After Rebirth, the Celebrity Daughter is the Medical Expert!-Chapter 47: Film Faces "Screening Rejection"?

Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Film Faces "Screening Rejection"?

After more than a year of filming, post-production, and preparation, "Before Death" finally obtained the cinema release permit in the middle of 2007.

The film was originally intended by the "Lightyear" company to be released during the summer blockbuster season of 2007, but many stages took longer than the team anticipated, causing it to miss that year’s summer season.

Therefore, the film could only be rushed to release during the Chinese New Year season of 2008.

Everyone knows that every New Year season is a time of a hundred flowers blooming, akin to a battlefield in the film industry, which indeed gave the "Lightyear" company a headache.

It’s quite evident that "Before Death" is a small-budget film without stars, big investments, or hot topics, a typical "three no’s" movie.

After finally getting the public screening permit, the film’s team encountered issues while doing promotions, running through theater chains, and preparing for the release.

First, there was no attention on the promotional side.

Secondly, the film faced a tragic fate of "being refused screening schedule" in many theaters across the country.

...

That day.

In the meeting room of the "Lightyear" company, smoke filled the air.

Director, chairman, and producer Ning Yi, screenwriter Mao Muren, lead actor Yan Jidao, and several other staff members were gathered around the meeting table, looking worried.

Since the cold reception during discussions with theater chains for the release, such a tense scene at the "Lightyear" company had been occurring for several days.

Staff 1 sighed, "It’s unfair."

Staff 2 sighed, "The cinema schedule managers usually only ask three questions: ’Who’s the director? How much is the investment? Who’s the lead?’ They don’t care about the film’s sentiments and quality at all."

Ning Yi took the last drag of the cigarette in his hand, stubbed it forcefully into the already full ashtray, and after a brief silence, he said, "Everyone spends money, moviegoers will definitely choose films by big directors, with big productions and famous actors, rather than a movie like ours with no reputation."

When Ning Youguang walked in with her backpack, following the receptionist sister, this somewhat oppressive scene was what she saw.

"Everyone has been working hard, come out and have some afternoon tea, I’ve brought a lot of food."

Little Youyou didn’t know that her dad’s team was worried about the film’s release, she just thought she hadn’t seen him for a while and came over to check on him.

Unexpectedly, she seemed to have encountered her dad in not-so-good spirits.

"Let’s go have something to eat first." With his daughter there, they couldn’t stay in a smoke-filled meeting room any longer.

Ning Yi got up and invited everyone to go out.

You Guang invited the receptionist sister and the admin sister to help the staff enjoy the afternoon tea she brought, then went with her dad to the chairman’s office.

Ning Yi had only slept for four hours last night, didn’t rest this afternoon, feeling tired and sleepy, he grabbed a cup of Americano and gulped it down.

After a cup of iced Americano, he finally felt a bit more spirited, sat down on the sofa, and continued eating the fruits and snacks his daughter brought.

"Why did you come over today?" he asked.

"Just came to check on you, did you guys encounter any problems?" 9-year-old Ning Youguang’s voice was gradually losing its youthful softness, becoming clearer and softer.

But she spoke slowly and steadily, making it sound gentle yet firm.

She sat down next to her dad, noticeably taller than last year.

Looking a bit like a young lady.

Ning Yi reached out and patted his precious child’s head.

"Yes, we encountered a little issue, but we’re already trying to solve it." He was always honest with his daughter.

"What kind of problem, can I know?"

After finishing a piece of blueberry cake, feeling a bit more comfortable, Ning Yi organized his thoughts and explained the current predicament the company was facing to his daughter in detail.

Once he finished speaking, he continued, "Actually, I can understand the operating pressure of cinemas, their performance evaluation indicators, etc., so I’m considering organizing viewing events to seek a way out for our movie."

You Guang nodded, "It’s a new marketing plan, worth trying."

"Right, I think so too, but I haven’t discussed it with the team yet; I don’t know what they think." Saying this, Ning Yi became a bit disheartened. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

When it comes to film marketing, he genuinely doesn’t know much.

While he now had a new idea, whether it could work or how big the probability of success was, he didn’t know.

Lately, he had faced quite a few setbacks, truly feeling the pressure.

You Guang, observing her dad’s somewhat deflated appearance, could more or less guess some of his mental state.

So she thought for a moment and said, "Dad, have you ever thought about creating a new distribution method for our movie?"

"Such as?" Ning Yi was intrigued but had no concept.

"For example, we could rely on the mutual combination of various distribution entities, the integration of various distribution contents, and the coordination of multiple distribution channels for release."

"You mean focusing on co-distribution leading the way?" Ning Yi started to understand a bit.

Seeing her dad’s interest, You Guang went on to explain to him some of the film promotion and marketing methods she knew from future generations:

"Yes. Additionally, to cope with the increasingly high demands for production and distribution funds and ensure market space for distribution, we could leverage emerging channels and international markets."

"We could take the film to the Venice Film Festival in August, spend some money to get domestic media to publish press releases to expand its reputation, and then return to participate in ’Beijing Screening’."

"Moreover, we could seek more horizontal partnerships to strengthen our company’s marketing and promotion, expand market share. For instance, launching online ticketing, getting sponsorships for the film, building a network for major client marketing, creating a win-win cooperation space between society and the industry. We could also partner with mobile and telecom to negotiate collaborations, launch mobile and telecom interactions, and plan some ’mobile points for tickets’ activities, we could even collaborate with our family or some enterprises’ products, making our movie tickets the best gifts for businesses to give back to customers..."

You Guang’s words to Ning Yi thoroughly opened up Ning Yi’s mind regarding how to market a film.

The latter’s eyes grew brighter with each word she said, and finally, he excitedly paced back and forth in the office, contemplating the feasibility of these solutions.

"Moreover, the future of the film market is very promising. If dad finds the right investors and business partners, you could build cinemas together; we could increase the screening ratio for our movies in our own cinemas. As long as the film is good, it will be a win-win situation for both the cinema and the film."1314