In the blink of an eye, it was the twelfth of July.

The post-production of "This Killer Is Not Too Cold" is finally complete.

These days, because of the guaranteed sleep time, Xu Jing's improvement is much better, he no longer has two thick dark circles and eye bags, and even his skin is a lot more delicate, almost back to the appearance of eighteen years old.

However, this does not mean that Xu Jing has been living a leisurely life these days. Although post-production is much easier than ordinary film post-production, it is still a very delicate job.

For example, the color grading of the film, the synthesis of the audio track, the post-production packaging, etc., are all slow work and meticulous work, and Xu Jing is involved in most of the work. After all, this is the first movie he made, not only because of his debut, but also because this movie is a portrayal of many details of his life since he met Zhou Xiaoxun, which has different meanings for him and Zhou Xiaoxun.

After the post-production of the film is completed, the next thing to do is naturally to release the promotional video.

In layman's terms, film distribution is how to sell a movie. In the world, when a film is to be released, it is impossible for the production company to go door-to-door to talk to those theaters and theaters around the country, and it is even more impossible for the theater chain to come to the door by itself, so the distribution company is an existence as a bridge between the production company and the theater chain and theater, integrating the theater channel and the publicity channel.

However, Xu Jing still hopes that Jiuzhou Film Company can establish its own publicity and distribution channels, after all, Xiangjiang is just a city, with a small territory, and several large cinema lines are placed there. It's just that what I didn't expect was that Lin Jianguo brought back bad news.

"The three theaters have looked for it, but they are unwilling to arrange summer files for us, leaving their own companies or their own companies' films, which will be scheduled in mid-September at most. And they said that "Hitman" was too long, which affected the number of films, and asked us to cut the film to less than 100 minutes. ”

In the early 80s, there were two mainstream cinema chains in Hong Kong, Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest, and they were able to produce and sell their own films, while other independent production companies could only accept the "recruitment" of cinemas and rely on the funds provided by them to make films. In order to obtain a stable film origin, the Golden Princess Cinema Line funded the New Art City, and with the rapid rise of the New Art City, the Golden Princess has grown into the third largest cinema chain qualified to challenge Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers.

In 1985, Shaw Brothers films made very little profit, so they gradually discontinued the film, and in 87 they leased their cinema chain to Debao Company, forming Debao Cinema Line. The three mainstream cinema chains are all able to produce and sell their own films, and they are very exclusive of other films for the sake of competition, and even if those independent production companies can release in the three major theaters, they will not be able to get prime time and film schedules, unless they accept their "recruitment" and become their satellite companies.

And Jiuzhou Film Company is a typical independent production company.

Xu Jing's middle finger tapped lightly on the armrest of the seat, but did not speak. Naturally, he is reluctant to be a satellite company under the three major companies, he can accept joint investment when making films, but he does not accept someone to reach into his crew and interfere in the production of the film.

"Uncle, have you ever heard of Xinbao Cinema?" After thinking for a long time, Xu Jing opened his mouth and asked everyone.

"Xinbao? Are you talking about the newly established cinema chain a few days ago? Aren't the owners of that cinema chain, Chen Rongmei and Feng Bingzhong, the partners of Lei Juekun, the boss of Princess Jin?

"Maybe everyone was busy during this time, and no one noticed that although the artists in this theater may be owned by the other three, the film production companies are all independent production companies. Uncle, you can talk about it, Xinbao Cinema is a new creation, and there should be a great need for influential movies to attract audiences. ”

"Cheng, I'm going to find them. ”

"By the way, when you talk to them, you can talk about propaganda together. ”

Xu Jing then explained some propaganda matters, and Lin Jianguo left.

Speaking of this Xinbao cinema line, it also has something to do with the rise and fall of the Xiangjiang Film Market. Because this cinema chain was established specifically for "foreign capital" to shoot Hong Kong films.

In the 80s, Taiwan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia were willing to invest in Hong Kong films to make greater profits, but they were unable to get a good schedule and starring stars because the three major theaters dominated the Hong Kong film market. As a result, Xinbao Cinemas was established, acting as an "intermediary" between foreign capital and independent production companies in Hong Kong.

It is precisely because of the "lure of wolves" of Xinbao Cinema Line that it has brought a lot of money, which has led to a surge in the circulation of Xiangjiang films since 88 years, and the salaries of celebrities have skyrocketed, opening a "golden age" for Xiangjiang filmmakers to make money.

At the same time, it also opened a new chapter in the shoddy production of Xiangjiang films, because no matter how you shoot, you can return to the cost, and because of many star scenes, a large number of "foreign-funded" investment films cannot be delivered on time. For example, Liu Dehua and Zheng Yuling were once called "Liu Thirteen" and "Zheng Jiu", that is, they make thirteen movies a year and shoot across nine crews at the same time.

Just a few years later, "foreign capital" withdrew, and Xiangjiang films began to decline.

