Nobody knows movies better than me

Chapter 25 This young man is extraordinary

2004 was not like seven or eight years later, when it seemed like anyone could become a director.

Not only actors are becoming directors, but even hosts, singers, and writers are trying their hand at directing.

But don't be fooled by how well these people are doing as directors. In reality, directing is a very stressful, difficult, and highly specialized job.

Those people are able to do a good job, and their directing team deserves a lot of credit. In fact, many people who direct movies make completely terrible films.

In those days, it seemed that any movie with a bit of popularity could rake in huge profits in theaters as soon as it was released.

However, 2004 was different. Excluding the end of the year, the film market size was only around 15 billion. The market is only so big, and there are only so many movies being released.

It's not easy for an outsider with no professional background or connections to break into the film industry at this time.

This explains the impact Zhang Jun had on the students at Beijing Film Academy.

Most importantly, unless you're being dishonest, no one can say that "Little Miss Sunshine" is a bad movie.

After the event was almost over, Peng Shen finally caught up with Zhang Jun, who was free.

"Director Zhang Jun, hello. I'm a reporter from Sina Entertainment. I'd like to ask you a few questions. Would that be a convenient time for you?"

Did the reporter initiate the interview?

It seems that Zhang Juncai was only interviewed by the media in a formulaic manner once, when he won an award at the College Student Film Festival.

Several entertainment reporters had previously gone to interview Huang Xiaoming and Chen Kun. If it weren't for these two, these entertainment reporters wouldn't have wasted their time on "Little Miss Sunshine" and him.

Zhang Jun nodded and said, "Sure, ask me anything you want!"

Peng Shen didn't mince words and went straight to the point: "I've looked into your background and education, and I know you graduated from the Department of Astronomy at Tsinghua University."

"So, why did you choose to become a director?"

Zhang Jun thought for a moment and replied, "It's related to the first time I went to the cinema to watch a movie."

I remember when Titanic was released in China, I went to the cinema with my mother to watch it.

I was captivated by the film's expressiveness and experienced the charm of movies on the big screen for the first time.

So at that time, I got the idea to make movies.

"Then why didn't you apply to Beijing Film Academy, but instead applied to Tsinghua University?" Peng Shen continued to ask.

"Because at that time I wanted to be a scientist!"

Zhang Jun replied with a smile: "Actually, when your academic scores far exceed the requirements of the Beijing Film Academy, your parents will not support you to take the entrance exam for the Beijing Film Academy."

Moreover, the Beijing Film Academy's directing department didn't have any enrollment plans in our area that year.

Peng Shen thought about it and realized it made sense. The person in front of him was someone who could get into Tsinghua University through the college entrance examination. If his son, who was in elementary school, could get into that university, he wouldn't agree to let his son go to an art school.

Peng Shen continued, "Then why did you choose to become a director now?"

Zhang Jun quoted Guo Fan, the founder of future Chinese science fiction films: "One day I dreamed of a scene where I was very old, seventy or eighty years old."

But looking back on my life, what is there that I haven't done that I will regret for the rest of my life when I'm old?

Therefore, to avoid future regrets, I must do what I want to do while I still have the ability to act.

In reality, he was a director before he time-traveled.

If you really asked him to be a researcher at a planetarium or observatory, he wouldn't know how to do it, and he might just live a mediocre life.

If that's the case, wouldn't all that time travel have been for nothing?

"Okay, thank you Director Zhang for accepting our interview!"

"You're welcome!"

For this interview, Peng Shen decided to wait until "Little Miss Sunshine" was released in theaters and became a hit before releasing it to maximize its popularity.

Having seen the movie today and observed the reactions of the students at the Beijing Film Academy, Peng Shen is convinced that "Little Miss Sunshine" will be a success in theaters.

The preview screening at Beijing Film Academy has come to a successful end, but the impact Zhang Jun had on the students did not dissipate so easily, and students on campus continued to discuss it for the next few days.

Jiang Yiyan posted her movie review and a photo with Zhang Jun on her blog, which attracted a lot of views.

Recently, the topic of Tsinghua University's campus heartthrob making a movie has been very popular online.

Not only Jiang Yiyan, but many students from the Beijing Film Academy who are keen on surfing the internet and have seen the preview screening have expressed their feelings online.

Of course, there are also a few stubborn or attention-seeking people who say that Zhang Jun is not good-looking in real life or that his movies are not that great.

Jiang Yiyan argued with these people indignantly, then pointed out their directing background and said they were jealous of Zhang Jun's achievements.

The story of how "Little Miss Sunshine" won over the Beijing Film Academy also added fuel to the fire of Zhang Jun's personal popularity and the film's popularity.

Meanwhile, other promotional activities for "Little Miss Sunshine" began one after another.

The first is Zhang Jun's proposal for the Songhua River bread truck landmark tour. This activity involves interacting with local landmarks and people in each city.

Local media also followed up with reports, achieving a very good publicity effect.

For example, when an event was held at Tiexi Square, a landmark building in Shenzhou, the local people enthusiastically participated in the interactive activities. The message wall was quickly filled with various blessings, and the atmosphere was very joyful.

The Shenzhou Evening News followed up with a report and wrote an article about it.

"In Tiexi Square, enthusiastic citizens interacted warmly with the 'Little Sunshine Girls' troupe on tour. The winter chill could not dampen their enthusiasm."

People cut paper flowers, hung lanterns, and wrote down their best wishes for their families and for the coming year...

This is reportedly the fourth stop of the charity tour for the film "Little Miss Sunshine," which will be released on December 19th.

Although local media like the Shenzhou Evening News are not nationally popular newspapers, they can be seen in Shenzhou and surrounding cities, and are among the newspapers subscribed to by many local government agencies and schools.

With a population of several million in Shenzhou and the surrounding areas, hundreds of thousands of people may have read the report, and among those who have read the report, there may be tens of thousands of potential viewers.

Even if it only attracts around 10,000 viewers in the end, based on the current average movie ticket price of 15 yuan in Shenzhou, that would still be 150,000 yuan in box office revenue.

Moreover, these are all conservative estimates.

In addition to the preview screenings and this ingenious promotional method, "Little Miss Sunshine" also partnered with Harbin Beer to promote the film by offering movie tickets as a prize for purchasing beer.

Harbin Beer really liked this proposal because the story begins in Harbin, making it easy to collaborate with Harbin Beer.

The other methods are conventional publicity, such as advertising in newspapers and in major voting cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

However, after seeing both "A World Without Thieves" and "Kung Fu Hustle" at the bus stop, "Little Miss Sunshine" seemed to have much less appeal.

As December arrived, the cast and crew of "Little Miss Sunshine" held preview screenings at universities in Shanghai, achieving the same success as in Beijing.

Especially at the film events held at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, the students there reacted more strongly than those at the Beijing Film Academy.

This is not surprising. It's quite astonishing that someone of Zhang Jun's age, who is not a professional and has no background, could produce such a work.

Thus, as "Little Miss Sunshine" entered the later stages of its promotion and distribution, Feng Xiaogang's "A World Without Thieves" was released on December 9th.

The big blockbusters of the 2004 year-end holiday season are slowly unfolding.