Chapter 124 The Plan [VIP]
Chapter Summary: Does this sound like empty promises?
At the end of June, Mu Zhi received a call from her agent.
"The movie 'Countdown' has passed censorship. A trailer will be released in a few days, and the official release date will be August 9th. The movie's release date announcement will be held on July 6th."
Mu Zhi needs to ask Director Xu Kuan for leave in advance.
I'm going back to Beicheng to attend the movie's release date announcement.
Then I heard the agent say on the phone, "The film's promotional roadshow plan has been finalized. The main creative team will start the nationwide roadshow on July 22nd and run until August 16th, a total of 26 days..."
This summer, there's a movie scheduled for release in mid-July. The production team started their promotional tour in early June and will be doing it for a month and a half.
Generally speaking, lead actors won't travel for such a long time; the promotional schedule is usually half a month or a week.
Tai Feng's promotional tour for "Countdown" will run from July 22nd to August 10th, the Chinese Valentine's Day, which is 20 days.
Meanwhile, Mu Zhi joined the promotional tour for the film "Escape from the Game" immediately after filming wrapped, which is scheduled to run from August 2nd to August 16th, lasting half a month.
Compared to Tai Feng, Mu Zhi's promotional roadshow lasted almost a week less.
If the schedule allows, I should participate in the whole process.
There was nothing I could do about it, as it clashed with the release schedule of the movie I was filming.
Mu Zhi asked Director Xu Kuan for two days off to return to Beicheng, and at the same time discussed her subsequent filming arrangements.
Hopefully, the production team will coordinate the shooting schedule to concentrate her scenes and appropriately increase the daily shooting time to ensure she can finish filming her individual scenes before the 2nd...
Early in the morning of July 5th.
Mu Zhi and her group took a morning flight from Shashi back to Beicheng.
We arrived at Beicheng International Airport at noon, and after getting off the plane, we got into a car and drove directly to our company, Lanxing Media.
Ji Binghe timed it perfectly and had her assistant order lunch for Mu Zhi's team.
After arriving at the company, the group had a quick lunch there.
Without time to rest, I started working.
Tomorrow is the movie press conference, and Mu Zhi needs to choose her outfit, familiarize herself with the conference flow, anticipate questions from reporters, and prepare for the interviews with over a dozen media outlets after the conference...
"These are most of the questions that the media reporters will be asking tomorrow."
Ji Binghe handed over a document.
After tomorrow's press conference, Mu Zhi will attend the media interviews and then head to the airport to catch her flight back to the film set.
Therefore, this time, we asked the media to submit their questions, and we needed to control the interview time for each media outlet. Mu Zhi also made preparations in advance to avoid delaying the subsequent flights.
Mu Zhi flipped through the document and glanced at it. It mainly contained questions frequently asked during film promotions, some of which concerned director Wan Zhou and award-winning actor Tai Feng...
Ji Binghe: "By the way, after the release date trailer came out, I checked the reactions on various platforms and they were all pretty good. My expectations are quite high."
Three days ago, the release date announcement trailer for "Countdown" was released online.
In the 1 minute and 30 second trailer, the opening narration of the film is in Mu Zhi's voice:
"Let's take a trip that we just decide to go on."
As a distant and mysterious background music plays in the background, what comes into view is blue sky and white clouds, an endless asphalt road, green grasslands on both sides of the road, lakes like blue ribbons, and snow-capped peaks in the distance. Then, various picturesque natural landscapes flash by.
The scene lingers on a vast blue lake, with golden light shining down on the snow-capped peaks nestled beside it, creating a scene of sacred beauty.
The background music stops, then the voice says, "Namtso, I've arrived."
The next second, the music shifts to upbeat tunes. The female lead, Asang, pulls a suitcase with a broken wheel as she walks out of the airport and encounters the male lead, Youqu. However, their journey isn't smooth sailing; they're stood up by their sick tour guide, book the wrong hotel, and their car breaks down. By a series of unexpected events, they end up driving together to Namtso Lake. Other characters then appear...