Speaking of which, Xu Jing's "Killer" can also be regarded as one of these "foreign-funded" films.

"Xiao Jing, what you said is really right, Xinbao Cinema Line has agreed to the release of our "Killer", and there is no need to cut the film, it is scheduled to start the midnight test screening on August 8 for four days, and the official premiere on the 12th!"

In the office of Jiuzhou Film Company, as soon as Lin Jianguo came back, he found Xu Jing and said excitedly.

"Killer" is undoubtedly a very well-made film, and when Lin Jianguo found them, he immediately decided on the release date, and he didn't even ask for much longer than other films. It's just to catch up with the summer file, the publicity time is a little compressed, but it's nothing in Xiangjiang, after all, it's not decades later, and "9413" directed by Wu Zhenyu in the original time and space in 98 years was only ten days from filming to release.

"Did they agree to the trailer?"

The trailer Xu Jing said was a two-minute trailer that he specially produced, that is, a short film that was played before the release of other movies for publicity in the theater.

This trailer focuses on a few hot gunfight scenes, rather than the story, which is also a no-brainer, since "The True Color of Heroes" started the hero film boom in 86, gunfight movies are the most popular movies, and the focus on gunfight scenes is also to catch up with the trend. And the gunfight scene of "Killer" is indeed very classic, which can be said to have influenced the exemplary design of countless later works.

In this era, the promotion of Xiangjiang films was relatively traditional, that is, poster promotion, newspaper and magazine publicity. The poster usually features the face of the star, that is, the poster is printed with a certain scene of the film plus the celebrity's big avatar. Needless to say, newspapers and magazines advertise the way.

It's just that although Lin Jianguo also brought a beautiful poster designed by Xu Jing, the two are pink newcomers after all, and their box office appeal is basically equal to zero. So the trailer became Xu Jing's propaganda move.

Trailers have been around for decades, but promotional trailers in the sense have only been on the rise for a long time, and they only exist in North America, and Xiangjiang has not yet appeared.

They agreed, but they had to charge a million in publicity fees, which would be deducted from the box office revenue. ”

"You can promise them. ”

One million publicity expenses, which is really not low, can make a small and medium-budget movie. It's no wonder that movie trailers have not appeared for a long time, because this kind of publicity is too expensive and risky. Xiangjiang filmmakers rely on the faces of celebrities to make money, so naturally they will not engage in such an expensive and risky way of publicity.

"By the way, TVB, there is no negotiation for the time being, they want to meet you first. ”

"Well, then I'll go talk to them. ”

What Lin Jianguo said was that Xu Jing was preparing to release a promotional trailer on TV, that is, the MV trailer of the Asian version of the theme song "Sunset Song". TVB, as the TV station with the widest coverage in Xiangjiang, is naturally Xu Jing's first choice. It's just that at this time, the other party wants to talk to him, and he doesn't know what it is.

TVB, whose full name is Television Broadcasts Limited, is the first television station in Heung Kong to obtain a free TVB license, so it is also known as a radio station. TVB's headquarters is called Television City, the original address was located in Kowloon Tong, and it was moved to Clear Water Bay in 88 for some reason, which is not very far.

When Xu Jing and Zhou Xiaoxun came to TVB, after telling their identities, someone came to lead them to a living room and waited.

"Hello, Mr. Xu, Miss Zhou, I am the director of the TVB artist department, Le Yiling. After a while, I saw a middle-aged young woman walk in, she was quite beautiful, but she was a little blessed.

"Hello, Ms. Le. Xu Jing got up and shook her hand. He was a little confused, why it was not the director of the business department who came to see him, but the director of the artist department.

"That's right, Mr. Xu, what about the short film brought by Mr. Lin before, we have seen it, and we think this song is a very good song, whether it is from the lyrics and composition, it can be said to be a first-class level, but the two singing skills are still a little bit hot. We appreciate the talents of the two very much, I don't know if Mr. Xu is interested in signing us to TVB, we can give Mr. Xu targeted training, and then recreate this song, I think it is not impossible to win next year's golden song. ”

Xu Jing then understood what TVB's idea was, and he wanted to sign him as a wireless artist, thinking that he came to poach people because he did not have a nominal position in Jiuzhou Company. There are usually two types of contracts for signing wireless artists, one is a "head contract" and the other is a "full agent contract".

The former is okay, it only stipulates how many tasks the contracted artist has each year, and after completion, he can take over the work outside, which is a little freer. And the latter is a bit overbearing, usually signed for seven or eight years, or even twenty years, this kind of contract not only has long working hours and little pay, but also must completely obey the company's arrangement of all affairs, which is almost equivalent to dedicating one's life to TVB. In 83, Liu Dehua was banned by TVB because of contract issues, and he has not been able to appear on TVB so far.

Thinking of this, Xu Jing smiled and spoke.