Chapter 532: Round Table

In original history, 《Round Table》 was a reality talk show that Youku Video only launched in 2016.

But because of Jiang Heng's appearance, the overall progress of this lifetime's Chinese-language entertainment circle is several years faster than in the previous life, and 《Round Table》 this show appeared last year.

The first season's reputation was still good, with a Douban rating as high as 8.8, and total views also exceeded one hundred million.

Among cultural variety shows, it's still not bad.

But compared to shows like 《Keep Running》 whose total views per season reach several billion, it's still far inferior.

Generally speaking, cultural variety shows are a niche track, not something everyone likes to watch.

But Jiang Heng's participation makes it quite different.

During filming, Youku Video's CEO and a group of executives were present; the host was Dou Wentao, and the guests were Jiang Heng, Feng Xiaogang, and Liang Wenda.

And the topics of these people all revolve around Jiang Heng.

Director Feng Xiaogang is more like a straight man, helping Jiang Heng keep the conversation going.

After recording ended, Youku Video urgently did post-production, then posted a trailer on the website homepage, letting viewers know that Jiang Heng had joined the show.

In a short time, the originally somewhat niche 《Round Table》 instantly hit the hot search list.

Many viewers and film fans knew that Jiang Heng had joined this variety show, and they leaked a lot of insider information about the Chinese-language entertainment circle.

Many people curious about what 《Round Table》 was went to watch a few earlier episodes, causing the viewership to surge.

……

At Outstanding Rising Film Company, Jiang Heng, while resting and relaxing in the office, also watched 《Round Table》 to pass the time.

At this moment, Cui Zhenzhen came in and said that Director Ning Hao had arrived.

Jiang Heng paused the show, saying, "Director Ning isn't an outsider; just bring him straight in!"

Cui Zhenzhen pursed her lips and smiled slightly, said okay, then went to call Ning Hao in.

"Director Jiang, you really make whoever you bring become a hit! I heard the viewership of 《Round Table》 is about to break ten billion!"

Jiang Heng laughed and said, "It's not that exaggerated; the website probably inflated some numbers, you know!"

Ning Hao naturally understood; in the entertainment industry, there aren't that many solid, verifiable figures.

With an investment of several tens of millions, they dare to claim it's a hundred million. Clearly a small-scale film, yet they dare to say the investment is three to five hundred million.

As for box office and viewership, inflating the numbers is commonplace.

Ning Hao sat down on the sofa, lit a cigarette, took a puff, then asked: "You've helped them so much; you must have some benefit, right?"

Jiang Heng laughed: "What benefit could there be? Just helping with publicity!"

"He's helping us?"

Seeing Jiang Heng nod, Ning Hao's eyes lit up, he stepped forward a few steps and said: "So, can my film 《Big King, Don't Panic》 be promoted on Youku?"

Jiang Heng laughed: "Not just that!"

"Do you have any other ideas?"

Jiang Heng laughed and said: "Wait until then, you'll find out!"

Ning Hao's directed comedy special-effects blockbuster 《Big King, Don't Panic》, due to fast shooting progress, was ultimately moved up to this year's National Day, making it one of the most competitive films in the slot.

In terms of promotion, they hung Jiang Heng's name as producer. Of course, viewers also know that the role of producer is often just a gimmick and doesn't determine the film's quality.

The problem is that Ning Hao, at this moment, is also considered one of the most reliable directors in viewers' minds.

Therefore, although this film's cast is somewhat weak, many viewers still expressed on Maoyan Movie that they want to see it.

Additionally, under normal circumstances, the promotion team would do publicity on the Weibo website.

And this year, they will also add Youku Video and the soon-to-launch Douyin.

The former is currently at its peak, with considerable influence.

As for the soon-to-launch Douyin, Jiang Heng plans to arrange a host of stars to continuously settle in, to drive traffic for the product.

Combining the promotion of 《Big King, Don't Panic》 with Douyin promotion could also be considered killing two birds with one stone!

But because the product hasn't officially launched yet, we can't tell Ning Hao now; we only tell him about the promotion, as the company already has a full plan, so he doesn't need to worry.

Actually, a director's main job is to shoot a good film; by the time the film wraps, his work is already more than half done.

And once post-production is completed, his work tasks are completely finished.

Take a look, there is no erroneous version!

For promotion work, some do it to cooperate with the company's publicity, while others do it out of concern for their own work.

Ning Hao, making his first special-effects blockbuster, is still relatively concerned about the film's box office prospects.

"Our promotion effort won't be much worse than your previous works, right?" Ning Hao gave an embarrassed smile, still asking the question he most wanted to know.

Jiang Heng said: "The overall cost will definitely be inferior, but the intensity and method of promotion will surpass previous ones."

"Then that's good, that's good!"

Ning Hao gave an embarrassed smile and said: "I don't even expect to make a few billion at the box office like your films; my demand isn't high, just making one billion is enough!"

Jiang Heng said: "Making one billion is definitely no problem!"

《Big King, Don't Panic》 has completed post-production; Jiang Heng has seen the whole content, and while the special-effects scenes are certainly not as shocking as his works,

but for a film whose selling point is comedy, its special-effects scenes are already quite impressive.

In this era when the overall market is still prosperous and even bad films can achieve high box office, 《Big King, Don't Panic》 making ten to several billion is absolutely no problem.

Ning Hao trusts Jiang Heng's judgment; hearing him say that, he felt relieved, chatted a few more sentences, then left.

After a few days, the latest episode of 《Round Table》 Season 2 went online, which is exactly the episode Jiang Heng participated in recording.

Within twenty-four hours, that episode's online views exceeded one hundred million, truly shocking the entire entertainment circle.

You must know that 《Round Table》 Season 1's total views so far are only a little over one hundred million! Of course, the fact that Jiang Heng's participated episode could have such heaven-defying views is also related to many celebrities' spontaneous promotion.

For example, the male and female artists under Outstanding Rising Film Company posted picture-text statuses on Weibo, accompanied by text saying, "Turns out there's still so much insider info in the entertainment circle that I hadn't heard of; Director Jiang knows too much!"

At first it was just a few people posting statuses, but others couldn't help but imitate.

Soon, many entertainment stars and cultural bigwigs flooded Weibo with their thoughts after watching this episode of 'Round Table Talk', driving the viewership up even more.

In just one week, the episode's total views exceeded 200 million, truly shocking countless people.

Li Xiaoping, in charge of variety show production at Love Faction: Outstanding Rising Film Company, couldn't help but tell Jiang Heng, 'Your popularity is so high; why not join a few more of the company's variety shows? I guarantee we'll churn out a bunch of hits!'

Jiang Heng listened helplessly; as a big boss and big director, how could he possibly always be on variety shows? Naturally, he vetoed it on the spot! Afterwards, a new film press conference was held in Jingcheng, announcing that he would continue to shoot Journey to the West–type films. (End of chapter)