The story's tone, set in the first minute, is quite lighthearted and enjoyable, depicting a journey filled with eating, drinking, encountering all sorts of people and various twists and turns.
The last 30 seconds shift to a more artistic and sentimental tone, depicting a tragic ending. As they get closer to their destination, the relationship between the male and female leads intensifies, revealing a glimpse of their secrets and prompting the viewer to speculate and uncover the truth, wondering about the end of their journey and the future of the story...
The trailer ends abruptly at:
The male protagonist's narration: "I hope this journey has no end."
However, the next second, a line of Namtso Lake appeared before their eyes.
Trailers usually keep you in suspense, and you have to go to the cinema to find out what kind of story it is.
Viewers watching trailers may focus more on the actors' character designs, the cast, their acting skills, the chemistry they create, and whether the edited trailer story is engaging.
The main comments from netizens about "Countdown":
"It's a road movie directed by Wan Zhou. The trailer looks good. I'll go see it when it's released."
"The natural scenery of Tibet in the trailer is beautifully shot; it's worth watching just for the scenery."
"Directed by Wan Zhou, starring Tai Feng and Mu Zhi, with a host of big-name celebrities making cameo appearances, this is a rare road movie in recent years. I'll buy tickets and go see it on August 7th."
"I was completely captivated by Mu Zhi's Tibetan attire at the Potala Palace. Her smile was absolutely stunning, her beauty is simply breathtaking."
"Tai Feng is so handsome, Mu Zhi is so beautiful and charming. They look so good together in the trailer, and their acting is superb. I want it released soon so I can see it!"
......
Netizens' and fans' comments on Mu Zhi in the trailer:
"Mu Zhi's looks in the trailer are stunning, especially the one in Tibetan clothing—it's so beautiful!"
"This role is quite different from my previous ones. This character is very lively and cheerful, and has a lot of potential."
"She and Tai Feng have great chemistry as a couple. Both of them are good-looking and have great acting skills. It's a great pairing."
After watching the trailer, everyone expressed their anticipation for Mu Zhi's performance in the movie.
As a romantic road movie, "Countdown" was filmed in Tibet for nearly 5 months, consuming a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources. The investment was not small. From the more than 20 days of roadshow promotion, it can be seen that the production company has certain ambitions for the box office.
"Countdown" is Mu Zhi's second representative film after "Back to 17".
This movie is quite important to Mu Zhi.
This is also the first work released this year.
In this day and age, even the best wine needs advertising.
Therefore, Mu Zhi's team attached great importance to the promotion of this film. Ji Binghe then explained the promotional plan for the film to Mu Zhi...
At the end of the conversation.
Ji Binghe said to Mu Zhi, "Zhizhi, after 'Countdown' is released, I believe more director teams and investors will see your work. TV dramas can have big-budget productions with female lead roles in various genres, and I believe the film industry will have that in the future too."
Hearing her agent say that, Mu Zhi smiled knowingly: "I believe it too."
In fact, she did not feel frustrated by the martial arts film role that director Hong Yan had invited her to play.
After all, the films directed by renowned directors that he starred in didn't achieve good results.
Even if the results are good, with both box office success and positive reviews, a large part of which is due to the star power of director Wan Zhou, it's unlikely that she'll immediately be offered leading roles in big-budget films. She'll probably need a few more projects...
Ji Binghe recalled the preparation plan that He Zhiyue had discussed with her two days ago.
Xiang Muzhi revealed, "Zhizhi, the company has a film production plan and has already started searching for excellent scripts. You are currently the best-performing actor at Lanxing Media and have a lot of room for career advancement."
The company has grown alongside you, and I believe that what you want to achieve can be realized at Lanxing Media in due time.
Mu Zhi: "..."
The agent's words implied that the company had plans to produce its own films, and that Mu Zhi was the company's most valued artist, so if a suitable script came along, there was a high probability that they would make a film for her.
