Chapter 178: Future Discourse Power

Li Zong tried to contact Cao Yang's side.

Because he hadn't dealt with Cao Yang before, he contacted Cheng Jianye through his connections. In the eyes of the outside world, this person is Cao Yang's external liaison.

When Cheng Jianye heard it was the boss of Baidu, he just felt "so what." His mindset was very calm.

There are plenty of bosses out there lining up to invite him to dinner, just to get on Cao Dao's bandwagon and invest in Cao Dao's films.

Does this boss of Baidu also want to invest in Cao Dao's film?

Li Zong naturally couldn't directly say he wanted some pictures from the film.

"The company launched a new section called Tieba, and someone built a Cao Yang Bar inside it, which is very popular. Someone in the company wants to upload some pictures to the bar to promote *Milk* and wants to ask for Cao Dao's opinion."

Cheng Jianye was puzzled. It sounded like a good thing; did it really need Cao Dao's opinion?

Then he realized: these pictures probably had some mystery to them.

Cheng Jianye knew that Cao Yang had personally cut *Milk*. This Li Zong from Baidu probably didn't know that yet.

"It's like this, Li Zong: if this film is released domestically, Cao Dao is worried that some content might have a bad influence, so he personally cut out some scenes. You understand, so the pictures you want—when it's released, I'm afraid you won't find them in the film."

Li Zong's first reaction was great joy: the scenes cut from the domestically released film are in my Tieba!

This damn thing is going to explode!

What a good opportunity!

Li Zong suppressed his excitement; he had to convince Cheng Jianye.

"Director Cheng, the pictures will be uploaded in a private capacity. When the time comes, the Cao Yang Bar will definitely explode in popularity. This is a huge promotion for Cao Dao, and it's also a promotion for the film, right?"

"With Cao Dao's current reputation, he doesn't need special promotion, does he?"

Cheng Jianye's one sentence silenced Li Zong.

Yes, Cao Yang has now vaguely become the number one Chinese director, having won countless awards. Especially after winning at the Oscars, he is infinitely glorious in Hollywood, is an object for many to befriend, and has huge influence in the US.

The higher-ups also attach great importance to Cao Yang; he can now be considered a name card for the country.

Thinking it over, Li Zong really felt that Cao Yang didn't seem to need a small tool like Tieba for promotion.

His head was big; Li Zong couldn't find anything to move the other party for a moment.

"Director Cheng, although Cao Dao doesn't need promotion, sometimes we can find ways to handle some negative rumors."

Li Zong could only think of this.

Cheng Jianye felt that Li Zong's words made sense, and promotion was also good for the film.

"How about this, Li Zong: I will consult Cao Dao's opinion and give you an answer as soon as possible."

Cheng Jianye told Cao Yang the whole story.

When Cao Yang heard it, he was immediately very tempted.

To be honest, nowadays everyone hasn't felt the power of the internet yet, just treating it as an emerging thing. To say how much they value it, that's definitely not the case.

But Cao Yang knows how important internet discourse power is.

A film company doesn't have to be big; it doesn't even have to exist—a studio is fine too.

But there are a few things he must participate in.

First is the cinema chain. This thing is currently in the starting stage and is very easy to participate in.

Especially the "Interim Provisions on Foreign Investment in Cinemas" jointly issued by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Culture, which took effect on January 1st of this year.

On January 8th, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television issued the "Notice on Several Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the Film Industry."

These all signify that the film cinema chain is already allowed for private large-scale entry.

Cao Yang plans to acquire a few cinema chains and integrate them. This is one of the future discourse powers. With this, no one in the circle will easily dare to offend him.

The second is internet discourse power.

He still has no clue about this thing.

Cao Yang naturally knows that future internet discourse power is scattered in the hands of several companies, such as Baidu, Sina Weibo, communication software, and the short videos of later generations.

But these aren't things you can enter just because you want to. It still requires the right timing.

Cao Yang remembers that before Baidu goes public, there is a third round of financing, which is this year.

But their goal this time is to bring investors with different values for Baidu's further development.

To put it bluntly, this time it's strategic financing, to effectively increase Baidu's brand awareness before going public, so that there is a better "story" to tell when going public.

Cao Yang feels that if *Milk* can sell well in North America this time, it can further enhance his influence, and even with intentional promotion and pushing, it can increase the sales of *Cao Yang's Fantasy Journey*.

Can it become Baidu's "story" when the time comes?

Whether it works or not, just based on what Li Zong said about being able to appropriately handle some negative rumors, they can cooperate.

Cao Yang instructed Cheng Jianye that he could give him the pictures, but they had to be processed and couldn't be too clear.

In addition, they must be posted privately and must never have any connection with the official side.

"Shocking! A clip from a film that won an Oscar..."

!

In the "Cao Yang Bar," someone posted an eye-catching post containing a few intercepted film pictures—just a few.

This person also said there were quite a few more pictures, and he didn't know if everyone liked to see them; it depended on everyone's level of support.

"Holy crap, is this Depp's butt? I didn't see wrong, this is the butt of the new Oscar Best Actor. Don't say, it's actually quite sexy."

"Who is this chick being pressed by Depp on his third leg? She doesn't seem to be wearing any clothes."

"To the person above, keep reading, she really isn't wearing any clothes..."

"Holy shit, the scale is really damn big. What film is this?"

"It's posted in the Cao Yang Bar, and it's a film that won an Oscar. Everyone guess, what film is this?"

"This is a clip from *Milk*, right? The scale of this film is so big."

"To the person above, do you still remember the big ship from back then? Rose's headlights were also very good-looking."

"No need to be surprised; for Hollywood art films, a larger scale is normal."

"OP, update quickly, I want to see."

"By the way, is the film about to be released? Just for Depp's wiggling butt, I'm going to buy a ticket right now."

"The person above is superficial. Even without these, a Hollywood Best Picture is worth watching."

For a time, the "Cao Yang Bar" became popular again, and many, many people were attracted to join.

It just so happens that this person posting the thread is too bad; they set it to be visible only to members...

Then just register, anyway it doesn't cost money.

Nowadays, the internet is still very loosely managed. As long as you are slightly careful, you can find a lot of "wonderful" clips and small films online.

But then again, compared to watching ordinary people, watching big stars in a film that won an Oscar for Best Picture is definitely more attractive.

At any time, there is a celebrity effect.

As long as ordinary people hear about some "gate" involving stars, everyone will try their best to search for it, let alone these big Hollywood stars.

For a time, the "Cao Yang Bar" exploded, and *Milk* became the most anticipated film for everyone. Many friends who originally thought about waiting for pirated copies gritted their teeth and went to the cinema.

The domestic censorship Great Scissors are probably going to be scolded again.

This time they are a bit wronged.

However, Cao Yang can sympathize with the feelings of his friends; in the film, he left a little bit of welfare that flashed by.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 179 =====