radicalducati Chapter 23 Released
Chapter 23 Released
As the end credits music for "The Blade" played, the lights in the screening room came back on.
Tang Jia and Cheng Xiaodong observed Shao Daheng and Xu Ke's expressions. Tang Long also wanted to see, but he wasn't sitting in the front row and couldn't see.
Shao Daheng remained calm, while Xu Ke was overjoyed.
"Not bad, when are you planning to release it?" Shao Daheng asked Tang Jia.
"Mr. Shao, we want to release the film on October 1st."
"No problem, I'll arrange for someone to talk to D&B Cinemas. Metropolitan Films wants to take five percent as a distribution fee."
"Mr. Shao, could TVB offer some assistance with promotion?"
"Can."
"Then I'll go to Ms. Fang tomorrow to sign a supplementary distribution contract."
Shao Daheng nodded, then got up and left.
Those present, including Xu Ke, also stood up and escorted him to the door.
With Shao Daheng gone, the atmosphere was noticeably more relaxed.
Xu Ke spoke first:
"Xiaodong's filming location was good, and A Long's acting was also decent, but the movie wasn't bloody enough."
To more impactfully portray the cruelty of the underworld, more explicit scenes of bloodshed and violence are needed.
It seems that Xu Ke is still Xu Ke, and he is no different now than he was four years ago.
The original version did indeed have many gory scenes, with severed hands and legs shown in a bloody manner.
Even the scene of the righteous monk being beheaded was filmed directly, with a close-up of his head.
These scenes are also the most criticized by audiences and film critics, who feel they will cause discomfort while watching the film.
Tang Long also felt it was unnecessary and deleted all of those shots.
Of course, the main reason is that he doesn't want to go against the audience.
"Director Xu, adding those gory scenes will turn the audience away," Cheng Xiaodong explained.
Xu Ke was about to retort, but then he remembered how hard it had been to secure the investment for this film, and couldn't help but sigh:
"What a pity, I should have directed this movie."
Even if this leads to poor box office performance, he can afford to lose a few million Hong Kong dollars.
"Director Xu, could you help promote the movie when it's released?"
"no problem."
Tsui Hark readily agreed. Although he felt that "The Blade" had some flaws, he was still quite satisfied with it overall.
He felt that Cheng Xiaodong had at least grasped the essence of his teachings and hadn't embarrassed him.
After Xu Ke left, Tang Jia and Cheng Xiaodong exchanged a glance and breathed a sigh of relief.
At this moment, Tang Long walked over:
"Uncle, Metropolitan Films is also taking a 5% distribution fee?"
"Do you expect to get something from tycoon Shao for free?"
"No, no, I thought there was no need to contact the publishing company when you said before."
"There's no such thing as a free lunch. Shao Daheng is already being very generous by only charging us five percent."
"Which of those big film companies doesn't charge 8% or 10% in distribution fees? Golden Harvest even dares to charge 15%."
Although Hong Kong now has four major cinema chains, and a fifth is on the horizon, production companies have more options.
However, the giants who control cinema chains still firmly hold an absolute dominant position in Hong Kong's film industry.
It's impossible to take advantage of them; at most, they won't exploit you too much.
"Oh." Tang Long was still too naive.
"Don't worry about that. We should think about how to promote ourselves. We only have one million Hong Kong dollars for promotion."
At this moment, Cheng Xiaodong continued:
"We can spend HK$500,000 to publish articles in mainstream newspapers during the week before the movie's release to generate buzz for the film."
We'll take another HK$300,000 to collaborate with China Motor Bus and Kowloon Motor Bus, whose buses have very good exterior design.
The remaining 200,000 was used to place GG ads and posters on TVB and in cinemas.
I'll first cut out a trailer and put it on TVB and in cinemas.
Of the three, Cheng Xiaodong is undoubtedly the most familiar with film promotion, managing the promotional funds in an orderly manner.
Tang Jia and Tang Long had no objection to this.
In this era where promotion still relies on traditional channels, Tang Long doesn't have any good solutions.
This is why film and record companies with strong marketing and distribution capabilities were so powerful before the rise of the internet.
They hold absolute power of discourse.
"Boss, could we find some celebrities we know in the industry to speak out and support us?"
"This would create a lot of favors, and it would also be troublesome to get them to publish their opinions in the newspapers, as we would need to contact the newspapers specifically."
Upon hearing this, Tang Long suddenly realized that this kind of propaganda method, which would be common in later generations, was really not suitable for today.
In later generations, with Weibo, it's easy to simply post a Weibo message to support a movie; it's that simple and convenient.
There's no Weibo now; if you want to voice your opinion, you can only do so through television and newspapers.
They might not necessarily do you a favor unless you pay them.
Not to mention, as Cheng Xiaodong said, this would leave him indebted to many people.
Debts of gratitude are the hardest to repay.
Moreover, it was Cheng Xiaodong who owed this favor; Tang Long couldn't even owe it to him.
"Boss, let's go with your plan then."
Tang Long stopped talking, saying that people today are no less stupid than those in the future.
Since there are no large screens available now, cinemas will place several TVs in the ticket hall to continuously play trailers for upcoming or currently showing movies.
In the past, theaters would simply put up a few movie posters and call it a day.
The Hong Kong film industry is highly competitive, and if they had a good way to promote their films, they would have figured it out long ago.
The current publicity model that has taken shape in Hong Kong has proven to be the most effective.
On September 7, Tang Jia, representing the film project "The Blade," signed a distribution agreement with Metropolitan Films.
On the 10th, Tang Jia signed a screening agreement for "The Blade" with Debao Cinemas.
On the 12th, the main cast, including Tang Lung, Lau Ching-wan, and Lau Ka-ling, began to frequently appear on TVB programs.
Later, Cheng Xiaodong and Dilong appeared together on an episode of TVB's flagship program, "Enjoy Yourself Tonight".
Thanks to TVB's strong viewership ratings, the movie "The Blade" began to be known to some viewers.
Fans of Liu Qingyun, Liu Jialing, and Dilong, in particular, are eagerly anticipating seeing this film.
The group didn't finish their promotional activities on TVB until the 23rd.
The following week will be the final sprint for the film's promotion.
Several major Hong Kong newspapers will continue to promote the film "The Blade".
More than 100 buses belonging to China Motor Bus and Kowloon Motor Bus will have promotional posters for "The Blade" displayed on their bodies for three consecutive days.
With such an intensive publicity blitz, the popularity of "The Blade" finally took off.
More and more people are aware that, following "Swordsman", Hong Kong's second new martial arts film, "The Blade", will be released on October 1st.
"Ah Long, the movie officially premieres tomorrow. Are you nervous?" Liu Jialing asked softly, leaning on Tang Long's shoulder.
"I wasn't nervous at all; I did everything I could."
Liu Jialing knew that he was being somewhat hypocritical.
Tonight he had no tricks, no skills, just the sheer force to charge forward without any tenderness or mercy.
Liu Jialing knew how important the film "The Blade" was to him, and silently cooperated with and tolerated his seemingly inexhaustible energy.