Chapter 1 "President Pei!"

Zhu Xiaoce hurried over to greet him.

The rest of the crew, including Lu Zhiyao and Zhang Zuting, also noticed Pei Qian and came forward to say hello.

Pei Qian smiled and waved his hand. "It's nothing, I'm just wandering around. Don't mind me, carry on."

After exchanging a few words with some old friends, Pei Qian picked up a prop cup from the side with interest and began toying with it in his hand.

Zhang Zuting whispered to Zhu Xiaoce, "Director Zhu, why do I get the feeling President Pei is in a good mood today?"

Zhu Xiaoce nodded. "Indeed."

"I think… it might be because he's gratified."

Zhang Zuting was slightly puzzled. "Gratified?"

"Yes, gratified." Zhu Xiaoce looked at the leisurely Pei Qian. "The last time President Pei came, although he was also relaxed, he was still somewhat concerned about what was happening on set."

"When he saw that Lu Zhiyao's acting was trending towards being too forceful, President Pei immediately stepped forward to correct it."

"But this time, President Pei is just watching from the sidelines, without saying a word."

"This shows that President Pei approves of the actors' performances."

"Seeing that everyone's acting is completely fine, President Pei is finally gratified and relieved, which is why he can stroll around the set with such a leisurely attitude."

Zhang Zuting suddenly understood and nodded. "Yes, that's right."

"Today, both the male and female leads gave performances that were above their usual level. It's not easy to gain President Pei's approval."

"It seems that although President Pei doesn't come often, he still attaches great importance to this movie."

Zhu Xiaoce smiled. "Of course. To be precise, President Pei values all projects, otherwise he wouldn't have achieved his current success…"

"Perfect, now that President Pei is here, I'll finalize the advertising matters."

Zhu Xiaoce went to Pei Qian, who was strolling around, intending to use the break in the on-set preparations to finalize a crucial issue.

"President Pei."

"May I take a few minutes of your time to report on the bidding for advertisements for this movie? Is that okay?"

Pei Qian was stunned for a moment, then nodded. "Of course, tell me about it."

Clearly, the word "advertising" had stung his sensitive nerves.

Zhu Xiaoce reported to Pei Qian as they strolled around the set.

"President Pei, our movie is full of various advertisements."

"According to the setting, the future world in the movie is a world full of advertisements. For example, when the male lead lives in the capsule, a large amount of his time is spent surrounded by advertisements."

"We've been thinking for a long time about how to do these advertisements specifically."

"My idea is to find some companies to cooperate with and get product placement!"

"This approach has three advantages:"

"First, these companies will shoot their own advertisements and give us fees for product placement, which is very cost-effective from an economic point of view. Moreover, the quality of the advertisements they shoot will be guaranteed."

"Second, after the film is released, it's easy to generate hot topics, which may help with the film's promotion."

"Third, traditional movie product placements often appear abrupt and awkward, easily causing resentment from the audience. However, product placement in our movie hardly poses this problem, and the negative impact is small."

"So, we've also contacted some manufacturers and businesses to ask if they're interested in cooperating…"

Pei Qian instantly became nervous. "What's the situation?"

Zhu Xiaoce's expression was slightly awkward. "Uh… the large companies that we took the initiative to contact basically ignored us. However, there are a few lesser-known small businesses that have proactively come to us, but we rejected them because the advertisements they shot were too unsophisticated and didn't look like advertisements from a future world."

In other words, there's still no progress…

Pei Qian breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but say, "That's great!"

Zhu Xiaoce was stunned. "Huh?"

Pei Qian secretly rejoiced. If they actually received advertisements, how much less money would he have to spend?

If a few ignorant big companies each threw in a few hundred thousand or a million in advertising fees, wouldn't President Pei want to vomit blood?

So, they definitely can't do that!

Fortunately, Flying Yellow Workshop doesn't have much fame in the movie circle, and this time they were looking for some big companies, so they were turned down many times.

But this problem can't be taken lightly; the trend must be stopped in time.

What if Zhu Xiaoce persistently pulls in sponsorships and impresses those wealthy big companies, and the movie hasn't even been released yet, and they've already recovered a large portion of the cost through advertising…

What would he do then!

Thinking of this, Pei Qian's expression became serious.

"The first two points you mentioned are correct, but the third point has some problems."

"No matter what, placing real-world brand advertisements will give the audience a very jarring feeling."

"Even if our movie's theme is special, it will still affect the audience's viewing experience."

"Moreover, our movie has a very strong satirical tone, and these companies will be satirized to some extent by buying our advertisements."

"This may not necessarily greatly enhance their brand image. So, they may not be happy to do this kind of product placement."

"In short, this behavior is not advisable."

