12 July 2008.

Shares of General Motors, the largest U.S. automaker, fell below the $10 mark at the close, closing at $9.98, the lowest price in 50 years since September 2, 1954, and GM loomed bankrupt.

Followed by.

Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States, is in deep financial crisis and has filed for bankruptcy protection, marking the peak of the subprime mortgage crisis that began in August 2007.

For a full year from 2007 to 2008, the United States fell into the Great Depression again, with continued sluggish economic activity, high unemployment, and successive declines in production and consumption levels.

However, in times of recession, not all industries will be hit to the same extent, and not all businesses will be in trouble.

In fact, in times of economic depression, there are some industries that can buck the trend and maintain or increase their profits and market share.

For example, movies.

The film industry is a typical industry that can make money in an economic depression. As a form of mass entertainment, movies can bring visual and auditory stimulation and enjoyment to people, allowing people to temporarily forget the troubles and difficulties in reality and find dreams and hopes.

Ordinary people who are economically impoverished still need a cheap and affordable way to live and consume in their daily lives, and cheap consumption activities that are suitable for the pastime of the whole people, including the film industry.

Movie ticket prices are relatively low and suitable for most people's spending levels, so during the Great Depression, people in the United States began to drag their families and spend a little money to spend some time in the movie theater.

This kind of consumption can not only allow people to get a certain amount of spiritual satisfaction, but also survive the long and difficult time of poverty, which is a life acceptable to the public.

Therefore, during the economic depression, the demand for movies does not decrease, but even increases.

Hollywood's major film companies are grasping this outlet in the hope of maximizing profits.

On July 28th, a very ordinary weekend, an Imperial Theater in downtown Los Angeles welcomed more fans than on weekdays, either a couple, or a group of good friends, and a large family all went out.

In the small square in front of the entire theater, there was a lot of people.

The promotional posters in the corridor of the theater are full of films that are currently being released or are about to be released.

Throughout July, it can be said that it is the world of science fiction films, "Hancock, the Public Enemy of the People", "Batman Prequel 2: The Dark Knight", "Hellboy 2", and the upcoming "The Mummy 3" starring kung fu superstar Li Lianjie.

At the end of the hallway, in a not very good place, there is also a poster.

In the dark sky, a huge figure faintly revealed, and on a dry grass, a beautiful woman was running wildly, as if she was chasing an incomparably terrifying existence behind her.

If there are Chinese fans passing by here, they may find that the beauty on the poster is the fairy sister Liu Yifei.

However, the poster does not indicate the release date, but a guide sign is erected underneath.

"The Shelter Screening, Room 9."

Producer Kent, in the smoking room, finished a cigarette, looked at his watch, and the time for the screening was almost up, so he got up and walked towards the theater, checked the ticket and took the next questionnaire, glanced at it twice, and put it in his pocket.

He was not surprised by the questionnaire that appeared, because it was the film satisfaction survey contract he signed with a third-party research company on behalf of Winestein Films.

This type of survey is common in Hollywood, because distribution companies need real-time feedback from fans to make a final decision on how much distribution to invest.

In particular, his boss Harvey's Wienstein Pictures and John's Touchstone Pictures are still under the premise of a competition treaty.

This kind of satisfaction survey is even more needed.

Today is the first day of screening, and the entire theater is not large, but so far, it has sat nearly one-third.

This was something Kent hadn't thought of beforehand.

Because Wihenstein Films, like Touchstone Pictures, has not invested much in the film distribution, although he is personally optimistic about the film, his personal opinion is not serious.

After walking to his seat, Kent inevitably began to pay attention to the small talk of the fans around him, because only by getting actual feedback from the mouths of fans can he know the quality of the film and the specific effect of publicity and promotion.

"Hey man, how did you find out about this movie?"

"When I watched "Batman Begins 2: The Dark Knight" before, I saw the clip of this "Vault" in the pre-screening commercial, wow, this oriental woman is so beautiful, I don't know what happened to her?"

"Yes, I was also attracted by the commercial for "Batman Begins 2: The Dark Knight", I admit that the heroine is very beautiful, but, I'm a sci-fi fan, I just want to see what story this film tells, I see that there are aliens in the clip, and monsters, I don't know if it's a film like "King Kong"."

"There are monsters, oh, my God, I just pay attention to the oriental beauty, I didn't find any monsters, this is great, I look forward to it more."

Kent listened to the chats of the people around him, and finally understood the reason why so many people could come to the screening on the first day.

It is the role of the pre-screening advertisement of "Batman Begins 2: The Dark Knight".

He also had to admit at this moment that Sun Yi was a lucky boy who had been kissed by God.

After the film was finished, as a producer, he provided Sun Yi with several ways to promote the movie, first, media promotion, including online and offline, second, the recommendation of columns from film critics and related people, and third, the pre-release advertising of the upcoming movie.

At that time, Sun Yi's publicity budget was only 2 million US dollars, which may be a lot in China, enough 14 million RMB, but in Hollywood, this amount of money can't even make a splash for the promotion of a movie.

In particular, the first and second methods of propaganda must invest a lot of money and do saturated propaganda in order to achieve the desired results.

And the third type, although the investment is small, but there is a lot of gambling in it, don't look at any big productions, what classic IPs, Hollywood movies of this type are not one or two, so before the movie is released, no one can predict whether it will become a hit.

And Sun Yi did not hesitate at all, and directly chose the pre-screening advertisement of "Batman Prequel 2: The Dark Knight".

He is too familiar with this film, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the best comic book movie in film history, becoming the first superhero movie in film history to enter the "billion dollar club".

Heath Ledger uses his life to play the clown, and he overwhelms the protagonist Bruce. Lord Vane, when he watched this movie, he was really shocked.

This time, he didn't hesitate to hang "Shelter" on the film, and it was $2 million all in. That is, almost in the United States, every fan who came to see "Batman Begins 2: The Dark Knight" was waiting for time and saw his "Vault" in advance.

This is why the movie "Shelter" was able to reach 30% of the attendance rate on the first day without media publicity, offline promotion and recommendation from celebrities.

There's a later one.,Tonight I started recommending.,Ask everyone for a follow-up.,Subscribe.。

Thanks!

(End of chapter)