Depressive Screenwriter

Because there weren't any highly popular movies during the summer season, the Chinese film audience began to pay attention to the other small and medium-budget films in the lineup.

Among them, thanks to Su Yan's popularity in the television industry and the distribution company's promotion, "The Garden of Words" was generating noticeable buzz as the release date approached.

Su Yan's large fan base from his television dramas was ready and waiting.

But at the same time...

The competition for screening slots among the six films premiering on July 31st had reached a fever pitch.

Before a television drama airs, it needs to find a good broadcasting platform to achieve success.

Similarly, before a film premieres, if you want it to do well, you must secure a good opening-day screening schedule.

Will a film's box office be the same if a theater shows it ten times a day versus only once?

It is the film that should cater to the audience's viewing times, not the audience that should wait for the film's broadcast time.

Most moviegoers, if a theater isn't showing the film at the moment, will definitely not wait; they will go directly to see another movie, which directly impacts the box office.

Although the box office doesn't completely represent the quality of a film, and a high-grossing film isn't necessarily a good film, a low-grossing film, even if it's good, is definitely niche, and most people absolutely won't be able to get into it.

The opening day box office data and word-of-mouth scores basically determine the viewing preferences of Chinese movie fans after the second day of release; the strong get stronger, and the weak get weaker.

With three days left until the release of "The Garden of Words," the competition for screening slots for the films premiering on the 31st came to an end.

"9% screening share," Su Yan frowned.

"That feels a bit low! Didn't Tianxing say they could secure 11%?"

"The Garden of Words" had a promotional budget of 20 million and a production budget of 20 million. Although that's not huge in the Chinese film industry, it shouldn't be this bad, right?

Tianxing, the distributor, had confidently guaranteed a few days ago that they could secure 11% of the screening slots.

"Among the films being released on the 31st, there's a romance film called 'Seashore,' whose investor is Floating Shadow Film and Television, the second-ranked theater chain in China. With the support of Floating Shadow's own theaters and communication with other theater chains, they managed to squeeze out 16% of the screening slots for 'Seashore,'" Xiaozaki Yumi said with a sigh.

"Currently, the two films 'Gun Grave' and 'Firefly' haven't finished their run yet. Although they've been out for more than half a month and aren't making as much money as they did at the beginning, the theaters are still giving them about 8% of the screening slots. Then there's another bunch of films released this month, which, although their box office is sluggish and they've been out for quite a while, the theaters are still giving them a total of about 20% to 30% of the screening slots. Then there are the six films premiering on the 31st, which averages out to about 10% per film, but after 'Seashore' squeezed out some of the screening share, everyone's share will definitely decline."

"Alright..." Su Yan said after thinking for a moment.

"I can accept that reason."

Su Yan wasn't an unreasonable person; he just wanted Tianxing, the distributor, to not be perfunctory and actually do their job.

As for not being able to compete with other well-connected parties, there was nothing he could do.

Others wanted to help, but "The Garden of Words" needed to have the strength and potential to allow others to fight for a higher screening share.

But the reality was that Su Yan currently didn't have enough weight in the film industry, and distributors weren't omnipotent. Although it was uncomfortable, some things had to be accepted.

Xiaozaki Yumi looked at Su Yan's expression and nodded slightly.

Don't underestimate the difference between 11% and 9%; that 2% difference actually cut "The Garden of Words'" opening day screening share by one-fifth.

In other words, when the audience doesn't know anything about the works, the word-of-mouth, or the plot, and is randomly choosing which movie to watch, a one-fifth reduction in screening slots is approximately equal to a one-fifth reduction in opening day box office.

Any other investor would have jumped up and started yelling.

Su Yan's composure was indeed rare.

"Tianxing did their best. Some of the other films being released at the same time had their screening slots cut by 3% or 4%," Xiaozaki Yumi said cautiously.

"You don't have to be so careful," Su Yan laughed.

"I'm not blaming you."

"The film industry and the television industry are actually largely the same. To put it bluntly, it's just that we aren't valued enough by the theater chains right now," Su Yan said.

"Right now, we don't have a reputation in the film industry, so we can only accept this kind of thing."

"However... I hope that romance film called 'Seashore' is of good quality."

"What do you mean?" Xiaozaki Yumi asked in surprise.

"It's nothing; that film is also a romance film, right?" Su Yan said.

"It's a similar type of film as 'The Garden of Words,' and it's being released on the same day. If its quality isn't good... if its occupancy rate and word-of-mouth scores are poor, the theater chains will redistribute the screening slots for the films starting the next day."

"Are you saying...?" Xiaozaki Yumi looked at Su Yan.

"We'll just take a loss on the opening day. I'm not planning for 'The Garden of Words' to have a huge opening day; it's not that type of film, and it doesn't have the external conditions... But in my judgment, this film will take a slow and steady approach. If that other film's word-of-mouth isn't good, 'The Garden of Words' will take over all of its screening slots within a few days after its release."

"How do you know?" Xiaozaki Yumi asked in surprise.

"Hmm, market intuition. Before my creations are released, I always have a prediction of their performance trend in China after they are launched," Su Yan laughed.

In reality, he was using the word-of-mouth and performance of these works in his previous life as a reference to predict their performance in China.

"So that's just your prediction?" Xiaozaki Yumi thought for a moment.

"It might not be accurate, right!"

"What do you think we relied on to get to where we are today?" Su Yan smiled.