Zhu Xiaoce considered it carefully and quickly nodded. "Yes, President Pei, I understand!"

Looking at Pei Qian's solemn expression, Zhu Xiaoce couldn't help but feel a little scared.

He almost messed things up!

Thinking about it carefully, President Pei was indeed right. No matter how much product placement is whitewashed, it's still product placement. The audience has already bought tickets to the movie theater, and then making them watch product placement is a bit unreasonable.

If it's not done well, they'll definitely get scolded to death!

Although they'd make money then, ruining their reputation probably doesn't align with President Pei's expectations.

Zhu Xiaoce couldn't help but reflect on himself.

Product placement obviously violates the spirit of Tengda.

He must remember this lesson in the future!

Since the current plan has been rejected by President Pei, there must be an alternative plan.

Zhu Xiaoce hesitated slightly and said, "President Pei, if we can't use other companies' plans, then we can only shoot our own."

Pei Qian nodded. "Yes, of course we have to shoot our own!"

How could he miss out on this great opportunity to spend more money?

Pei Qian thought for a moment and continued, "In my opinion, this advertisement is very important."

"It must be high-end, classy, and sophisticated, low-key, luxurious, and meaningful."

"I think… uh, tell me how you want to shoot it first."

Pei Qian had already thought of the general direction, but suddenly stopped.

He thought of his glorious achievements of repeatedly "turning stone into gold" and decided not to interfere with Zhu Xiaoce's ideas for now and let him use his creativity.

Maybe he'll have a better idea than Pei Qian himself?

If Zhu Xiaoce's idea has a high probability of making money, then President Pei will have to step in personally.

Zhu Xiaoce thought for a moment. "President Pei, this is what I'm thinking."

"Shoot brainwashing advertisements!"

"That is, repeat a simple, rhyming advertising slogan repeatedly, three or four times, or even more, so that people can't forget it after hearing it once."

"You can also add some relatively simple melodies to make the advertisement even more brainwashing."

"This kind of advertisement appeared a lot a few years ago. Although the number has decreased recently, it still exists."

"We can also shoot such advertisements. In this way, we can very well stimulate the audience's disgust, make them empathize with the male lead's experiences, and deepen the movie's satirical meaning!"

After listening to Zhu Xiaoce's ideas, Pei Qian fell into a brief silence.

No, if they do it according to Zhu Xiaoce's method, it seems like it's still easy for things to go wrong!

Pei Qian has experienced the power of brainwashing advertisements.

The characteristic of this kind of advertisement is that it is grand and gives people a feeling of showing off. As long as the advertisement is done well, a brand can block an entire category, giving consumers the illusion that "this brand is the number one in this category."

In short, the reason why this kind of advertisement is very popular and very brainwashing is precisely because of its outstanding effect.

If the entire movie is filled with a large number of brainwashing advertisements, it may also trigger heated discussions among the audience, thereby gaining some inexplicable and unnecessary popularity…

Pei Qian sighed silently.

No, his subordinates are too utilitarian and can't be counted on!

Expecting Zhu Xiaoce to come up with an idea that would cause huge losses on his own initiative? Difficult!

He still has to step in personally.

Pei Qian thought for a moment and said, "Brainwashing advertisements are also somewhat inappropriate."

"First of all, technology is developing, and the times are progressing."

"Although brainwashing advertisements have obvious effects, they have also caused resentment from many people and are becoming increasingly rare now."

"The movie is set in a future world, and the advertising industry should be more developed, moving in a more elusive direction."

"If the audience sees brainwashing advertisements again, they will definitely think, 'Is this all the future world's advertisements are?'"

"It's like people today watching advertisements from decades ago, which will seem very strange and out of place with the entire environment."

Zhu Xiaoce nodded, feeling like that was indeed the case.

Pei Qian continued, "Secondly, this kind of advertisement is likely to overshadow the main subject."

"If the audience pays too much attention to the advertisement, they won't have time to see the actors' performances and the deep meaning of the movie's plot."

"So, my suggestion is to shoot some large-scale, cool scenes, and advertisements with inexplicable meanings!"

"This kind of advertisement is played repeatedly, so that the audience keeps watching it, but they feel confused and completely don't understand it."

"This is in line with the development trend of future advertisements."

"As for the brand in the advertisement… just make it completely fictional."

"When shooting the advertisement, it must be of a high standard and have a sense of quality, understand?"

Anyway, the advertisement will definitely be shot, but Pei Qian can't say exactly what it will look like.

He can only point out a direction that is as wrong as possible. After that, he can only rely on Zhu Xiaoce and the others to use their creativity.

After listening to Pei Qian's words, Zhu Xiaoce was silent for a long time before saying, "President Pei, this is a very difficult task."

"However, I have confidence!"