Why does this sound like empty promises?
Ji Binghe's inner thoughts on this matter were: The boss talked to her about this a couple of days ago. Although, in terms of Mu Zhi's work achievements, professional skills, and commercial value, she undoubtedly deserves to be the company's most valued and promoted artist.
In addition, the contract will expire in two years and a few months.
The boss also stated frankly, "It is very likely a gift prepared for Teacher Mu's contract renewal."
But ever since she learned about her boss's feelings for Mu Zhi, Ji Binghe couldn't help but feel that her boss's film production plan was specifically prepared for Mu Zhi, and that it wasn't just about trying to keep Mu Zhi for the company's sake, but also had a selfish motive.
"Zhizhi, what do you think..." She started to say, but then suddenly stopped.
Mu Zhi:?
Ji Binghe changed the subject: "Oh, it's nothing. I just wanted to ask what you think of this newcomer, Bian Wu..."
Forget it, Mu Zhi only sees He Zhiyue as her boss for now.
He Zhiyue told her about the plan and asked her to give it a brief mention to Mu Zhi, instead of telling Mu Zhi directly in order to win her favor.
Ji Binghe decided not to disrupt the current balance.
The following morning.
After getting her hair and makeup done at the hotel, Mu Zhi and her team went backstage at the event venue for the release date announcement of the movie "Countdown".
He joined the main creative team, including director Wan Zhou and Tai Feng.
At today's press conference announcing the release date, many celebrities who made guest appearances came to show their support, including Lu Qi and Zeng Xinlei.
Mu Zhi wore a fresh and energetic makeup look, her short hair was braided and tucked behind her ears, and she wore a hoop earring with a small diamond. She wore a white feather halter dress, which was not too formal, making Mu Zhi look gentle, elegant, bright and charming, and also a little playful and cute.
Their appearance immediately makes them an eye-catching sight in the crowd.
The event is about to begin.
After the host finishes the opening remarks and announces the program, the main creative team will enter the stage together.
"Xiaozhi, you have quite a few fans here today."
When director Wan Zhou and producer arrived by car, there were many Mu Zhi fans standing at the entrance of the event venue. They also heard from the staff that a large group of Mu Zhi fans had arrived at the venue early and started setting up.
A beautiful flower wall, a long row of flower stands, a long table of support drinks and snacks were set up in the corridor, and a support gift containing mineral water, tissues and some food was placed on the media seats inside the press conference venue.
Tai Feng also has fans, mostly movie buffs. In addition, Tai Feng is a low-key person who doesn't do these things, so his fans only book out screenings after the movie is released.
Director Wan Zhou had never seen such a large-scale fan support event before.
Mu Zhi smiled and replied playfully, "I've been filming in seclusion for several months, they must miss me."
In fact, Mu Zhi debuted as an idol through a talent show, and she already had a group of super enthusiastic fans who cared a lot about her. Her first work was an ancient costume drama, which attracted many young fans and made her a popular young actress.
Therefore, the support style of the fan group is similar to that of other popular idol fans.
When the host announced that the main creative team would be invited to enter the venue.
Director Wan Zhou and producer walked in front, followed by Mu Zhi and Tai Feng.
When Mu Zhi appeared, countless fans showed up at the press conference.
"Ahhh, Mu Zhi!"
The entire audience chanted "Mu Zhi's" name, giving their idol a grand welcome.
Mu Zhi turned around and waved to the fans, then put a finger to her lips in a "shh" gesture, and the fans immediately fell silent.
The director was to her right and Tai Feng was to her left.
As soon as he sat down, Director Wan Zhou turned his head and whispered, "Very good, very energetic."
Mu Zhi: "Hmm?" The next second she understood, and smiled as she replied, "Thank you, Director Wan."
Thank you for praising my fans.
[Author's Note]
The next chapter of the movie has wrapped up filming!
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