How can a director be a gigolo?

Chapter 93 Entering the Circle

Cheng Dawei, being an experienced and shrewd man, always handled everything himself when he saw Wang Xiaohao making films. He vaguely sensed that Wang Xiaohao didn't want to be the tail of the ox, but rather the head of the chicken.

So he specifically took Wang Xiaohao to meet a few people in the industry who were influential but not in the mainstream circles.

The most useful thing was taking Wang Xiaohao to meet a big shot from Wang Xiaohao's hometown province.

That's the power of someone like Cheng Dawei. Don't be fooled by the fact that he seems to have accomplished nothing in his life; his greatest achievement is just a nomination for Best Editing.

But having been in the industry for over thirty years and always within the system, I know quite a few people.

The elder from his hometown spoke highly of Wang Xiaohao.

They especially admired Wang Xiaohao's decision to return to his hometown to make a movie.

Although the film industry in Cangnan isn't very strong, it's still a legitimate circle.

Unlike their province of Jiangnan, where people are dwindling in number, in the film industry, they can't even support a single circle.

Under the old system, each province established its own film studio.

However, their film studio in Dajiang Province never really took off, no outstanding figures emerged, and naturally, no circle was ever formed.

Wang Xiaohao is a rare film talent in Dajiang Province in recent years. He also takes care of his hometown and returned to make movies as soon as he became successful.

This naturally won the favor of the senior, who then took Wang Xiaohao to meet many people in the industry.

These people are all unassuming and unremarkable; outsiders have never even heard of them.

He's not a critic, just a council member of this association or that association.

They all look like old antiques, and they don't seem to be directly involved in filmmaking. Their families don't seem to be very wealthy either.

In addition, there are some older generation actors from the Yangtze River region who have long been forgotten by young people.

But Wang Xiaohao dared not underestimate these people at all!

They all behaved with utmost respect upon meeting!

In the future, gifts will be sent to express condolences and gratitude during holidays and festivals.

That seems to be it!

However, from then on, Wang Xiaohao's films always had an easier time getting approved.

Even winning film awards is no longer difficult for him.

Even just over two months later, Wang Xiaohao won the Phoenix Award for Best Film for "Beautiful Legend." And Cheng Dawei also won Best Editing!

This is simply because Wang Xiaohao has truly entered the industry and been accepted by the film academic community.

Moreover, while many people internationally consider "Beautiful Legend" to be too old-fashioned and retro, those in China, being older, particularly love the film.

In China, there's a particular fondness for themes like retro, nostalgia, homesickness, and longing. Even ordinary people seem to share this sentiment!

Apart from a very small group of critics, artists generally have a low acceptance of avant-garde and experimental films.

There's nothing we can do about it; Chinese people tend to be conservative!

Of course, these are all things for the future.

After the post-production of "My Love from the Star" was completed, it was not yet scheduled for release.

Wang Xiaohao finally got some free time. He rested for a few days and then continued to focus on his milk tea business.

The milk tea shops in Beijing have already taken off, and business is pretty good.

After all, Wang Xiaohao used some methods from later generations.

The factories in Heyin County are doing quite well now.

With the help of local officials, the factory resumed normal operations.

All the newly purchased equipment has been delivered one after another, and recruiting workers is even simpler; we are currently in the trial production stage.

Small-scale production of various pearl taro balls and similar items has already begun.

As for cup-packaged milk tea, production has also begun.

Wang Xiaohao instructed Wang Zhiming to remember to stock up on extra goods, lest the movie become famous after its release and there simply not enough stock to sell.

When filming "My Love from the Star," Wang Xiaohao said "GG" to so many product placement brands, so naturally he wouldn't forget to say "GG" to his own milk tea!

Wang Zhiming is full of confidence, guaranteeing that at least one million cups of milk tea can be prepared before the movie is released.

These milk teas will not be sold offline in the traditional way, but will be sold entirely online through e-commerce.

I remember when e-commerce was booming, many brands rose to prominence by relying on e-commerce, such as Forest Squirrel, and so on!

Wang Xiaohao no longer plans to sell cup-packaged milk tea offline.

This thing is mainly for making quick money.

The focus for milk tea should still be on chain franchising.

Once tens of thousands of milk tea franchise stores are opened nationwide, Wang Xiaohao will have control over the brand and the upstream production end.

At that time, all the franchise stores will be distributors, helping Wang Xiaohao sell those milk tea ingredients!

If it really comes to that, Wang Xiaohao can practically make money from home.

If they were willing to go public, they could become billionaire bosses with assets worth tens of billions!

Even if I make movies again in the future, it will just be a hobby!

The old man can take pictures however he wants; nobody can stop him!

Time flies when you're busy.

Before we knew it, it was already the end of March and the beginning of April, and the film's pre-release publicity had already begun.

Wang Xiaohao had no choice but to shift his focus to film.

However, there wasn't much Wang Xiaohao could do at that moment.

He is, after all, a behind-the-scenes director and doesn't really like to be in the public eye.

It's not something you can use much in promotional campaigns!

However, as the head of the crew, the director is like the commander-in-chief of an army, and it wouldn't work without Wang Xiaohao in charge.

On the contrary, Zhen Liang has started taking Wu Yu to various appearances, including interviews and variety shows.

Even in this day and age, there are still quite a few viewers for serious interviews.

Unlike later on, with so many variety shows, who still watches talk shows?

Zhen Liang brought newcomer Wu Yu to various appearances, and rumors of an ambiguous relationship between Zhen Liang and Wu Yu began to circulate.

Only those in the industry know that this is a male artist signed to Wang Xiaohao's studio.

Zhen Liang brought Wu Yu along, which was to give Wang Xiaohao face!

However, no matter what, Wu Yu has gradually gained fame and is no longer an unknown!

"My Love from the Star" has undergone various marketing hype and its popularity was already very high.

In addition, the publicity and promotion efforts are quite strong.

GG posters are everywhere.

Online and in newspapers, there is a growing discussion about the film.

Right now, the focus is mainly on the gossip surrounding Zhen Liang and Wu Yu!

This was all a publicity stunt!

Unfortunately, focusing marketing solely on the film itself isn't a good thing in the long run.

Not only is it easy to get tired of watching movies, it also raises the bar for viewers' expectations too much!

Therefore, film marketing often needs to extinguish the fire by shifting attention from the film itself to various related gossip and news.