couldn’t just not be screened, right?
“Then let’s not screen it.”
After some thought, Lin Yuan suddenly suggested.
01′ Zhou’s expression changed.
Has this kid… gotten angry?
He carefully coaxed Lin Yuan, “The movie has already been made. Why not screen it? Let’s just see how it performs. If the movie does well, word-of- mouth could spread, and the theaters might increase screenings…”
Lin Yuan shook his head.
What 01′ Zhou said was the norm.
But Lin Yuan knew that with a lack of screenings and the available ones being scheduled during off-peak times, it was highly likely that the movie would fail.
There are quite a number of movies that attempt to make a comeback.
But there were awfully few that actually succeeded.
Lin Yuan did not plan to pin his hopes on such an elusive comeback.
Under normal circumstances, there might be a chance for a movie to make a comeback, after all, “Flirting Scholar” is quite a successful comedy in Zhou’s catalog.
But now…
The hope is very slim.
With the merger of Qin Qi, all major companies in the film market are battling for dominance. There are so many people eyeing the summer season, how could one possibly stand a chance?
No scheduled screenings…
There are several films with investments of hundreds of millions released at the same time, isn’t there a single one that resonates with the audience? Why should your low-budget film be the one to stand out?
The foundation of a comeback is having no strong competitors in the same period, or at least favorable scheduling in advance.
Take the classic Earth come-back case of “Crazy Stone” as an example.
Everyone talks about how this movie’s comeback had textbook significance, but they overlooked an important factor:
At the time this movie was released, there was not a single competitor that could put up a fight against it!
Keep in mind, the audience also knows their calculations.
If they spend the same amount of money, should they go watch a blockbuster with impressive special effects, enjoying a visual feast, or pay for a low-budget film?
The answer is quite clear.
So, Lin Yuan dared not risk betting on the lack of blockbusters during July’s summer season.
Especially after hearing 01′ Zhou’s analysis, Lin Yuan more clearly understood how perilous this summer season could be.
He had completely overlooked this before.
This is also due to Lin Yuan’s book knowledge, but without certain practical experience.
Luckily, after 01′ Zhou mentioned the issue of screenings, Lin Yuan came to his senses.
That was a close call.
Competing with those big investors for box office revenues during the summer season was a foolish decision on his part.
He thought for a moment, and had a new plan, proposed his idea to 01′ Zhou:
“We can skip the theater and go direct to streaming.”
“Go direct to streaming…”
Only then did 01′ Zhou understood Lin Yuan’s meaning, his expression showing some surprise, “You mean, online cinema?”
By online cinema, he meant online movies.
Online movies don’t need to go to the theater, the review standard is also lower, and many low budget films can profit from being online.
Of course, for major film companies, profiting from online cinema is quite modest.
If the operation of a theater movie is good, the income will be in the hundreds of millions…
Then online cinema can only make tens of millions at best.
Chou thought Lin Yuan was just over-confident like many fresh-out-of-school newcomers, believing his film to be the best.
But to his surprise, Lin Yuan was willing to take a step back and choose online cinema as the channel for “Flirting Scholar” to premiere.
Carefully considering, it was not a bad choice!
However, before 01′ Zhou could agree, Lin Yuan immediately added, “Since we re not going to the theaters, the company can’t help me out much on this one.”
01′ Zhou gave an embarrassed smile.
The threshold for online cinema is very low, even without the company’s intervention, “Flirting Scholar” can still be premiered.
As far as theater movies are concerned, a film with an investment of less than ten million has almost no presence.
But in the context of online cinema, the investment in “Flirting Scholar”, although not considered huge, is not seen as small either.
“So…”
Lin Yuan revealed his secondary motive for choosing online cinema, “I hope the company will sell me ‘Flirting Scholar’. I’m willing to personally pay ten million to buy the rights to the film.”
01′ Zhou: “???”
The company invested time, manpower, and finances to make your movie, and after it’s finished, you’re telling me you’re going to buy it for personal use?
It was the first time 01′ Zhou had seen someone so brazenly take advantage of a company.
The company invested nine million in the production of “Flirting Scholar”. Lin Yuan’s ten million offer might seem like a small profit for the company. But considering the costs of manpower, material resources, and time, the company isn’t making any profit at all.
That’s because the production team was hired by the company, and they were charging the company’s internal prices.
If Lin Yuan wanted to shoot this movie himself earlier on, the same quality couldn’t be achieved for less than fifteen million.
But then again…
The company initially planned to write off this investment, but was unexpectedly willing to take the film off their hands and foot the bill himself… In a roundabout way, the company did make a small profit…
So, did the company benefit or lose out?
It probably depends on how the company sees it. Anyway, after a few seconds of confusion, 01′ Zhou felt a bit bemused.
“I agree.”
In the end, 01′ Zhou made the call to agree.
As one of the top executives in the company, he does have the power to decide on projects under ten million.