Chapter 28

If even Wang Laoer can't be crushed, then Fang Hong might as well quit the film industry and switch careers.

He once wished Wang Laoer would flop—words spoken must be honored; a man must keep his word!

Seeing how stubborn this young man was, Manager Lei still agreed to schedule "Those Years" for August 12.

Now you won't schedule it, yet you claim it's blocking my efforts!

The distribution is settled; now it's time for propaganda.

The two stepped out of the China Film Group building and got into Chen Zhixi's compact car.

As she drove, Chen Zhixi asked: "Why did you set the film's release date for August 12?"

"For propaganda! Setting it on this day saves a lot of propaganda costs," Fang Hong said from the passenger seat.

"How so?"

"Our film has no stars except Liu Tianxian—and Liu Tianxian is the female lead of 'Love Notification.' Do you think she won't tour the whole country for promotion?" Fang Hong said.

Chen Zhixi suddenly understood: "So you mean, when Liu Tianxian promotes 'Love Notification,' she's actually promoting us."

"You could say that—or you could say you couldn't," Fang Hong replied.

"Oh come on, finish your sentence! You're driving me crazy!" Chen Zhixi snapped.

This guy was smart, sure—but he loved to drag things out. That part was annoying.

"Your car's pretty good. Can you donate it to the company for official use?" Fang Hong said with perfect seriousness.

He could even drive the shared car!

"Stop thinking about my car—I've got nothing left in this world except this vehicle."

Chen Zhixi was speechless. For this film, she'd gone broke—invested every penny, gone months without work, spent endlessly, and now they were even eyeing her car.

She suddenly remembered something: "I still don't know when I became general manager."

"You've always been," Fang Hong said.

"Then pay me at least one cent in salary."

Chen Zhixi held out a hand, her tone laced with jest—she knew this man had no money.

"Sigh, don't be so shallow. Let's go back to the earlier topic."

Fang Hong pushed her hand away and changed the subject: "Liu Tianxian promotes 'Love Notification' for that film's sake. What we need to do is steal their momentum."

"How?" Chen Zhixi asked, curious.

"A gimmick—use Liu Tianxian's on-screen first kiss as the hook. Do you think reporters won't ask her about the kissing scene during promotion?"

Hearing this, Chen Zhixi understood—she'd grasped something.

That meant, as long as they hyped up Liu Tianxian's "on-screen first kiss," no matter which show or interview she appeared on, reporters would inevitably bring up the "first kiss" topic.

If handled well, we could even siphon off the hype from "Love Notification."

Because wherever Liu Tianxian went, people would care: when was her first kiss? In which movie? How did it happen? Who with? She'd have to answer.

That's the gimmick!

In the previous life, "Love Notification" promoted itself using Liu Tianxian's on-screen first kiss as the hook—every stop mentioned it.

In this timeline, Fang Hong had planned it from the start!

What else could he do? No money—without extreme tactics, how could he make any?

"So we won't need roadshows, TV promotions, or any favors—Liu Tianxian will use 'Love Notification's' budget to promote us," Fang Hong said.

Saves time, saves effort, saves money—perfect!

But then again, even if we did go on roadshows, audiences wouldn't recognize us. To avoid awkwardness, we'd still need to bring Liu Tianxian along—and she's expensive to feed, house, and transport.

So Fang Hong's plan was brilliant.

"Principal, no wonder you're Principal—you think so thoroughly," Chen Zhixi praised.

With this, our film's box office is guaranteed—we won't lose money.

At least a few tens of millions in box office is doable; even after giving China Film Group 12%, we still profit.

Over a hundred million? Never dreamed of it—didn't dare to dream; that was just bluffing!

She teased: "I've got to ask—you're freeloading off her fame. Doesn't your conscience hurt?"

"How do real estate developers operate?"

"Stop! Stop right there!"

Chen Zhixi couldn't stand his real estate theories.

After the joke, Fang Hong got serious: "But this is only temporary. We must return to the film's quality. Liu Tianxian can stir hype—but she won't carry the box office."

That means we can use Liu Tianxian to generate buzz, but she won't drive ticket sales—so to break the box office ceiling, we must raise ticket sales through the film's quality.

Hearing this, Chen Zhixi understood immediately: "What's your plan?"

"Before release, use the gimmick to hype the film. The day before release, immediately shift the narrative to the film's quality—abandon Liu Tianxian's promotion model entirely."

Fang Hong showed zero mercy—use her and discard her, no hesitation.

If Liu Tianxian heard this man's plan, she'd probably beat him up.

"Then we'll have to spend our own money—no more free rides," Chen Zhixi said.

"Right. To save money, we've got one theme song: 'The Rain I Missed, The Love I Missed.'"

"Can you please stop singing? It's awful," Chen Zhixi complained.

She couldn't understand—how could that raspy voice dare sing the theme song? Any random person would be better.

"Nothing left to discuss—I've said everything. Now it's your turn to execute," Fang Hong said, spreading his hands.

He handles the big picture; Chen Zhixi handles the details!

And Chen Zhixi knew exactly what to do.

Early on, use Liu Tianxian as the gimmick to build hype; the day before release, pivot the narrative to the film's quality, sever ties with "Love Notification," and release the theme song.

This way not only adds fuel to the movie's fire, but also lets the audience learn about the film through the song, sparking their curiosity.

Shifting public opinion to the movie's word-of-mouth the day before release leaves time for it to ferment; if the shift happens on release day itself, the response would be too slow.

Of course, this approach works only when the movie's quality is good. If the film is bad and the internet is flooded with criticism, that would be awkward, because they don't have that much money to fight back against such a massive wave of abuse.

In this era, you still have to rely on the movie's word-of-mouth — it's not like later on, when traffic stars are everywhere.

Chen Zhixi asked, "Is your song nice to listen to?"

If the song isn't good, it won't generate any promotional effect, and pulling it off becomes a bit difficult.

"It's great! Didn't I just sing it for you?!" Fang Hong said in all seriousness.

What you sang could hardly be called a song — I can't even be bothered to comment. Go listen to the version Dong Dongdong has already produced instead; that way you'll feel more at ease.

Chen Zhixi didn't dampen his spirits, but instead asked, "Which company should we hire for publicity? Do you have any suggestions?"

"No, you should know more about this than me. I haven't even entered the industry — how many years have you been in it?" Fang Hong said.

Actually, he already had a choice in mind — that company called Yingxing Tianxia does a great job with marketing services!

But he had no connections, and at this stage he didn't know much about that company, so there was no need to specifically name it!

Better to let Chen Zhixi figure it out and search on her own. That way she'd see more options, and after comparing three companies she might find one that's even better, cheaper, and more suitable.

Publicity matters can't be taken lightly. He trusted Chen Zhixi's wisdom — this was her field, after all.

The two of them finalized the publicity strategy, then once again split up to take action.

Fang Hong kept his eyes on the movie, and Chen Zhixi kept handling the external outreach!

(End of chapter)