"If my predictions weren't accurate, we would have flopped long ago."

Xiaozaki Yumi was speechless upon hearing this.

She wanted to refute him, but she couldn't say a word.

Because none of Su Yan's works had ever flopped.

Time passed quickly, and soon it was the 30th.

The filming of "Tokyo Love Story" entered a feverish pace in those two days.

The costume photos of Su Yan as Kanji Nagao, Shen Liqian as Rika Akana, and Gu Qingyuan as Satomi Sekiguchi were also released on the official website of "Dimensional Film and Television Production Company," attracting the attention of Su Yan's fans.

As for the script...

Shen Liqian and Gu Qingyuan had started studying it two weeks in advance.

In "Tokyo Love Story," the charm of the character Satomi Sekiguchi is completely defeated by Rika Akana. Even the actress who played this character in the original work was hated by many "Tokyo Love Story" fans after the drama ended, and people threw stones at her in the subway.

Gu Qingyuan could also see that this character was not likable.

From today's perspective, this character is a bit of a green tea.

However, she didn't have any dissatisfaction with Su Yan's arrangement for her to play the second female lead in this drama.

She knew very well who she relied on to have her current status and reputation in the Chinese film and television industry.

Although she realized that this character setting was not likable, she was still working hard to study how to make this character shine.

To put it bluntly, the reason why green tea is hated is probably because they are not pretty enough.

If they really have a high enough appearance, then they are just an understanding good younger sister.

Although Su Yan himself also felt that, based on the comparison of the character settings of Rika Akana and Satomi Sekiguchi, no matter how god-level the actor is, the latter's popularity can never surpass the former.

But at least it shouldn't be too one-sided, at least resist a little bit, have some party disputes, so that the ratings will be higher.

As for Shen Liqian, she entered the state directly after getting the script.

She, who only got the script for the first three episodes, didn't know the subsequent direction of the story, but just the first three episodes, the character charm of Rika Akana was about to overflow the script, she had a hunch...

After this drama is broadcast, it may also set off a big wave in the Chinese TV drama industry like "Cyberpunk."

Of course, Su Yan's trio has collaborated on many dramas, and they are very familiar with each other, so the filming is easy and there are few NGs.

However, Zuo Zhunfu, a second-tier Chinese male star signed by the crew, had to adapt.

During the filming process, he had to pay attention to the emotional problems of Su Yan, the screenwriter, investor, and lead actor.

He looks very handsome, standing next to Su Yan, he is actually more eye-catching than Su Yan, which is in line with the original work.

In the original work, Kenichi Mikami was originally a prodigal handsome guy.

And as the only Cherry Island person among the main cast, it can also be regarded as a point.

After all, it is a Tokyo love story, and it is a bit funny that there are no Cherry Island people among the actors.

This is also one of the reasons why Xiaozaki Yumi and Su Yan chose him to play this role.

On the 30th, after the filming of "Tokyo Love Story," Su Yan also released the video he had prepared in advance on the official website of Dimensional Film and Television Production Company, as well as his creator-certified account on the three major online broadcasting platforms.

The reason why it is three is because Sakura Network directly blocked Su Yan's account.

The content of the video is very simple, it is to remind his fans again.

Tomorrow, July 31st.

His first film, "The Garden of Words," will be released nationwide.

[. This work is played by myself and Gu Qingyuan as the male and female protagonists, and this film, absolutely has no dead people, knife-like plot, it is a moving emotional film about redemption and healing!]

Su Yan's video ended with such a suggestive remark.

Su Yan and Gu Qingyuan starred in an emotional film, not a romance film.

After all, until the end, the hero's confession was not accepted by the heroine, where is the love?

So naturally there is no such thing as a depressing plot in love.

Similarly, fans will subconsciously think that this is a movie with a happy ending, and it is a work played by Su Yan and Gu Qingyuan, so many CP fans of the two will definitely be happy at this time.

A large number of fan comments immediately appeared in the comment area of Su Yan's account.

"I'm super, that is to say, I can really see a work with a happy ending for Gu Qingyuan and Su Yan?"

"Rush, be sure to rush! The first movie at 7 pm tomorrow! Who is together?"

"I, I am also the 7 o'clock movie tomorrow!"

"Trust Su Yan old thief one more time."

"I thought that Su Yan old thief would concentrate on filming after going to Sakura Island, but I didn't expect that he still didn't forget The Garden of Words!"

"Sure, can he not pay attention to his first movie?"

"Give me all to support it! Never lose!"

"It's just that the screening ratio of this movie is not high, 9%! Can the opening day box office be 30 million?"

"It shouldn't be! So many movies will be released tomorrow! The box office should be dispersed and everyone will get a share."

"Don't think about the opening day box office. As long as the reputation of the work is good, there have been movies in China with an opening day box office of 10 million and a final box office of more than 700 to 800 million. On the contrary, like Gun Grave, the opening day box office is so good, but now it is barely passing 500 million box office, what is the point?"

"That's right!"

"No matter what, I believe in Su Yan old thief. Whether it is a TV series or a movie, his ability is obvious to all. As long as the script of The Garden of Words is as good as his TV series, the word-of-mouth and box office will definitely not be bad!"

Although the release date of a group of movies is on the 31st, because the time is Friday, the broadcast time of the first movie is at 7 pm, which is also an industry practice.

One night passed quickly.

In the morning, the sun rose.

On the 31st, the release date of The Garden of Words, is coming.