After half a day, following negotiations between Yang Lin and the animals in the park, and after paying a certain price, all the animals agreed to participate in the filming.
Seeing that the preliminary preparations were complete, Yang, Niu, and Ma immediately led the film crew into Animal City.
Upon seeing the real-life Animal City for the first time, everyone became instantly excited.
"Old Yang, you really built a city specifically for the animals."
"It's exactly as I imagined."
"We've even saved on special effects."
As they spoke, the group couldn't help but look around and touch things, and would occasionally greet the small animals passing by.
Seeing these animals behaving like humans made everyone even more excited.
After their initial excitement subsided, the formal filming work began.
Although the crew had filmed several animal-themed promotional videos before, there was still a significant gap compared to this proper movie.
More importantly, in the series they had filmed before, the animals were still just animals.
This time, however, the animals were to play human roles, so their behavior needed to be closer to human behavior.
The film crew initially thought this would be a huge challenge, but as they filmed, they began to notice something was amiss.
The animals present seemed to be cooperating a little too much.
No matter what their requests were, as long as they were conveyed through Yang Lin, the animals would complete them perfectly.
Except for not being able to speak their lines, they were much better than those young idol actors.
What's more, these animals didn't need any teaching when it came to anthropomorphism.
Especially the extras playing supporting roles.
The chimpanzees were better at smoking than humans.
The kangaroos were more thuggish than thugs.
The black panthers looked more like villains than villains.
The gorillas were more like bullies than bullies.
At this moment, all the animals didn't seem to be acting, but rather releasing their true natures.
In just one day, about half of the film was completed, and the process was so smooth it was almost unbelievable.
By the end of the day, Yang Lin had received the day's footage.
After watching the footage, a hint of satisfaction appeared on his face.
At the same time, an idea occurred to him.
"Right, while the hype is still going, let's release a trailer and some character concept art."
As he spoke, he instructed the post-production staff to organize the materials he needed.
Soon, he published this first batch of trailers and character concept art on the official accounts of Xihong Zoo on various platforms.
It had been less than two days since he announced the news of the Animal City themed movie, and the buzz on various platforms had not yet died down.
As a result, as soon as these promotional videos were released, they immediately sparked another wave of intense discussion.
A single video posted on Douyin, a short-video platform, received fifty million views.
The number of comments in the comment section instantly surged.
"What do you call efficiency? As soon as they announced the movie was coming out, the trailer was immediately released."
"Animal actors and concept art, Officer Rabbit, Nick Fox, Mayor Lion, Director Niu, Officer Cheetah, Secretary Yang, Mr. Da, they really are animals."
"I have a premonition that the carnivorous animals in this movie will all be villains."
"At this moment, all I can say is 'awesome.' They're actually filming on location, with real scenes and real animals."
"Looking at these concept photos, I'm immediately interested. Can these animals really make movies?"
"Damn, the trailer is explosive too. Those aerial shots at the beginning, aren't they the scenes from Animal City?"
"It's truly a city made entirely of animals!"
"Spotted a Shi Difu smoking at 0:34."
"Spotted Gangzi boxing at 0:53."
"At 1:07, is that panda frantically eating going to be Tuan Tuan?"
"Holy crap, isn't that family of three walking on the street the Bear Dad and Mom family?"
"Easter eggs, all Easter eggs!"
"A single trailer contains so many animals, will there be a full cast appearance in the main film?"
"The movie is still four days away from release, what do I do, I can't wait."
...
Although the trailer was only two minutes long, it was full of surprises for netizens.
Especially when they saw familiar animals in it.
Even if they only had cameo appearances in the movie.
After the surprise, everyone's anticipation for this grand animal movie, which gathered all the animals from Xihong Zoo, grew even stronger.
At the same time, on the other side, Yang Lin, who was just about to go to sleep, suddenly received a phone call.
After hearing the caller introduce themselves, a look of surprise appeared on his face.
"You're from Douyin's film department? Douyin makes movies now?"
"You want to buy the exclusive broadcasting rights for Crazy Animal City?"
Yang Lin didn't quite comprehend what the caller was saying at first.
Because he had never planned to release the film publicly.
After all, the main purpose of this film from the beginning was to promote the Animal City of Ningnan.
The Ningnan government had even paid for it, so it would be inappropriate for him to use the film to earn box office revenue.
Just as he was about to refuse, the caller's next words made his eyes light up.
"It's like this, Director Yang. We at Douyin Movies don't charge viewers any fees."
"It's equivalent to us paying netizens to watch movies for free."
"Our only requirement is that you grant us exclusive broadcasting rights for this movie."
"For this, we are willing to pay 1 billion to purchase the exclusive broadcasting rights for Crazy Animal City."
As soon as he heard this, Yang Lin was stunned.
Douyin would pay 1 billion for his film and then invite the entire internet to watch it for free?
What was the point of this?
However, after a moment's thought, he immediately understood the intention.
The influence of Crazy Animal City and its appeal to netizens was undeniable, and it was the first film starring actual animals.
It was unprecedented in film history.
It was no exaggeration to say that as long as the film wasn't a complete disaster, it would definitely be a massive hit online.
If Douyin Movies secured the exclusive streaming rights for Crazy Animal City, it would mean that everyone would have to watch the movie through the Douyin platform.
On one hand, it would further capture market share in the short video sector, and on the other hand, it would promote their film division's business.
Thinking of it this way, 1 billion wasn't that expensive.
After hearing the 1 billion offer, Yang Lin pondered for a moment and then agreed.
Not long after he agreed, the news that Douyin Movies had purchased the exclusive broadcasting rights for Crazy Animal City for a staggering 1 billion immediately became the number one trending topic on Douyin.
Seeing this maneuver, Yang Lin couldn't help but feel amused and exasperated.