Thanks to the overwhelming spontaneous promotion by passersby, this patriotic film, which was initially not well-regarded, became an explosive hit.
Those who have seen it have become ruthless recommendation machines, relentlessly recommending it to people around them and online.
Films released in the same period were completely outmatched and had no chance to fight back.
No, it should be said that it doesn't even have a sense of existence.
The patriotic film of the same genre, which was heavily promoted beforehand and boasted an amazing cast and crew, had already whetted the public's appetite.
If it weren't for Qi An's production, things would be fine. But when similar works are placed side by side, the audience gets angry.
Damn it, I paid for this and wasted two and a half hours, and you just feed me shit?
The internet is filled with nothing but insults and curses.
Several fans of popular celebrities went to great lengths to save face, with their leader organizing a private screening at a movie theater to defend their idol.
However, not all fans are brainless; most of them are unconvinced and think, "I want to see just how amazing this movie that everyone online is praising as being better than my idol really is."
Before watching: The male lead has such an ordinary face, oh.
After watching it: I deserve to die!
Waaah, a tribute to the heroes. I want to die, let me die, please don't die.
Recalling their boasts about their idol's acting skills, the fans, with red eyes and burning faces, slunk out of the movie theater.
The way my brother acted... really was awful.
The male lead, Zhang Yin, went from being ridiculed to being praised by the entire internet in just one movie, which lasted two and a half hours.
He became an instant sensation.
But who knew that before this, on this hopeless road, amidst ridicule, rejection, hesitation, and confusion, he held fast to his original aspiration and walked alone for more than a decade.
Nothing more than passion.
Opportunity always favors the prepared.
Zhuang Sheng's name has become synonymous with good movies.
Any product produced by Zhuang is guaranteed to be of high quality.
Her era has arrived.
Three months later, the film was taken off the shelves, having broken numerous records and becoming a sure-fire box office champion.
At the year-end film festival, this movie swept almost all the awards.
Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay.
as well as……
The female host glanced at the card and announced, "This year's Best Actor award goes to..."
The host intended to keep them in suspense, but a unified shout erupted from the audience, chanting the same name: "Zhang Yin, Zhang Yin, Zhang Yin..."
The host laughed: "As expected, the eyes of the masses are discerning."
"Our Best Actor award this year goes to..."
"Zhang Yin".
Zhang Yin accepted the trophy and sincerely thanked a long list of people.
Finally, he looked in Qi An's direction, his eyes reddening, and gave her a simple, honest smile: "Director Zhuang, I did it."
Qi An raised an eyebrow, raised his right hand, and gave him a thumbs up.
Best Actor, well deserved!
During the film's release, the actors' salaries on both sides were also revealed online.
In the realm of blockbuster movies, with an investment of 300 million yuan, the male lead received 200 million yuan, while the other actors combined received 50 million yuan.
Excluding costumes, props, publicity costs, extras' fees, and crew salaries and meals, only a few million dollars were actually used for film production.
That horrific scene of tearing apart Japanese soldiers' heads with bare hands is so bad that even calling it 50 cents of special effects is an understatement; it's more like 15 cents at most.
On the other hand, Director Zhuang's film had an investment of 100 million yuan, but Zhang Yin, the male lead, only received 2 million yuan in salary, which was still the highest in the entire crew.
However, the costumes, props, and special effects were all top-notch. While others paid extras 100 yuan a day, Director Zhuang paid them 300 yuan.
The crew members were paid significantly more than those of other crews, and the food was renowned for being excellent, making other crews extremely envious.
It can be said that every penny was spent wisely.
Once the information was revealed, the internet exploded.
No wonder movies and TV series these days often boast about being big productions with investments of hundreds of millions, but the result is always garbage!
All the money was taken by the traffic kingpins they hired, so where is there any money left to properly polish the quality?
No, they didn't even bother with polishing it; that would be too much trouble. It's much easier and more convenient to just hire traffic and make money directly.
Sharpening the knife, ready to harvest the chives, each crop grows ever more lush than the last.
Plot doesn't matter, quality doesn't matter, as long as there's viewership, money will flow in.
Who would bother spending time, effort, and money to polish their work?
This is why there are more and more garbage movies and TV shows.
Even some well-known directors are no exception, and they have also started to gravitate towards popularity, after all, no one would turn down money.
However, eating too much feces will eventually make you feel nauseous.
Over the years, countless people have almost given up watching TV dramas, preferring to read books or watch anime rather than watch domestically produced TV dramas.
The filthy and distorted state of the Chinese entertainment industry desperately needs a cleansing and transformation.
Zhuang Sheng's avant-garde approach, along with his two consecutive perfect performances, served as a wake-up call for everyone in the industry.
It turns out that everyone isn't stupid; they can tell good from bad.
It turns out that success can be achieved by focusing on crafting quality work without relying on online traffic.
Soon, the popular celebrities found that they were no longer in demand.
However, they were praised too highly in the past, surrounded by flashing lights and praise, and have long lost their sense of their own worth.
After yet another incident where the main character's career collapsed and all the hard work was wasted, several unwritten rules emerged within the industry.
Anyone who wants to act must submit proof and write a guarantee, ensuring that they have not broken the law or committed any major moral transgressions. Otherwise, whoever causes trouble and ruins the film or television series will bear all the losses.
In just one month, according to incomplete statistics, the entertainment industry secretly paid back tens of billions of yuan in taxes.
The actors' salaries are determined based on their role, acting skills, and seniority, and the total salaries of all actors cannot exceed one-tenth of the investment.
Just like how office workers can get a raise by getting certificates, actors can also get a raise by winning awards, but these must be awards related to acting skills. Awards like "Most Popular" or "Most Favorite" don't count, because those are usually based on looks.
In other words, those big-name celebrities who used to earn tens or hundreds of millions of yuan in film and television fees can now only earn a few million.
It's much less than before, but it's still a ceiling that ordinary people can only look up to, and that's enough.
Directors are no longer just focusing on a few popular celebrities, but are turning their attention to real actors and only looking for the right people.
Some people felt too disappointed and looked down on these paltry sums. When they realized that hardly anyone was contacting them, they finally panicked.
This industry has never lacked good actors; what it lacks is opportunity. When it comes to truly competing on acting skills and hard work, there are plenty of truly good actors.
They are extremely happy to accept the pay that traffic stars don't value, and it's definitely worth every penny.
Most popular celebrities are still clinging to their own personas, unable to step down from their pedestals, awkwardly stuck there, and slowly being forgotten.
A few popular celebrities have come to terms with reality, stopped their money-making activities, and started taking classes to hone their acting skills.
There's only one male celebrity with a large following named Xiao Nuo who's the smartest.
He quickly adjusted his mindset and made a timely career change. Instead of pursuing leading roles, he moved from one production crew to another, playing supporting roles to veteran actors, and his growth was very rapid.
A breath of fresh air has finally blown into the entertainment industry, stirring up the stagnant and abnormal atmosphere and injecting vitality and life.
Good money begins to drive out bad money.
Qi An is also going to film Zhuang Sheng's last movie.
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